#poseidon's screams are music to my ears

[o3o-lapd-o3o]

there are two wolves inside you

the first is you looking/listening in horror at odysseus eviscerating poseidon with his own trident

the second is you hearing poseidon/steven's screams and going "ayo why does he/this sound so good"

[twomanyfandomshelp]

If you haven’t listened to the Thunder Saga yet, this is your spoiler warning.

Also, look at this album cover art! It’s so beautiful.

Apologies in advance for all the caps lock you’re about to see, and please ignore whatever typos or grammatical errors you find, it’s like three in the morning.

Enjoy watching me slowly lose my mind and my commentary become more and more unhinged.

MR. RIVERA-HERRANS

JORGE

JAY

MR. JALPEÑO

MY HEART CAN’T TAKE THIS WHY MUST YOU BE SO TALENTED never stop please Jay I need more I need your music directly in my veins

SUFFERING

Oh my gosh, I figured this song would be about the sirens but what the heck how did I not realize the siren would pretend to be Penelope?!

“Come play with me and our daughter” Excuse me, Mrs. Siren you are incorrect, he has a son and he is wonderful how dare you disrespect Telemachus like that. Watching chat go crazy over this line during the watch party was pretty fun though.

Odysseus tricking the siren into telling him how to avoid Poseidon was so smart!

YOU’RE TELLING ME EVEN POSEIDON IS AFRAID OF SCYLLA?!

This chorus is a bop

DIFFERENT BEAST

Oh my gosh this is such a tone shift from the last one and I love it!

I LOVE THIS CHORUS AND THE CALLBACKS OH MY GOSH

My man is so smart and I love him for it. Not only did he figure out there were sirens nearby just from an empty ship, but he had the whole crew put beeswax in their ears and scoop up the sirens while he distracted their leader (I’m assuming she’s their leader?! idk) and tricked her into telling him how to avoid Poseidon!

THE SIRENS BEGGING ODYSSEUS TO SPARE THEM AND ODYSSEUS’ RESPONSE OH MY GOD “i made a mistake like this/it almost cost my life/I can’t take more risks of not seeing my wife/cut off their tails, we’re ending this now/throw their bodies back in the water/let them drown” SIR WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT HAVE YOU DOWN WITH MY ODY?!?! HE WAS NOT KIDDING ABOUT BECOMING THE MONSTER RUTHLESSNESS IS MERCY UPON OURSELVES

And now the chorus is different and it’s talking about Odysseus and the choice he made to become a monster and ahfhsidhsndg

ODYSSEUS SCREAMING TO KILL THEM ALL AND THE SIRENS’ SCREAMS?!?! JORGE!!!!

SCYLLA

Oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh

KJ BURKHAUSER’S VOICE IS SO FREAKING BEAUTIFUL I LOVE IT SHE SOUNDS SO PRETTY AND HAUNTING AT THE SAME TIME AND THEN SHE GETS SCARY AND I JUST AAAAAHHH🧎‍♀️🙇🏼‍♀️

“Deep down you know that we are the same” Excuse me ma’am what does that mean?!

EURYLOCHUS HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO US?!?? I already knew he opened the fucking bag but it hurts to hear him admit it out loud

EURYLOCHUS’ “forgive me” SOUNDS EXACTLY LIKE ODYSSEUS’ “forgive me” FROM JUST A MAN AND I KNOW THAT’S THE POINT BUT IT STILL BREAKS MY HEART

FULL SPEED AHEAD

“Eurylochus, light up six torches” NO ODY DON’T DO IT DON’T SACRIFICE YOUR MEN

THAT “hello” EXCUSE ME MA’AM??!?!!

HER VOICE OH MY FUCKING GOD

THE SCREAMS IN THE BACKGROUND AS THE SIX MEN ARE TAKEN AAAAAAHHHHHH

MUTINY

I love the snippets we’ve heard of this one, I’m very excited and so very scared.

EURYLOCHUS IS SO PISSED AT ODYSSEUS OH MY GOD NO STOP TALKING EURY YOU’RE GOING TO GET YOURSELF KILLED!!!

HERE IT IS HERE’S THE PART I KNOW OH MY GOD I’M SO SCARED!!!

WHAT THE REST OF THE CREW STEPPED IN AND STABBED ODYSSEUS INSTEAD BECAUSE HOW COULD THEY EVER TRUST HIM AGAIN KNOWING THAT HE’LL SACRIFICE THEM TO GET HOME!!!

NO DON’T DO IT EURY DON’T EAT THE COWS!!! I DON’T CARE HOW FUCKING HUNGRY YOU ARE EURYLOCHUS DON’T YOU DARE TOUCH THOSE COWS!!!

THE CALLBACKS TO LUCK RUNS OUT!!!

OH MY FUCKING GOD EURYLOCHUS JUST CALLED HIM ODY OH MY GOSH “Ody we’re never gonna get to make it home, you know it’s true… You don’t know that’s true!” Eurylochus no don’t give up if you give up you’re definitely never making it back home 😢

OH MY GOD NOW EURYLOCHUS SAID “I’m just a man” SIR YOU DON’T GET TO SAY THAT IT’S ONE THING TO KILL AN INFANT TO SAVE YOUR WIFE AND SON IT IS ANOTHER TO OPEN A BAG THAT YOUR CAPTAIN SPECIFICALLY SAID NOT TO OPEN BECAUSE YOU DIDN’T TRUST HIM WHEN GUESS WHAT HE WAS RIGHT AND OH LOOK NOW YOU’VE KILLED MOST OF YOUR MEN ARE YOU HAPPY EURYLOCHUS OH AND NOW YOU’VE KILLED APOLLO’S CATTLE WHICH IS GOING TO KILL EVERYONE ELSE WHAT THE FUCK EURYLOCHUS THIS IS YOUR FUCKING FAULT AND NO SHUT UP I’M NOT CRYING YOU’RE CRYING 😭

NO NO NO DON’T KILL THE FUCKING COWS

The way Odysseus immediately goes into leader mode and starts commanding his men in a desperate attempt to save them even though they just LITERALLY FUCKING STABBED HIM IN THE BACK and he begged them not to kill the cows

“We’re too late” oh my god you can the emotion in Ody’s voice because he desperately wants to save his men and they’ve doomed themselves

THUNDER BRINGER

YES I’M SO FUCKING READY LET’S GOOOOOO

Luke Holt has an amazing voice oh my gosh the way he says distress and confess 🥵

I KNOW WE’VE ALREADY HEARD THIS CHORUS BUT IT’S SO FUCKING GOOD OH MY GOD

“Choose. …choose?… Someone’s gotta die today, and you have got the final say. You or your crew.” OH MY GOD WAIT WHAT I DIDN’T REALIZE ODYSSEUS HAD TO CHOOSE WHAT NO

It’s giving that one TikTok sound “One and two. One of you’s gonna die. The other’s gonna live. And, the thing is, it’s your choice.”

JUST ZUES FORCING ODYSSEUS TO MAKE ANOTHER IMPOSSIBLE CHOICE!!!!

The combination of the crew singing the lyrics from Just a Man and Penelope singing about taking away Odysseus’ suffering is just… so beautiful and so heartbreaking at the same time

“Captain?… I have to see her… But we’ll die… I know” OH MY GOD WHAT THE FUCK JAY AND ARMANDO HOW CAN YOU DO THIS THE EMOTION THAT THESE MEN CAN CONVEY WITH JUST THEIR VOICES IS UNREAL

And now we’re back to Luke’s absolutely phenomenal voice as Zues just massacres Odysseus’ crew

NOT THE SAD PIANO PLAY OUT NO JAY DON’T oh it’s too late, now I’m crying.

[worldwidedino]

Guess what? New fic drop.

MAJOR Epic: the Vengeance Saga spoilers and MAJOR TRIGGER WARNINGS FOR THE FOLLOWING:

Torture

Graphic depictions of violence

LOTS of blood(ichor technically, but same principle)

Graphic depictions of injury

If you're not into anything on the list above for any reason, don't be afraid to not look past the break and skip past this post. Your mental health and well-being in general are more important than a fic. I'm not judging you for skipping things you know you can't handle. You know yourself better than anyone else does.

P.S. @thereareotherwaysofpersuasion It's done >:]

Mercy Upon Ourselves

"You released my storm when you opened that bag; blocked your one way home, now you'll never get back," Poseidon mocked, unable to help himself as he chuckled as the mortal before him walked away with his head down.

Odysseus, king of Ithaca, was finally within his grasp. Poseidon would be finally able to take his vengeance on the man who blinded his son 10 years ago. The mortal king had nowhere to go as the storm raged around the small rocky island they were on. Once Odysseus was dealt with all he had to do was call off the storm, and his 10 years of anger would finally be over. The sea god readjusted himself against the rock he was sitting against and silently chuckled to himself.

Odysseus then turned his head to look back at the god, and there was a look in his eyes the god had never seen in him before. Perhaps the look of Ares' blessing, Poseidon guessed. He must've stepped in for his sister, as she had been out of commission for a reason still unknown to the god. But what could Ares' blessing do to a god like him, he couldn't die, especially to a mortal.

"You're going to call off that storm," he threatened.

"Or what? You can't kill me," Poseidon smirked, chuckling again, fully confident Odysseus was trying to trick him into gaining the upper hand somehow.

The mortal king turned fully around and walked towards him, picking up his trident along the way. A flash of lightning illuminated his face, revealing a look of pure evil in his eyes and not any sort of blessing from Ares as he thought.

"Exactly," Odysseus said as he finally stood in front of his tormenter, his voice almost hoarse.

Poseidon's expression immediately changed as he raised the trident, finally realizing what Odysseus was planning, trying to gain as much distance as he could.

"Wait!" he yelled panicking, "Wait-" his pleas were quickly replaced with a scream as Odysseus plunged the weapon into his chest.

He inhaled sharply and could see his own ichor quickly appear and drip off the trident as Odysseus ripped the sharp points out of him, pushing the god into the rock he was leaning against with his foot as leverage.

"How does it feel to be helpless?" the king drilled.

More pain is followed by another scream as Odysseus plunges the trident into his chest again, feeling the ichor pool around the wounds and soak his clothes.

"How does it feel to know pain?" He drilled again, emphasizing the question with the removal of the trident, leaving deep wounds as chunks of flesh were taken as the barbed tines were ripped from his body.

The god of the seas was in agony, slightly curling up in a feeble attempt to protect himself from the onslaught. He could feel the warmth of his ichor pooling in his chest and he could start to see it start to accumulate beneath him from his wounds and from dripping off the weapon. It had no doubt splattered against the rock at this point, but before he could do anything else, the trident entered his body again, this time in his shoulder, only stopping when it hit bone.

"I watched my friends die in horror," Odysseus reminded him as he screamed out in pain once again.

All of his screaming and suffering was music to the mortal king's ears, he was sure of it. Another lightning strike showed a wicked smile on his face before changing to a grimace of anger.

"Crying as they were all slain!"

The trident was removed again, bringing more ichor with it and flesh. Poseidon weakly tried to raise his arm and stop the onslaught, wincing and groaning as his shoulder screamed at him.

"I heard their final moments," Odysseus reminded him.

Another stab, this time straight to the abdomen. Poseidon croaked out a scream, his voice starting to become hoarse from all the screaming.

"Calling their captain in vain!"

Poseidon took in another sharp inhale, he was in great pain and that worried him. He had been in enough fights to know that the pain always got worse once everything wore off.

"Look what you turned me into!”

"Look at what we've become!”

"Enough..." Poseidon commanded weakly and looked up at him, hating how low a mere mortal had brought him to this low.

Poseidon’s throat was really starting to burn from all the screaming. All the wounds were also burning because of all the seawater being picked up by the storm around them, each stab bringing three wounds. Once again he tried to create more space, but there wasn’t much extra space to make since Poseidon was trapped between a rock and Odysseus using his own trident against him.

"All of the pain that I've been through,"

"Stop..." Poseidon had started begging; the earthshaker and lord of the oceans was begging a mortal man, and he hated every second of it.

"Haven't I suffered enough?" Odysseus asked rhetorically.

"Stop!" he begged louder, hoping that maybe he just didn’t hear the first time and would cease the torture.

"You didn't stop when I begged you!” the mortal snapped back with a stab directly to his throat.

The god of tides choked on his own ichor, only being able to let out a wet sputtering sound as he coughed up ichor. He was definitely in for it now, any blow to the neck could be devastating, immortal or not.

“Told me to close my heart..." the king spat.

"You..." he gasped once the trident was removed.

Poseidon coughed again, bringing up more ichor. He grabbed his neck, which was pouring gold at this point. Now he was on a timer, and he didn’t know how long he had left before he fainted from a loss of ichor.

"You said the world was dark,” Odysseus reminded him, pure disgust shown on his face during another flash of lightning as he stabbed Poseidon the directly in the face.

"Monster!" Poseidon called out, a hand reaching to cup his face around the trident while the other was still applying pressure to the gushing wounds in his neck.

Poseidon could feel himself starting to get woozy now, the timer on his consciousness ticking ever lower the longer the torture went on.

"Didn't you say that ruthlessness is mercy upon our-" he gloated while ripping the trident out of the god of tide’s face.

That was it. He had already thought about giving in to Odysseus’ demands after he stabbed his throat, but using his own words against him crossed a line Poseidon couldn’t let him cross. And somewhere deep in his mind, Poseidon was noting the irony and hypocrisy, although it was buried too deep for him to notice at the time.

"Alright!" Poseidon croaked out with tears in his eyes. He was desperate and it showed, and he swore he could see the mortal king debating one more stab for good measure.

 "Please..." he rasped, barely holding on to consciousness.

And Odysseus complied, dropping the trident with a clang. And with it, the island they were on shook slightly, the trident having caused a minor earthquake on contact with the ground. 

“With everything you’ve done…” Poseidon asked, his voice hoarse, raspy, and barely above a whisper now, “How will you sleep at night?”

“Next to my wife,” Odysseus responded coldly as he turned around and walked away.

The last thing Poseidon could remember before blacking out was silently sobbing while bleeding out in a pool of his own ichor.

~~~

Poseidon woke up in Apollo’s infirmary with a vague memory of why he was there before being jolted awake the rest of the way by the thunderous voice of his younger brother.

“Poseidon! By Olympus, what happened to you?” he asked.

“Why are you here… w-what happened?” he croaked, barely able to speak due to his throat.

“I was just here visiting Athena and I see my brother looking like this!” Zeus recounted.

“Ody…” Poseidon started before being shushed by Apollo.

“His trachea and vocal cords need as much rest as possible, father. These wounds are deep,” Apollo reprimanded, “ but Hermes claimed he saw Uncle Poseidon unconscious in a pool of his own ichor after he saw Athena’s champion wielding his trident against him. And for once I actually believe him.”

“Odysseus?” Zeus asked incredulously, “From what I’ve heard from Athena, that would be completely out of character… is that true Poseidon?”

Poseidon nodded, before grabbing his throat in pain, which caused him to wince due to instinctively using his arm with the injured shoulder.

“This really is bad.  I’ll leave you to rest, dear brother, you need it,” Zeus noted as he walked away.

The thunderbringer smiled mischievously once he was turned away from Poseidon. He couldn’t wait to see how his beloved Athena would react to hearing the news about what her champion did to Poseidon.

[the-kr8tor]

Oooo Hobie fluff is enticing but…I can't spare any hints!>:) 5 days!

Daily Hobie HC! EPIC THE MUSICAL HOBIE AS ODYSSEUS TIME

Hobie's calloused, tough hands withstood the burn of the rope of the sails, narrowly avoiding the whirlpools of what he assumed would be the last enemy until he could see you and his two daughters once more.

His hope was short-lived as the tides began to darken and rise, signifying only one thing. Poseidon.

Hobie's nails dug into the rope once more, stabilizing his raft as the god rose up from the churning waves, desperate to drown him and take away his life. But he didn't spend 10 years fighting for every breath, for nothing.

He gritted his teeth, listening to Poseidon's threatening demand for him to either drown himself, or drown you and his children. The more time it took for Hobie to drown himself, the higher the tides rose, looming over the place he called home.

The place where his only hope was. His hope, being you.

Hobie cut off the god's anger with a calm voice, proposing forgiveness among both parties. Poseidon had dealt with his son's loss of blindness, and Hobie had dealt with the loss of his entire crew of 600 men. Surely they could both empathize, forgive and live on peacefully, right? All Hobie wanted to do was to hold you close to him, to see how much his daughters have grown and be the father they didn't have in their earlier years. He wanted to kiss you again, to feel the warmth of your skin against his. Surely, Poseidon could find somewhere in his heart to forgive. Hobie's expectations were shattered as he saw Poseidon's eyes harden in hatred towards him. Suddenly, the churning waves turned into storming tsunamis, with Poseidon growing far larger as water gathered around him and his mighty trident, giving him a larger and far more powerful form against Hobie. The trident of water slammed down onto Hobie's raft, pushing him down to the depths of the seas to drown him, once and for all. As Hobie felt his conscious slip with the more water thrashing into his lungs, his eyes widened slightly at the feeling of being pushed against the trident. Suddenly, a voice. Thousands of voices. The voices of his dead crew, his best friend, his dead mother. They kept him from hitting the darkest depths, giving him a second chance. And that was all he needed. On the prong of the trident next to him, the wind bag. Hobie reached out for it, opening it and typing the rope used to shut it around his body, a makeshift jetpack. He managed to follow the guide of the water-trident, shooting himself out of water, his grey eyes burned with fury of a thousand wildfires. Managing to use the strong winds of the wind bag, he walked up the arm of Poseidon's larger, water form, managing to strike down harshly on the god's body to disarm him of his water-form. The two fell onto a rock, Poseidon's trident clattering in front of him. The god smirked towards an enraged Hobie, watching the mortal's lanky body heave. He taunted Hobie, pointing out how it was his fault for the storm with a jeer. Hobie's slow turn to glare at Poseidon would've caused anyone to have shivers down their spine. He slowly walked forwards, picking up the trident as he demanded for the god to call off the storm. Hobie rose the trident up, angling the prongs down towards Poseidon's chest. He used all his force to drive the weapon into the god's body, red ichor coating the gold trident. He tugged the weapon out of Poseidon's chest harshly, driving it in once more. And again. And again. And again. With each ruthless stab, Poseidon screamed in pain, which fell on deaf ears, until he agreed to call off the storm. Hobie coldly dropped the thickly coated trident, turning his back on the severely injured god. He froze in his steps as he heard Poseidon's question of how he could ever sleep at night, knowing he had done this. Without missing a beat, he responded with... Next to you. -🐦‍⬛

Nuuuuu my plan failed!! Is it art perhaps? 👀

Daily Hobie HC ‼️‼️‼️

Oh @yumeaoka-chan would love this!

It's giving bdas vibes!!!!

Ahhhh billie and mona mention!

Yooo percy jackson calm your dad!

Wait are they on the island while this was happening?! No wonder why Hobie's fighting for his life! His girls were just a stone throw away!

10 years?! I was hoping it wasn't that long just like the myth but damnnn that must've been sad for both hobie, r and the kids 😭

Bruhhh the gods were so petty. There were losses on both sides! Leave the poor mortal be! 😭

Damnnnn that's so badass!!!

LET'S GOOOOO!!!! SO COOL

The last line owndjwkxnwkd 🥹🥴

[hellishgayliath]

Helli….

Helli it was so good…

THE VENGENCE SAGA WAS SO GOOD- I just listened to them all and- I can’t-

Get in the Water & Six Hundred Strikes are my favorite for sure; but I gotta give it to six hundred strikes because of Poseidon’s screams. And Odysseus’s last line lmao

I feel like this album is fighting so hard to be my favorite XD

IT WAS SO GOOD!!!

I’m already claiming it as one of my favourites cuz I was a huge fan of the songs before they were even officially released and not knowing much of 600 strike beforehand oh my GOD I’m obsessed with it

I know I already gushed on about Poseidon’s voice in my posts before but I cannot get over it his voice is amazing and has such a grit and rocker tone to it that I just adore. Really just as morbid as it sounds Poseidon’s screams of terror is goddamn music to my ears I keep replaying that part a loooot

[leynaeithnea]

Oh yeah good call doing this song by song becase our essays are getting so long it's illegal at this point haha

Before we get into it, one of the chorus is "kill for love"? DAMN , that's totally not gonna ruin me at all, nu-uh I'll be super fine for sure

Okay let's go

This song is literally my fave of the saga, stuck in my head on repeat because of the melody and the beautiful vocals but also the story?? She is actually a siren trying to trick him but he pulls out a uno reverse card and tricks her even harder ??? Once again LYING CUNNING CHARACTERS FOR THE WIN AJSKSNBSB

Also I'm so jealousy of you bc I did not have it in me to wake up in the middle of the night for the stream but I wanted to see it so baaad, I would have been even more confused than you at 5am don't worry your wild theories are valid

Their little banter is impeccable "answer some questions for me please ?🥺" " Of course babe 🤭🙃" let's say I was on the run from Poseidon that big meanie 😔" " Oh nOo pookie poor you 🥺" They are so unserious !!! And then the vocals in her reply keep me up at night " sailing where he's scared to roam" is done so majestically akdmndns

Can't fight you on this , Ody saying he's shy and terrified is so fuckin funny and random hahahah

Oh good gods don't let me think about it because I know ,I KNOW HE'S PRETENDING A LITTLE BIT THIS IS REALLY HIS PENELOPE AND IT HURTS SO BAD the way he says he'd die for her and he misses her so much , "more than you know "because the siren actually doesn't know , she has no idea how much he misses his wife asakkksnns free my boy he deserves some smooches from his wifeee

( I love how you keep slipping Neil in the conversation and I do not fault you for it bc liars= Neil-Josten-hiding-his-whole-ass-murderer-father-with-ties-to-the-japanese-mafia-like-it's-nothing )

ALRIGHT I have a bit energy again

I agree with everything u said moving to the next song now!

22. Different Beast

the arrow followed by this ear piercing screaming (good think they all had beeswax in their ears fr)

ODY IS SO MAD "lets cut the charade you are no wife of mine" I almost feel like he hates the Siren even more for DARING to pretend to be Penelope, and making him yearn for her even more

the music in that one is also soooo sinister and creepy

and how his voice changes with "i know underwater theres packs of you hiding, yeah i know exactly what you are, a siren" its so vicious and cunning iTS soo good

Then the siren hiss seigsegj

AND THEN THE DRUMs when he starts singing "my real wife knows im not scared of the water, and my real wife knows i dont have a daughter" like the drums rise when he speaks and between the lines and when the strings or whatever they are come up again, the drum gets quieter again for a moment only to rise up again when he speaks...its so cool, i love this drum beat, which continues while he tells his whole big-brain plan (love how we see Odys hubris in this one, he gets so smug about his plans with the sirens that he spends a whole song explaining it to us, on one hand its exposition and him just recalling what happened for story purposes but also it fits the character for his pride - which in the myth is also his fatal flaw - takes over)

also "we are a different beast now" chorus: basically is just "we are the monsters rawr rawr rawr"

"we've been away from home for ABOUT 12 YeARS OR SO" JORGE; JORGE WE KNOW WHAT YOU DID HERE

I've also been wondering, i kind of feel like the ryhtm of the music doesnt fully-align with the lyrics bc theyre shifting between singing and sing-talking, and ive been wondering if thats maybe like a suble sign that acutally Ody and the crew dont hear a thing rn? kinda? idk, i dont have enoguh knowledge about music theory to actually explain the sort of dissonance i feel is happening, it could also just be done like this to showcase how theyre the different beasts now

Sirens singing "spare us" is eery and pretty

Odys embracing the lesson people have been trying to teach him throughout act 1 finially "why, so you can kill the next group of sailirs in this part of the sea, nah you wouldve spared me"

"cut of their tails we're ending this now, throw their bodies back int he water let them drown" HE IS THE MONSTER RAWR RAWR RAWR

AND THen the CHOIR LYRIcs shift to "HE is a different beast now, he is the one to feast now" (i lowkey imagine him just snacking on some Siren tail in that line ngl, the only way the lyrics "the ones to feast now" makes sense is if they literally feasted on these tails, it would also explain why Ody specifically wanted to cut of their tails)

also Ody plss "Kill them all"...ow, but fair i suppose, but you couldve just slit their throats

ADN THEN The last lyrics being "Odysseus" omg gsiejgisejg love it

Also i dont know when this shifted from "my favorite lines in the musical" to "my reaction and analysis to every song" but by now im just vibing with it

[bookns]

Can I Be Him is OUT NOW!

If Taylor Swift and 5 Seconds of Summer as Annabeth Chase and Percy Jackson.

Annabeth felt her smile grow wide as the cheers from all her fans echoed down. The final notes of her song, 'Welcome to New York,' ending. Her '2005' tour had ended for the city of Pittsburg and she could still feel the high off of being on stage. 

Silena Beauregard, her manager and close friend, handed her a towel.

"Great show, Annabeth. We are on the road till two days from now where we will eventually have three shows for New York."

"I have a day off?"

"Yes. Please don’t get drunk and have the cops get called on you.”

“Silena, you and I both know that I would most likely be in my hotel trying to relax.”

“Well, actually I have a surprise for you. Remember RIPTIDE”

“The band that I duetted with less than two years ago. Yeah?” 

“I called him for some favors and it turns out the band is heading to New York for their Can I be him tour. I was thinking they could be the surprise guest for the New York show.”

New York 

"Damn, I don't think we ever played in a stadium this big. My name is Percy, and the drummer in the back is Thalia. My buddy to my left on the keyboard is Grover, and the man adorning the electric guitar on the right is Charles. And we are RIPTIDE”

"You guys can call me Beckendorf." He winked at the audience.”

Annabeth stood to the sidelines as she watched her fans scream the lyrics to their opening song ‘Moving Along’. They seemed so in sync, even down to the movements of their instruments. Thalia, though never moving from her drum set, seemed to interact with everyone on stage. Grover had hit every note on his keyboard while still maintaining eye contact with the audience. Charles ‘Beckendorf’ walked around greeting every fan in sight. And Percy Jackson, well Percy Jackson gave it his all. He was electrifying as he belted out the lyrics. Annabeth stared, as how every person in the crowd seamlessly gathered the attention of the rising stars. She had nearly missed her call for the stage, too enchanted by their music, when Percy had introduced her. 

“Now, the real reason why you all are here. Introducing Miss Annabeth Chase!”

Screams fell over her ears as she grabbed her guitar. 

.o0o.

Annabeth Chase, a country girl from Virginia who moved to New York City in hopes of her dream to be a star come true. Her country albums rose to number 1 for years. She now is on her way to being the newest pop sensation. He knows that, after duetting on her song Everything Has Changed, that she sings from the heart.

That’s what Percy Jackson knows about Annabeth Chase. 

But as she climbed the steps, her confidence never wavering, he learned something else. 

He learns that she is a sensation on the stage. That she is the epitome of talent. That she can stand on controlling the crowd like Poseidon controlled the sea. 

.o0o. 

“So, Annabeth, are you free after this?”

Annabeth took a sip of her water and glanced over at him. 

“Usually after shows, I just go relax in my hotel room.

“You could do that any other day.”

“I suppose I can.” 

“Good cause I like to introduce you to the rest of the band.  

“I guess I have to tag along”

“Drinks on me.”

Annabeth laughed at him.

“What? This is my city and I know a good place.”

“Lead the way, Jackson.”

As they walked through the city of New York, the windy weather reflecting 

Can I get you ladies some drinks? 

Ladies?

I think your manager Silena might be coming with us. Look, Beckendorf is asking her. 

Sure enough, Silena was laughing at something Beckendorf was saying, his smile being a 100 watts an hour. 

Annabeth rolled her eyes. 

“Silena loves going anywhere with a good drink and a flirty man. I swear she needs to manage her love life before she manages mine.”

She has to manage your love life? Wow, that's a new one even for me. 

Annabeth cocked her hair.  “Not necessary. Silena’s my closest friend and because she is my manager, she thinks it’s in her job description to manage it and make sure he’s not a loser. 

“That I get. Thalia refuses to take any girl I bring home seriously because ‘as my friend, she says it’s her job to make sure I’m not doing no groupies and ruining our reputation.’  

“Have you ever done Groupies before? “

“Once. Let’s just say that ship is long gone.”

“What happened?” 

“She stalked my mom and became really crazy.”

“Seriously, that’s insane.”

“Have you ever hooked up with a fan?”

“No. If I ever dare even try to get close to one, god knows what the media would say.”

“The attention is nice though the media sucks.”

“I’ve had too many people follow me into random places to say the attention is nice. I love my fans but it's the weirdos I am wary of.”

Percy chuckled.

“That’s fair.”

Annabeth smoothed her hair and sighed. 

“Change of topic.” Percy decided.

“Why is your name RIPTIDE? I’ve always wondered about that, I must admit.”

“When we were in high school, Grover and I used to have a skateboarding contest when one time we nearly skateboarded into the art kids which is where we met Thalia. Thalia had then spray painted a riptide on my skateboard in revenge which led us to get to know each other and that led us here.”

He smiled as he looked to the bar that Annabeth, him and the rest of the group walked to. Their security not too far behind them. 

“Dionysus Drinks and Dine?”

Percy opened the door for her.

“Don’t judge too quickly. This place has the best drinks I’ve ever had.”

As Annabeth’s eyes adjusted to the darkness of the bar, she noticed some tables occupied by students and a bar that had its collection of bottles shown in an array. 

As everyone collected inside, Percy led them to a table. He’d taken charge and despite the level of music in the bar, he was able to get everyone their respective drinks.

“Annabeth. A little help here.”

Percy wobbled with a few drinks in his hand threatening to spill. Annabeth had gladly taken one in fear of him dropping it on all of them.

He handed all out and as he sat across from her, Annabeth noticed he, himself, was only drinking a diet coke.

“Diet Coke?”

She had to shout to be heard over the music but luckily Percy was aware of her trying to get his attention.

“I am not the biggest drinker.”

“You said this place was good for their drinks.”

“Yeah, I know my friends love this place so therefore it has to be good y’know?”

He cocked his head where Thalia was doing shots with Beckendorf. How neither of them were slurring their words at this point made Annabeth wonder, their row of shots were placed as if to display their mischief. 

Silnea cleared her throat, capturing the attention of the table. 

“I know it's sudden but I was thinking that with the success of today's show, you guys should join us when your tour ends in a few days. We can have a few trial weeks of you guys opening for us before Annabeth heads Europe.”

Percy grinned. 

“I’d have to ask our tour manager, Clarisse if we can squeeze that in but in all honesty? I think she will say yes.”

Annabeth glanced at the table and took in the different reactions amongst their group. Thalia was leaning forward almost too dazed to focus on the world around her. Grover was smiling as sipped his fruity drink. Beckendorf was looking at Silena in a way that Annabeth made a mental note to ask her about later.

Annabeth smiled. 

“I think it's a brilliant idea."

This fic has been my hearth for so many years. It's for you. All for you. Thank you for supporting all this time.

[pyromaniacldrt]

Heyyy so, I've been listening to The Epic musical lately and I came up with some designs for the gods:)

I call it the God saga, I'll make the ppl+ monsters later

plus some Artemis and Dyonisus because I love them and I didn't want to leave blank spaces.

Rambling below👇

Okay, first we have Athena and Ares, as well as Hermes and Eolious(she was my first design, but I'm not a big fan of it). I liked a lot making Ares helmet:), and I thought of giving Athena a cape made of feathers that could work as wings!

I really liked the designs of Hermes were his eyes didn't appear (credits to @gigizetz for the idea!) and while I wanted to do something similar, I tried to make my own thing by using a blindfold instead. Plus, I made him look more humanlike to have a more obvious parentage with Ody.

Then we have Hera and Zeussy. I really liked her design, it screamed Classy Queen to me, and while drawing her I felt she was about to start singing at any moment. While making her hair I remembered my little pony Equestria girls, and I was like "I have to make her hair look like a cow's tail". I wanted to give her some sort of chal to make the colors more appealing, but it didn't come out well... On the other hand, my design of Zeus is exactly how I pictured him. He looks like a bodybuilder, unlike Ares, who looks like a powerhouse. I wanted to make Zeus look like someone who cares more about his appearance than about practicality, which can be seen in his clothes, skin, pose and crown. Plus, I made it look red so it would stand out and get everyone's attention. Also I made him wing tattoos because I can.

Then we have Apollo and Aphrodite! I didn't really put too much though when making him. I just gave him kind of a sun crown(?), Green eyes to represent Artemis, a Hyacinth and laurels. I think he'd be the type to carry his exes around.

Then we have Aphrodite, and boy do I love her design! Originally she was going to be blond w/ pink flowers, but her being a redhead suits her a lot. If I have to be honest, I never drew characters with little to no clothes on, and I was embarrassed at first of making her, but even if there was the option of giving her clothes, it wouldn't feel like the vision of Aphrodite I had at all. I was inspired mainly by the Hades games when I made her, Hermes and Zeus, and I don't regret it tbh. I also gave her pigeons!

Now we have Circe and Poseidon, who I think are my faves. When I was thinking of making her, I was heavily inspired by both @gigizetz Circe, young Shakira and Esmeralda from the hunchback of Notre Dame. I also wanted her to have a crazy bunch of tattoos, each for every single spell she casted. I also liked to give her the inverted heart earrings to make some foreshadowing.

Now, POSEIDON. Boy do I like how it turned out. I mean- the Clothes? The crown? The algae hair? The thing in his fingers!? And let's not talk about the seashell for a beard. I love it. It's interesting and intimidating and I would believe it if you told me this is the mighty sea god. Also, his skin was heavily inspired by @gigizetz like many of my designs. Are you perhaps a muse or smt?

Then we have Calypso. Gosh her design turned out really good. The top of her clothes are of the same "outfit" you could say, these being from back when she was sent to the island. Then she made her own lower dress. I think if someone stayed so long in that place, they would make a lot of seashell adornments to pass time. I covered her eyes for three things: one, so Ody doesn't notice she is a Titaness; two, to symbolize how love-blind she is, and three, to also symbolize how she ignores Odysseus's problems and makes a "blind eye" about it.

And Finally, Hephaestus. I redesinged him so many times it feels like a crime. I'm not even sure if I liked the final result, but there's definitely many things I liked. One of them is the tattoo (I'm making a lot of them lately), the hairstyle and the sling on his leg. Still, I'm not sure why he feels so... Simple. I mean, he's the god of forges, fire and FREAKING VOLCANOES. Yet, this feels like I only took the "forges" part.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed if you made it this far:)

[therainbowsaltsblog]

Yes, definitely agreed that animatic is the main issue. I have zero problems with odysseus stabbing poseidon with his own trident. In fact imo it's brilliant and almost poetic. It is the part leading up to it that feels a bit off. I don't love or hate the windbag jetpack one way or another. But I definitely think if the animation was different, it would skew more towards the positive for me. No shade to the people who worked on it, I'm sure it was a lot of hard work. But it just doesn't portray the fight well imo. For example the movement in the beginning feels too... slow. If odysseus had immediately lurched towards poseidon the moment he screamed "I will get back to my wife" it would make more sense for poseidon to get caught off guard and odysseus causing his big water monster to shatter. But the way it is portrayed in the animation, poseidon clearly sees odysseus flying towards him and just... doesn't do anything about it. I think the fight could've been A LOT more dynamic with the right kind of animation. I didn't even realize he was beating poseidon until poseidon fell down onto the rocks. So, yeah, the song fucking slaps, poseidon's screams of agony is music to my ears, I love odysseus fully embracing ruthlessness, but that specific 3D animation for the fight scene just doesn't do it for me.

(Also, I completely believe that the souls of the men were actually THERE during the fight. It is already an established fact that gods can summon background vocals when singing. But odysseus isn't a god. So, who is chanting 600 men in the background? The crew HAS TO BE THERE LOGICALLY. They are not seen the animatic, so I guess that makes them canonically not there, but I think they should have been. Unless they possessed odysseus or something, but that isn't really shown either. Except for the red eyes which I assumed was not literal but a symbolic way of showing his rage and his slip towards being a monster)

The Wind Bag Jetpack is objectivly awesome and makes sense, the problem is the animatic

A lot of people have issues with the WBJ, for various reasons. In my opinion, most of this debate would not be happening if not for how the animatic was executed. The concept of odysseus using the wind bag as a freaking jetpack is certaintly unexpected, but he is the guy with the smarts and wild plans, so of course. And its DOPE AS FUCK. Plus, it makes sense, as the wind bag was also what "defeted" Poseidon last time and it was given by Hermes, the guy whose one only other appearence was to give Odysseus a powerup for a differnt god based boss fight. Nice paralels and all that. You can certaintly argue about it, everyone has their opinions. But i think the main backlash to all this is based on the animatic

Before i tear it apart, know i do not hold anything against anyone involved, I just think it wasn't good, at all

The two issues:

The 3D

This entire scene is obviously anime inspired, that is very obvious. Epic is anime inspired in general. But apparently no one on the team got the memo that 3D anime are... like that. This entire thing screams "that one scene an anime blows its entire budget on", but 3D doesn't leand to that, everything looks like action figures, and not even nice looking ones

The Events

WBJ is awesome, but it SHOULD NOT have been an actual jetpack. It just got on his back and acted super boring as he sword slashed a full god and somehow that worked. What should've actually happened was that Odysseus was holding onto dear life as the WBJ went OFF. Like, he could barely control it, it is the power of a god, but manages enough to dogde attacks. He also should've definatly blasted Poseidon with it a bunch, maybe powered his sword on it and maybe more gods blessed it with power and when opened, it shows their associated birds. That last one could definatly be a nice tie up with god games, to see them assist. But the WBJ would be the primary weapon, smashing Poseidon into a rock, epic(heh) anime fashion, as a finishing move before the bag deplates and he lands. Everything goes on as normal afterwards.

So, Epic animatic makers, go do your magic!

[thejudgingtrash]

11. “...did you just sniff me?” for percabeth pretty please 🙏🤍🤍🤍

Heya! I’m finally here to come back to this request 😄😄 It took me only a little bit in comparison to other requests, but I'm here!

Also since @percyheartsannabeth, @skaterannabeth and @not-optimistic-petrol-biscuit had asked about fluff. Here you go... Kinda? 😬 Anyway. Here's a monster sneak peek into may I introduce you to my beloved wife? 😋

It took me all day yesterday, but I managed to pump out 11k words. That's a record for a single session in one day (with like two breaks). And yes, that is still not the entire chapter. Here are roughly 9,2k for you to consume!

TW: alcohol, overbearing relatives not minding their own business, a tiny section talking about domestic abuse and Athena and Frederick Chase ain't shit but that's nothing new. Poseidon too, for once. Enjoy!

may I introduce you to my beloved wife?

(*absolutely not proof-read, my bad)

Annabeth sighed. You can do this. You can do this. You’ve already finished the week. Think about the money. Think about the move to California. Push through this day and next week, think about the money and the minute you’ll hand your termination in. She wanted to splash some water up her face, but the makeup that tinted her lips in a luscious rose and added some bronze to her high cheekbones was too expensive to be washed off and hastily reapplied.

It was pre-Dionysus Day, which meant it was merely the calm before the storm. The first sparkling sip of an impending disaster waiting to rollover the roomy Greek villa Percy forced her to stay in. Well not really forced. Forced and bribed her to stay in. That made it sound slightly better. Just think of the one-hundred seventy-five dollars he’s going to transfer into your bank account for your new start in California. I should renegotiate. California is also expensive. Make it two-hundred fifty thousand.

The tall blonde looked at her reflection in the mirror. A young woman full of life was the first thing she had seen in the morning but now she looked tired and annoyed, just how she felt. Something crashed in one of the dozens of rooms next to her and people laughed. Annabeth sighed again. It was the only thing she could do, otherwise she would scream like a banshee, making sure that at least Hermes and Prometheus would check her, if it wasn’t for Percy stuffing socks into her mouth to make her shut up before they got to her. The majority of his Greek relatives had been lovely if not terribly nosy and overbearing. It was the opposite of her family. His was warm and chaotic and for the most part welcoming. Hers? Cold, apathetic, disapproving of everything she did. She had no family in comparison, and neither would she want to compare this wholesome messy bunch to the cold-hearted Athena Pallas and the monster that was Friedrich Chase.

Annabeth respected Hera and Hestia, she definitely side-eyed Aphrodite who was cheating on her husband and she would definitely stay away from Zeus. Crossing paths with him occasionally in the New York office of Atlantic INC. was terrible, seeing him openly be flirty and loosen up during a forced trip was way worse.

This was a bad idea and I have a terrible feeling about this. The burgundy wrap dress that hugged her skin was soft and light but in the Thessalian heat it felt like a sticky cocoon caging her. She wasn’t a beautiful butterfly, ready to burst out and wow everyone. Neither was she a moth drawn to a flame. She was a bug that had been sprayed by Percy with a pesticide, wrapped in toxic chemicals which were slowly dissolving her body, piece by piece.

A knock shoved the horrendous image inside of her head aside. “Yes?” she asked with a firm voice. Too firm with a hint of annoyance, but she was not a professional actress and could not switch her emotions off as she pleased. She was a junior marketing manager for Christ’s sake. Not for much longer. Only two more months…

Percy opened the door. “Are you ready?“ he asked with his usual pleasant baritone reaching her ear.

He wore light linen pants that hugged his legs loosely and a light blue shirt with the first buttons opened up. She could see his defined chest and the swirls of black hair peeking through. The hair was styled into a disheveled curly mess which suited him way better than the gelled back corporate look and he forgot to trim his beard like the day before. Annabeth couldn’t deny what she saw – her tormentor was a very attractive man.

“Do you want to bail?” His sea-green eyes darkened a shade. Worry flashed through them.

Annabeth exhaled sharply for the last time. “I wish I could but then I’d leave you without a fiancé,” she smiled through the pain.

Her glance found her reflection again. The topknot was still intact, and a few strands carefully framed her heart-shaped face. She looked perfect on the outside and she wanted to commit manslaughter in the inside.

“Let’s get over with it,” Percy sighed and stretched his hand out. It seemed like Percy was the one that would rather bail.

Annabeth took it without any complaint. She was the happy girlfriend soon-to-be-wife and holding hands was way better than being forced into kissing him during Sports Day. The Theodoropoulos family truly had planned activity after activity during those two weeks in winter.

“Oh!” Sally peeked into the bathroom and saw her son holding Annabeth’s hand.

“There you are! Is everything okay, mija?” she asked with her sweet Dominican accent and looked at Annabeth.

Annabeth automatically smiled back. Sally was the mother she never had, and it broke her heart crumble by crumble by the sheer charade Percy and she were forced to display for the next six days. Sally Jackson deserved the best. She certainly didn’t deserve being deceived and lied to by her terrible son and his tag-a-long coworker.

“Yes, Percy was just making sure we’re arriving on time.” Annabeth got on her toes and placed a soft kiss on Percy’s stubbled cheek. It tickled but by now she had gotten used to it.

He rolled his eyes, smiled at his mother, nonetheless. Sally’s eyes sparkled and she clapped, clutching her hands tightly. “You don’t know how proud you’re making me, mijo,” she then said teary-eyed.

“You finally found a great girl and she is standing next to you.” Sally wiped a tear away and the awful feeling that sat on Annabeth’s chest and made everything heavier, amplified by a thousand times.

This was way worse than being referred to as the woman that would bear him three to five children presuming with the first one sired on this current vacation by Ares. Yes, Annabeth wanted two children at max, but not definitely now. She was twenty-eight and in the prime of her life! Note: Percy would certainly not be the father of said two children. Unruly blond waves and a mischievous grin blitzed through her head. Pale blue eyes came back from the deepest pit of her memory. Luke. Fuck no, that was even worse than Percy. His betrayal… Annabeth tried to shake the memory off and focused on the ongoing situation in front of her.

Sally truly hoped her son found love and not a quick fling. Oh shit, Annabeth thought and looked up to Percy whose face expressed similar thoughts. His conscience nibbled and guilt flooded his body.

“Mamá,” Percy began and released Annabeth’s hand in order to grasp the older woman’s shoulder.

Sally brushed his large hands off. “No, no! Off you go! You younglings should be downstairs celebrating your reunion with the entire side of Poseidon’s family.”

Annabeth appreciated the fact that Sally was invited and flown out each winter holiday by the Theodoropoulos’. Despite having been divorced from Poseidon for over twenty years, she was still a popular and welcomed guest, not just because of her son’s attachment to the Greek side and his tied division of the Greek family company.

Sally gave each of them a last smile before entering the women’s bathroom. Percy exhaled and pinched his nose. After ten seconds he released the nose and looked back at Annabeth. “Ready?” he asked a final time. Annabeth nodded.

The loud singing, yelling and talking that had been muffled by the bathroom hit her by a tenfold. The place had all the Mamma Mia vibes without the fun singing four days ago. Not anymore, as drunk relatives hit up the shore with loud music and talked loudly in their Pontic Greek dialect.

As the couple descended the stairs and walked through the parlor, a new wave of guests arrived at the same time. Three people that have just entered early adulthood looked up to them. Two men, one blond with a stoic face and bronzed skin, the other was shorter with spiky black hair and a beautiful grin on his lips. The woman next to him was the tallest out of the trio and possessed a high ponytail that would leave Ariana Grande dying out of envy. The dyed lilac hair swung around and nearly reached the middle of her thighs, meaning the hair was even longer without its tight prison on top.

“Thanatos, Zagreus, Megaera!” greeted Percy and gave each one of them a rib crushing bear hug. They looked pleasantly surprised at seeing Percy being accompanied by a pretty woman his age. It seems like the proposal didn’t reach all of the ends of the Greek world.

They fell into a short conversation in Greek and Annabeth smiled politely next to Percy as she fell entirely out of place. The evil Duolingo owl didn’t prepare her for this experience. Neither did her mother bother teaching her at least their Athenian dialect properly. She could introduce herself in Greek, order a beer, say goodbye and that was it. Thank you, Athena. For nothing again.

“Oh, you must be Annabeth,” Megaera eyed her carefully and Annabeth had the feeling that she could split her open with her hands. Weirdly enough, Annabeth was kind of into it. Megaera wasn’t only as tall as Percy but she was clearly the one with the toughest workout regimen as she displayed her muscular legs and defined arms with a short cocktail dress only a few shades darker than her hair.

“Yes,” Annabeth squeaked. She nearly added a ma’am towards the end. Megaera cocked her dark eyebrow. She had an aura that demanded respect.

“Interesting to see the woman who captured Perseus’ heart. It seems that he did develop a good taste after all. Calypso was as pretty as the crescent moon flower but sadly as dull as his corny jokes are.” Megaera’s deep smirk was a stamp of approval as her eyes roamed all over Annabeth.

“Hey!” Percy interrupted and placed a firm hand on Annabeth’s waist, as if he was trying to mark his territory.

“You have your own toys right to your right,” he then added with a playful tone.

Megaera actually laughed and waved dismissively. “That doesn’t mean there isn’t room for more.” A clear offer which left Annabeth’s face turn into a fiery tomato red.

“Anyway, we have some catching up to do,” Thanatos proposed as Zagreus and he silently watched the conversation blossom. He sounded as reserved as he looked.

“Indeed,” Zagreus agreed, surprising Annabeth with a posh English accent. “Father will murder me if we miss out on his moussaka. It’s to die for you need to try it, Annabeth, at least before Hephaestus gets ahead of himself.”

Annabeth laughed. The Theodoropoulos did have their positives. “I will, Zagreus,” she nodded.

“Oh please, if aunt Sally gave her go for you to stay here, you’re as good as family. We’re Than, Zag and Meg for you,” Zagreus offered.

“Annabeth is already my nickname but thank you for the kind offer!”

The three new guests went on to join relatives and friends at the party which seemed to get more chaotic by each passing minute as the volume seemed to increase.

“My cousin Zagreus from my uncle Hades’ side,” Percy explained as the three went out of his sight.

“Are they friends? Or…”

“Pretty sure they’re polyamorous. You know, I don’t know, and I honestly don’t really care, I see Zag once every twelve months at max. Just don’t stick to Meg’s side for too long otherwise she’ll turn you into her fiancé.” Percy’s tone suggested that he was not joking.

“Oh.” Annabeth didn’t know what to think of it.

Percy closed his eyes as if he was making a silent prayer, before his sea-green met Annabeth’s light gray ones. She smelled like lemon with a hint of lavender, instead of roses like normally. Delicious. If it weren’t for the fact that it was Annabeth.

“So, listen. You know I’ve talked about Dionysus Day and how his birthday brings out the worst side of everyone.”

Annabeth nodded as Percy went on to explain.

“Pre-Dionysus Day is basically same with the only exception that my great-grandmother’s house is filled with the entire family. Yes, we’re expected to eat, drink, laugh, drink, dance, drink, reminisce on our past, drink, make fools out of ourselves in order for them to take blackmail pictures and drink some more, but no matter how much they want you to open up… try to control yourself. Everything you say can and will be used against you.”

Annabeth’s stomach started to churn, and her knees slightly gave in. “Look, I’m truly sorry for the mess that I’ve caused,” Percy looked directly into her eyes and tried to ignore the rosy streaks across her flushed cheeks. “And my relatives can be overbearing. But if we manage to stick through this night and the next one tomorrow, we’re as good as done with playing games.”

“Fine,” Annabeth gritted through her teeth. She had agreed to the terms and condition. She didn’t need a reminder of the stupid decision she made two months ago.

“Let’s go.”

She placed her hand on the doorknob that separated the parlor from the huge living room. Percy followed her as she opened the door. A wave of laughter, wine, ouzo, discovered secrets, cigarettes, sweat and fun hit them.

“Oh wow, someone should open a window.” Percy suggested as he coughed. Luckily cousin Metis had the same idea. No, aunt Metis. Or was it Thetis? Why did Percy need to have so many relatives with similar names again?

“Oh, Annabeth, look at you!” Aphrodite had snuck up behind them and surprised the fake couple by hugging each of them and nearly spilling the expensive Greek vintage in her hand on Percy’s shirt. The red alcoholic liquid carelessly swirled in her glass and more than often seemed to want to escape from her clutch.

“Aphrodite, be careful!” Percy reminded her as she dug her fingers into his arm. Her nails were as fake and bought as was the bond between Annabeth and Percy.

“Oh, please cousin, you should learn how to loosen up!” She laughed, but it sounded more like the shrill sound a bird made when it got nearly hit by a car. The high pitch made Annabeth slightly frown.

“Take your girl upstairs and show her all the Zorbas moves you got!” She wiggled her badly overdrawn eyebrows.

Aphrodite had always been the poster child of perfection. She knew how to dress her curvaceous body the right way, she knew how to apply the perfect touches of makeup on her face and she was the most graceful being Annabeth had ever met. Seeing her so disheveled left the blonde American content. It showed that Aphrodite wasn’t one of the gods, she was a mortal mess like they all were. That, and it was kind of funny seeing the abrupt transition from oozing perfection to looking like a rough mess after a couple of glasses of wine.

“If you know what I mean, you two know what I mean, right?”

“Yes,” Annabeth and Percy answered. Unfortunately, they did.

“That reminds me, this is such a pretty dress that you got!” Aphrodite’s eyes widened and she tugged at Annabeth’s sleeve that went slightly over her elbows. “Percy needs to bring me a couple of those the next time he visits. Oh wait! You’re about to marry, Annabeth can take me shopping. I want to visit New York next summer. When was your wedding again?”

Panic filled Annabeth she tried to stutter a lame excuse like they had done the entirety of the stay. Aphrodite’s brown eyes found something else to focus on in the meantime. Her hand went out to poke the tall blonde’s chest as she went on to pull on the thin fabric.

“You should show the men what you got! Free the girls!” Aphrodite yelled over the loud music, pushing Annabeth’s C cup to its limits. “Let Percy stand in the corner with that stupid frown, all jealous and depressed while you’re out on the hunt!”

Percy did not look amused especially since he tried to pull Annabeth away.

“Yeah, just like that!” Aphrodite’s glass pointed directly at his face as Annabeth tried to shove Aphrodite’s fickle fingers aside. “Oh, if I were just a little bit younger and not tied to your cousin…”

“You mean cousins,” Percy corrected and made a step backwards as Aphrodite’s dreamy and drunk dazed focus shifted from Annabeth to him.

“Aphrodite, leave Percy and his future wife alone,” Hera arrived to save the stressed couple and rolled her eyes. “Go harass Hephaestus and try to be a faithful wife for once in your life.”

She still looked like she had a massive stick shoved up her ass by the way she stood entirely straight next to them, but Annabeth appreciated the gesture. If Hera didn’t like Aphrodite much, Annabeth would rather join Team Hera than stand alone by the bleachers and under Aphrodite’s charmspeak. Aphrodite pouted and stomped with her feet twice as if she were a toddler and not a grown woman marching towards her forties. Then she stormed off and ran into the arms of her lover, nother husband to spite her mother-in-law and embarrass her even further.

“Malàka,” Hera cursed and lost her cool for one second, before clearing her throat and focusing on the already tired fake engaged couple in front of her. Not even Hera seemed to be averse from drinking a glass of wine or two. “You two definitely need a drink.”

Annabeth agreed with her for once.

She pointed at the bar behind her, which was managed by Dionysus and his wife Ariadne. The number of relatives ganging up on them and demanding new drinks was frightening. Surprisingly Dionysus kept his cool and shoved drinks in people’s hands at an impressive speed.

“Yeah, let’s get over with it,” Percy sighed and took Annabeth’s hand again.

“Are you okay?” Annabeth asked him. She knew from Thalia that Percy rarely ever drank and that his family was to blame for most of it. Percy seemed stiffer and graver than usual as well. As much as she disliked his jokey nature and easy-going demeanor he displayed at work, she’d much rather have that Percy by her side right now. Dionysus Day and the day before seemed like it was hell on earth for him and walking through it each year must take a toll on him.

“Yeah, let’s just each grab a glass of wine. Let them be happy about me shoving this disgusting stuff down my throat.” He thanked Ariadne as she prepared two glasses of the same vintage Aphrodite seemed to have inhaled earlier.

“Thank you.” Annabeth took her glass and sniffed. The wine smelled sickly sweet with a hint of the bitterness that the fermentation process had left. The glass in her hand weighed surprisingly heavy, not because of the wine itself but because of the golden swirls decorating it. The glass transitioned from the crystal-clear transparency into a deep black. A lyre surrounded by a bigger laurel wreath decorated the middle section and a golden snake was wrapped around the stem. The golden rim gave it a nice finish.

“Into a fruitful night,” Percy darkly mumbled over the music. He was really not looking forward to it, which confused Annabeth immensely. She didn’t understand why he pushed himself through this if he really didn’t like the drinking activities. He surely had his reasons, hence her not starting a fight with him over it. It was his family and their tradition after all.

“Into a fruitful night,” Annabeth instead repeated.

Issuing a weird toast as well. Percy Jackson was clearly not a drinker. Their glasses clinked and each of them took a sip. Thankfully grandma Rhea made sure they were well-fed before the festivities began.

“Fuck,” Annabeth muttered. A fine vintage as well. Not as sweet as she thought, it left a hint of sweet cumin as the lingering aftertaste. Her lipstick left a mark on the glass, but she didn’t bother to care as she took another gulp. The wine was nearly finished. She slowly started to understand why ancient civilizations went crazy after this stuff.

As she looked at her so-called fiancé, she saw that his glass was already empty. A grimace rested on his face as well.

“Err, Percy?”

“What?” The dark brooding look on his face was no more.

“Shouldn’t you take it easy?” Annabeth carefully asked. His eyes narrowed.

“I am,” he stated and cocked his head towards his cousin who was still busy playing the barkeeper but kept an overall watchful glimpse on the guests that flooded the gates.

“Dionysus saw me drink. Most importantly he saw us have a drink. That should be enough for me, but if you want some more, be my guest.” He shrugged.

Annabeth felt that she should probably drag his mopey ass out of the party, but it was way too early to leave. “Fine,” she said and asked Ariadne for a refill. Annabeth went in for another long sip. She should definitely stock her wine cabinet once she was back at her shitty apartment. Before the glass reached her lips again, Hermes snatched it away and chugged the remaining wine.

“Hermes, what the hell?!” Ariadne grabbed the glass and pushed her husband’s cousin away. The bored postman was back with his shenanigans.

“My bad, dear wifey, but I’m on a mission here to abduct sweet Annabeth,” Hermes winked and placed his hands around Annabeth’s shoulders.

“What are you up to?” Out of all of the relatives she’s met so far, Annabeth was convinced that everything Zeus had ever sired was a mistake. Zeus himself was a mistake.

“Can you stop being German and boring for once?” he joked. Annabeth’s eyes narrowed. She did not like this one bit. She turned her head around and saw that Percy had been pulled into a conversation by Hypnos and Morpheus. He had completely forgotten about her. Great.

Hermes guided her through the crowd, towards the middle of the room. They had to dodge chairs, drunk relatives, a sofa, chatty relatives, the coffee table and dancing relatives before they made it.

“There she is!” greeted Achilles the confused marketing manager.

Paris, Helen, Patroclus, Hermes and Achilles stood in a circle around a table. Dozens of shots of all sorts of colors were displayed. Annabeth had a terrible feeling about this.

“What is this and why are you pulling me into this?” Annabeth asked and did not like the mischievous grin they all shared. She wanted to go back home and cuddle with Daedalus on her sofa and push his cat ass out of the way before the next steamy Outlander scene hit the screen. Yes, Annabeth was that much of a single that seeing some on-screen action was the best she could get. She hoped that the mangy cat didn’t bother Thalia all too much while she was staying in Greece. She owed her so much already.

“Well, I stayed in your country,” Paris started. “And they have a weird tradition with ouzo. They don’t drink it the way we do, watered down and slowly at lunch and what not…”

Annabeth was still American for the most part and had nothing to do with Germany. The last time she stayed there was nearly thirteen years ago. She didn’t want to have anything to do with Germany. Friedrich Chase lived in Germany. And she fucking hated Friedrich Chase. Therefore, she hated Germany. Things that would never change. Okay, Hamburg was a cool city and she was glad her father moved to Cologne. Should she feel the urge to travel back to Germany for a week or less, she’d go to Hamburg, take ten thousand pictures, and post them on Instagram the minute before she was boarding her flight back to New York. Helping her to enrage her stupid father was all Germany had to offer.

“Germans do ouzo shots,” Patroclus cut to the chase. “And since you’re the newest member of our family…”

“And German!” Paris and Hermes added simultaneously.

“We’ve decided to play this little game,” Achilles added.

“What’s the name of the game?” Annabeth asked. She was only slightly curious. Emphasis on slightly.

“Last man standing. Oh sorry, ladies. Last person standing,” Hermes corrected himself as he placed four shots in front of each person. That was way too much hard liquor to handle. But if she did Jägermeister bombs in her sophomore year of college without any issues, this should be fairly easy.

“What are the rules?” They all looked at her in silence. No rules. No prize. Just drink.

“Oh wow.” The urge to roll her eyes and walk off came back with a force.

“I think I’m going to pass,” Annabeth said and already turned to her right.

“Why?” Helen asked innocently. “Need your man to look after you? The one who’s having an amazing time back there with his third glass of wine?”

Foul game. Annabeth’s head shot to the right. Helen was right. Percy was laughing and looked like he was having a great time chatting with Oceanus and his wife Tethys. Tethys refilled his glass as her husband and Percy broke into laughter once again.

If that’s the case…

“Fuck it, I’m in,” Annabeth agreed. She swallowed the bait and she knew it. There was no reason why she should feel upset about Percy opening up all of a sudden. He desperately needed it. Why she wished to be a part of that, Annabeth did not know.

“Great!” Helen threw her brown mane over her shoulders and grabbed the first glass.

“Για μας!” they all yelled and chugged the liquor. Gia mas, the Greek toast, was repeated every time and it seemed to brighten the mood, despite resting heavily on Annabeth’s stomach. Her college days were over, but she was glad she resisted coughing repeatedly.

Patroclus clutched his stomach after the second shot, Helen ran out after the third, Paris and Achilles were laughing maniacally after the fourth and Hermes mysteriously disappeared after the first one. Annabeth was the last person standing. She placed the crystalized shot glass back on the table and examined the messes around her. The only thing that had happened to her, were that more golden locks escaped from her bun and her lipstick needed some reapplying as she left marks on each glass.

Annabeth tried to take a step away from the table and felt how the world slightly shifted around her. The fact that she would curse and hate herself for her behavior in just six hours, was something drunk Annabeth gladly put aside. The headaches that definitely would haunt her for the rest of the trip didn’t matter, she won and that was all she cared about.

“Hell yeah!” she yelled as all inhibition faded away, leaving pure and raw life force behind. Unbeknownst to her, Annabeth had moved right into the circle of dancers.

“Perseus, get your bride before she breaks her legs!” someone laughed. Was it Iapetus? Or was it Hyperion? Who even cared at that point?

The next two hours were a blurred mess. A blackout slowly crept through her mind, leaving foggy memories behind. Annabeth felt how she was dancing with people and how people were laughing. Were they laughing at her or with her? Did it really matter? Why was her hair repeatedly slapping her face, didn’t she tie it up?

She danced with different people, men and women. She really hoped that the guy that looked like a naked Danny DeVito with longer black hair was not Zeus who had lost his shirt and pants. Who was the guy with the sea-green eyes again? Why was he clapping and laughing whenever she was busting a move next to Hermes? Was he important? Why did he remind her of work? The shots might have been a short-sighted idea after one and a half glasses of wine. She probably overestimated the amount of food she had consumed at dinner prior. Wasn’t she supposed to try someone’s moussaka?

“There you are! Ares, stop dancing with her for once. We’re about to leave.”

Ugh. Ares. Not Zeus, but still yucky.

Sea-green eyes. Percy, of course. How could she have forgotten the asshole that brought her into this whole mess? He seemed fairly sober, didn’t he have a glass or three of wine? Annabeth was certain, she’d be able to drink him under the table. His height and his build might put him at an advantage, but if he wasn’t used to drinking, she might have a fair shot.

A rock song was the next song that appeared. Percy wanted to drag Annabeth off the dance floor.

“Oh no!” Aphrodite intervened with a shrill screech. “Give the two lovers some room to show each other affection!”

Hera actually raised her glass for once to show that she actually agreed with one of Aphrodite’s wild ideas. Someone fumbled with the playlist and a Greek slow jam roared through the old speakers.

“Are you guys fucking serious?” Percy muttered under his breath. But roughly eighty pairs of eyes were all but watching the soon-to-be betrothed and waited for a romantic dance which reminded Percy more of the horrors that the eight-grade dance was.

Annabeth drunkenly hiccupped and looked at him in surprise as she felt one of his hands around her waist and the other one taking her hand. They rocked as if it was the final dance at prom. Annabeth barely remembered prom. Oh right. Her mother had forbidden her from going. She never attended prom.

A casual glimpse through the crowd showed her that people were actually filming this nonsense and some women were actually cooing. Did… did they seriously think this back and forth with sweaty clothes on was romantic? Her eyes found Percy’s again.

“So…” he began.

“So…” she repeated.

“Careful!” he warned her before twirling her through the tight circle. People screamed and applauded. A camera flash blitzed through the darkness twice.

“Oof,” Annabeth groaned. Her stomach and equilibrium did not appreciate that sudden movement.

“I’m sorry, I won’t do that again,” Percy swore. The rocking motion made both of them sleepy. Annabeth suppressed a yawn, rested her head on his shoulder. Percy could make the perfect comfy bed, if he wanted to.

Percy, sensing that people were awaiting some action from either of them, placed a finger under her chin and lifted her face up. Annabeth’s eyes widened. Is he going to kiss me in front of them? Again? her panicked brain asked. She was turned into stone, not by Percy’s distant cousin Medusa who had eaten most of the truffles, but by the tenderness of his actions. He was one solid actor.

Percy placed a soft kiss on her forehead, before moving on to a temple. Annabeth blushed and buried her heated face in his chest as he released her. Intimate, soft and sweet. The screaming relatives disrupted their comfortable silence yet again. The slow song came to an end and the next upbeat one invited everyone back to the dance floor. Annabeth released herself from Percy’s tight embrace and just bolted. Damned be nausea. A wave of coldness hit her. She felt something she didn’t like the minute Percy had softly kissed and soberness woke her at a start. What was it? Anger? Disappointment? Longing? She didn’t know and she didn’t want to know.

“Annabeth!” Percy shouted, but the amount of people standing in his way made it more difficult for him to keep up with her. His hand brushed over his own lips.

Annabeth opened and closed doors left and right. The kitchen, the dining room, the smoking room. She hasted through the first floor until she found another lost soul in the fireplace room. Why the villa had a fireplace room in the first place, she did not know. It had been super-hot the entire time but what Annabeth understood as heat and what native Greeks deemed as hot temperatures didn’t have to correlate.

Great-grandmother Gaia’s humming faded away. The eldest of the Theodoropoulos looked up from the pair of socks she was knitting. When she came to find out the intruder was Annabeth, joy spread over her face.

“Come, come!” The broken English that she softly spoke reminded Annabeth of her own grandmother. She hadn’t seen Elsbeth Lilienthal-Chase since she had left Germany. And since her mother didn’t give her a chance to say goodbye, she didn’t have a phone number to reach her with. The only way would be through that asshole Friedrich Chase, and the only time she’d willingly let someone contact that man was if she had been six feet under and he would be forced to show up for one important family event for once.

“I was unable to sleep. Parties aren’t something for me. I’m too old and boring for my children and their children,” Gaia sighed as Annabeth took a seat on the green sofa next to the light blue armchair. All of the cushioning seemed to have been made by Gaia as the socks had the same pattern as the pillow that Annabeth leaned against. Balls of wool surrounded the older woman as if she sat on a field of fresh tulips.

“Drink, drink! You need water. I’m pretty sure you danced a lot.”

Annabeth kindly took the offer, grabbed the carafe and poured herself a little bit of water into a small glass. The water was surprisingly cold and refreshing.

“My children deem me crazy,” Gaia continued. “The war with the ottomans. Deportation. Fleeing and seeing death everywhere. Losing my father in the chaos. Then the big world war after that twenty years later. They don’t want to listen to the same stories. They only want to have fun. So, they sent me away.”

Annabeth felt terrible for the old lady. It looked like she had been through hell and back in her youth. She didn’t look like she needed much, only someone to listen to her.

“I won’t bore you much,” promised Gaia.

Gaia’s tanned leathery hands continued working on the little socks. “Don’t worry about tomorrow, dearie. We have plenty of acetaminophen and other hangover remedies. Tomorrow will be even worse, because Dionysus wants to celebrate his birthday with even more wine,” the old woman laughed, and her green eyes twinkled full of life.

“I also was young once…”

The two sat in comfortable silence, only interrupted by Gaia’s humming or Annabeth refilling her glass of water.

“So,” Gaia began.

“So?” repeated Annabeth.

“You are the woman that tamed my little Perseus,” the older woman grinned.

Oh no.

Annabeth had a lump in her throat and drinking water to solve it, didn’t work. She wasn’t just lying to Zeus and his wife. She was lying to an entire clan, from the youngest to the oldest members. What Percy and she were doing wasn’t right, neither was it fair. Sure, Percy’s shitty uncle didn’t help much by forcing him to marry the next person, but did the rest of the family deserve to be deceived as well? No, they didn’t, and that truth rested heavily on Annabeth’s narrow shoulders.

The fact that Gaia looked so much like her great-grandson was crazy. They possessed the exact same shade of sea-green. It was passed onto Rhea, Percy’s grandmother, and then Poseidon, Percy’s fucked up father. Always full of intelligence and calculation. Shifting easily from delighted and full of life to the crashing anger of a storm. Power and knowledge were key features of Gaia’s eyes.

“How did you meet my sweet Perseus again?” Gaia innocently asked but Annabeth knew that there was some sort of ulterior motive behind her question.

“At work,” she honestly answered, and Gaia smiled. The old lady was able to sense the truth.

“He’s not my direct boss, but we run into each other a lot. And we hated each other from the moment we saw each other.” Annabeth remembered how she accidentally spilled her hot coffee all over his shirt. She had been public enemy number one from then on.

“He’s an excellent boss, as much as I hate to admit it. He knows his ways around and is passionate about the ocean and its inhabitants. Definitely more passionate than me, I’m just there for the money. He actually wants to make a difference. And he’s extremely annoying, might I add.”

Gaia burst into laughter and needed a minute to calm down. Annabeth cracked a toothy grin. “Ah yes, I can see how you fell in love with him.”

Doom. Uneasiness. Discomfort. The lump in Annabeth’s throat grew bigger and bigger. Why was her vision so blurry all of a sudden? She looked down at her dress. Dark dots appeared. More sprinkled across her lap as Annabeth realized she was crying.

“I’m so sorry,” Annabeth sniffled. “I… Percy… I…”

Gaia put her knitting utensils aside and set herself upright in the armchair. “Oh no, what is going on, Annabeth?”

The calming hand on her back did not help the young professional at all. No, Gaia’s honesty and curiosity made it way worse.

“Percy and I… we’re not engaged. We did it because Zeus-” Annabeth tried to confess, but Gaia brushed her off.

“It’s okay, Annabeth. I know,” the old woman smiled.

The tears that smeared her foundation or rather what was left of it ceased to fall. “You what?!”

Shock widened Annabeth’s light gray eyes.

“I knew from the minute you stepped into my house. I’m pretty sure Rhea knows as well.”

Annabeth’s jaw fell open. “B-but how?!” she stuttered and felt like an utter and complete idiot. The first few days had been rough and difficult, but now she thought that Percy and she conveyed the illusion of being a happy couple.

“You were scared of everything including him the minute you arrived,” Gaia warmly smiled. The infectious warm smile of a grandma looking out for her little chicks. Was Annabeth now one of them?

“I knew something was off with that sudden engagement of yours with the way you two behaved. Either you were pregnant, or it was a ruse. Since you are heavily drinking and paper thin, it was clear that there was no pregnancy. You young people truly don’t eat enough anymore,” Gaia shrugged, patted Annabeth’s knee and went back to knitting the sock.

“But now… it all makes sense. You do feel something for each other. Even if you are blind to it for now.” She continued to hum. “I just hope that my dear Perseus will be the young and carefree boy he was all those years ago one day again. And I do believe that you are the key in finding him hidden underneath all those layers and walls he had put up due to his father.”

Annabeth didn’t even close her mouth during the elder’s monologue. Did Gaia seriously connote that she… that Annabeth Chase… might feel something for her soon-to-be boss? Madness. Absolute madness. She took everything she had thought of the friendly old woman in front of her back. Maybe her relatives did have a point, when they decided to brush Gaia off due to her old age.

Annabeth? And feeling something for Percy? If that something was hatred and the utmost rage, absolutely yes. But… anything else? She would receive a hefty sum on her bank account and would put in her two weeks the minute she found a better job in California.

“You know… there is a tale I’d like to tell about men.”

And Annabeth would prefer to place the glass back on the table, throw the heels away, storm out and run to the next airport.

“They are stupid vapid creatures,” Gaia carried on.

Annabeth snorted behind her glass. “That is certainly true,” she agreed and earned an honest grin from Gaia.

“My dear husband Ouranos with whom I had all of my dear children decided one day that one woman was not enough. And that twelve children were not enough.”

Twelve children?! Annabeth's womb just twisted and turned in protest. The shocked expression on Annabeth’s face made Gaia chortle loudly.

“Oh yes, back in my day we were all very fruitful,” Gaia affirmed.

“That sounds horrible,” Annabeth interjected.

“Oh, only the birth part and the eighteen years after it,” the older woman dismissed her which made Annabeth in turn laugh again.

“My father was a farmer and he had one piece of advice: never let someone toy with you. You are not a doll; you are a person with morals and dignity, a person with feelings and dignity. Let no one, especially not a man, treat you like a commodity or something to kick around. Well… when dear Ouranos left me and sought our neighbor with bigger breasts… I taught him that lesson. And I did so with my father’s trusted knife that I hung on the wall afterwards.”

There was no knife displayed on the wall. It was a fucking scythe. Large, frightening, brutal. A golden great long sickle with jagged teeth rested on the wall as if it were ready to cut you up into one thousand pieces. Was there really dried blood stuck on the teeth or was Annabeth’s drunken mind making things up?

“The minute our youngest turned eighteen he took off and was never seen again. And now, should a person, in that case my Perseus, not know how to treat you properly, you know what to do,” Gaia advised and took a sip out of her own glass.

“Uh… you mean threaten to cut his genitals off with a large and sharp family heirloom?” Annabeth’s eyes widened again.

“No, dearie…” Gaia gave it some thought. “Well maybe so, dearie,” she then went on. That made Annabeth chuckle again.

“But demand absolute respect from him. Don’t ask him for it. Demand it. I don’t know how but he has dragged you into our family and expects you to play the perfect fiancé. This will eventually blow up in his face and he will drag you along with him. Teach him a lesson, however.”

“You know what? I will!” With Gaia’s official blessing, Annabeth was all smiles and scheming new plots. If the head of the family gave her the approval of kicking Percy’s ass, she definitely would.

Steps echoed in the fireplace room and Annabeth and Gaia’s heads turned to greet the intruder. They didn’t even realize the door opened and closed again.

Gaia’s younger twin who still had some black streaks in the braids marched into the hall, curious about what the two women in front of her were previously talking about. Gaia’s youngest daughter Rhea had joined them. The large blue floral dress made her seem like she never left the late 1960s and the two long braids only added to that sentiment.

“Mamá, what is going on? By the way Percy is looking for you, Annabeth,” Rhea informed her grandson’s alleged fiancé before taking a seat in front of her and grabbing one of the many balls of yarn in front of her mother. Rhea then went on to play with it as if she was a six-year old.

“Oh no, Rhea, Annabeth and I were just chatting about love and life,” Gaia batted her eyelashes.

“You see, I gave Rhea the same advice about her disgraceful husband when he went out to seek another woman.”

Rhea rolled her eyes behind the large pentagonally glasses. “You and your stories about the scythe, mother,” she sighed.

“I have to make sure the younger generation knows!” Gaia huffed. “I won’t be here for much longer and then-”

“We'll regret all the things we’ve said and done to you, I know mamá, you have been telling me this since I was four years old and spilled my apple juice,” Rhea completed her mother’s sentence.

Rhea’s attention shifted to the smiling blonde in front of her. She grew to like Percy’s fiancé. She had a fire within herself and a backbone, all great things to handle a Theodoropoulos man.

“But my mother is right when she says that the scythe is a trusted tool. Zeus, Poseidon and Hades did scare Kronos with it after he tried some foul things with their sisters. Treated them worse. Did overall horrible things. He never wanted daughters, only sons. Didn’t seem to accept the fact that it was out of my hand.” Rhea squished the ball of light blue yarn in her hand.

“My children were always looking out for me and I will be forever grateful for them. I do hope that you will have the same feelings and love for your children.” It was clear who their father was supposed to be.

“Yes, I hope so as well,” Annabeth squeaked. Did it get hotter in here all of a sudden?

The door opened, and a worried Percy stepped into the fireplace room. “Oh, there you are,” he sighed as he immediately sighted Annabeth’s blonde unruly curls. He had been running from the basement all the way to the roof searching for her. Relief washed over his face like some shower gel from a cheap commercial. Only then did he realize that Annabeth had been cornered by both his nosy grandmother and his even nosier great-grandmother.

“Whatever they’ve been telling you, it’s a lie, it’s wrong and it never happened!” he warned her as he took a seat right next to her.

“Oh please, relax,” Rhea rolled her eyes and threw the wool at her grandson. “We have been talking about mamá’s scythe.”

“Hey!” both Percy and Gaia complained. At least they hadn’t dished out embarrassing stories of him taking off in diapers at night.

“This is expensive! You young people show no respect towards others' belongings,” Gaia cursed.

Annabeth took the blue yarn and placed it back on top of the pyramid of other colors.

“Thank you!” Gaia smiled before she focused on finishing the sock.

“You’ve found your fiancé, Perseus. Now go off back to celebrate and let us old people reminisce about the past and talk.” Rhea lazily waved at them whilst Gaia didn’t even look up from her craft.

“We will,” Percy said while getting up and casually dragging Annabeth along. He kissed both Gaia and Rhea on the cheek, Annabeth threw a hasty “See you in the morning!” over her shoulder before the couple left.

“Are you okay?” Percy asked as he pulled Annabeth aside for a small breather.

She nodded. “It’s just a bit overwhelming with the amount of people that either want to take pictures of us, hope I remember when their youngest kid’s birthday is, or they tell me they hope we have our first baby preferably in less than a year.”

Percy blushed. He didn’t think it was that bad, but then again, men are mostly left out of the baby talk until their mother’s saw that their best friend’s children had their first grandbaby. He truly didn’t have any intention of having a child before the age of forty. He had to save a business from his damned uncle, run and manage said business and preferably find a woman he tolerated enough to marry before he could even think of children.

Percy apologized again. “One week,” he promised her.

“One week,” Annabeth repeated and nodded.

“We’re going in, you’ve missed the high of the party with your talk with my yai yai, but that’s perfectly fine. The first have already left, let’s just mingle for ten minutes or so before we can-”

The door flung open. “There they are!” yelled Hermes who was followed by Zephyrus and Hercules.

None of them had any intention of letting the party stop before five in the morning. It was merely two. The minute Hermes had his sights on Annabeth, he knew that he had found his best drinking buddy aside from Dionysus himself. Oh no, Annabeth thought and rightfully so.

The minutes of calmness and rest next to Gaia did their wonders because Percy and she were thrust back into the party at full force. She didn’t exactly remember when the blackout happened, but it was roughly thirty minutes later. She was drinking, she was dancing, she was completely making a fool out of herself. The hair? A mess. Annabeth herself? Don’t even think about it. She had been dancing with Hermes and Patroclus, Aphrodite accidentally stepped on her foot one time when Ares approached her.

Percy broke his own promise and accepted a fourth glass of wine from Dionysus who insisted on it. That glass was his doom. The last droplet touched his tongue and his world turned into a flashy mist, his consciousness was broken into pieces, fragmented and sprinkled across the floor. Where he was, when he was and who he was were things he couldn’t remember. The only thing that popped up in his mind were waves of solid gold. Was it hair? Could hair truly move like that and possess that texture? And a whiff of lemon with a hint of lavender crawled up his nose. It was an odd combination, but it felt safe and like home. He liked this smell. Where did he smell this before?

Percy didn’t care, he had other matters to attend to. The first thing on the docket was finding the bathroom, he had drunk way too much. The house had weird rules in regard to bathrooms. Was it the left side or the right side that the young men could use? Why did his uncle Hades have to break two sinks in a span of a week when he was sixteen again? Why were women and others allowed to do whatever they wanted? His great-grandma and her weird plans were always set to make him fail somehow. Things that she had thought of decades ago still bore fruit today.

Percy stumbled upstairs and turned right and prayed the doors he was opening were empty bathrooms and not relatives making out. That was just what he needed. The first door he opened was of his great-uncle Oceanus and Tethys who had a face mask on her face and pink curlers up her hair. At least the old people still knew how to behave. He hoped his mother had left the party hours ago. He apologized and closed the door. The next one was an empty bedroom, his even maybe. No, his bedroom was on an entirely different floor. Or was it?

The next bedroom was closed off thank god, but from the sounds on the inside it seemed like cousin Eos and her newest catch Orion had some fun. Disgusting, Percy thought before he moved on. The next door was what he was looking for. A bathroom. Lit up, clean and empty. Empty if it wasn’t for this one woman who was clutching the brims of the polished sink. She was tall, the golden hair equaled a rat nest and her red dress seemed to have witnessed a lot.

“Ugh,” she muttered and looked into the mirror. Her eyes found his immediately.

“Percy?” she turned around.

Oh right. He was Percy Jackson, thirty-one, single, hopefully the new CEO of Atlantic INC., he had a fantastic apartment in the Upper East Side with an amazing view and he was in Greece to impress his family with his fake fiancé in order to secure his father’s legacy. His fake fiancé being Annabeth Chase, a woman he loathed, had to pay a little hush money and hoped would leave the company fairly soon after.

“You’re in the men’s restroom,” Percy then stated.

Annabeth looked around. No, it was not the same bathroom she used in the morning. Oh yeah, Gaia’s weird bathroom rules.

“Honestly who cares?” the junior marketing manager complained. “A toilet’s a toilet, no matter who uses it.”

Percy shrugged. Annabeth had a point but it wasn’t their house so they couldn’t dictate the rules.

“I wanted to retouch my makeup, but I didn’t find my makeup bag.” She walked steadily to Percy, but it was clear to both of them that she had her fair amount of shots in her system.

“Yeah, it’s probably in the other bathroom. Wait, let me use the bathroom for a second and then we can head back to our room and you can look for your makeup.”

Annabeth nodded and waited on the outside while Percy was tending his business. After drying his hands, he opened the door and found Annabeth yawning in front of one of his yai yai’s paintings. It showed the scythe from the fireplace.

“In all honesty, your great-grandmother is an amazing woman. I admire her. Showing kindness and strength each day. How old is she?”

“Turning 106 next October,” Percy smiled at her. “She always said she wanted to live long enough to see her favorite descendants find their own happiness, whatever it may be.”

The softness in his voice made Annabeth’s heart ache. She turned her head back to the painting. She was a nobody. She had no family, no traditions she could upkeep. She didn’t even have a steady relationship in the past five years. Fucking Luke Castellan. He also had to take that from her as well. Make her suffer. That’s what Athena, Friedrich and Luke all thought at the same time. And they all had nearly reached their wicked goal if it hadn’t been for her stubbornness and will to eventually blossom into something else. The first step towards that something else resided within her move to California. She wanted to leave everything and everyone behind and start a new life, somewhere where no one knew her.

A thumb brushed over her cheek. Annabeth looked up to Percy. She hadn’t even realized she was sobbing again.

“Whatever it is, it’s going to be okay,” Percy assured her. His hands found her sides, pulling her into a soft hug.

A true fiancé level hug. Annabeth had never felt that comfortable within a man’s reach. Percy might have been an awful and annoying coworker, but he truly cared about his fellow people. The way they slowly rocked and kept hugging each other reminded her of the school dance work they had put on the floor earlier. But this time it was real. This time there was no one taking pictures or yelling into their ears, or the demand to see a kiss.

Annabeth rested her face in his chest and Percy leaned his head on hers. It was like they had been made for each other. A welcoming scent greeted Percy. Lemon and lavender. The person stuck in Percy’s crumbled mind had been Annabeth. She was his anchor in the havoc his relatives had created in such a short time. He took a deeper breath. It felt reassuring.

“Did you just sniff me?” Annabeth laughed as she pulled away from him.

“You do smell good!” he defended himself with a stupid grin on his mouth.

“Oh, wait you’re super drunk,” she giggled again as she saw his widened pupils that had pushed the darkened sea-green iris away.

“Well, look at you,” he retorted.

They looked at each other. Aside from the bumping music and the noises people made downstairs it had been completely silent. He missed her warmth; she missed his comfort. Neither would have guessed that a simple embrace could offer so much. Neither would have thought they would take it to the next step within a split second.

One last look. A last time sea-green and light-gray met before each set of eyes closed and their lips met with a brutal force in the middle. Their teeth clacked but it didn’t matter to them. What mattered now, was the moment. Forgotten was the alcohol, forgotten were the troubles of past, present and future. Forgotten were the friends and relatives in the building and back in New York.

So... what do you think? 😄 Like I said, this is not the entire chapter 🤷🏾‍♀️ I honestly feel bad for cutting the chapter off because it's really getting more interesting from that point on 💁🏾‍♀️ I'll probably continue working on this once I've published the next act of The Fool 🥳

Also Greek people, if something seems off with this (aside from random English at times lol) hit me up, I definitely have to do more research!

[eeriefeelingsat3amuwu]

My lovelies, this is probs the best thing that we (me and my sister) ever came up with when sleep-deprived and creative. Me and my sis were watching Blood of Zeus on Netflix and síce we’re really into the Greek Mythology, we started thinking of random headcanons on the gods. And this is what we came up with:

Zeus:

the oldest sibling, the younger ones call him Big Z

actually very loyal to Hera, would never cheat on her and all of his ‘maidens’ were actually chosen by disaster bisexual Hera

loves cleaning, is very pedantic

is the only one who knows about the real images of all the gods

a great husband, but a terrible father, seriously, don’t leave your child with him

loves his little brothers to death, even if they fight a lot

Hades:

the middle sibling, nickname is ‘Hadie’, Poseidon loves him, Zeus cares for him very much

is a very loving husband, he gives Persephone everything she could desire

since he rarely chooses sides, whenever the other gods are fighting, he and Persephone have date nights, play with Cerberos (he’s seriously a big puppy) or talk to the dead heroes in Elysium

Charon is his best brooo, parties in Tartaros, he even gives Hades and Persephone romantic boat rides along the river for date nights

Poseidon:

the youngest, must be protected even if he doesn’t need protection, has two nicknames: Pony (for joking around and picking at him) and Donie (loving nickname used when talking normaly)

May be the god of the seas, but he can’t swim at all, his older brothers tried to teach him one day and it ended with him almost drowning in a meter deep pool

is really adventurous and traves a lot, if you’re not sure where he is, try either a few California beaches or some historical cities in Europe

is the good dad™️, he takes care of the Zeus children comming in every once in a while and they absolutely LOVE him

both him and Hades are great with kids, but Hades has a wife, so he’s more of a cool uncle then a dad

DAD JOKES

Aphrodite:

you’d be surprised, but she does not spend her free time practising makeup and doing yoga; most of the time, while not in public she downs some oversized hoodie and sweatpants and either sleeps, lifts weights or bingewatches Netflix shows and eats chips

except for Zeus, only Appolo and Ares know this, not even her son is aware of it

Appolo found out when he went to borrow her curling iron and she opened the door without thinking (she was just eating a corndog and when she saw the look Appolo gave her, she slammed the door in his face while screaming ‘if you tell anyone you’re dead’)

Ares is a different story, she actually showed him and they accidentaly became best friends

she can’t sleep at her house since they could find out and so she sleeps over at houses of other gods when she knows they’re not there

Ares:

is actually very peaceful, hates fighting and it’s kinda killing him that it’s his job to be a bloodthirsty warmonger

whenever he can, he drops the act and is just a sweetheart

loves bunnies and has quite a few of them

Aphrodite was sleeping in his house one time because he was supposed to be fighting a war somewhere, but what she didn’t know was that he returns to feed and play with his bunnies every two days (no it’s not animal abuse, he leaves them both food and water whenever he’s supposed to go away and he returns only to calm himself down and make sure that everything’s working as it should) and he returned the day she was sleeping there; she went downstairs as to leave and found out about the bunnies

that’s how they became best friends

his house, to the other gods, looks like some sort of an arena with weapons and spikes all around, but as soon as they leave, he re-decorates and after that it looks like Demeter’s garden

Demeter:

she has alergies

like, a lot

she hates flowers and grass and just every single damn plant because it makes her eyes water and itch, it makes her nose runny and it just puts her in a shitty mood

but because of her profession, she has to decorate her home with them whenever someone is comming over

then she holes up in her house for two weeks until her alergies pass and starts again

Hephaistos:

he hates warmth

yes, he lives in a volcano, but he’s not fireproof, thank you very much

he’d rather do anything else OTHER then what he does because it’s so hot, but he loves his job and so he continues on with it

every once in a while he disguises himself as a human and goes to the show Forged in Fire (he always wins)

Eros:

he loves his job and everything that comes with it

the only little bit weird thing is how invested he gets into the love stories he creates with his arrows

he cries whenever the story has a happy ending and is just all in all a very senstive soul with an undying love for romance

he is so devoted to Psyche that had she asked him to, he would rip off his wings and give them to her

Now, we have the gay friend group:

Athena:

tired™️, always on coffee 24/7, if not, you don’t want to talk to her

curses, is angry and totaly not calm and colected, just chaotic neutral energy

a prankster, along with Hermes

the mom friend, makes sure the rest of the group doesn’t die or kill each other

smart and witty, but doesn’t give two fucks about anything, burned out gifted kid

eyerolls, glares and ‘tsk’s are a must

she WILL make you feel pathetic if she wants to

likes baking

Hermes:

without his shoes, he can’t run to save his life

you’d think ‘Oh, a Greek god, he must be ripped under that Toga!’ but no, he’s a fucking stick; no abs, no biceps, no nothing, just a STICK

can’t exercise, can’t lift anything heavier then a teapot, just...weak baby

living and breathing ADHD

stimming, never paying attention, figet things, hyperfixations, just...

a trickster along with Athena, they are sneaky and they always know what to do to get the best reaction out of every single god

Appolo:

loves to create songs, both lyrics and music, but...a bit different genre

just...heavy metal, rock, rap, he’s just going WITH it dude

also loves the goth aesthetic

plays the guitar, electric one tho

he diguises it as his lyre

Artemis is his eyes in ears for when he needs to change the tone (when the other gods are comming)

he does actually like poetry and loves to read classics and he thinks Shakespear is THE SHIT™️

the theatre kid

loud

Artemis:

the godess of the hunt, huh?

yeah, she’s a vegan

like, a hardcore vegan

goes to PETA protests every once in a while

fights for animal rights with every ounce of her being

but she’s still the godess of the hunt, so sometimes she needs to kill animals

sooooo, she has anger issues.

deals with them by making Hermes exercise

keeps tabs on every animal she has ever killed and cries over the papers where she’s written it down every once in a while

Okay, this would be it for our headcanons, I may or may not be planning to write a fanfic about them in a modern setting and I’m excited af.

Tagging you guys in belief that you’ll enjoy this:

@definietlynotsatan @a-fandom-trashdump @bla-rese

[perseusjackson-jasongrace]

In honor of your new name is there a chance you could do something jercy related with this prompt?

I have fought wars, brought gods to their knees, leveled cities yet my greatest achievement was making you smile

Hello sweet Anon💖this prompt made me so very happy and I hope my little drabble satisfies your heart!

This is dark. Like maybe the darkest I've ever gone so:

TW: violence, death, torture. Please proceed with caution. 

That being said there is a little "We are each other’s and that is enough" fluff at the end so I hope you enjoy that!

Masterlist

Anyway please enjoy!

Percy swipes his hand across his pants, ridding himself of the blood dripping down his fingers. These unfortunate souls had been squealers and while he usually preferred the beggers, he was amused nonetheless. The dust finally settles and he can see the delightful destruction that surrounds him.

He's not sure he'll ever get tired of it. The bloodlust. The carnage. The deathly quiet that surrounds him after a battle. He slowly steps down from the concrete platform and picks his way over bodies and rubble. A soft rustle sounds from behind him and he freezes. Dead people don't move. Taking a deep breath, filling up his lungs, he turns around. His faces morphs into something wicked, sinful, evil.

"Hello," He smiles at the twitching hand, trailing it till he sees a face.

The person makes a strangled noise and he wants to laugh. Their face is distorted with pain, dust and debris like glitter in their hair and a broken leg, bone sticking out like a stake.

He hunches down till he can see their dark brown eyes and the little scar through their eyebrow. "You're in pain." It's not a question but they attempt to nod anyway.

He brushes the back of his hand across their cheeks and hides a grin at the hot tears.

"Please," They gasp, "Please help me."

He chuckles low and throaty, "Did I not do this to you?"

A sob wracks their body, "Please. I have a family. Friends who are counting on me."

He barks out a laugh and it sounds like crunching gravel in the quiet dusk.

"You don't understand. My girlfriend is waiting for me. My mom—" They break off wincing. He realizes at least one, if not two of their ribs are broken.

"We can do this quickly," He shrugs, "Or, my personal favourite, we can drag it out." He rolls the words over his tongue.

"Please. Have you no mercy?" They cry.

"I did once," He smiles, and it is the memories of war that make his green eyes glow. "But when you are given no mercy, you run out of any to give."

They whimper, lips trembling, head shaking as if their body is rejecting their fate.

"So," He grins, looks at the cotton candy sky. His husk of a heart clenches with longing. "Have you decided how you want to do this?"

"I think," A laughing voice from behind them says, "We should do it quickly so you and i can get out of here."

He freezes at that voice, those words. It can't be. He doesn't want to turn around in case it's not real. He doesn't want that disappointment.

"Not even a 'hello,' Jackson?"

Percy's entire body goes slack. And then he's whipping around and slamming straight into a hard warm body. "You're here." He chokes. He presses himself further into those hard plains, runs his fingers over expanding ribs. The smell of storms and life surrounds him and he wants to live in this embrace.

"Why are you here? I thought you were on the otherside of...."

Jason Grace pulls back to pin his lightning blue eyes on Percy, "I was done early. I wanted to see you."

"I missed you so much." He holds in the tears threatening to erupt.

"I missed you more." The blonde gives a soft smile, brushing his thumb across an angular jaw.

A strangled noise interrupts their moment and Percy decides that infernal human will die for it. Painfully. Before anyone can blink he is stepping out of Jason's embrace and standing over the dying body. He dances his fingers in the air and watches as their limbs bend. Their cries ring like music in his ears.

"I was going to let you go easily." He sighs, "But then you interrupted us." He cracks their arm in half and they scream so loud it rings in his head.

"Please!"

"Should have thought about this before distracting me from my love."

"PLEASE!"

He cracks another bone and let's the blood flow from the pierced skin in a wave. It is dark and rich and floats over their body like a maroon blanket of death.

"Percy," Jason breathes. And he looks over to see blue eyes as dark as sapphires, lust crackling like lightning in them.

"You are sick." He laughs and there is seduction wrapping around his throat.

"Please hurry up so we can go." The blonde's voice is nothing but whispers and temptation.

He turns back to his victim, "His wish is my command."

And with a grin that ruins light the Son of Poseidon slams the body into the earth and ends their long lasting suffering.

"Are you ready my love?"

Percy intertwines their fingers, skin the colour of earth and gold pressing into each other. "Take me to the stars Jase."

So Jason wraps his arms around him and pushes of the ground into the night sky.

They fly past the levelled village and the dying fires caused by raucous, terrified people. The Son of Jupiter sticks his hand out as they go over and the wind snuffs out the embers. The last light that proved a civilization once stood there. Percy feels no remorse. He doesn't owe anyone a reason for the destruction he inflicts. Because the world did not give him one when it destroyed him.

"I am here." The arm wrapped around him gives a reassuring squeeze.

"I know." He nuzzles into a golden neck.

"You got into your head again." He can hear the frown, the worry.

"How do you always know?" There is no-one else, no other being on earth that he loves more than Jason Grace. That he trusts more. No-one else he'd live for.

"I can feel your heart against mine." The blonde says, shrugging his shoulders.

"And how do you know it wasn't your heart?" He is teasing.

Jason answers seriously anyway, "Because when I am with you my heart beats as steadily as the rain." A smile blooms soft and true on his beautiful face.

Every nerve in Percy's body sets itself on fire. He is the unwavering granite of the earth, and the encompassing air, and the rush of water, and he is fire. "I have fought wars, brought gods to their knees, leveled cities yet my greatest achievement is making you smile."

The blonde doesn't say anything as they fly across the world, amongst the stars, to the moon. And then they're going down towards a little island. Before he can blink he is sinking into the sand. Jason releases him slightly so they're staring into each other. He cups his cheeks and presses their foreheads together.

"I love you Percy Jackson. I love your darkness. I love your eyes. I love your smile. And most importantly I love your heart."

Percy cannot breathe, cannot form words, doesn't know what language is. When he first became this monster the Son of Jupiter had reveled in his corruption, stared at him with awe, pulled him close and said "Show me again."

They had demolished worlds, had torn gods apart till the rivers were gold, had made symphonies out of screams but it was this, this softness that made him weak.

"You are my light in the darkness." The Son of Poseidon whispers.

And when their lips meet universes come alive. And shadows dance in the night.

[dreamyaqua]

Helloooo~!! I'm the same person who talked about Hyunjae and Haknyeon's rising signs! When I first wrote it, I wasn't deep into astrology yet. I've researched and tried to learn more about the Greek gods, the mythology, planets and associations to better my understanding. So, this time, I present all 23 members of NCT. To form an opinion on this, I watched their personal variety on their YT channel, took note of their physical habits and appearance, and read first impression stories. (1)

Also, don't worry about answering this right away! I just got very excited and wanted to share this :DD we currently have 5 members with confirmed risings; Johnny, Taeyong, Kun, Doyoung and Jaehyun. That's 18 members left, still! Also, I relied much more on their first impressions of each other as well as their appearance, habits and their neutral face because idols put up an act, which is enforced by their company. I'm running out of words so– (2)

(I decided to put the rest under a cut as the ask has gotten really long and I also put your asks together in regards to each member, I hope that’s okay!^^)

First up, Taeil! My first guesses for him were Scorpio (ruled out immediately lol), Capricorn and Taurus. I went with Capricorn at the end. Taeil just has a home-y, fatherly aura which Earth signs have. According to the members, he has that strong vibe that makes you want to learn from him. And we know that Capricorn is ruled by law and structure loving planet, Saturn. Saturn is associated with Cronus and Hestia. (3) Hestia is peace and home while Cronus was briefly the ruler of all. So, in short, a parent. Taeil as NCT's grandpa is accepted by many czennies. Which fits well. A typical Capricorn rising could have a petite stature as well as a wide-ish body type. Earth risings do tend to be stocky. Lips are usually either thin and wide or round but when they smile it's bright and feels familiar. It all starts from home~ Next up, Yuta! (4)

Yuta? Scorpio rising. I did try to see if he fits anywhere else but landed right back to Scorpio. One main reason, when he smiles, it's real. His healing and genuine smile is definitely a Scorpio rising trait. He's also pretty quiet in general but can get wild *insert clip of Yuta and Taeyong's chair race* and maybe even stir things up. Scorpio is associated with, Hades. Hades is generally a warm soul unlike his gruesome depictions. He's just a peaceful yet lonely guy. When he loves he LOVES (5) Traits seen in our double Scorpio royalty, Yuta. Winwin, Mark, Shotaro and Jungwoo is his Kore and Cerberus (you decide who's who). 

Easy tackle, now we've got Ten! Your local cat mom. As I say that, I guess Leo. Leo risings have feline features and traits, which Ten definitely has. When you watch his relay cam, his day's pretty chill and made more fun by his cats. They're just positive morning people and Ten really has that effect. Leo is associated with Apollo and Heracles (and more). (6) Apollo's a talented man (if you read Lore Olympus, I just hope you don't associate those characters with the actual deities) and so is Heracles. What do they have in common with Ten? Well, both Apollo and Ten are artistic, gifted with languages, and talented in music. With Heracles? Well, we know he's a hero, an ace. Leo is also the sun. The core of our system. We can definitely agree on Ten being NCT's talented ace, which all supports my guess of him as a Leo rising. Next, Winwin.

My first guesses for Winwin were either an Aries or Leo rising. Though, at the end, I settled for Aries. The entirety of NCT is in love (obviously, exaggerated) with Winwin, and fire signs naturally have that magnetism. Aries rules the head area, and one frequent habit of Winwin's is scratching his head. He also tends to put his head forward (called a nerd neck, due to book reading) which is typical of an Aries rising. He also appeals with his eyes when he wants something, also very Aries. Winwin as an Aries rising just feels true and self-explanatory. 

Next on our list is Jungwoo. A total Slytherin. Be a fool and fall for them, I dare you–oh never mind, you already have. Safe to say that Jungwoo is a Libra rising. Libra is Aphrodite afterthewholebeingbornoutofcastratedtesticlesthenformedfromseafoamshenanigans. We all know that Librans are pretty people. So pretty it's sickening, I'm getting too personal now. BACK ON TOPIC. I also had the thought of him being a Leo– I mean, if you've seen NCT World, Jungwoo definitely shone. Leos and Libras are similar in my opinion so it could be why I'm so unsure about it. Not many know but Aphrodite is a war goddess. Her role is very watered down, maybe because war was just not sexy to the Ancient Greeks. Still, Aphrodite conquered hearts, and Jungwoo has that main stage. Life is like a runway, especially with the way he walks. He also loves connections and making people laugh, both an Aphrodite and Apollo trait. Reason why I settled for Libra is that the first impressions of Jungwoo is that he looks serious, radiated sophistication but also wild. Aphrodite, being a magnetic and adventurous (iykwim) mad lad, has a definite influence on Jungwoo.

The next member is Lucas (12 more to go!). Lucas tries his best to make people happy. He loves seeing people be happy. And seeing how he says sorry when things don't seem to be exciting or done his usual way, I'm convinced he's a Libra rising.

I've written notes down but I have school so I'll complete this after LMAO

Back (new classes today so I'm hnghh). Okay, Mark! I believe he's where I left off. Mark is an Aries rising opinion. Also, while trying to hunt for their birth times, I stumbled upon someone saying Mark's birth time is 10:34pm. I tried it and it was Aries rising! Some habits that Mark does that's total Aries; touchy, laughs a lot, swears more than most, loud personality. He also has the Aries t-zone. His lovely gullbrows~

Next, Xiaojun. I was honestly stuck on him until I watched a fancam of him walking to the airport. His steps seem very grounded. Possibly, Taurus. I also thought he was a Scorpio and Leo but with the way Xiaojun gets defensive doesn't feel very water or fire (Aries is an exception). Xiaojun also enjoys food and cooking. He finds comfort in work, likes the easy way better, he's also quite practical. He's also hardworking. Probably either finishes homework the day it gets handed or when he's stressed. No in between. (I erased everything, I wrote by accident...) 

Hendery has the Air sign look and also the Earth sign vibe but in the end, I settled for Sagittarius. Why? Well, Sagittarius is ruled by Jupiter (Zeus) and we all know that Zeus can get impulsive. Hendery seems to be so. Sag is also associated Dionysus, the stereotypical wild "people love people" drunk. Which Hendery also seems to be so. That's all for him. Next up Renjun.

Renjun has a habit of scratching or just touching his ear and head, his fight instinct is on 24/7, gets frustrated when something doesn't go right, very attentive when people tell stories, uses his whole body when laughs (stomping, throwing his neck back like it don't break). I guess he's either a Gemini, Pisces or Aries. The easily bored so they make chaos but also is helpful when needed trio, Hermes, Poseidon and Ares. Renjun just has a distinct style I can't pinpoint. No solid guess.

Dream's papa, Jeno. I believe he's a Capricorn rising. He just has that long faced, big nosed and intense eyes that Capricorn risings, from what I've observed, tend to have. I've also took up Libra and Taurus as other options but I went with Cap. Even if his go-to noises is confusion. I probably don't make 100% sense but I hope it's good enough. Anyway, Jeno has a potential to become a leader and Caps are great leaders. Not perfect but great. He also has some competitiveness in him.

7 more left! Haechan's turn! Haechan really does twist and turn people's heads. He could be a Gemini rising, mostly because he uses his hands whenever he talks, laughs, sing. He's also a trickster. Maybe Scorpio since he has that rbf and the presence that makes you quiver when you meet him in person. Another possibility is Aries, he's wild, impatient and banter skills are top notch. His silhouette either looks Arian or Scorpian. Face, Geminian or Arian. What do you think? 

Next, Na Jaemin. Virgo rising. Jaemin knows how to smile, like he knows how to attract people with it, and we all know his smile is beautiful. He also has that motherly attitude towards his friends. A total introvert as well and is just calm (but can get naggy and fastidious). CEO at eye rolling, even if habitual and unintentional. GenZ Artemis. 

Next, Yangyang. I'm dead sure on him being a Cancer. The way he walks is so baby? and my Cancer rising friends tend to do little skips and sometimes waddle. Whenever an opportunity arises, he takes it. He also enjoys comfort. These may be Taurus rising traits as well (they're similar in many ways) but when I watched ETC, Yangyang seems to have a protective side. A clingy side. So, I went with Cancer. 

Shotaro is next! Always smiling, gentle voice, admires people and loves fun. Libra. A possibility is Aries. This is based on appearance. Arians tend to have weak chins (chins that don't stick out). He also has the "always look forward to tomorrow" vibe.

I-I don't remember who's next...

I suddenly forgot what I wrote before this. I should've planned this. SUNGCHAN. My Virgo buddy. When I first saw him his vibe screamed Virgo, he just had that short face Virgos tend to have. It's a mutable sign so it tends to get overpowered but every virgo I know has a short face despite being different ascendants. I was struggling figuring him out but I decided on Pisces. I'll be taking a stretch here. So descendant is how a person views the world. His being Virgo. Sungchan seems to look at the world as structured so he could feel the want to rebel. He seems to enjoy chaos but probably helps mediate the situation for the sake of doing so. My thoughts are slowly getting tangled.

CHENLE. Chenle's a virgo rising and mostly because his rbf is piercing. He always looks like he's observing and silently judging people. It makes more sense for him to be a Scorpio as well. Yes, he's bright and fun but Scorpios do have that side. Just more serious and a lot of roasting.

FINALLY THE MAKNAE. Jisung Park. Libra rising. He just likes peace but when he's chaotic, he'd want you to match his vibe. A balance, in a way. He also seems to get frustrated/stressed easily, gullible, awkward hands, and he's always quite pretty. Calming to look at. That's all. What do you think their signs are? I want hear your opinion :DD Also, I hope your exams went well!! You probably put in your 100% best so of course it did!!

//

First of all, thank you so much for your support! My exams actually went well and I’m so relieved I got it all over with for this semester.^^ And now, as you’ve already noticed in an ask I’ve answered earlier, I don’t cover NCT on this blog and therefore, I haven’t really given their rising signs much thought so far, so I’m not going to really have an opinion myself but I wanted to thank you so much for your hard work with all of this and for sharing it with us!! It was super interesting to read and I can only say that I think all of guesses make sense to me.

As a Leo rising myself, I felt super flattered while reading Ten’s paragraph - I’d feel super honoured to share my rising sign with him and I also feel like his energy is familiar to me, so I could totally believe that to be true!^^ And also, omg, I’d love for Yangyang to be a Cancer rising! I seem to attract Cancer risings left and right and he’s recently become one of my ults, so that would be great :’) (I’ll definitely start to analyze him more in the near future haha)

Oh, oh!! Btw, my close friend @jacksvnshine made a very in-depth analysis of Mark’s possible rising sign and she guessed him to be an Aries rising like you did! She’s so amazing at what she does and if it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t know a thing about astrology. So I can highly recommend checking out her blog and I also really want to link her analysis for you here as you might find it interesting to read, and it’s exceptionally well made!^-^

I’m sorry that I can’t really give you my opinion on their rising signs, I haven’t studied them enough in that sense :( and I personally struggle with rising sign guesses because I always feel like I don’t know enough to make an “accurate” guess but oh well- a guess is a guess, we can never know for sure but my mind doesn’t really want to accept that. :’)

I truly enjoyed reading through your messages and guesses, thank you again for sharing this with us!! I’m sure there’ll be others who’ll find it interesting to read as well!^-^

[taelme]

Heyyy your Hyunjin demigod au is a literal MASTERPIECE !!! I was thinking about which god would fit each member of skz, what do u think ?

hmm good question anon... ok im not super well versed on this but im doing this based on like what I know and like the Vibes okay HAHHA 

Bang Chan: Poseidon: [ god of the sea, earthquakes, floods, drought and horses ]

I feel like he strikes me as fitting either Poseidon (maybe its because he says the ocean is his safe place and hes a beach boi 🤟) and idk why something about chan and water and swimming just feels very natural? like it feels comfortable if that makes sense... yeah, something about it is like commanding in a calm kind of way? which is kind of what I associate with Chan! tbh I was also considering Apollo for him because chan has established that sort of emotional-support Kpop boy image for himself HAHHA and hes really so sweet... but yeah I guess I thought Poseidon would fit better im not entirely sure why 

Lee Know/Minho: Prometheus: [ Titan god of forethought and crafty counsel ] 

this kid,,, I feel like he gives me alot of this energy? like judging from how Minho is usually the brain behind pranks against the other members or just how quick-witted he is? I feel like at the same time he’s very smart? like he has a pretty unsuspecting kind of intelligence that shouldn’t be underestimated, I mean the name prometheus itself already kind of hints at the intelligence part but at the same time he has a energy that’s quite like,,,guiding(?) if that makes sense.  

Changbin: Persephone [ goddess of agriculture, fertility; queen of the underworld ]

!!!! this was kind of hard to decide but I feel like what kind of drove my decision was that Changbin is very strong on the outside but he’s sensitive and he has so much love in him and he just wants to give his love to others and be loved(as we all do)! but that’s not to say thats what persephone wanted of course lol, but in this aspect I feel like Changbin is also quite assertive at the same time? (see: that video about the chart manipulation prank) and his duality kind of reminded me of this because of how the underworld is usually seen as something very dark and depressing but persephone was very beautiful and yeah,,, I hope that makes sense. 

Hyunjin: Apollo: [ Olympian god of prophecy and oracles, music, song and poetry, archery, healing, plague and disease, and the protection of the young ] 

ok before yall shit on me because I wrote hyunjin as a son of Aphrodite in the fic, I was kind of torn between Apollo and Aphrodite for him, because I feel like Hyunjin has a lot of ... softness? to him? like how he always wants to help stays overcome their problems or offer a listening ear to stays and how even from the music he recommends there's always a very calm/gentle/soothing vibe to it and there's even that sort of elegance to him in how he dances which is kind of the vibe I got from Hyunjin, but at the same time how he’s very intense when he wants to be and I could really see these qualities standing out in him!

Han Jisung: Artemis [ Olympian goddess of hunting, the wilderness and wild animals. She was also a goddess of childbirth, and the protectress of the girl child up to the age of marriage ] 

first of all, I had a really hard time deciding this HAHA but honestly I felt like Artemis was someone who gave me similar vibes to Jisung in terms of appearing unassuming but then releasing a hip fuck sin  actually having a lot of power and strength underneath that! and I feel like this really reminded me of Jisung, not only because performance wise hes quite similar but in terms of how his strength goes a lot beyond just performance? like mentally as well? yes Jisung best boy 

Felix: Aphrodite [ Olympian goddess of love, beauty, pleasure and procreation ]

ok. Felix is literally the sweetest boy I've ever seen. But I chose Aphrodite for him because something about him is very,,, contagious? how his positive and lovely energy just kind of makes the people around him want to be like that as well and I remember reading something about how Aphrodite had the power to ignite feelings of love in those around her (even animals) and I thought that was a very...Felix thing? Like even from his cute hobbies like how he bakes and cooks and he gets so much joy out of baking things for other people its just like u can really see how much he wants to spread love to others and i thought that was really beautiful so I chose Aphrodite for him! ( and also bc hes pretty as heck ) 

Seungmin: Athena [  Olympian goddess of wisdom and good counsel, war, the defence of towns, heroic endeavour, weaving, pottery and various other crafts ] 

Again! I was contemplating between Athena and Apollo because Seungmin also is another person that has so many like... poetic elegance to him and a gentle healing energy, but I chose Athena because I feel like Seungmin is someone that although they have these beautiful healing qualities as well, they’re also someone with a lot of depth and principle? and he’s very witty as well. But yes! he strikes me as someone that takes his studies seriously and his responsibilities as well, like I remember seeing that alot of the members voted him as the most hardworking in the group and I do stand by that! because Seungmin has a kind of quiet determination and discipline that kind of reminded me of Athena? because we all know being disciplined and hardworking really isn't easy... so yes! 

I.N/Jeongin: Astraea [ virgin-goddess of justice, innocence, purity and precision ] 

I was deciding between Astraea and Hebe for Jeongin as well but eventually I chose this one because what I thought of when I saw this was when chan said he saw Jeongin as a blank slate when he first met him, and I think something about Jeongin is that he has so many qualities that just scream youth. And I think that just from the qualities I named out above you can see how there's a child-like nature to it but also a very seasoned kind of feeling? like I just feel like this energy is a very.... as much as its youthful it’s also very wise? kind of thing. 

anyway anon I hoped this answered your question! thanks for the ask this was fun 

[chasejackson-fan]

Chapter 1 - Trapped in a closet - I Hate U, I Love U

[June] I wake up with my father yelling at my uncle. This was not the way I wanted to wake up today. - June! - my mother screams. - Coffee is on the table! Don't expect your father! Sigh. It had been happening since the beginning of the summer. I look at the calendar. Today is the first day at Wakefield University, one of the best universities in the region. I get out of bed, stretch out and touch my toes and open the window for my cat to leave. I take a shower and start packing my backpack. I wear a white sweater, a blue jacket, black jeans and teal sneakers. I go down the stairs. - Buenos dias family. - I say taking my toast. - Buenos días, June - my mother caresses. - How did you sleep? - Good. Where's the father? "Fighting with your uncle," she rolls her eyes. - Again. I laugh. My mom finds it ridiculous that my dad yelling at her brother. I take a bite of my cheese and ham toast. I look at the clock. - Mom. I have to go. - Good class, dear - my mother handed me the key. - We'll be late today. - OK. - I open it and face Frank O’Sullivan at the door. Her curly black hair was combed. His blue eyes were intimidating and looking at me as if he were an obstacle in his path. And he had an upright posture. - So ... - he looks at me. - Where are you going, June? I was uncomfortable. - Going to college. - I would go down the stairs, but he stops me. - Why don't you stay? - he asks me. - To see your father lose the argument. - Your kindness moves me. - I said sarcastically. - Frank, don't you think it's done? a voice came from behind him. A tall boy with brown hair, black eyes and Caucasian skin says with his hand on the backpack strap. I've seen him. Ryan Sullivan. - Don't move, Reynolds - Frank looks at me. - If I see your cat at my house again, I'll cut her throat. Understood? - Got it. - he smiles maliciously. - Give her the cat, Jack. A second person takes off his hood and reveals Jack Sullivan asking his cousin to hand him Angelina. He had grown up over the holidays. Her hair was blacker and her midnight blue eyes were more beautiful. Like I look into his eyes. Why did I think that? He looked at me and I froze. He started walking towards me and I started to repair beard strands. Angelina was purring in his arms. Usually she scratched or bit the people who held her but for Jack, the cat was calm. Why does she stay calm in his hands? - Here's Angelina. - he says. - She's not to blame. - Huh? - I scratch her ear. - Thanks for saving my cat. - You're welcome - Frank had already entered my house. - Don't you want to go with us? I said yes with the head. Okay, I went on my way to college with two boys that I shouldn't talk to. Well, they are cool. Ryan took the lead while Jack and I stayed behind. - How was your vacation? - I asked. - It was ... ordinary. - You're lying. - Okay, it was cursing, fights and grass to cut. - he finishes the sentence. - Is that you? - My summer was complicated. There was that thing about Benny ... - Benny? he asked me, raising an eyebrow. - Benny. Benny BeCat. The mayor's son. - Ah, the rich man's son - he scratches the back of his neck. - Most don't like him. But he is a good person. - He's very good people. Moving on, he was promised. But I know he doesn't like me and he only sees me as a friend and I know that he is madly in love with Natalie Ferrari. - They are together. - Together? As a couple? - As a couple. - he shows me a photo of the two kissing behind a tree. - Dirk sent me the photo. - That Dirk ... - that's when I touched myself. - So if they are together it means that ... - That you and I can't marry them.

I felt happy for them and that I was no longer promised. I could be free to choose who I could fall in love with. We arrived at the school. - Look, I may not like you but I care about you. - He puts his hand on my shoulder. - Good class. - To you too. He comes in and I blush. - Speak, cousin! - Amanda gives me a push. - Are you thinking about who cousin? - Nothing! - I exclaim. - I wasn't thinking about anyone. - No one, right? - she looks at me with a smile. - No, you weren't thinking about Jack Sullivan who wished you a good class. No… - she made a movement with her hand. - You weren't thinking about him ... Not at all ... This is my cousin. She looks like a sister bothering me. - Did you hear that? - But of course! - Amanda gives me a naughty smile. - I have to hear all the information about your future boyfriend. - I ... - I blush. - I don't think of him that way. - I will pretend that I believe. Joey, Álvaro, come on, you softies! - Are your brothers giving you trouble? - Much work. Álvaro already gave me a hug and Joey gave me a smile. - All right with you? - All right, June. - Álvaro makes a thumbs up. - My brother is already in love. - Oh yes? - Amanda looks at Joey. - We are on the first day and you are already flirting? - Relax ... - Joey looks at me. - But she was also flirting. - What? - I asked. - With Jack Sullivan. Álvaro, help me here. - he and his brother positioned themselves. - This is going to be a good one. - "I may not like you but I care about you" - Joey takes a rose. How did that rose appear? - Guys ... - I wanted them to stop. - Then he says good class and you tell him too. - It was for education! - OK. Let's stop before you punch us. We entered 10 minutes before and we were talking until I saw a shadow and before I saw who it was, it was no longer there. [Amanda] After half past fifteen, I had an idea of ​​genius. I decided to do that today. - You can go ahead. - Are you sure? - Álvaro takes the backpack. - Have. See you later. - See you later. And they went home. I have to see if the boys are still here. I see Ryan and Quint playing Myth-Magic in the cafeteria. - Why did you get Poseidon? I could use Zeus. - Quint complains. - Boys! - I call and the two turn around. - Can you help me with a bid here? - You can talk. - Do you like it when June and Jack are together? The two smile and tell my plan of genius to bring the two lovebirds together. - And could you call Hunk? - I say looking at Ryan. - Yes, I do. And gets up from the chair and leaves. [Ryan] I know where Hunk is. I go to the dance room and find him shirtless dancing belly dancing. - Ahhh hi Hunk. He sees me, pauses the music and takes a bottle of water. - Hi Ryan - he smiles. - What are you doing at school after hours? - Playing Myth-Magic with Quint. - Ah. It was our thing when we were still dating. And he didn't look upset. - So you want something? - Actually, yes - and I told you our plan. - Do you really want to do that? - Hunk smiles. - I'm inside. - Great! - I was glad he didn't say no. - And could you wear a shirt?

- Clear. - he dressed, closed the door and says he has a date with Pedro and does not want to be late. - Let the games begin! [Jack] I always draw in the art room after the bell rang. And you can call me a stalker, but I know that June is practicing drums in the music room. So I have all the time in the world. Only not. - Look! The rainbow child - I know that disgusting voice. I turn around and see Filip McClain. - Hi, McClain. You are better than that. - I say sarcastically. - That's what we're going to see ... - and it's already on me. Dodgy and I leave the room. - There is! Eat dust. Two turns to the left and I stop to rest. - Sullivan! And that was the signal to keep running. I arrived at the physical education room and had no places to hide. - Hey, Jack. - June takes my shoulders. - What are you doing running like crazy? - Running away from Filip McClain. - I heard the noise in the music room. Oh shit. - What's it? I look in the direction where she was looking and see Filip watching the scene. - We will! - she takes my hand and guides me to a closet. Close and lock the door and put your hand on my mouth. I smell your hair and it smells like French vanilla. - Damn it! - I hear him curse. - Okay, he left. - she takes her hand out of my mouth. She unlocks and pushes the door. - Oh no. - What's it? - I push the door and it doesn't move. - We are stuck. - Just now did you notice? she said thickly. - Excuse! I'm going into despair! We stopped and wondered what we were going to do. - Try to hold the handle and I kick the door. she suggests. I grab the handle and she gets ready. She kicks and believe it if you want, it worked. - Thank God that worked. - June picks up her backpack. - Are you coming or not? We were walking home, she stops in front of me and says: - I may not like you but I care about you. - she does something that surprises me. She gives me a kiss on the cheek. - Good night. - Good night ... - she enters the house and I am smiling at nothing. And I think it is better to go to my house before it is a problem.

[goodwriterwithbadhabits]

March 7th

Master List 

Sailor!Jay x Mermaid!Reader

Warnings: Violence, mentions of death and revenge.

~~

Of course, this was how Jay was going to die. Here on an island in the middle of the ocean, not even a drop of rum to numb his pain. A sword, and a pistol, and two miles of untamed island for him to decay on, what a life. 

Theoretically, this whole thing could have been avoided, if only Jay had been more pirate-like and told his father to eat shit when he found him in Tortuga. If he had, he might be lying in a bed with some busty whore, or still be drunk, walking the town with his friends, not baking in the sunlight of some godforsaken island, marooned by his own father. 

“Well, he’s cute.” A musical voice from above him stirred Jay from his almost sleep. 

“Do you think he’s dead?” Another asked. He heard the sound of someone being slapped. 

“Don’t say such things, Coral.” A third voice chimed. 

“I think he’s a pirate.” A fourth voice noted, and the others around him gasped. He could feel the sun burning on his skin, but portions of him were covered in shadow. 

“He’s still handsome.” The first voice giggled. 

“What should we do with him?” A cold hand was placed on his face and his eyes shot open. He caught a glimpse of people hovering over him before a chorus of shrieks filled his ears. Bolting up as they scurried away, he found a gaggle of mermaids moving towards the water. In a burst of anger, he pulled his knife from his boot, stabbing it into one of the iridescent tails as they scrambled away from him. 

The mermaid in question let out a small scream, arms collapsing into the sand. 

“Y/n!” One of the others cried, turning back to their friend. 

“Just go!” The trapped one cried, quickly turning back to Jay and hissing loudly. “Let me go.”

“Get me off this island.” He retorted. They glared at each other for a moment before movement caught his eye, a shimmer appearing around her tail as it slowly became a pair of naked legs. Before he had a chance to properly respond she was scrambling to her feet and bolting towards the ocean. 

Just before her feet could reach the tide, his strong arm wrapped around her waist, lifting her from the ground and preventing her escape. Her legs kicked frantically, fingers clawing at his arm as she tried to free herself but Jay was much stronger, he carried the merwoman further onto the island, depositing her by a nearby tree in a small tidepool. 

“Stop trying to escape, if you keep this up, I’m just going to kill you and eat you.” He growled, and she finally stopped moving, instead choosing to glare up at him. 

“I can’t help you, the most I’ll do is drown you.” She hissed. He smirked at her comment, crouching down to be level with her. 

“Let me ask you something, mermaid. Is it true that your kind spawns from women thrown from ships? You come from the deaths of people killed by superstition, right? So don’t you want revenge?” She looked away from him, crossing her arms over her chest in disdain. “When you’re ready to answer that, we’ll talk more.” He patted her leg and stood, “For now, I’m going to try catching me something to eat.”

“Yes,” At the sound of her voice, Jay’s gaze shifted from the fire in front of him to the woman still leaning on the tree. Hours had passed since their last encounter, the sun had long since set and Jay had seen her fellow mermaids watching them from the deeper water. 

“What was that?” He asked, and she finally looked at him properly, blue-tinted eyes staring into his own. 

“Yes, you’re right. Mermaids are created from Poseidon blessing women who are thrown from their ships. Why did you need to know that?” He smiles, something borderline unhinged. 

“Because, I was thrown from my ship too, and I know that ship is sailing for Nassau as we speak, just as every other pirate ship does this time of year. I know that Navy ships simply throw their stowaways in the brig, only pirates drown them, which means that whoever tried killing you, and maybe some of your girls out there, is going to be in Nassau.”

“With the people who tried killing you.” She realized. “Smart for a pirate, smarter for a man.” He grinned at her again. 

“I’m taking that as a compliment.” He held up a bottle, waving it at her. “Care for some rum darling? Found it in an old cache some other unlucky sap must have buried.” She pursed her lips, glaring at him but finally sighed, standing up slowly, and picking her way over to him. 

“We aren’t friends, pirate.” She reminds him, snatching the bottle from him. “But I’ll help you get revenge if you help me get mine.” 

“Deal.” He agrees quickly, watching her take a deep drink. “I’m known as Jay.”

“Back when human names were still relevant, I was known as Y/n” She glanced at him from the corner of her eye, finding him still staring with a strange smile on his face. “What?”

“You’re very pretty.” She lets out a scoff and rolls her eyes. 

“I know, that’s why they killed me.” She stood, stretching before padding towards the ocean. “I’ll be back in the morning, there are shipwrecks in the nearby water, I’ll see what I can scavenge.” 

“I, for one, am glad the whole death thing didn’t take.” He calls, and she only chuckles, shaking her head before diving into the water and disappearing into the night in a flash of iridescent tail.