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#annabeth killed me in the war
demigods-posts · 4 months
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okay but we can all agree that annabeth is hella ripped right? because this girl has been training to be a soldier since she was seven. i'm just convinced her biceps become so prominent when she so much as grips a doorknob. i'm just convinced she has incredible upper body strength. i'm just convinced she could snap me like a twig.
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rosieposiepie · 4 months
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Watching the new Percy Jackson episode, and while by no means is the show perfect, I do love how they updated the blending of Greek mythology and the American Gothic for social commentary.
What I mean is Echidna, the mother of monsters, is some respectable-looking vaguely southern white woman who is able to convince the police on the train that three kids shattered a train window and used those institutions to isolate the kids so she can target them and scare them for the chimera's hunt. The way that the police especially treat Annabeth. Now, as a young black girl, she has to know how to ask if they're getting arrested, and gets called out by the police for her tone.
And then, at the St. Louis Arch, we see Grover upset because of the museum, which is basically a monument to Manifest Destiny (literally, there's a shot where the words are in full display in the background). And while they say, "Grover is upset because he doesn't like it when people hurt animals," they explicitly depict America's colonization and destruction of indigenous communities as The Bad Thing. It adds another layer of flavor for the whole "Pan is missing" - it's not just about Climate Change. It's about the extermination of indigenous groups (the centaurs they saw on the train, the reminder that there used to be more of them until humans started killing them). They say "humans" are bad, but they're showing us Western/American colonizers.
Also, a rare yet interesting moment of conflict between Annabeth as a daughter of Athena and Grover as a Satyr. Annabeth insists that the museum's commodifying and glorifying of American colonization is "not what the arch is actually about, it's about architecture and math," but Athena is the goddess who protects social institutions and a patron goddess of the state, law, order, industry, and war. The Industrial Revolution and Western social institutions definitely contributed to colonialism; just saying. We also see in this episode that Athena can be arrogant and cruel - letting a monster go after her own daughter because she was embarrassed.
Anyway, idk. Maybe I'm overthinking this but these were the things that popped out to me on first watch, and now that I think about them more, I would love a continuation of these kinds of themes and tropes in future seasons, if we get them.
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Me because the Percy Jackson series is actually about the different cycles of abuse, which include abuse within romantic partners (Sally and Gabe), abuse between “family” (Percy and Gabe, Meg and Nero), abuse from people in positions of power (the gods over the demigods), and so on, oppression than ranges from having adhd in the public educational system to being forced to perform quests for your entire life for people who could not care less about your well-being, how camp is both somewhere safe but also the bittersweet taste of arriving there and realizing you can never escape, you can never be normal your life will never be the same. There’s no turning back. How Luke was right on theory but not on acts, how these kids got around the idea to never make it to 18, and how there was nothing they could do about that. How many of them sat in their cabins, counting down the days until their sibling/friend/partner came back, only for them to not come back at all. Was it ever their turn to leave someone waiting behind? Annabeth, Percy, Grover, Thalia, the whole deal with Nico, Bianca, Silena, and every single demigod. Children of Apollo were the camp healers, was it a choice? A moral obligation? In camp Jupiter there’s Jason, there’s Reyna, Piper’s story, Leo’s story, the way Jason and Piper’s relationship was heteronormativity pushed by Hero because both of them were queer but she wanted a perfect couple. After being gone missing, people searched for Percy, but Jason? The devastation of Leo and Jason’s relationship, how Leo never knew his feelings for him were required, how both Leo and Piper thought they knew Jason but it was all fake memories, how Jason never fully got his memories back. Hazel’s story, Frank’s story, how Nico and Leo’s mutual dislike for each other comes from a place of understatement. How they both see themselves in each other and look away as one looks away from a mirror when they dislike their reflection. They are both so similar, almost the same. They both are also autistic, except Leo is always masking, and Nico never really learnt how to. Neurodivergence, adhd and dyslexia. Being a demigod is a metaphor for neurodiversity. Was Dionysus actual punishment looking over camp? Or was it spending years and years seeing demigods come and grow and die? Knowing there was nothing he could do about it? Knowing than if he was with the gods, he would be causing their deaths, instead of grieving them? Does Chiron feel hopeless? Memory, names, ghosts. Blades, swords, arrows, blood. So many blood, blood-stained hands. Monsters follow you before coming to camp, did they hurt you family? It was all your fault. They don’t want you to come back, you bring danger, you’re more dangerous than the monster, you are a monster yourself, after all the Minotaur was a demigod too. Leo killed his mother, Zeus killed Maria, Sally got taken to the underworld, Tristan was held hostage, Fredrick and his wife and sons got attacked by monsters, and who’s fault it was? You run away you keep on running but you’ll never outrun the danger because the danger is yourself, you are at fault, how do you run away now?
The odyssey, the iliad, the statues in museums, you look at them, do you see yourself? Do you see any resemble? Your nose kinda looks like theirs, the shape of their lips, the width of their hands, but that’s a lie you’re nothing like them, never will be, is that a tragedy? Do you want to be like them? Do you want to be a hero and die a heroic death? Or do you simply wish to visit your family on Christmas and live the life your little cousins will eventually live? Maybe you’ll never see the life they’ll live, maybe you’ll die before seeing it. There’s nothing to be done about that, you just have to accept it. Don’t you feel the rage, bubbling inside of you, making your hands shake? What can you do with it? Not much, remember last time, remember Luke, what did he accomplish? Nothing, blood, screams. You remember the war, you remember the city, maybe it was the first or the second time you set a foot on it, now every single time you do (if you do) in the future, it will be tainted. Look in that corner, that used to be destroyed. Look at that building, my friend died against that wall, that road was filled with blood. Was it ours? Theirs? Is there even a difference between us? Should there be? Why were you on your side? Why were they in theirs? Who was right? Who was wrong? You can go anywhere but home, maybe you’re not welcomed, maybe there’s no home to return, maybe it’s better for everyone if you don’t return. Nico keeps Bianca’s jacket, Leo taps iloveyou on Morse code. Piper was forced to be someone she wasn’t, she thought she was someone she was not, she was forced to think that. Who is she? Is she even who she thought she was? Jason still don’t remembers everything, and him? Who is he? Nico will never get his memories back, he wonders about his mom, did he have more family back then? Grandparents, aunts? Hazel is a walking curse. Silena and Clarisse as Patroklos and Achilles. Apollo seeing the brutal reality of demigods’ life on trials of apollo.
Your hand shakes, the sword you hold moves, you feel it’s weight, do you want to hold it? Do you have to?
The dead come back to haunt us, Nico sees Bianca everywhere, Leo still remembers his mother’s voice, Hazel came back from the dead, Frank holds his life on his pocket, Thalia lost a brother twice, Leo didn’t really die, Jason died instead, Percy wished to drown himself, half of camp still waits for their brother to come back, even if it has been months, even if it has been years. Luke’s mother still waits, was she crazy? The campers who thought to recognize their friend’s face for a second before remembering than it couldn’t possibly be them, were they crazy too? Who was crazier? Luke’s mother who did not remember, or the campers who did? The underworld has no mercy only justice, but the world has no justice only mercy. You might get mercy, but you never will get justice. Was it fair anything than happened to them? You might be spared in a war or in a battle out of mercy, out of pity, out of recognition, but that didn’t stop you from having to fight in it, that didn’t stop you from having to wield the sword. Spare all the people you want, turn a blind eye to whatever you want, mercy? sure, but you were still holding the sword, you were still supposed to fight, you still weren’t in charge of your life. How was that justice? How was that fair? Names had power, even their names had more power than your life, even the letters making up their names were more powerful than your fists, could you ever win? Could you ever win when their names were so powerful they could not be pronounced but your life was so worthless they didn’t even care to learn yours? To learn the names of the ones than died because of them. You can’t say the name of you sister’s killer, but you’re still expected to burn an offering to them each night at dinner.
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modawg · 1 month
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it’s so sad to me that nico like never learned how much percy tried to help him yk
like percy literally rounded up his closest friends after being the only one to find out nico was the son of hades and decided to at least try to give nico a chance to live his life when the kid literally just tried to kill him, his sister just died, and through everything percy knows hates his guts - like he took all that info and decided to make a suicide pack with his closest friends in order to protect nico when giving nico the prophecy would’ve been the most logical and honestly understandable thing to do
like genuinely do ppl realise how EASY it would’ve been to just give the prophecy to nico his ONLY living relative (other than hades) just DIED they could’ve been like “listen you take this prophecy give it 6 years you’ll be dead with your sister and literally everyone else you know and you’ll be a hero for it” instead even though percy has an entire life, people who love and care for him, and a future wife infront of him he takes it upon himself to DIE in 3-4 years how fucking BONKERS is that
he also almost abandons a WHOLE OTHER QUEST putting himself and annabeth in danger just bc dumbass nico is out doing god knows what in the labyrinth and ends up getting caught (he was doing smth i’m being dramatic but still)
could you imagine being percy your going to war (and from your perspective you’re going to die in the next week or so after methodically doing everything in your power to keep this other random kid who you think hates you from suffering that fate) that kid comes up to you with a plan so you trust him just do be stabbed in the back bc that kids father wants him to be the prophecy child even tho you’ve been mentally preparing yourself to die for the past like 3 years?? id jump that kid too if he randomly came into my deep dark prison cell trying to break me out and then shun him after all that
like i read the way nico talks abt percy and he just seems bitter all the time he’s like “psh percy and his fake friendship what a dweeb can’t believe i had a crush on THAT guy🙄” like you’d be dead if it wasn’t for his friendship gay boy
i want like 5 years into the future annabeth is sitting with nico one day and is like “lol yeah i remember that one time percy made us all pinky promise to keep you safe and we all thought he was dumb bc you hated him sm but he really just wanted you to have a good life and now look at you!! :)” and nico to slow turn to her “…what”
like to this day i get that nico was mad at percy for not protecting bianca and bc of his internalized homophobia or whatever but why not hate on the actual people who sent her on that quest rather than a random kid you just met who said he’d try WHICH HE ACTUALLY DID DO and not idk literally any adult figure who sent her into the fire to begin with
i just want nico to realise that percy is simply just a boy who literally wanted nothing to do with any of this and was trying his best to free nico of that same burden sigh (;_;)
like those two are the fattest example of a miscommunication held together by misunderstood betrayal
disclaimer this is obv dramatic and the prophecy definitely doesn’t work like that but like think abt it ok
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amoreva · 2 months
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GHOST IN THE WIND
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pairing: luke castellan x fem!reader
summary: after a rough turnout of the quest assigned to you, you began to see your ex-boyfriend as the poison slowly kills you.
warnings: angst, post luke betrayal, poisoning, mentions of effects of poison
a/n: so sorry, was taking a slight break on requests for this fic and the fic series that is in the works. I promise i will answer the requests at some point.
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“Medic!” The door to the medical cabin slammed open. The door knob made a hole in wooden walls at Annabeth’s strength. “Will…”
She rasped out, carrying your dead weight. Your breath coming in short bursts as if your lungs couldn’t hold any more air. Veins darkened to the color of night, crawling up your flesh like a parasite itching to take over the host.
“Oh my gods…” Will Solace, head counselor of Apollo Cabin, gasped and helped you onto one of the uncomfortable cots.
You were mumbling nonsense as black liquid dribbled out of your mouth. Will called out your name, desperately trying to grab your attention. Annabeth was standing over you, concerned.
“Oh gods! Oh gods, oh gods, oh gods!” The other Apollo kid on duty piped up, scrambling to find the ambrosia. It was scary how you looked.
It was like something from the Underworld took hold of your body. There was a puncture wound on your abdomen, which was the probable entrance for the poison.
“Hey, hey—stay conscious for me, okay?” Will spoke as your vision began to get cloudy. He can see you withering away and demanded for information.
“Will…” You managed to croak out. Your friend looked at you with worry, to see the brightest camper succumb to an unknown illness was…bone-chilling.
“Don’t sleep—just don’t black out.” Will muttered as you tasted your favorite fruits as ambrosia slid down your throat easily. “Please…I don’t know if you’ll wake up—”
You were out like a light. The ambrosia combating the poison overwhelmed your body. It was too much for your mind to even find a sliver of energy to try and stay conscious.
Your name was shouted, but sleep pulled you away from the medical cabin and throwing you into a different scene.
It was dark, like you were walking in an empty void. “Judgement.”, you think. You must’ve died and was waiting to get judged on whether you can enter Elysium or not.
What a shitty death. Dying from poison, it wasn’t hero worthy nor significant to a war. Just death to some ghastly poison that you were careless to figuring out what it was.
But…it’s not Judgement. It’s not because you see him. He’s walking around in clothes you last remember him in. Orange Camp Half-Blood shirt, khaki pants and sneakers. The beads on his necklace moving each time he walked.
You know he isn’t dead. He Iris-messaged you yesterday to apologize for his betrayal. He can’t be dead. You wouldn’t have it.
“Luke!” You tried to call out, but no sound is made from your mouth. It terrified you. You tried to scream your lover’s (ex-lover’s) name again as you saw claws wrap around Luke from the ground and drag him in.
You tried to scream his name again, running to him, but your legs felt like sludge. He stared at you indifferently, accepting his reality—maybe…maybe just maybe you could save him if you run fast enough.
He slipped between your fingers. His chocolate curls disappearing into the floor of whatever abyss you’re in. You let out a silent, dry sob. If…if you had just noticed sooner…you could’ve saved him.
The same hands wrap around your limbs, tugging you down into the floor. Crying out for help, your heart tightened as if someone had a grip on it—squeezing ever last bit of life out. A sharp pull engulfed you into the void.
You gasped deeply. Body launching forward as you grabbed at your chest. You expected the familiar wood floors of the medical cabin or even Will’s warm smile, but…you were on Half-Blood Hill.
Soft, calloused hands were gently placed in your spine. It doesn’t take an Athena kid to figure out who it was.
“You alright?” His deep warm tone filled your head making yourself dizzy. For moment…you allowed yourself to believe he was here, truly.
“Yeah.” You spoke, surprised to hear your voice again. What happened before becoming less and less memorable as you turned to look at Luke.
“You can tell me, y’know? What’s bothering you.” Luke reassured and tucked a piece of hair behind your ear.
A familiar smile graces your lips, allowing yourself to relax, you lean up against his chest. “I know.” You mumbled as his toned arms wrap around you. “I just…miss you.”
“Miss me? I’m hardly ever away from you.” Luke playfully teased.
The breeze blew against the two of you causing Luke to squeeze you a little tighter. You always claimed he was a human body heater.
Everything dropped. Faded in an all too quick manner before you could even scream for Luke. He was ripped away from you—but you were supposed to be in his arms.
“Hey! She’s up!” Someone called out.
You mind felt fuzzy. Mumbles, moans and groans tumbled out of your lips. You felt like you were outta your own skin—you jerked. Uncomfortable with this sudden irritation.
Annabeth yelped. The sudden reaction from you almost hit her in the face. Another groan of discomfort and pain escaped. Accompanied by it was another struggle to get whatever was out of your body.
To you, it felt like you were shifting a little to get comfortable. In reality, your body was violently twitching and reacting you hit a few Apollo kids. The veins darker than before, your skin paler than usual. What did this poison do?
“Get her—restrain…I—” Will demanded, worried you’d end up hurting yourself.
You screamed as something grabbed you, someone grabbed you. Your brain could only register it as danger and hurt and agony and—
“Stop it—!” You begged. Your voice sounded demented, as if it was the poison talking.
Black liquid oozed out of your mouth as you begged for whatever to stop. Ambrosia was forced down your throat. Lights were too bright. The panic was defeating.
You fell.
But you felt no pain.
It was “Judgement” again. The endless void surrounding the distinct figure, you. “There you are…” Luke grinned once he spotted you. Your legs carrying you to the Hermes’ counselor before you could think of the action.
The void morphed into the familiar forest used to play Capture the Flag. Luke laced his hand with yours. “S’just up ahead.” He tugged you along.
Once more, you let yourself relax like this was the reality that fate has set and not one where Luke betrayed Camp, betrayed Percy, betrayed Annabeth, betrayed…you.
“Where are you taking me?” You laughed. A bright smile on your face as you maneuvered through the forest.
Slipping through the trees and branches, Luke brings you to the dock. The water washing up on the small beach.
A small cliche red and white checkered blanket laid out across the wooden dock, masking the potential splinters. There was chips and two soda cans on the blanket and six roses bunched up to make it look like a bouquet.
“Oh Luke…” Any confusion or anger evaporated when you saw the scene.
He smiled, smiled that charming grin and pulled you to sit down on the blanket. “Used up the rest of my money for the snacks and to bargain with a Demeter kid for these.”
He held up the six roses. The petals a delicate red, soft as a baby’s bum. They smelled nice. He went through all this effort for you?
“Luke…” You repeat in the same tone and took the roses from his hand. You noticed the thorns were cut off and a couple of band aids were around his fingers.
A show of his effort to rid the thorns so you didn’t prick your fingers.
“This…this is all wonderful.” You said, albeit a bit breathless. The roses, the snacks, the blanket—all the thought put into this date. It made you forget you were dreaming. You should’ve known…this was too good to be true.
But you stayed oblivious and in denial, tackling your (ex) boyfriend in a grateful hug. Luke laughed and wrapped your arm around your waist.
Yet, your subconscious pulled you from the happy moment. An uncomfortable feeling itching to tear your guts and organs to shreds. It was as if your own organs and nerves did not belong there—like they were in the wrong body. A warbled scream left your throat. Hands desperate to claw at your flesh.
You wanted it to stop—you would do anything to get this feeling to stop. Your heart breaking. To be ripped away from Luke again and again. In both subconscious and reality was cruel.
Your veins now tendrils crawling up your face, stopping just a little above your eyebrows.
“Hey, hey—breathe!” Someone comforted. You couldn’t recognize their face. It was like as if your sense of familiarity disappeared, triggering your fight or flight (mostly fight) response.
“Will—the antidote?!” A girl called out. Her voice somewhat familiar.
You struggled against binds. You wanted to run far, far away and stop this pain. The pain in your body, the pain in your mind…the agonizing ache in your heart.
“Luke—” The name left your lips desperate for any sort of answer to what was happening.
A small pinch.
Fire. White hot pain sprouting in your body. Burning your insides out. Another cry for help. Another scream of desperation. His name leaving your mouth. It hurt—it hurt all too much. Both the burning in your body and the reality of him being gone. Truly, gone.
“Luke! Please…please—help!”
Overwhelmed, you were sucked back into the dream. This time on a cabin bed. It was unclear on whose cabin you two were in. Luke had his arms around your waist, head on your stomach. The pain fleeting, but lingering.
The stars shined brights whilst the moonlight blessed you two. It was peaceful, almost…dare you say—normal. No gods, no goddesses, no prophecies, no quests, no betrayal, no hurt. Nothing.
You found yourself humming, running your fingers through his curls, and feeling your eyes close with fatigue.
“Falling asleep there, sweetheart?” You could feel his smile against your skin. He pressed a kiss to the flesh nearest to his lips.
“Mhm…” Your body flared up due to a burn—but there was no fire in the cabin. You stayed put. “I—I could spend all of eternity with you.”
“I could spend all of my time in Elysium with you.” Luke mumbled and turned his head to look up at you.
He pushed himself up onto his elbows, then his hands, so he was close to you. Lips connected like hands clasping for prayer. It was soft, yet it spoke a lot of words that he could not get out.
“I love you. Never forget that, okay?” Luke whispered against your lips.
His beaded necklace hovering over you. You placed your arms around his neck slowly and kissed him again. Never wanting the moment to stop.
Even then, you never had the courage to say those three simple words to Luke. Realizing this might be the last time you see him, dream or not. It made you sad he never heard it from you.
Maybe this will make up for it?
“I love you—I love you. I love you.” You repeated. Your voice shaky, holding back tears. This wasn’t real and you know it’s not real—but…you missed Luke. You missed him so much that it hurts. You didn’t believe he would betray Camp Half-Blood and you without Kronos’ manipulation.
“Hey…” Luke cupped your face and kissed your forehead. He grabbed your arms to sit up. It wasn’t good to cry laying down. “Don’t tear up. Everything will be okay, okay? I’m sorry.”
“Sorry? What are you—?”
“I’m sorry, but you have the wake up.” Luke sighed and pressed his forehead with yours.
“Wait—“
“You have to wake up.” Luke grasped your hands. He held you as if this was the last time.
“What?”
“I love you very much and—and I’m so sorry for leaving you there—“
“Luke—wait!”
Your eyes shot up to be met with wooden walls of the medical cabin. Will and Annabeth shot up, ready to take necessary precautions. A dry sob left your mouth.
“Hey…” Will spoke softly.
You sat up, tears cascading down your face. You started to helplessly wipe them. You could feel his touch lingering. His hands grasping yours. Will pulled you into a soft hug when he deducted the poison was out of your system.
The mind is cruel, the poison was cruel. Fate was cruel, life was cruel.
You missed him.
You buried into Will as if it was him. Will and Annabeth thought you were crying because of the overwhelming feelings of what happened when you were poisoned.
You missed him.
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lady-ashfade · 2 months
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Naive Sister
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Yandere Platonic!Percabeth x naive!little!sister!reader vs Yandere!Platonic!luke castellan
-♡ ask: Ok so basically it’s platonic yan percbeth (reader is Percy’s little sister) and reader sides with Luke and is like “I chose him!!” And they are like “lowkey nahh” @maria699669
-♡ ah honestly this is really short, but this was such a good idea so thank you.
-♡ warning: short, yandere behavior, sibling betrayal?, this is drama.
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he had left for too long. he hated to leave you at camp without him, but Luke swore to keep you safe. you weren’t aloud to come along, not like he wanted you to come anyway because it was too dangerous.
percy should have taken you.
you grew close with luke in the time percy was gone because he took you under his wing and reminded you of your big brother. he was kind, and taught you many things. even protected you from everyone! he told you the kids were acting nice but wanted to hurt you so you needed to stay with him. luke was your best friend.
his words got into your mind and took over your own thoughts. it was easy thanks to how percy treated you, poor you couldn’t think for your own. so when he told you how cruel the gods were and how dangerous they could be. even how your father treated your brother like a soldier and that was a perfect plan on his part.
“y/n, you shouldn’t be here.” Percy yelled as annabeth stood next to him with her dagger drawn. you creep closer with wide eyes at all the weapons pointed.
“What’s going on?”
“Nothing! Go back to your cabin and stay there,” annabeth looked at you and tried to soften her features to make you feel safe, “we are all okay.” you bite your lip and nod along, you didn’t think of it and went to walk away.
Luke watched you turn your back, he couldn’t bare to lose you now. “Y/n, this is your time. Remember what I told you?” Percy glanced between the two of you. what was he talking about?
“The gods?” You turn back around.
“Y/n go back to your room!”
“No y/n! Remember the stories I told you? Come with me?” Percy tightened his jaw and glared at luke, wanting to stab him in that moment. You are his sister and he dare try take you away?
what surprised everyone was how you walked to him instead of percy. you grabbed ahold of his extended hand as the other hand pointed at percy with his sword. luke felt smug that you choose him. so he smirked at percy victorious.
“I’m going with him! I’ll make sure to be good!” even now you still didn’t understand what was happening. yet you sided with him? percy felt furious.
“you sly bastard! while I was out there risking my life you decide to take what is mine? I’ll kill you!” he stepped closer ready to lunge at him but stopped when you stood in front of him.
“Don’t hurt him! I promise brother it’s what is best, luke said so!” You point at the older boy. “He wouldn’t lie to me!”
annabeth got upset and rolled her eyes, “you think you can take her luke? in the middle of your war what would happen to her?” she moved closer like percy, “you can’t protect her.”
“Like you can? At least she will be on the winning side.”
Percy didn’t care anymore and went for Luke and pushed you out of the way, you fell to the ground with a cry. your eyes filled with tears at the small pain you felt and the two fighting before you. annabeth came over to check over you for cuts and patted your head while hiding you in a hug. she wasn’t mad at you, you were just too naive to see what was happening.
“She my sister now, Percy.” Luke smirks as the portal opens behind him, “just a matter of time before I get her back.”
Taglist: @purplerose291 @itzmeme @ravenmedows @repostingmyfavs
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pigfacedbitch · 8 months
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Falling In Love With Leo Valdez
summary : title speaks for itself. reader is a daughter of Poseidon. timeline is from the lost hero to mark of Athena.
word count : 0.7k
type : imagines
pairing/s involved : Leo Valdez x Reader, Brother! Percy Jackson x Reader
warning/s : dealing with a loved one's disappearance, depression, and coping
here is my masterlist!
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Percy is the amazing older brother anyone could ever ask for. He made sure that you were thoroughly trained and well-oriented on what it means to be a demigod.
The only downside? He is extremely protective, especially when someone is romantically interested in you.
"PERCY!" You see the camper who flirted with you earlier got knocked off of his canoe and almost drowned in the lake.
"What? It wasn't me."
But his face says otherwise. He can be insufferable.
You love him dearly anyway.
So when he vanished that summer, you are a mess. Chiron had to monitor your every move because you might try to find Percy on your own.
Annabeth told you she received a word of where he is and assured you that everything will be okay. Instead she brought back three strangers with her.
One particularly caught your attention with his elf-like features and scrawny build. You found him... cute.
As expected, Leo flirted with you right away. How could he not? You are hot! 😍
"Hey there, cutie. Are you a goddess?"
"No. My name is (Y/N)."
"Leo Valdez but you can call me anything you want-"
"How about dead?" Annabeth cuts him off, giving him an icy glare. That was enough to shut him up.
Leo uses all of his time to be with you. He is so in love, it's almost sickening.
At first, it's just harmless flirting.
Then he notices the little things— you don't eat that much, easily space out in conversations, lethargic, and has always a forlorn look on your beautiful face.
You, on the other hand, have repressed your emotions to look 'strong'. Annabeth tries to be there for you but she is suffering too.
That's why you bawled your eyes out when Leo asks you about Percy one night.
After that, he swears to you that he will be there to help you cope and look for your brother as well.
He lessens the flirting, shifting to jokes and funny stories that make you laugh.
Disobeying the rules in the dining pavilion, he eats his meals with you on the Cabin 3 table.
You're the first person he brings in Bunker 9, letting you use the place for your own leisure. You often nap there.
Despite the instant attraction, trust gradually grows between you and Leo.
You weren't some silly crush anymore but someone Leo can confide in, and he to you.
Those who observe see that you are becoming lively again. Your smile is no longer forced, you're now eating well, and looking forward to training and games.
The moment you realize Leo wasn't just a friend was because of some jerks who think you were out of his league.
"Come on, man. She wouldn't date you."
You quickly walked up to them and kissed him in front of everyone.
To say Leo is surprised is an understatement. He almost blew up right then and there. That was his first kiss.
You had to pull him to your cabin to confess properly. Let's just say Leo had more than his first kiss that night. 👀
You two aren't officially dating yet, probably because of the war that's about to come.
However, you act like you do— displaying affections, acts of service, and most importantly, keeping each other alive.
There were no need to exchange I love yous, actions were more than enough. Though, Leo loves saying that to you whenever he can.
Annabeth knows Percy will likely kill Leo but if he makes you happy then why not?
Flashforward to Camp Jupiter, you walk to Reyna with Jason and the others. By the distance, you see Percy running towards you with his hands reaching out.
He engulfs you in a hug that you're sure will break your ribs.
"How come my little sister got smaller?"
"Shut up."
You both feel the heavy weight of worry on your shoulders disappear, Percy tigtening his hug on you if that was possible.
Even with the danger looming over all of your heads, you felt safe and content in Percy's arms. Everything seems perfect.
Now, there's only one problem...
How can you tell Percy that you're in love with Leo without the chances of drowning him to death?
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janovavalen · 3 months
Text
✧DON’T LEAVE ME || luke castellan x ares fem!reader
summary: when percy gotten back to camp and found out who the true lightning thief was, he was quick to tell y/n who knew what she had to do.
word count: 1645
warnings: angst, breaking up, luke begging for y/n to join his side…no happy ending (only a part one)
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when percy had arrived back to camp, needles to say he made a reputation quicker than anyone did before. not only did he kill a minotaur with its own horn, but he’d managed to finish his first quest in returning the lightning bolt, met four gods and managed to stop a war from happening.
not only did he do that…but he’d managed to find out it wasn’t clarisse who stole the lightning bolt…no, someone he would have never expected at all. and when he found out, y/n was the first to know.
the whole camp in fact knew about y/n and luke. the two were inseparable. since the moment they stepped into camp together they’d never left each other's side. some campers said they would see them holding hands, making out, or just hanging out every minute of every day.
when percy knew he had to tell y/n, he knew what she’d say.
walking into her cabin as she sharpened some of her swords, she looked up at the noise of the floorboards creeping under his foot.
‘oh, percy…what are you doing here?’ she placed the sword down onto the bed and stood up to percy who walked very slowly. she was confused to see him acting like this, like he’d done something wrong.
‘percy what’s going on? did a camper steal your blueberries or something?’ she teased while percy stayed straight faced and quiet. feeling a bit tense he cleared his throat before talking.
‘uhm…y/n there’s something very important i need you to know…something serious…but i don’t want you lashing out. so please just listen to me okay?’ percy talked lowly and slow while y/n nervously laughed and nodded her head in understanding.
‘when we were out on the quest, i’d learned some things about who stole the lightning bolt—‘
‘yeah you said it was my sister—clarisse, right?’
‘yes i know what i said but. seeing that when i got back and chiron didn’t take her out of the camp or get her in trouble…it got me thinking. when me and grover were heading to hades castle, the shoes luke gave us started to pull us to where kronos is held…and when we found clues and hints—‘
‘it was luke…wasn’t it.’ y/n shakily asked while also hoping it wasn’t him at all and this was just some very big mistake. but even percy didn’t deny was when she got her answer.
sighing heavily while closing her eyes she nodded to percy with the understanding of his words and knowledge.
‘luke had mentioned he wanted to get back at the gods for a very long time for what they’ve done and one day he came back to camp acting different…he had something to hide and i didn’t ask or want to know because it wasn’t my place but one day he told me things would change for the better or worse…i just, never thought he’d steal the bolt…’ y/n looked at the ground with her eyes watering with tears while trying to hold them from falling in front of percy.
out of all of the ares kids y/n was probably more of a athena or apollo child out of ares. she was much kinder, open with her emotions—sometimes—-and didn’t feel the overbearing need to be better than everyone—in some things.
she was hard on percy only when it came to things she knew he could do…she was difficult to understand because she kept her thoughts closed off. she was very stern, stubborn, confident and sometimes cocky. but she never let that get in the way of how she was as an individual. she let her siblings go after their father but she? wanted to be more like her mom.
standing in front of percy who happened to somehow grow a bit taller over his quest, the two of them being eye to eye. y/n felt her heart pounding rapidly against her chest.
‘i’ll…i’ll be right back. don’t go anywhere. go to the celebration and stay there with annabeth and grover, okay?’ she instituted percy who nodded slowly but let her leave.
ㆍ୨୧ㆍ
as y/n had been walking into the forest to clear her mind, she was unknowingly followed by luke who had caught her form and tried to call out to her only for her to not answer.
he had been watching her as she placed her hand against head—she’d been thinking of something important that was stressing her—she stopped and took a deep breath—she was hesitant—her shoulders shaking a bit he knew she was crying.
‘y/n?’ he mumbled loud enough for her to hear. turning around to see luke, she inhaled sharply and cleared her throat.
‘luke, hey. what are you doing here? i thought you were going to the celebration?’ she asked. straightening her back to come off as she didn’t just almost cry in the middle of the forest as embarrassing that would be.
‘oh…yeah, i was i just saw you and tried to call out for you but you never answered so…’ he lightly smiled while she nodded her head slowly. seeing through him and seeing through that smile that almost for percy, grover and annabeth killed.
‘yeah, well i just wanted to be alone for a while…so you can go—‘
‘no, i’ll stay here with you, and we can talk about whatever is bothering you—‘
‘no luke! leave, leave me alone okay? i don’t want to talk to you right now okay? please…please just leave me alone’ y/n places her hands together as a pleading motion while closing her eyes.
luke sadly looked at y/n with his heart being pulled into different directions. he was hurt that she wanted him to leave, he was hurt she didn’t want to see him, he was hurt she wanted to be left alone and he was confused as to why.
‘what did i do?’ he calmly asked. his sad eyes watching y/n who had inhaled sharply with annoyance.
‘luke…leave me alone—‘
‘no! why? why don’t you want to talk to me? why don’t you want to be with me—what did i do? why can’t we just talk—‘
‘because you stole the lightning bolt and almost killed my friends!’ y/n yelled on the top of her lungs. the anger held in her eyes had resembled her father so much he almost couldn’t tell them apart.
his heart dropped when she said what she had said and he almost lost it. how did she know? why does she know? who told her this—where did she hear this?
‘but clarisse—percy, annabeth and grover said it was her why would it be me…’ he watched her eyes as she rolled them and placed her hands over her face to bring her anger down to a reasonable level.
‘luke…you’ve told me you always wanted to get back at the gods for a while now. you said one day they’d see us, one day the world would change? percy has met hades who’s almost told him everything he needed to hear…you, are a liar—‘
‘no…’ luke shook his slowly while slight tears welled in his eyes. the fireworks behind the two of them showing red behind y/n and a blue behind luke.
‘yes luke! you lied! you almost got people killed and you almost killed kids at that!’
like she didn't quit almost quickly while y/n shook her head in anger. her eyes burning with tears as his did as well.
seeing there was no way out of this he sighed and gave up—‘i didn’t know he’d give them to grover to wear…’ luke helplessly sighed while the tears in his eyes grew bigger almost dropping from their holding stage.
y/n felt her heart clutch and her eyes well as she heard his words. suppressing any words to come from her mouth that might cause any other trouble she closed her eyes as her nose scrunched in anger.
‘y/n please—‘
‘no! you can’t say that and expect me to trust you luke—i’ll never trust you again! i’ll never put my faith into you! you have lied and you have lost! you don’t belong here anymore luke go!’ she yelled her anger boiling to the surface. that sweet side of her mom is no longer present and replaced with her father.
‘y/n…you don’t mean that…you can’t mean that; don’t you understand it was a mistake—‘
‘what a mistake was believing the lies you’ve told me for years on end and letting you sit on a throne in my life.’ y/n mutters as luke stepped in front of her. when she saw this she was quick it draw her sword as it touched the tip of his adam’s apple. looking down at it, luke gulped a bit and looked into y/n’s eyes to see no softness in them.
‘y/n please…please, please, please don’t do this. don’t leave me alone—your all i have!’
‘stop it luke! just stop! i can’t believe what you say anymore! you almost hurt the ones i love and the one you call family—‘
‘i never meant to do that! can’t you understand im trying to make this a better place…a better world for all of us..for you…’ he trailed off; his tear dropping and rolling down his cheek as y/n’a held no emotion, only anger written on her face.
breathing heavily, y/n let her eye twitch before letting the worse of her take over, aggressively pushing her sword down as it cut a bit of luke’s stomach. wincing in pain as he looked up at her and down at the open wound; he looked at her once more with tears in his eyes to recognize a y/n he’s never met before.
before he could say anything was when percy arrived.
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kamaluhkhan · 3 days
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COMPLICATED
LUST — part iv of we'll write sins like tragedies
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pairing: luke castellan x nemesis! reader (afab) word count: 8.9k summary: the lives of demigods are never simple. why would your relationship with luke be any different? or: four moments of tension + one moment of release. featuring a trip to montauk with percy, grover, and annabeth warnings: a decent amount of reader backstory (mention of dad having cancer); multiple POVs (percy, grover, annabeth, luke, reader - obv nothing suggestive/smutty until luke and reader POV); luke + reader get into arguments and are v stressed so their relationship is a bit strained; reader has tattoos; reader is on birth control; rough smut (protected + unprotected p in v, oral f+m receiving, biting, scratching, slight choking, slight breeding kink, etc...); also slight dark + possessive luke! (18 + MDNI); major angst — we all know how this story ends ;( author's note: this was meant to be a blurb but...here we are! this is basically another chapter of my spill ur guts series lol. i've been gone for much longer than i planned to, but hope u enjoy possibly the angstiest, smuttiest thing i've written so far ♡
♪ "complicated" by avril lavigne
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i. 
in the span of a few minutes, percy went from pure joy — being greeted with cheers from all the campers was great, sure, but truthfully the hug from annabeth alone sent him to elysium — to feeling like his heart dropped all the way to tartarus.
which is definitely not a place percy ever wants to visit again. he was happy to be back at camp with his friends, knowing that his quest was completed, his mom was safe in new york, and a war between the gods was prevented.
it should be over….but there’s something in the back of percy’s mind that’s telling him it isn’t. seeing a certain someone in the crowd earlier didn’t do anything to ease that feeling.
"can someone explain to me why clarisse is still here?" 
you raise an eyebrow at luke, and he shrugs in response.  it seems neither of you had decided who should break the news, and neither of you seem particularly excited to do so, even after dragging percy, along with annabeth and grover, into the empty hermes cabin for some privacy.
after another beat of silence, you take the lead.
“look, kid, i know you and clarisse got off to a rocky start —”
“she tried to drown me, and then basically kill me during capture the flag,” percy points out. he hears an ocean roaring at the memory, but that could have also been from his duel with clarisse’s dad, the god of war, more recently.
a duel that percy had won, for the record. luke trained him well.
“and i’m not defending that,” you clarify. “i’m just saying that we’ve known clarisse for much longer. she’s not perfect, maybe a bit aggressive sometimes — trust me, she and i have had some major disagreements, too — but i can’t see her doing something like this.”
“why would anyone at camp want to steal the bolt? to join kronos’ army against the gods?” annabeth wonders. to herself or to the group, percy isn’t sure, but he has a feeling that the wheels in her mind are turning.
“revenge, maybe?” grover suggests. 
almost instinctively, grover glances at you, and so does annabeth. percy wants to kick himself for doing the same. 
with you being the daughter of nemesis, he imagines that it's not the first time you’d been blamed for something just because of who you are. it’s a feeling percy knows all too well. and, for better or for worse, like percy, it seems like you’re not one to accept these things without a fight.
you straighten your shoulders, ready to snap back, but before you can, luke declares:
“it’s not her.”
he then knocks the toe of his shoe against your combat boot. you smile and return the gesture. the tension eases out of the room.
for a second, percy wonders if he’ll ever have someone like that: someone to defend like it’s second nature, to share that sort of secret language with, to smile at him like nothing else in the world matters. 
according to annabeth, the two of you weren’t technically dating — but percy is pretty sure that aphrodite is swooning over you. 
“see, grove? if camp half-blood’s golden boy can vouch for me, then i’m in the clear.” your tone is playful enough — no hard feelings — but the tips of grover’s ears still turn red. “i didn’t steal the bolt. sure, the gods and titans can tear each other apart for all i care — " 
annabeth stiffens at your bold statement, and grover starts to nervously chew on an empty diet coke can he had stashed in his pocket. luke watches you with the hint of a smile on his face, and percy —
well, percy can’t help but admire you even more. 
"— but it's everything else that i have an issue with.”
“everything else?”
you look at percy like the answer is obvious. 
“when have the gods ever fought their battles without us as collateral damage? doesn’t seem worth it to me, to betray my friends.” 
that itch in the back of percy’s brain gets harder to ignore.
“the oracle warned me, betrayed by a friend.” 
“prophecies don't always come true,” annabeth reminds him. “at least not in the way we expect them to.” 
“annie is right,” luke adds, nodding at his sister. “mine didn't. the oracle said i would die a hero.” 
you turn to luke then, your eyebrows furrowed. 
“what? you never told me that.” 
“it doesn’t matter,” luke insists. “my point is that i came back from my joke of a quest, alive and a definitely not a hero —”
“fuck what the oracle said.” you roll your eyes. “dead or alive, you are a hero, tiger.”
you move to place a hand on luke’s arm. to percy’s surprise, though, luke brushes you off.
“i’m not a hero. at least not the one my dad expects me to be.”
again, percy is taken aback by how luke snapped, at you of all people. you huff, and percy can tell that you’re a bit agitated now, too. 
“okay, but that doesn’t mean —”
“my point is.” luke turns to percy, effectively blocking your presence for the time being. “you completed your quest, fought a god, and stalled kronos’ plan. you’ve been through it — all three of you have — but now you’re back. let’s just enjoy the rest of our summer, yeah? whatever happened out there, whatever the oracle said, it’s in the past.”
percy wants to believe luke, he really does. one glance in your direction, and it seems like you do, too.
deep down, though, percy isn’t entirely convinced. there’s that dread in the pit of his stomach, that voice in the back of his head. something in him, warning that this isn’t quite over. the worst has yet to come.
he wonders if — or maybe just hopes — you feel the same.
ii.
if you of all people can’t get luke’s attention, grover is pretty sure that the world is ending.
“luke,” you try again, foregoing your usual nickname for him. your arms are crossed and you tap your foot against the floor. it makes grover slightly anxious, feeling your frustration threaten to boil over.
“i’m busy,” he grunts, and flips over another page, scribbling something on the other side. 
“grover wanted to talk to us about something.”
“i-it’s fine, we don’t have to —”
“no, it’s a good idea, grove,” you insist. you smile at grover then. he remembers that, despite the deadly glares you can deliver, like the one you were just giving luke, you have a gentle core. you just guard it behind sharp edges. 
“tell him that i’ll talk to him later.”
“or, you could tell him yourself,” you huff. grover waves awkwardly, even though luke doesn’t realize what’s happening. “he’s right next to me.”
luke looks up briefly, and then back down at the pages in front of him just as quick. he looks tired, exhausted even. 
“sorry, man. didn’t see you there. i gotta finish these reports.”
“no worries. i tend to be quiet on my hooves.”
in the moment of silence that follows, and with luke still not giving you the attention you’re asking for, you walk over to the desk where luke is working. what you see seems to make you even more annoyed than before.
“these reports are for september. why in the name of nemesis are you filling them out now?”
“i just want to be prepared.”
“prepared for what?”
luke hesitates. “just….the future.”
“oh!” you laugh, sharp and sarcastic. “i didn’t realize that the future required you to neglect your friends.”
“i’m trying to help my friends,” luke huffs. he taps his pen impatiently against the desk. “if you didn’t keep interrupting me —”
“oh my fucking gods — ”
grover watches the two of you argue. it had been easier to step in whenever something bubbled up between annabeth and percy, because they were just kids. but you and luke — you were adults. 
when grover met luke for the first time, he was already taking on way too much responsibility for a kid — keeping thalia and annabeth alive, protecting them from monsters, taking care of them. in a lot of ways, those responsibilities didn’t go away: as a senior counselor and resident older brother, a hero for the older campers to admire and the younger kids to aspire to be. camp half-blood’s golden boy, as you liked to call him. 
and, like you, luke is good at hiding. for him, its heavy burdens behind easy-going smiles. 
lately, though, those smiles seem to be strained, his shoulders slowly bending under the weight of it all. the other day, grover asked you if everything was okay with luke. you had looked back at him sadly, shrugged, and said you didn’t know.
that’s when grover decided that everyone just needs a break — an escape. he had been sensing that things weren’t quite right with the others, too. percy seems a little on edge, and so does annabeth.
then, of course, there was you and luke. finding out that the two of you had actually started dating was huge news for someone like grover who had painstakingly watched the two of you dance around your feelings for years. so, it was more than a little weird that you’d barely been speaking this past week. the rare occasion you did was tense at best, and explosive at worst. 
like now, when you pick up one of the reports luke was working on, and threaten to burn it. luke dares you to do so, even suggests, albeit sarcastically, that you use it as your next offering to the gods. 
“oh, a handwritten document from luke castellan himself? they would love that,” you snort. “admit it: you’re doing all of mr. d’s work just to suck up to some gods who don’t even give a shit about any of this. you’re practically olympus’ lapdog.”
luke, blushing a furious shade of red, gets up and yanks the paper from your hand.
“at least my parent is important enough to actually have a seat on olympus and an actual cabin for his kids to stay in.”
you look like you could just about throw luke into a fire, and vice versa. grover had never seen the two of you like this, but it made sense: each of you knowing just where, and how, to hurt the other.
and, he thinks it’s about time to step in before the damage is irreversible. so, grover starts slowly clapping. the clapping gets faster, and he manages to get through the first few lines of the consensus song before you stop him.
“alright, alright,” you sigh. you push past luke, steal his chair, and put your feet up on the desk. luke scowls at you, but you put your hands up in surrender and jut your chin out towards grover. “just listen to what grover has to say and then we’ll let you get back to your precious reports.”
grover tells luke his idea. luke actually agrees, and grover can’t help but feel a little bit of a victory. 
he’s a protector, after all. it’s his job to make sure you’re all alive and happy and thriving. and not burnt to a crisp over some petty argument.
iii. 
annabeth had missed home when she was away on their quest, but being back and seeing everyone being taught to worship the gods without question, to believe that the only things that matter are power and glory….well, after everything that happened, after percy, annabeth can’t just go back to doing the same. at least not entirely. 
all this to say, she was totally on board with grover’s idea: the five of you, renting a cabin in montauk to get away from camp for a bit.
unfortunately, the trip starts off less than ideally. you and luke bicker the entire way here — and not the playful jabs you usually throw at each other. 
annabeth remembers the first time she saw you together. it was during breakfast, their first morning at camp half-blood. annabeth had spent the night trying not to cry over thalia, and already missing luke even though he was only a few cabins away. she was still a kid, surrounded by strangers, told that she was safe now, but didn’t quite believe it yet. one look to luke at the hermes table, and annabeth could tell he felt the same way, too — not quite settled in this new place that was supposed to be home, and with these people who were supposed to be family.
she watched as the hermes table went to burn offerings to the gods. when they sat down again, luke looked even more unsettled than before.
but then, you leaned in and whispered something in luke’s ear, and he actually laughed, just a bit, which was a nice change of pace. luke was always the one making annabeth and thalia laugh when they were running from monsters, always the one trying to keep everything together with a smile or a joke.
as she devoured her breakfast, annabeth couldn’t help but keep glancing at the two of you. she heard warnings from her half-siblings, about your mother being the goddess of revenge, and you living up to that name. 
luke either didn't know, or didn't care about whatever reputation you had. sitting there, next to you, annabeth didn’t think she’d ever seen luke so, genuinely happy, so at ease.
all these years later, neither you nor luke seemed particularly happy. you’re obviously avoiding each other, and annabeth doesn’t understand why.
you and luke are a new puzzle that she can’t wait to solve. 
annabeth had finished constructing the most elaborate sandcastle in history, just for percy to accidentally splash it when he was trying to surf a wave; so she decides that playtime is over. it’s time to figure out what exactly is going on between you and luke.
luke is in the cabin doing gods know what. you're on the deck painting your nails, so annabeth decides to start gathering information from you, first. 
“hey." you finish painting your pinky a dark purple, and set the bottle down next to you. "having fun?”
annabeth nods once and sits next to you. she asks if you could paint her nails, and you pull out a bottle of silver polish you said you thought she might like. 
as you work, careful with each stroke of polish, annabeth surveys the tattoos on your skin. you’re wearing a bikini top, so there are some that she’s seeing for the first time. there's one of a knife on your sternum, and annabeth distinctly remembers seeing a similar one peeking from underneath the collar of luke’s shirt. she wonders when you got it, if you had to travel to a tattoo parlour in the city, how many other adventures you'd gone on without having to consult the oracle beforehand. 
maybe that’s a good place to start. 
“have you ever thought about leaving camp? like, long term?" 
"sometimes," you admit. "it would be nice to have some normal early-twenties experiences."
"would you go to school?"
you smile as you keep painting annabeth’s nails. “maybe. i might have seen legally blonde too many times, but i think about law school sometimes.” 
“what about luke?”
your smile fades at the question. “i...i don’t know." your once precise nail-painting falters, and you mumble a curse when a drop of silver lands on annabeth's skin. you swipe it away before continuing. "luke's one of those people i can't really see away from camp half-blood for too long; pretty sure it would burn down without him. there's a reason he feels responsible for everyone there...in a way i respect, obviously, but, it's not the same for me. nobody needs me."
"luke needs you."
you sigh, and annabeth wonders if you even realize how you shake your head slightly. she thinks you're about to disagree with her, but instead you ask: 
“what's this about, annie? are you thinking about your dad’s offer?”
and annabeth’s completely thrown off her line of inquiry. 
“how did you —”
“perce told me that you’ve been talking about staying with him for the year,” you explain. you gesture at annabeth to give you her other hand, and she complies. the silver polish on the hand you just finished glitters in the sun. 
“well, nothing’s confirmed.”
you look up at annabeth, one eyebrow raised. “it's okay, you know — if you just wanna….be a kid for a bit.”
annabeth is silent, prompting you to ask another question.
"what's holding you back?"
“well….at first, i thought it would be a definite no,” annabeth admits. “obviously, it didn’t work out last time. i don’t know if i want to risk it again — if i can trust him, you know? how do i know he actually cares —  that he’ll be there for me when i need him?”
“you don’t.” you pause for a second. “but i’m gonna tell you a story that i think might help.”
you're done painting her nails, so you put everything away. you sit cross-legged next to annabeth, looking out at the ocean.
“my dad never wanted me to go to camp. he wanted to raise me in the city, just like he’d grown up. he’d take me to rock concerts all the time. i was so young, he’d make me wear earmuffs and carry me on his shoulders so that i could still see the band.” you smile softly at the memory. “and then….my dad got sick, he couldn’t take care of me, and monsters started to show up, so he brought me to camp for safe keeping." 
"you've told me all this," annabeth remarks. 
you start fiddling with your camp necklace. annabeth isn't used to seeing you so unsure, so nervous; it throws her off even more. 
"what i haven't told you is that even when my dad got better, he….he didn’t give me a choice of where to stay.”
"oh," is all annabeth can say. 
“yeah, oh," you scoff, but there’s not really any malice behind it. you seem…sad. defeated, almost. your fingers move to play with the hem of your shorts, which causes the fresh nail polish to smudge. you don’t seem too concerned about that at the moment, though. "i told everyone that i chose to stay. the truth is that i stayed because my dad didn't want me anymore. he said that the universe gave him a second chance, so he wanted to live his life without having to worry about monster attacks or taking care of his teenage daughter."
annabeth wonders if luke knows the truth about this; though, considering how difficult it seems for you to admit, she doubts it. 
before, annabeth had a theory that you decided to stay at camp because of luke.
luke was away when you got the news that your dad was in remission. annabeth remembers how happy you were, how excited you were to be back in the city and living with your dad again. you started packing right away.
when luke came back from his failed quest, you had just gone into the city the day before, having promised to visit in the summer and stay in touch. someone – chris maybe, or beckendorf — must have called you, told you what happened, because you came back to camp right away, your bag still fully packed. you never left again. 
"that sucks."
“yeah.” you let out a hollow, breathy laugh. “and, i was angry at first. of course i was. but now, i don’t know. i think that maybe my dad does care about me. like, he still sends me mixtapes with old punk rock songs he thinks i’d like. he actually calls me on my birthday, and we have a 3 minute conversation about nothing important." 
"right…" annabeth furrows her brows. this conversation had definitely not gone as planned. "no offense, but what's —"
"i'm getting to the point," you tell her, bumping your shoulder against hers.  "i realized that sometimes people can only love us in a way that works for them — and it sucks. it really, really sucks. but then sometimes…. sometimes people do actually try. and, i don’t know, it seems like maybe your dad is willing to try.”
“so you think i should take him up on his offer.”
the sun starts to set. you get up, brush sand off your legs. 
“i think it's time for a swim. i also think that you’re smart enough to know what’s best for you, and who deserves a second chance. just know that whatever you decide — we’ll be there for you.”
you leave without another word, but with the return of your usual confident smile, off to the shore to take advantage of the last bits of daylight. 
"she's right, annabeth." luke appears a few seconds later, takes the spot next to annabeth you had just occupied.
annabeth hums.
"how much of that did you hear?" 
luke doesn't answer. he just stares at your form, disappearing in the distance and diving under the waves.
iv.
you clear your throat and luke turns around to see you freshly showered. you’re wearing a pair of shorts and one of the oversized band tees the two of you constantly exchange. you've lost track of whose is whose at this point.
luke resists the urge to shamelessly check out your legs, and turns his back towards you once again. that bikini top you were wearing earlier was bad enough. thankfully, the heat from the stove was enough to cover up his blushing cheeks at the sight of your exposed skin. 
“i thought we were ordering pizza,” you say, moving to peer over his shoulder, chin hovering just above. luke had the sense that you were avoiding physical contact, and as much as it drives him crazy, he knows that he’s the one who’d dug his own grave. pushing you away and whatnot. 
“didn’t know that you knew how to cook.”
“not much,” luke shrugs. he keeps stirring the vegetables — broccoli and carrots and baby corn. he’ll add the red peppers once the broccoli turns green so that they don’t become too soft. he’s pretty sure that’s how he remembers it going.
“i could have helped you.” you reach over and hand him the peppers right on time. you shift to lean your back against the counter next to the stove, arms crossed over your chest and eyes following luke. 
luke throws in the chicken he cooked earlier, and then the sauce he had also mixed. he waits a few seconds, lets the sound of everything sizzling fill the space between you. 
“it’s an easy recipe.” luke turns off the stove to punctuate his point. 
and it had to be. something quick he’d make with his mom after she had one of her episodes, before waking up and realizing that she had a son to feed. the sounds, the colors, the smells — it all, overwhelmingly, reminds him of a childhood he once had. one that was never as simple as the food he just made.
none of the bitterness in his throat is caused by his mom, of course. just his father who calls himself a god, and left them both alone to fend for themselves. 
you start getting out plates from the cupboards as you ask: “where are the kids?”
luke checks the pot on the stove to see if the rice is cooked. “told them to go rent something from the video store.” 
“they went alone?”
“they’ve literally been to hell and back,” he replies and sits down at the table. “i think they can handle a blockbuster.”
“i don’t care if they get attacked by monsters,” you state, setting down the last plate in front of him. “i know they can handle themselves. they just better choose a good movie.” 
luke doesn’t mean to snort, but he can’t help but remember all the arguments you’d gotten in with chris over your tastes in movies. 
 “don’t laugh, castellan. i’ve saved movie night on more than one occasion and i’ve never gotten so much as a thank you.” you roll your eyes, but luke notices the ghost of a smile.
it fades just as quickly as it appeared, and luke already misses the small moment of levity that’s passed. 
“what’s been going on with you, tiger?”
you hold his gaze, and luke knows that you’re hoping for a real answer, for the truth he can’t give you. 
“nothing,” he answers instinctively. 
“don’t give me that,” you sigh and turn away from him, returning to your position against the counter. 
“i said it’s nothing,” luke insists, a bit more assertively. “why can’t you just believe me?”
“because you’ve been distant, moody.” your tone is sharper now, too. “you’ve been avoiding me. you’ve barely been eating. the side of your bunk has been empty, which means you haven’t been sleeping, either. gods, i can’t even remember the last time you kissed me —”
“you’re really mad at me because we haven’t fucked?” 
it’s a low blow, and he delivers it as if he hadn’t missed seeing you underneath him. or on top, or beside. luke isn’t picky. 
“you’re impossible!” you groan, and cover your face with your hands. you take a deep breath  before returning to glare at luke. “do….do you not want to be together, anymore? because if that’s what’s happening, i’ll survive. we can go back to being friends.” you clench your jaw to make up for the tremble behind your question. always a tough face, even in the face of potential heartbreak.
of course, luke knows you’ll be fine without him. he’s the one who might have difficulty surviving when you part ways.
“that’s not —” luke sighs and runs a hand through his hair, avoiding your gaze. “that’s not it.”
“then what is it?”
“noth—”
“i will send you to elysium if you tell me it’s nothing one more time, because i know it’s not!” you’re shouting now. “i might not know what it is, but i know you well enough to tell that something is bothering you. so i’m asking you, one more time, what is going on?”
the thing is, luke can’t tell you — about what he’s done, about who he’s aligned himself with. he can’t lie to you, either, at least not to save his life.
so, he’s basically stuck in whatever the greek mythology version of limbo is. 
for now, he’s saved by percy, annabeth, and grover, who walk in with a stack of DVDs and armfuls of movie snacks. 
dinner is fine, especially with the kids providing a good enough buffer. luke even catches you smiling and laughing along with them a few times. you approve of their choice in movies, starting with mulan. it’s one of luke’s favorites, too, but he can’t help but let his attention wander. 
the two of you have known each other for a long time. luke has felt your anger. he’s felt your frustration. you’ve been on opposing sides of explosive arguments, of brutal sparring matches. 
but, despite everything, luke’s never been hated by you. it’s unavoidable, given what he’s done and the path he’s on; it's just not something he's particularly eager to feel.
working for kronos….luke won't pretend he regrets it. something had to be done, to take back the poisonous world the gods created. 
he did it for you, even if you won't understand.
he'd do anything for you.
so, for now, he’s willing to endure the daggers you stare at him from the other side of the couch. 
v. 
in another life, you might have taken advantage of the queen bed and private room. both hard to come by at camp half-blood, if you’re not willing to risk zeus’ wrath for the latter.
gods, it feels like forever since you and luke snuck into cabin one because couldn’t keep your hands off each other, curses and lighting strikes be damned. 
you almost wish lightning would strike — at least then the bed would be warm. 
“i can feel you being mad at me,” luke whispers. 
“sorry, thought you’d already be gone by now,” you respond, sarcasm dripping through your words. “off to see whoever else you’d rather sleep with.”
“so, you are mad because we haven’t fucked in a while.”
a stupid slip of the tongue. you can practically hear the smirk in his voice, and your entire body feels on fire for giving him any leverage on you. that was definitely not the warmth you were hoping for. 
“whatever,” you mumble, shuffling closer to the edge of the bed, your back still towards luke. 
for the record, you’re mad because of whatever distance luke was forcing between you, or whatever wall he was putting up, for a reason you don’t understand. you’d always known luke well, but lately you haven’t been able to read him. 
and, sure. maybe you are…. frustrated. the two of you hadn’t been intimate in a while, yes, and your fingers are nothing compared to luke’s, but more than that: you just miss actually feeling him close to you. in any sense. 
you’re not sure how much time passes, and there’s nothing but silence. then, you hear his voice again, gentler than before, no cocky attitude laced through. 
“you never told me about your dad.”
ugh. of course, luke had overheard your conversation with annabeth earlier. damn those sly hermes’ genes.
you stay silent to give off the illusion that you’d fallen asleep, but luke doesn't fall for it. 
“we’ve shared a bunk for years, karma. i can tell when you’re not sleeping.” 
you pause for a few more seconds, but you know that luke is persistent.
“it didn’t matter,” is all you offer before he asks again.
“it did,” luke insists. “why didn’t you tell me?”
“it’s not like we tell each other everything,” you scoff. “like, why didn’t you tell me about that prophecy? and why won’t you tell me whatever’s going on with you now?”
“that’s….that’s different.” 
“not really. i bet that it’s all for the same reason.”
“which is?”
 you debate telling luke the truth. 
it was no surprise that you had a certain reputation around camp: cunning, hot-tempered, brash. you were fine being the angry girl whose mother wasn’t enough of a god to warrant a cabin, but enough of a threat to be wary of. you didn’t want to be the one who was also dropped by her father, unwanted and too much of a burden. so, you swallowed the reality of the situation; pretended that nothing broke your heart, and that nothing ever would.
“i didn’t want you to look at me differently,” you admit. 
another pause, this time from the other side of the bed. 
“if it makes you feel better, i was glad that you stayed.”
you can’t help it; you let out a sardonic laugh.
“that’s not much of a comfort, since you haven’t seemed very thrilled with me lately.”
“that’s not….” luke falters. “i just mean that i don't know who i’d be if you left.”
in spite of the situation, the ongoing tension between you, you find yourself smiling. 
“always so dramatic,” you tease.
deep down, you know you’re not much better.
luke was part of the reason you might have stayed at camp, anyways. he was the reason why you didn’t fight harder to get back to your old life, and you always did like a good fight.
it was scary though, that one person had so much power over you and didn’t even know it. you tried to convince yourself that you stayed because luke had needed you, after his quest and everything. but, once you’d known how it felt to have luke in your life, you didn’t want to go back to a time you didn’t. 
truthfully, it still scares you.
“i don’t like fighting with you,” you admit softly, swallowing a lump in your throat. “especially when i don’t even know why we’re fighting in the first place.”
you wonder if you’d just thought that instead of saying it out loud because luke doesn’t respond, until you hear the sheets behind you shuffle, and feel luke position himself behind you.
"i'm sorry that we're fighting. it's my fault."
he settles a tentative hand on your exposed hip, where your shirt had ridden up. luke starts to trace circles onto your skin with his thumb, the way he sometimes does when he's nervous or having a bad dream.
"i’ve just been so….in my head. i don't want you to worry about what's going on with me, okay?
"luke —"
"i have to sort it out on my own.”
"you don’t, though,” you insist. “if you just tell me what’s going on, instead of pushing me away.”
another pause. you can feel him breathing down your neck, and in turn you inhale the spicy citrus of his body wash. it’s all so excruciatingly familiar as you wait for him to say something, anything. 
eventually, luke sighs, deeply, and confesses:
"it's just….we've known each other for so long, but this — us? so much of it is new. i don't want to fuck it up." 
"well, congratulations," you quip. "you're one step closer to getting there."
you meant it as a joke, something to lighten the mood, but you feel luke stiffen at your words, his grip on your hip becoming almost painfully tight as if he's worried you'll slip away.
"i'm kidding, tiger." you weave your fingers through his to loosen his hold on you, and reassure him even more that you're not going anywhere, any time soon. "for better or for worse: you’re mine, and i'm yours. no matter how much either of us might fuck it up."
luke shuffles closer, and you melt into him even more. 
"do you really mean that?"
his voice is soft, surprisingly timid. you crane your neck back to look at him; luke stares at you, his gaze heavy enough to take your breath away. 
“of course.” 
you're so close, and you hadn't been in so long. luke's leg is somehow lodged in between your thighs, and you bite back a whimper as he brushes against you. you feel him behind you, already half-hard, and you rub your ass against him slightly, causing a groan to vibrate through his body. 
neither of you have to do much to crash your lips together.
you can sense how luke’s been unraveling, from the kiss alone. his lips are chapped, rough against yours and already bleeding from the pressure; his stubble scrapes against your cheek, and you’re dizzy with anticipation, imagining how it will leave a stinging sensation on other areas of your skin when luke has his way with you later. 
for now, you focus on your mouth on his: teeth clacking together, your tongue laving over the cut on luke’s bottom lip and tasting copper. luke brings a hand up to your jaw, pushing you into his mouth even more. 
it’s like the first time you kissed. all consuming. messy. urgent — like you've already run out of time. 
eventually, you have to pull yourself away from his grasp, your neck straining at the uncomfortable angle. luke takes the opportunity to suck bruises onto your neck while he presses his thigh harder against your cunt. he slips his other hand further underneath your shirt, cupping your breast and pinching your nipple between his fingers.  instinctively, you start rutting against him. 
“f-fuck,” you groan, relishing in the muscles of his naked thigh underneath you, defined and strong. 
luke chuckles, and you feel his breath warm against your skin. 
“you missed me that much, hm?” he taunts, encouraging you to go faster, harder. “you’re gonna cum before i even have a chance to undress you. doesn’t seem fair to me.”
“who —” your breath catches when luke’s hand settles around your throat, pulling you impossibly closer to him. you feel the outline of his abs against your lower back, and his length, hard and waiting. it’s difficult to finish your thought, but you try your best. “who says i only have to cum once?”
“that sounds like a challenge,” luke decides. “what’s our record — three? think we can beat that tonight?”
you laugh, already out of breath. “i think we can do it.”
“good girl.”
your thighs clench at the nickname, and it's one down, a few more to go. 
you maneuver luke so that he lays flat on the bed, your legs on either side of his hips. your hands fumble with the edge of his shirt, and he lets you remove it without any more hassle.
it's a little ironic, really, how much you and luke hate the gods — because looking at him underneath you, you're sure that something divine must have created him, and you have to thank them for it. sharp jaw, deep scar, flushed cheeks; curls slightly askew, and skin glistening with a thin sheen of sweat; that cocky smile — you'd worship luke castellan over any of the olympians. 
secretly, of course, you pretty much already do.
"like what you see?" luke smirks up at you, hands firmly on your ass.
you roll your eyes to save face. "come on, tiger, like you're not seconds away from tearing through your boxers." 
luke clicks his tongue, locks his calf around yours to switch your positions. you grunt as your back hits the mattress, but you very much appreciate the force and weight of luke above you. he practically rips off your shirt, then starts to nip and suck down your body. he kisses the fabric still covering your cunt, and you can feel his chuckle vibrate through your body when he encounters the wetness there. 
"i'm not the one who already ruined their underwear," luke teases as he finishes undressing you. he pauses at the sight of you, bottom half completely exposed. you're about to tell him to hurry the fuck up, but then luke spits onto your already soaked cunt and says: 
“i need to clean you up, baby.” he gives you another cheeky grin, teeth glowing like the cheshire cat, before diving in.
luke is skilled at everything he does, so of course he's quick to unravel you once more, this time with a persistent combination of tongue and teeth, lapping at your cunt like it's his last meal. 
as soon as you're done riding out your high, you yank luke by the leather cord around his neck to collide your lips with his again. 
you reach down to return the favor, snake your hand underneath the fabric of his underwear, and you're deeply satisfied to find him already sticky with his release.
“you already finished,” you tease, stroking his v-line. "and ruined your underwear without me even touching you." 
in the dim light of the moon, you can barely make out luke blushing. he hides his face in the junction between your neck and shoulder. 
“guess we’re both desperate, huh.” luke’s teeth graze your skin, his curls tickling your neck. “i need to be inside you, now, so how about you get on your hands and knees for me? i’ll get the condom.”
sometimes, luke tries to be gentle — but not this time. 
this time, he fucks you, hard and fast and deep. 
you love it, even if you might not be able to walk properly tomorrow.
with so much power behind each thrust, and the overwhelming pleasure, your arms threaten to give out, but luke catches you before you fall. he wraps a hand around your neck, bringing you flush against his chest as he continues to plunge his length into you. 
"listen to me," luke growls. he snakes a hand down to rub harsh circles on your clit. "the one thing the gods did right is make this perfect, tight little pussy of yours. you were fucking made for me, weren't you?" 
all you can do is whimper, closing your eyes at his filthy, sinful words. 
you aren't used to luke being so possessive, and certainly not in these past few weeks. it's making your head spin in the best way. you can feel your orgasm build in the pit of your abdomen.
"were you made for me?" luke asks again. he squeezes your neck slightly, and you gasp at the pressure. "answer me, or i'll stop." 
you don’t think it’s likely he’ll stop; you’re sure he’s just as lost in the sound of your cunt squelching and the feeling of you sucking him in. but, he does slow down, only a little bit, and it's enough for you to start whining.
"y-yes, luke."
"are you mine?"
you don't answer fast enough. luke stills his hips completely and you almost burst into tears.
you moan, trying to move against him in vain. luke keeps a firm grip on you, making it hard to cause any sort of friction between your bodies.
"i'm yours," you promise.
luke plants a firm kiss behind your ear. “that’s my girl,” he whispers darkly.
satisfied, luke resumes his pace. he moves the hand around your neck to your chin, angling you accordingly so he can crash his lips onto yours. 
it doesn't take long to feel the tension in your abdomen snap, wetness gushing out of you. exhausted, you collapse onto the mattress. luke slips out of you.
the next few seconds consist of you trying to bring yourself back down to reality after such a high. 
luke turns you around just to face him as he hovers over you. he lodges his hand behind your ear and taps your cheek to get your attention. your eyes flutter open.
“did you just —” 
the dampness between your legs, and on the sheets underneath you, is enough evidence: you just squirted.
"i….” you gulp, feeling yourself flush. “i’ve never done that before."
luke stares at your glistening cunt. you wonder if you should be embarrassed, but then he locks eyes with you. you've never seen them so dark, pupils almost fully blown, just a sliver of brown showing through.
"you’re so fucking hot."
your heart flutters. 
“you’re not too bad yourself, tiger, or i wouldn’t be in this mess.” you wink at him, still trying to catch your breath. your eyes wander lower. you note luke in the current state he’s in; you realize that the scales are nowhere near balanced. “that’s three for me, and only one for you. let me taste you.” 
he doesn't need to be told twice. you get on your knees once more, this time facing him as he kneels in front of you. luke rips off the condom, something to deal with later, and you take him in your mouth, cheeks hollowed and tears brimming your eyes feeling him fuck your throat. when he finishes, you swallow him whole, savoring every drop. he pulls you up for a kiss; you can still taste yourself on him, and it mixes with his new release, a combination that is more than a little intoxicating. 
“fuck,” luke mumbles as he pulls away. he swipes his thumb over the corner of your mouth where some of his cum dribbled out. “i know that was intense, but would you be up for another round? "
"yeah," you reply without a second thought, reaching up to thread your fingers through his curls to ground yourself. 
maybe you should thank artemis for the full moon tonight, giving you just the right amount of silver light to illuminate the sculpted curves and edges of luke's body. his skin is also littered with bruises and bites of your design, chaotic and beautiful. luke looks like a mess, just as you're sure you do. 
you want more. you need more.
"we gotta go for four, remember? but...maybe we, uh…"
"....slow it down this time?" luke finishes your thought. 
you nod, grateful that you and luke are on the same page. he scrambles off the bed to get another condom.
"shit. i don't have another one.”
"check my bag, too," you tell him. luke complies, but comes up short once more.  
you’re sitting up against the headboard now, and luke returns to kneel in front of you. 
"i can use my fingers,” luke offers. “or eat you out again —"
“or we could just do without a condom this time?” you suggest. luke raises an eyebrow at you, so you think through the possibilities out loud. "we both got tested before our first time together and haven’t been with anyone since.” you find yourself pausing for confirmation on that, and luke nods once. “i’m on birth control. obviously there’s still a risk that something happens, but maybe just this one time? you can just pull out whenever you’re ready….if you're okay with that."
luke waits, almost like he thinks you might change your mind, before finally answering:
“yeah, i’m okay with it if you are. i’ve always wanted to fuck you raw. i just didn’t think you’d be into it — and didn’t want you to feel pressured.”
you have to kiss him then. because how is it that the boy who just gave you three jaw clenching, toe curling, heart pounding orgasms be so sweet and considerate?
before you know it, you’re flat on your back, sheets slightly scratchy with stray sand. you don't care much because luke hovers above you; he presses his forehead to yours, curls falling in front of his face. 
"just so you know," luke starts, just as you feel him enter you once more. "i must have been made for you, too. i'm just as much yours as you are mine."
you smirk, bite your lip to keep from moaning so that you can keep up the arrogance, just a bit longer. 
"always so dramatic," you mock, as if your cunt isn’t squeezing around him at his sweet nothings. 
luke grins at you sheepishly, his cheeks flushed. 
"guess that means the gods did two things right," you joke, exhaling when you feel luke brush against that gummy spot deep within you. "maybe we've taken them for granted. maybe we should - " he hits that spot again, and your breath hitches. you dig your nails into his shoulders as he rocks back and forth. “maybe we should thank them.”
luke clicks his tongue, grips your hip firmly. "not a chance, sweetheart. the gods’ll get what they deserve."
you don’t care enough to ask luke what he means. you care more about him going faster. you’re about to tell him to do so, and to throw your legs over his shoulders, but he does it himself before you get the chance. you feel him slipping deeper within you, the force and passion behind each movement, his body molding to every curve and crevice of yours. 
made for each other.
you’re so sensitive that your orgasm approaches quickly. as he helps you ride it out, his thrusts get sloppier, and you know he’s almost reached his peak, too. 
“fuck,” he grunts. “i’m close.” luke starts to pull out, but then you lock your ankles behind his neck. 
“don’t,” you command. 
“a-are you sure?” he looks at you, wide-eyed.
“i just want to feel you this once.”
he nods and brings you in for one more bruising kiss. he finishes inside you, warm and wet. 
luke leaves once he catches his breath, and comes back with a damp towel to clean you up. he knows your body, recognizes how sensitive you are, and presses kisses on the inside of your thighs, where the same lips had made bruises before. 
even completely fucked out, your mind starts to unpack everything that’s wrong in your life. like how luke has always been a little too good at pretending, with everyone else at least, and something serious must be going on if he's trying to fool you, too.  
this luke with you now, the one who gently wipes his cum from between your legs after fucking you so relentlessly, is your luke. it feels like your luke is slipping right through your fingers, and you’re wracking your brain trying to figure out how this can stop before losing him completely.
wait….did luke say something about getting revenge on the gods? your mind is still a bit cloudy, but you could’ve sworn —
 “are you okay?” 
his question puts pause on your spiraling. he’s done cleaning you up, throws the towel on the floor and settles back on the bed, next to you. you’re close enough for the softest whisper, your limbs intertwined beneath tangled sheets.
you watch luke carefully as he waits for an answer and surveys your body, tracing his fingers over the marks he'd left underneath your jaw, across your shoulders, over your collarbones and down your stomach. 
"i didn't hurt you, did i?"
“i’m okay,” you assure him. luke’s hand stops to gently rest on your cheek. your other worries are pushed to the side for the time being: for now, it's just you and luke. “do you think we could pick up a plan b pill tomorrow though, just in case? i love you, but i’m not ready to have your babies.”
luke widens his eyes like a minotaur in headlights. he drops his hand.
 “you’ve never said that before.”
“that i want to have your babies?” you jest, slightly amused at how panicked luke seems.
luke blushes and clears his throat. “well, that too. i meant the whole ‘i love you’ thing, though.” 
your amusement evaporates. you swear your heart stops beating momentarily.
“oh, shit.…” 
you’re not quite sure what to say; you’ve felt this way for a while, truthfully. 
of course you love luke. you can't remember exactly when you realized it, but you just….know.
because if what you felt for luke wasn’t love, then you were foolish to have secretly bought into what silena beauregard had been on about for years, and aphrodite herself might just be out of a job. 
“i know we’re kind of in a weird place, but, yeah, i mean it. you don’t have to say it back —”
luke leans forward to kiss you. gentler this time, but just as firm. “i love you."
"you do?" your heart resumes its beating. 
"of course i do. i have ever since my first morning at camp.”
“yeah right,” you chuckle in disbelief, feeling your cheeks heat up. “it’s not a competition, you know, over who loved who first.”
“karma, i’m serious,” he insists. “someone taught me to burn offerings, and with everything that happened with thalia, i obviously wasn't in the worshiping mood, but then you leaned over and whispered —"
"they like the smell of begging." 
luke grins at you, and you reach up to brush your thumb against the dimple in his cheek. 
"exactly. somehow, that was what i needed to hear. it was nice to know that i wasn't the only one who didn’t want to just accept things the way they were….” he loses his train of thought. luke grabs your hand in his. “i wish i had told you earlier. after all this, i don’t want to lose you.”
“you won’t —”
“whatever happens,” luke continues, somewhat ominously. “i love you, y/n.”
you hadn't heard luke use your real name in a while. you fall asleep, heart full with the memory of him weaving it together with those three magic words. 
the next morning, you wake up — you actually sleep in, for the first time in years — and decide that if you could stay here forever, you would. 
the morning sun stings your eyes through the sheer curtains. the sticky heat of summer sits heavy in the room, and stray grains of sand tickle your skin underneath the sheets. waves wash gently on the shore outside, and an ocean breeze mixes with the smell of burnt cinnamon. you can hear annabeth, grover, and percy crashing dishes and bickering and causing chaos in the kitchen as, you imagine, they scramble to surprise you with breakfast. 
luke is next to you, on his stomach. his curls are a mess, covering most of his face. 
evidence from last night: scratches from your nails prominent on his back, his neck decorated with purple bruises in the shape of your lips. you shift slightly and feel a dull ache between your legs, so you'd call it even.
outside, something clatters on the floor, and you hear percy swear.
luke's eyes flutter open, ever so slightly, and he starts to move. "we should get up before they burn down the place." 
you press your hand to luke's shoulder blade, barely, but in his half-asleep state, it's enough to keep him in bed. luke moves to his side, facing you. you bring your hand up to brush curls away from luke's eyes, even if they're still closed.
"they've literally been to hell and back," you recall his sarcastic words from last night. "i think they can handle pancakes." 
the corners of luke's mouth curl upwards. 
"you're such a smart ass," he mumbles.
you lean forward, plant a kiss underneath luke's chin. his stubble scratches against your lips. 
"don't pretend you don't love it, tiger."
luke breathes steadily. you think he might've fallen asleep once more until he presses his lips to your forehead, pulls you towards him, and quips:
"i love you."
your heart quickens as you echo his words. something churns in your stomach, too.
because this peace isn't something that feels permanent.
you're the children of gods, and there's always a catch. some inevitable plot twist where lovers end up separated, where heroes end up dead or cursed. 
it's nauseating — dangerous, even — that you want a happy ending, a desire buried in you deeply like a knife to the gut. it's cruel that the fates keep twisting, taunting you with what can never be.
no monsters; no gods or titans; no prophecies.
just this.
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atlabeth · 2 months
Text
weight of the world
series masterlist
pairing: luke castellan x daughter of poseidon!reader
summary: percy returns to camp after a successful quest. luke battles his guilt.
a/n: a lot of you guys seemed to like the percy pov and the pure angst of luke doing all this stuff to his first love's brother percy jackson instead of just percy jackson and first and foremost i would like to say you're all crazy but i also agree. so here you go. title from the jon bellion song
wc: 5.6k
warning(s): reader is dead (i feel like i have to tag this every time lmao). angst made angstier with fluffy flashbacks. tlt betrayal scene (pit scorpion edition). everyone is so sad
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When Percy returned to camp with Annabeth and Grover, they were hailed as heroes. 
It might not have felt like it on the road, isolated with just the three of them, but they’d prevented a third World War. They certainly stopped camp from getting destroyed, if what Luke told them was true about the cabins taking sides. 
Burning their burial shrouds felt even better, especially with the Ares cabin’s expert craftsmanship. Apparently it was a tradition because demigods died so frequently on quests—Percy took pride in breaking that unsettling standard. 
It turned out all he needed to come into his own was to go on a quest everyone thought would kill him and not die. 
He excelled during his sword fighting lessons—going against a god would do that for you—he’d gotten much better at using his powers—going against a god would also do that for you—and his team always dominated on the lake during races, though that might’ve just been him cheating. 
He’d even started getting used to the Poseidon cabin in all its emptiness. It still felt too lonely, but he was working on it. The first thing he did when he got back to the cabin was pin your photo on the wall—Cabin Three belonged to you as much as it did to him.
And of course, everyone wanted to hear about how Percy saved the world. He’d told the story of his quest about a hundred times since he got back, sometimes with Annabeth piping in to set the record straight, sometimes with Grover dramatically setting the scene, always with a million different questions in between about how everything went down. 
Tonight was no different in the amphitheater—a group of Athena kids wanted to hear about his fight against Ares again—but he managed to get out of giving them the excruciating play-by-play courtesy of campfire songs. Percy didn’t really mind, though—any night with a large, golden fire was a good night in his books. 
Which was kind of how he ended up giving Luke the play-by-play of his quest. Maybe it was bragging, but he hadn’t seen who he considered his first friend at camp in a while. And yeah, sue him, but he wanted to impress Luke. He was cool and nice and good at everything, and Percy wanted to prove he’d made him proud. 
“—And I thought I didn’t stand a chance, but she taunted me and told me to jump into the water if I was really Poseidon’s kid. So I did, and it worked, and somehow I lived.” Percy shook his head with a slight laugh. “It ended up all over the news. I was a nationally wanted criminal for a couple days. We also blew a bus up, and rode with a zebra and a lion to Vegas, and went to the Underworld— gods, we did so much. It was crazy, honestly.” 
Luke chuckled. “I’m sure.” 
Percy glanced over at him, his brows creasing when he saw his distant gaze. He didn’t think Luke heard a single word. “You good, man?” 
He blinked and focused back on Percy, and though he smiled it was strained. “Yeah. Sorry—spaced out for a second. You were talking about your quest?” 
Percy nodded slowly. “Yeah. The whole criminal thing.” 
His smile turned a little more genuine. “You made front page news, too. I think you became the idol of a lotta kids here.”
“Oh, god,” he said with a frown. “You guys get news here?” 
“Couple New York papers,” he nodded. “You’re camp-famous.” 
Percy huffed a laugh and shook his head. “It feels crazy. I just got here a month ago, and everything’s already changed so much.” He looked over at Luke. “What did you do after you got home from your quest?” 
“...It takes some getting used to,” he admitted with a shrug. “I mean, getting to camp after so many years on the road was rough—coming back to camp after getting this—” he tapped his scar— “didn’t help.” 
“How did you get that?” he asked. 
“You’re always trying to get the saddest stories out of me,” Luke said wryly. “You know you can read books, right?” 
“I can’t, actually,” Percy said. "Not well."
Luke laughed and shook his head, his gaze falling back to the fire. Percy took it as him moving on. 
“I— I know I’m kind of proving your point, but… I wanted to ask you if I could have a couple more pictures” Percy cleared his throat, brushing a few dark strands of hair out of his face. “Of my sister, I mean. Obviously, you have way more of a right to them than I do, but— but Cabin Three’s a little bare. I thought adding a couple current things to the old stuff she put up would be nice.” 
His throat bobbed, and it took him a second, but he nodded. “Yeah. Yeah— sure.”
“Tomorrow after breakfast?” he asked. “I’ve got some free time before I have to go down to the forge.”
Luke nodded again. “Sure. You still have that picture I gave you?”
“Of course,” he said. “I already put it up on the wall. Do you want it back?”
His smile was bittersweet as he shook his head. “Nah. Like I said, you deserve to have a piece of her with you. And I’m sure she’d say the same.”
“I asked my dad about her, y’know,” Percy said. Luke’s eyes widened a bit as he looked back at him. “I went to Olympus on my own to return Zeus’s bolt, and the two of them were there. My dad and I got some alone time, and…” he shrugged. “I already annoyed two gods that day. Figured a third wouldn’t be that crazy.”
“What did he say?” 
“That it was one of his greatest regrets,” Percy said. “And he’d never forgive himself for letting her die, and for what it did to her mom.” He glanced at Luke. “And to you.”
Luke’s chest stilled, his gaze going out of focus for a moment as a muscle worked in his jaw. He hid it well, but Percy knew. He’d spent enough time at home with his mom and step-dad, overheard enough one-sided arguments. 
“You’re braver than me,” he finally said, and he stood up. “I’m gonna turn in—it’s been a long day.”
“I’m sorry, Luke,” he said. “And Poseidon is too, for whatever it’s worth.” 
Luke didn’t look back at him as he started towards the path. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Percy.” 
-
“Are you sure you’re allowed to put lights up?” Luke asked. 
“Okay, Chiron,” you said cloyingly. “I didn’t know you were such a stickler for the rules.” 
“I’m just worried about fire safety!” he exclaimed. “The Hephaestus kids nearly burn down their cabin at least five times a week.” 
“They’re working with actual fire. These are just Christmas lights.” You glanced down at him and he handed you the next strand. “Besides, this is the safest cabin for possible fire hazards. And they look pretty—that’s all that matters.” 
Luke chuckled as you hung them up, and he took a step back as you jumped off the chair and moved it to the other side of the room. You usually hung fairy lights, but with the holidays just around the corner, you wanted to make the place more festive. You asked Luke if he wanted to hang out with you while you decorated, and he obviously accepted. He took all the time he could get with you. 
“It’s so quiet in here,” Luke said as you got back up, taking the next strand with you. “I’m not used to an empty cabin.” 
“That’s what happens when you’re not supposed to be alive,” you mused. 
“You of all people can’t say that.” He huffed a laugh and shook his head. “Do you ever get lonely in here?” 
“‘Course not,” you said. “I’ve always got you following me around.” 
“Can you blame me?” he asked. “Your company’s the best.” 
You grinned and looked back down at him, and Luke gave you the next string of lights. “Or maybe you’re just a little crazy. You’ve gotta be to spend three years on the road with me.” 
“Being around you is what’s kept me sane,” he corrected. “Especially in the Hermes cabin of chaos.” 
You got up on your toes and lifted a leg up so you could lean to reach the last hook. “Oh, come on. Your siblings are so fun to be around!” 
“Maybe in small doses,” he said wryly. “And be careful, gods—” 
You looked down at him, your grin only growing. “Are you saying you’re worried about me?” 
“Always,” he said, still watching you, “but the last thing you need is to break your leg.” 
“It’s a five foot fall, Luke,” you said, amused as you got back on even footing. You hopped back down and tilted your head. “I’ve survived much higher falls.” 
Luke frowned. “You don’t get to joke about that.” 
“I thought you were dead too,” you defended. “That means it’s fair game.” 
His chest twisted. He’d played that day over in his head thousands of times since he first lost you, wondering if he could have done something different or if he should have searched more—he stayed in those woods for a week and a half searching for you before another monster attack forced him out of the area. It was the whole reason he came up with a designated meeting area with Thalia and Annabeth if they got separated—he never wanted to lose someone again the way he lost you. 
He shook his head with a sigh. “Sometimes I still can’t believe it, y’know? 
“Thank my dad,” you said. “I would have died if I didn’t fall into water. And he’s the reason I got to camp.” 
He’s also the reason you ended up on the streets in the first place, Luke wanted to say, but he held his tongue. You’d never shared his disdain for the gods, and he didn’t want to spoil your mood with his bitterness. 
So he doesn’t. He tilted his head and focused back on you. “Do I ever tell you how thankful I am that you're still alive?”
You smiled as you pushed the chair in front of your desk. “I could always stand to hear it more.” 
“Well, I’m thankful that you’re alive,” Luke said. He could have stared at your smile forever. “Mourning you was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do.” 
“With any luck, you won’t have to do it again,” you joked. “I get it, though. Sometimes it feels like a dream. I thought I was hallucinating when you came over that hill.”  
The best and the worst day of his life—he found you again and lost Thalia in the same five-minute span. It wasn’t fair—Luke had told Thalia so many stories about you, and she was the one that brought him back from the edge your supposed death sent him to. On his worst days, Luke blamed himself for both. 
“Luke,” you said, jarring him out of his thoughts. “What do you think of the lights? Tacky, or festive, or both?” 
He blinked, then took a step back with you so you could get the full view. He nodded. “Festive, definitely. Where’d you even get them?” 
“The Big House attic,” you said. “It’s not just full of Oracles and spoils of war.” 
He chuckled. “And how did you convince Chiron to give you those?” 
You shrugged. “You know I’m persuasive.” 
Luke shook his head. “I’m jealous. No one else really gets to decorate their place like this.” 
“No siblings means full creative control,” you mused. “And Big Three dad means a big cabin all for me.” 
“And yet you still get a twin bed,” he said with a smile. “We’re all equal, really.” 
“Like you wouldn’t prefer a full.” You fluffed your pillow then set it back down. “You spend as much time in here as I do.” 
“Can you blame me?” Luke shrugged. “There’s no privacy there. We can get away with basically anything in here.” 
“And because you love me,” you said cloyingly as you rustled your hair with his hand. 
“Yeah,” he said with a smile. “I really do.” 
Your smile widened and you gestured at your box of decorations. “Wanna prove it, loverboy? Help me get the rest of this up before sword lessons.”
“Y’know, I’m leading them today,” Luke said, picking up a stack of snowflake cutouts. He was pretty sure you just took all the rejects after you were in charge of the crafts for a week. “Technically, that means we’ve got as long as we want.” 
“Oh, Luke Castellan,” you said airily, pressing a hand to your chest. “You know the way to my heart.” 
-
“Oh,” Percy said. “Wow.” 
“Yeah. And this is only one of them.” Luke set a cardboard box full of things on an empty bed and sighed. “She made this place her own while she was here.”
Percy took out a stack of baseball cards on top—Red Sox, of course, the only bad thing about you—and shuffled through them. “Everything’s a little dusty.” 
“No one really wanted to come in here after she died,” Luke said. He had a tangled mess of Christmas lights in his hands. “All this stuff stayed up for a year or two before I took it all down.” He huffed a mirthless laugh. “You’re probably the only one apart from me to be in here since she left.” 
Percy set the cards down. “Do you mind if I put some of it back up?” 
Luke glanced at him. “Why do you always ask me? This is your place.” 
“It’s not just my place,” he said. “I… I want to make sure I’m honoring her well. And I don’t wanna make it harder for you. Especially if you took it down for a reason.” 
Luke was silent for a moment as he stared at the lights. He brushed off some dust with his thumb. 
Percy felt bad for pushing the matter every time he was around Luke, but there was a tug inside of him—an innate need to know more about her, a desperation to honor her life despite never meeting her. 
“I appreciate it,” he finally said. “But go for it, man. You don’t have to get my permission.” 
Percy nodded, and he took a poster out, wedged in the side of the box. A Blondie poster, based off the huge block letters above a blonde singer stylized in pop art. It had a torn corner, and bits of tape had been folded over some parts of the edges. 
Luke chuckled. “She was a huge Blondie fan. She brought her Walkman when she ran away—I lost count of how many times we listened to Parallel Lines. Definitely put that one back up.” 
Percy nodded and set it on his bed. He looked at the lights in Luke’s hand. “Why’d she have those?” 
“She loved to light the cabin up,” he explained. “Said it made it feel more homey, and she liked to change it with the seasons. And when she enlisted the Aphrodite kids, it was like a— a HomeGoods warzone.” Luke shook his head with the most genuine smile he’d seen all day. “She really was something special.”  
Again, Percy’s heart clenched. It wasn’t fair he only got to learn about you through stories, only through the past tense. If he could get his mom back, why the hell couldn’t he get you back? Why couldn’t his dad have stepped in? 
What good was regret when you have all the power in the world to stop it? What good was being a god if you couldn’t save your family when it mattered most? 
“Y’know, I decorated this place a million times with her,” he said, and Percy was thankful for the interruption with his thoughts. “She wanted it to be a welcoming cabin, open to the whole camp if they ever got homesick.” 
“So the opposite of what it used to be,” Percy said wryly. 
“Yeah,” Luke nodded. “You two are the first Poseidon kids in a long time because of the oath—it was just here for respect. She didn’t just make it into her home, she made it into a home for anyone that needed some extra warmth.” 
Percy looked around, trying to imagine you and a younger, unscarred Luke putting all this stuff on the walls, him helping you hang Christmas lights. You sitting on a bed, maybe what he’d chosen as his bed, talking a younger camper through their fears or their homesickness. You forcing the innate coldness of Cabin Three out and replacing it with warmth of your own. 
“Did you bring any pictures?” he asked. 
Luke nodded again and took a few out of his pockets, offering them to Percy. He took the one sticking out the most and smiled a bit. 
“Very Poseidon of her,” he commented. 
“She loved the beach,” Luke said, smiling wistfully. “No matter what state we were in, she would always try to find one. We could’ve walked twenty miles that day, and the moment she stepped into the water she would be good as new. I should’ve known who her dad was a lot sooner.”
Percy’s hand lingered on the picture he’d just put up. You stood on a sandy shore with your arms spread and head tilted back, and you looked wholly in your element. 
He wondered what you would think of Montauk. 
“This was one of those times?” he asked. 
Luke nodded. “North Carolina. A year and a half in, I think. We missed the East Coast after being in the Midwest for so long, and naturally, she found a beach immediately.” His eyes softened. “She was always so happy around the water, even after she knew what it meant.”
Percy frowned. “What do you mean?”
He shrugged. “Finding out the thing you’ve always loved is the domain of the father who abandoned you is a little rough.” 
Luke always spoke with more nerve towards the gods than any other camper he knew. Funny, considering he was one of the first ones to tell him that names had power.
And he’d been acting weird since Percy got back from the quest. He thought maybe he was jealous, but Luke didn’t really seem like the jealous type—especially when he was already so cool. 
Then again, they did just come back from the brink of a possible world war. Percy should’ve been surprised more people weren’t acting weird. 
His attention drifted to the clock on the wall in the midst of his thoughts—Chiron’s last ditch effort in a camp full of time-blind kids—and his eyes widened. 
Percy muttered under his breath—Annabeth had taught him some Ancient Greek curse words on the road, and he was sure his mom would love them—and looked up at Luke. “Sorry, man. I’ve gotta go. Time really got away from me.” 
“I get it,” he nodded. “Have you gotten any better?” 
He glanced away bashfully. “Not really. But Beckendorf has the patience of a saint. Maybe someday I’ll make an actually functional sword.” 
Luke chuckled, though it was wistful. “Good luck. You mind if I stay here for a bit? I can put up some of her things.” 
“Yeah,” he nodded, “of course. Stay as long as you want.” 
Percy stopped once he got out of the door. Luke’s gaze was glued to a picture of you on the wall, his expression softer than he’d ever seen before at odds with something indistinguishable in his eyes. Again, Percy felt that all-encompassing dread, and he swallowed the lump in his throat. 
He left before it could consume him, but the haunted look in Luke’s eyes didn’t leave his head for the rest of the day. 
-
You took in a deep breath of salty air. The sea breeze blew over you as waves gently rolled into shore, and you smiled. You never felt more like yourself than when you were at the beach, and when you and Luke were constantly on the run fighting for your lives, sometimes you desperately needed to feel like yourself. 
You exhaled long and slow. It had been a particularly rough week—Luke did his best patching up your shoulder, but it would definitely scar—and this was just what you needed to wind down before you started moving again. 
You and your mom went to Cape Cod a lot when you were growing up, and though this wasn’t anywhere close to the same, it made for an alright stand-in.
The click of a polaroid camera interrupted your peace, and you opened your eyes and turned your head to see the culprit. 
“And you made fun of me for constantly taking pictures,” you said wryly. 
Luke smiled. “I made fun of you for taking up valuable space in your bag to bring your camera with you. I can’t not take pictures of you—especially when you’re so photogenic.” 
“Flatterer.” 
“Not if it’s true,” he remarked. He held out the camera to you. “Wanna get any pictures of the sea? You’ve got a better eye than me.” 
“Well, the sea’s a better subject than me,” you said. “Hold onto it.” 
He chuckled and took it back, drying out the newly printed picture. “How’re you feeling, by the way? I know it’s been a hard few days.”  
“Never better,” you said. “I needed a break from the road.”
“I get why you wanted to stop here,” he said. “It’s… calming.”
“Isn’t it?” You spread your arms out, breathing in deep once more. “I always feel better out here. More free.”
Another camera click, and your smile grew. “How do you feel?” 
“Better too, surprisingly. But that might just be because we’re walking instead of running.” You heard his footsteps and he came up next to you. You took the picture he offered and chuckled. You had your head back and your arms spread, soaking up every bit of sun and sea air you could. 
“I look like a stock photo.” 
“Does that mean I can get a job as a photographer?” he asked. “We could use some extra cash.” 
“Half of the pictures are either random parts of nature or me,” you said. “Who’d buy those?” 
“Me,” Luke said. “But I don’t think that would help with our money problems.” 
“All this flattery won’t get you anywhere,” you said. 
“It got me here,” he said. “I think it’s worked out pretty well.” 
You smiled as you looped arms with Luke, and after you gestured with your head, you started walking down the sand together. Whereas you always felt like you were blurting out the first thing that came to mind when you were around him, Luke always knew exactly what to say to make you feel better. “Do you like it here?” 
Luke nodded. “It’s nice. I get why you like the water so much.” 
“At least one beach a week going forward now that we’re on the coast again, then,” you said. “Deal?” 
“Deal,” he agreed. 
“Good,” you said with a smile. “I’ve been wanting to go back to Virginia Beach. Last time, those giant ant things ruined it for us.” 
“Gods,” Luke grumbled, and you felt him shiver. “Don’t remind me of those things. I’ll never forget what their poison smelled like—and I’ll never forgive them for ruining my favorite shirt.” 
“Don’t worry,” you said. “I’ll get you a Red Sox one someday, and it’ll become your new favorite shirt.” 
Luke shook his head. “Your Boston baseball propaganda isn’t gonna work. I was raised as a Yankee.” 
“And I’m here to undo that awful brainwashing,” you said sagely. “Next time we go through Massachusetts, I’ll have to get you one. And we can stop by Cape Cod—I think being close to the water is good for my health.” 
“And I like seeing you happy,” he mused. “So I guess it works out for both of us.” 
You laughed. “We’ll have to stop at a music store before the day ends, too. I’ve nearly worn out my Cyndi Lauper tape, and I need to get some new ones. You should pick out an album you like too.h” 
“‘Course,” he said. “I think we’ve got some extra cash saved up. And if we have to—” 
“We shouldn’t steal anything yet,” you interrupted. “I don’t wanna get the cops on our backs so soon.” 
“You say that like I would get caught,” Luke remarked. “It’s literally in my genes. I’m making my father proud, and I’m helping you. I see no reason not to do it.” 
“Cool it,” you said. “We’re not becoming Bonnie and Clyde at the ripe old age of eleven.” 
“Fine.” You couldn’t see it, but you could sense his smile. “I’ll hold off. For now.” 
That got another laugh out of you as you leaned your head against his shoulder. It felt like you’d been on the run for a week straight—this was the best break you could have asked for. Maybe the sea was good for your health, you thought. Or maybe it was just Luke. 
Either worked for you. 
-
Percy could hardly breathe as he stared down at the scorpion, slowly inching its way up his pants leg. It wasn’t every day one of your friends betrayed and tried to kill you in the woods, but this seemed like the year he started checking things off his bucket list. 
“So this was your plan all along,” he said, attention split between the pit scorpion and the traitor. “Gain my trust, send me to Tartarus, start a war for Kronos.” 
The air got colder, and Luke tilted his head. “You should be careful with names.”
“And you should do the job yourself,” he challenged. “You want to kill me? Fight me like a man.” 
“I’m not Ares,” he said tartly. “You can’t bait me.” 
“So you’re a coward too?” Red hot anger rose within him, and the words left him before he could really think about them. “Did you also lie about my sister? Got a hobby of killing Poseidon kids?”
“Zeus got her killed, Percy!” Luke yelled. There was something wild in his eyes as he gestured with his sword. “I loved her more than anything—I held her as she died, and your dad let it happen. If it weren’t for the gods, both her and Thalia would be alive!” 
Maybe it was a good thing Percy didn’t know that until now. If he knew the king of gods was responsible for his sister’s death, he would’ve gotten himself burnt to a crisp on Olympus. 
“This isn’t what my sister would have wanted,” he said. “She—”
“Don’t you dare talk about her!” His voice continued to rise. “You don’t know her— you don’t know what she would have wanted!” 
“She couldn’t have wanted this!” he exclaimed. Percy’s breath caught momentarily as the scorpion inched closer and he forced his muscles to remain as still as possible as his gaze flicked back over to Luke. “This isn’t the way to fix things, Luke. I promise.” 
He shook his head, and he could have been a son of Ares the way fire seemed to blaze in his eyes. “She died because of Zeus, Percy. She was so close to sixteen, and that meant she was a threat to his power. He sent monsters to kill her, and your dad could have saved her, but he didn’t do a damn thing about it. And y’know,” Luke huffed a laugh, cold and mirthless, “the same thing’s gonna happen to you.” 
His blood had turned to ice. “He knows the pain of losing a daughter. Why would he—” 
“Because they don’t care, Percy!” he yelled, his sword cutting through the air again. “All they care about is keeping their power and their position. Your dad would rather send you on a death quest than stop stroking his ego for one measly second. Hades sent monsters to kill Thalia, and Zeus sent monsters to kill your sister—they can’t punish each other, so they punish us, and the cycle will never stop until we make it stop.”
“And you think that this is the way to do it?” he asked desperately. “By betraying camp and all your friends? We’re in the same position as you are!” 
“And anyone that’s smart will join our cause,” Luke said. “Do you really think I’m the only one that’s upset with the gods? I’ve been here for five years—I’ve seen kids leave for the school year and never come back. I’ve seen kids die without ever being claimed. My own dad turned me away at every opportunity. Our numbers are bigger than you know, Percy.” 
“You say I don’t know my sister,” Percy said, “but I know her enough to know she wouldn’t want this. Not in her name. Not against our father.” 
“You don’t know her at all,” Luke said, voice trembling. “If she knew that Zeus killed her for nothing but paranoia over a bullshit prophecy, she would be fighting against the gods right beside me.” 
“I lost her once,” he continued, shaky but full of anger, “and then I got her back, just to lose her all over again. The gods will never know that kind of pain—if they did, they wouldn’t have let it happen in the first place.” 
The scorpion was at his knee now. Percy was running out of time, and his mind was working in overdrive on how to get more, but he found himself rendered speechless. What could he say to a boy who’d lost everything? 
Luke was the lightning thief, he’d fully intended to kill Percy with those shoes, he meant to turn the gods against each other and raise Kronos, and now he was really trying to kill him.  
And yet, he couldn’t help but feel sympathy.
Percy thought he’d lost his mother, but now she was back. He’d met his father in person. He had a sister he’d never meet, that he would never be able to fully grieve. Luke loved her and grew up with her and grieved her twice.
Percy didn’t care—anyone who his sister loved couldn’t be a bad person. Not fully.  
“Please, Luke,” he said, voice low. “I don’t know how to solve it, but this isn’t the way. You think the gods are using you? Kronos is doing the exact same thing.” 
“You’re twelve, Percy, and you’re already the chosen one,” Luke said. “Hades and Ares would have both killed you if they got their way, and it was your job to stop a war between the gods because they couldn’t see beyond their egos. How is that fair to you?”  
“There was no other choice,” Percy insisted. “If either of them backed down, they would look weak. We’re the only ones that can do quests like this.” 
“Exactly,” he said. “They start petty fights that they can’t finish and it gets taken out on us. We have to be their heroes, and we have to praise them as we die.”
Percy remembered their bus exploding. Medusa, an innocent woman favored by Poseidon and punished by Athena for it. The endless souls in the Asphodel Fields, and even more waiting in line for their chance to be judged. Luke’s quest given to him by his father permanently scarring him, Thalia Grace sacrificing herself for her friends, his sister never getting the chance to see sixteen—Percy himself being used as a pawn to enact Kronos’s plan. 
“You don’t have to be a hero,” Luke continued, almost begging at this point. “You can join our cause—you can prove you’re so much more than the prophecies want you to be. Say the word and I’ll call it off.”
Percy wasn’t exactly the pinnacle of godly respect. He tricked Hades, insulted Zeus, and actually fought Ares. But his dad loved him—or loved his mom, at least. Annabeth’s determination and Grover’s steadfastness and all the friends he’d made at camp—all innocent children like himself. He couldn’t turn his back on that. 
Percy clenched his jaw. “I will never serve Kronos.”
Pain flashed in Luke’s dark eyes, but he shut it down just as soon. “So be it.”
He slashed his sword through the air and a ripple of darkness appeared, the void bleeding into the forest. 
“I really am sorry it came to this, Percy,” Luke said quietly. “But it’ll be quick. And that’s a bigger mercy than Zeus gave your sister.”
Luke disappeared into the darkness and it vanished soon after. Percy didn’t have time to think about his words—the scorpion had reached his thigh. Sixty seconds, Luke had said, then it was over. 
Percy had about five seconds to think of a plan before it lunged at him. He batted it away with one hand and uncapped his sword with the other, cutting the scorpion in half before it could reach the ground. 
He thought he did it. Then he looked at his hand, a red welt already sweltering on his palm, oozing sticky yellow liquid. 
Percy stumbled to the creek and submerged his hand, but nothing happened. He muttered a delusional prayer to his dad, then to his mother, then to you as he stumbled his way towards camp. Nymphs emerged from their trees, and he croaked a plea for help. 
As Percy collapsed, barely caught by nymphs on either side, he swore that he saw you. Did that mean he was dying? You had kind eyes like his mother, an aura of warmth unlike the feverish heat in his body, and it made the idea of it a lot less scary. 
He wondered if he’d meet you in Elysium. 
Percy reached a leaden arm out to you, mumbling your name despite his cottonmouth, and then his vision went black. 
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demigods-posts · 3 months
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"It's easy to forget what's important when you're alone."
cue percy four years later stumbling toward camp jupiter with a very vague memory of a girl he knows he loves but can't for the life of him put a face to a name. because he's physically on his own. but he's never actually without her.
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will-solace-aaaaa · 2 months
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DO ANY MORE PPL FROM CAMP OR FRIENDS HAVE TUMBLR???
Leo: @leo-valdez-graaa
Frank: @frank-zhang-skreee
Annabeth: @annabeth-in-your-chase
Thalia: @thalia-grace-aaaaaa
Percy: @that-dam-son-of-poseidon
Hazel: @hazel-is-confused
Piper: @piper-mclean-raaa
Jason: @jason-graceeeeee
Kayla: @kaylaknowles-yaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
Nico: @nico-di-angelo-aaaaa
Will: DAS ME<3
Magnus: @magnus-falafelking
Alex: @alex-fierro-pr-nightmare
Clarisse: @everyone-is-a-punk
Mallory: @mallory-keen-to-kill
Silena: @silena-beauregard-official
Tj: @thomas-jefferson-jr
Halfborn: @halfbornhalfdead
Ares: @amazing-war-god-ares
Aphrodite: @im-aphrodite-dearies
Apollo/lester: @why-did-i-get-acne
Zoe: @zoe-can-see-the-stars-again
@stop-hammer-time and
@god-of-powerpoint ,too
Other campers/friends: plz comment or something because my MOTHER (naomi solace❤️❤️) has tumblr, and now idk who does or doesn't anymore🥲
Ly @miss-naomi-solace , best mother ever (please unground me)
WE HAVE ALL SEVEN + MORE AND SOME GODS/GODDESES ON HERE???
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celesterayel · 4 months
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"i only write when i am falling in love, or falling apart."
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꘎ 𓈒 the hunger games | "may the odds be ever in your favor"  𓈒
coriolanus snow
→ match made in heaven | coriolanus snow isn't nice but neither are you. it's a match made in heaven.
lucy gray baird
finnick odair
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꘎ 𓈒 percy jackson | "the real world is where the monsters are" ꥟ ۪  𓈒
luke castellan
→ the it couple | common knowledge is how irrevocably in love luke castellan is with you.
→ goodbyes & waiting | there are the moments you shared and the sadness that came after.
→ something out of my dreams | all he knows is that you were something out of his dreams.
→ midnight secrets | he knows one one true thing: you put all the stars to shame.
→ sacred | coming soon
→ crisis | coming soon
→ muses | coming soon
clarisse la rue
→ kill me slowly | coming soon
→ mad woman | coming soon
percy jackson
→ collide | coming soon
→ the tides | coming soon
→ great mystery | coming soon
→ miss americana & the heart break prince | coming soon
→ the great war | coming soon
→ come back…be mine | coming soon
annabeth chase
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𓈒 star wars | "you can't hide, rey. not from me" ꥟  ꘎ 𓈒
rey
ben solo | kylo ren
reylo
anakin skywalker
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꘎ spider man | "with great power, comes great responsibility" ꥟ ۪
peter parker - tom holland
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other genres ꥟ ۪ ꘎  𓈒
the summer i turned pretty
panic (amazon prime)
shadow and bone
six of crows
rebel moon
teen wolf
outer banks
shadow hunters
the sandman
blue beetle
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author's note ꥟ ۪ ꘎  𓈒 
please don't be afraid to ask what other genres i write for. i am a book reader and movie/tv show enthusiast so there's definitely plenty more i'm willing to add when reminded! :)
reminder to be kind and respectful.
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yonemurishiroku · 7 months
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Yeah I was having too much free time and the realization has descended upon me about how much unbelievable sense it makes if Luke were to replace Nico in HOO.
Knowing about Camp Jupiter? - Yeah Idk ab you but like. Alabaster Torrington, former Lieutenant of the Titan Army, is literally out there wielding an Imperial Gold sword. Also Saturn's throne was attacked by the legionnaire. Surely there are many pieces missing but I mean the picture is there.
But how come Luke can become the Ambassador like Nico did? - You guys call Luke a manipulator all the time. He has the tongue he has the skills he has the charm. He'd be fineeeee
Also I reckon Luke vs Octavian might bring a fun dynamic to the stage idk. Former villain vs New Villain. Both with a diplomatic tongue and blonde hair and blue eyes--- Percy's gonna have an aneurysm.
Treading the Tartarus looking for the Doors of Death? - Luke's basically a (godly) federal criminal. He could have been banished to Tartarus. And who knows maybe he could have found his old shoes floating across the hell site that somehow helped him survive for all that time---
Nemesis helped Nico? Well, Nemesis is Ethan's mother and Ethan once sided with Luke back in the day, I wonder how she'd have reacted----
"The Twins wouldn't want Luke" - Well well welll. What if they did intend to take Nico but Luke somehow switched their places/ replaced him bc he refused to let the kid be a prisoner? What then?
Percy making Nico promise to lead them to the House of Hades? - Double angst bc now it's Luke - who led many demigods astray once. Would Percy have the heart to trust him? Would a promise be enough against all those times they had stood on two sides of the war?
Leading the way to the House of Hades? - Think about it. Luke's basically dead. He's a ghost. His father is also the god of traveling. Surely he can have some kind of instincts that guide him through the halls of the dead.
Transporting the Athena Parthenos? - Again. Son of Hermes, god of travel. Look me in the eye and tell me there's no plausible way Luke Castellan could have some sort of teleportation spell that magically blips them a thousand miles away.
And the best thing in all of this, is that Luke actually has the personal motive to fight Gaea.
For Nico, it's more like kindness, the "If I don't do this, those I love will die" - which is sweet, alright, but also quite universal. Luke has more than that. Luke has actually a personal reason which is he has committed the same mistake once. He brought Kronos upon them and only managed to kill him by killing himself. He sacrificed so much for the demigods' sake and now Octavian wants to raise Gaea to doom all of them? He was the one who allied himself with the monsters only to receive the bitter ending, and now Octavian intends to repeat the same mistake?
Try telling me Luke wouldn't want to rip the guy to shreds and blast Geae into pieces. I dare you.
Also obviously the hype of getting a friend-turned-foe turn ally again. How would Percy and Annabeth react? How's Thalia gonna react when Luke comes across the Amazons + Hunters when on his way transporting the Pathernos? Dammit I'd eat that shit up as if I've been starving since the day I was born.
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nastyavolk-cp · 4 months
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JEALOUS AND POSSESSIVE (YANDERE PLATONIC ANNABETH CHASE x YOUNG SISTER)
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A/N: First of all I want to thank my friend @aphroditelovesu for letting me use her headcanons to write this story! If you want to read her original headcanons you can read here.
Since this is a yandere platonic story, I believe you guys know what it contains, it's nothing new, just yandere themes, obsessive and manipulative behavior, characters trying to kill each other, yeah, the basic stuff. By the way, Irina is my original character and English is not my first language, so sorry if it contains grammar mistakes. Enjoy it ❤️
Irina Chase was special, at least to her sister, Annabeth, the famous daughter of Athena. She, just like her older sister, was also the daughter of the Goddess of Wisdom, but she was as well the spwan of Frederick Chase. This was what made Irina even more special to Annabeth, the two were daughters of the same mortal father and goddess mother, since she was little Annabeth wanted her father and mother to be together, when Irina was born, she felt that this dream was not so far away to come true, right?
She and Annabeth were 7 years apart, although the older one stayed at Camp Half Blood, she always made sure of visiting her mortal family, not to see them, but rather her dear little sister, Irina. Nothing and no one else was important, just her baby sister, she was everything to Annabeth and she would do everything to make Irina only for herself, after all she was proof that in the end she would have their family's dream together.
As Irina grew up, Annabeth did everything she could to be by her side, no matter what it was, whether it was family gatherings, birthdays, no matter what, she was always there to support her little sister and be the most supportive family member for her. Anything the younger Chase did, the older one would be there to celebrate, even the small achievements (excellent grades, learning to ride a bike, etc.).
The day Irina was ready to go to Camp Half Blood, now 11 years old, Annabeth was ecstatic, many things had happened like the wars, but everything was left aside when Irina was sent there, now the oldest could to have Irina by her side basically the entire time, as she had impatiently waited all this time. Of course she made sure that Irina stayed away from her half-siblings, after all, they weren't important, the two of them were.
Annabeth was extremely possessive and jealous, she hated seeing her little sister mixing with demigods that she thought weren't worthy enough for her, her little sister can't mix with those types of people, what if she forgets about her? No, there was no way she would let that happen, Annabeth made sure of limiting her little sister's contact with other demigods, if she had obligations she would take Irina along, she justified it by saying that it was just to ensure that she was always safe. Ha, big shit.
As if the possessiveness and clinginess that Annabeth had wasn't enough, it got worse when Percy Jackson got into the picture, yes, the super mega famous son of Poseidon. The moment he met Irina, he completely fell in love (platonically duh) with the young girl, she was like a young and shy version of her own older sister, and it wasn't long before Irina was considered Jackson's little sister, after all he wanted to protect her from everything and he was one of the only people Annabeth allowed to talk to and interact with on a daily basis.
But lately, and it took Annabeth a while to realize due to her illusions about family and such, Irina was moving away from her, very gradually. It's because? All thanks to Leo Valdez, who became friends with young Chase a short time ago, as he was one of the people Annabeth accepted for Irina to interact with, she didn't worry so much at first, after all Irina would come back to her like she always did.
How wrong she was. In a short amount of time, Irina began to idolize Leo, she saw the son of Hephaestus as an example to be followed, every time she found herself confused about something, she turned to him and no longer to Annabeth and worst of all, she began to refer to him as a big brother. This began to worry Athena's daughter. No, there is NO way Valdez would steal Irina from her!! She was HER little sister and not the Hephaestus's son’s, let him look for another child to satisfy his need.
“Irina, we need to talk.” Annabeth said dryly when Irina entered the empty cabin, where only she was. The young girl looked at her older sister with curious eyes.
“What is it Annie? You seem kind of angry…” She said hesitantly, you could see in Annabeth's facial expressions that she was angry, but she had reason to be.
“Oh no, Irina. I’m not, I just need to ask you something.” The blonde said, trying to hide it, but of course the young girl didn't let that go, but she decided to pay attention to what her older sister was going to ask.
“What is it, Annie?” Irina asked curiously, it was then that Annabeth took a deep breath and said dryly to her sister.
“I want you to keep your distance from Leo Valdez from today onwards. I already asked Percy to tell him about this too.”
Irina was static, not believing what she had just heard her older sister saying. Why? She finally had a friend she could trust and spend time with that wasn't just her sister or her boyfriend. Leo was intelligent and had a lot to teach her, she loved him, why did Annie want her to stay away from him? Did he do something wrong? But he wouldn't be able to.
“W-What? But why?"
“Isn’t that obvious, Irina? Oh please, don't act stupid to me! Do you think it’s cool to start ignoring me just to spend more time with Leo??” Annabeth questioned her, she didn't care if at that moment she was showing her true colors, after all, it wouldn't make any difference.
“W-What? But he-"
“It’s always ‘Leo this, Leo that…’, where is our partnership? We are sisters, blood sisters! From the same father and mother and you dare call that son of Hephaestus your older brother? Have you lost your mind??” Irina was increasingly scared, she had never seen Annabeth so angry with her, and it was for real. The young daughter of Athena, however, didn't understand why, until something finally made her realize and everything made sense.
“Are you jealous, Annie??” She asked her older sister, who looked at her with wide eyes and her anger grew significantly, never that she would admit it, not even to her little sister.
“As if, Irina. He is nothing compared to us, daughters of Athena━”
“That's why you're talking bad about him! You’re jealous of him, aren’t you???” Irina cut Annabeth off to continue her line of reasoning, her frustration and now anger made her realize everything. “You're insecure as hell, that's why you wanted to keep me away from others?? You… ugh, you are the one who ruined all the friendships I had and now I have no one, no one looks at me or talks to me….” Tears started to form in Irina's eyes, Annabeth immediately noticed, but instead of comforting her, like she always would, her pride didn't allow it.
“He’s not good enough for you, no, no one is! Only I, Irina, only I am good enough for you, why other people if you have me? You always had me in the end, now you're going to abandon me and go to someone else?! He’s worthless and a bad influence!” Annabeth argued and Irina had had enough of her, now with angry tears falling from her eyes, she screamed loudly.
“I HATE YOU ANNIE! I HATE YOU, I’M NOT YOUR SISTER ANYMORE!” She screamed and Annabeth fell silent, motionless and unable to properly process the words she heard her little sister, her precious Irina say out loud and with pure hatred. Before Annabeth could respond, Irina left the cabin in tears, leaving the older Chase contemplating her hateful words.
Irina ran into the middle of the forest in the camp, she ran until she tripped, she wanted to find Leo, he would be in his Bunker, but she couldn't take it and continued to cry, she hated her sister, she finally realized why she never had friends . This was all Annabeth's fault and her selfishness.
"Are you ok?" A not very familiar voice asked her, the young Chase looked around scared, but finally her eyes met with two black irises that belonged to a certain son of Hades.
“I-I am but… who are you?” She asked hesitantly before wiping her tears away, he wore an alternative look and Irina had definitely never seen him before.
“I am Nico di Angelo, son of Hades. You must be Irina Chase, sister of━”
“Yes, Annabeth Chase.” Irina said with a derogatory tone, which surprised the son of Hades. “I need to find Leo, I don’t want to be closer to her.”
“I think you'd better go to the infirmary. Your leg is bleeding a lot.” The Italian said pointing to the young girl’s leg, which indeed was. But Chase didn't care, she managed to get up with difficulty and was trying to walk around looking for Bunker 9. “Hey, where are you going?? You won’t go very far with your━”
“I’M FINE, I DON’T NEED HELP!” The child screamed in response, but stumbled again, letting out a groan of frustration and pain as she fell face first onto the ground.
‘Prideful like her sister.’ Nico thought, approaching the girl who was whimpering against the leaves. “Come on, I’ll take you to the infirmary. Will will take care of you.” He said picking the girl up carefully in his arms and before she could protest, he entered a shadow to take her to her destination.
But if she hadn't been taken, she would have faced Leo and Percy in a verbal confrontation, in the end, Leo actually wanted Irina as his little sister and he wouldn't hesitate to get rid of Annabeth to make that happen, after all, the young Chase deserved a better older brother and who would be a great candidate like himself?
That day, Leo Valdez and Annabeth Chase started a war over Irina, a war that would cost the young girl dearly.
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I reread the book today and the chapter where the trio rides in the back of the car with the animals and they help them and everything is gonna be insane after this most recent episode if they adapt it. Yesterday we got Percy saying he doesn't think he and Annabeth could ever be friends and we heard about Annabeth's pride and loyalty to her mom. Do you guys even remember that chapter? Cause it made me insane reading it today;
"'So if the gods fight,' I said, 'will things line up the way they did with the Trojan War? Will it be Athena versus Poseidon?'
She put her head against the backpack Ares had given us, and closed her eyes. 'I don't know what my mom will do. I just know I'll fight next to you.'
'Why?'
'Because you're my friend, Seaweed Brain. Any more stupid questions?'" (Page 251, The Lightning Thief)
This would be the PERFECT time for her to call Percy 'Seaweed Brain' for the first time (also this is the first time it's capitalized in the book, I think. Meaning it's no longer just an insult but now a nickname) but this scene would kill me after this most recent episode.
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