#so after hades reclaims jason

[bastardraccooon]

I've had this idea of a mega crossover for some time but I couldn't think of a proper cause to bring all the mythologies together but I think I finally have something that might work.

So in hindu mythology, the big three gods are Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiv - the creator, the sustainer, and the destroyer. And Vishnu has 10 avatars (incarnations), his tenth and last avatar is Kalki. In the myths, the universe goes through a cycle of 4 ages and we're currently in the last age of the cycle — Kaliyug. It's the worst age, there's a lot of evil and people are bad blah blah. Kalki will end the Kaliyug and restart the cycle.

The basic idea for my fic is that Kalki is about to be born and all the monsters and villains from every mythology are losing their shit because once he's born, they will not be able to regenerate. If you die, you die. So they're all converging on to the place where he's going to be born (in the myths, it's prophesied that he'll be born in a village called Shambhala) to prevent his birth. And the demigods/magicians etc come together to protect the village.

Also, in the fic there's a secret society of people who are tasked with protecting Kalki. There's a person like the Oracle who's thousands of years old and they make prophesies about special children being born all over the country (fic is set in India) and these children and their parents are brought to Shambhala. Some parents can't cope with the whole thing and want to leave so the society wipes their memories of having the kid and sends them back and keeps the child in the village.

These kids have powers like demigods but instead of one person having control over just one thing (percy with water, leo with fire, etc) they can all control various elements. The powers aren't passed on from parents but rather acquired through meditation and stuff idk. The more practice you have, the more things you can control.

[celaenaeiln]

Hi, do you have any recommendations for Dick and Slade fics where their relationship is explored? It doesn't matter if it's a pairing or not. P.S.: I really love your posts

Thank you!!

And boy do I have them! All of these are my favorites. They're fics I specifically saved separately because I loved them. I hope you do too!

FAVORITE!! The thrill I get when I read this. The high. It's almost incomparable. Sladick in cyberspace. I don't even like cyber punk but I loved this fic - Gray Area

FAVORITE!! I talked about this one before but it's the perfect fic for apprentice Sladick. Read it so many times, I can't get enough of it. - Nightwing Protocol

FAVORITE!! This is one of my comfort fics, I love the whole collections so much. Slade and Dick get married and run off to the Maldives - I Guess Time Will Tell What the Come Down is Like

Slade comes for his Talon. That's his Dick Grayson dammit - Reclaiming an Owl

Favorite! I hope you don't mind but I'm sneaking in this Tiger/Dick fic forgive mee. Tiger's infuriatingly attracted to Dick's lips - Soft lips

FAVORITE!! Jedi Dick meets Sith Slade. And their relationship is always the same - Breathe With Confidence

Slade and Dick are soulmates much to the displeasure of Joey and the happiness of Rose - family in any form

Slade is a god of war and Dick is the demigod of shadows. They meet on the battlefield - Echoes of the Battlefield

Dick is a bartender. And Slade doesn't have identification - The Barkeeper

FAVORITE!! Dick is Aphrodite and Slade is Ares but Dick is a terrifying figure when spurned - Contradiction

FAVORITE!! Dick is Persephone and Slade is Hades and the story fits perfectly - When September Ends

FAVORITE!! Dick and Slade are both Alphas but that's not going to stop Slade in the force of his attraction for Dick - Ready or Knot

Favorite! Dick comes back with bruises, Jason thinks he lost a fight, Tim knows better, and the truth accidentally comes out - B is for Bruises

Series of prompts for Omega Dick and Sladick - Omega!Dick Week

Sladick if Dick had become Slade's apprentice from the start. He's coming back home - Home for the Holidays

FAVORITE!! Slade and Dick take care of each other - Follow Me (Don't Be Such a Fool)

Favorite! Slade takes Dick along South to a bar and Dick has some new discoveries - As Sweet As Strawberry Wine

Favorite! The whole collection! I really love the one with Deadshot but here's the first one with Slade! Remember when Dick paid of Deathstroke not to take a hit on Amy? Here's what happened after - Sell Your Soul

Slade's straight. So is Tiger. And so is most of the harem. They just like him - Attack of the Exes

FAVORITE!! The whole freaking collection?! Star Wars AU of Sladick. Taken to the dark side - Want is a Full Contract

Actually victoriousscarf's stuff is just too good - victoriousscarf

Dick basically goes fuck it. I'm tired of being good. and butts off to be slade's apprentice - Subverting Expectation

Favorite! Dick is a witch and the massive bloody wolf at his door is obviously just a wolf, right? - My Beloved Deathstroke

Slade can't just let Dick stay as Ric. He's too good for that - Madness Started the Moment We Met

FAVORITE!! Ric meets a man at the fight club. And that man is a little too interesting to let go - Like a Virus

FAVORITE!! Dick receives some interesting videos from Slade. Slade has always been good at enticing Dick - Puppet Show

FAVORITE!! Supernatural AU where Dick is Sam and Slade is Ruby. Jason's gone but Dick's gonna get his little brother back. No matter what it takes - On the Head of a Pin

FAVORITE!! Same as above! - Point of Fracture

FAVORITE!! I will sink my teeth into this collection and shake it because it's so good. YJ! Dick becomes the spy instead of Kaldur - Foundations

Favorite! Slade visits Dick in the hospital but Dick's not awake. Although Mar'i is - Give Us This Day

FAVORITE!! Midnighter/Dick/Slade. Dick's gone, right? Then who is then man with a swirling face that reminds Slade of him? - The Third Kind

Favorite! Dick is a sailor and Slade is a merman - I am a Sailor, and you are the Sea

Another Star Wars AU - Resolute in Resurrection

FAVORITE!! Slade acted so unaffected before. There's none of that now - every shadow filled up with doubt

Dick swears he's only here to rescue Damian. It's not his fault Slade was also locked up - (practice our prayers) until some hope crystallizes

FAVORITE!! Dick's mother always told him never to deal with the Fae. But some situations call for it - deal with the devil

FAVORITE!! They had a deal. But Slade's deal never was supposed to be about catching feelings - Maroon Haze

FAVORITE!! Dick has magic and Slade is cursed - i have hurt and hungered before (flesh against flesh)

FAVORITE!! I have read this fic over and over again. I love the younger Slade and Older Dick dynamic - running fever

Not a ship

FAVORITE!! When Slade took in Robin as an apprentice, he was a kid. A teenager. Get woke slade. Funny!! - Why did I think this was a good idea?

Dick is Robin and Slade's protective father instincts kick in - Made Peace

FAVORITE!! One of my all time favorites. Dick's name gets pulled out of the hogwarts cup as the Hogwarts Champion. But..he never put his in - heavy is the crown

Favorite! Bruce doesn't get to get away with Spyral. Dick leaves Bruce for Slade - deeds of men depraved

I have way more but this is a good starting point I think. Lemme know if you're interested in more!

[notdexterousatall]

An angst idea that I really love when it comes to Batman and Jason Todd is Bruce (and/or other people) separating the idea of Jason-the-boy-wonder and Jason-the-Red-Hood into two different people. Not in, like, an identity-reclaiming way on Jason's part, but in a hurtful, delusional way against Jason's wishes. Jason always having known himself as himself, but Bruce being unable to handle the idea of his son coming back "wrong", killing people, and coming to believe that this man, the Red Hood, must not really be his son.

An aside - here's a fic series rec if that's something you also like: Abraham Fails His Test by chucklesbuckles on Ao3. It's very good.

So I've got a fic idea I'm putting together for this premise:

Batman, the various Robins/Batgirls, perhaps even the Justice League, are fighting some sort of large-scale threat. In the course of this, Bruce does something to, presumably, earn the gratitude of one of DC's Greek gods. This god/goddess tells Bruce that in exchange, they will grant him a gift - a son for a son. (Let's say Bruce saved the life of one of their demigod children at the cost of injury to himself.) And so, after the battle is over, they snap their fingers and before the Justice League appears Jason. Jason as Robin, specifically, as he was before the bomb went off. Still gravely injured but not so much that he couldn't live with prompt medical care - the son that Bruce had lost.

Meanwhile, off to the side, stands the Red Hood, who still isn't really on speaking terms with his family but agreed to help out with the threat (secretly hoping to rebuild a few bridges he'd burned, as he's been doing for a few months at that point.)

Now, the god/goddess who does this isn't someone inherently untrustworthy, like Eris. This is a deity with a good(ish) reputation. Someone who could actually pull a miracle like that off with just a snap of their fingers. Maybe Zeus, Hades, Athena, Hera, Hestia, or Aphrodite. (It's a bit hard to pick Hera... because of her whole THING with demigods, or one of the virgin goddesses, if I go with the "saving a demigod son" idea, but they could be made to work.) Either way, someone with a bent towards justice, family, or love. Believable granters of the gift of returning a dead son to life. (I'm leaning towards Hades.)

(Note: this is the point at which I admit I know nearly nothing about DC's Greek gods other than what their Wikipedia articles includes, so I'm probably leaning hard on more Percy Jackson type depictions of the gods and what Wikipedia says about their actual depiction in ancient Greek myths. I feel no guilt in ignoring whatever DC comics says except for what I like. Maybe this is where I go with my Jason-Todd-son-of-Aphrodite-AU?)

So everyone looks at Robin!Jason, seemingly brought back from the dead by the god of the dead, and at Red Hood!Jason, murderer and breaker of his family's hearts, and goes, "oh, the Red Hood is an imposter! That makes sense, considering everything about him." Then someone arrests Red Hood for all those murders he committed (and also for impersonating Robin.)

Red Hood gets carted off to Arkham and Bruce gets his presumably-real Jason to the hospital, to be joyfully reunited with his father, older brother, and new younger siblings (although Tim may be older than him since he's about fifteen, and Cass is also older than him but is in Hong Kong, probably.)

Red Hood Jason knows he's the real deal, however. (At least, he thinks he is. Right? Holy identity crisis, Batman!) Shortly thereafter, he breaks out of Arkham and sneaks back to the manor to confront imposter Robin in the dead of night.

But imposter Robin seems to know everything Jason did when he died. And he acts just like Jason did when he was still a stupid fifteen year old. And he's just as horrified by the Red Hood as Jason always figured he-as-Robin would be if Jason ever got punted backwards in time (not an unreasonable confrontation to fear, Jason tells himself, considering the multiversal road trip bullshit he recently had with Donna and Kyle.) Jason is almost convinced.

And then imposter Robin tells Jason that, considering how Jason as the Red Hood has let his anger and hatred consume him, he has decided to forgive the Joker.

And that's BULLSHIT. Jason's identity crisis is over - he's 100% positive that Robin is an imposter. Because Jason, especially right after his beat down in Ethiopia, would NEVER forgive the Joker. Because the Joker is evil, and Jason knows that he can't forgive evil and live with himself.

But Jason has to leave or he'll get arrested again - and now that Batman doesn't think he's his son, he won't be pulling punches, especially if he catches him near his "baby". So Jason heads for the one person he knows will believe him: Talia, because of her involvement in Jason's real resurrection.

Meanwhile, the rest of the Bat clan are desperate to (re-)form their familial bonds with the REAL Jason Todd. But, while they don't know it, over time, it becomes clear that the new Jason isn't a gift. He's a punishment - a lesson - a haunting - for failing to show sufficient gratitude for the return of a lost son from the grave.

(Because of the BATARANG, Bruce, Hades let Jason go for reasons-to-be-revealed and you try to send him right back??)

[notfeelingthyaster]

Imagine (Son of Hades! Percy; Godswapped! Big Three's kids) (8/8) or (13/13)

Blood of Olympus pt.2 - The War

Hello! If you're here, it means you probably already know - but check the masterpost for both warnings and the other twelve parts.

I want to thank everyone who followed this fanfic? Imagine? AU? for the month it took us to get here. Tell me what you thought about it, if there's anything you are anxious to see in the epilogue - yes, we'll have an epilogue!

If you like my writing, you might be happy to know that I'm starting another AU - same style, no patience for prose - this time, a daughter of Zeus! Percy. Don't worry - it bares almost no similarities to this, and part 1 will be out before the epilogue, so stay tuned. For now, good reading :))

Maybe it was the death of Malcolm, but after that night, there was something different about the crew of the Argo II. Their journey to Gaea changed them.

Will notifies them as soon as morning rises, leaving Annabeth secluded in her room and Perseus to whatever was happening upstairs - they are told not to interfere.

No one knows exactly what happened on the deck between Perseus and whoever dared to attack them - there is nothing there but sea salt and dried ichor when Frank goes to take his shift.

The screams will haunt him for the rest of his life - they pleaded for mercy, but after this journey, no one in here is a merciful person.

There's an aura - an aura Frank recognizes well, for it clogged around Hazel in her first days in Nova Roma. An aura of death. Perseus is looking at the sunrise, cleaning his gold-stained ax.

He looks happy - for the first time since Tartarus, he is humming a melody to some song that Frank is pretty sure is from Disney. Percy grins at Frank.

"Hey, man."

Frank doesn't ask. He trusts Perseus - Perseus took a whip to the back, side by side with him. Perseus fell on Tartarus for his best friend. Perseus would give his life for any of them. The son of Mars Ultor is sure he did what he had to do.

It still spooks him a little when Perseus leaves, whistling what he now recognizes as Fathoms Bellow.

They're journeying to Delos - for more half a day - and then, finally, to Athens. Frank wonders if the monsters are too afraid of them - or if Gaea just told them to stop attacking.

The fact is that, for several hours, no monster touches them again. Might be the death air encapsulating the ship's bow. Might just be their reputation.

With nothing to do, Frank watches as the sun rises and his friends starting to walk around.

Leo has no fixed hours - so he might be either awakening or going to sleep. He crosses through Frank in his post and rambles for a second - the Legionis thinks it's cute.

Leo crosses Hazel - she never wakes past eight unless she had a night shift - who is probably going to breakfast. They exchange a kiss, and Frank's heart aches.

Hazel stops to talk with Jason - the last one awake, since Perseus and Will are probably sleeping, Annabeth still hasn't left her room, and Nico and Piper went to their room after the morning announcements - probably to grief.

The blonde is uncharacteristically serious for such an early hour, but with recent news, it's expected. Frank goes back to look at the sea - and wonder if any of them will ever be free of this.

The two of them retract to the war room - to plan the attack on Gaea. They are at a serious disadvantage. It might be better for them to ride back to Long Island and try to unit the camps and plan a war - just like they did with Kronos/Mount Otris.

It's very improbable that Gaea will give the same considerations to put Manhattan to sleep. Kronos wanted power - not to destroy humanity. Gaea is a nesting mother who lost her kids - she wants chaos.

But with all giants here - wouldn't be easier to do this here? Even if they have no support whatsoever? If they tailed back to Long Island, would the giants run rampant through Europe?

They wait until after lunch - when everyone is more or less up - to congregate and vote.

"There are seventeen giants - one for each Olympian plus Trivia, Proserpina, and the Fates, except for Dyonisus who has two and the twins who share two - and nine of us."

"Fifteen" Retorts Percy from his place opposite to Jason "I killed Aristaeus - the bane of Proserpina - yesterday. And the bane of Ares... Damasen... he was a good giant. He didn't reform."

Jason doesn't argue - Perseus was the one on Tartarus - even though he wants to ask who helped him kill the giant - and if he killed them afterward.

Fifteen is still a staggering number of giants. They have no chance alone - so after Delos, they solve to make their last stand on Camp Half-Blood.

Will, Perseus, and Jason are the ones to go down to the small island. Finding Apollo is exceptionally easy: it's just a matter of following the sound of the lyre.

He laughs at their request - full-blown laugh. Jason wants to punch him - the world is ending.

"There's no need for flowers. You already have the Physician's Cure. This is a name my son gave to his union to Zagreus - life and death."

Jason wants to scream. He wants to kill Nike - who is in her island, chilling after sending them in a goose chase. But Perseus and Will are already miles ahead of him - whatever happened last night unlocked something in him, even if the gloves never left.

"You'll come to Long Island. You'll fight - for as long as needed - against Orion and Gration." It's Will - defying his own father. Jason doesn't know if he has the courage.

"Promise - on your immortality, because I don't trust the Styx."

"I could still evaporate you"

"You won't. You need us too much."

Apollo promises - maybe because he sees everything and knows more than Jason about whatever will happen, maybe because that ax still bears gold in it - and exchanges some words with Will that neither of them hear as they walk back on board to tell the news.

Will and Percy disappear into a room - it makes something stir in Jason's stomach, as he remembers that he no longer knows this Perseus, but the one he knows, he loves.

Will and Perseus talk for hours - before being invaded by Leo - only to keep talking until the next morning.

"Change course to Athens. We have the Physician's Cure. Gaea will rampage through Europe. Hercules is on her side. There's no way we can go back now."

They agree - there's no crossing Hercules little island again.

An IM from Reyna cements their decision. A group of demigods serving Gaea - including the Censor that unjustly tried Hazel and was exiled - tried ambushing she and her sister - but the Amazons and the Hunters won against them. Thalia is alive - and she drove an arrow through Gwen's eye, the traitor in Nova Roma.

The Hunters called the Pegasi - and they all set course to Athens - while Reyna followed the statue who set course by the sea. Pegasus himself is going to Athens - he fought once against the Giants, he would do again.

They reach Athens in a little more than five hours. It's the last day of their time - and they are ambushed as soon as they cross the Parthenon.

They fight well - Gaea wants Perseus and Piper, so they rally around them.

Perseus is a fighting beast himself, but he is overwhelmed by the sheer number of monsters and unable to help others. He kills the Minotaur once again - the armies of monsters are almost endless - is the battle of Manhattan all over again.

Piper strikes against the three gorgons - Medusa can't petrify anyone without petrifying her own allies - and keeps the head as a prize.

Nico is in the sky - he looks like part of the storm. The flying monsters rally around him, but Nico doesn't disappoint - his sword cuts through them like butter.

In the end, the nine annihilate the whole army - Gaea has just her giants now.

But in the fray, two griffins escape - carrying with them Jason and Hazel. Now they have no option but to follow.

Perseus almost hits his head on the wall. Why was he so dumb? Gaea was playing them. Gender had nothing to do with the sacrifice - it's just one of the sea, one of the earth. And Hazel, as much as she is a daughter of the sky, her powers exist on earth.

He could deal with the bounty hunt on him. Even on Piper - just a person to protect - but not on two. He was not expecting this. Perseus thinks Gaea must be laughing right now.

He feels guilt creep on him. That was his plan, and now two of his best friends are gone in the sky. Leo looks even worse than him - he is weeping as if the two demigods are already dead. They probably are.

Annabeth takes the reins - and they fly to the Acropolis quicker than ever. The ship slams against the ground - it probably needs repairs. But they are here.

Jason doesn't remember feeling that much pain. He wakes up, chained in a sacrificial altar, Hazel just behind him. Their powers don't answer - the chains are as dark as Perseus' ax: stygian iron. In front of them, Porphyrion and Polybotes laugh.

"We'll be glad to offer your fathers your severed heads"

He wishes to talk back - but his mouth doesn't work. It's Clytius taking his voice away, right behind them - holding a scyther that is not unfamiliar. Is the same scyther that took Uranus manhood - the same one that cut him to pieces and reduced him to the sky.

"We take an arm from the daughter of the earth, blood and flesh, so that her connection with the ground is given to our Mother, so she is able to reclaim her dominion."

There's blood everywhere. Hazel's left arm is twitching on the floor, and she lets out an ear-splitting scream, before passing out.

"We take the ability from reproduce from the son of the sea, blood and flesh, so that his fertility will be given to our Mother, so she is able to reproduce again, the ability his father took from her."

Jason feels like the world is spinning. They will... they... they want to castrate him. He sees Hazel's blood staining the marble and the floor, running through his skin, and he wants to vomit - but something is preventing him from doing so.

Hazel is paling fast - she'll be dead in thirty minutes if they don't stop the bleeding. But he can't move. He can't help. A scream strangles in his throat.

If Hazel's voice was able to cut through Clytius magic, would his powers too? If he focused enough if he stretched himself enough.

Jason forces himself to stop thinking about the chanting, and focus. He imagines Nico - with no family, losing Hazel. Or Frank and Leo. Or Perseus. He pushes and pushes.

He doesn't find a source of water - but he feels her blood. He can stop it from coming out - just for a second, just for a minute, just until they rescue them.

They are going to rescue them. They are - none of them are dying today. They have to survive this war.

Jason focuses his thoughts on good things. After this, he is going to go to college. He is going to spend time with his sister. He'll work on greek-roman relations. He'll ask the male Praetor on a date. He'll punch Octavian. Everything will be just fine.

The scyther is just over Clytius head, ready to strike when an arrow takes its place in his eye. Thalia, mounted on Pegasus, barges in. The horse is bigger than Clytius - and he takes their chains, before flying off to the arena.

Thalia cuts his chains - throwing a gladius at him. Hazel is still passed out - curled into herself in the ground. Jason stands before her, still doing his best to keep her blood inside. It won't work for long.

The giants follow them - but to no effect. The ship crashes between them, the demigods jumping off - armed to the teeth. With a scream of war, the Amazons and the other Hunters come flying in their own Pegasi.

Reyna is not with them - Jason hopes, not for the first time, that the demigod settlements are in peace. That they won't have to deal with two battlefronts.

It's not the time for petty wars. They should be here, helping, if they were not caught up in past fights of over a hundred years ago. Gaea is much more urgent than whatever they are debating.

These fighters are not enough - they are fighting a losing battle. No gods are coming, and between immortal hunters and Amazons, no one is a deity.

Jason starts thinking he is hallucinating - wishful thinking - for the sky opens, and from there descents all the Olympians and Hecate. Nike is the first to appear, guiding the chariot of Zeus, a scream of battle in her lips.

Juno is in a chariot guided by peacocks. Behind her, Aphrodite - that's not Venus, but Jason has never seen Aphrodite so ready for war. There are no doves or flowers in her - just a giant bow and arrow and a spear, riding in a horse side by side with her husband and her lover.

All twelve Olympians, plus Hades, plus the Fates, plus Trivia, Nike, Juventa, Bia, and Enyo. Proserpina is not there - nor the court of Atlantis.

Jason can't help but think is too little too late. Why they didn't show before? Before Hazel lost her leg? Before Malcolm died? Before Perseus fell? Before this journey took everything from them?

The gods pair off with their children - Hades with Perseus, Athena with Annabeth, Aphrodite with Piper, Mars with Frank, Zeus with Nico, Hephaestus with Leo, Juno with Hylla, Thalia with Poseidon.

Before pairing with Will - who looks reluctant to do it - Apollo comes to them. Jason is good enough to go - but he won't leave Hazel.

"I can't regrow her arm - not here, not now. And never, if it has been amputated by a titan weapon. The best I can do is close it."

Jason is so tired of the gods being unable to do stuff they should be capable of, but he sighs and nods. Hazel's color starts coming back, even if she doesn't wake up.

It's Trivia who comes to take the place of Jason. He stalls - he doesn't trust any deity anymore with the well-being of his friends - but they are not much, and they need him to fight. He joins Ceres as she raises a sickle to go against her bane - Asterius.

The hunters follow their mistress and Amazons divide themselves between the remaining gods - Dyonisus and Mercury - and they attack.

It's not enough. They are stretched too thin. Clytius is the only fallen one after thirty minutes of battle - Trivia burns him down in rage for her acolyte and makes a still groggy Hazel make a little cut on so he dissolves.

Perseus fights alongside his father, mounting Mrs. O'Leary as he does Cerberus. Small Bob can't die unless struck by celestial bronze, so the giant's effort to kill the creature is useless. Both of them don't hold back. It's the first time he really remembers his training with the Lord of the Dead. But mostly, he remembers Persephone too, and the gardens of the Underworld.

Percy has to go back to her. To his stepmom, and his mom, and his other stepmom. He has to go back to his life - the life he can barely remember now, but that was everything for him.

He has to go back to the gardens and the lakes, to blue cookies and bare feet. At least one of the rulers had to be in the Underworld, so Persephone is waiting for them to come back.

It gives Perseus strength. They have to win, so the earth can prosper - so that they can go back to the Underworld. So he can meet Thanatos, and play with Cerberus, and debate with Charon. So that they can be a family.

They keep fighting, but even with Perseus renewed will, there's no winning. Alcyoneus retorts them blow for blow and they tire quickly. Hades turns to him - there's a grim expression in his face when he throws his helmet to Perseus.

Perseus notices to late what his father is about to do - and is unable to prevent it.

"FATHER"

It's the first time he recognizes it. Hades has always been the lord of the dead to him - he only ever called him father in mockery. But this time, it's yelled in anguish.

"Tell Kore that I love her."

A giant blow from the Lord of the Dead makes both of them stumble. The giant falls to the floor, but not before running his sword through Hades' neck.

It's the first god to fall, and when Perseus cuts Alcyoneus' head in return, he stays dead. But it's not enough, because Hades is dead.

He'll have to tell Kore. Kore that loves Hades so much that she leaves the surface for months on end to stay with him. He'll have to tell her that he wasn't enough to save Hades.

Cerberus whine loudly and tries to wake his master - he sniffs at the ground soiled by ichor. No giant is able to approach the body or Perseus - Cerberus growls at every enemy who tries. Small Bob stays by his side, fighting alongside him.

A tear escapes his eye. After so much time, so much resentment, he didn't think he would care. His father lies on the floor like a puppet with the strings cut - and Perseus rages. He closes his father's eyes but doesn't stop - there's still a war going on, so he puts on the Helm of Darkness and goes on to join Ceres and Jason.

A scream rings through the arena - is Poseidon, noticing his oldest brother is gone. He throws his trident at Polybotes head - between him and Thalia, the giant is gone in the next ten minutes.

The god of the sea runs through the field, stepping through dead bodies and avoiding the corner where Trivia is taking care of Hazel. He clutches his brother's prone body and cries, ichor staining his clothes. Cerberus whines at his sound - it's heartbreaking.

Across the field, all four siblings cry together for their fallen brother, but none of them as badly as Poseidon. There's a cold spreading through the field - and soon enough, the sky opens again.

It's Vesta. The last Olympian - the one who stayed behind to tend to the hearth. But now, she looked as fiery as her nephew - descending from the sky with no armor or chariot. The eldest child.

Family - that's Vesta domain. Perseus never saw her fight, but she does this time - throwing herself against the closest giant - Gration.

But Hades is not the last to fall.

Between Jason and Perseus, there's no match for Asterius. Ceres cuts his head off, still sobbing for her son-in-law and brother, sobbing for her widowed child. It doesn't help when her sister falls by her side - Juno, in full battle armor, is cut in half by Eurymedon.

Perseus thinks it might be a scene worthy of being painted - her lifeless eyes stare at the sky, as her crown rolls off her and stops at the giant's feet. Hylla keeps on fighting - now joined by her mother, who changes from Enyo to Bellona.

Zeus, in rage for his wife's death, kills Porphyrion before striking against Eurymedon with his general and her daughter. Nico, even if he never cared for Juno, follows suit - there's a path of destruction behind them, where lightning bolts hit the floor and filled the ground with craters.

Dyonisus kills Elphiates with his oldest daughter by his side, but his brother doesn't die as easily. Athena is still fighting against Enceladus - Annabeth striking the giant from all angles, in perfect synchrony with her mother, with help from Nike, who shields them both with her wings.

Mars and Mercury fight against Hippolytus - but he is faster than even the god of travelers, and evade them at every turn. Frank is a dragon, and then an elephant, and a snake - but nothing hits the giant.

After a blow on the arm by Bia, Periboea spears the still masculine body of Piper. Her blood falls from in-between her legs as Aphrodite - scarier than even Ares - runs her spear through the giantess's eye, killing her.

To save her daughter, Aphrodite shifts her completely into a girl - it's jarring, and something that takes adaptation, but the only way she can keep fighting without dropping.

But it's too late, the damage is done. Gaea is awake, by the seed of a daughter of the sea. Perseus exchanges a look with Leo through the fray - Mimas is just defeated, as Hephaestus smashed his head in with his hammer, but he regenerates quickly as if nothing happened.

There's no winning anymore. The fallen giants don't rise again - the Doors are closed - but the seven remaining ones don't die either - Enceladus, Eurymedon, Orion, Mimas, Otis, Hippolytus, and Thoon - their mother healing all their injuries.

The gods that killed their banes rally together against Gaea - but it's futile. It's just like Perseus in Tartarus - there's no battling a primordial in their own turf.

Will leaves his father to battle Orion, with his sister and the hunters - as Gration lays, probably dead, across the feet of his brother, courtesy of Vesta - and joins the duo.

The three of them sprint through the muddy ground, and onto Festus. There's no winning from Gaea on the ground - but they might have one way.

"Don't let me die, okay?"

Will and Percy join hands across Leo's forehead - and try to bless him the best they can, without being gods themselves. A green sheen covers Leo - and this might be it.

Leo mounts Festus - now again a giant dragon - and rises to the sky. It is enough to attract the Earth. She leaves her battle against Vesta, Aphrodite, Bia, Poseidon, and Ceres - to go after the dragon.

"Trying to escape me, my little demigod?"

An explosion of fire rocks the sky. It's not enough to kill Gaea, but between Zeus' thunder and Leo's explosion, the primordial is unconscious.

Perseus focuses - on keeping Leo's soul in his body. Will, by his side, shines as Apollo himself - there's a sheen of sweat in his face. It might've worked

None of them have the power to kill her now - just the union of all the remaining Olympians would even be capable of rendering her asleep again.

They can't find Festus or Leo - Perseus renders this as a good sign, the sign that their powers were enough.

But for now, with her unconscious, she can't heal the giants. So the remaining gods do quick work of killing them - the last to fall is Eurymedon, with Zeus' bolt across his forehead.

The king of the gods falls on his knees and weeps. Juno is dead. Hades is dead. There are six hunters and twenty amazons remaining - from tens and hundreds.

Mrs. O'Leary died - from a stray arrow. Cerberus paws the ground where her dust is - Perseus can't even imagine his puppy back on Tartarus.

Nike - both wings pointing into different sides, spine broken by Enceladus foot - is sprawled on the ground. Her unblinking eyes stare at Athena, who is holding her hand.

"Did... did we... win?"

"Y-yes"

"Give them the... the crowns... don't forget..."

"I won't"

"There's no... no friends.... in victory. I wish I had... someone."

"I am your friend, Nike"

"My best one... don't let them forget.... champions don't die..."

"Never"

She gags in her own blood. It drips around her chin. It's the first time Perseus sees Athena cry. It hits him - they, all of them, have known each other for thousands of years.

Mars is crying by his mother's head, his spear broken on his feet. Juventa, burned blonde hair blowing around her face, hugs Hephaestus as he cries for their mother - the one that never cared for them, but that was their mother anyway.

Vesta has Hades head on her lap, while his body lays broken on the floor. Ceres is trying to calm Poseidon - but the god of the sea can't stop crying.

On the other side of the Arena, most demigods are together around Hazel - Will is explaining about Leo, but most of them look hopeless. Hazel is crying in Frank's arms.

Eight of them are here - Hazel is missing an arm, Piper went through a jarring body change and Frank has a broken leg - but eight of them are alive, and there's hope for Leo.

Perseus stands in the middle - not joining the gods or the demigods. He looks at the ichor stained floor, the upcoming battle against Gaea looming. Cerberus and Small Bob are together on each side of him.

Apollo - from where he is laying with his unconscious, but alive, sister - raises to help the demigods. None of them are happy about any godly presence - but they need treatment, so they let it happen.

Perseus is the first to break the silence after everyone is healed. Some gods are still crying - but there's no time for grief now. He doesn't look at where his father lays dead - he can't process this right now.

"We... we need to go. To Long Island. We need reinforcements - the war isn't over."

"We need to recharge" Is Hephaestus that retorts "There's no way we can fight right now. Maybe in a day or so but..."

"I don't think we have this time." Jason points "We could try and stall things, prepare... Can you send us there?"

"I can" Say Pegasus, who was fighting alongside Thalia.

Perseus wants not to care. To say that Juno or Nike deserved it. But it's not fair - not even them deserve to die, to go back to the void or Tartarus to reform or be lost for centuries.

Annabeth, however, sits in her corner with the ghost of a smile in her lips - so many demigod's lifes lost for them, for their petty struggles, and now they have to pay the price too. Everyone is paying the price now.

If they helped before, if they didn't spend months cooperating with Juno's useless plan, perhaps now no one would be dead. They could have united the demigods without waisting eight months on stupid missions to kill giants - just for them to come back.

If they stopped thinking about their "oh so bad" split personalities, maybe they could've made this journey quicker, instead of letting them spend two months going in side-quests, fighting minor gods, and retrieving useless information.

So yes, Annabeth is vindicated. This - all of this, those deaths, the ichor soiling the ground - it's their fault.

Piper feels tired. This - this body, this recognition from her mother - is all she ever wanted. But now that she has it, she can't even appreciate it. Was it worth it? She would give everything back for Perseus' leg, Hazel's arm, Malcolm, Leo.

She looks at their mismatched little family - and remembers that yesterday, they had lunch together - all of them. It was not the best moment, but they were laughing.

They could've been happy. If they weren't demigods, most of them would be in college by now. They wouldn't be broken.

Perseus solves to travel by shadows with Cerberus - he still has his father's Helm, and the immortal horse won't let him mount with it. He feels sick - that's his father's dog and his father's armor. But that's their chance of survival.

No god look at him when he melts into the darkness - it's too fresh, too painful. Part of their family is dead.

She jumps on the Pegasus, holding Hazel up - she can barely hold on to her brother in front of her. The wound is closed, but the daughter of Jupiter is off-balance - there's nothing on her right side.

Hazel closes her eyes and rests her head across Nico's back - she is so tired. Leo is gone - maybe forever - and she doesn't have an arm. There's nothing there - nothing. She goes to move and she forgets it for a second - but then she tries to hold tighter to Nico and can't.

Nico feels his sister's tears on the back of his shirt and holds tight to Frank - who is almost strangling Will in his efforts not to panic - he is flying over the sea.

Jason is behind Piper - he is the last one - and he is much more comfortable. That's his half brother after all.

They land in Long Island after ten painful hours - and Will seethes, because their journey could have been so easy, so small - but the gods were too occupied by their insignificant problems that they had to journey for months.

One after the other, they dismount just shy of the river - Jason thinks the naiads look mad when Frank vomits all over their water.

"Flying on a ship is a thing. Flying on a horse is another."

He stills looks queasy when they cross the Pavillion. There's no one there, which is weird because it's morning. There's no one anywhere.

Perseus - powered by the Helm - is the first to get there - almost two hours before them. And the first thing he listens makes him utterly mad.

"Give our soldiers back - or Nova Roma will strike back!"

It's Octavian's voice coming from the hill that harbors Thalia's tree - and Perseus sighs. He looks at himself - he needs a shower, and sleep, and food. They need traps. They don't need a second war.

He is in no condition to fight right now. So he'll have to put his diplomatic skills to use - just the reminder of his father's death sparks a dull pain in his chest - still covered in ichor and dust, his ax slung over his shoulder.

Cerberus stays by his side. Perseus sends Small Bob to Persephone through the old Labyrinth entrance - he needs the big dog, but the skeleton tiger would just be easy prey.

"TWELVE LEGION, STOP"

Perseus looks mightly tired as he takes on the scene - the greeks following Clarisse, Connor, and Lou, the Romans following Octavian and Mike Kahale. Reyna between them, with the gigantic statue.

The demigod looks between his first and his second family, none that he ever fit right, both of which he was the leader, and hold on to Cerberus.

"We - and by we, I mean nine of us, greeks and Romans, the Amazons, and the hunters - just defeated fifteen giants, with the gods. In Athens. We could've - and should've - had reinforcements."

"Percy-" Connor starts, but Percy raises a hand to stop him. There are shadows curling against his arms - his celestial bronze leg shines under the Athena Parthenos.

"I may have been gone for a while, but I'm still your leader - and their Praetor. You choose me to lead - both of you. Me, and Reyna, and Annabeth, and Frank, and Jason."

"Praetor Jackson-"

"Shut the hell up Octavian, this is all your fucking fault" Intercedes Reyna.

"I went through Tartarus - for a month - because of that damned statue, to close the Doors so you could be safe. I don't care about your petty little problems now - Earth has risen."

"IT'S A LIE, IT'S ALL LIES" Screeches Octavian.

"How can you know? You were here, raising trouble and creating unnecessary problems while we went on the freaking mission to save the world."

Octavian tries to reply, but Reyna's sword in his throat stops him.

"My father is dead. The gods are coming - but we need to stall Gaea. There's no time for this."

"I say kill him." Replies Reyna.

"I agree." Says Perseus, to the surprise of no one "We're the Praetors of Nova Roma. Our word is the law. For treason against our people, you're condemned to death, Octavian Simmons."

"Apollo will curse you for this!" Are his last words as Reyna cuts his head off. Mike Kahale backs down - no one would dare to go against them, not when Perseus is holding the symbol of his father in his hands and the Guardian of Hell in his side.

"Now that... that was solved, let's prepare for the true war. Gaea is coming - in hours from now. We have to hold on until the gods come."

They enter the Camp - the Greeks and the Romans aren't a unit, but at least they all trust Perseus, who sits on the top of the amphitheater with Reyna, and they wait until the others get there. Jason is the first to come to sit down by them - followed by the other six.

"I won't ask you to trust each other. I ask you to fight - with all that you can. Juno and Pluto, or Hera and Hades, are dead." Cries erupt from that, but silence quickly at Reyna's fulminant look "Nike, or Victory, has also fallen. Pray for your parents - burn food, whatever - so that they can take strength. They should be here in a few hours. We just need to hold on."

"Romans and Greeks - no one will survive if we don't fight. Together. For now, you take your orders from Reyna and Clarisse." It's Jason who completes.

Reyna and Clarisse sit down to discuss ideas - they don't trust each other, but are both daughters of war - and their objectives are simple. Lou goes to call her brother as Connor joins the table - Alabaster apparently refused to join the battle against the Romans.

While Romans and Greeks trade strategies and weapons, the travelers rest. Perseus is the first to fall asleep - holding his father's Helm of Darkness like a teddy bear, while most of the others keep their distance from it.

Cerberus makes the campers stay away from the eight. Two of his heads sleep and one keeps growling at whoever gets too close.

Annabeth is the last to fall asleep - she joins the strategy group for about thirty minutes before joining her quest mates behind the giant dog - it sniffs at her. She wonders if remembers the red rubber ball.

They have eleven hours to plan and rest. It's a miracle - Leo managed to knock Gaea down for 21 hours, almost a day.

At least is enough time for everyone to sleep and eat and plan traps. It won't be enough against the primordial, but it might just hold her for a while. They have no way of causing explosions to Leo's proportion - at least they have numbers.

Gaea rises from the earth like an evil mountain - she is the ground. Some of them - the ones on bare earth - die immediately, sucked into the mud as it turns to quicksand.

Frank takes the lead as the whole army charges against the goddess, striking again and again in every part they can find.

They last the three hours before the gods appear - but they lose two-thirds of their forces. Mangled corpses are everywhere on the battlefield.

The gods win - against a tired Gaea - without major losses for themselves. There's no need to recount their battle, for they will lord about it for many centuries.

What counts, however, is the deaths on the demigods' side - the ones who will be forgotten in the shadow of their parents' victory.

Connor sobs over the almost unrecognizable body of his brother, who died holding hands with Katie Gardner, being veiled by her sister, Miranda.

Hazel is helping Alabaster to find his sister, who missing somewhere in the rubble with the other 56 demigods, who are unaccounted for. The first they find is Clarisse - her still hot corpse trying in vain to protect Chris Rodriguez.

Jason holds Thalia's circlet - the only remaining thing of the Lieutenant of Artemis, who came into the battle with her mistress and died to save her. There are just two hunters alive. The sister he barely knows - and won't ever have the chance now.

Piper holds on to him - she can't bear to look as Mitchell and Ariel mourn little Lacy, killed by a fallen tree. Drew died taking a stone to the head for Piper - she doesn't know how to feel about it.

Will would help - but sadness devours him. Of his whole Cabin, he is the sole survivor. All greek children of Apollo are gone. His boyfriend is also dead - his metal foot caught on the quicksand, and he was swallowed by the earth.

Nyssa mourns her siblings - Jake, Leo, Thalassa, Kira. There's only six of them now - back to where they were just after the first war.

Reyna is alive - although with half of her face burned. Hylla - the last of the Amazons - hovers over her, tending to her injuries.

The smaller cabins help each other - there wasn't a lot of them at first, and now there is even less. Cabin 17 has no demigod alive - and won't ever house one again.

Frank is helping the legion to unearth the bodies and rescue the survivors - it's weird to see a giant mole with only an eye. He is the one who holds Hazel's hand as they have to break Lou Ellen's arm to take her from under a pillar.

Grover died protecting Juniper from Gaea's earthquakes. He became a little juniper tree, side by side with hers. Coach Hedge is the only satyr from Camp Half-Blood left.

But maybe the worst scene is where the Pavillion once was - Perseus Jackson is flicking in and off, large gashes in his torso. Hazel is the one to find him. Most of the survivors - and the eight travelers - stop to look. It's their leader, their savior.

Nico holds his head as blood pools under them - the irony, Perseus took a boulder in the chest for him, flying across the Camp at the end of the battle, and Nico was again unable to catch the hero.

Annabeth sobs over his body, screaming. She lost Luke to the gods. She lost Thalia to the gods. She lost Malcolm to the gods. She lost Leo to the gods. She lost Grover to the gods. Everyone is gone - she won't lose Perseus too.

"FIX HIM" She screams at Apollo "FIX HIM"

Apollo shakes his head sadly. In his benefit, he managed to save all demigods who still held on after battle - and most of their limbs - but Perseus is too far gone.

"FIX HIM! HE SAVED YOU. ALL OF YOU. HE DESERVES TO LIVE!"

"Annabeth, he is beyond-"

"YOU ARE GODS! WHAT ARE YOU FOR?"

"We can't, child"

Annabeth doesn't relent. She lost too much. She lost everything. They took all she was, all she had. She won't fail Perseus.

"Immortalize him."

"Annabeth, no-"

"Shut up, Nico" She barks. There's a mad look in her eyes. "You didn't let Heracles die, and he deserved it far less. Save Percy. Make him a god. You have the Fates right there."

Most of the gods look uncertain. Perseus denied immortality the last time - but they couldn't let the hero die.

"DO IT"

No one disagrees with her. Most of their friends - the ones who know Perseus better, who aren't blinded by grief - look horrified.

Nico would argue strongly - but he promised himself that no harm would come upon Perseus after Tartarus. So he backs off - better than he hates them forever than dead.

Zeus is the one who finally takes a step forward. Perseus soul is almost leaving him - it's now or never.

"All in agreement?"

The gods nod and raise their hands over his prone body. It burns so brightly everyone has to look away

When they look again, there's Perseus - still missing a leg, but better than ever. He looks like his father - uncannily so. There are tears in the corners of Ceres's eyes. Poseidon can't look.

Juventa brings the jar of nectar - she is the one who can grant eternal life, the one who guards over her mother's apples. She puts the jar to his lips, and the boy - the god - wakes up, disoriented.

"W-what... h-how am I here? I-I was with Charles and... and Ethan..." He mumbles under his breath, looking lost.

The Fates look at him - but there's no pity in their eyes. He sees again the blue line being cut - is his life. It's gone. Even before they speak, he knows what happened.

"Earthopener, The Silent One, The Rich One, Lord of the Dead. Hail Perseus, the Underworld God"

[murfpersonalblog]

The 7 Greatest Heroes of Greek Mythology - Mythological Curiosities - See U in History

Heracles of Thebes

Achilles of Thessaly

Odysseus of Ithaca

Theseus of Athens

Perseus of Argos

Jason of Thessaly

Bellerophon of Corinth

_________________________________________________________

Cool video, but my Heroes list is very different. They’re all amazing, or they wouldn’t be heroes, but IMO the most impressive heroes are the ones who persevered despite a series of what would otherwise be insurmountable odds. Their greatness is not just due to their general popularity, but the greatness of the obstacles they overcame. You have to beat the best to be the best.

So my TOP TEN Greek Heroes list is:

Heracles of Thebes

Odysseus of Ithaca

Jason of Thessaly

Cadmus of Thebes

Perseus of Argos

Theseus of Athens

Diomedes of Argos

Honorable Mention: Bellerophon of Corinth

Honorable Mention: Achilles of Thessaly

Honorable Mention: Atalanta of Arcadia

1) HERACLES: because obviously. Son of Zeus, strongest man alive, he bested the 10 (or 12) Labors, plus his 9 Minor Labors, his numerous feats with the Argonauts, his critical role in winning the Gigantomachia on Mt Olympus, freeing Prometheus, rescuing Theseus, fathering a effton of babies, etc etc. He was literally worshiped as a god, one of the only Greek heroes to live on Mt. Olympus after his death. Even Hera had to back down and respect his gangsta. #Iconic #Legendary #YourFaveCouldNever

Hercules sets the bar for the 4/4 main criteria for what makes MY IDEAL top-tier Greek mythological hero:

Monsters: Defeating mythic creatures/beings on epic adventures

Underworld: Going to Hades and back

God-Tier: Divine patronage/assistance, lineage, apotheosis, etc

Legacy: Founding cities, dynasties, etc

2) ODYSSEUS: smartest Greek hero EVER, and biggest liar/trickster. Odysseus’ adventures were OP. Despite not even being a demigod, just a mortal man (blessed by Athena but cursed by Poseidon), he still survived the entire Trojan War, Scylla & Charybdis, the sirens, the Lotus Eaters, Polyphemus the Cyclops, Circe, the Laestrygonians, and numerous shipwrecks & storms; went to Hades and lived; got shapeshifted into an old man; and still reclaimed his place as king of Ithaca by taking out all of Penelope's suitors cuz he’s a #BAMF archer and warrior, too. Odysseus also has the 4th highest kill count in the Iliad (after Patroclus, Diomedes, and Achilles). It took 20 years, and he lost everything but his life & his wits, but he made it home. (4/4)

3) JASON: Leader of the Argonauts, the most boss collection of heroes ever -- Hercules, the Gemini Twins, Orpheus, Nestor, Pelops, Meleager, Theseus, Autolycus, Atalanta*, Peleus, etc. -- #SquadGoals. Their adventures together are literally the stuff of legend -- the Crashing Rocks, fought harpies, sirens, giants, fire-breathing bulls, Talos the automaton, AND the Colchis Dragon guarding the Golden Fleece (and an army of Spartoi, sown dragon-teeth -- see Cadmus). Jason survived it all, and his travels and feats were effing impressive, designed explicitly cuz King Pelias KNEW finding the Golden Fleece was 100% impossible -- but Jason beat the odds and did it anyway. 

Jason was a mortal man, blessed by Hera, and husband of the sorceress Medea. #JusticeForMedea, Jason did her dirty, ditching her for some rando chick (Hera’s classic trigger). Hera renounced Jason cuz he broke his wedding vows to Medea, and Hera’s sacred stern on the Argo brained him to death (AKA: Eff your heroics, if you’re a scrub). One of his & Medea’s sons, Thessalus, managed to escape Medea's carnage, and Jason’s kingdom of Thessaly gets its name from him (or one of Heracles’ sons of the same name, depending on your source) . (3/4)

4) CADMUS: the very FIRST Greek hero, founder of Thebes, brother of Europa, defeater of the Ismenian Dragon, sower of the Spartoi (dragon teeth warriors), ancestor of Dionysus. I am super biased when it comes to dragons and dragon-slayers (Hercules, Jason, Cadmus). A mortal man from Phoenicia, Cadmus was blessed by Athena, favored by the other gods, but was cursed by Ares for killing the Ismenian Dragon (Ares son), and depending on the source was killed or turned into a snake, etc.

Jason benefited entirely from knowing what Cadmus did before with the Dragon and Spartoi. But I rank Jason higher than Cadmus, because although Cadmus killed a dragon first, and adventured before ALL of the other Greek heroes (Heracles included), he did relatively less than they did. Heroes (and their storytellers) were all trying to one-up the feats of the heroes that came before them, so Cadmus’ bar naturally lowers in light of that. But IMO I still see Cadmus as a more impressive hero than some others, because Cadmus set the bar for Heracles, Jason, Odysseus, everybody. Cadmus 👏  Did 👏  It 👏  FIRST.👏 (3/4)

5) PERSEUS: Son of Zeus and a mortal woman; slayer of Medusa the Gorgon and Cetus the Sea Monster; founder of the Myceneans; ancestor (and half-brother) of Hercules. Out of the pre-Heraclidean heroes (Cadmus, Perseus, Aeacus, Bellerophon, Pelops & Oenomaus, Oedipus) Perseus’ adventures were the scariest, IMO. The Graeae, the Gorgons, AND Cetus? Yikes. However, Perseus only managed to kill Medusa cuz she was asleep the whole time. All those depictions of him facing off against her in some thrilling battle? Pop culture fabrication -- it never happened, he crept up on her like a ninja. (#JusticeForMedusa) And thanks to the frikkin Renaissance, people think Perseus tamed Pegasus, which he never did either, that was Bellerophon vs the Chimera.

Still, he’s awesome. On top of his #Iconic armor set (sword, helm of invisibility & winged sandals), Perseus has a lot of similarities with Hermes (god of, amongst other things, thieves and liars), cuz his opponents were literally impossible for mortals to face otherwise. Perseus needed all of those sneaky wiles to steal the Graeae’s eye, and sneak past the other Gorgons, and nab Medusa, run off with her head without the other Gorgons tearing him to shreds, and make it back home. But he only managed to kill Cetus & rescue Andromeda & reclaim his birthright as King of Argos because he had Medusa’s head.

So...cool adventures, great story, sweetest god-tier gear EVER (#Deus ExMachinaRealness), and really impressive monsters. (3/4) (Perseus never went to Hades & back, but some sources interpret the Cave of the Gorgons, Graeae or both as a chthonic journey, too.)

6) THESEUS: Son of Poseidon and a mortal woman (his step-father’s King Aegeus, whom the Aegean Sea’s named after -- a really sad story that’s Theseus’ fault), Theseus is the founder of Athens & the Acropolis, and slayer of the Minotaur. (3/4) But I have to explain a few things:

Monsters: IMO beating the Minotaur is Theseus’ most impressive feat. That was a legit monster. Theseus also caught & sacrificed the Cretan/Marathonian Boar (sire of the Minotaur), and killed the man-eating Crommyonian Sow. But compared to Dragons & Gorgons (asleep or not), IMO I can’t rank Theseus’ defeat of the Minotaur over heroes who killed a lot more than that. According to Ovid, Theseus also slayed the Centaur King Eurytion, who started the Centauromachia vs the Lapiths, but AFAIK he’s the only one who says so. Theseus also went on many adventures, slaying bandits and pacifying barbarians in his 6 Labors, which established Theseus as an official Athenian folk hero well before his battle in the Labyrinth. But again, I’m can’t rank bandits over an army of draconic spartoi.

Hades: Theseus technically gets (4/4) on my criteria, but I deducted that point cuz he only hit it just barely. By the skin of his butt-cheeks. LITERALLY. Theseus’ jaunt to Hades was one of the BALLSIEST examples of hubris and straight up idiocy in all of Greek mythology, IMO. Theseus decided that being the wingman in his BFF Pirithous’ harebrained plan to kidnap Persephone for a bride was a good idea. O_O The only reason Theseus made it out alive (spoiler: Pirithous did not) is cuz Heracles RIPPED Theseus off his seat, allowing Hades to get his literal POUND OF FLESH from Theseus’ arse in appeasement. That was not heroic on Theseus’ part at all; he was crying like a baby the entire time, TRAPPED in Hades for MONTHS until HERACLES happened to go there to collect Cerberus. POINT DEDUCTED! #sorryboutit

7) DIOMEDES: Diomedes 👏 Gets 👏  NO 👏  Respect 👏 . Omg, where is the Hollywood blockbuster featuring MY BOY? Other than Heracles, name another Greek hero who fought against not one but TWO OLYMPIAN GODS and WON? O_O Diomedes, a mortal man, King of Argos and founder of several Italian cities, was a hero of the Trojan War. After Patroclus, Diomedes has the 2nd highest kill count in the Iliad. He managed to wound Aphrodite & her son Aeneas at Troy, AND left Ares -- THE God of WAR -- screaming & hollering like a toddler with a tantrum when Diomedes & Athena wounded him, making Ares retreat from the battlefield like a wuss. Ares, y’all. ARES. Diomedes didn’t KILL any gods, no, but he’s still thebomb.com.

Blessed by Athena, Diomedes was the 2nd most clever warrior after Odysseus, and after Achilles died, together they came up with the most iconic plots against the Trojans: creating the Trojan Horse, and stealing the Palladium. In antiquity Diomedes was venerated as a god as part of his hero cult, but his fame was later supplanted by Achilles & Odysseus, to the point that in today’s pop culture Diomedes is rarely ever mentioned. #UnderratedAF (3/4)

Honorable Mentions

8) BELLEROPHON: A mortal man, grandson of Sisyphus, Bellerophon was falsely accused of rape, and as punishment the king (the lying heifer’s father) sent Bellerophon to kill The Chimera (a 3-headed FIRE BREATHING monstrosity) to clear his name (knowing full well it was impossible). Blessed by Athena, Bellerophon was able to tame Pegasus (Medusa’s son by Poseidon’s rape), and reach the Chimera’s lair. He lathered himself in fire-proof oil, and stabbed the Chimera in the frikkin throat till it choked on the melted metal from his speartip.

Unfortunately, the king didn’t believe him, and sent Bellerophon on a series of labors to kill Amazons & pirates, which Bellerophon did, with Poseidon’s help. Unfortunately, his glory went to his frikkin head, and when Bellerophon tried to fly Pegasus up Mt Olympus Zeus struck him dead with lightning bolts for his hubris. (2/4)

9) ACHILLES: Achilles is THE greatest hero of the Trojan War, leader of the Myrmidons and Greece’s best warrior EVER. He had mad skills. But by my 4 Main Criteria, I can't rank him above the other heroes. Achilles is a great icon for warriors to aspire to, and in many ways is the most realistic hero of the bunch, IMO, but that’s just it. He did a lot of incredible things. But not impossible things. He’s too normal for me, compared to the rest. :\ (2/4)

Monsters: All the other heroes on my list faced off against gods, giants, the brood of Echidna & Typhon, unnatural beasts, etc. Achilles’ greatest foe is Hector, Troy’s greatest warrior, yes, but who is another mortal man. Achilles did defeat Amazons (like Penthesilea, daughter of Ares), but so did Bellerophon, on top of the Chimera. And as far as kill count goes, Patroclus killed the most people at Troy, while Achilles pouted in his tent! Diomedes killed a effton, as did Odysseus (who earned Achilles’ armor rather than Ajax), so.... Imma need some gods & monsters, Achilles. :\

Hades: When Achilles died he went to the nicest place in Hades, in the Isles of the Blessed/Elysian Fields. Not exactly the Greek Valhalla, since the gods don’t live in Elysion, but close. But several heroes ranked higher on my list came back from the Land of the Dead (I’ve seen some Heroes Lists put Orpheus, another Argonaut, in the Top 7 cuz of the Orphic Cult & having been to Hades and back). Achilles chose to fight at Troy and die young & heroically; but when Odysseus spoke to Achilles’ ghost in Hades he told Odysseus he regretted his decision. XD

Divinity/Assistance: Achilles is the son of the water nymph Thetis -- whose wedding to Achilles’ mortal dad started the Apple of Discord & Judgement of Paris which caused to the Trojan War -- so he’s not 100% human, but he’s not the son of an Olympian, either. Thetis had Hephaestus craft god-tier armor for Achilles, and made him invulnerable to further injury (sources vary on if he was lathered in ambrosia lotion; or dunked in the River Styx; or was slow-roasted on a magical fire). But Achilles was still mortal, as seen by that little ankle problem of his. So I wonder which demigod would win in a fight, Achilles, Perseus, or Theseus? (Hercules beats everybody, duh.) But I gave Achilles 1 point here.

Politico-Religious Legacy: Achilles’ son Neoptolemus founded Epirus, and the line Alexander the Great’s mother Olympias hails from, thus making Achilles Alexander’s ancestor (depending on who you believe). That’s dope. Another point. (2/4)

10) ATALANTA: AFAIK Atalanta’s the only non-Amazonian mortal warrior woman Hero in Greek myth (Cyrene & Callisto were nymphs). A mortal woman, Atalanta was abandoned in the woods at birth for being born female, and was nursed by a she-bear. A SHE-BEAR. In the WOODS, y’all. Atalanta was found by hunters who took her in, and grew up to be a fierce huntress. She took part in the Calydonian Boar Hunt, and was THE FIRST to actually wound it, while the other heroes were busy shaking in their sandals. She got to keep the pelt as her prize. Depending on your source, she did or didn’t join the Argonauts, or was only with them briefly. She also beat Achilles’ dad Peleus (another Argonaut) in a wrestling match. She also slew two Centaurs who tried to rape her. Atalanta was NOT to be trifled with. 👸

Thanks to the impiety of her husband (from Atalanta’s famous race with the Golden Apples; his name varies depending on the sources), both he and Atalanta were cursed by the gods (precisely which one varies by sources), turned into lions and slaughtered. #SMDH.  (2/4)

[uttertrashdumpster]

HoO Headcannon

Foes bear arms to the Doors of Death.

What if, in addition to Bob and Damasen, Luke also showed up? He was Percy’s and Annabeth’s foe in the last war, after all. Maybe after landing in Elysium, he spotted the two in Tartarus and decided to make up for what he had done.

One day, bored of Elysium, Luke decides to explore the other corners of the Underworld. Without knowing, he is looking straight down at the dark pits of Tartarus, at two small dots walking alongside each other. As they approach his field of vision, he makes out a head of blond hair and a shiny bronze sword in tattered orange t-shirts. Overcome with familiarity, Luke decides to investigate. At first, the couple is just shocked that Luke, of all people, would show up, but end up overflowing with the relief of finding someone familiar. He journeys with them into the depths of Tartarus, joining up with Bob and Damasen along the way.

He faces Tartarus along with the Titan and the giant, but Annabeth and Percy pull him along with them before he can completely sacrifice himself, giving him a second chance at life. 

After his escape from Tartarus, he joins Nico, Reyna, and Coach Hedge to deliver the Athena Parthenos to CHB as his way of bringing peace to his teenage-years home after he actively waged war against it (Nico would probably explain the Greek-Roman War to him). Luke becomes extremely protective of the other three, always taking watch at night and using his swordfighting skills to assist Reyna with her zombie legion. 

They then get veered off-course to San Juan, where they encounter the Hunters and the Amazons. Luke freaks out when he thinks Reyna is “kidnapped” and searches the entire place upside down for her. After a while, he finds her in a small room... with Thalia. The two of them finally gets the closure they deserved after a year (or two?)- Thalia understands how Luke’s heroic sacrifice saved Olympus, and Luke understands how she never stopped loving him. Luke confesses his love for her, but Thalia decides to remain friends as she has found her place among the Hunters, which Luke respects. Thalia asks if he has any pressing problems, to which he tells her about the impending Greek-Roman War. She says she would do anything in her ability to help. 

After the crew of four reaches camp, Luke stands at the edge of the border, next to Thalia’s pine tree, and draws both camps’ attention to himself. Greek demigods, astonished as to how the old Hermes Cabin Counsellor could be alive and standing, drop their weapons and stared in disbelief. Roman demigods, confused, temporarily take their eyes from the onagers to observe Luke (maybe some think he is Jason, due to their similar appearances). Luke starts telling them about his story and why it never feels good to be engaged in a war. The two sides, entranced as if they are charmspoken to, starts to agree with Luke, though some (i.e Octavian) are still wary.

As the Seven return and Gaea rises, Luke bravely throws himself into the fight, defending the same demigods he had launched attacks against about a year ago. He joins forces with Percy to slay a herd of monsters. He is the one who intercepts a giant trying to attack Piper and pull her out of Jason’s grasp onto the ground, earning a ghastly wound on his shoulder. As the giant prepares to make the final move on him, a blast of lightning blasted the giant out of his way. Up in the sky is Thalia, shaking out of fear as she controls the air and lightning surrounding her.

Annabeth is the first to visit him in the infirmary, talking about how she had missed him and wanted him as her brother, fighting by her side. She tells him about her adventures- finding Percy, meeting her new friends, going on her solo quest and defeating her greatest fear. Luke’s grin is stupidly wide- he is so happy for her. She confesses to losing his knife during her fall into Tartarus, to which he tells her it is okay to let go of her past to enjoy her new future.

After he has been healed by Will Solace, Hades/Pluto has apparently noticed his absence in the Underworld, and sent Thanatos to reclaim him. Seeing this, Nico and Hazel object, saying how he clearly has a second destiny to fulfil (just like Hazel herself), and how much he makes them and their friends happier in their lives. After seeing the trauma and emotional scarring the demigods had been through, Thanatos relents.

Luke is introduced to the rest of the Seven, who all admire him as a ‘big brother’ after hearing about his talents. Along with Thalia, the ‘big sister’, they spend time together as a big, happy family. As they grow old and build families of their own, Luke watches in contentment, knowing that he always has a lifelong friend- a soulmate, almost- of his own. 

He leans his head against Thalia’s. The most evil, manipulative forces have been destroyed. The hero is redeemed, allowed to have a second chance at life, and build his own family. 

All is well.

[comiconverse]

Review: Trinity Annual #1

Trinity Annual #1, released last week, was the lone Superbook to hit the stands on the final day of a month featuring five Wednesdays. Writer Rob Williams and artist Guillem March teamed up to produce Tied Together, the belated continuation of the Pandora Pits storyline. ComiConverse contributor T. Kyle King brings you his thoughts on the extended issue.

(Warning: Spoilers follow!)

Trinity Annual #1 Review:

Bruce Wayne is hosting Clark Kent and Diana Prince for dinner in Gotham City. Elsewhere, however, Circe and Ra’s al Ghul are making plans for the use of the Pandora Pits… but can even those villains anticipate the devilish developments to come?

Trinity Annual #1 Synopsis:

Lex Luthor has declined to join Circe’s and Ra’s al Ghul’s “unholy trinity”, yet the wicked sorceress insists that they — like the threesome of Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman — are tied together. In Gotham City, Bruce has invited Clark and Diana to a restaurant he owns for the purpose of forging a “human connection” to his fellow heroes. Their meal is interrupted, however, when an incoming distress call demands their attention: Jason Blood has been drawn by the lure of the Pandora Pits and discovered an ancient yet prophetic painting.

The League of Assassins attacks the interloper, prompting him to unleash Etrigan. When the Pits separate the Demon from his human host, though, the whole world is imperiled by an invasion from Hades. Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman offer up their own lives to allow Blood to reclaim Etrigan, but their sacrifice proves unnecessary when Circe intervenes to spare the heroes. The Demon is contained and the world is saved, but a third triad emerges to complete the circuit when Artemis, Bizarro, and the Red Hood are summoned to combine forces with one another.

Trinity Annual #1 Analysis:

March, who is best known for his work on Batman Family titles, gave readers a preview of his upcoming collaboration with Williams on a couple of issues of Action Comics being released later this summer. Brought vitally to life by colorist Tomeu Morey, the artwork of Tied Together is expressive and kinetic on a grand scale. The imagery of this outsized issue, which is filled with highly lined figures sporting jutting jawlines and mammoth muscles, is heavily indebted to DC Comics’ distinctive post-Flashpoint aesthetic. Although the artist is perhaps most associated with an unfortunately titillating style, March largely (and wisely) steers clear of excessively objectifying imagery in Trinity Annual #1, apart from the occasional upskirt angle accentuating an overly curvy Circe or exaggerated emphasis on Wonder Woman’s indulgently exposed thigh. Minimizing that sort of thing the week that Wonder Woman debuted was a good call.

Williams’s writing is generally strong yet falls short of stellar. At almost double the length of a typical issue, Tied Together is spacious enough to make room for more subtlety than the author deigns to include in Trinity Annual #1. Circe’s recitation in the opening five pages consists of straight narrative exposition that embraces only minimal explication, and the three pages that follow are even more on the nose. When Wayne uncharacteristically arranges a social engagement with his colleagues, it falls to Kent to give a name to their encounter in an unambiguous instance of telling instead of showing.

In case all this was insufficiently explicit, Williams gives Prince the duty to be even more unequivocal, baldly declaring: “Yes, Clark. A human connection. It takes an alien to remind you of this, Bruce.” The Action Ace proceeds to invoke his adoptive parents, his wife, and his son in support of the proposition that, if there’s one thing he knows, “it’s family.” The Caped Crusader — another orphan raised by foster parents, a fellow father, and the individual who extended the invitation to the guests with whom he has “been working together so closely of late” — responds with bewilderment: “Family?” Throughout this segment of Trinity Annual #1, the title characters inexplicably discuss their secret identities openly in an outdoor restaurant in which other patrons are present.

Fortunately, the sophistication of the storytelling improves significantly once Jason Blood appears. Between his clever repartee with the League of Assassins, glib (if sometimes forced) poetic pronouncements in the form of the Demon, and pained resignation at having to reaccept Etrigan into himself, Blood provides the nuance and humor that drive, elevate, and eventually redeem Tied Together after its inelegant opening act. The cliffhanger ending of Trinity Annual #1 likewise effectively left some things unsaid when the uncovering of the relocated Pits by Circe and Ra’s al Ghul produced the discovery of the “trinity of trinities” that was revealed to include the pointedly morally ambiguous counterparts to the heroic and villainous trios introduced previously. This adventure ultimately recovered from its slow start to set up interesting upcoming storylines.

Did Trinity Annual #1 tie you together with future installments of this series? Form a human connection with your fellow fans and ComiConverse with us in the comments!

T. Kyle King is an Expert Contributor to ComiConverse. Follow him on Twitter: @TKyleKing.

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