#sure they are things a mortal can't overcome by their own will alone

[cienie-isengardu]

Hello, may I bother you for a bit?

This is something regarding Lord Liu Kang. At the beginning of the story mode, he's narrating that he gave everyone free will but later in the story mode, Geras says that Liu Kang forged everyone's destinies and that Shang Tsung and Quan Chi were defying theirs.

Which means that Shang Tsung was destined to live in poverty, Quan Chi was destined to grueling work in the mines and Shao was born sickly child if it weren't for his father's program that shaped him into the warrior he is now.

Which leads me to believe he is deliberately punishing them for things they did not do, all because of the memories of his mortal life.

In one of the intros between Shang Tsung and Geras, it is implied that Shang Tsung also had a horrible childhood.

What do you think?

Hello there and you do not bother me at all!

The destiny vs free will is one of the universal questions that humanity has tried to solve for ages and the answer for sure will vary from one person to another, always colored by religion (or lack of therefor) and culture each of us is part of. However, within Liu Kang’s timeline, I strongly believe destiny and free will aren’t mutually exclusive, because both terms refer to different aspects of a mortal's life.

When Liu Kang says he crafted for each person's destiny, it does not mean there is one and only one script to how things and people’s reaction will play out while he is gonna pretend to be surprised by the turn of events and having fun in the middle of a crisis invented out of boredom eons ago. 

What Liu Kang decided for each character is the setting that no one has choice over and designed role to play - Raiden is destined to be current Earthrealm Champion; Bi-Han, Kuai Liang and Tomas are destined to be Lin Kuei; Mileena is destined to rule Edenia; Shao is destined to serve loyalty to Queen Sindel; Shang Tsung is destined to not have any power whatsoever. None of them must like the circumstances they were born into nor the role bestowed upon them or faced adversity on the way, however how they will use the given time and live their life is greatly up to them. 

Raiden accepted Liu Kang’s training and worked hard to earn the right to represent Earthrealm in the Tournament - if he didn’t dedicate himself to the task, Kung Lao, Johnny or Kenshi would take his place. Bi-Han was trained from childhood to protect Earthrealm but he ultimately rejected the traditional role of Lin Kuei and chose to be loyal only to his clan instead to Fire Lord and the realm. In contrast, Kuai Liang decided to honor father’s teaching and aided Liu Kang, even if that meant going against his own brother - as Geras said, the brothers weren’t destined to be enemies yet both make their own choices that from now on will define their relationship. Tomas was forced by circumstances (Keeper of Time’s choice) into Lin Kuei and raised alongside Sub-Zero and Scorpion by their father, however as his BIO states, “Smoke chose to make the Lin Kuei’s mission his own. But as he lacked his brothers' innate supernatural abilities, he set out to master practical magic. Having done so, he now joins them in Earthrealm's defense” and this implies he wasn’t forced to master smoke powers by his adoptive family and that he was not necessarily considered as a material for Lin Kuei warrior but he made a conscious choice to learn magic so he could join his brothers in their duties. 

Shao and Shang Tsung jumped on occasion to rise in power for their own gain but no one physically forced them to betray the Royal Family or to inflict cruelty on others. According to Liu Kang’s design, they weren’t meant to have the opportunity to take over Edenia and still they could refuse to aid Damashi’s plot when the offer was made to them or at any given time after that. Shang Tsung managed to create a serum that does not heal Tarkatan sickness yet allows to control the unwanted symptoms, thus giving a sick person a chance for more or less normal life. He could share that with sick people or work with other imperial mages to find cure - and go into edenian history as a great hero and savior - but he chose not to, because his own plans were more important to him, than the well-being of other people. 

As a first-born, Mileena inherited the throne after mother’s death yet she still has an option to abdicate if she doesn’t like the burden bestowed on her by fate. 

What Liu Kang chose for each character is not set in stone and can be altered by people’s personal choices, for good or bad. Of course, that does not mean he has never interfere with mortal’s life to steer said person on the path he planed, as it is the best seen with Kung Lao and Raiden unknowingly prepared by Madam Bo for their role of Earthrealm Champions and Shang Tsung’s destiny to have as mediocre life as possible. So yes, Liu Kang is not above his personal favoritism and bias and I suspect it is the result of him being mortal turned into god, not the other way around. He definitely threw some serious obstacles on characters’ path, like sickness for child Shao (though did he plan to keep Shao unfit to be warrior and the outcome was changed by Shao’s father refusing to accept son’s sickness/disability or did Shao was born as sick child so the father could teach him discipline and raise him with an iron fist to become a loyal soldier is up to debate) or death of family for Tomas. However some of the hardship characters faced may as well come from their ancestors' choices alone, be it the dark history of Kenshi’s family that joined the Bakuto, a predecessor of the Yakuza for protection or Nitara’s people slowly starving because of their foolish choices (“The Vaeternians thrived, building a great society. But as their comfort grew, so did their shortsightedness. They overfed on Vaeternus’ creatures, disrupting the natural order. They now starve as it collapses.”, Nitara’s BIO)

In all fairness, the line between Liu Kang’s chosen destiny for characters and choices of mortals affecting the outcome may be pretty thin and in result, not so clear to us. Shang Tsung is the best example of this, because story mode alone gives the impression the man was born into poverty and neglect - he is on his own, using deception to survive in harsh outworld wilderness. Him being so miserable and angry makes sense to jump on the first occasion for anything better than what he has; to cling to the one person offering him not only power but also kindness, a praise for any progress made, be it the progress in the realization of plan or Shang Tsung’s own skills and knowledge.

Yet his official BIO

Shang Tsung grew up in Outworld’s backwaters. Too lazy for hard labor and too shifty for honest work, he eked out a living selling quack cures and fake magic. Though his wares were useless, Shang Tsung’s easy charm always closed the deal. Shang Tsung was resigned to this hardscrabble life. But then one day a mysterious stranger came, promising to make Shang Tsung a powerful sorcerer. Though suspicious of the offer, it was one he couldn’t refuse.

 and intro dialogues 

Shang Tsung: We're both small-town boys at heart. Raiden: Then why is yours so infected with evil? 

or

Shang Tsung: The squalor I endured as a child- Geras: Do not lie. I know the truth.

contradict the idea he was destined to live in poverty or even born in an abusive environment solely because of Liu Kang’s spite. The Bio alone put a blame on Shang Tsung’s own laziness and reluctance to do honest work, Geras calls his claim of bad childhood a lie and for all we know, there were plenty of opportunities for Shang Tsung to take and live his life in peace he turned down for whatever petty reason. The source material is so weirdly contradicting that I still don’t have an idea who we should trust on that one and how much it is Liu Kang’s fault and how much Shang Tsung’s own. 

(I’m gonna hold my judgment for the Quan Chi’s backstory until NRS will release further official material. Working in mines was always a hard job, however it is not clear to me if he was there by force - as enslavement or penalty? - or was he just born in a rural town where everyone worked as miners and he did what his family and/or all townsfolk did for generations.)

Geras saying Shang Tsung and Quan Chi defy their destinies may simply mean they got hold of power they should not have according to Liu Kang’s original plan. At the same time, Liu Kang specifically said to Sindel that Shang Tsung, Quan Chi and General Shao were groomed to be evil again by powers outside his control, so again, the chosen destinies for those three weren’t set in stone, as Liu Kang’s design could be - and was - altered.

For now, until proven otherwise, I will trust Liu Kang’s words that all characters indeed have free will and their choices matters, as supported by intro dialogues

Sindel: Until your revelation, I felt in control of my destiny. Liu Kang: You still are, Your Highness. 

or

Ashrah: I must know, Geras. Is my future set? Geras: There is no fate but what you make. 

or

Geras: Any advice for when I control the Hourglass? Liu Kang: Let all people be masters of their fate. 

but also for the fact alone that Liu Kang did not use his Titan powers to rewind time and alter the last events for his liking, as in making sure bored Titan Shang Tsung did not corrupt his alternative self and the rest of bunch, like Kronika did countless time before.

We will see how future tie-in material will challenge my outlook at this issue, but for now I'm gonna think that Liu Kang's planed destiny and characters' free will to what do with given time co-exist.

[chriscrosswallflower-blog]

Hi everyone, my name is Christian and I am back to writing fanfiction about the stories I grew up with to cope with life. At the moment I'm mainly writing in the PJO fandom but I also love Heartstopper, AGGGTM, Bridgerton, etc. so you'll probably see a bit of that too. I also *might* post some pieces of the original novel I'm writing if that's something that people would be interested in.

If you have ideas or questions for me, feel free to send me an ask!

Here is a link to my AO3 and a list of all of my current works:

Works in Progress

we're not brave, we're not soldiers (PJO wip, first in series)

The battle of Manhattan was mostly a blood stained blur but Will would never forget the sight of his brother’s body falling along with that bridge.

Follow along with this set of one shots as Percy and Will navigate the pain and trauma of being child soldiers and grow to form an unlikely friendship.

i always wish I had more to give (PJO wip, wnbwns series)

Will's life has changed drastically over the years, but there is one thing that remains constant: he always wishes he could do more, that he was more.

An exploration of Will Solace as a character and his relationship with his friends and siblings. A companion piece to we're not brave, we're not soldiers, but it can also stand on its own

you will heal and you'll rise above (PJO wip, wnbwns series)

Nico is used to handling everything alone. Sure he's suffering, but what else is new?

Until a certain healer comes along and shows him that he can both heal and heal others.

A companion piece to 'we're not brave, we're not soldiers' but this can be read on its own.

my dear I always feared the ocean (AGGGTM wip)

'Can you find him before the clock runs out?' She only stopped running when she realized she was about to step on something that had been dropped in the street. She bent down and picked up a set of headphones with an AGGGTM sticker on the side. The headphones were scrapped and there was a small bit of blood on the inside.

Pip didn’t even realize that she had fallen to her knees, couldn’t feel the way the asphalt dug in and cut her skin through her jeans. All she could process was an endless stream of 'he’s gone,' running through her head. --- OR: what is Ravi was taken by the DT killer in AGAD instead of Pip?

Complete

You Deserve It (And So Do You) - (Tangled, multi-chapter, complete)

Eugene could never stand to see someone else in pain, especially as a child, and there was so much pain to be had in the orphanage. So if there was anything that he could do to prevent it, any way he could take it, he would. Because none of those kids deserved it.

It hurt, it always hurt, but it was worth it.

-- This is Eugene's story, of accepting the love he thought he deserved and (finally) finding the courage to accept the love he deserved all along.

you're the greatest thing we lost (PJO, complete one shot in wnbwns series)

Between classes, studying for his entrance exams, and taking on quests for recommendation letters, Percy Jackson is exhausted. But when a god calls, even one as kind as Lady Hestia, you answer. -- Lady Hestia gives Percy his final quest. Based off of a head cannon post from @demigods-posts

Sally Jackson's son (one shot, complete)

Everyone who has ever met Percy Jackson - God, demigod, and mortal alike - knew that there were two people they could never touch if they didn’t want to face his wrath.

Annabeth Chase and Sally Jackson.

No angst (this time), just the Gods experiencing a healthy dose of fear toward Percy Jackson - #1 Mama's Boy

Sticks and Stones (one shot, complete)

A epidemic of flu at Camp Halfblood reveals that Nico di Angelo hasn't had any modern vaccinations. His doctor boyfriend can't let that slide, but will Nico be able to overcome his fear of needles and get his vaccines?

More of a sweet hurt/comfort oneshot

Someone to Fall Back On (one shot, complete)

But that was the thing, everything was okay. For the first time in years, he truly knew that he was safe. Everything was going well - somehow he had graduated high school and he was set to head off to college with the love of his life. So why did it feel like someone was ripping his heart out? Probably because he was leaving a piece of it in New York with his family.

A part of the PJO Equinox-Solstice exchange. Unfortunately not my favorite, but some people enjoyed it so i'll list it here.

[so-i-grudgingly-joined-this-site]

Okay, so I was actually thinking about this lately. And I realized that a big part of the reason that Orpheus's life is shit isn't just because he's a severed head, but because his standard of care is actually kind of crap. Like sure he has that family order of priests who technically take care of his every need, but what do they actually do? Just point him at a window and leave him alone? (I mean, they might do more offscreen, but that's the impression I somewhat got...) That's the kind of conditions that have old folks giving up in nursing homes, much less immortal gods stuck that way. I figure that's by Orpheus's order, and the priests are just too reverent to disobey it. But what if...

What if someone new joined? Someone who goes "if this bitch is forced to live, why not at least give him something to do?" and doesn't care about the whole "oooh he's a demigod" thing. At his core, Orpheus is a guy who lost his partner and became severely disabled. Humans can overcome that all the time, if they have the right support system. And unlike Morpheus, whose inability to cope often stems from his inhuman nature, Orpheus was a mortal human. Human level coping skills might actually work to help him.

Maybe this person, or new team, could actually help ol' Orphy get back out into the world in some way. Put his head on a mannequin body and wheel him around town, claiming he's their quadriplegic friend, so that he can actually have some social interaction. Get him an electric wheelchair he can control with his mouth so he has some autonomous mobility. Introduce him to some musical instruments with adaptive features. Teach him how to use the internet. Just any kind of stimuli is likely to help with his mental health status more than the eternal stare-out-the-window schtick.

I have no doubt that Orpheus could eventually find some purpose in life even in his state. Like, Stephen Hawking was still studying physics while being less physically fit than Orpheus is shown to be. Maybe Orpheus could become some kind of genius of musical theory or something--there's been a lot of developments in that field since Ancient Greece. Maybe he'd find a new field. He literally has forever to learn whatever he wants, and how to do it with his limited mobility.

I think his once-mortal nature means he's actually far more capable of mental recovery than Morpheus actually ever could be. It might take centuries of a dedicated team of caregivers to get him back on his metaphorical feet, but I think he could eventually do it. Sure, plenty of humans don't recover either, but when you literally can't die I'd imagine you can only hit that block so many times before eventually finding a way around it. Heck, it's been a while since I read Ovid, but if I recall even the original Greek Tragedy version of the myth had Orpheus eventually coping better than the Gaiman version.

So, had that happened... maybe Orpheus asked for a boon other than direct instant death. What that could be and how that could affect his deal with his aunt, I don't know. But either way it buys Morpheus and his fanfic love interest a few centuries of time, probably.

Even if Orpheus keeps on trucking along until the end of the universe though, it still raises some questions. Is he stuck in the endless post-universe void forever with Hob and Death? If the universe is over does that mean he can finally pass on without it violating the un-revocable agreement? I'm still not sure of a way out of that.

But in the billions of years in the meantime, I think Orpheus could get to a better state in life, and find his own form of happiness that doesn't have him begging his father for death. For a fandom that likes to imagine saving everyone, I'm surprised he's so often left out of the fun!

Give me your head-canons:

How do you solve the Orpheus problem?

As in: It’s the elephant in the room in so many canon-compliant or -adjacent fanfics I read (we obviously don’t need to talk about coffee shop AUs) and Orpheus either keeps on existing somehow (and no one cares, because Dream and whatever love interest just literally fuck off into the sunset and pretend everything’s okay), or he gets killed by someone else who quite strictly wouldn’t be able to kill him.

Is it a solvable problem?

If he keeps existing as a severed head, it’s honestly a bit shite for him, isn’t it? So these are the fics where we keep on visiting severed heads. I don’t know, I find that… dissatisfying.

If Dream kills him, it’s over. Unless he stays in the Dreaming and lets the storm blow over. Will it though? I mean yeah, he could sit there for all eternity (groan), not take Death’s hand and make sure he doesn’t conveniently leave so the Kindly Ones get in and start ripping the Dreaming to shreds. But that doesn’t really sound like a solution to me either, because the problem won’t go away. Also: Probably no meetings in the waking world with you-know-who ever again. Plot hole, people, it doesn’t work that way.

If someone else kills him: Who? Please don’t say Hob, I know he’s immortal (so was Murphy), but the very idea is that no one can kill the poor kid because he made a deal with Death, which she apparently can’t revoke. Is there an entity who could? Which links in to the question: Why could Dream (somewhat rhetorical question)? Could any similar entity do it if they also had to grant him a boon? But don’t forget: Can’t be one of the Endless, they’re all family. Unless one sacrifices themselves. I mean, I think I’ve seen Death doing that in a fic somewhere, I think the assumption was she’s okay with dying a mortal death, but I also felt that’s not quite right, since it’s just not the same (also: in her mortal form, she wouldn’t have those powers). Does it have to be The Presence/Glory? Why would they care?

Yeah, he could use the Saeculum I guess, but really? If the problem never existed, it would also feel… wrong? Plus, we all know that changing the past always has implications on the future that go far beyond the thing we want to change. Plus plus: I honestly think it would be a bit OOC for him because he’d feel there’s not enough at stake (like a whole universe imploding) to ever justify that. So no, that’s, IMHO, making him into someone he really isn’t (can of course be an option in fanfic I guess).

Same goes for the Dream of a Thousand Cats Spiel. Someone who is so wrapped up in his duty just wouldn’t do that for his own personal gain, and not even for one loved one (he also wouldn’t be allowed to kick it off by telling anyone, and what 1,000 dreamers would dream that? I mean, WE all would, but that’s a bit… meta?😂). I said what I said.

Or is it some sort of magic? Like, he’s still a severed head, but we make him *think* he isn’t, give him back a body (in his own mind, or maybe even for real)? But that’s also… not great and feels like gaslighting him. Really not keen.

So what say you?

Is this just a case of: Unsolvable problem, hence we might as well pretend we solve it in some ridiculous way or pretend it doesn’t exist in the first place?

[questing-wulfstan]

Listen, I can't blame y'all when His Excellence Neil Gaiman hisself compared it to Dream walking out on his date with Hob to hit it off with Shaxberd upon learning about Eleanor and Robyn, but I feel like fixating on this interpretation only of the scene is a disservice to Morpheus' overall characterisation over the season.

Have you noticed how Hob calls "his friend" over to his table and that doesn't phase Morpheus at all then Dream doesn't even ask him whether he still wants to live before putting an end to their meeting ? It's unexpected from someone otherwise so strict and set on protocols ー even when he storms out in 1889, he already had Hob's answer to that question. Yet he leaves 1589 Hob without having formally asked the one question that justifies their centennial meetings.

That is because Dream knows, oh he knows what Hob's Heaven is like. He's had a wife and a son of his own once, and he knew what eternity by their side would be like, once. And he knows Hob has everything but Death on his mind then. He also knows ー or so he thinks ー what Hob's answer will be the next century. For Hob Gadling alone was granted immortality, not Eleanor, nor Robyn. And Morpheus knows what outliving one's son is like.

Morpheus' work in this tavern of the White Horse is done, but he's also taken back to the most traumatic event of his existence, one he won't recover from in two millennia and he can't look Hob in the eyes anymore, he needs a distraction, something, anything but having to confront his revenant grief. And there's that playwright loudly willing to strike a bargain with higher entities for the ability to create timeless dreams for humanity and there's his distraction, there's an escape ...

Comes 1689, Morpheus is certain of the outcome of this meeting. Sure, it will have taken the bugger three time the hundred years Dream had predicted Death, but no matter because it is true : nobody can bear an endless existence.

Then Morpheus learns about not only the expected death of Hob's son, but that it happened much earlier than it should have, devoid of a fulfilling lifetime for Robyn and of psychological preparation for Hob. Scythed in the prime of life, much like Orpheus. And within a close time frame to his wife's departure, too. Hob is holding up a mirror to Morpheus' own misery and the King of Dreams finds himself on the verge of tears. He is no longer smug as he offers Hob what he thinks of as an eventual relief.

Yet ... Hob doesn't take it. Somehow, somewhere, Hob Gadling finds it in himself to resist the tragedy of his life, to chose tomorrow, to decide that whatever the future holds, it is worth being there to see it.

And that is really when something kindles within Morpheus. No longer mere curiosity but a devouring fascination for Hob Gadling, his hopefulness and his resilience. He latches onto that man who shares his misery yet seem to have overcome it, or anyhow accommodated himself to it.

And when they meet again in 1789, and fortune has smiled upon Hob Gadling once again, Morpheus is much more open, much more attentive, much more interested. Who knows if he might not have given Hob his name even, hadn't lady Johanna Constantine interrupted him ?

By all means, Morpheus doesn't process their blooming bond. He's the anthropomorphic incarnation of the human or really, the living unconscious : there are numerous things passing through his mind at all time that he does not process. To him, he's merely monitoring the puzzling glitch that is Robert Gadling's will to live still, and waiting for him to eventually, inevitably renounce his immortality.

So when another century has passed and Hob asserts that their meetings are unnecessary for he won't ever renounce being alive but proposes his friendship, Morpheus is left reeling, faced with how much he has in common with this 'mortal' and his envy for Hob's resilience and capacity to forge ahead.

Naturally he takes flight and makes for an escape, lest he finds himself ensnared by his own grief ...

[notfeelingthyaster]

Imagine (Son of Hades! Percy; Godswapped! Big Three's kids) The Lost Hero AU (1/7) (6/12)

Okay so before you read this, there's the whole PJO AU that I've wrote on this - check on the masterpost - that is more or less essential to this plot. So enjoy! Have a good reading, and leave reviews and ideas! And don't forget to check the warnings before reading :))

Jason wakes up on a bus - he doesn’t remember where he is. Why he is here? How is he here? He is not supposed to be here - where is he supposed to be? Who is this girl holding his hand?

Coach Hedge seems familiar - somehow. Something in his posture, in the way he walks a little wobbly, it’s strangely comforting. And he knows that Jason doesn’t belong here - it means he is not going crazy. Maybe. The jury is still out on that one.

He doesn’t know her. He doesn’t know what a “Wilderness School” could possibly be - and who is this messy-haired hyperactive boy cracking jokes? Why is he with them - they're all seventeen? Sixteen? This boy looks young.

Piper. Leo. He has names now - information. Improvise, Adapt, Overcome. Say not always what you know, but always know what you say.

Jason has no idea where he learned that, but it seems like good advice. He doesn’t stutter - his back contracts with the phantom pain of lashes. He starts to ask - who are they, where are they, where are they going.

They are not helpful at all. Leo thinks he is joking - Piper is too busy defending her heritage, and he can’t really blame her for it - a flash of black skin, dark as night, crosses his mind, but is gone before he can connect it to anyone.

There's a pen in his pocket, a name carved onto it. It says Undisonus - which he knows means "resounding with waves".

They are in a Dam. The Hoover Dam. Jason ditches hyper kid, and goes to talk with the Coach - the man is a crackpot fool and Jason kind of thinks he is hopped up on cocaine or smh. He makes no sense - and he explains shit, like who lets this dude supervise children if he can't be clear.

At least Jason is not going crazy. Or not going crazy alone. There’s something evil in the storm - and the coach is a faun-...satyr-...Half-goat. Well, Jason hopes he is not traveling with his dude after this - the whole bus will smell like a barn.

They are fighting an evil storm. Jason's pen is not a pen - it's a sword, made of gold with green stones in its handle. Apparently, the rain doesn’t make him wet, and his sword can absorb energy.

He destroys the monster - Dylan was his name - By singing. He sings - it's not really singing as much as it's producing a very deep sound out of his chest - and the monster gets sloppy, erratic. The weaker ones - the venti - explode when the sound waves connect. It's like he is drawing the sound from the water itself.

Then he saves the girl from falling by using the tides to form something - a tornado? - and catch her. She seems cool. Kinda. Jason feels weird - he doesn’t know her last name. He doesn’t remember his last name.

Some teens come - three of them, in flying horses that he can hear on his mind, like badly connected radios. One of them is a tired blonde girl, who seems to take his presence as a personal offense. The second one is a buff girl who could probably break his neck by flexing her biceps, while the third one is a boy - a boy missing half a leg.

Jason tunes the rude girl out for a second - he is already getting punished for this mess by having to hear her. Apparently, she is after someone that is not Jason. But then, the boy missing half a leg - Alabaster - brings a name up, and Jason startles.

That’s the thing: He doesn’t remember anything - anything but a name. Perseus- no. It sounds wrong. Percy.

"Percy Jackson?" He asks.

Annabeth - or Commander Chase, how he thinks it would be right to call her - the rude blonde - looks like he just solved world hunger. Her voice cracks a little - Percy Jackson. Jason feels weirdly possessive of the name - it's his memory, his link to whoever he is.

"How do you know him? Do you know where he is?" She is on the verge of either fainting or crying, but Jason can't blame her - he would be bawling his eyes out too if only something inside of him didn't fear the sheer idea of sobbing.

Because Jason can’t tell why, or how, or who he is - but he knows that Percy is the key to unlock his memory. But he's been missing for a month.

He knows things. Jason knows they are demigods, what it means to be one - and Valdez (it sounds wrong to call him Leo in such an official situation) is a son of Vulc-... Hephaestus.

The blonde doesn't ask a lot of questions: he has been trained to follow orders, he has been hardwired to be a soldier. He stays in military parade rest the whole time until Commander Chase drags him to see an Oracle.

Jason is pretty sure it should've been called an augur. But they go anyway - and it's not the official person he is expecting. It's a redhead girl painting a face - a black teen, more or less Jason's age, with a purple and orange flower crown and a closed-off expression.

That's Perseus Jackson. He learns a lot about the boy in a conversation - Perseus is a son of Hades (Pluto, God of Riches and the Dead, his mind supplies). He is not sixteen/seventeen like Jason apparently is - he is eighteen and a high school graduate. He was - is, because Commander Chase is sure they're finding him - taking a sabbatical year before going to college - MIT or Stanford, the impossible choice, the Oracle jokes. No one calls him Percy - except for a select few close friends.

Something about this is wrong, just wrong. Augurs - Oracles, whatever - are not supposed to be girls in ripped jeans. They are not supposed to be planning to go to Parsons in the next summer - Aug- Oracles shouldn't even have close relationships to soldiers!

Something must show in his face - because the Cherokee girl, who followed them for a tour of the place, tries to grab his hand. He doesn't let her - Jason knows he shouldn't show affection in front of officers.

Commander Chase asks questions he can't answer. He doesn't know where Perseus had gone for a week without communication six months ago, nor why he came back with no memories of it. He doesn't remember meeting him. He doesn't know if he was in Kronos' side - even if a pit of rage opens in his gut at Saturn's - Kronos - name.

Perseus starts to sound wrong in his mind - Perseus is their leader, and it's clear in the way Commander Chase talks about him that she is his second in command - so he starts calling them General Jackson and Lieutenant Chase in his mind. He doesn't voice this - because even McLean is being called by her first name, and Jason follows as well.

Jason has a tattoo of a trident with bars - no, not a tattoo, a brand. So they split ways - Jason goes see (Senator? Consul? Magister? Consiliario?) Chiron, and McLean stays to be weaponized - It's bad management, Jason thinks, to give a soldier weapons before they know how to use them. But Jason is also just a foot soldier here - he has no opinion and no voice.

Piper is not having a good day - she is not having a good week. Her boyfriend, apparently, is not her boyfriend. Her mother, a goddess. She keeps having dreams - and the Queen of Gods just gave her a mission. To save her - or the whole world ends.

And Annabeth - the beautiful girl with the missing boyfriend (who Piper is not sure is hers or Rachel's, but she is pretty sure all priestesses must be virgins or something) - just rolls her eyes.

This happens all the time - the gods mess things up, and they clean it up. It'll have to wait until they have more information - and until there's an official quest.

They give her a weapon too - she has no idea how to use it, but it's a beautiful dagger. It even has a name, Katoptris. She feels like Arya Stark in that new show that aired in April - a true wolf.

Leo is also having a very weird experience - he has half-siblings. After all those years in the streets or being shoved in and out of foster homes, he has a family - and they think he is the second coming of Jesus or the Antichrist - no one is really sure yet.

Leo is a fire manipulator. Some of the younger kids there look at him with fear - but most of the older ones talk about Perseus Jackson (and isn't that a very popular person, jeez), and how he saved all of their collective asses with his own fire.

Leo gets curious - it's the boy Jason has never mentioned before, but is the only thing he remembers, his brother?

Jake Mason - their incapacitated leader - says that unofficially, yes. The dead counselor - the one that brought the curse - was Perseus's father figure, before he died in the war. But Perseus wasn't - isn't, they avoid using the past tense - a Hephaestus kid. He was the one and only son of Hades.

The thing is, Leo doesn't have a filter. So the first thing he blurts out is "Well, at least they did the fire right in the Hercules movie". Nyssa - and the idea he has a sister is equal parts amazing and terrifying - looks at him like he is crazy, but laughs anyway.

Jason has a vision of a goddess - he doesn't know her. She calls him her champion - but it sounds wrong - and she doesn't tell her anything, because why would her, really. Then, McLean enters, and, apparently, the Oracle was possessed (how is this any news, isn't the Oracle supposed to be possessed?).

This is all connected by the fact that Jupiter - Zeus - has closed off all mortal communications. Well, mostly - Magister Chiron says that it's possible the King still has some contact with his only mortal son, Nico di Angelo.

And isn't it just marvelous that the name makes something stir on him like everything else? Even so, Jason doesn't say anything - Magister Chiron is an officer. Di Angelo is clearly also an officer - and one who answers directly to Jup- Zeus.

Di Angelo appears - looking like a beggar in need of a shower and a haircut - and isn't this a blessing. Jason wants to interrogate him - but the moody teenager has important news - Hera is missing. And she is probably the goddess sending them the messages.

They go see a boy named Clovis, in the Hypnos Cabin - and that makes something stir in Jason - he feels happy. They're so relaxed - and while he has no memories, this feeling of comfort is foreign in his body.

Clovis - who Jason is half-sure is a zombie in human skin - tells him what he already knew - someone took his memories. News: It was Hera. Or Juno - because Jason didn't fall out of the railway yet and the gods have split personalities.

They go to sleep - all three of them because this has been a long day and none of them are in shape for the bonfire later.

Piper dreams of her father, and a fiery giant that tells her to go to a quest - and she is so, so tired of these all-powerful beings telling her to do something and not explaining anything. When she wakes up, she tells Rachel exactly that, and the redhead laughs.

"You and Percy, you'll be best friends. I don't even need to be an Oracle to tell you that" And then proceeds to tell Piper all about Perseus Jackson roasting the gods for being awful parents.

She thinks she might like him - Piper has never seen a black hero before. There's not much prejudice against color or gender or sexual orientation here - its harshly punished, and the person has to undergo classes about equality and prejudice. When Rachel spins her tale, it's clear Perseus was in love with Luke - and it's obviously unrequited but no less important for the decision that saved their civilization.

Leo is in a much similar situation - he dreams about his Aunt Rosa, and wakes up in a panic - he hated the woman. It's Nyssa - the acting counselor - who calms him down - she tells him all the newbies are like that, and once, it was Perseus who hold her.

It's weird how the hero seems like this larger than life person - everyone talks about him, all the time. He was their hero, an invincible wall of muscles and shadows with a giant ax, but most of the people his age see him as a big brother, a soft protective guy with big blue sweaters and horrible morning breath.

Leo goes spend time with Jake - but Jake is occupied. Being half a mummy and preparing to lose one foot because of nerve damage doesn't make him incapable of snogging his nurse, a very willing Will.

Jason is also on the Perseus Jackson boat - but he is in much deeper. He dreams about the hero.

He wasn't doing anything heroic though - it was just him, not even eleven yet, alone in a playground. He is sitting in the grass and there's a book in his lap, and some bigger kids are calling him names - charcoal lump, nigger, ape, monkey, negro - it just goes on.

Jason is a white person. A very Californian tanned one, but a white, blonde person nonetheless. He doesn't remember anything, and he has had no real contact with racism - that he remembers - even though he knows what it means.

But he is pretty sure people of color shouldn't be racist. Shouldn't they support each other? Why is there an Asian and a clearly Hindi (maybe Muslim, Jason is no good with this) person attacking him for his skin?

The memory changes now. Perseus is in his early teens, and he is at camp - well, at least this should be better. It's not.

Perseus is walking alone - this time, there's no one mocking him. It's worse. People look at him with a mix of fear and disgust - even people who have been singing his praises since Jason entered this camp. Even Chase steers clear of him.

The pavilion is different, Jason thinks. There are fewer tables, and the Hermes one is full - is where Perseus sits. People enter after him, and, although there's plenty of space around him, the only people who sit with him are three boys: one dark-haired in his later teens, a young blonde adult with an ugly scar, and Alabaster, with his full two legs and at least five years younger.

Jason feels some kinship for Perseus - the feeling of being ostracized is not unfamiliar. He tries to push after it - but he just wakes up.

When he wakes up, the first thing he does is chase Lt. Chase down (ha) and ask her about his dreams.

He doesn't tell her the first vision - she wasn't there, is not his to tell - but the second in great detail. She asks for a description of the two boys - and suddenly, she is both sad and happy.

"It happened to him," She says, and there's a tear rolling through her cheek that makes him think that this is Annabeth "Those guys... These are Luke Castellan and Ethan Nakamura... You're... You're getting visions of Percy. This... This is good. We can work with that."

Then she leaves muttering to herself, so Jason goes to track down the person who can tell him more: Alabaster.

Jason tells his dream again - and Alabaster gets a sad and wistful face. There are blue sparks playing in his fingers, and his mechanic prosthetic - a bold shade of red with a whip painted across the knee, the mark of Nemesis - whirs a little.

Alabaster doesn't paint Perseus as a hero or a beloved leader - he paints Perseus as a scared, relatable kid, twelve years old with the weight of the world in his shoulders.

He tells Jason how Perseus never had his own bunk - how most of them slept on the floor. How there were no cabins for minor gods and Cabin 11 brimmed with unclaimed children. How Perseus raged against the gods - but couldn't leave his friends to the mercy of Kronos.

How Perseus was never a hero just because he fought in the war - but because he fought for them, all of them, no matter which side they were in. They were just kids - the real battle was with the immortal beings.

Jason learns this, and something shines in his eyes. Lou Ellen snorts from her top bunk from where she is half-watching the scene - it's the same shine Nico Di Angelo got after Grover told him about Percy Jackson and that never left his eyes. At least this one is older.

The three newbies go to the bonfire - and they trade stories in the way. All of their stories involve Perseus - it's like he is the entity of this camp. He is this camp - there's no other explanation.

Jason starts talking about his dream - and Piper and Leo, who "remember" the blonde's crush on Piper, look at each other with resignation. Their memories may be fake - but this is very much the insufferable Jay they know.

Piper thinks she should be much more worried about her relationship with Jason, but she is cool - first, she apparently doesn't even know him, though she would like to, cause he is cool. Second, he is just a boy. The real life version of Aquaman - but a boy nonetheless. And she has bigger problems - like, for example, who is her mother?

They go to the bonfire - Jason creates a hurricane, and he's proved to be a son of Poseidon - he has a sister apparently, the Lieutenant of the Hunt.

Katie - a girl with the most amazing dreads Piper has ever seen in this life and a staff, which is not as cool as Piper's dagger, but just as lethal - tells her all about the huntresses.

Piper thinks that if there's a thing that she would give up boys forever for, it's an immortal hunt with a goddess. She asks Katie if the hunt accepts trans girls - perhaps after this whole business with Hera, she can join.

Maybe there, she will finally be accepted as a tomboy. Maybe there, she won't have to fend off questions of why does she "wants to be" a girl if she likes her messy hair and doesn't care about "girly" things. If cis girls are allowed to like skating and use baggy clothes and have short hair - why isn't she?

But she is kind of against the whole misandry thing. Sure, she can stop being with a man in romantic or sexual ways, but to not have male friends because "man is evil" is clear prejudice - doesn't matter where it comes from.

Rachel issues a prophecy - Leo volunteers (under the condition he must find a water-based way of transportation), and Piper thinks that's her chance, she is been having those weird dreams for a while now. But- as a girl she hasn't met, named Drew Tanaka - points out, she is not claimed.

Well - that changes pretty quickly. The dress isn't her style - not at all - nor is the make-up. But at least her mother recognizes her gender - it's Aphrodite, what could she expect? At least there are no feathers in her hair or animal skin clothing - the stereotype is just ridiculous.

At least now her magic voice has an explanation and she can throw it in Leo's face - see, she was asking!

Piper is given a bunk on Aphrodite's cabin - which has twenty-one children between the ages of 7 and 25, of all races and genders - and learns quickly that no one there is prejudiced - beauty comes in very different ways.

She makes friends, and discovers that Drew isn't a counselor - she trash-talked Silena Beauregard once and tried to use her charm speak on a young boy, and everyone ousted her - all Aphrodite children are resistant to charm speak.

Lacy is thirteen, and just a summer camper - she is cis and white and blonde with blue eyes. She also has social anxiety - so she is the only one Drew doesn't bitches to in public.

Mitchell is the only boy (of her fourteen half-brothers) in this cabin who actually talks to her. He is from Texas, and he's a shy nerd, with a big crush on both Annabeth Chase and Malcolm Cage - who Piper learns leads the Trans Support Group on camp, which has more or less twenty-five kids, from the now 157 campers.

Piper is surprised - it's 2011, and gender is still kind of taboo - but she shouldn't be. They tell her the gods are way freer with both gender and sexuality - Lacy doesn't have a father, but a mortal mother. There's a lot of year-rounders who stay because of homophobic parents.

She asks if gods can transition people. They tell her maybe Aphrodite, maybe Eros - but the ones who are over eighteen can ask to go on quests to see the deity Hermaphroditus - they are the only one who magically transitions people, but it's not without a price - they are a god, after all.

She decides that - prejudiced or not - Drew Tanaka is a bitch of mythic proportions. The girl has weaker charmspeak than Piper - but she uses it way more, and for worse reasons. She is twenty - almost four years older than Piper - and picks on everyone she cans - mostly young children of other cabins, even though she already got punished for it four times - counselors are ridiculously protective of their children.

Piper thinks Drew is such a bitch because of her trauma - the Cherokee girl sees her walking with a cane that looks directly out of a Prada store, and Lacy tells her Drew had to do a total knee replacement after the war, and when it's way too cold it bothers her. When she tells her theory to Mitchell, the boy laughs for the first time.

"Darlin'" He starts, with the southern drawl that makes people doubt he has no charmspeak "Drew was always a bitch. She was a bitch before she even knew she had charmspeak. She was a bitch when she got to Camp if that fella from Demeter is too be believed."

The older Aphrodite children just roll their eyes at it - Drew has no real power here.

"Don't worry, kiddo," Says the counselor, a non-binary kid that goes by Ariel and has an uncanny similarity to the princess, if not for the undercut and the pixie hair "She does her thing once more, and she is in laundry duty for the rest of the summer. And if she says an A about Silena too you, you come directly to us. No one trash talks Silena Beauregard in this Camp."

Leo has just done something amazing, he thinks. He fixed the steel dragon - Festus because maybe Jason will feel better with a Latin name - and he can totally make him work on water - like a sea serpent! He always wanted a Gyarados anyway.

It leads to an underground bunk - and isn't this the coolest camp ever - and Leo attaches motors to it. And a tail that works in water, so the transport is well and done.

Jason goes to explore his cabin - and he finds pictures there, of Thalia Grace's friends, that she left behind. There's one with Perseus, two girls in silver jackets with bows, a faun and Thalia herself - in the same Dam they were this morning.

She is his sister. He knows it, just like he knows the curve of his nose and hers are the same, the way both of them have the same curls when they let their hair grow - that's why both of them have it cut short.

He tells it to Lt. Chase. Not under the Styx vow - he has no need for it. Jason hopes she contacts his sister, and tells her about it - even when she tells him Thalia never told anyone about him. Well, maybe they're estranged. She might know something about him, anyway.

They leave in Festus, and Jason's water powers aren't even needed - Leo has it handled with his magical mechanic beast.

It's difficult to travel in the cold water - but Jason wills the water away, and it obeys.

Do you know who doesn't obey? Khione. The boreads go away easily with Piper's charmspeak - and isn't it a scary thought that she can will away gods - but Khione is more powerful than her.

And the gods keep complicating their lives. Instead of appeasing Aeolus - no. Let the demigods pay the price for their mistakes. However, Jason is a son of Poseidon - or Neptune, because Boreas exchanges form when they talk.

Their next stop is Chicago - which is really convenient because they can go the whole way by water.

The travel is, however, long, and Piper dreams of the fiery giant again - Enceladus. She hates dreaming about him - he calls her boy, doesn't care for her pronouns, and is clearly the villain, and Piper knows about dreams.

Her father may not care for their culture - and she is okay with that. However, she loved her grandfather's stories. And while Piper is Cherokee, she knows about the Navajo dream walkers and the Abenaki legend about the world created by the dream of the Great Spirit.

Dreams have power - in all cultures, in all religions. She is not making a deal with a creature that uses her dreams to communicate.

Jason - Jason Grace - Also dreams. And once again, he dreams of Perseus Jackson.

His first vision - they're not dreams, dreams mean they're not true - is of Percy in his middle teens. He is in a familiar pier and it's winter - as far from the water as he can possibly get. By his side, Luke Castellan - the one Jason knows later becomes Saturn.

They are talking. Well, Castellan is talking, all wide smiles and side-hugs. Perseus laughs at his jokes and blushes every time they get close to each other. There's not a sliver of Percy's skin to be seen under his neck - but Jason is pretty sure he is shivering when Luke whispers something in his ear.

It makes Jason weirdly bothered - two men aren’t supposed to act like that towards one another outside of the privacy of their tents or the throes of war. It’s a weakness - same sex’s company is stimulated in battle - to unite the ranks. But soldiers are supposed to do their duty and procreate more soldiers - even if he doesn’t remember who the war is against.

Perseus eventually leaves - melting into the shadows - and with him, Luke's smile is gone. Alabaster and the dark-haired boy - that Jason knows it's called Ethan now - come to talk to Luke, who is clearly bothered by something.

Alabaster asks him if he convinced Perseus yet. Luke says he didn't, but he'll keep trying - the son of Hades would be a huge asset to Kronos' army. The blonde's face is as cold as the waters must be.

The memory changes. Perseus is now maybe sixteen, hopefully, older - Jason doesn't know - with a giant hellhound by his side, hugging his own knees. He is in front of a river - somewhere dark, the Underworld probably - and he is crying.

This is the first memory where Perseus - Percy, for this memory is too intimate - shows any bare skin. He doesn't have a shirt on - nor shoes or socks. Jason gets sidetracked by the muscles - totally in a comparative way - but the presence of Alabaster brings him back to reality.

"Luke is going to rebirth," Percy says, full of sorrow "I saw him in Elysium only once - I'm barely able to get there, I'm no good with spirits, and I couldn't talk to him. It's his last rebirth before the Isle of the Blessed. Is it selfish, that I wanted him to wait for me?" Alabaster shakes his head, hugging the younger boy close.

"Did he ever love me, Alabaster? Even as a friend?"

Jason can’t see how it would be any different. Men don’t love men - men share beds and quick escapades into the night. But this - this thing Perseus has for Luke - is different. It’s all encompassing.

"Of course, Percy. He loved you as much as you love him. Just... Just not in the same way." He doesn't even hesitate to lie.

Jason wakes up furious for no reason - but he has no time to deal with that now because Festus is caught in a tempest. Without ways of controlling him, they shipwreck in a deserted beach - in Detroit of all places, still a day and a half of Chicago, even with Festus' speed.

There's an abandoned warehouse there. Both Jason and Piper are distraught from their dreams - everyone talks it over (kinda, Jason is too angry with his visions and too deep in denial) and they try to calm themselves while letting Leo solve the dragon problem.

Leo is worried about his companions. They can't sleep without having weird dream visions - Nyssa told him back in camp that was "normal" for demigods, especially those questing, but Jason has been dreaming of a missing person while being a missing person himself, and Piper is having dreams of a monster he is already 80% sure they'll confront sooner or later.

He must've been really sleep deprived and way too into his friends' stories, because he has a hallucination.

His sleep paralysis demon is clearly not up to news - She thinks Jason and Piper are together, even if Jason is having a hard crush on his literal dream dude and Piper is in love with her dagger - Leo thinks that if she doesn't get to stab something soon, she'll be stabbing them while they're asleep.

And even if they were together - what does it matter for Leo? In his fake memories at least, he has been third-wheeling for a while now. He doesn't really care - he is fifteen, for gods sake. Leo jokes a lot - but he had like, two crushes on his whole life: Penelope Cruz and Johnny Depp, and both because of the pirate movie they watched in class last semester.

Turns out the Muddy Mary was just stalling him - but he is Leo Badass Valdez, and he totally destroys those cyclops - What name is Ma Gasket anyway, what was Poseidon thinking.

They try to reform, but Jason mixes his relatives - and yes, Leo is holding this over him forever - with water: Monster Kool-Aid.

It gains time for them to get back on Festus and go to Chicago - with the tune up Leo gave on the disk, they're there in half a day and they don't even drown in Lake Michigan - even though Jason says he thinks there are sirens there.

Then its explore the sewers time. Festus is too small for them - so they are disgusting alone. Leo feels like a rat.

He and Jason talk - they start talking about their powers, and how Leo is confused about his own fire. If a hero had it, it couldn't be bad, could it? Jason equals it to his water powers - its the same, but in different sides of the elemental spectrum.

"If I learned anything with the Camp's fan love for Perseus - and I'm not kidding, Lacy totally has a shrine for him somewhere," Piper starts "Is that our powers, our parentage - it doesn't define us."

"I'm not a manipulative bitch because I can charmspeak... shut it Leo! It was just a car" Leo mimes driving away, and she swats him upside the head.

"Leo is not a demon because of his fire. Maybe a gremlin but-..." It's his time to try and swat at her, even if she is probably capable of killing him with her pinky after spending the whole two days in Camp with Rachel - her Oracle facade doesn't fool Leo, he saw that knife strapped to her leg - doing gods knows what.

"And Jason is not a fish, so we're all fine" They are laughing - and Leo thinks this is way better than those fake memories.

Their encounter with Medea goes a little differently this time. Jason is a son of the sea - his mind is too fickle. He and Leo don't fight each other - even though the scrawny boy tries really hard and Jason will lord this over him forever.

They battle the Sun Dragons - they're no match for Jason's power over water, and he does the weird singing thing - this time to lesser results. Maybe the bigger the monster, the less his powers work.

They escape through the sewers - with one very petrified Coach Hedge and a cage full of air spirits in tow. Jason liquefies the vapor trail in the sky - and they pray together for Zeus not to strike them out of his sky.

Leo finally has prophetic dreams of his own - his father. He is less cool than Leo though he was - but maybe that's Leo's internalized ableism talking. Or the fact that the god looks like he hasn't showered in a week - Leo can identify with that, being a sewer rat himself.

Their prayers don't work. Zeus - or something up there - shot them out of the sky when Festus is malfunctioning. Jason cushions their fall with a mini-hurricane - because the dude is clearly Ororo Munroe's frat boy version.

His baby is broken, partially cause someone up there hates him, partially because of where he landed. He prays to his father - and Leo thinks he's way cooler when he actually answers. With nowhere to go, the three of them go into the house.

Midas didn't count Jason being capable of controlling water. Soon, nothing is gold anymore - And he loves his sword a lot, but he hopes he doesn't have to see it for a while because anything gold will burn his retinas again.

Jason dreams of Perseus again. This time, the demigod is with a goddess who has the same exquisite skin color as him - and dreadlocks adorned with bones. They are curving shadows like smoke around their hands - even if Jason can barely focus on their conversation, because the guy he has been having visions about every time he naps is basically in a skirt and nothing more. Is he allowed to appreciate him if he is wearing womanly clothes?

It's really weird, to be peeving in a boy - in a man - he has (probably) never met and does not remember - but Jason is watching the guy's life. Private moments that someone (probably Hera/Juno, he bets she is the one who took Perseus too) is showing him - he feels like he knows him.

Perseus and the goddess talk - mostly about Perseus' school and Rachel. He seems happy - and carefree, even though he is probably over sixteen (if the last memories make any sense), and Luke Castellan is already dead. This is perhaps a little before he disappeared - and Jason rages against the unfairness of the gods' games.

Jason knows men aren’t supposed to be together - but he saw them at Camp. Same sex people holding hands and kissing in public - wherever Jason comes from, this isn’t talked about. He wishes that he could stay forever at Camp - this alternative reality where they are allowed to live freely. Jason thinks he might’ve asked Perseus for a date - lunch at the beach, perhaps. If he is allowed to stay and they find the son of Hades, he might do exactly that.

They rest in a mountain cave - and discuss Jason's dreams about Perseus (not in great detail, because Leo is teasing him enough about it) and Piper's nightmares about the evil fire giant - who Medea told them it's Enceladus. They have no idea who it is, but Jason is apparently a human encyclopedia of mythology - it's the bane of Athena.

They're attacked by Lycaon - who calls Jason "Lupa's seal cub". Jason is so tired of not remembering anything because this is probably supposed to be offensive, but it just sounds funny, and now Leo is going to keep calling him seal cub. If they survive, because Jason is way too exhausted.

He meets his sister - with Leo, because he needs a security net, and Piper has hypothermia - he feels guilty, because he did this to her.

And their story sounds like a tragedy. Thalia thought he was dead - and then she ran away, became a crying tree for five years, was saved by Perseus - because clearly, that Camp does not work without him - went on a mission with him to save Chase, almost destroyed the world, lost over half of her quest mates (because apparently, Perseus left the camp for reasons she won't explain - he doesn’t care, he’ll probably dream about it later), became the Lt. of the Hunt - and was now going stir-crazy because her mistress is locked up in Olympus.

Lieutenant Grace - how his soldier mind reverts her name quickly, sister or not, is really worrying - is happy to see him. They hug - and it feels for the first time, things are going well for Jason. Thalia and Leo even bond a little - over laughing about Jason's stupid decisions and dream crush on Percy Jackson.

He does have a crush on a guy - at least in the privacy of his mind. It’s just the boy’s stupid muscles and his stupid curls, and the way he was so carefree with that goddess, the way he curled in Alabaster’s arms, the way Luke Castellan never deserved him.

They keep talking - about Perseus, their missions, their lifes - and he feels like this was what he was supposed to find all his life, the missing piece to a long-standing puzzle.

They go to Aeolus castle. Due to their shared conversations, Leo doesn't make any conclusions - because all of these theories, about exchanging camps, they were talked about in the cave - when Jason first discovers the Wolf House.

They leave the mountain in a hurricane - Jason is really handy with these. At least they know where to go to find Enceladus: Mount Diablo. What a fitting name.

Piper meets her mother - and it's pleased that, when Aphrodite looks at her, she doesn't see blonde hair or green eyes - she sees a Cherokee woman, with short-cropped up hair and a lightning tattoo - the mark of a warrior. It's the woman she wants to be - not a boy she considers now one of her best friends.

Aphrodite tells her where they need to go. She tries to talk about Jason - but Piper says it was a bad idea. She shouldn't have given her those fake memories - it hurt more that way.

Aphrodite gives Piper a potion - and not only that, but she tells her that, when they meet again - not in a dream, but in life - she shall give Piper what she wants the most.

Her mother tells her some of her children are destined for greatness, and Piper is the Aeneas of this generation. Aeneas founded Rome - and Piper will shape the future of their civilization.

Then she tells Piper about the true enemy: Gaea. Suddenly, she wakes up, and oh Toto, they aren't in Kansas anymore.

They are in San Francisco - which triggers something in Jason because when they take a taxi, it's like he can't stop looking at everything.

There's a pier - Pier 36 - that Jason looks ready to cry when they pass through it. If not for the fiery giant threatening to kill Piper's father, she would probably stop the taxi - it's the first time Jason's facade breaks.

She thinks he might've been indoctrinated, as they do in cults or some religions, to believe that males have to act a certain way. Or fighters have to act a certain way - because he is certainly not misogynist. He looks fearful just to talk about his dreams about Perseus, though - like someone will come and take those from him because he likes them.

There's no much time for consideration, Leo thinks - soon, Piper saves her dad (who is prettier in real life). Then, they're fighting against Dirty Bubbles - because Jason is clearly Mermaid Man - if the way he keeps singing and the creatures get rekt by his voice are any signal. Does that mean Leo is Barnacle Boy?

The Earthborn holds no candle to Jason's power on an island. And Leo is helping a lot too because that's his best friend's father and he can totally paralyze mud with fire - is basic Chem.

Poseidon helps them defeat Athena's Bane - and how is that for irony - with an earthquake followed by a giant wave that - if not for Jason - would've killed them all.

Jason dreams on the helicopter - it's the first one not about Perseus. This one, there's a woman - her skin is as dark as the soil, but her hair merges with the wheat around her. She is clad in a green dress and holds a basket of strawberries to her chest as she whistles through the plantation.

Then, she sees him - and changes. Her hair goes up - there's a staff in her right hand, the corn went in exchange for loaves of bread. The woman smiles, and Jason feels like he's been embraced by warmth.

"My champion" Ceres starts, for he knows her name, with infinite care in her voice "You don't need to fear Juno's machinations. She knows nothing of motherly love - she shall never understand it. The winter is difficult - but the Harvest will bring deliverance."

It's the first time he is sad to see a deity go. Deliverance - does that mean that Perseus will come back by June? Summer is harvest - even if June is six months away.

Piper doesn't use the potion on her father - no. It won't help anything, to forget - she learned that with Jason. The boy has no memories and all kinds of triggers and internalized problems. Tristan McLean is going through shock - and as soon as Piper is done with the whole Hera/Juno and Gaea thing, she is going home and taking care of him.

Leo's fire can't see to open Aunt Callid-... Hera's cage. And isn't really weird his babysitter was a goddess grooming him for war - even though Aphrodite told Piper Gaea only awakened after Kronos, and they didn't even know Kronos would rise twelve years ago.

So Hera just groomed him because her mind went "Oh, Hades' child. May cause the end of the world - Idk how. Might need firebender - time to groom this child". Was he supposed to be her pawn for the first Titan War? Her way of being recognized - but she hid away her card when she saw the bigger threat on the horizon, to gain what? Prestige? Glory?

Is that why he survived so many years away from Camp, with no random monster attacks? Was he just... just hiding for later use?

Man, he sure understands now why people rose against the gods. They are assholes.

Khione is pretty - but as Leo said, a goddess. So, an asshole. She has this whole elaborate plan to make Jason's demigods (Romans?) start a war - but her plan is shit. So he fights her because she is an asshole and isn't even a good villain.

A mysterious horse appears - a very rude horse if Jason's increasingly appalled face is to be believed. Its (his) name is Arion, and together with Jason, they literally turn the battle tides.

Piper is magical. Literally - Aphrodite's blessing apparently doesn't cover only beauty - it makes her a battle queen. She jumps - and the air supports her. She falls - and the earth trembles. Piper moves like a dancer - even though she barely fought before - and her and Jason's voice make the wolves so confused they start banging their heads in the walls.

Piper sometimes forgets her mother is a daughter of the sea and the sky - because Jason's tides don't touch her, and the air seems to help her, to mold her. Aphrodite is not only pretty - Love is always in the last place you expect it. And so is Piper.

Jason fights Porphyrion - and the only thing he can think about is why. Why is he doing this, for a goddess who took his life from him - who took everything he was. Why him? Why not Di Angelo, who is a son of Zeus? Why not anyone else?

They keep fighting and fighting and fighting - and Hera helps, in the end, and claims all the credit - because this apparently isn't all her fault at all. She almost kills Jason - because is not enough to wipe his mind - but water (and Piper's reality control power) save him.

They go back to Camp - and nothing changes. They don't become their Cabin counselors - except for Jason, because he is the only mortal kid of Poseidon.

Lacy suggests it - but the older ones quickly shut it down. Piper might be a hero - but she knows nothing of schedules or child care, she has no idea of how to counsel - She is barely seventeen. She is a sophomore - Piper can't even be a year-rounder, and there are young children there.

Ariel does say she has potential - worth grooming to succeed be second in command to their second in command - Troy - when Ariel leaves for her master's degree in Chemistry on Princeton.

And Leo - Leo has no responsibility to take care of others. He is an incredible engineer - and his firebending powers are amazing - but he is also not a counselor. Between the sixteen Hephaestus children, he is the second youngest - he's beat by nine-year-old Francisca Alves - a Brazilian girl who gave them a whole lot of problems to immigrate because her mother was Hi Merimã (an isolated indigenous tribe north of the country).

Being a counselor is not something harsh - is hard work, taking care of tens of demigods of all ages, taking stock of their basic needs, and making sure they are educated and welcomed - it's not a job given away freely to fifteen-year-olds.

The cabins with more people generally have older demigods in charge - twenty-year-olds who don't run into danger unless under dire circumstances, who are year-rounders and take online college courses - an exception of technology rule made by Chiron when they first started getting old enough for it to be possible.

Ceres talks to Jason - she is the one to deliver back his memories, for Juno is otherwise incapacitated. She tells her what it means - the Greeks, the Romans. And that they shall not go looking for Perseus Jackson - for it'll damage the Romans' trust if the hero doesn't win them by himself.

Jason feels bad for Perseus - he won't find in the Romans the kinship he found in the greeks. The Romans are people of war and discipline - soldiers, and not friends. Everything within Rome, nothing outside Rome, nothing against Rome.

Leo is the Captain of the Argo II - who will go to Greece so they can defeat the giants. The prophecy is clear - Seven shall answer the calling. When Jason comes bearing news of Ceres' message and his past memories, it's pretty clear - Seven shall go to the Jupiter Capitol - the head of the Twelve Cities that compose the Roman side of the demigods.

It's easy to decide who goes. Jason, Leo, and Piper - for obvious reasons. Annabeth and Malcolm - who are diplomatic leaders and have their own mission on Greece. Nico Di Angelo - for they're traveling by both air and water. Will Solace - for they also need a healer.

Fourteen cabins are build - they don't know how many Romans are coming with them, but at least Perseus is. Well, probably. He has been through one Great Prophecy - he might just be way too tired of this bullshit.

Jason has his memories back. The Prophecy is in the works. He didn't count, though, on keep dreaming of Perseus for the next six months it takes for them to make it to Rome.

Oh, how he's going to be so happy when his counterpart punches Juno in the face.