#stolls they could never make me hate you

[crumblekitten]

I’ll show you every version of yourself tonight

Luke castellan x fem!reader

words: 1.8k

AO3 link!

warnings: almost kissing, Luke is crushing HARD, set before the events of the lightning thief

what’s on the ratio?: mirrorball by Taylor swift

Late into the night, Luke sat alone by the campfire, his eyes fixed on the flames that danced before him. Camp Half-Blood lay quiet, its cabins and tents shrouded in darkness, but Luke felt no comfort in the stillness.

The familiar warmth of the fire couldn’t touch the chill creeping through him, nor could it silence the voice of Kronos whispering deep in his mind. The Titan's influence had grown stronger, twisting Luke’s thoughts like tendrils winding around his heart. Kronos promised change, retribution, and a chance to reshape the world that had failed Luke time and time again. He remembered the promises he’d made to himself, the anger that burned hot against the Gods and the camp that felt more like a prison than a sanctuary. The desire to betray it all simmered within him, almost a relief after the years of resentment. And yet, an ache persisted. Luke’s thoughts drifted to Annabeth and Thalia. He could still hear their laughter in his mind, feel the shared hope that had once driven them to protect each other at any cost. Together, they’d vowed to build something better, to be family to one another in ways their parents had never been. Those promises weren’t so easy to turn his back on. The memories made him feel heavier, anchoring him to something he couldn’t shake, and for a fleeting moment, he hated it. He hated how much he cared. The fire snapped, and Luke watched as a stray ember floated into the night sky before disappearing into the shadows. He clenched his fists, knowing that in the end, he might only have himself. Luke barely noticed the faint crunch of footsteps behind him, his gaze still locked on the fire.

“Luke?” Luke turned abruptly at the sound of his name. His eyes lit up with surprise, a hint of a smile pulling at the corners of his lips.

“Y/n” he murmured her name fondly. It was a name that held a special place in his heart, the sound of it evoking a complex mix of emotions. He hadn’t expected to see her. “What are you doing here?” “You okay? Travis and Connor said that you didn’t come back to the Hermes cabin after lights out” Luke tried to appear nonchalant, forcing a lopsided smile.

“Ah, you know those Stoll brothers. They need to stop being so nosy. I’m fine, just enjoying the night air.” You see through Luke’s mask of emotion, and you slide onto the seat next to him “whatever’s bothering you…you should talk about it” Luke raised an eyebrow, a mix of surprise and amusement crossing his face. He chuckled softly, running a hand through his hair. “Is that a suggestion or a direct order?” He couldn’t help but tease her, his tone slightly sarcastic. “Can’t help people who don’t want to change, I’m here to talk about it and if not I’m still here”

Luke paused for a moment, taken aback by the sincerity in her voice. He was used to keeping his worries hidden, to being the one others leaned on, not the other way around. Slowly, he turned back to face her, his expression softening. “It’s just…the camp, the Gods, it all feels so suffocating sometimes. I…I don’t belong here.” Luke admitted, his tone tinged with bitterness. “But I made a promise…promises, actually, to people who’ve become like family to me. And I can’t just abandon them.” “Do you think they would understand if you wanted to leave camp?” Luke let out a heavy sigh, conflicted emotions playing across his face. “I don’t know. Some might understand but others won’t, and they’ll blame me for betraying them. They don’t see how much the camp sucks the life out of me.” He ran a hand through his hair, gazing into the fire. “I’ve always been told that as a son of Hermes, I have to obey the rules, stay in line, but that’s not me. I can’t keep up the act for much longer.”

“Do you think that if you didn’t make those promises you would have left a long time ago?” Luke hesitated, considering the question carefully. “Maybe,” he finally admitted. “I’ve always had this restlessness in me, something pushing me to break free from the mold everyone wants me to fit into. The promises I made… they grounded me, gave me something to hang onto during the tougher times. But they’re also chains keeping me here when I just want to break free.” Luke sighed, the weight of his words sinking in. “If it wasn’t for those promises, I probably would’ve ditched camp ages ago.” You find yourself wanting to reach for his hand but you hold yourself back, you had a crush on Luke for years, and now probably wasn’t a good time to act on those feelings “what would you do if you left camp?” He shook his head, letting out a humorless laugh. “I don’t know. Maybe I’d find some other way to survive. Start over. It can’t be worse than this constant tug of war between my loyalty to the camp and my restless spirit.” He glanced over at her, a flicker of vulnerability in his eyes. “But then I wouldn’t be with my friends, with my…” He trailed off, the words remaining unsaid. Luke’s gaze focused back on the crackling fire, his expression distant. “You really think they’d understand if I left?” “I think annabeth would, she might want you here but you’ve been here since you were 14, you deserve the chance to find freedom. She knows that much”

Luke absorbed her words, a flicker of hope sparking within him. “You’re right. Maybe Annabeth would understand.” He paused thoughtfully. “But it’s not just her I worry about. What about you?.. What would you think if I left?” His gaze held hers, a mixture of sincerity and an underlying longing that he tried to suppress. “I would miss you. But like I said you deserve a chance to find that freedom” Your voice is saddened but decided to give a truthful answer, Luke’s eyes remained fixed on yours, searching for any hint of doubt. After a moment, he broke the silence, his voice unusually earnest. “You’ve always understood me better than most. I value your opinion. And… I’d miss you too, if I left. I’m not sure what it is about you, but I’ve always felt like you see the real me. I don’t have to pretend around you.” His words hung in the air, filling the space between them. Your gaze turns to the fire. cheeks red from the cold winter air, it may have also been caused from the blush slowly dusting your face.

Luke’s eyes remained on you, taking in the way your cheeks flushed and your gaze returned to the fire. He reached out, gently tucking a stray lock of hair back behind your ear, his fingers lingering a little longer than necessary. “Your cheek feels like ice,” he said softly, concern etching his features. Without thinking, he took your hand in his own, the warmth of his touch offering a quiet comfort. In that instant, the boundaries between you seemed to blur as he leaned a little closer. As Luke leaned closer, the weight of everything he held within seemed to vanish. The world around you faded away as their eyes locked. “Do you think… maybe I have something to stick around for here?” His words were a whisper, a confession that held both a hopeful question and an unspoken promise. The flickering firelight cast a golden glow on your faces, making him appear even more handsome as his expression softened. Luke’s thumb gently traced small circles against the back of your hand, the motion a quiet, tender reassurance. He held your gaze steadily, searching for any sign of hesitation or rejection in your eyes. “I’m sure you could find it” you stare into his eyes you body heating up at the closeness.

“Maybe I already have.” Luke replied, his voice barely a whisper as the space between you continued to close. Every breath felt like a silent promise, a shared secret. He reached out, his fingertips gently brushing against your cheek, tracing a path from her temple to the curve of your jaw. His touch was gentle yet deliberate, like a painter committing every detail to memory. Time seemed to slow as your faces were just inches apart, the silence filled only by the rapid beating of their hearts. His eyes held hers captive, the firelight reflecting in his gaze making them appear molten and intense. “We should go back to the cabins” You pull back from Luke slightly Luke blinked, the world slowly coming back into focus around him. “Right. It’s late.” he agreed, his voice barely audible. He released your hand, the warmth he’d felt lingering as if imprinted on his skin. He stood up, offering his hand to help you up as well. “You should have worn a jacket or something. You’re freezing.” “I’ll be okay” Luke wrapped his own jacket around her shoulders firmly. “Here, take this,” he insisted, his eyes gentle yet determined. “No arguments. I can’t have you catching a cold.”

*

As you walked together, the jacket draped gently around your shoulders, Luke’s eyes briefly flickered to your hand. The impulse to reach out and hold it was strong, but he resisted, unsure of where the night would take them. In the quiet of the camp, your footsteps were the only sound. He wondered if you felt the same connection he did, or if it was just his own wishful thinking. The moment between you had been real, he was sure of it. “Do you ever wonder…what could’ve been?” he asked, his tone soft but filled with unspoken longing. “I don’t think about it that often” “I think about it more than I’d like to admit,” Luke mused quietly. He turned to you, noticing the way the moonlight played across your features, making you even more beautiful. “Why didn’t we ever…?” He left the question hanging in the air, his gaze filled with curiosity and a touch of regret. There had always been a connection between you, an unspoken understanding that made Luke’s heart yearn. “Ever what?” Luke let out a small, self-deprecating laugh. “I don’t know. Get together? I mean, we’ve always been so close.” He paused, his gaze locked on yours. “You understand me better than most, probably better than anyone here. I just… it feels like we might have missed our chance.” His words were tinged with a mixture of emotions, uncertainty and longing. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but he felt a deep connection to you that he could never quite shake. “You never asked.” You smile at him before walking up to the door of your cabin and walking inside.

Luke watched you disappear into the cabin, the moonlight casting a faint glow over his features. He stood there for a moment, the weight of uncertainty settling heavily on his shoulders.

“Maybe I should’ve,” he murmured under his breath before making his way back to the Hermes cabin, the question of ‘what if’ lingering in the air like an unanswered prayer.

“I know they said the end is near But I'm still on my tallest tiptoes Spinning in my highest heels, love Shining just for you” -Taylor swift

[mediumgayitalian]

Nico really fucking hates capture the flag.

Well, not always. Last week was fun. Last week was the annual Everyone Against The Stolls (to atone for their crimes), and Nico got to chase Connor around at top speeds, cackling, committing his shrieking and begs for mercy to memory. That was nice. That almost made him forgive the fucker for digging a trench under Nico’s unwelcome mat for him to fall into at seven thirty in the godsdamn morning.

But tonight’s game is boring.

He’s been standing, alone, at the base of the flag for the past forty bajillion hours. He’d raised a few dozens skeletons to spar with at first, since animating them to fight himself isn’t technically against the rules, but that got dull fast. (It isn’t much fun sparring with a partner who doesn’t have a brain. He already has to do that enough with Percy when he comes to visit camp.) He’d climbed the various trees around the clearing, or at least he tried until he got reamed by the dryads for climbing on a manner that was too annoying (?), and tried his hands at a few summoning spells. Nothing held his interest long.

And now he’s just standing, doing nothing, and he’s not allowed to leave. He has to stay in this stupid spot on the off chance that someone comes stumbling over to fight him for the flag.

“You’re our best swordsman, she said,” he says mockingly, beaming the nastiest vibes he can manage in Piper’s vague direction. “We need you on our defensive line, she said. Nyeh nyeh nyeh.”

His checks his watch. He groans. He looks critically over the grass, looking for a softer patch, and when he locates it he throws himself dramatically upon it, groaning louder.

“This sucks!” he yells, to no one.

“Will you shut up!” shouts back the dryad he pissed off earlier. “For the love of photosynthesis! Fuck!”

He bites his tongue hard to hold back laughter. (If he can avoid getting his entire cabin overgrown with prickle bushes again, that’d be great.) “Sorry,” he calls, trying with everything he has to sound contrite. Convincing his father to fight the Titan War was easier, actually. Acting is not his calling.

“Hmph!”

At least listening to see if she’ll come out and yell at him again provides something to ease his boredom. Yes, he’s going to regret bothering her, but in his defense, solo guarding is cruel and unusual punishment. He’d rather sit by an outlet with a fork and see if he can poke and let go fast enough to avoid dying. That at least would be interesting.

A rustling of leaves recaptures his attention, and he pauses.

“Holly?”

When no one answers, which is odd because she’s taken every opportunity in the last hour to either insult him or pelt him with stones, he lifts his head.

“You’re not going to scare me, dude. I had my fear glands surgically removed to become a better soldier.”

Not true. Obviously. But a fun bonus of being the camp weirdo is that no one doubts anything he says. He’s working on convincing everyone younger than him that he needs weekly tributes of chocolate delivered to his door every Friday or the dead are going to take over the world. So far, it’s working.

“Look, Holly, I’m sorry about the zombie, okay, I promise it didn’t mean to sneeze part of its brain on you —”

The rustling sounds again, only this time Nico can see that it’s not Holly’s tree, and in fact she is nowhere to be found. Alarmed, he jumps to his feet, shifting so he’s balanced on the balls of his feet, poised to attack. Is Piper’s plan failing? Has someone actually managed to make it all the way over here without getting (gently, probably, although they lost the last game and Piper gets cranky without dessert) maimed?

The rustling sounds for a third time. This time, an armoured someone stumbles out of the underbrush, tripping over their own foot and nearly landing flat on their face.

Nico has his sword at their throat in a millisecond.

“Wo-oah, Morbius. That’s probably my least favourite sword you could stab in me.”

Nico goes bright red. “I have never wanted to stab you more than right this second.”

Will, chest plate skewed to the right, quiver completely empty, and black paint smeared under his eyes, snickers. He puts a finger on the tip of Nico’s sword and pushes it away from his neck.

“The opportunity was right there, babe. I couldn’t not.”

“You really, really could. In fact at all times, you should remember these words of wisdom: shut up.”

“…Damn. Inspiring.”

Nico rolls his eyes, but the effect is somewhat lessened by the smile on his face and the obvious pleasure in his expression. He’s even feeling merciful enough to accept Will’s kiss, although his sword keeps a good amount of distance between them. (Will’s on the blue team, after all. It would be unprofessional to be fraternizing with the enemy.

…Well, too much, anyway.)

“What’re you doing here? You’re supposed to be with the other archers, sitting in trees and causing havoc.”

Will shrugs, grinning lazily. “I quit. This game is senselessly violent and I’m Against It On Principle. I’m a pacifist, you know.”

“Uh huh.” Nico raises an eyebrow. “I assume this doesn’t count you choking Cecil out in a headlock, this morning.”

Will opens his mouth. Nothing comes out. He closes it again.

“Cecil is my mortal enemy,” he grudges after a moment. “He doesn’t count.”

“‘Course not. Not like you cried for two hours when he went to visit his mom last weekend or anything.”

“Will you — stop saying I cried. I barely teared up, okay. Barely.”

Nico can’t quite force down the stupid grin that pulls across his face, matching Will’s, nor can he resist grabbing the leather straps of his boyfriend’s armour and hauling him close.

“You better not be here to distract me,” he mumbles, leaning close and pressing a kiss to the underside of his jaw, the corner of his mouth. Will hums, settling his hands on Nico’s hips.

“Nope. Cross my heart and hope to die.”

“Drama queen.”

“Excuse — I am the least dramatic, I’ll have you know. I’m a pinnacle of solemnity. I am a shining beacon of stoicism. I am — mmfh,” He trails off. “Okay, doing this now, mhm.”

Nico smiles triumphantly into the kiss. Will, he has found, is very easy to shut up, despite his long-running nickname of Motormouth. It’s almost like he has an off button that can be accessed only by Nico sticking his tongue in his mouth. Nico is doing his civic duty, honestly. He should be compensated for his service.

(‘Course, doesn’t hurt that Will smells, like, really good, all the time, and his lips are soft as hell and he is actually quite the kisser, in fact. That is definitely a fun bonus.)

He smooths his hands over Will’s shoulders, travelling up the sides of his neck and settling in his hair. Will keens, slightly, when he wraps a finger around a frizzy golden curl and tugs, slightly, when he scratches his nails along his scalp. The rush of power at the feeling makes Nico dizzy, and his sword clatters to the ground as he busies himself with more interesting — and important — things.

Like pulling more of those sounds from his boyfriend’s throat. Or making his knees buckle, again, like he did the other night — gods, that was good, it made Will flush scarlet and Nico feel like he was fuckin’ floating, to have Will so needy and touchy and totally at his mercy —

“Free line to the flag! Go go go go!”

Nico startles, whirling towards the sudden cacophony of noises. To his horror, what looks like half the camp, helmets shining with plumes of blue, comes pouring into the clearing, weapons raised, voices mixing in one long, victorious shout. He lunges for his sword, but before he can grab it, two strong arms tighten around his torso, pinning his hands to his side.

Immediately, he knows he’s been set up.

“Oh, you — fucker!”

He feels the curve of Will’s grin against his neck. “First shower privileges for a whole month, baby.” He noses along his jaw, pressing an apologetic kiss to his cheek. “Couldn’t resist.”

Nico struggles, aghast, watching the once-red flag shimmer in Lou Ellen's hold to a bright, shining blue. “I am breaking up with you, you traitor, you Iago, you vixen — ”

Will snorts. He ducks down and pecks Nico on the lips, again, and again, and then shifts to his cheeks, the bridge of his nose, his temples, his forehead, and all over his face, making louder and louder mwah sounds until Nico is laughing, punching his shoulder and shoving him away.

“Okay! Okay. Let me go, you villainous toad. We will discuss how much you’ll have to grovel for my forgiveness after Piper finishes yelling at me for getting distracted.”

Will presses one last kiss to his nose, smiling cheekily before stepping away, heading towards his boasting team. “Enjoy that lecture! Love you!”

“Yeah, yeah.” Nico rolls his eyes, resting his aching cheek in his hand. “Love you too, asshole.”

[aphroditeinthesea]

ᡣ𐭩 masterlist ᡣ𐭩

does not include all works

⊹ ࣪ ˖ ୨♡୧ ⊹ ࣪ ˖

jason grace ⚡️

the curve became a sphere (daughter of aphrodite!reader)

safe in my garden, an ancient flower blooms (daughter of demeter!reader)

all these little things (demigod!reader)

sparks fly (daughter of poseidon!reader)

ipod (playlist)

but (brother) i love him (daughter of poseidon!reader)

guilty as sin i | ii

with two cats in the yard (life used to be so hard) (fem!reader)

meet me in the afterglow (gn!reader)

the best thing that’s ever been mine (fem!reader)

the sun and the storm (daughter of apollo!reader)

never forget i made u mine (fem!reader)

picture you pt i | pt ii (fem!reader)

wish you were sober (dionysus!reader)

complete mess (fem!reader)

rest your head… (hypnos!reader)

kiss you (fem!reader)

electric touch (fem!reader)

percy jackson 🌊

i should hate you (daughter of athena!reader)

falling feels like flying (til the bone crush) | part ii (daughter of aphrodite!reader)

i can do it with a broken heart (daughter of aphrodite!reader)

building up like waves (fem!reader)

itsy bitsy spider (spiderman!percy x demeter!reader)

how could you think i’d be your friend? (fwb!reader)

sinking my fingertips (fem!reader)

annabeth chase 🦉

ur my lullaby (fem!reader)

ipod (playlist)

a greater woman stays cool (but i howl like a wolf at the moon) (fem!reader)

leo valdez 🔨

lipstick on your face (so it goes) (fem!reader)

ipod (playlist)

im a feminist, obviously (fem!reader)

hits different (daughter of aphrodite!reader)

be my baby (hades!reader)

rock me (dionysus!reader)

piper mclean 💋

it’s not my fault (daughter of poseidon!reader)

ipod (playlist)

new year’s day (fem!reader)

slumber party (bsf!reader)

sleep to dream (fem!reader)

nico di angelo 💀

hold on to this lullaby (solangelo)

will solace ☀️

hold on to this lullaby (solangelo)

long story short i survived (daughter of dionysus!reader)

travis stoll 🐍

he says i’m pretty wearing his clothes (fem!reader)

life is short, make it sweet (fem!reader)

no matter what you do, i’m gonna steal ur heart (fem!reader)

each breath of air is sweeter (daughter of aphrodite!reader)

connor stoll 🐍

i’m such a fool for you (daughter of poseidon!reader)

time slows down (whenever ur around) (daughter of aphrodite!reader)

you’ll be the prince (fem!reader)

fluff (aphrodite!reader)

frank zhang 🐻

timeless (fem!reader)

hazel levesque 💀

…

grover underwood 🐐

…

[mehwmidklpe]

i am begging for a connor stoll x daughter of hecate reader pls pls pls i love connor sm and there is not enough if him !!!

sure you can I totally get how you feel!

I'm not sure this is even what you were looking for, so if you don't like it, I'm very sorry!

First thing you heard when you entered the dinning pavillion?

"It was so amazing, I'm telling you, Connor Stoll has much more in him than you think. Last night was so good."

Drew Tanaka.

To her siblings.

But she was looking straight at you.

And when you went to ask Connor Stoll, your friend, about it, he just shrugged and said:

"Yeah, we might've hooked up."

That was it.

"You hooked up with Drew? Drew Tanaka. You know I hate her." You spat at him.

"Yeah but, I mean, it was just one night, it's not like it meant anything." The son of Hermes defended.

"You're supposed to be my friend, Connor! How could you hook up with the one person I hate?? How would you feel if I hooked up with like, Travis?"

That sure got him.

He want pale, his eyes screamed.

"You're not gonna."

"Try me."

And just like that, you stormed off, back to Cabin 20, the Hecate cabin, your cabin.

You barged into the room, making your sister flinch. "Y/n?"

"Where's my book?"

"Your spell book?"

"No, my cookbook." You said, clearly sarcastic.

She jumped up and handed it to you. "What's got you all mad?" The girl asked.

You groaned, laying the book down on your desk, flipping trough the pages. "Stoll."

"Connor Stoll? Did he pull another prank on you?"

"Worse."

"Worse? What could be worse? He's funny, right? We both love some chaos, don't we? And you said you liked hi–"

"Lou. Ellen. Blackstone. Don't you dare finish that sentence."

Lou gulped. "Sorry."

Lou Ellen wasn't used to seeing you this mad. Whatever Connor did, it must've really pissed you off.

"You gonna put a curse on him?" She wonders.

No answer. All you did was gulp. That was enough of a confirmation for her.

"Y/n you don't have to.."

But you already made up your mind.

The next morning, when Connor woke up, he didn't think much of anything. Didn't feel different at all, too.

He just got dressed in cargo pants and another Camp Half-Blood shirt and made his way to the diving pavillion.

Halfway trough breakfast, Clarisse La Rue entered, angry at that. "Which one of you idiots replaced my weapons with Barbie dolls??" She demanded.

The only thing Connor was about to do was either try to contain his laughter and stuff more pancakes into his mouth, or blame another child just to see them being chased by Clarisse while he laughed his ass of.

Instead,

"I did."

Wait.

Why the heck did he say that??

Then, without meaning to, he turned his head to his brother Chris. "Sorry bro, I know you said not to prank your girlfriend, but I really didn't care. I also once broke her spear and blamed it on you."

No! He wasn't supposed to say that!

Chris' eyes widened. "You did WHAT??" Clarisse only seemed to grow angrier. "Oh you are so dead."

"Shit." The boy cursed before standing up and running away.

It wasn't supposed to be him!

It was supposed to be another pathetic camper!

Good thing he's the son of Hermes then.

Makes him faster.

Meanwhile, at the table of Cabin 20, Lou turned to you. "So. Truth Spell, huh?"

You didn't say anything, just focused your gaze on your plate and ate.

Connor was spiraling.

He didn't know what was happening to him.

He just told Travis he looks nice.

NICE!

And the worst part, he meant it!

Normally he'd lie and say he looks ridiculous, just to mess with him. But for some reason he couldn't lie anymore.

Lying was his daily thing to do! Now he keeps blurting out the truth.

Grover passed by him. "Hey, I was the one who dumped pegasus poop on your bed."

Leo passed by. "I secretly admire your humor but never said anything cause I want to be the funny one."

Percy passed by. "You never thanked me for poisoning Phoebe back in the day, but whatever."

Annabeth passed by. "Did you know there's a spider under your bed right now? Travis placed it there, but don't tell him I told you."

Katie Gardner, too. "I don't like you and I hope you eat dirt. But my brother does like you. Wait, no! Oh shit."

He was screwed. Absolutely screwed.

"Connor!"

The boy turned around to see Lou Ellen from the Hecate cabin approaching him. "Oh hey Lou! Did you know I've been dreaming of becoming your brother-in-law?"

She froze. "What?"

Connor's eyes widened. "Uhm.. I don't know what's happening to me!"

"Connor!" Lou tried.

"What?!"

"You're under a truth spell!"

Connor froze. "...What?"

The girl sighed. "Y/n was angry with you. I don't know why but she was so upset she put a curse on you. She knew you spilling the truth would get you in trouble, so this was her revenge."

And for the first time in Lou's time at camp, Connor looked.. sad?

"Y/n..?"

He sounded heartbroken when he said your name.

"Yeah.. She really liked you.. I don't know what happened either." Lou told him.

Connor just blinked. "You need to break it." "I can't, I didn't cast the spell." "No, Lou, you need to!" "Dude, what do you want for me?"

"Your sister."

Connor's eyes widened and he slapped his hand over his mouth.

Lou's lips parted. "What?"

"How can the spell be broken?" He quickly asked, changing the subject.

She sighed. "Only Y/n can do that. She's the one who put it on you, she's the one to get it off you." The girl declared.

"So you need to go to Y/n."

"What? No! That's the last thing I'll do! I can't face Y/n now. I'm a walking truth spiller, once I see her it'll take less then a minute for me to admit that I'm in lo–"

He slapped his hand over his mouth again, the rest of his sentence being heard in mumbles Lou couldn't make out to be.

Oh gods he's got problems.

Later that day, Connor saw you walking around camp, as if you were looking for something.

He sprinted away.

"Connor! Why did Annabeth throw her shoe at me?? Did you tell her about the fake spider??" Travis, who approached him, demanded.

Connor's eyes widened. "I can't talk right now, Y/n is coming over here, you've got to hide me!"

The older Stoll looked over the younger Stoll's shoulder, and indeed, you were approaching.

"Why would you need to hide from her?"

"She put a spell on me! I can't say anything but the truth!"

Travis' eyes widened. "If you can't lie.. that meanse you'll tell her the truth about Drew." He realized.

"Exactly!"

"And you'll also tell her you're in l–" "Yes! So, help your favorite brother out?"

Oh what a good brother Travis was.

"Travis, hey, have you seen Connor?"

The boy shrugged. "What? No? Where? Why? Who's Connor?" You frowned. "Your brother...? Your best friend.. The boy you're with 24/7??"

"Ohhhh. That Connor. Nope, haven't seen him, rumor has it he moved to Asia. Bye!"

You grabbed his arm before he could leave. "Wait!" You stopped him. "If you do see him.. tell him I'm sorry?"

Travis' expression softened. "I will.. Thanks.."

The next day, it only got worse.

Connor ened up shoving Pegasus poop because he blurted out the fact he stole from Dionysus' drink collection.

"Talk to her Connor." Travis said, watching his brother grimace by the smell of Pegasus shit.

He faked a smile. "Oh sure! I'll just go over there and spill all my biggest secrets before she decides to slap me in the face and never break the spell."

His brother sighed. "Maybe.. it's about time you tell her the truth. Maybe that's what she wanted from you, that you stoppped being a coward and actually started being honest with her. Maybe that's why she chose this spell."

"No. She chose this spell because she knew it'd get me in trouble. She's smart like that. We cause trouble and we lie about it. That's you and me, Travis! The truth will kill us."

"Your truth got me a girlfriend, Connor. It's about time you let yourself have one, too."

Later that day, at night, Connor slumped down onto a bench by the fire.

It wasn't until a few minutes later that you joined him.

Of course, a bit shy considering you put a spell on him and then just came sitting down next to him.

"Hey..."

Connor gulped, his heart racing. "Is it okay if I sit here?" You proceeded to ask.

"Uhm.. No! I'd rather not talk to you rigth now."

Ugh! Well said, Stoll.

You bit the inside of your cheek. "Oh."

Connor panicked. "No! No! It's just that you made me into the most honest person on the planet.."

You looked down. "Right."

"I'm really mad at you." He blurted out.

You looked up. "You are? Connor you hooked up with Drew, the one girl I hate more than anything. And I get that you're mad for what I put you trough, but do you know how I feel?"

"That's the thing, Y/n. I never hooked up with Drew."

Shit.

"What?"

"Uh..I stole Pollux's grape juice collection!" He admitted, covering the one truth with another.

"And uhm, I replaced Cecil's toothbrush with Chris'! And I fed Clovis dirt while he slept!"

"Connor–"

"And I dance to a song called 'Chicken Tenders' when I'm alone cause I heard you and Leo playing it! And I beat Dionysus in poker and he scolded me for it! And also, I once faked an injury to stay with Will just to sit out on capture the flag because I was scared of Clarisse and I also am a part-time drug dealer but instead of dealing drugs I deal things I stole from campers, look!"

He suddenly pulled out something that odly looked like Annabeth's keychain.

"Connor–"

"And I'm so, so in love with you."

There it was.

The truth.

"I'm so sorry. I am. I payed the Aphrodite cabin to pretend I slept with Drew. Drew asked double the price. Piper wasn't happy with it at all. But I thought maybe if you'd hear that, you'd maybe.. show any sign that you didn't.. like it.."

You sat there, lips parted.

"You lied to me?"

"I know it sounds bad! But I just, I'm very much whipped for you. Cause back when Hecate didn't have a cabin, you were still in a cabin with me and you actually liked my humor and my pranks and then one day we were talking in my bunk bed and you fel asleep with your head on my shoulder and I let you sleep there and I watched you and I was like 'wow.. this is the most beautiful girl I've ever seen, and she's wasting her time on me'."

You blinked, again, and stared at him. "That was the night before Chris and Travis teased us. You scolded them for it. Said we were nothing more then friends."

"I lied."

"I believed you."

"I didn't know what else to do. You're too good for me!"

"I'm not Connor. The only thing I wanted was for you to be honest. If you had been.. I would've been yours."

Connor's hearted skipped a beat. "Really?" "Yes, really. I've had a thing for you, too. For a long time, actually. Why'd you think I got so mad when you said you banged Drew."

Connor bit back a smile. 'Banged'.

"If I were to bang someone, it'd be you."

You chocked on your own saliva.

"Sorry!" Connor shrieked out. "I'm just really in love with you. And now you said you feel the same i'm going crazy."

Despite his weird behavior, you couldn't help but smile.

"So you're in love with me... And I'm in love with you..."

"Can we please be boyfriend and girlfriend now??" Connor asked you, pathetic but he couldn't help it.

You bit back a smile. "Yes we can, Connor."

The boy's smile widened insanely.

It stayed like that.

Two smiling idiot who sat in silent at the bonfire.

"I really wanna kiss you right now."

Connor suddenly breathed out, not able to help himself.

"I mean, we're dating now, isn't that part of it?"

You rolled your eyes, but did scoot closer to him.

His heart was racing as he leaned in.

And when your lips met, it was magical.

The son of Hermes didn't hesitate to cup your cheek, moving your hair to the side and deepening the kiss.

You let yourself melt into it, throwing all your recent and pent up emotions into it. And gods did he like it.

You pulled away, just for a second, to speak. Your lips parted, breathing out the words. "You don't want me to break the spell?"

Connor's eyes flickered all over your face, loving the way the light of the fire had a beautiful effect on your gorgeous face.

"How about you do that tomorrow? One more night won't hurt."

Without letting you speak, his lips were back on yours.

But honestly, you didn't mind.

[7s3ven]

UNBEARABLE. connor stoll (pjo)

( master list )

IN WHICH… Connor Stoll finds enjoyment on pulling all sorts of pranks on Y/N L/N, the charming daughter of Aphrodite. It isn't until he catches her in a moment of weakness that he begins to sympathize with her.

A/N : I kinda feel like I’m carrying the PJO fandom on my back with all these fics lol. Also, people said I could be cast as Drew from PJO. Y’all should ask for my insta so you can confirm me as Drew 😽

Warnings : not following plot, luke is still here bc I adore him, mentions of luke x y/n here and there (Y/N’s an Aphrodite kid, ofc she’s kissed multiple people 😭)

—

A shrill scream pierced the peaceful silence of Camp Half-Blood, waking up most of its campers. Connor Stoll creeped around the corner with a cheeky grin, holding an empty bucket of pink paint. A moment later, Y/N L/N and Silena Beauregard stormed out of the Aphrodite cabin, covered from head to toe in paint.

"I'm going to kill him!" Y/N shouted, eyebrows furrowed in fury. The paint dripped off her body, staining the green grass below. She scoffed.

The Stoll brothers, more specifically Connor, were at it again with their never-ending pranks. Ever since Y/N arrived at camp, she had been the main victim of Connor's tricks. And she hated it.

"Are you okay?" Y/N asked Silena, all of her anger suddenly simmering away once she looked at her sister. Silena nodded, combing the dried paint out of her black hair. Y/N looked over her shoulder, locking eyes with Travis Stoll. She fumed as she quickly strutted towards the elder brother.

"You," She sternly pointed at Travis and poked his chest, "Get your brother under control before I do it myself!"

Travis lifted his arms in surrender, teasingly grinning. “I think he’d like that.”

"Just make him stop! I am sick and tired of being covered in paint when I wake up! Honestly!" Y/N groaned as she stormed back towards her cabin, ushering Silena inside so they could wash up.

Y/N clicked her tongue as she scrubbed the drying paint off her face. Silena was beside her, drying her now clean face with a warm towel. "I can't stand this any longer." She mumbled, running a brush through her hair. She peeled a patch of paint off, scowling in disgust. "Do you think the paint will harm my skin barrier?"

"Oh, absolutely." Silena quickly nodded her head, "We need to do face masks tonight."

Y/N was getting sick of all the pranks that seemed to target her and only her. "Hey, Y/N, we're gonna get breakfast. You wanna come with?" One of her other siblings poked her head around the corner, in the process of changing into a pink shirt.

"Oh, yeah. I'm coming." Y/N flashed Silena a bright smile before joining the other Aphrodite kids.

"Hey, Y/N, don't you think that Connor is kinda cute?" One of the girls nudged her as Y/N tucked herself between Momona and Jacob. Y/N glanced at Connor, frowning.

"No." She scoffed, something she did often whenever Connor was around. "He keeps pulling pranks on me. I can't even see him half of the time because my eyes are always covered in paint."

“She has a point.” Vivviene said, causing Y/N to frown.

“Of course I do. I’m always right.”

Her siblings laughed, throwing their heads back. “Yeah, right!” Jacob exclaimed, “What about that time you said Luke wasn’t guarding the flag and you were wrong? Because he was and he whooped your ass badly!”

Y/N pushed Jacob, playfully scoffing. “It was one mistake! And I landed a few good shots! He got stuck in the infirmary for a week."

“Yeah. And you were with him because of his beating! The Apollo kids found you making out a few times!” Jacob slung an arm around her shoulder, bellowing out another laugh.

Y/N accidently caught Connor's eye from across the room and her smile faltered. She quickly turned her head, the image of her reflection covered in paint engraved in her mind.

She still had paint stuck under her nails and she picked at it. "I'm getting fed up with him." She mumbled, causing her siblings to groan. Y/N scoffed, rolling her eyes. "What?"

"You always talk about him at meals." Jacob said.

"In fact, you're always talking about him. Period." Momona added.

“What if I’m not talking about Connor?” Y/N asked, unknowingly falling into her siblings trap.

"We never mentioned a name.” Vivviene pointed out. Y/N groaned, running a hand through her soft hair. “Maybe he keeps pulling these pranks because he likes you." Vivviene shrugged before eating another spoonful of her food, not noticing how everybody turned their heads to stare wildly at her.

"Excuse me?" Y/N almost choked. "He does not like me. If he did, I don't think he'd be annoying me so much. But I guess boys are naturally annoying." Jacob pursed his lips but nodded in agreement. "Anyway, I have to help some kids with archery practice. I will see all of you later." Y/N grinned at her siblings, teasingly tapping Momona on the nose.

"Oh, great. Tell them to duck when you shoot." Jacob teased.

Y/N rolled her eyes but she still smiled. "Well, I'm off. Bye!" She stood up, gracefully walking away. The kids in the arena seemed to light up as she made her presence known. "Hey kids, great to see you all again! Y'all ready to learn some archery?" The young demigods cheered, excited for their next lesson with the Aphrodite cabin leader instead of the harsh Clarisse.

"So, you just pull the arrow back. As far as you can," Y/N uttered, showing the kids a demonstration. "And once you've got it as far as you can, you just shoot." She let the arrow go, watching as it spiraled through the air and hit bullseye. With that sort of aim, she may as well be an Apollo kid.

The kids clapped while she outstretched her arms, enjoying the applause. "Thank you!" She playfully bowed. "Okay, bows out, arrows ready, and shoot your shot! Quite literally. Aim for the targets over there, not at each other."

The children excitedly grabbed a bow and arrow, trying their best to impress to Y/N. Even if they missed completely, she still clapped and gave them an encouraging pat on the back.

"Great training session guys! I'll see y'all tomorrow!" Y/N waved goodbye to the small group. She was cheerful until she spotted Connor in the distance, conversing with Travis and holding yet another can of paint. She clenched her jaw.

"Connor Stoll, don't you dare use that paint for anything relating to my cabin!" She stormed towards him, sternly pointing at him.

"We weren't planning to but now that you say it, we might." Connor cheekily grinned while Y/N glared at him.

"Stoll, you know I adore everybody in this world... but you are an exception. I loathe you." She poked his chest, "Now, please get rid of the paint in that can."

Connor shrugged. "Okay." He, without a second thought, poured it all over Y/N. For the second time today. She gasped, glowering at Connor.

"You are dead." She said through clenched teeth. "Dead, you nitwit!" She threw a lump of paint at him, hitting him directly in the face. “Honestly.” She scoffed, shaking the paint off. “My skin is going to break out soon and you’ll be to blame!”

She slapped a paint-covered hand on his shoulder before walking off, muttering to herself as she glared at any camper who dared to laugh at her.

“Well, that went smoothly.” Travis said, taking a peek at Connor. “Maybe covering a girl in paint isn’t the best way to woo her.”

“Luke told me it was.”

Travis clicked his tongue, resting a heavy hand on his brother’s back. “… He was messing with you.”

Connor wasn’t a complicated boy. He loved playing pranks but lately Y/N’s reactions had been getting less rewarding. She looked at him like he was the bane of her existence, which he probably was. But how else was he supposed to get her attention?

Without the constant tricks, Y/N would have only ever seen him as another Hermes boy, not worth remembering because her eyes were always on another.

Luke, with his brown-curled hair and a faint scar that ran down his pretty face yet it only elevated his beauty. Connor was pretty sure whatever chemistry and romance between them was done but Luke still snuck glances at Y/N from time to time.

If he was being honest, Connor was a little jealous of his brother. What was his secret to getting Y/N to notice him? Sure, Luke was good-looking but Connor wasn’t lacking in that department either.

"You'll think of something to grab her attention." Travis reassured his brother, nudging him in the ribs, "My advice... plan a picnic. Who knows, it might get you somewhere." The elder Stoll brother tilted his head back, letting out an amused laugh, as he walked away.

Connor clicked his tongue, thinking for a moment. His eyes lit up with mischief as an idea popped into his head. He couldn't guarantee that it was a good one but it's Connor Stoll we're talking about. Y/N woke up with a surprised look on her face. Paint wasn't splattering around her cabin and everybody was sleeping peacefully, not awoken by shrill screams. Y/N furrowed her eyebrows as she sat up, rubbing her eyes. It seemed Connor had finally decided to leave her alone.

She stood up, shivering slightly when her bare feet hit the cold tiles below. She sleepily staggered over to her vanity mirror, peering into it to check her skin as she did everyday. Her appearance was spot on, as usual, except for one thing that made Y/N lose her mind.

Her hair... was pink. It wasn't an ugly type of neon pink but gone were her H/C locks. Y/N tried to hold back a sharp screech but the panic was beginning to set in.

Her half-siblings woke up in alarm.

"My hair..." Y/N seethed to them, barely able to contain her fury, "That little..." She couldn't even find an appropriate insult as her body trembled in anger.

"I'm sure we can wash it out." Silena rushed to Y/N's aid. "It's still early. I'll draw you a bath and we can scrub it out."

Silena was wrong. Two bottles of shampoo later, the color was still vivid.

"I can't go out like this." Y/N said, tugging at the ends of her hair. "They'll laugh at me... and mother, oh gods... she's going to hate me for changing my hair."

"It’s not your fault." Silena comforted her. “I’ll talk to Connor. I’ll make him tell me how to get rid of it. Then we can fix it. Okay?”

Y/N slowly nodded. “This is fine.” She muttered to herself when Silena was long gone. She applied a thin layer of gloss to her lips, soothing herself. “Mother won’t hate you because it was all his doing…” She took a deep breath, closing her eyes. When she looked at her reflection for a second time, she felt her anger flare up again.

As an Aphrodite kid, her appearance was everything. It was her identity and more. "What about personality?" Other campers would ask her and she'd simply laugh. What about beauty? The first thing people will see is how you carry yourself, how you walk, how you look. Personality had nothing to do with first impressions.

Y/N was a beauty among the Aphrodite girls, standing out more than she should. She had always been her mother's favorite. Without her carefully styled H/C hair, who was she? Her hair was an important detail to her and she didn't know what to do now. Would people still love her as they did before? Without her outstanding looks, she was nothing.

Y/N slipped out of her cabin via the window. Everybody was at breakfast so it wasn't hard to avoid people from seeing her hair. Y/N was supposed to be teaching archery again today but she'd rather battle a hellhound than show up with pink hair.

She wandered around the forest, eventually finding herself in front of a small river. A few nymphs sat near the water, giggling together. They spotted Y/N and all gasped in unison, scrambling away except for one who was brave enough to stay.

"I like your hair." She shyly said, coyly kicking her leg into the water. She charmingly smiled before hurrying off after her friends, who laughed at timid behavior.

Y/N fell to her knees in front of the river, staring mindlessly at the cool liquid. She wondered what it found feel like to dunk her head beneath the water, an action she saw the nymphs do quite often.

She didn't know how much time had passed. Maybe it was minutes or hours but Y/N found herself sprawled on a warm rock, basking in the sun. She heard footsteps approach her and she hoped it was Silena. It wasn't. It was Connor instead.

"Oh." Y/N deadpanned, displeased to see him. "It's you." She deeply scowled, turning away.

"You, uh, weren't at breakfast." Connor kicked a nearby rock as he cleared his throat, "And the archery kids were wondering where you were too. Luke had to take over and he may be the best swordsman but he's far from the best archer. He kept missing the target."

Y/N let out a small huff of amusement. "What are you doing here, Connor?" That was the first time she had called him by his first name. She often referred to him as Stoll.

"I wanted to check up on you. Are you... okay?"

"No, Connor, I am not okay!" Y/N suddenly snapped, "Why can't you ever leave me alone? Did I do something to hurt you? I could deal fine with the paint and water buckets but my hair? You dyed my hair pink! My mother loved my H/C hair and now you've ruined it!"

"It won't last forever." Connor retorted, taking a step towards Y/N.

"That doesn't matter!” She screamed, standing up. “My looks are important to me, Connor! I can't pull off pink hair, it doesn't match my skin undertone! I need to be perfect otherwise my mother won’t love me!”

"You can pull anything off, Y/N. You're pretty."

Y/N's eyes momentarily softened as she gazed at him, her cheeks flushing a light hue of pink. "You think I'm pretty? Even... even with messy pink hair, smudged mascara, and fading eyeliner?"

"I think you're always pretty." He answered, “Even when you do those heatless curls that make you look silly. And I think you’re the prettiest when you aren’t trying.”

“Don’t think your compliments will get you off the hook.” Y/N warned, glaring at him.

“Will a star-gazing date at seven get me off the hook?” Connor asked, mischievously grinning.

In turn, Y/N narrowed her eyes. “Maybe.” She uttered before turning around and walking back to camp, concealing her pink hair once more.

PJO TAG LIST : @lostinhisworld @julielightwood @outerbanks-stuff @jennapancake @csifandom @evrybodydies1 @kkrenae @s0ulsniper @annispamz @justanotherkpopstanlol @soraya-09 @simpforeveyone @papichulo120627 @corpsebridenightamare @lilacspider @prettylilsimp @urmomsbananabread @ur-lacol-dsylexic @hottiewifeyyyy @kamiliora @be-bap @finnickodaddy @th0tblckgrl @shoyofroyoyoyo @uniquely-her @imafrkinsimp @syraxesrevenge @ahh-chickens @dracoslovergirl @midnightstar-90 @8812-342 @liv1104 @krkiiz @arialikestea @ch16rles @lizziesliz @maryclx01 @lukecastellandefender @yuminako @coryoskywalker @julielightwood @crybabysbakery @jsbabyyy @liviessun @p3pperm1nttea @angie-esc @purplerose291 @prettylilsimp @10ava01 @froggiesstalks @happy-jj @czennieszn @gisellesprettylies @loveyava @csifandom @luvvfromme @mashiromochi @kamiliora @yorksyree @mqg125 @jamesmackreideswife @niktwazny303 @2hiigh2cry @user021099 @living-in-my-imagination88 @xx-all-purpose-nerd-xx @randomgurl2326 @niktwazny303 @connorstollfanpage

[fryingpan1234567]

some CHB headcanons

every cabin has LEDs around the inside, but there’s a constant battle over what color they are

Percy has his rippling back and forth from teal to blue and it looks like light dancing through water all over his walls and floor

the Apollo cabin can usually settle for orange and yellow as a common ground

the Aphrodite kids have a different color for each time of day and sleep with pink on the lowest brightness setting

the Hermes cabin has like ten different strips and they’re all constantly shifting

Demeter cabin’s shifts with the seasons

ANYWAYS MOVING AWAY FROM THE LEDS

they have movie nights, which I will talk about in a different post

before everybody goes back to school, the Aphrodite and Hecate cabins have a massive salon at the end of the summer with new haircuts and magic hair dye and outfit recommendations and fake but enchanted sturdy nails and a whole bunch of other stuff and basically it’s a week straight of spilling hot tea between everyone in camp

if someone asks where a camper got their hair done when they get back to school they just go “oh, um… summer camp.” and their friends will snort and be like bro isn’t summer camp the opposite of a makeover?? but they get no argument, just a shrug and a half smile

when I tell you pride month over there is a fucking riot

because Mr. D is in on it, right?? because he’s the god of gender?? and Chiron is aroace and has been raising dumbass gay heroes for literal centuries?? PLUS the sheer fucking amount of queer peeps up in there?? dude yeah

cabins competing for who shows the most pride

Demeter’s roof is covered in rainbow flowers

Hecate’s is enchanted to emit actual light in whatever flag colors of whoever uses the front door, even when they’re straight (it’s just a rainbow)

Percy collects a bunch of shed scales from the hippocampi at the bottom of the lake and then puts them all over his cabin

I could make a whole post about CHB pride but

every single Apollo kid is also a theater kid fight me

Rachel Elizabeth Dare painted a skateboard for Percy’s birthday and he brings it everywhere now, it even sits in his backpack at school

Leo, Annabeth, Percy, and Piper fucking love horror movies. Frank, Hazel, and Jason fucking hate them. They watch through their fingers, if at all

Piper loves the band Surfaces with all her heart, but she also is a die hard Green Day and P!ATD fan

Jake Mason is covered in burn scars up to his neck, just like Deadpool, just not bald lol

Hephaestus and Apollo kids faintly radiate warmth (like more so than a normal person)

the Stolls sometimes stay at camp year-round because their mom is off on international missions that are too high-risk for them to help with

the seven are AVID Smash Bros players

really everyone but

not as many people go to the Athena campers for help with homework as you might think, but whenever anyone does, they’re happy to help

the sun chariot blasts music at a frequency only the Apollo kids can hear, so their life kind of has a shitty soundtrack that consists of a mix of Broadway, Queen, modern stuff, and random bits of Beethoven every now and then

the Romans swear on few occasions

the Greeks know when to swear and when to be polite

the Valhalla peeps swear unbridled and all the time

the Egyptians never swear (in English)

for the longest time, Will Solace thinks the only gift from his dad is his healing prowess— which is obviously great, but he expresses being upset over the fact that he’s not very good at archery

well, considering this is the dumbass who didn’t bring a weapon to actual fucking Tartarus, Nico drags him to the weapon shack thing immediately afterwards and made him pick something out

he's immediately drawn to the Celestial Bronze shotgun.

Nico’s just like “what in the redneck shit did you just pick up” and Will jokingly aims it at his chest and grins and says “you know I’m from Texas, right?”

that’s how they find out Will is one of the damn best marksmen in Greek demigod history

some of the Disney nerds in the Apollo cabin sing What Once Was Mine to the little ones who need bandaids for knee scrapes and give them lollipops afterwards

Percy Jackson absolutely used to make poverty and struggle meal jokes all the time, but he got weird and concerned looks for it at CHB, so he kind of just stopped. But one day, aboard the Argo II, the PERFECT opportunity came up and he just HAD TO and as per usual— everyone else looked at him like he’s crazy— but Leo laughed so hard chocolate milk came out of his nose and that’s the story of how the two of them became Best Friends

[hollisxwrites]

Hi! I absolutely love your writing, I was wondering if you could write a luke castellan x reader. Where she’s been at camp for a while now and haven’t been claimed. But most people at camp think she’s Hermes daughter which Luke hates because he has a crush on her. But she’s known the entire time, just wanted to stay in that cabin with Luke and everyone else.

"you've got to hide your love away"

not my gif or my song! all credits to the original creators.

luke castellan x fem! reader (lukes POV)

word count: 1.8k

warnings: some sexual innuendos (nothing explicit though), some crude language, kissing, another song fic! i'm sorry! premise of the first little section is luke denying feeling for the reader because the people at camp think they could be half siblings, but it's nothing weird so dw!

summary: the reader is incredibly close with the kids in the hermes cabin, so close, that she lies and says she has not been claimed by her godly parents yet in order to stay with her friends for as long as possible. eventually, she admits it to her closest friend, luke, and he is relived, as he is in love with the reader.

authors note: guys! i have reached 500 (!!!!!) notes on two works so far, and that has blown me away! thank you for all the request, i'm working on getting through all of them as we speak, and i am so excited to put out what i have been working on to you guys! this is a shorter fic and just kind of cute, so i hope you enjoy! keep sending request, i'm loving reading all of your thoughts about percy and luke! i am so thankful for this community. love you all!

My friends and I, Connor, Travis, Chris, Clarisse, Alice, and {reader} sat around a dwindling campfire on an oddly cold night in September.  A gentle wind blew, rustling the leaves around us, and sending the heavy smoke of the fire into the faces of Connor and Travis, making everyone sitting under the stars laugh at their dramatic performance of a coughing fits.  Everyone, that is, except for {reader}.  She always had a soft spot for people who seemed to feel unwell, even if it was for something as small as the brothers inhaling a little bit of smoke as a joke.  

{Reader} was unlike anyone else I had ever met, sympathetic, gentle, and kind.  Every time I saw her, I felt like my world was a little brighter.  Chris said I loved her, Connor said it was just because she is my “sister” through the camp, but I couldn’t pinpoint exactly what the feeling was.  She had not been claimed by her godly parent, or so she says. Everyone believes that her dad is Hermes, since he is typically a deadbeat dad, and people say he is too lazy to claim her.  I guess their thoughts made sense; she had lived in our cabin for two years, so Hermes really had no reason to claim her at that point.  It shattered my heart just a little bit, as {reader} was so beautiful, a type of beauty that is unique unto her, something I feared I would never get to experience again.   I thought I would not be able to fully love her if she was my sibling.  So, I pushed back any feelings I could have for her deep down in my heart.  No one knew about them, and I hoped they never did, especially if she was my sister. I didn’t want to be seen as some kinky weirdo. 

The Stoll's finally stopped their theatrics, and I was able to look at {reader} for what felt like the first time due to the long day we’ve had.  Everything from counselor duties to training to hanging out with friends, I hadn’t gotten to spend a lot of time with her the days prior.  I watched her every move, and every moment she enchanted me.  Holding her guitar that I had gotten her from an Apollo kid for her birthday last year, she was picking out random chords, humming along to a song that I didn’t recognize.  Conversation fell silent amongst our group as {reader} started to play the chords she had been fiddling with in more confidence.  She sang along to the expertly played chords in a clean, clear voice that mesmerized me every time I heard her sing. When she reached the chorus of the song, she looked me in the eye while she sang, causing my stomach to erupt in fireworks.  Her eyes shone in the darkness, made even more beautiful by the fire reflecting off them.  

Gather 'round all you clowns,  

Let me hear you say 

Hey, you’ve got to hide your love away! 

When she completed her song, the Stoll's clapped, and then repeated her chorus loudly, skipping around the perimeter of the campfire, shouting like drunken sailors.  Typically, I would’ve joined in their antics, but in that moment, I couldn’t even speak.  {Reader} was so beautiful.  Maybe Chris was right, maybe I did love her.  She sat her guitar down beside her, and leaned up against the logs that we used as makeshift chairs. She threw her head back laughing at a joke Clarisse made, and her laughter was almost as beautiful as the song she had sung.  I could have sworn at that moment that my heart was going to burst out of my chest.  Something about the energy surrounding her made me admire her.  I couldn’t take my eyes off her.  

Eventually, when the moon was completely risen in the sky, and the Harpies were about to come out, my group retreated to our respective cabins.  After showering and changing, I laid in my bed, staring up at the ceiling that was plastered with plastic stars, there to comfort younger campers.  I fiddled with the bracelet on my wrist that {reader} made for our friend group and exhaled deeply.  I had no idea what I was going to do.  That day had solidified for me that I was in love with {reader}.  Her aura was enchanting, enticing me every time she spoke.  I stared into the plastic stars for what felt like an eternity, when all the sudden, someone distracted me from my thoughts (thank the gods). 

“Luke?”  {Reader}’s sweet voice whispered.  “Are you still awake?”  I saw her figure standing next to my bed.  She was wearing a sweatshirt from her hometown and flannel pants that made her look warm and inviting.  Her hair was slightly out of place, and she looked frightened.   

“Of course I am, you know me.  Never asleep.”  I said with a sigh, sitting myself up on my elbows so I could see her better.  “Whatcha’ need?” 

She turned her head away from me, as if she was embarrassed by what she had to say.  “Nightmares.  Again.  I can’t go back to sleep, I tried.” 

I frowned, feeling sympathetic for the girl in front of me.  “I’m so sorry.  I know that sucks.  What can I do to help you?”  

“Could I stay with you?”  she asked, her voice barely above a whisper. 

“What do you mean?”  I asked quizzically, my heart racing, thoughts jumbling together at the mere idea of her staying with me.   

She rolled her eyes and shoved me over.  “I just need to be around someone right now, and you’re my best friend, so...”   

I moved over so she would have room beside me, and automatically, I could see her body relax.  I pulled my duvet over her, making sure she was warm, and shuffled over a little more to respect her space.  “Do you want to talk about it?” 

She shook her head.  “Not really.  I do have something that I want to tell you, though.”   

I laid down so I was facing her.  “You can tell me anything, you know that.” 

 “Of course I can, that’s why I’m scared to tell you this.  I don’t want you to hate me.”  I could see the agitation on her face, so I reached out to hold her hand, hoping to ground her.  Electricity sparked where our skin met, but at that moment, I tried to ignore it.  I wondered if she felt it, too. 

“I could never hate you.  I don’t care what you tell me.  You could tell me you hated sword fighting and I would still forgive you.”  I said, giving her my best sympathetic smile. 

She giggled at this, moving to play with the silver ring on my finger.  “I know.”  She swallowed hard.  “Luke, I have been claimed by my dad, I just didn’t want to tell anyone because I didn’t want to leave the cabin.  I didn’t want to leave you.” 

Resisting the urge to let my jaw drop, I looked at her, trying to find any sense of sarcasm in her gaze.  “Are you serious?  Who claimed you?  When?  Why me?” 

“Apollo is my dad."  She said shortly.  “A year ago, the first time I played the guitar you got me. He claimed me then. Also, why you? Look at yourself.  You’re the most genuine person who I have ever known.  I love you.  So much.”  

This time, my jaw did gape open just a little bit.  She loved me.  Oh, my gods, she fucking loved me.  “I love you too, but why are you telling me this now?”  I asked, curious as to why she was letting me in on this information at two or three in the morning.  

“That’s what my nightmare was about.  The lie had gotten to me, and you started to believe I was your sister, which is a horrible thought, and you dated someone, some Aphrodite girl who said I was too ugly to be loved by someone like you.  I didn’t want that to become my reality, so here I am.”  She said, her gaze traveling down to where our hands were still connected. 

My mind ran circles around her words.  She loved me.  She wanted me.  I guessed I looked lost, maybe even unhappy, because when I started to speak, she cut me off.  “So, what you’re saying is that...” 

“If you don’t like me that’s okay!  Seriously.  I know that this is random and ridiculous.  It’s just a stupid dream.”  She said, trying to pull her hand away from mine.   

“It’s not stupid, {reader}.  I love you, too.  I wanted you to not be a Herme’s kid with everything in my heart.”  I paused, eyes moving to her lips.  “Can I...”  At this, she softly pressed our lips together into the sweetest kiss I had ever experienced.  It was so soft, and some of her honey lip balm transferred onto mine.  She pressed a kiss to my cheek, my scar, my jaw, and my neck, before her eyes drifted closed.  “I love you, Luke, but I want to sleep.”   

“I love you, too, so I will let you sleep.” I responded, pulling her into my arms. I held her close for the rest of the night, basking in her scent and her warmth.  I was coaxed to sleep by her rhythmic heartbeat that I could feel against my chest. 

.... 

“WHAT THE HELL!”  Travis shouted.  It was probably nine in the morning, due to the emptiness and light coming into the cabin. 

I jolted awake, suddenly aware of another person in my arms.  {Reader}.  She had her arms thrown across my chest, head resting in the crook of my neck.  I rubbed my eyes with my free hand, trying to take in what was happening around me, trying to comprehend that the night prior wasn’t a dream. 

Travis and Connor stood near my bedside with stunned looks on my face.  Connor was the first to speak up after Travis’s initial reaction.  “Did you guys' fuck?”    

My face turned beat red. “No, dumbass!  Go away, she’s still asleep.  She just had nightmares last night and didn’t want to be alone.”  

“Sureeeeeeee.”  Travis drew out, smirking at me.  “That doesn’t look like you guys are just friends, Lukie.” 

I rolled my eyes and pulled {reader} closer, trying to ward off the Stoll's, trying to protect her from waking up at their loud words.  “Go away, please!” 

The brothers chuckled and walked out of the room, nudging one another.  I sighed and turned back to {reader}.  She didn’t stir in my arms, surprisingly, after all the commotion.  Holding her there made everything in my life make sense, and at this moment, I believed I had finally found my lifeline, my home. I pressed a kiss into her hair and contented myself with memorizing every freckle on her face.  

[fatedpluto]

"Everyone Adores You, At Least I Do,"

Octavian x Popular!Greek!Reader

warnings: none summary: nobody understands why reader likes Octavian. Like at all. Annabeth sets you guys up for the sake of saving the world. pov: 2nd person

-

You have no trouble making friends. And this goes for everyone. with the rest of camp, you found making friends to be a breeze. Percy? You guys made fast friends when he arrived at camp, same with Annabeth. You'd managed to befriend Clarisse, someone you can rely on now. The Stoll brothers... Leo, Piper, Jason... you knew everybody. Then, you landed at Camp Jupiter with the rest of your camp, and you barely broke a sweat. Reyna? Sure, she didn't trust you at first, but you wormed your way into her heart. Frank and Hazel? They loved you too.

Then, there was Octavian. Octavian tried so hard to hate you, really, he did, but you made it fucking impossible. You were a Greek, clearly scheming and plotting against him, but your scent, your smile, the way you spoke.. it was all perfection. Honestly. Damn you. The way you spoke to him, too, made him feel ridiculously giddy. Like sure, your voice was nice and you were well-spoken, but the way you called him 'darling', 'sweetheart', not even romantically, just in general, made him blush.

Sure, you called everyone that, but it felt so nice when it was towards him, he couldn't help but want to get your attention.

"[Y/N]!" He'd run up to you, and everyone would groan. You shot them a glare. You just wanted them to be nice! Octavian was your friend too, even if everyone else disliked him.

"You wouldn't believe what I saw! It was a prophecy, I'm sure of it, clear as day! Something or other about spilled red and feasting! I think it's the laestrygonians, personally, and if there's a monster threat-" He'd ramble, and you'd listen, even though everyone else around you seemed to be snoozing. You didn't have to, really, but you'd listen. "-anyways, what do you think it could be about? I'm all ears," he grinned, your friends looking at him, unimpressed.

They could see what he was doing- hogging the spotlight you gave, the way you made anyone you were speaking to feel important. It fed Octavian's ego. They shouldn't blame him, honestly, they understood, but they just don't get why you let him. Why you were even his friend? They didn't understand it, and they didn't pretend to. And then, when you confided in people about your budding feelings for him, they definitely didn't get it.

"Of all people?" Percy asked one day, leaning against a column as you tied your shoelace. You stopped to look up at him, cheeks rosy, his gaze returning with confusion. Sighing, you returned to tying your shoes.

"I can't explain it. He's charming, and he makes me feel like everything. Like I'm some perfect masterpiece, instead of just another clumsy demi-god."

This just seemed to confuse Percy more, who wasn't able to fathom the idea of Octavian making anyone but himself feel good about themselves.

"And what happens when we have to go home? When we hopefully don't die on Hera's crazy quest and return to New York?"

"I don't know. I haven't thought that far ahead."

That was a lie. You felt grateful Annabeth wasn't here, because she would've been able to pick up on it in a heartbeat. Rising to your feet, you leaned on the column across from Percy, arms crossed, feeling the wind on your arms. You'd been thinking about that constantly, painfully, obsessively. You knew you wanted to go to New Rome University if this whole 'uniting the camps' thing worked out, not just for Octavian, but because you wanted to have a community that got you. You'd never really had that before. But before New Rome? It's not exactly like you could just call him, demi-gods didn't use phones. And the Romans didn't use Iris messages, either.

"Could mail him."

"Mail him?"

"Could be romantic."

Percy's lips pursed, thinning into a line, and your gaze began to linger on his shoes. Anywhere but his eyes.

"You're right, it's a stupid idea. I won't ask him out."

The wind had stopped now, and for the moment your eyes flickered back up to Percy's, you could've sworn you saw regret in his eyes as you accepted a one-sided, unfruitful pining. Percy thought, seeing that look in your eyes, that maybe it was worth it. Annabeth would've gotten a better read, but maybe if you asked him out, you could have something like Percy and Annabeth did.

So, you let yourself pine, not acting on your feelings. The few people you had told were shocked you hadn't gotten over him, that you'd spend days pining for Octavian of all people. Like it was so shocking that you could be that gone for someone the entire camp hated. Respected? Yes. Liked? No. So, it was especially annoying when Annabeth had decided to come up to you.

"You have to get over Octavian." She spoke flatly, poking you in the chest. A look of annoyance crossed your face, lip curling as you wondered where she got the nerve to demand such a thing. "It's going to jeopardise the quest. He's not worth it."

You were starting to get sick of everyone's opinions. Everyone loved you, everyone hated him, so what? You liked him enough. You liked the way he followed the rules, upheld them, valued tradition so much. You liked the way he didn't use animal sacrifices, that he used emotional sacrifices instead. You liked the way that even though their connection was faint, he still honoured his ancestor, Apollo. Sure, you were a demi-god with a much stronger relation to your demi-god parent, but even when his wasn't that strong, he made time to try to bring honour to him. You liked the way he'd run up to you and ramble, or the way he'd try and make your life that much better.

"He is worth it," You snarled back, trying to keep your cool. You couldn't yell at Annabeth, that would actually jeapardise the mission.

"No, he's really not."

Why was it surprising you actually liked him? Why was it such a shock? Why wasn't he worth the months of separation that would come after the world was saved? Why was it surprising that you adored him? Why was it surprising Octavian might have the capacity to adore him back? You couldn't help yourself. You had to bite.

"Why do you get to make that call, Annabeth? You brought us to a foreign camp that is clearly uneasy with our arrival when we could've just took Percy and left. When I find someone who actually makes me feel comfortable here, which is, let me remind you, 2 and a half thousand miles from my family, and I have to come to terms with the fact I might never see them again, my emotions aren't justified? Don't you remember how upset you were when you thought you'd lost Percy?"

And Annabeth knew you'd take the bait.

"Octavian is so wonderful, he's literally one of the only people who has ever successfully made me feel good about myself. I love his rambling and his weird divination methods and the way he wants everything to follow the rules and be perfect! Why is the fact that losing him would be a bad thing so.. so foreign?"

You had done exactly what Annabeth had wanted. You'd, in very clear terms, stated that you not only liked Octavian, but why you liked him, what you liked about him.

"You can take the hat off now."

And then, Octavian was next to her, silently handing Annabeth's cap back to her. It had been a trick, right from the beginning. Percy had said something to Annabeth, and clearly she'd been scheming. You began to cool down, as if someone had dumped a bucket of cool water over you.

"I wanted the camps to unify. Octavian is our least willing camper, and you'd been disengaged since Seaweed Brain had talked you out of asking him out. So," Annabeth stepped back, "I had to give you both a reason to participate, didn't I?" She grinned and walked away, leaving you and Octavian staring at each other in awe.

Octavian was ecstatic. You! You liked him! You were like.. the only person who actually cared about him, and oh, you liked him.

"You mean that?" He asked with a shimmering hope in his eyes. An insane sort of grin spread onto his face as his ego inflated ridiculously. HAH! [y/n] liked him!

"Of course I do," You mumbled softly, still sort of coming down from that angry high Annabeth had given you. She knew what to say to get you talking, damn her. You'd have to thank her later.

"Oh." He spoke softly, fixing his toga and his hair. "Well, if you would care to join me, perhaps tonight? We could go to a restaurant, perhaps? Save your drachmas, I'll pay," He spoke regally, proudly, as if he'd just accomplished something great.

You did like the sound of him offering to pay.

"I can tell Reyna you won't be at dinner. We won't be at dinner. Because we'll be at dinner. Together." He spoke gleefully through his pride. "Trust me, you'll love it. Only the finest for you,"

Blushing, you thought, 'maybe saving the world can wait if the rest of the summer is like this.' His eyes lingered on your face, swelling with pride as he noticed how he made you blush. He did that.

"I'll be there,"

-

1,581 words.

[awriterinthenight]

"You Know Where to Find Me"-Luke Castellan

words: 1810

warnings: fluff in the beginning, A LOT of angst at the end, lowkey I imagined the 2nd part in the rain but I didn't write it in the rain sadly lol

a/n I'm trying to write more so hopefully this is good, there will be a part two, and also I didn't mention it but reader is most likely a Hades kid (and will be in part 2) just for plot purposes, also I plan to make one for a lot of character I write for cause I love this idea so much hehe

summary: Luke's been distant since Percy came back, but he asks you to met him in the woods, and something you never thought would happen comes true

The word inseparable didn't do enough justice when it came to your relationship. You and Luke wouldn't leave each other's side no matter what. If either of you had a quest the other always went with. When someone looked for Luke at camp it was no surprise when you were there too. Every activity led by one of you was co-led by the other. Nothing could tear the two of you apart, no matter how hard they tried.

Luke being the popular counselor he was, many girls constantly flirted with him, before and during your relationship. Occasionally the ambitious Aphrodite girl would try her best efforts to break the two of you up. One girl even went as far as trying to spread rumors you were cheating on him, but were quickly shut down when you confronted her. It was safe to say Luke didn't want anyone else, only you.

Luke loved you and everything about you. He'd give up the world for you, would fight any monster just for you. But somehow something did seem more important to him.

"How are you my darling?," a familiar voice said, as an arm wrapped around your shoulders. Luke was nothing if not very affectionate, and loved to show you were his.

You couldn't help but smile at his affections, "I'm good," you murmured, still a bit drowsy from waking up.

He gave a small noise of acknowledgement, "Don't forget we have sword fighting lessons today," he teased, since he started to remind you what activities you had to lead.

You rolled your eyes, "I forget one time that I was supposed to lead an activity and you never forget."

"Oh, it was way more than one time," he said, starting to count on his fingers, "You missed swimming from oversleeping, stable duties last week, arts and crafts multiple times-"

"That was on purpose," you remarked, "I hate glitter and the Apollo and Aphrodite kids always use it."

"Still not an excuse, especially since I had to take over and had glitter in my hair for weeks. Now let's see you also skipped out on-" Luke voiced, but was once again cut off by you.

"Alright just tell me you don't love me," you joked, putting your hands up.

Luke pulled you closer, placing a small kiss on the top of your head, "Never," he whispered to you. A chorus of shouts and disgusted noises came from the Hermes table where Luke's siblings sat.

"Get a room.

"Ewwww."

And the ever classic, "Gross," followed by a strawberry being thrown at you. The Stolls were something else in your opinion.

"You're just jealous," Luke defended, sitting down at his table while you followed after. Technically you were supposed to sit at your parent's table, but after so long Chiron and Mr. D stopped caring, and if your parents actually cared so much, then maybe they should be a better parent.

Chris shook his head, "I don't know what's worse, the pining, or the actual relationship," which was followed by a chorus of, "the pining," since everyone collectively agreed they'd rather willing let the Ares kids test out a new weapon on them, then have to deal with Luke's pining again.

"Come on, I wasn't that bad," Luke defended once again, but even he knew he was down bad when it came to his pining over you.

"Not that bad," voiced Connor Stoll, in a rather high pitched voice.

Connor's statement was then followed by a very animated Travis, "You stared for weeks, which was only barely less creepy than finding out every book she read and everything she liked, just so you could talk to her about it."

"Remember when you made me give you $40 just so you could buy those stupid Star Wars comics just to impress her. You don't even like Star Wars," Chris mentioned, practically yelling at this point.

You turned your head around to face Luke so quickly you could've gotten whiplash, "Are they saying you never liked Star Wars?" you asked in astonishment.

Luke put up his hands in mock defense, "In my defense I did not care for it when I first met you, but now I love it I swear."

"Mhmm sure," you said, crossing your arms.

"I swear," he pleaded, "I'll watch all the films with you if you forgive me," he offered, even though he would watch anything you wanted, or do anything for you.

Satisfied you turned back to face him, "Okay," you said, planting a small kiss on his lips. Which consequently enacted another chorus of, "Eww," and, "Get a room."

"Why's everyone yelling this early in the morning?" a disgruntled voice questioned.

You jumped up at the voice, running over to him, "Percy," you shouted. He'd been resting so much from his quest that you hadn't seen him in awhile.

"Hey," was all he could manage, still not fully recovered yet.

You ruffled his hair, "I guess I'll see you around more now that you're back."

He nodded, "I guess so," he murmured before walking towards his table. Percy seemed a bit off, but then again he had just returned from a rather eventful quest.

Luke stood up from the table, grabbing your hand, "We should go before we're late," he said, referring to the lesson you were teaching in a few minutes.

"Alright," you said, waving bye to everyone, "See you later."

Luke had been off the past couple of days. He seemed quieter, even around you which was odd. He snuck out at night more often, leaving you in an empty bunk. He said he would wake up early and go on a walk to clear his head, so you didn't think anything of it. What was weird though was how he came back late at night sometimes, but he just said it was to make sure the camp was safe after the truth was revealed about Zeus' lightning bolt being stolen.

You and Luke hadn't been alone in awhile, but tonight broke that. Luke left you a note saying to meet up with him tonight in the forest a little after the fireworks started, since it was the 4th of July. Luke liked to surprise you on summer nights like this, but to you something felt odd. You did your best to brush it off though.

You dressed normal, but tried to put in some effort, and even wore a little more makeup. Now you were walking through the dark woods in hopes of finding Luke. He was most likely at the little clearing you always met up at, so you went there.

To no surprise he was standing there leaning against a tree. The only difference was that he seemed more sullen than usual and he had his sword with him.

"Luke?" you said, unsure of what was happening.

His head shot up, his eyes a bit glossy in the moonlight, "Hey."

"You said you wanted to see me here, what do you have planned?" you asked, since he usually had something planned for the night, but everything felt different for some reason.

Luke took in a deep breath before speaking, "I just, I need you to trust me. Do you trust me?"

Rightfully you were confused, but he still answered, "Of course, why wouldn't I."

He nodded, "Good," he reassured, "I want you to come with me," he said, not elaborating.

"Come with you? What do you mean? Where do you want to go?" you questioned, getting more and more nervous each second, "Luke what's wrong? What's happening."

Luke finally looked up at you, merely an inch apart from you, "I can't stand it anymore. The gods don't care about us anymore, our own parents could care less about us. We're overlooked and underappreciated, they don't care about us unless they need us. I'm tired of it. I want to make it right, I want justice for all of us demigods. The gods don't deserve to rule when they can't even be bothered to protect their own kids," he said, as the realization fell upon you heavily.

He was the one who betrayed camp. He stole the lightning bolt and blamed Percy. He was the one leaving to lead the revolution.

Even though you knew what was happening you didn't want to accept it, "No, no, please Luke," you pleaded silently, "Why you?"

Luke shook his head, "We deserve better. You deserve better," he argued, holding your face in his hands.

"But is betraying your friends, your family, really the way to go about this?" you said, taking a step back from him.

Something in Luke's expression changed, and he seemed to only look more sullen, "You're not coming with me are you?" he said, more of a statement than a question, as his eyes met the ground.

He wiped a tear rolling down his cheek, looking up at you again, "I could give you anything. We could live free together. I could keep you safe and you'd never have to deal with the gods again."

You shook your head, your eyes welling up with tears, "No, no you can't. No matter what, if I stay here or go with you, I'm still stuck in this war, but at least if I stay I have my friends with me. And my morals," you said, a few tears falling.

"Am I not important to you? Is what I believe not important to you?" he asked, his voice rising a bit, even though he didn't mean for it to.

"You are important to me, but for the first time I can't follow you," the words felt bitter in your mouth, but it was the truth, "I can't leave all my friends and family behind. I know what the gods do is wrong, but I can't follow after you, please understand."

Luke took a step closer, "Then please understand me. Please just follow me, come with me. I don't want to do this without you. Please-"

You cut him off, sticking your hand out to push him back, "You know me better than anyone, you should've known I wouldn't come with you, if you don't want to do this without me, then you shouldn't have done it at all. I can't come with you. I won't come with you," you said, tears overflowing in your eyes, "Goodbye, Luke."

Luke stood there watching as you walked away. You wanted to leave him like that, to have the last word, and not say anything else, but after all these years you couldn't leave him like that. Something in your heart made you take pity.

You turned around, Luke's head shot up, hopeful you changed your mind, but he knew you hadn't, "If you ever change your mind," you said, your voice wavering a bit, "You know where to find me."

Taglist

@almost-gabrielle @scarlett-8 @atashiboba @that1deerpersondownstairs @herondale-lightworm @purplerose291 @mitskiswift99 @crumby-child @rafslytherin @shanksvskidd @yerrmar @oceangirl15 @livia7137

[persevereforahappyending]

Maybe in Another Life |3|

Pairing: Clarisse La Rue x Hunter of Artemis!Reader

Summary: You are a Hunter of Artemis, but you start to question what you truly want when you meet Clarisse and get to know her.

Warnings: Slight Titans Curse Spoilers

Word Count: 2.5k

Main Masterlist | Series Masterlist

ch.1 | ch. 2 | ch. 3 | ch. 4 | ch. 5 | ch. 6 | ch. 7 | ch. 8 | ch. 9 | ch. 10 | ch. 11 | ch. 12 | ch. 13 | ch. 14 | ch. 15 | ch. 16 | ch. 17

You, Zoe, Percy, Thalia, Grover, Bianca, and the other head councilors were all seated around a table with Chiron and Dionysus. All of you were discussing the prophecy, what it meant, and more importantly who would go on the quest. Five people were meant to be going on the quest but since it was Zoe’s she got say in who should go on it. It was actually Percy who agreed that Zoe should be the one to decide and that the majority should be Hunters. Zoe would have preferred to have no campers, you agreed with her, but the prophecy indicated that it needed to include both Hunters and campers.

“Grover,” Zoe said, surprising the satyr. Zoe knew Grover would be helpful in tracking down where Artemis was.

“And Thalia,” Zoe said surprising the daughter of Zeus. Thalia hated Zoe but there was no way she’d turn down going on the quest when it meant she could save her friend.

“Phoebe,” Zoe said, flicking her eyes to you. You nodded, understanding Zoe’s thought processes. “She’s the best tracker we have.”

“And Bianca,” she finished.

You tensed up, your eyes snapping to Zoe. She didn’t pick you. You had nothing against Bianca, she was new and nice enough, but she had no experience, with a quest this dangerous you didn’t want someone inexperienced going with your sister. You clenched your jaw to keep yourself from speaking up. You knew your place; you questioned Zoe but never in front of a group like this. Zoe met your eyes with a glare, silently making sure you kept your mouth shut. At least she knew what your thoughts were, she wouldn’t be surprised when you confronted her after leaving the big house.

“Wait!” Percy didn’t keep his mouth shut. “What about me? I want to go too!”

“Oh,” Grover said, looking at his friend. “I’ll stay behind?” He looked at Chiron, you, and then Zoe.

“No.” Zoe smirked at the boy. “No boys allowed.” She flicked a glance at Grover, “He doesn’t count.” Grover frowned but didn’t say anything more.

You caught Clarisse’s mouth twitch up in a smile at Zoe’s words. The girl was the head councilor of the Ares cabin and had remained relatively silent for the most part, surprisingly. Ares kids were usually all about a fight and begging to go on quests but when they were talking about which campers would go on this quest she hadn’t volunteered. Clarisse agreed when the Stoll brothers said it sounded like two people were going to die based on the prophecy. A flicker of what you could only describe as surprise flashed across her face when Zoe chose Bianca to go on the quest. You would bet she had the same thoughts as you, bringing someone so new and untrained was crazy.

“But I need to be on this quest! I need to save Annabeth!” Percy tried to reason with Zoe. You knew it was no use, there was no way Zoe would budge on this, there was no way she’d ever let a boy come along on a quest.

“Not everyone wants you crashing their quest fish boy,” Clarisse snarked.

Percy flicked a glare at her but didn’t say anything, moving his attention right back to Zoe. You figured there was a story behind Clarisse’s words. The idea of Percy Jackson worming his way onto other’s quests didn’t surprise you. You didn’t think he desired attention and glory like a lot of demigods, if you were to guess his reasons were probably honorable, as if he felt he had to be the one to save the day, like it was his responsibility.

You stayed silent, dutifully at Zoe’s side as she and Percy continued to argue. It didn’t stop until Chiron stepped in, saying that it was Zoe’s decision. Not that Chiron could force her anyway, he had no say in what the Hunters did. As you, Zoe, and Bianca left the big house Thalia, Percy, and Grover stayed behind to continue talking with Chiron, while the other councilors dispersed back to their cabins as well.

Before the three of you left the big house though Zoe was approached by the Stoll brothers. You narrowed your eyes as they talked with Zoe. They said how Phoebe had been interested in a shirt at the camp gift shop and they wanted to give it to her as a gift. Zoe didn’t question it though, she just took the shirt with a roll of her eyes and pushed past them, shoving her way outside. You followed, looking back as the Stoll brothers silently giggled to themselves before running off when they caught your stare.

“Say goodbye to your brother,” Zoe said, coming to a stop not too far from the big house, looking back at Bianca. “Then make sure you’re packed; we leave at first light.” Bianca nodded and ran off in search of her brother. “Speak,” she said without turning to face you.

“Why am I not on this quest?” You asked calmly.

“Phoebe is the best tracker out of all of us. Even you know that,” Zoe said plainly.

“But what about Bianca?” You crossed your arms. You didn’t want it to sound childish, but that’s probably exactly how it looked, you weren’t chosen to go on a quest and now you were whining but that wasn’t the case, not really. “She’s new to this, not just being a Hunter.” You raised your arms gesturing around camp, “But all of this, to being a demigod. She’s barely had training.”

“She needs to learn eventually.”

“This quest is too important to be a training session.”

“Do you trust me?” You kept your mouth shut as you sucked in a breath. “Do you?” She asked again, it wasn’t like she didn’t know the answer.

“Without question.”

“And yet you question me,” she mumbled.

You gave her an unamused glare. The only one you trusted more than Zoe was Artemis and she knew that because it was the same for her. After Artemis, there was no one Zoe trusted more than you. The two of you had been together for so long, you knew each other better than you knew yourselves at times. However, unwavering trust didn’t mean not questioning things and just blindly following orders.

“You are needed here,” Zoe said.

“Bullshit,” you scoffed.

“Language,” Zoe snapped, glaring at you.

You couldn’t help but smile, shaking your head at Zoe, she was really stuck in the past at times. Since you were the oldest you went into town or interacted with mortals more than most. You were also better at adapting and not drawing attention to yourself. If a mission involved going somewhere public a group of pre-teen girls tended to draw attention, but being seventeen most people didn’t question your presence. Since you got to interact with the world a bit more you were able to keep with the times and not speak as if you were born a thousand years ago, even if you were. There was plenty you didn’t know about the human world, things you never cared to know, you didn’t need to know them, you just needed to be able to pass as a regular member of society occasionally.

“How can you say I’m needed here,” you got back to the subject at hand. “I’m needed with you. Our goddess is in danger, and I need to be by your side as we try and rescue her.”

“No.”

“You heard the prophecy,” you whispered, glancing around to make sure no one else was around. “You know what it means.”

“We don’t know anything yet,” she brushed you off, but you saw the way her back straightened just a bit.

You gave her an unconvinced look. Even if prophecies could be misleading and weren’t always literal, you knew you both had your suspicions. You had both been demigods for so long, with Artemis for so long, you weren’t naive enough to not make an educated guess at certain lines of the prophecy.

“I don’t have a good feeling about this,” you admitted. You stared into Zoe’s eyes, silently begging her to change her mind. “Please, let me come with you, let me do what I’m meant for and protect you.”

Zoe’s gaze softened. It was rare for Zoe to not be a hundred percent serious and stoic, but she was capable of showing emotion, other than annoyance, most didn’t get to see that though. “You’re needed here,” she repeated kindly. “Without Artemis and with me going on this quest our sisters need someone to lead them.”

You knew what Zoe was trying to say but that didn’t stop you from trying to convince her. “We’re at camp, they’d be perfectly safe until our return.”

“You can’t guarantee that.”

“Then let me make sure it happens,” you pleaded. “Let me go on this quest, if a leader is needed here then it should be you not me. You know you’re better at this than me.”

“We both know I have to lead this quest, it’s my quest.”

You dropped your head in defeat. You knew there was no convincing Zoe to let you come and there was definitely no convincing her to stay behind. You felt Zoe rest a hand on your shoulder as she stepped closer to you. “I will not fail,” she said softly. You raised your head just enough to look her in the eye. “I will rescue our goddess, I swear it.”

“I know,” you said, giving her a sad smile. “Promise you’ll come home as well.” You knew she couldn’t do that; no demigod could promise that when they went on a quest, hell they couldn’t promise that if they just went for a walk, a demigod’s life had a habit of being short and tragic, happy endings being a rarity. “The Hunters need you. I need you.” A part of you hated to admit that, you weren’t one to get overly emotional but the dread you were feeling over this quest made you say it. It was true, you needed Zoe, she kept you from going off course, she kept you in line, you couldn’t imagine a life without her.

Zoe sighed and removed her hand from your shoulder. She didn’t say anything, just offering you a sad smile in return. Then she turned and left you there, heading back to the cabin to inform the rest of the Hunters about the quest and what the plan was. You knew the others wouldn’t be thrilled about staying at camp even longer knowing Artemis was missing and now that Zoe was leaving but none of them would question her like you did, they would just silently accept their orders to stay and wait for your goddesses return.

“Trouble in paradise?” a snarky voice came.

A smile appeared on your lips as you instantly recognized the voice already. You turned to see the daughter of Ares herself standing behind you, her arms crossed.

“Aww, you waited around just for me?” you gave it right back. Clarisse scoffed, rolling her eyes. “Zoe knows what she’s doing, and I trust her decision.”

“Yeah, that’s why you were begging her to go on the quest.”

“I wasn’t begging.” You tilted your head at the implication of her words. “Were you eavesdropping?”

Clarisse clenched her jaw, glaring at you. “No,” she said through gritted teeth. “Was just curious why your leader wouldn’t want her second who happens to be her best fighter at her side.”

“So, you admit I’m the best fighter,” you smirked, gesturing arrogantly at yourself.

Clarisse rolled her eyes again. “Of the Hunters maybe but definitely not at camp.”

“Yeah?” you stepped cockily towards her. “And who would be the best fighter in camp, you?” she gave a shrug and nod, but you could see the arrogance in her eyes, she definitely believed she was the best fighter in camp. You couldn’t help but scoff at the claim. “Is that why I kicked your ass in capture the flag?”

“That is not want happened.”

“Funny, I seem to remember you on your back, your own spear in my hands, pointed at your throat.”

Clarisse stepped forward as if she were ready to brawl with you right there. You couldn’t get rid of your smile, staring right back, seeing the fire in her eyes. Clarisse might have been right; she might have been the best fighter at camp, but she was no match for your centuries of experience.

You and Clarisse continued to stare into each other’s eyes, your competitive spirits mixing, adding to the tension in the air along with something you couldn’t place. You weren’t sure what it was about the daughter of Ares that drew you in, that made you want to mess with her. You two finally broke your stare down when someone cleared their throat.

Both of you quickly blinked, realizing how close the two of you had gotten as you each quickly stepped back. You turned to see Silena standing there, her eyes darting back and forth from you and Clarisse.

“You promised to hangout tonight,” Silena said to Clarisse, finally interrupting the awkward silence when it became clear neither you nor Clarisse would. Clarisse rolled her eyes but unlike every other time there was no annoyance behind it.

Your smile faltered as you watched as Clarisse allowed Silena to grab her arm and began to drag her back to the Aphrodite cabin or wherever they were going to hang out. “I expect a rematch,” Clarisse turned back as she continued to follow Silena.

You weren’t sure why your smile quickly appeared at the daughter of Ares’s words. “Can’t wait,” you said back with a smirk.

You did really want to fight the girl again. Capture the flag was fun and you had fun playing with her, but it was just that to you, a game. You wanted to really spar with her and see what she was actually capable of. Clarisse definitely had skills and you wanted to see just how good she was and see how well she could actually keep up with you. You knew she still wouldn’t win but it certainly would be fun beating her again.

You sighed and made for the journey back to the cabin. Zoe and them were leaving early and you might not have been going but you would be there to see them off. Until then you needed to help Zoe pack, making sure she had everything she would need for the quest. You also needed to make sure to talk to Bianca, the girl was young and inexperienced, and you wanted to give her as much advice and encouragement as you could before she left, you knew she was going to need it. The closer you got to the cabin the more the uneasiness and dread for this quest filled you, this quest wasn’t going to have a happy ending, you knew that, you were just afraid of what that would look like.

[kioflerkira]

hi! could u write something with connor or leo plsss. where theyre being their goofy self but reader cant help but love them anyway :)))

“ I HATE YOU, I LOVE YOU ”

warnings: fluff, humor, banter pairings: c.stoll x reader summary: despite his endless pranks and mischief, you can’t help but love connor, and he absolutely knows it.

━━━━ ⋮ ୨୧ ⋮ ━━━━

CONNOR STOLL WAS, in a word, ridiculous.

if there was an opportunity for mischief, he took it. if there was an opening for a bad joke, he made it. if there was a chance to turn a completely normal moment into something out of a slapstick comedy routine, connor stoll would find a way.

and you, for some reason, were helplessly, hopelessly in love with him.

"I swear on the river styx, if you put that frog in my hair, I will end you, atoll," you warned, arms crossed as you eyed him warily.

connor, ever the picture of innocence (except he wasn’t, not even remotely), held up the tiny amphibian with a grin. "c'mon, pretty, he just wants to be friends. look at him. he's lonely and sad."

"I will throw you into the lake."

"joke's on you, I can swim."

you smacked his arm as he cackled, finally letting the poor frog hop out of his hands and into the grass. it wasn’t the first time connor had tried something like this, and it definitely wouldn’t be the last.

just last week, he had somehow convinced one of the aphrodite kids to use enchanted lip gloss on a group of ares campers, making them spontaneously burst into song. another time, he’d swapped out all of the cabin’s drachmas with chocolate coins, much to chiron’s exasperation.

you really should have been annoyed by all of it.

but instead, you found yourself smiling like an idiot.

“you love me,” connor said smugly, reading your expression like an open book.

you groaned, shoving him lightly. “do not."

"do too. it’s okay. understandable, really. I am charming."

"you're insufferable."

"yet here you are, spending time with me instead of doing literally anything else." his grin widened. "almost like you actually enjoy my company, which, I can’t blame you."

you rolled your eyes but didn’t argue, which only made his smirk grow. he nudged you playfully, and despite yourself, you leaned into his touch. that was the thing about connor—he was all mischief and trouble, but beneath the jokes and pranks, he had a way of making you feel safe.

happy, even.

maybe that’s why, even after he had hidden plastic spiders in your bed, swapped your shampoo for green hair dye (which, thankfully, will solace had helped you with), and repeatedly stolen a few of your items, you still couldn’t help but love him.

as much as it was annoying, you didn’t really mind.

connor leaned closer, lowering his voice as he wiggled his eyebrows. "admit it, you adore me."

you looked at him, at his boyish grin, his bright, mischievous eyes, and the way his face lit up like he had just pulled off the best prank of his life.

you sighed dramatically. ".. fine. maybe, just a little."

he gasped. ".. was that a confession ?"

"shut up, stoll."

"oh, I am never letting you live this down. ever !"

you groaned, covering your face with your hands as connor laughed triumphantly. he threw an arm around your shoulders, pulling you into his side with the ease of someone who had already claimed you as his favorite person a long time ago.

and you let him, because— whether you liked it or not —you kind of adored him, too.

━━━━ ⋮ ୨୧ ⋮ ━━━━

[lixzey]

hii happy birthdayy can you please do

no one's ever had me, not like you !

✨ give me a scenario + character for headcannons! with connor stoll and a daughter of apollo who write songs and plays the piano? tyyy

you are the music in me !

connor stoll x apollo!reader headcannons

a/n: please PLEASE let me know how I did with these 😭 bcs I honestly feel that these are meh 🥲 thank you so much for requesting, my lover!!

• Let me just say that Connor Stoll is completely head over heels for you.

• He thinks that you, his angelic pretty girlfriend, is the most amazing woman in the whole ass world. 

• Not only are you smart and caring, but musically gifted as well (duh, you’re the daughter of apollo, of course you’d be musically gifted—Connor told himself that a million times)

• Connor never really liked music, well, that is until he met you.

• He often says that you stole his heart with your beautiful, harmonic, lovely, angelic voice. (Yes, he is overdramatic.)

• The way you play the piano is the most ethereal thing Connor has ever heard in his life. The way your voice effortlessly blends with each note in perfect harmony, made the son of Hermes actually swoon. 

• He secretly records you play and sing, he is literally your biggest fan. The amount of recordings he has is actually concerning if he wasn’t your boyfriend. Pretty sure he could start a whole recording label because of it. He has a video recorder and a voice recorder on hand every time, it’s honestly so cute!!

• The way your fingers dance over the keys remind him of your gentle touch, the feel of your soft lips against his felt like heaven every time. 

• Connor loves stealing your notes, making you give him a kiss before he’d give it back (well, sometimes he needs more than a kiss before giving you back your journal.)

• LOVES GIVING YOU NICKNAMES!!! like little miss sunshine, daylight, my morning dew, lyric, harmony, symphony, sweet tune, and a shit ton more. Who knew Connor Stoll could be this creative? Hell, sometimes he’d even call you by song titles. Hey, out of my league! Whatcha doin’, fearless? I love you, uptown girl!

• Honey, at this point, every song you wrote is about him. This boy, this menace you love, he is like a poem you wish you wrote! 

• Remember those recordings? Connor loves twirling you around to them as the two of you dance by the docks or anywhere, really. He’d be fine dancing inside of a volcano as long as he’s with you. 

• The way he took the time to memorize you is honestly so cute???? He knows every little quirk and pet peeve you have. You’re this song he has played on repeat in his head at this point.

• Funnily enough, you got Connor to sing, and surprisingly, he has an amazing voice. Jesus Christ, the gods really gave you everything!

• Aside from those recordings he has, Connor loves taking photos of you while you play! His favorites are when the sun sets in the afternoon, casting a soft glow through the window where your ebony upright piano sits. He says you look like an angel with that soft glow.

• Connor has your original songs memorized, like tunes and everything. 

• He brings an extra small notebook and pen in his pocket in case you need it because he knows how hard it is to stop when an idea comes into mind. He hates to see you so bummed out because you forgot a melody or a tune, even a lyric. 

• This boy, despite being able to just steal, saved up money so that he could get you a special necklace for your first anniversary. It was a golden chain with an eighth note pendant with yours and his name engraved on it!

• The two of you love making playlists! Pretty sure he even has a secret wedding playlist because he is just so in love with you. 

• Every time you and Connor get the chance to roam around the city, he makes sure to get you a few records you like!

• If you and Connor were characters in a movie, you’d be Kelsey and Ryan from High School Musical. 

• Musicals? You bet Connor is taking you there on a free night (technically, he’s gonna sneak the two of you out, but it still counts).

• This silly little lover of yours will belt out the entirety of Hamilton with you if you ask him to.

• Travis calls him a simp, and Connor is fucking proud of it.

• Connor Stoll loves and adores his musical side, aka you <333 

[white-wolf-buckaroo]

Chapter 3: We Visit the Garden Gnome Emporium

Third chapter of my daughter of Ares fic! Back at age 12 here. I got a bit carried away with this... this episode of the show was actually really good so I wanted to make it justice. Hope you enjoy!

Word count: 12300 ish words (oops)

Warnings: none I can think of <3

Fic masterlist here!

Emily threw her dagger against a panel of wood, angry. She retrieved it, walked back to where she had been sitting, and threw it again. Annabeth sat beside her on a fallen tree trunk, watching her let out her anger with the knife.

“You can’t be mad at me forever” she told Emily, arms crossed over her chest “I already told you that I’m sorry. And I told Chiron that you had nothing to do with it”

“He still thinks that I helped you shove Percy in the lake. And that I let Clarisse almost kill him” she huffed, picking up her dagger again. She traced the Greek letters engraved in the metal with her fingers, trying to calm down “And I would have if you hadn’t stopped me!”

“He survived, that’s what matters. And thanks to all of what happened, he has been claimed. It’s a win-win situation, if you ask me”

“I don’t see where there is the win for me. Chiron has never been mad at me… well, except that one time I accidentally started a fire inside my cabin, but that was on accident! Now he probably thinks that I’m bullying Percy or something, and that I’m becoming just like Clarisse”

“He doesn’t think that”

“If he doesn’t why did he ask us last night to meet him first thing in the morning in the big house” Emily put the dagger back in its stealth, frowning “He’s going to make us clean the stables for a week or… clean the kitchens for the rest of the summer!”

“Chiron’s not going to do that”

“How do you know? He did punish the Stolls once making them repaint the whole outside of the Hephaestus cabin”

“After they covered it in bright pink paint at the beginning of the summer, that’s an important detail”

Emily was about to reply, but the door to the big house opened, revealing Chiron and Mr. D; they both walked out to the porch, Mr. D looking pretty displeased at having to be awake this early. He had a diet coke in his hand, taking regular sips from it so to not fall asleep.

“Annabeth, Emily” Chiron trot over to them, both girls standing up out of respect “Thank you for coming”

“Let’s make this quick, I want to go back to sleep” complained Mr. D, taking off his sunglasses. He sighted, signalling at the two kids “Annie bell, Ellie, did you two push the water boy into the lake?”

“I did it” spoke Annabeth, taking the lead before her friend could; she knew that Emily wasn’t pleased at her or her actions, but she would definitely take the blame on her as well if she let her, so that Annabeth wouldn’t be punished that much “Emily wanted to stop me, she has nothing to do with it”

“But me not stopping her makes me just as guilty” Annabeth looked at Emily sideways, doing a face of ‘what are you doing!’, although she couldn’t hold her back anymore “We’re both deeply sorry”

“It was me who did it, though”

“True, but I let you do it”

“It’s cute, your loyalty to one another” Mr. D took a sip from his diet coke, chuckling to himself “I guess as camp director I’m the one who has to set out the terms of your punishment… but you know what? What you did was hilarious. Do it again. That’s your punishment. Aye, let’s go back to bed”

“I’m afraid we still have other matters at hand, Mr. D” Chiron looked down at him, the god sighting again “The rest of the selected heroes will arrive soon to the pavilion. We have to go meet them”

“I hate this place… gods, I need a drink” mumbled Mr. D, shaking his head. He really only wanted to go back to bed “Just another terrible day at camp half-blood”

He walked away heading to the pavilion, leaving Annabeth and Emily alone with the centaur.

The fact that Mr. D had decided to not punish them was a relief, true, but who they were really scared of disappointing was Chiron: he had been practically raising them since they started living at camp, and the prospect of letting him down seemed terrible.

“What other heroes?” Annabeth frowned “What is happening, Chiron?”

“It’s about our newest camper, Percy. He’s inside the big house now… in the attic”

“He went to see the Oracle?” Emily piped up, her eyes widening “He’s going on a quest!”

No one ever left to go on a quest before visiting the Oracle and hearing what she had to say about it – a quest wasn’t a quest if she didn’t say so. Emily had never seen the old lady, but she had heard things from her about Luke, who had been on his own quest not so long ago: her form looked kind of like an old Halloween decoration, creepy and dusty, but her spirit residing inside was as wise as in ancient days.

“It’s happening, isn’t it?” both Emily and Chiron could sense Annabeth’s hope radiating off of her; she was convinced that this was going to be her chance “This is the quest you promised me”

“Percy will have to choose two fellow demigods to accompany him on his journey. If the fates think that this is your destiny, he will choose you” Chiron put a hand on her shoulder, smiling fondly at the girl “And I’m glad to say that if it’s the case, you are more than ready to embark on a journey like that. I know my opinion as camps’ activities director doesn’t count much… but I’m proud of you, dear Annabeth”

“Thank you, Chiron. It matters, really”

“Now go, girls. Mr. D will surely already be at the pavilion. Wait there for me an Percy to arrive, and we’ll start the selection ceremony”

“Wait, both of us?” confused, Emily raised her eyes up to meet Chiron’s “Me too?”

“You are one of camp’s most formidable warriors, Emily. Of course. I’ve selected the best of the best, and you couldn’t be missed among that group”

“But I haven’t been alone outside of camp in years. I wouldn’t know how to get anywhere, or move around, or help, or…”

“Those are fears you shouldn’t face until the right moment, Emily, not beforehand. If Percy chooses you to go with him, I’m sure you will be an excellent companion”

“You sure?” the centaur nodded “Thanks, Chiron” he had a soothing aura around him that always helped to calm her insecurities. He was the best “Hold on… Percy’s quest, what is it even about?”

“I’m afraid to tell you that… troubling times are ahead. Zeus’ master bolt has been stolen. If it isn’t returned before the summer solstice, in one week, there will be war”

“But what does Percy have to do with that?”

“Well, for starters, he is a forbidden child. Considering who his father is, and that he has been claimed just now, when the tension between Poseidon and Zeus is growing more and more every passing day… The suspicions about who is the thief fall all upon him”

“I thought he has only just found out that he is a half-blood. He can’t be the thief, it’s ridiculous”

“Until proven otherwise, he is the most probable candidate. That’s why he has to go retrieve the bolt, and return it to its rightful owner”

“But who could have the bolt? Who would be interested in a war?”

“Well, both our parents are the deities of war” Annabeth grimaced, shrugging “Although… If I had to pick between Ares and Athena, I think it would most probably be Ares. No offense”

“None taken. I… I don’t know, like… who knows what he’s up to” Emily huffed, playing with a rock on the floor tossing it around with her foot “And why a war between Zeus and Poseidon? I get it, they aren’t the best of friends… but they have other siblings who could have stolen the bolt”

“Hades” muttered Annabeth “He’s always been put behind his other siblings, and he’d be stronger than Zeus and Poseidon if he had the bolt”

“That’s true” Chiron seemed stressed, but he was good at not showing it. Emily and Annabeth were better at seeing the signs, because they had known him for half of their lives now “Percy will have to head to Los Angeles and enter the underworld to get the master bolt back, before the lord of the dead starts a war”

“I’m sure some gods would like it if he failed to do so” Emily made a face, huffing.

“The Gods may have their flaws, child, but also their virtues. They are powerful beings who have been around for ages, yes, but every living being that roams earth never stops learning, including them. All of us can fail, do wrong, but also learn valuable lessons, and become stronger thanks to it” now he put a hand on her shoulder, reassuringly “And you, my dear Emily, have your father’s strength and resilience. Not because you were born with it, but because you’ve fought hard all your life, just like him. Never forget that although our steps can falter, the journey does not end there”

The selection ceremony started soon after.

All selected demigods for Percy to choose stood in the pavilion. Apart from Annabeth and Emily, there was also Luke, his brother Chris, Clarisse, and other half-bloods known in camp for being the strongest or smartest fighters.

Clarisse stood on Emily’s left side, and on Annabeth’s right, between the girls; when Chiron announced that two demigods had to be chosen to join Percy on the quest, Emily wished that if Annabeth was truly chosen in the end, she wouldn’t have to deal with her sister.

She doubted she’d have to, though. Percy didn’t like Clarisse. She had been nothing but mean to him, so it was pretty obvious that she’d stay in camp. Percy would probably choose Luke as well – they had mingled well over the past few days.

“Time is short” warned Chiron to Percy, turning then to the rest of the Demigods “I have selected our most compelling half-blood candidates, from which you will choose two to join you on this quest, and ensure that we succeed-“

“Annabeth”

Percy made his first choice even before Chiron could end his speech, or even start presenting each of the candidates; customarily one waits to at least hear a name or two before choosing, but not Percy.

“This thing, Zeus’s master bolt… we need to get it back, right?” the centaur nodded to Percy’s words ”And it’s gonna be hard to get, right?”

“Extraordinarily”

“And if the mission required someone to push me down a flight of stairs for it to succeed… you’d want someone who won’t hesitate when they do it”

Emily looked over at her friend, eyebrow raised; the whole ‘shoving Percy into the water’ incident had left a mark on the boy.

“Then it’s set” Chiron looked over at the daughter of Athena, announcing the final resolution “The first quest-mate shall be Annabeth Chase”

Her dream had come true.

What they didn’t expect, was Percy’s second choice.

Before Chiron could introduce him to the other candidates, he interrupted him again:

“I’m only going on this quest if Grover can come too”

The centaur looked baffled, alongside Mr. D, who stood to his left.

“Satyrs don’t go on quests, Johnson” said the god of wine, looking at the boy “You’re supposed to choose two demigods, not one demigod and a satyr”

“He’s been my protector for the last months, so I want him to come with me” he insisted, firm in his decision “I’m not going if he’s staying”

Mr. D looked at Chiron, and after a few seconds the centaur turned back to Percy, grimacing:

“Percy, a quest is undertaken by demigods. Satyrs are loyal creatures, and I understand your reasoning, but we would be much more comfortable if you chose two demigods to join you instead of just one”

“But I’m not only choosing Annabeth” he replied, looking then at the girl from the Ares cabin who had defended him every time since meeting each other “I choose Emily as well”

Everyone’s gaze turned to her, making Emily feel a bit uncomfortable, but she brushed those feelings away quickly, standing proud on her spot while Chiron announced her as the second quest-mate.

They allowed Grover to come as well in the end. Percy wanted someone he could completely trust, and both Annabeth and Emily could comprehend the boy – in this crazy world he had been thrown in, Grover was the only one somewhat ‘familiar’ to Percy. Both girls were also thrilled to be going together on the quest, so they understood why Percy wanted his own friend to go on the quest with him as well. He trusted the satyr.

Besides, Grover would definitely pack the best snacks.

The rest of the day went by in a haze, preparing for the upcoming trip. Emily filled her backpack with her essentials (some spare clothes, weapons… the usual), and she even went over to the Hermes cabin to ask Luke to take care of her beloved Teddy bear while she was out of camp.

“Are you sure you want to leave it here?” the bear was more of a relic from the first years Emily had spent at camp, from a time where she was younger, but she couldn’t give it away. It was the last thing she had left from her mom, after all “You know how my siblings can get”

“I also know you won’t let anyone do anything to it… and I don’t feel comfortable leaving it in my cabin without me there to protect it from Clarisse”

“Fair enough”

Emily also met up with Grover and Annabeth during the afternoon, to plan how they would start their journey – they wanted to include Percy in the planning as well, but he was somewhere in the woods doing some last minute sword-fighting training with Luke.

“So, who will take the lead?”

“We could vote” suggested Emily “Who votes for Percy?”

“It’s not like I don’t want him to lead” Grover bit his lip nervously after raising his hand on impulse, but then pulling it back down “You guys are more experienced than him”

“I agree”

“Then we girls lead” added Annabeth, looking at Emily for confirmation “Together”

“I’m surprised you’re sharing the team captain title with me, Annie”

“Let’s say you’re my second in command”

“See? There it is. I knew it”

The next morning, right before leaving for the quest, Emily and Annabeth met up in front of the big house, where Percy and Grover would also join them to get one final talk to Chiron before leaving. However, before any of the boys showed up, Luke made his way towards them, smiling fondly.

“You didn’t think you were leaving without saying goodbye properly, weren’t you?”

He engulfed both of them in a bear hug, taking time for each of his girls; they were the closest thing to real siblings they had. Sure, each of them had a bunch of brothers and sisters in their cabins… but their bond was stronger.

“You both take care of each other out there, you hear me?” he had a hand on one of Emily’s shoulder’s the other on one of Annabeth’s, looking alternatively between their faces “You are the strongest girls I know. You can do this”

“We’ll miss you” pouted Emily.

“I’ll miss you too” he ruffled her hair softly, and gave her another side hug.

“I wish you could come with us”

“Me too, Annabeth” Luke grimaced sadly at the girl, but he pinched then one of her cheeks, trying to get her to smile again “But I’m glad that you will at least have each other. I know you will be fine”

After one last hug to each of them, Luke went back to his cabin, and soon after both Percy and Grover appeared with their backpacks, ready to go.

Percy had received a visit from Luke before leaving as well, to say goodbye, and to give him a last farewell gift: a pair of flying shoes Luke had originally received from his dad. They came to life after saying the word ‘Maia’, growing feather wings from the strings of the sneakers – they resembled Hermes’ own flying shoes, able to lift up whoever was wearing them.

Saying goodbye to Mr. D was easy, not so much to Chiron, but the worst was definitely saying goodbye to Thalia.

Annabeth had it the hardest: Emily let her stand by the tree the time she needed, telling both Percy and Grover that they still had to wait for a moment until the girl was ready. Grover immediately understood, but Percy… not so much.

“She’s really gonna miss that tree, huh?”

“When Annabeth first arrived here with Thalia and Luke, they were being chased by monsters” explained Grover “Agents of Hades. Sisters. Furies”

“Mrs. Dotts?”

“Who is Mrs. Dotts?” Emily didn’t know who they were talking about.

“She was our Algebra teacher at Yancy school. Yes, that was Alecto. Back then… Thalia turned back to fight to buy her friends some time. Her Satyr protector tried to stop her but she wouldn’t listen. So, at the last moment… Zeus intervened to save her life, and changed her form”

Emily remembered that day clearly. It had been a terrible night, filled with insecurities and uncertainness because of what had happened to Thalia.

“The most powerful being in the universe’ best idea to safe his daughter’s life… was to turn her into a tree?”

“She was the bravest demigod I ever knew” Annabeth had walked back to them, catching the last bits of their talk “She fought valiantly to safe us all”

“And she met a hero’s fate” added Emily, solemnly.

“She met a pinecone’s fate”

He had not just said that.

“Dude…” muttered the Ares’ girl, eyes growing big “Chill”

“Forbidden children are always in danger, even the strongest ones. Even Thalia” it was obvious that Annabeth felt personally victimized by Percy’s comment, and let’s be honest, she had all the right to do so “And you are not Thalia. Do exactly as I say, and maybe you survive this. Are we clear?”

She didn’t give him any time to answer, as she turned her back to Percy and started walking past the limit of the pine tree.

“You should probably apologize sometime about that comment of Thalia’s tree” Emily patted Percy’s shoulder, awkwardly “I… uh… I’ll go with her”

Emily caught up with Annabeth, as the boys lingered behind a few more seconds:

“Does she think she is in charge?” Percy referred to Annabeth, frowning.

“Technically, they both are. Who did you think would be?”

“I guess I assumed we’d do a show of hands or something… you know, democracy”

Hero’s quests are world-defining events. They have made and broken empires, altered the course of human civilization, changed the balance of power on Olympus… it’s a sacred thing, and to be charged with one is to be in conversation with the gods themselves.

It wasn’t like burning offerings, or praying to them. The gods handed out the missions for them to complete, because they were the only ones able to do so. It as an honour, and a privilege.

Although after being sat in an old uncomfortable bus for half an hour in the backseats right beside the toilet (the worst seats ever), and a huge guy using the restroom for most of that time, Percy thought that there was no way that scared smelled as bad like that.

“We’re soldiers on a mission. It’s not a vacation”

“Thank you for clearing that up”

After leaving camp, the three demigods, plus the satyr, had made their way to New York city to grab a bus that would take them through the country. Chiron had given them their bus tickets, albeit Percy hadn’t expected this kind of ride if the matter was so important.

“If this is so important, why didn’t Chiron spring for plane tickets? Or good smelling seats at least? This seems kind of… low priority, doesn’t it?”

“The smell hides us from the monsters” explained Emily. She was seated with Annabeth, in the window seat, while Grover was by Percy “It makes it more difficult to track us”

“And it isn’t just the monsters who are gonna be trying to stop us” Grover thought someone would have told Percy this, but apparently not “You’re a forbidden child. Zeus might decide to take a shot at you himself. The sky is his domain”

“We’d basically be serving you up on a silver platter to try to travel through it”

“That would’ve been a good piece of advice someone could have mentioned before leaving camp… but yeah, no one did” Percy sighted. He stayed silent for a few seconds, while his eyebrows slowly furrowed “If me travelling through the country is so dangerous because I’m a forbidden child, why did they sent me in the first place?”

“To exonerate you. Everyone thinks you stole the master bolt, so the best way for you to prove Zeus otherwise, is to return the bolt to him yourself”

“That sounds like a lame excuse to me” he huffed, grimacing “You both are much more skilled than me” it was true; both Annabeth and Emily were far more trained than Percy “It would’ve been just as good if you guys went to L.A. to get the bolt and then back to New York to return it. You could even take a plane if I wasn’t there to go faster”

“I may not be a forbidden child like you, but I don’t think Zeus is all that fond of me either” replied Emily “He doesn’t like Ares’ children. I’m by far not Zeus’ favourite grandchild, so I also wouldn’t be safe in the sky. Annabeth would have a shot, though, only because her mom is Zeus’ favourite kid”

“I still wouldn’t risk it” commented the girl, looking out the window.

“Let’s just say Zeus won’t get a ‘world’s best grandpa’ or ‘best uncle’ mug anytime soon”

The bus made it out of New York and stopped in New Jersey at a tank station; most of the passengers stood up to go stretch their legs, buy goodies or use the bathroom, leaving Percy, Annabeth, Emily and Grover sitting in the backseats.

“I’m gonna go get us some snacks” announced Annabeth, unbuckling her seatbelt. Percy wanted to tag along, but the told him no “You’ll stay right there”

“But it smells terrible back here. You’re not the only one who wants to escape this”

“Remember, the monsters won’t smell you here” Emily raised up from her seat as well, joining Annabeth “That’s where we want you”

“I wanna vote” Percy looked at Grover for support “Who thinks that we should all go get to breathe fresh air and buy our own snacks?”

“There’s no voting”

“Chips and sodas okay for you guys?”

“I don’t think you should just get to decide we don’t vote” Percy ignored Emily’s question, going back at Annabeth.

“I’m sorry to hear that”

“Okay… Then I wanna vote on whether you get to decide we don’t vote”

“Grover, please, can you help your…” but Grover interrupted Annabeth before she could finish her demand, clapping slowly “… friend?”

“I really don’t wanna be a tiebreaker” said the satyr, still clapping “I have a better idea”

“Oh, gods, please not this” muttered Emily, but it was too late. Grover started to sing:

“Oh, golly, the road’s gettin’ bumpy ‘cause I got me some friends who just can’t along! Oh, dear! When the team’s gettin’ grumpy the trick to gettin’ through it is singin’ this song-“

Percy cut him off before he could go any further.

“Dude, what are you doing?” he shook his head, trying to make Grover take the hint that he should stop.

“It’s the consensus song. Verse two encourages us to say nice things about each other! You get a few rounds in and you’d be amazed at how disagreements just kind of… fade away”

Emily looked at him unimpressed, slowly shaking her head as well; in all of her years in camp she had grown to love many things there, but the consensus song? Maybe it was her rebellious, aggressive Ares side, but she hated that song. If someone sang it to her at camp to try to solve a disagreement, she would end up punching said someone in the face before they could even start the second verse.

For once, even Annabeth and Percy agreed, looking at Grover just as unimpressed as Emily did. An uncomfortable silence fell upon them.

“Chips and sodas okay then?”

The boys muttered ‘yes please and ‘whatever’, and with that both Annabeth and Emily exited the bus. Emily heard Percy muttering defeated that the voting system was broken, and she almost laughed.

The store at the tank station was huge, or at least, that’s what Emily thought when they entered it. She hadn’t been in any kind of store in years, and she didn’t really remember much of how they were when she was little. Now, at twelve years old, she marvelled at the different aisles, and especially, the candy section.

“Which one do you think Percy and Grover will like the most?”

“Would it be too obvious if we got Percy blue candy?” Emily grabbed some blue chewing gum, showing it to Annabeth “You know… for Poseidon”

“I got it” Annabeth rolled her eyes, but there was a little smile on her face “Do you thing the blue ones taste different than the orange ones?”

“I don’t know. I haven’t had candy since I was six, except that one time the Stolls brought some at the beginning of the summer, and it was yucky”

It was a tough choice to make. Both of them hadn’t tried most of the candies and chocolates they saw in that aisle, and if they had, they didn’t really remember what they were like or what they tasted like like.

“We can grab blue candy for Percy... Green ones for Grover, and red ones for you” Annabeth handed Emily some reddish gummy bears, and the girl thanked her “And some white ones for me. Then we can share and try them all”

Did they end up leaving that aisle with their hands full of too many sweets? Absolutely. Did they think it was too much, or that they could have grabbed less? No, not really. Chiron probably wouldn’t have let them get so much candy, but the wasn’t there to lecture them.

They also grabbed the chips and sodas, of course – it was what they had went to grab originally anyways. The cashier looked them up and down, staring wide eyed at the mountain of candy, chips, chocolates and sodas they left on the counter.

“Oh, Annie, I want a slushie”

“You aren’t five years old, you don’t need one”

“You don’t buy slushies because you need them” she looked at her friend making a face that represented the word ‘duh’ “Hey, you grabbed those chocolate-marshmallow bars even though I didn’t want to. Let me have my own treat”

She did get a slushie, a red one which supposedly tasted like strawberries; having been living at a strawberry farm for six years, Emily could tell that this was definitely not what strawberries tasted like. But it was full of sugar, so she was drank it anyways.

While Annabeth was paying, a woman walked behind the girls, and both of them tensed up.

Just as monsters could sense demigods, trained half-bloods learned to recognize the aura of a monster. Not literally, of course, but Emily and Annabeth had strong intuitive feelings, and even though it could not look like it, they were extremely aware of their surroundings. They knew that if they weren’t, they would be much easier to kill.

The mysterious woman stopped in front of a shelve to their right, and their suspicions grew stronger when she slowly turned her face to them, smirking.

It’s true that monsters are most likely to sense a more powerful demigod, like forbidden children, but it isn’t power exactly, that draws them. It’s more complicated than that. It’s kind of like how bees smell one’s fear: what a monster senses depends on the monster. Some sense inadequacy, the need for glory, shame… if a demigod has to confront one, the monster will attack wherever their armor is the weakest. Nothing will stop them, not even death.

Emily walked a few steps behind Annabeth, slushie in hand; if things got tough, she could easily access her bracelet and use her throwing knife; whereas she was completely visible, Annabeth had her Yankees hat on, hiding in plain sight. The bus was starting to get packed again with all of the passengers making their way back, and as Emily passed by the front row seats, she got that feeling of uneasiness again – especially when she walked by a woman holding a newspaper.

The key to not get surprised by a monster, was to spot them first.

“If you guys were better at your job, we might not have noticed you here so easily”

The woman folded her newspaper together upon hearing Emily’s words, holding a serious look on her face. The girl was still taking sips of her slushie, eyes focused on the woman.

“If Thalia were better at hers there might not be a family of squirrels making her their home”

“That’s a low blow, even for a monster”

“Is that why Hades sent you here?” Annabeth’s voice joined the conversation after hearing Thalia’s name, although she was still wearing her hat. The woman, the monster, couldn’t see her, alas she didn’t know where she was, even if she could sense her “To gloat over a job you almost did right once?”

“How things have changed… You’re not the frightened little girl I came for all those years ago” she looked back at Emily, expression unreadable “And you don’t seem so tough as I had expected at all”

“Don’t kid yourself. I wasn’t that frightened”

“And I can still kick your ass back to the underworld if you decide to make the wrong move”

The monster chuckled, amused.

“Maybe so, maybe so… Either way, now it would seem that you’re both exactly what they say you are. The pride of Athena’s offspring, and Ares’ most treasured child. Perhaps the most formidable demigods children alive”

“You won’t get to us by trying to manipulate us using our parents” Emily scoffed, definitely not buying it – and also not letting her face show how she had felt after the woman said that she was known as Ares’ most treasured kid “What do you want? If you were here to kill us you would already have tried”

“I’m here to collect your friend” she looked back through the gap between the seats, to where Percy sat unaware of what was happening.

“Collect him? For what?”

 “Oh, I don’t question orders. ‘Bring him in, quick and quiet’. That is what I was told” she turned back to Emily, as she couldn’t see Annabeth, but her next message was for the both of them “Lure him off this bus where I can take him quietly away from so many eyes, and your quest goes on unimpeded an unburdened. You and I know he isn’t gonna be of any help to you, and maybe even a hindrance”

“We’re not going to do that” said Emily, firmly.

“Are you not?” the woman raised an eyebrow, looking at the girl’s side and then back to her “Where did your invisible friend go then?”

Emily tried to feel Annabeth by her side, but the hallway seemed empty. There was no body heat beside her like a few seconds ago, and she frankly couldn’t tell where the girl had went.

“Some children must learn the hard way” muttered the woman, sighting “It was a pleasure to meet you, daughter of Ares”

The monster began to transform before her eyes, her clothes and hair mutating into her true form: her once grey updo turned red and feathery, and her black coat along her red shirt grew feathers as well, covering her whole body up until her hands, where there were now long and sharp claws. Out of her bag two wings emerged, like big bat wings, hitting the top of the bus as they unfolded fully.

It was a fury. And where was one, there were always other two.

They had to leave now.

“Percy!” Emily shrieked, starting to get away from the creature “Run!”

In order to get the fury to back off, Emily threw her slushie at her, still full of ice and red liquid, hitting her in the face.

Both Percy and Grover perked up from their seats, and upon seeing what had made Emily scream, they both shot up, aiming for the emergency window behind them to try and open it. When they finally succeeded, the glass fell off of the bus shattering against the ground, and a security alarm went off. The driver ordered through the megaphone that everyone should exit the bus, and everyone started to stand up, slowing down Emily, but also the fury that was making her way to her.

“Emily let’s go!”

She turned to Percy, still looking for Annabeth – where was she?! She couldn’t have really considered the fury’s proposition, couldn’t she? No, her friend wasn’t like that. Emily would never accept, and neither would Annabeth… right?

A shriek coming from outside pierced through the air. Flying in the direction of the bus was another fury – she flew straight through the open window, almost hitting Percy and Grover, causing them fall to the ground.

“Hey!”

Annabeth appeared out of nowhere, and she threw a knife at the monster, who screeched when the metal hit her in the chest. The fury vanished, transformed into dust, and the knife fell on the ground.

“We’re done here, let’s go!”

She grabbed Emily’s arm, yanking her to the open window. Leaving their bags and the snacks behind, all four of them climbed out of the bus – Percy had grabbed the box with Luke’s shoes before leaving, though, and he was now holding it against his chest while they ran. The fury on the bus had been stopped temporarily by all the passengers that were making their way out of the vehicle to the front exit, and the other one who had attacked them was gone.

However, there weren’t just two furies – they were three sisters.

The third one attacked when they were all outside, screeching above them. She flew downward in Percy’s direction with her arms stretched out, terrible claws aiming for his face. He didn’t have enough time to react, turning around to see her almost catching him, when a throwing knife hit her in the middle of the back between her wings.

Emily had been the last one to climb out of the bus, so she had been behind Percy when the third fury had tried to snatch him. He had already started running, so he was a few meters away (alas, the fury wasn’t close as well), so she grabbed her bracelet, and it transformed into her magical weapon. She threw the knife hitting the monster right where she aimed to, and the next thing that happened was that the fury crumbled to dust.

“Come on!” she screamed, picking up her weapon, back to running again “We have to go!”

Ears pumping with the beats of their rushing hearts, they ran to the woods, hiding from the monster left behind. They didn’t stop until they were far enough to not see the tank station, or any building at all, deep inside the forest.

They had no food, or water. Their bags, left behind. They had nothing, except Luke’s shoes, and what they already had on or carried with them.

“This sucks” mumbled Emily, trying to regain her breathe.

As they were now at a ‘safe distance’ they stopped running and switched to walking, trying to recompose themselves but still keep going.

“Somewhere up ahead this turns into a Satyr path” Grover looked far ahead, as if trying to see it.

“What’s a Satyr path?”

There was so much that Percy didn’t know… it was starting to become concerning.

“It’s a road through the wilderness. Satyr explorers use them. Harder to track us”

“That’s… great” Percy still seemed uncertain “But if we stay in the wilderness, how are we gonna find a phone?”

“Why do you want a phone?”

“So we can call camp” it was pretty obvious to him “T-to get help. You know… because we’re lost?”

“We don’t need help. We’re fine” replied Annabeth.

“We’re still alive” added Emily, shrugging “That’s what matters”

“But we haven’t even gotten to Trenton! And we’re wandering through a forest. I didn’t even know they had forests in New Jersey, but we’ve found one!”

“It’s literally called ‘The Garden State’” Emily looked back at him, frowning “What did you expect?”

“I don’t know, but… I would say we’re the opposite of fine”

“We were sent on a quest by the Oracle… by the gods” said Annabeth “What’d you think, it would be easy? It’s supposed to be hard. That’s why only certain people are chosen. If we call camp, we’re basically saying it was a mistake to choose us”

“I’m… completely comfortable with that” Emily knew that Percy’s comment would only make Annabeth more mad. As her best friend, she knew that under that tough leader exterior, was the girl who had dreamed to go on a quest for years. Calling camp, was telling Chiron wrong, and with that, he would be disappointed in them. They couldn’t let that happen “Everyone makes mistakes”

“Why are you so afraid of who you are?”

Annabeth stopped walking, and she turned to Percy, scowling.

“What?”

Grover and Emily looked at each other, quickly picking up the tension rising between their friends.

“You know what’s interesting about this particular satyr path?”

“What so interesting about it, Grover?” Emily’s voice sounded nervous, because she was. If they started fighting again, it would only slow them down.

“It’s actually the one my Uncle Ferdinand took when he set out on his own quest”

“That’s such a cool fact, Grover!”

But Percy and Annabeth ignored them completely:

“What was that supposed to mean, ‘afraid of who I am’? I’m not afraid”

“Yes, you are. You aren’t just a kid. “Just a kid” doesn’t do what you did to Clarisse back at camp. “Just a kid” doesn’t have Hades sending top lieutenants to retrieve them. You know, you are part of something so much bigger than we can understand right now. We have to move forward, whether you like it or not. Whether you want to or not”

“If you don’t want to call camp, fine. Then, at least… let’s call your mom”

“Excuse me?”

If they thought things were gonna get rough, now they definitely were.

“Athena? Your mother. I’d call my father, but we aren’t exactly on speaking terms, because of the lifelong neglect, you know. Or we could call Emily’s dad. You both seem close to your parents. Why don’t we ask them for help?”

“Grover, will you explain to your friend that he needs to pull himself together?” Annabeth was tense. Very much so. Emily knew that she wouldn’t be able to collect herself much longer.

Percy looked at Annabeth, studying her face… and then he realized something.

“You can’t ask her, can you?” he had hit a button. He could see it “When was the last time she talked to you?”

“Grover” Annabeth insisted, but the satyr couldn’t stop him.

“I don’t know why you keep pulling him into this” Percy stood closer to Grover “He’s on my side, just as Emily’s on yours”

“What makes you think that?”

“Because he’s my protector, it’s his job, and she’s your best friend!”

“He was my protector first!”

“First?” he muttered, confused “… What do you mean, ‘first’?”

They both looked at Grover, who looked at Emily, out of words, and then back to their two friends:

“It’s very exciting… getting to walk in Uncle Ferdinand’s footsteps” he completely avoided the confrontation. Typical for satyrs “Next best thing to getting to talk to him again”

There was a frown on Percy’s forehead… he looked at the ground, thinking, and then he spoke up again:

“Thalia, Luke, and Annabeth had a satyr Protector” his eyes locked on Grover, almost accusatively “That was you” Grover couldn’t hold his gaze, which was enough conformation “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Do you guys smell that?”

That was not the answer they had expected. Grover seemed absent, starting to look around, sniffling. Emily did too, although she didn’t have the senses of a satyr – if he had caught the scent of a monster, they would need to be ready.

It wasn’t a monster what he had smelt, though.

“Grover, I’m not kidding-“

“No, neither am I. Just shush…” he continued to sniffle, concentrated “Hamburgers”

“What?”

He took the lead, walking ahead following the satyr path. He was still using his heightened sense of smell to find the way, and Percy, Annabeth and Emily could only follow him.

“Grover, what are you doing?” asked Annabeth, confused.

“Somebody’s making hamburgers, in the middle of nowhere, on a satyr path. Whoever it is… they’re from our world”

They reached a clearing, only it wasn’t a clearing, but a road. It led to a building surrounded by dozens of statues. It wasn’t gnomes or frogs, though, as in other gardens with statues – these were monsters made out of stone.

“Oh, come on”

Emily frowned at Annabeth’s comment, but then she saw the huge sign on a pole that said ‘Aunty Em’s Gnome Emporium”.

Dear gods this was bad.

“What is it?” asked Percy.

“Aunty ‘Em’ has a garden full of petrified stone folks. Yeah… this is someone from our world, all right. Anyone wanna guess what ‘Em’ is short for?”

Her nervousness was justified – no daughter of Athena would want to be in the presence of that specific monster. There wasn’t time to play guess, though. Before they could leave and run for their lives (again), a fury landed a few feet behind them: it was the only surviving one of the three sisters, Alecto.

Percy handed the box with shoes over to Grover, taking out a pen from his pocket. Emily saw it transform into a huge celestial bronze sword, the same one she had seen him fighting with before, once he took the tap off. She also unsheathed her own weapon, this time her dagger, just as Annabeth did with hers.

“You should have accepted my offer when you had the chance” said the fury, staring at the two girls.

“Offer? What offer?”

Percy looked at both Annabeth and Emily, but they didn’t move their eyes from Alecto, watching her every move.

“Not today, friends” the voice of another woman joined them. It came from the house, now behind them, and upon hearing it, the fury immediately looked away, covering herself with the help of her arms and her wings “Not on my doorstep”

Footsteps approached the group slowly, and while Percy looked behind him to locate the mysterious woman, Annabeth, Grover and Emily quickly looked away as well, closing their eyes just to be sure. He did too when he realized, although not completely understanding what was happening.

“If you have something to resolve, why not come inside and I’ll help?” she kept on talking, now closer to them “Alecto! Will you be joining us?” the fury only closed her eyes tighter, turning her head even more, as if the sole sight of the woman’s eyes could harm her “No… well I wouldn’t think you would” She turned her attention back to the children, who also weren’t looking at her “She won’t bother you as long as you’re with me. But it isn’t as though she’ll leave either, not if it means reporting that she failed to retrieve the son of Poseidon”

“How do you-“ said boy squinted his eyes open, too intrigued to refrain his impulses.

“Percy, no!” whispered Emily, grabbing his arm.

“A forbidden child has been claimed, how long did you think that secret would keep?” the woman’s voice was calm, almost soothing, but Emily knew that it was only a trick to lure them to her, to confuse them, and trap them “It’s a pleasure to meet you, son of Poseidon…” their skin crawled, and fear embarked them as she spoke “I’m Medusa”

Oh no this was definitely bad.

“Percy don’t!” warned Annabeth “She’s a monster”

“We all choose who we make our monsters” commented Medusa “But right now, that one ahead of you wants to tear you limb from limb, whereas I am offering you lunch. The choice is yours”

They heard how she walked away, and soon after the door to the house opening and closing again. They were safe, sort of, for now.

“I think we can trust her” blurted Percy, suddenly. A chorus of ‘what?’, ‘dude!’ and ‘no!’ were heard as a response, but he stood firm to his opinion “I can’t explain it, I just… My mom used to tell me her story. And the point was always that she isn’t what people think. And I definitely trust my mom”

Emily remembered her own mother, and the almost vanished feeling after so long of trusting someone blindly as much as she did with her. It made her sad, but she could also understand Percy better.

“I’m going in” he said, serious “You guys do what you want”

He took the first step, and after looking at the house and back at the fury, Grover followed him.

“What are you-“

“Annie, we should go with them”

“Are you crazy? You know I can’t go in there! She’ll kill me!”

“And if we stay out here, that fury will eat us!” she glanced at the monster, who only huffed at her comment “Come on, trust Percy for once. I’m doing it”

“You’re trusting him more than me?”

“I’m not saying that” she replied “I just don’t want to die, and right now, we have more chances to live going inside than staying here. We won’t let anything happen to you. I promise”

Medusa’s house was decorated in an old fashioned way, in a style from a few decades ago. There was a huge dining room, with a big table set for many people to eat. There were plenty of sweets, desserts and other sugary dishes, and it looked almost as if they had entered the candy house of the bad witch from Hansel and Gretel’s tale.

“Thanks for coming” said Percy, after they joined him and Grover inside.

“This isn’t the same for me as it is for you” Annabeth felt nervous, and it was showing. Emily grabbed her hand in hopes of comforting her, but it was rather difficult, especially when Medusa came out of the kitchen to the dining room again.

“You’re concerned I would hold a grudge against you simply because you are a daughter of Athena?” she sounded almost hurt, not offended, but genuinely concerned about Annabeth’s thought on her. Emily had to remind herself that she couldn’t trust what Medusa tried to pretend to be, but what her gut told her about who and how the monster was “You shouldn’t be. We’re not our parents, after all. And you and I might have more in common than you think”

None of them were looking at her, too petrified of catching a glance of her eyes even under the veil of her cream coloured hat. She was wearing a matching dress, that looked like it was from a different decade, like the rest of the house.

“Please, sit and eat” she insisted, signalling to the table.

The boys sat down, but Annabeth didn’t dare to move, and Emily remained loyally by her side.

“So if you’re not a monster what are you then?”

“A survivor”

“You must be a little more than that” Percy served himself some food, and Grover was already munching on something “There’s a Fury out there that seems terrified of you”

“Because she knows what I think of her” Medusa sat down on a stool by another table, crossing her legs elegantly “I don’t like bullies. When one shows up on my doorstep, they end up spending a lot more time there than they planned for… I know you can understand me. None of you like bullies. Isn’t that right, Emily?”

“How do you know my name?” she blurted out the question impulsively before she could refrain her tongue. Thinking before talking wasn’t a skill she had mastered yet.

“A demigod child like you draws attention easily. Not many of you are brought to camp half-blood by their godly parents themselves, let alone if said parent is the God of War. He isn’t particularly known for taking care of his offsprings… not like he cared for you”

“You know nothing about my dad”

“Maybe not, but I’ve been around for some time now… and I’ve heard many stories about your father. He has a reputation he seems to be very proud of” she smiled softly at the child “I’m sure you want to make him proud, don’t you?”

“Of course” she answered, firmly.

“And has he ever shown that sentiment to you? For any of your achievements? For you going on this quest?”

Emily remained quiet, her jaw tense and her eyes on anything but the woman before her.

“He’s… busy” she mumbled.

“I’m sure he is… You know, I’ve had a few experiences myself regarding the gods… and I’ve even had the pleasure to receive a gift from them, which is a privilege not many of their adepts have had” she smiled sweetly, almost humanly “The gift the gods gave me is that I cannot be bullied anymore”

“What my mother did to you wasn’t a gift” replied Annabeth, with her arms now crossed “It was a curse”

“You are loyal to your mother”

“Yes”

“You stand by her?”

“Always” Annabeth shrugged, as if it was obvious.

“You love her?”

“Of course I do!”

“And so did I” Medusa’s tone was nostalgic, still sweet, but also with a hint of sadness “Do you know the story of how I came to be this way?”

“I do!”

All of them looked at Grover, who had answered between bites to his food. He looked up from his plate when he noticed how everyone had turned quiet, blushing slightly.

“Do you?”

“Do I?” he answered back, uncertain.

The bell inside a clock started tolling as Medusa told her tale:

“Athena was everything to me… I worshiped her. I prayed to her. I made offerings… She never answered. Not even an omen to suggest she appreciated my love… I wasn’t like you, sweetheart. I was you”

Medusa’s worship to the gods and the demigod’s worship to them were terrifyingly similar. What made them different from her, a monster? Fact is, she wasn’t a monster in the past. She became one… because of the same gods she adored.

“I would have worshipped her that way for a lifetime… in silence” she continued, her tone still somber “But then one day, another god came, and he broke that silence” she turned her head to Percy, smiling again “Your father. The Sea God told me that he loved me. I felt as though he saw me in a way I had never felt seen before… But then Athena declared that I had embarrassed her and I needed to be punished. Not him. Me”

Her voice, full of sadness, narrated how Athena had decided that Medusa should never be seen again by anyone who would live to tell the tale.

“That isn’t what happened” Annabeth fought back, although she already knew Medusa’s story, and also that what the woman had told them was exactly what had happened. The loyalty to her mom, though, made her retort “My mother is just. Always”

“The gods want you to believe that. That they are infallible. But they only want what all bullies want: they want us to blame ourselves for their own shortcomings”

“That is not what happened. And you are a liar”

Percy, Grover and Emily looked at Annabeth in disbelief, not giving credit to her words: how could she so blatantly talk back to a monster nonetheless, if they didn’t have any way of escaping after releasing her wrath? What was she thinking? The consequences would be horrible! Deadly!

Medusa’s red lips tensed up, just like the rest of her body. Emily watched her discretely, scared of looking too much but also scared of watching too little, and saw her look back to the kitchen, shaking her head.

“Something’s… burning” she sighted, standing up. Her indifference to Annabeth’s words was just as horrid as if she had screamed and lashed out on them “Would you give me a hand in the kitchen, Percy? I think lunch is ready”

The boy looked at his friends, who were all shaking their heads ‘no’, but after Annabeth’s outburst, Percy wasn’t in the mood to listening to her, so he stood up, and followed the woman inside the kitchen.

“Grover” Annabeth called him, stopping her mid bite” Get ready to run”

“What was that what you just did?!” Emily forcefully turned Annabeth to her grabbing her shoulder, signalling frantically to the door that led to the kitchen “Are you really that keen on dying young?!”

“She was insulting my mother” she defended herself, angry.

“And she could also have turned us into stone!” Emily’s heart raced nervously “First the fury, now this…”

“What about the fury?”

“On the bus. Alecto’s offer. You considered it”

“What if I did?” she shrugged, looking away from Emily. She was ashamed of that she had really thought of accepting the fury’s proposition.

“You aren’t like this!” Emily shot back, frustrated “Stop letting your insecurities get to you! I know you want to complete this quest at all costs, but we have to trust each other! And that includes not selling your quest-mates to the first monster that offers to take them away just because they get a bit on your nerves!”

“But I didn’t, right?” Annabeth huffed “I’m sorry, okay?”

“Just… don’t do stuff like that again. And I’m not only referring to almost giving Percy away to Alecto, but also talking back to a monster who could literally kill us with only looking at us”

“Okay, okay…” she sighted, grimacing “I’m sorry, Emi”

“Apologies accepted” Emily hugged her friend, but a cough from Grover made them separate “What is it?”

“Percy’s been in there for too long, hasn’t he?”

They all looked to the kitchen entrance warily, and right a second after they heard small footsteps making their way towards their direction, and the squeak of the door’s hinges as it started to open. All three of them looked to the ground, stealing glances to the door, seeing a hand ever so slowly perking out… and then they recognized Percy’s green flannel shirt, and they let out a sigh of relief.

“We have to leave, like now” he said, whispering so that Medusa wouldn’t hear him. He grabbed the box that held Luke’s shoes, which he had left on the dining table, and he made his way to the entrance when Emily’s hushed voice stopped him.

“Alecto is still outside, we’re trapped!”

There was another option though: the door that led to the basement. Annabeth had located it after entering the house, already forming an escape plan in case things got tough (which was to be expected). They could hide there, and look for another exit – maybe a window, or another door. Anything was better than waiting there for their deaths.

“Grover, grab those shoes and leave the box, carrying things will only slow us down” Annabeth instructed, and the boy did just as she said. She led the way to the basement, and they made their way down the stairs quickly, away from Medusa.

In the dark, they waited – it wouldn’t be possible to hide forever, but they had at least gained a little time.

“Put the shoes on” Emily suggested to Grover “Come on, I’ll tie the laces tight so they don’t fall off”

“You know the word to activate them?” the satyr nodded, groaning when Emily pulled the cords too tight. She mumbled ‘sorry’, before Annabeth shushed them “Quiet… she’s upstairs”

They could all hear her. Medusa’s steps resonated over them as she walked around the dining room, surely looking for them. A sense of dread invaded the heroes when they heard how the monster’s steps approached the entrance to the basement, and how she opened the door – it creaked like the ones in horror movies, creepy, horrifying.

As Medusa started to make her way downstairs, fire erupted along the staircase, travelling all the way down to them, and following ahead. It lighted the basement, revealing the cream coloured stone walls, and a terrifying sculpture that made Percy scream when he saw it.

It was the statue of a woman, captured mid-scream, fear in her features. She wasn’t the only one, though: the fire began to lit up dozens, if not hundreds of torches, illuminating an enormous ancient cavern full of Medusa’s victims.

Not wasting any time, they ran. Away from the monster, ahead into the cave.

“There’s four of us and only one of her” said Grover, panting “If we split up she can’t be watching us all at once”

“I don’t think it’d be that simple”

“It could be” he insisted, stopping them; they were standing behind some huge wooden transport boxes, partially hiding for now “Here’s the plan: I’ll get in the air, I’ll draw her attention. As soon as you hear me say “Maia” you guys start to-“ he hadn’t thought it through, obviously, because once he said the magic word, the shoes listened and grew feathers, starting to fly. In a matter of two seconds, Grover was high up in the air, flying far into the darkness above them “Oh boy! Okay! Um- off! Down!”

None of it worked. And he was gone.

“Great” muttered Emily, looking at where Grover had disappeared to “We’re screwed!”

“We’re in need of a new plan, but not screwed” they kind of were, though.

They didn’t have time to think of one, though, as Medusa’s voice reached their ears. They ducked as fast as they could, listening how she moved forward to their position:

“We are not our parents, until we choose to be. And you three, have chosen” her footsteps echoed against the walls, her feet dragging against the dust on the ground “A daughter of a self-righteous mother, who chose self-righteousness for herself” Annabeth squinted her eyes, trying to find an escape, finding none “A daughter of a selfish man who lives herself out to please him, pushing herself to limits only for his approval” Emily crawled behind a wooden box, trying to be as quiet as possible “And you…” Percy sat on the ground, legs bend to his chest, listening to the monster “You could have shown your father what it means to stand up for someone you love. You could have chosen to save your mother instead of doing your father’s bidding… If none of you will help teach these lessons, then perhaps you should be the lessons”

Medusa’s voice wasn’t sweet and caring as it had sounded before, no. Now it was cold, still smooth, but also carrying a sizzle typical from… snakes. It gave them chills, especially with her now being this close.

“When I ship your statues to Olympus… maybe that will get my point across even better”

They had to move fast, or they’d be dead in seconds. Annabeth nudged Emily’s leg, and when she got her attention she signalled to her invisibility cap. The girl nodded, and she watched her friend disappear before her eyes.

Emily turned to where Percy was, but he was starting at the opposite site to hers. She threw a little rock at him, hitting him on the leg silently, and he looked over – she mimicked Annabeth putting on her invisibility cap, and him taking out his magic pen-sword keeping while keeping his eyes closed, all of that quickly before Medusa reached their position.

Percy nodded, obviously nervous, and she watched him close his eyes like she had instructed, reaching for his pen. The soft golden glow of the weapon grazed his scared features, but he held the sword tightly, firmly, brave as he was.

“Stand up” commanded Medusa, walking straight to Percy. The glow of the celestial bronze had also given away his position, revealing himself to the monster “Let’s have a look at you”

Gathering all the courage he could master in that second, Percy shot back to his feet, whimpering and trembling in fear, feeling Medusa right by his side. She started to caress his cheek and his hair gently, terrifyingly close to him, when a cry above them startled her.

It was Grover! The flying shoes… they were still flying, and he was still not controlling them.

“I didn’t really think this through!”

He blindly dive-bombed into a wooden box, shattering it completely, practically at Medusa’s feet. A rock hit her from behind then before Grover could accidentally catch her eyes, followed by others coming from the darkness, and Emily ducked before Medusa could spot her, having distracted her enough though: Annabeth took off her hat, standing by Percy’s side, and she put in on Medusa’s head, making her invisible!

“Now!”

Without thinking, Percy raised his sword up to where he knew the monster’s neck was, and he sliced through it completely, decapitating her. The head, still invisible, fell off the body, making a ‘thump’ noise as it hit the ground. It rolled a few feet away, leaving a mark on the gravel… and then it stopped, and it was all over.

“Are you okay?”

Percy didn’t answer. Instead he walked forward slowly, moving his foot around… until he hit Medusa’s head. He scoffed in disgust, and picked it up, while at the same time Emily helped Grover to get back up – he was still a bit foggy from his fall, but he would be fine.

“Aw, man” complained the son of Poseidon, groaning.

“That’s gross” muttered Emily; Percy had the head in his hands, still invisible “Wait, guys… We can use the head to get rid of the fury”

“Kill the monster using the head of a gorgon?”

“Well, you wouldn’t be the first Perseus to do so” said Annabeth “Come on, I’ll go with you”

While Emily remained by Grover’s side, helping him recover, both Annabeth and Percy made their way up to the dining room again, which seemed oddly human and quiet now having been under the house in the huge cavern full of statues.

“You want me to take it from here?”

“Non, no. I got it”

Percy and Annabeth stood in front of the entrance, looking for Alecto – as expected, she was still outside, waiting for them to come out if they managed to escape Medusa.

“Just make sure it’s pointing in the right direction before you take my hat off”

“Good tip” he nodded, and she muttered ‘okay’ in response. Percy looked at the door then, and back to the girl, signalling it to her with a shake of his head “My hands are kinda full with the head so…”

“Of course, sorry”

Annabeth opened the door for him, and taking a deep breath in, Percy walked outside. Annabeth watched him as he slowly approached the fury, who spread her wings now that it was evident that Medusa wasn’t around.

Alecto screeched flying up in the air, claws reaching out for Percy, when the boy took the Yankees cap off of the gorgon’s head, raising it up high into the air. The fury had no time to close her eyes or to escape, and with just a glance, she turned into stone; her statue fell to the ground, breaking into pieces as it hit the asphalt.

Percy stared at the petrified monster’s face, putting the hat quickly back on Medusa’s head. Breathing heavily he turned back to Annabeth, and smiled softly.

While they took care of the fury, downstairs, in the cavern, Emily had managed to fetch some water for Grover, and he was feeling much better now.

“This place is huge” the satyr said, looking around “And the ceiling too. I didn’t even reach it”

“This whole place is probably enchanted” she bit her lip, feeling curious, turning back to Grover “Do you want to explore a bit?”

“It can be dangerous”

“Yeah, and fun” she giggled, starting to wander around “Come on! The gorgon’s gone, let’s look at this place”

There were thousands of statues scattered around the cavern, may of them humans, but also mythical creatures, and even other monsters – although it seemed as if Medusa had kept the most terrifying looking ones outside in her yard. They found a table packed with papers, ink, pens and packing material, and a register book for orders; it seemed like Medusa had even been making money out of her condition.

Emily regretted a bit dragging Grover with her around the cave when she found him looking at the statue of a satyr. Percy and Annabeth descended the stairs back to the basement then, and they found them at the same spot, Grover still looking at the statue.

“Uncle Ferdinand” he muttered.

Oh, no.

“Grover, I’m so sorry” Emily put a hand on his shoulder, eyes looking sad.

“This is as far as he got on his quest… We aren’t even to Trenton” he sighted, defeated “But look at him” Grover chuckled softly, even smiling a bit “He’s not like the others, he… he doesn’t look afraid”

Emily squeezed his shoulder, and he smiled in her way. Clearing his throat, Grover asked Percy and Annabeth if they had gotten rid of Alecto using Medusa’s head, and they confirmed it.

“Uh, we probably should get going. It’ll be dark soon”

“But what are we gonna do with the head?” asked Percy “I just took down a Fury with it, and I wasn’t even trying. We can’t just leave it for someone to find”

“You want to take the head with us?”

“No, no. Leave the hat on, and bury it here, in the basement. That ought to keep it safe”

Both Grover and Emily looked at Annabeth in concern, but after looking at the ground for a few seconds, she just nodded, accepting.

“But your hat…”

“It’s alright, Emily” she shrugged, looking back at Percy then “Now, can we talk about the bigger issue here?”

“What bigger issue?”

“Medusa telling you ‘You could have saved your mother’? Like you had discussed it already?”

“Wait, Percy, is your mom still alive?” Emily thought she had died the night the minotaur attacked, this didn’t make sense.

“She’s with Hades. I appreciate your concern, but-“

“Guys, just please…” Grover interrupted them, shaking his head “Stop”

“Oh, I’m concerned” followed Annabeth, ignoring Grover’s ask “What are you actually doing on this quest? And why did I have to hear about this from Medusa?”

“Okay, while we’re at it” shot back, Percy “Alecto saying ‘You should have accepted my offer’? What’s that about do you think?” he accused not only Annabeth, but also Emily “And why did we have to hear it from the Fury?”

“Enough!”

All three demigods looked at the satyr, who really had had enough of their bickering.

“The hat was a gift from her mother. It’s the only thing she’s ever possessed that connects them. That ought to matter to you” he told Percy, solemnly “And Emily never even thought about accepting Alecto’s offer”

“Okay, but how are we gonna make sure this thing is safe?” Percy held the invisible head up, frowning

“I don’t know yet! And you” he turned to Annabeth, who seemed surprise to get a lecture from him, but she would have to go through it anyways “His mom’s alive. Can you imagine how confusing that must be for him? Feeling like he may have to choose between the fate of the world and the fate of the only person who’s ever cared about him?”

“Why are you talking like this?” asked Annabeth, voice small.

“Because all day Emily and I have been trying to keep this quest on track without upsetting either of you! But maybe… Maybe things need to get a little upsetting before they move forward”

“Grover’s right” added Emily, arms now crossed “You guys can’t keep fighting all day. We’re a team! We need to get along to complete this quest!”

“Annabeth asked you a question back in the woods and you never really answered” Grover looked at Percy again, who’s features had turned hard at his words “What are you so afraid of?”

“I don’t know”

“I think you do. You’ve been fighting with us all day-“

“Because the Oracle said one of you would betray me, okay?” silence fell upon them at the revelation “She said… ‘You shall be betrayed by one who calls you a friend, and you shall fail to save what matters most in the end’. That’s the rest of what she said to me. And that’s because I chose Annabeth… because I couldn’t imagine we’d ever be friends. I chose Emily, because she is loyal to Annabeth, and I never thought she would choose my side before hers, so we would also never become friends. And I chose you” he looked into Grover’s eyes with intensity “Because I thought if I can count on anyone to be on my side, no matter what, it was you. And now, I’m feeling so… alone! I don’t know what to think or who to trust. I’m just… a kid”

The silence felt heavy after his words. Hearing what Percy thought of them, his real reasons to choose them to accompany him on this quest… it was a tough bone.

“I didn’t mean it that way”

“It’s okay” commented Emily, almost shyly “I… I’m loyal to Annabeth, yes, but I also stand to what’s right for me. And I trust you, Percy. I’d never betray you”

“Alecto offered to help our quest if we gave you up to her” explained Annabeth.

“What did you say?” asked Percy, curious.

“We killed her sisters”

“Medusa… she offered to help me save my mom if I turned on the three of you”

“And what’d you say?”

“Well… I cut off her head”

They chuckled, feeling the tension dissolving and the air getting lighter.

“None of you chose to be demigods” said Grover “We didn’t choose this quest. But we can decide that as long as the four of us are together, none of us are gonna be alone. And if we can’t do that, we might as well just head back to camp right now”

“I’m not doing that” replied Emily instantly “Not until completing this quest. I can’t go back and have Clarisse mocking me all day” she complained “Please guys, don’t let that happen”

“We won’t” assured Percy, smiling at her “I think I’ve got a better idea for what to do with the head”

He guided them to Medusa’s work table, and he began looking over her register book:

“Hermes express!” he exclaimed “Medusa ship’s these things all over. Some of it even goes to Olympus”

“Percy” began Annabeth, wariness in her voice “You can’t ship Medusa’s head to Olympus!”

“Why not?”

“Because the gods won’t like it”

“At all. Like, ‘at all’ at all”

“Guys, that’s what you do with dangerous stuff. Like batteries, you just send’em back where they came from”

“This is a bad idea. They will see this as impertinent”

“I am impertinent” he replied smugly, starting to put the invisible head inside a carton box, while Annabeth muttered ‘but we’re not!’. He ignored her “Look, Medusa tried to derail our quest. She’s got serious beef with your mom” he pointed to Annabeth “When you look at it that way, this seems kinda like tribute or something, doesn’t it?”

“That’s taken like from really far, Percy”

“Yeah, but… this way, at least-“ he reached inside the box, grabbing the Yankees hat while quickly closing the package “This way, part of your mom is still with us”

He handed the hat over the table back to Annabeth, and after considering it, she accepted it back, thanking him.

“Here, let me help” Emily walked around the table, and aided Percy with the tape to secure the flaps of the box.

“This isn’t exactly what I meant by choosing each other” said Grover nervously “There are actual dangers involved here that cannot be…”

He didn’t finish his sentence though, as Percy interrupted him by starting to clap his hands in a rhythm they recognized a few seconds into the melody.

“You’re gonna sing the song, aren’t you?”

Not this again, thought Emily.

“Oh golly, the road’s getting’ bumpy-“

“Whatever”

“Please stop”

“Consensus!” Percy sang, not remembering the lyrics but making it up.

“Let’s make a pack, please” Emily perked up, having finished closing the box “Never come back to Aunty Em’s Garden Gnome Emporium… and never sing that song ever again”

A chorus’ of ‘deal’ resonated inside the cavern, and soon after they were all giggling and chuckling. The quest could go on.

----

Taglist: @strawberryys-stuff @ladysybilchronicles @kyuupidwrites @nhloversblog @beansficreblogs @priyajoyyy @zeeader @lightsgore @gengen64

[bugwolfsstuff]

Here's a snippet of the Halloween fic wip, cause I decided to rewrite this chapter

@smileyalater @thel1ghtningthief @unubinary @bodeyeen2132

I am trying to fit a Valgrace plot

Camp Halfblood! Camp Halfblood! BE GLAD YOU'RE STILL ALIVE

Chapter 1. Leo’s Pov 

The meeting room of the Big House was in complete chaos and not of the fun kind when I walked in.  

Connor (or Travis? I can never tell them apart) Stoll from Hermes was picking at the peeling paint of the meeting table (which was really just a Ping-Pong table with foldable chairs around it). His brother was trying to put a whoopee cushion on my chair. Clarisse, my buddy Frank’s scary older sister from Ares was sharpening her spear Lamer. Clovis from Hypnos was slumped over in his seat, fast asleep. My friends Piper and Jason were in their seats looking really bored.  A girl with a blue bob was sitting in the Demeter seat looking like she was about to blow a gasket. She seemed to be Miranda’s replacement. 

The rest of the counsellors (the newbies) who I didn’t know were yelling amongst themselves. 

“What are we going to do?” I heard someone yell. “Miranda is dead!” 

Dios, I thought. Not something you want to hear when you walk in the room. Personally, I’d prefer it if every time I walked in everyone cheered and threw confetti. 

“No, she isn't you idiot! She’s in the infirmary!” Someone else yelled. 

Oh, that’s better, I thought. I squeezed my way past Clovis to my seat. Since I came back from, you know dying, my siblings made me head counsellor. So, it was up to me, Captain Valdez, supreme leader of Cabin Nine to sit at the Ping-Pong table with the big kids and help solve the latest camp crisis.... 

Whatever that crisis was. I’ve been in Bunker nine working on upgrading Festus for the past...three maybe five days? And Nyssa didn’t explain much except ‘Miranda got attacked in the fields, Leo get your butt to the Big House stat’. 

It was fine though; I figured this was going to be a quick meeting. In and out. Lots of people get attacked or mauled at camp. As much as I hate to say it, this was the normal at Camp. This was probably just going to be a quick meeting on weapon training and a slideshow presentation on the art of not dying. 

I pushed the whoopee cushion onto the floor and smiled at the Stoll brother closest to me, sliding into my seat “Hey, what’d I miss?” I asked. 

“Nothing much” Piper said across from me. 

I sighed, pulling out some pipe cleaners from my belt. “What even happened? Did the strawberries go rogue and start going on a rampage or something?” 

Before Piper could open her mouth to reply, Chiron, the camp’s unofficial camp director walked in—or more wheeled in, he was in his wheelchair. Will Solace from Apollo and what I'm assuming was the school year counsellor for Annabeth’s cabin followed him close behind, taking their seats. 

“Counsellors!” Chiron called over the noise, “Let’s come to order now,”  

The room fell into silence, and everyone looked at him and Will. 

He wheeled himself over to his spot at the end of the table “As some of you have already heard. Miranda is in the infirmary from very...” He cleared his throat, “.... gruesome injuries sustained from an attack in the Strawberry fields.” He glanced at Miranda’s blue haired replacement, “Don’t worry, she’s okay.” 

I felt like that was contradicting, but that seemed to calm her down. 

“Do we know what attacked Miranda?” Jason asked from the end of the table, looking cool in a rugged way, he was growing his hair out. He’s a son of Jupiter, so while me and Piper were living it up, starting super cool clubs and making up secret handshakes; He was on the other side of the Ping Pong table with the other big three kids, who were only there half of the time. 

Will Solace shook his head, pulling his bloody medical gloves off and putting them on the table (gross, dude), “No, no one saw it. It disappeared into the strawberry plants before anyone could see it properly.” He replied. 

“What about the bite mark? And the scratches?” Annabeth's brother asked, “That could help identify it!”. 

Will shook his head, “I already told you, that’s what’s weird about it, the bite didn’t look like any monster I’ve seen before.” He paused, frowning. “It looked… almost human.” 

Jason frowned too, “Maybe an Empusa?” 

“Doubt it,” Will said, “They usually go for men, and we would of saw it and it disappeared into the plants, very few things do that”. 

Miranda’s replacement perked up “Maybe the dryads saw something? We could ask—” 

Clarisse cut her off with a snort “Already tried, Sherman’s on a warpath. He asked the nymphs if they saw anything. They all refused to talk”. She lowered her spear, glancing around the room, “I uh...I wouldn’t be so sure on their loyalty.” 

Everyone stared at Clarisse. If we were in a movie the soundtrack would be going Dun dun dunnn, right then.  

Jason’s brow furrowed, “You think the Dryads are in on it?” 

“Not saying they are,” Clarisse replied, “But it’s suspicious they’re not talking. Normally, they’d be jumping to defend their territory.” 

“How dare you!” Miranda’s replacement looked around to see if anyone was going to back her up “You all can’t really be thinking—” 

Jason cut her off, “—So, the dryads clearly know something. That’s not good, this is more serious than we thought."  

I thought he could say that again. Even I knew how bad it was; if the nymphs were covering for a monster, then we were in Trouble with a capital T. Camp was surrounded by nature, they outnumber us. If they decided to do a plant uprising, we’d lose a lot more than the pretty ladies who serve our food at meals. 

He looked serious now, his blue eyes were deathly calm, like a storm right before the lightning strike. The small scar on his lip quivered. His elbows were up on the ping-pong table and his chin was resting on his chin, which meant he means business, and he was doing his ‘I have a plan; trust me I am the leader’ face. 

I looked down at my hands, I somehow managed to tie my pipe cleaners to both of my sleeves like hand cuffs. 

“Here’s what we’re gonna do,” Jason said slipping into his leader voice, and I decided to ignore my pipe cleaner imprisonment to listen to him, “Stolls, Clarisse, get your cabins to patrol the campgrounds, especially near the forest and the fields. Leo and Malcolm, both your cabins can collaborate on traps, right?” 

Annabeth’s brother—Malcolm, nodded. Clarisse grunted and the Stolls grinned. 

I saluted with both my hands (still handcuffed) “Aye Aye Commander Grace! I won't let you down!” I promised. 

Jason smiled at me before turning to Piper and continuing, I grinned back, “Okay, Piper, you and I are going to take a walk and try and figure out what’s up with the nymphs”. 

Piper nodded. 

Jason nodded back and then looked at the remaining counsellors, he went down the list of cabins, giving them each a job. No one argued with him. That was the thing with Jason’s leader voice, it was like charmspeak. When he spoke, you listened. 

[kou-katsu]

Argument where everyone involved is (probably) unrecognizable, yet a canon character

Annabeth: Hello animal jammers! I guess I should just let you know that Percy is gone! Okay bye!

Austin: Oh no! How could this possibly have happened?

Malcolm: No! Not the main character we didn’t respect!

Jake: Wait, no, does this mean… Jason is our new Percy?

Kayla: Don’t say that that’s even worse

Butch: I’ll make a surprise murder during these sort of events!

Clovis: Doing great, Butch, keep those reactions general and uninteresting

Connor: Hey! Be quiet minor characters, Jason isn’t a knockoff Percy

Kayla: Who are you calling a minor character? You’re literally Connor Stoll!

Connor: Excuse me? Nobody knows you exist because all you ever did was set traps everywhere during the Battle of Manhattan!

Kayla: People know your half-brother better than you and he’s dead!

Juniper: Everyone! Everyone! Stop fighting! If we were all introduced during Percy Jackson & The Olympians, we’re all equally relevant!

Shane: What do you know, Juniper?

Christopher: Great job, Shane, keep hating on everyone with a valid argument!

Kayla: Says the demigod who posted on Facebook the other day, “All of these people are posers. I’m the only one worth anything in this dumb camp”

Miranda: Oh look! Here’s cool Kayla stalking people on the internet again!

Mitchell: Miranda you finally spoke!

Malcolm: It’s a miracle! We’ve all been blessed! This never would have happened had we not been having another hour long argument with everybody involved!

[7s3ven]

hii ! i love your writing so much so you know i had to request a luke imagine 💝

i’m thinking of a reader with a protective godly parent (your choice of which god), who is very selective on who they allow their child to date. luke has loved them for years, so one night he prays to their parent for approval. idk if you’ve watched gilmore girls, but I’m imagining the scene where dave tries to convince lane’s mom to allow her to date ! (if you haven’t seen the show, its a popular clip on tt that you could look up if u wanted)

i’m picturing fluff but could def make it angst too, so it’s whatever you want! also, i’m a fem reader, but i don’t mind gender neutral or anything like that

tysm ! ❤️

DAVE AND LANE SHOULD HAVE BEEN ENDING GAME

I LIKE ME BETTER. luke (pjo)

( master list )

IN WHICH… Luke is on a mission to prove himself to the father of the girl he loves. He’ll do anything for her hand, even if said god is asking him to do some particularly stupid stunts.

“I like me better when I’m with you.”

Warnings: drinking, smoking, and vaping mentioned

A/N: Guys… I love loser! Luke AND I KNOW YOU DO TOO. I feel like Dionysus would be the guy to put Luke through all this stuff just for his own amusement

Also, this is my little birthday gift for y’all 😽. Bc it’s my bday today 🙀

—

The first thing when you thought of a daughter of Dionysus’ was a troublemaker, one that rivalled the Stoll brothers. Maybe an alcoholic with bad habits engraved in her mind like her father.

Y/N was a total shock to the camp. How could such a sweet, kind, dazzling girl be the daughter of Dionysus? She didn’t have one mean or sarcastic bone in her body.

She was as bright as Apollo’s kids, as beautiful as the Aphrodite girls prancing around in mini skirts and small tops, and as friendly as the Demeter children who grew roses alongside her. So, it wasn’t a surprise that boys craned their heads to peek at her, something her father hated witnessing. Nobody, not one mere mortal or even a godly being, was good enough for his beloved daughter.

Dionysus held Y/N close. She reminded him of her mother, who died giving birth to her. He had already lost one important woman in his life. He wasn’t going to let history repeat itself again.

“Dad?” Y/N called out into her father’s room, wrinkling up her nose when she almost stumbled over a wine bottle rolling around. Her father was forbidden to consume alcohol but that didn’t stop him from tricking the younger campers into fetching him some.

After concluding that her father wasn’t in his quarters, Y/N took the bottle and wandered to find a bin. The trash cans were always moving around, which made it a mission to find one.

As Y/N passed by the Hermes cabin, she heard her name. She glanced over her shoulder, innocently staring at the pair of boys who were conversing outside. One was leaning against a wooden pillar while the other rested his arms against the railing of the porch.

One noticed Y/N and he nudged his friend, quickly changing their conversation topic.

Y/N recognised Luke Castellan. The Aphrodite girls loved to rave about him, about how handsome and talented he was. How they wished they could kiss him. How they wanted to be held in his arms.

He wasn’t bad looking in Y/N’s eyes, quite adorable actually. She watched as his lips curved into an amused smile as he looked at Chris and how his eyes crinkled slightly. Despite wanting to admire him, Y/N forcefully turned her head. She wasn’t allowed to date. That was one of her father’s golden rules.

She was allowed to drink, allowed to smoke, probably even allowed to go skinny-dipping in the dead of night. Her father was fine with anything as long as she wasn’t around any boys. Of course, she never did consume alcohol or take a much needed hit from a cigarette. She had seen other kids do it.

One of the Ares kids was constantly sneaking in and out of camp to buy new vapes. She had even witnessed Luke of all people, the esteemed golden boy, the role model, blow a cloud of smoke from his lips.

Y/N was always scared she was missing out but she valued her healthy lungs, which had played a part in her surviving a terrifying harpy while on her way to camp.

“She’s perfect.” Luke whispered to Chris.

“Too bad Mr D won’t let you near her.”

It was a known fact that nobody was allowed to date Y/N. She was the camp princess. The only demigod with a parents who cared enough about her to be actively involved in her life. Not even Annabeth had that kind of bond with Athena.

Luke hoped one day Dionysus would let him near Y/N. Until then, he was fine admiring her from afar because he knew no other guys could approach her either.

"You know, I heard Dionysus won't be at the campfire tonight... you could make a move." Chris nudged Luke, muttering quietly so nobody else heard him.

Luke had always been determined to be the first to sweep Y/N off her feet. This was his chance to fulfil that broad claim. He didn't know how he'd do it but when there's a will, there's a way.

All throughout the day, Luke kept close tabs on Y/N. When she was in the arena he was there too, polishing the spare swords. When she was in the garden, Luke happened to be amongst the tall grass too. And he gazed longingly at her from across the pavilion during lunch. She sat alone at her table, Dionysus nowhere in sight.

Luke's heart hammered in his chest as he slowly stood up. Chris slapped his back as a way of encouraging him but it only made his anxiety spike.

“Go get her, tiger.”

“Don’t call me that.”

Luke picked up the pace when he realized that a few other boys the same idea as his. “Hey, Y/N.” He got to her first.

She lifted her head, staring at him through her lashes. She smiled. “Hi, Luke.” She saw his eyes light up.

“You know my name?”

“I’ve been here longer than you. Plus, it’d help concerning if I didn’t know the name of the best swordsman.”

“I’m not that good.”

“You won in a 4 V 1 battle.” Y/N pointed out.

“Did I? I didn’t even notice.”

Y/N let out an amused laugh but she immediately cut herself off when she felt a heavy hand on her shoulder. Luke cleared his throat, standing upright.

“Good afternoon, Mr D.” He politely greeted the god.

“Scram, Castellan.” Mr D ordered, glowering at the teenager. Luke quickly nodded and speed-walked back to his table, where Chris was trying to muffle his laughter.

“He wasn’t even flirting with me, dad.” Y/N huffed and furrowed her eyebrows. Her eyes wandered to Luke, feeling a little sorry for him.

“Stop looking at him, Y/N.” Dionysus lightly scolded her. Y/N pouted and pushed the food on her plate around with her fork.

“I wish you would let me date. I’m the only girl who hasn’t kissed someone.” She muttered, huffing.

“I will not let you date a hooligan.”

“Daddy, Luke isn’t a hooligan. He’s sweet. He’s the best swordsman in three hundred years.”

“Which means he could easily hurt you.”

“He wakes up early to go for a run.”

“Wow, the perfect set-up to cheat.”

“He’s good with kids.”

“He’ll want his own kids with you soon.”

“That last one didn’t even make sense.”

“I know a man’s mind, Y/N. Luke Castellan is a dangerous boy.”

Y/N glanced at Luke and Dionysus followed her gaze. Luke was attempting to balance a spoon on his tongue while Chris cracked up.

“Dangerous, huh? I’m absolutely terrified.” Y/N sarcastically deadpanned.

“He’s acting innocent.”

“Sure.”

Fathers always had a weird vendetta against the idea of their daughters dating. Dionysus was no different. If anything, he was worse. He was always popping up at the worst times, such as just now. He never let the attention of a boy linger on Y/N for too long, scared it would take her away from him. Perhaps he was doing it on purpose.

“It’s so unfair.” Y/N huffed as she plucked petals off a rose Silena had randomly given her. “He won’t let me date or go to the parties. I’m not even allowed to look at a boy!” Y/N groaned, leaning back in her foldable chair.

She was sitting with Silena in front of the quiet lake, watching as the wind rippled across the still water.

“Have you tried talking to him?” Silena suggested, sipping on a tall glass of whatever drink she had mixed.

“Nothing works! Someday he’ll have to let me date. He can’t stop me forever. I’m almost twenty now!”

Silena hummed before offering Y/N some pineapple juice.

“Any new gossip, though? Besides Mr D being a total cock block.”

“Well… there’s this one guy.” Y/N murmured, shyly flicking her straw around. Silena immediately sat up.

“Tell me everything!” She quickly demanded. “What’s his name? Is he cute? Can he fight?”

“He can’t fight… and he’s good-looking. He’s, uh,” Y/N diverted her gaze elsewhere, “Also a son… of Hermes.”

“Luke Castellan!” Silena exclaimed without hesitation. “I knew there was something going on when he approached her! Why haven’t you taken an interest in him before? You and him have been here for ages.”

“He had a middle part before.”

“Oh, I remember that!” Silena let out a quiet giggle as she relaxed again, kicking her feet in excitement. “Ask him out.”

“You’re forgetting one problem. My dad!”

Silena shrugged like it wasn’t a big deal. “Make Luke prove himself to Mr D. That worked with my dad!”

“Luke proved himself to your dad?”

“No, silly! It was another boy. But if Luke wants to be seen as worthy, he has to impress Mr D!”

“I guess.” Y/N mumbled as she slowly nodded her head.

“Great. Let’s get ready for the campfire. A new Ares boy arrived and I want to see Melo flirt with him. She flirts with everyone.”

Y/N poked a large marshmallow through the skewer before shoving it into the hot flames in front of her. Silena was talking but she was too spaced out to hear a word.

Y/N aimlessly hummed and occasionally nodded her head. “Yup.” She muttered, turning her marshmallow over and watching as the soft white treat turned crisp.

“Are you even listening? I said Luke is staring at you.”

That got Y/N’s attention. She quickly lifted her head, her gaze immediately searching for the brunette. She found him amongst the Hermes kids and a few of the Aphrodite girls loitered around him. He smiled at her for a split second before his eyes flickered to Y/N’s marshmallow.

He subtly pointed at it and Y/N huffed once she realized her marshmallow had caught fire and been burnt black. “That was my last one.” She threw the skewer into the fire, allowing the hot flames to swallow it up.

“Well, you did keep eating them.” Silena pointed out.

Y/N sent her a small glare. “You’re literally eating one of my marshmallows right now. You have a whole pile sitting on your skirt!”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Silena was quick to shove the rest into her mouth. “Bye!” She exclaimed but her words were muffled by the marshmallows.

“You owe me!” Y/N called out after her.

“Is Silena stealing marshmallows again?” Luke chuckled as he came to a stop in front of Y/N. He shoved his hands into his pockets whilst Y/N nodded.

“She does this every time. She’s stealing from Annabeth now!” Y/N wildly gestured over at Silena who was sweetly convincing Annabeth to hand over a few marshmallows.

“She should be notorious for being the marshmallow thief.” Luke grinned. He sat down beside Y/N, their shoulders gently brushing.

“Sorry about my dad at lunch.” Y/N blurted out. “He can be a tad… overprotective. You know how he is.”

“Well, I did see him set somebody’s clothes on fire for winking at you.”

Y/N quietly sighed. “Yeah… poor Nick. May he rest in peace.”

Luke glanced over at Nick who was guarding his marshmallows with his life. “He isn’t dead, you know.”

“Yeah, but he looked like he died back then.”

A familiar presence appeared from behind the pair and Luke immediately stiffened while Y/N pressed her lips into a thin line.

“Castellan. What are you doing talking with my daughter?” Dionysus sounded friendly yet when he slung an arm around Luke’s shoulder, he could tell the god was holding back on strangling him.

“We’re just talking about Silena and her marshmallows, daddy.” Y/N quickly piped up, “It’s not a big deal.”

“Castellan, let’s have a chat, shall we?” Dionysus dragged Luke off before either of the teens could stop him.

“Mr D, before you say anything, please don’t set me on fire! And if you do, spare my pants! These were expensive and I even got them on sale!”

“Keep your pants on, kid.” Dionysus grunted, knowing Luke was fully prepared to unbutton his jeans in order to preserve them. “What business do you have with my daughter, hm?”

Luke visibly relaxed at the idea of his jeans surviving the convention. “If it isn’t too bold to say, Mr D… I like her. A lot. I have for… years now. But I’ve always respected your wish to distance her from boys. I’ll even pray to you. I’ll give you wine. I’ll pray to you with wine and vodka and butterscotch and, uh, more wine! And grapes! Big, red grapes! Just give me a chance!”

Dionysus held up a hand to stop Luke’s aimless rambling. “You want to have a shot with my daughter?” He asked. Luke frantically nodded. “Alright. Do as I say and maybe I’ll consider it.”

Luke thickly gulped. He didn’t like that mischievous look in Dionysus’ eyes but nevertheless, he agreed. “Thank you, Mr D!”

Luke was the first camper to wake up. He reached under his bed, pulling out a large bottle of vintage wine he had been saving for this very occasion.

“Good morning, Mr D!” He cheerfully exclaimed, clearly showed the god the label of the alcohol.

“It’s worse now that you’re here.” Dionysus grumbled, yet he held out his chalice for Luke to pour him a much needed drink. Once he had gulped it all down, he turned to face Luke again. “Alright, first task, get rid of some rogue hellhound. Chiron sent me to do it but you’re more than capable, right?”

Luke was in no position to disagree.

“It’s near camp so don’t get ya knickers in a twist.” Dionysus stood up, brushing the bread crumbs off his lamp. “See ya at soon, kid. Oh, and I’ll be taking that.” He grabbed the wine bottle without a care in the world, merrily whistling to him with a small skip in his step.

“Did I just see you talking to my dad?” Y/N raised an eyebrow. Seeing her dad get along with a camper was a rare sight.

“Somewhat.” Luke muttered. “Uh, good morning? You’re up early.”

“I went out for a morning jog.” Y/N smiled as she tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear. “So, hell hound catching, huh?”

“Yeah- Wait, what?” Luke’s gaze snapped to stare at Y/N in slightly shock. She stifled a small laugh.

“I heard your conversation. What’s the hell hound all about?”

Luke quietly sighed. “Don’t tell your dad I told you,” He leaned forward to whisper in Y/N’s ear, “But I convinced him to let me befriend you if I did a few things for him.”

Of course, being Y/N’s friend wasn’t Luke’s main priority but it was better than nothing.

“You better get to it, then. I’m getting lonely.” Y/N laughed as she playfully punched his shoulder. He chuckled alongside her.

“Yeah. I’ll see you soon.” He calmly brushed past Y/N, his smile faltering, “If I survive this.” He muttered to himself, his hands itching to grab a sword.

Finding the hellhound wasn’t hard. Luke spotted its raven black pelt amongst the bright green bushes. It stood out like a sore thumb. It was getting rid of it that would be the problem.

As soon as Luke carelessly stepped forward, a twig snapped under his foot, the hellhound growled. It loudly barked, baring its sharp teeth at the Hermes boy. He pointed his sword at the beast, narrowing his eyes.

“I swear, if you kill me, Hades better revive me so I can date Y/N.” Luke launched forward, tackling the large dog. It howled as his sword scratched its leg. “Nice dog!” Luke nervously chuckled. The hellhound barked again, kicking Luke with its powerful back legs.

“Easy now!” Luke wheezed, the air being knocked out of him from the repetitive blows.

Luke was supposed to be the best fighter at camp. He never dared picture himself rolling across the ground, practically body slamming a hellhound as mud stuck to his orange shirt.

“Just lie still so I can score a date with my long time crush!” Luke exclaimed as he scrambled to stand up. The hellhound paused in confusion, giving Luke enough time to turn it into fine dust.

“I’m never doing that again.” He muttered to himself as he stormed past the tall trees. Dionysus was standing beside the forest, drinking the wine as he seemed to be waiting for Luke. The god pulled down his sunglasses, bursting into rambunctious laughter when he saw Luke.

“What happened to you?! You look terrible, kid!” Dionysus cackled, throwing his head back in amusement.

“You spilled some wine.” Luke muttered, unamused. His usual perfect skin was now adorned with small cuts and bruises. His shirt was covered in dirt. And his hair what probably taken the brute of the attack. Twigs and leaves stuck out of his messy curled brown locks, which caused Dionysus to snicker.

“I told you it wasn’t gonna be easy, kid. You’ll hate tomorrow’s task even more.”

Luke hated every task.

Monday’s was the hellhound. Tuesday’s little chore was to clean the girl’s bathroom. He found out then how much long hair they lost. The Aphrodite girls always complained about their hair falling out. Well, Luke had found it down the drain.

Wednesday’s shenanigan was to steal Clarisse’s beloved spear. Luke wasn’t sure how he was alive after being caught by her. Thursday was surprisingly peaceful. All he had to do was sneak out of camp to buy Mr D more wine.

It was now Friday. Luke was wondering what Mr D had in store for him today. Breakfast whizzed by as usual. A few Aphrodite girls tried to catch his attention but he was focused on Mr D whispering something in Y/N’s ear.

Luke waited patiently throughout the day to be given an idiotic task. It was lunch time when Mr D approached him.

“You finish this one, kid, and you might have my blessing.”

These words made Luke’s eyes light up. “What is it?” He demanded.

“Follow the trail in the forest, jump across some trees, do a perfect dive into the lake from the highest cliff, and swim across the water towards camp. Easy peasy.”

Luke’s small smile wavered. “You’re… joking, right?”

The blank look on Mr D’s face told Luke he wasn’t. Luke sighed. “I’ll get my towel.”

The run through the forest wasn’t so bad. As soon as Luke gave Mr D his towel, he jogged into the thick vegetation. Mr D would be waiting at the finish line for him, if he ever made it. Climbing trees was not Luke’s forte.

His palms were sweaty as he peered down below, quickly gulping at how far down the ground seemed. “I didn’t know I was this stupid.” He muttered to himself before leaping onto a nearby thick branch. He repeated the action, always barely making it and wobbling.

Small beads of sweat trickled down Luke’s forehead as he hiked up the steep hill towards the cliff under the scorching sun. He could see the small figure of Mr D on the other side of the lake.

Luke was thankful he had taken diving lessons before. With a snippet of hesitation, he gracefully jumped. He hit the cold water, shivering. It felt like small needles poking his body. Luke emerged, panting and spitting out a mouthful of water.

He heard Mr D quietly clap. “Good job, kid.”

“What?!” Luke exclaimed, still too far away to hear the god’s voice.

“I said, good job! It was a decent dive!” Mr D cupped his hands over his mouth.

Luke emerged from the lake, drenched and cold and clutching his body as he searched for some warmth.

“Dad? What’s going on here?”

Both Luke and Mr D stiffened at the sound of Y/N’s voice. “Why was Luke in the lake?”

“Mr D.” Luke cut in, “I have something to say.”

“I’m busy, Castellan.”

“You’re literally standing in front of me. That’s all you’re doing.”

“Don’t let the sassy man apocalypse take you too, Castellan.”

“I have a crush on your daughter, sir. You probably already knew that. I know you have strict rules about dating and boys. But I promise to take good care of your daughter. I’ve only smoked once to try it, I don’t drink because I’m scared it’ll make me stupid, I’ve never gotten a ticket. I’m healthy, I take care of myself, I floss for ten minutes every night and that might seem extreme but cavities are no joke. I do well in activities here and I hardly ever play the video games my siblings do in case the theory of them turning you into a psycho is true. I don’t drink coffee. I hate soda because my stomach can’t handle the carbonation. I’ll willingly eat like a cow if you don’t want me eating meat. I don’t mind wearing a suit in the hot sun. I enjoy spending limited time with Y/N and I really, really, really like her.”

Mr D was silent. Luke subtly cleared his throat. “Uh… Mr D? Please don’t make me repeat that list again.”

Mr D broke into a pattern of snickers. “To tell you the truth, Castellan, I was going to let you date my daughter ages ago. She convinced me. It was just so fun making you do stupid things.”

Luke’s face dropped. “I did all that… for nothing… Clarisse almost killed me!”

Mr D, sensing Luke’s anger, merely rolled his eyes and quickly walked off in a drunken manner. “Have fun, you too.”

“Did you really fight a hellhound?” Y/N asked.

“Yes. It ruined my Hello Kitty socks!” Luke huffed. “But I’d do it again for you. What do you say, Y/N? Will you go out with me?” Luke clasped his hands together as a way of begging.

“I feel a little sorry for you, so okay.” She pulled him into a hug. “You know you’re going to have to prove yourself to my friends now.”

Luke stiffened. “No more hellhounds. Please.”

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