#percy has attachment issues

[mallowsweetmiri]

Percy: I’m never letting you get away from me ever again. I’ll fight anyone, any monster, any god to be by your side. I would die for you.

Annabeth: … I’m just going to the grocery store.

[mydairpercabeth]

Annabeth lost Percy twice in the same day, both times he was saving her. The last time someone did that for her was Thalia. STOP TRAUMATIZING MY BABY PLEASE

[pumpkinbxtch]

hi!!! I was wondering if you could do hcs for what arguing would be like with the HOO boys

Don't talk me like that! | headcanons

— arguing with the hoO boys

warnings: angst, language, boys being...boys

who's here: jason grace, leo valdez, frank zhang ands percy jackson.

a/n: ohh ohh ohhh, yes. I can. I love drama.

— jason grace:

To get into a real fight with him, you must have come a long way because he's so peaceful and always tries to negotiate calmly, making sure both of you communicate effectively. But at the end of the day, you're like any other couple and sometimes end up having real fights.

The big issue is Jason's nature. He goes silent when he's really upset, his emotions hard to show.

When he’s that mad, you can see it on his face. It’s scary, let’s not lie.

When the ice breaks, he tries to take charge to explain what's wrong, which often makes things worse.

He keeps his distance when you argue, tense and rigid. He’s like a handsome, angry log.

Sometimes he says things reluctantly, like "don't act childish," which is so him.

Yes, he raises his voice and gets frustrated, "no, I said NO, THAT’S NOT HOW IT IS, gods…"

If you're wondering if his powers show, the answer is NEVER, or at least not against you. His mouth might taste like metal or his fingers might spark, but that's just him being really stressed.

His eyes get cloudy and grey.

He takes off his glasses and rubs his temples while muttering.

When things finally start to work out, he breathes better and starts talking more because he knows nothing will work if he doesn’t.

He’s practical, coming up with solutions to problems.

When the fight's over, he hugs you and kisses your forehead, relieved to be out of that situation.

Can he stay mad for days? Depends on the problem, but he’d prefer it doesn't last more than a day.

— leo valdez;

Leo and you usually argue over small things because you have that kind of relationship where you bicker and tease for fun, but when things get serious, the arguments can get heated (get it? heated? laugh, please).

That’s when things get tough. He may seem easy-going, but Leo has a strong temper and is very stubborn when he's mad. Whatever made you really fight doesn't matter because he’ll be stuck on his point.

"No, that's not how it happened." You could be contradicting each other all day until you both turn away and stop talking.

"Well, screw you!" you say, and he growls back, "Yeah, you too," swearing in Spanish. "vale ma-" "me lleva la ch-"

Yes, he switches languages mid-sentence.

"I already told you no! CUANTAS VECES TENGO QUE DECIRLO, carajo!-"

If you know Spanish, you can reply; if not...

"I don’t understand you, idiot. Say it in English or fuck yourself ." (just in case because you’re not sure what he said)

Swearing is common if he's really mad, but it's more his way of dealing with it than being mad at you.

That or sharp sarcasm.

Yes, he might cry if the argument is really bad.

His rigid feelings and insecurity can come up.

Leo is attached, so he’s constantly thinking of ways to fix it because he can’t stand being away from you for too long.

He keeps his distance, terrified of hurting you with his powers, which makes him nervous. "No, DON’T COME NEAR ME." It's for your safety, but it hurts him to see the look in your eyes when he says it.

Can he stay mad for days? Absolutely, but he misses you a lot, though his pride might keep him from showing it.

Don’t worry, he’ll eventually sit down to talk it out, and you’ll both calm down and fix things.

Then he'll give you a big hug and kiss your cheeks.

— frank zhang:

it’s hard to imagine: WHAT DID YOU DO TO FIGHT?

Yes, Frank is Mars’s son, but he’d never choose the battlefield for his lover. He’s very careful and always considerate, but yeah he can be severe when things get bad, and when isn't enough just have a serious talk.

You end up fighting in not-so-quiet whispers, with your faces and gestures being the most expressive.

"Of course not, I already told you, hey!" He raises his hands, and his body tenses up threateningly.

Frank tries to understand your point and make himself heard, always mindful of both your feelings. He knows how to set boundaries.

Sometimes, he just can’t take it anymore and signals a pause. "You know what? This is getting too much, and neither of us is in the best shape. Let’s talk tomorrow or later, please."

Does he raise his voice? Hardly, only when he really needs to make a point.

His eyes are bright, tinged with sadness and anger. The deadliest is his calm face or the way he slightly curls his lip, almost growling.

His eyebrows always seem to be touching, even if he doesn’t want them to.

He keeps a cool head to solve things.

Can he stay mad for days? Yes, while clearing his mind and thinking. He’ll come up to you, and you’ll talk it out, making things work in the end.

He’ll take your hand. You might feel guilty for pushing a guy like Frank to his limit, but he doesn’t mind having relationship problems with you:

"I hope we fight many more times, but about totally different things because it means we’ve really solved the previous issues."

— percy jackson:

wtf did you both do to get into a fight?

Percy won't waste a second, trying to resolve it immediately by asking and reflecting on his own actions. "What did I do wrong?" if it was his fault. "Can you listen to me for a second?" if it was you.

He hates being mad at you, just can’t stand it. But if the fight starts, he wants to start or finish it (or both).

Yes, he might cry.

Yes, he might raise his voice. "No, I didn't do anything. LISTEN TO ME."

Then he apologizes for it because he lost it.

He tries to hold your hands and says, "Babe, babe…"

He makes you both breathe and talk calmly.

He argues, of course, but differently. He’ll stop the conversation. "You know what? I'll think about it." He leaves or makes you leave.

Consequently, he might stay mad for days, or both of you might be mad at each other, but he’s thinking of what to say rather than just calming down. (Nothing wrong with that, everyone handles feelings differently and that's valid.)

Yes, he asks his mom.

Yes, he asks Paul.

You both end up fixing things, and he hugs you tight, giving you kisses all over your face while pouting.

"I missed you, babe."

[aficionadoenthusiast]

yes yes annabeth has abandonment issues and she loves percy because he's the only one who stayed, but have you considered: she loves him because he has no ambition

(i'm tempted to just leave it at that, but i'm guessing most people will not get what i mean, and i like doing this stuff so let's go)

think about it. for her dad, it was the dream of having a normal family and a nice normal job where he could work on his projects without distractions. it was the desire to make helen happy because she could give him that life even if it hurt his daughter.

for thalia, it was the dream of not being the child of the prophecy. it was finding a family with the hunters, no strings attached. it was maybe even the desire of keeping annabeth and luke alive by sacrificing herself, at least a little bit.

for luke, it was the dream of being a hero. it was the dream of saving the demigods. it was the utter belief that he knew what was best and could achieve that goal, damn the consequences. it wasn't even pride. it was just good intentions marred by ambition and bad influences.

for grover, it was the dream finding pan.

the one thing all of these dreams have in common: they took annabeth's family away from her.

that's not to say percy didn't have desires or dreams or goals or anything, but the difference is that everything he wanted had her in it, and none of it was particularly ambitious.

he didn't want to be a hero. he just did what he had to do til his job was done. even his ambitions now have annabeth written all over them: going to college with her in new rome, trying to live as normal a life as possible, growing old with her, etc. there's nothing he wants that doesn't involve her, and you know what? they deserve that so much, that open-hearted devotion.

which introduces some fun irony: where percy's fatal flaw is loyalty, annabeth's fatal flaw is hubris, and one of the first real things she ever said about herself is that she wants to build something permanent. that is hardcore ambition right there, but it ties right back into her abandonment issues. she wants to build something that won't leave and disappoint her.

in that regard, percy's lack of ambition fulfills her excess ambition because his loyalty gave her something permanent. they love each other so much that they fill in the gaps of each other's fatal flaws, and their ambitions fit like puzzle pieces. they never have to doubt each other because there is nothing to doubt.

she loves him because he has no ambition.

[ruegarding]

for context, @rosabell14 is referring to tags on this post.

ok we're going off-road w this one

generally speaking, i like the concept of "some things aren't meant to be controlled," which annabeth says to percy after he controls the poison. this is said and then immediately forgotten abt, however, this could be another angle of change, a reoccurring theme in hoo, as well as a continued theme from pjo.

obviously, from pjo, the change is addressed w the myths, the theme of yielding, and w the conclusion of the story:

hoo continues this concept of change w the percy-jason switch, the greek-roman conflict, the idea of what an identity is and how to change it, etc. there's a lot of individual character work w this idea, but there's less of a mythological concept attached to it. gaea is a static and flatly written antagonist, octavian becomes incredibly flat as a character and his development into this sort of fanatical antagonist that is never explored, there's a lot of teeth-gritting abt how the gods are gods and they never change and everyone just has to accept it, the myths aren't challenged in the same way they were in pjo, etc. there's a few major exceptions, i'll get to that.

this is a glaring issue i have w hoo. it wouldn't be as bad as a standalone, but hoo makes the entirety of the previous series meaningless. in tlo, percy asks for kids to get claimed and be trained so when (or if) they have to go on dangerous quests/fight monsters/etc they're both older and more experienced. this is the conclusion to the war and how the status quo is changed (disability accommodations expanded to reach more ppl and work more effectively).

hoo, however, does not do this. camp jupiter infamously has a child army while the adults are retired, all of the new characters are younger than percy (who is still 16), and only two of them have spent a long period of time training, although hazel's isn't formal/in a camp (and piper doesn't even learn how to fight until book four ffs). this sort of immediately bastardizes pjo in a way that is never acknowledge by the series and makes it, and anything after it, a failure as a continuation of pjo.

and that's where this theme could've come in. when bob is remembering who he is, him and percy have this back-and-forth abt identity. percy relates to bob bc he, too, just had his memory erased and that vulnerability exploited (annabeth's perspective in this conversation is very different bc she doesn't have this same experience nor does she understand percy's feelings abt it. a good way to build tension using different povs, but, once again, doesn't get fully utilized). in the conclusion that conversation, there's an interesting moment:

this is that idea again, "some things aren't meant to be controlled," like fate, like identity. titans are meant to "be the same...forever." and here percy is, not only as the catalyst for change by throwing bob into the river lethe, but also by encouraging him to commit to this change once bob should know better. this was percy's role in the previous series, as well, where he constantly challenges the perspective of other characters to be more quote human unquote.

afterwards, annabeth has a similar moment w damasen:

i also think these are very funny to have side-by-side, just as character analysis, bc percy is very much both insecure and empathetic like u can choose ur future, it's up to u, etc, whereas annabeth is like i am right, listen to me.

anyway, both of these moments repeat the idea from pjo/tlo: immortals can't change. but they are changing. and they will change. the rules of the world are malleable (i also think hazel's monologue abt seeing the minotaur as a victim would be another aspect of this to explore). what abt traditions? what abt camp jupiter's child army? how should these change? going back to the og thought, tho, what shouldn't change? what are the "some things" that aren't meant to be controlled? how do you balance traditions and reform (great opportunity to use octavian btw!)? why can't a god be human, act human? why are the ancient rules important? that's an important discussion to have if we're growing this universe.

i don't particularly like that hoo immediately reverts back w the premise of the story, like i was talking abt earlier, nor do i think these characters were introduced or used well in canon, but using these characters, these moments, these conversations, rick could've salvaged this mess by embracing change isn't a static thing. he doesn't, tho, so it's all lost potential.

separately, something i've always liked abt the akhlys fight is that percy wins the literal, physical fight against her, but loses the metaphorical fight. he gets to walk away, but he walks away miserable. and this is bc the gods aren't ppl, they're physical representations of concepts. and percy has this thought abt tartarus and gaea while in tartarus, and i believe it's brought up in boo, but it's barely relevant. it's something i wish was explored more.

now onto specific characters. i talk abt my general idea here, ie this moment in tartarus is forcing percy and annabeth to confront their worst-case scenarios.

for annabeth, i've repeatedly gone on record to say i hate the way annabeth is written in hoo, here is an example, ie her fatal flaw does not come thru in her character (i also think she and percy switched characterizations from pjo to hoo, but...). separate issue is that annabeth's character revolves around percy a lot. so there are two issues i would focus on, largely bc she's not written well and doesn't have established unique conflicts. like,

this is a big revelation at the end of hoh, that she has to "step back" and she can't "protect everyone she love[s]." except it doesn't make any sense. tlo ended w annabeth telling percy to give luke her knife which luke uses to kill himself. not to mention, thalia's sacrifice on hbh. ALSO. percy accepting the prophecy and "taking the brunt of the danger"! and finally. annabeth has been at camp for 7-8 years. 1) she should have relationships w these ppl and 2) she should care that some of the ogs died in the previous war (which would also require rick to figure out who died lol). but the point is, this isn't a new conflict for annabeth!

the thought she had in moa abt having to accept she's not always the best person for the job:

this is not built up nor is it delivered on, but would be interesting, given that she demanded to be on the quest and if there was an actual power struggle instead of writing her as the de facto leader. this would be a better conflict than accepting that "she couldn't protect everyone she loved" when she has historically not been able to protect everyone she loved.

anyway, back on topic.

first, this moment exists to challenge her perception of percy, which is important to challenge bc she quite frankly has an unhealthy attachment to him. other ppl have said this better than i, so here's a post abt codependency and p*rcabeth and here's another one i rbed a while ago.

tldr; rick treats annabeth's abandonment issues/possessiveness/codependency as like. cute, peak romance. and he's been doing this since pjo, right, like annabeth's abandonment issues and possessiveness didn't matter when it was thalia joining the hunters,—bc there's no romance trope here w thalia—but gods forbid percy speak to rachel.

and this doesn't change in hoo. in fact, it's worse. like,

i'm going to [statement redacted] rick for this. what part of this is cute??? i'm killing it with fire.

so anyway, i want to treat annabeth's possessiveness/etc as an actual, consistent, character flaw, that she can grow out of, even. maybe even connect it to her hubris or her rsd. explore her feelings abt luke now that we have her pov to do it in. the fallout from this moment w akhlys is a great way to begin delving into that bc it's a shocking moment for her.

second, and going back to the theme of change, annabeth is different from percy in the sense that she has a different relationship to the gods than him (which i'm comparing bc i think rick (and fandom) has a hard time giving these two consistent and separate personalities/beliefs post pjo). the two times she has rebelled against the gods directly were bc of percy's influence (again, this is percy's role in pjo), 1) in the zoo truck, a scene that only takes place bc percy challenged her view of the poseidon-athena rivalry and their place in it, and 2) w hera where the first words out of annabeth's mouth are literally "percy is right."

i find this interesting especially bc her fatal flaw is hubris, which is common in mythology and frequently ends up fatal bc ppl challenge the gods. so, annabeth using the gods and these stories to keep her hubris in check makes complete sense.

and it seems like this is the same approach she's using w percy:

percy is directly challenging a god for power, and more than that, he's challenging a domain he's not supposed to have control of at all.

very interesting! does not get explored. such is common for hoo.

for percy, this scene is part of a long-running conversation of his powers (which is a huge part of his disability coding!!!!!). and it doesn't go anywhere.

percy has established anger issues and implied emotional dysregulation. this has been a thing since the beginning, literally chapter one of tlt! punishing percy for this when he's clearly not getting the support he needs is. a choice. also there's the issue that hoo kinda. erases this aspect of percy's character until the confrontation w akhlys, which is a separate but related issue.

there really should've been more buildup to this outburst (eg: in son percy punches a shelf in the library and immediately feels guilty bc he scares frank and hazel. percy is in an incredibly stressful situation; this should've happened more), but that would mean rick would treat it and the disability conversation seriously (which falls flat after son) and do less teeth-gritting abt the whole gods thing.

so, to go back on my "using the different povs to build tension was wildly underutilized" train, a featured part of almost everyone's pov is that percy is very kind, and gentle, and forgiving. i discuss a moment w frank being impressed w percy's selflessness here and he also says that he would follow percy anywhere, jason says percy is "a nice guy" after like 2 days, nico has his whole thing, hazel says "percy was a child of poseidon’s better nature," going on to describe him as gentle, etc.

and all of this praise goes nowhere and kinda just becomes percy is so awesome...and then turns into everything is percy's fault in boo...it's bad writing.

but it's an interesting opportunity to play w perspective. percy in pjo is dehumanized in that he is both villainized and idolized, and obviously hoo is continuing the trend w idolization. rick sets up a great plotline w this in moa:

and this doesn't go anywhere bc apparently percy's problem is that he needs to learn to step back. which. part of this is bc rick recycled plotlines from percy and gave them to other characters, which means that percy cannot be in character anymore without making themlook bad (the recycled plotlines i'm talking abt are the idolization, imposter syndrome, wanting to step back but constantly pushed into the spotlight, being seen as different/elevated status bc of ur parentage, struggling to connect to who your parent is, even the dehumanization as a weapon is straight out of percy's writing in pjo). this is a big problem w hoo in general ie characters becoming ooc by necessity (see: bad writing). the other part to blame is that rick is literally trying to redo tlo what w the whole "you are not the hero." it's all the same from pjo except written worse. it's a running theme of hoo (and a bonus). bad writing all the way down!

ANYWAY. so pjo ends w percy at an elevated status bc he 1) survived an unsurvivable prophecy, 2) was offered godhood, and 3) turned down godhood to improve the lives of the demigods while all the demigods watched. and he has the curse of achilles but. we all know how that went. the point is, all of this puts percy on a pedestal. i like to think it's the biggest reason hera kidnapped percy: if he said no, if he refused, she would've lost the support of almost all the demigods at chb (also the metaphor for the audience lol). i think making percy go on the quest, or at least to new rome, is the only good bit of world building rick did between books.

the problem is, rick is kinda all over the place w how percy is perceived and misses both the point of percy's character (callback to what i said abt his disability) and the world building of the previous series (what happened to power-scaling, narrative consequence, etc fr). that's what creates the flip-flopping "percy is perfect" and "everything is percy's fault," and neither are particularly good reads.

going back to annabeth, i don't think she's an exception in idolizing percy. she has no reason to see percy's vindictive side bc he works hard to hide it. even w crusty, annabeth is preoccupied. annabeth is smart, she's not omniscient. instead, there's the famous "percy is too nice" from som. i also like to think this is why she keeps trying to talk to percy abt luke as if luke is a good person who didn't try to kill percy. she doesn't understand that percy would hate luke for betraying him bc why would he? percy is a good person.

(for the record, i think the exceptions are: 1) grover, who chooses not to bring it up w the exception of his nemesis comment in tlt, 2) rachel, who made a painting where percy's "expression in the picture was fierce—disturbing, even—so it was hard to tell if I was the good guy or the bad guy" and simply said that's how he looked, and 3) arguably nico—considering percy has attacked him before—but i do think "very [dangerous]. to his enemies." does a good job of capturing that, it just doesn't go anywhere).

so, to condense all of this, ppl are idolizing percy in terms of both strength and morals and percy feels stifled by this knowing that he is not as strong or good as ppl think (and also by the fault that he was demonized prior and has corresponding low self-esteem bc of that lol). keep this in mind, i'm changing the topic.

in botl, percy's torture scene is used primarily to set up how powerful he is. he can cause an eruption that necessitates the evacuation of thousands of ppl and wake the biggest threat in greek mythos, but he would never know that if he wasn't back into a corner. bc that's not who he is. he shies away from power and titles. he wins his fights w strategy and very rarely relies on his powers to overpower his opponents.

just to clarify, i categorize percy's powers in two sorts of ways: involuntary and voluntary. involuntary is like speaking to sea creatures, healing in water, things that don't require a lot of energy/effort/focus. he's not scared of this. he's wary of the voluntary, powerful explosions, the things that set him apart from his peers. that's what i'm referring to in this section.

so, percy has to come to terms w the fact that he 1) blew up a mountain, 2) survived blowing up a mountain, and 3) woke typhon. and what does he say immediately after that?

he immediately deflects! he wasn't in control, it wasn't him that's powerful, it was an accident, and besides, he can't do it again bc he almost died. and what's even more interesting is the only time he uses his powers after this (in botl) is when grover asks him to stop the fire in the woods.

so, what lesson did percy actually take from mt saint helens? that he's dangerous. very interesting to use this teaching moment and have the protagonist come to the quote wrong unquote conclusion.

in hoh, we don't have a purpose for the torture scene. there's no significance to confronting how powerful percy is. percy is not addressing his self-sacrificing tendencies nor his propensity for bottling his emotions up. there's no questioning of p*rcabeth's relationship. there's no questioning of the gods. it's a cool scene w no narrative purpose.

so, take two. what is percy supposed to be learning from akhlys? how do we relate this to percy taking the wrong lesson from mt st helens?

at the end of botl, nico comes up w the river styx plan and percy takes almost a full year to agree to it. how much further ahead in the war would they have been if percy had accepted the curse sooner? how many fights could percy have won faster if he used his powers? if he trained his powers? if he trusted his powers?

there's a really interesting comparison w phorcys and akhyls where percy doesn't attempt to fight phorcys bc he assumes he won't be able to overpower him,

but w akhyls he tries anyway,

bc he's backed against a corner. and he succeeds.

percy is a character who very much embodies duality. i've talked abt this before wrt his loyalty being both his greatest strength and greatest weakness and how it clashes w his desire for freedom, but it's true for almost every trait. he's honest and manipulative. he's ruthless and merciful. he's kind and violent. he's looked up to and looked down upon. he's the saint and the scapegoat. etc etc. and percy responds to this by frequently trying to deny his quote worse unquote traits until they eventually bubble up and explode out of him. this is part of why juno calls him a loose-canon (which btw, i love. everyone has been treating him as a loose canon and no one on this side has the balls to say it until then, seven books in).

all this to say, *ethan voice* it's abt balance! this moment should've been abt percy confronting his unfair treatment! the idolization from his peers! the demonization of his flaws/disability!

thanks for coming to my tedtalk.

[idksmtms]

You Are Not One of Us (Poseidon x Norse Goddess!reader) - Part 9

Full Request

Part 8 << PART 9 >> Part 10

AN: I am so so so sorry it took me so long to get this out omg. First it was life, then it was uni, then writer’s block and just aaaa! Thank you so much to everyone who has been reading this and keeping up with it since it started. I am so thankful to all of you!!! I hope you enjoy this and get ready for the final part of the series! 

Summary: Percy learns the ways of camp, meets new and… interesting people, and embarks on a quest that will change his life. 

Word count: ~10.8k 

Trigger Warnings: she/her pronouns, AFAB reader, profanity, innuendo, age gap (even tho they are both thousands of years old), personal insecurity, absentee parents technically, abandonment issues, angst, kidnapping, depictions of someone being held against their will, way too heavy use of dramatic irony, any warnings associated with Percy’s adventures, (please let me know if I missed any) 

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians characters. I do not claim to own any of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians characters. I do not own any pictures used nor do I claim to do so. (I do use some scenes from the show verbatim but I did not write the dialogue for those scenes, only the descriptions attached.) 

Always appreciate comments, likes, and reblogs :)

Percy heard the soft rustle of a voice on the wind. Surely he had imagined it, he thought, gazing around the darkness of the woods, the shadows in the leaves and the sudden quiet that had descended once more. But he would swear on his life that he had heard a quiet “Perseus…” whisper in the wind. He shook his head, wiping at his eyes to make sure any trace of tears and pain had disappeared, before tossing the contents of his little fire onto the forest floor and stamping out the embers. 

Night had descended on Camp Half-Blood and everyone had taken to their cabins. While a quiet chatter still emitted from the doors of each cabin, the grounds of the camp were mostly still and silent, disturbed only by the occasional stamping of hooves from the pegasus stables, and Percy Jackson tiredly making his way to the bathrooms. 

He turned the corner around the (rather magnificent) bathroom building, only to be faced with Clarisse, arms crossed, stern look painted on her face. Another two of Ares kids stood behind her, a pack of wolves. 

“Hey guys! Can’t sleep, huh?” Percy joked, though the hairs on his arms rose. 

They were quick to pounce on him, grabbing him by the arms and hauling him into the outhouse cabin as Clarisse watched on nonchalantly. They threw him to the floor, and he grunted as he fell back, hitting it with a smack. He turned onto his back, palms pressed down as he gazed up at her. He felt a bit like an ant about to be squashed under her boot. 

“Every new kid shows up here and they think they’re special. Do you think you’re special?” Clarisse asked, nudging her chin forward as she waited for a response. Percy frowned, glancing around at all of them. 

“No?” 

The two with Clarisse grabbed him under the arms and hauled him to his feet, the one to his left grabbing at his hoodie. He struggled, grunting as he tried to push them off, but they were built of steel, immovable. 

“Tell me you made it all up about the Minotaur, and I’ll let you go.” Clarisse came to stand right in front of him, staring him down. Percy frowned in confusion. 

“I didn’t make anything up.” 

Clarisse glanced between the two kids holding onto him, then gestured to the stall with her head, barely a movement. They began to haul Percy toward it, each of them groaning with the effort. He struggled, his feet just about scraping the ground. Clarisse sighed as she watched on. 

“Some kids gotta learn the hard way.”

The boy to his left kicked the back of his knee and forced him down to lean in front of the toilet. The smell of detergent and water and that distinct porcelain toilet smell began to overwhelm him. He was desperate now, disoriented and desperate to escape. He could hear Clarisse’s sinister chuckle behind him as she watched on like some sick dictator taking pleasure in her clever torture methods. 

They forced his face down to the toilet bowl, right to the edge of the seat. His nose began dipping down just under it, a hair’s breadth from the water. He closed his eyes, willing for escape, willing for strength, anything to get him out of this hellish predicament. When suddenly, the water was sucked back up into the pipes. He heard it, carefully prying his eyes open and seeing it quickly fall through the hole and disappear. 

The two kids let him go and quickly stood up and moved back. The sound of water gurgling was suddenly rumbling under the cabin. They all stood still and listened. It was like a flash. The water shot out of the toilet and above Percy’s head as he crouched down to avoid it. It seemed to separate into three tendrils, smashing through the walls of the stall and turning into swirling columns that attacked each of the others standing just outside. 

They were shoved into the walls, onto the floor by the door. The water was quick to dissipate, falling onto the floor in a splash. The three Ares kids looked like drowned rats, drenched and dripping in damp shirts and jeans, shoes that squelched as they gasped and tried to find their bearings. 

Percy slowly unfurled from where he was crouched by the toilet bowl. Water was bursting out of the sinks, the floor was slippery and slowly turning into a lake. Even the sprinklers had burst open and poured down on them. He stood up straight, shaking, hoodie dishevelled from the roof treatment and stared at Clarisse as she shook the water off her hands. Her hair draped around her face, limp, and she glared at him with the power of a thousand suns. She was quick to run after her already fleeing companions. 

Percy watched after her, slowly stepping out of the stall, shoes drenched and splashing through the rising water on the floor. He looked around him at the destruction, at the fountain spouting from the right-most sink. He almost gasped to find a girl with long braids leaning against the door, arms crossed, watching him. 

“I can explain,” he began slowly. She huffed. 

“No you can’t.” 

“Okay,” he breathed out. He glanced around awkwardly, but he couldn’t keep his eyes away from her for long. He soon realised why. 

“Wait, I know you.” 

“No you don’t.” She answered instantly, shaking her head as she looked at him with something akin to disdain. 

“Yeah, but you were there. That night in the infirmary.”

“Yes. I’m Annabeth.” She introduced herself like it was a given, like she was the most Annabeth Annabeth an Annabeth could be. 

“Are you stalking me, Annabeth?” He asked, eyebrows furrowed. She thought for a moment.

“Yes,” she shrugged. 

“Okay,” he said slowly, nodding his head. “Why?” She seemed almost annoyed that he would bother asking her why. 

“Well, I’ve been waiting to see if something like this,” she gestured to the room with her hand, “would happen. So I’d know if you can help me.” She shifted and leaned more firmly against the wall. 

“Help you do what?” Percy asked, shifting a little closer. 

“Win Capture the Flag.” 

That was the last thing Percy expected her to say. 

Percy gasped for air, glancing between Luke’s celebration and the pebbles on the beach. His entire body seemed to gasp for air. Fighting Clarisse, breaking her spear, it was almost like the Minotaur all over again. His blood was thrumming, the cut on his cheek burned, but… he felt alive. He had known exactly what to do, how to move. Instinct. The conflict of emotion rose within him, and all he could do was stand there and pant. 

“Not bad, hero.” His head shot to the left, but he could only see the treeline. A moment later the air shimmered and Annabeth appeared, pulling a Yankees cap from her head as she strolled down to meet him. He frowned at her, still panting. 

“Were you here the whole time?” He asked incredulously. 

“Yes,” she responded, as if it was obvious. 

“You were here the whole time and you didn’t help me?” He asked, almost yelling, shocked and angry. 

“Yes,” she shrugged, again, behaving like this was obvious and normal. 

“Why?!”

Annabeth simply stepped forward and held out her hand to him. He looked at her, at her hand, then with a grunt, reached out and grabbed it, allowing her to help haul him back to his feet. She looked into his eyes, suddenly serious. 

“Listen…” she trailed off. “Percy.” He stared at her, eyebrows twitching into a frown of confusion. But she just shook her head and frowned in frustration, “I’m sorry,” and shoved him in the chest. 

He went reeling back, stumbling over his own heels and slamming straight into the water. It was barely knee height, but he splashed and flailed for a moment before lifting his head and chest up to stare at her in astonished frustration. 

“What is wrong with you?!” He yelled, loud enough for the rest of team blue to turn away from their celebrations and stare at the pair of them. 

He struggled to his feet, standing in the surf, and about to make his way back onto dry land when Annabeth began running her eyes over him. He felt it, an almost tingling feeling in the places he had been cut. He reached up to his cheek, gently grazed his finger over his cheekbone, but there was nothing there, only unblemished skin. The bruises and cuts on his arms seemed to wash away with the water, the dirt and blood dripping away as if it had never marred his body in the first place. Percy examined his arms then looked at Annabeth in fearful confusion. 

“I don’t understand.” 

But Annabeth wasn’t looking at him. Her face, soft in triumph then awe, was tilted up to the space above his head. He noticed a soft glow of light fall over his eyes and he leaned back, looking up at the space above his head. There, hovering over him was a glowing blue trident. It was like some high-tech hologram, sharp and clear. Annabeth huffed out a chuckle as she looked at it. 

“Your dad’s calling.” Percy glanced back to look at her, before realising that every person in camp had their eyes fixated on him. Luke and Chris turned away from the flag, staring at the sign above his head in shock as Chiron slowly made his way down the beach. He looked as if he couldn’t quite believe what he was seeing as he gazed down at Percy. 

“You have been claimed by Poseidon, Earthshaker, Stormbringer.” Chiron announced, continuing to stare at him as if Percy had just grown wings or done something else that would be considered actually impossible in this impossible world. “Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon.” 

A gasp ran around the camp. A murmur arose amongst everyone watching, hands coming up to shield their mouths as they whispered to each other. 

“This is impossible.” 

“How is this possible?”

“Poseidon… was he ever known for having affairs?”

“I thought he had never had a demigod child. Like… ever.”

“Has this ever been mentioned in any of the old stories?”

“What about Poseidon and…? I thought the whole story of her betrayal and banishment…”

“Poseidon was only known to ever take one lover…”

“But the old stories about Poseidon and…”

“What is everyone whispering about?!” Percy burst out, staring with wide wild eyes. 

“Come, Percy, we have much to discuss,” Chiron gently gestured to the boy. But his mind was racing behind his calm eyes, because if there was one thing to know about Poseidon other than his domain over the sea, it was that he was a god who loved only one…

You were not sure how to describe your prison. It was a prison in your own mind. A room with no door. Stark white. A roof that both closed in on you, yet was an endless sea of white… Walls that did not permit you to escape, but if you reached out to touch them, only a white expanse was bare before you. Except one. One wall was an eye, or at least, what an eye would see. Like those huge screens humans had invented. You could watch your son, your Perseus. You could watch him live his life, watch him struggle through the ins and outs of camp, like a fly following him around, watching everything so you could watch him too, like a never ending play or a film. It was torture. It was a blessing. 

You were curled up on the floor, your head on your hands as you watched the girl shove him into the sea. As you watched your husband, the love of your life, do what you could not. Your eyes welled up, pain and joy fluttering together in a dance in your chest. He knew of his father. At least he knew of his father. You stared at the glowing symbol of Poseidon. Your heart called out desperately for him. Your mind screamed his name, over and over. Wished only for him and Perseus. Only for him and Perseus. Only for him and… 

Mr. D sat in the glass attachment of the Big House and sipped from a Diet Coke as he stared off into space. The news of Percy’s claim had reached him. A son of Poseidon. How intriguing… 

He had been there, of course, that day so long ago that it blended into the long-reaching fabric of time. Though he had been rather tipsy off his own wine, he had still been there to welcome the Norse gods. And though he was perhaps not the most observant of gods, anyone could have seen the way Poseidon had become enraptured with you. But who could deny that? You were beautiful and kind, you had even had Hermes vying for your heart back then. But Poseidon had been triumphant, of course he had been. 

And it was… different, between you and Poseidon. Even him, deep in his cups, could note that. You had returned for him, glowed with a love for him that would make Aphrodite and Eros jealous. What you and Poseidon had found with each other, no other gods could boast of that. Even after your banishment, after the separation of the Greek and Norse gods, Poseidon had held onto you. He could tell. 

At first it was because he was sure you two were meeting despite the danger. Though Poseidon had fought the banishment with his entire heart, had raged at Zeus for so long, he had sort of, calmed down after a while. His fighting was not so pronounced, as if he had found some peace somehow. It was only plausible that the two of you had found each other again. But then, millenia later, Poseidon had become stony-faced once more. He stayed secluded to the sea, only returning to Olympus for the most dire of matters, not giving into Zeus, losing any… whimsy he may have once possessed. It became a dark picture. 

So to see Percy Jackson appear now, a son of Poseidon… Well, something didn’t quite add up. Poseidon would not have been disloyal. He would not have strayed. The love he held for you was not so easily swayed. It was simply not possible that Percy had a human mother. Or a mother other than… you. 

Mr. D turned his head to look out at the water and chewed lightly at his lip. He wouldn’t say anything yet. He feared others may have already begun to connect the dots. Because if what he suspected was the truth… then Percy was nothing so simple as a forbidden child… 

“As a forbidden child of the sea god, you are singular amongst demigods. And your father’s only hope to prevent the outbreak of war.” Chiron stood with his back to the windows as he looked down at Percy. Percy still wasn’t quite used to craning his neck back to look up at the centaur. “For months now, Zeus and Poseidon have been locked in a dispute over the master bolt. The symbol of Zeus’s authority. And it has been stolen. Again.” 

“What do you mean, again?” Percy asked, head tilted and face scrunched up in confusion. 

“It was stolen once, a very long time ago,” Chiron sighed, looking out the door behind Percy wistfully.  “But…well, that’s another story for another time.”

“Who stole it?” Percy asked, hoping to keep the conversation on track. He wasn’t sure where this was going. 

“You did.” Mr. D answered, arms hanging at his sides as he nodded toward Percy. 

“What?” Percy frowned, looking between Mr. D and Chiron. How was being claimed by Poseidon not the weirdest thing to happen to him today? 

“Zeus is looking for a thief, sees a forbidden child claimed by his jealous brother… It doesn’t look good for you, kid.” Mr. D gestured to Percy with his hand, shrugging. 

“I didn’t do anything!” 

“Of course you didn’t,” Chiron soothed, looking at Percy with soft eyes. “But, your father needs your help. An ultimatum has been given to him by Zeus, that if he doesn’t return the bolt by the summer solstice in 1 week… there will be war.” Chiron paused, and the gravity of his words began to settle over the room. War. An immortal war… “That is your quest. You must leave immediately.”

“Leave?” Percy looked up at Chiron, the frown on his face deepening. “Leave for where?” 

“Zeus is king on Olympus, and Poseidon has always resented it, but there is a third brother, who has always deeply resented them both.” Chiron shifted a little. 

“It’s Hades,” Percy mused, his mind running through all the old myths Aunt Sally used to tell him. Myths… he couldn’t really call them myths anymore, could he? 

“Yes.” Chiron nodded, threading his fingers together in front of him. 

“The bolt is with Hades. In the Underworld.” Percy voiced slowly, mouth moving stiffly over the words. 

“I know it sounds daunting,” Chiron looked down at him sympathetically, almost ready to gently pat him on the shoulder. “But you won’t be alone. A quest is always undertaken by three.”

“Great. Good luck finding those guys, cause it ain’t gonna be me.” Percy shook his head, holding up his hands and ready to begin backing away. He did not sign up for this. None of this was necessary, at least not for him. 

“Poseidon has claimed you. This is his will.” Chiron said it with such finality, as if it was a given. But Percy wasn’t ready to go down without a fight. 

“Poseidon has ignored me my entire life,” Percy bit out, jaw clenching as anger began to rise up in his chest. 

“You are his son.” Mr. D jabbed his finger at him, as if that answered every possible query. 

“I am Sally Jackson’s son,” Percy shouted, glaring at Mr. D. He wasn’t going to let some random god come in here and claim to be his dad, as if he had ever been there, ever done anything that a father should do… Sally may have called herself his aunt, but he knew what a mother was, what a mother did, and she had always been that for him. 

“Who’s Sally Jackson?” Mr. D frowned, almost yelling. 

“She’s the one who cared enough to raise me, when my parents didn’t. She’s the one who got herself killed so that I could be safe here.” Percy bit his lip, the frustration piling into the backs of his eyes in the form of tears. His hands were shaking and all he wanted was… all he wanted was for Aunt Sally to be there. 

“The fate of the world hangs in the balance. You will accept this quest,” Mr. D told him firmly, eyes widening as he glared right back at Percy. 

“I won’t!”

“Hey everybody!” Grover appeared at the door, an awkward little smile on his face as he quickly hopped into the room. 

“Grover, now is not the time.” Chiron frowned, shaking his head at Grover, but the satyr was not deterred. 

“I’m sorry sir. But I have news,” Grover continued on, looking away from Chiron to Percy, determined.  

“Grover…” Chiron warned, knowing exactly where this was going, and fearing the consequences. 

“Sally Jackson is alive! It looked like she died, but it only looked that way,” Grover exclaimed, not bothered to wait a second longer. He looked at Percy directly, right into his eyes as he shared the news. 

“Grover…” Mr. D warned this time, tone low and eyes angry and exhausted. 

“Your mother was stolen… by Hades. Which means she’s with him now. In the Underworld. It’s where they want you to go too, isn’t it?” He asked quickly, looking between the two teachers and Percy. “If you can find her there, I think you can bring her back…” Grover encouraged, clasping his hands together in front of him. 

Percy looked at Grover, and all he could hear was that Aunt Sally was alive. She was alive. That was all that mattered. Aunt Sally was alive. And he would do anything, anything, to get her back. 

“When do we leave?”

Percy trudged his way up to the top of the BIg House, and pushed open the door to the attic. It creaked, an old, horror movie-style creak. It was dark, almost pitch-black, and the attic was full to the brim with… things. Helmets, mirrors, weird old togas, and even a weird dead scorpion-looking thing in a jar. He looked around at the array of items, and walked slowly through the room. The floorboards creaked and a phantom breeze made the weird hanging cages swing a little. 

He walked to the back of the room, where a grimy circular window let in the faintest wash of light. Suddenly, there was a creaking on the other side of the room, like someone had sat down in an old rocking chair and was now slowly moving back and forth. He turned, heading off in that direction. 

There was another circular window, parallel to the one he had just stood by. This one seemed only slightly cleaner, and beamed light directly down onto… someone. Something. Whatever, in a rocking chair. Percy slowly walked closer, squinting and trying to get a look at the person. They had their hands draped on the armrests of the rocking chair, their head dropped down onto their shoulder as if they had fallen asleep, or had a really bad bout of neck pain. Their hair was long, unkempt, draped over their shoulders and chest. He really hoped she was the oracle he had been told about…

“Hi,” his voice cracked. “I’m Percy. It’s nice to meet you.” She didn’t move. She didn’t even rock back in her chair. Percy glanced down, a little afraid of looking at her too long, and huffed. “I was told a quest isn’t a quest until you’ve said so?” The body did nothing. Nothing. “Which is weird, considering you’re a Halloween decoration.” He sighed out his words, feeling hopeless and a little bit stupid to be speaking to what was clearly some weird stuffed model. 

All of a sudden it began to shift. Her shoulders lifted, bones cracking as she moved and stretched her spine, grabbed harder onto the chair. 

“Oh geez,” his heart began to race. She lifted her head, leaned forward in her chair and stared directly at him. “You seem busy. I’ll come back,” he scrambled, moving back a little before turning away, ready to sprint out of the wretched attic. Who kept an attic like this anyway?! 

But he could hear… something. It was like a garbled whisper, like a sharp icy breath out. Percy turned back around, looking at her, when her mouth began to open, and a noxious green smoke poured out. It was thick and opaque, a dark swampy green. It poured out of her mouth and began to swirl, moving this way and that, as it slowly began to take shape. 

He could vaguely make out a person, a dark shadow of shoulders and a head, when it suddenly cleared into an image of… Smelly Gabe. 

“Come on, really?” Percy sighed out, already annoyed by this stupid oracle business. This was the shape it chose? Seriously? 

“You shall go west and face the god who has turned. And you shall find what was stolen and see it safely returned. The answers to the questions of your life, lay on this journey through grief and strife. Truths to be uncovered are plenty abound, necessary to free a hidden world once found. You shall be betrayed by the one who calls you friend, and fail to save what matters most, in the end.” 

You sat up onto your knees as you watched Percy leave the safety of Camp Half-Blood. You had cried as he took on the quest, sobbed as the kind son of Hermes offered your boy his shoes. Your insides were a flock of birds, constantly flapping their wings and fluttering inside your heart, your stomach. You bounced between joy at seeing your son, at being able to watch him now, to watch him learn the world he came from, and the crushing pain and dread at the thought that you could not protect him from any of it. 

You watched him on the bus, his face falling at the thought that Zeus, that random gods, would want to chase him, to kill him just for being born. That he was no longer safe. You crawled to the image on your knees, sobbing as you reached out. You brushed the image of his cheek with your fingertips, like old humans caressed photographs from their youth. You pressed your face to his, wishing you could wrap your arms around him, press loving kisses to his forehead and tell him that his mother loved him, that his mother never wanted to leave him. 

Then you began to scream as the Fury attacked him. 

It was a curse. Surely it was a curse that Odin had placed on you. To finally be able to see your cherished child, after years of being blind to him, only to watch him experience the most difficult times of his little life. He was so little… Twelve years was nothing, even less than the blink of an eye in your lifetime. But it was still so much time you had missed… so much time… 

And now, now when you were finally able to see him again, to take joy in the fact that he was alive, that he was under your watch once more, you could do nothing to help him. Nothing. You wailed for so long, with so much strength… you wailed until you could no longer wail. 

Outside your prison, Odin listened, his heart shredding itself to pieces at his daughter, his beloved child in so much pain. Pain he put upon her. But it was for your own good. Odin had to be strong. He was the Allfather, he knew what was best for you, even if you could not see it. One day, perhaps if Perseus survived his adventures and learned of his godly origins, Odin could release you so you could reunite with your child. 

He understood your pain now. He felt it as keenly as he could, but he loved you most dearly. You were his child, his most beloved child, and it was his job to protect you in the best way he could, the best way he knew how. Even if it caused you a little pain right now, you would be better off in the future. It was how it was written, he was sure. 

Freya had already tried her best to fight him on this. She had demanded your release, demanded of Odin to stop this madness. He may be the allfather but she was his child, and nothing should cause his child pain. But Freya didn’t know about Perseus, about Zeus and the threat of a war between gods that would destroy Midgard… No, she didn’t know. 

Perhaps he could be kind though, lenient in his imprisonment of you. Allowing Freya to visit you would perhaps soothe you a little, would perhaps calm Freya’s fighting spirit. He too was feeling rather destroyed listening to your pain. Yes, perhaps he could arrange that at least…

You believed you were on the bridge of madness. Or perhaps you had been cursed to lose your godly powers and become human, unstable. The laughs of relief and triumph that bubbled out of you as he cut off the Gorgon’s head, as he used it to turn the Fury to stone. Because how could you laugh in this prison, amongst all the pain? It was pride, clear as fresh water that burst through you, bubbled within your chest and overflowed along your skin. You were proud of your darling Perseus. He was intelligent and resourceful. He was kind and loyal, and all the good things you had always hoped for him to be. He was good. 

And you laughed again as you watched him send the head to Olympus. Laughed and laughed and laughed until your heart ached and you dissolved into tears once more. 

You could see her. Echidna, smirking as she threatened your child. You yelled, screamed, tried with all your might for Percy to hear you, to run. The creature stuffed into that bag, hidden in plain sight, was not to be trifled with. A chimera, young, and hungry. 

You dug your nails into the ground, pressed your face close to watch Perseus, Grover, and Annabeth jump from the train. You watched them, catching your breath as they did theirs. 

He clutched his side, groaning in pain. It felt as though you had run out of tears. You had cried so much for your son that you could cry no more. You reached out, gently caressing his hair, wishing you knew how his beautiful curls actually felt. Those were the curls his father had when he stepped out of the water and allowed himself to be at the whim of the water and the sea air. Those were your curls once too…

You watched the little group stroll through the St. Louis arch, watched Percy collapse, his pallour became blue and sickly. Your pain was renewed. Every time you thought you had felt the worst of it, some new fresh horror was presented to you, and you were right back at the start. 

You watched them douse him with the fountain water but you could only shake your head, fidgeting in agony, pursing your lips and biting on them as you refrained from screaming. He needed the sea, proper, fresh, natural water. The water blessed by his father. 

Instead they took him into the temple. But you knew, you knew that wretched Athena would not help them, not even her own daughter. Her own glory mattered more. She would do nothing to aid them. You were proven right as the chimera ventured easily through the doors, sniffing at the ground as it chased after their scent, the Echidna strolling leisurely behind her abomination. You vowed that you would send her to Tartarus. She would arrive slowly, in pieces that would take eons to be put back together. It would take her eons to return to the world, eons in which she experienced the same agony she had inflicted on your son. 

And then you watched him be brave. Your darling boy, sacrificing himself for his friends. Your cheeks were wet with tears, and you could do nothing but clench your hands into fists and watch him face the creature. He held the sword in his hands like he was meant to, he was a fighter, he was born to be. You watched his eyes set with determination, his jaw clench, even as the poison coursed through his body. You smiled, a tearful, pained smile because your son was a true hero. 

But when he dangled from the monument, his hands desperately gripping at the metal bar, you began to pray to Odin, to Poseidon, you even stooped so low as to beg Zeus. If only some other god, someone who could help your son, save him. But none heard your prayers. They bounced back hollowly against the walls, right into your ears. 

And as he fell from the monument, his hands slipping and his body careening through the air, you screamed. At the top of your lungs. You wailed, hands pressed into the ground. Your power rose within you, a crashing flood rising up from your belly to your chest, spreading through your fingertips. Your eyes began to glow, flickering with blue light as your very being trembled. Your mouth was open, a screech of pain and suffering flooding the room. The walls shook, you could feel the floor trembling beneath you as you watched your son fall to his doom. You overflowed. 

Every god and creature, each one of the Aesir felt your anguish. The world shook, the very branches of Yggdrasil trembled. 

Odin listened in fear, watched as cracks appeared in the boundaries of your prison. You would not be held for long. Your love for your son… it was boundless, endless, and it fed your power like nothing else. You would be held. His only choice… he only had one choice. 

Then suddenly, as you felt the powerful waterfall of relief as his father saved him, as your husband did his duty, you were immobile. You could no longer move. You were sitting on your folded legs, head turned to watch your son’s life play before your eyes, and you could do nothing but watch. It was the same as the day Odin had put you in the prison. You could do nothing. 

The walls had moved in close, you could feel them brush against your arms and legs, as if the prison was fitted to the size of your body with only an inch to spare on each side. And your son’s life filled your eyes, as if you were there with him, hovering near, unable to speak, unable to touch, unable to help, but always there, at his shoulder, watching him. 

You despised Ares. You despised him with every drop of your soul. Every piece of you reviled him. He was a god of war, like you, but he took pleasure in it, enjoyed the death and destruction. You were so far from him. The two purposes in you were constantly fighting, love and war, so often intertwined. People fought wars for love, but love had no place in war. You did not love war, though you patroned it. You fought to end war, you fought the war to reach peace. Perhaps a contradiction in itself. But you did not take pleasure in it. Never once. And you reviled Ares so for enjoying it. 

What you hated more, was that he was in the presence of your son. You did not want Perseus anywhere near him. You did not want the foul presence of Ares to taint the air around your son, let alone for him to speak to your beloved child. He was hateful, vile, the personification of destruction. Your Perseus was everything good and brave. Those things did not go together. 

You watched the sickening god of war laugh as he toyed with the children, twisting their minds this way and that, proffering his joy of an inevitable war. You felt sick to your stomach. 

It was even worse when he tasked them with retrieving his shield, dangling the ease of entering the underworld just under their noses. Of course they would accept the task, it would be stupid to refuse. It was just as bad to accept it though… 

You liked the girl, Annabeth. She was brave, unafraid of standing up to Ares. You respected that. You were glad she was with your boy, she would take good care of him. She was good too. A soft little smile twitched at your lips though your mouth didn’t move. 

It was another torture to watch your son and Annabeth try to work through Hephaestus’ amusement park. It was a sad moment, you had never had any quarrel with Hephaestus. He had kept to his own on Olympus. The most you had seen him interact with anyone was Hestia, she treated him kindly, there was a type of love there, between them, you just weren’t quite sure what it was. And Aphrodite, that jealous creature, she had mistreated him beyond belief. The one time you had seen the two of them interact, she had spoken to him with vile words, cutting him down as if she had not once been bound to him in marriage, as if there was nothing sacred there… It disgusted you. You only held sympathy for the poor god. 

But if anything of his doing caused harm to your son… all sympathy would die, fall into the black pit your heart was slowly becoming. If any of those gods hurt your son, you would personally see to their destruction. 

You watched him narrate the story of the chair to Annabeth, and you beamed with pride. He was intelligent, he knew his immortal history. A pang of sadness hit your chest then. Sally, your dearest friend Sally, was responsible for this, him. She was responsible for raising him, and she did such a wonderful job. She raised a boy with integrity, respect, honour, valour, intelligence, confidence, every possible good thing a boy could be! It was all her. Neither you, nor Poseidon could take any credit for the amazing child he turned out to be. It was all Sally. And now she was trapped, held in the clutches of Hades, for who knows what reason? He had been a friend once, a dear friend among the Greek Gods. Surely he knew about Perseus, knew of his heritage… What reason did he have to keep Sally Jackson and somehow fuel this budding war between his brothers?

You watched him stare at Annabeth with pain in his eyes. You wept as they argued, fighting to be the one to sacrifice themselves. You wanted to reach out, to clutch them both to your chest and hide them from the evils they had faced. You could feel it, the bond the two shared as they looked at each other. They were still children, so small, so young, but they were connected. There was friendship, there was love, the innocent pale love of children. You sobbed as Percy sat on the chair and allowed the gold to creep over his skin. Cried, agonising tears as he smiled, his beautiful blue eyes sparkling, the beautiful blue eyes of his father… soon overtaken by gold. 

You watched Annabeth, dear darling Annabeth, whose heart was filled with care and loyalty, step over the shield they so desperately needed to complete their task. You watched her round the chair, gaze at the gears, using all her knowledge. You watched her struggle with each piece, trying with all her might to twist and turn something, anything. Just one cog. All she needed was to be able to turn one cog and reverse whatever the chair had done. 

You watched on. There was nothing you could do but watch, locked in a prison of your father’s making. You watched as Hephaestus entered the room, watched him as he watched her. As she wept silent tears and ignored his offer to leave, struggling with a machine she could not understand, would never understand. 

Against your wishes your heart sparked a little. The girl wouldn’t leave. She wouldn’t leave Percy. And not only would she not leave, she wouldn’t stand down from Hephaestus either. You would have laughed had you not felt as if you had entered a period of mourning. Annabeth had forever cemented a place in your heart. And perhaps, she had carved out a piece of Hephaestus’ too. If you ever escaped this place, if you were ever free to roam the realms of Yggdrasil once more, you would bestow every possible blessing you could on the child. She saved your son, she stayed loyal and fought to save him. Nothing you could do as a god would ever be payment enough for this… 

You felt such beautiful, innocent, joy when you realised Ares’ plan was to get Percy to Hermes. Your dear friend Hermes, a kind soul you trusted with the entirety of your own. He would help Percy. You knew he would. If he suspected, even for a moment, that Percy was your son, you were sure he would help him. He had cared for you once, graciously kept you company those many eons ago on Olympus. Yes, you knew he would help. He had to. 

And once more you were filled with pride, beautiful, lethal, pride as you watched Percy stand toe to toe with the inimitable god of war. As you watched him put Ares in his place. You smiled in triumph. Your son was just like you, even if it was only in your shared hatred of Ares. 

Your mind was beginning to work on overdrive behind your frozen facade. If Ares was protecting Clarisse this time, it meant Ares must have stolen the bolt the first time. It made sense, he was the first one to accuse you of stealing the bolt. It is far easier to be absolved when you can rest the blame on another. 

But why would he steal it? Why would he steal it just to return it so soon after? What was his agenda? The goal must have been to be rid of you, to destroy the alliance between the Greek and Norse gods. But why? And why steal it again now? What new plan had he cooked? 

The cogs of your mind turned and turned, circling the thoughts but not being able to settle on any answer as you gazed absentmindedly at the children on their journey to the Lotus Casino. 

And when they reached the casino, you could sense something was wrong. It was covered in a haze, something unnatural. There was something wrong with the Casino, and despite all your wishes for the children not to go in, you knew they would. You only hoped they found Hermes quickly. 

When Percy and Annabeth finally lay eyes on him, you beamed. He had chosen a new form since you had seen him last, this one was much more… modern, casual. He still had the same smirk though, the same mischievous glint in his eyes. He was still your same old Hermes. You wanted to reach out and touch him too, to wrap him in a hug and thank him for his friendship from eons ago. Even just a word would do, anything to let him know you were there, to let anyone know you were there….

A stray tear slipped from your eye leaving a ticklish trail down your cheek. 

You watched his face fall at the mention of Luke. Luke… the boy who had helped Percy at camp, who had been so kind to your son. Of course he was a child of Hermes, of course! You wanted to laugh. The world came full circle. His father had once been kind to you, and now he was kind to your son. The Fates loved to weave their threads in such magnificent ways.

If nothing else, maybe for the love of his son, Hermes would help yours. 

You did the only thing you could do, watching Percy speak to the Nereid. They had only just missed each other. Only just. Your Poseidon, your beloved Poseidon had been there, you could have seen him again, laid eyes on him once more… but Percy was too late. He was too late. 

You wanted to scream, but only a small choked sound left your lips. You exhausted yourself trying to fight the stillness, willing your limbs to move, just move! One inch, one twitch was enough. Just something to end this prison sentence. You wanted to disappear, to disintegrate. You wanted the humans to stop believing in you, for Ragnarok to take you into the endless darkness. You did not want to be the statue of a god any longer. 

But all you could do was sit there and watch the Nereid hand your son the pearls to return him safely. All you could do was watch your darling boy continue on this perilous journey. All you could do was… nothing. 

You watched the little gang of friends make their way through the Underworld. You watched them traverse past the souls, millions of people desperate to make their way to the next life. And you watched, with bated breath, as they outran Cerberus. He was a magnificent beast, three headed and humongous. A gorgeous creature. You had heard many tales from Hades, once upon a time… the dog was a loyal companion, if a little, uh, unconventional. The children simply needed to show him some love, he was a gentle beast if you treated him right. 

Annabeth was intelligent though, and you were glad to see her figure it out. Each and every moment she rose higher in your esteem. You could hope for no better companion for Percy than Annabeth. 

Your heart leapt into your throat as the shoes began dragging Grover towards the gaping maw of Tartarus. Your vision of them began to turn hazy. Whatever magic allowed you to see Percy was weaker in the Underworld, even weaker close to Tartarus. Your gaze on them flickered as Percy hauled Grover back up, watching the shoes fall into the pit. 

As Percy slowly unzipped his backpack and pulled the lightning bolt out, you gasped in shock, or at least, in your mind you did. The bolt… why was it in Percy’s bag? But the bag… the bag was not Percy’s. That reviled god of war… he had given the bag to Percy. That hateful creature had possessed the bolt this entire time… 

You cursed that villainous god, that repulsive deity… As soon as you were out of this prison, as soon as you had control of your limbs again, of your power, you would heap innumerable curses on him. You would personally find the Fates and ensure they wrote in only pain. You would go to the ends of Midgard to find ways to ensure the rest of his infinite days were filled with nothing but pain. You would… you would have your revenge. 

He had destroyed your life. He had ruined the peace and love you had found on Olympus, ruined any hope you had of marrying the god you loved and living peacefully with him, having children peacefully with him. And now he was ruining your son’s life. This you could not stand for. This you would not allow. 

You seethed as you watched on, as Percy and Grover considered their next steps. The ice suddenly surrounding your heart thawed a little as they set upon saving Sally. It seemed you would be endlessly proud of your son until the end of days. 

They trekked across the Underworld to Hades’ Palace. You hoped Hades remained as he had once been. He was kind at heart. Despite his title, he was a gentle soul, with a rather dry sense of humour. You, in your limited time with him, had been friends once. You were also quite sure Poseidon favoured him over Zeus (though he did not hold much love for any of his family, and you could particularly understand why when it came to Zeus) and you hoped that would give Percy some sort of sympathetic edge. 

“Hey, fellas. Welcome!” Hades walked over determinedly, arms outstretched in welcome. “Sorry about all the… Oh…” Percy and Grover watched him as he walked over from a distance, staring as he slowly became clearer and clearer. “Anyways, it’s great to meet you. I know who you are, and you know who I am, so we can just skip right past that part. Can I get you anything? Fresh pomegranate juice, a snack?” 

You would have chuckled if you could. Though he seemed a little more…jovial, than he had been before, the dry humour had not been done away with. Oh how you missed him… 

“Actually if…” Grover began, but was quickly interrupted. 

“My aunt.” Percy’s face was set with determination. 

“Boom. Straight to business.” Hades looked Percy up and down then offered him a little smile. “I admire the cut of your jib.” Percy looked on, unimpressed. “Little nautical reference for you,” Hades responded, before nodding his head a few times as his smile slipped away. “I see you.”

“Where is she?” Percy asked quickly, beginning to frown. He was not in the mood for any more godly trickery. He had been through far too much. 

“Right. Okey-doke. Let’s get to it. Your aunt’s just over here.” Hades jabbed a thumb over his shoulder, then turned and began to walk in that direction. Percy and Grover glanced at each other, frowning in confusion. No way it could be that easy. 

“You’ve come all this way, don’t be shy,” Hades called back. Percy and Grover were still for a moment more before quickly following after the God of the Underworld. He had already made substantial ground ahead of them. 

They rounded a corner and he led them to a sitting room-type set up. On the side, by a set of brown leather couches, a golden statue stood of… Sally Jackson. She was reaching out, frozen in gold. You felt a certain kinship with her at that moment. 

“Aunt Sally?” Percy looked on incredulously, moving haltingly through the threshold as Hades fiddled with a blue throw. “What did you do to her?” Percy asked, accusation heavy in his tone. Hades dropped the folded blanket onto one of the couches and turned to Percy. 

“Uh,” he scoffed, “saved her life?” He gestured at the statue, as if it was not obvious enough already what he had done. “You know, typically, getting crushed by a Minotaur is a terminal diagnosis.” 

Percy stared at the statue, at the way her arm was still reaching out, telling him to run. His Aunt Sally, the closest thing to a mother he had ever had… 

“I snagged her for ya, just in the “ta-da” nick of time,” Hades smiled, “so that you would come see me. And here we are.” The God of the Underworld seemed so… pleased to see them, as if he had been waiting for this moment. “You give me what you got, and I’m giving you what I got.” 

“I… I can’t give it to you.” Percy didn’t take his eyes off his Aunt Sally, but a heaviness suddenly filled his chest. Of course, Hades would want the bolt in exchange for Aunt Sally. But he couldn’t… he just couldn’t. 

“Ah, see, there’s a quid and a quo here.”

“The bolt doesn’t belong to you.” Hades paused, his eyes flitting away in confusion. “Your plan almost worked. You and Ares managed to steal the bolt, trick me into bringing it right down and giving it to you. But it’s wrong, and I won’t do it. So all I can do is ask you to do the right thing, too. Please… let my aunt go.” 

Hades was silent for a moment, watching Percy, before he shook his head and frowned in confusion. 

“Huh?” He looked completely lost. 

“What?” Percy asked in return, now feeling confused at the god’s confusion. 

“Who… who tricked Ares into doing what?” Hades asked, squinting his eyes a little more. 

“You’re in cahoots with Ares, to secure the bolt,” Grover supplied, looking at Hades with a sort of ‘duh’ expression. 

“I’m not in cahoots with Ares,” Hades replied, “I seldom ‘cahoot’. The bolt is my brothers’ drama, I don’t want any part of it.�� Hades fluttered his hand in the air, as if physically brushing away the idea that he would be interested in any of that. 

“You don’t want it?” Percy asked, frowning as he stared at Hades. 

“No.”

“Then what do you want?” Percy asked, holding his hands up a little. Hades looked between the two boys as if there were two village idiots standing before him. 

“My helm!” He exclaimed. 

“Your what?” Percy asked, frowning once more. 

“My Helm of Darkness. It went missing just days before someone,” he pointed at Percy, “used it to turn invisible and steal the bolt. I’d like it back now, please, and then you get your aunt back.” He gestured with both his hands from the statue to Percy, then stood there, waiting for them to hand back what was rightfully his. 

“You really don’t want the bolt?” Percy asked, leaning forward a little as if he couldn’t quite believe the conversation he was having. 

“Why would I want that?” Hades asked, sighing exasperatedly. 

“To start a war between your brothers,” Grover supplied, shrugging his shoulders.

“Why would I want that?” Hades repeated, staring at Grover.

“Jealousy!” Grover replied, glancing away as if he couldn’t believe he had to explain this to the person that was surely responsible. 

“I don’t know if you noticed,” Hades began sarcastically, “but it’s all candy canes and rainbows down here. I’m managing just fine.” Thunder rumbled somewhere in the distance. “I don’t really do jealous.” 

Percy began to think, staring at a spot on the floor as his mind slowly began to turn. “My brothers, on the other hand, have the market cornered on jealous.” Hades huffed. “Family drama is why I don’t go up there anymore. These grudges, they go on forever. Super unhealthy. Someone stole Zeus’s bolt, it wasn’t me, it must have been somebody who was…”

“Kronos,” Percy burst out. Hades twitched his head forward, fixing his eyes on Percy. 

“Excuse me?” 

“He’s got the longest grudge of them all. Zeus took Kronos’s throne. Who else has a bigger reason to weaken Zeus and take his throne back?” Percy told them, feeling the wheels in his brain begin to speed. Hades nodded his head a little, but sighed, glancing away from Percy. 

“Kronos is in a million pieces at the bottom of…”

“Tartarus,” Percy interjected, “where something just tried to pull us into it the moment the bolt appeared in our bag.” Hades glanced the boy up and down. “Tartarus…” Percy repeated, thinking aloud. “Where I’ve been hearing a voice from in my dreams, telling me it needs my help to take down Olympus.” Percy walked closer to Hades, but the God of the Underworld simply stayed quiet, listening to the boy with an unbothered (if slightly exasperated) expression. “I assumed that was you, but that voice I heard… that definitely did not sound like you.”

Hades took a deep breath and sighed, blinking slowly as he looked away from the boys. He shifted a little, looked this way and that, before returning his gaze to the pair with his eyes set. 

“Ask me for sanctuary.” He said it so simply. 

“What?”

“If Kronos is somehow planning to emerge from his exile, and you were his first call… you’re not safe. Ask me, and I’ll protect you. You and your aunt,” Hades glanced back at Sally as he spoke. “And the goat,” he gestured to Grover carelessly with his hand. “I'll throw him in, on the house.” You would have kissed Hades for the offer. He would protect your son. He would do it. It was all you could hope for. But… but it would not be free. And knowing Percy over the time of your imprisonment… you knew he would not take it. 

“This works out nice for you as it turns out. All it’ll cost you is the bolt,” Hades offered nonchalantly, shrugging his shoulders as if it was the simplest of bargains. 

“I thought you didn’t want the bolt?” Grover asked quickly. 

“I don’t want the bolt. Now, I need the bolt. If war with Kronos is coming, I’d like to be prepared,” Hades told them. “Not messing around here, kid. This only ends one way. The only question is how difficult you make it.” Hades shifted on his feet, moving a little closer to Percy. 

Percy looked away, settling his gaze on Sally. He ran his eyes over the smooth gold, the grooves of her hair and clothes, then subtly shook his head. 

“No.” Hades had had enough. He stepped forward. 

“Give me the bag.” He began reaching out for it but Percy pulled the pearl the Nereid had given him out of his pocket and held it up threateningly in the air. “Nice pearl,” Hades bit out sarcastically, glancing between it and the boy. 

“I accept your offer,” Percy spoke quickly. 

“Great!” Hades shook his head, confused why the boy was still threatening to disappear.

“Your first offer. We’re gonna go get your helm. And when I get back, you’re gonna let my aunt go.”

“Okay. Hang on, kid,” Hades moved forward once more, holding out his hands. 

“Grover, now!” Percy yelled, and watched Grover throw the pearl at his feet and fall into a flash of light. 

“WAIT!” Hades yelled, holding his hands up in surrender. Percy paused, his hand almost moving down to smash the pearl at his feet. “Wait, wait, just a minute.” After they took a few deep breaths each, Hades looked at Percy with a hint of more gentleness than before. “How’s your mother?” Percy stood up a little straighter in shock. 

“My mother?” He frowned, bringing the hand with the pearl down a little.

“Yeah, your mother, kid. How’s she doing? I haven’t- I haven’t seen her in… actual eons. I’ve had no news about that side of the world so like, yeah, how’s she doing?” 

“You… you know my mother?” Percy asked softly, clenching the pearl a little tighter in his hand as he gazed at Hades. 

“Uh, yeah, kid, you’re my nephew, technically speaking, so I did know your mother, yes. How is she? I would’ve thought she would be all over you… I’m a bit surprised actually, seeing you do all this demigod work on your own…” Hades frowned and stared at Percy a little hard. “Why are you disguised as a demigod? I guess that would make it easier to steal the bolt, but your mother never seemed like the type to exact revenge… and she would never let you do this alone…” Hades began to mumble in thought, his frown deepening as his gaze on Percy became unfocused. 

“Uh, yeah, I have no idea what you’re talking about. I don’t know how my mother is doing, I dont… I don’t even know who she is. My Aunt Sally raised me,” and he pointed at the statue behind Hades, raising his eyebrows as he gave the god an odd look. Hades stared at him, and the two stood still for a minute. 

“What… what do you actually know about your parents, kid?” Hades asked, eyebrows furrowing. 

“Not a lot,” Percy shrugged, “I know Poseidon’s my dad now, I guess. But Aunt Sally never really told me anything about my mom except that she loved me and couldn’t raise me. Funny, loving me then abandoning me,” he mumbled sarcastically, huffing as he returned his gaze to Hades. “Why?” The God of the Underworld sighed and pressed a hand to his forehead, rubbing at his brow before standing up straighter again and gesturing to the couches. 

“Have a seat, kid, this is going to be a long story.”

“No way, I’m not sitting down,” and Percy raised the pearl threateningly again. 

“Ok! Ok! Don’t sit, I don’t care, I’m gonna sit down, though,” and Hades moved to the couch and sat down facing Percy. “Can’t imagine how this duty has fallen to me,” Hades grumbled. Percy watched him carefully, wondering where in the world this was going. 

“A long time ago, like before the modern world long ago- wait, hold on a minute, how much do you know about Norse mythology?” “Norse mythology? I don’t know, not a lot. They have the guy Odin, and Thor and that tree of worlds or something.”

“Oh Olympus, ok, well, a long time ago, the Norse and Greek gods were at war for the world. There was fighting all over, random things, random places, but finally, Zeus and Odin met and created a peace treaty. It was far better for both worlds to interact peacefully, to give benefit to each other rather than destroy the world they were both inhabiting. As a gesture of goodwill, one of the few Zeus has ever bothered with by the way, he invited the Norse gods to Olympus. All of us were forced to attend, even yours truly, and your father too-”

“Is this story going somewhere? I have things to go do,” Percy hurried, but the god of the underworld just scoffed and glared at him. 

“Can you just let me finish? I’m helping you!” 

“Ok, ok, fine, sorry, keep going,” Percy raised his hands in surrender and quietened. 

“Odin had a bunch of kids, but his youngest was a daughter. She was his most precious child, a goddess of love and war. Her name was Y/n.” Hades sighed wistfully as he thought of you, lovely and sweet you entering the throne room in Grecian garb, a hopeful and innocent little smile on your face, gazing in wonder at this new world that had been unlocked for you. You were such a curious little goddess. “And Poseidon instantly fell in love with her.” 

Percy raised his eyebrows, his limbs loosening as he became enraptured in the story. 

“Poseidon was… mad for her. Any past flings with Nereids or humans were completely forgotten at the sight of her. He was enamoured. Even after the Norse gods left that day, he would go meet with her somewhere in the world. He spent so much of his time with her… They had a bond like no other. A love like no other. If it was even a fraction of the love between Persephone and I… well, you get the gist. They were crazy about each other. 

“One day, Hermes had invited her back to watch a performance by the muses. She and Hermes had become friends, but between you and me, I think he was kind of into her. Anyway, she was on Mount Olympus when Zeus’s lightning bolt was stolen. Ares accused her of stealing the bolt, and she was banished and thrown off the mountain.”

“Wait. Are you saying… are you saying my mother stole the lightning bolt?!” 

“Well, that’s what Zeus claimed. Personally, not a fan of that theory. It was too convenient, and having known her, she would never bother with something like that. She had no interest in petty squabbles for power.

Anyway, Zeus threw her off Olympus and threatened to attack the Norse gods with all his power if the lightning bolt wasn’t returned to him. It was like, almost two days later or something that Hermes found the bolt. Back then Zeus was a little careless with his power, it was highly possible he probably just forgot the bolt somewhere on one of his little trips down from Olympus. But the damage was done. All peace had been broken and war was threatened once more. In the nick of time, Odin came to Zeus and brokered another peace, but this time both kings vowed there would never be contact between either of their worlds ever again. The Aesir would stay where they were, the gods in Olympus, and everyone would be better off for it.

But of course, Poseidon was raging. He was barred from seeing his one true love. He raged, he almost started a war with Zeus over it. He even isolated himself to the seas for a long time, refused to come up to Olympus, even when Zeus ordered him to. Slowly, as time passed though, he mellowed out a little, started coming back to Olympus. It wasn’t like him, to just let go of his anger, even if it was after a long time. I just assumed he found a way to see Y/n again, broke the rules here and there to spend time with her. Who wouldn’t? 

And then, about twelve years ago, it was like his anger had returned somewhat. He withdrew a little, came up to Olympus only when he had to, but mostly stuck to the seas. Funny how that coincides with the time you came into existence, isn’t it?” Hades raised an eyebrow, looking at Percy like he was waiting for him to get the message. 

“It makes sense that you’re her son. Poseidon hasn’t ever taken another lover since the banishment. No secret little forbidden children, nothing. It would make a lot of sense then, that she would be your mother, Percy. And it would make a lot of sense then, why they hid you as a demigod.”

“What… wait, do you mean I’m… not a demigod?” Percy swallowed, staring at Hades with a frown. 

“Do I need to say it slowly? Your mother is a goddess. Your father is a god. What would that make you?” Hades asked, exasperated as he gestured at Percy. 

“Are.. are you saying that I’m a god?!” Percy exclaimed, pointing at himself. 

“Bingo! Finally! Yes, Percy, you’re a god.”

Taglist: @thicficbich1, @pasta-warlord, @turtleshavesoulmates, @wolfgirl294, @stanswifties, @mrsinclaire, @homanoid, @bellamysnatblida, @mooncleaver  @butterfly-skinnylegend @marvellover98, @kakorrhaphiphobia

[cowinatrenchcoat]

Sometimes I wonder at VM being so mad at the Raven Queen. She arguably did them a massive kindness. She accepted Vax's deal the first time to spare his sister, not by killing him, but by making him her champion. Then she accepted his next deal and returned him as a revenent without even clearly understanding why she should (she didn't really know about Vecna but Liam assumed she did so it was big missed high five of a conversation (I think this was when he turned revanent but not sure)).

That's not to say she did it just to be generous. Absolutely not. Her and Vax made deals. She upheld her end, and he has no issue upholding his end because he knows both him and Vex would be dead by now otherwise.

So I was always a bit baffled at VM's hatred of the Raven Queen.

But then I remembered, arguably, their most formative moment as a group was the Whitestone arc. Where they saved Percy from a bird-themed, masked entity that he'd made a deal with. They broke his deal, went against his own will at times, kept him, and it was all good and right.

Then they killed a would-be god. A god with powerful undead followers. A god who moved in shadows and secrets. A god who had tried to kill them and take them from each other. And that was all good and right too.

But now there's a god that reminds them of both Orthax and Vecna. A god who made Vax into an undead follower. A god who won't just let him come back without a contract, a debt. They're powerful, they could fight her. They've been put up against necromancers, dragons, an almost god...surely they could manage the next step up. Together. Like always.

But then Vax...says not to? Says it's ok? Accepts it? Vox Machina are the death denial champions. They haven't accepted death yet for any of them. Why would Vax, why would *now* be different? Surely it's like Percy and they should save him even against his will, right? Surely, even now, he's in this liminal space and could still come back if they just try hard enough.

Sometimes I wonder how different their tone would be on letting him go if any of the others had permanently died. If Vex had failed her persuasion check and Talisen ultimately let Percy die. If they'd rolled just a bit lower on any resurrection and had to actually accept death before.

But with how things went, it's really no wonder they can't move past the denial stage. They were primed to think this was something they could overcome one way or another.

Not to mention the above table aspect. Whether you like this DM choice or not, Matt has made a habit of dangling Vax in front of them. He's thrown down story elements that keep Vax attached to the world; "every day that raven comes to visit," "don't you even dare," it being canon that Vax has stepped in more than once to save Keyleth. He's made it so Liam doesn't even know what he can/should do with Vax.

Campaign 1 gave a beautiful goodbye to Vax. Scanlan's wish bent reality to let Vax "say a few words at his sister's wedding." But...now...is it implied Vax could have come back whenever? Is he in this in-between until Vex dies? Does he even know the parameters here?

So yeah. It's no wonder they're angry. It's no wonder they can't let go. They never had to learn how to let go of each other and he keeps coming back when the plot his god demands.

[11queensupreme11]

I need more Percy in Rekkyo sensen au!!!

Like what are the others thoughts on her?

Does she have her water powers?

Will Adam becomes obsessed with her, that something deep inside of him says that they're meant to be together. That they're perfect for each other. He was made for her? Like something in his souls believes this(the fragile connection it has to Eudorios)?

Does Dory's hornee ass for his mother so strong that it transcends universe.

And what would Percy's reaction to this. This guy may not be her son, but freaking damn look like her son.

so percy's been reverted back to her demigod self (no immortality, no godly strength, etc. she's basically what she's like now in arsenic blues but without the curse of achilles) but her godly self/abilities are pretty much locked away. she doesn't have a soul, but divine essence so her blood's still ichor, she just can't tap into her true self at the moment

(i'm making this shit up cuz i don't wanna talk about the whole soul issue LMAO)

so you know how in the other posts i talked about two different options of how percy would be taken by america? either the other proxy hero of the country she initially belonged to lost or she fought and lost???

so the whole tournament takes some time so i'd like to think that percy just bonds with aiden lmao. maybe cuz he's american like she was, so she can relate to him more. plus, he became a child soldier (i think he was 14 when he joined cuz his powers were discovered) so that's another thing she can relate to (technically everyone there's a child soldier but WHATEVER). aiden's whole thing is that he's pretty much.... empty inside. he's the perfect soldier tho; he kills whoever's he's ordered to kill, protects whoever he's been ordered to, etc etc. and percy realizes that and says something like "that's terrible! you should be able to live your life, make your own choices instead of following orders :( haven't you tried doing what you want?"

which is... well.... THE WORST THING SHE COULD'VE SAID TO HIM LMAO

cuz after he defeats her or the proxy hero of her country, he goes against the president's orders and happily declares "i want percy as my prize :D" and she's just like "huh :D"

😭😭😭

percy babes........ you set yourself up with that 😭😭 "make your own choices! 💖" "take what you want! 💖" well thx to ur encouragement, he did, and he chose YOU and decided to take YOU 💀💀💀💀💀

so percy becomes property of the american government alongside aiden LMAO (in this au, lets say he wins the entire tournament). the president's lowkey panicking cuz this is NOT what he wanted from percy's initial country, but it works out for him in the end cuz like

-- america now has TWO proxy heroes

-- aiden controls the skies/weather and percy controls the seas (well, she has power over a bunch of things too, but the seas are her main thing) which means america now has control over the skies AND the seas 💀💀💀💀

-- percy cares for the environment!!! she will absolutely help make the seas clean and safer for everyone!!!! so that's a huge ecological and economical plus for america!

anyway, yes, percy is completely baffled. bewildered. bamboozled. literally the whole reason she got so attached to aiden in the first place was cuz he looked so much like her baby boy, but with her traumatic childhood of being a child soldier with millions of lives on their shoulders 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

she was okay with the clinginess he started to show back at the tournament. it reminded her of her lil dory, so she thought it was cute 💔 she didn't think he was actually INTO HER asfvhdfbjhasfdv percy you dense lil dummy lmao 😭😭😭

the worst part is that aiden is literally a CELEBRITY too ashufvhf vhe had so many fans when he was introduced in the arena 😭😭😭 so he's definitely famous. i can imagine americans start shipping them together sdiuuhvidfvb tiktok ship edits of them are BOOMING lmao 😭😭😭😭 paparazzi are stalking them everywhere (percy's technically still a prisoner, so aiden's in charge of watching over her 💀), she keeps getting invited for talk shows, interviews, photoshoots??? etc.

ALSO YOU KNOW WHAT I JUST REALIZED. proxy heroes are apparently super rare cuz so far, every country just has one. but now america has two. a boy and a girl. (do you see where i'm getting with this?) in the manga, the us president and the science department were already talking about making copies of super soldiers like aiden, but now they got something even better: a girl proxy hero and a boy proxy hero. what if they had them BREED? 😭😭😭

and that's when percy fucking LOSES IT

percy finding out the american government want her to make super babies with the idiot who took her as a spoil of war who also looks a lot like her youngest son:

[deaddee-anime-brownfanlady]

When it comes to the entire grown adults refusing to read anything else besides YA novels issue /discourse.

As someone who've been a bookworm and has loved reading since I was a little kid and still continues to love and enjoy reading,

I personally feel that if the only thing you are ever reading or consuming is literature written for those in the 7th grade or strongly believes that the highest from of literature is either Harry Potter or the Percy Jackson series when you're nearing in your late 20s to 30s then you are severely limiting yourself as an adult and have showcased that you haven't read many books at all.

Yes, sure, there are books that I still enjoy and love from my adolescence and teenage years that I would love to reread or go back into sometimes due to my nostalgic attachment to said books I grew up with, But to only just continuously read the YA genre and nothing more. Especially as you continue to get much older and experience more things as a grown-adult, I deeply want the books I'm reading to reflect that growth and deal with mature adult problems and characters that aren't Fucking high-schoolers or dealing with middle schoolers preteen drama crap.

To only exclusively just read or consume literature or media that's technically for a younger demographic, not to say that you can't still enjoy said pieces of media, but to just only read YA books and not even willing to try to branch out more when it comes to expanding your literacy pallet.

It's feels like you're purposely keeping yourself in a constant state of arrested development.

Also, anyone who dares say that adult literature is all nothing but explicit Exotica truly shows just how ignorant they are when it comes to adult fiction and that they haven't read much of it.

I've read some adult novels that dealt with different aspects of sexuality or sometimes one's with sexual /romantic and intimate scenes with adult characters that are either married or use to be married or in a present relationship or just going about their lives dealing with the many different good and shitty elements of adult life.

Honestly, the older one becomes, doesn't it get tiring to be still reading books meant for 6th or 7th graders?

Like as a grown-ass adult wouldn’t you want to read stories dealing with actual adult characters that you can resonate with on some level, adult characters dealing with somewhat similar struggles and the sometimes bullshit fuckery that’s comes with adulthood and life in general as you get older. Especially as you reach closer towards middle-aged...

I just think you're doing yourself a massive disservice when it comes to your growth if all you read and consume is the YA genre only.

You seriously got more to adult literature in general than whatever you were forced to read in high school. Like, would it kill you to challenge yourself more as you continue to age.

[twinsarekeepers]

I’m curious as to your honest thoughts on the show? Like I love pjo and all but the show was a bit of a let down writing wise. There’s always the point of “it’s an adaptation, not a carbon copy” like yes but this new writing isn’t exemplary better than the book just because it’s rewritten by the author himself

I think the show is well-written not because Rick is attached to it, but because I actually like the way the writers are approaching adapting the source material. I have a lot of issues with the original books in terms of writing quality because frankly speaking, I don’t think Rick is a very good writer. He has a lot of interesting things in those books that he never explores or drops within the first two and this fandom gives him and the books too much credit imo.

This is why I’m not very moved when people try to ascribe meaning to a certain scene or choice he made in the books to get mad at the show for changing. As an example, one of the main things people were upset about was the kids “knowing everything” in the show when they were getting tricked left and right in the book. Many posts were dedicated to how the book version is superior because it illustrates how they’re just twelve years old kids so of course they’ll make mistakes and get tricked by monsters.

That’s a perfectly fine interpretation but I was twelve years old when I first read tlt and I was able to anticipate almost every single trap, despite being pretty gullible and naive at that age. My knowledge of Greek mythology consisted of Disney’s Hercules, maybe two Google searches, and my second grade teacher’s reading of the kid friendly version of the Odyssey. No where near the level of Percy who’d been learning for a whole year in an established class on the topic with Chiron or Grover who was literally a satry born into the world or Annabeth, who spent the majority of her life dedicated to studying specifically quests and Greek mythology and was also on the run fighting monsters for a good portion of her childhood. Like twelve year olds can be dumb but those three stumbling into every trap was asking me to suspend my disbelief too far. I remember being upset that they weren’t able to figure it out because it was obvious that Rick wasn’t making that choice to show any personality flaws or character dynamics (because he would’ve had them learn and grow but they never did they just kept being not smart), he just wasn’t able to figure out a way for them to fall into those traps organically so he had to dumb them down.

I think the show was able to get across the characters’ childishness without compromising their established backstories. Yes, Annabeth knew it was Medusa right away because that makes sense for a kid who has experience with running into monsters. But, she still acted very much like a child in her interactions with her (and throughout the episode and season). She lashed out and called her a liar and wouldn’t listen to her side of the story because it painted her mother in a bad light. That’s peak twelve year old behavior.

Yes, Percy figured out Kronos was behind everything, but it makes sense because Percy knows Greek mythology and where Kronos resides. He still very much acts like a child when he asks Hades to give him back his mom in exchange for nothing because it’s the right thing to do.

There are dozens of examples like this for a lot of complaints of the show. And this is not me saying that the show is perfect: every single show has flaws. For me, I wasn’t the biggest fan of the dialogue or the exposition dumping. It didn’t hinder my enjoyment though because I don’t think it was egregious (and wrt the exposition dumping, I expected it because the book did it and there’s really no way to “show not tell” Greek myths). I also didn’t like that we didn’t get to really see the huge clashes between Zeus and Poseidon in the weather (we got references to it through news reports but I would’ve liked something more). I was able to look past it because I really liked the storytelling and the themes the show was pulling out of the original source material.

I loved Medusa-Sally parallels and Medusa-Annabeth parallels. I loved the juxtaposition of Pan’s quest to manifest density. I loved Percy and Annabeth’s opposite trajectory in respect to their relationships with their godly parents. I loved exploring Sally’s choice to send Percy to school instead of camp. I loved explicitly coding Annabeth as autistic. I loved Luke’s backstory being brought earlier into the story. I loved the deadline passing and Poseidon surrendering to save Percy. I loved Persues-Andromeda and percabeth parallels. I loved fleshing Grover out. I loved glory vs home seeking being the central theme of the show.

And lastly, I was able to understand that with a limited number of episodes and run time (due to the nature of child labor laws!), they did the best they could and I feel like they did a pretty good job for a first season.

These are not ALL of my thoughts on the show because that would be a very long post. I gave one detailed example of why I think the show succeeded in something the fandom tries to ascribe the books and it was like three paragraphs lol. Anyway this is not the post to try and convince me that the show is bad for whatever reason you have cooked up. I’m not going to change my mind and I doubt I’ll change yours. Here’s to a season 2 that builds on a solid season 1!

[aryxchse]

Can you do a request with Jason Grace and Reader where at the beginning is angst and the end is fluff, because Jason says to reader that he doesn’t want a relationship but later he realize that he was just scared and really loves reader, more than anything would be how Jason tries to get back reader

valentine. | jason grace x fem! reader

a / n ; i changed the concept a bit and added piper, hope you like it 🫶🏻 because once again, i didn't. and the end is kinda rushed m sorry :<<

summary ; jason has abandonment issues after piper and he thinks he doesn't ready for another relationship.

warnings ; cursing, jason wanting to kill himself and die (dramatically), female reader, piper being a matchmaker ex and kind of angst i guess? idk if i could did it :< NOT PROOF READED!!

you didn't know why jason was running away everytime he saw you.

you liked jason, hell, loved even. from the moment you met him you felt like you had a connection with him, but it was obvious that he didn't felt the same.

because everytime you wanted to create an atmosphere, he was gone.

and today was no different, but you were sick of it.

"yeah, you're good. see you later," jason tried to push you away in the middle of your sword practice. and you rolled your eyes.

"jason come on, i'm trying to practice here!" you shouted, trying to make him stop. and you did, he turned to you once again.

"but.. you're good?" he said, hands already gripping the hem of his shirt. you sighed and leaved your sword on the ground, walking to him.

"jason is something wrong?" you finally asked. "why are you always running away from me?"

because i'm in love, jason wanted to say.

"what- i- i don't runaway from you, wh-why would you think like that?" he said instead. you had this sad expression on your face that made jason's heart ache. he was the reason for that face and he hated himself for that. but he couldn't help it, the voices in his head doesn't stop.

"jason, come on." you said, knowing there's an understanding between you two. "we both know you're avoiding me."

jason sighed, now his full body turning to you. "i can see that you have a crush on me, and i don't want to break your heart because.." man, he wished some lighting struck his heart right now, rather than seeing your sad face.

"i'm not really ready to be in a relationship and, you know, me and piper just broke up.." the 'just' was five months ago but he still couldn't pull himself together. not because he was still in love with piper, no, he was afraid of he would get attached and left behind again.

and he was definetly addicted to you at this point.

jason saw the expression on your face and wanted to die. "i'm sorry y/n." he said, looking down.

"it's okay jase," you said, making him look at you again. you had a broke smile on your face, but your eyes was vomiting pain. "i understand. can we at least be friends?"

"no." jason said too bluntly. but he didn't actually mean to. "if i stay to close to you i won't be able to stop myself so, it's better we stay away from eachother."

okay, this was supposed to hurt you, but you felt your cheeks get red with this confession. jason was in love with you, but he was just afraid. "i understand." you whispered.

"well, see you later... i guess." before he could say anything, you walked away to find percy. he could teach you some fancy moves right? you wiped your tears away and sniffled, taking deep breaths.

jason wanted to drown himself. but instead, he walked away from the sword practice area with the biggest broken heart.

☁️

two months past after jason's harsh rejection and you seemed to move on. not really loving someone after him, but focusing on your life instead.

jason, on the other hand, was a mess. he wasn't eating properly, he couldn't think straight and because of this situation, he didn't joined the capture the flag games. he wanted to be a little ball inside of his blanket and never come out until you drag him out of it.

he needed you. he wanted your comfort, you taking care of him and your love. he was fine before the official rejection, running away and not saying anything. but facing the truth and losing you forever was a harsh thing that hit his face when he didn't expected.

he heard a knock on the door, but doesn't answered. instead, the person just barged in.

"jason, that's it." piper said, throwing away the blanket just to see he was crying.

"i don't deserve breathing." he said dramatically and piper rolled her eyes. "dude! pull yourself together! y/n got a date with this hot ares boy and you have to get her back!"

jason never sit straight so fast in his life. "what?" he said, eyes wide. piper sighed. "i know i should make it up sooner but i thought you'd get better quickly! before she had a fucking date!" she yelled.

jason held his head between his palms, thinking about the every choice he made. "i.. i can't do anything about it pipes."

piper hit his arm. "what?" she yelled again. jason didn't flinch, instead he had a tired look on his face. "it would be toxic if i wanted her back when she just moved on."

"jason, i swear to your dad i'm going to kill you if you don't get her back." she said, scaringly quiet. "she doesn't love him, she'll use him to distract herself for not to think about you. i know it, aphrodite powers remember?" she said, crossing her arms.

jason's eyes suddenly filled with motivation. "well, i don't plan on losing her any sooner." he said, stooding up with his flying abilities. "thanks pipes, i'm gonna get back what's belong to me."

piper watched him fly awag from his cabin with the biggest grin on her face.

☁️

"y/n!" a voice called. disgustingly familiar. the one that made your stomach fill with butterflies like nothing happened and the one who always managed to make you excited.

you stopped and turned to him. "yeah, jason?"

jason rushed to you while he was panting, he rested his hands on his knees and tried to catch his breath for a bit. "don't." he managed to say.

"what?" you asked, confusion on your face. jason finally fixed his standing and looked deep in your eyes. "don't go on a date with that ares guy, please."

your eyebrows furrowed. "what-"

"i'm an idiot. hell, an asshole even. i don't deserve your forgiveness, nor your love. i know." he was talking in a full speed that you couldn't do anything but listen.

"but please, i beg you, give me another chance. i wouldn't know what to do with myself if i lost you officially. please, don't date him." jason was holding your shoulders like his life was depending on it, and he had this desperate look on his face.

your heart ached, and your expression softened. "jason, what date?" you finally asked.

"what?" jason asked you, confusion taking over his face now.

"what date? i don't have a date with an ares boy?" you explained, holding his hands. jason closed his eyes and sighed, resting his forehead on your shoulder. "piper."

you didn't understand for a few minutes, but after that, you started laughing. hard. "she told you that i have a date and you believed it?"

"i had a fucking panic attack, y/n." he said into your shoulder, and you laughed more. "if i knew you've comed to me this fast, i would ask her to do it sooner." you said between your giggles.

"shut up," he murmured to your neck, pulling you in by your waist. "i'm so sorry. i love you, i did back then too. but i was too afraid.."

"it's okay jason, i'm glad you're ready now." you said softly, kissing his forehead.

"i see you took back what belongs to you, jase!" piper called from afar and jason wanted to die.

"you said that?" you said and started laughing, hard that you were crying now.

"you both are going to be the death of me." jason murmured, a small smile on his face and light in his eyes once again.

i've rejected affection,

for years and years.

now i have it, and damn it,

it's kind of weird.

[wowyoulikeflowers]

headcanons pt. 2:

a healthy mix of solangelo and co.

nico's love language is gift giving and acts of service; on the contrary, will's love language is words of affirmation and quality time. nico cries the first time will surprises him with a night of self care for the two of them, and will keeps every love letter nico writes, reading them every night before bed. neither mind physical touch, but will has sensory issues from his healing powers so sometimes touch is too much, and nico just never thinks about it, content to hang around will.

apollo isn't the best parent, but that isn't from a lack of love or trying. he's always done his best to claim his children as soon as he possibly can, and he always answers prayers and requests (so long as they're feasible for him to do without his father throwing a fit...and even then, he sometimes answers anyways). he loves his children the best he can, and though sometimes he despises being god of the sun for how it places him in his father's domain, it affords him the opportunity to watch over his children whenever they're outside during the day.

I love the idea that apollo and hades are close. or, maybe not close, but they don't hate each other and that's telling for the gods. apollo wouldn't ever talk badly about his uncle, not in any way that couldn't obviously be perceived as teasing/joking, and hades would never bring himself to outright ignore his nephew. idk, maybe I'm too attached to the story [eclipse by tsarinatorment] on ao3, but them just caring about each other in the only ways they're able to makes my chest warm.

apollo is the type of guy to think himself better than you, but not maliciously. like, he'll outright say he's the best, but he won't put others down in order to do it, he just loves himself. and if he ever has talked in a rude way, he's quick to learn from his mistakes and not do it again.

nico doesn't swear, hardly ever--and if he does, it's in italian so only chiara can understand him. will, however, swears all the fucking time. he tones it down around children when he's able, but around austin, kayla, lou ellen, cecil, nico, and the seven? hazel is flustered and percy, annabeth, and leo are impressed and taking notes.

when nico is first introduced to the concept of the gender spectrum, he gets so excited. not because he's having a gender epiphany (I love trans nico works, don't get me wrong, they're some of my favorites as a trans man, but I don't personally hc him as trans) but because he finds the whole thing fascinating. he learns about all the different sexualities and gender expressions and identities and gets all flappy handed when he learns something new. he's 100% cis, but it's simply so cool to him. Will finds this adorable and any non-cisgendered campers idolize him for how accepting he is of them.

speaking of campers idolizing nico (i mentioned this a little in my first hc post, but i wanted to expand upon it), he 100% has a gaggle of under-twelves that follow him around like a mother duck and her ducklings. they love him so much, and he's so soft with them. they make him friendship bracelets and cards and he wears them constantly and has all of the cards carefully saved in a binder so they're protected from damage. percy gets 'jealous' over this whenever he visits and it always leads to a friendly wrestling match that's inevitably ended by the kids jumping on them to join in.

is it canon that hades, once nico dies, will make his son his godly advisor? if it isn't, it should be--and with will as the immortal consort, yes <3. nico forever sassing his father and will forever sassing nico.

[pumpkinbxtch]

— 𝗽𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗵𝗼𝗯𝗶𝗮?｡⁠:ﾟ headcanons

are the HoO boys afraid of falling in love with you? (ft. apollo)

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☆ radiostar is playing… warrior by aurora!

who's here: percy jackson, leo valdez, frank zhang, jason grace & apollo. warnings: none, philophobia is the fear of falling in love. a/n: This is super based on their profiles according to the books, because well, let's talk honestly to others, I decided to do this, it's interesting.

percy jackson;

Percy isn’t afraid of loving or being loved. His mom raised him with a lot of affection. But, he does get scared of not being loved back or not being good enough for you. This is because of his obvious self-esteem issues. Doubting love is the only thing that makes him rethink and overthink things. So, sometimes you have to talk to him when you see he's down about something he doesn’t want to tell you. But he never hesitated when he fell for you and wanted you to know as soon as he realized it.

leo valdez;

Yes. The answer is yes, he is scared of falling in love. But he doesn’t realize it until he’s totally in love with you, and it’s too late for those feelings to stop growing. Leo isn’t fully aware of it because he likes having girls around, but it never goes beyond the surface until it did with you. He realized that imagining a future with someone isn’t something to take lightly. Is there something he can’t fix with his magical pockets?

Leo spent most of his life running away and being from nowhere, so he ends up with an avoidant attachment style. He’s working on this now to open up more with you because at the beginning of the relationship, it seemed like he was running away from you. In reality, he’s full of love to give and wants to receive it too.

frank zhang;

He’s never scared of falling in love or feeling something as genuine as that. He’s a son of Mars, who’s associated with passion, so Frank has never had to face love head-on. The only problem might be feeling like he’s too much or too annoying because he would die for you and kill an entire nation to be with you. Frank is careful when he realizes he likes you or is falling in love because he knows some things just can’t be, but he never hides his feelings. He’ll tell you he loves you and respects if it’s not mutual. He almost explodes with happiness knowing it’s mutual.

jason grace;

Jason isn’t great at showing his feelings. It constantly overwhelms him and keeps him up at night, trying to solve it like a math equation when it’s the complete opposite. He’s supposed to be the voice of reason, or at least that’s what he’s thought all this time. But when you get close to him, his gears go crazy, spark, and break down. Is he scared of falling in love? Not exactly, but he’s afraid of not expressing it properly because he knows how important communication is. After getting to know you better, he realizes it’s better to go with the flow, which isn’t easy for him, but he finally has an answer. He was born to love and wants to be loved.

apollo;

Yes, yes, yes, yes. All his exes ended up as plants or dead. How could he not develop a fear related to love after that keeps happening? So it’s a nightmare when you come into his life because, unfortunately for him, he’s a hopeless romantic. There’s nothing more ironic than that. He tries to avoid it at all costs, but in the blink of an eye, he’s holding you tight and kissing you with a goofy expression on his face. Even though he’s so scared, his longing to find the one outweighs it...

[anotheroceanid]

Does Zeus want to smite Percy and her kids? Yes, does he prefer the fact that Apollo is the son that got her pregnant because that way he'll never have to sit through Hera setting up his mom lookalike with his dad lookalike? Also yes, he'd never emotionally recover if they actually married and had a child that looked like Zeus, so Apollo really came through with this one

Zeus and Apollo

No, because like, FOR REAL! He already has to deal with way to much unpacked feelings toward the fact that Poseidon somehow got himself a mini Rhea while he’s stuck with the Kronos’ clone motherfucker (yeah, yeah, his son, whatever). NOW the mini Rhea had BABIES. Which didn’t improve his mommy issues. Imagine if Jason was out there being a NICE father to those kids? Nope. He’d go crazy.

Now he (and Zeus don’t believe he’s saying that) needs to get Apollo and Percy married, because Hera is goddess of marriage and not of fruitful Long Term, Long Distance, High Commitment, Casual Attachments. If he doesn’t act quick enough, she might still try something between that boy and Rhe- I mean, Percy.

[justaneedle]

Hot take about percabeth AND anti percabeth.

First of all, I don't like percabeth.

I like an arts, I'm mostly neutral about the idea of ​​percabeth in pjo (5 books). Fanfiction about them? Not in this life. HOO?.. Look, one of the reasons why I simply CANNOT read this damn series is directly related to the amount of percabeth.

Why is it hot take?

I kind of understand why you guys (antis percabeth) see Annabeth as the abuser and Percy as her victim, but let me tell you...

In pjo, it's Percy who's obsessed with Annabeth, not the other way around. Hell, at this point I don't even believe Annabeth was jealous at Rachel as anything other than Percy being a friend. But Percy really pissed me off.

Why is he so UNHEALTHY attached to her, once again? Exactly in the original five books.

Annabeth and Luke, for example, have clear attachment issues. Percy DOESN'T have that. And his fatal flaw is not the same at all. He has suicidal tendencies, but that's not what it's about. So why?!

Percy DOESN'T KNOW the demigods in the Camp and he has no mortal friends cause he doesn't even try to make them.

Why. The fuck. It's Annabeth?

To the point of jealousy to Luke. Don't get me wrong, but Annabeth would never have chosen Percy if she had even the slightest chance with Luke. And this includes the purely platonic relationship. Yes, Percy became important to her as a friend... cause she has a royalfucking desire to belong. Well, she also has to follow him everywhere. Otherwise her soul will be literally cursed, yes.

So why it was Percy the original source of toxic vibes in their relationship?..

[thestarstoasun]

I need the Michael Yew brainrot, just him shooting Luke and yelling at Lee like "why the hell do you keep fucking that?!"

Please tell me about this AU, I'm completely normal and sane about TA Lee

THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT I IMAGINE WHEN I THINK OF THEM.

○ When Lee first brought his siblings to the darkside - sometime during SoM while Percy & co are on their quest - Michael literally slaps him across the face when he tells them they aren't going on a camp field trip, but going to join the titan army.

Michael: "I know you're stupid, but I hoped there was a brain in that head somewhere."

Lee, smiling and holding his bow: "Luke is well aware what will happen if any of you so much as get a scratch. Kronos himself won't be spared."

Kayla: "So- no field trip? What a bust! You have to get us snacks to make up for this utter betrayal!"

Austin: "Yeah!"

Will: "I'm just happy to to wherever Lee is"

• Michael, Will, Lee, Austin, and Kayla go back to CHB as infiltration & basically recruitment sects. There was a lot of Leeluke debate about this because of the involvement of Lee's siblings.

• You know Gods send dreams to demigods and mortals? Kronos does this to Lee whenever Luke starts to be insufferable

• Luke slowly actually "corrupts" Lee to the cause by pointing out actually valid points

• Michael is absolutely insufferable on all fronts about this arrangement. He literally can't believe he's been dragged into the titan army all because he's an apollo kid & Lee has attachment issues.

• Michael is very on-the-fence about being in the TA and has a crush on Jake Mason - he won't admit it, but everyone but Jake knows.

• Luke tries very hard to get along with Michael, and meanwhile Michael is flipping him off, making the most passive aggressive comments known to man, rolling his eyes, whole 9 yards

Luke: "WILL YOU STOP SHOOTING AT ME!? I DIDN'T EVEN DO ANYTHING!"

Michael perched on a lamppost, glaring: "You're literally the reason I'm here right now."

Luke: "I wanted my amazing partner. I didn't realize I got a ferret as a package deal."

Michael: "WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU CALLING A FERRET!?"

This has taken so long because I'm still undecided whether I wanna take a page outta SoSF and let Bianca live with the consequences of someone else dying on the TTC quest, but it would also change the entire trajectory of canon & I don't want to receive hate if I put Annabeth in the Hunters 😔 I wanted to add a secret detail and couldn't decide LMAO