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tkc-fanfics-galore · 26 days ago

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As then- now again; chapter one, part one, a death at the needle

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[Carter kane x oc fanfic]

!!DISCLAIMER: I do not own nor did I write the kane chronicles saga, everything belongs to Rick Riordan exept for my original characters, their lore and the divergient plot from the main three books. Again, the only thing i own are the changes i make to the plot!!

Also, dm me if you want to be added to the tag list :3 Taglist:@bast-the-best26

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We only have a few hours, so listen carefully.

If you're hearing this, you're already in danger. Sadie, Helen and I might be your only chance.

Go to the school.

Find the locker.

I won't tell you which school, or which locker, because if you're the right person, you'll find it.

The combination is 13/32/ 33. By the time you finish listening, you'll know what the numbers mean.

Just know that the story we're about to tell you isn't completely yet.

How it ends depends on you.

Tme most important thing: when you open the package and find what's inside, don't keep longer than a week. Sure, it'll be tempting.

I mean, it will grant you almost unlimited power. But if you possess it too long, it will consume you. Learn its secrets quickly and pass it on.

Hide it for the next person, the way we did for you.

Then be prepared for your life to get very interesting.

Okay, Sadie and Helen are telling me to stop stalling and get on with the story. Fine. I guess it started in London, the night our dad blew up the British museum.

My name is Carter kane. I'm fourteen and my home is a suitcase.

You think I'm kidding? Since I was eight years old, my dad and I have travelled the world. I was born in LA but my dad's an archaeologist, so his work takes him all over.

Mostly we go to Egypt, since that's his speciality. Go to a bookstore, find a book about Egypt; there's a pretty good chance it was written by Dr. Julius kane.

You want to know how the Egyptians pulled the brains out of mummies, or built the pyramids, or cursed king tuts tomb? My dad is your man.

Of course, there are other reasons why my dad moved around so much, but i didn't know hso secret back then.

I didn't go to school, my dad home-schooled me, if you can even call it 'home'-schooling when you don't even have a home. He sort of taught me whatever he thought was important, so I learnt a lot about Egypt and basketball stats and my dad's favourite musicians.

I read alot too -pretty much anything I could get my hands on, from dad's history books to fantasy novels- because I spent alot of time sitting around in hotels and proportions and dig sites in foreign countries where i didn't know anybody.

My dad was always telling me to put the book down and play some ball. You ever try to start a game of pick up basketball in Aswan, Egypt? It's not easy.

Anyway, my dad trained me early to keep all my possessions in a single suitcase that fits in an aeroplanes overhead compartment. My dad packed the same, exept he was allowed an extra working bag for his archaeology tools.

Rule number one: I was not allowed to look into his workbag. That's a rule I never broke until the day of the explosion.

It happened on Christmas Eve. We were in London for visitation day with sadie. Well, her, and her friend helen, but more on her later.

See, dads only allowed two days of the year with sadie - one in the winter, one in the summer - because our grandparents hate him.

After our mom died, her parents (our grandparents) had this big court battle with dad. After six lawyers, two fistfights and a near attack with a spatula (don't ask), they won the right to keep sadie with them in England.

She was only six, two years younger than me, and they couldn't keep us both -at least that was their excuse for not taking me.

So sadie was raised as a British schoolkid, and I travelled around with my dad.

We only saw sadie twice a year, which was fine by me.

[Shut up Sadie- yes, im getting to that part, where was I?]

Right, Helen. She usually tagged along on visitation day.

Helen was Sadie's best friend and neighbour who usualy hung out with her. Anywhere, anytime, those two were connected by the hip.

the first time in met her, it was visitation day when I was ten, and she was nine.

Helen nervously asked our grandparents if she could tag along because her mother was working late that day, to which they and my father agreed.

I dont remember where exactly we went, but i do remember us talking about mythology and the gods, which was fun back then.

Now, it was just awful foreshadowing.

She was still my favourite part of the visitation day, and sometimes it felt like we were the siblings, not me and sadie.

So, anyway, my dad and I had just flown into Hearthrow after a couple delays. It was a drizzly, cold afternoon. The whole taxi ride into the city, my dad seemed kind of nervous.

Now, my dad is a big guy. You wouldn't think anything could make him nervous. He has dark brown skin like mine, piercing brown eyes, a bald head and a goatee, so he looks like a buff evil scientist.

That afternoon he worse his cashmere winter coat and his best brown suit, the one he used for public lectures.

Usually, he exudes so much confidence that he dominated any room he walked into, but sometimes -like that afternoon - I saw another side to that I didn't really understand.

He kept looking over his shoulder like we were being hunted.

'Dad?' I said as we were getting off the A40. 'What's wrong?'

'No sign of them,' he muttered. Then he must've realised he'd spoken aloud, because he looked at me kinda startled. 'Nothing Carter, everything is fine.'

Which bothered me because my dads a terrible liar. I always knew when he was hiding something, but i also knew no amount of pestering would get the truth out of him.

He was probrably trying to protect me, though from what I didnt know. Sometimes I wondered if he had some dark secret in his past, some old enemy following him, maybe; but the idea seemed ridiculous. Dad was just an archaeologist.

The other thing that troubled me: Dad was clutching his workbag. Usually when he does that, it means we're in danger.

Like the time gunmen stormed out hotel in Cairo. I heard shots coming from the lobby and ran downstairs to check up on my dad. By the time I got there, he was just calmly zipping up his workbag while three unconscious gunmen hung by their feet from the chandelier, their robes falling over their heads so you could see their boxershorys.

Dad claimed not to have witnessed anything, and in the end the police blamed a freak chandelier malfunction.

Another time, we got caught in a riot in Paris.

My dad found the nearest parked car, pushed me into the back seat and told me to stay down. I pressed myself against the floorboards and kept my eyes shut tight.

I could hear my dad in the driver's seat, rummaging in his bag, mumbling to himself as the mob yelled and destroyed things outside.

A few minutes later he told me it was safe to get up. Every other car had been overturned and set on fire. Our car had been freshly washed and had several twenty-euro notes had been tucked under the windshield wipers.

Anyway, I've come to respect the bag. It was our good luck charm. But when my dad kept it close, it usually meant we were going to need good luck.

We drove through the city centre, headling east towards my grandparents flat. We passed the golden gates of Buckingham palace, the big stone column in Trafalgar square. London is a pretty cool place but after you've travelled for so long, all cities start to blend together.

Other kids i meet sometimes say 'wow, you're so lucky you get to travel so much.' But it's not like we spend out time sightseeing or have a lot of money to travel in style. We've stayed in some pretty rough places, and we hardly stay anywhere longer than a few days.

Most of the time it feels like we're fugitives rather than tourists.

I mean, you wouldn't think my dads work was dangerous. He does lectured on topics like 'can egyptian magic really kill you?' and 'favorite punishments in the egyptian underworld' and other stuff that most people wouldn't care about. But, like I said, there's that other side to him.

He's always very cautious, checking every hotel room before he lets me walk into it. He'll dart into a museum, take a few notes and rush back out again as if he's afraid to be caught on the security cameras.

One time, when I was younger, we raced across the Charles de Gaulle airport to catch a last minute flight, and dad didn't relax until the plane left off the ground. I asked him point blank what he was running from, and he looked at me like I just pulled the pin out of a grenade.

For a second i was scared he might actually tell me the truth.

Then he said : 'Carter, it's nothing.' As if 'nothing' were the most terrible thing in the world.

After that, I decided maybe it was better not to ask questions.

My grandparents, the fausts, live in a housing development near canary wharf, right on the banks of the river Thames.

The taxi let us off at the curb, and my dad asked the driver to wait.

We were halfway up the walk when das frozen. He turned and looked behind us.

'What?' I asked.

Then I saw the man in the trenchcoat.

He was across the street, leaning against a big red tree. He was barrel shaped, with skin the colour of roasted coffee. His coat and black pinstriped suit looked expensive. He had long braided hair and wore a black fedora pulled down low over his dark brown glasses.

He reminded me of a jazz musician, one that dad would always drag me to in a concert.

Even though I couldn't see his eyes, I got the impression he was watching us. He might have been an old friend or colleague of dad's. No matter where we went, dad was always running into people he knew.

But it did seem strange that he was waiting here, outside my grandparents'.

And he didn't look happy.

'Carter,' my dad said 'go on ahead

'But-'

'Get your sister and Helen. I'll meet you back at the taxi.'

He crossed the street towards the man in the trenchcoat, which left me with two choices: follow my dad, and see what happens, or do what I was told.

I decided on the less dangerous path.

I went to retrieve my sister.

Before I could even knock, sadie opened the door for her and Helen.

'Late as usual,' she said.

She was holding her cat, muffin, who'd been a "going away gift" from dad six years ago.

Muffin never seemed to get older or bigger. She had fuzzy yellow and black fur like a miniature leopard, alert yellow eyes and ears that were too tall for her head. A silver egyptian pendant dangled from her collar.

She didn't look anything like a muffin, but said had been lttle when she named her, so I guess you had to cut her some slack.

They both hadn't changed much since last summer.

[As I'm recording this, Sadie's standing next to me, glaring, while helen is looking at me expectantly, so I better be careful how I describe them]

You'd never guess sadie was my sister. First of all, she'd been living in england so long, she has a British accent. Second, she takes after our mom, who was white, so sadies skin is much lighter than mine.

She has straight, caramel coloured hair, not exactly blonde but not brown, which she usualy dyes with steaks of bright colours. That day it had red streaks down the left side.

Her eyes are blue. Im serious. Blue eyes, just like our moms'.

Shes only twelve, but she's exactly as tall as me, which is really annoying. She was chewing gum as usual, dressed for her day out with dad in battered jeans, a leather jacket and combat books, like she was going to a concert and wanted to stomp on some people. She had headphones dangling from her neck just in case we bored her.

Helen however, looked so drastically the same and yet so dissimilar to my sister.

She had the same caramel hair as sadie, but her hair was curly. Only the roots and tips of her hair were dyed red. Her eyes were a shrinking prismarine green, that seemed to hypnotise anyone who stared at them too long.

Her tanned skin looked a few shades lighter in winter, but whatever season it was, she always kept that , rare, warm smile that always made people make her want to laugh, just to see it.

From what I'd heard, before her father passed, she always wore that bright smile that made her teachers awe until she was five. Her father passed, and it took several months of trust and friendship for one to see it.

I remembered her having freckles the last time we visited, but now in the winter they turned faint. Her nose was already red from the cold, and her hands were buried in the pockets of her grey hoodie.

She was thirteen , just a year younger than me, but she was just a bit shorter than me and sadie.

She smiled and waved at me, her hair shielding her face like a curtain: 'hi Carter...'

[Okay, none of them hit me, so I guess i did an okay job at describing them]

'Our plane was late' I told sadie, and nodded to helen as a greeting.

She popped a bubble, rubbed muffins head and tossed the cat inside: 'gran, were going out!'

'See you later Mrs. Faust!' Helen added.

From somewhere in the house, grandma Faust said something i couldn't make out, probably 'don't let them in!'

Sadie closed the door and regarded me as if I was a dead mouse her cat just dragged in: 'so, here you are again.'

'Yep.'

'Come on then,' she sighed. 'Let's get on with it, me and helen have a sleepover planned after this.'

That's the way she was. No "hi, how you been the last six months? So glad to see you!" or anything. But that was okay with me.

When you only see eachother twice a year, it's like you're distant cousins rather than siblings. We had absolutely nothing in common exept our parents.

'Sadie, you should be nicer to your brother...i mean, it's just one day-' I heard Helen whisper quietly to Sadie as we trudged down the steps.

Sadie cut her off with a scoff and an eye roll, gently nudging her: 'I could, but i don't have too, and If I don't have to, I won't.'

From then on, I ignored their conversation. I was thinking how sadie smelled like a combination of old people's house and bubblegum when she stopped so abruptly I ran into her.

'Who's that?' She asked.

I'd almost forgotten about the dude in the trenchcoat. He and my dad were standing across the street next to the big tree, having what looked like a serious argument. Dads back was turned, so i couldn't see his face, but he gestured with his hands like he does when he's agitated.

'Dunno,' I said. 'He was there when we pulled up.'

'He looks familiar.' Sadie frowned Luke she was trying to remember. 'Come on.'

'I think we should wait in the cab, sadie. It's probably safer' Helen gestured to my dad and the trenchcoat guy and how their argument looked like it was about to get violent.

But her words had no use. Sadie was already on the move. Instead of going straight across the street, she dashed across the sidewalk for half a block, ducking behind cars, then crossed to the opposite street and crouched under a low stone wall.

She started sneaking towards our dad. I didn't have much choice but to follow her example, even though it made me feel kind of stupid.

'Six years in England,' I muttered 'and she already thinks she's James bond'

Sadie swatted me without looking back and kept on creeping forward.

Helen followed her with a hint of reluctance and annoyance, seemingly not wanting to get into trouble.

A couple more steps and we were right behind the big dead tree. I could hear my dad on the other side , saying, '-have to, Amos. You know it's the right thing.'

'No,' said the other man, who must've been Amos. His voice was deep and even -very insistent. His accent was american. 'If I don't stop you, Julius, they will. The Per Ankh is is shadowing you.

Sadie turned to me and mouthed the words 'Per what?' while Helen counted on her fingers, trying to list all the languages she knew that could have been used.

[What do you mean you didn't do that, I literally saw you count!?- yeahh now you remember, of course... anyway-]

I shook my head, mystified. 'Let's get out of here,' I whispered, because I figured we'd be spotted any minute and get get in serious trouble. Sadie, of course, ignored me.

'They don't know my plan,' my father was saying. 'By the time they figure it out-'

'And the children?' Amos asked. The hairs stood up on the back of my neck. 'What about them?'

'I've made arrangements to protect them,' my dad said. 'Besides, if i don't do this, we're all in danger. Now, back off'

'i can't, Julius.'

'Then it's a duel you want?' Dads tone turned deadly serious. 'You could never beat me, Amos.'

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so um I've spent hours on this already, and I'm not even done with the first chapter 🙃 soo I definitely over estimated myself. So from now on, depending on how long the chapter is, it will be split to one, two or maybe even three pats, byeee yall! See u soon ;)

#aris og: as then- now again #Kane chronicles fanfiction #Kane chronicles fanfic #Kane chronicles

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kariachi · 2 months ago

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Part of brain is on the concept of Erinaens and Pernese being each other's First Contact.

Just this slow building thing as one teenager with a carit going "okay but how far can I go" becomes finding a whole other world with these strange lanky furless things walking around with a whole fucking civilization. Comes back next time with friends to point and go 'see!? what did I say!'. Arguments about if these things are dangerous, do we go say hi, do we tell somebody about this or is it our secret?

Meanwhile on the Pernese side there's starting to be rumors of strange shining lights in the sky. Occasionally somebody will come forward like 'I saw something darting around in the brush and it wasn't any animal I know'. A lot of shit that gets brushed off until they have to pull strange quills out of a wher who swears she was investigating odd intruders and then just passed out. Pern just gets it's own whole UFO situation but with none of the tech ours had and with shit actually being real.

Eventually a weyrling disappears while off doing harvest chores with his class, in the months before his blue can tag along. Nobody can find this kid, though they know he's alive because while his dragon is very worried and anxious he's also solidly certain he's still kicking somewhere. Then suddenly like a week later he just pops back up in a random cothold on the other end of the continent, telling tales of how he got separated from the group and lost, hurt himself badly trying to find his way back, though he was gonna die in the wilds. Only for suddenly these things that were as much animal as man to show up, Between him into a crystal, then into a healer's office in a strange place of massive trees. How he was healed, tended, fed, and then brought back and Betweened to where he was left.

Nobody believes it, but he keeps insisting and his blue and the other dragons are backing him up. Kid isn't lying, though they don't know how he can be telling the truth.

So now both sides know something is up, to differing degrees. One side is caught between 'the strange things stole a weyrling' and 'the strange things healed a weyrling'. The other is really just one colony going 'the fuck do you mean there's other worlds with weird people and you just didn't say anything to anybody?!'.

It's a very awkward time, very tentative on both sides, very wary.

I can't decide whether the final step to actual communication between the species would be the bluepair keeping an eye out for any sort of information, eventually making contact with a visiting group and making the first official introductions (of a sort) to the big people in charge, or an Erinaen craftsperson hearing about the weird 'harder than stone' knife that one teen from another world had and going 'okay but if they're knives are that good then surely their other tools are also that good, and jumping the hoops needed to go out to Pern and see about trading a person for some metal implements. Or maybe both, maybe the bluepair come across the craftsperson and whoever brought them.

There's a lot of distrust on both sides, more wary than anything. Especially since neither side understands what's going on with the other, there's nothing to work off language-wise but what a small handful of folks have gleamed from watching each other from the sidelines. Especially since on the Erinaen end there's a lot of languages at play and just because you got one fucker from Region A before doesn't mean you'll get another one next time. But it's amazing how far pantomime can get you when the miming is 'I'll give you money if you give me that grater' and 'okay, I fixed your hand, that'll be four pies'. Especially when you have telepathic dragonkin to fill in the gaps.

Then you also have to consider immigration between the worlds. Folks moving to Pern is less likely I think than folks moving to Eri, but both directions would definitely happen. There's gotta be Pernese (dragonkin included) willing to risk the massive predators of Eri in favor of more food and no Thread, and surely while it wouldn't be massive numbers to start you would get Erinaens interested in the lower predation risk and the differing crafts Pern offers in spite of it very much not having their proper habitat and the serious adjustments both sides would need (Pern's gravity being much higher than Eri's). You'd see more Erinaens the larger the trees are and the more forest they can set up colonies in, so likely they'd mostly be setting up in the Southern Continent.

I've noted for other au shit, Erinaens would take well to Impression. Carit can already form a psychic bond (though less strongly than even firelizards) with their owners, so they've already been working with a degree of that shit for thousands of years. You'd probably get as many if not more Erinaens per capita who were capable of being Searched as Pernese. They question really is would they go for it, given how very different the environment needs of both dragons and whers are too their own. Firelizards they'd go for, that is a whole new egg producing animal plus guard critter, but the greater dragonkin I think there would be a lot capable of Impressing, but not a lot Standing. Like, happy to trade, great to meet you, but also you are very big and you want to live in caves and on the ground and that's just not suitable.

And all this isn't even getting into cultural differences (the offense the first time somebody asks an Erinaen whether they're a man or woman, the confusion the first time an Erinaen prepares a meal for a non-Erinaen) or the fact Pern would be learning that actual fucking magic exists.

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thebibliomancer · 4 months ago

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Essential Avengers: Avengers West Coast #65: "Whatsoever a man soweth..."

December, 1990

The REAPER and the ROBOT Part One He's back from the GRAVE -- and ready to PARTY! ... FEAR the REAPER!

Uuuuugh. Can we not do something different?

Grim Reaper suuuuuucks! He's one-note! Even the title of this arc seems to suggest we're back to his old nonsense. The Reaper and the Robot.

Oh, is Grim Reaper going to have a problem with Vision? How fresh and original!

Although, Vision is with the East Coast Avengers. Maybe Grim Reaper is going to harass Jim Hammond Human Torch instead. That'll be new.

Anyway, a quick recap of Grim Reaper's last appearance. He teamed up with Ultron to put Wonder Man and Vision in a giant blender. Superhero shenanigans ensued and Vision and Wonder Man wound up pursuing Grim Reaper into a dark cavern. And then he stumbled off a cliff when Wonder Man ruined his perfect little brother fantasy by claiming credit for doing an embezzlement.

Uh, so, Wonder Man Simon William's original origin is that he was a competitor to Tony Stark but his company got into trouble and Simon did some embezzlement and got arrested. The Masters of Evil bailed him out and turned him into Wonder Man and then he died. Then Grim Reaper came to avenge Simon by attacking the Avengers instead of the Masters of Evil and also revealed that he, Grim Reaper Eric Williams, did the embezzlement instead and framed his goody-good brother.

And then it was later later revealed that the first thing was correct and Simon did the embezzling and just let Eric take the blame because he was ashamed.

Anyway,

Simon visits his brother's grave at the graveyard.

Where he recaps their entire relationship and says how weird it is that he has an easier time talking to him now that he's dead.

Hey, it be like that sometimes.

Simon apologizes that the two brothers drifted apart and says that all the murder attempts probably meant they cared for each other more than most brothers.

Sure!

Anyway, as soon as Simon leaves the graveyard, Eric pops out of the ground as the living dead.

Oh, sure, don't stay dead. God forbid I be happy.

Nekra reveals herself to be the one that brought him back to life. You know, that lady he was smooching on back when he was alive?

Apparently, she and Black Talon brought Reaper back as a zombie later in the Vision and the Scarlet Witch vol 2 book. And Nekra and Reaper smooched again shortly before he re-died. This made her realize she loved him so she studied voodoo herself so she could bring him back.

Reaper doesn't want to be a zombie again and have to take orders but Nekra tells him he doesn't have to obey anyone! Although, he does need to absorb a human life through his scythe once a day to keep living. She recommends he start with the ornery groundskeeper who has started yelling at them for being in the cemetery after hours.

Instead, Grim Reaper backstabs Nekra and eats her life.

Grim Reaper: "Like you said, Nekra -- this time -- I don't have to do what anybody tells me. Anybody!"

What a dick.

Grim Reaper: "You were right -- about my needing to absorb life -- to hang onto my own approximation of it. Still, in sucking out your life -- I've become the walking personification of death! Now, far more than before, I've become -- THE GRIM REAPER!"

It's decades too late to try to be cool, guy.

Anyway, back at the Avengers West Coast Compound, Palos Verdes, Los Angeles, California, Hawkeye is back to training in that device that swings him around by his feet.

He's trying to get three bullseyes in a row but US Agent throws his shield to block the third one. Apparently, just to be a dick.

US Agent: "What's wrong, archer? Think you're the only one who can use a night workout? 'Course, I guess a guy like you needs all the practice he can get."

Hawkeye then punches US Agent in the face. Deserved.

But US Agent is still a super soldier even if his personality is garbage. So he judo flips Hawkeye into a bush when he tries for a second one.

Wanda and Quicksilver interrupt the fight to ask what the heck is going on. And then Wonder Man returns from the grave visit, telling Hawkeye and US Agent that if their enemies (like Master Pandemonium) had seen the Avengers fighting amongst themselves, it would make them so happy.

Geez, Wonder Man. You know that the Avengers always have drama. You were the one causing drama back during most of Englehart's run.

Anyway, he suggests that Hawkeye and US Agent shake hands and forget the whole fight.

Hawkeye: "How about we forget to shake hands, and let it go at that?" US Agent: "What he said."

Wow. So they can agree on things. If only they could broaden that 'fuck you, Wonder Man' attitude into a general sense of camaraderie.

Anyway, Wanda wanders to Wonder Man and asks if they can talk. Because they haven't really talked since her whole Evil and Crazy phase and boy do they have a lot to talk about.

Will they though? I mean, they try!

Scarlet Witch: "I merely wanted to -- well, to thank you for all your kindness while I've been recovering from -- everything that's happened to me lately." Wonder Man: "What are friends for? I see you're not wearing your costume, though -- either of them. Your hex power still hasn't kicked back in, huh?" Scarlet Witch: "No, and I can't be certain it ever will. In fact, with so many things I thought were -- permanent -- having been altered lately, perhaps it would be best if the Scarlet Witch phase of my life were over with, as well." Wonder Man: "Don't even think that, Wanda."

Yeah, editorial will never allow it.

Anyway, Wonder Man has had a hell of a day, thinking about his definitely dead brother and thinks this conversation will be easier over food.

And he looks truly miserable. Like, my god, this is a man in a dark place.

So Wanda suggests Taco Loco and drags him off.

Anyway, over in the plot, Grim Reaper wanders into an abandoned gun emplacement in the coastal hills of San Pedro. Currently being used by the Cult of Satanish, who I guess is like Satan... ish.

The cult gets in his face for interrupting their ritual and then he starts slaughtering. Because they're full of delicious life energy.

Is this your plan, Grim? Just killing random weirdos to live another day?

In his slaughter frenzy, Grim Reaper doesn't notice one of the cultists running away.

Back in the character beats, Wonder Man and Wanda have sat down at a restaurant and instead of talking about what they need to talk about, they're gossiping about Hank and Jan.

Apparently, Hank and Jan have officially explicitly decided to try to see if they can work as a couple again. Instead of them... I dunno, they were like dating in secret but it was super obvious and yet things kept happening that would interrupt them from ever speaking it aloud.

What was the point of playing coy with it?

Speaking of weirdly prolonged subplots, where the fuck is Tigra? I can't believe the Avengers lost an entire person, smh.

Some fans of Simon come right up to the restaurant table and ask him for his autograph. Specifically, the autograph of Simon Williams, semi-famous actor from Arkon 5, a cinematic masterpiece.

The fans don't even have any idea that he's a superhero. Which is weird. Since a huge part of his PR plays up the idea that he's an actor who is a superhero. To the extent that when he was really attacked for real by Last Roman Emperor Romulus Augustulus Wearing Abomination As a Meatsuit, everyone assumed that it was just a stunt and not a real violent assault.

My point is that it's odd that these young fans don't know Simon Williams is Avenger Wonder Man but they say they don't watch a lot of TV.

So, I guess it's possible. That they're just really big fans of his movies and don't pay a lot of attention to anything else.

Anyway, that one cultist that escaped Grim Reaper's murder spree stumbles into specifically the restaurant that Grim Reaper's superhero brother Wonder Man is in, cries out about a Grim Reaper killing people in a bunker, and then drops dead.

It's just vague enough that Wonder Man has to follow up on it! Annnnd, I guess he didn't bring his rocket belt? Because he asks two cops that were in the restaurant if he (and Wanda) could get a ride.

The cops are like 'yeah, okay.'

When the cop car arrives at the bunker, Wonder Man rushes ahead and finds a bunch of murdered people. And also, Grim Reaper jumps out like a slasher villain.

Wonder Man wonder slams a table into Grim Reaper and yells at him for killing a bunch of people.

Grim Reaper's response is funny because he's like well they weren't exactly saints but like I didn't really take that into account either. Just had to slurp some delicious life.

Wonder Man: "That means -- you're even more murderous than you used to be -- which makes stopping you my business!"

He's not wrong.

New zombie Grim Reaper will kill a minimum of 365 people a year if left alone. That's ridonk.

Grim Reaper is all jacked up on life energy so he's able to take Wonder Man punches like a boss. Getting punched hard enough that he cracks the concrete wall and shakes the whole place like an earthquake. And then bouncing right back to knock Wonder Man across the room.

The cops pull their guns and start blasting Grim Reaper. Blasting through him too. I guess being super jacked up on life energy doesn't change that his body is all squishy.

Grim Reaper knocks the cops aside and declares that even though he's eaten enough life for the day, he's going to kill Wonder Man just cause.

Wonder Man presses X to doubt because Grim Reaper is obsessed with him. All his dumb schemes were to either get revenge for him or turn Vision or Wonder Man back into the brother he used to know.

So Wonder Man just rolls the dice on letting Grim Reaper hit him with his scythe.

And he's sorta right. The scythe just FTHKs off his rock hard pecs. It's not clear whether it wasn't an earnest attempt to kill Wonder Man or whether the scythe just isn't up to cutting an ionic energy man.

But something weird happens. A weird sibling interaction.

The life energy flows out of Grim Reaper through the scythe and goes into Wonder Man. And neither of them like it.

It drains and weakens Grim Reaper. And the energy is so foul that it incapacitates Wonder Man with nausea and disgust.

Grim Reaper is so drained that he needs to eat another person to get through the night. Annnnnnnnd Wanda and the two cops just happen to be available...

Wanda tries to do a hex but gets nothing. Her powers are still gone after that Immortus thing.

But she's resourceful. So she kicks over a lantern, the only light source, and casts the bunker into darkness.

Grim Reaper can't see in the dark so decides to just fuck off.

Wonder Man: "Eric -- if you really are Eric -- wait! If something's wrong with you, maybe we can help!" Grim Reaper: "What I need, little brother, you clearly can't give -- and you sure won't stand by and let me take it for myself! I may be dead -- but I need life, like a living man needs food -- and no one is going to stop me from getting all I need! NO ONE!"

And then he fucks off.

Wonder Man laments that he was too disoriented by getting scythed to give chase.

Wonder Man: "I've got to find him -- or else every life he takes -- every drop of blood he spills -- will be on my hands!"

Mmm, that's good drama.

And now for subplots.

As mentioned earlier, Hank and Jan are off trying out being a couple. Including having a married couple argument.

So I can sigh once again about how Wasp is being portrayed since Byrne's run started.

Dr Pym: "Hank and Jan couldn't fly in a Rover, oh no. Or even just take a plane. They had to rent a car and drive, just like folks. Results: one flat tire, equidistant between closed service stations, in a car missing a jack."

I'm so glad that Jan organized the travel arrangements entirely so she could make all the wrong decisions. It has nothing to do with anything but she's just got to be wrong so Hank can be right =_=

Luckily, Hank and Jan got their flat in front of a farmhouse. Which Hank notes is odd because a lot of pesticide spraying has been doing in this area.

The old farmer couple that answers when Hank knocks says they don't have a jack. But also luckily, Hank completely ignored Jan when she asked him not to bring a Rover, his ant-brained aircar that loves him. So when she laments that she was wrong not to let him bring it, he can bring it out, secure in his rightness.

Also, when he uses his Pym Particles to expand Rover, the farming couple explodes.

THEY WERE ROBOTS ALL ALONG.

BECAUSE ULTRON-13 WAS BEHIND THIS!

WHATEVER THIS IS!

Like, seriously, what are you up to, Ultron? Why did you put fake farmer robots in the middle of nowhere? Just to ruin Hank and Jan's stupid couples trip?

I miss Mark the Ultron...

ANOTHER SUBPLOT.

Remember how Ann Raymond came to find the truth of what happened to her husband Toro and she just kept hanging around?

Well, in this back-up story "Toro, Toro, Toro...", Jim Hammond Human Torch and Mrs Raymond have put out an ad and ran it in papers around the world asking for information on what happened to Toro. They only received one response, an anonymous letter asking to meet them at the Channel Islands.

And when they get there, the letter writer turns out to be the Mad Thinker! And he brought a Giganto! A robot Giganto!

Mad Thinker: "And who more fitting, than he who not only caused Toro's death southwest of Lisianski Island -- but who also first resurrect you from suspended animation, years ago? I thought it past time I disposed of the surviving half of the Torch-Toro team!"

Human Torch do what Human Torch do and throws fireballs at the Giganto, melting its skin and revealing that it's a robot.

But in the meantime, the Mad Thinker has fucked off.

Hammond and Mrs Raymond decide to go investigate Lisianski Island, which Mad Thinker really emphasized it. So they miss Mad Think coming out of the water and ripping off his face to reveal...

NAMOR MCKENZIE!

Who disguised himself as the Mad Thinker to help the two of them get closure and couldn't just tell them because he's busy faking his death at the moment.

As one does.

I'll just be happy if we get this subplot wrapped up.

Anyway, back to the Larry Hama Avengers run next week. And the week after that, Ultron stuff.

Follow @essential-avengers. Like, reblog, and comment. Or don't. I can't make you. Until I get the Mind Stone.

#avengers #essential avengers #west coast avengers #Grim Reaper #Nekra #Ultron #Wonder Man #Hawkeye #US Agent #Quicksilver #Dr Pym #Hank Pym #the Wasp #Scarlet Witch #fake Mad Thinker #fake Giganto #namor mckenzie

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koskela-knights · 9 months ago

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Night Springs DLC & usage of NPCs

Obviously, this is going to be a Night Springs SPOILERS post so be aware before proceeding!

TLDR: I personally think using mainly generic NPCs for almost every DLC chapter took away some of the (emotional) impact and depth these chapters could've had more. Sure, we've seen these generic NPCs in the main/vanilla game, but you don't rly get to know them well enough (at least in my case)

Now to expand on this per chapter

Rose:

In Rose's chapter, clearly it's her POV/her dream scenario. She's the centre point and everyone adores her. But who? Just some nameless NPCs which might suggest that this is how Rose actually experiences nobody but Alan to be important in her life. Again, it's NS, a different reality, and her chap is clearly exaggerated in many ways. But I think it'd be cooler to see, for example, the Valhalla residents, maybe even the Koskelas sitting in the Diner and just outside of it. Just to make it feel more personal, like hey, u know these characters, look how they suddenly worship her! Werewolf motorcycle scratch and talking fish Alan are literally a thing in this chapter so it wouldn't be too much of a stretch to have Mandy-May and Norman for example in that Diner right. (You literally see duplicated NPCs outside the Diner, which feels kinda lazy to me, but maybe it serves the insignificance of the rest of the world to Rose.)

I'd say the changed Deer Fest was partially so effective becos BF was filled with named NPCs we've seen (and maybe have come to care about) throughout the game (the Valhalla residents, the Bookers, even Ilmo got affected). We profiled them, talked to them... So ofc it's uncanny to see them being sucked into this mess as well. Nobody is safe from being pulled into these weird versions of the town.

Jesse:

I'll be blunt, I feel this chapter didn't add much to the mix/overall story. Her character's relevance was much bigger in Tim's chapter anyways. It left me wanting, hoping for more. Also, you give me Coffee World (created by the Koskelas) with the main character "the Sibling" looking for her brother and then you remove the main game's most prominent siblings besides the Andersons???? Missed opportunity of having Jesse have parallels with Ilmo losing his brother, and her looking for Dylan. Their direct or indirect interaction could've been interesting and meaningful. What if one of Jaakko's kids was the person in that thermos suit? Have at least a note of Ilmo mourning that loss or something and it could be an additional drive for Jesse to find her brother before he too ends up as a coffee-corrupted mascot/character.

In this chapter, Tim is looking for missing people. It could've been gripping to actually see named NPCs return as coffee-corrupted people. Or have them being the ones stuffed in those thermos mascots. It would make the stakes feel much higher, but we only see shadow people and an unnamed, unknown mascot character that we have no emotional attachment to whatsoever. Not even on a basic level of recognizing those characters. If there were characters like Pat Maine or something other than Tim ending up corrupted, it could increase the (underlying) sense of dread/threat that anybody could be corrupted, including Dylan and Jesse still.

Tim:

I feel this chapter made the most sense to focus on only a handful of characters. But, I still think adding a bit more named NPCs could've made those apocalyptic worlds Tim visits more creepy and depressing. Similar to the effect it had in the altered Deer Fest from the main game, you realize that there are so many more universes where even less significant NPCs aren't safe from being wiped out/corrupted/etc.

Overall:

The chapters feel a bit... contained. There are of course clearly connections and more subtle winks to the main game/story + the other games (Control & QB) but this connection could've been more enforced by adding those other more known NPCs into these multiple universes. This way (for me at least), it feels like the multiverse isn't just restricted to the main characters of the chapters, but the entirety of Bright Falls and Watery. To me, those NPCs are what make the world just a bit more real and vivid and lived in. They make the worlds worth exploring and investing in, other than just the MCs. They make it worth saving, or wanting to save those worlds/universes. So when you see these apocalyptic/corrupted worlds, it makes it all the sadder to see what happened to those NPCs too.

#alan wake 2 #my posts #night springs dlc #night springs spoilers #rose marigold #tim breaker #jesse faden #my ramblings #my meta

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halothenthehorns · 2 years ago

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Chapter 13: WE VISIT THE JUNKYARD OF THE GODS

"I think I do want that break now," Thalia said before she could talk herself out of this.

Will set the book aside without hesitation and Percy looked as relieved for her sake as he did anxious as ever at the spine, like he'd sleep with it under his pillow just to make sure he didn't miss a word.

Nobody pointed out they'd just taken a break thankfully, but the problem was everybody had just eaten and she didn't have a way to casually pull Nico aside without it being obvious.

The kid actually helped her out though and excused himself to the bathroom. Thalia sighed in relief and muttered the same, mentally thanking Hades and promising she owed his boy a cookie.

He came out with a look on his face like he was reconsidering whatever he'd last eaten, and not a hint of shock to see Thalia hovering.

"I know how to read a map," he wasn't looking at her so much as glaring at her shoulder. "There's not a lot of desert left going east. I was expecting it in the last one, but that toy was never mentioned so, it'll be soon."

Thalia had no idea what he was talking about with a toy, who had described that automaton to him like that? She also still had a bone to pick with him over what he did and didn't know about Jason.

He just looked so troubled right now it would be cruel to say anything else. He had Bianca's sharp brown eyes that had watched every fight between her and Zoe, biting her lip and clearly thinking about intervening. He was tapping the grip of his sword like his sister had twining that knife about despite Zoe's crazy driving on that bus.

"Thank you for how you've been handling this," she told him uneasily. "I can't imagine how you've been feeling..." She couldn't begin to guess if Jason was here by accident, let alone if she was going to have to suffer his backstory in one of those mysterious other books and how she'd react to all that. "I don't know if you and Percy are friends exactly," Annabeth had told her multiple times Nico was an entity to himself around camp, avoiding everybody the few times he was there. He could have been making this a lot worse on them all. "If there's anything I can do to help with, well not just, um, this, but, anything?"

"Thanks," he echoed with a restless shrug. "I'd rather just get this over with." The nonexistent lighting flickered in the room, and she looked anxiously at the door. Percy was probably getting impatient.

She hustled out of the room, but her mind still lingered on his perfected impassive face he'd gotten straight from his dad. She tried to tell herself even if Nico had any prior knowledge of what Jason had been up to, there was a good chance he wouldn't know why she would be connected. She'd never told anybody about her dead little brother, not even Luke, who knew of a lost sibling but no specifics. Even if Hades did have some hand in resurrecting him, he must with a soul passing in and out of his domain, it didn't explain anything about why it had been done or where he'd been all this time.

Roman's existed, her mind whispered the reminder. He's lived another life than you...but she'd lived a very different life than anybody she knew. He was still her brother, she just had to figure out how to tell him that.

One problem at a time, as she came back into the room to see Jason wielding Riptide while Percy watched on with far to much curiosity and a great lack of self-preservation as usual.

She threw herself into her seat between them, headless herself of the sharp point as she asked casually, "Nico not back yet?"

Will looked around the room fondly. This was probably as close to world peace as would ever happen, nobody in here actively hating.

Percy, Thalia, Jason and Rachel were all laughing and making jokes about building weapons out of seaweed and kale chips for some reason, while Alex and Magnus were practicing more ASL. He could have joined either of them, but he didn't want Nico to come back in and see him socializing with to many people and start feeling to crowded. A caution that paid off when he saw Nico hovering in the doorway, eyes roving over the group surrounding Percy.

He had that same look Will was only just beginning to understand. Some kind of longing, to be a part of what he wouldn't let himself be. It tied back to his sister, he just knew it. 'You're just looking for a problem to fix,' he tried to school himself as Nico entered the room proper, walking normally enough back to his seat, but his hand was a tight fist in his pocket like he was ready to knock someone's eye out at a moments notice. 'He doesn't want you involved,' so he made sure he gave him just a casual smile as he cleared his throat and read the chapter title, getting all attention back on him.

"What do Gods consider junk?" Alex asked, only reluctantly distracted.

"I'll refrain from making a joke about their offspring there," Magnus muttered, far more relieved to not be her soul attention anymore, he was showing her all the basics he knew and was probably making a fool of himself. More importantly, Annabeth. Was it possible Kronos had Luke hiding her in such a place?

Nico hadn't taken his hand out of his pocket, he was sure the little head on his figurine was going to pop off before this was up. It wasn't junk to him though, but maybe that's all Bianca had thought it was. Percy had probably only thought that's why she'd been messing with it, when- for once he finally noticed how much the shadows were dancing around in here and gave himself a good mental slap.

Will took one last cautious breath before he started, for the first time really hating it was his turn to read. He couldn't keep as good an eye on Nico when he'd need to make a distraction like this, and it didn't take a child of Apollo to need a hint of foresight here. Everybody was looking around anxiously from Percy to the purple spine, the forbidding sense something bad was about to happen lingering in the water around them.

We rode the boar until sunset, which was about as much as my back end could take.

"You lost a whole day riding him?" Magnus asked anxiously.

"I doubt there was a faster way to get through those mountains," Thalia said, while Percy grimaced in agreement with both of them even as he rubbed his backside.

Imagine riding a giant steel brush over a bed of gravel all day. That's about how comfortable boar-riding was.

"And I always wondered why we never domesticated bears and boars instead of horses and dogs," Alex said with a tone that really meant a great mystery had been solved.

"My saddle sores thank whoever made that decision," Percy said through gritted teeth as he vividly remembered the throbbing.

I have no idea how many miles we covered, but the mountains faded into the distance and were replaced by miles of flat, dry land. The grass and scrub brush got sparser until we were galloping (do boars gallop?) across the desert.

"As long as all four feet left the ground in one stride, it's a gallop," Rachel agreed. She smiled as she watched many people blink in fascination, trying to slow down a horse running in their head to figure out if that was really how that worked. It was a shame Percy had just been to the Smithsonian and missed a particular exhibit of the first example of such a feat.

As night fell, the boar came to a stop at a creek bed and snorted. He started drinking the muddy water, then ripped a saguaro cactus out of the ground and chewed it, needles and all.

"You are what you eat," Jason snorted.

"This is as far as he'll go," Grover said. "We need to get off while he's eating."

Nobody needed convincing. We slipped off the boar's back while he was busy ripping up cacti. Then we waddled away as best we could with our saddle sores.

After its third saguaro and another drink of muddy water, the boar squealed and belched, then whirled around and galloped back toward the east.

"Did you never give him the apple?" Magnus asked on the pig's part, he'd been teased with it for miles.

"He deserved a treat for totting you guys around," Alex agreed.

"I can't say I noticed when Grover did, but I'm grateful he didn't maul us for it," Percy shrugged.

"It likes the mountains better," I guessed.

"I can't blame it," Thalia said. "Look."

Ahead of us was a two-lane road half covered with sand.

For the first time they all felt the temperature drop into dead, freezing cold, as if their skin finally noticed they were at the bottom of the ocean. The shiver that passed through the room made every one of them shudder.

Magnus was still trying to convince himself lost could still just mean Annabeth. Percy was just going to be frustrated, he might get close to rescuing her but miss the mark so she'd be lost again like she already was, but they get her back. Lost in a land without rain could easily even mean they lost another day of travel or something and Apollo would even show up to help again.

On the other side of the road was a cluster of buildings too small to be a town: a boarded-up house, a taco shop that looked like it hadn't been open since before Zoe Nightshade was born,

"How much stuff do you think she invented and hasn't told you about?" Alex suddenly burst out in excitement. "Do you think she invented tacos? Or the bow?"

"I couldn't begin to guess what butterfly effects she caused on history," Thalia was pleased her laugh sounded natural enough and now Percy was muttering about tacos and didn't seem too twitchy about what was about to happen. Annabeth could probably tell her who did invent those things, but now Thalia was wondering if she'd be the unsung hero of the future for inventing the perfect dog guide book or something.

and a white stucco post office with a sign that said GILA CLAW, ARIZONA hanging crooked above the door.

Nico flinched, his hand finally spasmed in and out of his pocket and began rubbing his nose like he'd swear frost was growing on it. The first of many things in this chapter he'd never wanted to know, the name of the place it had happened. Would he ever hear the casual state or noun again without unwanted memories chasing him?

Beyond that was a range of hills... but then I noticed they weren't regular hills. The countryside was way too flat for that. The hills were enormous mounds of old cars, appliances, and other scrap metal. It was a junkyard that seemed to go on forever.

Alex rubbed her hands together and looked ready to dive in head first.

"Who decided to summarize Earth in one sentence?" Nico muttered.

Will snorted in shock and fought back the urge to really laugh, and then start arguing the point with him.

"Who's the god of junkyards?" Jason asked in trepidation. "Why do I already know that place isn't going to be a good thing?"

"Good instincts," Percy said wearily with whatever confidence he had.

"Whoa," I said.

"Something tells me we're not going to find a car rental here," Thalia said. She looked at Grover. "I don't suppose you got another wild boar up your sleeve?"

"At this rate it wouldn't surprise me," Rachel chuckled.

"Why can't he summon a monster goat? What is the point of being a satyr if you can't?" Percy nodded along. It was probably a more comfortable ride too, he hoped.

Grover was sniffing the wind, looking nervous. He fished out his acorns and threw them into the sand, then played his pipes. They rearranged themselves in a pattern that made no sense to me, but Grover looked concerned.

"That's us," he said. "Those five nuts right there."

"Which one is me?" I asked.

"Does it make a difference?" Jason asked more critically, as if life or death situations could be avoided if he knew which specific acorn each member was.

"Why would you ask that?" Magnus asked, Percy had to know the kind of answer he'd get with Thalia and Zoe right there.

"You are clearly not ADHD," Percy told Magnus while waving his hand in Jason's face to chase away that scrunched up expression. Nobody from camp would question why anything left his mouth.

"The little deformed one," Zoe suggested.

"Oh, shut up."

"Exhibit A," Magnus muttered anyways.

"That cluster right there," Grover said, pointing to the left, "that's trouble."

"It's not a giant squirrel is it?" Alex asked in something actually close to concern. "I've heard bad stories about those."

"The acorns led us to a lion last time, or even worse, Percy." Thalia falsely tapped her chin in contemplation. "There's really no telling." Her hand was shaking a bit at the end and she quickly dropped it and the act.

"A monster?" Thalia asked.

Grover looked uneasy. "I don't smell anything, which doesn't make sense. But the acorns don't lie.

"They don't, or they can't?" Jason asked this very important distinction.

"There's no acorns down here to ask," Will reminded.

Our next challenge..."

He pointed straight toward the junkyard. With the sunlight almost gone now, the hills of metal looked like something on an alien planet.

"Cool," Rachel grinned, her eyes sparking with challenge if she could make a painting like that.

We decided to camp for the night and try the junkyard in the morning. None of us wanted to go Dumpster-diving in the dark.

"You are on an adventure and actively avoiding the best parts," Alex groaned, sinking into her seat as if in mortal peril over this.

"Adventure time doesn't start until I have nightmares about it," Percy shrugged.

"It was the only unanimous vote our group ever had," Thalia said in a far to dismal voice for that to mean it was a good thing.

Zoe and Bianca produced five sleeping bags and foam mattresses out of their backpacks. I don't know how they did it, because the packs were tiny, but must've been enchanted to hold so much stuff. I'd noticed their bows and quivers were also magic. I never really thought about it, but when the Hunters needed them, they just appeared slung over their backs. And when they didn't, they were gone.

Alex and Magnus both burst out laughing for no apparent reason to the others, even Magnus's innocent question of, "do they all have matching purses too?" Only made Alex hold her sides and fall back even farther into her seat.

"Um, no," Thalia answered, wondering if they lost their mind.

"Sorry, sorry, keep going," Alex tried to wave them on and brush tears of mirth away, but she and Magnus exchanged one last amused grin their mind kept drawing the same parallels to another book.

If Magnus wasn't so concerned hearing about Annabeth, he even would have liked to sit around and ask Alex her top five favorite books that just had specific magical space bags in them, but he'd have to shelve that for later.

The night got chilly fast, so Grover and I collected old boards from the ruined house, and Thalia zapped them with an electric shock to start a campfire. Pretty soon we were about as comfy as you can get in a rundown ghost town in the middle of nowhere.

"I really hope you come across some people out there looking for aliens, you could have quite the interesting conversation," Will smiled.

"Until somebody actually gets abducted," Nico muttered bitterly.

"The stars are out," Zoe said.

She was right. There were millions of them, with no city lights to turn the sky orange.

"Amazing," Bianca said. "I've never actually seen the Milky Way."

Nico flinched again, a memory glimmering in and out of focus to fast to make real sense. He'd knocked over his glass of milk one time...and his sister had laughed and called it the Milky Way. He didn't know when that had happened, when they were little and their mom cleaned it up? In the hotel and it was a false moment of time passing as he visited her in the kitchens?

"This is nothing," Zoe said. "In the old days, there were more. Whole constellations have disappeared because of human light pollution."

"You talk like you're not human," I said.

Zoe raised an eyebrow. "I am a Hunter. I care what happens to the wild places of the world. Can the same be said for thee?"

"You can be a human and care about the environment," Rachel said proudly.

"Am I the only one who noticed she didn't actually answer the question?" Magnus asked. Hearth was an elf, he wasn't assuming anyone wasn't some secret species anymore.

Percy was focused uncomfortably on Rachel though and rubbing his nose again, so Thalia harshly cleared her throat to get Will to keep going.

"For you," Thalia corrected. "Not thee."

"Why do you correct her?" Will asked. "You understand her Ye Old speech well enough."

"If you have to ask you wouldn't get it," Thalia said sullenly. She'd been mocking that uppity Huntress more than anything, thing number two she owed somebody an apology for she'd never get the chance. Bianca was currently number one for not being able to get her little brother out of this in the next few sentences.

"But you use you for the beginning of a sentence."

"My memories could never be so bad I'd forget I signed up for a grammar lesson," Percy vividly remembered exchanging an uneasy look with Bianca if they were supposed to do something about this.

"And for the end," Thalia said. "No thou. No thee. Just you"

Zoe threw up her hands in exasperation. "I hate this language. It changes too often!"

"That's fair," Nico muttered, only a tad surprised he was agreeing with a Huntress about something.

"Slang is the worst," Will agreed with an exasperated sigh. Kids always came back to camp saying something it took him half the summer to get, then by the time they came back again it was a whole new thing.

Grover sighed. He was still looking up at the stars like he was thinking about the light pollution problem. "If only Pan were here, he would set things right."

Jason was a bit uneasy what exactly Grover was wanting from his search now. To revert time back before humans took away all those stars? They'd joked before about some great nature god running humanity into the wilderness and taking back over, but that apocalyptic scenario couldn't really be what Grover wanted, there had to be some kind of balance.

Zoe nodded sadly.

"Maybe it was the coffee," Grover said. "I was drinking coffee, and the wind came. Maybe if I drank more coffee..."

"Coffee, beans, nature, I can see the connection," only Will could make that not sound sarcastic, Nico found himself admiring as Percy muffled a snort.

I was pretty sure coffee had nothing to do with what had happened in Cloudcroft, but I didn't have the heart to tell Grover. I thought about the rubber rat and the tiny birds that had suddenly come alive when the wind blew. "Grover, do you really think that was Pan? I mean, I know you want it to be."

"Who else could it be?" Rachel seemed to be agreeing with Grover. "Unless Dionysius took a sip of his own wine and sent some crazy help, this kind of thing doesn't track with any other god but Artemis, who's in no position to help anyone."

"I just don't want Grover to get his hopes up if its not because it's something else crazy in this world," Percy sighed.

"He sent us help," Grover insisted. "I don't know how or why. But it was his presence.

Percy wanted to believe his best friend, but Grover had also followed a presence right into a cyclops den. He trusted his best friend with his life, but he was worried Grover would grow immune to caffeine before he found another trace of that presence.

After this quest is done, I'm going back to New Mexico and drinking a lot of coffee. It's the best lead we've gotten in two thousand years. I was so close."

"Unless he got a shovel and started digging up that town, I can't figure out where he'd even keep looking," Magnus frowned thoughtfully. It seemed a pretty small place, in tune enough with nature, but it sounded impossible satyrs wouldn't have been searching the literal wilderness these two thousand years already for every small nook and cranny. What had made this town so special?

I didn't answer. I didn't want to squash Grover's hopes.

It was the kindest answer he could have given, and he waited with an annoyed huff for somebody to tell him something better he could have said.

Nobody did, they just looked as sullen as he felt Grover might be on a wild goose chase that would only lead him to boars and coffee beans his whole life.

"What I want to know," Thalia said, looking at Bianca, "is how you destroyed one of the zombies. There are a lot more out there somewhere. We need to figure out how to fight them."

Bianca shook her head. "I don't know. I just stabbed it and it went up in flames."

"A truly badass ability that should be shared," Alex nodded sagely.

"One I can't be teaching, so don't get any bright ideas," Thalia said with a strange smile only Nico got.

"Maybe there's something special about your knife," I said.

"It is the same as mine," Zoe said. "Celestial bronze, yes. But mine did not affect the warriors that way."

"Maybe you have to hit the skeleton in a certain spot," I said.

Bianca looked uncomfortable with everybody paying attention to her.

Nico now lived that feeling alone. He wanted to offer her hat back. He knew she'd scoff at him and tell him a Huntress didn't hide behind such things anymore, but some part of him still wished he could help her.

"Never mind," Zoe told her. "We will find the answer. In the meantime, we should plan our next move.

Nico didn't quite believe his ears for the short breath Will took, so leaned over his shoulder to check that for himself.

Yep. There it was. Zoe had really tried to do exactly what he'd just wanted to, offered her some way of stepping back. A better one than his stupid thought of just letting her go back to hiding behind her hat. Zoe had really been better for her.

"Wait your turn Nico," Will playfully nudged him back away. He saw the troubled way his brown eyes were watching the book though and knew he'd missed something. He couldn't imagine what Zoe could have said to upset him, but he offered, "I can skip my turn next time so you can read twice." Like that made up for anything at all.

"Ha, ha, " Nico gave him a very sardonic laugh, but it was clear his mind was elsewhere. They were in the desert, a land without rain if ever there was one. It didn't take a genius to figure out Bianca might not make it out of this one and Nico was going to be on edge this entire time. There wasn't anything anybody could do about it, but Will still wished he knew how best to try.

When we get through this junkyard, we must continue west. If we can find a road, we can hitchhike to the nearest city. I think that would be Las Vegas."

Nico leaned all the way back in his seat at that suggestion, and they all felt like doing the same.

"Nobody needs to head back to the Paradise Thou Must Not Yonder," Percy said quickly.

"I don't think you used that right," Thalia corrected, she was an equal opportunity corrector that way.

"Like I ever actually paid attention when listening to the popcorn reading of Romeo and Juliet," Percy rolled his eyes.

I was about to protest that Grover and I had had bad experiences in that town, but Bianca beat us to it.

"No!" she said. "Not there!"

Will sighed, his little theory basically confirmed, and he hated it was in this way when Nico's skin kept getting sallower by the word.

Nico didn't see how Zoe was going to talk his sister out of this one.

She looked really freaked out, like she'd just been dropped off the steep end of a roller coaster.

Alex opened her mouth with a quick comment that was how you freaked out Thalia, not Bianca, but one quick glare from Jason stopped her.

Zoe frowned. "Why?"

Bianca took a shaky breath. "I... I think we stayed there for a while. Nico and I. When we were traveling. And then, I can't remember..."

Nico pursed his lips so tight it hurt. He'd never realized Bianca had shared that with Percy. No wonder he thought of Nico as some strange little kid, he knew he didn't belong in this time. He'd never fit in here.

The look of dawning comprehension on his tan face only confirmed it.

Suddenly I had a really bad thought. I remembered what Bianca had told me about Nico and her staying in a hotel for a while. I met Grover's eyes, and I got the feeling he was thinking the same thing.

"Bianca," I said. "That hotel you stayed at. Was it possibly called the Lotus Hotel and Casino?"

Her eyes widened. "How could you know that?"

"Crap," the others all muttered as that was all but confirmed.

"Is that what you meant by your memory problem was fixed?" Jason asked with worry, "cause Nico, that means you still had a whole life before you forgot it all in that place."

"Tell me about it," he snapped. "I've dealt with it fine!" What little he had pieced together through misty images and whatever dregs of detail he could pull from Hades without his ear curdling comments about how much Bianca had looked like her.

He was learning about a past in this book he'd never asked for and still being denied the one he most wanted. A real story, a true glimpse into a life he'd never known before it was all destroyed.

He felt the pity, the curiosity, all of their eyes on him with questions he would not answer. He had Percy's undivided attention now, his mouth opening. For whatever Percy had asked Bianca he was expected to answer too? Maybe even some sympathy like Percy finally knew what he was going through...

"You can still get a memory loss T-shirt with us," he gestured at Jason with an apologetic smile.

"Thanks," he scowled before nearly pushing the book into Will's nose to make him keep going. He did so quickly, it didn't take anyone having a good knowledge of the Son of Hades to figure out that's what he wanted right now.

"Oh, great," I said.

"Wait," Thalia said. "What is the Lotus Casino?"

"A couple of years ago," I said, "Grover, Annabeth, and I got trapped there. It's designed so you never want to leave. We stayed for about an hour. When we came out, five days had passed. It makes time speed up."

"No," Bianca said. "No, that's not possible."

"She's basically immortal now, I thought she'd believe that pretty easily," Alex said uneasily. Nico still looked like he was swallowing back his own bitter words with an annoyed, if casual enough eye roll, but this was also obviously a few years ago. He'd had time to adjust when his sister went back to Camp and told him, poor Bianca was being dumped into this realization in the middle of all this.

"You said somebody came and got you out," I remembered.

"Yes."

"What did he look like? What did he say?"

"I... I don't remember. Please, I really don't want to talk about this."

Will was fidgeting in place, his whole body shifting about. He wished he could jump in there, or Zoe would again even if it did upset Nico now. The girl should be able to talk about this one step at a time, she was clearly having a bit of a crisis and needed to take it more slowly. He hated the words coming out of his mouth now, for Nico drawing into himself more than ever as his past was being shoved into the limelight, for speaking what Bianca hadn't wished said. If it would do any good he'd skip this, but Percy would have to find all this out eventually. They were tied together to intricately.

Zoe sat forward, her eyebrows knit with concern. "You said that Washington, D.C., had changed when you went back last summer. You didn't remember the subway being there."

"Yes, but—"

"Bianca," Zoe said, "can you tell me the name of the president of the United States right now?"

"Don't be silly," Bianca said. She told us the correct name of the president.

"That bar's to low," Magnus said quietly, so only Alex could hear. "We know they've been at that school long enough to know something like that, even the past few. Kids don't keep track of that stuff that well anyways." Even he'd hear about new elections, and he lived on the streets.

"Depends how far into history class they got," Alex shook her head, it was the best estimate they were going to get.

"And who was the president before that?" Zoe asked.

Bianca thought for a while. "Roosevelt."

Zoe swallowed. "Theodore or Franklin'?"

"Franklin," Bianca said. "F.D.R."

"Like FDR Drive?" I asked. Because seriously, that's about all I knew about F.D.R.

"Are we sure we know what year you're from?" Jason snorted.

"Gods somebody strap an audio book to at least one of this boys ears," Thalia sighed. She didn't know how much she'd have to pay Annabeth to do it, but surely if it was at least his girlfriends voice reading off a textbook to him he'd live through it.

"Bianca," Zoe said. "F.D.R. was not the last president. That was about seventy years ago."

"That's impossible," Bianca said. "I... I'm not that old."

She stared at her hands as if to make sure they weren't wrinkled.

Nico swallowed the bitter, grudging comment if she was still happy he'd been left back at camp, ignorant of all this while she was slapped with this revelation alone.

Thalia's eyes turned sad. I guess she knew what it was like to get pulled out of time for a while.

Nico startled and looked at her now.

Even during the last two books, she'd just sort of brushed off and laughed along this was all no news to her, Annabeth told her all of these stories, mostly. She'd never really reacted to much aside from being to high up while keeping pace with Percy's energetic mood.

He'd never really appreciated until now how much he and Thalia did have in common. She'd even offered him help just before, in thanks for his silence and making this easier on Percy.

She looked so exhausted now. Ever since her fear of heights had been thrust out, she'd been giving him quick glances. He'd felt the prickling feeling all his life and still wasn't immune to it. When he excused himself, he expected her to berate him for constantly wincing over Bianca's name and tipping off Percy because his sister had died in battle in service of Artemis or something.

He didn't know why Thalia had left everything behind to join the Hunters, but maybe he could ask her. Maybe it would give a little more insight into why Bianca did it too, some reason he was still searching for he still wasn't convinced he'd ever get a good answer to.

"It's okay, Bianca, the important thing is you and Nico are safe. You made it out."

"But how?" I said. "We were only in there for an hour and we barely escaped. How could you have escaped after being there for so long?"

"I told you." Bianca looked about ready to cry.

"You guys could have eased up a little," Will's voice was as harsh as it could ever get. He had the book close to his chest, like he wished it was the girl.

Thalia bowed her head in remorse, some tingling sensation had been tracing down her back whispering she was close to an answer as she and Percy had exchanged looks, to focused on some strange idea to let the big sister part of her see this for herself and step in like Will so clearly wanted to. She knew he wasn't accusing her personally, but she felt it. She should have looked out for Bianca, been the one to go into that stupid statue-

"Sorry," Percy's tone was regret enough, and Nico was scrunched up tight in his seat, white knuckled grip on his sword and staring at nothing. He needed to get through this more than her continuing to dwell on the past.

"A man came and said it was time to leave. And—"

"But who? Why did he do it?"

Before she could answer, we were hit with a blazing light from down the road.

"The only time in history kids are going to be encouraged to hitchhike with a stranger," Alex had a strange look on her face like she wasn't sure if she should laugh at this new thing or still feel bad for Nico's strange thing.

"Even if he is a serial killer, I think they can take him," Magnus sounded mildly confident of that, even if he was squirming in his seat. He already had a feeling it was bad news regardless, what with that timing, it never meant anything good when information like that was constantly cut off.

The headlights of a car appeared out of nowhere. I was half hoping it was Apollo, come to give us a ride again, but the engine was way too silent for the sun chariot, and besides, it was nighttime.

"I don't think that would stop him from breaking the cosmos if he wanted to," Thalia sighed. She'd always prefer Apollo over who it was that showed up.

We grabbed our sleeping bags and got out of the way as a deathly white limousine slid to a stop in front of us.

The back door of the limo opened right next to me. Before I could step away, the point of a sword touched my throat.

"So it was friendly and tide greetings," Alex said without surprise.

"I'm growing more glad by the minute you didn't greet all of us with that wire at our throat," Percy informed.

"You weren't threatening enough," Alex scoffed. Only Thalia had made her consider it, and tensions had cooled to quickly to come to that.

I heard the sound of Zoe and Bianca drawing their bows.

"That was nice they came to your ready defense," Will grinned. Zoe had proved already she wouldn't just leave Percy behind, but it was still nice to have reaffirmed.

Nico kept the thought to himself Bianca was probably thankful for the sudden attack, keeping attention off her.

As the owner of the sword got out of the car, I moved back very slowly. I had to, because he was pushing the point under my chin.

He smiled cruelly. "Not so fast now, are you, punk?"

He was a big man with a crew cut, a black leather biker's jacket, black jeans, a white muscle shirt, and combat boots. Wraparound shades hid his eyes, but I knew what was behind those glasses—hollow sockets filled with flames.

"Ares," I growled.

"Wow, our first repeat god," Magnus blinked in surprise.

"Mer-er, Hermes showed up twice," Jason reminded.

"At the beginning and end of the same quest. Depending on how you count his disturbing appearance in Clarisse's warship, he's actually showed up on every one so far, and I feel like it's not a good omen," Magnus insisted.

Even Will couldn't come up with a chipper comment to that because, well, he wasn't wrong. If the guy had a theory over there Ares was still secretly working for Kronos, there wasn't much he could do to pull him off that idea. The God of war hardly acted innocent, except for one shining example of why he'd never let Olympus fall.

The same one as everyone else. Love, in his own selfish way.

The war god glanced at my friends. "At ease, people."

He snapped his fingers, and their weapons fell to the ground.

"This is a friendly meeting." He dug the point of his blade a little farther under my chin.

"I don't believe him," Rachel mock whispered.

"Of course I'd like to take your head for a trophy, but someone wants to see you. And I never behead my enemies in front of a lady."

"He was about to kill you in front of Annabeth," Alex reminded.

"Mortal ladies probably don't count," Nico rolled his eyes.

"What lady?" Thalia asked.

Ares looked over at her. "Well, well. I heard you were back."

He lowered his sword and pushed me away.

"Thalia, daughter of Zeus," Ares mused. "You're not hanging out with very good company."

"What's your business, Ares?" she said. "Who's in the car?"

Ares smiled, enjoying the attention. "Oh, I doubt she wants to meet the rest of you. Particularly not them." He jutted his chin toward Zoe and Bianca. "Why don't you all go get some tacos while you wait? Only take Percy a few minutes."

"We never expected to see you again," Thalia told him promptly.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," Percy sighed.

"We will not leave him alone with thee, Lord Ares," Zoe said.

"I'm actually starting to like this girl," Alex admitted, her grudging approval going up another notch. Alex was sure being protective over a boy was not common for Zoe.

"Feeling's mutual," Percy promised, he'd been surprisingly touched as well as he kept rubbing his throat.

"Besides," Grover managed, "the taco place is closed."

"Because that was the important part of that," Jason snorted.

Ares snapped his fingers again. The lights inside the taqueria suddenly blazed to life.

The boards flew off the door and the CLOSED sign flipped to OPEN. "You were saying, goat boy?"

Magnus made a groaning, painful noise as his head fell into his hands that didn't need interpretation.

Alex gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder while Thalia said, "if it's any consolation, we went inside and there was a buffet. He didn't make people magically appear too."

"It did, thanks," he nodded while still digging the heels of his hands into his eyes from his brain going a bit haywire over that one. These gods could literally end world hunger at the snap of their fingers, and here he was still hoarding food in fear of when it would end.

"Go on," I told my friends. "I'll handle this."

I tried to sound more confident than I felt. I don't think Ares was fooled.

"Neither were we," Thalia stage whispered.

Percy gave her a shove.

"You heard the boy," Ares said. "He's big and strong. He's got things under control."

"I'm sure Zoe loved that," Nico grimaced. His swirling stomach was calming though, he tried to convince himself he might get one more chapter. To hear Percy going back inside this place and seeing her laugh and trying to figure out the recipe for their salsa. Whatever this was going on was probably important enough the chapter would end on it.

My friends reluctantly headed over to the taco restaurant. Ares regarded me with loathing, then opened the limousine door like a chauffeur.

"Get inside, punk," he said. "And mind your manners. She's not as forgiving of rudeness as I am."

"Venus," Jason murmured for himself. A strange image came to mind, of a mind billowingly beautiful woman dressed in a southern bell, baby blue attire with a sun hat and eating oysters. The image came and went so quicky, like a snapshot flew across his eyes. It hadn't been a photo though, and yet the longer he sat and tried to remember anything else the more jumbled it all got until he'd swear his brain had made the whole thing up just to mess with him.

"The one and only," Thalia agreed with quiet a scowl. This goddess ranked right up there with having the most annoying kids at camp when she visited.

When I saw her, my jaw dropped.

I forgot my name. I forgot where I was. I forgot how to speak in complete sentences.

"Is it the god of memory loss?" Magnus asked uneasily.

Alex sighed, rubbing her forehead. "I thought you were paying better attention Maggie?"

"Please don't call me Maggie," he said with dread.

She gave him an appraising look to that, clearly filing this information for later.

Percy was still sitting over there with his mouth hanging open, and Will was reading on more in concern a fish might swim in if he left him like that.

She was wearing a red satin dress and her hair was curled in a cascade of ringlets. Her face was the most beautiful I'd ever seen: perfect makeup, dazzling eyes, a smile that would've lit up the dark side of the moon.

Thinking back on it, I can't tell you who she looked like.

Or even what color her hair or her eyes were. Pick the most beautiful actress you can think of. The goddess was ten times more beautiful than that. Pick your favorite hair color, eye color, whatever. The goddess had that.

Kind of like Alex, Magnus mused for a moment. She had so many layers and always-

He sat up painfully straight in his seat and leaned away from her like he feared she'd read his mind and gut him. She merely gave him a strange look for a moment, before her monochromic eyes flashed with a terrifying knowing light like that's exactly what she was doing.

When she smiled at me, just for a moment she looked a little like Annabeth.

The collective snort that resonated around the room made Percy grin. He'd never be upset at being the butt of this joke. His eyes flickered to Rachel to see her smile broad as anyone's, as she thought to herself with only amusement, 'I never stood a chance.'

Then like this television actress I used to have a crush on in fifth grade.

"And who was that Percy?" Thalia asked eagerly.

"Err, I forgot," Percy waved frantically at Will to keep going.

"Are you sure?" Her electric blue eyes scrutinized him, her hunting knife appeared between two fingers and began lazily flipping between her digits. Will swallowed and knew if he said another word that thing was going to end up point first in the spine of the book.

He muttered something that sounded like an ancient Greek curse for a moment before saying, "fine, Ashley Tisdale."

"Oh Annabeth's going to love that," Thalia cackled before finally stowing the blade away.

Then... well, you get the idea.

"Ah, there you are, Percy," the goddess said. "I am Aphrodite."

I slipped into the seat across from her and said something like, "Um uh gah."

"I liked your nonplussed reaction to Artemis better," Magnus said without bothering to fight off a smile.

"You didn't see her," Percy said without any hope this blithering reaction wasn't going to be snickered at.

"And I mocked Grover for the same," Magnus shook his head in between his laugh, "you're not getting out of this."

She smiled. "Aren't you sweet. Hold this, please."

She handed me a polished mirror the size of a dinner plate and had me hold it up for her.

"I'm surprised the inside of that car isn't one big mirror," Rachel rolled her eyes.

She leaned forward and dabbed at her lipstick, though I couldn't see anything wrong with it.

"Do you know why you're here?" she asked.

I wanted to respond. Why couldn't I form a complete sentence? She was only a lady. A seriously beautiful lady. With eyes like pools of spring water... Whoa.

"You know it's bad when you start hitting Apollo territory," Thalia said gravely.

I pinched my own arm, hard.

"Without dropping the mirror," Percy added with a hint of pride.

"And I always thought those jokes about cabin 10 kidnapping you for a life model prop were a joke," Thalia rolled her eyes, clearly unimpressed while Percy looked at her in horror.

"I... I don't know," I managed.

"Oh, dear," Aphrodite said. "Still in denial?"

"I've never been to Egypt," Percy said blankly.

Thalia zapped him, hard.

"Ow," he looked at her in exasperation for a hit that would have killed an elephant if it weren't for that impenetrable skin.

"I'm just happy over here he knows where that river is, clearly he was awake for some of school," Magnus had at least gotten a laugh out of his pun.

Outside the car, I could hear Ares chuckling. I had a feeling he could hear every word we said. The idea of him being out there made me angry, and that helped clear my mind.

"And now the real horror begins," Jason frowned. Gods only knew what this, of all goddesses, was going to do to him if Percy ticked her off. There was something about Venus he wondered if he should remember...Charleston. The city name flickered strangely in his mind, or was it even a persons name? He rubbed his temple in frustration and was grateful Will clearly wasn't looking to linger around in this chapter.

"I don't know what you're talking about," I said.

"Well then, why are you on this quest?"

"Artemis has been captured!"

Aphrodite rolled her eyes. "Oh, Artemis. Please. Talk about a hopeless case. I mean, if they were going to kidnap a goddess, she should be breathtakingly beautiful, don't you think? I pity the poor dears who have to imprison Artemis. Bo-ring!"

Thalia's ears were ringing a painfully high noise, like her brain was trying to helpfully block out such stupidity. Percy had the urge to lean away from that look of outrage on her face lest she retaliate at the nearest person.

"But she was chasing a monster," I protested. "A really, really bad monster. We have to find it!"

Aphrodite made me hold the mirror a little higher. She seemed to have found a microscopic problem at the corner of her eye and dabbed at her mascara. "Always some monster. But my dear Percy, that is why the others are on this quest. I'm more interested in you."

"Always terrifying when a god singles you out for any reason," Magnus said wearily.

"At least you're still keeping up with the important stuff," Alex nodded.

My heart pounded. I didn't want to answer, but her eyes drew an answer right out of my mouth. "Annabeth is in trouble."

Percy smiled fondly at his past self while Rachel cooed beside him. It wouldn't take anything to drag that out of him now, no matter how many years later, he'd still do anything to rescue her.

Aphrodite beamed. "Exactly!"

"I have to help her," I said. "I've been having these dreams."

"Ah, you even dream about her! That's so cute!"

Percy looked a little miffed, and concerned about that. "Why do we dream again? Aphrodite knows, I mean I would anyways but," he was stammering and still blushing just a bit.

"Just her narrow-minded focus," Thalia waved off. "The gods can manipulate our dreams and beam stuff into our heads sure, but mainly it's a manifestation of the shadow realm overlapping with the mist we travel in our sleep. We see what's important to us. Or did," she finished with a still bewildered huff they hadn't since being here.

Nico looked on at her with intrigue, that was a very well-rounded answer he himself would have given, making him wonder how she knew of such things. Had she done any voyaging in the Underworld herself? Did the huntress's speedy travel have any connection to the multifaceted pathways all connected?

"No! I mean... that's not what I meant."

She made a tsk-tsk sound. "Percy, I'm on your side. I'm the reason you're here, after all."

I stared at her. "What?"

"The poisoned T-shirt the Stoll brothers gave Phoebe," she said. "Did you think that was an accident? Sending Blackjack to find you? Helping you sneak out of the camp?"

"I kind of just assumed all that stuff happened on its own," Percy admitted with a mystified expression. "How often do the gods interfere?" It sort of annoyed him really. Apollo and Aphrodite were all for helping him along on this, but nobody had lifted a finger to stop Kronos yet? What were the rules around here again?

"Whenever their agenda wants," Will answered with a bit of lack-luster pep.

"You did that?"

"Of course! Because really, how boring these Hunters are! A quest for some monster, blah blah blah. Saving Artemis. Let her stay lost, I say.

Thalia's bow appeared in her hand, her jaw-locked face made Percy a bit smug. She'd clearly be cracking that over this goddess's head if she could right now, and he really wanted to wave and say, 'See! I'm not the only one willing to challenge these guys!' She took a tempered breath and didn't interrupt, but Percy still gave her a friendly nudge and winked.

She grinned back, thinking to herself it would be worth a deadly quest to kill whichever god had hidden Jason from her all this time with Percy beside her. Nothing scared this nutjob, even impossible odds like taking on the oldest goddess.

But a quest for true love—"

"Wait a second, I never said—"

"Oh, my dear. You don't need to say it. You do know Annabeth was close to joining the Hunters, don't you?"

I blushed. "I wasn't sure—"

"She was about to throw her life away! And you, my dear, you can save her from that. It's so romantic!"

"Annabeth would sooner slay a dragon than be locked up in a tower," Nico rolled his eyes with confidence. If he had to give a begrudging compliment to her, it was how alike she and Percy were.

"It's weird being on the same page as both of you over there," Percy chuckled.

"Uh..."

"Oh, put the mirror down," Aphrodite ordered. "I look fine."

I hadn't realized I was still holding it, but as soon as I put it down, I noticed my arms were sore.

"Don't tell Chiron about that type of training, the Aphrodite kids will never let it go," Will grinned.

"Now listen, Percy," Aphrodite said. "The Hunters are your enemies.

"I want to strangle this woman with her own hair," Alex scoffed. How was this more infuriating than the gender-preferencing stereotyping goddess?

"I will help," Thalia promised.

"I doubt I listened," Percy said to nobody's surprise. He didn't need memories to know he'd hardly gone out of his way to start following a path he was told to take.

Forget them and Artemis and the monster. That's not important. You just concentrate on finding and saving Annabeth."

"Do you know where she is?"

Aphrodite waved her hand irritably. "No, no. I leave the details to you.

Magnus groaned harder than ever and looked ready to smother someone with a seaweed pillow cushion. It really was no wonder if all of them were going a little stir crazy, Will winced sympathetically.

But it's been ages since we've had a good tragic love story."

"Whoa, first of all, I never said anything about love. And second, what's up with tragic!"

"Your life is a tragedy," Jason helpfully reminded.

"And I'd like one exception!" Percy groaned, his hand aching for Annabeth's more every page.

"Love conquers all," Aphrodite promised. "Look at Helen and Paris. Did they let anything come between them?"

"Didn't they start the Trojan War and get thousands of people killed?"

"But gods forbid you know who a very famous president is outside his tunnel," Thalia rolled her eyes.

"I remember the important things," Percy insisted.

"Like if Paris was the boy or girl in that story," Rachel snorted.

"Pfft. That's not the point. Follow your heart."

"But... I don't know where it's going. My heart, I mean."

She smiled sympathetically. She really was beautiful. And not just because she had a pretty face or anything. She believed in love so much, it was impossible not to feel giddy when she talked about it.

There was a softening to Will's voice as he said that, a gentleness he meant to invoke into all of them. He didn't have to be a child of hers to want to believe that too.

Nico's bangs fell into his eyes as his head tipped curiously to the side watching. Now there was an expression he couldn't say he'd ever seen up close before.

"Not knowing is half the fun," Aphrodite said. "Exquisitely painful, isn't it? Not being sure who you love and who loves you? Oh, you kids! It's so cute I'm going to cry."

"No, no," I said. "Don't do that."

"Just what we needed to put the horror of this situation back into focus," Rachel nodded somberly. "A girl crying finally has you scared to speak again."

"Have I mentioned how grateful I am nobodies burst into tears in this room?" Percy asked weakly.

"And don't worry," she said. "I'm not going to let this be easy and boring for you. No, I have some wonderful surprises in store. Anguish. Indecision. Oh, you just wait."

"So we can officially blame all future problems on her?" Percy said with a scowl that honestly kind of terrified them all for a moment.

"Err, maybe keep an eye on the big picture here?" Rachel gave a nervous laugh where she fell into the category of Percy's 'problems' in the coming time.

"That's really okay," I told her. "Don't go to any trouble."

"Or ever remove yourself from that mirror again," Percy continued his plea.

"You get full credit for finally leaving a godly interaction without one of them getting angry with you," Jason noted.

"And look where it got me!" Percy yelped, his mind on a hamster wheel of doom what was being done to Annabeth to appease this love-crazed goddess.

"You're so cute. I wish all my daughters could break the heart of a boy as nice as you."

"That's, a sentence," Alex said in disgust.

"I'm starting to get worried what the love goddess does with the rest of her free time," Magnus agreed.

Aphrodite's eyes were tearing up. "Now, you'd better go. And do be careful in my husband's territory, Percy. Don't take anything. He is awfully fussy about his trinkets and trash."

"Finally some helpful advice," Will let out a great whoosh of air in relief.

Thalia bit her tongue hard to stop herself snapping it hadn't done them any good.

"What?" I asked. "You mean Hephaestus?"

But the car door opened and Ares grabbed my shoulder, pulling me out of the car and back into the desert night.

My audience with the goddess of love was over.

"Thank the gods," Percy sighed, before going cross-eyed.

"I'm with you there, any longer and she would have tried joining you and Annabeth's name together like a stupid tabloid heading," Rachel nodded.

"You're lucky, punk." Ares pushed me away from the limo. "Be grateful."

"For what?"

"That we're being so nice. If it was up to me—"

"So why haven't you killed me?" I shot back. It was a stupid thing to say to the god of war, but being around him always made me feel angry and reckless.

Ares nodded, like I'd finally said something intelligent.

"It only took you three and a half books," Thalia mock approved.

"To impress a god I don't think twice about," Percy rolled his eyes.

"I'd love to kill you, seriously," he said. "But see, I got a situation. Word on Olympus is that you might start the biggest war in history. I can't risk messing that up. Besides, Aphrodite thinks you're some kinda soap-opera star or something. I kill you, that makes me look bad with her. But don't worry. I haven't forgotten my promise. Some day soon, kid—real soon— you're going to raise your sword to fight, and you're going to remember the wrath of Ares."

Percy shivered, and icy blast of water causing a flurry of ice to slice up their exposed skin for a few harrowing moments before his eyes snapped open and he exhaled sharply. The feeling, one he'd already had about this moment, was drawing near. He swallowed dread anew whose wrath it was going to be the end of, because it clearly hadn't been him, only his fault.

Will hesitated a moment more, a trickle of blood across his temple he impatiently swiped away as he looked around at the slight scratches upon everyone else. He saw Nico prodding in fascination at a slight oozing upon his wrist and thought he could at least take a few seconds to go see if that fridge would conjure up some band-aids before those dark brown eyes looked at him imploringly.

Nico knew the only thing left to happen was on the last pages to come, and fussing over a few scrapes wasn't going to make it better. Will swallowed bitter regret Nico might now forever associate him saying the words as he kept on so nobody else could keep trying to delay this and make it worse.

I balled my fists. "Why wait? I beat you once. How's that ankle healing up?"

He grinned crookedly. "Not bad, punk. But you got nothing on the master of taunts. I'll start the fight when I'm good and ready.

"When he can cheat his way to victory," Jason scoffed with lingering disgust. Ares was always a great reminder of clearing his head from all the noise, helped him focus on this world at hand.

Until then... Get lost."

He snapped his fingers and the world did a three-sixty, spinning in a cloud of red dust. I fell to the ground.

When I stood up again, the limousine was gone. The road, the taco restaurant, the whole town of Gila Claw was gone. My friends and I were standing in the middle of the junkyard, mountains of scrap metal stretched out in every direction.

"And nobody thought to bring me a taco," Percy huffed as he squirmed in his seat.

"I saw Grover slipping some hot sauce packets into his bag while he plowed through three salad bowls, somebody was thinking of you," Thalia waved her hand dismissively.

"What did she want with you?" Bianca asked, once I'd told them about Aphrodite.

Nico's face ticked with frustration for what that reason was. A bubble of anger trying to rise to the surface the goddess couldn't have appeared to Bianca, told her to be a little more careful or she'd be leaving behind somebody who loved her, but no, that wasn't as important- he tried to stop the bitter thought cold and push it all down.

There was a faint, piercing howl that made everybody's hair stand on end.

Magnus was looking anxiously at the walls and muttered, "did anybody say how safe we were from sea monsters in here?"

Nico didn't hear Percy's flippant answer. No grudges, no grudges, he would not throw a tantrum about this, nobody cared but him...

Will was starting to feel like the heartless monster in the room trying to continue reading when Nico was so obviously struggling with this. He didn't know what else to do though. If he stopped now and tried to pull him aside it would only draw attention to what Nico obviously was trying not to linger on, only creating more anger at everything.

"Oh, uh, not sure," I lied. "She said to be careful in her husband's junkyard. She said not to pick anything up."

Zoe narrowed her eyes. "The goddess of love would not make a special trip to tell thee that. Be careful, Percy. Aphrodite has led many heroes astray."

"For once I agree with Zoe," Thalia said. "You can't trust Aphrodite."

Thalia smiled ghost like to herself. The small curve of her lips to tinged with sadness for anybody to ask what it was. The last time she'd seen Bianca stifle a laugh, seeing them agree for the first time. Nico's sister would have gotten a kick in here out of watching Thalia relive all this and generally liking Zoe now.

Grover was looking at me funny. Being empathic and all, he could usually read my emotions, and I got the feeling he knew exactly what Aphrodite had talked to me about.

"Now I'm sort of concerned how much of that is satyr stuff and how much of it is your empathy link stuff?" Jason asked.

"I feel kind of bad for him," Magnus added. "Can't be fun to have somebody else's emotions constantly running around your head."

"So," I said, anxious to change the subject, "how do we get out of here?"

"That way," Zoe said. "That is west."

"She can tell that without the sun rise?" Alex asked, clearly impressed.

"There are other ways, that's just the most common," Magnus casually agreed. Alex's impressed gaze fell on him, and his mind fizzled like bad reception as he imagined them under the stars, showing Alex all the techniques of living in the great out doors...she'd probably just laugh at him and ask if that's how he survived being homeless.

"How can you tell?"

In the light of the full moon, I was surprised how well I could see her roll her eyes at me.

"Yet another thing light pollution has taken from us, the ability to see that at all hours," Thalia said tragically.

"Ursa Major is in the north," she said, "which means that must be west."

She pointed west, then at the northern constellation, which was hard to make out because there were so many other stars.

"Oh, yeah," I said. "The bear thing."

Zoe looked offended. "Show some respect. It was a fine bear. A worthy opponent."

Magnus snorted spectacularly while Alex looked on, hopefully not inspired to try this herself. "She fought a bear in the stars?"

"Err, before it went into the stars," Thalia mildly corrected without illuminating further, much to everyone's disappointment. Percy was looking a little bug-eyed, his trembling hand brushing at his temple why the stars and Zoe should hold any connection.

"You act like it was real."

"You don't act like everything is real," Rachel shook her head. "Zoe doesn't kid, remember."

"Right," Percy said with an uneasy smile, his stomach still felt like an icy blade was melting and leaving a wound wide open.

"Guys," Grover broke in. "Look!"

We'd reached the crest of a junk mountain. Piles of metal objects glinted in the moonlight: broken heads of bronze horses, metal legs from human statues, smashed chariots, tons of shields and swords and other weapons, along with more modern stuff, like cars that gleamed gold and silver, refrigerators, washing machines, and computer monitors.

"I reiterate," Alex said with a baffled expression. "What do Gods consider junk?" Half of that stuff in there would make a homeless camp faint with joy. One artist alone could make a million sculptures from any of those items.

"One god, and I'm kind of scared of the answer now," Magnus shivered. Hephaestus was the metal worker, the one who's kid had taught Tyson how to build that awesome shield. What hadn't been said was what they did with the projects that didn't work.

"Whoa," Bianca said. "That stuff... some of it looks like real gold."

"It is," Thalia said grimly. "Like Percy said, don't touch anything. This is the junkyard of the gods."

"Junk?" Grover picked up a beautiful crown made of gold, silver, and jewels. It was broken on one side, as if it had been split by an axe.

"Cursed," Alex said confidently.

"You call this junk?"

He bit off a point and began to chew. "It's delicious!"

"And now we wait," Alex groaned.

Only Percy could brave a smile like he hoped she was kidding, everybody else had grim looks like the shadows on the wall were really encircling them. It sure was starting to look that way.

Thalia swatted the crown out of his hands. "I'm serious!"

Magnus tried and failed at a smile of his own, his mouth opening with a stupid joke from one of his favorite books Alex might get, but the words died before his dry mouth could manage. Something was wrong. Thalia's blue eyes were trained on the ceiling, and Percy was looking anxiously from her to the book like he knew he was missing something, never a good sign.

"Look!" Bianca said. She raced down the hill, tripping over bronze coils and golden plates. She picked up a bow that glowed silver in moonlight. "A Hunter's bow!"

She yelped in surprise as the bow began to shrink, and became a hair clip shaped like a crescent moon. "It's just like Percy's sword!"

Zoe's face was grim. "Leave it, Bianca."

"But—"

"It is here for a reason. Anything thrown away in this junkyard must stay in this yard. It is defective. Or cursed."

Bianca reluctantly set the hair clip down.

Percy felt an icy sensation on the back of his neck, like a ghost had just breathed on him. He whipped around in his seat and only saw the same flickering shadows as everyone, but his gut didn't hurt. He didn't understand how he was doing something that freaked himself out as he slowly turned back, but his pen was clutched in his hand again.

Nico was frozen in place, his eyes on the cracks in the floor, watching the fractured pebbles Percy had caused to come loose dance around like they were shaking with dread instead of him. He didn't know how Percy had swapped some stupid toy for something Bianca would actually care about. He didn't want to know what was inevitably coming for her or whose fault it had been.

His past ignorance had only caused him bitter anger. Maybe finally getting an answer would give him some peace?

"I don't like this place," Thalia said. She gripped the shaft of her spear.

"You think we're going to get attacked by killer refrigerators?" I asked.

"That would be, a sight," Magnus muttered.

"Maybe you'd survive a coming explosion if one ate you," Rachel tried to offer a grin, and despite a few blanks looks and questions beginning for that bizarre statement, Will wasn't hesitating for any laughter to linger this time. Nico obviously wanted this done with and that's exactly what he was going to do.

She gave me a hard look. "Zoe is right, Percy. Things get thrown away here for a reason. Now come on, let's get across the yard."

"That's the second time you've agreed with Zoe," I muttered, but Thalia ignored me.

She was doing an excellent job of recreating that in here, and the room was starting to blur around the edges Percy was looking back and forth between the book and her so much. Then he realized the room really was doing that.

We started picking our way through the hills and valleys of junk. The stuff seemed to go on forever, and if it hadn't been for Ursa Major, we would've gotten lost. All the hills pretty much looked the same.

I'd like to say we left the stuff alone, but there was too much cool junk not to check out some of it. I found an electric guitar shaped like Apollo's lyre that was so sweet I had to pick it up. Grover found a broken tree made out of metal. It had been chopped to pieces, but some of the branches still had golden birds in them, and they whirred around when Grover picked them up, trying to flap their wings.

Finally, we saw the edge of the junkyard about half a mile ahead of us, the lights of a highway stretching through the desert. But between us and the road...

"What is that?" Bianca gasped.

Ahead of us was a hill much bigger and longer than the others. It was like a metal mesa, the length of a football field and as tall as goalposts.

"Americans really do use everything but the metric system," Alex said in fascination. "Can you not just say how many miles long it was?"

"Why when you know how long a football field is, plus goalposts," Percy shrugged.

At one end of the mesa was a row of ten thick metal columns, wedged tightly together.

Bianca frowned. "They look like—"

"Toes," Grover said.

"Is this like trying to find a bunny in the clouds?" Rachel asked. "I bet I'd see something else."

"No," Thalia's voice was as tight as Will's. She couldn't laugh this one off and pretend it was going to be okay for Percy or anyone's sake, because it wasn't going to be.

Bianca nodded. "Really, really large toes."

Zoe and Thalia exchanged nervous looks.

"Let's go around," Thalia said. "Far around."

"But the road is right over there," I protested. "Quicker to climb over."

Ping.

Thalia hefted her spear and Zoe drew her bow, but then I realized it was only Grover.

He had thrown a piece of scrap metal at the toes and hit one, making a deep echo, as if the column were hollow.

"Why?" Jason drew the word out with sublime confusion.

"That link is one way," Percy reminded with his own frown.

"Why did you do that?" Zoe demanded.

Grover cringed. "I don't know. I, uh, don't like fake feet?"

"Doesn't he wear fake feet?" Jason mock whispered.

"Why do you think he hates them," Thalia nodded, "personal knowledge."

"Come on." Thalia looked at me. "Around."

Thalia wasn't looking at him now. She made an odd gesture, one Percy had never seen before as her eyes betrayed and flickered to Nico.

He looked like a model for a Greek statue, frozen in place, his shaggy hair masking his face bent to the ground.

I didn't argue. The toes were starting to freak me out, too. I mean, who sculpts ten-foot tall metal toes and sticks them in a junkyard?

"Where's the rest of him?" Magnus asked with a bad feeling tightening up his stomach. Thalia looked as sick as he felt. Nico was appallingly pale, and Percy was getting a crick in his neck for now trying to keep an eye on the walls, that he'd swear were starting to form faces.

After several minutes of walking, we finally stepped onto the highway, an abandoned but well-lit stretch of black asphalt.

"We made it out," Zoe said. "Thank the gods."

But apparently the gods didn't want to be thanked.

"Then I take it back," Jason said in a small voice. Every single thing about this situation there and here screamed this was not good.

At that moment, I heard a sound like a thousand trash compactors crushing metal.

I whirled around. Behind us, the scrap mountain was boiling, rising up. The ten toes tilted over, and I realized why they looked like toes. They were toes. The thing that rose up from the metal was a bronze giant in full Greek battle armor. He was impossibly tall—a skyscraper with legs and arms. He gleamed wickedly in the moonlight. He looked down at us, and his face was deformed. The left side was partially melted off. His joints creaked with rust, and across his armored chest, written in thick dust by some giant finger, were the words

WASH ME.

Magnus's mouth was hanging open in a silent scream like his world view finally couldn't get any bigger.

Alex gave a nervous laugh, one part amusement for that, one part giddy terror at this fight.

"Talos!" Zoe gasped.

"Who—who's Talos?" I stuttered.

"One of Hephaestus's creations," Thalia said. "But that can't be the original. It's too small.

"Too small? Too small!" Rachel repeated in a higher shriek each time.

Will finished the sentence like someone was pulling on his tongue.

A prototype, maybe. A defective model."

The metal giant didn't like the word defective.

Percy wanted to shake Thalia and ask her in which gods name made her think her running her mouth caused less problems than him. His hands were shaking to much.

He moved one hand to his sword belt and drew his weapon. The sound of it coming out of its sheath was horrible, metal screeching against metal.

Thalia tried not to flinch and cover her ears again. Tried.

The blade was a hundred feet long, easy. It looked rusty and dull, but I didn't figure that mattered. Getting hit with that thing would be like getting hit with a battleship.

"I bet if it hit Percy he'd land in the ocean and be fine," Jason said faintly.

"Let's hope that theory was tested," Percy said in a low, dangerous voice. The feeling Ares had just pierced him with was now in him with a roaring vengeance, but something, some part of him couldn't blame what was about to happen on the war god. It was just a similar, icy dread consuming him.

"Someone took something," Zoe said. "Who took something?"

She stared accusingly at me.

"And I thought we were past all that," Riptide was now glowing faintly in his hand, the shadows on the wall steadying for just a moment. That wild look of dangerous power was freezing everything in place before Percy shook himself. Will kept reading, fighting off tremors in his hand and voice as he'd swear Nico's lips were turning blue.

I shook my head. "I'm a lot of things, but I'm not a thief."

Bianca didn't say anything. I could swear she looked guilty, but I didn't have much time to think about it,

Nico knew what that meant, and the painful knot he was trying so hard to push away only grew tighter in him as knowledge settled in. There was nobody to blame. It wasn't Grover eating the edge of that stupid crown to do this. It wasn't Percy's fault he hadn't saved her from a fate she'd brought upon herself. Was it his fault? Had she finally done one thing for him, and it had been her last?

because the giant defective Talos took one step toward us, closing half the distance and making the ground shake.

"Run!" Grover yelped.

"Where?" Rachel asked through numb lips. The idea of painting someone outrunning a skyscraper was a monumental task that would take more paint than even she could afford, almost.

Great advice, except that it was hopeless. At a leisurely stroll, this thing could outdistance us easily.

We split up, the way we'd done with the Nemean Lion. Thalia drew her shield and held it up as she ran down the highway. The giant swung his sword and took out a row of power lines, which exploded in sparks and scattered across Thalia's path.

Zoe's arrows whistled toward the creature's face but shattered harmlessly against the metal. Grover brayed like a baby goat and went climbing up a mountain of metal.

"I think those nightmares about the Cyclops den are finally going to be chased away for him," Magnus whispered as he pressed as far back into his seat as he could. The poor guy's nightmare of fake feat chasing him a reality, and the growing dread of every word his guess had been wrong. Annabeth wasn't anywhere near this place, he hoped, unless she was inside that thing.

Bianca and I ended up next to each other, hiding behind a broken chariot.

"You took something," I said. "That bow."

"No!" she said, but her voice was quivering.

"Give it back!" I said. "Throw it down!"

"I... I didn't take the bow! Besides, it's too late."

"What did you take?"

Before she could answer, I heard a massive creaking noise, and a shadow blotted out the sky.

"Move!" I tore down the hill, Bianca right behind me, as the giant's foot smashed a crater in the ground where we'd been hiding.

"Hey, Talos!" Grover yelled, but the monster raised his sword, looking down at Bianca and me.

Grover played a quick melody on his pipes. Over at the highway, the downed power lines began to dance. I understood what Grover was going to do a split second before it happened. One of the poles with power lines still attached flew toward Talos's back leg and wrapped around his calf. The lines sparked and sent a jolt of electricity up the giant's backside.

"How the hell can he do that?" Jason looked faint at this power the satyr had been sleeping on.

"Electricity is a manifest of nature," Thalia said grimly. She'd been a little to busy to question him about it. Her quiet, deadly tone didn't encourage further questions.

Talos whirled around, creaking and sparking. Grover had bought us a few seconds.

"Come on!" I told Bianca. But she stayed frozen. From her pocket, she brought out a small metal figurine, a statue of a god. "It... it was for Nico. It was the only statue he didn't have."

She called it a statue. Not a toy, not an action figure. She actually called it a statue. The figurine he'd been obsessed with finding since his first deck.

"How can you think of Mythomagic at a time like this?" I said.

There were tears in her eyes.

"Throw it down," I said. "Maybe the giant will leave us alone."

She dropped it reluctantly, but nothing happened.

The giant kept coming after Grover. It stabbed its sword into a junk hill, missing Grover by a few feet, but scrap metal made an avalanche over him, and then I couldn't see him anymore.

"No!" Thalia yelled.

Not again, Thalia's eyes sparked with blistering anger. Grover had seen them through the worst of the monsters chasing them in that last leg to Camp, all knobby kneed and still with a quick smile of false confidence he knew where he was going. He alone had kept his promise to look after Annabeth and been her friend all those years. She only wished her blast of raw energy had been enough before it had been to late. She'd saved Grover to continue his quest, but she hadn't saved everybody.

She pointed her spear, and a blue arc of lightning shot out, hitting the monster in his rusty knee, which buckled. The giant collapsed, but immediately started to rise again. It was hard to tell if it could feel anything. There weren't any emotions in its halfmelted face, but I got the sense that it was about as ticked off as a twenty-story-tall metal warrior could be.

He raised his foot to stomp and I saw that his sole was treaded like the bottom of a sneaker. There was a hole in his heel, like a large manhole, and there were red words painted around it, which I deciphered only after the foot came down: FOR MAINTENANCE ONLY.

"Crazy-idea time," I said.

"I still hate those words," Magnus groaned.

"I still love them," but Alex's tone was an uneasy mutter, the room was giving them all light-sensitive headaches and flashing so much they should be worried if anybody could have a seizure.

Bianca looked at me nervously. "Anything."

I told her about the maintenance hatch. "There may be a way to control the thing. Switches or something. I'm going to get inside."

"How? You'll have to stand under its foot! You'll be crushed"

"Distract it," I said. "I'll just have to time it right."

Bianca's jaw tightened. "No. I'll go."

"You can't. You're new at this! You'll die."

Nico had felt a tickling sense those first weeks awake he'd never known what to call. A sense of warped vision when he looked at a student in class and they fell down the stairs the wrong way. A kid at Camp who hadn't come out of the Forest after training. He wondered if his sister had felt that sensation in the air this starry night. If she had felt it for herself and not cared, or for one of the others and stepped in its path. Fault, fault, the word echoed oddly in his head as the cracks in the ground steadily began widening in his mind. Was there a god of fault, and when would they come for him?

"It's my fault the monster came after us," she said.

Will would have done anything right then to never make that choking noise escape Nico again. Push the son of Hades into Percy's arms, gone to the underworld and asked the god himself to give her back. How could it be fair that someone so alone had suffered the most?

"It's my responsibility. Here." She picked up the little god statue and pressed it into my hand. "If anything happens, give that to Nico. Tell him... tell him I'm sorry."

Sorry? She was sorry she'd left him without an explanation, that he'd had to be trapped in a room to hear her last moments! She was sorry she'd abandoned him to figure out everything on his own and leave him with nothing but a statue! Anger burned so bright, he finally felt his power in its full, he could have shadow traveled out of here, he could have done anything.

But he clenched his fists tight, one on his Hades figurine and one on his sword. He'd hear every word she'd never wanted him to. Her sorry would get its every last breath into him.

"Bianca, no!"

But she wasn't waiting for me. She charged at the monster's left foot.

There was nothing Percy could have done to stop her, but he wanted to. He wished he'd tackled her to the ground, but she'd moved swift as the moonlight, he hadn't stood a chance against her Huntress speed. She was blessed with a goddess favor, if anyone could survive this, surely it had been her.

So why did he feel like there was a gap in his memory that would never be filled as he looked at Nico? A promise, a promise he'd broken.

Thalia had its attention for the moment. She'd learned that the giant was big but slow. If you could stay close to it and not get smashed, you could run around it and stay alive. At least, it was working so far.

Jason had always admired these Greek kids technique for adapting, especially in moments like this. With enough time and support like she had, he had ever confidence Thalia could have fallen this beast and found herself a trophy worthy of a- his mind blanked on the word, and he scowled for himself.

Bianca got right next to the giant's foot, trying to balance herself on the metal scraps that swayed and shifted with his weight.

Zoe yelled, "What are you doing?"

"Get it to raise its foot!" she said.

Zoe shot an arrow toward the monster's face and it flew straight into one nostril. The giant straightened and shook its head.

"Hey, Junk Boy!" I yelled. "Down here."

I ran up to its big toe and stabbed it with Riptide. The magic blade cut a gash in the bronze.

Percy had helped. They had all helped with this crazy plan that had gotten her killed. The anger wouldn't rise in Nico though. His confidence the hero of a lifetime could save everybody had shattered that cold day and been wavering ever since. Anything he was supposed to feel just put another twist in the knot he was now kicking and shoving away so hard just like she'd wanted.

Unfortunately, my plan worked.

"That happens a lot with your crazy plans," Magnus said in a jittery way, because this time it wasn't Percy executing his crazy plan. He was still sitting in front of them, sort of breathing as adrenaline kept him and the water around them in a constant swirl they were starting to get concerningly used to.

Nico had never once talked about his sister in here. He should have known from the start, that look of a lost boy, a kid who could never go home to his family. He saw it every day in the mirror.

Talos looked down at me and raised his foot to squash me like a bug. I didn't see what Bianca was doing. I had to turn and run. The foot came down about two inches behind me and I was knocked into the air. I hit something hard and sat up, dazed. I'd been thrown into an Olympus-Air refrigerator.

The monster was about to finish me off, but Grover somehow dug himself out of the junk pile. He played his pipes frantically, and his music sent another power line pole whacking against Talos's thigh. The monster turned. Grover should've run, but he must've been too exhausted from the effort of so much magic. He took two steps, fell, and didn't get back up.

"Grover!" Thalia and I both ran toward him, but I knew we'd be too late.

The monster raised his sword to smash Grover.

Then he froze.

Talos cocked his head to one side, like he was hearing strange new music. He started moving his arms and legs in weird ways, doing the Funky Chicken. Then he made a fist and punched himself in the face.

Alex let out a strangled noise that any other day would have been a laugh. She'd dreamed of fighting giants and destroying gods, hearing of this beautiful piece of deadly art living its full potential should have been the thrill of a lifetime.

It wasn't the cold air they were breathing that made it all feel so unmistakably wrong though.

"Go, Bianca!" I yelled.

Zoe looked horrified. "She is inside?"

The monster staggered around, and I realized we were still in danger. Thalia and I grabbed Grover and ran with him toward the highway. Zoe was already ahead of us. She yelled, "How will Bianca get out?"

The giant hit itself in the head again and dropped his sword. A shudder ran through his whole body and he staggered toward the power lines.

"Look out!" I yelled, but it was too late.

The giant's ankle snared the lines, and blue flickers of electricity shot up his body. I hoped the inside was insulated.

Thalia couldn't help it as she pressed herself close to Jason and looked at Nico with raw guilt of her own. They never knew the answer to that, or even if it mattered. For all they knew, her spirit had possessed that thing the moment she got inside and she'd been lost to them. It hadn't stopped the tormented thoughts plaguing her as they searched, it should have been her in there. She'd known it for so long after, one of the many reasons she'd shifted the burden of the prophecy away. Her absolute conviction she should have died this night.

If she had though, she'd never have found her brother giving her a reassuring squeeze on the shoulder, his strangely tight face watching with calculated interest trying to predict the outcome in a person she should have known her whole life. Bianca had lost the chance to be with her own little brother again so she could meet hers, and she sent a silent prayer of thanks to wherever the girl was as the guilt clenched tight.

I had no idea what was going on in there. The giant careened back into the junkyard, and his right hand fell off, landing in the scrap metal with a horrible CLANG!

His left arm came loose, too. He was falling apart at the joints.

Talos began to run.

"Wait!" Zoe yelled. We ran after him, but there was no way we could keep up. Pieces of the robot kept falling off, getting in our way.

The giant crumbled from the top down: his head, his chest, and finally, his legs collapsed. When we reached the wreckage we searched frantically, yelling Bianca's name. We crawled around in the vast hollow pieces and the legs and the head. We searched until the sun started to rise, but no luck.

Zoe sat down and wept. I was stunned to see her cry.

Rachel pressed her hands tight together as if in prayer, but the bones in her fingers were too tense, the skin taught with stress as she mimicked a measure of calm her dad often forced, lacing her fingers together as she looked back up with a knowing, sorrowful gaze. She could hear the plea of anything to be done, Grover's tracking spell, reanimating the beast in a crazy stunt to go inside again, but it would all be for naught. This was a feeling she'd have to grow used to, the Oracle did not have the answers for why this had happened.

Thalia yelled in rage and impaled her sword in the giant's smashed face.

"We can keep searching," I said. "It's light now. We'll find her."

"No we won't," Grover said miserably. "It happened just as it was supposed to."

"What are you talking about?" I demanded.

He looked up at me with big watery eyes. "The prophecy. One shall be lost in the land without rain."

Why hadn't I seen it? Why had I let her go instead of me?

Here we were in the desert. And Bianca di Angelo was gone.

There was a faint, sharp, howling noise like a whistle, long and ringing in their ears growing by the decibel as Nico sat hunched in on himself, arms wrapped so tight his jacket was straining at the seams. He hated her so much. He missed her every day.

He'd held onto his anger and denial for so long, been trying to ease into acceptance every passing hour he'd known this was coming, but somewhere along the way he'd skipped right over a grief that was swirling around him now, making ghostly shadows appear, the floor was cracking dangerously right up to the wall and that haunting wail sounded like it was right outside as his breaths couldn't seem to stop rasping loose.

"Nico," Will couldn't have stood by seeing anyone in this state, he had no hesitation left as he put his arms gently around him, gathering his pain close to his chest and whispered, "just let it out."

He wasn't afraid of the infinite flickering forms being drawn to him in the ocean, and trusted as Percy jumped to his feet his sword was to keep the apparitions back rather than the dawning horror for whoever was left needed to realize who and what Nico was capable of as he choked on a sob and pressed in close.

Images, memories, but more than anything, longing kept flashing through Nico in a weighted pattern with little rhyme or reason. She'd never go back to Italy with him to visit their mothers home, she'd never call him Neeks again and make that annoyed face when he asked her for homework help but then she'd do it for him anyways, she'd never give him as many packs of Mythomagic cards as she could pit-pocket, she'd never get a chance to perfect that recipe or grow up, forcing him to forever age past his big sister.

He didn't feel alone though, as the pain inevitably subsided enough he could breathe again. Will's grip was gentle but firm all at once, strong but pliable. He couldn't pull back, and his friend didn't make him want to.

#pjo #Percy Jackson #thalia grace #jason grace #nico di angelo #will solace #magnus chase #alex fierro #Titan's Curse #reading the books #fanfiction #HDYSG

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purplesurveys · 2 years ago

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1714

Have you ever seen an emu in real life, whether in captivity or the wild? I have never.

When was the last time you visited your state’s biggest city? I live in it.

Do you remember what colour the eyes were of the last person you spoke to? Dark brown, as all Filipinos have.

Have you eaten pasta in the past week? Sure. It was fast food spaghetti but still.

Did you pierce your ears yourself or have it done by a professional? I'm pretty sure my parents had it done by a professional. I had been a few weeks or months old after all.

Are you wearing any shoes right now? No.

How many letters are in your surname? Six.

Do you enjoy Burger King? Their burgers are good but Burger King is honestly something I just never seem to look for? Idk, lol. Like I'll never say no to it, but I also don't ever go, "I think I'll get Burger King today." In general I guess I'm also not into fast food burgers much, unless it's Jollibee.

Have you ever worn bell bottom jeans? I don't think I've ever, actually.

How far away from your house is the nearest ice cream place? The nearest one I know of is around a 30 minute drive away.

What colour is your kitchen counter? It's a shade of peach.

When was the last time you washed the dishes? Not a plate but I washed my glass around half an hour ago before I settled in my room.

Do you own a lot of cookbooks? We don't have, like, a bookshelf's worth of cookbooks if that's what you mean by 'a lot,' but I'd say we have more than average. My dad's a chef, so he liked to collect them early on in his career.

How many rooms are in your house? Four.

Have you ever seen American Pie? I haven't. I heard of it a lot as a kid but was also always warned not to watch it, so I kind of brought that with me until now. I still have no clue what that show(?) is about haha.

What do you think of Leonardo DiCaprio? He's really good-looking and an even better actor but I do find his dating choices quite weird given his age.

Do you stay in touch with many people from high school or college? It's a good number. Most of my current circles are from my years in school.

Are you feeling nervous about anything right now? Just a little bit, but I'm trying not to think of it now so I can focus on my weekend and free time.

How many cars can your driveway and garage hold? Technically just one, but we have some extra space around the backyard area and our front yard so we're able to have our two other cars fit in those slots. Mainly so that we don't block the road because it's so annoying that most of the nighbors do that.

When was the last time you were late for something? Around a month ago for one of our events. My teammates arrived earlier to cover for me first so I wasn't too worried, and I was mostly stressed because of the traffic and because the driver kept on heading towards turns that led to more traffic.

Do you own an iPod, and if so, what type? I have not used an iPod since high school.

Did you ever play Stardoll when you were younger? I don't think I've ever heard of that.

Is there a university in your town or city? Yes. There's a small local one literally right beside our village gate.

What’s your father’s handwriting like? The hilarious thing is I don't even know what his handwriting looks like because he writes so rarely. He just...signs. I should hand him a blank piece of paper one of these days and just ask him to write random phrases so I can finally know hah.

Have you ever lived on a farm? Haven't.

Are you hung up on anybody right now? No.

Do you eat fries one by one or in big bunches? Just one each, every time. I always eat stuff like fries by piece.

Did you wash your hair last time you showered? Yeah I never skip anything when I take a bath.

Has anyone ever ransacked your bedroom? Apparently my mom did because that's how she came to read my diary when I wasn't around. I've always been a bit peeved about her entering my room since then.

Do you have any weird sleeping habits that people have told you about? No. I also don't like sleeping with people around, so that's also probably why no one has ever told me anything.

Do you enjoy That 70s Show? I tried getting into it but couldn't understand the humor right from the first episode - either that or I just simply found it unfunny, idk - so I didn't really care to watch the rest.

Are there any clouds in the sky, and what colour are they? Well right now it's 2:01 AM so everything looks black/super sper super dark blue.

Do you think you’re fast at typing? I know I'm fast, haha.

What was the last type of pizza you ate? Pepperoni, but I removed all the pepperoni from the slices I took as I don't like it.

How old are you? 25. WOW I can't believe I'm 25

Do you know anyone with an unusual middle name? Yes.

Would you consider yourself to be intelligent? Only in select aspects.

Have you ever waxed your eyebrows? Nope.

What does your shampoo smell like? Just...idk like a refreshing one?? It doesn't have a distinct scent.

Have you ever passed gas in front of your significant other? I don't like farting hahaha I always suppress mine. Only my sister has heard me do it and that's because those got out accidentally.

Do you have any big regrets in your life? I wouldn't say big, but there have been a few medium-sized regrets here and there.

What colour is the ground or floor where you are right now? Brown.

Do you live on a street, avenue, road etc.? Street.

Can you taste anything right now? Just the remnants of my coffee.

What was the last board game you played? I don't play board games but I played Anomia with my family the other night.

Are you renting the house you’re currently living in? No.

Do you listen to Guns n Roses? Other than the like two songs I know of theirs, no.

How old were you when you had your first boyfriend or girlfriend? I was uhhhhhhh 16, I think.

Have you ever been a bridesmaid? A junior bridesmaid, if that counts; my aunt had that kind of gimmick during her wedding. I was 8 and didn't actually do anything in the role.

Has the sun already set for the day? Forever ago. It's about to rise in a couple of hours or so.

Do you know how to tie a tie? No. I had to wear a necktie from kinder to high school but since I didn't know how to tie ties I just kept the knot and wore it like I would a necklace for the 14 years I studied there hahah.

What are the age gaps between you and your siblings? 2 and 5.

Does your birthday come before June 19th in a calendar year? No, before.

Do you pay attention to the FIFA World Cup? If so, what team do you go for? I'm paying attention to the Women's World Cup right now because 1) one of my clients is the Philippine team's official outfitter so we have had a million and one events related to the World Cup; and 2) THE PHILIPPINES IS (well, was now since we're out...but still) IN THE WORLD CUP FOR THE FIRST TIME. Made the entire country turn into rabid football fans overnight lol it's so surreal to see it all unfold. I love our girls :')

Even if PH got booted though I catch up whenever I can! Some narratives have been super heartwarming, like Jamaica's who apparently had to do crowdfunding to even get to the tournament in the first place.

Are you on any medications right now? I am not.

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cynicalraccoon · 7 months ago

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I can finally mark Dracula off my reading list. It was an okay read. In my opinion, the format of it being told through journal and diaries entries, and newspapers articles made it a bit of a slow read. It was different than what I'm used to reading.

Jonathan Harker and Mina were the best couple of this book. Smarts and courage all around. Their kid is going to be something else with those genes.

Dr. Stewart was a cool guy. A bit dramatic, but I'll give him a pass because he was grieving for Lucy for most of the book. Also a bit stupid to not tell anybody about the fang holes on Lucy's neck. That probably could've saved her a bit earlier.

As for Arthur, can't say much of him. He was an okay guy.

Morris did not deserve an ending like that. I was expecting him to fight Dracula, to be honest, but instead we got that ending for him. What the heck?

And Van Helsing...Dude could ramble like nobody else. But his intelligence was proved throughout the book. If he were younger, could probably see him being badass like the film adaptations view him as.

Now on to my rants. Warning, some spoilers for those who haven't read the book yet.

How the heck did they not make the connection to the bat that Morris shot at with Dracula after they just went over discussing him and his powers? I figured that would be a big clue that Dracula was about to make a move on Mina or spy on them. It took a mentally insane patient to tell them the big reveal about Dracula getting to Mina for them to figure it out.

Also, Mina, a kind of stupid move not to tell anybody about the nightmares or fog Dracula visiting you at night. Pretty sure that's also important because of the situation they were in.

Lastly, Dracula could've gone to any other woman instead of Mina to get his blood. Because they did not have security measures around and would've been vulnerable to his influence. I know he could have because he was eyeing another young woman when Johnathan saw him in the city. If he had, they probably wouldn't have caught on to him so fast. Or maybe they would have. I don't know. But it would've been a good distraction from Dracula.

All in all, the ending was a bit anticlimactic. Expecting a fight between Dracula and the group, but they killed him with a sliver of close call. Probably for the best. They would've gotten killed if Dracula woke up fully.

#Dracula #Book review #Vampire #Reading #book #Gothic fiction #Johanthan & Mina best couple #Van Helsing #Badass professor

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rewriting-thearrowverse · 8 months ago

Text

𝑺𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒐𝒏 𝟏 𝑬𝒑𝒊𝒔𝒐𝒅𝒆 𝟔: 𝑳𝒆𝒈𝒂𝒄𝒊𝒆𝒔 (𝑷𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝟐)

I finally got the chance to finish writing and publishing this part at like 15 til 3am on July 27, 2024

"The Restons just got home after 5 years of being away. Those factory guys hung out at a bar after work."

Oliver and Diggle rounded a corner.

"I'm going down there. Hopefully, Derek Reston wants to take a stroll down memory lane."

Oliver pressed a button on the elevator once they had stopped in front of it.

"And if by some miracle Reston's there?" Diggle asked as the door opened.

"I'm gonna give him the chance to do the right thing."

He looked away, avoiding a scoff. "Oliver, he already had his chance to do the right thing."

"It's called not being a criminal."

"This is happening because of my father."

He looked at Diggle, there was guilt written on his face. "Because of my family."

"No. You're worried about the wrong thing. It's not your fault." Dig said

"The Restons aren't the victims."

His resolve was just as strong in his ways, "My family stole from this city. They hurt the people in it. "

"And I am hellbent on making that right."

Oliver walked in the elevator.

And as the doors closed in front of him, "For Derek Reston, that means giving him the chance to make it right."

➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳

Back at CNRI Tommy and Laurel were planning stuff for the benefit as they sat across one another at a table.

She let out a light yawn.

"Hey, don't fade on me now."

"We have about 10,000 more decisions to make."

Tommy looked at Laurel, "Now cake... chocolate or mocha?"

"Hm.. Carrot." She responded

"Are you sure about that? Because Bugs Bunny hasn't RSVP'd yet."

She smiled as she let out a little laugh.

He inquiries, along with her own detective mind went on gear, "Tommy. Why the full-court press?"

"Asking me to Coast City, the fundraiser... Why now?"

He looked down as he took a moment to consider what he'd say, then he looked back up again.

"You know... I was in a bar last week, and I was talking to this girl.."

"Things were progressing, if you know what I mean."

"No, you're too subtle." She said sarcastically.

She smiled as she watched him talk.

"Anyway, we finally get back to her place, and I realize all of a sudden... That I had been there before."

"Been with her before. Two years ago."

"Just didn't remember."

Her expression was neutral, but she still listened.

"So I left."

"You know, I remember some of the mornings when you and I were together.."

"And I made you omelets." He smiled as he looked at her.

And of course she smiled back.

"And I'd be in your kitchen, thinking to myself.... this isn't just fun."

"This is more than fun... This is different."

"I never felt that way with anybody else... And I miss it."

She looked at him before he looked away and turned his attention back to his paperwork. She took a breath as she also looked away.

"Not Mocha. Carrot?" He said

"Carrot." she agreed.

✧𖣠♫✧𖣠♫✧𖣠♫✧𖣠♫✧𖣠♫✧𖣠♫✧𖣠♫✧𖣠♫✧𖣠♫✧𖣠

Derek Reston was at the bar, at a table. He was playing Poker with three others, and was laughing as he had just played a winning hand.

"Okay fellas.. Thanks for playing." He said as the other three got up to move elsewhere.

Oliver cleared his throat as he took a seat across from Derek, "Mind if I sit in?"

There was slight surprise on his face as he looked up, "Oliver Queen."

He sounded less than thrilled when he spoke, "The Prodigal Son Returns."

"I didn't figure you for someone who would hang out in The Glades."

"My father used to bring me here after we visited the factory."

"There was a Pac-Machine in the back," He smiled

"I had the high score for two months."

"The last time I saw your dad, he was making a speech. Telling my crew not to believe all the gossip."

"That there was 𝘯𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘺 Queen Consolidated was moving production to China. A week later, they closed the doors." The anger was starting to rise in Derek's voice as he looked at Oliver, the reminder of the man that screwed him over.

"I didn't even get the two weeks vacation pay due me."

Oliver looked at him and spoke calmly, "My father made mistakes."

"He hurt people."

"When people are hurt, people are in trouble, they tend to make the wrong choices." A look of realization crossed Derek's face.

"Right Derek?"

"But those choices don't have to define you. They don't have to define who your family will be."

"Because there's always one moment when you can turn it around."

"If my father had another chance..."

"I think he'd do things differently."

"But time ran out for him."

"How poetic." He responded.

"That doesn't help me get back my house, now does it?"

No, it doesn't."

"No, all I can offer you is an apology and a job."

He looked up at Oliver.

"Queen Consolidated has subsidiaries all over the country."

"I make one phone call, you start next week."

"So what do you say?"

Derek sat back in his chair, "How about I still have some pride left?"

"I don't need charity from the man who screwed me over."

"Okay." Oliver said as he reached into his pocket, he had pulled out a business card of Queen Consolidated.

"If you change your mind.."

He stood up, "You and I have one thing in common."

"We're both dealing with the consequences of my father's actions."

"What he did then.. That's on him."

"What we do now, that's on us." he said as he handed over the business card.

As he walked off he dropped a bugging device in his coat pocket.

Back in the hideout, Oliver was listening closely to the audio files.

"I've been thinking baby, maybe you were right..." Derek's voice was first.

"Maybe it's time to hang it up, retire."

"But Kyle says we do one more or he'll go out on his own." The woman said

"Well, if that's what he wants to do, that's his right, but you and me and Teddy, we're out."

"I want to quit too, but I am not leaving without Kyle." Diggle walked in and Oliver clicked off of the audio.

"What's this?" Diggle asked

"I dropped a bug in Derek Reston's jacket." He said as he looked up

"I thought you were going to give the man a second chance."

"that's what I believe in... But I also believe in covering all my bases."

He continued playing the audio as he clicked a button.

"Derek, we can't abandon our son. After all this time, he wants to end up a winner." The woman said

"Set for life."

"Otherwise, what was the point?"

Derek sighed, "All right. One more."

Oliver closed his eyes and looked down in disappointment before opening them again.

"Now what?" Diggle asked

"We take them down."

➴◉◉➴◉◉➴◉◉➴◉◉➴◉◉➴◉◉➴◉◉➴◉◉➴◉◉➴◉◉➴

Oliver and Diggle made their way to the benefit, in the background, 'One More Night' by Maroon 5 was playing as they met by the stairs.

"Monitor the Restons with this." Oliver said as he handed Diggle an earpiece

"When you get a line on their plans, we move."

"And you're gonna do another abrupt exit?" Diggle asked as he clipped the earpiece on his ear.

"I'm getting better at it with practice."

Diggle lightly chuckled as Oliver turned to go inside, and he followed him.

On the inside one of the servers was walking past, and Tommy took the final glass of Champagne off the tray.

"Honey, keep the alcohol flowing." He said as she continued on her way.

He smiled as he spotted Laurel from across, making her way over to him.

"I can't- Wow." He was practically speechless as he saw her.

"You just look really lovely."

"Lovely. Well, it's nice that you've extended your vocabulary from words like hot and mega hot." She responded, her usual snark present. A thing both Oliver and Tommy loved about her.

"You can just say thank you. You know." He responded

She placed her hand on him, between his shoulder and chest. "Thank you."

"You know?" She smiled

As she backed up and the music continued, their attention was drawn to Joanna who came by saying, "Tommy, this is wonderful."

"It means the world to us."

They smiled and from behind them he say Thea talking to a lady.

"Oh, god. Excuse me, just for a second." He said as he began to make his way over to Thea.

"Excuse me." He walked through

Joanna was surprised a bit, but looked over to Laurel. "So?"

"Okay. Maybe you were right."

"Thank you for coming. " he said to Thea as he hugged her, then kissed her on the cheek.

"Thank you for inviting me." She hugged him back

"Well.. I figured the entire Queen family and their check books should be present.

"Oh right. And how's that going for you so far?" She asked sarcastically

"It is going amazing," he smiled

"And all thanks to you."

"Thea Queen. The unlikely voice of reason."

She was flattered, "Little old me?"

"What did I do?"

"You gave me that great advice."

He looked over to Laurel and Joanna, "I thought about what the girl was interested in, and..."

"And you did this for Laurel.." Her voice wasn't thrilled and her face carried a fake smile.

He was excited and happy, "And it's working."

"Thanks Speedy." He hugged her from the side

"Yeah. Anytime."

As he walked off, she also walked off.

One More Night was still playing as she moved.

She grabbed a glass of wine from a server tray and chugged it.

Carter Bowen walked up to Laurel and Tommy who were standing together.

"Oh Tommy, do you remember Carter Bowen from high school?"

"Oh yeah. Sure I do." He replied as he shook his hand.

Laurel smiled at Tommy.

"So glad you could make it."

Carter ignored Tommy completely and moved onto Laurel, taking them by surprise. Tommy was a little offended and Laurel was too, but slightly less expressive.

"It is so great to see you, you look amazing."

"I gotta say I'm impressed with the work that you and CNRI are doing."

Tommy looked to Laurel

"Thanks Carter." She responded

Tommy looked back to Carter as he finally acknowledged him. "You know, I've actually been thinking about starting a free clinic down here in the Glades."

"Really?" Tommy asked, a slight irritation in his voice

He was ignored again as Carter's attention went back to Laurel, the girl he hoped to have. But would never get.

"Can we grab a couple drinks and I'll tell you what I'm thinking." Carter directed to Laurel

"That sounds great." she replied, taking his arm and following after him.

She smiled back at Tommy. Tommy smiled a fake one to her, until she could no longer see him and his expression saddened.

Elsewhere, Moira was drinking from a glass of champagne talking to someone in front of her, before Oliver came behind her and whispered, "Hi."

She looked back, saw Oliver and looked to him surprised before returning to the person in front saying, "Excuse me."

She turned back to Oliver, "Well.. I'm surprised you made it tonight, given your hectic schedule."

"Mom. I messed up with the Bowens yesterday." He replied

"I made you a promise, and I couldn't keep it."

"Well, it's nothing new for you, Oliver." she did little to hide the unpleasant tone.

"I know you and I have had our difficulties, but despite all my many mistakes... I always thought that you and I had a connection."

He tried to speak up, but she continued. "So can you imagine.."

"Just imagine after being granted the miracle of having my child returned to me.."

"That you seem to have little or no interest in being with me or telling me the truth." She looked down, as she was upset.

Oliver was about to speak up, but Diggle walked by.

"Ma'am."

She looked away, already knowing where this was going.

"Redwood United Bank. Gonna try a nighttime hit." He whispered into Oliver's ear.

Dig walked off and Oliver looked conflicted as he considered his choice.

"I have to go." He finally said

She was still upset.

"I'm sorry-" She interrupted him, "No. Don't bother apologizing."

"Honestly Oliver. There are times when I wonder why you bother coming home at all." She said as she turned back around.

He sighed before walking away.

There was a night time security guard surveying the interior of Redwood United Bank. He had a flashlight as he moved around.

He was snuck up on from behind, where King cocked a gun to catch his attention. It worked as he turned to face him.

Ace went up behind him and jumped, placing a cloth of presumably chloroform on his mouth. There was a short struggle before he was out.

They placed a charge on the vault after he was knocked out and blew the vault open.

There was a small explosion and they took light cover from it.

The two lifted their masks over their heads. Kyle and Derek walked into the vault and began filling their bags with money.

"Three minutes." Derek said

'Okay." Kyle responded

The moved as quickly as they could.

Suddenly they heard a creaking noise. This jolted Derek's attention out of what he was doing.

"You hear that?" Kyle asked

The two exchanged looks then around.

"I'll check it out." Kyle said

"Alright." Derek replied as Kyle flipped his mask back down.

He grabbed his shotgun and walked out of the vault. He looked up front where the security guard was still unconscious.

He took a few more head turns as he looked around, it was clear until he rounded a corner. The hood was waiting for him there.

"Kyle Reston." He said as he drew his bow and Kyle looked on in surprise.

He shot an arrow and he blocked it with a clear shield. It bounced off backwards.

"I came prepared." Kyle responded.

Kyle then began firing his automatic at the hood, who rushed and vaulted over desks for cover from the bullet barrage.

Derek heard the gunfire as he continued putting the money in the bag.

As the shooting continued, The Hood rolled over another desk/barrier.

Ace lost sight of the hood, so he stopped firing as he panned out to look for him. He took a shot as he walked, hoping to draw him out. It didn't work, so he continued to look.

He took a few steps back and looked off to the side.

Derek flipped down his mask and walked out of the vault.

The Hood shot an arrow that landed between his shoulder and his chest.

"Uh!" Grunted Ace, who used the shield to break it off.

Ace charged at him with the shield, and another arrow was shot. And that same arrow bounced off to the side again.

He rammed into the hood and pushed him through three panes of glass as he shoved him into the wall.

Outside, the other two waited in a van and heard a siren in the distance, causing them to look out of the vehicle. There was a slight nervous expression to cross the younger boy's face.

"It's okay." The mother said

"It's gonna be okay." she reassured him.

The night guard was coming back into consciousness as he heard the Hood and Ace trading blows in a fistfight.

The Hood flipped Ace over a plant.

"Ugh!" He got back and hit him with his shield.

The hood kicked him back in the gut.

The guard got up to his feet and moved off as the fight continued, the Hood hit him with his bow then kicked him across.

He blocked another swipe from the hood's bow with his shield. The Hood flipped over with a backflip and sweep kicked Ace down.

He rolled to the ground.

The nightguard came out holding a shotgun saying, "No." as he had it aimed at the scene in front of him.

"Hey, I got this." The hood calmly said to him

King came from out of the back, and The Hood shot his gun out of his hand with an arrow.

"Drop your weapon! Now!" The night guard called out to Ace.

He fired.

"NO!" King shouted, jumping in front of the bullet meant for his son.

The Hood finished his fist fight with Ace by knocking him out with a punch.

The guard lowered the shotgun.

The Hood realized Derek had been shot as he heard him groan and write on the ground.

"He's bleeding out. Call an ambulance."

The guard just stood there, so the hood shouted, "NOW!"

The guard raced off to make the call.

Derek was gasping repeatedly, so the Hood removed his mask.

He held his hand over his own wound as he forced the words out, "Kyle. Kyle."

Oliver removed his hood.

"He's okay. He's just knocked out."

"It.. it wasn't his fault. I turned my son into this."

➴◈◉◈➶◈◉◈➴◈◉◈➶◈◉◈➴◈◉◈➶◈◉◈➴◈◉◈➶

Flashback

There was the clicking of a gun, when it didn't go off... Oliver angrily threw it.

"Of course it doesn't work. I'm hallucinating." He was irritated

"Or.. I'm dreaming."

"But if you weren't.." Robert said

"You betrayed me Oliver."

"I died so you could live. And you threw that gift away."

"You made that sacrifice empty."

Oliver was tired, "I'm not you."

"I'm not."

"I'm not strong like you.."

"I never was."

"I told you, I'm not the man you think I am." Robert said as he turned around.

"The things.. I've done."

"What I was about to do.."

Oliver walked after him, "Dad...Dad?"

"What does that mean?"

"Please?"

"I don't know what that means." He said as Robert turned back around to face him.

"I told you." He pointed directly at his son.

"I begged you."

"Right my wrongs!" He raised his voice.

Oliver looked down,

"This is your responsibility now." Robert said

"How?" Oliver asked

"How do I do this?"

A smile of utter exhaustion crossed his face, "I can't even get off this island."

He walked to Oliver and placed his hands on his shoulders, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you the truth about me."

"But I hope...you know that I love you."

➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳

Back in the present, Derek passed as he closed his eyes and the sirens closed in.

Oliver put his hood back on, got up and rushed off.

An armored team came in, Detective Hilton noticed the man on the ground and checked his pulse. He confirmed he was really dead.

✧𖣠♫✧𖣠♫✧𖣠♫✧𖣠♫✧𖣠♫✧𖣠♫✧𖣠♫✧𖣠♫✧𖣠♫✧𖣠

Back at the Gala, Tommy was watching Laurel dancing with Carter. She was smiling and he was jealous.

He took a drink of his bourbon, saying, "Did you know that as a doctor, I was able to diagnose myself as a giant tool."

Thea walked over and leaned her arm over his, "How about a dance, Handsome?"

He turned around to face her in concern as he replied, "Hey, uh... I thought that we agreed that you were going to call me before you did something stupid."

"You're no fun." She said

"I'm going to show you how to have some fun," She said as she wrapped the front of her arms around his neck and tried to kiss him.

Before she got even remotely close he jumped back, "Whoa, whoa! What are you doing?"

"You said I was amazing." She looked hurt

"Yeah, you are amazing, but you're also like my sister." He smiled kindly as he spoke

"My baby, sister." he reiterated.

"Well, I'm not a baby anymore. Thank you for noticing." she said in offense before looking past him to Laurel.

It was followed by a fake laugh, "Laurel doesn't even like you. She doesn't understand you."

"I do."

"Why can't you just see that?"

He walked her away from the bigger part of the crowd as he spoke, "Thea. Thea. It was a mistake to talk to you about girls and stuff."

"It was inappropriate, and I think it may have confused you."

She stopped walking as she let out an offended laugh, her tone was salty. "Yeah, the rejection is pretty clear."

"Even if it wasn't.. Between my mom and Oliver and everyone else in my entire life.. I'm pretty much used to it by now-" She cut herself off as she turned around and walked into one of the servers carrying around the trays of champagne.

Tommy held her back, "Whoa, whoa."

And now there were people looking at them and in their direction.

He ushered her outside, "Okay, let's go."

He was calm as he walked her out, "Come on, come on."

➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳

Laurel had actually followed them outside, where she had heard Thea throwing up.

"Tommy?" She asked, walking over in concern

"Yep." he said, his suit jacket was over Thea as he stood behind her

"Is Thea okay?" she asked

"Oh yeah. She just ate some bad crab cakes." he said

She gave him a 'How dumb do you think I look', look and said, "Are you sure itr wasn't something she drank."

He cleared his throat, "Don't worry. I got this."

"You can go back inside. Keep having fun."

Thea looked back over at them as they talked

"Looked like you were having a nice little do-si-do with the good doctor."

She sighed lightly, "Tommy, I'm gonna let you in on a little-known secret about Doctor Carter Bowen."

"The man is a gigantic ass."

He let out a light laugh through his nose.

"And the only reason I danced with him is because he wrote a massive check to CNRI."

"Why would you think anything else?"

He averted his eyes briefly, "I guess when it comes to you, I tend to not think straight."

She smiled at him and he smiled back,

Thea walked over to them, her voice was strained, "Can you call me a cab?"

"Absolutely not. I am taking you home." He said

He opened the door of his car, "Get in."

She looked between the two of them and spoke as she got in the passenger side seat of Tommy's car, "I apologize for making such a scene."

"Just feel better, okay?" Laurel said

Thea nodded her head as he shut the door.

She turned to walk with him a few paces, "Hey Tommy,"

He looked at her, "I owe you a dance."

"Yeah?" he asked

"You earned it." she said as she kissed him on the cheek.

"Goodnight." she said as she walked back inside.

She looked back at him with a wide smile on her face. He smiled after she had gone in with a light, happy chuckle.

He got into the driver seat of his car.

As he sat down, she spoke up, "Please don't hate me."

He looked straight at her, "No. Never."

And then he drove off.

Oliver was back in the hideout, still in his suit as he sat in a chair staring down at his hands. Diggle walked in and stopped in front of him, "What went down wasn't your fault."

"I didn't say it was."

He did sound a little mopey though..

"Oliver, It wasn't your fault, man." He said

"You gave Reston a chance. That was more than he deserved."

"I'm not so sure about that." Oliver replied somberly

"Well. Listen, I'll tell you this much." Diggle said as he started

"You say going after the guys on that list is the way you honored your dad?"

Oliver silently confirmed it as he nodded his head yes.

"Well.. If your dad could have seen you this week. The way you cared about the people he had hurt, the way you stepped up to try to help them, I'd say he would be pretty damn honored."

He walked back a few paces, "So maybe there is more than one way to save this city?"

Oliver looked down then up again, "Maybe."

He began to walk off, and as he did so he talked again, "By the way, Stan Washington woke up."

Oliver looked up at Diggle. Dig turned back to look at Oliver, "He's going to be fine."

➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳➳

Flashback

Oliver woke back up in the cave, next to his fire. He was panting as he came back to, and out of his dream.

He breathed heavy as he looked at the dying fire. Then he scooted himself closer to it.

He ripped a page out of his father's book, and as he was about to put it in the fire, he held it above for a few moments, and suddenly words appeared over the page.

He looked at it in shock, and opened the little book back up. He opened it and held it above the fire.

More words appeared. His list of names. Oliver read it, "My responsibility."

"I promise, dad."

"I promise." He said again with even more determination than the first.

➴◈◉◈➶◈◉◈➴◈◉◈➶◈◉◈➴◈◉◈➶◈◉◈➴◈◉◈➶

In the Queen Mansion, Moira poured herself a drink. And Oliver walked into the doorway, leaning against it.

"Nightcap?" He asked, causing her to take her attention to him and look at him.

"Well.. I thought it might help me. I-I don't sleep well alone." She said

"I'm sorry about what i said tonight."

"No." He said walking over to her, "You were being honest."

She looked down, "No, not entirely."

"The truth is... with Walter being gone, I'm lonely."

She walked up to him, "You know, You and I used to talk. I used to know what you were thinking."

"But now.. Even when you're home, you're somewhere else."

She looked to him, "I guess, I just miss my son."

"I miss you too." He replied

There was a period of silence as he said "And I wish that..."

Before a smile crept on his face and he said, "Are you hungry?"

➴◉◉➴◉◉➴◉◉➴◉◉➴◉◉➴◉◉➴◉◉➴◉◉➴◉◉➴◉◉➴

The waitress set down Burgers in a tray at the Table Moira and Oliver were sitting at in the place they chose.

"Thank you," Oliver said

She smiled at him brightly and he smiled back.

She chuckled lightly and placed a napkin on her lap as she grabbed for her fork.

Oliver took a sip from the vanilla milkshake he had, "Mmm"

Oliver was almost appalled as he saw his own mother trying to eat a burger with silverware, Bruce Wayne style.

"Mom."

He chuckled briefly

"It's okay to get your hands dirty every once in a while,"

"For me? Please."

She sighed and set down the fork and knife.

"All right." She grabbed the burger with her hands and took a bite.

"Mmm."

*Mmhm." He agreed

"Mm. That is a great burger."

"Yeah." He said before taking a bite of a fry.

"Thank you for this." She said

"Anytime." He said with a smile

"You know.. I'll bet Carter Bowen doesn't know where to find the best burger joint in Starling City."

"So I have one thing on him?" He asked with a light smirk

She placed her hand on his lower arm, "No."

"You have everything on him, Oliver. "

#arrow rewrite #arrow #arrowverse #arrowverse rewrite #dinah laurel lance #oliver queen #john diggle #royal flush gang #tommy merlyn #thea queen #moira queen #kyle reston #derek reston #lucas hilton #quentin lance

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