#demigod!nct

[jungkookschin]

demigod trials: our starlit bond - love you from tartarus | 3.5

synopsis: mark lee, the clumsy t.a for forging foundations: introduction to the forge, takes you on a magical pegasus ride, and you fall in love.

word count: 3k

pairing: son of hephaestus!mark x daughter of aphrodite!reader

genre: camp half blood au, percy jackson au, demigod au, friends to lovers, mark is so cute and clumsyyy

warnings: SO WHOLESOMEE, mentions of death, mentions of mark going into tartarus- this is just love, angst bc he's going to be leaving. this is definitely a whole new oc

author's note: THIS IS A WHOLE NEW OC. this is still canon to the original series, but i wanted to give a closer perspective of mark and the other characters. YES THIS IS THE SAME MARK who is the little brother of oc from the previous chapters. the next chapter will be a sonofposeidon!taehyung fic. also this was supposed to be a drabble but its kinda long

demigod trials masterlist

chapter one | chapter two | chapter three

At the age of 14, you discovered a life-altering truth: your mother did not pass away during childbirth, as you had been led to believe. Instead, you learned that she is none other than the Greek goddess Aphrodite. 

For the average Camp Half-Blood attendee, 14 years old is fairly late to learn about one’s Greek origins. 

The gods promised that they would reveal themselves to their demigod children by age 13, but you guess your mom didn’t get the memo.

Joining Camp Half-Blood the summer after your freshman year in high school came along with significant drawbacks. 

You weren’t good at combat, weren’t good at strategy, and you certainly weren’t favored by the other campers.

In fact, you were disliked so much that your own siblings actively avoided you, scooting towards the far end of the Aphrodite table whenever you sat down with your magical lunch platter. 

During the first two months at Camp Half-Blood, a melancholic reality enveloped you. You sought refuge by sticking your nose in a book and studying your hours away. You wouldn’t even consider yourself to be a good student, but it became a way to make amends for sucking at everything else.

You remember meeting Mark Lee during the first day of your third month at Camp Half-Blood.

It was your first day of Forging Foundations: Intro to the Forge. To your surprise, a cyclops marched into the classroom, accidentally knocking over tables and side swiping papers off the teacher’s desk.

In Greek mythology, Cyclopes are one-eyed giants, often associated with strength and craftsmanship. They are known for their forging skills and are credited with creating powerful items for gods and heroes.

Though your teacher Argos was barely proficient in the English language, he certainly knew what he was talking about.

“Um- h-hello c-class! Welcome to Forging class! You introductory class, correct?” Argos asks, his voice deep and gruff- but it was obvious enough that Argos was a gentle giant.

None of the other Aphrodite kids even graced Argos with a response, filing their nails or checking their reflections in a mirror.

You cleared your throat. “Yes sir,” you responded, offering Argos a warm smile. His large mouth grinned, displaying his yellow and crooked teeth and his single eye softened at you, beaming that somebody actually responded to him.

 “Good!” Argos responded, straightening a stack of papers on the desk. Unfortunately, the teacher’s desk snapped in half, causing Argos to blush and his single eye to dart around the room nervously.

“So, your daddy is Hermes?” Argos asked, to which some of your siblings actually sneered.

One of your sisters scoffed. “Our mother is Aphrodite. Maybe you should get your eyes- err- or eye checked out,” to which some of your other siblings burst into cackles.

Gods, you remember feeling so horrible for poor Argos, who immediately apologized clumsily, tears welling up in his single eye.

On cue, a boy burst into the classroom, panting heavily with his hands tightly secure around his backpack straps. He was wearing jeans, converse, and a Camp Half-Blood T shirt over a white long sleeved tee. His black fringe fell into his eyes and he flicked his head back to clear his vision. 

"Sorry I was late!" he panted, resting his hands on his knees. "I was in the forge and got so caught up with something I didn't even realize I was late!" he exclaimed, his eyes widening slightly when he saw poor Argos tearing up.

"Hey big guy, something wrong?" he asked gently, brows furrowing in concern.

Argos, despite being twice as big as the boy, crushed him in a hug, and the boy's face turned red from how hard he was being squeezed.

By the gods' grace, he found it in him to pat Argos on the back while reassuring him that everything would be okay.

Argos stopped crushing the boy and redirected his attention to the class, to which the boy almost theatrically inhaled to catch his breath after almost being crushed to death.

"This is Mark!" Argos announced. "He is teacher's helper!"

Mark nodded and greeted the class. "That's right. I am the official TA, or teacher's assistant, for this class. If you don’t know me, I’m the head counselor at the Hephaestus cabin. It’s nice to meet you all." He smiled at the entire class, but for some reason, you felt shy when his eyes momentarily lingered on you, and you looked away.

"Mark gonna help me!" Argos grinned. "Argos is so happy Mark here!"

Mark smiled. “That means a lot big guy. I’ll be there whenever you need me, alright?” 

He then addressed the class. “So let’s get started with Lesson 1: Fundamental Tools of Blacksmithing. If everybody could come up to the class to pick up their notes, that would be great.”

Needless to say, the Aphrodite cabin did not give a single shit that Mark was leading the class, even though he was a slightly better teacher than Argos. Nobody said anything, their eyes still focused on their nails or mirrors.

Mark fished for something from his backpack: a hammer. He held it up, motioning with his hammer and occasionally pointing it at the class.“You guys might be Aphrodite kids, but I promise blacksmithing is super easy and fun. This class is going to be a blast.”

Your siblings clearly didn't agree, but you figured that you needed to show some sort of enthusiasm. So, whenever Mark met your eyes, you nodded like you were super engaged.

Gods, you thought Mark was the cutest boy you had ever seen. So cutely clumsy, and you couldn't help but giggle at his little mistakes.

“Oh shit, I’m still holding this,” he mumbled, making you giggle. His eyes met yours, and he crimsoned before he cleared his throat.

“"So," he began, "does anyone know what this is?" he asked, motioning towards the hammer.

Crickets.

You raised your hand. "Umm... is it a hammer?" you sheepishly responded, to which Mark beamed and nodded his head.

"That's right," he encouraged, his eyes scanning over your name tag. "Y/N," he finished, flashing you a grin.

“This is your trusty companion, the hammer. Grip it firmly, but not too tight. Precision is key in our craft. Watch closely as I shape this piece of celestial bronze. Every strike has purpose, every movement deliberate.”

Argos passed out hammers to the class, nearly knocking kids over to their displeasure.

That day, you learned all the basic safety rules and how to strike armor against an anvil to shape metal.

For the entire class, you were the only one who engaged, and it almost felt like you and Mark were one-on-one. You didn't have a problem with that.

After class, Mark approached you, sheepishly rubbing the nape of his neck. “Hey, thanks for responding and whatnot,” he expressed, “The Aphrodite kids don’t seem to like this class that much.”

“Yes, thank you! You are sweet and pretty girl. Very nice. Happy to have you!” Argos added.

You shyly smiled, tucking a strand of hair behind your ear. “I actually find forging to be very interesting. I’m not good at combat or anything so I kinda do better in the forge.”

Mark nodded, “I can see that. You do seem pretty knowledgable- at least about the tools and stuff.”

“For knowing what a hammer is?” you giggled, making Mark’s ears turned red as he stuttered out a response.

“W-well yea. At least you answered. Maybe the others didn’t say anything because they didn’t know what a hammer was,” he reasoned.

Argos nodded in concurrence. “That could be the case.”

With Dumb and Dumber in front of you, you laughed, to which Mark reddens. 

“Wh-what’s so funny?”

“Nothing,” you smiled, shaking your head.

-

Forging Foundations: Intro to the Forge marked the inception of yours and Mark's love story. 

Looking back, you realize that you had definitely fallen for him the moment he clumsily burst through the classroom doors. 

On the last day of class, Mark and Argos congratulated you for being the only student to get an A in the class, and Argos offered to treat you to a meal in the mortal world.

Funnily enough, Argos forgot about your plans, leaving you and Mark to awkwardly greet each other by the barriers of the camp.

Mark was adorned with a light blue button-up, slacks, and dress shoes. He had a celestial bronze watch on his wrist, occasionally checking the time and looking out for Argos's arrival.

You approached him from behind, gingerly tapping him on the shoulder. When he turned around, he appeared to be completely awestruck.

That night, you decided to wear a long satin red dress that hugged your body in all the right places. You did your makeup and actually got one of your siblings to do your hair.

Your hair was curled in voluminous curls, and you pursed your lips once more to ensure that your red lipstick was still evenly applied.

Mark couldn't seem to control his reaction because his jaw physically dropped.

“Do I look bad?”

Mark’s eyes widened. “No- not at all. Y-you’re gorgeous Y/N, truly.”

You softened, instantly enveloping him in a hug—one that he reciprocated by holding you tightly, seemingly never wanting to let you go.

After a few more minutes of waiting, Mark deadpanned “I don’t think the big guy is gonna show up.”

“I don’t think so either. So what should we do? We both got ready for dinner,” you pout.

Mark bit his lip, gathering his thoughts before a lightbulb appeared over his head.

“Wanna go for a pegasus ride?”

Your lips parted. “Wait, are we allowed to? Chiron said no more pegasus rides after Jaemin crashed into the Big House.”

A smile graced his lips, and he shook his head in at the antics of his friends. “Yea, but it’s whatever. I’m an experienced rider. You won’t crash if you’re with me.”

With that, he offered his hand and you both ran off to the Pegasus stables .

The sun had set below the horizon, staining the sky with hues of orange, red, and pink. The sky was beautiful, and it was a perfect night.

Together, you and Mark made your way to the stables, where a few winged horses grazed under the fading daylight. Among them stood a magnificent Pegasus, its wings shimmering in the twilight.

The Pegasus, a sleek silver-winged beauty named Zephyr, had nuzzled against Mark affectionately. "This is Zephyr," Mark explained, his palms caressing Zephyr's gorgeous mane.

“He’s so… pretty,” you expressed in awe to which Zephyr neighed, snuggling his snout into your side. 

Mark tilted his head, “I don’t speak horse but I think he says you’re prettier.”

“Oh shut up,” you mused, to which Mark laughs, “I’m serious Y/N-“

And you thought he was going to tell you how beautiful you are, but instead he said “I really think Zephyr said that.”

You couldn’t help but smile, swatting at his bicep. Mark held your hand as you mounted Zephyr before he slid behind you, holding the reins from behind you as Zephyr took off. 

As you ascended into the evening sky, the world below transformed into a patchwork of twinkling lights. The camp, nestled between hills and forests, appeared even more enchanting from above. You and Mark marveled at the serene lake, the training grounds, and the cabins bathed in moonlight.

Zephyr soared higher, catching the cool breeze that whispered through the treetops. Laughter merged with the wind's gentle melody as you and Mark ventured beyond the camp's borders, exploring the surrounding landscapes.

You were sure that your perfectly curled hair was ruined from the wind violently thrashing it, but you didn't care.

Mark used the reins to direct Zephyr to ascend before rapidly descending, and you couldn't help but scream and laugh because you felt like you were on a roller coaster.

Mark scooted closer, pressing his chest directly against your back as he secured the reins. "Ready for this?" he yelled over the winds before Zephyr did an actual loop in the sky.

You screamed before bursting into laughter. "Mark!"

His laughter echoed as clear as ever. 

The moon reached its zenith, casting a soft, silvery glow on Zephyr. You and Mark exchanged exhilarated glances, sharing stories, dreams, and laughter against the backdrop of the starlit sky.

Mark finally decided to stop treating Zephyr like a rollercoaster, and you both tread peacefully amongst the stars.

As you soared through the night sky, Mark shared the story of a defining moment from his childhood, recounting how he acquired a scar on his cheek. It happened during a time when he was still learning the basics of blacksmithing, and he cut himself with the back of a hammer when he swung it too closely to his face. 

He also tells you stories about his older sister. She had embarked on a perilous journey into Tartarus, the treacherous abyss, and actually survived. Tragically, she sacrificed herself by immolating both herself and Gaia, an evil primordial goddess, to death.

In return, you shared how you had struggled to assimilate into Camp Half-Blood. A soft, almost bitter smile graced your lips as you recounted, "My siblings— they kinda avoided me, so I gave up on talking to them," you responded.

You delved into the emotional weight of feeling isolated, the subtle but hurtful distance from your siblings

You couldn't see Mark's face, but you could imagine he was sporting his usual look of concern and worry.

He paused, collecting his thoughts before he responded. "Do you think—could it be like—that they were jealous of your beauty?"

At his ridiculous comment, you actually burst into laughter, and Mark thought that the sweet sounds of your laughter were prettier than the stars and the moon.

"I wish," you giggled, "I wish I had those main character vibes, but it’s just because they don’t like me. And that’s fine."

Mark softened, "That’s alright, Y/N. You have me and Argos. We’re your friends."

You smiled before a thought dawned on you,  "But what if I didn't want you to be a friend?"

“Are you mad that Argos forgot about our dinner reservations?”

“No!” you expressed, “Gods no. Mark, I like you more than a friend. I want to be more than friends.”

As Zephyr began its descent, gently landing on the ground, you wished you could see Mark's face. Perhaps it was a good thing you couldn't, as the lack of visual cues allowed you to summon the courage to confess your feelings.

Mark dismounted from the Pegasus, and in a moment that felt like the culmination of shared laughter, stories, and dreams beneath the starlit sky, he kissed you. 

With that kiss, the uncharted territory of romance unfolded, and that night, Mark officially became your boyfriend. The stars above bore witness to the inception of a new chapter, marked by the shared warmth and affection that had blossomed amidst the celestial tapestry.

-

You and Mark are a happy couple. You keep things to yourselves- really the only person who even knows about your relationship is Argos.

In a humorous turn of events, Argos unexpectedly walked in on you and Mark sharing a kiss by the Pegasus stables. The moonlit rendezvous had created an intimate atmosphere, and the two of you were lost in the moment. However, the serenity was abruptly interrupted as Argos stumbled upon the scene.

Profusely apologizing for the intrusion and seemingly flustered, Argos apologized for forgetting dinner reservations. However, his words were cut short as he gasped, realizing the nature of the situation. 

“You- you and Mark are … dating?”

There's no room for conflicts; if something bothers either of you, a simple conversation resolves it.

That is, until he tells you that he’s willingly going to sacrifice himself to Tartatrus.  

You both are in the 18+ Hephaestus cabin resting on his king sized bed, and you almost think he’s joking until you really get a good look at his face.

“So you’re serious,” you deadpan.

He nods, “I am. I can’t let my older sister be sacrificed to a dangerous primordial God,” he reasons.

You bitterly nod, not being able to contest that. Mark’s older sister is one of the most well known demigods within Camp Half-Blood. She actually died and came back to life with the Physician's Cure- so you completely understand that Mark doesn’t want to endanger her life again. 

“Okay, then I’m coming with you,” you bluntly respond, arms crossing as you glare daggers into Mark

“No.” 

This is likely the first time where Mark has ever refused you, and you feel on the verge of tears.

"Mark, you run the risk of dying. What if—what if I never see you again?" you ask breathlessly, your voice carrying a hint of worry and vulnerability. In response, his expression softens.

He approaches you, his movements gentle, and pulls you into a comforting hug. "I don't know, Y/N. I might face that risk, but if I do—then it's for a good cause."

Tears begin streaming down your face and onto Mark’s sweater. As they fall onto Mark's sweater, you voice the overwhelming fear that has taken root in your heart. "Mark, you can't. I can't live without you. I need you here."

He sighs, holding you more tightly. “I’m prepared. Baby- I’m strong. Nothing’s going to happen to me-”

“You have to promise me Mark. You have to promise me that nothing is going to happen,” you sob. 

Holding you more tightly, he attempts to provide solace amidst the uncertainty. "I'm prepared. I've done all I can to ensure survival, but I can't make any promises."

You hold him as you cry into his neck. Gods, you’re going to miss Mark so much. The thought of being without him is nearly unfathomable and a tremor runs through your body.

An alarm goes off on his celestial bronze watch. 

Mark sighs, a look of urgency enveloping his features, “Babe, I have to go now- but meet me tonight by the portal to Camp Jupiter.” He hurriedly pulls away, gathering his belongings into a backpack. 

He pulls you in for one last kiss before escaping through the stairs and out of the cabin. 

-

You follow Mark's instructions diligently, patiently waiting by the portal to Camp Jupiter. As your eyes scan the familiar faces, you spot Mark's older sister and her friends approaching. Recognizing Taehyung, Namjoon, Rose, Jungkook, and Mark's sister among the group, you brace yourself for their arrival.

Mark's older sister beams at you as she recognizes you, immediately pulling you into an unexpected and warm hug. The surprise is evident on your face, realizing that Mark had shared the news of your relationship with his sister. While you hadn't anticipated this revelation, you don't harbor any objections.

"Hello?" you manage to greet.

"Y/N," she responds with a smile, "It's me—Rose. Can you turn off the mist for a second?" With a snap of Rose's fingers, the appearance of Mark's sister morphs into none other than your boyfriend.

A breath catches in your throat, and you're left breathless as Mark shakes his head, enveloping you in a reassuring hug. "It'll be alright. My sister's safe, and you're safe too. Everything will be okay," he whispers into your hair.

Taking a moment to process the unexpected revelation, you sigh and pull back. It dawns on you that this might be the perfect time to make your relationship public. You lean in and kiss Mark passionately and ardently,

“You got this, sweet boy. I believe in you,” you express pulling back from Mark who appears dazed and starstruck.

He reddens, knowing that the other demigods are staring right at you and him, but you don’t care. You press another chaste kiss to his lips.

Collecting himself, Mark takes a moment to share crucial information. "Y/N, look. My sister and I manufactured these rings that'll keep you updated with everything that's happening to Jungwon and me. Just go to Bunker 9, and you'll get live updates of everything that's happening," he explains, holding up his finger to showcase the ring.

As he holds the ring for you to see, you can't help but marvel at the intricate craftsmanship. The significance of the piece becomes apparent — a tangible connection to Mark, a lifeline to stay informed about the events unfolding in their Tartarus.

You hear a voice from behind, “Does your sister know that you told your girlfriend about Bunker 9?”

Mark ignores it and hugs you one last time. 

“I love you, sweet girl. You’ll be with me the entire time.” He lifts up the locket you gifted him for your first-year anniversary, a delicate piece adorned with your image within its bearings.

And with that, Mark transforms back into the image of his older sister and walks into the portal to Camp Jupiter.

-

#nct scenarios #nct dream x reader #nct dream #mark lee #mark lee x reader #nct x reader #nct 127 x reader #mark lee scenarios #nct drabbles #nct 127 drabbles #nct 127 fluff #nct angst #nct dream scenarios #mark lee fanfic #camp half blood au #demigod!nct #demigod!nct127 #demigod!nct dream

[neonacity]

Elysium Ch.1: The Beginning of the End

Summary: What do you get when demigods are sent to the human realm as punishment for wreaking havoc on Olympus? Chaos. And a whole lot of trouble the mundane world is probably not ready to face, ever.

PROLOGUE: The Beginning

DRABBLES: Son of Shadows (JENO) | Of Love & Lust (JAEMIN)

NOTE: I know Percy Jackson has picked up again with its new series, but despite some similarities, this fic is not inspired by the lore. I have never read any of the books. All real people mentioned in the story are only my uses. I do not imply any likeness between them and my characters. A lot of the concepts from the original mythology might also be changed to fit the plot. I do not allow any of my works to be shared anywhere else. I only have Tumblr.

© neonacity 2023 - 2024

*******

“Say you’re given a chance to sit down with any deity and just talk to them for five minutes, who would you choose?”

You crinkled your nose and peered at your best friend from the comfort of the faded bean bag you are slumped on. The room was warm and the weather was making your eyelids droop, but you managed to shift a little on your seat to look at the boy who was currently playing self-catch by throwing a baseball against the wall. Yangyang looked equally bored as he flicked his wrist lazily with ease.

“Should it be a deity?”

“Well, yeah. It’s not like you see them every day.”

“You don’t get to see Princess Diana every day. Or Beyonce.”

Yangyang gave a snort. 

“Beyonce’s still alive, Nugget.” 

You reached out for the closest cushion pillow and threw it at the boy who effortlessly ducked to avoid it. You glared, but he simply laughed to brush you off.

“My point is that, why ask for a deity if there are aspiring people who I can get a chance to talk to?”

“Do you really hate the gods that much,” Yangyang asked with a slight frown creasing the top of his nose. 

“Do you really love them that much, Beep?” 

Now, it was his turn to scoff at the mention of his childhood nickname. Yangyang rolled his eyes before fully turning on his seat to face you. 

“For someone who studies at Rosewood, you treat the celestial world with so much irony.”

That made you pause. Rosewood Institute… An academy that had centuries of history riding on its back. In the eyes of the world, it is a regular boarding school, albeit a shadowy one. For the chosen—or as what they call it—it is a fort that means so much more than any earthly concept. 

Rosewood Institute is the frontier in the mortal world that serves as the learning nest of demigods and half-bloods.

Half-deities and children of anyone connected to the world beyond all pass through the halls of the school. While humanity has since moved on and cut ties with their connection to the gods, their legacy remains and walks among them secretly under shadows. The only exception from the half-bloods housed within the academy were the 'darlings of Olympus,' namely the children of the big honchos residing in Elysium itself. 

For many, being a part of the community of demigods is a badge they wear with pride.

Well, except for you. 

You don’t want to call it hatred, but as the daughter of a humble forest nymph, you stand in a place that still puts you in the viewpoint of someone destined to look up to those with ‘bigger lineages.’ Alas, big names can come with big egos, and so it has tarnished the way you live your life at the Institute every single day.

You slumped back in your seat now and stared at the dusty, aged ceiling of the room you and Yangyang call the Journalism Club. You wished his question was rhetoric, but the hanging silence told you that he is actually expecting an answer. 

“I am just not all hot and excited about it. You already know why.”

Your best friend sighed. The sound of a ball bouncing against the wall started again from his side.

“Not all of them are bad, you know.”

“I’m not saying anyone is ba—”

The crashing sound of something heavy, followed by the shattering boom of breaking glass made you stop. Pulling yourself up from your seat in panic, you stared in shock at Yangyang who also looked frozen from surprise. It didn’t take long for the both of you to get what was happening, and soon enough, you were both scrambling out of the room without another word.

Scratch that. Every single one of these demigods ARE trouble.

*******

“What on earth is going on here?!” The billowing smoke from the room made you cough out your words as you barged through the door. You couldn’t see way past a few feet from the dust that was still settling, but you could make out moving shapes from behind the smoke screen. You squinted hard to make out what was happening when you saw an arm shoot out of nowhere to grab at something.

“What the hell, Haechan. You said you knew what you were doing!” 

A few coughs came a little ways from your right.

“I was, I swear! I followed everything that was written in the book.”

“If you did, then how come you blew up half of the room?!”

“I might have read one of the words wrong—”

“You what?!”

“I'm dyslexic, okay!” 

You blinked away the sting that was already making you start to tear up to properly make out what was in front of you. Now with more of the dust settled, you could finally put a face on the voices. 

Huang Renjun, son of Ares, the God of War. 

And Lee Haechan, child of Athena, the Goddess of Wisdom and Warfare. 

Both locked up in what seemed to be a deathly grip—well, with more of the latter being strangled by the former.

“I am going to kick your a—”

“Hey. Stop. Is everyone okay?” 

You jumped a little as a sudden creak came off from the corner followed by the sudden burst of light into the room. Somebody had enough sense to open a window, which made the rest of the smoke finally escape outside. Standing beside it was a boy with blonde hair that almost glowed like the sunlight. 

Mark Lee. The heir of Zeus, ruler of the sky… and the God of all Gods.

“We’re good. But I don’t think the room is,” a dark-haired boy answered on behalf of the group as he toed a fallen chunk of plank from the ceiling. He turned it over with his booted foot, which only made the wood break into pieces again.

“You think? Everything is scorched off. I liked this room. Now we have to—oh… hello there, Princess.” 

“Uh-oh…” Haechan whispered under his breath as he pushed back his skewed glasses up his nose bridge. Renjun, despite himself, finally let go of the other’s collar as his eyes shifted towards the other three. Mark cleared his throat and reached out to scratch the back of his neck, so instead you turned to the only two boys who are yet to avoid your withering look. 

You froze in your place and glared at the other boy with silver platinum hair who smiled sweetly at you from where he stood. Upon his greeting, everyone in the group turned to look at you, as if it was their first time to notice you there.

Lee Jeno, son of Hades, God of the Underworld; and Na Jaemin, beloved child of Aphrodite, Goddess of Love and Beauty; looked like the poster children of light and shadows. Their current expressions drove the imagery well, too. 

“Can somebody tell me why half the room melted off?” You asked through gritted teeth, your eyes boring holes at Jaemin who was still smiling so pleasantly at you—a fact that, to be honest, only made your blood boil more. 

“Haechan tried to make a spell that he got from one of the books in the library. He… wanted to make the room cooler,” Jeno answered. 

“What do you mean ‘he’? You were all in on the act too! Didn’t you say the heat here was much worse than Uncle Hades’ second circle of the Underworld?!” The brown-haired boy in question bristled. 

“Book? What book?” Yangyang, who had run after you, but was too shocked to speak before, echoed from behind. Renjun shifted a little guiltily on his feet. 

“Well about that…”

“He got it from the Restricted Section,” Jaemin said, still looking unbothered about everything. 

You felt seconds away from an aneurysm. 

“You mean he stole it?” You emphasized the word as you shifted your gaze to the thief in question. Haechan slightly frowned and looked away.

“I just borrowed it.. “

“You are not allowed to borrow it, let alone touch it. That’s why it is in the Restricted Section!” 

“We weren’t even supposed to use it, but Renjun and the rest—”

“Me?!” 

“Is it really not possible to have any of you stay out of trouble for at least one day?!”

You wish you were overreacting, but you couldn't really be as close to the truth as you are. In fact, you are almost ready to sacrifice Yangyang's blood just to go back to the time before the 'golden heirs' of Olympus stepped foot into your life.

It had almost been a month since the boys arrived in Rosewood. As the chosen heirs of their godly parents, they stayed in their respective domains to be trained and raised differently from the rest. When news broke that they were banished temporarily to the mortal realm as punishment for a gaffe, the Academy was thrown into excitement and chaos—well, mostly chaos from your perspective. 

You’ve been wanting to know what it is exactly that these men did to be exiled from Olympus, but to be honest, they have also been keeping you up almost every single day with their antics. It’s almost like trouble is always hovering around them, and since then, you have never known peace.

“We apologize. We really didn’t mean it this time. We were just trying to learn new things,” Mark, the eldest of the group, told you placatingly. You turned to look at him with your lips in a tight line. 

“This is a school for the demigods, Mr. Lee. Not Hogwarts. You can’t try spells here.”

Jaemin frowned, his curiosity genuine. 

“What’s Hogwarts?”

“You can try spells there?” Haechan seconded. 

“To the office, all of you,” you said as you pinched the bridge of your nose. You have just turned on your heel when someone else stepped into the room, his eyes silently roaming the mess stretched out in front of him. 

Mark straightened at the sight of the man. You did the same, slight surprise marking your features.

“Headmaster.”

“Papa?”

Your father, looking the least bit troubled by the mess, turned to give all of you a smile. 

“Hello kids, it seems like you are having quite an interesting afternoon.”

“Sir, we can explain—”

“They used a spell to—!”

Both you and Mark stopped mid-sentence as he raised a hand.

“I’d love to know the full story, but for now I need to talk to all of you. Can you all please come to my office?”

*******

The boys looked around silently as they settled on their seats at the Headmaster’s office. You, not being a stranger to the place anymore, sat on the closest one to your father’s table, your fingers fidgeting slightly on your side. The man in front was peacefully making coffee as if he has not a care in the world, but you could sense in the air in the room that something was up. That was the thing about your father. Nothing ever seems to ruffle him up.

You know, having been raised by him in the walls of the Institute himself since you were a kid. Even before you officially became a student here, you have seen the way he had handled all kinds of matters in Rosewood. After all, being the Headmaster of one of the select places in the mortal world where the offspring of gods and otherworldly creatures reside does come with its fair share of trouble. 

“Is something the matter?” You braved to ask the question that everyone in the room was itching to voice out. He turned to all of you with a smile and lifted the coffee pot he just finished brewing. 

“Coffee, anyone?” 

You and Mark caught each other’s gazes before slightly shaking your heads. The rest did the same.

“Mm. More for me then,” your father murmured more to himself with a chuckle as he settled behind the ancient-looking oak table. You all watched nervously as he took his time to sip on his drink. The whole room seemed to be holding its breath. Off on your other side, Haechan seems on the verge of chewing his fingers off.

“Papa—”

“We might have to temporarily close off Rosewood,” the Headmaster said to gently cut you off. You froze, processing what he just said for a few seconds. You expected everything, except for this. 

“What??”

“There has been a little bit of trouble brewing in the borders of our world and Elysium. Today, I am going to make an announcement that students and their families have the choice to go home or stay here if they want.”

None of what he is saying makes sense. Beside you, the boys looked paler under the light.

“What do you mean we are closing down Rosewood? We never close the Institute ever!” You blurted out, unable to keep yourself quiet anymore. 

“We have never done it, yes, darling. But this time, the case is a little bit different,” the man replied to you kindly and under control still. He then turned to his other visitors with the same even temperament.

“I have been in touch with all of your parents to tell them about the changes in the Academy. They are yet to give me their answer as to when you will go back to Olympus.” 

Mark fidgeted a little on his seat and gave the boys beside him a quick look. 

“Uhm… About that…”

“Can you at least tell us what’s happening?” You said through gritted teeth as you turned to your father again. The man in question paused a little as if to study you… weighing whether to answer your question or not. Finally, he leaned back against his seat and removed his wire-framed glasses.

“Several places in the mortal world had been under attack. Monsters and beasts have been roaming the place. The celestial army has been keeping the cases down, but we expect the events to… grow.” 

That is the second time you were speechless today. You felt your palms turn cold as you stared at him, mouth open. The headmaster met all of your gazes evenly, his usually warm facade finally showing a glimpse of the seriousness of the situation. 

“What…”

“Tartarus is collapsing on itself and the world, I’m afraid, is not ready for it.” 

Your heart dropped to your stomach. 

Tartarus, the deepest place of the Underworld. 

Tartarus…

The prison of the gods’ greatest enemies. 

You stared breathlessly at your father until something clicked. Slowly, you turned to the boys sitting beside you who seemed to have turned to stone. One look and you knew. One look and the question was drawn automatically from your lips. 

A/N: Look who's back... I know I haven't been active in this account for months, but 2024 is literally just a few hours away and I wanted to close the year (and hopefully start the new one) by picking up writing again. I have no promises, but I hope this little chapter can do its magic. Happy New Year, everyone!

“You… What have you all done?” 

*******

#mark nct x reader #mark x reader #nct dream fanfic #nct dream angst #nct dream imagines #jaemin x reader #jeno x reader #renjun x reader #nct demigod au #nct fic

[faerenjun]

THE HUANG RENJUN FOR LOADING MAGAZINE

#i am speechless all i know is he's too beautiful beyond words!! #he's a demigod an angel a fairy bc a mere mortal can't be this beautiful and ethereal 😭 #my beautiful beautiful boi #i need more renjun solo magazine gigs!!! #im living for the hair color #loml #huang renjun #nct #nct dream #renjun #renjun pics #loading magazine #renjun solo magazine cover #loading china magazine

[choerrypuffs]

my murderous psycho brother gives my boyfriend the seal of approval.

pairing: son of athena!renjun x daughter of aphrodite!reader

genre: fluff, angst

word count: 6.6k

author’s note: it’s finally here, the first fic in demigods: electric boogaloo! it feels so nostalgic to return to this pairing because i haven’t written them in so long 🥺 i really hope you guys enjoy it 💕 you also might notice that i am including the member’s perspective a lot more than i did in the previous series. i wanted to try something different with the sequels since i rarely ever include perspective shifts in my fics because i find it easier to write with one distinctive voice. please let me know your thoughts <3333

warning(s): depressive behavior

additional: this fic is a sequel. catch up on the original series here!

credit for the templates used in my edits (x) (x)

Someone is knocking on the door. 

You’re not sure if it’s because you have been sitting in your bed, wrapped in 3 layers of blankets while shrouded in total darkness for an extended period of time, and your senses have suddenly become heightened because of it, but you recognize who it is by the way he knocks. 

It’s Huang Renjun, your wonderful boyfriend and the sole reason why you haven’t completely morphed into one of those single-cell microorganisms that feed on bacteria in the deep, dark trenches of the ocean.

His knocking style is very much like his personality—three raps, short and sweet, but consistent. If Renjun is anything, he is consistent. He’s been consistently in love with you since you met him almost 5 years ago, patiently waiting for you to look his way, and he’s consistent now as he patiently waits for you to allow him to shoulder the weight of your grief alongside you. 

Even though some of your other siblings have come by and checked on you, Renjun’s knocking is the only thing that clears your hazy mind for even a moment. You’ve lost all concept of day and night at this point, but even in your stupor, your brain hangs onto every little detail of Renjun.

Does that sound stalkerish? Perhaps. 

Are you actually a stalker? Debatable. 

“Just a second,” you call out, voice sounding like you have the worst pneumonia of your life. Hurriedly grabbing the cold spoons you’ve been keeping on your nightstand, you place them against your swollen eyes. It’s a depuffing trick that you normally use when you’ve eaten too many salty foods at night, but now they serve as tools to help you hide the fact that you’ve been crying. 

After a couple more seconds, you finally say, “Okay, you can come in now.” 

The door clicks open and Renjun walks in, holding a tray of food. 

“You know, your room is technically going to qualify as a biohazard if you don’t let in some fresh air soon.” 

Renjun always tries to crack a joke when he checks in on you, a valiant effort to make you smile. You’re not sure what your expression has been as of late, but you hope you’ve managed to squeeze out something that resembles a smile for him at least once. 

With deftness, he navigates through the pitch black of your room and easily makes his way to your bedside, switching on the lamp on your nightstand. 

Your corneas feel like they’ve just been lit on fire when he does it, forcing you to squint as your eyes slowly adjust, but you don’t miss the grimace on Renjun’s face when he is finally able to take a good look at you. His stormy gray eyes go over every little detail of your features, and his hand slowly reaches up to cradle your cheek. He gently runs this thumb across the still-swollen bags under your eyes. 

He knows you’ve been crying. He always does. After all, you’ve never once been able to fool him when it comes to your heart.

Your eyelids flutter shut as you lean into his hand, wanting his touch to shield you from everything bad in the world.

Renjun, however, furrows his brow and turns his attention to yet another tray of untouched food that he had brought for you on your nightstand. 

“You have to eat something, Y/N. Please. Even just a bite,” he whispers softly, taking a seat on the edge of your bed and nudging the new tray of food towards you. “Look, I even took out all the carrots from your curry.” 

It isn’t that you’re choosing not to eat. In fact, you’re quite hungry. It’s just that every time you try to put food in your mouth, your insides twist and turn like a taut band being wrung out and it makes you feel sick to your stomach. Whether you’re sick from heartache or betrayal or anger or guilt or a mixture of all of them or something completely different, you’ll never know. 

When you don’t react to the curry, Renjun picks up the small bowl of chocolate ice cream from the tray before scooping up a spoonful and attempting to feed you.

“They’re serving your favorite chocolate ice cream too,” he adds, obviously trying to entice you into wanting it by waving it in your face and letting the scent waft over to you. 

You can tell how hard Renjun is trying; he always carefully picks out all of your favorites whenever he brings you food, and this time is no different. That’s why you feel so bad every time he has to take back a full tray, and you see his face grow haggard with worry. It upsets you even more that all of this is affecting his well being as well.

So you slowly lean forward, wanting to ease his stress in any way you can, and gingerly take a bite of the ice cream. Perhaps because it’s not a solid food and it quickly melts on your tongue or because Renjun is the one feeding you, but it doesn’t make you feel awful. Rather, the ice cream’s cool temperature and decadent chocolate flavor is a nice reprieve of the constant taste of drainage and bile in your throat. 

When you glance back up at Renjun, he looks so relieved that he could cry at any moment. His gray eyes glimmer like crystalline starlight, and he gazes at you with so much love in his eyes. It constantly astounds you that he looks at you the way he does, as if you’re something so precious.

Especially now.

You don’t even want to think about what kind of state your appearance is in, but you’re certain it isn’t anything short of ghastly. 

For the past two weeks, you’ve seldom left your bed, only getting up to use the bathroom and doing a bare-bones hygiene routine that keeps you just clean enough so you don’t start to collect grime. You most definitely have not washed your hair during this time, and you can imagine it’s just an oil slick up there. 

(Renjun had mentioned a while ago about doing an oil slick painting, so maybe this will serve as inspiration for him.)

You’re wearing one of Renjun’s t-shirts as well, which you’ve lovingly deemed your comfort shirt. It’s a faded spirit tee from his high school days that he normally wears when he’s working with messy art supplies, so it has dried splatters of paint here and there. You don’t mind though; it smells like acrylic paint and Huang Renjun, a mixture that you didn’t realize would be so calming to you. 

And like one of those mangled baby blankets that toddlers drag around and scream for when someone tries to take it away to wash it, this t-shirt has metaphorically and literally absorbed all of your pain (snot and tears). 

So, in conclusion, you’ve looked better. 

But Renjun doesn’t even seem to notice. Rather, he looks at you like you’re at your most beautiful. He always looks at you like that but particularly so now, when you feel the least beautiful, like an exhausted explorer that finally found his treasure at the end of a long journey. No, even more priceless than treasure. He looks at you as if you’re the half-human, half-god incarnate of his very heart and soul—the divine blood that courses through his veins.

You wonder what you did in your past life to deserve someone like him. And you hope in your next life, if you’re lucky, he’ll love you again. 

“Do the airplane,” you whisper, a small smile tugging on your lips. You want to tease him, to let him know you’re okay. You’ll always be okay as long as he’s by your side.

He raises an eyebrow, trying to feign skepticism, but you can see how delighted he is that you’re slowly starting to cheer up. “The what?”

“You know, like ‘here comes the airplane…nyooom,’” you explain, waving your arm around and mimicking what parents do when they’re trying to feed their kid. 

“How old are you?” He rolls his eyes. 

“I just want to see how much I can get away with since you’re being extra nice to me,” you admit sheepishly. 

“I’m always nice to you,” he scoffs. 

Yes, he is. From the moment you’ve met him. Too nice, if you think about it. You would argue that he could actually be meaner. 

And because he is so kind, despite his complaints, Renjun indulges you per usual. 

“Here comes the F-16 fighter jet,” he begins, snaking his arm back and forth swiftly as he makes noises that attempt to resemble an engine revving up, but if the engine had popcorn lung. 

Right before the spoon reaches your mouth, you catch his wrist and move it aside before leaning forward and giving him a quick peck on the lips.

“I love you,” you say softly after you pull back. You’ve told him many times before, and you could say it until your tongue fell out but it still wouldn’t be enough to encapsulate just how deeply you love him. 

Renjun slowly blinks, the spoon threatening to slip from his grasp; every time you tell him you love him, he reacts like he can’t believe you said it. Like this is all a dream that’s too good to be true. 

When he finally manages to convince himself that this is real and you, in fact, do love him, he sets everything aside and wraps an arm around your waist as he tries to pull you into his lap so he can kiss you silly. However, you quickly cover your mouth, refusing to make out with him while you’re in this state.

“I’m disgusting right now. In an extremely desperate need of a shower,” you whine, shaking your head. 

He doesn’t really seem to care because he perches you on his lap anyways, kissing the back of your hand that’s over your mouth. You wonder if he’s aware of how much your self-control is clinging on for dear life when you feel his soft lips against your hand. He doesn’t push any further though, just opting to rest his forehead against your collarbone and his palms on your thighs as his thumbs rub soothing circles against your skin. 

At first, you think he’s doing it to comfort you, but then you realize that he’s actually just fidgeting because there’s something on his mind. Ever the loud thinker, you don’t even need to see Renjun’s face to know that he’s probably got his brows furrowed and his poor lip gnashed between his teeth as he contemplates with that big, Athenian brain of his. 

You card your hands through his coarse hair, guiding him away from your chest and tilting his face up towards you so you can look into his lovely gray eyes. Sure enough, they’re clouded with conflict as the gears in his head churn. 

“Are you gonna tell me what’s wrong or will I have to seduce it out of you?” you tease. 

Renjun doesn’t react to your joke, instead gently lifting you from his lap and setting you beside him on the bed. You search his expression, much more concerned than before, nervously waiting for him to speak. His hands come up to firmly grasp your arms, as if he’s trying to physically hold you together. 

“Jaehyun wants to see you.” 

And perhaps it’s good that he’s holding you, because you feel your blood run cold as you slump into Renjun’s arms.

Jeong Jaehyun, the child of Aphrodite, resident heartbreaker, your brother, and now—

Traitor. 

The reason why the Aphrodite Cabin has basically ceased to function at this point and why you’ve been trapped in this depressive spiral for weeks. 

You’re honestly still not 100% clear on what exactly happened because you simply couldn’t bear to listen to it, but you know enough. You know that Jaehyun was the one who stole the Golden Fleece, the magical artifact that protects Camp Half-Blood’s borders. You know that Jaehyun wanted to use the Golden Fleece to resurrect Kronos, King of the Titans and sworn enemy of the Olympians. You know that Jaehyun was the one responsible for the disastrous Capture the Flag game, wherein monsters with enhanced strength (thanks to the stolen Golden Fleece) were unleashed upon the campers and injured almost everyone—leaving you with a broken arm and Renjun having nearly been killed, had his sister, the head counselor of the Athena Cabin, and her boyfriend not saved him. 

You know that you can never forgive Jaehyun. 

“He’s been asking for you for a while now,” Renjun continues slowly, “but I just…I didn’t want to tell you until you were…better.” 

“I have nothing to say to him,” you force out, trying to swallow the lump in your throat.

Renjun doesn’t respond, just wrapping his arms around you and pressing you against his chest, your cheek squished into his shoulder. 

“Okay,” he whispers. 

The two of you stay like that for a while, relishing in each other’s company as he holds you. 

Your mind whirrs as you think about Jaehyun, and all of the memories you’ve had with him flash by—the countless times he’s called you ‘kid,’ the constant teasing, the knuckle sandwiches, the training. If it weren’t for Jaehyun, you might not have even realized your feelings for Renjun.

“You’re so sharp when it comes to other people, but you’re dense as hell when it comes to yourself,” he had said.

He was such a big part of your life, your family, and you owed so much to him. You’re not sure if you can just cut him out like this, not without some sort of closure. 

Sighing, you finally say, “But I should, shouldn’t I?” 

“You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do,” Renjun responds. 

“But I think I want to,” you begrudgingly admit, leaning back from the hug so you can look at him. 

Renjun smiles. “I know.” 

“Will you come with me?” you ask, threading your fingers through his. 

“I’d go with you to Tartarus if you asked me to,” he answers immediately, brushing your mussed hair aside so he can place a kiss on your forehead. 

You wrap your arms around his neck, throwing yourself on him and clinging to him again like a koala. He slightly grunts at the impact, tucking your head right underneath his chin and kissing the crown of your head. 

A few seconds pass by before he says, “You could use a shower though.” 

You playfully shove him away, rolling your eyes. 

“You are so not cute, Huang Renjun.” 

A long, long piping hot shower later, you’re armed with another sweater of Renjun’s to serve as your armor and Renjun himself by your side—ready to face Jaehyun once and for all. 

Since Camp Half-Blood has no jail or dungeon per se, Jaehyun has been kept under tight supervision in the Hades Cabin, under the watchful eye of the Hades kids while Mr. D and Chiron, the heads of the camp, consult the Olympians on stripping Jaehyun of his powers and expelling him from the camp to live as a normal human.

Your friend Cat, a Hades kid, and her brother, Sicheng, are waiting for you outside as you approach the Hades Cabin. You and Cat became close when you decided she was going to be your next matchmaking project, even setting her up with Jaehyun ironically enough. 

(If you were in a joking mood, you would’ve teased that this was not the enemies-to-lovers arc that you had hoped for.) 

Ultimately, things didn’t work out and the two of you just bonded over your shared interest in sticking your noses into other people’s love lives. 

Cat was actually the one who broke the news to you that Jaehyun was the traitor. In fact, she and Sicheng were on the team of demigods that discovered and captured him in the Sea of Monsters, where he had been hiding out. You were grateful that she told you first, instead of letting you find out through an official announcement via Mr. D and Chiron. 

When you see the Hades siblings, you grip Renjun’s hand tighter and unconsciously begin to drag your feet. You wish you could walk up confidently with your head held high, tell Cat that you’re ready to rip Jeong Jaehyun a new one, but your stomach feels like it’s about to rip you a new one. 

“Y/N!” Cat waves before rushing over to you and giving you a hug. “How are you feeling?” 

“Like I want to hurl,” you answer honestly. 

She pats your shoulder sympathetically. 

“How are you?” you ask, trying to make small talk so you can delay going inside. 

“Miserable,” Cat groans. “I don’t understand why we had to give up our cabin for that loser. I’ve been on nightwatch, so I’ve barely gotten any sleep. But they are letting me stay in the Artemis Cabin for the time being since the Hunters aren’t here, and it’s the most gorgeous cabin ever.” 

Since Artemis is a virgin goddess, she has no children. However, she does have a legion of maidens that have sworn loyalty to her, known as Hunters of Artemis. They remain single for their entire lives, rejecting any kind of romantic love, which in turn grants them eternal youth and pseudo-immortality as long as they keep their vows and are not killed in battle. The Artemis Cabin is largely unoccupied during the summer, since the Hunters are traveling most of the time, and no one else is allowed in unless there are special circumstances. Therefore, the interior of the cabin remains a mystery to most of the campers.

If this were any other situation, you’d be pressing Cat for more details, but you’re barely registering her words. 

“Where’s your sister?” you continue absentmindedly, looking around. 

“She got called into Mr. D and Chiron’s office. I’m not sure why. She’ll tell us when she’s back,” Cat explains breezily, not bothered by your lack of reaction to her other answer.

“I see,” you squeak, “How’s Sicheng?” 

“Insufferable.” Cat rolls her eyes. “He got himself a girlfriend and now he doesn’t want to do his job anymore. He’s the biggest fool for Moon, and it was cute at first, but now he keeps trying to ditch me to hang out with her in the Poseidon Cabin.”

“Hey!” Sicheng protests, still within an earshot. 

That sufficiently peaks your interest and distracts you from your anxiousness, as you are unable to completely shed your matchmaking ways. You lean forward, eyebrows raised. 

“Sicheng got a girlfriend? And I didn’t know about it?” you gasp. 

Now that you’re paying attention, you’re not sure how you missed it. As an Aphrodite kid, you can sense it when someone is in love, and Sicheng is exuding it. His aura is so strong that you’re surprised it hasn’t physically manifested itself in the form of a pink cloud that follows him everywhere. 

“Oh, honey bee,” Cat sighs, “you’ve missed so much.” 

“Well, aren’t you gonna catch me up—”

You feel someone squeeze your hand gently. Turning, you see Renjun, who had been quietly waiting for you to finish your conversation. There’s a knowing expression on his face, and you hate that he’s aware of exactly what you’re doing. 

“You’re stalling,” he points out. 

“Party pooper,” Cat retorts, though she seems to understand too. Winking, she glances towards the Hades Cabin. “If Jeong Jaehyun tries anything, just let me know and I’ll skewer him. Now, go get ‘em, girl.” 

You smile at her appreciatively before looking back at Renjun, who is still holding your hand. When you gaze into those cool gray eyes of his, you suddenly feel a lot braver. He gives you a small nod, encouraging you to walk inside. 

Taking in a deep breath, you march up the dark stairs of the porch and fearlessly push open the door. Like everything else about the Hades Cabin, the inside is dark, low-lit with torches that are sparsely littered around the room. The entire structure is made of pure obsidian, and there are no windows. Camp Half-Blood doesn’t have a prison, but you imagine the Hades Cabin is pretty similar. It’s a far cry from the bright and pastel Aphrodite Cabin that you’re used to, and you suppose Jaehyun feels the same way.

Speaking of Jaehyun, as much as you don’t want to, he’s sitting in the middle of the room, chained to a chair that appears to be made out of Stygian iron. Stygian iron is a magic metal that is forged from the Underworld and cooled in the River Styx, limiting its wielders to only children of Hades. It’s able to absorb the essence of practically every mythical being, including demigods. 

The chains that are binding him emit a faint golden glow, which indicate that it’s Celestial Bronze. Celestial Bronze is what most of the weapons wielded by demigods are made out of. It’s mined in Mount Olympus, and unlike Stygian iron, Celestial Bronze affects mythical creatures physically rather than absorbing their spiritual essence. 

Jaehyun himself looks awful as well. His hair is dull and flat against his forehead. There are deep bags underneath his eyes. His face is ashen, cheeks hollowed out. Despite the fact that his body is rippled with muscle, he looks like a skeleton. As if he’s slowly deteriorating. Dying. 

It both breaks your heart and terrifies you to see him in this state and being held under such maximum security, making you confront the reality of just how dangerous your brother has become. 

Brother. 

But he’s not really, not anymore. 

“Hey, kid.”

You inhale sharply through your nose, every microfiber of your body screaming at you to turn around and run. Renjun, sensing the spike in your nerves, places a hand on the small of your back—a wordless gesture of comfort, letting you know that he’s right behind you. 

“Please don’t call me that,” you respond, trying to hide the quiver in your voice. 

“Sorry,” Jaehyun chuckles, a low, sickly rumble that dies inside his chest, “force of habit.” 

He drags his eyes away from you and to Renjun, an amused smirk on his lips. “Hey, Renjun.”

Renjun doesn’t respond, just narrowing his eyes. The hand against your back grows firmer. 

“Are you Y/N’s chaperone?” 

“Why did you want to see me?” you interrupt, moving to shield Renjun from him with your body. 

He casually leans back against his chair, comfortable, like he’s in his own living room. Ignoring your question completely, he asks, “How have you been?”

“Peachy,” you lie. 

“And the others?” he asks, referring to your siblings. “How are things at the cabin?”

“Wonderful. Nothing but smooth sailing. Barely even noticed you were gone,” you say petulantly. 

Jaehyun smiles. “That’s good. I was worried about—”

“Did you call me here to waste my time?” you demand. 

“No,” he answers, looking surprisingly genuine. “I wanted to apologize. To my brothers and sisters, but to you especially, Y/N. You were the last person I wanted to hurt.”

If you weren’t so incredulous, you would laugh in his face. “You should’ve thought of that when you nearly massacred the entire camp, when you nearly killed Renjun—” 

Your voice cracks when you say his name, tears involuntarily welling up in your eyes.

“I want you to know that everything I did was for my family—” 

You bark out a bitter laugh. “Stop. We’re not your family. We stopped being your family when you tried to slaughter us all.” 

“I’ll always be your brother.” 

Even though this Jaehyun is unrecognizable to you, one look into his eyes and you can tell that he truly believes that. That, in his own delusional way, he does care about you. However, one look into his eyes, and you know that he isn’t your brother. His eyes are void of any humanity, just two vortexes of nothingness. 

A shell. 

You think about Jaehyun, your brother, and how he smiled. How he laughed. How he joked. How he got frustrated. How he cried. How he lived.

“No,” you say softly, not even noticing that you’re speaking aloud, “you’re not Jaehyun.”

“No,” he whispers after a moment, seemingly coming to the realization himself. “I suppose I’m not. The Jaehyun you knew was weak. He cared, and it’s a weakness that I continue to carry with me.”

You’re not sure what to say to that. Were you supposed to be grateful?

“I came here to say goodbye to my brother, but it looks like he’s already left,” you state flatly, “So, I have nothing else to say to you.” 

You turn to Renjun, nodding and allowing him to see the finality in your gaze. He keeps his expression neutral, but you can see how proudly his eyes beam at you.

“Wait,” Jaehyun calls out. 

An enormous wave of dread washes over you. 

“I want to speak to Renjun too. Alone.”

This is probably bad timing, but Renjun thinks your alarmed face is unreasonably adorable. 

You’re staring up at him with wide, watery doe eyes and your expression is a fix of horror and fury as you process what Jaehyun just said. Renjun doesn’t even have time to utter a word before you’re marching straight up to Jaehyun, despite the fact that you were ready to bolt just a few minutes ago, and grabbing him by the collar like a stereotypical thug in a corny 90’s movie.

Again, bad timing, but it’s really cute. 

“What kind of mind games are you trying to play?” you hiss, shaking Jaehyun. “You’re insane if you think I’m going to let you—” 

“It’s not up to you, is it?” Jaehyun replies smoothly, completely unfazed. 

You’ve never been a particularly violent person, but Renjun sees serious consideration of murder flash in your eyes, and he lunges forward to pull you away from Jaehyun in order to keep you from doing something you’ll regret. 

He lifts you with one arm, twisting you away and shielding your vision of Jaehyun with his body. And because you’re stubborn and hotheaded (he loves you for it), you try to thrash out of his hold. 

“Look at me,” Renjun says sternly, cupping your face with his hands. He waits until your expression is visibly relaxed before continuing, “It’s okay. I’ll speak with him.”

“But—”

“Go outside and chat with Cat. Get the gossip about Sicheng and Moon. I’ll be right out,” he continues gently. 

“Renjun, you don’t understand. He’s going to—” 

“Use his charmspeak on me,” he finishes your sentence. “I know.” 

Charmspeak is an ability that allows the user to compel others to do their bidding with their voice, a power that only Aphrodite children are able to have. However, not all Aphrodite children have this ability, and even the select few that do are able to use it to drastically varying degrees of success. For example, you’re able to use charmspeak if you really put your mind to it, but you rarely do because you don’t like the way it makes you feel. Jeong Jaehyun, on the other hand, is the most powerful user at Camp Half-Blood. 

Renjun saw the challenge in Jaehyun’s eyes the moment the two of you walked in. 

Maybe he’s stubborn and hotheaded too, but he isn’t going to give Jaehyun the satisfaction of thinking he ran away. Just like you, Renjun is going to face him and his charmspeak head on. 

“Don’t worry. I’ll be fine,” Renjun says, lacing his fingers through yours before placing a reassuring kiss to your knuckles.  

“How can I not,” you mutter, but he can see that you’re relenting. “Please be careful.” 

“I always am.” 

You give him a pointed look before reluctantly trudging out of the cabin, glancing back at him one more time before shutting the door behind you. 

Renjun swears that the air chills by ten degrees when they’re finally alone. The silence hangs heavily in the air as he turns back to Jaehyun. 

“Afraid?” Jaehyun quirks an eyebrow. 

“I am admittedly afraid of many things, but you are not one of them,” Renjun responds calmly. 

He laughs. “Then I suppose you wouldn’t mind answering a few questions. Truthfully, please.” 

Ah, there it is. 

It feels like a fog is slowly settling over Renjun’s brain, and the sliver of rationality he has left is informing him that he’s becoming under the influence of Jaehyun’s charmspeak. His body starts to grow numb, like he’s floating. His eyes become misty and blurry, and he can’t see the expression on Jaehyun’s face anymore. 

“Okay,” Renjun agrees. His voice sounds muffled, as if he’s underwater. 

“Great. We’ll start with something easy,” Jaehyun suggests, “When did you fall in love with Y/N?” 

He blinks at the unexpected question. Even in his daze, Renjun was bracing for something much more sinister. 

“What? Did you think I was going to turn you into my evil minion or something?” Jaehyun laughs again, seemingly reading his mind. 

“You can try your damn best,” he shoots back. Jaehyun’s charmspeak isn’t so overpowering that Renjun can’t still respond with his usual quips, and he’s pretty sure Jaehyun is keeping his control loose on purpose. 

“Relax, I won’t,” Jaehyun asserts, “I just want to have an honest conversation with you.” 

A conversation in which he has to use charmspeak on Renjun in order to pry answers out of him. 

“I’ve been in love with her since we met,” Renjun finally responds. He would normally stop there, but he feels compelled to continue. Of course, that would be because of Jaehyun’s handiwork.

“I was enamored from the very start, when she barrelled into the Arts and Craft Center without a care in the world—more stunning than any goddess, with a smile so lovely that it would make any nymph green with jealousy. I had never seen anyone like her. She was like…a prophecy. Like a beautiful, fleeting prophecy that could slip through my fingers at any moment. A prophecy that someone like me could never dream of understanding, even if I spent the rest of my life chasing after it. From the moment I laid eyes on her, half of my soul belonged to her.” 

He can’t really make out the expression on Jaehyun’s face, but the latter stays silent. A few moments pass before he speaks again, “What do you like about her?”

Renjun wants to laugh. Where does he even start? 

“I don’t think there’s a thing I don’t like about her,” he chuckles. “I like the way her eyes sparkle when she’s up to no good. I like that she has to be in everyone’s business. I like how she has a short fuse and how cartoonishly her face puffs up when she’s mad. I like the way her nose crinkles when she sees carrots in her curry. I like the little skip in her step when she walks. I like how she bounces when she’s trying to contain her excitement. I like when she laughs so hard that she has to hold onto my arm to keep from falling backwards. I like that she loves so deeply, even towards people that don’t deserve it. I like that she lets herself feel things, even though she knows it’ll be painful sometimes. I like that she frustrates me to the point of wanting to scream at the top of Mount Olympus, and I like that only she can do that. I like that when she kisses me, I think about how I want to spend the rest of my life with her.” 

Gods, Renjun didn’t realize how much of a sap he is. And of all people, he’s being forced to pour out his deepest, darkest feelings to Jaehyun. 

“That sounds like a proposal,” Jaehyun teases. “Are you going to marry her?”

“Only if she wants to get married.” 

“Do you have a ring?” 

“No, I was…I was going to make it myself out of Adamantine,” Renjun explains, wishing that he wouldn’t. Adamantine, another precious metal that demigods typically use for weapons, is typically described as a mix between silver and diamond. “Since I gave her a painting when we first met, I thought it’d be nice to propose to her with something that I made as well.”

“You must really love her, huh,” Jaehyun states quietly. 

“Is that even a question?” Renjun snaps, “I would do anything for her.” 

“Hm,” Jaehyun muses, “would you admit that aliens don’t exist for her?”

Out of all the questions he’s asked so far, this is the one that makes Renjun hesitate the most. 

“I wouldn’t have to because aliens are real,” Renjun says through gritted teeth. 

“If she was being held over a volcano, and you had two options: admit aliens aren’t real or come up with evidence right then and there to save her life, what would you do?” 

“Well, does this volcano have internet service or access to files from the Pentagon—” 

“Answer the question, Renjun.” 

“Yes,” he finally chokes out, “I would admit they didn’t exist. Or I’d just jump into the volcano myself.” 

“You would die for her?” Jaehyun asks.

“Of course I would,” Renjun says  immediately.  

Jaehyun scoffs. “It’s easy to die for someone, so tell me this—”

Suddenly, Renjun feels an overwhelming amount of Jaehyun’s power wash over him. The relaxed hold that was over him before, allowing him to still have some semblance of free thought, has been ripped away. It’s as if the charmspeak has materialized into an invisible force that is physically holding him down, slowly crushing him and only promising to ease up if he answers the next question truthfully. 

“Would you destroy the world for her?” 

The whole world seems a bit like an exaggeration, but Renjun can feel that Jaehyun means it. The world, everyone he loves, Camp Half-Blood, would he destroy it all for you? 

“Yes,” Renjun whispers, the answer slipping out with an ease that unsettles him to his core. An answer that has seemingly always been there. “If she asked me to. I would do it without hesitation.” 

There is a long, dragged out silence.

But then, all at once, like he was being dragged out from the bottom of a deep, deep ocean, Renjun’s head clears instantly. The fog that lingered over his mind, the numbness of his body, the cloudiness that obscured his vision all disappear in a matter of seconds. 

Renjun has never felt this disoriented, squeezing his eyes shut as he tries to recall what just happened—his conversation with Jaehyun already fading from his memory like a Polaroid developing in reverse. All he’s left with are his jumbled emotions and trembling hands. 

When he looks at Jaehyun again, he’s astonished at what he sees.

Not a demigod, not a warrior, not a traitor. 

Jaehyun, despite being imprisoned and chained, has never looked more human. There’s a light in his eyes that flicker, like the last wisps of a dying candle. He smiles, which makes his lips crack. It’s a haunting sight that Renjun doesn’t think he can ever forget. 

An older brother, on his deathbed. 

“Please take care of her.”

You throw yourself into Renjun’s arms the moment he stops out of the Hades Cabin. Burying your face into his shoulder, you cling onto him. He delves his hand into your hair, cradling your head against him as he inhales the smell of your shampoo. Your arms tighten around his torso. 

“Are you okay?” you ask, voice muffled against his shirt. “He didn’t hurt you, right?” 

“No, I’m fine. Are you okay?” He curls a finger underneath your chin and nudges your face upwards to look at him. He can tell by your bloodshot eyes and wobbly lip that you had cried and are currently fighting tears. 

“Stop worrying about me,” you sniffle, “I’m asking you. What did he say to you?” 

“Not much,” Renjun answers vaguely, “He just told me to take care of you.” 

You laugh bitterly. “That’s rich, coming from him.” 

Wrapping an arm around your shoulder, he turns you and starts guiding you toward the Dining Pavilion. “Probably his messed up way of acting like a protective older brother or something. Now, come on. I’m hungry.” 

“Wha—you can’t just change the subject like that! I want to know exactly what he said to you!” you protest, though your feet subconsciously start walking. 

“It truly was nothing,” he reiterates, “He really did just seem concerned about you.” 

You start to sulk, and he has to fight to keep a straight face. However, it doesn’t last long because you start to get that twinkle in your eye. 

“Sooo, did you, like, profess all the reasons you love me or something to prove that you’re worthy of being my boyfriend?” you ask, waggling your eyebrows. 

“If I had anything to profess, then maybe I would’ve,” Renjun teases, rolling his eyes. 

You gasp dramatically. “Huang Renjun, you are so not—” 

He tugs your body flush against him, giving you the kiss that he had wanted to when the two of you were in your room earlier. He feels you smile against his lips as your arms come up to wrap themselves around his neck. When he pulls away, you give him another quick peck before bumping your nose against his, giggling. 

He forgot to add that he loves it when the corners of your eyelids crinkle when you smile at him. 

Renjun isn’t really sure if he’s doing the right thing by not telling you about Jaehyun’s last words and the way he looked. He just knows that it’ll shatter your heart in a way that you won’t ever be able to repair, and you’ll carry that guilt with you for the rest of your life. He doesn’t want you to remember Jeong Jaehyun as the fractured man he is, a hollow echo of what he once was. 

He wants you to remember all of the happy moments. 

So, when you look back, you remember your older brother Jaehyun. 

He hopes that you’ll eventually be able to smile when you think of your brother rather than cry. 

Renjun can only do that, hope and pray that you have nothing but happiness in your life because you, of all people, deserve that—

and maybe, if he’s lucky, you’ll allow him to dedicate his life to making you as happy as he can.

“Oh my gods!” you gasp, tugging on his arm so hard that his shoulder nearly hits you in the cheek. “Sooyoung’s girlfriend is Sana!” 

Renjun blinks. “What?”

“Look over there!” you squeal, whipping out a pair of binoculars out of thin air. The pair that he’s pretty sure he tossed out already. 

He glances over, seeing Sooyoung (daughter of Ares) and Sana (daughter of Iris) holding hands as they make their way to the Dining Pavilion as well. Turning back to you, he raises an eyebrow, saying, “You didn’t know?”

“What are you talking about? She said she wanted to keep it a secret back then!” you answer, confused. 

“Yeah, but they were kind of obvious about it,” he says slowly, “They’re together all the time. I thought you noticed.” 

“Oh my gods,” you breathe, horrified, “First, I completely miss the whole love triangle situation with Moon and Sicheng. And now, I’m the last one to find out about Sooyoung and Sana. How have I fallen out of the loop so badly that even you know about couples before I do?”

Renjun opens his mouth to retort, but you continue speaking.  

“That’s it. I have to get my groove back,” you declare, “It’s time that Camp Half-Blood’s official matchmaker makes her comeback.” 

Without even waiting for his answer, you turn on your heel and march back to the Aphrodite Cabin, presumably to start drafting potential couples. 

Renjun wonders if he’s allowed to be this happy. 

RENJUN AND Y/N, 

fin.

#neowritingsnet #NCT-WRITERS #nct scenarios #nct imagines #renjun fluff #renjun angst #nct dream fluff #nct dream angst #nct dream imagines #renjun #nct #choerrypuffs #demigods

[sixzeroes]

[18:06] when you’re fighting a battle to the death and lee donghyuck, son of apollo, trips over a dead body and falls onto the ground. you reach out a hand to help him, but instead of taking it, he pulls you down for a kiss.

“i’ve always wanted to kiss someone during a battle,” he grins. you yank him off the ground.

“you’re insane. get up.”

(secretly, you liked the adrenaline a sudden kiss in the middle of the battlefield gave you. but you would never admit that to lee donghyuck, son of apollo, the bane of your existence.)

#nabimisc #demigod!hyuck is what i need to survive #son of apollo who cannot heal to save his life but can music and archery like a god #nct #nct u #nct dream #nct 127 #lee donghyuck #lee haechan #imagines #scenarios #au #fluff #timestamp

[puppuccinono]

I'ma get your heart racing in my skin-tight jeans, be your teenage dream tonight ♡

#jung jaehyun #nct #moodboard #nct 127 #aphrodite #pink #demigod au #greek goddess

[priniya]

requests guidelines ⭐️

hello everyone! after a year (and a half?) i’ve finally got to myself to show all the things i could write for. it’s gonna be updated regularly as soon as i obsess over something new.

so . . .

i’m not sure if i’m a good person to write smut so… request if u want, but might take a long time before i post it! (i haven’t really written anything smut related so that might be bad)

please, if you request something, write a small blurb of what you’ll like to read!

i mainly write for a female reader with she/her pronouns and all that, but i’m up for gender neutral as well if you feel like it :)

i might add sth here if i think of it, but the most important part is who do i write for. bold stands for my favs, italics is like… second fav, i guess!

✩ harry potter — slytherin boys (theodore nott, mattheo riddle, lorenzo berkshire, draco malfoy + pansy parkinson and daphne greengrass), marauders (james potter, sirius black, remus lupin, regulus black, evan rosier, barty crouch jr.), golden era (harry potter, ron weasley, cedric diggory, weasley twins, ginny weasley).

✩ percy jackson — greek demigods (percy jackson, leo valdez, annabeth chase, luke castellan, grover underwood, hood brothers, clarisse la rue, piper mclean), roman demigods (frank zhang, jason grace, hazel lavasque).

✩ books — the inheritance games (jameson hawthorne, grayson hawthorne, xander hawthorne, avery kylie grambs, thea laughlin), a good girl’s guide to murder (pippa fitz-amobi, ravi singh), hockey boyfriends (nate hawkins, garret graham, john logan, dean di laurenti, john tucker, hunter davenport, henry turner, russ callaghan)

✩ miscellaneous series — jenny han universes (conrad fisher, peter kavinsky, kitty song covey, cam cameron, steven conklin, minho), criminal minds (spencer reid, aaron hotchner, jennifer jareau, derek morgan), outer banks (jj maybank, pope heyward, rafe cameron), my life with the walter boys (alex walter, cole walter, isaac garcia, kailey)

✩ anime — haikyuu (kageyama, tsukishima, osamu, atsumu, suna, oikawa, bokuto, akaashi, kuroo, kenma, semi + the rest😭).

✩ people i don’t know how to classify — zuko + sokka, steve harrington, matthew gray gubler, drew starkey, louis partridge, timothee chalamet, peter parker, nct members.

if you don’t see someone, just ask! there’s a high chance i just forgot about them xx

#theodore nott x reader #mattheo riddle x reader #james potter x reader #remus lupin x reader #percy jackson x reader #luke castellan x reader #grayson hawthorne x reader #jameson hawthorne x reader #nate hawkins x reader #henry turner x reader #peter parker x reader #spencer reid x reader #aaron hotch x reader #conrad fisher x reader #steven conklin x reader #cole walter x reader #jj maybank x reader #kenma x reader #tsukishima x reader #atsumu x reader #george weasley x reader #cedric diggory x reader #theo nott x reader #regulus black x reader #harry potter x reader #zuko x reader

[dalivanmagritte]

NCT FIC REC : LEE JENO

back to the nct fic rec

Jeno fic rec part.2

lionheart (fav, smut, fluff, royal!au, knight!au, monarch!au)

premium boy-toy (fav, smut, stripper!au)

step on a crack, dr.lee's gonna break your back (fav, smut)

wanna know what it's like (fav, smut)

yours to tame (fav, fluff, smut, knight!au, princess!au, royal!au)

koi no yokan (fav, smut, abo!au)

slick pup (fav, pervert!au, smut)

prince of wolves (fav, smut, werewolf!au, vampire!au)

i suddenly realize my archnemesis is hot (fav,fluff, angstish, demigod!au, mythology!au)

pride & perjudice (fav, fluff, angst, smut)

secret (smut, fluff, sub!jeno (kink discovery))

my sunset is yours (fluff, hogwarts!au)

helping hand (fluff, hogwarts!au)

sweet lies (smut, angstish, ghost!jeno!au)

heatstroke (mechanic!au, smut)

transfiguration spell (smut, fluff, angstish, hogwarts!au)

sinking ships (smut, sailor!au, mermaid!au, horror!au)

tattooist!jeno (fluff, angst, tattooist!au, florist!au)

himbo (smut, himbo!jeno)

cute little intern (smut, ceo!au, intern!au)

mine only (smut)

possessive dad! (smut, pregnancy!au, soon to be parents!au)

ridin' club switching lanes (smut, streeracer!au)

sweet fury (smut)

rainfall (fluff)

the deal (fluff, college!au)

cigarettes after sex (fluff, angstish, suggestive, college!au)

just so you know x jaemin (smut)

change in you (smut, vampire!au, georgian-era!au)

puppy (smut, supernatural!au, werewolf!au)

sunshine (fluff, angst, mermen!jeno)

hit the breaks! (serie, smut, streetracer!au, mechanics!au)

rich purity (serie, smut, virgin!au)

the lucky one (fluff, angst, demigod!au, mythology!au)

son of morpheus (fluff, demigod!au, mythology!au)

son of apollo (fluff, demigod!au, mythology!au)

son of shadows (part of elysios serie, fluff, demigod!au, mythology!au)

the tale older than time (fluff, demigod!au, mythology!au)

late night company (fluff, comfort angst, demigod!au)

scream (smut (dirty smutt), halloween!au, ghostface!jeno)

possessive jeno (smut, roommate)

a different kind of exercise (smut, personal trainer!au)

the rock of gibraltar (smut)

jeno uses his strength against you (smut)

why dying my hair was the best decision of my life (fluff)

the bat & dove (smut, fluff, mafia!au, racer!jeno)

do you even know how to have fun? (angst to fluff, badboy!au)

take my breath (smut, abo!au)

puppy pound (smut, abo!au)

jealous (smut, abo!au)

sos x jaemin (smut, abo!au)

destiny (smut, abo!au)

i'm a mouse duh! x jaemin (smut)

they're roommates x jaemin (smut)

sos x jaemin (smut, abo!au)

stepbro alpha jeno (smut, abo!au, stepbro!au)

day6: overstimulation (smut)

day19: pet play (smut)

banana (smut)

guardian gloves (smut, angstish, boxer!au)

teddy bear (smut)

strong jeno (smut)

codename : monster (smut)

his order (smut, ceo!au)

sli(ck-p)up (smut, perv!jeno)

fireproof (smut, brotherbf!au, college!au)

size kink (smut)

only 'til dawn (smut, badboy!jeno, goodgirl!reader)

little wifey (smut, husband!au)

pretzel (smut, abo!au)

hard dom! (smut)

wrapped around your fingers (smut)

phone fuck me (smut, ghostface!au)

my first and last (smut, college!au)

the sequel x jaemin (smut, ghostface!au, halloween!au)

incubus!jeno (smut, incubus!au)

summer hair = forever young (smut, fluff)

cookie jar x jaemin (smut, stepbrother!au)

perv!jeno (smut, roommates!au, perv!au)

monster in hiding (smut, stalking!au)

can't take it? (smut)

can you handle it? x johnny, jaehyun, jaemin (smut)

ascention to the throne (serie, smut, royal!au, prince!au, political!au)

baby trapping (smut, sugardaddy!au)

shameless (smut, stepson!au)

undone (noncon, smut)

teddy bear -> our sick story, thus far x haechan (dubcon, smut)

stepbro!jeno part.2 (DUBCON, smut, stepbrother!au)

behind closed doors x haechan (smut, slight dubcon, stepbro!au)

the walls are thin x jaemin (DUBCON, smut)

shoplifter x mark (dubcon, smut, bodyguard!au, stepfather!au)

switch -> chain x johnny (dubcon, smut, neighbour?au)

arcade (continuation of switch/chain, smut)

#nct #jeno #smut #fic rec #fluff #lee jeno #jeno smut #jeno fluff #jeno angst #jeno scenarios #jeno imagines #jeno fic #nct jeno #jeno x reader #jeno oneshot #nct dream #nct fic #nct imagines #nct x reader

[lebrookestore]

nct 127 as demigods!

authors note: i have no time to even be doing this i don't know where it came from but the pjo brainrot and phase is so real and back with a vengence so please enjoy while i hope i won't be failing my mathematics final. and yes, i absolutely want to write a full fledged fic based on this.

Mark: as a son of Poseiden!

listen...this man is everywhere and is so important that its no surprise he's the child of one of the big three.

has a natural affinity for swordplay.

used to depend on his swordsmanship a lot more than his inherited powers from his father but learned to strike a balance between both as he grew older.

has a very obvious, clearly powerful aura, but he's also Just A Guy.

when he first arrived to camp, everyone thought he was a child of Hypnos actually because he quite literally slept through the first two days he was there due to how exhausted he was.

got claimed on the third day and everyone was shocked (yes he's my Percy stand in and what about it)

doesn't really like how much everyone looks up to him, it makes him scared for the moment that he inevitably disappoints them all - or so he thinks.

bro is clueless for the most part but always manages to pull through and get himself out of any situations (*cough* monsters *cough) he finds himself in.

when he's especially emotionally disturbed or angry, he causes earthquakes.

Johnny: as a son of Hecate!

when he was little he didn't really understand how he could make things simply appear or scenes in front of him change by simply imagining it.

it kept him out of a lot of trouble during his younger years.

manipulation of the mist has always come easy to him, he barely even breaks a sweat.

his weapon is an enchanted spear.

it helps channel his power and helps in physical battle as well, though he tends to rely on his powers more.

the spear was a gift from his mother, the only time he's ever met her or spoken to her.

he tends to make people nervous with so much as a glance.

its not just the fact that he has that demigod aura of power- he's just an intimidating figure.

the air of mystery around him is furthered by how private he is, but he's all smiles and jokes if you're a close friend of his.

knowing how easily he can make someone nervous, Johnny uses it to his advantage often, whether it be to get out of trouble or to get his way.

Taeyong: as a son of Iris!

take a moment to see the vision here folks

he totally has the vibe of a hippie rainbow goddess' son.

was brought to chb when he was fourteen, which is relatively old for a demigod.

the colour of his eyes varies and changes according to his moods and emotions.

when the sun hits his hair it seems like that too changes colour and shifts from one shade to another.

once tried to tie-die his camp half-blood shirt with Jaehyun to make it a little more stylish since the both of them were tired of the bright, unflattering orange. lets just say it did not turn out well.

his weapon of choice is a scimtar - a wicked curved blade.

for someone so peaceful and smiley, he's scary when fighting with his scimtar, quick on his feet and downright deadly. unlike his siblings, who tend to despise conflict, he's one of the best fighters.

like all children of Iris, he can create a rainbow barrier for protection

he possesses photokinesis, a rare power among children of iris, in which he can focus an intense beam of prismatic light which will burn anything it touches.

Doyoung: as a son of Athena!

was taken to camp when he was nine and quickly adapted although he was so young.

the definition of a know-it-all, but its kind of in a lovable way.

he has the habit of rambling so his attempts at sounding all knowledgable tend to come off as dorky a lot of time.

make no mistake though, Doyoung is as cunning and resourceful as they get.

although every child of Athena is talented at battle strategy, Doyoung is the one most of the other campers turn to in times of crisis for guidance through any battle.

spends countless hours reading and studying the old stories of great greek heroes and demigods and his favourite is Odysseus.

is proficient with almost all weapon but usually uses a sword.

his fighting style is more calculated than most, his mind is always racing and thinking about weak spots and dissecting his opponents fighting style and flaws.

although a good fighter, he first and foremost relies on his wit and strategic skills and can make use of whatever is at his disposal to hold his own.

Yuta: as a son of Ares!

competitive little bitch (and we love that for him).

got kicked out of three schools because he would pick fights (and win them).

usually leads during capture the flag.

during battle, there tends to be a somewhat manic glow of delight in his eyes because no matter how dangerous the situation is or how bad the odds are, fighting his what he's the best at.

to him, its an art form.

his weapon of choice is a pair of daggers.

usually children of ares don't opt for small weapons as such, and although he has control over any weapon like Doyoung does - though Yuta's control is more innate and in built- he prefers the versatility his daggers give him.

he's quite deadly with them.

the only person that can take him in a fight is Taeyong, and that is also quite rare.

his fighting skills are enhanced when angry or particularly vengeful.

impulsive when it comes to any sort of fighting - prefers to deal with it head on and directly.

Jaehyun: as a son of Aphrodite!

his birthday is literally on valentines day i will not take criticism about this.

bro is literally stunning.

his weapon of choice is a sword.

a surprisingly competent fighter considering his siblings don't particularly enjoy any form of sparring for the most part, and helps out with teaching the younger campers sword fighting.

has the ability to melt anyone with that pretty boy smile of his.

knows exactly how to win someone over and use his natural charm, but doesn't know how to stop it from going too far, which leads to people falling for him left, right and center.

this doesn't mean he's oblivious to those who like him - make no mistake, he is well aware when someone is crushing on him.

unfortunately, he hasn't quite mastered the art of gently letting someone down, which leads to very awkward moments after some poor soul confesses to him.

thus he unwittingly follows the whole 'heartbreaker' agenda the Aphrodite cabin has, though he doesn't approve of it.

doesn't have charmspeak but can tell when its being used on him.

Jungwoo: as a son of Hephastus!

a literal genius.

could solve college level mathematics in the third grade, but his mother never made that fact known - simply because she knew about his demigod nature, being one of the few mortals who could see through the mist.

she didn't want to attract any more attention than necessary.

first came to camp half blood when he was twelve.

can sense how any sort of mechanism works.

possesses pyrokinesis unlike most children of Hephastus, but it takes a lot out of him.

usually relies on his fire manipulation while fighting, but otherwise makes use of an axe as a weapon.

while he is pretty damn good fighter, he prefers to take a backseat and work behind the scenes on weaponry and creating traps to capture or unarm the enemy.

can easily disarm any traps and can sense them if close by, but can also make traps deadlier.

spends a lot of time in forges.

also loves working with the Hermes' campers to construct devices for pranks for fun.

Haechan: as a son of Apollo!

literal sunshine boy.

must protect at all costs but is honestly quite capable of protecting himself and then some.

his mother is a nurse and with her busy schedule he was left alone at home for the most part when he was younger, so being taken to camp half blood by his satyr when he was 10 seemed like the perfect solution.

chose to be an year-round camper since it was safer that way.

an excellent archer.

isn't much of a healer, but if his siblings need help in the infirmary, he'll assist them.

leans into his musical gifts more - his voice can quite literally make anyone stop in their tracks.

if an especially young demigod shows up at camp, he goes out of his way to make sure they're okay, knowing how daunting it all was when he was their age.

gets along well with the Hermes campers due to his mischievous nature.

his favourite trick is putting a rhyming curse on whoever the victim of his prank is.

Taeil: as a son of Demeter!

he's been at camp since he was ten years old.

very level-headed and calm, due to this he often is able to break up any fights started by the Are's cabin.

has an addiction to froot loops.

my boy is badass as hell his weapon is a scythe.

for most people, its too big and bulky to fight with, but he knows just how to make it work.

it takes the form of a hand weeder when not in battle for easy transportation.

can summon, manipulate and and control all sorts of vegetation.

he can make them grow faster but on the flipside can also make them decay quicker.

spends a lot of his time in the strawberry fields since working with working with agriculture is hardwired into him.

has a motherly presence, a lot of campers turn to him for advice.

especially fond of Haechan and is also one of the only reasons the Are's campers haven't gone all psycho on the boy- Taeil is the only one who can calm them down through their bouts of rhyming phrases (which happens suspiciously often).

#nct headcanons #nct 127 headcanons #nct x reader #nct 127 scenarios #nct fluff #nct crack #mark x reader #jaehyun x reader #haechan x reader #yuta x reader #johnny x reader #taeyong x reader #doyoung x reader #jungwoo x reader #taeil x reader #anyways im going back to studying now 🙏🏼

[neochan]

before i leave this site completely, i want us to have one more year of nct fics & filth. if my happiness for writing returns while doing this, i may keep my presence on here longer.

regardless, below are the fics that i have planned / half written / outlined / thought up. over the course of the next year, i will be posting the ones you vote on.

once you read over the fics, please use the link at the bottom of this post to vote for your favorites.

THE PICK ME CHRONICLES WILL BE FINISHED IN FULL REGARDLESS!

(STANDALONE FICS)

no synopsis, but i can offer: toxic exes au, street racing, using his rival as a means to make him jealous, he is insanely possessive.

okay, so maybe hooking up with a masked stranger wasn't the brightest idea. but you didn't expect him to actually blow your mind. unfortunately, the only clue as to who he is lies in the jacket he left behind. now, with the worn leather that still faintly smelled liked him in tow, you're on the hunt to find your prince charming...but you know what they say: if the jacket fits.

no synopsis, but i can offer: christmas au! flirty hyuck, friends to lovers, comedy(?)

after seven years, haechan still has a crush on you, but you seem to only have eyes for jeno, and haechan isn’t good at controlling his jealousy. (harry potter au)

no synopsis, but i can offer: incubus!jaemin

(SERIES)

according to your parents, it's all for the business. get married to the competitions son so the companies can merge, and business will be fruitful, and you'll be rich. easy, right? wrong. it'd be easier if the person you were marrying was someone you didn't know, but you knew jung jaehyun, in fact, you knew him a little too well, and you didn't particularly like him. though his bestfriend peaked your interest the first time you met... and the second time... and the third. (can change the pairing to dream members)

spend a summer at camp with nct dream as demigods, captured within five different stories

son of hermes!hyuck x daughter of athena!reader

son of ares!jeno x daughter of eros!reader

son of posiedon!renjun x daughter of aphrodite!reader

son of aphrodite!jaemin x daughter of hermes!reader

son of apollo!mark x daughter of hades!reader

THIS IS MY FAVORITE WIP!! after the tragic death of punk rock band PARASOCIALs leader, lee minhyung, the label is desperate to piece the teenage dream back together again. in an attempt to revive their chart breaking success, they've reached out to you - a rising star already signed to their sister label. but what happens when you realize they're nothing like the press paints them to be? has the band slipped too far out of the limelight for you to save them? GENRE ▸ angst, smut, rockstar!nct dream, band au, vocalist!renjun, guitarist!jeno, drummer!jaemin, vocalist & bassist!haechan

my one shot 'rule breaker' is a prequel to this series.

no synopsis, but i can offer: dysfunctional family vibes.

illegal street fighter jeno

graffiti artist renjun

street racer & addict haechan

thief mark

drug dealer jaemin

!!!!! VOTE HERE !!!!!

#nct smut #nct dream smut

[beautifulchris]

of darkness and rainbows

pairing: demigod!lee felix x fem demigod!reader

featuring: han jisung, hwang hyunjin, sf9's dawon, golden child's bomin, nct's doyoung

summary: a demigod au in which you enter the camp after losing your mom, and you swear to yourself you'll avenge her no matter what

genres: demigod!au, s2f2l!au, mutual pining, slowburn, action, fantasy, adventure, greek mythology, romance, mild fluff, angst

tw: monsters, parental abandonment, death of a mother and a brother, murder, blood, physical injuries, use of weapons (swords, knives, bow and arrow), VIOLENCE, nightmares, grief and loss depiction, battle scenes, monster and creature slaying, mild language, fainting, magic, ghost

rating: +16

wc: 12,7k

notes: wow. this is my longest work yet and i'm proud of it, please let me know what you think!!

networks: @kflixnet @k-labels @whipped-kpop-creators

permanent tag list: @badwithten send an ask/dm/comment to be added!

one.

It was the end of June, and your mom said a trip to Long Island —you’d never heard of that place before— would be the greatest gift she could offer you for your twelfth birthday. You didn’t believe her after she gifted you an agate necklace, your favorite stone.

It was the end of June, and your mom said a trip to Long Island —you’d never heard of that place before— would be the greatest gift she could offer you for your twelfth birthday. You didn’t believe her after she gifted you an agate necklace, your favorite stone.

Unfortunately, it had nothing to do with the trip you’d imagined.

After getting to Montauk, and spending a few hours on the beach, she drove north. You then walked up what you thought was a random hill. When you were almost on top, you turned towards your mom to tell her you wanted to go back, that you’d rather go home and watch a movie. She was sobbing. It took you aback and broke your heart to see her that way. You wanted to hug her so badly.

She grabbed the backpack she had over her shoulders and put the handle in your hands.

“You must go further north, alright? You’ll find someone who can help you,” she instructed as she kneeled in front of you, stroking your face affectionately.

“What are you talking about, mom? I don’t want to go anywhere without you.”

“It’s going to be alright, sweetheart. You have to trust me. You’re so special, you don’t realize how much. You must go on your own path now. It’s time.” Her voice cracked a little. “Go, you’ll be safe there.”

“This doesn’t make any sense…” you mumbled and stood your ground.

“Maybe because your mommy failed to mention why you’re here,” an icy voice said, making you flinch. Your mom quickly got up and put a protective hand on your shoulder, “and why you’re both going to die today.”

“You’re too late. My daughter will live.”

A light yet threatening laugh left the woman’s throat. She was extremely beautiful, but there was something wrong with her. Not physically, it was more of a feeling.

“We’ll see about that.”

As the woman charged, your mom pushed you out of the way.

“Run!” she yelled as she shielded you with her whole body, turning her back on the woman. You didn’t want to leave her but what could you do? You ran as fast as you could to the top of the hill, still being able to hear what was happening behind you.

“I’m Keahi,” the woman said as she grasped your mom’s arm and forced her to spin so that they faced each other. “Might as well know my name, since I’m the last person you’ll ever see, mortal. You’re going to die knowing it was for nothing.”

You only turned around when you heard a sharp gasp.

You watched helplessly as your mom’s limp body fell to the ground with a loud thud. The woman had blood dripping from her hand— no, her claws. It dawned on you that she had murdered your mom and you were next. You turned around and resumed your sprint. Due to your fear and teary eyes, you realized too late that now that you were at the top, you’ll be going down.

You braced yourself as you could for the fall. Your body got scratches from a few low branches and brambles. When you arrived at the bottom of the hill, you looked up to see if the woman had followed.

It wasn’t the beautiful woman you saw earlier anymore, she had flaming hair, white skin and glowing red eyes. You could only see her head, but it was enough to get nightmares. She bared her fangs and turned around, like she couldn’t get to you anymore.

You tried to breathe but it came out ragged, hands shaking and lips trembling. The sun was heating up your skin. The birds were chirping happily while the despair you were feeling was starting to become unbearable as you clutched at your sides. Tears were streaming down your face, blurring your vision. Not that you had much to look at, anyway, except trees.

You closed your eyes and before you could register what was going on, a paradise appeared before them. There was grass, trees, farm animals, a waterfall and sky in different rainbow colors, plus a rainbow in the background. It obviously wasn’t real, but for some reason the colors perfectly matched. It made you feel at ease. A drastic change from the state you were in mere seconds ago. It momentarily made you forget about it, the sight filling you up with warmth and peace. It only lasted a couple minutes, although by now you breathed normally again, tears dried up.

When you opened your eyes and turned around, you could see a huge amphitheater in the distance, a volleyball court and… were these strawberry fields? Off the corner of your eye, you caught sight of a boy smiling sheepishly, seated a few meters away from you. Blinking a few times, you let out a long sigh.

“Are you okay?” the boy asked in a raspy voice.

It doesn’t match his angelic face, you thought.

He had freckles, a fair and soft skin, short blond hair and brown eyes. He was wearing an orange t-shirt, shorts and sneakers.

You nodded, getting up painfully. Your limbs felt sore, the cuts on your face and arms started to ache.

“I can bring you to the infirmary if you want.”

Maybe you shouldn’t have trusted him right away. Maybe he was with the monster. But he didn’t look evil. He didn’t feel evil, either. So, you followed.

“I hope my illusion helped you feel a tad better.”

“What I saw when I closed my eyes, you did this?”

“Yeah. I’ve been practicing.”

He had a peaceful aura that calmed you down instantly. He was so sweet with you, but all you could think of was: what did you do to deserve this kindness? You had just abandoned your mom to her death.

“Why?” You were trembling, and your voice was just above a whisper.

“Why what?”

“Why did you create this illusion?”

“Oh. You looked like you needed a cheer up.”

A surge of gratefulness engulfed you and you smiled.

“Thank you.”

“I heard voices over the hill and when I came, I saw you falling down. There was a monster at the top.”

Your smile disappeared. “I— she killed my mom.”

Eyes widening, the blond boy internally slapped himself for making you sad all over again after all his efforts to make you feel better. “I’m sorry.”

You arrived at the infirmary after a few minutes of awkward silence, and quiet amazement on your part at the amphitheater you could see more clearly, the pavilion full of white tables, more than twenty houses differently decorated and a hearth in the center, even an arena, with kids and teens from different ages all around.

A brown haired guy was tending to a sleeping kid around your age, bruises, cuts and burns all around their face and arms. They were wearing jean overalls with an orange t-shirt, all covered in soot from head to toe.

“Jisung!” the boy next to you called as soon as he spotted him.

“One sec,” he replied without looking up. He brought the teen’s head up with one hand and poured some amber liquid down their throat with the other. He rested their head back delicately on the mattress, got up and turned around to greet the newcomers.

“Hi F— Wow, hey there! Sit here,” he motioned toward an empty bed, “I’ll be right back.” He left through a door made of white sheets.

“Do I really look that bad?”

The blond boy chuckled, slowly shaking his head. “By the way, I didn’t give you my name. I’m Felix.”

You looked up at him, managing a side smile. “I’m Y/N.”

“Nice to meet you, Y/N.”

You didn’t have time to answer that Jisung was back with medicine. He cautiously cleaned your wounds with the same yellowish liquid he used to treat the other kid. It felt like he was treating you like porcelain.

Then, he brought a golden cube up to your mouth.

“What is this?”

“A bit of ambrosia. It heals demigods, but too much can have bad side effects.”

Demigods??

“Eat it, you’ll feel better.”

Whatever.

With newfound trust in strangers, you chewed on the sweet food. It tasted like the mac’n’cheese your mom would make on rainy days. The memory comforted you, but also induced some pain within. Your wounds started to fade until they were completely healed.

“Thank you,” you murmured, in awe at the product. You definitely needed this stuff.

“Of course, it’s my job,” he beamed. “So, Felix,” he turned to his friend, “where did you find this stray kid? Tell me you didn’t go on a little quest on your own—”

“I found Y/N near the border, she’s new,” he interrupted him.

You were thankful he let out the details of your encounter.

“Oh, my bad! I guess you have to take her to the Big House, then.”

He nodded, extending his hand your way. You stared at it, then at the freckled boy, then back at it. Taking it slowly, he walked you to the Big House, which lived up to its name. You choked when you saw a centaur —an actual centaur?!— walking out of the front door.

“Greetings, Chiron!”

Chiron? From the legends??

“Felix. Welcome to the camp half-blood, young lady. I’m Chiron, activities director. Have you been claimed already?”

“Huh…”

“I didn’t see anything,” Felix answered. “I see. Perhaps we’ll know tonight at the campfire. Can you show our new recruit around? I’m off to archery class.”

“Sure.”

He thanked Felix, sent a smile your way and galloped away to the west. The realization you were still holding the boy’s hand made you blush, but before you could retract it, he pulled you with him to different places.

He explained the purpose of the strawberry fields and the society name —Delphi Strawberry Service— covering the camp. He showed you the climbing wall with lava, the dining pavilion, the forge full of Hephaestus kids, the armory —he tried to make you choose a weapon but you refused—, the Pegasus stables —with actual pegasi!—, the arena where demigods trained, the archery field where Chiron was teaching, the camp store —you could buy an orange t-shirt there later—, the arts & crafts center —you saw a beautiful black-haired boy painting there among other kids—, the canoe lake, the forest— you weren’t keen on entering after Felix told you what was in it. You finished the tour next to the hearth in the center of the houses you saw earlier. You could swear you saw a woman in the fire, but when you looked more closely, she was gone.

He explained everything except the reason why you were here in the first place. “This is all charming and interesting, but why am I here?”

“I was getting to that. These are the cabins of the major Greek gods and some of the minor ones. Here,” he gestured to the most colorful cabin out of the bunch, “is my mom’s, Iris, goddess of rainbows.”

It explained the illusion. The cabin looked like a huge trailer with a platform on the front and a little rainbow as antenna. It looked chill and welcoming.

Felix gave you the names of all the gods and goddesses’ cabins present on this camp, making hypotheses on who your dad might be.

“Do you like mechanics? Are you good at poetry or archery? Or swords? Do you enjoy grape juice? Maybe you’re a trickster? Do you enjoy sleeping? I mean, do you spend most of your time sleeping? Can you control light? If none of those… Maybe you’re a child of one of the Big Three.”

“Who are the Big Three?”

“Zeus —god of the sky—, Poseidon —god of the sea— and Hades —god of the dead and king of the Underworld.”

You pondered. “This is a dream. I’m gonna wake up.”

He chuckled —an endearing sound— and shook his head. “I think I’d know if it was one. No, you’re a demigod, Y/N. For real.”

When you didn’t respond, he glanced at you. You were lost in thought, wondering who your father could be, why you’ve never seen him before and why he never came to see you.

“Come on, there’s one more thing I’d like you to see.” He tugged at your hand and dragged you towards the beach.

The sun was setting. You sat on the sand, looking at the horizon. It was really pretty. But you couldn’t avoid reality for too long. A tear fell down your face thinking about how your mom would’ve loved coming here, looking at this scenery with an arm around your frame.

She was gone.

From this moment, you swore to yourself that, when you were ready, you would find the monster and avenge your mom, no matter what. Felix saw your determined eyes staring in the distance. It gave him an idea on who your father might be.

At the campfire, you realized a lot more campers than you initially thought were here. You’ve seen a bunch during the tour, but right now, when the whole camp was gathered around the fire, it felt like you were a couple hundred.

Some had musical instruments and were preparing for what you guessed was a concert. A dozen, more or less, were looking all dressed up and pretty, a few were playing with balls of energy —magic?—, others were dozing off wherever, from another kid’s shoulder to the floor. The rest looked somewhat normal, apart from the kids with hands partially tainted with soot. Might be tough to get rid of it when they spend so much time in the forges.

Some kids greeted Felix and welcomed you into the camp, which felt nice. Although you couldn’t remember every name, you were grateful for their kind words.

It seemed that the Apollo cabin was actually preparing for a singalong. Everyone sang, cheered and overall had a good time. Felix nudged you from time to time to check up on you and offer you bright smiles. So bright, in fact, that they were almost blinding. But you didn’t mind. His sole presence was enough to give you peace of mind. Maybe because looking at him reminded you of the illusion he created for you.

The campers were asking for an encore, when silence abruptly fell and every pair of eyes were on you. Or above you, to be precise, but it felt the same to you.

Exposed, vulnerable and embarrassed.

You glanced at Felix, who was looking up too. He lowered his gaze, locked eyes with you and motioned for you to look up as well. It was a glowing golden helm hologram suspended above your head.

“The bloodline is determined. Hades, king of the Underworld. Hail Y/N L/N, daughter of the dead and riches.”

Every camper kneeled, including Chiron and Felix, and you wanted to disappear from the Earth. Was it just because you ended up being a child of the Big Three? Or did every camper have the privilege of experiencing such a stressful moment?

At last, they all got up and resumed the singalong for a well-deserved encore.

An older guy walked to you from a corner. He was tall, had dark eyes and a harsh resting face. You recoiled in your seat, scared of what he might do. But then he showed a toothy smile with dimples and extended his hand for you to shake.

When you did, he said: “Welcome home, sis.”

Once alone in your bunk —you had slipped away before the end of the campfire— you sobbed, hugging the backpack your mom put in your hands earlier that day.

It smelled like her.

Calming down a bit, curiosity took over and you opened it. There was a pocket knife, pepper spray, a pack of matches, a flashlight, tissues, a sleeping bag, a water bottle and food.

It struck you. She knew what you were long before you did.

two.

Felix shouldn’t have laughed.

The whole scene was just so ridiculously funny, he had to.

You were training at the climbing wall like every other day, except today, someone had the good idea to change the mode from normal to full lava-and-earthquake while you were on it. Needless to say it took you by surprise. You fell to the bottom, earning smoking holes in your t-shirt and singed arms' hair.

Felix helped you get out of the lava floor, miserably trying to suppress his giggles. “Are you okay?”

“Who turned the climbing wall into a frenzy? I just wanna talk!”

Your eyes showed you were being serious, although a little smile appeared after looking at your best friend’s face.

Turns out it was a Hermes kid, obviously.

To get back at him, you created a hole under his feet. He screamed as he sank up to his ankles. He lost balance and fell on his butt. A few kids that fell off the climbing wall with you clapped their hands and laughed.

Oh yeah, my bad. I forgot to tell you you could do that, among other things.

Being at Camp Half-Blood year round was actually a great thing. Undeniably, between that and being with your mom, the choice was clear, but since she was gone… All you could do was train to be able to protect mortals like you should’ve protected your mom and avenge her as well.

I know what some may think. It wasn’t your fault (and it wasn’t. really.) but you couldn’t make peace with it just yet. Guilt still ate you up at night.

After understanding what it meant to be a kid of Hades, you tried to find and talk to your mom. A ghost appeared instead of her. It looked like a staff member, with greek armor and a formal look. He told you your mom was in Elysium, that ‘she wanted you to follow your own path’ and that ‘she didn’t want to see you until you were old and had a full life’. It felt so unfair. You tried to argue but the ghost didn’t stay to hear your complaints, leaving you in your grief.

You ended up entering the armory. Even if you were against violence, you came to terms with the fact that you couldn’t protect others by solely making holes on the ground. Felix showed you all the best pieces of celestial bronze weapons. He made you try on several, making you swing swords, throw knives, shoot arrows… It was unsure what would suit you best.

At last, your eyes caught sight of a dusty black metal in a corner, behind javelins. Dusting off the sword a bit, you felt like it belonged in your hand. It wasn’t too heavy, nor too light. It just felt right.

“It’s stygian iron,” Felix explained, “Hades’ own sword is made of it.”

Did you resent him? Probably… yeah. If he had been there, two years ago, he could’ve saved your mom. But you never saw him, ever. You often wondered if you were even worthy of his presence.

“Y/N?”

Your head shot up, “yeah?”

“You looked out of it. Are you okay? We can stop looking for weapons if you want.”

“No, I’m good. I’ll take this one.” It hasn’t left your side ever since.

Felix proposed to train together. It was fun, both of you ending up at the infirmary more often than not. Jisung was always there to treat your wounds while cracking jokes.

Dawon, the Hades’ cabin’s head counselor that scared you on your first night, was actually really cool. He showed you around the cabin, welcomed you like a true sibling. You enjoyed eating with your siblings at the dining pavilion, talking strategies and kicking ass during capture-the-flag and chariot races, chatting before bed and getting ready together in the mornings.

Other than that, you didn’t spend a lot of time with them. No, Felix was practically attached to your hip at this point. He has been a huge pillar to your recovery. If it wasn’t for him and his bright aura, you would’ve been morose and sad. He probably knew that too.

When you passed by the arts & crafts building, you often saw the pretty boy. The sun would often reflect on his face, making his skin glow. His stance was elegant, his features soft and flawless. He had sunlight in his shoulder-length black hair and his long fingers seemed to be working effortlessly against the canvas. In a way, watching him paint for a while was relaxing. Curiosity always got the best of you as you wanted to see his next art piece.

All you knew about him was that he was a child of Aphrodite and an amazing painter.

three. 

“I did not sign up for this!” you grunted, slashing your sword across monsters left and right.

“You didn’t sign anything,” Jisung recalled, twirling to avoid a clawed hand and slaying the monster with an arrow in its chest.

“It feels like, no matter how much we kill, there’s always more,” Felix puffed.

Hopefully he was pretty good with a sword, because he couldn’t rely on his mom’s powers in the darkness. After what felt like an eternity, the last monster was slayed by your sword.

“Alright, enough practice. Let’s head back before more monsters arrive,” you offered. They didn’t protest.

You were all worn out, sweating and breathing hard. The trip in the forest left very few monsters left to slay. Whoever took care of that would have some work to do. 

“We managed pretty well, didn’t we?” Jisung grinned, eyes half closed. You nodded while Felix agreed.

It was practically nightfall. At seventeen, you were more trained than ever and felt ready to face the world.

The next day, there was an emergency meeting with Chiron and the head counselors. Everyone saw them hastily leave the dining pavilion during breakfast after Argus came running to them.

A few dozen minutes later, you were summoned to the Big House. You entered the meeting room and sat next to Dawon around the ping-pong table. Chiron didn’t waste any time and recited the unprompted prophecy they had heard by the current Oracle.

Child of Underworld must retrieve their father’s accessory

Magnificent Mile holds a piece of the way back in its last breath

The King’s circle’s won by defeating an old vampire enemy

The last challenge in Yellowstone ends in half-blood death

Vampire. It was about an empousa. It was enough for you to want to come, even if the last sentence worried you a bit. You were about to speak up when Chiron raised his hand.

“The sole reason you’re here is because we think it’s about you.”

“Indeed, you’re the only one I know that has an empousa as an enemy,” added Dawon as he nudged you with a smile.

Yeah, the details of your arrival ended up being known around camp. It was apparently common to arrive while chased by a monster, but not every parent died at the same time.

“Oh.”

“If you need anything for the quest, we’re here to help,” proposed Bomin, head counselor of Poseidon’s cabin.

“To make sense of the prophecy, for example,” said Doyoung, the Athena cabin’s head.

“Do you know who you’re going to ask to join you?” Chiron asked.

The only thing you knew for sure was that you were going to get your revenge. And you only needed two friends for this.

“Yeah. All I need to know now is where to begin.”

Doyoung coughed and rearranged the glasses on his nose. “Well, my friend Johnny is from Chicago and last time we spoke about his hometown, he mentioned the Magnificent Mile. He said it was the most famous avenue. Now, I don’t know if the prophecy refers to the city globally or this place precisely… But, either way, I think you need to go there.”

“Thank you for your insight. Do I have a deadline?” you inquired, turning to Chiron.

“You have until the end of the month.”

It sounded like a lot of time, then you remembered the date. “We’re the 29th.”

“Indeed. You have three days, starting now.”

four.

And so began your journey. You had a backpack each, filled with medicine, spare clothes, food, water and money —drachmas and dollars.

Argus was driving you to New York on board the Delphi Strawberry Service van. Jisung kept fidgeting with the beads on his necklace.

“You’re thinking about them, aren’t you?” He squirmed uneasily. “You’ll get back alive, I promise you.”

A promise he knew you couldn’t keep, but it did reassure him a bit. He knew you were going to do everything you could so that you’ll all get back to camp alive.

Felix took your hand in his, squeezing it gently. The sudden contact brought warmth to both yours and Felix’s face and ears. Jisung chuckled at the exchange until he realized he was going to third wheel the whole trip. Then, his face dropped, a groan leaving his lips.

Before Felix could ask what was wrong, Argus pulled up in the train station’s parking. You thanked the camp’s chauffeur and entered the Pennsylvania station.

“I found a direct train,” you told them after talking with an employee, “it’ll take around nineteen hours and thirty minutes. Shall we?”

When you talked to them about the prophecy, they didn’t waste any time and said they’ll come with you. Trying to talk them out of it was useless.

As comfortably installed as possible, Felix and you in the direction of travel, Jisung in the opposite direction, the brown haired boy thought the prophecy over, again.

“Child of Underworld —that’s you, Y/N— must retrieve their father’s —Hades, obviously— accessory. What can it be? What are the known accessories he owns?”

You shrugged while the freckled boy answered his friend’s question.

“There is his bident, or staff, his sword, his helm of darkness, Cerberus, which we cannot call an accessory per say and his golden keys.”

“Is there anything more?”

“Yes, but those are the main attributes he possesses.”

“It can’t be Cerberus or the golden keys, because it’s specifically an accessory, singular,” you commented.

Felix nodded. Jisung continued, “so it’s either the staff, the sword or the helm. OK. Next line is ‘Magnificent Mile holds a piece of the way back in its last breath’. The only thing we know is that Magnificent Mile is an avenue in Chicago. I don’t like the sound of anyone’s last breath, honestly.”

“It’s probably a beast,” you proposed. “It says ‘its’.”

“That’s the most logical option we got,” Felix agreed.

“It better be. ‘The King’s circle’s won by defeating an old vampire enemy’.”

“‘Vampire’ means empousa. I guess we need whatever the King’s circle is for the rest of the quest,” you noted, “do you guys have any idea?”

They shook their heads in unison. “No, but we’ll get back to it. ‘The last challenge in Yellowstone ends in half-blood death’. Not gonna lie, I hate this one the most.”

“Yellowstone… If it’s a place, I don’t know it,” Felix said, thinking about it.

“There’s a Yellowstone national park in Wyoming, but I can’t tell for sure if it’s gonna be there,” you shared.

“It might be,” Jisung voiced and bit his lips, “but it’ll also be the last challenge, and, in case any of you forgot, it’ll end in death. Possibly one of ours.”

He was right. However, dwelling on it so soon would not help anyone.

“Let’s think about that part later, OK? Let’s focus on getting to Chicago safely.”

After four stops, the train passed over the Broadway bridge in Albany. The train weirdly shook.

“Of course,” you muttered, “this couldn’t be a nice, eventless trip.”

People started walking in our direction from the end of the train. They didn’t look particularly alarmed, like it was natural to change wagons while the train was in motion.

Felix looked up through the window and frowned. “I don’t see any—”

The train’s wheels shrieked against the rails, abruptly stopping it. Felix and you fell forward on Jisung, who grunted, obviously not enjoying the voyage so far. Then the sound of metal being crushed like a soda can filled the air. The brown haired boy looked at his friends and gulped loudly.

“Remind me why I was so eager to come?”

You tried to open the doors but they wouldn’t budge. You got closer to a window and unsheathed your sword.

“Get back.” The boys did as told, stepping back to the empty opposite seats.

You hit the glass with the pommel of your sword. It shattered, but before you could step over the wall, a glowing orange eye appeared, surrounded by glistening dark green flesh and a gigantic triangular red maw.

“What’s that smell?” Jisung gagged, closely followed by Felix.

You held your breath and stabbed the monster in the eye. It screeched in pain as it released the hold it had on the train, although not completely. Despite that, you all knew you had a few seconds before the beast would attack.

“I think I know what it is,” Felix said, “help me get on the train.”

“You already are,” Jisung retorted.

“I meant on the roof.”

“It’s too dangerous,” you cut in.

“Y/N, you were about to do it.”

“Yes, but—”

“Do you trust me?”

“Of course, b—”

“We don’t have time.”

True enough, the serpent’s mouth flew inside the wagon, missing Felix’s head by a centimeter. You used this opportunity to pierce its other eye. It flew out of the train’s window in a cry. If it wasn’t trying to kill everyone, you would’ve felt bad for it. Although now it was blind and very, very angry.

Felix finally got to the roof with Jisung’s help while you covered them. The snake was so long —around thirty six meters— it wrapped itself around the train at least four times. It had flatten it with its strong hold. Felix wondered how the bridge hadn’t fallen into the river by now.

He silently prayed to his mom and concentrated on creating a rainbow. The sunny afternoon and the river’s reverberation helped greatly. When the serpent’s head was in front of him, he generated multicolored flames from the rainbow to destroy the monster. He felt dumb when he realized it didn’t do anything, its skin extinguishing the flames on contact.

How could he expect to kill a sea snake with fire?

Scolding himself could wait. He rolled over when the monster tried to swallow him up. He unleashed blasts of multicolored energy, penetrating and burning the monster’s skin in the process. Jisung was shooting arrows from the open window, while you were slashing at the monster’s body everywhere you had access to it through the broken windows.

Finally, with one last blast of energy on the serpent’s head, it disintegrated, leaving a damaged train and exhausted demigods. Felix was wondering if the train could get powered up again and carry them all the way to Chicago, but before he could finish his thought, he collapsed on the roof.

five.

Obviously it wouldn’t be a dreamless sleep.

Felix was at a train station. A sign read “Chicago”. He felt relieved. It probably meant they’d make it there.

His consolation was short-lived, however, as he saw a huge lion a few meters away. It seemed to be patiently waiting for them, laying down on the nearest park. The worst part was the 2,50 meters tall giants behind him. They were playing rock paper scissors and one of them didn’t like to lose. He stamped his foot on the ground so hard it felt like an earthquake.

The dream changed. He was outside in the dark, perhaps on a mountain. He could tell by the chilling breeze and the glowing stars. Felix saw a woman not too far, chanting in a language he wasn’t familiar with in front of a large cauldron. He found her beautiful and delicate until he caught a glimpse of the rest of her body. From her waist down was a serpentine body, which oddly resembled the Carthaginian serpent he killed earlier.

He shuddered. When she finished chanting, she turned to Felix, boring her glowing green eyes into his.

“Oh dear, I didn’t mean for you to see me like this,” she said in a seductive way.

She snapped her fingers and the snake part of her body disappeared, replaced by a regular woman's body, wearing a thin black dress.

“There. Better, isn’t it?”

Mist, he thought.

“If you survive your little journey, I’ll be glad to feed on your flesh, even if you’re not quite a child anymore.”

If Felix wasn’t terrified before, he surely was now. He tried to speak, but no sound would come out.

She walked over to him, whispering in his ear, “I’ll drink the Apollo’s kid’s blood and eat his flesh. Once I’m done with him, I’ll deal with you. I’ll take my sweet time. And then, precious Y/N will finally feel my wrath, and eventually die.”

His blood boiled, anger and fear filling his body to the brim. He couldn’t let that happen. Before the woman could sink her crocodile teeth into his neck, Felix woke up in a cold sweat, a few minutes before the Cleveland stop.

It was night, Jisung and you were munching on homemade sandwiches. You had retrieved Felix from the roof together and laid him on two seats in an empty wagon with windows intact. Jisung had fed Felix some nectar and let him sleep for about eight hours.

No matter what the mortals saw, they succeeded in making the train move again and the passengers were seated at the front of the convoy. There was a constant shrill metallic sound coming from the bottom of the train. It was low, but definitely annoying.

“Felix,” you called, “how are you feeling?”

“Like I’ve drained myself to the point of collapsing,” he groaned, sitting up.

“Do you need more nectar?” Jisung asked.

“No, thanks. Besides, we should keep our supplies for as long as possible.”

“Take that sandwich, then.” The brown haired boy tossed him a sandwich and they ate in silence, until Felix told both of you about his dream.

“So, the good news is we’re gonna make it to Chicago,” you said.

Jisung continued, “the bad news is, we’re gonna die in Chicago.”

“I have a few hours to think about a plan while you two sleep.”

You tried to protest but Jisung’s loud yawn put an end to the debate before it even started.

Your dreams were filled with nightmares, like every demigod ever.

It started like every other night. Your mom smiling down at you, her hand stroking your hair, then her being stabbed to death by Keahi. This time the woman smirked and whispered, “I’ll enjoy killing you more than I did your mother.” You were about to curse her when the dream changed.

It was night and in the open space, although a bonfire brightened Felix’s liveless body lying on the ground and Jisung’s limp corpse against a rock a few meters away. You wanted to scream, tears running down your cheeks. A triumphant laugh came from everywhere around you, cutting through the dead of night.

The next dream was so different, it shocked you. You were back on Half Blood Hill, except there was no sign of your mom or the empousa. Instead, there was a tall, shoulder length black haired man with fairly white skin and intense black eyes standing around ten meters away from you. What surprised you the most was the black flowing robes he was wearing, filled with evil souls threaded into it.

Despite his morbid appearance, he was looking at you with unexpected tenderness. You were wondering who this man might be when he spoke up.

“Y/N,” he called, “I’m sorry it took me so long to appear.”

Then it clicked. Of course. This intimidating man was Hades, your dad. A surge of hatred ran through your body beyond your control.

“Where were you? All this time, when I got kicked out of school every other year, when I was made fun of, when mom died? Where were you? Did you even love her?”

His eyes flared with purple fire for a second, his face hardening, but you were too furious to be afraid of the consequences. Just as fast, he calmed himself.

“I did love her, yes. But I couldn’t do anything, to protect you and because I can’t meddle with my children’s lives. You had to forge your own path for it to mean anything. You still do.”

You scoffed. “Bet you say that to all your kids.” The uneasy look he gave you proved you were right. “Gods, you do have a healthy way with kids, huh?”

“I understand your rage. But right now, you must focus on your quest.”

“Easy for you to say,” you muttered.

“You must not fall into a blind rage when you see her. You must control your thirst for revenge.”

“You sure love to tell me what to do for someone I just met.”

“Y/N… If you don’t control your powers, bad things could happen. Your friends might pay the price.”

“Oh so now you’re threatening my friends!”

He sighed, visibly tired. His form began to fade. “I have to go. Remember my words when you face the empousa.”

Before you could make a snarky remark, he vanished. You woke up feeling so angry your friends could practically see it.

“Usually we wake up confused, terrified, or determined, but as angry as you are, I’m afraid to ask about what you saw,” Jisung started joking, but then recoiled in his seat in front of you.

Felix gave you a worried look.

“I’m okay.” You were still fuming but they knew better than to push it.

When you sat up, the blond boy sat next to you and took your hand in his. It calmed you down more efficiently than you’d care to admit.

“We’re almost there. And I have a plan.”

six.

The Great Hall was majestic, with columns all around and a barrel-vaulted skylight bathing the room in soft light. It was giving Greek revival vibes, which comforted you if only for a moment.

You were firmly holding the grip of your sword, mentally preparing for the fight ahead. The lion was waiting for you three outside the station, but there was no giant in sight.

The fact that Felix had a plan didn’t ease your nerves that much, because plans rarely unfolded as expected. But he knew stuff about monsters and Greek mythology as a whole, so it was helping.

“He’s not that big,” Jisung shrugged, “just the size of a pick-up truck. We can totally get him.”

He nocked his arrow as the Iris kid and you unsheathed your swords.

Not two minutes into the fight, you realized that Felix was right. The lion’s pelt was deflecting all your weapons. It was pointless to attack from behind and by surprise. You tried to keep him occupied until Felix could find an opening.

“Guys, I’m no Hercules, so don’t expect me to asphyxiate him with my bare hands!” Jisung shouted. He tried to shoot an arrow into the lion’s eye, but he somehow saw it coming and protected himself.

“It would’ve been easier with a cornucopia but…” Felix threw his backpack into the lion’s maw. As he bellowed in disgust, your friend shouted, “now!”

Jisung fired arrows into his open mouth. He dissolved except for his pelt. “Great. I’ve always wanted to resemble a caveman.” The Apollo kid’s wry comment made you smile.

He somehow succeeded in putting it away in his bag, at the same moment the three giants decided to show up. They were coming from the park, their iron clubs laying low.

“Where is the lion? There was a lion, right?” one of them asked.

“Already defeated, useless scamp! And guess what? You’re next!” Jisung raised his arms wide, like he was waiting for a group hug. Then, he gestured to the giants with one hand. “What kind of ogres are you, anyway?”

Felix nudged him. “They’re Laistrygonian giants, dude. Muscular tattooed man eaters.”

“You look awfully smug for our next lunch, half-blood,” the tallest of the giants said.

“In your dreams, you witless gollumpus!” He didn’t waste any more time and shot arrows at them. They deflected the projectiles with ease except for the smallest giant, who apparently wasn’t paying much attention. He crumbled into dust. 

The other two roared in outrage and sprinted your way, brandishing their clubs high above their heads. Felix sidestepped when the giant swung his arm, rolled between his legs and stabbed him in the back.

Two down, one to go.

“You’ll pay for that, demigods!” the tallest giant bellowed before laying his arm down on Jisung.

You cut off his arm with a swirl of your sword. He yelled, turned and tried to crush your throat with his remaining hand. He was circling your neck with his huge fingers, but Felix thrusted his celestial bronze sword into his side. He disintegrated.

“Thank you,” you breathed with difficulty, locking eyes with Felix.

He dropped his blade and enveloped you in a comforting hug that lasted more than the average.

“Are you okay?” he inquired, cupping your face with his hands. He searched your face for any sign of hurt, sadness, fear… But there was only relief and tiredness. You nodded.

“You fought bravely.”

You turned, raising an eyebrow at the sight of a beautiful woman with black eyes and blond hair. She was wearing a black gown and carrying two old-fashioned reed torches. She was surrounded by green light and Mist was everywhere around her.

Felix let go of your face and unconsciously grabbed your hand instead. He studied the goddess, picking up on the details that showed who she might be. Unfortunately, he wasn’t sure you could trust her.

“Why, thank you mysterious woman! So, which one are you?” Jisung questioned, a bit wary.

“Hecate,” Felix murmured.

“Well done, Iris kid. Before you ask, I’m here to offer guidance. You’re about to—”

“Sorry, but, um… You’re the goddess of magic, you created empousai. Why would you help us?” you asked. It didn’t make sense to you, knowing the prophecy, which you were sure she knew about too.

“As I was saying, daughter of Hades,” she continued with a neutral voice, “you’re about to face great danger.”

“What, more than the usual death threats? What a bummer,” Jisung snorted, crossing his arms.

“Your insolence isn’t helping your case, Apollo kid. My children —or creations, whatever— don’t always follow my orders. We’re not obliged to share the same faith. They’re free. Like my children back at camp half-blood.” You waited for her to continue.

“Jisung, joking around helps you hide your scars, but you need to embrace them to properly move forward. Sharing your burden might do the trick. You’re also worth more than you think.”

She then turned to your freckled friend. “Felix, you need to stop putting everyone before yourself. You cannot control everyone’s happiness. You’ll soon have to prove you can keep your distance, for your own sake.”

Finally, she set her eyes on you. “Y/N, I know you think you’re not worth being here, going on this journey. You feel helpless, because you haven’t slayed any monster yet. But do not worry, your time will come soon enough, and with that, your greatest challenge. You have so much more power within than you might believe. This power needs to be used wisely.”

A wave of uneasiness washed over the three of you, Hecate’s words touching some nerves. Her words echoed your father’s. You regretted your outburst in your latest dream because you could have used this opportunity to ask which one of his attributes was missing. That would have made one less question unanswered.

“Well.” She clapped her hands. “I should probably tell you, now that there’s no more ground means of transport to Wyoming —I mean, you’re not going to steal a car, are you?— you’ll need to use aerial transportation.”

“But how—” Felix started, but got cut off.

“Off I go. Remember, you have two days left to get back to camp safely. Good luck on your quest, demigods. I hope Tyche can lend you some.”

She disappeared in a cloud of Mist.

“If I didn’t feel good then, I definitely do now!” Jisung sarcastically smiled.

For the first time since you’ve known him, you realized Hecate was right about the guy. Behind all the jokes and smiles, he had a sadness in him that was hard to decipher. But you were aware now. Felix was visibly concentrating, eyes closed and face facing the sky.

“Do you want to talk about what Hecate said?” you suggested. “About sharing your—”

“Well, I’d love to, trust me, but I’m fine. But hey, it seems you were right. Yellowstone is a national park.”

Deciding prying wasn’t gonna help, you nodded and turned your head towards the sky. You noticed a faint dark form in the horizon. Squinting your eyes in an attempt to identify what was coming for you this time, Felix left out a relieved sigh, then a chuckle. You spotted the sweat on his forehead. A few seconds later, you recognized winged horses.

Three of them.

“Did you summon them?” you questioned Felix, who was grinning.

“One of my mom’s powers. I’m glad it worked.”

Two of them were white and one was brown. They came to a stop in front of you, the brown pegasus neighing, gently nuzzling Felix.

“Thank you for coming, guys,” he said as he scratched the horse’s head. He turned to Jisung and you. “Are you ready for a ride?”

After a few hours flying high in the sky, you could finally make out the mountain you had to go to. You were about fifty kilometers away from the destination when you heard screeching from behind.

Jisung whined. “Come on!”

“Dozens of Gryphons! We’ll have to fight!” Felix yelled.

He brandished his sword, turned around and lashed out at them. You followed, while Jisung kept his distance, shooting arrows at the dozens of enemies. Dusk was only a few minutes away. The sky’s colors —blue, purple, red, orange, yellow— looked peaceful and pretty compared to the fight that was breaking out under it.

Four monsters succumbed to your blade before another one planted its talons in your pegasus’ thigh as you slashed its right wing. You cursed under your breath when the winged horse squealed, pitching up while flapping his wings frantically. He was bleeding.

You almost fell, but managed to hang on his mane and kill the gryphon. Unfortunately, another one immediately took its place and pecked your mounting’s neck with its sharp beak. He was losing too much blood, the liquid staining his beautiful white coat.

As he was dropping altitude, you were slowly and painfully losing your grip on his mane. You were falling to your death together. But not without taking the monster with you.

You squeezed the pegasus’ flanks to keep balance and brought down your sword on the gryphon’s neck. It disintegrated. You thanked and apologized to your companion for a few hours, hugging his neck in an attempt to stop the bleeding and preparing yourself for the impact. However, he crumbled into dust a few hundred meters above the ground, leaving you free falling on your own.

Felix swooped your way on his brown pegasus and caught your waist. Your arms immediately wrapped around his torso. Jisung took down the last gryphon in your peripheral view. You started to smile, but the brown haired boy’s eyes widened. He shouted: “Look out!”

The actual last monster seized the pegasus’ gaskins with its claws and pulled them, making him go upside down. Felix and you fell face first off the winged horse, holding each other tightly. You couldn’t even see the gryphon butchering its prey. Jisung slayed the monster with a well-aimed arrow and sped up to catch you both.

He wasn’t quick enough. You were swallowed by the shadows, leaving the Apollo kid behind with a pegasus as confused and worried as he was.

seven.

Felix woke up in a cave with low light coming from torches dispersed on the walls. You were passed out on the floor but didn’t look injured, which was good.

He scanned his surroundings. It was a rectangular room with a door on the far left. It seemed like there was no one else with you. He sat on his legs, put down his sword and brought your head on his lap. He poured a little amount of nectar into your parted lips.

He felt a presence behind him, but was too late to act. The invisible form dragged him away from you, your head hitting the ground with a soft thud. He tried to fight back but got tossed head first in the dirt. With a grunt, he got on his knees and looked around, but there was no one. As he got up, he felt claws scratch his chest, ripping his orange shirt in the process. He yelped, took a knife out of his belt and aimlessly sliced through the air all around him.

He saw your body move. Thinking you were waking up, he let down his guard and ran to you. He tripped on something metallic and fell down. Looking behind him, there was just the muddy floor.

“Get on your knees,” a feminine voice ordered, her words resonating dangerously across the room. “Don’t move.”

He was now on his knees, facing you with a blank expression as if he wasn’t in control of his body anymore.

The first punch he received in the gut hurt like hell, but his face and body remained motionless like a doll. Then, he received blows on his ribs, his cheeks, his jawline. It was enough for him to faint. The pain was blinding him but he kept his eyes open. He watched, helpless, as you slowly stood up, glaring his way. No, you were looking somewhere above him.

“Show yourself, blood sucker, so I can make you pay,” your voice was calm yet threatening.

Keahi laughed, moving Felix’s face so you could see all the bruises she gave him. It was a bad idea on her part because you were now fully pissed. Seeing him like this… After what she did to your mom, you wanted to end her life so badly.

The ground blackened around you and the air dropped to freezing. A black flood of anger, pain, guilt and grief poured out of you in waves, hitting the monster and Felix. The latter experienced your worst memories. The pain, guilt and grief from the death of your mom, your hardships, the anger —no, hatred— you felt towards the empousa that made your life miserable.

“Stop this!” she taunted.

It seemed to get Felix out of his trance.

“Y/N…” he murmured and hit the floor.

All the pain he received in the last minutes knocked him out. This scene made you more furious, if that was even possible at this point. The waves became thicker and stronger, making Keahi loudly hit the nearest wall.

“You’re just a kid! You might be powerful, but not powerful enough to destroy me and my sister.” Desperation was evident in her voice. “If you keep going, you’ll kill the boy too.”

You went at it for several more seconds. It was hard to stop, you wanted her dead and your emotions took over your judgment. Although, one look at Felix’s limp body was enough for you to snap out of it.

You reached for your sword and threw it in her direction like a javelin. It planted itself in the wall. The empousa disintegrated and a golden ring fell on the floor. The waves stopped and the flood slowly dissipated. Before you could take a step towards Felix, you passed out again.

Jisung was patrolling from the air, alert for any movement on the mountain, without being certain you were even there. Several minutes later, he saw black smoke coming from a strange rectangle on the ground. Getting closer, he realized it was a hatch.

The pegasus landed on the floor next to it. Jisung dismounted and opened the hatch to a dark corridor. He waited for the dark Underworld stuff —meaning you were probably there— to disappear completely before venturing inside, his bow ready.

At the end of the damp corridor was a single door. He entered and found his friends’ bodies on the floor, a hand extended to each other’s direction. He flew to Felix’s side, poured nectar into his mouth, winced when he caught sight of his bruises and chest, then gave you the same treatment, relieved to see there weren't many physical injuries.

He didn’t want to leave any of you alone and he couldn’t move both of you at the same time. He was about to sit down when he spotted your sword in the wall. He grabbed the hilt and pulled it out with much effort. Something golden was on the floor so he picked it up. It was a golden ring.

Spoil of War? It didn’t seem like it, but how could he know? He wasn’t there. He put it in his pocket anyway. Felix opened his eyes and immediately went to your side. He reached for his backpack.

“I already gave her nectar.”

Felix’s head turned so fast his neck cracked. “You scared me!”

“Sorry.” Jisung walked over. “Let’s go, this place is creepy.”

The Iris kid was sending worried looks your way the whole time they spent carrying you outside. He related his version of the facts. How he was manipulated and hit by an invisible woman, experienced your pain, and passed out once the charmspeak wore off.

“It’s been a hell of a couple days, huh?”

“Tell me about it.” Fresh air and sunlight did Felix some good.

“Let’s sleep a bit before facing death again, shall we?” Jisung offered.

They took sleeping bags out of their backpack, Jisung with a bit more difficulty due to the lion’s pelt taking up most space. Both enveloped you in yours, then they argued on who should take first watch.

The brown haired boy won. He wasn’t injured and Felix visibly needed rest. He changed into a new t-shirt and insisted on being woken up a few hours later, though.

He dreamed he was in the same dark place again. The fire was cackling, lightening up the monster’s face and body. He was definitely terrified of her.

It felt like she was waiting for him. “Tomorrow we meet, demigod. Tomorrow, you die.”

He wanted to yell: “We’ll defeat you, like we did all our enemies until now.” but no sound could leave his lips.

“Oh, but they’re nothing compared to me,” she exclaimed like she heard his thoughts somehow. “Fighting me will make everything you endured so far feel like a walk in the park.”

That didn’t make him feel any better about the whole quest and their chance of survival. He was scared for his friends, for himself.

Hecate’s words replayed in his mind. “You’ll soon have to prove you can keep your distance, for your own sake.” Even if he thought his encounter with the empousa was a proof in itself, he felt dread. Something even worse was about to happen, he could feel it.

Felix woke up alert, but it was night.

“Jisung!” he complained, but he found him fast asleep next to him.

You, on the other hand, were awake, preparing a snack and humming an old song. You were so pretty with the sun lighting your hair and skin.

“Hello, Rainbow Boy. Here, eat this.”

You handed him toasts of cheese and an apple cut into quarters, but he just stared at you instead of taking them.

“Y/N,” he murmured like a whisper, a relieved sigh.

He engulfed you in a bone crushing hug, his nose buried in your neck. You hugged him back like you could, the food still in your hands.

“Are you okay? I was so scared.”

“I would be better if I could breathe,” you joked.

He apologized and let you go but stayed close, thanking you for the food.

“What happened back there? Do you know what monster it was?”

Your smile turned into a hard look. “None other than my mom’s murderer, Keahi.”

He reached for your hand, drawing smoothing circles on the knuckles with his thumb.

“I wonder how she made herself invisible. It’s not an empousa power,” he wondered.

“There was a ring.”

“A ring that makes its wearer invisible… Sounds familiar.”

“I have no clue where it is, though. Perhaps still in that cave.”

“Wait. King’s circle? Gyges was a king who found a golden ring in a cave. ‘Circle’ could mean the ring. Was it golden?” You nodded. “Then we need to get it back. It could help us on our next step.”

“No need,” Jisung yawned as he stretched, “I have it right here. Call me Bilbo Baggins.” He took the ring out of his pocket and gave it to you.

“You’re a lifesaver, I hope you know that,” you thanked him.

He smirked, “I do know, but being acknowledged is always appreciated.”

“So… If, hypothetically, I put this on…” you said, doing so. “I’ll become invisible.”

“You literally are, right now.” Felix tried to touch your shoulder but you weren’t there anymore.

You sneaked behind them and pressed a finger on their sides, watching them squirm and whine.

“OK, OK, sorry.” You took out the ring and threw it in Felix’s direction. “You should keep it.”

He had great reflexes, so he caught it easily. “Why me?”

“I already got the lion’s pelt and it’s taking way too much space, so a ring would be too much,” Jisung answered, shrugging innocently.

Rolling your eyes, you elbowed him. “You’re the best choice. You’re the most selfless out of us. I trust you.”

He wanted to argue but decided against it.

He trusted you too.

eight.

Jisung took a few minutes to say goodbye to his pegasus. He thanked him, stroked his mane and gave him a treat. Felix apologized for his companions, for which the winged horse nudged him and bowed before flying away.

“Before we go, I think I need to tell you guys something,” the brown haired boy mumbled.

Felix and you exchanged glances and offered him sympathetic smiles.

“Let’s sit,” he continued. Once you were, he took a deep breath and got into it right away.

He talked about his past. How, when he was seven, he lost his half brother in a car accident. How he ran away to the park near his house after an argument with his step dad, how his little brother went to look for him then. How he was busy pitying himself when he heard the crash. How he blamed himself for the whole thing. How he swore to never run off again because he didn’t want his mom to end up this way too. How he decided to bury his feelings and never speak of this, ever.

“Jisung… None of it was your fault,” you assured. “You were so young… I’m so sorry.”

“Ji, thank you for sharing this with us. We’re here for you. It wasn’t your fault.”

“Thanks guys… I had to tell someone before we went to our ultimate death.”

“No way you’re dying today, I won’t allow it. You’ll get back to your crush.”

“OK, chill Y/N, I don’t have a crush.”

“The redness on your face says otherwise, buddy,” Felix laughed softly.

Jisung had lessened his burden like Hecate had suggested, and it worked. He felt better, ready to move forward.

The sun was rising. You had to get to the mountain next to the one you were currently on. The only way now was by foot. And you had to be back by the end of the day.

Easy enough. No, it was definitely not easy.

But you had to try.

On your way to the monster, you explained the plan you fashioned to the boys while they were asleep. After a lot of complaining and no’s, they finally accepted it (mostly because they didn’t have better ideas). Although Felix refused to use the ring.

Three hours later, the boys and you finally set foot in the clearing. All around were old trees and, in the center, was a large cauldron on top of a bonfire. Next to it was a block of stone with a bronze helmet on top of it. So it was the helm. The monster was there, chanting in a language that resembled latin.

“Lamia,” Felix whispered, swallowing loudly.

“Ah! Children, at last,” Lamia exclaimed with a charming yet dark smile.

“We came for my father’s helm.”

“The same dad that abandoned you?”

It was true, you still resented him, but bringing everyone back safely was a priority.

“Yeah, I guess. It’s that one I presume?” you asked as you pointed to it.

“Busted,” Lamia laughed falsely before putting it on her head.

She became invisible and the fear emanating from the helm paralyzed the three of you.

It was unsure what exactly happened. Was it your survival instinct or were you more powerful than the helm itself? Whatever it was, you were able to parry the attack with your sword. There was no time wondering how you could manage that.

Without being able to see or hear where she was, you warded off every attack she threw. You were about to get the upper hand when she grabbed Felix’s mortified body. You could see it in his eyes.

“Your sister tried that and regretted it,” you spat.

Lamia reappeared when she took off the helmet, keeping it under her unused arm.

“She’s weak. I’ll make sure to let her know when she’s back.”

Of course monsters will always be back, no matter how much we slay them.

“You know,” she resumed, “your dad thinks he’s all mighty and powerful because he rules the Underworld. Yet his precious helm was too easy to steal. And he sends his beloved daughter to death for this?”

Her claws enveloping Felix’s neck and Jisung’s shattered breath gave you a hard time thinking about your next move. You couldn’t be reckless again.

You had to save them.

“Leave them alone. Let’s do this one on one.”

“Why would I accept your proposition when I have the upperhand, sweetie?”

You scoffed. “Come on now. Are you scared to face a kid? You’re acting all-powerful and invincible, but fighting me is too much?”

Her expression hardened. Pride touched.

Bingo.

Lamia shoved Felix on the floor, a vicious glare throwing daggers at you. You had to restrain yourself from jumping her right this instant.

Distancing her from your friends was vital. She put the helmet back on as you were moving around to cause her back to face them. Not wasting any time attacking, you slashed your sword here and there, not letting her ripost. However, you were getting tired. She took advantage and ripped your arm with her claws. You stumbled and closed your eyes, groaning.

“Already down? You’re making this too easy,” she mused after taking the helm off again.

Felix and Jisung regained their senses away from her. They were ready to fight. Jisung was bow ready and Felix was summoning light.

When you opened your eyes and got to your feet, you realized they were waiting for a sign. From you.

The pressure of leading was growing but you tried to bury it inside. You couldn’t deal with more anxiety at the moment. You focused on Lamia, who was grinning from a false feeling of victory, and shouted, “NOW!”

The three of you gave your all and hit her at the same time. As Felix struck her with blinding light, Jisung shot her in the back and you pierced her heart. You enjoyed her look of surprise when she disintegrated in a shrill scream. All that was left was the helm of darkness falling to the ground with a clang.

Clenching your arm, you fell on your knees. Felix engulfed you into a tight hug.

“This is gonna sound controversial, but I think that went well,” Jisung said as he picked up the helm.

“You must all be fools if you think you can take me down that easily,” a feminine voice taunted.

She was at the other side of the open space, Mist slowly dispersing around her. How did she do that? The marks on your arm were real, so when did she create the Mist? How could you not have seen it coming?

Realizing he actually didn’t have anything in his hands, Jisung quickly shot arrows her way but she managed to dodge them and put on the helmet. Felix couldn’t get up, fear keeping him grounded.

You witnessed, helpless, Jisung’s body being thrown across the clearing. Anger building up inside you, you got to your feet and charged.

Certainly you couldn’t hear or see her, but you could feel her. Probably due to your connection to the underground. But despite your best efforts, you couldn’t seem to have enough to wound her. It was almost as if she didn’t need the helm at all, like she could end you all with or without it. Like she only used it for extra fun.

Your limbs started to ache. Panting, you planted your sword on the ground. You could feel Lamia laugh triumphally.

Concentrating, you opened a crevasse that allowed skeletons to rise and surround the monster. They closed in on her, and eventually started attacking all at once. She effortlessly took them down one by one in an elegant dance.

There was only one thing left to do but your friends were here and the least thing you wanted was to hurt them.

“I have a question. Does your mom know what you’re doing? Aren’t you scared of retaliation?”

It was interesting enough for her to take the helmet off. “What are you talking about, mortal? Hecate does not care about whether you live or die today.”

Felix joined Jisung at the far end of the open space. It was now or never.

“I wouldn’t be so sure. She came to see us yesterday, you know. She might punish you later when I’m done with you.”

“I do not care about Hecate!” Her voice was trembling, though. “You’re irritating. I’ll deal with you first.”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” you whispered to yourself.

As she put the helmet back on for the nth time, the floor blackened. You let the flood of black smoke leave your body while the temperature dropped. It wasn’t as strong as when you faced Keahi, but anger and pain were still present. It affected her, but not enough to end her.

Felix analyzed the situation and summoned light, except he didn’t know where to hit. You tried your best to show him by sinking Lamia into the floor to her calves. The movement caught his eye. Rainbow sparks shot from the sky into her skin. You felt her scream in pain.

It still wasn’t sufficient. She was getting restless and you were getting desperate. What more could you do? It seemed to have worked the first time but it wasn’t real, how could you be sure it would work this time?

The flood was getting thicker, your hand tightening around the tilt of your sword. Of course, you could just try it again and if it didn’t work… then you would have tried until the end.

Breathing heavily, you walked up to her. Raising your sword, you whispered a “good bye” before slowly but surely pressing the blade into her heart.

Lamia didn’t just sit back. She yelled, sinking her claws into your chest and arms at the same time. You endured the pain but gasped when an arrow pierced through her neck and passed you by a few centimeters to finish its course in the nearest tree. Multicolored flames burned her too, until the helm of darkness fell to the ground in front of you.

“Y/N!” Felix ran to you. “No, no, no…”

Blood was dripping from the multiple claw marks. He caught you when your knees gave out, helping you down and maintaining your head on his hand.

“Jisung,” he desperately called, “you need to do something.”

“Already on it…”

Felix pressured on your shoulder wound with his free hand while the brown haired boy roamed through his backpack. Blood ran through his fingers.

“Stay with me, Y/N, please.”

You smiled faintly. “We won this time, right? That’s— that’s good.”

He brought you closer to him. “Yeah, thanks to you.”

“Move, loverboy,” Jisung ordered.

The Iris kid did as told but kept pressuring your wound. “You’re gonna be okay, I promise.”

These were the last words you heard before fainting.

nine.

You woke up to a moving vehicle, your chest and arms tingling with every bump it rolled over. Jisung was talking to someone you couldn’t see, and Felix’s hand was intertwined with yours. More than that, you were seated next to each other, your head comfortably laid on his shoulder.

Jisung looked behind him and gave you a gummy smile. “Sleeping beauty’s awake at last!”

“Are you okay?” the boy next to you asked as you sat up straight.

You nodded and realized you were in a minibus. Unless you were mistaken, there was no vehicle whatsoever on the mountain last time you checked.

“Indeed! You needed a drive home. That’s where I came in,” a man said joyfully.

You blinked when you saw Apollo driving and waving you hello through the rear-view mirror.

“I had the brilliant idea to offer the lion’s pelt and the ring of Gyges to my dad and hoped he would grant us a little help to get back to Olympus safely and quickly,” he explained with a satisfied face.

It was exceptionally brilliant that he accepted.

During the rest of the road trip, Apollo was relating some of his adventures to whoever listened. The return was smoother than the outward, allowing you to rest a bit. The blonde boy had a worried face whenever he laid his eyes on you.

On Mount Olympus, Hades was here with the Olympian Gods, on his seldom used throne. His proud stare was weird to witness, especially when it was directed towards you. You gave him back his helm under Apollo’s loud praise for his ‘son and his companions’ bravery on this perilous odyssey’. The Gods thanked the three of you and got on with their immortal lives.

Iris winked at her kid, mouthing “I’m proud of you.” and they all left the palace.

You did the same, the boys walking to the elevator while Hades, who was following you, asked for a chat. You agreed, staying back to hear what he had to say.

“I know that blessing you with this much power made you a target. Honestly, I can’t take them back. But I know you’ll use them well. You proved during your journey that you were mature and strong enough. You’ve made me proud.”

Hearing these words filled you with a warm feeling, which you despised. It was too soon for you to warm up to him.

“I didn’t do it for you. I did it for mom.”

He nodded in understanding. “She’s in Elysium you know? She wants you to live a long, fulfilled life before seeing her again.'' 

You were about to tell him you’ve known for years, but he turned around and left.

You thought about your mom, and how at peace she was right now. At that moment, you decided to let go of the negative thoughts obscuring your judgment and decisions. Your mom was waiting for you, and you intended to make her proud of you.

Jogging to your friends, you smiled, happy that was finally over. Obviously you knew more danger was coming, but you’d be okay as long as your friends were there with you.

ten.

Back at camp, the three of you were acclaimed, the respective head counselors of your cabins personally greeting each of you. They looked particularly proud. The fervor of the return having dissipated, you sat in the Big House with Chiron before dinner time, to relate your journey.

“So yeah, it turned out we had to get the helm of darkness back from Lamia,” you said.

“The piece of the way back was the lion’s pelt and the last challenge was in the Yellowstone national park in Wyoming,” added Jisung.

“The King’s circle was Gyges’ invisible ring,” Felix divulged.

“I’m glad you’re all back safely,” Chiron smiled.

“I have a question, though,” Jisung raised his hand. “Half-blood death. Did it not come through?”

“It did. Lamia was a demigod, daughter of Hecate and Queen of Libya,” Chiron explained, “she was turned into a monster by Hera.”

“Explains a lot,” you muttered.

Jisung returned to his crush friend from the Hephaestus cabin while Felix and you walked together to your cabins. During your little walk, the Aphrodite kid, AKA the pretty painter, came to see you. It shocked you to see him in front of you, and it shocked you even further to see the two greet each other like old friends.

“I’m glad you’re back, Felix,” he said, a genuine smile on his face.

“Thanks Hyunjin. I’m happy to be back.”

“Hello Y/N.”

He knows my name!! How does he know my name??

“Huh, hi…”

“Felix talks about you a—”

“That’s great,” the blond boy cut him off, ears reddening, “but we have stuff to do before dinner. Bye Hyunjin, see you around!”

“Lix,” you called as he rushed you to the cabins, “how do you know him?”

“We came to camp together. Why?”

Realizing he was ‘just’ a pretty painter for you and that you were more interested in Felix than him, you smiled sheepishly.

“Nothing, I never asked how or when you came to camp.”

“Oh, well, we were seven kids on the run after monsters attacked our school, and satyrs finally found us and brought us here. We were between six and ten.”

He stopped in his tracks when he realized you weren’t following anymore. When he turned around to face you, you hugged him, burying your face in his neck. He stroked your back affectionately.

“It must’ve been hard. I’m sorry.”

“Hey, it’s okay, we made it without too many problems.”

After a good dinner and a wholehearted singalong, you ended up on the beach, eyes fixed on the stars. Hearing footsteps approaching, you only looked over when he sat next to you.

“Pretty cloudless sky, huh?”

“Yeah,” you agreed, “but the stars are prettier on your face.”

It was unknown which one of you was blushing more.

“Sorry—”

“Y/N—”

“You first,” you offered, hiding your face into your cold hands. Or was it your face that was hot?

“I came to a conclusion while on that awful quest,” Felix announced, folding his arms on top of his knees. He looked at the horizon. “I can’t bear the thought of losing you. Seeing you hurting tears me apart, and I think what Hecate meant by ‘my own sake’ wasn’t my safety, but rather my heart after seeing you suffer.” He sighed. “I guess what I’m trying to say is that… I love you, Y/N,” he finished, daring to turn your way.

He was met with you facing him and staring at him intently, tears forming in your eyes. “Felix… There are not enough words to express how much you mean to me. I literally cannot live without you. I love you so much.”

The embrace you two shared was worth a thousand words.

As you let go of each other, his eyes trailed on your collarbone, where a mark was visible above your orange t-shirt. You followed his gaze and touched your bruised skin. You locked eyes with him and smiled softly.

“These will make badass scars.”

thank you for reading! if you enjoyed, please let me know and here's the masterlist<3

#kflixnet #k-labels #wkcnet #skz x reader #stray kids felix #skz felix #skz fluff #skz imagines #skz angst #skz scenarios #skz fanfic #stray kids scenarios #stray kids imagines #stray kids demigod au #skz felix x reader #stray kids oneshot #stray kids fluff #stray kids fanfic #stray kids drabbles #stray kids angst #stray kids x reader #stray kids x you #stray kids x y/n #stray kids felix angst #tw death #stray kids romance #stray kids action #stray kids slowburn #skz x y/n #skz x you

[jungkookschin]

demigod trials masterlist

synopsis: camp half-blood and camp jupiter meet themselves in yet another predicament: the primordial god tartarus is seeking vengeance against you and jungkook, the two demigods who entered his domain six years ago.

(he also wants to eradicate the entire world, :p)

your friends and family at camp half-blood and camp jupiter aren't willing to let that happen- let the war begin.

main pairing: son of ares ! jungkook x daughter of hephaestus!reader

other side pairings: son of hephaestus ! mark lee x daughter of aphrodite! reader , son of poseidon ! taehyung x daughter of minerva ! reader , more to come! (these are all different oc's)

word count: 40 k

warnings: DEATH, killing, DEATH, war, weapons, passing out, choking each other, fighting, rawr

⋆𐙚₊˚⊹♡ this story will feature magical pegasus rides, celestial sword fights, evil gods trying to take over the world :p , a secret underground bunker, a few trips to mount olympus, and a couple of plummets to tartarus 😌⋆𐙚₊˚⊹♡

chapter one: fates intertwined (jungkook) 20k chapter two: fates intertwined part ii (jungkook) 10k chapter three: icarus falls (jungkook) 7k chapter 3.5: our startlit bond- love you from tartarus (mark lee) 3k chapter four: achilles' heel (taehyung) 10k

recent! chapter five: lust of ichor (jungkook) -10k

taglist:

#jungkook fanfic #jungkook scenarios #bts scenarios #jungkook fluff #jungkook x reader #jungkook imagines #jk fanfic #bts fanfic #jungkook fic #demigod!jungkook #demigod!nct127 #demigod!nct dream #demigod!nct #mark lee scenarios #mark lee fluff

[neonacity]

SON OF SHADOWS | Jeno x Reader (An Elysium Special)

Summary: Hades has a reputation in Olympus, one that trickles way down to the world of the half-bloods back in the mortal world. Now that his son and heir Jeno was sent to Rosewood as a punishment for the mischief of his group of friends, the prince of the underworld has to deal with the infamy his father's name brings, right in the Academy of half-bloods like him.

The only bad news? School life seems to be harder to balance than gods and monsters, it seems.

A/N: Happiest birthday to mi amore, Jeno! Decided to write this quick drabble since this blog is gathering cobwebs. This is connected to this other mini drabble I did here! P.S. this is barely proofread. I did this for about an hour and a half. 🫠

*******

"So this is the music room. The instruments are as old as the Parthenon itself, but you know, the admin says we don't really have the funds so we can't change anything yet unless they fall to pieces."

You watched with curious eyes as the quiet boy beside you ran his gaze across the room. He was tall and pale, and the ghastly lighting from above your heads made the shadows look starker against his profile. His expression did not show any sign of interest over what you were saying in the slightest. In fact, you don't think he even looked at you once other than the quick glance he gave you when you met him at the steps of Rosewood Academy half an hour ago.

To be honest, it's not like you are expecting anything more from him. You already assumed he will be aloof. Snotty even. The bar is low to begin with—and yes, you still want to strangle Yangyang for hooking you up to do this.

Yes, LIU YANGYANG. Your supposed 'best friend' who decided to ditch his school committee duties because his mom had to pull him out to do some last minute shopping for the summer. Sometimes, you forget that the boy is disgustingly rich from the way he acts so much like a perpetually hungry racoon, but you really expected more from him than leaving you hanging today.

"I'm going to kill him," you said under your breath now as you glowered at nothing in particular in the room. You were so consumed by your plans of torturing your friend in your head that you almost jumped when you heard the boy beside you speak for the first time.

"Who?"

You whipped towards him, confused. Jeno still wasn't looking at you, his gaze calmly set in front of him.

"Huh?"

"Who are you going to kill?"

You blinked a couple of times before you managed to gather your thoughts again. He had never shown a strain of interest since the moment you started the tour that you were actually surprised that he heard you. After a few heartbeats, you cleared your throat awkwardly to give an appropriate answer.

"Oh. Just my friend. He was supposed to be giving you this tour because it's his turn in the roster today but he ditched me."

Jeno's expression didn't change even with your explanation. Instead, he started walking, only stopping when he reached the old dusty piano in the middle of the room. Without a word, he lifted the cover and settled on the seat there.

"You don't like being here, don't you?"

Maybe it was the bluntness of his words, but you were entirely taken aback by the way he chose to start this conversation. Instinct told you to say no to his assumption but then you stopped, realizing it was never your habit to sugarcoat things. You shrugged.

"I don't particularly enjoy it, no."

"Because you have to clock in extra hours or because you have to speak to me?"

Your eyebrows rose for the second time that day. Opening your lips defensively, the words quickly died in your throat as the boy gave you a quick look. You couldn't really tell because of the shadows that seem to perpetually cling to him, but you thought you saw a hint of a smile at the curve of his lips. Before you could catch it, however, he was moving his face away to focus on the keys in front of him. In a moment, the room was soon filled by the low, melodious hymn of piano notes.

"I didn't know that thing still works," you said now, completely forgetting the train of your previous conversation. Jeno tilted his head a little bit but continued gliding his fingers over the instrument.

"It needs a little bit of tuning, but she still plays very well."

"Hm. That's one thing you cannot expect from this school," you replied with a slight scoff, your tone dripping with more sarcasm than you originally intended. He ultimately caught it, his eyes locking with yours again in curiosity.

"Why?"

You paused. As much as you love Rosewood, there are a lot of things that you equally loathe about it. Since time immemorial, the Academy has served as the educational grounds and sometimes even second home of half-bloods like you. The running of it, unfortunately, is where the challenge is. Even with its legacy, the school's funding is handled by the big bosses above, aka the honchos of Olympus. Even more unfortunate is the fact that the main gods obviously have their favorites, which means that the heirs that live there with them get the best of the best, while regular half-bloods like you receive the scraps back here.

With a sigh, you walked a little bit closer to where Jeno was seated and leaned at the corner of the piano. He watched you closely, a bit surprised that you actually took the initiative to approach him. You clearly missed it though, too focused on your internal monologue about the unfairness of the situation.

"You're a regular in Olympus, right? Pretty sure you can figure out why. Rosewood is more of an afterthought for your father and his brothers and what not. No effense."

"Is that why you don't like me?"

Your jaw slacked. Can this boy be any less blunt?

"Who said I don't like you?"

"You don't need to 'say' it to say it."

Well, damn.

Your shoulders slightly dropped as you turned your gaze away with a frown. As much as you hate to admit it, you did feel a twinge of guilt with how you were acting. The thing is... disliking heirs like him and their parents have been ingrained on you since you were a child. You can't help it that it's almost second nature to you now.

"It's not that I don't like you. I'm just not fond of your lot."

"Because I'm from Olympus?"

"Uh-huh."

"You know the heavenly gates is different from the Underworld, right?"

It took you a moment to process that. Technically, he is right. You have no idea about the ins and outs and family drama of the Main Family, but everyone and their brother knows that Zeus and Hades can have a very sticky relationship sometimes. Now that you think about it, you are surprised Jeno is actually grounded here in Rosewood together with the rest of the Olympus heirs. You never expected them to be in good terms with each other...

Which means...

Whatever they did must have pissed off all the gods, above and below.

"Wait... You are right," you said slowly, your mind working on overdrive. Jeno started playing again, unaware of the mental acrobatics going on inside of you. Before you even realized what you were doing, you were slipping on the seat beside him, your eyes wide with questions. He ever so slightly leaned back, surprised at your action.

"Let me ask you something," you said in a hushed, but excited voice. The boy only looked at you, waiting for you to continue.

"Will you help our Journalism Club? I managed to convince the Headmaster to give us more funding before closing it if I can make a good story."

Jeno's expression only slightly changed. He quirked his brow which you took as a good sign to push on.

"I don't know how I can help you—"

"You can!" You said, unable to control your excitement now. You went on before he could even open his lips again.

"It's simple. You were all sent here as a punishment. You need to tell me..."

"What kind of trouble did you all do back there in Olympus?"

The song of the piano stopped as your grin widened.

#jeno x reader #nct dream fic #nct dream imagines #nct dream x reader #nct dream demigod au #lee jeno fic #jeno fic #jeno fanfic #nct dream 00 line fic

[restlessmaknae]

After saving the world together, the son of Aphrodite takes it upon himself to get your attention by visiting your archery classes unannounced - much to your annoyance and much to everyone else's amusement.

➳ Characters: son of Aphrodite!Ten x daughter of Ares!reader/you

➳ Genre: Camp Half-Blood au, greek mythology au, comedy, enemies to lovers

➳ Words: 2.6k

➳ Warning: mentions of blood, innocent lives taken, Ten is called stupid a few times (but reader is in denial, that's why)

➳ A/N: This story is part of my '5 words, 5 stories' series for which I wrote 5 totally different stories with 5 different band members featuring the same 5 words "I'm sorry, I love you". If you're interested in the other stories, check out this link! Otherwise, they can totally be read on their own. Dedicated to @dat-town❤️

➳ Check out: my NCT masterlist

➳ NCT taglist: @dat-town, @sweetjaemss, @winterbeartaehyungbestboy, @effulgentfireflies, @stories-inbetween-the-stars, @squiishymeow, @heyditseeey

“No, widen your stance!”

“I’ve told you, you should stand at a 90 degree angle to the target!”

“What are you doing? You are not Hephaestus at work! Straighten your spine, you fool.”

It was never easy to be at Camp Half-Blood, but when you were the instructor instead of the pupil, it was even more difficult. You knew that not everyone can be a skilled archer like yourself - for instance, the kids of Aphrodite had never been one for archery -, but at least they should seem like they were trying. They should listen to you instead of going after their own heads or daydreaming about their crush in a different cabin. You were their instructor, for gods and goddesses’ sake!

Yangyang, one of the Hermes kids, let out a frustrated huff after another completely missed attempt, and instead of aiming at the target, he put one hand on his hip while holding the bow in the other, ready to throw it to the ground.

“Yangyang, you better not-”

As soon as he heard your authoritative voice and noticed your deadly glare, he pulled his lips into a (faked) innocent, boyish smile. That boy was one for tricks and smooth talking, but you never gave in to such behaviour. You were the daughter of Ares, the god of war after all. You didn’t come here to be messed with - you were determined to teach everyone how to do archery even if they were a seemingly hopeless case. Like Mark Lee who - despite being the son of Apollo, so supposedly excelling at archery - could not aim further from the target each and every time. At least, he was trying though. Even after yet again falling for Yuta’s trick (thinking that he got apple juice from the son of Dionysus, not actual alcohol), being hungover yet again, he was here, making the effort to aim at the target (even though his arrows flew everywhere like a firework).

“I was just imagining myself in a fight. I didn’t actually want to act on my intrusive thoughts,” Yangyang reasoned with a grin, and you just shook your head.

“I must warn you that we will have field archery soon, so if you can’t bring yourself to do target archery now, that will be even harder. As in, the target won’t be in a straight line like now.”

“Yes, I might stand a chance then,” Mark chirped gleefully. “I can’t bring myself to shoot in a straight line, but with field archery, I might have some luck,” he added beamingly, and you respected his optimism even though archery scarcely had anything to do with luck.

Either way, you walked up and down the archery field, correcting postures and suggesting to change bows, taking your job very seriously. After basically saving the world with a few other demigods, you decided to stay at the camp instead of leaving and trying to head for college because you knew that this camp needed some heavy training if there was ever another mission to accomplish.

Even though you were certain you could take on the world yet again, the more trained campers there were, the merrier. Besides, you couldn’t be everywhere all at once - last time you might not have been able to go and come back from the Underworld if Johnny, Kun and the others hadn’t protected the camp from a flock of monsters unleashed from the Underworld. Hades and Zeus had a beef yet again, and of course you had to be the ones to suffer the consequences.

Though it was not only you who decided to stay instead of going to college after finishing school…

“Oh, look who we have here!” The mellifluous voice of Aphrodite’s son reached your ears as you turned around even before he could signal his presence. Your hearing was good, and he didn’t exactly have the lightest steps - unlike yours, you were like a shadow, trained to be invisible and go around silently.

“Ten…” You gritted through your teeth even before you came face-to-face with his grinning face. This boy had too much confidence for someone who walked around half-naked (most of the time) and missed being shot (sadly all the time) when he decided to visit your archery classes. It seemed to be his favourite pastime activity these days.

“Don’t I look dashing today?” He inquired proudly as he swirled around in his robe. Because the damn boy wore a bathrobe, except that he didn’t bother to tie it in the front, so his whole chest was out on full display - much to the entertainment of some girls in your class.

“I would appreciate it if you didn’t decide to march into my class aka march straight into the archery field all the time,” you mentioned, completely ignoring his question, as you pointed around. Ten literally walked to the centre of the field where you were supposed to say your instructions about the next exercise. If he had walked out just a few minutes earlier, someone might have shot him. Mark Lee probably would have.

“I’m sooooorry,” he pouted, but anyone could tell that it was fake acting on his part. No one did fake acting better than the Aphrodite kids. “I love you, Miss Instructor, and I just can’t bear not seeing you even for a day,” he winked at you, and you acted as if you gagged at him.

Just because you had saved the world together once, it didn’t mean that you were anything more than comrades at best. Even though you couldn’t deny that he had been there when you almost had a nervous breakdown because you had doubted your skills… Damn it, why did he have to see you at your worst?

“If you don’t want me to shoot you straight through your heart, I advise you to leave,” you warned him through gritted teeth, but as expected, he turned the tables.

“But you’ve already done that. Eros has nothing on you.”

There were a few murmurs hearing that, and a group of girls blinked at the two of you in confusion. Even though there had been rumours about you two having developed romantic feelings towards each other during the mission, they had died down a few days after your return. However, ever since peace settled into the camp again, the rumours had grown stronger again, and Ten was definitely not helping the situation with his ever so frequent (and very much unannounced) visits during your classes.

“Besides, I don’t think everyone despises my presence as much as you do,” he added smugly as he winked in a few, shushing girls’ direction. They shrieked excitedly at the gesture, acting like stupid teenagers in those stupid teen movies you had seen on TV before you realised that they were a load of trash. Well, they were teenagers after all.

“Shut up, Ten!” You rolled your eyes, and you were ready to push him off the field when he looked back at you, his lips slowly curling upwards, curling seductively, and you knew it, you could feel what was about to come. “If you dare to say ‘make me’, I’ll shove you off right now,” you added before he could open his mouth, but that just fuelled his fire even more.

“Looks like someone knows me too well.”

“Looks like someone chatted way too much on our way to literal Hell.”

“Well, I can’t deny that I had a good time.”

“Well, I didn’t,” you bantered with him because you could not let him win this one. You were the daughter of Ares, you didn’t just lose to a guy with the IQ of a fish.

Ten was about to open his mouth, but Johnny showed up in his usual training clothes, and you knew that it signalled the end of your class because the campers were supposed to have his lesson after yours. Yangyang was overjoyed at the arrival of the son of Artemis while Mark Lee whimpered that he wanted to try some more to see if he could have any luck today.

“Bye bye, Miss Instructor!” Ten waved at you as he was scurrying away, and you couldn’t help but exchange a glance with Johnny.

“He leaves only when the class is over, that dumbass.”

“Not gonna lie, he’s trying hard to get your attention,” Johnny pointed out, bemused, and you couldn’t help but realise that there had not been any rumours about Ten being with girls since you had returned to the camp together. Flirting with girls? Yes, he was still doing that, but he was the son of Aphrodite, it came with his blood, but being with girls and seen kissing girls like he had been before your mission… you had not yet heard such rumours. Maybe that’s why everyone believed that you were actually together.

You shrugged though, trying not to think of the way he looked at you, the way he held your hand and squeezed it and the way he had promised you that everything would be alright when your plan had almost fallen through during your mission.

Back then, you had just escaped the Underworld together with Ten only to get to know from Persephone that Hades was currently outside, doing god knows what. Meanwhile, storms were raging, tsunamis flooded cities, drought dried out lands of crops, and ultimately, people were suffering and dying as a consequence. That’s what you had always hated about the gods and goddesses: no matter what, they could never find peace, and whenever they stirred up trouble, it affected humans in the human world. Innocent humans, women, men, children, parents, sisters, brothers… All because these so-called mighty immortals could not control their feelings.

Your best chance afterwards had been to visit Hermes because he always knew where to find someone. At least, he knew where to start finding him. However, instead of a direct answer, Hermes had told you that his roadways had been distributed due to the turbulence in weather, so he couldn’t have helped you. Instead, he had directed you to Anemoi, the wind gods, because they might be able to lend you their compass to tell you the direction of Hades. For that, you had to travel to the Tower of the Winds in Athens, and on your way, you had not only lost precious time but also hope.

With Hades’ rage, many monsters from the Underworld had emerged, and you had to constantly battle through them as they had started popping up out of nowhere. You had been hurt, sleep-deprived and very, very tired of this whole thing by this point, no wonder you had not been in the best mood while you had been walking towards the Tower of the Winds (and to do that, you had to go there after closing hours and turn off the security cameras around, so ultimately breaking the law here and there), and Ten had picked up on it.

“Are you going to stay silent for the rest of the mission?” The boy had asked, breaking the silence that had been stretched between you two ever since the son of Aphrodite had realised that you would not react to his words, let alone snap at him for his stupidest ideas.

You had continued walking forward sulkily, not in the mood for small talk, but he had grabbed your wrist, making you turn towards him. Your immediate reaction had been to fight back, but he had seemed to expect that, hence he had yanked your other hand away before you could peel his fingers off.

“Hey, I know you’re mad, but it’s going to be alright. We’ll put an end to this soon, I can feel it.”

“You and your optimism…” You had tsked snarkily, your mood not at all lifted by his supposedly motivational words.

“I know you feel like the weight of the world is on you, and I know you think that I can’t compare to you which is, in a way, actually true because you can kick ass better than anyone at Camp Half-Blood,” he had started again, and hearing that, your lips had curled upwards just a bit. Only a bit. Ten wasn’t one to flatter anyone but himself, so his compliment had meant a lot to you.”But let me share that burden with you, just for the duration of this mission. You can go back to hating me afterwards, but let me help whenever I can.”

“I don’t hate you,” you had blurted out, your voice coming out raspy after not speaking up for so long. Hearing that, the boy’s eyebrows had elevated, and his lips had started to curl into a smile, but before he could have continued, you had added: “I just find you annoying.”

“I prefer annoyingly handsome, but I’ll let it slide this time,” he had joked, and you couldn’t have found the will in you to go against him, not this time.

When he had let his features become solemn again, he had just stared at you for a few seconds, and you had this jarring feeling stirring up something inside your heart. You weren’t one to let anyone close to you, but spending so much time together while hopefully saving the world had undeniably brought you two closer and he had seen you in so many ugly and vulnerable situations (such as meeting your father on the way to Hermes, and having to hear from him that you had been nothing but a nuisance in his eyes because someone who was focused on battle all the time shouldn’t have made the mistake of having a child like you, a girl on top of that even though he had had many love affairs during his lifetime), seen you sleeping with your hands balled into fists, your knife by your side, seen you cry when some monsters from the Underworld had attacked a child, and you couldn’t have saved her… So yeah, the list was long by that time.

“If anyone can do it, it’s you. It will be alright, I promise,” he had told you, and this time, it had seemed convincing. You had felt yourself soften a bit, and may it have been because of your less alarmed body language or the solemnity of the situation, but the boy had squeezed your hand and you had let it, you had let him do so.

For once, you had wanted someone to hold you like that, so you wouldn’t need to be the one to always keep yourself together, and no matter how much you would have wanted to deny it, it had been him. The one you had supposedly found annoying and bratty and self-centered before this very mission.

“Hey! Are you okay? You had been zoning out a bit,” Johnny’s familiar voice brought you back to reality, and you shook your head in an attempt to shake off the remaining parts of the flashback. You swore you could have felt the ghost of Ten’s touch on your fingers though.

“Yeah, sure, whatever. I still find him annoying,” you clarified as a belated point to your previous conversation, and let Johnny smirk to himself all he wanted, you headed to your own cabin.

A voice in your head gawked at you though, repeating the same word over and over again: liar, liar, liar…

Maybe one day, you will be brave enough to confront your feelings instead of denying them, but that day was not today.

A/N: I hope you enjoyed reading the fic! Personally, I really enjoyed writing it as I love the setting and also sassy Ten is just iconic haha

As always, you can let me know what you thought through asks/DMs/reblogs.

If you want to read more stories of mine, let it be for NCT or for other bands/artists, consider signing up for my taglist here.

Hope you have a lovely day/night! Take care! ❤️

#nct scenarios #nct imagines #wayv scenarios #wayv imagines #nct x reader #nct x you #wayv x reader #wayv x you #ten imagines #ten scenarios #ten x reader #ten x you #nct fluff #wayv fluff #ten fluff #nct comedy #wayv comedy #ten comedy

[ultkpopnetwork]

Happy April Fools, hope no one got you too bad! Since March is now over it's poll time once again. There are about 80 songs on the poll this time, not all are on spotify at this time. Playlist linked in the poll. Complete February results will be under the cut.

Here is the poll <3

Songs with 0 votes will not be included

BIBI - Bam Yang Gang 51,6%

Twice - I Got You 48,4%

Ten - Nightwalker 45,2%

Twice - One Spark 41,9%

BIBI - Sugar Rush 38,7%

Le Sserafim - Easy 35,5%

IU - Holssi 32,3%

Tri.be - Diamond 25,8%

IU - Shopper 22,6%

P1harmony - Killin' It 19,4%

DPR Artic feat. DPR Ian - Do or Die 16,1%

Taeyong - Tap 16,1%

Alexa - Sick 12,9%

Ichillin' - Demigod 12,9%

Yugyeom - 1 Minute 12,9%

ACE - My Girl  9,7%

Babymonster - Stuck In The Middle 9,7%

Cravity - Love or Die 9,7%

IU - Shh.. 9,7%

Lim Kim - ULT 9,7%

Moonbyul - Think About 9,7%

Moonbyul - Touchin & Movin 9,7%

Young Posse - Young Posse Up 9,7%

Cha Eunwoo - Stay 6,5%

Lim Hyunsik - La Mar 6,5%

NCT Wish - Wish 6,5%

Nina - Love Like This 6,5%

X:IN - No Doubt 6,5%

From20 - Demon 3,2%

Rescene - YoYo 3,2%

Super Junior L.S.S - C'Mon 3,2%

Super Junior L.S.S - Joke 3,2%

Wooseok - Navy Blue 3,2%

#ultkpop #ultkpopnetwork #polls #kpop polls

[puppuccinono]

you know I'd rather drown than go on without you

#nct 127 #nct #moodboard #demigod au #yumark #nakamoto yuta #mark lee #poseidon #greek god