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magickdonehere · 4 years

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Herb Correspondences (Part 1?)

1. Robinia pseudoacacia (Black Locust):

a. Uses

i. Can be compared to the Blackthorn tree (Prunus spinosa), as they have many similarities.

ii. “Entangle” evil in the thorns.

iii. Balance, play between life and death. The flowers contrast with the thorns and poison.

iv. Connected to Fae, death, and the underworld.

v. Cursing/hexing

vi. Can be used instead of having Blackthorn shipped

vii. Defense, blessing, cursing, fertility, power, Binding, prosperity and strength, resistance, endurance.

b. Toxicity?

i. The leaves, seeds and inner bark contain chemicals (robin, roninine, and robitin) which are toxic. Flowers are considered edible if handled correctly, but you shouldn’t consume them just to be safe.

c. Correspondences?

i. Lightning

ii. Masculine/Mars/Fire

2. Mint

a. Uses

i. Money, healing, strength, endurance, luck, travel, death, hope

b. Toxic?

i. N/A

c. Correspondences

i. Was used in funerary rites in ancient Greece, along with rosemary and myrtle. They did not only ease the smell of decay, but was also representative of the hope in the afterlife.

ii. Named after Minthe, a naiad/water nymph. She fell in love with Hades, and Persephone intervened and turned her into garden mint. (this is one version of the myth, there are many different versions).

iii. It is associated with the river Cocytus in the underworld (River of Wailing).

iv. Hecate, Hades

v. Masculine/Mercury/Air

3. Cayenne

a. Uses

i. Banishing, hexing (creates pain/anxiety), cleansing, love, passion, protection, quick action, repels negative energy, strength, courage.

b. Toxic?

i. No, but don’t use in too large of quantities

c. Correspondences

i. Masculine/Mars/Fire

4. Black Pepper

a. Uses

i. Banishing, hexing, strength, protection, confidence, attack, works well with “Venus herbs” (because it is a Mars herb).

ii. Get rid of/cast evil

b. Toxic?

i. N/A

c. Correspondences

i. Masculine/Mars/Fire

5. Onion

a. Uses

i. Protection, fertility, cursing, clairvoyance, male virility, absorbs negativity.

b. Toxic?

i. N/A

c. Correspondences

i. Isis (was used in connection with her and the afterlife in Egyptian mythology)

ii. Masculine/Mars/Fire

6. Daises

a. Uses

i. Blessings, faery work, lust, luck, love divination (he loves me/he loves me not), friendship, courtship/relationships

b. Toxic?

i. Not as far as I could tell, but maybe don’t eat them? Not a good idea tbh.

c. Correspondences

i. Feminine/Venus/Water

7. Oleander

a. Uses

i. Love, potency, lust, sickness/disease, bad fortune, cursing/hexing

b. Toxic?

i. EXTREMELY!! Use gloves when handling and under NO circumstances consume it!! It can and will kill you!

c.�� Correspondences

i. Feminine/Saturn/Earth

8. Pansies

a. Uses

i. Divination, love, weather, rain, dreams.

b. Toxic?

i. Idk, just don’t eat it okay

c. Correspondences

i. Faeries

ii. Feminine/Saturn/Water

9. Aloe Vera

a. Uses

i. Luck (especially around the home), healing, beauty, things relating to the moon, and protection.

b. Toxic?

i. N/A

c. Correspondences

i. Feminine/Moon/Water

ii. Venus/Aphrodite

10. Creosote

a. Uses

i. Endurance, rain/water, cleansing, grounding, and healing.

b. Toxic?

i. Just stay on the safe side and don’t eat anything.

c. Correspondences

i. Masculine/Jupiter/Fire&Water

11. Celery

a. Uses

i. Lust, mental powers, concertration, male virility.

b. Toxic?

i. N/A

c. Correspondences

i. Masculine/Mercury/Fire

12. Jasmine

a. Uses

i. Happiness, harmony, love, moon/night, peace, divination, dreamwork.

b. Toxic?

i. Star Jasmine (Trachelospermum jasminoides) isn’t, but other types can be. Look it up before you do anything.

c. Correspondences

i. Feminine/Moon/Water

13. Cinnamon

a. Uses

i. Astral projection, clairvoyance, divination, creativity, defense, dreams, love, lust, power, money, riches, success, wealth.

b. Toxic?

i. N/A

c. Correspondences

i. Masculine/Sun/Fire

ii. Aphrodite/Bast/Helios/Mercury/Ra/Venus

14. Lavender

a. Uses

i. Love, protection, cleansing, peace, happiness, sleep, fertility.

b. Toxic?

i. Water down essential oils

ii. Just don’t eat it, or put it on your pets. I really shouldn’t even have to put this.

c. Correspondences

i. Masculine/Mercury/Air

ii. Saturn

15. Cilantro/Coriander

a. Uses

i. Lust marriage love healing

b. Toxic?

i. N/A

c. Correspondences

i. Masculine/Mars/Fire

16. Iris

a. Uses

i. Beauty, friendship, happiness, love, luck, pleasure, sexuality, youth, inner truth, creativity, intuition, meditation.

ii. The three petals represent Faith/Wisdom/Valour.

b. Toxic?

i. Poisonous, especially to animals

c. Correspondences

i. Aphrodite/Iris

ii. Feminine/Venus/Water

17. Potato

a. Uses

i. Grounding, protection, stability.

b. Toxic?

i. N/A

c. Correspondences

i. Feminine/Moon/Earth

18. Garlic

a. Uses

i. Protection, luck, lust, money, repelling things.

b. Toxic?

i. N/A

c. Correspondences

i. Masculine/Mars/Fire

ii. Ares/Hecate

19. Pomegranate

a. Uses

i. Wealth, prosperity, divination, fortune, a blood substitute, connected to the underworld.

b. Toxic?

i. N/A

c. Correspondences

i. Masculine/Mercury/Fire

ii. Dionysus

iii. Demeter

iv. Persephone

v. Hades

20. Mulberry

a. Uses

i. Divination, willpower, wisdom.

b. Toxic?

i. N/A

c. Correspondences

i. Masculine/Mercury/Air

21. Basil

a. Uses

i. Money, prosperity, abundance, binding, banishing

b. Toxic?

i. N/A

c. Correspondences

i. Masculine/Mars/Fire

ii. Loki

iii. Dionysus

iv. Ares

22. Rose

a. Uses

i. Love, lust, innocence, confidence, trust, divination, healing, romance, sexuality, protection, happiness.

b. Toxic?

i. N/A, just don’t eat them -_-

c. Correspondences

i. Feminine/Venus/Water

23. Cacti

a. Uses

i. Protection wards curses endurance personal growth chastity

b. Toxic?

i. Can eat some, just check.

c. Correspondences

i. Masculine/Saturn/Fire

24. Sage (any)

a. Uses

i. Cleansing, courage, earth magick, Fertility, grounding, hex removal, longevity,

b. Toxic?

i. Just don’t eat it

c. Correspondences

i. Masculine/Jupiter/Air

ii. Zeus/Jupiter/Chiron

25. Sandalwood

a. Uses

i. Healing health protection spirituality

b. Toxic?

i. Just don’t eat it or anything

c. Correspondences

i. Feminine/Moon/Water

A/N: These were chosen as they’re just what I have in my area personally, but if anyone has any requests for specific herbs/plants or would like a part 2, feel free to message me.

Also, in general, just don’t eat anything on here, except for the obvious foods (like potato or garlic), I don’t recommend eating any of these. A “N/A” doesn’t necessarily mean it isn’t toxic to people or animals, it just means I couldn’t find anything (and I don’t consume anything I make, so I don’t usually have to worry too much about that).

#magick #witchblr #witchcraft #witch #witches #herb correspondences #herb meanings #green witch #green magick #flower correspondences #witchcraft correspondences #witch tips #pagan witch #witchtips #tullias' spells #magic #long post #let's hope the format doesn't get fucked lol

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ishealwayslikethis · 5 years

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Orpheus and Eurydice drop

I’m basically gonna be ranting on how I love these songs, sorry:

• Any Way the Wind Blows

Holy chiz, Eurydice and the fates are so good. I wasn’t sure when I heard a recording of Any Way the Wind Blows but I’m hoked (favorite part was probably “and sometimes you think, you would do anything-“ idk why but I love it

•Come Home with me/ Wedding Song

HERMES BEST WINGMAN (literally), I love how Reeve really conveys that awkward Orpheus personality and Eurydice stutters a little when introducing herself which I find adorable and appropriate after someone just proposes to you. Then the sass comes in and DOES NOT falter, sassy Eurydice never plays. The Orpheus’ little yes after “you wanna take me home?”, my heart melted (he’s like, please?). EVERYONE’s INDIVIDUAL “la la la’s” AHH I LOVE THEM

•Epic I

I LOVE REEVE AND HIS LAS’ and i still love the “and with them and the cycle”- FAVORITE PART OF THAT SONG BESIDES THE LAS

•All I’ve ever Known

You guys like soft Orpheus? Get ready for soft Eurydice. Seriously though, Eva shows how Eurydice has let her guard down with Orpheus and again, I’m dead. Their harmonies are so cute and I love the “suddenly the sunlight, bright and warm” “suddenly I’m holding the world in my arms” ❤️

•Epic II

okay so I love epic II, but my favorite part is still the ending because of the transition into Chant I and they changed it and that caught me off guard and made it chilling for some reason, like “oh wtf is happening in Hadestown?” (Even tho I already know)

•Come Home with me (reprise)

“Come Home with me!” “It’s you” “it’s me” “Orpheus” “Eurydice” IT’s ALL SO SOFT LIKE WTF I CANT HANDLE THIS

•If it’s true

I LOVE THIS ENSEMBLE SO FUDGING MUCH! THEY NEED MORE RECOGNITON (seriously tho, I would die for everyone in Hadestown). I also just love the message of this song because having been impacted by higher authority figures abusing their power, this song gives me more encouragement.

•Epic III

“Oh it’s about me?” HADES’ AND HIS SASS/LAUGH (Patrick you magnificent man). Then there’s “I know how it was, because he was like me. A man in love with a woman” ❤️❤️❤️ I also love how the song parells Hades/Persephone and Orpheus/Eurydice. THE LA LA LA’s ESPECIALLY WHEN EVERYONE DOES THEM TOGETHER (I’m just saying, if I ever see Hadestown on b-way, I’m gonna be sobbing at this part). Then Hades has his “La la la’s” and then with Persephone ❤️❤️❤️ (forgot to mention I love how you can hear the stomping which I love for no reason in particular)

•Epic III (intro)

Idk why they called it that, I understand why not “Lover’s Desire” in case of copy right but why not “Epic III (outro)” but whatever cause this one is so smooth, I also love the addition of Orpheus so he’s still singing to them. I would totally want to dance to this with someone if I knew the choreography, at last I do not 🙃

•Promises

I’m a sucker for love songs okay! They just want to go back home, please let them. I still love how they mirror wedding vows “do you let me walk with you?” “I do” (soft). They’re both so desperate for each other and to get out, I could keep on going but I’ll cut myself off here cause the next song breaks me

•Doubt Comes In

....alright...I made it in 35 second before I started crying because of this song. The workers echoing Eurydice hurts me (I feel like some people neglect that the workers were also hoping for Orpheus and Eurydice to make it out, which hurts even more when the end happens). The drums sounding like a heart beat really gets me too cause you can feel how overwhelmed and unsure Orpheus is, Orpheus sings his song but can’t get a response in any way. People always say in the myth why doesn’t Orpheus just call out to Eurydice and she just reply, but how about the times where all you have are negative thoughts or doubts in your head? When others tell you that they have your back it’s easy to ignore them and focus on those voices in the back of your mind and let those thoughts consume you to the point that’s all you can hear. Eurydice and the workers try their best to get to Orpheus but then you know what happens (nope they made it out together happy times YAY). One thing I really love about Hadestown is that there are many times where I think Orpheus won’t turn around, I’ve watched the London bootleg many times and thought “they’re gonna make it out this time” or when I listened to the soundtrack and thought the same thing, no matter how sad things seem to be, there’s still someone there to try again. (There’s also the dialogue exchange between the two which is so quiet and seems unbelievable to both of them like “you’re here, I didn’t think you would be here”)

Little thing I also love about the soundtrack as a whole is how all the songs flow pretty smoothly to the next, like it feels like one giant song at some points. Okay so I ranted long enough but this drop has officially broken me and now I want to see Hadestown more than ever. Thanks for reading me rant if you made it here ❤️❤️❤️

#hadestown #orpheus #eurydice #i can sleep to the whole soundtrack now #gn

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kulvefaggoth · 5 years

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HI THIS IS YOUR LOCAL GARBAGE GAY BOY AND HE WANTS TO VENT ABOUT KINGDOM HEARTS

A couple of days ago i had an enligtening talk about my favorite hot garbage series with a mutual and i kind of ended up realizing i had a lot of pent up stuff about it that i never really let out

While i did vent a little already i feel like i need to put this really out of my head because it’s been consuming me in a way. And since this site is designed for just screaming random stuff into the void i wanna take advantage of that for once

Now first and foremost this is meant as a very personal thing. This is not an elaborate critique or a well thought work. This is a vent and i want this to be read as a vent by a gay with a lot of feelings about video games. ESPECIALLY about Kingdom Hearts and some stuff about KH3.

Now let’s get to the meat of this course of mind screaming

I’ve been into Kingdom Hearts for a very long time. The first game i played was Kingdom Hearts II (the original KH was kinda hard to find here for some reason) circa 2005/2006. Bear in mind i had no idead what KH was. Game advertisement wasn’t (and still kind of isn’t) a big thing here in Brasil specially if you were a poor kid like me. Hell consoles were pretty inacessible to most of the people i was close with and me and other 2 kids must’ve had a PS2 in the same time frame. The main way you would know about new or cool games was through word of mouth or recognizing brands like Castlevania and Mega Man.

But i was always kind of a freaky little avant-garde child which meant i ended up having a very different taste from most of the people around me. I had like 1 other friend who had actually played a Final Fantasy around let alone something like Shin Megami Tensei for an exemple which i also didn’t even knew was a thing. And i’ve always tried to find something new. Something that gave me some new experience. I’ve ended up playing a lot of more niche games like Drakengard and the Atelier Iris games (god i still love 2 and 3 a lot) and it was this mindset that eventually led me into the game that had a bunch of random anime kids and disney characters in it’s cover.

To say that i was confused by KH2 is an understatement. I knew absolutelly nothing about the previous games. Who is this “Sora”? Who was the red haired man? Why the fuck am i fighting with a giant key? Again what the hell is up with the Disney characters? Also bear in mind i must’ve been 9/10 yo brazillian kid whose entire english vocabulary came from video games and a couple of songs. Some stuff wasn’t even the plot getting dense it was just me not getting the actual language.

And yet it’s also an understatement to say the i fell very deeply in love with that weird little game. The combat was great. The plot had SO MUCH DRAMA and i knew only about 1/3 of what was happening at any given time. Keyblades where fun and ridiculous. Demyx was a bitch.

As soon as i’ve finished KH2 for the first time i used what little internet i had back then to learn more. I found out there was a game for the easy emulated GBA. It kind of sucked but it was more Kingdom Hearts. Being unable to locate a copy of KH1 for a while i did the only thing i could actually do: i’ve played and replayed KH2 to exaustion. I did most of the stuff except a couple of the minigames and gummy routes because they where boring. The feeling of learning how to fight against Sephiroth, mastering his moves and eventually being able to beat him with a Kingdom Key in proud was a big moment for me. Beating all the Hades cups felt great.

About a year later i was able to get a copy of KH1 and by this time Re:CoM was out so i got that too. Played both of them throughly even thought KH1 clumsy mechanics kick my ass to this day probably.

Then another year passes i hear two new games where coming out... to consoles i didn’t own and honestly i couldn’t justify the cost of to my parents. I was pretty bummed but still i kept getting invested. Hell i was already balls deep into this series and only dreamed of how it would take off in the future. I even remember kind of writing a “script” for a sequel that i tried to make with two other randoms in RPG Maker. Never went anywhere and i know in my heart it sucked but still. That was how into this i was. The prerelease hype for Days was killing me even. Member XIV? How?

Also side note: to my edgy ass 12/13 year old self the idea of playing as Organizattion XIII was literally a dream.

Days came out and if you where like me in the good old days of youtube videos that had like 5 minutes at max then you know that video game let’s play were almost impossible to do. I had to get a LOT of info from second hand about what actually happened in Days. Then i ended up getting a “decent” pc and was able to emulate it with absolute WORST frame rate. Still it worked and i was able to know what was happening.

But BBS was a completly separate beast. PSP emulation was basically non-existant when it came out so it actually took me a couple of years to actually play it. I had a friend that had a PSP (and that to this day i feel only got a PSP because i kept raving about it having both a KH game and a Final Fantasy fighting game on it because he was 100% that little shit but that is completly besides any point) and of course he couldn’t lend me because it was pretty expensive around here and that’s a very useless tangent.

Anyway time passes as it must and just as Sora fell deeper and deeper into the realms of sleep i too fell into as much Kingdom Hearts stuff as i could. The complex theories, the AMVs (GOD the AMVs), the plot summaries for games i didn’t play, all that good shit. So for years i’ve built within myself this... tension i shall call. The grand plot momentum that mr Nomura seemed to be building. The misterious indentities the hinted at hidden plots. The nature of stuff that seemed very vague and opaque. And as the new games where released it seemed more and more that they where building blocks into the grand prize: Kingdom Hearts 3.

Now here’s the thing. I don’t 100% agree of the narrative that we waited “13 years” for KH3. I think if you where actually a fan of the series back then then each game in it’s own way seemed to be it’s own event. With that i want to say the while we ALL waited for KH3 for me at least it seemed it needed time to build up.

Now here’s the thing. Between BBS and DDD being both in consoles i didn’t own and me getting an Xbox 360 (PS3 prices where absolutelly INSANE here) i seemed to drift a bit away from KH. While before i waited for new game releases with baited breath i now found myself very blasé about DDD. I was getting used to it i guess. Also high school came and a lot of stuff started changing. KH felt like a bit too connected to my childhood too i guess. I was still a fan and still loved it to death but KH ended fading away a little for me even if it lighted a fire in me when people talked about it. This must’ve been around 2010.

I think it wasn’t until KH3 was formally announced that it all came back to me. The drive to find and consume and engage with as much of KH lore and theories as possible. Also i didn’t really get into “proper social networks” as a whole until 2012/2013. Weirdo i know. By then consuming these thing was a lot easier. Internet was a lot more acessible. I could just open up a tab of a KH wiki in my phone and read away from there.

And there was this rush y’know. This thing of finally seeing a finish line. Not that actually expected or even wish for KH to end but it was KH3! The big one! And remember the tension i’ve mentioned earlier? It was always kind of present and it ended up skyrocketing during this period. I was already knowledgeable about KH but during this time i was almost a goddamn lore master. I knew the whole gig inside and out. Even the weird shit from DDD. The stuff they added to the collections just kept it going too. As did X/UX (which in my grand KH tradition i too didn’t play but i think most people feel me here).

All a big ball of complex yarn and plot and madness that would SURELLY burst with KH3. After all this time all this tension it would come. Release. Answers.

But to me that was the aspect in which KH3 failed.

Now don’t get me wrong i actually like KH3. Quite a lot. And Nomura did apparently tied up a lot of arcs. The lost are found and saved. Piss Grandpa Xehanort is dead.

But it didn’t release my tension. It didn’t burst it into the magic fireworks and ecstasy. The tension is still here. Hell the tension seems even stronger now.

And a lot of it has to with how KH3 seems to still be hiding so many fucking cards from us. Literally in one case. It was a vague feeling of unceartainty before but when i came through the Sleeping Worlds theory it just RUSHED onto me. The story doesn’t feel complete.

Now this is not the same as FFXV. I have a couple of... harsh opinions about it and it’s plot and story are front and center on the list. That story was absolutelly unfinished but not in the same way. To me it feels like Nomura just HID parts of the story. We are not getting the full picture. A lot of shit is really really REALLY weird. I’m still not over Riku’s sudden haircut.

But here’s the real gag to me. Nier: Automata gave me the same feeling the first time i played it. But then i came upon route B. And then Route C. and that’s when the TRUE game showed itself. Nier kept a lot hidden but it was hidden within itself. If you just keep playing you actually can access those hidden parts and eventually you reach your true goal. The actual ending. An ending so final that you might even like giving up your save data to help somebody else achieve it too is the only true option.

Yet KH3 has no such crowning grace. At least not for now. And that’s half the reason i made this.

KH3 feels incomplete but in a way i could really love if the game eventually completed itself. Reading the Sleeping Worlds theory i was like “omg this makes VERY much sense. but if it makes so much sense why isn’t it in the game?”. And then it clicked. DLC. It’s 100% possible the actual plot may come as DLC.

But an even darker thought crossed my mind and it’s filing me with actual rage: This is meant to be another game. This is the Powers That Be (Nomura, Disney, Square-Enix, take your pick...) unaturally extending this “Saga” beyond it’s ending point. If it does turn out that KH3 had some dream hijinks going on then it was 100% possible and BETTER to include that in the actual game. But since KH is known for having so many side games what is the harm in doing another right?

Well you harm the integrity of your plot. I know we say the plot is hot garbage but come the fuck on that is what is holding us here. Or at least it’s what is holding me for so long. Setting up another saga is absolutelly fine but breaking away for you ending like this is even worse. How? Why? The why is probably money but still.

Or maybe KH3 is just meant as that. There is no twist not weirdness. Maybe all that is by design y’know.

This is long enough already. I’m tired. I started writing this at 2:30 am. It’s about 4am now. I slept very little last night.

This is a big colletion of nothing i guess. Not even sure it helped me. Oh well.

#kh #kingdom hearts #personal #first time i tagged something as that #idk #maybe i'm just old #i'm not even gonna proof read this it know it's chock full of typos

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dotshiiki · 7 years

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CoL, chpt 2

Okay, so I meant to post this yesterday but it took longer than I expected to get the content page and first chapter up and of course this HAS to be the week where I also have to pack for an upcoming trip and rehearse a presentation for said trip AND three meetings ... But I’ve got my CoL files on my USB stick now so I’ll duck in at lunch time and post another chapter then so I can get up to three today! Thanks to all of you who have checked this out! And feel free to send me an ask any time, I love hearing from readers! :)

II: NICO

Nico was used to the Underworld.

The first time he had entered it had been from the Labyrinth, while running from Camp Half-Blood after his sister Bianca had died. The dark caverns and twisting tunnels had seemed scary to him at the time, but he'd since grown accustomed to navigating his way around them. He knew what paths to take—and more importantly, which to avoid. Even as the son of Hades, there were places in the Underworld where he wasn't meant to go. He'd learned that the hard way.

Over time, he'd also learned of the various entrances from the mortal world: Charon's passage in Los Angeles, Orpheus's door in New York's Central Park, the roving Doors of Death that Thanatos used as his personal gateway. Nico didn't need any of them now, though. Shadow travel was convenient that way. He simply melted into darkness and was transported like a speeding bullet through cold, empty space until he popped out at his destination.

Just one of the perks of being a child of the Underworld.

The only problem was, hitting a precise location in the Underworld was always a tricky business. Although Nico could manage a shadow-jump into the Underworld from anywhere in the upper world, he couldn't always pinpoint where he'd end up when he arrived.

This time, he found himself on the banks of the River Styx. He could hear the deep baritone of Charon the ferryman drifting along upriver, humming that god-awful easy listening music he favoured. The barge was approaching, probably with a full load of newly-dead souls. Nico could feel their presence closing in, clamouring for attention. The recently-deceased tended to be like that: terrified and hungry for reassurance, still clinging to the identities they had held in life. If he listened hard, Nico could sense each one of them—the octogenarian who had passed away in his sleep, the car crash victim whose life support had been turned off, the teenager who had ingested a full bottle of Valium, and many others.

Percy wasn't among them—yet, Nico reminded himself. He turned away from the river and made his way up the shore of black sand, climbing the familiar winding path to the gates of Erebus. The checkpoints were running smoothly today, with the regular lanes moving along almost as quickly as the EZ Death line that went straight to Asphodel. Cerberus gave Nico a hopeful look when he passed through, but Nico shook his head at the enormous, three-headed Rottweiler.

'Not today, old friend,' he said. 'I'm in a hurry.'

He sped up through the Fields of Asphodel, which was easy since the vacuous, chittering spirits there parted before him as always. He usually took the path straight to his father's palace on the south-eastern edge, but this time he turned off towards the left, cutting a trail between the Fields of Punishment and the gated community of Elysium.

The first time he'd ever visited the River Lethe, he'd trudged all the way through the Fields of Punishment to where it was a rushing river gorge cutting through the upper rim of his father's kingdom. Fortunately, he knew enough of the Underworld geography now that he could take a more direct route to where the Lethe snaked down past the Cave of Hypnos to flow more sluggishly across the outskirts of Elysium. It would probably have been a nicer stroll through Elysium to get here, but Nico didn't have time to submit to the stringent security checks at the gates. Even the son of Hades was subject to a thorough frisking at the gates of the most secure community in the Underworld.

Near the river's source in the volcanic mountains, the Lethe was a cascade of violent black water bubbling up from Tartarus, but here on the lower marshes, its colour lightened considerably to a dull grey. Outside the eastern gate of Elysium, a group of souls formed a line along the river to get their drink before reincarnation. One by one they knelt on the river bank and plunged their heads into the lazy river. When they emerged, their ghostly faces looked perfectly serene. The cleansed spirits flickered in the dim light of the Underworld caverns and then disappeared, presumably sent to be reborn into their new mortal lives.

Nico picked a spot a short way upriver from the queueing souls. He approached the banks and then he realised the snag in his plan. He had no jug or goblet or canister with him. In his haste to get here, he had completely forgotten about how he was going to transport the stuff back to the mortal world.

He let out a groan. It seemed he would have to visit his father's palace after all. Did his father even have containers in his palace? Nico wasn't sure. For obvious reasons, he never actually ate or drank anything when he visited.

Nico was about to turn and follow the path back to the palace when a voice hailed him.

'Di Angelo!'

He spun around. A girl with short, spiky black hair and a glowing silver bow slung over her back was walking up to him. There was a delicate silver circlet on her head that clashed badly with the rest of her outfit: a leather jacket adorned with rock band buttons, frayed black jeans, heavy boots, and a black t-shirt with the outline of a deer in the centre. She looked around his age—fifteen or sixteen—but Nico knew she was in fact much older than that. Thalia, the daughter of Zeus, had been that age when he'd first met her five years ago.

In her hands, she carried a bronze stamnos—a squat, circular Greek jar with two stubby handles high up on its sides. It was about half a foot in diameter and just as tall.

'Needing one of these?' said Thalia.

'What are you doing here?'

Thalia raised an eyebrow. 'Annabeth sent an Iris-message. I came to help.'

Nico scowled. 'I don't need help,' he muttered, even though her appearance with the stamnos was fortuitous. He had nothing specifically against Thalia—he didn't even know her all that well—but she led the Hunters of Artemis. He still found it hard not to hold a grudge against the band of immortal girls who had stolen his sister from him and then gotten her killed.

Yeah, okay, so it had been five years ago. But he was a son of Hades. Bearing grudges was his birthright.

'Aren't you forbidden to help boys, anyway?'

Thalia set the stamnos on the bank. 'Percy's a special case,' she admitted. 'Even Artemis has a soft spot for him. And I can see just how much help you don’t need,' she added dryly. 'I'm sure your bare hands would have been the perfect vessel to bring back some liquid Lethe. Super plan, down to the part where you'd definitely remember where you wanted to bring it.'

Nico ignored her sarcasm. 'How did you get here anyway?'

'You think you're the only one who knows about the door in Central Park? And I've been to the Underworld before, you know. It's not even my first time at the Lethe.'

Nico had almost forgotten that Thalia had been with him and Percy on that quest. They'd fought a Titan several miles upriver from this spot and ended up wiping his memories in the Lethe.

Maybe Thalia was thinking about that, too, because she asked, quietly, 'Are you sure about this, Nico?'

'No,' he admitted. 'But it's the only answer I have.'

'Well, let's get ourselves some Lethe water, then.'

Thalia took one handle of the stamnos and motioned for Nico to take the other. Nico was a bit disgruntled at how bossy she was, but it also reminded him slightly of Bianca. Together, they picked up the stamnos and tilted it to scoop up some river water.

'Just what do the two of you think you're doing?'

Nico and Thalia almost dropped the stamnos. They staggered back from the river bank as the ghostly form of a svelte young woman rose out of the water and hovered inches above its surface.

Nico thought at first she was an Underworld soul, one of the group from Elysium heading for rebirth, but she grew more solid as she surveyed them with her arms crossed. Her skin was milky white, which made her look like a marble statue not unlike the sculptures that sprung up every ten feet along the main avenue of New Rome. Except that the contours of her body remained undefined, as if she hadn't finished forming from smoke. Her black dress rippled like waves were moving across its folds. Dark, misty images flashed across the fabric and were absorbed into the creases. Somehow, Nico knew they were all memories, millions of them submerging into the water.

'You're—'

'The goddess Lethe, of course,' she said, looking put out. 'You're taking my waters and you don't even think to ask?'

'We didn't think—' Thalia stammered. 'I mean, we didn't know you—'

'Everyone forgets about me!' Lethe pouted. 'Just because I'm not as fiery as Phlegethon, or as whiny as Cocytus. Is that why? I'm just as powerful as them! More, even—none of them have the power to cleanse the mind of everything.'

'Um, maybe it's because you're the river of forgetfulness,' Thalia ventured. 'That might be why people—er—forget.'

Lethe nodded. 'I am, aren't I?' She trailed the hazy edge of her dress along the water's surface. When she looked up again, her brow was furrowed. 'What was I saying again?'

'You were giving us some water,' Nico said quickly.

Lethe stared at the stamnos. 'Was I?'

'Sure you were!' Thalia said. 'We're just going to get it and be on our way…'

'I don't know,' said Lethe. 'That's high irregular. In fact, I think drinks have to be consumed in-house. I don't do to-go. At least,' she pondered this for a while, 'I don't think I do?'

'Oh, but it'd be great for business,' Thalia said. 'I mean, all the best restaurants have take-away. How else would you make sure people remember you if they don't get to try your products?'

Lethe tapped her chin. 'It's true, I hardly get up to the mortal world. Acheron totally has a monopoly on those streams…and really, I am more powerful, you know. What's Acheron got? Only pain. That's so overdone. Tell me, what other rivers have the power to erase everything? To cleanse the mind and soul completely? Pain, suffering, despair—bah! I can erase all of that!'

Nico leaned forward eagerly. 'Can you heal the mind, then? I mean, if your waters can take away pain and suffering…'

'Of course! What bit of cleansing the mind don't you understand?'

Nico looked at Thalia. This seemed like confirmation that they had hit on the right solution. All they needed now was to actually get the water.

'Wait.' Lethe looked at Nico suspiciously. 'You've been here before, haven't you? You've tried the Lethe treatment?'

'Um, sort of,' Thalia said. 'We've been here. But you didn't appear to us. And we definitely didn't touch the water.'

'Well, maybe not you,' Lethe said. 'But you.' She looked directly at Nico and frowned. 'Ugh, why can't I remember?' She stamped her foot. Nico and Thalia had to jump back to avoid being splashed. 'Hmph. Well, maybe I can't remember, but I can feel it.' She sniffed at Nico. 'You have my mark. The Curse of Lethe.'

'Nico, what's she talking about?'

'It was…before,' Nico muttered. 'Before the Lotus Casino. My father had Bianca and me dunked in the Lethe after our mom died.'

Thalia looked confused. 'But Bianca…she remembered stuff—'

Lethe interrupted. 'I knew it! Though I suppose if you only got dunked…it's not as effective if you don't actually drink, you know. Oh, the memory loss is powerful, of course, but the mind isn't cleaned out. The memories aren't actually dissolved. They can come back, given the right…well, prodding, I suppose.' Lethe scratched her head. 'Hmm. Why am I telling you this again?'

The conversation was making Nico's head spin a little. 'Never mind why. You were saying—it's different if you drink?'

'Well, yes. Souls have to drink. That's the rule—no drink, no rebirth. Can't have people bringing any part of their old lives with them, after all. Drinking cleanses everything: mind and soul. Memories aren't just in the mind, after all. The most important ones, they live in the soul. And I have the power to absorb that—dissolve the core of someone's identity.'

'Is it all in the water, then?' Thalia asked, looking into the murky depths of the river with interest. 'Is that how you get it back?'

Lethe threw her an irritated glance. 'Haven't you been listening, girl? If you drink, there's no getting them back. My waters flow all the way to Tartarus, and beyond that, into the depths of Chaos. That's where everything that is lost goes, in the end. And good luck retrieving anything from that pit.'

'But if you don't drink—say, you just…took a dip,' Nico pressed.

'Ah, like you did, I suppose? You'll still lose your memories. But like I said…hm, or did I? Anyway, you'd forget everything, but your soul would be intact. You could restore your memories, but it's extremely hard.'

'But not impossible,' Thalia said, looking relieved. 'That's great.'

'Not if he has to drink the water to be cured,' Nico reminded her.

'So…what was it you wanted again? Are you after getting your memory back? There's someone else who does that…starts with an "M"…' Lethe rolled her eyes Olympus-ward and stamped her foot again. 'Ugh, why can't I remember?'

'Mnemosyne?' Thalia supplied.

'Maybe. Why do you ask, anyway?'

This conversation was going round in circles. Nico cut in. 'Look, we just need to fill this jar so we can save a life. That okay with you?'

Lethe shrugged. 'Why didn't you say so in the first place?'

She held out her hands for the stamnos. Thalia looked like she was trying not to roll her eyes as they hefted the jar into Lethe's arms.

The murky grey water turned milky white when Lethe scooped it up. She set the filled stamnos down on the river bank. Thalia produced a lid from her pocket and capped it. Nico plucked a leaf from a random plant and carefully wiped off the stray droplets rolling down the side of the jar.

'Easy peasy,' Lethe said. 'Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to…hm, I've forgotten.'

Nico and Thalia didn't wait for her to continue. Lifting the stamnos between them, they hurried off before Lethe could start questioning them again.

'Thanks for the jar,' Nico said when they reached the main path, which was lined with towering oaks that cast long shadows across the ground. One thing about the Underworld—there was never a shortage of shadows. 'I'm going to shadow travel back, so—'

'Can you take me along?' Thalia asked.

Nico had kind of imagined Thalia would leave the same way she'd come, probably going back to New York or wherever the Hunters were right now. He didn't really know what the rules were with them. He always avoided anything to do with the whole group as much as possible.

But Thalia was Percy's friend, too.

'Hold the jar,' he told her. 'Make sure that lid's really tight.'

He took her arm and they slipped into darkness.

OoOoO

Nico stumbled when he landed himself and Thalia back in the infirmary of Camp Jupiter. The stamnos landed on the ground with a loud thud, but fortunately Thalia's grip on the lid was firm. The liquid Lethe stayed safely inside.

'Huh—what—I'm awake, sir!' Clovis, who must have been snoozing again, leapt out of his chair and smacked his head against the elbow of a tall, broad-shouldered Chinese dude.

In the time Nico had been gone, two more demigods had joined the worried circle around Percy, making the infirmary seem a lot more crowded. Or maybe it was just that one of them was Frank Zhang, the bulky Praetor of the Twelfth Legion, who was big enough for two people.

The other was Nico's sister Hazel, who must have sorted out the shape-shifting demon horse that Annabeth had handed off to them. She and Frank were holding hands—hers was so tiny, it disappeared completely in his grasp.

Thalia went straight to Annabeth and hugged her tightly. Annabeth returned the hug in a distracted sort of way. She had been sitting by Percy's bedside with a book open in her lap, gently stroking his hair. There were tear streaks on her cheeks that she hadn't bothered to wipe off. Nico wasn't sure she was even aware of them.

Will caught Nico's eye and mouthed, Gatorade.

I'm fine, Nico mouthed back, although his legs felt a little shaky after his second shadow travel.

Will gave him a stern look and jerked his head towards a side table where he'd already laid out the sports drink.

Nico rolled his eyes, but a secret part of him sort of enjoyed Will's fussing. Not that he'd ever admit it.

At least his boyfriend wasn't being obtrusive about it. Nico drank the Gatorade and felt the energy trickle back into his limbs.

'How does this go, then?' Hazel asked. She eyed the stamnos warily, as if it were another demon horse that might change shape and start spewing its contents at them. 'He has to drink it?'

Thalia looked at Annabeth sadly. 'The healing power comes from drinking. But the memory loss is irreversible.'

'Actually,' Will gestured at the book on Annabeth's lap, 'we were doing some research while you guys were gone.'

Annabeth held up the book and nodded. 'I asked Reyna and she found me this from the Senate library. Turns out the Lethe has been used in potions before: the nepenthe.'

'The drug of forgetfulness,' Will translated. 'Helen of Troy gave it to Odysseus's son to ease his suffering. We just need to add a drop of Lethe to a cup of nectar.'

Hazel looked at them dubiously. 'How is that different? It's still the Lethe. Does diluting it even help?'

'And will it be strong enough?' Frank added. 'I mean, that's a pretty big nectar to Lethe ratio. How much Lethe does he actually have to ingest? There's probably a limit to how much nectar he can take, right?'

'I don't know,' said Annabeth. 'But the records mention that the drinkers had temporary memory loss after drinking. We thought…well, we hoped it would at least give him a chance.'

'A chance is better than nothing,' Thalia said firmly.

Will nodded. 'I think our best shot is to start with the base recipe and monitor him. I can slowly up the concentration of Lethe if it doesn't seem to be working.'

'Can he even drink? Or do you have to, like, IV-it into him?' Frank asked.

They all looked at Percy's comatose form. Will frowned and scratched his head.

'IV is probably the way to go,' he admitted. 'Do you guys have anything for that set up?'

Frank got to his feet. 'The university will have something. I'll go.'

'Hurry back,' Will warned. 'I feel…well, I don't think he has much time.' He gave Nico a significant look.

Nico knew what he meant. He'd always been able to sense when death was imminent, and he could feel that aura thickening around Percy, a cloying layer of smog that was almost tangible. Soon it would start to vibrate with the buzz that alerted the god of death that there was a soul to be collected. Nico didn't think Will had the same ability, but he was probably getting a corresponding message through his healer senses.

Hazel put her hand on Frank's arm. 'Let me go, then,' she said. 'I'll be faster.'

Nico raised an eyebrow when he realised what she was intending to do. 'Are you sure? I could—'

Will shot him a look that said don't even think about it.

'I've practised a couple of times,' Hazel said. 'Besides, it's just across the Field of Mars.'

She took a deep breath and slipped into the shadow of the infirmary door. Watching his sister disappear was disconcerting. Did Nico look like that too when he shadow-travelled—just melting into nothingness? No wonder Will always worried about him.

Annabeth made a strangled noise like a half-stifled sob and took Percy's hand in hers. Thalia patted her on the back.

'It'll be okay,' she said. 'We'll get him back and then you can kill him.'

Annabeth's sob turned into a slightly hysterical laugh. She squared her shoulders and looked at the stamnos. 'We should—we should brew the nepenthe.'

Will was already on it, pulling nectar from the cupboards and carefully measuring out a cup. He brought out a plastic dropper and hesitated. 'We'll need to add a drop of Lethe for now, but someone's going to have to add more at intervals.'

Annabeth uncovered the stamnos. Although her face was resolute, her expression carefully controlled, her hands were shaking so badly Nico thought for sure she would just end up spilling liquid Lethe all over herself.

Clovis, who had surprisingly not dozed off again, grabbed her wrist.

'I'll do it. I'm more familiar with the stuff than all of you. Plus…well, I spend most of my time in dreamland, anyway.' He shrugged. 'There's not much for me to forget.'

Clovis dipped the dropper into the stamnos and came up with it full of milky Lethe. With a steady hand, he added precisely one drop to the cup of nectar. The golden liquid barely changed shade. Nico thought it looked a little paler, but only just.

Hazel sprung out of the shadow of the stamnos right between Will and Clovis. The latter jumped and nearly knocked the whole jug over.

'Geez, just startle us into spilling mind-wiping water everywhere, why don't you?' Thalia sniped.

'Sorry!' Hazel gasped. She held out a rectangular kit to Will, who took it and began assembling the IV bag and needles inside. Hazel lurched away unsteadily. Frank caught her around the waist.

'You okay?'

'Sure. Piece of cake,' Hazel said breathlessly.

Nico held out the Gatorade. She gave him a rueful smile.

'You did fine,' Nico reassured her.

'Clovis,' Will said, 'I'm going to hook Percy up now. I'll need you to add a drop when I say so.'

'Gotcha.' Clovis squared his shoulders and held the dropper like it was a gun he was preparing to shoot.

They all held their breaths as Will inserted the needle into Percy's arm. The pale gold nepenthe ran through the tubes, travelling up his veins.

Nothing seemed to happen.

'Add a drop,' Will said.

Bit by bit, Clovis added Lethe to the potion, which turned gradually milkier. The room was so silent, Nico could practically hear the flow of nepenthe into Percy's veins. He wasn't sure what the Lethe-to-nectar ratio was at this point. Half the cup was already gone.

And then he sensed it.

There was no visible change. Percy's face remained peaceful and blank. His body was still. But Nico felt the sense of imminent death back off a bit.

'It's working,' he said.

The room seemed to let out a collective breath.

'Should we keep this dose, then?' Will asked.

Nico shook his head, though he couldn't say how he knew this. 'Keep going,' he told Clovis.

Clovis refilled the dropper and continued to add Lethe to the nepenthe.

Will put his hands out in front of him, palms towards Percy. 'That's amazing,' he murmured. 'I've never seen anything like it.'

With only a quarter cup left to go, the physical changes began to be visible. Percy's pallor faded. His face twitched. The corners of his mouth quirked upwards and then his lips parted and he drew in a deep, shaky breath like he was cleansing his lungs.

Nico grinned. This was really working.

Then it started to go wrong. The colour in Percy's cheeks, which had come back with the nepenthe treatment, began to fade again. And it wasn't just his face. His entire form seemed to be fading, as though something was leeching his essence away.

'Stop!' Will told Clovis, who withdrew the dropper so quickly, it slipped from his fingers and fell into the stamnos.

It was too late, though. Percy's body became translucent and insubstantial, just like a ghost.

Nico shuddered. A memory flitted into his mind, of another demigod whose physical body had turned to smoke. Whose body Nico had converted into smoke.

But this wasn't quite like Bryce Lawrence, the treacherous Roman demigod whom Nico had ghostified during the Giant War. Bryce had gone black and smoky and sunk straight into the earth. Percy was dissolving into air itself. It was clearly a different thing. Yet Nico felt certain he'd seen it happen before.

The controlled stoicism on Annabeth's face melted into horror. She lunged forward to grab Percy, but her fingers swiped straight through him as his body evaporated completely.

Annabeth spun round to face Nico. 'Where did he go?' she shrieked. 'What happened to him?'

Nico rubbed his forehead guiltily. He'd told Clovis to keep going. But he still felt certain it was the right call. The veil of death wouldn't have lifted otherwise. This was something else, something they hadn't foreseen…

'I don't know…' He knit his eyebrows, trying to send his senses underground, but it was just as he'd ascertained before. Death no longer hovered over Percy. He wasn't in the Underworld.

Then he thought of the souls he had seen on the banks of the Lethe, disappearing after they drank. Ghosts, dissolving into their newborn lives. He thought of Bianca, how he'd lost any ability to track her once she'd chosen that path.

Oh, Hades.

'What?' Annabeth said, seeing the realisation dawning on his face. 'You do know.'

'I think…' Nico gulped. He had to force himself to meet her desperate, stormy eyes. 'I think Percy's been reborn.'

The nepenthe is referenced in the Odyssey as a potion that is supposed to quell all sorrows with forgetfulness. But the actual recipe is my own interpretation, of course!

Also posted on Ao3.

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