#he would have hades build him the best place in elysium | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

umbran6 · 3 years

Text

Hogwarts Houses for the Heroes of Olympus, Apollo, and Meg.

I’ve seen a lot of people do this, so I thought I should do this and explain as to why I wanted them there. Spoilers are abound through Heroes of Olympus and Trials of Apollo as I explain my reasoning.

Percy Jackson: Hufflepuff. Look, I know a lot of people place him in Gryffindor. That’s a reasonable outcome one can reach, considering his feats could be considered immensely brave. However, Percy has often participated in his quests out of a sense of loyalty towards those he loves, whether it’s his mom (The Lightning Thief), Camp Half-Blood (The Sea of Monsters), Annabeth (Both The Titan’s Curse and Battle of The Labyrinth), and in The Last Olympian, all of them. What really pins him in place is when he willingly fallis to Tartarus alongside Annabeth by the ending of The Mark of Athena, which is a remarkable yet insane feat of both love and loyalty. He also has a work ethic, which is revealed during The Tower of Nero. Rather than just go straight to New Rome and live a happy life, he went to a hellish military school just so he could graduate from there with a high school diploma. If that’s not a work ethic, I don’t know what is. Loyalty and work ethic are key Hufflepuff traits, and Percy has shown all of them.

Annabeth Chase: Slytherin. Annabeth has often shown a lot of intelligence, but also a lot of resourcefulness and cunning during her time in the series. She literally tricked both Arachne and Nyx in what were impossible situations, and her goals are extremely ambitious, with her wanting to become an architect so she could build something that could last a thousand years. She also has a lot of Ravenclaw traits, to the point she repeated Odysseus and listened to the Sirens so she could learn what she desired the most. However, that was only once, and most often she used the knowledge she was given in resourceful and cunning ways, such as during the Last Olympian where she used the statues from Daedalus as a way to defend Manhattan. Needless to say, in my opinion she is a Slytherin first and Ravenclaw second.

Jason Grace: It’s quite tricky, considering we don’t get to see any key defining traits, but I have decided to put him in Gryffindor. Jason’s shown plenty of bravery, fighting Giants and Titans during his quest, but he also has honor and chivalry, which he shows during Blood of Olympus, and later on, The Burning Maze. Specifically, in the scene where he makes a deal with Kymopoleia, promising to make shrines not only to her, but to all of the hundreds of minor gods of Greek Mythology. As we later see during The Burning Maze, Jason was completely willing to honor such a deal, working on the shrines even while he was living the closest thing to a normal life one could achieve as a demigod. And of course, we can’t ignore the fact that he was brave to fight Caligula just so his friends could escape.

Piper Mclean: Slytherin. This is because during most of the time we’ve seen her, Piper fights dirty. She doesn’t stab a monster in the dagger, but charmspeaks the monster and stabs him in the back while he’s distracted. When claiming the position as Cabin Counselor in the Aphrodite Cabin during The Lost Hero from Drew, Piper uses the rules against her to get the position, rather than straight-up fighting her at the very beginning. Furthermore, rather than fight Khione upfront during the House of Hades, she bides her time and stalls the goddess until she can find a way to win. Though she has some traits that could go along with the other Houses, Slytherin tends to stand out the best. The only way she isn’t Slytherin in terms of traits is that she lacks ambition — we never see her have a higher goal beyond the quest, or any plans for what she’s going to do after everything’s done. Overall, she’s Slytherin through her actions, not her words, ironically.

Frank Zhang: Gryffindor. This is because Frank performs a lot of actions that are by any standard, brave, and often selfless and self-sacrificial. Specifically, a lot of the sacrifices he performs throughout the series. In Son of Neptune, he was willing to be the distraction against the Laestrygonians so that Percy and Hazel could start their escape plan. He was literally willing to burn his own life force (his stick) so that Thanatos could break free despite the very large risk it posed to him. He even stood in the way of a Giant, pushing him all the way to the Canadian border. And as we learn in The Tyrant’s Tomb, he was willing to repeat his sacrifice if it meant Caligula and Commodus were killed. Frank is a Gryffindor through and through, though he does have some minor Ravenclaw traits such as his use of tactics against his opponents, way of making plans, or recalling ancient Roman history.

Hazel Levesque: Once again, this was another difficult one. Mainly because Hazel is split right down to the middle between Hufflepuff and Gryffindor. On one hand, she was so loyal to her mother that despite the fact that the lady got them into this mess, Hazel willingly sacrificed Elysium so her mom wasn’t punished. On the other hand, she was also willing to sacrifice herself so Alcyoneus couldn’t rise again despite the fact that it would lead to her and her mom’s death. Finally, I decided she deserved to go to Gryffindor, because of the fact that she willingly went towards the quest to rescue Thanatos in The Son of Neptune despite the fact that it was very likely that the god of Death would take her back to the Underworld. That takes immense amounts of bravery, not only because it’s the right thing to do, but she’s also putting herself at immense risk of being dragged down to the Underworld.

There are some Slytherin traits, such as when she made a plan to trick Sciron during the House of Hades, or the plan to trap Nike. However, Hazel’s a lot more defined by her bravery and empathy, which are more Gryffindor traits. If she had more ambition, a big goal after the quest it could be understood, but overall her Gryffindor traits are more prominent. For example, let’s compare how she got to Praetor and Octavian got to Praetor, and later on, Pontifex Maximus. Octavian often used a lot of word-twisting and dirty tactics to get his position, and only got there because Reyna left her post so she could help Jason. In comparison, the legion willingly raised her on a shield and collectively voted her into the position due to her bravery during the fight against Tarquin in The Tyrant’s Tomb.

Leo Valdez: There have been arguments over where he should go. All of them want him in one house or the other, but the most convincing ones were either having him in Slytherin, or in Ravenclaw. And I can definitely agree with both — Leo has shown immense amounts of intelligence and cunning throughout the series. He’s also intelligent in the sense that he created the Argo II, multiple weapons, the Holographic Scrolls, and even Buford.

However, after looking through his actions, I found that he leans more towards Slytherin. Although his façade of cheerfulness and humor was used to disguise trauma, he also used said humor to make himself appealing towards bullies so they didn’t beat him up. He often used his cunning to morph himself to social situations such as his façade as a jokester to look less threatening in comparison to others.

During the times we see him fight, he’s also the one to not only play it smart, but also using tactics and dirty tricks, rather than focusing on swordplay or his own fire powers. The only time we see him go ham with his pyrokinesis is when he’s fighting Khione during The Lost Hero. Furthermore, in The Mark of Athena, rather than straight-up fight the nymphs and Narcissus to get the celestial bronze he needed to make repairs, he uses himself as a distraction and has Hazel manipulate the bronze in a place where she can’t be seen, which is a plan that needs a lot of manipulation of the opposing parties.

What finally acted as the nail in the coffin for me was his plan to defeat Gaea during Blood of Olympus. It involved a lot of manipulation of both enemies and allies, and in the ended it succeeded so brilliantly that everybody got what they wanted, with none of them being aware of the plan until Frank and Hazel explained it, and they were the very few people in the know regarding Leo’s sacrifice. Developing such a plan takes immense amounts of cunning and ambition, which are both Slytherin traits. Although he may be chaotic, mischievous, and annoying, Leo is the guy you don’t realize is a Slytherin until it’s too late.

Nico di Angelo: The thing about a guy who was pretty much a loner throughout most of his time in the series is that it’s hard to tell what values he has. Ergo, we should look at his actions rather than his own words. Nico, although mainly dominated by his naïveté during his younger years, has shown himself to be extremely brave. For example, there was him openly defying his father by saving Percy from his imprisonment, and later actively convincing Hades to stop his vow of neutrality and fight alongside the Olympians in The Last Olympian. Finally, there’s his excursion to Tartarus and later his willingness to transport the Athena Parthenos during Blood of Olympus. Nico willingly went there to see if the Doors of Death were over there, and later transported the Athena Parthenos to Camp Half-Blood even if it meant he would fade into the shadows forever. All feats are insanely brave, and therefore I argue that he should go to Gryffindor.

Reyna Avila Ramirez Arellano: Hufflepuff. Most of Reyna’s actions aren’t inspired by bravery, honor, or chivalry, though from a certain point of view they are brave. Reyna often performs most of her actions out of loyalty for those she cares about, almost in a Percy-ish kind of way. Her interrogation and cold nature towards Percy in Son of Neptune? Suspicion that he would be a threat to Camp Jupiter. She metaphorically fought against Octavian’s power advances because she knew his own ambitions wouldn’t help New Rome. Willingness to cooperate with the Greeks before the Eidolons screwed up everything? She believed that it was best for New Rome. Willingness to brave the Mare Nostrum all by herself? Both her loyalty to Jason and that she believed that waging war against Camp Half-Blood was not the best for the legion. Her loyalty and ethic just make her a shoe-in for Hufflepuff.

Apollo/Lester Papadopoulos: Oh boy, he’s kind of at an in-between when it comes what house he should be in. If we were talking about him pre-Lesterfication, I would honestly say Hufflepuff, but he takes a good chunk of those traits and turned them into a darker way. He defeated Python because the snake monster had chased his mother off of Delphi. He alongside Artemis murdered Niobe’s kids because the goddess insulted Leto by saying she was better than her. When Asclepius is murdered by Zeus, he retaliates by murdering the Cyclopes who made the weapons. And finally, he punishes those who broke their vows He shows loyalty, but in a lot of darker ways that we don’t expect. He’s got Hufflepuff morals, but they’re in a darker, more warped way than we expect.

If we’re looking at him post-Lesterfication, I would still say Hufflepuff, but now he does it in a brighter way and is also more Gryffindor. He was more willing to sacrifice himself if it meant saving those he cared about, such as when he willingly tried to kill himself during The Burning Maze if it meant Caligula would stop holding his friends hostage. He was also willing to commit more honorable gestures such as bringing Jason’s body to New Rome during The Tyrant’s Tomb. He was even willing to own up to his mistakes right in front of a god who had every right to hate him if it meant Meg and Reyna could be spared. He’s still a Hufflepuff, but he’s a more idealistic and less warped version of the values he had before he became Lester.

Meg: In a way, she’s pretty much like Apollo. She’s a Hufflepuff, but in all the wrong ways at first. We see this in The Dark Prophecy when its clear that during that time, she was more loyal to Nero of all people rather than her fellow campers, to the point of accepting Nero’s gaslighting if it meant she could see the positive view of him. However, she’s also loyal to Apollo and her father, which we see in The Burning Maze because the main reason she guns for Caligula is because she often compares him to The Beast aspect of Nero, the person who killed her dad. She in the end is also willing to accept and finish her father’s legacy, planting the seeds that eventually become the Meliai. Tower of Nero is when she gains the will to stand up to Nero after support from Apollo and her friends, and is later on seen taking care of the other children Nero abused. In the end, she’s a Hufflepuff despite the fact that she may not look like it.

Now, before you guys getting up in arms about there being no Ravenclaws, in my opinion the house is a lot more knowledge-focused, whether its discovering more knowledge, but also using it in a more academic and experimental way. Considering we don’t see this attitude or its corresponding values too much during the stories that we see since they’re more save-the-world mission focused. While Slytherin does have an intelligence-centric value such as cunning, its more focused on using such intelligence to manipulate and trick others, while Ravenclaw uses such intelligence in the discovery for knowledge.

125 notes · View notes

hurricanes-art · 3 years

Note

i am interested in your hades au, would you mind giving some details about it? 👁 it looks really interesting

[This AU is from these drawings!]

*cracks knuckles* Ok! I actually got enough sleep last night so I'm finally feeling up to explaining this au lmao

Also I hope that by “some details” you meant “way way too many” because I am nothing if not long winded. Also @hades-hellsite asked for context too, here you go

The central premise is that, after he dies, Achilles manages to make an arrangement with Hades that allows both him and Patroclus to stay in Elysium together. He's not employed to work at the house and he never becomes Zagreus's combat trainer.

Hades makes a few attempts to find Zagreus a different teacher among the shades of great warriors, but being skilled does not make someone able to teach. And being able to teach one way doesn't mean someone will be good for every student. When Zagreus doesn't learn well with the few mentors Hades tries, which he barely gives a chance to breathe anyway, he's quick to decide that he must have no martial ability and declares Zagreus a failure in that as he has about so many things.

This has two major effects on Zagreus before his escape attempts begin. One, without any chance to actually grow into aptitude in combat, he's left without anything substantial to put his energy into and, more importantly, he's left without anything he feels good at and that gives value to his efforts. Two is that, in Achilles' absence, very few people in the house give him any care and support untwisted by the politics of the house and the judgment of his father. There is Orpheus, kind to him before Hades locks him away for refusing to sing, Hypnos, willing to put the house to sleep so he can find the truth though jumbled up in his own problems, and Nyx.

Nyx is the only one to aid Zagreus when he decides to try to escape. She contacts Olympus and weaves careful lies to win their support and blesses his departure. She's also the only one who believes that Zagreus has the slightest chance of escaping. Already in canon, most everyone tells him there no way he'll make it out, but here, it's so much worse. He doesn't know how to fight, his initial attempts are pitiful and his progress negligible, and near everyone lashes out at him to get back in line and stop making things worse.

He doesn't even have the Infernal Arms. Achilles is the one who brings them to him in canon; here Zagreus takes a simple bronze sword from one of the house's many displays of weapons from wars long past. He thanks the Fates that the Styx restores it the same way it does his body when he dies because he nicks and dulls the edges every time.

Despite all the disadvantages, Zagreus throws himself into escaping with unshakable determination, bone deep stubbornness. He picks up his sword and will figure out how to use it himself. Experience will be his teacher. He dies over and over and he watches his enemies and learns how they move and how he must react, mimicking their attacks for his own use and adjusting and adjusting after each failure. And contrary to Hades' adamant belief, Zagreus is very intelligent and learns brilliantly when allowed to and he grows stronger and stronger.

There's no teacher more savage than experience in something like this, though. The pursuit is agonizing and the cost is enormous and adjusting to this ceaseless violence feels impossible.

Much of my interest in this idea is how the added strain on his circumstances and relationships affects Zagreus and his mental state. At his best, Zag looks a lot like he does in canon, with his laurels unfurled and vibrant, and his feet glowing hot, but he rarely feels his best here. His laurel leaves curl in dry and crisp, muted like the leaves of autumn. Flakes of ash and soot build up over his legs and encase more and more as he suffers. So deep is his feeling of failure and being trapped that it affects him physically.

Not always, though. His flames respond to his emotions, burn brighter in his passion. Enthusiasm, love, fervor, bliss, anger set him glowing.

After a brutally drawn out span of time, Zagreus meets Achilles and Patroclus in Elysium and tbh, the rest of my interest is really in how the altered circumstances change the evolution of their relationships with each other. The pair of warriors were never separated for an extended time and Achilles is less downtrodden and resigned and Patroclus is less bitter and abrasive when Zagreus stumbles upon them.

They don't fight him, which Zagreus counts among his greatest blessings, although Achilles still seems to have an interest. It makes him twitchy and he jumps when Achilles finally lifts his spear and swings it around in his third time in their little glade only to bump the flat of the blade against elbow and tell him to keep it in more towards his body. Zagreus blinks rapidly at him before adjusting his arm.

Achilles helps him here and there, tips and tricks and valuable advice, but he never gives anything near the thorough instruction he did in canon. On one hand, he doesn't need to. Zagreus is a self made fighter and it leaves him with weaknesses but it is also a powerful thing. He is unpredictable and incredibly adaptable and he only continues to improve.

On the other hand, there's no room for it. Achilles is gentle with his guidance, but Zagreus is rubbed raw by all the fighting he's done and all that still depends on it. He doesn't want to always focus on the weapon in his hands. Patroclus notices and curbs Achilles' input when it exceeds its bounds. He sits aside and observers carefully when they spar. Zagreus doesn't need another's direction which is fine by him, who's lost all desire for combat. He gives his aid through his assortment of trinkets that carry Zagreus further to the surface.

Zagreus barely knows what to do with himself in the face of their care. He's so unaccustomed to such generous and genuine support, interest devoid of expectation or blame. As familiarity between the three of them grows, their interactions grow warmer, more tender and comfortable. Their care lays on a foundation, not a hinge, and Zagreus grapples with understanding that he really can lean on it. It all leaves him so uncertain yet so desperate because he wants more than anything to have joy and conversation and company with others where he doesn't shoulder heavy guilt from unspoken accusations over his escaping the house and to have a place he feels he belongs without being an intrusion.

He does at first believe he's intruding, though. Intruding on their time together in the peace of Elysium. It takes them time to convince him that they value his presence immeasurably. The opportunity to stay together in the Underworld has been invaluable for Achilles and Patroclus, but the peace of Elysium is a deceptive thing. It wears away and prickles at them, pressing down in odd warping ways. Patroclus is beyond pleased to have the war behind him and that it can never force him to fight again, and despite Achilles retaining an interest in competition and combat, he does feel the same way. Having a cause though, something to believe in and worth devoting their efforts towards... They didn't realize how deeply they missed it until Zagreus. It is revitalizing. They thrive in his genuine, boundless kindness and long to support him.

The drawings of Orpheus arguing with Hades and Zagreus fighting with Nyx is from one of my plot point ideas. Later down the line, together, Hades, Persephone, and Nyx agree to forbid Zagreus from seeing Achilles and Patroclus at Nyx's behest. Similarly to how she talks about Dusa in canon, she sees mortal shades as beneath his station and that it's highly unbecoming for the prince to be consorting with them. Zagreus fights against the idea ferociously and is only smothered by the threat that, if he seeks them out anyway, Hades will void Achilles' agreement and have Patroclus moved to the proper plane of the Underworld.

It crushes Zagreus. He loves them and cares about them so much and being torn apart from them is a wound that cuts so deep. But even more than that, what breaks him open most, is the fact that it came from someone he cared for and trusted most. Nyx was the one person in the House he could depend on most and this betrayal at her hand is devastating. And for such a worthless reason as propriety and godly vanity. It's not her place to force those upon him. It hurts Zagreus to the core.

Orpheus is the only one willing to stick up for him in this, deeply empathetic to the grief of being separated from loved ones and well acquainted with the fact that such punishments will only damage, never correct. After all, his stint of punishment in Erebus didn't revive his desire to sing, it was Zagreus's dedication and vibrancy that did that. One of the many invaluable gifts Zagreus gave him, including reuniting him with Eurydice, making him happier than he'd been since her death. Orpheus can't keep biting his tongue when all these gods refuse to see any of this.

It all comes to a head dramatically and painfully and I've thought of a few variations on how it would play out. I'll leave it for now though, I might draw it or write it later >:3c Also this got really long lol. Hopefully the idea is at least somewhat interesting!

And here, have the lines from these two drawings because I like the way they look

#hades game #hades supergiant #zagreus #achilles #patroclus #nyx #orpheus #god of ash au #which is a tag i might not use again lol #my art #my writing #i guess #this is so long please forgive me #i had one thought of achilles not working at the house and it drove me to madness #apparently

258 notes · View notes

extremelyblackandwhite · 4 years

Text

the unseen one - 17

Pairing: Hades!Bucky Barnes x Reader

Warnings: none

A/N: hope you guys enjoy it xx

Next Chapter >>

Y/N was somehow divided between her mind and listening to what James was telling her. Part of her just couldn’t believe it. Her parents had worked their whole lives on explaining why the Greek pantheon existed, on why the Greeks would raise architectural architectures when those gods were mere mythical beings created so that the human conscience and idea of mortality could be satisfied. Turns out they existed, they really existed and she had not only slept with one of them but was now stuck in the land of the dead due to eating pomegranate like some modern day Persephone.

James had assured her that there was no Persephone, that he was not the first person to take on the Hades mantra but she was still stuck inside her head. Anne had given her the pomegranate, how had she gotten it? She had known Anne since they were teenagers, she would never harm her.

- Sweetness? - Bucky took her hand in his, his other hand coming to draw imaginary circles on her palm. He had a serene facade which hid a wave of emotions he was doing his best not to show to her, understanding her predicament was worse than his. - Where did you get the pomegranates?

- Anne gave them to me. - his face scrunched in confusion as she mentioned her friend’s name. Sure, he wasn’t very found of her due to how she would always somehow stare at him and her with a unreadable look. His interaction with her just after he left Y/N rushed back to him. - She said she was sorry before she left.

- She was with you when you ate the fruit?

- Yeah, she was acting very weird. - Y/N shrugged not being entirely sure of what she remembered before everything went dark. She just remembered Anne being there and then leaving but everything else was shrouded in the mystery of her mind. James got up from his seat, offering her his hand to take to help her get up too. - Where are we going?

- I have to go, but I’ll leave you with the Lampades for the time being. - he walked with a fastened pace, almost as if pulling her through the Underworld. She found the Meadows bleak and almost terrifying with the constant cries and every so often souls grabbing her feet to try and keep her from coming, but James pull and aura were much stronger than the poor unfortunate souls of the meadows. All she saw was darkness with the glimpse of shimmer from the black rocks and stones that adorned the meadows until suddenly patches of grass started to show. She looked down at her bare feet touching the small piece of grass.

Bucky took a golden coin from his pocket, climbing onto one of the boats that were standing by the river’s bay and offered it to a clothed figure, much too similar to the faceless figure from before. She clang onto James as the boat started to move, her eyes moving side to side observing the river. She wasn’t exactly sure what river it was as her dad had once told her the Underworld had five rivers, but the sounds of the damned soon perished and the light chirping of birds could be heard. The boat docked by a bigger patch of grass then before. She was certain Bucky had said something to the clothed figure but that went unnoticed as she took in where she was standing. The greenery was tall, reaching past her ankle and the skies were the clearest shade of blue she’d ever seen. The horizons were filled with beautiful green mountains and there were trees of various fruits along with various flowers blooming from the grounds. She was almost certain she was standing in the Elysium but chose not to ask as the King of Underworld kept on moving through the grass and in direction of a particular area where various ladies dressed in white gowns were tending to the plants.

- Wait here ... - he let go of her wrist, the faintest memory of his touch still lingering which made her hand reach the once touched spot. She stood there watching as he walked to a woman she had seen before. Hecate had always been one of Y/N’s favourites goddesses, mainly due to how, other than Persephone, she made sure the Underworld worked by tending to its sections and guiding the new souls. However, Hecate seemed to be not that found of her. The pair turned to face her and took to reach her, the goddess looking at the mortal woman as if she were the lowest of kin. - Y/N, Hecate will take care of you while I’m gone.

- Where are you going? - she wrapped her hands around his hand, stopping him from leaving so soon.

- I have some business to tend to, sweetness but you needn’t worry, Hecate will make sure you’re alright and safe until I return. - he kissed the top of her head, faint smile on his lips. - I won’t be long, besides, there’s not much to worry in the Elysium.

- Alright. - Y/N declared, unwillingly letting go of him to see him walk away. If time had allowed her, she probably would mourn it for a bit but the goddess of witchcraft had already put her hands on her shoulders, turning her to face the place where her maidens were tending to various plants.

- If someone asks, you are one of my maidens and as such you’ll stay in the Elysium and tend to the Groves of Persephone. You are not to be intimate with the God of the Underworld as not to entice any gossiping and unless told otherwise you will listen to me and my maidens. Are we in agreement? - Hecate always carried an air of dominance that contrasted with James’ cool demeanour. His command seemed to be an unspoken rule and people just did his deeds, Hecate’s, on the other hand, came from the will of what looked like both fear and attraction. People seemed to want to be in her good graces.

She gestured towards one of the ladies taking care of a rose bush. The maiden immediately got in her feet and rushed over to them. Y/N took in her appearance, she looked exactly like the beautiful water coloured paintings of nymphs following various hunters with her light ginger hair pulled with threads of gold and light green dress.

- Minthe, this is Y/N. She’s a new arrival and I’m assuming you can put her in the proper garments. - she clearly meant the now blemished satin white dress Y/N was wearing. The nymph nodded and instructed Y/N to follow her into one of the white marbled buildings scattered around the grounds.

- So, you and the King looked rather comfortable with one another. - the nymph mentioned, a twist of malicious curiosity in her voice as she grabbed a jug of water to fill in one of the baths. - He doesn’t tend to pay favour to the maidens. Are you a minor goddess, a demigoddess maybe?

- Not really.

- That’s good. Zeus has been trying to marry him off for the longest time and, well, the Queen of the Underworld has to have some value in the pantheon.

- You needn’t worry. - Y/N pushed a strain of her hair behind her ear, climbing into the bath trying to clear her worries.

Meanwhile, James and Thanatos had gone back to the mortal realm. He knew where Anne lived, he had figured that out from Y/N when she used to talk about how her friend would use the fire escape to come into her flat. He wasn’t entirely sure if he would doom her to the underworld, knowing how Y/N would react to that but he was mad. Thanatos was the only God allowed to enter someone’s home without permission which he why he managed to break into Anne’s flat finding her in the coach.

She turned her head to look at the two gods, the most serene look in her face as if nothing had occurred.

- You’re late. - she said, placing her cup of coffee on the coffee table. - You would think the God of the Underworld wouldn’t be so dense.

- You’re an oracle. - Thanatos interjected.

- An oracle? - James looked at her with confusion in his eyes. Why would an oracle be amongst mortals, besides, why would she do that to Y/N? - You stole the pomegranate didn’t you?

- I don’t do that sort of dirty work.

- Did you or did you not feed it to Y/N? - he was starting to lose his patient with the girl and the unmoving smirk on her lips.

- My job is to make sure my prophecies happen. It has nothing to do with Y/N, it’s just how things are designed.

- You don’t wanna mess with me. - he almost growled at her, his eyes alone darkening in such fashion that even Zeus would cower before him.

- Now, would Y/N really enjoy if you asked for my death?

- Stay away from Y/N.

- Maybe you should stay away from her.

tag list: @philogrobizedvee @keithseabrook27 @inlovewith319

224 notes · View notes

delicatelyherdreams · 4 years

Text

Pragma(tic) 11: She Takes a Stand

Pairing: Persephone!Bucky Barnes x Hades!Reader

Summary: In a world where the old gods never truly died, you must learn to navigate your way through the ups and downs of immortality. And if living forever wasn’t hard enough, an ancient evil is now threatening to break free after centuries of silence. And as if that still wasn’t hard enough for you, now a pesky and infuriatingly handsome god is trying to wedge his way into your life. Gods, work, love, and conflict—what more could a goddess need? [Hades & Persephone AU]

Word Count: 6530

Warnings: Language

Pragma(tic) Masterlist

Previous 10: She Sees the World in a New Light

Bucky rarely left your place after that night. True to his word, he stayed by your side for the days and even some nights, only leaving to check in with his mother and friends. His whole goal of staying was to help you grow apart and branch away from Brock and it worked.

You hadn’t seen the man up close since his initial return all those weeks ago, and it was causing two emotions to rise in you: relief and anxiety.

Oh, sweet relief! Having Bucky by your side chased away nearly all thoughts of Brock because Bucky was everything Brock was not. Where Brock was rough, Bucky was gentle. Where Brock was impatient, Bucky was overflowing with time to wait. Where Brock was selfish, Bucky was selfless. The difference between the two was clear as night and day, and while you had settled for the small bit of affection you could get from Brock’s presence, you embraced Bucky with open arms.

Something had changed between the two of you since your trip to the Mortal World, and it was absolutely wonderful. Admitting that you had feelings for one another opened up realms of possibilities. Anything was possible for the two of you so long as you had time (which, being immortal, you had plenty of) and the willingness to try. Something beautiful sprang up between you. It was a “where there’s a will, there’s a way” kind of beautiful and it made you giddy—something you hadn’t been in decades.

But underlining all that excitement was a thin layer of anxiety, keeping the joy from completely piercing your heart. Brock was generating that layer, constantly lurking in your mind. He could pop up at any given time, just right out of the blue. He had the keys to your house, he knew all of your secret places, he had access to almost everything.

He seemed to be keeping his distance from you, but you refused to believe that he would just stay away. Brock was many things, but a coward who hid away was not one of them.

It was only a matter of time before he popped up again.

———

“I’m bored.”

“And?”

“I want to do something.”

“And?”

Bucky sighed and pouted at you, obviously disgruntled. “And I want you to pay attention to me.”

You just barely glanced up at him from your document before turning back to the application at hand. “I have to work today, I told you.” It was the one day in the week you absolutely had to work. Paperwork had started to build up in the time you spent with Bucky in the month since your outing, and you’d neglected it until you couldn’t anymore. As much as you loathed it, it had to be done today or the pile would only keep getting bigger and bigger until it was taller than you. Besides, it was also that day of the week. You’d warned Bucky of this day all week, constantly telling him, “You’re not going to want to come down then. I’m going to be working all day and I won’t have time for you.”

He’d said, “It doesn’t matter if you don’t have time for me. Just sitting in the same room as you will be enough.”

You bet that he was eating those words now as he sat upside down on the small couch in your office, his legs dangling over the backrest and his back being supported by the seat. His face was gold from all the ichor rushing to his head.

A pout covered his lips. “I know you did, doesn’t mean I listened though.”

You breathed a quick laugh. “Obviously.” Turning the page, you quickly scribbled your signature on the application for Elysium and set it aside to begin reading the next one. “Go and play with Cerberus if you’re that bored, but the more you bother me, the longer it takes me to get done.”

“Oh, come on, (y/n),” cooed another voice. “Don’t be like that.”

A smile threatened your lips, but you bit the lower one to keep it at bay. You looked up at Bucky and set down your pen. “Did you seriously call in the big guns?”

“He didn’t have to,” Peggy mused, an amused smile of her own playing at her lips. “I came in on my own.” She walked over to your desk and nudged some stuff out of the way before sitting down on the corner.

You sat back in your chair and looked up at her. “And why are you here, Peg?”

“To get you out of here.” She leaned in close to you, her voice getting lower. “I haven’t seen you this happy in a thousand years, and I have a feeling it has to do with that fellow on the couch. He’s here for you now, you should go be with him.”

“See! Listen to your friend! She’s got the right idea.” Bucky said swinging his legs down and popping up to sit properly. The yellow ran from his face as his body rightened and he grinned.

You only glared at Peggy. “Pegs, I’ve got to work. Do you see this mountain of paperwork? There are three more stacks just like it waiting for me in the other room. I don’t have time to be with him.”

“Let me take care of it,” she said hopping off the desk and walking around it to you. She turned your chair and pulled you from it, tugging you by the hand over to Bucky. “You go out, be nine hundred again, and leave the paperwork to me.”

“But what about Kr—”

“You can deal with him later,” she said, her voice dropping an octave. “But Bucky is here now. Go on a walk, secure your kingdom’s perimeter if you will, but spend time with him.”

“Yeah, (y/n),” Bucky chirped, a cheeky grin on his face, “spend time with me.”

Your face fell flat as you stared at him. You couldn’t believe Peggy was supporting this. There was so much to be done!

But at the same time, you really did want to go out with Bucky. You liked his company, and a walk sounded amazing after a couple hours of doing work.

You turned back to Peggy, your eyebrows knitting together. “Are you absolutely sure?”

“I am. Now get! You’re just wasting time.” She took a seat behind your desk and picked up where you left off.

Bucky took your hand at once and led you out of the office, out of your home, and down the mountainside towards the fields below, a satisfied smile on his face.

You only scoffed at him when he turned back to grin at you. “I bet you’re real happy with yourself, aren’t you?”

“Oh, Doll, you have no idea.” He laced his fingers in yours, pulling you closer to his side. “Now, talk to me more about the early years. I’m curious to know about life BB—before Bucky.”

You threw your head back with laughter, but complied, beginning to tell him about what he missed in Ancient Greece. You told him about how most of the gods arrived at that time, right after the Titanomachy that had taken place in Thessaly all those centuries ago, and how the Greeks built the temples and shrines to them. You described the marble they used to carve statues of your family, laughing about how they depicted your sisters as men and gave them names like Zeus and Poseidon. You told him about the many temples they had built, going over the beautiful craftsmanship and the amazing attention to detail there was.

However, you didn’t tell him about how there were maybe three built for you or that they would only pray to you when someone was dying and pound their hands on the earth to get your attention because you didn’t find the details important. You weren’t a well-loved goddess to them; in fact, they feared you and found it best to not invoke your name unless they were absolutely desperate. You never minded it though; you preferred to be left alone.

Bucky listened to you with attentive ears, laughing at the right moments, asking you questions when you paused, and just being interested in what you had to say. You couldn’t help but feel your heart flutter more and more with each passing second. It was nice to have someone other than your family and Peggy actually care about what you had to say. He hung onto your every word, totally invested in your conversation.

For the time, it was just you and Bucky, and you wouldn’t have had it any other way as you circled the perimeter of your kingdom. Nothing other than the man beside you was on your mind, and it was a nice change.

For what seemed like hours you walked, trailing the wall of the Underworld, skulking through the waist-high flowers of the Asphodel Meadows, and nearing the border between the Underworld and the Mortal World.

You hadn’t even noticed that you’d neared the Cocytus until you saw him standing ahead of you, his eyes dark and his posture stiff. He was anything but pleasant as he glared at your interlocked hands. Jealousy was written across Brock’s face plain as day, but you knew that he really had no reason to be jealous.

He’d made it clear to you decades ago that you were not a couple in a relationship. He didn’t do that kind of commitment, he had said, and so he had no reason to be possessive of you.

But that didn’t stop his murder glare from piercing you across the path.

You stiffened when you saw him, tempted to let go of Bucky’s hand on instinct, but Bucky held you fast, his grip only tightening on your hand as if he sensed your uncertainty and wanted to help keep you strong.

You appreciated him there, letting him hold your hand as you sauntered right past Brock, never once losing a beat or faltering in your conversation.

Once you’d cleared the Cocytus, you looked over at Bucky, your eyes glinting and shimmering. “Thank you,” you mumbled in a voice just barely above a whisper.

He smiled down at you. “You’re welcome.” He brought your hand up to his lips and pressed them against your knuckles.

The two of you came up to the edge of your realm, right at the Acheron. Standing along the bank, you could see the Mortal World beyond the river. You slowed to a stop, looking out over the water at the souls milling about. You frowned as you watched them, their presence only reminding you about the work you had left to do.

Noticing your glum expression, Bucky bent down a bit to get a better look at your face. “You alright?”

“Yeah,” you mumbled, closing your eyes and shaking your head. “I’m just thinking about a task I have to do today. It’s nothing.”

“It doesn’t seem like nothing…” He pursed his lips and let go of your hand to stand in front of you. “Should I go?”

Your eyes snapped up to meet his. “What?”

“Should I go?” he repeated. “For the day, I mean. It was selfish of me to want to drag you away from your work when you have so much you have to get done. I can leave for the day and come back tomorrow or the next if you want. That way I’m not distracting you and you can actually work.”

You breathed a laugh and hung your head, a smile tugging at your lips. “That would… Actually, that would be great,” you said reaching forward and taking both his hands in yours. “I’m really sorry, Buck, but there’s just so much I have to get done.”

He laughed. “No, no. Don’t apologize to me. In fact, I should be apologizing to you. I forget that you’re a queen with responsibilities and I want to keep you all to myself, especially now that I just got you.” He let go of your hand to cup your cheek, and he leaned in, placing a gentle kiss to your forehead. “I’ll see you later then? Give you at least a day to get caught back up?”

“Uh… Y-Yeah.”

“Good. Until then.” He let you go and turned his back on you, walking towards Phil’s ferry to get passage back to the Mortal World.

You, meanwhile, were trying to burn the feeling of his lips on your skin into your memory. Gods, they were so soft. Was it even legal for lips to be that soft? You weren’t sure, but you wanted to feel those lips again. It was the first time he’d ever kissed you on your head, and you couldn’t help but think about what it would’ve been like if his lips had traveled down a few inches more to yours.

Your vision flickered red and you quickly ducked your head away from Bucky. Heat began to rise to your face and you were certain you looked almost alive with the color from the blush.

Well, that was enough Bucky for the day! Time to go to work.

You turned on your heel and pressed on into your kingdom, passing souls and security as you entered.

Cerberus was standing guard over the entrance, all three of his heads glaring down at the lines that made their way into the three different sections of the Underworld. When he saw you, he barked happily, the noise shaking the ground beneath you, and ducked his middle head down right in front of you.

You smiled as your eyes met his, and you lifted a hand to pet his nose. “Hey, boy,” you mumbled as you dragged your fingers through his fur. “You doing your job?”

He let out a small noise in response, closing his eyes under your touch.

You leaned in and placed a kiss on the tip of his nose. “Good boy. I’ll come back and we can play later, but right now I have to go see my father. M’kay? Keep up the good work.” When you pulled your hand off him, he rose back to his full height and continued to survey the lines.

You walked between his legs, passing under him as you entered the Underworld, and began the short journey to Tartarus. Your eyes scanned the area in front of you, always on the lookout for something suspicious. Typically there was nothing out of the ordinary, but today that was not the case.

You frowned as you saw a figure walking away from the cave that contained Tartarus and stopped. “Alexander!” you called out, commanding the attention of the god.

He stopped in his tracks as you called his name and looked up. He bowed his head as he deviated from his path and started to walk towards you. “Your majesty,” he said, lowering his head further as he came to a stop before you. “What can I do for you?”

You eyed him up and down. “Were you just coming from Tartarus?” you asked, your voice low and heavy with warning. He knew he wasn’t allowed near the cave. He’d been warned of the danger that was your father and you’d given him direct orders to steer clear of the cave. So why he would disobey you, you had no idea.

Pierce was perhaps one of your most loyal lieutenants, second only to Peggy (though she really didn’t count as an employee). He’d never gone against one of your direct orders before, and so this was out of character for him.

Pierce simply kept his head low. “Yes, my queen,” he said slowly. Before you could jump on him, he held up his hands and said, “There were some disturbances at the cave. I went to quell the spirits so you wouldn’t have to worry about it, but then I noticed something.”

“Noticed what?” you hissed, your vision turning red once more. You were still pissed that he had gone there against your orders, but you’d have to chew him out later if there was something else going on.

“The air there,” he said, glancing over his shoulder at the mouth of the cave, “is darker than it normally is. The spirits are growing ornery and restless. Normally I can quiet them within minutes but these were… different.” He shook his head and rose to his full height—only a couple of inches taller than you. “I was just on my way to find you, my queen, but it seems that you have found me instead.”

You thrust out your hand and the black metal of your bident materialized out of thin air. “Show me,” you growled.

He wasted no time in taking you down the beaten path to the mouth of the cave, and, as soon as you got within ten yards of it, you felt what Pierce meant. Tartarus had always been cold, but this was freezing.

The air was heavy with cold, weighing you down and draining what little life you had from your body. Transparent spirits gathered at the entrance, wailing as they clawed at the invisible barrier that kept them in. They screamed in their own tongues, though their words were jumbled and undecipherable.

You waved your bident at the spirits, driving them back with the arc. “Follow me,” you ordered as you began to walk towards the cave, holding your weapon out in front of you as a ward against the spirits.

Pierce followed you into the cave, keeping close so as to not be swallowed by the spirits as they closed ranks in your wake.

You marched through the cave, right up to the edge of the pit, and stared down into the abyss.

Laughter greeted you at once. “Oh, my darling daughter,” Kronos’ voice rumbled from the depths. “Come to pay me another visit, I see. And you’ve brought a friend this time. Is that the god of death I sense?”

“Don’t answer him,” you cautioned, conjuring a ball of red flame. You held the orb out over the pit and dropped it in. You watched the light sink into the depths until the light was swallowed by darkness.

As soon as it disappeared, Kronos laughed again. “Oh, (y/n), did you send a minion to come and check up on me? Why don’t you come down here and face me yourself? Or are you too scared?”

You ignored him as you waited for the fire to return, and it finally did after a few moments. It rose out of the pit, blue instead of red, and hovered right in front of you. You snatched it out of the air and stared into it.

A picture shimmered on its surface—a picture of a cage and a figure bound to the ground inside it. The bars of the cage were an ancient black. Made from vibranium—the strongest metal in the cosmos—the cage was unbreakable and impervious. Purple runes and Greek letters glowed on the bars, depicting spells that you’d carved into the metal yourself. At one point in time, these runes were blinding with power, showing how strong they were; but now they were barely as bright as a small flame. They’d been weakened.

You zoomed in, past the bars to the cage’s inhabitant.

He was barely visible, but you didn’t care about him. No, you cared about the chains binding him. They too were made of vibranium and had runes carved into them, but their runes and carvings had dimmed down considerably as well.

Your hands trembled around the orb and you closed your fists, extinguishing it.

This was, to put it lightly, not-fucking-good. If he broke out, it would mean another war, and that was not something you could afford to let happen. The last war nearly destroyed you and had taken a decade to fight. You couldn’t let another breakout. You refused to let your father escape.

Turning your back on the pit, you looked to Pierce. Your gaze was as hard as steel and deadly serious as you commanded, “Put your best soldiers here to guard the entrance. You will help me charm his bonds. You will pull the oldest, strongest spells you have, and you will do everything in your power to bar him from breaking free. But whatever you do, do not go to the pit itself. You stand outside, at the mouth of the cave, and you do not go in under any circumstances. I command it.”

He bowed low, his face turned to the ground. “Yes, my queen.”

“Good. Now get out of here. Any second in here is dangerous.”

He obeyed, turning on his heel and darting out of the cave.

You rolled your shoulders back and stared down at the darkness beneath you. Puffing out your chest, the rouge in your vision only thickening, you began to chant your spells. You wove magic out of nothing, summoning all the strength you had to help you bind him and refresh the wards against him.

Kronos only laughed. “You think this will avoid your fate, my darling? No, you only delay the inevitable. Why do you resist me, (y/n)? You know that history is bound to repeat itself. I will break out of here and I will have your head on a pike and the world will be mine. I will take it back to the Golden Age where titans ruled the world, and the gods will be no more.”

Your voice grew in intensity and volume, drowning him out. You refused to let his words become a reality, and if that meant you’d have to spend every day at the pit’s edge, then so be it.

———

You stayed at the pit’s edge for hours, maybe longer, chanting and invoking the ancient magic you had used to seal him away the first time. You weren’t sure how much time had passed before you finally left the cave, but it was long enough for your voice to become hoarse and sore with strain.

You only stopped when your orb revealed the runes glowing significantly brighter than they had been, shining with strength and resolve. You knew that you still had a long way to go to bring them back to their full potential, but this was good for today. You needed a rest to think and plan, and this was not the place to take that rest.

Kronos had not shut up the entire time, his voice matching yours in volume and eagerness. He taunted you relentlessly, describing in perfect detail what he was going to do to you and the world when he escaped. Even now, as you finished your spells and made a move to leave, he continued to talk to you, trying to get into your head.

You refused to listen to him. You were done, and you were tired, and you just wanted to go home. You picked yourself up and dragged your feet as you left Tartarus—left him—behind. Spirits created a hole for you as you walked, fleeing to the edges of the tunnels to avoid you, so you had nothing to block your path. It was only moments before you were out.

As you trekked across the Meadows, your thoughts ran a million miles a second. How had his prison and bindings been weakened? How was it possible? You knew that the spells and wards wore away with time, but you had been to the pit every single week to strengthen them. There was no way they should’ve been as weak as they were. It just wasn’t feasible. Unless…

Your footsteps faltered and you came to an abrupt stop.

There was no way they could’ve been that weak unless they had been tampered with.

That single thought opened up doors to millions of questions. Who had tampered with the cage? Why? What was their goal? Were they aware of what would happen should Kronos got free? Did they know and just don’t care? Are they under his control?

There were so many things to consider, but one fact was true: someone was helping him.

And you had to put a stop to it.

You wasted no time in rushing back to your home, shooting through the door, and immediately proceeding to your office. It was vacant, your desk clear of papers you’d been working on. Peggy must have finished the paperwork for you, something you were immensely grateful for. You had bigger things on your mind.

You shut the door behind you and fished out your phone. You unlocked it and scrolled through your contacts, selecting two contacts and the conference call option. Setting the phone on speaker, you set it on the desk and took a seat in your chair.

As the phone rang, two images flashed in your office—one of each of your sisters. They stood frozen because they had yet to answer your call. You folded your hands and rested your elbows on the desk, watching the figures anxiously. “Come on, come on,” you mumbled, your legs shaking anxiously. “Pick up. Pick up your phones. Please.”

Nat’s hologram was the first to come to life. She was mid-laugh, probably in response to something Bruce had said, when she answered. “Hey, (y/n)!” she said, not looking at you yet. “What’s—?” Her head turned and her eyes met yours. One look at your haggard appearance and worried eyes stopped her laughing. “What’s wrong?”

You opened your mouth to respond, but Carol’s hologram came to life and cut you off. “(y/n)?” it called out, looking at you right away.

“Hey guys,” you greeted, your voice gravelly from being used for hours. “I’m sorry to bother you, but I wouldn’t have called if it wasn’t important.”

“What’s going on?” Carol’s gaze was serious as she stared at you. Her fists were clenched at her sides and her body was tense.

You took a deep breath and began to tell them about what had happened. You told them about the spirits being restless and what your messenger flame had shown you. You told them about your suspicions that someone was helping him, and that if they continued to help then there was a strong chance he could escape.

Their faces betrayed their fear as you progressed in your story, but they stayed silent as they let you catch them up to speed.

When you had finished, Natasha was the first to speak. “What do you need us to do?” Her voice was resolute and determined. “Should we come there? Layer on some of our own spells?”

“That honestly might not be a bad idea,” you murmured, “but I mostly need you to keep an eye up there. I trust my men, I don’t believe that they would betray us like that, and even if I didn’t, none of them are capable of something like this. They don’t have enough power. But I know there are some titans up on the surface whom we have not always been on the best of terms with. Maybe one of them has decided they hate us and want to release Father. But whatever their reasoning, I need you guys to watch for titans who might be sneaking down here to tamper with his cage.”

“Got it.” Carol looked at you, her eyes worried. “And what are you going to do?”

“What I can. I’ll be down at the pit every other day, layering ward over ward against him. I’m having Pierce and Peggy help me too. They’ll be on alternating shifts so they’ll be less likely to be corrupted, but they’ll be contributing. Maybe we can nip this in the bud before it grows into a bigger problem.” You gave them a weak smile. You weren’t sure how this was going to play out, but you had to believe that the worst could be prevented. You had to believe in yourself and your siblings and have faith that everything would be okay.

“Alright. Just, don’t strain yourself too much, (y/n),” Nat cautioned. “You might be the eldest, but you don’t have to do this on your own. We can help you, and if you need us, we will drop everything and rush to your side. Don’t be afraid to call on us.”

“I won’t,” you promised. “Thank you, guys. I’ll keep you posted on the situation.”

“Okay. Don’t worry about it too much,” Carol said, that familiar and reassuring smile coating her lips. “We’ll prevail and fix this. We always do.”

“I know.” A knock at the office door drew your attention away from your sisters. “Just a moment!” You called out before turning back to the holograms. “I have to go now, but I’ll call you if anything changes.”

“Alright. Thank you.” Carol moved to hang up but she stopped and looked at you once more. “Oh, and (y/n)?”

“Hmm?”

“Be careful, alright?”

You smiled softly. “I will be. Talk to you later.” You pressed the end call button and the holograms vanished. Alone in the room now, you looked towards the door. “Come in!

It opened to reveal Peggy. She slowly pushed it open and entered, closing the door behind her. “Are you alright? You never call your sisters like that.”

You breathed a laugh. “Actually, Peg, no. I’m not alright. I’m nervous, and I’m anxious, and I’m fucking terrified.”

“What’s wrong? Did something happen? Did Bucky do something to you.” She took a seat on the couch.

You shook your head as you stood and made your way around the desk to the couch so you could sit next to her. “No, he did nothing. I sent him home so I could do some work and, well…” For the second time today, you recounted what you’d seen in Tartarus, only, this time, you added in the fact that you had your sisters on the lookout and that you were going to go down every other day instead of just every week.

Peggy’s eyes grew more and more concerned as every detail was described to her, but she too listened in silence. She hung onto your every word, wringing her hands together as she absorbed the information.

You took a deep breath after you filled her in on the situation and looked at her with pleading eyes. “Peggy, I really, really don’t want to have to ask you this, especially not after everything you’ve been through with him, but I have no other choice. Will you help me in casting spells on his cage? You don’t have to say yes; I know what happened last time, and if you’re not comfortable with going back I will not make—”

“I’ll do it,” she said cutting you off, a kind and compassionate smile on her face. “No ifs, ands, or buts. You’re my best friend, and I would do anything to help you.”

Just like that, a weight was lifted from your chest. “Thank you, Peggy.” You beamed at her. “I figure that the wider the variety of spells we cast on him, the harder it will be for him to break free. Carol and Natasha will pop down sometime soon and layer their own magic over it, and you and Pierce will do your magic on a rotating shift. That way neither of you will be at as great of a risk as you would be doing it alone.”

“I understand, (y/n),” she said, putting her hand on your shoulder and squeezing it gently. “And I’ll do all in my power to help you out. You won’t have to do this alone.” She gave you one last squeeze before climbing off the couch. “Anyways! I had originally come down to see if you were hungry and wanted dinner. You up for Mexican? I’m craving a taco.”

You could only hang your head as you laughed at her. “You know what? Sure. I could go for some food. Just get me my usual.”

“Got it. Be back in a second.” She scurried from the office, closing the door behind her.

Left alone, you shifted on the couch so you were sitting properly and let your head fall onto the backrest. You closed your eyes and sighed heavily, letting everything out.

Gods, you were stressed; and this day had started out so good too. Why did this have to come up and derail your happiness? You’d finally started to settle down, get a little slice of domesticity and happiness for yourself, and now your father, like usual, had to ruin it.

You bit your lip and squeezed your eyes closed. Why you? Why were you not allowed just a moment of happiness? Why couldn’t you get it?

You will get it. Just wait.

You had to remind yourself that this situation was not permanent, but a temporary nuisance. You were on top of it. You’d caught the problem soon enough to get rid of it. In a matter of weeks, you could return to normal, and this would all be over. It would all be okay.

A knock at your office door once more drew you out of your thoughts. You didn’t open your eyes as you called out, “You know it’s open! Just come in already.”

The person on the other side obeyed and the door creaked open.

You couldn’t help but chuckle. “Damn, Peggy. I thought it would’ve taken you longer to get back.”

“It’s not Peggy, Precious.”

Your smile melted into a frown and you sighed before opening your eyes. “Brock.”

He grinned softly, sliding onto the couch beside you. “Did you miss me?” He moved to wrap his arm around your shoulders.

Lifting a hand and setting it on his forearm, you stopped his advance. “Brock, what are you doing here?” Your voice was low, hesitant, guarded. It surprised you how cold you were being towards him.

It must’ve surprised him too because he looked taken aback. His jaw tightened as he forced a smile. “I came to see you, Precious. It’s been a while, and I thought that we could—”

“Fuck?” Your arms were crossed over your chest, your chin tilted up, and you looked at him down your nose. “I’m sorry, Brock. I’m not in the mood. You can leave now.” You’d never spoken to him like this. Holy shit, what were you doing? Your heart raced in your chest, but you kept your face stoic and unfeeling.

He squinted his eyes at you and tilted his head to the side, his lips falling open ever so slightly. “What? No, (y/n), that’s not what I—”

“Really? Then what did you want, Brock?”

“I-I… I just wanted to talk to you. I haven’t seen you in so long, and I thought that… We could… You know.” He was floundering and you could tell.

You had a gut feeling that the only reason he’d shown up today was that he’d seen you and Bucky earlier and he wanted to know what was going on. But the funny and satisfying thing about it was that you didn’t have to tell him. He didn’t own you. He wasn’t your boyfriend. You owed him no explanation. You looked away from him, biting the inside of your cheek. “No, Brock, I don’t know. While I might have many powers and abilities, mind reading is not one of them. You’ll have to spell it out for me.”

His eye twitched just barely, but he took a deep breath and closed his eyes. “I missed you, (y/n). I wanted to spend time with you. Talk to you. Do something?”

“Oh, so you’re only now just missing me? Not three months ago, but now? Huh.” You kept your gaze trained ahead as you stood. “Well, I’m sorry, Brock, but I’m a little busy right now. I don’t have the time for this.”

You took one step away before he reached out and latched onto your hand, halting you and keeping you close. “(y/n), please!”

You took a breath before pulling your hand out of his. “‘Please’ what, Brock? What do you need?”

He wasn’t sure; it was written all over his face. You could see the confusion and desperation in his face—the furrowed brows, the longing eyes, the parted lips… It was a foreign look on his face. “I just… Who was that man you were with?”

You almost laughed at the question, but you were glad he finally stopped beating around the bush and gotten to the point. Now you could stop wasting time. You turned around to face him, craning your neck downwards to meet his eyes. “No one of your concern.”

“You were holding his hand; I think it is my concern considering you’re my—”

“I’m your what? Not your girlfriend—you made that perfectly clear decades ago. I’m also not your wife—I would remember that wedding.” You pressed your lips together and lowered your head. “I’m nothing to you other than a woman who you were able to fuck with whenever you wanted.”

“Come on, (y/n)! You know that’s not true!”

“It’s not? Then why did you never stick around the morning after? Why was it that every time you came over we ended up in bed?” Your voice was growing louder now, more agitated than ever. “Why did you never stop to ask me how I was doing or ask to meet my family? Why did you…” A lump had risen in your throat and you squeezed your eyes shut, trying to push it down. “Why did you laugh at me when I suggested that you become my king? I’ve given you so much—so many chances to make me yours, and you’ve thrown it all away. I’m done.”

“You’re done? What do you mean, ‘you’re done?’”

“I mean, I’m done with you. I can’t keep doing this, Brock: letting you in and letting you break my heart over and over again. I’ve had enough. Whatever we are, whatever we had, it’s over.”

“(y/n). You can’t mean that. You just can’t.” He stood up and grabbed your waist tenderly. “Please. I love you.”

“If you loved me, you would’ve told me sooner.”

At that, his gaze hardened. “This isn’t you. Is this that boy speaking? Did he do something to you?”

“He did nothing to me other than be everything you weren’t. And that ‘boy’ is ten times the man you ever will be.” You pulled yourself out of his grasp and took a step back. “You can leave now.”

He stood there, dumbstruck and incredulous like he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “(y/n)...”

“Leave.” Your voice was firm with resolve and you stood your ground.

He opened his mouth to protest, but no words came out. He only stood there, unable to really do anything other than obey. He walked towards the door, pausing before leaving. He turned to look at you over his shoulder. His voice was small when he said, “I feel like I don’t even know you anymore.”

Yours was strong when you said, “Maybe you never did.”

Next 12: He Gets the Visit of His Life

#bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes x you #bucky x reader #bucky x you #mcu #greek au #greek mythology au #greek mythology au!#hades and persephone #hades & persephone #hades & persephone au #persephone!bucky x hades!reader #pragma(tic)

596 notes · View notes

anjalis-ennui · 3 years

Text

elysium.

─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

a/n: hello! this was inspired by @hunter-bianca-di-angelo‘s post! credits go to them for the idea! please inform me if i missed any warnings that might trigger people! thank you for reading and i hope you enjoy!

warnings: death, talks of death/battles, explosives

summary: jason dies and goes to elysium, hoping to find leo there, but doesn’t see him.

─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Pain. He was in pain. It was searing hot, setting fire to his blood and making his head pound. The arrows in his body did nothing to help, but at least the others were safe. Safe...that’s all he could ask for. He wanted to embrace Piper one last time, to tell her he loved her, but he was gone--just like that.

He opened his eyes, seeing the building that Percy had talked about during lonely nights aboard the Argo II. His eyes met Charon’s, the latter nodding his head in acknowledgement. He was swept into the elevator and carried downwards, quite like a leaf floating down a river. He passed through the lines with ease--barely glancing at Cerberus, who was still searching for Annabeth.

He gazed around at the gloomy, Hades-like surroundings, and questioned if Hazel and Nico looked like the god of the Underworld. The judges looked down at him from their pedestal, assessing his life and determining whether he was worthy of Elysium. He wanted to scream that he wasn’t worthy, that he hurt everyone in his life, but his voice died in his throat. It was useless to try arguing with the people who had a job to place him in a section of the afterlife. He remembered Frank’s kind and humble nature, knowing that he would judge him fairly.

Finally, he arrived in Elysium. The sunny streets did nothing to calm his panicked state: he simply had to find Leo. Leo, his best friend. Leo, the person he could count on to brighten his day. Leo, the genius who could think his way out of any problem. He ran down the street, pounding on every door and checking around every corner. Nowhere. Leo was nowhere. That couldn’t be; he saw the boy blow up in the sky! But Leo wasn’t here. That meant that he was alive.

It meant that Jason was alone.

─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

a/n: eeeee i’m so sorry for ending it like that! i’ve never written angst before, so i have no idea how it works. thank you to those who read this really short oneshot!

#jade's blueberry refresher #pjo #hoo #heroes of olympus #angst #oneshot #hoo angst #jason grace #leo valdez #blossom diaries #🌸 — blossom

6 notes · View notes

hq-cuties-pls · 4 years

Text

Queen of Crows: Daichi x Reader

This is a commission I'm posting with the commissioner's go-ahead. Please enjoy this Mythology/Arranged Marriage AU

~Admin Emma

***

You’d always known you had a destined prince. Your parents told you all time time. As a girl, it had been a story. Something with which to play pretend, but it wasn’t real. You would take your pretend prince on adventures, saving him from monsters and solving puzzles and exploring the little patch of foggy woods near your apartment building. Your prince became something of an imaginary friend, but grounded child that you were, you knew it was make-believe.

It was kid stuff… until you actually met him.

On the day you turned 15, your apartment was paid a visit by Gods. They didn’t specifically say they were Gods, but you knew. Being in their presence was something akin to standing at the center of a storm. His father was a tall man, broad shouldered and strong. His features were hard and square, and his face was unnervingly, agelessly smooth despite the white shock through his dark hair. His mother, on the other hand, was the opposite. Soft where his father was hard, warm where he was cool, golden where he was pale. Her eyes shifted unnervingly between spring green, summer gold, earthen brown, and deep black… it was almost nauseating to watch. The aura surrounding them was unmistakable… you felt wrong for looking directly at them. Some ancient instinct wailed for you to drop to your knees, prostrate yourself before them…

Then, you met Daichi.

He looked about your age, with his father’s broad features and his mother’s warm coloring. He saw you and dipped into a formal bow, but he didn’t say anything. You didn’t know what to say, either. So you just bowed back… that seemed right.

“My name is Daichi, future God of crows, carrion, and scavengers.”

“Um… I’m ____. Please, take care of me.”

“Lord Hades.” Your father’s sudden entrance broke the strange tension that passed between you. “Lady Persephone. So glad you could join us. Please, come in.”

“Thank you for having us,” the man--Hades--said smoothly, escorting his wife by the arm. “I’m pleased we were able to arrange these things amicably. These negotiations used to be… quite barbaric.”

You shivered… you didn’t know much about Greek mythology (reality… unless you were running the worst fever and this was the wildest fever dream) but the image of Andromeda chained to a rock certainly came to mind. It took so long to process what you were seeing that before you knew it, Hades and Persephone were seated across from your parents, tea was being served, and the only empty spot at the table was right next to Daichi. If you didn’t know, he’d look like any other boy from your class. Maybe one you wouldn’t even notice… he looked so normal.

“Let us be frank,” Persephone said, folding her elegant brown hands in front of her. “We’ll spare you the unsavory details, but there is a prophecy. As we explained to your wife, ____-san, we firmly believe your daughter is key to circumventing said prophecy.”

Despite the tumult of questions you suddenly had, there was an eerie--almost unnatural sense of calm. In short, your parents were negotiating your… your marriage. To Daichi. A future God. Figures you’d only read about in storybooks and class textbooks were having tea in your livingroom, negotiating the ins-and-outs of your eventual wedding.

“We’ll wait until they’re 25, of course,” Persephone offered, petting her husband’s arm. “We’d like them to have a normal childhood, if at all possible.”

“And we’ll make as many concessions to your...ah… faith?” Hades turned to his wife, as if to check his word choice. She nodded and he continued, “Yes, faith, as we can. However, in order for the union to be binding, it will have to be in the Underworld.”

Surprisingly, Daichi was the one who interjected angrily, “You don’t have to talk about us like we aren’t in the room. I’m right here.”

“Apologies, son,” Hades said, almost patronizing. He patted his son awkwardly on the head, and it looked like Daichi barely resisted the urge to swat at his father’s hand. Something about this amused you, drawing a small laugh out of your chest.

“These negotiations are, unfortunately, necessary, my love.” Persephone smiled gently at you, even though she was talking to Daichi. “But you two can go spend some time together. Maybe get to know each other while we speak to ____’s parents?”

“That might be wise,” your father said with his own easy smile. “____, maybe you should take Daichi-kun and make some more tea.”

You shrugged, secretly grateful for an excuse to get out of the living room. Whether or not Daichi came with you, well… it’s not like you actively disliked him. You didn’t know him. Yet, it seemed that you didn’t have much of a choice, so you figured it wouldn’t exactly hurt to get to know him.

Daichi followed you into the kitchen, where you busied yourself with making tea. He seemed interested in the various trappings of your small kitchen, but conversation was nonexistent. What did you even say to each other…

“I’m sorry,” he finally said, breaking the silence. “About my parents, I mean. They’re… a lot.”

“I mean…” You laughed to yourself, thinking of Hades looking to his wife for help, Persephone’s gentle doting, and the loving way in which they held each other. Looked at one another… “They’re sweet. They’re nothing like I expected, given what I’ve… ah… what I’ve read.”

Daichi chuckled to himself, looking less like a young God and more like a boy from your class. He was handsome when he smiled like that, and would probably be drowning in confessions if he went to your school; “Yeah, my aunt has it out for my dad. According to Dad, anyway. But… well. Can I tell you a secret?”

You shrugged, measuring out tea leaves into your little kyusu teapot; “Sure. I mean, you’re going to be my husband someday, so I don’t see why not.”

At that, Daichi’s eyes cast down to his socks...surprisingly normal for someone destined to be the God of Crows; “That’s… that’s just it, actually. I’ve… I’ve seen my mother and father for 15 years, and they’re… ridiculously in love. When Mom has to return to Olympus, Dad is… so sad, and he never smiles quite like when Mom comes back. I know that's like… gross, or whatever… but I’ve always admired it about them. It’s something I’ve always wanted. For someone to love me like Mom loves Dad.”

You opened and closed your mouth, utterly at a loss for words. Thankfully, he continued without further prompting on your part.

“So that’s why… if you don’t want this, you don’t have to do it.”

You sputtered, nearly dropping your tea pot in shock; “B-but… the prophecy! And your parents--”

“Hang the prophecy, and I’ll deal with my parents. Whatever they promised your family, I’ll deliver.” Daichi fixed you with a gaze filled with an honest intensity that made him look so much older than 15. “I want a partner who loves me. For me. Not one who stays out of obligation, or worse… worse if my parents purchased their affection. That’s… I can’t. It’s probably naive of me, but I can’t. So if you want out, just say the word, and I’ll get you out. I swear on the River Styx.”

There was a distant rumble, and the sudden tense atmosphere told you that this wasn’t an idle promise. This had weight and meaning…

“Well…” You shifted from foot to foot, unsure how to respond. “I’m… not sure. I don’t know you very well, and… can I… can I think about it? Maybe we could… I don’t know… go on a date, or something?”

“A date?”

Daichi tilted his head in askance, and it occured to you that he looked very cute like that.

“Yeah. Like… I don’t know. A movie or a cafe or something. So we can talk. Then, we can decide.”

Decide if we want to get married, went unsaid. You were teenagers, after all. How could you expect to decide on forever when you were barely in high school. Still, Daichi’s smile was surprisingly warm, and it was something you found yourself wanting to see.

“I think I’d like that,” he said, extending his hand to you. “I’ll… arrange something fun. Well… my best friends can help me arrange something fun. I’m bad at this kind of stuff.”

“I… look forward to it.”

~~~

One date at a Starbucks turned to two. Which turned to three and four and countless more. Daichi took you places you could only dream of, secret places between dimensions only accessible by the gods. You couldn’t take him to lagoons with pools made of moonlight, or caves with real stars dotting the obsidian walls… but he seemed equally taken aback by the cherry blossoms in Tsutsujigaoka park or the Izumi Botanical gardens. He seemed to like places like that... close to nature.

As you got older, you spent more time together, and you got to know the delightfully silly boy at Daichi’s core. You learned of his love for dogs, born from being raised around Cerberus (ultimate dog, if Daichi was to be believed) and the many dog spirits that passed through the Underworld on their way to Elysium. You learned of his competitive spirit, of his friendships with Asahi--a son of Apollo and a nymph--and Suga--a mysterious son of Hermes. He told you of Olympus and the Underworld, and of his dreams to someday live his life in the sun. Among mortals. Not above them, and not beneath them.

He, in turn, got to know you. Your hopes and dreams and passions. He learned of your wit and your biting sense of humor, your compassion, your enthusiasm and general verve… you were alive. Bursting with life and light, according to him. As you grew closer and closer, he started looking at you like the sun rose and set in your eyes--a look that made foreign (but not unwelcome) tingles run from your head to your toes.

And at the end of every encounter, when your visit was coming to an end, he would ask the same thing.

“Will I see you again?”

The implication was clear… you knew all you had to do was tell him ‘no’ and you’d never see him again. He’d separate himself from your life, and that would be that. At first, when you were a teenager developing feelings for a boy for the first time, you’d kept him around out of curiosity and the desire to see things through. But as you got older, as you and Daichi became closer… he was more than your fiance. You were more than just a pair of kids caught in an old-fashioned arrangement… somewhere along the way, Daichi had become one of your best friends. Somehow, despite your forcefully entwined fates, you’d come to care a great deal about Daichi.

The idea of saying goodbye permanently became absolutely abhorrent. So you always answered, “of course.”

It was always like that. It was your pattern. You’d see each other, have a good time, and part on those words alone. It became a comfortable routine, even as the wedding drew nearer. And the longer you drew it out, the harder it became to leave him entirely. In the years since you met Daichi, he had become so precious to you…

Beyond that, he’d grown up so handsome. Almost ridiculously so. All signs of softness and roundness had disappeared with the last of his baby fat, leaving behind a ridiculously chiseled face. Staunchy masculine and sharp in every way, and yet his eyes remained so beautiful and warm. The way he’d look at you, you’d see his mother’s springtime sun shining through that beautiful, chocolatey brown. When he touched you, your whole body drew up tight, greedily wanting more than a chaste touch at the small of your back, or a gentle grasp of your hand as he gallantly kissed your knuckles.

Daichi had grown to be too much for you in almost every way… and you loved him for it.

Finally, the wedding drew near. You’d taken him on a day trip to see Akiu Waterfall on the outskirts of Sendai, and it was getting late. Your small apartment had been filled to the brim with flowers from Persephone’s garden, and Hades himself had delivered the finest jewels of his domain. A wedding dress made of dusky organza and lace so delicate it may as well have been smoke and feathers hung, flawless and perfectly fitted, in your closet.

“So,” Daichi said softly, helping you navigate a particularly tricky bit of slick rock. “In a few days, we have to make our decision.”

You ignored how the summer-warm heat of his hand against your back made you shiver, how it sent awareness through all of your limbs just to be near him. More than his celestial presence, something about this man had started to do terrible things to you. And he was so close…

“I think…” you swallowed to dislodge the lump that stuck in your throat. “I think it’s a little late for that. At this point, it’d be a huge hassle to cancel. Can you even get your deposits back?”

“You’re so funny,” Daichi said dryly, pausing to stroke the sleek feathers of a raven attempting to capture his attention. Over the years, the black birds had become drawn to him. You were sure that rambunctious Yuu and little Shouyo were your favorites. You idly wondered who this handsome devil was. “I mean it, ____. Just say the word, and I’ll leave. You can wait until the day of if you have to…”

For some reason, his insistence on your ‘freedom’ stung. You swallowed again, but your throat remained stubbornly thick; “Is that what you want? For me to leave? Call this off and never see me again?”

There was a long pause. Long enough you turned to look at him, taken aback at the almost sad expression on his face; “If… if it makes you happy, then yes.”

The word change was so slight… from ‘if that’s what you want’ to ‘if it makes you happy…’

“First, answer something for me.” You grabbed a seat on a relatively dry patch of rock, focusing on the breathtakingly beautiful waterfall and not the man just a few paces away from you. “We’ve known each other for 10 years… that should be enough for honesty, yes?”

“I’ve always been honest with you, ____.”

“Except you haven’t.” You balled your hands into tight fists, refusing to look at him. You had to say your piece, and if you looked into those perfect eyes… you’d be a goner. “You’ve always left this decision to me, Daichi, and we’re… we’re friends, at least. And I deserve better than that! So be honest with me… what do you want?”

For a second, it looked like he was just going to repeat his desire for your happiness. Tell you that he didn’t care about himself or what his future. But he didn’t. He gave a long, thoughtful pause, idly stroking the raven perched on his arm. The only sounds were the guttural purrs of pleasure from the bird and the sibilant rush of the waterfall.

“I want…” he bit his lip, his answer almost too quiet to hear. “I want to get married on Saturday.”

You sat, frozen, unsure how to react. You always pictured this moment, and in your fantasies you were always a smooth and composed fairy tale princess, worthy of the wife of a God. The reality proved much more… embarrassing than that, given your surprised little squeak.

“You… you do?”

“I do.” His word choice was not lost on you, and judging by the soft, sweetly sad smile he gave you, it wasn’t lost on him either. “____, I love you. I think I’ve loved you for a long time… maybe even since the beginning. But… everything was so complicated, and I didn’t want you to feel like you had to. Maybe it’s selfish, but I wanted you to love me… just for me. Not because I’m a God or because it was your duty or you were paying a debt… I wanted you to see me. And know me. And you did… you saw me every day, ____, and… and I can’t thank you enough.

“Which is why… it’s why I have to let you make this decision, because if it were up to me, I would have been yours years ago. But you… you never said anything, so… so I had to assume…”

“That I waited this long?”

Daichi rubbed sheepishly at the back of his neck; “Maybe it was wishful thinking on my part. Or denial. I’d hoped… that you were waiting so long because… because you wanted me. But I was never sure. So--”

You cut him off with a gentle touch to his lips that made him start so violently, the raven perched on his arm flew away with an indignant squawk. The only thing you could register was the soft give of Daichi’s lips against your fingertips… they were surprisingly plush, soft and smooth… Eye contact was intense. It burned…

“Daichi.” You took a deep breath, in and out slowly… “I feel the same.”

It was a small declaration, more confident than you felt. But it seemed to snap whatever thread that held Daichi together. His warm eyes filled with happy tears, and his breath shuddered with the force of his joy.

“Really?” He reached out a tentative hand, placing those gentle, warm fingers against your cheek.

“Really.” You leaned into his touch, letting your own hand migrate to cradle his jaw. “I really, really do…”

Somewhere along the way, you had come to deeply love this man before you. And, by some miracle, he loved you back. He loved you and it showed. It was obvious in the gentle way he pulled you to him, his gaze and touch so tender it made you feel as delicate as the flowers in your apartment. It was so clear in the way he gently--so gently--angled your jaw so he could press his lips to your forehead. The corner of your eye. Your cheek. Your jaw… and finally… finally, he brought you in for a slow and achingly tender kiss.

It was nothing like you imagined from him. There was a thread of uncertainty and inexperience. He was gentle and methodical and almost shy… but underneath, there was a sense of rightness. Like this was where you were meant to be. Like Daichi was made to hold you in his arms. You fit so perfectly, and it was so, so warm…

Never in your life had you felt so loved than in that moment. Affection filled your chest until you felt fit to burst, like your mere mortal vessel wasn’t built to contain the feelings you felt for Daichi. And his strong arms were there to hold you together, keep you from flying apart at the seams. And all the while, he trembled with the force of his own emotions. But he was happy… you were happy. You could hear it in the breathless, giddy cadence of his nervous laughter. You were loved, and in return you would protect Daichi from whatever ordained fate you’d been chosen to save him from.

Because you loved him so, so much…

By the end of the week, under the false sun in Persephone’s garden in the underworld, you became the Queen of Crows.

#haikyuu #haikyuu headcanons #haikyuu scenarios #sawamura daichi #sfw #scenarios

164 notes · View notes

thesteadydietofeverything · 4 years

Text

Top 10 Games of 2019

This was an extremely good year for games. I don’t know if I played as many that will stick with me as I did last year, but the ones on the bottom half of this list in particular constitute some of my favorite games of the decade, and probably all-time. If I’ve got a gaming-related resolution for next year, it’s to put my playtime into supporting even smaller indie devs. My absolute favorite experiences in games this year came from seemingly out of nowhere games from teams I’ve previously never heard of before. That said, there are some big games coming up in spring I doubt I’ll be able to keep myself away from. Some quick notes/shoutouts before I get started:

-The game I put maybe the most time into this year was Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn. I finally made the plunge into neverending FF MMO content, and I’m as happy as I am overwhelmed. This was a big year for the game, between the release of the Shadowbringers expansion and the Nier: Automata raid, and it very well may have made it onto my list if I had managed to actually get to any of it. At the time of this writing, though, I’ve only just finished 2015’s Heavensward, so I’ve got...a long way to go.

-One quick shoutout to the Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy that came out on Switch this year, a remaster of some DS classics I never played. An absolutely delightful visual novel series that I fell in love with throughout this year.

-I originally included a couple games currently in early access that I’ve enjoyed immensely. I removed them not because of arbitrary rules about what technically “came out” this year, but just to make room for some other games I liked, out of the assumption that I’ll still love these games in their 1.0 formats when they’re released next year to include them on my 2020 list. So shoutout to Hades, probably the best rogue-like/lite/whatever I’ve ever played, and Spin Rhythm XD, which reignited my love for rhythm games.

-Disco Elysium isn’t on this list, because I’ve played about an hour of it and haven’t yet been hooked by it. But I’ve heard enough about it to be convinced that it is 1000% a game for me and something I need to get to immediately. They shouted out Marx and Engels at the Game Awards! They look so cool! I want to be their friend! And hopefully, a few weeks from now, I’ll desperately want to redact this list to squeeze this game somewhere in here.

Alright, he’s the actual list:

10. Amid Evil

The 90’s FPS renaissance continues! As opposed to last year’s Dusk, a game I adored, this one takes its cues less from Quake and more from Heretic/Hexen, placing a greater emphasis on melee combat and magic-fuelled projectiles than more traditional weapons. Also, rather than that game’s intentionally ugly aesthetic, this one opts for graphics that at times feel lush, detailed, and pretty, while still probably mostly fitting the description of lo-fi. In fact, they just added RTX to the game, something I’m extremely curious to check out. This game continued to fuel my excitement about the possibilities of embracing out-of-style gameplay mechanics to discover new and fresh possibilities from a genre I’ve never been able to stop yearning for more of.

9. Ape Out

If this were a “coolest games” list, Ape Out would win it, easily. It’s a simple game whose mechanics don’t particularly evolve throughout the course of its handful of hours, but it leaves a hell of an impression with its minimalist cut-out graphics, stylish title cards, and percussive soundtrack. Smashing guards into each other and walls and causing them to shoot each other in a mad-dash for the exit is a fun as hell take on Hotline Miami-esque top down hyper violence, even if it’s a thin enough concept that it starts to feel a bit old before the end of the game.

8. Fire Emblem: Three Houses

I had a lot of problems with this game, probably most stemming from just how damn long it is - I still haven’t finished my first, and likely only, playthrough. This length seems to have motivated the developers to make battles more simple and easy, and to be fair, I would get frustrated if I were getting stuck on individual battles if I couldn’t stop thinking about how much longer I have to go, but as it is, I’ve just found them to be mostly boring. This is particularly problematic for a game that seems to require you to play through it at least...three times to really get the full picture? I couldn’t help but admire everything this game got right, though, and that mostly comes down to building a massive cast of extremely well realized and likable characters whose complex relationships with each other and with the structures they pledge loyalty to fuels harrowing drama once the plot really sets into motion. There’s a reason no other game inspired such a deluge of memes and fan fiction and art into my Twitter feed this year. It’s an impressive feat to convince every player they’ve unquestionably picked the right house and defend their problem children till the bitter end. After the success of this game, I’d love to see what this team can do next with a narrower focus and a bigger budget.

7. Resident Evil 2

It’s been a long time since I played the original Resident Evil 2, but I still consider it to be one of my favorite games of all time. I was highly skeptical of this remake at first, holding my stubborn ground that changing the fixed camera to a RE4-style behind the back perspective would turn this game more into an action game and less of a survival horror game where feeling a lack of control is part of the experience. I was pleasantly surprised to find how much they were able to modernize this game while maintaining its original feel and atmosphere. The fumbly, drifting aim-down sights effectively sell the feeling of being a rookie scared out of your wits. Being chased by Mr. X is wildly anxiety-inducing. But even more surprisingly, perhaps the greatest upgrade this game received was its map, which does you the generous service of actually marking down automatically where puzzles and items are, which rooms you’ve yet to enter, which ones you’ve searched entirely, and which ones still have more to discover. Arguably, this disrupts the feeling of being lost in a labyrinthine space that the original inspired, but in practice, it’s a remarkably satisfying and addicting video game system to engage with.

6. Judgment

No big surprise here - Ryu ga Gotoku put out another Yakuza-style game set in Kamurocho, and once again, it’s sitting somewhere on my top 10. This time, they finally put Kazuma Kiryu’s story to bed and focused on a new protagonist, down on his luck lawyer-turned-detective Takayuki Yagami. The new direction doesn’t always pay off - the added mechanics of following and chasing suspects gets a bit tedious. The game makes up for it, though, by absolutely nailing a fun, engrossing J-Drama of a plot entirely divorced from the Yakuza lore. The narrative takes several head-spinning turns through its several dozen hours, and they all feel earned, with a fresh sense of focus. The side stories in this one do even more to make you feel connected to the community of Kamurocho by befriending people from across the neighborhood. I’d love to see this team take even bigger swings in the future - and from what I’ve seen from Yakuza 7, that seems exactly like what they’re doing - but even if this game shares maybe a bit too much DNA with its predecessors, it’s hard to complain when the writing and acting are this enjoyable.

5. Control

Control feels like the kind of game that almost never gets made anymore. It’s a AAA game that isn’t connected to any larger franchises and doesn’t demand your attention for longer than a dozen hours. It doesn’t shoehorn needless RPG or MMO mechanics into its third-person action game formula to hold your attention. It introduces a wildly clever idea, tells a concise story with it, and then its over. And there’s something so refreshing about all of that. The setting of The Oldest House has a lot to do with it. I think it stands toe-to-toe with Rapture or Black Mesa as an instantly iconic game world. Its aesthetic blend of paranormal horror and banal government bureaucracy gripped my inner X-Files fan instantly, and kept him satisfied not only with its central characters and mystery but with a generous bounty of redacted documents full of worldbuilding both spine-tingling and hilarious. More will undoubtedly come from this game, in the form of DLC and possibly even more, with the way it ties itself into other Remedy universes, and as much as I expect I will love it, the refreshing experience this base game offered me likely can’t be beat.

4. Anodyne 2

I awaited Sean Han Tani and Marina Kittaka’s new game more anxiously than almost any game that came out this year, despite never having played the first one, exclusively on my love for last year’s singular All Our Asias and the promise that this game would greatly expand on that one’s Saturn/PS1-esque early 3D graphics and personal, heartfelt storytelling. Not only was I not disappointed, I was regularly pleasantly surprised by the depth of narrative and themes the game navigates. This game takes the ‘legendary hero’ tropes of a Zelda game and flips them to tell a story about the importance of community and taking care of loved ones over duty to governments or organizations. The dungeons that similarly reflect a Link to the Past-era Zelda game reduce the maps to bite-sized, funny, clever designs that ask you to internalize unique mechanics that result in affecting conclusions. Plus, it’s gorgeously idiosyncratic in its blend of 3D and 2D environments and its pretty but off-kilter score. It’s hard to believe something this full and well realized came from two people.

3. Eliza

Eliza is a work of dystopian fiction so closely resembling the state of the world in 2019 it’s hard to even want to call it sci-fi. As a proxy for the Eliza app, you speak the words of an AI therapist that offers meager, generic suggestions as a catch-all for desperate people facing any number of the nightmares of our time. The first session you get is a man reckoning with the state the world is in - we’ve only got a few more years left to save ourselves from impending climate crisis, destructive development is rendering cities unlivable for anyone but the super-rich, and the people who hold all the power are just making it all worse. The only thing you offer to him is to use a meditation app and take some medication. It doesn’t take long for you to realize that this whole structure is much less about helping struggling people and more about mining personal data.

There’s much more to this story than the grim state of mental health under late capitalism, though. It’s revealed that Evelyn, the character you play as, has a much closer history with Eliza than initially evident. Throughout the game, she’ll reacquaint herself with old coworkers, including her two former bosses who have recently split and run different companies over their differing frightening visions for the future. The game offers a biting critique of the kind of tech company optimism that brings rich, eccentric men to believe they can solve the world’s problems within the hyper-capitalist structure they’ve thrived under, and how quickly this mindset gives way to techno-fascism. There’s also Evelyn’s former team member, Nora, who has quit the tech world in favor of being a DJ “activist,” and her current lead Rae, a compassionate person who genuinely believes in the power of Eliza to better people’s lives. The writing does an excellent job of justifying everyone’s points of view and highlighting the limits of their ideology without simplifying their sense of morality.

Why this game works so well isn’t just its willingness to stare in the face of uncomfortably relevant subject matter, but its ultimately empathetic message. It offers no simple solutions to the world’s problems, but also avoids falling into utter despair. Instead, it places measured but inspiring faith in the power of making small, meaningful impacts on the people around you, and simply trying to put some good into your world. It’s a game both terrifying and comforting in its frank conclusions.

2. Death Stranding

For a game as willfully dumb as this one often is - that, for example, insists on giving all of its characters with self-explanatory names long monologues about how they got that name - Death Stranding was one of the most thought provoking games I’ve played in a while. Outside of its indulgent, awkwardly paced narrative, the game offers plenty of reflection on the impact the internet has had on our lives. As Sam Porter Bridges, you’re hiking across a post-apocalyptic America, reconnecting isolated cities by delivering supplies, building infrastructure, and, probably most importantly, connecting them to the Chiral Network, an internet of sorts constructed of supernatural material of nebulous origin. Through this structure, the game offers surprisingly insightful commentary about the necessity for communication, cooperation, and genuine love and care within a community.

The lonely world you’re tasked to explore, and the way you’re given blips of encouragement within the solitude through the structures and “likes” you give and receive through the game’s asynchronous multiplayer system, offers some striking parallels for those of us particularly “online” people who feel simultaneous desperation for human contact and aversion to social pressures. I’ve heard the themes of this game described as “incoherent” due to the way it seems to view the internet both as a powerful tool to connect people and a means by which people become isolated and alienated, but are both of these statements not completely true to reality? The game simplifies some of its conclusions - Kojima seems particularly ignorant of America’s deep structural inequities and abuses that lead to a culture of isolation and alienation. And yet, the questions it asks are provocative enough that they compelled me to keep thinking about them far longer than the answers it offers.

Beyond the surprisingly rich thematic content, this game is mostly just a joy to play. Death Stranding builds kinetic drama out of the typically rote parts of games. Moving from point A to point B has become an increasingly tedious chore in the majority of AAA open world games, but this is a game built almost entirely out of moving from point A to point B, and it makes it thrilling. The simple act of walking down a hill while trying to balance a heavy load on your back and avoiding rocks and other obstacles fulfills the promise of the term ‘walking simulator’ in a far more interesting way than most games given that descriptor. The game consistently doles out new ways to navigate terrain, which peaked for me about two thirds of the way through the game when, after spending hours setting up a network of zip lines, a delivery offered me the opportunity to utilize the entire thing in a wildly satisfying journey from one end of the map to another. It was the gaming moment of the year.

1. Outer Wilds

The first time the sun exploded in my Outer Wilds playthrough, I was probably about to die anyway. I had fallen through a black hole, and had yet to figure out how to recover from that, so I was drifting listlessly through space with diminishing oxygen as the synths started to pick up and I watched the sun fall in on itself and then expand throughout the solar system as my vision went went. The moment gave me chills, not because I wasn’t already doomed anyway, but because I couldn’t help but think about my neighbors that I had left behind to explore space. I hadn’t known that mere minutes after I left the atmosphere the solar system would be obliterated, but I was at least able to watch as it happened. They probably had no idea what happened. Suddenly their lives and their planet and everything they had known were just...gone. And then I woke up, with the campfire burning in front of me, and everyone looking just as I had left it. And I became obsessed with figuring out how to stop that from happening again.

What surprised me is that every time the sun exploded, it never failed to produce those chills I felt the first time. This game is masterful in its art, sound, and music design that manages to produce feelings so intense from an aesthetic so quaint. Tracking down fellow explorers by following the sound of their harmonica or acoustic guitar. Exploring space in a rickety vessel held together by wood and tape. Translating logs of conversations of an ancient alien race and finding the subject matter of discussion to be about small interpersonal drama as often as it is revelatory secrets of the universe. All of the potentially twee aspects of the game are balanced out by an innate sense of danger and terror that comes from exploring space and strange worlds alone. At times, the game dips into pure horror, making other aspects of the presentation all the more charming by comparison. And then there’s the clockwork machinations of the 22-minute loop you explore within, rewarding exploration and experimentation with reveals that make you feel like a genius for figuring out the puzzle at the same time that you’re stunned by the divulgence of a new piece of information.

The last few hours of the game contained a couple puzzles so obfuscated that I had to consult a guide, which admittedly lessened the impact of those reveals, but it all led to one of the most equally devastating and satisfying endings I’ve experienced in a video game recently. I really can’t say enough good things about this game. It’s not only my favorite game this year, but easily one of my favorite games of the decade, and really, of all-time, when it comes down to it.

#outer wilds #death stranding #eliza #anodyne 2 #control #judgment #resident evil 2 #fire emblem: three houses #Ape Out #Amid Evil #games #video games #GOTY

87 notes · View notes

dumbledearme · 6 years

Text

chapter forty-nine—eternal mess

read Child of Land and Sea here

Act V — Walking On Water

Part XII — To be a true hero, kid, is a dying art. Like painting a masterpiece, it's a work of heart.

Hermes kissed his son's forehead and murmured a blessing in ancient Greek. Then the Three Fates themselves took the bodies of Luke and Ethan away.

Andy asked Zeus to light up the top of the Empire State Building with blue colors and the god nodded. He didn't seem to care if it was a weird request or not; he just did it.

The Stoll brothers were fine. Mrs O'Leary had dug Chiron out successfully. Katie Gardner reported that she'd seen Rachel run out of the Empire State Building at the end of the battle. Nico di Angelo came into Olympus to a hero's welcome and so did his father. Clarisse marched in and the god of war proclaimed her the best warrior he'd ever seen. Hera seemed pretty upset Anthony had saved Olympus and murmured something about not being able to destroy him now. Dionysus thanked Andy for keeping his son alive.

The army of Poseidon, the ones who had defeated Typhon, marched into the throne room. Tyson saw Andy and smashed her in a Cyclops hug. Poseidon walked in and even forgave her for sitting on his throne. And for the first time in her life, her father embraced her. He was warm like a regular human and smelled like sea breeze. Andy felt like this huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders. She hadn't realized how much she was needing a hug. "Dad-" she cried softly.

"Shh," Poseidon said. "No hero is above fear, Andy. And you have risen above every hero. Not even Hercules-"

"POSEIDON!" a voice roared. Zeus had taken his throne. "Are you too proud to join us in council, my brother?"

"I would be honored, Lord Zeus." He strode over to his throne and the Council convened.

Zeus started this long speech about the bravery of the gods that seemed to last forever. While he spoke, Andy went to join Anthony who was still sitting in the same place where he had held Luke's body. He hadn't moved a muscle, not even when the Fates took Luke from his hands. Andy knelt beside him, took his hand and kissed it, but he didn't even seem to register her presence.

"As for my brothers," Zeus said, "we are very thankful... erm, thankful for the aid of Hades."

The lord of the dead nodded. He had a smug look on his face as he patted Nico on the shoulders.

"And of course," Zeus continued, "we must... thank Poseidon."

"I'm sorry," Poseidon said. "What was that?"

"There is no way I will be saying it again," Zeus grumbled. "Which leaves us the matter of thanking our young demigod heroes, who defended Olympus so well – even though there are a few dents in my throne." He called Thalia forward and promised his help in filling the Hunters's ranks.

Artemis spoke up. "You have done well, my lieutenant. You have made me proud, and all those Hunters who perished in my service will never be forgotten. They will achieve Elysium, I'm sure," she said glaring pointedly at Hades.

He shrugged. "Probably." Artemis glared at him some more. "Oh, all right," he grumbled.

Thalia beamed with pride. "Thank you." She bowed to the Olympians and limped back.

"Tyson, son of Poseidon," Zeus called. "Doesn't miss many meals, does he? Well, Tyson, for your bravery in the war, and for leading the Cyclopes, you are appointed a general in the armies of Olympus. You shall henceforth lead your brethren into war whenever required by the gods. And you shall have a new... um... what kind of weapon would you like? A sword? An axe?"

"A stick!" Tyson said.

"Very well," Zeus looked disappointed. "The best stick that may be found."

All the Cyclopes cheered.

"Grover Underwood of the satyrs," Dionysus called. "Oh, stop chewing your shirt. Honestly, I'm not going to blast you. For your bravery and sacrificed, and blah blah blah, and since we have an unfortunate vacancy, the gods have seen fit to name you a member of the Council of Cloven Elders."

Grover collapsed on the spot.

"Oh, wonderful," Dionysus sighed. "Well, when he wakes up, tell him that he will no longer be an outcast, and that all satyrs, naiads, and other spirits of nature will henceforth treat him as a lord of the Wild, with all rights, privileges, and honors. Now drag him off before he starts groveling."

Athena called Anthony and he took a long time to move. He stood before the gods, but he seemed to be a miles away. Athena approached him, touched his chin and made him look at her. "You have exceeded all expectations," she told him. "You have used your wits, your strength, and your courage to defend this city, and our seat of power. As it was once said, 'It takes a great deal of courage to stand up to your enemies, but even more to stand up to your friends.'"

Anthony winced like that was the last thing he wanted to hear.

Athena didn't let go of him. "Now, it has come to our attention that Olympus is... well, trashed. The Titan lord did much damage that will have to be repaired. We could rebuild it by magic, of course, and make it just as it was. But the gods feel that the city could be improved. We will take this as an opportunity. And you, my son, will design these improvements."

That got his attention alright. Anthony blinked and stared at his mother, stunned. "Me?"

Athena smiled. "You are an architect, are you not? You have studied the techniques of Daedalus himself. Who better to redesign Olympus and make it a monument that will last for another eon?"

"I... I can design whatever I want?"

"As your heart desires," the goddess said. "Make us a city for the ages."

"As long as you have no statues of Andy Jackson," Dionysus commented, "or I might never return here."

"Make plenty of statues of me instead," Apollo suggested.

"And me," Aphrodite agreed.

"Hey, and me!" Ares added.

"All right," Athena snapped. "He gets the point. Statues. Behold Anthony Chase," she said, "official architect of Olympus."

If Anthony had been miles away before, now he was a whole world away. Andy could see his mind working furiously as he walked back to the stones steps to sit down.

"Andy Jackson!" Poseidon called startling her.

She went to stand before them.

"There she is," Zeus said, "Olympus most disliked demigod."

Ares and Dionysus chuckled.

Andy felt herself blushing. "Okay," she said knowing they wouldn't be kind to her. "Bring it on. Give me all of your hate. But I saved your divine asses and I won't bow to you."

"We can certainly make you bow," Ares threatened.

"A great heroine must be rewarded," Poseidon ignored them. "Is there anyone here who would deny that my daughter is deserving?"

Zeus sighed. "The Council agrees that this unfortunate little brat will have one gift from the gods."

Andy stared at him. "Any thing I want?"

Zeus nodded grimly. "I know what you will ask. The greatest gift of all. Yes, if you want it, it shall be yours. The gods have not bestowed this gift on a mortal hero in many centuries but... Andromeda Jackson – if you wish it – you shall be made a goddess. Immortal. Undying. You shall serve as your father's lieutenant for all time."

Andy blinked. "A... goddess?" the word sounded completely alien in her mouth.

Zeus rolled his eyes. "A dimwitted goddess, apparently. But yes. With the consensus of the entire Council, I can make you immortal. Then I will have to put up with you forever."

"That means I can smash her to a pulp as often as I want, and she'll just keep coming back for more," Ares mused. "I like this idea."

"I approve as well," Athena said, though she was watching Anthony.

The entire idea was so ridiculous Andy started to laugh. Her laughter echoed on the stone walls and the Olympians watched her frowning. She held her stomach and laughed some more, until she heard someone say, "I think she lost it."

Andy looked up at them again. "I can't believe you just offered me this," she gasped. The Council was silent. "A goddess. Ha ha! Have you met me?" she asked them. "I'm like... I'm a... I'm a mess! You want to make me an eternal mess? No!"

"No?" Zeus said. "You are... turning down our generous gift?"

"No, thank you?" Andy smiled. "I'm sorry. I'm honored and everything, I just... don't think that was your brightest idea."

The throne room shook. "What did you say to me?"

"Don't get me wrong," she rushed. "I meant with all respect in the world. It's just... I want to... I want to live. And I want to die. When... you know, time comes." She gave Hades a weary look. The gods glared at her. It was the second time Andy refused immortality. She cleared her throat nervously. "But... um... if your offer still stands, there is something I do want."

Zeus took a deep breath. "If it's within our power."

"It is," she said. "But I need your word. Swear on the River Styx."

"What?" Dionysus cried. "You don't trust us?"

"Someone once told me, you should always get a solemn oath."

Hades smiled. "Guilty."

"Very well," Zeus growled. "In the name of the Council, we swear by the River Styx to grant your reasonable request as long as it is within our power." The other gods muttered assent. Thunder boomed. The deal was made.

"Well, then, here is what I want. From now on, you will recognize the children of the gods," she said. "All the children... of all the gods."

The Olympians shifted uncomfortably.

"Don't you see? All this war... all this death... brother fighting brother... and what for? Demigods who felt abandoned by their parents. They felt angry, resentful, and unloved, and they were not wrong."

Zeus's nostrils flared. "You dare accuse-"

"You dare deny it?" she cut him. "Will you look down on me and say that it is fair to put your children in the world and not once show them that you care? I say no more undetermined children. Claim them. Claim us. Don't leave us out on our own at the mercy of monsters. Protect us. Give us shelter. Bring us to camp so we can be trained right, so we can survive."

"Wait a sec-" said Apollo, but Andy ignored him.

"And the minor gods," she added. "Nemesis, Hecate, Morpheus, Janus, Hebe... they all deserve a general amnesty and a place at Camp Half-Blood. Their children shouldn't be ignored. You couldn't fight this war without us, which tells me that we matter. Calypso and the other peaceful Titan-kind should be pardoned. They did nothing wrong and it's not fair what has happened to them. And Hades-"

"Are you calling me a minor god?" Hades bellowed.

"No," she smiled. "But your children will not be left out. They should have a cabin too. Nico has proven that. No unclaimed demigods will be crammed into the Hermes cabin anymore, wondering who their parents are. They'll have their own cabins, for all the gods. We all matter and we are all welcome at camp. Because we're family."

Ares opened his mouth to speak, but Andy didn't let him.

"You need to stop trying to get rid of powerful demigods. We're going to train them and accept them instead." Finally, she stopped and glanced around the room expecting them to argue. But no one seemed to have the words.

Zeus snorted. "Oh, are you done?"

"Andy," Poseidon started carefully, "you ask too much. You presume too much."

"I presume nothing. I've watched my friends die," she reminded them. "The light left their eyes. And you know, all they wanted was to be loved, to be respected. By you. How is that much?"

That's when Aphrodite gave her a standing ovation. She walked up to Andy. "Ah, Andy Jackson," she said with a bright smile and tears in her eyes. "Such a beautiful surprise. You're so much better than the other Andromeda. All this love you have... I thought it was just for the boy, but you have enough for them all, don't you? The last time I saw someone love this deeply... Helen," she said dreamily. "But Helen was different from you. She was selfish. She'd let world burn as long as she had Paris, because her love was exclusive to him. But you kept the city safe, your family, your friends, and us."

"Okay, I think you're going to far kissing her ass-" Ares started to say.

"No," Aphrodite stopped him. "I've seen loss too. My daughter..." her voice faltered. "But even in the darkest hours, something brings me hope. The rest of you might not understand it. But Andy..." she focused her eyes on Andy. "Andy sees it too. The loudest love is that which is said in silence. Whatever it is you desire, Andy Jackson, shall be yours." Aphrodite reach out her hand.

Andy felt a chill when she touched the goddess. "You flatter me," she said thankfully. "I'm only human."

"Doesn't that just make you outstanding?" Aphrodite whispered.

"She is correct," Athena said, suddenly, surprising everyone. "We have been unwise to ignore our children. It proved a strategic weakness in this war and almost caused our destruction. Andy Jackson, I had my doubts about you, but perhaps" – she glanced at Anthony – "perhaps I was mistaken. I vote that we accept the girl's plan."

"I don't like you," Zeus felt the need to tell Andy. "Not one bit. You are presumptuous. You are rude. You don't know your place and you raise your voice to those more powerful than you." He let out a painful sigh. "But I suppose..."

"All in favor?" Hermes said and all the gods raised their hands.

Andy smiled at them. "You won't regret it. We will make you proud."

"Honor guard!" Poseidon called. The Cyclopes came forward and made two lines from the thrones to the door – an aisle for her to walk through. "All hail, Andromeda Jackson," her father said, "savior of Olympus."

Hermes met her at the door. "Turning down immortality," he said looking at her curiously. "You mortals... Always full of surprises. You know, it was decided Typhon was a freak series of storms and nothing else."

"How bad is the city?"

Hermes shrugged. "Not too bad. The mortals are shaken, of course. But it's New York. I'll help them get back to normal."

Andy nodded. "I owe you an apology," she said looking at her own feet.

"And why is that?" he asked bitterly.

"I thought you were a bad father," she admitted still avoiding his eyes. "I blamed you. Like he did. I thought you knew about his future, but didn't care enough to change it."

"I did know."

"But you knew more than that." Andy raised her eyes and faced the god. "You knew everything. You understood what needed to happen. You trusted he would make the right choice when the time came... and he did. I'm just sorry that you never got to tell him... how much faith you had in him."

"No one can temper with fate," Hermes said miserably. "Not even a god. If I had warned him what was to come, or tried to influence his choices, I would've made things even worse. Staying silent, staying away from him... that was the hardest thing I've ever done."

"I know," Andy said. "But he found his path. He saved us all."

Hermes sighed. "I shouldn't have blamed the boy," he said. "Anthony... when Luke visited him... I knew he was the only one who could get to him, who could reach out and find him in there." He shook his head. "Kronos isn't dead, you know? You can't kill a Titan."

"Then-"

"I don't know," Hermes grumbled. "None of us do. Blown to dust. Scattered to the wind. With luck, he's spread so thin that he'll never be able to form a consciousness again, much less a body. But do not mistake him for dead, Andy. He is not. My son's the one who died. Believing I didn't care about him."

Andy grabbed the god's hand. He stared at her surprised by the physical contact. "Weren't you listening to me in there?" she said. "I told you. Us, your children, we just want a little of your attention. Exactly because we love you. If we didn't, it wouldn't hurt so much when you don't answer. And Luke hurt the most. I think it's pretty obvious that he loved the most too."

A tear streamed down his face and he squeezed her hand.

"You have other children," Andy told him. "I expect you won't make the same mistake."

Hermes's shoulders sagged. "We'll try, Andy. We'll all try to keep our promise. And maybe for a while things will be better. But we gods have never been good at keeping oaths. You were born because of a broken promise, weren't you? Eventually we'll become forgetful. We always do."

"You can change."

Hermes laughed. "After three thousand years, you think the gods can change their nature?"

"If there is one thing I've learned from this war, is that Hope won't leave us unless we tell it to. There is always time for changing. Luke did. And you can too."

Hermes seemed surprised. "You think he really loved me? After all that happened?"

"I'm sure of it."

Hermes nodded. "I'll give you a list of my children. Will you see that they get to camp?"

"I promised," Andy said. "And I don't forget my promises."

"Andy Jackson," Hermes shook his head. "You might just teach us a thing or two."

The goddess of wisdom was also waiting to talk to Andy. It was proving a hard task to leave Olympus without calling attention. Athena's gray eyes blazed when she faced Andy. "You will stay a mortal," she said accusingly like it was a horrible thing.

"Yes."

"You gave us pretty good reasons," she sneered, "but I'm no fool, Andy Jackson. Aphrodite isn't the only one who can see right through you."

Andy hesitated. "I don't-"

"My son." Athena stepped forward and Andy had to fight the urge to run away.

"I love him." She held the goddess's stare with difficulty. She had never said it like that, so raw, so true.

Athena made a face. "I once warned you, Andy Jackson, that to save a friend you would destroy the world. I was mistaken. Like Aphrodite said, you saved both your friends and the world."

"Anthony did. And Luke. And Clarisse, and Silena, and Thalia, and Grover. I didn't do anything alone. A lot of people gave their lives so the gods could remain."

"True," Athena said. "I acknowledge it. That is why my warning will be brief: think very carefully about how you proceed from here. I have given you the benefit of the doubt. Don't mess up."

"I won't."

Athena shook her head. "I might let you have him," she said, "but I will never understand what he sees in you."

"Finally," Andy smiled at the goddess. "Finally something we have in common."

#andromeda #andy jackson #anthony chase #andony #fanfic #dfcrosas #genderbend #child of land and sea #walking on water #fem percy jackson

2 notes · View notes

shanastoryteller · 7 years

Note

Hey so I've loved your Retold Fairytales for some time but I just binged your entire Gods and Monsters and I??? love Styx. A lot. And I'm curious about Hephaestus and Styx growing up as best friends in the Underworld. If you could work your magic when you have the time, I'd love to see a story about them!

Styx does not have a homein the underworld, not really. She has a room in Hades’s palace, of course, anda nook in Hecate’s house. Charon has acottage by her river, a humble thing for a being of such great power, and she’sshoved her way onto his narrow bed and curled into the warmth of his chest morethan once. She darts through the horrors of Tartarus, and plays in the ElysiumFields.

All of the underworld is open to her, and she’s lived herethe entirety of her existence. But she’s yet to find a piece of it that feelsas if it belongs to her, that doesn’tfeel borrowed.

Hecate brings home a baby with no legs beneath the knee andwide, curious eyes.

Styx adores him instantly.

Hecate is a busy woman – her duties in the underworld keepher constantly moving, and she spends much of her time shrouded in her secrets.She is the goddess of magic, and there are things that only she can do, thingsthat other people can’t even know about. She is not a person with much time tospare, and babies take a lot of time.

Hades watches him often, directing the traffic of souls andoverseeing construction with the child held to his chest. Charon fashions asling, and the baby sleeps against his back while Charon ferries souls acrossher river.

Time passes. The baby is not like her.

The baby grows.

Hephaestus is a child, and he lives in a dangerous place.His aunt raises him, and she is a busy woman who does important things, and itseems to him like nothing in their home is safe to touch, that it is all cursedor corrosive or even, at time, sentient.

The palace is not much better. Hades always welcomes him,has a warm smile for him, but is too busy to linger. He walks on wobbly legs ofglass that Aunt Hecate fashioned for him, and they allow him to walk, but theypain him too. He cannot run or jump, he cannot explore the edges of the underworldlike he so desperately wants to because his legs are delicate, clumsy things.They are glass, and they shatter too easily.

“Don’t be sad,” a voice says in his ear, and he’s grinningbefore he even turns around. Lady Styx is there, smiling at him. She looks tobe his age, although she is much older, and she has black skin and grey hairand eyes. Her skin is the color of her river’s water, and her hair and eyes thecolor of the foam when it rushes too fast. For as long as he can remember, shehas always had kindness to spare.

“I’m not sad,” he says stubbornly. “Aren’t you busy?” She isa goddess, one as powerful and important as his aunt or Hades. He wants to growup to be just like her.

She shrugs, “My river knows what to do. Do you want to go onan adventure?”

“Yes,” he says instantly. The only time he’s allowed toexplore is when Styx is with him. If his glass legs break, she can carry him,and if anything tries to attack or hurt them, she can stop it.

She grabs his hand, smiling. It’s cold. She’s always cold,the same icy temperature as her river. “There are volcanos in Tartarus. Have Itaken you there before?”

He shakes his head, and in the next instant they’re gone.

Styx and Hephaestus manage to get in all manner of trouble,including, but not limited to: accidentally giving Cerberus two extra heads,devising and implementing a manner of torture for Tantalus that is so brilliantHades can’t even get mad at them for it, and figuring out it is possible to surf of Styx’s roughwaters with glass legs, but only if you’re very, very stupid and have thegoddess in question by your side and laughing so hard she forgets that herprimary job here is to prevent you from dying.

When he’d found them, Hades had given them the worstadmonishment he knew how to give: a disappointed frown. Hecate had laughed andtold them to be careful of his legs.

Hephaestus’s childhood had its bright spots. Almost all ofthose bright spots included Styx.

Hephaestus looks older than her now, a young man when sheis, as always, a child. He’s gotten quieter as he ages, his dark eyespermanently thoughtful.

“You shouldn’t come here without me,” she scolds, sittingdown beside him. He doesn’t respond, swinging his hammer down on glowing metalwith a boom loud enough that the volcano shakes with it. “You know Hecatedoesn’t like you going into Tartarus alone.”

“You were busy,” he says, not accusatory, just a statementof fact. “Here, cool this for me.”

She sighs, but cool water rushes from her hands and onto thesuperheated metal. It hisses and steams, but when the air clears Hephaestusholds it up and appears to be satisfied. “Must it be in a volcano? We can makeyou a forge in safer part of the underworld.”

“Volcanos are useful,” he says, the same answer he alwaysgives her. “I have more of these to do if you want to stick around.”

Helping him build whatever he’s currently working on ispretty boring. But he’s her friend, and it must be important if he’s riskinghis life by going into Tartarus on his glass legs to do it. “Sure,” she sighsslumping down to sit crosslegged next to him. He pats her on the head, whichshe’s all prepared to be insulted by - she’s a kid, but she’s not a kid – when she sees his lips curled up aroundthe corners of his mouth. He’s making fun of her on purpose, which is stillannoying, but is less hurtful than him treating her like a kid just because helooks older.

The first set of legs that Hephaestus makes for himself aremade of iron. They’re not as pretty as he’d like them to be, but that’s allright. He can run in these legs, jump in them, fight in them. He is no longer abeing made of glass, no longer someone who can be easily broken.

Styx is the first person he shows them to. He leaps andsomersaults in them, something he could never do before. She’s delighted atfirst, smiling and clapping, but by the time he finishes, arms out-thrown andbeaming, she’s wilted. She sits hunched and tries to keep her smile in place,but it’s trembling.

“What’s wrong?” he asks, kneeling in front of her. “Ithought you would be happy for me.”

“I am!” she hiccups, and now she’s crying, big fat tearsthat he wants to wipe away but can’t. She cries the water of her river. If hetouches them, he’ll burn. “I am happy!’

He risks it, tugging the end of his sleeve down to quicklywipe her left cheek, then ripping it and throwing the cloth away as it burns.“You don’t look happy.”

“You’re going to leave,” she says, and he goes cold. “Youhave legs, and now you’re going to leave, and I’m not. I am the Goddess of theRiver Styx, I must stay with my river. But you’re going to leave.”

His heart breaks seeing Styx cry. He loves Hecate, lovesCharon, loves Hades. But if there is one person in this realm he can truly callfamily, it is her. They share no blood, but she’s the only sister he’s everknown. “I’ll visit! You can visit me too. I wasn’t born here, Styx. Hecateisn’t my mom. I was born on Olympus, and I can’t hide in the underworld fromHera forever. I don’t want toeither.”

“I know!” she says, her breath coming in stuttering gasps asshe tries and fails to stop crying. “You’re so smart, and all the things youmake are amazing. You need to go out there, so other gods can see you, so thatpeople can see you. I just – I’m going to miss you.”

He’s a god – a little river water won’t kill him. He pullsStyx into his arms, ignoring the pain in his shoulder as her tears burn throughhis skin. She resists for a moment, then goes slack, throwing her arms aroundhis neck. He says, “I’m going to miss you too.”

Hephaestus does not want to cause an uproar. He’s hadfantasies of storming Mount Olympus, of confronting Hera, of doing any numberof foolish, stupid things. But he is not a foolish, stupid man.

Hecate has picked out a volcano for him already, one shetells fits all his requirements and is not in the domain of any other god, eventhe lesser ones. He will go slow. He will build, and improve the lives of themortals. Temples will be erected in his honor, tributes placed at his feet, hisname on all their lips. He’ll build his power the hard way, until they canignore him no longer, until Hera and Zeus have no choice but to offer him aplace at their table on Olympus.

But not yet.

For now, he builds something else, something even moreimportant.

“Can I open my eyes yet?” Styx asks, pouting.

Hephaestus’s hands are on her shoulders, pushing herforward. “No.”

She scowls. She can tell they’re by her river, in a bendwhere no one travels through, but that’s it. Her knowledge of the geography ofthe underworld is always in relation to her river. “What about now?”

“Yes,” he says.

She wasn’t expecting it, so it takes her a moment to blinkher eyes open. “Did you make this?”

“Hecate helped,” he admits, “I wasn’t sure what to do forthings like curtains and windchimes. Do you like it?”

It’s a house. A small one, not much bigger than Charon’s.It’s made of obsidian, but not several pieces put together. It looks like thewhole things was carved out of one massive piece of obsidian. The walls are blackand smooth and shining. There’s a large, round bed in the center that’s a paleblue, the chairs in a deep purple, and her curtains are a soft yellow. Thehouse is black, but Hephaestus has filled it with color, given her a rainbowtucked in every space. Copper pots hang in the kitchen, and there are signs ofhis forging everywhere – in the cabinets, the door knobs in the shape of flowers,the singular windchime hanging in her open window, even though there is no windhere.

“Do you like it?” he repeats. “I know you tend to just – endup wherever, but I thought you should have a place that was just yours. If youwant something different I can change it–”

“No.” She swallows and touches her wall, the silver designin her walls that he must have inlaid himself. “It – it’s perfect.” Quieterthen, “You gave me a home.”

No place in the whole of the underworld has ever felt likeit belonged to her. This one does. It doesn’t feel borrowed.

Hephaestus ruffles her hair, “It seems only fair, since youdid the same for me. This realm wouldn’t have been my home without you.”

They’re smiling at each other, and the tension she’d beencarrying ever since she realized Hephaestus would be leaving drains out of her.

He’s older now, almost an adult, and he’s leaving theunderworld. But he’s not leaving her.

“You’re my best friend,” she tells him, in case he’sforgotten.

“Good,” he tells her, “because you’re my best friend too.”

gods and monsters series, part xxiii

read more of the gods and monsters series here

#gods and monsters series #styx #river styx #hepheastus #greek mytholofgy #greek myth #hades #hecate #i hope you like it!! :) <3 #pitviperofdoom #asks #this is so .. unexpectedly wholesome #i wasn't trying for that it just happened

1K notes · View notes

lyntendoswitch · 3 years

Text

At the tail end of 2020 I discovered the video content of Tim Rogers who has inspired me to also voice my game opinions in an unnecessarily verbose and personal way. I don’t recommend clicking on the read more, but if you’d like to read a little bit about the best games I played this year, go on ahead.

10. What Remains of Edith Finch 9. A Short Hike 8. Disco Elysium 7. Personal 5 The Royal 6. Persona 3 Dancing In Moonlight 5. Vestaria Saga War of the Scions 4. Ring FIt Adventure 3. Final Fantasy 7 Remake 2. Hades 1. Animal Crossing New Horizons

2020 found me with an unprecedented amount of free time. I spent most of this year working for the government (a job with a very small brain effort that left me with evenings and weekends free to do whatever the hell). Additionally, I spent most of the year in quarantine with video games as my true, real friend and life companion. Compiling this list gave me more titles than ever to choose from, so I feel better about my list than ever. So here are the best games that I played this year.

Before I get into the top 10 I want to give 4 honourable mentions.

13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim This is the most recent game I played since making this list. I loved so many things about this game - the soft art style, the harsh music, the convoluted crazy plot. I love the aesthetic of this game and loved the characters - I believe it is rare to have an anime game where none of the characters irritate you. I even loved the combat, although I did not think I would. Something about shooting so very many missiles is so satisfying even when you don’t exactly know what is going on in the screen. The final battle in this game was definitely my favourite moment in this game - it was stressful, it was engaging, it was so extremely fun. The tragedy of this game comes down to personal taste. All time travel stories with complex timelines are bound to fall apart eventually, because no writer can keep all the threads together in a logical sense. 13 sentinels had so many story beats, plot twists, betrayals, and sci-fi tropes crammed into their storyline that I knew halfway through the story that there was no way they would be able to resolve all of it in a fulfilling way. I was, unfortunately, right - the ending explanation for all the chaos is, in my (correct) opinion, extremely lame. However, I certainly had fun on the journey.

Fire Emblem 3 Houses: Ashen Demons DLC I did not place this on my ranking since it is not really fleshed out enough to be considered its own game (unlike in previous years, where I have confidently but the Splatoon 2 Octoling Expansion as a separate title from Splatoon 2). However, this blog is, above all else, a Fire Emblem stan account, and I will not NOT talk about Fire Emblem. I do not care for the Abyss house. I think the characters are too close to being plucked out of the Fire Emblem Fates universe for comfort, and I mean this to be as profound an insult as possible. These characters are gimmicks above all else. I also do not care for the expanded lore that the sewer city brings to Garreg Mach. The idea of a centralized church school army is already so unstable, and to have a population of rat people living under it makes the whole foundation of the world crumble a little. However, the story and gameplay of the Ashen Demons DLC added something that the base game did not, which is challenge. (As an aside, I play on normal mode and am aware that there is challenge available to me if I wish for it.) FE3H offers you so many characters, so many paralogues, so many opportunities for training and stat increases, that eventually plot missions become completely boring. Ashen demons limiting everyone to new and interesting classes, limiting your available units, and preventing any sort of training made the chapters fun again. I found the chapter where you were supposed to outrun a golem before some gates closed fun as hell - it was my favourite part of the entire side story.

Kentucky: Route Zero I played this game in February, and I remember not liking it at any point. It is confusing, disorienting, and lacked a clear goal. However, it has now been 10 months and I still think about it constantly - both the vignettes presented in it, and the way it made me feel. The Besties podcast made an excellent point about this game when they said that no one who plays this game ever compares it to other games - only books, movies, or paintings. The whole game is so fascinating and sticks with you - the wretched circle of a highway, the horse funeral. My favourite part is the live performance you attend at a run down diner with your party of four as the only audience. It is so quiet and contemplative and melancholy, and the scene is absolutely perfect. Kentucky Route Zero might be my favourite high concept artsy abstract artwork ever.

Blaseball As with everyone, it is difficult to call Blaseball a game. As the website says, it is a cultural event that I am so happy to participate in. I am so happy to have found a piece of media to fill the aching void that left by Homestuck when it ended, then re-opened the wound with their awful post-epilogue novel. I deleted my Twitter account this summer because I was tired of being angry and doomscrolling. And then, after Chris Plante on the Besties told me about Blaseball, I happily remade a Twitter account that only followed the official Blaseball account, the devs, and the numerous RP accounts. The quality of life improvement that having simulated, pleasant, hilarious social media to check every day is indescribable. It helped me cope with a rough life transition. Thank you, Blaseball. My favourite moment of 2020 is the 11pm boss battle of Shoe Thieves vs The Shelled One’s Pods.

And now....... The List.

10. What Remains of Edith Finch The start of 2020 was incredible because games journalism websites were churning out endless top 10 lists for both the end of 2019 as well as the end of the decade. I religiously picked through all of these lists and wrote down a list of 30 best indie games of this past decade that I missed out on for whatever reason. It was my first and last experience with a backlog - previously, I would simply impulse purchase games I really wanted to play, and I would not rest until the game is beaten. Having a backlog of things to try stressed me out endless and it dampened the impact of almost all of these quirky 1-6 hour indie experiences. However, not even the stress of meeting a self-imposed quota could dampen the impact of What Remains of Edith Finch. Exploring this house and playing through its various scenarios was so fascinating and beautiful. For me, the most impactful moment of the game was playing as the little girl who became an owl who became a sea serpent. That was when I realized I was not playing something that I would be thinking about for a very long time.

9. A Short Hike A Short Hike was the very first game I played off my backlog list of Best Indie Games. And boy, is it ever. This game takes 2 hours to finish but is absolutely saturated with heart and the exploration makes those 2 hours feel like you have been on a much longer and more fulfilling journey than you believed possible with so few hours. It is Animal Crossing and Legend of Zelda combined, condensed, and polished into a beautiful pearl. I was so instantly in love with the characters and loved doing the little side quests. I also loved getting totally lost because I wanted to see how far I could swim and ended up on a different part of the island. The most impactful moment of this game is its finale, which I won’t spoil, but it is absolutely incredible.

8. Disco Elysium Many people more eloquent than me have said great things about Disco Elysium, and they are all correct. As someone who loves character building and creating a character to roleplay instead of playing as myself in a game, I have never been more enabled to do just that than Disco Elysium. The mystery was so cool, the mechanics are exactly what I like, the exploration is great. The one drawback of this game is that I literally cannot remember a single song from it. Maybe it had an amazing OST? Every game that is released nowadays has to have an amazing OST. There is so much reading in this game that the music really has to be unintrusive, and so it faded right into the background and out of my memory. I love that you could create your own persona in the game, but that you find your identification later and discover who you were before. Also, I would die for Kim Kitsuragi. The finale of this game also kicks ass - I will not spoil it but there is a moment that is so quiet and intimate that it took my breath away. What an amazing experience.

7. Persona 5: The Royal In 2017, I did something that is not the deciding factor, but definitely contributed to, my being sent to hell after I die. I was in an unhappy relationship and really wanted out, but my boyfriend at the time had a PS4 and I did not, and I really wanted to play Persona 5. As such, when he got the game and I borrowed it, I tried to finish it as quickly as possible so that I could give it back and break up with him. To my dismay, Persona 5 is upwards of 80 hours long, and I was burned out long before it was over. I finished the game with such resentment in my heart that I could not fathom why anyone would like it. As someone who is older, wiser, PS4-er, and in a better mental state, I decided to give P5R a try. Playing the remake at a much slower pace and really contemplating the story and characters made for a totally different and much more pleasant experience. I finally was able to shed my dislike for these characters who held me hostage 3 years ago and really appreciate them. Additionally, the new content they added to the original was SO good. The new music in Mementos makes that whole section bearable!! Akechi’s entirely reworked social link!! Maruki is one of Atlus’s most interesting characters, and the final dungeon was so so so interesting!! I am profoundly sad that I can’t recommend this game to anyone because 120 hours is just prohibitively long. Most impactful moment: when Akechi joins the party and he is like, totally feral, lol

6. Persona 3: Dancing In Moonlight Every once in a while my palms start to itch because it has been entirely too long since I’ve played a rhythm game. This palm itch feeling sunk me deep into Theatrhythm Final Fantasy back in 2017, and this feeling forced me to impulse buy Persona 3 Dance. I am furious that I liked this game so much, because I know it was created simply to extract money from fools like me. The story was so blatant about it! “It’s a dream, ok? We’re all dancing because it’s a dream and none of this matters. Go play a song, idiot.” I’m not even angry at this - I almost respect the hustle. Additionally, it was so wonderful to hang out with the Persona 3 crew again. I did also play Persona 5 Dancing in Starlight, but since I had already spent a hundred and twenty hours with the phantom thieves, there was no feeling of being reunited like with P3D. Also, in my mind palace, I consider P3D to have “actually happened”, and P5D to be the money grab hustle. S.E.E.S. is a cohesive unit. If Mitsuru Kirijo says it is time to dance, then dance we shall. I cannot be made to believe that Ryuji, Futaba, or Makoto will be compelled to dance even in a dream. Finally, having Elizabeth as your velvet room attendant did wonders. If there is a line between being a loveable eccentric and being annoying, Elizabeth tiptoes just around the former, whereas the twins are squarely located in the latter. The remixes in P3D also all kick ass (Burn My Dread Novoiski Mix? Deep Mentality Lotus Juice Mix?? Neither had any right to go as hard as they did), and I loved how they personalized the dance styles to the characters’ personalities. Even if this game was a money grabber, it was still made with love and respect for the series, and I loved playing it. Most impactful moment: That first king crazy ranking on all night difficulty... god damn

5. Vestaria Saga: War of the Scions I had mentioned earlier that I appreciated the FE3H DLC for adding challenge back into 3 houses, but then I played Vestaria Saga and I realized I simply did not remember what challenge actually was. Vestaria Saga, the game by Fire Emblem’s creator, is the hardest Fire Emblem game I’ve ever played. This game honestly rules - it closes its door to the waifus of modern fire emblem games and is a return to form with political intrigue and smart tactical decisions and well-rounded characters. Every single chapter has these wonderful and deeply stressful plot twists and you always have to scramble to get all of the objectives complete without dying. There is a moment in this game where the main Lord, Zade, scolds princess Athol for being so reckless, how he had to force the army to fight a losing battle to rescue her, and look at how exhausted everyone is. He gestures to his army, and for the first time in a tactical RPG, I felt it. In all the fire emblems I play, my units end up being able to dodge and tank any hits they receive, but in Vestaria Saga finishing a map was a stressful, long, and sweaty process. I loved every second of playing this game - it is so rewarding in its gameplay and so rewarding in its story. Most impactful moment: the kiss!!! And how all of them face consequences immediately afterwards!!! I adore this game.

4. Ring Fit Adventure Ring Fit Adventure is the most fun I’ve ever had with a gimmicky fitness game. This game finally understands that they key to continuing with the game and building good habits is the ability to unlock and equip beautiful athleisure clothing. I actually got gains from Ring Fit Adventure, and I know this because I stopped playing it for a month, came back, and was unable to finish the reps at the difficulty I set for myself. This game make gym stuff so genuinely fun in a way that no one else has been able to do. I also really like the feel of the ring con! I have a few moderate complaints about it (a fitness game will never be perfect, unfortunately): you always start reps on the same side, and if you kill enemies then you don’t get a chance to try the other side at all, the motion sensor on yoga poses is wack, and FUCK the robot baseball minigame game to hell. Despite this, I absolutely adore this game and what it stands for. I may never beat the campaign, but it will always have a place in my heart. Most impactful moment: the first fight with Drageaux

3. Final Fantasy 7 Remake I was so so so curious about the hype surrounding this game that in the month before its release I manically played through the original Final Fantasy 7 so that I would have enough background information to be able to play and enjoy the remake. I was very glad I did. FF7R kicks ass. It is my favourite Final Fantasy game ever, and maybe it will always be so. I take a lot of issue with most FF games because they get too cosmically big and ridiculous and nonsensical by the end and that ruins the immersion of the story for me. Since FF7R only covers the Midgar portion of the original, it is forced to create grounded characters and a grounded, smaller scale story. And it is AMAZING. I loved every single minute of this game. The OST is incredible, and the art in it is absolutely unbelievable. I love how they incorporated random encounter enemies in this more realistic version. Also the dialogue!!! The way these characters banter with each other is so life-like and true to character that it boggles my mind. Even the NPC side conversations - never has a city or town felt so alive and filled with people than in FF7R. The ending of this game filled me with PRIMAL fear for the future, but it is so clear that the team making this game loves the world and its characters so much that I cautiously say I trust them to take the story further in the later remakes. Most impactful moment: Cloud saying “bring it on bitch” to an enemy made me black out laughing

2. Hades I generally stay away from rogue-likes and from real-time combat because for a game-liker I SURE am bad at video games. However, everything Supergiant Games ever makes seems tailor made for me, so when Hades came out of early access I bought it, and then I didn’t stop playing it until 80 hours later when I had unlocked everything ever. This game is SO good. The voice acting and storytelling is phenomenal. They did a spectacular job blending the story with the core gameplay elements. They made dying in a rogue-like fun and rewarding. The music is (as always) transcendent. I cannot say enough good things about Hades. Most impactful moment: a tie between the first time you watch the sunrise after your first successful escape, and the romance social link between Zagreus and Thanatos

1. Animal Crossing: New Horizons Of course... Death Stranding may have prophesized the pandemic, but Nintendo created it to sell copies Animal Crossing New Horizons. This game saved all of us. The experience of having so many people I knew playing the same game all the time for the entirety of March and April was so incredible. I have plenty of quips about ACNH with relation to old games in the series (I loathe crafting, I loathe printing out Nook Miles Tickets one by one, and I worry that the sandbox landscaping feel of this game makes me less inclined than ever to actually talk to my villagers), but while they are all valid criticisms, they certainly did not stop me from pouring 350 hours and counting into this game. I have loved slowly, carefully crafting my island into a replica of Garreg Mach. I have loved collecting furniture and making turnip money and completing the museum. There is simply no other game that can be 2020′s game of the year. Most impactful moment: checking your mail and having one of your friends mail you an item that reminded them of you

#adventures of big man

0 notes

hurricanes-art · 3 years

Note

I really love your Hades au! The drawings are so well done and look lovely and the details you thought of are really interesting and well thought out and it makes me happy (except Nyx’s punishment, poor Zag)

Thank you so much!!! I’m so glad you enjoyed my art I’m glad you like the idea too! Poor Zag really does have a rough time in this au... Sorry for replying to this so late, I’ve been swamped with work recently, which is a shame because I’ve been chomping at the bit to make more stuff for this. But here, I do have a drabble for your troubles, and also the reason why I’ve been calling it the God of Ash au :D

(I also posted it to ao3 because why not, I guess. You can read it there, if you want)

“Asterius’s amiability won’t do any good, I fear; he takes his role of Champion too seriously to give any leeway. Suppose he feels he has to earn his place here, though I think he deserves it far more than Theseus- gods know he’ll never back down.”

Patroclus tsks softly. “For a certainty. See, you should have listened to me when I said that you’d make a far better champion. If you’d bested them and taken their place, you could give the stranger a free pass. When will you realize that I’m always right?”

Achilles releases a breathy laugh, gold curls flitting about him as he shakes his head. “Somehow, I don’t think that would have been quite so simple a solution. Though it’s always tempting when I imagine what Theseus’s face might look like if he was ever dethroned.”

The corners of Patroclus’s mouth twist up at the mental image. He leans further against Achilles where they sit on a low retaining wall in their familiar little glade. He idly winds and unwinds a lock of his hair around his fingers, soothed by the smooth slip of the strands over his skin.

“Perhaps it won’t be long now till he is,” Achilles posits thoughtfully. “The lad hasn’t given up yet.”

Patroclus tilts his head and meets Achilles’ eye out of the corner of his own. “You really think he can make it past the arena?”

His beloved shrugs lightly. “It seems like he can make as many attempts as he wants, can keep going unless his resolve fails him. I think it might be possible. I wouldn’t be-” The abrasive grind of the door sliding open interrupts rudely. “Well. Maybe not possible this time around.”

Patroclus turns to follow Achilles gaze across the chamber.

Zagreus stumbles over their little bridge, smiling tiredly despite his bedraggled state. Blood paints his temple from where it oozes from some wound hidden in his hair. The skin of his right shoulder is red and swollen, broken in some places, and Patroclus suppresses a wince at the thought of the bruise that would form, though he knows it will never get the chance. Cuts and scrapes mar his arms. He walks with a limp, though Pat can’t see the source.

He looks quite worse for wear. Patroclus informs him of such.

Zagreus laughs graciously, stumbling more over the last few steps towards them, seeming to go slack and relieved in their secure and sheltered glade. “I’m afraid you’re right,” he admits, the cadence of his voice sweet and earnest. “It’s not been the best of attempts.”

He glances at Achilles sheepishly. “Sorry sir, I’m not sure if I’m up for your- training pointers this time around.” He fumbles for the awkward words, apparently still unsituated and disbelieving in the face of Achilles’ advice, which he started to give a couple encounters ago.

“No worries, Zagreus,” he assures lightly. “They’re only meant to help you along, anyways, not to beat you down more.”

Pat hums gently and blinks lazily at the stranger. “Yes. Here take this,” he gestures to his usual offerings, “and take a moment, too, before going on your way.”

Zagreus’s smile reaches his eyes more at that and he takes the Kiss of Styx with a pretty dust of light pink across his cheeks. “As always, I can’t thank you enough, sir.” Patroclus rolls his eyes dramatically, but he’s not sure the stranger sees it as he dips his head politely.

He stays standing as he empties the dark, little vial and Achilles says, “Why don’t you take a seat lad? You’re welcome to rest for a moment. You look like you could use it.”

Zagreus studies him intently for a few moments, then shrugs. “If I sit down, I won’t want to get back up.”

Patroclus scoffs and quips, “I think that may be a sign that you really need to sit down.” Zagreus grins in response but remains on his feet regardless. Patroclus won’t insist where it’s not his place.

Instead he says, “At the risk of appearing rude, I must admit, I’m not very familiar with the chthonic deities. I don’t know all the gods of the Underworld. I thought you might be willing to sate some of my curiosity.”

Zagreus blinks at him, clearly surprised, but by no means offended. Patroclus is relieved to have apparently judged him correctly. “I- sure, of course! What were you curious about?”

Patroclus tilts his head. “-You. Who are you? What are you the god of?”

Zagreus blanches ever so slightly before flushing red. He laughs nervously and rubs the back of his neck as he ducks his head to avoid their gaze. “Sorry to disappoint you, sir. Some people in the house call me the God of Ash, but it’s only as a joke.” Through the ruffled, ink dark strands of his hair, Patroclus sees Zagreus set his mismatched eyes on his feet. The light of his fiery skin flickers and glows through the cracks and fissures in the build up of ash.

“I’m not really the god of anything at all,” the stranger announces.

Behind him, pressed up so that Patroclus feels it vibrate through him, Achilles hums a low, even noise, impossible to interpret, even as weighty as it feels in the air. Still, if he had to guess, he would think that his Achilles doesn’t believe that for a moment.

Patroclus isn’t so sure. He knows little about the ways of gods. Are some of them truly not gods of anything at all? And could Zagreus really be among their ranks? That, Patroclus finds less likely. He feels like the God of something. He can’t say exactly why, can’t pin it down. After all, the prince has only come through- oh, five or six times now. Just something in the air when he does, perhaps. Patroclus knows little about the ways of gods.

A little leaf falls from the crisp, autumn foliage of Zagreus’s laurels, wheeling through the motionless air of Elysium as if it has a life of its own. Patroclus watches, with an idle thought to collect it where it lands, but it flares like a minute ember and then flickers out just the same, leaving nothing behind when the stranger departs once again.

#hades game #hades supergiant #zagreus #achilles #patroclus #achilles hades #patroclus hades #god of ash au #my writing #thank you for such a nice ask #this was fun to write!#it was supposed to be shorter tho #which i can say about every single thing ive written #if i post more stuff before may 7 please kill me #i have so much to DO #missshadowpup

41 notes · View notes

extremelyblackandwhite · 4 years

Text

the unseen one - 13

Pairing: Hades!Bucky Barnes x Reader

Warnings: devil’s tango (also known as sexual themes=

A/N: have i ever told yall that i suck at writing smut? i do but it’s required, it is required so i’m sorry for my terrible smut writing. feedback is always appreaciated, enjoy xx

Next Chapter >>

Y/N and James were as happy as could be in the roof of the old apartment. He believed that even Elysium had nothing on how he felt being next to her right now with her head laying against his, his jacket now thrown over her shoulders due to her dress not being the most warm thing in the now rather cold night. Her hand was on top of his hands, carelessly drawing circles on the top of his hand as she pointed out some constellations on the night sky. James had come to realise she was quite the astronomy nerd, knowing a lot about the stars and the celestial bodies. He wondered if she knew the legends to all those stars and constellations, he also wondered if she knew how he would never find as much beauty in the stars as he found in her right now. The slight cold of the night made a reddish tint settle itself on her cheeks and the constant lip bitting whenever he spoke to her made him want to do unspeakable things to her. Things that she looked way to pure and innocent to go through.

Either way, he found himself kissing her uncovered shoulder from where the strap had been dangling down her upper arm. He left a few pecks on her shoulder bone, climbing upwards towards her neck. She held in a moan, leaning her head against her other shoulder, giving him all the access to continue his ministrations. He kept going up, leaving kisses and marks all over her jaw up until the corner of her lips. James stopped to look at her, the redness that had settled in her face due to the cold now redder due to a complete different factor. He was about to ask her if he could kiss her when her hands cupped his jaw, crashing her lips against his. He gripped her waist as he slowly lowered her onto the floor, his jacket falling behind her. He pushed her dress up to her abdomen, hands going up and down her waist as he took in her shape and her naked beauty although half of her was still covered by her dress.

- You are so beautiful. - he returned to kissing her neck while his hand went down her abdomen to her navel to the border of her underwear. He couldn’t help but smile at what she was wearing. She was wearing a white pair of knickers with little sunflowers and a lace border which were now spotting a wet patch, making him smirk. He lightly pressed his fingers against the wet patch of her underwear making her release a whining moan. His face looked upwards to see her, her jaw pushed upwards and eyes closed. What a sight. He pushed her underwear away from her, tossing it somewhere before climbing up her body once more to kiss her, to look into her eyes. Closeness, James now knew what he had been missing all these years. The years he was the Winter Soldier, the years he was the White Wolf, the years he was Hades, all those years lacking something, her. Closeness with her. - You gotta look at me, beautiful. Okay? I can’t do anything with you if you’re not looking at me, sweetness.

- Okay. - she opened her eyes, seeing him on top of her, lips slightly parted. She swore that sight alone was all she needed on those nights that not even the best raunchy novels in her nightstand could bring her to her release. He returned to kissing her neck, every once in a while biting her precious supple skin hard enough to leave a mark so that every man in Brooklyn knew who she loved at night. She was his and handling her like this made his possessive side grow even bigger. Maybe after this he’d regret it marking her like this but right now he did not care, he didn’t care as he moved his kissing from her neck to her collarbones, abdomen and navel. He left loving kisses on her navel before he flatted his tongue against her lips. Y/N’s back arched, hands coming to grasp his hair and the most beautiful sound he’d ever heard escape her glossy lips. He kissed her clit, pushing in one finger and returning to kiss her neck while she held tightly onto her hair, trying to find something to escape the pressure that was building itself in her lower belly. - James, oh god.

- You’re so wet, sweetness. Is that all for me?

- Yes, yes, James. - she blushed, embarrassed of her arousement. She hadn’t been intimate with someone since the last year of high school and that boy did not compare to the personification of beauty come to life that was James. She was whining his name against his ear, making his trousers feel even tighter almost as if he were a teenager once again. - I need you, James. Please.

- You don’t need to beg, sweetness. - his hands went to his belt, trying his best not to come undone just by how she looked under him almost like a renaissance portrait. He pushed his trousers along with his boxers down, followed by his shirt and returned to kiss her, almost as if he was going to die if he wasn’t somehow touching or kissing her skin. He placed both of hands on both sides of her head, eyes gazing into hers as he slowly pushed himself into her, both of them moaning once he got fully inside of her. - It’s okay, sweetness. You’re doing so good, you’re such a good girl.

- James, m-move, please. - he held his face over hers, lips slightly touching hers as he started a pace, slowly, not to hurt her but once she began to move her hips trying to fasten her pace, he realised there was no worries. He fastened his face, leaning to kiss her lips and her face as she moaned softly. Orpheus could never play a better sound than her moaning. - God, James.

- I know, sweetness. I know. - he groaned, feeling her spasm around him, her release fastly reaching its endpoint. She tossed her head back, finger nails trailing down his back in what was sure to leave a mark for the following days. She moaned loudly, reaching her hight which felt like the whole world had turned into a kaleidoscope of technicolours and all that mattered was him.

- I love you. - she cupped his face once he reached his maximum speed, watching his face twist as he let out a groan, reaching his own release, spilling into her, mumbling a few swear words under his breathe. It took him a few minutes to realise what she had said. - James?

- What did you just say? - he rolled over to the side, pushing her with him so she would stay on top.

- I ... I love you? - she hide her head on the space of his shoulder and neck, blushing even though she had just had sex on the roof top of an abandoned building. He kissed the top of her head, hand coming to pull her so she could look at him. - I’m sorry I jus ...

- I love you too, sweetness. I love you too. - he kissed her and in that moment nothing else mattered.

tag list: @philogrobizedvee @keithseabrook27 @inlovewith319

#sebastian stan #sebastian stan x reader #sebastian stan/reader #sebastian stan imagine #sebastian stan drabble #sebastian stan smut #bucky barnes #bucky barnes x reader #bucky smut #bucky barnes smut #bucky/reader #bucky imagine

209 notes · View notes

zelamorre · 7 years

Text

Horizon Zero Dawn Thoughts

So I finished Horizon Zero Dawn yesterday, and I thought I’d share some thoughts about it. I’m going to go into spoiler territory. If you don’t want to be spoiled, keep on scrolling. Also, this is kind of long and rambling, so warnings for that as well.

Okay. First off. Holy FUCK the diversity in this game. This is not a “Whites populated with whites” fantasy game. Everywhere you go, there are people of color in varying roles, with varying personalities. The level of racial diversity is impressive especially compared to the majority of games. Background characters, main characters, one time quest givers – the game does not shy away from racial diversity in any way, shape, or form. Which is quite refreshing as this isn’t seen in the majority of games.

Secondly, the representation of sexuality is great in this. When you first go into the Nora tribe, there is a male NPC talking to himself. “I know I like him, but do I like… like him?” I thought this was a nice, probably token nod to homosexuality the game. I’m used to games doing this. I’m used to media doing this. If there is a homosexual relationship portrayed, it’s going to be of hot women.

Throughout the game, though, you help a lot of couples both reunite and mourn each other – both homosexual and heterosexual alike. Gay male relationships are represented too. (Though there’s like one couple that both make it out alive, so…)

And while I’m on the subject, Aloy gets flirted with by both men and women in this game. While, sadly, there is no romance option, there is more than one person who lets their interest be known. I don’t know if this was a feature that was tabled, or if this is maybe something they’ll put into the sequel. (I’m partial to Avad or Vanasha, but I know there are some hardcore Varl fans out there too. Hell, I’m sure there’s a few Erend fans as well.)

Of course, a female protagonist who isn’t based around some sexualized premise is rare enough on its own. (In fact, the developers had to jump through hoops to get a female protagonist at all.) While described as “pretty” Aloy’s value is never focused around her looks.

Story wise, there are times when the game is awkward. “Bam! Exposition!” is the best descriptor I have for it. This is particularly noticeable in the first parts of the game, but does fade out as you progress. It is a bit jarring, especially as other parts flow so organically. A bit more editing on the script, a few more takes, and it might have felt smoother.

The theme of motherhood in this was strong, but never felt sappy or overwhelming to me. The Nora having a matriarchy based around child bearing was a good move as far as narrative shortcuts go. Of course, Aloy is so obsessed with her origin when she comes from a culture that is based around motherhood being an absolute strength. (Props for an unusual take on motherhood in this way instead of being some mystical, soft gobbly gook.)

This thread does seem to peter out mid-story before kicking back up at the end. A pity as I, personally, think it could easily have been woven in with Sun King Avad. With his brother Itamen having a different mother from him and the Shadow Carja calling Itamen the true Sun King, there is clearly a story there. Perhaps it is laid out in one of the scrolls I have yet to scan.

Instead of holding the theme of motherhood throughout the main story, it feels like a bit of a detour into Carja’s patriarchy. It falls into an equality narrative for a while. While not unrelated, I felt like the middle section was almost a different game for a while.

When it came to the main villain, the game was again a bit muddied. It feels as if it was supposed to be Aloy vs HADES as a mirror of Elizabet Sobek vs Ted Faro, with Aloy and HADES being more extreme examples of each other. But Helis and that Oseram dude whose name I’ve already forgotten – they felt ultimately unsatisfying to me. If they had been merged into one character, it might’ve been more satisfying to kill Helis. Instead, I felt as if those two were just in there because the game needed a couple boss encounters.

And speaking of Oseram dude whose name I can’t remember, let’s talk about Ersa. More specifically, how she’s a great example of “convenient death after one last conversation” is a thing in this game. Because it happens enough to be repetitive. How often it happens take away from the impact of what should have been a poignant death. What would have been an interesting end to a quest becomes run of the mill as it is mirrored in side quests.

And speaking of Ersa – let’s talk about Avad. Now, I love Avad as a character. I love him so much that when he asks Aloy to stay, I was very much into the Heart option. “I don’t think either of us are ready for that just yet,” I tell him. Then, later in the game, he asks for forgiveness for confusing me with Ersa. “You were right,” he says, referencing something my Aloy didn’t say.

Sometimes the game gives you a choice, but drives its own narrative anyway. This can get annoying. If you want the character to react in a specific way, don’t give a choice at all.

Aside from that, the game play is pretty damned solid. I only ran into a couple of glitches throughout the game. Once I got used to how the game wanted me to do the sprinting, the command functions were smooth. (Fuck hunting geese though. My final tearblaster upgrade is still unfinished.)

The Sci-Fi story was good. I think most people assumed this would be a “Mankind caused the apocalypse” story, and it was. But the story was pretty damned engrossing once I got to the actual creation of Zero Dawn. The desperation, the intrigue, the characters: they were all excellent.

My quibble with the whole thing was the idea that Elysium and GAIA Prime could be sealed for a lifetime, but that creating a living space underground would be impossible because of the swarm. To me, these things contradicted each other. If you can live for 100 years in Elysium, why can’t you sustain beyond that? Kind of a loophole – which I’m guessing is related to the whole mysterious signal thing.

Which, of course, brings me to the ending of the game. I knew Aloy was going to go to Elisabet’s home. That was a given. But I found myself really moved by the way it was done. The framing of the shots, the music playing – it was beautiful. (Even if it was a bit unbelievable that Elisabet was still sitting there untouched after hundreds of years.)

The credits were actually pretty nice with good shots as you moved through the cauldron. The thanks to cosplayers and fan artists was actually a surprise. Of course, the end with Sylens and HADES is Marvel levels of tease. There are a lot of places the story could go. Does Aloy try to reboot GAIA? Who sent the signal to HADES? Can APOLLO be restored? If so, will people actually want to listen to it?

What about the clone protocol? Elisabet’s notes said they decided not to implement that, but Aloy is her clone. Are there other Alphas out there? Did some of the other facilities around the world spawn human life as well, or was it just the North American one?

My theory about who sent the signal is that Ted Faro was successful in building his whatever. There is a data point that says some tribe somewhere believe the old ones still walk among them. Either he was successful in sustaining human life, or he built his own facility with a functioning education system like what he destroyed. (I’d wager him cloning himself too, but maybe not.)

Overall, I liked the game. The pacing was off in places, but I really enjoyed it.

#horizon zero dawn #spoilers #Horizon zero dawn spoilers

5 notes · View notes

dumbledearme · 6 years

Text

chapter thirty-nine—distractions, decisions

read Child of Land and Sea here

Act V — Walking On Water

Part II — I’m down to one last hope and I hope it’s you. Though, kid, you’re not exactly a dream come true.

After breakfast, Andy followed Anthony while he inspected the cabins. He started at the Poseidon cabin where Andy proclaimed she deserved a four out of five, after all she'd just returned to camp and didn't really have time to mess things up yet.

He made a face. "You're being generous," he said pointing at some clothes she had left on the ground.

"Yeah, well... I did make the bed! It's gotta count for something. I never make my bed!"

He considered. "Three out of five," he decided. "Because I like you."

Andy rolled her eyes but knew better than to argue.

The Aphrodite cabin got five out of five, obviously. "Great job as usual, Silena," Anthony told her. She nodded listlessly. The wall behind her bed was decorated with pictures of Beckendorf.

As they crossed the commons area, a fight broke out between the Ares and Apollo cabins. Anthony sighed and ignored them.

"What are they fighting about?" Andy finally asked.

Anthony scribbled on his inspection scroll, giving both cabins a one out of five. "That flying chariot," he said. Andy looked up and saw some Apollo campers armed with firebombs flying over the Ares cabin in a chariot pulled by two pegasi. "They captured it in a raid in Philadelphia last week. Some of Luke's demigods were there with that flying chariot. The Apollo cabin seized it during the battle, but the Ares cabin led the raid. So they've been fighting about who gets it ever since."

"But... We're fighting for our lives," Andy mumbled watching them fight, "and they're just-"

"They'll get over it," Anthony shrugged. "Clarisse will come to her senses."

"When did she ever have any sense?"

They kept walking. Demeter got a four. Hephaestus got a three. They probably should've gotten lower, but with Beckendorf being gone, Anthony cut them some slack. Hermes got a two, which was no surprise.

Finally they got to Athena's cabin, which was orderly and clean as usual. Only Anthony's bunk was messy, covered in papers, and his silver laptop was still running. Malcolm, the second-in-command, suppressed a smile. "Yeah, um... we cleaned everything else. Didn't know if it was safe to touch your things."

Andy grinned. "Four," she told Anthony. "Because I like you."

"Cute," he mumbled and started cleaning up his bunk. He shuffled his papers – mostly drawings of buildings and a bunch of handwritten notes. "What happened to Beckendorf," he started saying, "this whole thing... It makes you think about what's important. About losing people who are important."

Andy sat on the bed crushing some papers. Every time Beckendorf was mentioned, she felt short of breath. "I know."

"Andy..." he was trying to save his notes. "Do you mind...?"

She wasn't even listening. "Is everything cool with your family?"

He glanced at her surprised and nodded. He sat on the ground in front of her. "My dad wanted to take me to Greece this summer," he said wistfully. "I've always wanted to see-"

"The Parthenon."

Anthony smiled. "Yes."

"Maybe one day. If Olympus don't fall," she mumbled.

"Haven't you heard from Grover?" he asked suddenly. "The empathy link and everything?"

Andy shook her head. "Still spreading the word about Pan's death, I'd guess. Tony..." she lowered her voice. "If you were Kronos planning this war, what would you do next?"

"I'd use Typhon as a distraction," he said at once. "Then I'd hit Olympus directly, while the gods were in the West."

She held his eyes. "Last time I went to Rachel's house... In her room, she had... She had this drawing in her wall. The Empire State Building with lightning all around it. In the distance a dark storm was brewing, with a huge hand coming out of the clouds. And at the base of the building a crowd had gathered... An army."

"Andy," he said, "Rachel is just a mortal."

"She's also been drawing a lot of pictures of Luke," Andy insisted. "Of him as a child. How can she know what he looked like? And those other Titans – they said Olympus would be destroyed in a matter of days."

"We'll just have to be ready."

"How? Look at our camp! We can't even stop fighting each other. We're not ready for this. I'm not ready. How am I supposed to know when to get my soul reaped?"

Anthony sighed. "I knew we shouldn't have shown you the prophecy. All it did was scare you."

"I'm not scared. I'm just... Not ready yet."

"But you will be," he said. Anthony stood up and offered her his hand. "Come on."

"You're not gonna finish tiding up the place?"

"What for? You already crushed all my work, Andy," he said, but he was smiling, so she took his hand and followed him outside.

That afternoon they had an assembly at the campfire to burn Beckendorf's burial shroud and say their goodbyes. Silena sat nearby crying, while Clarisse and her boyfriend, Chris, tried to comfort her.

After the shroud had burned completely, Andy excused herself and headed toward the fighting arena where she found her dog, Mrs O'Leary. It was time for her walk. Andy opened the gates of the arena, and Mrs O'Leary bounded straight toward the woods.

Andy jogged after her. When she finally tracked her down, Mrs O'Leary was in a clearing with Juniper, Nico di Angelo and a very fat satyr who wasn't happy to see the hell-hound. "What is this underworld creature doing in my forest? You there, Jackson! Is this your beast?"

"Sorry, Leneus," Andy said.

"Make it go away! Juniper, I will not help you under these circumstances!"

Juniper turned toward Andy. "I was just asking about Grover," she said. "I know something's happened. He wouldn't stay gone this long if he wasn't in trouble."

"I told you," the satyr protested. "You are better off without the traitor."

"He is not a traitor!" Juniper stamped her foot. "He is the bravest satyr ever, and I want to know where he is!"

"I'll walk the dog," Nico offered. He was taller than the last time Andy had seen him. His presence had been quite frequent in her life the past year: he was always coming over her house to try and convince her of certain things... And also because Sally loved to cook for him. He whistled, and Mrs O'Leary bounded after him to the far end of the grove.

"Now," Leneus said, "as I was trying to explain, young nymph, your boyfriend has not sent any reports since we voted him into exile."

"You tried to vote him into exile," Andy corrected him.

"This is none of your business, Jackson!"

"Grover is my friend," she said. "He wasn't lying to you about Pan's death. I saw it myself. You were just too scared to accept the truth."

Leneus's lips quivered. "No! Grover's a liar and good riddance. We're better off without him."

"We need Grover," Andy promised. "There's gotta be a way you can find him with your magic."

"I've heard nothing," the old satyr crossed his arms. "Perhaps he's dead."

Juniper choked back a sob. "He isn't dead," Andy told her. "I would know. Leneus... find him. There's a war coming. Grover was preparing the nature spirits."

"Without my permission! And it's not our war."

In a wave of anger, Andy grabbed him by the shirt. "You listen to me. When Kronos attacks, he's going to have packs of hell-hounds. He will destroy everything in his path. You're supposed to be a leader. So lead. Get out there and see what's happening. Find Grover and bring Juniper good news. Or I'll make you sorry before Kronos has his chance." She didn't push him very hard, but he fell on his furry rump, then scrambled to his hooves and ran away with his belly jiggling. "Was that too much?" Andy asked Juniper.

The nymph wiped her eyes. "I didn't mean to get you involved, Andy. Leneus is still a lord of the Wild. You don't want to make an enemy out of him."

"Trust me, Juniper. I've got worse enemies than over-weight satyrs."

Nico walked back. "Good job, Jackson. Judging from the trail of goat pellets, I'd say you shook him up pretty well."

"I was wondering when I'd see you again. Did you come by just to see Juniper? Or were you hoping to find me?"

The boy blushed. "Uh, yeah... This here was an accident. I sort of dropped in the middle of their conversation."

"You scared us to death!" Juniper said. "Right out of the shadows. Oh, Nico, you're the son of Hades and all! Are you sure you haven't heard anything about Grover?"

He shook his head. "He isn't human or even half-human. If he dies, he will reincarnate into something else in nature. I can't sense things like that, only mortal souls."

"But if you do hear anything...?" she pleaded, putting her hand on his arm. Nico winced. Andy was now used to his embarrassment and discomfort about being touched but Juniper obviously had no idea.

Nico's cheeks got even brighter red. "Um, you bet. I'll keep my ears open," he said taking a step away from her.

"We'll find him," Andy promised. "Grover's alive."

Juniper smiled and poofed into green mist.

"I'm sorry about Beckendorf," Nico said meeting the sea-green eyes.

"You-"

"I talked to his ghost. He doesn't blame you or anything, if that's what you're worried about." A lump formed in Andy's throat; she forced it down. "He figured you'd be beating yourself up, and he said you shouldn't."

She nodded. "What's going to happen to him?"

"He's staying in Elysium. Said he's waiting for someone. Not sure what he meant, but he seems okay with death."

Silena, Andy thought. "What else have you been up to?" she tried to change the subject. "My mom's been asking about you. She wants to try this new recipe... She said you're the best guinea pig in the world."

Nico actually smiled. "Makes me hungry just thinking about it," he admitted. "I've been following leads on my family. Spying on Titans. All sorts of things. But you know what I'm here for."

Andy looked away, fear creeping in her stomach. Ever since Nico first proposed his plan for beating Kronos, she'd had nightmares about it. Then Sally would invite Nico over and he would press Andy for an answer, but she kept putting him off. "I haven't made up my mind."

"I know. But Typhon's coming," he reminded her. "You've got what? A week? Most of the other Titans are unleashed now and on Kronos's side. Maybe it's time for you to make a choice." He glanced toward the camp. "They're no match for the Titan army. You know that. In the end, it'll come down to you and Luke. And there's only one way you can beat him."

"I-"

"You can have the same powers he has," Nico pressed on. "You heard the prophecy. You have no other choice."

Andy frowned. "How do you know I heard the prophecy?"

"I know a lot of things."

Andy raised her eyebrows. Apparently, he knew more than he should. "Well, anyway... You can't prevent a prophecy."

"But you can fight it. You can become invincible."

"Maybe we should wait. I haven't talked to Ant-"

"No!" Nico snarled. "It has to be now!"

Andy stared at him. The boy had a terrible temper. "Why do you want me to do this so bad?"

Nico took a deep breath. "You're the only one who can."

"Why?"

"Because..." he stopped himself. "Look, when the fighting starts, we won't be able to make the journey. This is our last chance. I'm sorry if I'm being too pushy, but Bianca gave her life to save you. To protect you. From the very beginning, you were the chosen one. And I'm gonna do whatever it takes to keep you alive. To... to defeat Kronos."

Andy was surprised he cared so much for her well being since he had spent a long time wanting her dead. "Alright," she gave in. "I do have to make a choice. I have to do something. So tell me what to do."

His cold creepy smile made her sorry she'd agreed. "First, we need to retrace Luke Castellan's steps. We need to know more about his past, his childhood."

"Why?"

"I want to be sure of something," Nico said. "I've already tracked down his mother. She lives in Connecticut."

"He ran away when he was really young," Andy remembered. "I didn't think she was alive."

"Oh, alive she is." The way he said it made Andy wonder what was wrong with her.

"Okay," she said. "How do we get there?"

"We shadow travel."

"We shadow...?"

"I can't do it often," he explained, "and it works best at night, of course. But all shadows are part of the same substance. There is only one darkness, and creatures of the Underworld can use it as a road, or a door."

"I have no idea what you just said."

"No," Nico said. He came toward her, slowly, carefully, and took her hand on his. It was the first time he'd ever touched her out of his free will. His skin was so cold she almost pulled away. "It took me a long time to learn. Close your eyes." He was standing so close Andy was afraid he was going to kiss her like Rachel had, but she did what he said. Then his body turned as cold as the dark side of the moon and Andy felt herself being pulled with him.

#andromeda #andy jackson #anthony chase #andony #fanfic #genderbend #dfcrosas #child of land and sea #walking on water #fem percy jackson

3 notes · View notes