#yes im very normal about chiron why do you ask

[spineless-lobster]

EEEEEEEE Okay so if you’re like me and closely examining every single thing on each of the arcana cards, you’ve probably wondered who all these kiddos are that chiron’s got with him

I’m sure most of us have gathered that the one getting head pats is achilles, considering he’s got curly blond hair, wearing green and holding a spear. But who are the others? And whose baby is that???

Well wonder no more! Hopefully! If I’m right! Because a quick look at a short list of chiron’s apprentices on wikipedia has provided me answers! (This ended up being incredibly long-winded I apologize in advance)

Let’s start at the bottom from left to right. On the far left we a boy draped in blue and holding a staff, a bronze snake wrapped around it. If you know anything about the origin of medical symbols you’ll know that this is asclepius and his famous rod (ha) that, at some point in history, got mistaken for hermes’ caduceus. Thus that’s why it’s the caduceus and not the rod of asclepius we see on hospitals and stuff. But I digress!

Asclepius is the god of medicine and the son of apollo, who was trained in the art of medicine by chiron. So it makes sense why he’s here!

In the middle we have a boy clad in red and wearing golden laurels. I believe that this could be jason of argonaut fame. Long story short, jason’s uncle pelias overthrew his half-brother aeson (jason’s father) and killed all his descendants. Alcimede, jason’s mother, saved her newborn son by having the nursemaids cry over him as if her were stillborn. She then managed to sneak away and give jason to chiron, who raised and trained him. Eventually jason does who whole golden fleece thing and becomes the king of iolcus, though he and medea were quickly exiled afterwards.

On the far right we see a boy clearing purple with deer antlers on his head. If you’re a big artemis fan like me you’ll recognize this guy pretty easily. This is actaeon, a theban hero trained by chiron who’s most famous for earning the wrath of artemis. While out hunting one day he came across the goddess and her nymphs bathing, instead of minding his damn business he decides to peep on her. Rightfully enraged, artemis curses him and forbade him from speaking another word, lest he be transformed. Upon hearing his hunting party he calls out (in some versions he tries whistling for his dogs) and he transforms into a stag. His hunting party finds him, and, seeing a stag in his place, his own dogs tear him a part and kill him.

FINALLY, we have the newborn baby chiron is holding. Now, chiron does have a few children of his own, so it’s possible it could be any one of them. But I think instead it’s a lad named medus, or polyxenus, or medeus it really depends. He’s the son of jason and medea, and like his father, he was also trained by chiron. But honestly that baby could be anyone lmao

Oh god I yapped on for more than I should have WHOOPS 😭 I hope you all enjoyed this quick mythology lesson lol

[lilysbookshelf987]

New camper: Percy Jackson x reader (daughter of apollo)

A/n: thank you so much for giving this a read! This is my first time writing for the PJO universe so let me know if you like it! Requests are open! No NSFW or Smut! Enjoy

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Good morning" Percy said tiredly, greeting his best friend Grover at the dining pavilion, taking a seat next to him.

"Morning" Grover replied, "hey did you see Annabeth on your way here? She's usually the first one here and I haven't seen her yet"

As if almost on cue she was walking towards the boys, an excited smirk painted across her face.

"Camp Half-Blood has a new camper!"

"What?!" replied Percy

"She showed up late last night, all alone. Chiron told me she had been hurt pretty badly but he took her into the infirmary and gave her some Ambrosia"

"She took it? So, she's definitely a half-blood?" Percy asked

"Yep! We should be meeting her later today" Annabeth was ecstatic, she loved new campers!

--time skip--

As the day went on there was still no sight of the new camper. Word had made its way around camp and people began to take their guesses as to who was her parent.

"I hope she's in our cabin!" A child of Aphrodite had said

"No! I bet she HAS to be in ours! Showing up without a Satyr by her side means she's a warrior"an Ares kid chimed

"As long as she's not in ours I dont care" a tired looking Hermes kid said.

It was almost dinner time when Chiron had found Percy, sparring with someone from the Ares cabin.

"Percy can I speak to you for a moment?"

"Yeah sure" he said, removing his helmet and recapping his sword.

"Im sure you've heard we've had a new camper join us."

"Yeah it's all over camp" he replied

"Ah yes. Well let's say she hasn't been thrilled to learn about her new family. Reminds me a lot of you when you first came here"

Percy thought back to his first few days at camp. He was confused, scared, angry, and very much overwhelmed.

"I was wondering if you could help ease her mind by speaking to her. You understand what she's feeling better than I can."

"And im not half horse" Percy smiled

"Yes there is that" Chiron chuckled

"Alright I want to meet her!" Percy agreed. He really did want to help, but he also knew how jealous Annabeth would be that he met her first. The two walked into the big house and there she was, staring down at her feet.

"Y/N, this is Percy, son of Poseidon. Percy this is Y/N. I'm sure you two will get long swimmingly" Chiron chuckled at his own joke, "I will give you two some privacy" with that, he left the room. Leaving the two teenagers alone.

An awkward silence filled the room, when finally Y/N broke the silence.

"Son of Poseidon, huh?" she asked

"That's me" he smiled, proud of the title he held.

"That's crazy, the gods don't exist!"

"They do exist. I know it all feels a bit insane at first but-"

"A bit?! My whole life i've had these things coming after me and I didn't understand why. I thought I was insane and seeing things, but apparently that's normal?! And my dad? The reason he's neglected me my whole life was because he was a god?! There's just no way"

"Hey, it's gonna be ok. I know how you feel. I felt like that when I first got here. All my life my dad wasn't someone I had thought about much because I had my mom, and thats all I needed. Then I find out that he's now the most important thing in my life? I had so many emotions, but if you just give this place a chance? I promise everything gets a lot less scary"

This seem to get to the girl. She started to tear up.

"Ok, i'll try." she whispered

"I'll show you around and it'll all be ok, I promise."

The two made their way around camp, Y/N was mostly silent. "The sun is so warm here, it's not like that where I'm from"

"Everything is a little bit stronger here."

"I can tell" she smiled

"So, do you have any idea who your dad might be?" Percy asked, careful not to poke at the sensitive subject.

"I think but I'm not sure. My mom used to talk about Apollo, a way she never did about other Gods"

"Ok then...then we have to find a way for him to see you! If he see's you, he'll claim you!"

"Yeah but how?"

"Gods dont claim you because they feel like it, you have to work for it" Annabeth said, inviting herself to the conversation.

"Y/N this is Annabeth, daughter of Athena"

"Hey" Y/n said

"Percy have you taken her to the archery field? Apollo kids thrive there"

"No I didn't"

"Seaweed brain c'mon!" Annabeth rolled her eyes, "Lets go" she led the two there and put a bow and arrow in Y/N's hands. The girl had fired it easily and hit the bullseye.

"Beginners luck?" y/n asked

"Go again" Chiron said, but before she could something came flying down at her, she shot it down easily.

"That could've killed us" Percy said, mouth agape, "and you shot it down with ease!" he said

"Look!" One of the campers said

Y/N was becoming engulfed in a bright light and a sun appeared over her head. She was now an official resident of cabin 7

[specialagentlokitty]

Percy x Sister!reader - choices

could you write another percy x twin sister story? maybe one with a but if angst and a lil bit of fluff?? you can decide!! your writing is sooo good!!- Anon💜

You didn’t ask for this, you didn’t ask to be a Demi god, having to run around and save the world from things that normal people don’t even know existed.

Sitting on your bed, you stared at the photo book in your hands, photos from when you and your brother were kids, nothing having to worry about this stupid stuff.

“(Y/N)!” Percy called as he ran through the door.

He ran into every single room until he finally burst through yours to find you sat on your bed.

“Chiron organised a party, you coming?” He asked.

“Nah, sorry Perc.”

Getting up, you tossed a jacket on and gave him a warm smile.

“I wanna head to the beach.”

“Are you sure? All the gods are going to be there, so kids on camp can finally meet their parents.”

“Sounds pretty nice, maybe I’ll join.”

He beamed and ran back outside to where the others were calling from.

You waited for them to vanish before you made your way out and down to the beach, standing with your feet in the water as you stared straight ahead.

This was the only place you used to be able to find peace when you were a kid, anywhere with water you would find peace.

But you couldn’t.

“It won’t ever feel the same, will it?” You asked.

“No, im sorry.”

You turned to Poseidon, you hadn’t met him as much as your brother had, you weren’t ever interested in meeting him.

Turning around, you carried on staring out into the water.

“(Y/N), it won’t ever feel the same, but it will get easier.” He spoke softly.

“I don’t want to throw my life away for gods who just couldn’t care less about what happens to us.”

“That’s not true, we do care.”

“Is that why you send us to die?” You asked.

You turned around and stared to leave the water, you didn’t want to be with him anymore.

“They may not but I do!”

He appeared in front of you and gave you a soft smile.

“You’re my daughter (Y/N) I care a lot, it’s why I give you all the help I can.”

“Poseidon… I don’t want to live my whole life afraid, having to check behind me every time I step out of this camp.”

You sighed, looking towards where the party was happening.

“My brother.. he can handle all of this… I can’t… I’m not made for a life like this..”

You sat down and then laid down, back on the sad as you stared straight up at the blue sky.

You wondered if it was really sunny out there, or maybe it was raining. You had no idea.

You watched as your dad knelt down in front of you, he lifted your head and placed it on his lap, brushing some of the sand that had found it’s way into your hair.

“Then come with me.”

“What?”

“Come with me to Atlantis, you’ll be immortal, and you’ll be safe, you won’t have to worry about any of this.”

You looked up at him.

“What about Percy?”

“It’s not his choice, it’s your choice. He’ll be offered the same when the time is right.”

“Mom?”

“You can see her whenever you want.”

You nodded your head and closed your eyes.

You didn’t know what to do, what to choose.

Did you leave Percy? Did you leave the camp to go with your dad?

Were you really up for being immortal, unable to die, being the very same kind of person that sent many of your friends to die?

“Is there any other way?” You asked.

“Yes… but… you’ll forget everything… including your brother…”

You nodded your head.

Sitting up, you shuffled around to face your dad.

“Dad… I’m… scared….”

“It’s okay, I’ll be with you, okay? Wherever I go, you’ll come with me. I promise.”

“And I can keep Percy safe?” You asked.

“Of course.”

“Okay…”

Poseidon nodded and stood up, holding his hand out to you and you took it, following him as he walked to the water.

You followed him but stopped.

“It’s okay.”

A few moments later you followed him and vanished from the camp without so much as a trace.

All that was left behind was a letter your dad had delivered later on that night so everyone knew you were okay.

Months later and you found yourself stood at the camp again, looking around as you tried to find Percy.

“No way is that…?” Someone whispered.

“(Y/N)!”

Before you could react you were crushed into a hug by Annabeth.

Hugging her lightly, you pulled away to look at her.

“Where’s my brother?”

“Where did you go? Are you safe? What happened?”

“Where’s Percy?”

She pointed towards the cabin and you nodded, walking in and straight to his room but he wasn’t there.

So, instead you walked into your room and found him sat on your bed going through the photos.

“Percy…”

“(Y/N)!”

Immediately he was up, photo book falling from his lap as he did and hit the floor with a loud thud.

He stood there in shock and you didn’t dare move either.

“There’s no… is it really…?”

“Yeah… it’s me…”

He ran and hugged you, both of you falling to the floor as tears from your eyes.

“Why did you leave…?”

“Because this life isn’t for me…”

“So you threw it away for what?! Immorality?!” He yelled.

You pulled away and shook your head.

“I threw it away so I could be safe… so I could protect you…”

“I don’t need protecting!”

“You do! Because I don’t want to loose you Percy! And I know mom doesn’t either! So… I went with dad…”

“That’s stupid!”

“So you can protect me but I can’t protect you?!”

“Yes!”

You stood up and took a few steps back.

“I knew I shouldn’t have come… sorry.”

You started to leave but before you could he was right in front of you again.

“Don’t leave again…” he mumbled.

“I’ve got to at some point…”

“Stay for a bit…”

You sighed and offered him a smile as you nodded your head.

So you went to sit down and you guys started to talk about everything you had been up too and it felt like old times again.

You hoped he took the same opportunity that you did, but if he didn’t, then you knew you could protect him no matter what

[mochideleche]

can’t keep away from fate | CH9

Pairing : Percy jackson x demigod!reader

summary : The daughter of destiny- literally, along with inevitability, compulsion and necessity. Being the child of a primordial goddess doesn’t really assure you a quiet, calm life but when you return to new york after five years of being shipped off to boarding school, your once mundane life says goodbye.

A/N thank you all for all the lovely support and messages, they honestly make my day uwu. Also! i’m so sorry for keeping you waiting but im giving myself a break from school work so here you go!

contents page

Normally percy would hate sleeping. As much as he needed it - which he found was very often these days, the nightmares were nothing to look forward to. 

However these day, percy found a little enjoyment in them. 

Sometimes he’d dream of kronos and his army, luke’s golden eyes, camp half blood but now he saw dreams of you. 

It had been a few months since he’d seen you, since he kissed you- percy always relived the moment, snapping back to reality to find himself smiling like an idiot and flushing red, but his dreams were the only way he could see you. 

Undoubtedly, Percy tried to iris message you, but to no avail, you’d never be reached or the line would go black every time it went through. 

That worried him. 

He’d brought it up to chiron the first time it happened, but chiron suggested that you were probably cutting the line of yourself- if luke had somehow got to interfere with the iris messages he’d figure out what you were doing. 

Sometimes when percy made visits to camp he’d see new faces along with hearing about the heroic journeys the children had taken to get to camp along your side. 

“She was so cool!” one of the kids who percy had asked about their arrival (obviously wanting to hear about you), “She fought off this army of half dog half seal men with just waving her hands!” 

You had acquired a new nickname, ‘the guardian angel’ seeming the way you delivered demigod kids safely to camp so stealthily that they wouldn’t even had known it until the children popped up on half blood hill. Then you were gone without a trace again, off to find other demigods. It sometimes pained percy that you were frequently within reachable bounds to camp but he never got to see even a glimpse of you. 

There were also rumours, which were most definitely true, about how luke’s ranks were decreasing in number- random disappearances, as nico di angelo had described them as, of your doing. 

“I sensed her presence when i was in the forests of new jersey,” nico explained to the counsellors during one of their meetings, “along with about 2 dozen  laistrygonian giants and by the time that i got there-” he clicked his fingers and scrunched his eyebrows in confusion “they were both gone” 

Gosh somehow it made percy feel bad that all he could do was sit back and wait whilst you were out there surviving on your own and fighting monsters and saving children. 

What a hero he was. 

Yes, he was fated to fight with the titan lord but right now, he was busy fighting his math homework.

Percy stared dejectedly at his unfinished work, gods he missed you. 

The way you’d laugh when he did something stupid, the way you smelt like magnolias, the way you would place your hands on his to comfort him and the way you seemed like nothing bothered you and how you say everything would always turn out right.

Percy definitely needed to be told that right now. 

------

Whenever percy felt like he was done for, he’d think about you. Even if he did just see one of his friends sacrifice his life, had an arrow shot through his leg and was falling 20 feet towards a huge mass of water- he was able to keep himself just that little bit more hopeful by just thinking about you.

I need to see her again, Percy thought as he his collided with the water. 

He blacked out and was immediately pulled into a dream. 

He found himself on top of Mount Othrys in a greek pavilion of black marble that seemed to blend in with the shadows. Through the darkness he was able to make out two giant figures : one seemed to glow against the black walls of the building and the other seemed to melt into them. 

“Quite an explosion” one remarked.

“it doesn’t matter, our army shall rise again to destroy the gods” the other snided. 

“hm, quite so,” the other agreed calmly, “but the demigods are becoming more, diligent. First the disappearances of our troops and now the explosion, right in front of kronos’ nose, ha”

Percy’s heart dropped, he knew what was causing those disappearances- it was you. What if they find out it was you? what would they do? would they try and track you down? kidnap you?-

“This would have not happened if you would let me fight!” a voice shouted and percy realised that there were in fact three giants there, crouched below in the centre of the room under what percy thought to be a statue was the titan atlas. 

he struggled under the weight of the sky, a swirling funnel cloud, but still managed to strain his voice to argue, “let me out! take my place!”  

But before Percy could watch any further his dream shifted. The voices became quiet- they were distant, he was no longer standing in the greek pavilion but about 20 feet away, standing behind one of the supporting columns and beside nico di angelo.

The boy faced him, “You see percy, we’re running out of time, do you really think we can win without my plan?” 

The fact that nico had seen him shocked percy enough but his message was more than enough to shake percy to try and wake himself up from his dream. 

But the image began to fade and he found himself off of mount Othyrs and in a more flattened out land.

At first he thought he was in the forests of long island but he noticed the trees here were thicker, Their branches coming down lower than the ones around camp and the air was more chilly. This was not New York. 

Percy tried to take in his surrounds then caught his breath. 

There standing behind a large oak tree was a petite girl with her long hair flowing down her back, wearing an army jacket and black ripped jeans and holding out two long drakon bone swords. 

You looked distressed. Your face was pulled into a slight scowl as you peered around the tree and into the forest behind you. Percy knew you were in some sort of trouble but he couldn’t help but smile.

But the smile quickly disappeared when an arrow shot out of nowhere and embedded itself in the oak tree you were standing behind. 

You broke out into a run and percy followed in suit. 

Unknowingly, percy reached into his pocket and pulled out riptide, his first instinct was to fight whatever wanted to hurt you but he quickly realised that there wasn’t much he could do so could only keep up pace beside you. 

Most dreams you were in seemed heavenly to percy, but this was a nightmare. 

Seeing you need his help but not being able to do anything killed percy. Of course he had no doubt that you could handle anything by yourself, but then again, you wouldn’t be running away if you could. 

Despite not actually running percy found that he was becoming short of breath, you were an awfully fast runner.

“Percy you’ve done so well, but I think it’s time you woke up”

Percy’s head snapped towards you. you were staring right at him.

You glanced away momentarily to keep track of where you were going before placing your gaze on him again, “I miss you” 

Percy was at a lost for words. Months he’s spent trying to contact you, dreamt of you, trying to reach out to you and now, when time was limited, you had answered him and not only that, you were telling him to go away. 

“Y/N-” but the scene began to fade and percy panicked, why of all times he had to start waking up now?

He felt himself began to slip into consciousness but he stubbornly did his best to try to go back to sleep. 

but alas, your soft smile disappeared along with the dream as percy’s eyes shot open. 

----

Percy didn’t think things would go so downhill. If anyone told him that the highlight of his week would be a midnight panic with a goddess, the son of hades and a hell hound, he’d pretty much expect it. 

As he sat down by the magical fire, he got some time to think. 

After being told that he’d end up dying either way and committing to a plan that would probably speed up the process, he was pretty miserable.

“things will only turn out that way if you think they will” 

Your voice echoed in percy’s head, it had become a sort of habit every time he found himself thinking negatively.

Yeah but it’s in the prophecy princess, i die no matter how positively I think. 

Then a sudden pain stabbed percy in the heart, If he didn’t survive nico’s plan he wasn’t going to see you again. 

He was hoping some how you’d turn up in the next few days, (after nico assured him that you in fact were still alive and he had not felt your death- but that only gave percy temporary relief) He knew there just had to be a way he would see you before his destined fight, you were the daughter of fate after all- maybe you had to like... force great prophecies like this...? it was ridiculous but thoughts like this made percy hopeful.

“you are distressed” Hesita commented and percy was worried that she could read his thoughts. 

“the time will come and you will know what the right decision is” the goddess said vaguely

“Uh, thanks” Percy nodded, not knowing what else to say and the goddess return to attending the hearth, why couldn’t gods ever speak plain english?

----

Percy had been to the underworld when he was 12. It was a long, tiring trip that took them to los Angeles and had nearly killed him bout 7 times. And only now did he find out about an entrance to hell which was literally 20 minutes away from his house- brilliant. 

the stairs to hell were exactly how percy imagined them, dark, slippery and narrow. The only way he could actually see was by the light of his sword and the fact that mrs o’leary bounding down the stairs noisily reassured him that the stairs didn't end in a great drop to an endless pit to Tartarus. 

Nico lagged behind, a look of doubt evident of his face. 

“You alright?” percy dared to ask, hoping the boy wouldn't become defensive at the question.

Nico nodded, but opened his mouth to say something, “i saw her you know” 

Percy stopped, saw who? he thought for a quick second then immediately knew nico meant you. 

By this point nico had caught up with percy and stood just two steps behind him, “ She- when we first met she offered me the keys to her apartment”

“She what?” Percy interrupted, too surprised not to. he knew that you owned an apartment in Queens- a gift from your father for when you stayed in New York, and he knew that whatever you and nico had talked about had stayed between the two of you, but this? Why didn’t he get keys to your apartment?  

Nico turned away to avoid eye contact, percy realised he must have been staring at him hard and tried to change his expression 

“She told me that i could stay there anytime if i needed it. I wasn’t going to step near that place at all. But one night i got into an argument with my father and had nowhere else to go...”

Nico trailed off and percy was worried that he was beginning to back track on himself and regret ever saying anything to Percy, but thankfully after a deep inhale of breath, he continued. 

“I was only planning to stay there for a few hours, but it just so happened she was there too. She was asleep but it seemed like she was having a bad dream. kept murmuring things-”

Nico shuddered, “I woke her up in the end and asked her about it but she shook it off. Moved the subject onto the fact that i had actually taken up her offer and decided to make me dinner. What she said though- it, it seemed important”

“What did she say?” percy asked, if nico was scared then he knew this was serious. 

“Something about to storm or fire the world must fall” 

Percy looked up at nico’s face, he seemed as disturbed as he was back at mrs castellan’s house. Panic rose up within percy.

“It’s probably nothing though” nico shrugged but percy could tell that he didn’t mean it at all, but despite that nico walked past percy and continued down the stairs, “we should hurry up, we’re losing valuable time”

Percy had no other option but to follow and wonder, why did nico chose to bring this up now?

.....

“Percy!”

before he was fully awake, percy had reached out and pinned nico to the floor with his sword pressed against his neck. 

“we-have-to-get-out-of-here” nico struggled.

“Oh yeah? and why should i trust you?” percy growled, pressing down harder.

“No-other-choice?”

Percy rolled his eyes, he really did have no other choice. 

He stood up as nico curled to the side and retched up for air. Percy would’ve almost felt sorry for him if he hadn’t just betrayed him to his father. 

“Does your dad want to ‘talk’ again?” Percy seethed and nico sat himself up.

“honestly percy i had no idea, he tricked me!” 

“You know what your dad is like!”

“Yeah but-” nico paused and stood up, quickly realising that there was no point in reasoning, “If we don't hurry, we’ll never get out” 

Percy nodded once and allowed nico to take the lead as they plunged into darkness. 

by the time the two of them had reached an exit via the palace kitchen, percy was half dragging, half carrying nico who spent every other minute pointing at skeleton guards or zombie servants and knocking them out before they could think about stopping the two escape. 

Problem was, nico was going to be knocked out pretty soon too. 

“Stop that” Percy said, “your power drains you too much” 

by this time nicos legs stopped working all together and percy had no choice but to swing the younger boy over his shoulder.

“With great power,” nico said drowsily, “comes great need to take a nap” 

Then the sound of a great gong echoed throughout the building. 

“Alarms” nico said drowsily from behind percy, “Mrs O’leary” 

“Right” percy said, and whistled. 

Mrs O’leary came bounding across the fields of asphodel, probably excited to be back in her own grounds, and circled percy who desperately tired to throw nico onto her back. 

“Hey, girl, think you can get us to the river styx?” Percy asked as calmly as possible, despite the sounds of a thousand skeletons footsteps coming their way.

Mrs o’leary barked in response and bounded off into the fields. 

On approaching the river bank, Percy force fed Nico some ambrosia. He was scared that he had given him too much but the boy was knocked out pretty good. But after a few shakes of his head, nico was steady enough to stand on his own two feet. 

the two boys slid off Mrs O’Leary’s back and ran towards the river.

“Percy you need to prepare yourself” nico said cautiously, causing percy’s stride to slow.

“How do I do that?” Percy asked and nico shook his head.

“You know I don’t think this is a good idea-” 

“What?! this was your plan in the first place!” 

“Yeah but-” nico seemed to struggle for words but exhaled as if he was angry and shook off his previous statement, “Think of a point on your body which will tie you back to reality and don't stop thinking about it otherwise the river will burn you to ashes, okay?” 

“You know what maybe this wasn’t a good idea after all-”

“Percy!” 

“Right right,” percy defended, inching closer towards the river.

at first when he nico had proposed the idea, percy had a long think of where the point would be. Somewhere difficult to reach during combat, maybe his armpit? but then he decided he wanted it to be somewhere more dignified. 

he hadn’t thought on the matter since then, which was pretty stupid since the decision could possibly end or save his life but as his foot touched the river he knew exactly where he wanted it. 

Percy wanted to walk cooly into the river, but as soon as the water touched his legs, his muscles went numb and he fell face flat into the water. 

Then he stopped breathing.

It was terrible, this was the first time he struggled to breath underwater and the thought terrified him. images from the past few days flashed before his eyes in the darkness, beckendorf, rachel, grover and even lukes golden eyes.

instead of resulting to panic, percy kept thinking of that point, the one point where his life would end in a single blow, thinking about how that was his connection to the living world. 

“You alright?” you said suddenly as you came to stand next to percy.

Percy jumped, he hadn’t heard you or sensed you coming up behind him, (although you were getting better at hiding you presence) and he flashed you a smile, “Yeah, just thinking” 

“About what?” you asked calmly. 

He stared at your face, it was always so stoic, as if you couldn’t care less about what he said but he knew that you genuinely cared for his happiness as much as your own. 

“You” 

Your eyes widened as you turned away but percy was able to catch that small flash of blush before you did, “shut up” 

percy laughed, a genuine laugh that came from his stomach, you were just so damn cute.

he wasn’t exactly thinking of you, so to say, he was thinking about you amongst other things such as how to kill kronos, how to become better at sword fighting, how to do question five on his trig homework. 

He faced the river again so that you would turn back towards him, which worked- of course. 

“Stop being so sad all the time will you?” you said light heartedly as you tapped percy on the small of his back, “you being sad makes me sad too just so you know, so stop it” and you began to jog past him towards the surf. 

percy struggled, trying to win the fight against the current but there was no use. He felt his arms and legs disintegrating and his soul felt like it was being ripped from his body.

he thrashed around in the coldness trying to reach for the surface and trying his best to keep thinking of his mortal point,

percy was on his last class of the day, he had set them a few drills to practice for the second half of the hour and was watching them with tired eyes. all he wanted to do was sleep. 

suddenly he felt a little poke on his back, at the bottom of his spine. 

“They’re doing well, aren't they?” 

Percy craned his neck to face you, your head tilted slightly to be able to see past his shoulders, your hands still rested just above his hips. 

“of course, i taught them” percy scoffed

“and so did i” you countered, “and just for your information, they enjoy my lessons better” 

“Who says?” percy laughed, uncrossing his arms and fully turning his body to face you.

“I do” you smiled, making percy’s knees go weak. 

Percy tried to push his way to the surface but it was no use, the more he moved, the faster he sunk. This is it, he thought, i’m going to burn alive in hell. 

“Sleeping again jackson?” 

immediately your fingers tapped the small of percy’s back and he peeled open one eye to see your figure silhouetted against the shine of the sun.

He had taken a nap on the deck, laying on his stomach, one arm under his face and the other hanging off the edge of the deck, and you were currently crouched down with a mocking smile on your face. 

“yes, and you're disturbing me” he slurred out and he turned his face to the other side.

“Oh i wouldn’t say this is distracting” you joked, “this is”

And you pushed percy into the water. 

-

Suddenly percy felt a tug at the bottom of his spine and he began to make his way to the surface. it was as if there was a bungee cord attached to the small of his back, pulling him back to the shore. he ignored the searing pain in his lungs, arms and legs and kept his focus on his mortal point. 

think of the small of your back, small of your back, small of your back...

he did his best to look up and through the darkness he could make an outline of a hand, reaching in to help him out.

“oh gods i’m so sorry, i didn’t know you’d be that off guard! now take my hand you idiot” 

percy reached out to grab your hand. 

He sputtered as air returned its way back into his lungs and he landed on the shore of the beach, but the sand felt more solid, oddly shaped, just like-

“Percy get off me! you’re heavy!” 

Percy pushed himself up and stared down at nico who was red in the face and soaking wet too, 

“S-sorry dude-” Percy stuttered, did he really just imagine nico was you?

He got to his feet then held his hand out to nico who ignored it and pushed himself up, was he really that angry that percy had squashed him?

“Uh- did it work?” Percy asked tentatively, scared that nico was more than just pissed. 

“I have no idea” nico responded, sounding surprisingly bitter, “feel different?”

“Not really” percy said slowly, but before he could apologise again for landing on nico a harsh voice shouted in the distance “THERE!”

The two boys’ head snapped to the top of the hill where about a hundred skeleton soldiers stood, weapons raised and all- eyes? they didn’t have eyes, all heads, faced towards them. 

Hades stood in his chariot, dressed in battle gear, his nightmare horses skittering on the ground as if they were eager to stampede over percy’s body, “You will not escape this time jackson, DESTROY HIM”

“father no!” nico exclaimed but a line of british red coat skeletons charged with their rifles aimed.

Mrs o’leary did not hesitate to pounce at them and that tiggered percy.

He didn’t want his dog getting hurt just because hades was being a dick, and he charged without any other thought. 

If he was going to die, he wanted to die fighting. 

Percy was reckless, but this? this was a whole other level, damn- even another building. He charged straight through their lines, slashing his sword, not even thinking about where to strike but just did. 

Bullets? didn't hit him. Swords? couldn’t cut him. Clubs? couldn’t even get an inch near him.  (Hotel? Trivago.)

He’d successfully tore his way through the ranks and pounced right over hades’ horses and grabbed the god by his collar and pinned him to the ground.

Silence. 

Percy was expecting skeletal hands to come down on him but as he looked around, there was nothing there- they were all gone.

“listen here jackson...” the god said.

“No you listen!” percy growled, “tell me about the trap!” 

but the god just snarled and melted into darkness, leaving percy’s hands closed around nothing.

“You killed them all...” nico said dazed, breaking percy out of his cursing spree.

Percy stopped and looked around him, there was nothing apart from the three of them, a bunch of bones and a variety of weapons.

“I guess it worked then” percy offered.

“Oh gee” nico said sarcastically, “you think?”

the two of them stood silent momentarily and percy stared at nico.

He’d come a long way from where he began, and percy still felt like that it was his fault that nico became so bitter. 

“You should go back to your father” percy started.

Nico looked shocked to hear this, “no, I want to fight-”

“You’ll be better off down here” Percy said, the harshness in his voice surprising even him. 

the look of hurt on nicos face made him feel guilty, “I mean, we need your father to fight on our side, you’re the only one who can convince him” percy continued, trying to sound kinder.

“You don’t trust me anymore, do you?” nico said dejectedly. 

Percy was shocked, did he trust him? 

“Work on him. I know you can do it” 

Percy couldn’t help but notice how nicos face lit up slightly after hearing him, “thanks but don't get your hopes up” 

“Okay, I’ll see you for the battle, me and Mrs O’leary will head up now” Percy said, waving over his hell hound.

“Where are you going?” nico asked, tilting his head as percy jumped on Mrs O’leary’s back.

Percy smirked, “to start a war” 

[hvlfwygod]

the ferryman | gabriele & abel & lucien (& chiron) (& etc)

summary: some spirits are moved more easily than others

Gabriele wasn't sure why he'd come anymore. His company was frustrating at best and— he didn't want to be uncharitable and finish the thought. He'd come not because he was doing anything particularly useful, but because he was worried. He thought Lucien had been perfectly secure in the hospital, but apparently the bed was needed. So, he was going to the Big House instead. Despite getting Jordan to seal all the windows and Chiron's repeated assurances, he could not shake the feeling that something was going to go wrong. His goddess was whispering something, but he couldn't quite catch it. Really, he just wanted to see Lucien get inside this room and the door get locked. And he wanted a friend by his side while he waited with Jordan for this transfer to occur. But Abel was sulking, honestly sulking, and Gabriele prayed to be out of the bad energy soon. "You didn't lose, Abel," he said, not for the first time.

Jordan said that he’d meet everyone there, trying to spend as little time as possible with every single component of this. He’d told them before he left that he’d done the research, and turns out, Hecate, though excellent with communicating with and guiding spirits, had no actual control over them. Turns out, there was no way that the spell was supposed to work with putting a second spirit in the body. Because Major came back, it complicated things. He was an anomaly, and there was... basically nothing Jordan could do about it, besides put a locking spell on his holding cell, apparently. He shivered under four layers, his body protesting the cold and yet refusing to warm up.

Abel was on the other side of Gabriele, just as quiet, though the gloom did seem to seep from their pores. As Gab spoke, they turned up their nose. “Ah, I didn’t say that I did.” This time. “You can stop speaking to me as though I am a petulant child.” They were almost grumbling instead of speaking. “Had I decided to go for lethal blows he would not be standing there anyway.”

Gabriele rubbed his hands together, unconsciously affected by Jordan's shivering. He sighed deeply. "I'm not speaking to—" He had half a mind to ask Jordan if he also thought that he was speaking to Abel like they were a petulant child, then he realized that doing that might vindicate them. "Alas, my attempts at encouragement fall on unwilling ears. I am sure you're correct, and let's be thankful that you went easy on the poor man." He sighed again. "I still think this is a bad idea. Jordan, the room will hold, yes?"

Abel only sighed more at Gabriele’s reply, feeling more patronized, and Jordan could feel the aura of death creeping in on him, though he didn’t know quite what it was. He hunched his shoulders up as if that might keep him warmer, and suddenly a cat appeared on his shoulders, wrapping around his neck like a scarf and blending into his hair. At the question, both man and cat tensed, and his eyes found another person as if for the first time. “I don’t fucking know,” he snapped. “I’m literally fucking here because I’m a failed magician. I think it’ll hold. I don’t know.”

Abel glared at Jordan over Gab. “Shut up. Stop sulking because you accidentally possessed a person. Poor you.”

Gabriele bristled slightly at Jordan’s reply and even more at Abel’s. Though he was inclined to agree with them: as much as he believed in second chances, and even pitied Jordan’s situation, he didn’t appreciate being snapped at. “Abel, shush. Jordan, you are not a failed magician. I would argue you’re actually quite competent, which for this instance is quite unfortunate. You’ll have to forgive my paranoia, as since you cannot do much else to assist us, we’ll have to wait until Abel is healed to help our friend.” He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. The vibrations off these two were unbearable. “I do not like playing with fire by giving Lucien more time to scheme, but it cannot be helped. The least I can do is make sure he cannot run off.”

Jordan clenched his jaw and Crinitus growled at Abel, looking as though he might leap off Jordan’s neck before he got a pat from his owner. “It was a stupid question. I gave an equal response.” Fuck this year, thank god it’s almost over, Jordan thought to himself as he walked away from the other two, not giving them time to reply to him. He approached each of the windows, drawing sigils so they would stay locked tightly. Crinitus followed down Jordan’s arm, as if inspecting and reinforcing the windows.

“Don’t listen to him,” Abel muttered, as though they needed to be the one to reassure Gab. “It was a good question. He’s just upset.” They hung their head. “I wish I was well enough to extract more from him. I might be. I’ve been using shadow magic each night to heal myself and I think Ime might be messing with me to keep me on the crutches as a joke.”

Gabrielle watched Jordan walk away with a weary expression, then turned his attention to Abel. He tilted his head, studying them for a moment. “I would prefer you be safe, Abel. I would hate to see you hurt yourself more. I’m sure Major would, too.” He didn’t know this, but he wanted to reassure Abel. Gabriele rubbed his chin, thinking for a moment. “How bad was it when you took those smaller ghosts out?”

“It’s not hurting me. I’m perfectly able to do it,” Abel was muttering once more. “Not like I need my leg to extract a ghost.” They rubbed their eyes with two fingers and pinched the bridge of their nose at the question. “That’s the real reason I’m afraid to do more. He started bleeding internally, I think. Coughing up blood and the like. I’ve never taken a ghost out of someone before, but it seemed strenuous.”

Gabriele decided he wasn't going to argue with Abel about why they should wait for a stab wound to heal before doing anything strenuous like exorcise a ghost. Something told him that it would only end in further frustration. Instead he focused on their answer to his question. "I see," he said with a frown. He took a few steps away from Abel, hoping the bit of space might help to clear his head. "I think I can—" Gabriele paused when he saw a car approaching. His eyes flickered over to Jordan, then Abel, then he walked over to the passenger door as Chiron unfolded himself from it. "How is he?"

"Difficult to move," Chiron said. He, too, seemed incredibly annoyed. At least they all had each other for company.

Gabriele moved to peek into the car. Lucien was handcuffed in the backseat and trying very hard to not be. Gabriele was given a hard, hateful stare, and an unkind comment that he only heard partly, muffled as the man was by the closed window. He rolled his eyes and walked back over to Abel. "I was saying, I can try to ease that burden.

Jordan felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up as Crinitus, true to his name, floofed out as he pressed closer to his owner. He had no desire to see Lucien ever again, and he walked back to Gabriele and Chiron. “Done. I’m leaving.” Despite his words, he didn’t disappear right away, awaiting any sort of further instruction.

Abel did seem like they were starting to disappear. At the sight of the car, Abel’s form began to fade from vision, as though hiding themself from Lucien.

Lucien knew it was probably a hopeless endeavor, but he tried to break out of Chiron's hold anyway. As he was hauled out of the car, he tried to push his way to freedom. Of course, it was to no avail, but it didn't stop him from kicking and thrashing. He couldn't believe there was an audience for this, and he was newly enraged when he saw that Jordan was among it. For a single moment, he thought the man was here to help him, but then it became clear and Lucien bared his teeth. "You fucking traitor," he sneered.

Was Abel even listening to him? Gabriele looked up to the sky. "That would be nice, Gabriele," he mumbled under his breath, so quiet he doubted anyone heard him with Lucien throwing such a fit. "Thank you."

With no further instructions and even less of a desire to stay now that Lucien was directly speaking to him, Jordan ignored the hissing cat on his shoulder and disappeared with a small pop.

Abel glanced over at Gabriele when he spoke once more. “Hm?” The shadows under their eyes were more pronounced, though it could be to do with their near transparency. “Ah, ya, thank you. Sorry, I just don’t know if a peaceful passing is an option at this point.”

Gabriele just watched as Chiron hauled Lucien inside. Normally he would offer to help with a task that looked as difficult as this, but Gabriele had no interest in getting kicked in the face over someone else's bad idea. Besides, Chiron was strong, and for Lucien's struggles he was inside the house in a matter of seconds. Gabriele followed after from a safe distance. "I agree. It's doubtful, with that one," he said. "But I want to try something, okay? Come with me."

Abel resisted the urge to groan loudly in displeasure, instead they just kept a small frown below their face mask. When asked them to come, they followed after Gabriele.

Gabriele managed a smile, then sped up his walk. "Chiron?" he called out as he walked into the Big House.

The centaur looked over his shoulder and raised an eyebrow. "Yes?" His arm was fully wrapped around Major's body, and Lucien seemed to be exhausting himself; his struggles were getting more vague and had longer pauses in between. Now it looked to be nothing to just hold the man relatively still.

Gabriele cleared his throat and pointed to Lucien. "May I quickly speak to—”

"I'm not talking to you," Lucien snarled.

Gabriele smiled. "You don't have to say anything, actually."

Chiron sighed. "Quickly." He tightened his grip and turned so that Lucien, glaring at anything other than him, was facing Gabriele.

Wasting no time, Gabriele moved a little closer and stared at Lucien. Eye contact would be easier, but since it was so... busy in this body, he could manage. "Hello?" he asked gently. Was he imagining things, or did Major's body slump somewhat? Regardless, he felt that he had someone's attention. "How are you feeling?"

Abel ran their tongue over their teeth as they watched Gabriele and whoever it was inside of Major’s body he was speaking to. They noted the change in posture and pitch of the ringing in their ears as they shifted their weight from their heel rather than their toes.

No answer came out loud, but Gabriele felt it: restless, uncertain, grasping at empty air. "Forgive me for disturbing you," he said; it was only because it was definitely not Lucien that he was being so polite. "What are you doing in there?" Another quiet moment, but this time Major's hands twitched slightly. Gabriele took it gently and felt the ghost become more grounded in Major's body. Or rather... many, cobbled together. There was halfway a conscious person here. Gabriele swallowed his disgust and pressed on. It felt as though a thousand pairs of eyes were on his back, so he knew he had many spirits listening in, not just the ones who responded to his greeting. "I am not here to hurt you. I simply think you are lost. This is not where you belong, and if you feel stuck, I am able to guide you out. You need only follow my voice." Immediately, he felt something brush against his hand. Just a few ghosts, but it was better than nothing.

Abel had never seen Gabriele work before, and they went from quietly sulking to entirely rapt. They could understand now why a goddess would have chosen Gab for his job. How comforting would it be to have a soothing voice to follow at a time of such confusion and stress. His voice was hope. It was a vocal guiding hand, and they suddenly forgot that they were upset and sulking.

Gabriele allowed another moment to pass to see if anyone else would join his small group, but all the rest of the ghosts seemed unwilling or too uncertain. He didn't push it for now, and let go of Major's hand. "Sono venuto per avvolgerti e proteggerti da tutte le cose malvagie," he mumbled. "I'll take you soon, stay with me."

Lucien was already starting to stir, so Gabriele stepped back, his new spiritual posse moving with him like little orbiting moons. "I will come back and talk to more. I shouldn't try to guide too many at once."

"Ugh," Lucien moaned before Chiron could get a word in. He lifted his head groggily, like he'd just woken from a long sleep, and spat at Gabriele's feet. "Fuck you." Gabriele ignored this.

Chiron did, too. "That... Well, let me know when you plan to visit, so we can have him ready."

"Fuck you."

Gabriele smiled again. "Of course." He turned to Abel. "If I can help enough of these spirits, it should hopefully make your job less... painful, no?"

Abel didn't quite know how to express how much they needed Gabriele to help them at their job. After seeing him in action, the wanted to let him know that they thought his technique was both brilliant and moving, but they weren't sure if it was quite time for such sentiments, especially in front of Lucien. They nodded once, eyes bright and focused on Gab. "I... yes, I think that it would."

He noticed that Abel was no longer pouting. It was like the whole room got a little brighter, and Gabriele's smile grew. "Good. I am glad."

Once the demonstration seemed to end, Chiron lifted Lucien off the floor completely and walked him further into the house. He kicked his legs in protest, but there wasn't much he could do.

Gabriele watched Chiron disappear into the house as he headed for the door himself. "I am going to go somewhere more secluded to finish this," he said to Abel, gesturing the ghosts surrounding him. "But I will speak to you later, si?"

Abel almost smiled back at Gab, and then remembered that the slightest uptick of their lips would be imperceptible to their friend anyway. “Ya,” they agreed with a nod, starting out of the room after Gabriele. “If you can still find pleasure in my company after today.”

[arrowheadproductions]

Glad you're back and super excited you're extending your repertoire (if that's what you want to call it) to other fandoms aside from Arrow. I love your writing and I'm actually a huge PJO fan so I was soooo happy to see you're into it too. Can you possibly do a fic of Percy being on the swim team? You can include whatever ships you want (:

Yes! I love Percy Jackson and have for pretty much the past 10 years since I got into reading the books in middle school. It’s always held a soft spot in my heart as one of my favorite universes and I’m always open to writing about it. Anyway, without further adieu, here’s this little beauty (slightly suggestive themes, but nothing smutty/explicit)

Speedos- Rated T

Percy Jackson never ever saw himself as someone that would be considered a jock, but that all changed when he got to college.

I never believed I would ever, in my life, be at the top of the food chain in school. Sure, I’ve beaten Titans, Gods, and saved the world a few times, but I still never expected this luck would translate into my “real” life in the mortal world. 

This all changed when I got to college in California. I managed to squeak into UCSF after being on the waiting list forever while my girlfriend got a full ride to Berkeley. I’m still not sure how I got into school at all let alone a school that’s 45 minutes away from Annabeth. In case my life decides to resume its regularly scheduled dose of trouble, we’re both pretty close to Camp Jupiter and I have my car on campus. 

But anyway, my heart leapt in my chest the way it does when I’m hungry and finally getting dinner when I realized that California was stereotypically full of swimmers. And my school had a pretty good swim team that made you popular. The popularity thing isn’t a big deal for me, since I know who my friends are and don’t really need too many people in my life that I have to lie to or anything, but it was nice not being treated like gum on the bottom of people’s shoes.

Of course I made the team. I can breathe underwater. Do you know how much of an advantage that gives me? Before you accuse me of being cocky or conceited, just remember that I have been given one real gift in this world and this is it. 

I do take a breath for show every lap, which is still super impressive to the mortal eye, but also let’s them know them I’m not a robot or anything. 

That wasn’t to say there weren’t some steep competition. Some of these swimmers made me question if whether or not my father broke his pact more than once in recent years. They’re all super skilled and clearly have put in the work since they were little. So, I actually need to try if I want to earn my place. 

Everyone is pretty cool with me, though. They’ve all tried to ask who my trainer is and my records (that I don’t have), and very few are really buying that I’m just a normal dude that loves to swim. They’ve stopped pestering me though.

Oh Gods, there is one downside to swim team and that’s the actual suit. It squishes everything (and I do mean everything) all together to be on full and compact show for everyone to see. It leaves very little to the imagination and resembled really ugly panties. 

I made a pretty big mistake of mentioning this to Annabeth one Friday night she was staying over in my dorm. My roommate actually ended up being a Gorgon, who I had to smite during orientation (boo!). So, I got my own room (yay!). 

“It can’t be that bad.” She called from outside the bathroom, though I could hear trying to stifle her amusement.

“I’m not coming out.”

“C’mon, Seaweed Brain. I’m going to have to see you in it tomorrow at the meet anyway and that’ll be in public.”

“Yeah, thanks for that.” I grumbled. 

Everyone is coming to my first meet tomorrow: Annabeth, Mom, Paul, Grover, Hazel, Piper, Leo, Jason, Frank, Nico, Tyson, and even Chiron. My old Latin teacher is about to see me in in tight, glorified tidy whities and a swim cap. 

“You’re never going to want to see me, let alone touch me, again after you see me in this thing.”

“I find that very hard to believe.” She said dryly. “I’ve seen you in a toga, remember?”

It took about 30 more minutes to convince me to come out and honestly, my growling stomach had a lot to do in the efforts. She played to my weaknesses and I was finally coaxed to exit the bathroom and likely embarrass myself in front of my girlfriend.

When the door flew open, she did the decent thing and looked at my face first, which I appreciated, but my face was likely the color of a firetruck, which made her eyes wander downwards. When she caught sight of the navy atrocity that left very little to the imagination, her eyes went wide like silver moons and a deep blush flushed to her cheeks and neck. 

She shifted awkwardly as she choked down a laugh. “That’s not… so bad.”

I felt like I was on fire and couldn’t meet her gaze. “You better just be laughing at the swimsuit.”

This time, her eyebrows shot to her hairline before she threw her head back and actually laughed. 

I immediately turned on my heels, determined to swim in a full wetsuit tomorrow. I even considered wearing one under all of my clothes until Annabeth used her quick reflexes to grab my hand before I could go.

“I’m not laughing at you.”

“You could have fooled me.”

She pulled me close so our chests were pressed against each other. I could feel my skin getting hot for a whole different reason. She stopped laughing, but her eyes still sparkled with merriment. 

“It’s a bad suit, but everyone looks funny in them.”

I couldn’t find it in me to be annoyed with her while she was very pressed against me and her hands stroked over my shoulders approvingly. She cupped my face and brought my head down in a slow kiss.

“It makes your butt look good though.” She said in between the kisses she layered down my jaw. I stood paralyzed like a big dumb dope, because I’m so gone for her.

“Everyone’s going to laugh at me.” Though this was becoming less of a worry or fear as she worked her way down my neck.

“Probably.” 

“You’re full of encouraging words.”

She chuckled against my skin and I swear all of the blood left my head.

“In my defense, I’m trying to stop talking.”

I quirked an eyebrow at her in disbelief. I was still adjusting to this aspect of our relationship, which was still relatively new to us. In baseball terms, our senior year of high school brought us around the bases whenever we were alone together for too long, lingering quite a bit at second and third. This summer at camp had officially taken us to home plate. It still amazed me every time that she liked me this way.

“Really? But it’s a hideous suit.”

“Yeah.” She stood on her toes and wrapped her arms around my neck. “You should take it off.”

And that was how I’d come to terms with the worst part of swimming. Everyone did laugh at me. A lot. But, I rewarded them all with a “spontaneous splash” when I dove into the water. Everyone that didn’t already know was wondering how I managed to do that with a regular dive. 

“He did that on purpose.” Grumbled Jason. 

“Why wouldn’t he? I’d be embarrassed to wear that too.” Frank said emphatically.

“It’s not that bad.” Annabeth tried.

“Oh yeah?” Leo asked. “What’s that on your neck?”

I could feel her glare from across the gym and tried my best not to laugh. 

I got over the judgment when I took first in my 500 IM. I swear I’ve never heard my mom cheer so loud in her life. Then again, I never gave her much reason to growing up since I sucked at all other sports and never exactly made scholastic decathlons. Grover accidentally bleated a few times, but the others were kind enough to try and cover it with whistles and whoops. 

“Yeah Percy!” Piper cheered as they all stood to their feet.

“Leave it to the son of the sea God to win a swimming race.” Jason smirked. 

“I think you’re just jealous that Quidditch isn’t a thing so you don’t get an advantage.” Teased Nico.

“Quidditch actually is a thing.” Annabeth said. “You just don’t fly.”

Hazel struggled to see. “Frank, I told you not to sit in front of me!”

“Sorry…” He said awkwardly.

“Does he get a medal?” Leo asked.

“Do you think he’ll let me eat the medal?” Grover tried.

“No way!” Sally nudged him. “I’m hanging that up in my house forever.”

I grinned as I reached over the lanes to shake hands with the other swimmers beside me. I ripped off my cap and shook my shaggy black hair. I was getting used to actually being wet unlike when I went swimming at camp or on adventures.

I slipped on a pair of trunks over my speedo like most of the other guys do (except some who are strangely proud) before making my way over to the stands. Grover clapped my back and Annabeth leaned over the rails to kiss me before complaining that I tasted like chlorine. My mom ruffled my hair while Paul winked at me in pride.

My teammates were excited too and lifted me on their shoulders since we won the meet. They dumped me in the water, of course, but that was hardly a punishment.

I loved college.