#she would honestly rather die than have apollo find out about it | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

panda-noosh · 3 years

Text

the normal one {Leo Valdez x Reader}

Words: 14k

Summary: Your sister is the demigod. You’re just the unlucky one who got dragged into her mess.

Genre: angst??

Notes: support my writing or ask me about commissions! - omg happy first day of nano y’all.

---

You never knew your sister was a demigod.

Of course you didn't; it's not the kind of thought that crosses the mind of a logical individual, though it seems obvious now that you're being greeted with the proof.

Emma has never been particularly normal. She's three years older than you, and yet she carries herself like she's been through years upon years of unforgiven trauma, glaring at anyone who dares even speak to her. You used to just describe her as grumpy, not-a-morning-person, just leave her alone and you'll be fine.

Now, you're beginning to think it might not be as simple as all that.

Your day starts off pretty normal; you wake up, greeted by the sunlight streaming through the curtains you once again forgot to close over the previous night. You look down, not surprised to see you're still dressed in a pair of jogging bottoms and a loose white shirt instead of the pyjamas your sister has been trying so desperately to make you wear at night. You got ready, brushing the knots from your hair before marching downstairs.

Your mum is in the kitchen, whistling to herself, frail hands forever trembling around the pot of boiling oatmeal; you and your mum don't really talk that much. She favours Emma over you, and she's never found much point in wasting breath on the child she doesn't necessarily like. She'll smile, feed you, let you have a roof over your head, but neither of you pretend like your relationship with each other is permanent. One day you're going to move out, and your mum is never going to contact you, never going to step foot in your house, never going to give you a house-warming gift.

You're fine with that.

Emma is sat at the kitchen table, her head in her hands. It's not even that weird of a sight, considering you've always known Emma to be into the dramatics. You sit across from her, folding your arms over the table before whispering, rather loudly, "Rough night?"

Her head jerks up, revealing her wild, bloodshot eyes. "What?"

You laugh, grabbing an apple from the fruit bowl in the centre of the table. "You look like shit, Em. Where have you been all night?"

Her jaw twitches, and she doesn't respond, which is a pretty normal reply for her, especially at this time of day.

"Whatever," you mumble. "Can I borrow that fancy deodorant you bought back from that summer camp you go to?" Emma nods. You grin, banishing the conversation all together as you stand and skip upstairs.

So, yeah. The day was starting off pretty normal. Not a single worry in sight. You would go to school, mope around classes for a few hours, come home and stress eat over a pile of unfinished homework that was probably due multiple days ago.

Instead, you have to deal with the boulders being thrown through Emma's bedroom window.

The first one hits just as your grabbing Emma's fancy deodorant from her bottom drawer. There is no warning, no low whoosh sound that would give you a chance to step away and make a run for it - no. Instead, it goes straight to the shattered glass and bloodied arms. Instead, it goes straight to the boulder smashing against your hand, crushing your fingers against the wall.

You are stuck, legs crumbling beneath you. You should be slipping to the floor right now, probably unconscious, maybe dead, but your hand, trapped between the biggest rock known to man and the wall, keeps you upright. Blood leaks from gashes forming on your fingers, dribbling down your wrist, your arm, dripping onto your knees. You stare at the scene in shock for a moment, unable to register what on earth has actually just happened.

And then Emma is screaming your name, thundering up the stairs, and you're crying out, trying to form words but they get lodged in your throat, replaced by the overwhelming pain and realisation that you're going to die, you're going to fucking die on your sisters bedroom floor because there is so much blood, and there is no way in hell you won't be drained before the end of this day, probably within the next ten minutes, probably within-

The door opens. Emma barrels inside, wielding a golden sword that honestly just makes you think of course she has a golden sword.

"You son of a bitch!" she cries out, darting to her bedroom window. She stands upon the sill and waves her arms at the sky. "You got the wrong L/N, you idiot! Get back here and finish me off if you're so tough!"

"Emma," you croak, tears flooding down your cheeks. "Little help here."

"It's the giants." She leaps off the window sill and swivels round, darting to your side. Something has changed in her, something you've never seen before; she seems stronger, her eyes a little brighter yet still eerily dark at the same time.

She crouches beside you and begins manoeuvring your trapped hand back and forth. You hiss, throwing your head back as blood spurts down your arm, staining your shirt. Emma grits her teeth, keeping her eyes peeled on her work. "They've found me," she continues muttering. "We need to get out of here - all of us. You, me, Mum. They know where the house is. How did they find out where the bloody house is?"

"Can you shut the fuck up talking crazy for one second?"

Emma pays you no mind, taking a tiny knife from her back pocket and wriggling it between the wall and the boulder. "I'll have to get in touch with Chiron, tell him I'm bringing a few mortals with me to camp this summer."

You grunt. "I'm not going to some hippy-Christian summer camp with you."

"It's not a hippy-Christian summer camp." Emma swats your head, forcing you to look away from the blood dribbling down your arm. "It's a place that will keep you safe, alright? So don't argue."

"Don't tell me what to - AH!" The boulder falls, crashing to the floor. Tables rattle, things tumble off shelves, and your hand is freed. You pull it to your chest, but Emma doesn't let it go unaided for long - she grabs your wrist and tugs it back, examining the damage; your nerves have clearly been ripped, fingers cold from lack of feeling. Gashes have been made into the back of your hand, fingers torn to shreds.

She shakes her head. "I'll get Will to have a look at this."

"No, you idiot, you'll call 999 before-"

"We have to go now. That giant will be back soon enough, especially once he realises I'm taking you guys with me." Emma doesn't even give you a chance to respond before she's grabbing your good hand and dragging you from her bedroom. You hiss in pain, stumbling behind her, but there's really no point in arguing. When Emma has her mind set on something, she goes for it no matter what objections people put in place. Mum always said she gets that from her dad, but you've never met the man, so you wouldn't know.

Speaking of your dear old mother, the woman doesn't even give you a second glance when Emma drags you into the living room and shoves you onto the sofa next to her; she's frozen in fear, fingers pulled to her lips as she bites on the nails, a habit she's had for as long as you can remember.

She shakes her head, dazed. "He's coming back to me. He's sending signs."

Emma groans. Looking over, you see her with a phone pressed to her ear, big and bulky with an oversized antennae peeking from the top of it. "Mum, that wasn't Dad sending signs. That was a giant trying to kill me."

You blink, certain your blood loss is contributing to this wild conversation somehow. "A giant? Your dad?"

Emma raises a finger, telling you to be quiet. Mum whimpers at the movement and goes back to chewing her nails, gazing steadily out the window. She looks terrified, but her knee is bouncing in that way it always does when she's excited. You've given up trying to understand her. In fact, you've given up trying to understand your entire family.

So you just sit there, trying to fight off the black spots dotting your vision and the blood dribbling through your fingers; you don't know why Emma hasn't called 999 yet, considering you're basically on the verge of unconsciousness, but your throat is too dry to ask. Instead you listen as she says, "Leo! Where are you? Are you close?" and then she sighs in relief, and within three minutes, there's a knock on the door and she's barrelling out of the living room to grab it.

You look up, dazed, when she returns with a small curly haired boy in tow. He's a bit scruffy, you have to admit, but in a cute way, like a bunny with a bit of dirt on its nose.

"Not really the time for guests, is it, Em?" you grumble, before falling face first into the floor.

---

You wake up, and immediately wish you hadn't.

Emma always messes things up - always.

Her life has to be so damn dramatic all the damn time, and you're getting pretty damn sick of being dragged into it. All you want to do is sit in bed with a nice blanket and a cup of tea, maybe practice a bit of witchcraft, maybe sink into the dirt and become one with nature.

You don't want to be hunted down by rabid, murderous giants, that's for sure.

You also don't want to be trapped in a hospital bed at some hippy-Christian camp you don't even know the name of. But that's exactly what has happened.

When you open your eyes, you're greeted by the sight of white, cloth walls and multiple eager faces gazing down at you. Most of them have blonde hair and the brightest eyes you have ever seen, and then there's that curly haired boy, and Emma herself, and there's a guy who is half horse-

"Oh god, this is death. I've died."

"She's awake!" the curly haired boy - Leo, you remember - cries, throwing his hands in the air. "Good job, Apollo kids! Another point for you!"

"Shut up, Leo." One of the many blonde haired kids steps forward and places the back of his hand against your forehead; in any other situation, you might have pulled away and told him to step back, but the feel of his skin against your own is surprisingly soothing. It's almost against your will when you melt into it, eyes gliding shut. Your hit with images of you and Emma as children, running through fields, her punching that guy in the nose because he called you short that one time, and-

He snatches his hand back, startling you back to reality. "The fevers definitely going down," he says, turning to Emma.

"Uh, excuse me," you chirp, raising a timid hand. "She's not my legal guardian, I'll have you know." You glance at Emma. "Where is my legal guardian, by the way?"

Emma rolls her eyes, and that's answer enough.

"Ah. Frollicking in the leaves again?"

Emma hums. "I left her to it; we have bigger things to worry about than her love life."

"That's a bit morbid, Emma," says Leo. "Love is a magnificent thing."

"So is me not dying," you say, before turning back to the blonde haired boy. "Can I leave?"

The boy blinks, staring at you like you have two heads. It almost makes you uncomfortable, but his eyes are so pretty, and the way his palm felt against your forehead-

Leo shoves to the front. "Will here is gay, Y/N. Stop staring."

You look away, flustered. "I wasn't even staring."

"Yeah, you were. I see that look of lust on people all the time - I get it a lot, to tell you the truth."

You look at his curls, the oil on his tattered overalls, the dirt smothering both his cheeks, nose and hands.

"I'm sure you do, big guy. I'm sure you do."

Will sighs, shoving Leo out the way again. "I'm gonna do a final check up before I let you leave; I can't give mortals any nectar or ambrosia, so the healing process might take-"

Awkwardly, Emma coughs. The entire tent goes silent, turning to her with raised brows and narrowed eyes, but all you can focus on is Will's strange choice of vocabulary. Nectar. Ambrosia. Those don't sound like common prescription pain meds.

"Emma..." Will drawls. "What have you-"

"I'll talk to them," Emma mumbles. "Can you guys just give us a minute?"

You grab Will's hand. "Please don't leave me alone with her."

Will gives you a timid smile, squeezing your hand gently before he, Leo and all the other blonde haired strangers exit the tent, leaving just you and Emma to your own devices.

And honestly, Emma's your best friend. She means the world to you. She's the one person in that god forsaken house that actually pays you any attention, and it doesn't even matter that she's the favourite, that Mum basically licks the ground she walks on for a reason you have yet to pinpoint. You love Emma with all your heart, but right now, you would rather be anywhere but in her presence.

You pull the quilt up to your chin and say, "I'm very confused."

Emma pulls a stool over and takes a seat. "I know. I should have explained. I need to explain."

"Yes, you do."

She hollows out her cheeks, which only makes your fear spike - you've never seen Emma act like this. She's usually so brave, bold, confident. She doesn't do a single thing without planning it out perfectly beforehand, and yet here she is, looking completely stumped. You almost feel bad for her until you remember the way she completely ignored your pleas for her to call 999 when you were fairly certain you were bleeding out.

"Well?" you push. "Go on, Em. I'm listening."

Emma sighs, scrubbing a hand down her face. "Do you have any idea where we are right now?"

"Absolutely none. There was a guy with a horse body-"

"That's Chiron. He's a centaur."

You blink. "Okay."

"This place is called Camp Half-Blood; it's where I go to every summer."

"Well, I assumed."

"It's a camp for Half-Bloods. Demigods. People who are half-god, like. . . like me. Like Leo, and Will, and probably loads of other kids, too."

It's starting to get jumbled now, a string of words that don't form to make a coherent, sensible sentence.

You don't even respond, simply staring at Emma until she is forced to continue.

"It sounds insane, I know, but I'm not lying. I'm a demigod, Y/N, daughter of Ares."

It goes silent, because of course it does. What are you even meant to say to that? The logical part of you says to just call her out on her lies, ask her where the hell you actually are and where Mum is and why she brought you here in the first place. But the other half recognises that Emma being the daughter of a war god kind of makes perfect sense.

In your conflicted state of disbelief, you say neither of those things. Instead, you look at Emma and say, "Mum hooked up with a god?"

Emma breathes a laugh, closing her eyes. "Yes, little one, she did."

"And she couldn't have done the same thing when she was conceiving me?"

Emma winces. "I don't want to talk about Mum conceiving either of us, thank you very much."

You shake your head. "So that's why she's always hated me."

"Mum doesn't hate you-"

"I'm the repair kid. I'm the one who-"

Leo pops his head in the door. "Did someone say repair kid?"

Emma looks up, giving Leo a tired little wave. "You can come back in now. Y/N's all caught up."

"Oh, happy days!" Leo marches in and reaches for your good hand, giving it a vigorous shake. "Leo Valdez, son of Hephaestus. Nice to properly meet you."

"Y/N L/N, child of - uh - that guy from McDonalds.

Emma stands up quickly, grabbing Leo's shoulders as his eyes narrow. "Alright! Now that we've got the niceties out of the way, I think it's time we let Will back in here so he can do his final check up. Sound good?"

"Sounds fantastic," you mumble, sinking down into the pillows. "Bring the nice looking blonde boy to me now, please."

----

Camp Half-Blood kind of looks like a dream scape. But a really bad one.

A nightmare-scape.

There's sword fighting, and teeny tiny girls in green dresses that get wildly offended when you call them Tinkerbell. There's people riding around on winged horses like it's no big deal, and you're almost certain it was raining when you left the house earlier, so why is it sunny and warm right now?

Leo is the one who greets you when you're finally allowed to step out of the tent - the infirmary, apparently, run by the kids of Apollo. All of them were really nice. They all had really nice hands.

"You're looking fresh," Leo says, tucking his hands in his pockets as the two of you stroll across camp together. "Will and his siblings really know what they're doing, huh? I had my doubts, with you being a mortal and all. I don't know how often they work on people like you."

You shrug. "It was just a bit of nerve damage in my hand."

"You passed out."

"I blanked. It happens to the best of us."

Leo's lips twitch. It shows you just the briefest hint of dimples, and you hate that it immediately turns your tough-guy demeanour to mush. It seems like you have a soft spot for demigods. You look away quickly, tucking your hands - bandage and all - into your pockets. It's this movement that seems to tilt Leo's attention to the clothes you're wearing, all of which are smothered in your own blood.

Pleasant.

He grimaces, stopping dead in his tracks. You would continue walking, being an independent mortal and all that, but you don't know your way around this place, and you'd rather not accidentally walk into a fighting arena. So, you stop and look back at him. "What's wrong?"

"You need a change of clothes, my friend."

You blink. "No, I don't think-"

"They might be a bit big on you, but I have the perfect pair of overalls you could borrow. Come on. To Bunker 9 we go."

He starts walking away before you even have a chance to protest. It really puts the fear of god - gods? - in you, because at that very moment, a winged horse slams into the floor at your side. You squeal, immediately sprinting after him, and the bastard doesn't even turn back to look at what has just startled you. He merely grins, cocky and annoying, and says, "Yeah, stick with me and that won't happen."

You grunt, knowing he's right.

The two of you arrive at Bunker 9 in no time. It's like an old bomb shelter, with tin walls and a door that looks like it's about to fall off it's hinges. You make a joke about why Leo can't just fix the hinges, considering he's a machine expert and all that, and Leo rolls his eyes and says, "I'm busy enough as it is."

The room lights up without a switch needing to be flipped, which you think is pretty cool.

"My school used to have lights like that," you point out, gazing up at the ceiling. "They were motion censored."

"Mm. They're handy little things until you haven't moved in fifteen minutes and they switch off whilst you're still standing there. The amount of times I've nearly put a screw through my finger." He shakes his head, tossing aside discarded tools in his search for the overalls he promised you. "Mental."

You pluck at a random copper wire hanging out of a drawer. "So, is this like. . . your dorm room?"

"Hm?" Leo looks at you. "Oh, no. I don't sleep in here - I sleep in the Hephaestus cabin. I'm the head counsellor, so I have to keep an eye on things, you know."

You raise a brow. "Is your bed more comfy in the Hephaestus cabin?"

"That, too." He blushes, lowering his eyes back to his search. "But honestly, my job is pretty important. I've got to keep that place running, keep all my siblings in check."

"I'm not being funny, if Emma tried telling me what to do, I would tell her to piss off."

Leo scoffs. "Yeah, I got that vibe off you."

"So how do you do it?"

Leo pauses, glancing over his shoulder."How do I do what?"

You push yourself up onto the counter, ignoring the saw dust that now litters your hands and the back of your already ruined jeans. "How do you get them to listen to you? You don't look to be much older than I am - surely you have older siblings in that cabin of yours. It can't be easy getting them to fall into line, too."

Slowly, Leo turns. He leans against the chest of drawers he has been digging through, regarding you with a single raised brow. His gaze is hard, but you keep the eye contact, smiling just the tiniest bit.

He doesn't respond with words. Instead, he stretches his hand out, palm towards the ceiling, and uncurls his fingers, revealing a bright orange flame dancing in the centre. It doesn't make you jump as it probably should have; instead, you are mesmerised, caught in the slick movements of the tiny ball of fire.

You slowly reach out. Leo slams his hand closed and pulls back. "You can't touch it."

"I wasn't going to."

"You were fully going to touch it."

You scowl, folding your arms over your chest. "What was the point in showing me that?"

He turns on his heel, going back to digging through the chest of drawers. "That's why I'm head counsellor - no other child of Hephaestus can do that." He glances at you. "You don't think it's weird?"

"Well, yeah - very weird." You shrug. "But who am I to judge? I can do this thing where I dislocate my shoulder, and that's pretty weird, too."

Leo blinks, mouth opening like you've caught him off guard. He swipes his tongue along his lower lip before he turns away and mumbles, "Yeah. That is pretty weird."

Bunker 9 is doused in silence after that. Leo rummages through his drawers as you inspect every nook and cranny of the place, running your fingers along the tin walls, picking up tools you have never seen before; you can feel Leo watching you from the corner of his eye, probably making sure you're not stealing anything. Honestly, the golden screwdriver set is pretty tempting, but you wouldn't want to risk getting on a demigod's bad side.

Finally, after what feels like far too long, Leo pops his head up, grinning broadly with a set of overalls in his hands. "Found them!" He tosses them at you with no warning; you just barely manage to catch them. "They got shrunk in the wash, so I was gonna rip them up for hand towels in here, but I'm sure they'll be more useful for you."

You pull them into your chest. "They smell like oil."

Leo spreads his oil stained hands. "Yeah, well, that's how life is, love. I'll let you get changed - I promise I won't peak!"

Laughing, he leaves Bunker 9; his footsteps stop there, though, and there's a glimmer of relief when you realise he isn't just walking away and leaving you to your own devices.

You get changed quickly, bundling your blood stained clothes into a ball and shoving them beneath your arm - you don't know where you can possibly wash them, but you refuse to leave this camp in Leo's old overalls. First of all, they're much too big on you, pooling over your feet despite Leo's own small stature. The striped shirt he gave you to put underneath it has oil spots embedded in it, too, which just makes you look like even more of a slump. Nonetheless, you throw open the door to Bunker 9 with your arms outstretched and call out, "How do I look?"

Leo peaks his head around and freezes.

You drop your arms, rolling your eyes. "Don't be so dramatic. This isn't a romance movie."

His nose erupts into flames. He yelps, swatting the fire away before he awkwardly coughs and says, "Good. You look good."

You grin. "Thank you. Do you have any idea where I can put these?" You offer up your pile of clothes. Leo takes them from your hands and tosses them over your shoulder, back into Bunker 9. You frown. "Do you have a washing machine in there?"

"It won't take me long to rig one up. I'll have them washed before you leave, don't worry." He offers his arm, grinning yet again. "Now, how about we go up to the dining pavilion and get some food? I'm starving!"

----

Leo did not know one of his best friends was related to such an attractive individual.

It wasn't really that big of a shock when he walked in and saw you sitting there in the living room, looking dazed and out of it with blood dribbling from some pretty severe cuts in your hand. Emma had rang him and filled him on all the details, so there was no surprise at the scene. And plus, Emma's not exactly ugly. She has that rough look to her, sure, but Leo would probably date her if she asked him. Again, it wasn't much of a surprise when he walked in and saw you there, all pretty with the innocence only a mortal could have.

But then he got a glimpse of your personality.

No. Scratch that. He got an entire bucketload of your personality, and he was still craving more by the end of it.

He tried his hardest to fight off these feelings, because he's felt them before - with almost every person he finds attractive, in fact. He gets it lodged in his head that he can impress them, that this is the one and he can make it work if he just tries hard enough. It's kind of hard not to think that way - hopeful, desperate, almost - when all his friends are hooking up and getting boyfriends and girlfriends, generally just having the time of their damn lives. And Leo is just. . . making machines.

But then the two of you went and had dinner together, and he found himself asking if you wanted to go for a walk along the lake before you would have to go to bed. You had agreed, and the conversation had continued, and Leo has never laughed so much in his entire life.

You tell stories of these little memories you have with Emma, enjoying the embarrassing little details you add in whenever you can. Leo struggles to imagine the daughter of Ares being anything close to the Emma you're describing, but he can tell in the passion of your words you're not telling lies.

"What about you, though?" he asks.

Your hands drop to your side, smile curving. "What about me?"

"Well, you're going on about Emma and all the cool stuff she used to do - what about you, though? What have you been up to?"

It's a pretty simple question in Leo's mind; with his ADHD brain, he is able to come up with a million different answers on the spot.

You, however, look at him with a raised brow. He stares right back.

Finally, you crack and say, "Uh. . . I've been doing some school work, I guess."

Leo blinks. "You go to school?"

"I do indeed. I'm studying psychology, but it's really difficult, so I might drop it."

Leo nods like he understands, even though he doesn't. All he really remembers of his school days is him sitting in the back of the classroom plotting his next escape. "Interesting," he says. "Does Emma go to school?"

"She's doing an apprenticeship at some mechanics place. She dropped out when she turned sixteen."

"Naughty."

You shrug. "She does what she wants. I would love to drop out, but Mum would flip." Leo glances at you; the mention of your Mum seems to be something a little heavy, as your smile immediately dips, your shoulders slumping. Leo knows he probably shouldn't pry, but he's Leo, so he does anyway.

"Is your mum tough on you?"

"No. She's not tough at all. She's not light, either. She just. . . lives with me, I guess."

"She just lives with you?"

You inhale, looking out over the lake. For a moment, Leo thinks you might start crying, but then he shakes that thought out of his mind, because you don't seem like the type to cry in front of a stranger, and that's really all Leo is, which is why he shouldn't expect you to open up to him right now, not if this is something you don't want to-

"Mum only had me because she wanted to see if she could get over Emma's dad." You wince. "Ares, I guess."

Leo pauses. His fingertips start glowing, a sign of his anger, but he shoves them in his pockets and dispels the flames before you see them. "That's horrible."

You shrug halfheartedly. "It's fine. She was crazy about the guy from what I've heard - it's why Emma's her favourite. She's the only piece of him she has left, really."

"But that doesn't mean-"

"You don't have to tell me she's a bad mother, Leo. I know. I've known from day one; I've just gotten used to it." You pick up a rock and toss it into the lake. "Honestly, we're better off out of each other's hair anyway; put us in a room together and make us talk, we'll probably burn the house down."

Leo doesn't know how to respond; he's never felt like that. Ever. Even with his dad, there's always been some level of affection there, even though his dad is a Greek god who only pops in when he wants something; Hephaestus has never straight-up ignored him, never made his favouritism clear.

Leo finds he wants to punch something, and not even the steady whisper of the lake can calm him down. He walks a little bit behind you as the silence settles, you picking up random rocks and tossing them into the water, apologising profusely when the eighteen tentacled octopus pokes its head up and yells at you.

Your calmness makes it even worse, though, because that lets Leo know that this treatment is something you've grown used to. You've never known any different.

----

Three days in, and Emma still insists on keeping you at Camp Half-Blood.

"You're not leaving until that giant is dead, and that might take a while."

You drape your arm over your forehead, still sprawled across her bed in the Ares cabin. It's a pretty musty cabin, to be fair, but you won't mention that when all of Emma's siblings are glaring daggers at you. "Do you have any idea how many assessments I'm missing? Mr Wrightchuck is gonna be furious with me, and I do not have the mental energy to deal with his shit right now."

Emma throws a pair of shorts at you. "Shut up and fold those for me."

You grunt, sitting up and getting to work; you've decided to make yourself at least a little bit useful around here. These people were nice enough to offer you accommodation, even though it's clear being around mortals isn't exactly their everyday routine. The amount of times you've hissed in pain because of your hand and been offered a chunk of ambrosia is uncountable.

"So," Emma starts suddenly, taking you by surprise; she hardly ever initiates conversations, preferring to brood in her own head when she can get away with it.

You look at her, sitting cross legged on the floor in front of the bright pink laundry hamper she stole off your Aunt Grace. She's not even looking up, lips pursed, eyebrows raised as if expecting you to fill in the blanks from that single word.

"So, what?" you push. "What did I just say, Emma? I don't have the mental energy-"

"You and Leo have been hanging out an awful lot these past few days."

You pause. That certainly wasn't what you had been expecting to hear.

"Uh. . . I suppose. He's a cool guy. Cool fire, and stuff." You wriggle your fingers, imitating flames, though Emma's sideways glare makes you mumble an apology and drop your hand to your side. "Is there something wrong with Leo and I being pals?"

"Leo's a very. . . hopeful boy," Emma replies. "He tends to get lost in his own fantasies sometimes."

You blink. "What, like kinks?"

Emma groans, throwing some socks at you. "No, you idiot! When he likes someone, he tends to get a little carried away. It's quite sad to see, actually."

"What does that have to do with me and him being friends?"

Emma glances at you; you recognise that look. It makes your stomach curl, heat rising to your cheeks. You look away, coughing awkwardly into her shirt before you mumble, "No. No, absolutely not. Leo doesn't like me that way."

Emma shrugs, grin spreading across her face. "Maybe, maybe not. I'm just saying, if you don't like him that way, try and break the illusion as soon as possible. It's easier to just rip the bandaid off."

"You're heartless."

"I'm a daughter of Ares, Y/N. We don't bullshit people. We say it how it is."

You scowl, snatching another set of trousers from her wash pile and getting to work, trying to ignore the thump of your heartbeat, which suddenly seems to have sped up a fair bit.

----

You lose track of how long it has been since you last saw your mother.

This happens sometimes, these long stretches of time when neither of you will acknowledge the other person; it's easier that way, just pretending she doesn't exist, just pretending the house is empty besides you.

You've been caught up in camp activities these past few weeks. Your hand is starting to heal, the nerves tingling, which Will says is a good sign. You've been talking to other campers, learning more and more about the world Emma has kept hidden from you for so long, a world that fascinates you, a world you will never want to be properly part of.

Now, however, you see her. Sitting on her own by the lake, knobbly knees pulled into her chest, dazed eyes locked on the swirling water in front of her. The little sea creatures have long since hidden, probably put-off by the presence of a stranger, but your mother doesn't seem to care. She just sits all on her own, long hair billowing out behind her as the moon begins to rise in the distance.

You lean against a tree just a little bit behind her and say, "Are you not cold?"

She doesn't even flinch, like the voice of her child has no effect on her whatsoever. Instead, she digs her fingernails into the dirt and grabs a handful of stones, lobbing them into the lake.

You sigh and crouch down next to her; she smells of sweat and dirt, a sure sign that she hasn't been taking much care of herself these past few weeks. "Let's go back to the Big House, Mum. You're gonna get hypothermia out here."

"He will protect me," she replies. "He's always protecting me."

"You mean Ares? Emma's Dad?"

"He's protected me from day one; he loves Emma and I. He's just busy."

You swallow, staring at the side of her face. "I'm sure he does, Mum. But he's clearly running a little late right now, so he's asked me to come make sure you get wrapped up before the wind eats you alive." You gaze at the trees. "Which I'm pretty sure is a thing that actually happens here."

Finally, your mum gazes at you, lower lip trembling. "I just want him to talk to me."

You freeze; it's most unlike your mother to talk like this, especially to you. She rants and raves about Ares to Emma, but she barely pays you any attention when it comes to things like this. You don't really know how to handle it, whether you should comfort her and tell her Ares loves her - this Greek god, surviving somewhere on Mount Olympus, overlooking the entire world. Yes, of course he still loves her. Of course he does.

But the other half of you just doesn't want to lie. You don't want to get her hopes up any more than they already are, because anyone with a brain will be able to see that Ares has long since forgotten about the mortal woman he apparently fell in love with, and the daughter they created together.

So, you grab your mum's hand and drag her to her feet. She slumps against you like a child having a tantrum, and you have to basically lift her off the floor to get anywhere. Nonetheless, you eventually have her standing, and together, you walk up the hill, back to the main camp.

It's dark, probably past curfew, but campers are still walking about. Mostly the Apollo cabin, never off their feet with the casualties they have to tend to in a day, though there are other campers enjoying a late night cup of hot chocolate by the fire, laughing merrily. They don't notice you walking up the hill, don't notice your mum mumbling to herself, words you can't even grasp being right beside her.

"The Ares cabin," your mum suddenly blurts.

You pause, nearly stumbling over your own two feet as your head whips around to the direction she is now staring, eyes wide.

"Yes, Mum," you grumble. "That is the Ares cabin - now, can we keep moving before my fingers fall off?"

"Is that where you've been sleeping these past few weeks?"

You narrow your eyes. "What? Yes, Mum, it is; Emma lets me sleep with her, now can we please-"

"He isn't your father."

You stop dead in your tracks; oh no. You've heard this line of speech before, and it's never pleasant. Mum gets angry, enraged, when she thinks you're trying to take on the same status as her beloved Emma, daughter of the war god. She likes to keep you in your place, which is a good few tiers below everybody else, apparently.

"I know that," you say quickly. "Emma was just nice enough to lend me her bed so I didn't have to sleep in the Hermes cabin - you know I don't know my way around here, so-"

"He wouldn't like you sleeping amongst his children. He told me."

"He what now?"

She shakes out of your grip, gritting her teeth. Her eyes are wild, dilated beyond anything you've ever seen, and when she next speaks, the words are a cry. "He told me!" She shakes her head, gripping the strands of hair between trembling fingers. "He's so mad at me, Y/N; he told me it was disrespectful to have a child with another man. He said he would burn you to the ground if you stepped out of line. He said he would kill you, just to teach me a lesson for going behind his back!"

You blink. You're used to this. You're meant to be used to this, but holy mother of god - gods? - you don't know what she's on about. You've never heard her talk like this. You've never heard her speak of your death before, and the words coming from her mouth are so eerie, so fucking terrifying that you stumble back, hands trembling, tears rushing to the surface.

"You crazy bitch."

She laughs, loud and clear so the entire camp's attention turns directly to her. "That's what he said! He called me insane, and then he said he loved me and gave me a child - and that child certainly wasn't you."

"Mum, what are you-"

"He talks to me sometimes, you know." She nods, hands still buried in her hair, tugging her eyes back so she looks demented. "In my head, he talks. We have little conversations, but he's been so much more talkative since we arrived here, like this place really is my home." She releases her hair, eyes dimming. "But you're not meant to be here; he told me that, too. He said Emma and I were welcome amongst his kind, but not you - not a bastard like you."

You look around; all the demigods are on their feet now, staring at the scene in confusion. It's embarrassing, absolutely mortifying to suddenly be the centre of their attention, especially under such circumstances.

"Okay," you croak out. "Okay, that's fine - I'll go, then. Leave you and Emma here. I don't mind, Mum. You don't have to get angry."

Mum's nostrils flare. "It's not me who's angry - it's him-"

"Well, tell him that he doesn't have to get his godly bollocks in a twist, because I'm leaving." You raise your hands in faux surrender, taking a few tentative steps back. "I'm leaving, and you'll never have to see me again."

The words hurt, but they're the truth - especially now. Mum doesn't respond, merely stares as you take a few more steps backwards, turn on your heel and dart towards the Ares cabin, fighting desperately to push the tears away, because crying is stupid.

This is just your mum being. . . your mum, just as she's always been. Sure, her words tonight were a little harsher than you're used to, but her neglect has given you thick skin, thick enough to take her words on the chin.

You see the Ares cabin, and run right past it towards the lake. You nearly slip in the mud on your way down the hill, catching yourself before finally crumbling to the floor against a tree by the lake side.

You'll take her words on the chin, but you'll cry over them first.

----

When Leo hears the news, he's pretty sure his blood turns to fire.

He's half-asleep, but that doesn't stop his understanding of Will's words, his descriptions of the scene he just witnessed at the camp fire.

And the thing is, after hearing all the things your mum has done to you, Leo isn't even surprised to hear it's finally boiled over.

Doesn't make him any less angry.

He storms out of the Hephaestus cabin wearing nothing but his pyjamas. He feels the heat beneath his skin, threatening to break the surface as he forces it down, gritting his teeth. He's half tempted to turn to the Big House to give your mum a piece of his mind, but his main concern at the moment is you, and where you've gone, and where you plan on going, because according to Will, your last words to her were "I'm leaving, and you'll never have to see me again." That's a horrible thought. Leo doesn't want to think about that.

He heads to the lake, because according to Will, that's the direction you were running, and Leo knows how much you like the lake; it calms you down, you said, and he stored that piece of information in his brain for weeks, as if in preparation for this very moment.

He stops at the top of the hill and gazes down, lighting up the darkness with a ball of fire cupped in the palm of his hand. You don't flinch at the sudden intrusion, instead curling into a tighter ball against the roots of a tree, burying your head in your knees. The sight breaks his heart. He swallows, slowly waddling down the hill, careful not to fall in the dirt.

You don't look up when he finally arrives at your side. "Y/N."

"Who told you?"

Leo crouches. "Will. He said you seemed upset."

"That's literally nobody's business."

Leo sighs, slumping against the tree beside you; his shoulder brushes your own, and for a moment, you stiffen against his side. "You don't have to tell me what happened if you're not cool with that," he says. "I'm not being nosy or anything."

"Yes, you are."

"No, I'm really not. I just wanted to make sure that witch didn't hurt your feelings too bad." He pauses. "What did she actually say?"

Your head snaps up, eyes blood shot, lips dry. "Ah, see! You are just being nosy!"

He swats your arm, scowling. "Be quiet, no I'm not; but how am I meant to help you if I don't even know what happened?"

"I never said I wanted help, Leo. My mum not caring about me isn't something that can just be helped." And you didn't even realise those were the words you were going to say, because they sound so heartbreaking, so self-pitying, even though they're the truth. You've always just brushed your mothers behaviour off as normal, the only hand you've ever been dealt, but phrasing it in that way, claiming she doesn't care . . . something about that makes your heart break.

Your lower lip trembles before you can stop it, fresh tears springing to the surface. You remember holidays, catching Emma wrapping up gifts of her own to give to you, just so you could wake up to something on Christmas morning. You remember making your own Halloween costume because your mother spent all her money on Emma's. You remember thinking it was okay, because it was all you ever knew.

You're older now, though. You can recognise mistreatment when you see it, but it's still a blow to the chest realising that you were on the other end of it, that you're a victim, whether you want to deny it or not.

Leo notices your sudden change of emotions and immediately lurches forward. His fingers are hot, almost scalding when they make contact with your arm, his brown eyes burning holes into your own. His eyebrows are furrowed when he says your name in a whisper, just your name, like nothing else needs to be said.

You close your eyes. "I'm fine."

"I wish you'd stop saying that. It's starting to grate on my skull, and I can't afford that kind of damage."

You let out a breath of a laugh, just because you think it's appropriate; in truth, you find none of this funny. You want to curl up and cry. You want to leave Camp Half-Blood and everything it stands for, start a life away from demigods and Greek gods alike.

What's stopping you?

Leo's hands heat up on your arm, forcing you to look at him again. He's closer now, head tilted, all amusement flushed from his features, which is a sad enough sight on it's own. It's been two seconds, but you already miss that sparkle in his eyes.

"Hey," he says quietly. "Talk to me."

And you do. You don't know why, but you do. The words pour out like a broken faucet, a complete mess of incoherence's that Leo - and only Leo - would ever be able to understand. He nods along like the words are making sense, like these sentences aren't just complete gibberish.

When you finish explaining everything that happened down at the camp fire, you gasp, starved for air. Leo grabs your hand and tugs you forward, cupping your face in his attempts to calm you down; you didn't realise the tears had started pouring, didn't realise you're breathing heavily, totally lost, unable to catch a breath.

"Calm down," he mumbles. "Y/N, calm down. I'm here. I've got you, pal, I've got you."

You close your eyes, leaning into his palm. He traces his thumbs along your cheeks before slowly, slowly, slowly running his hand over your ear, tucking a strand of hair back. His eyes never leave your face, despite the state you know you are in, how awful you must look.

"I'm sorry," you choke out. "I didn't mean to. . . to get so worked up."

"Don't be stupid," he replies. "Did she really say all that to you?"

"She's not in her right mind out here. She thinks she's one of you guys, that she can be part of the group just because-"

"Because she slept with Ares?"

You laugh, exhausted. "Yes, exactly."

Leo rolls his eyes, finally letting his hands drop back to his sides. "Honestly, everyone and their grandfather has probably slept with Ares. She's nothing special, and she needs to get that through her head." He pauses. The air crackles. "But - uh - you're, you know, special. Very special."

You blink, certain you heard him wrong. The words don't really make sense in this context, so you're trying to disentangle them.

Finally, you crack and say, "What?"

Leo rubs the back of his neck, glancing awkwardly over his shoulder. Over the hill, everything is silent as Half-Bloods sleep, unknowing to the panic attack that has just captured you, unknowing to the magic Leo has just cast to calm you down.

"I said you're special," he mumbles. "In a good way, I mean. Like, a really good way."

Your heart thunders. "Thank you?"

"You're welcome." He looks at you then, chirping up. "But seriously, don't let her get to you. She's just a love sick psycho who doesn't know when to back down. Clingy ex-girlfriend and all that."

He changes the topic so swiftly it nearly gives you whiplash. You stare at him for another moment, and just when you're about to open your mouth to continue the previous, deserted conversation, Leo stands and reaches his hand out. "Shall we go before Hedge thinks there's some funny business going on?"

You nod dumbly, taking his hand only because you don't know what you want to say in response to what he has just said - he called you special, and he said it like it was just. . . normal, like it was something you could slip in without any further questions being asked.

You try and let the subject drop as Leo leads you back into camp. He walks you to the door of the Ares cabin, and it is there that he turns to you and says, voice low, "You can sleep in my cabin if your mum is in there; Chiron won't mind, and I won't either."

"No, it's okay," you reply. "Mum's staying in the Big House; I'll just slip in next to Emma." You glance at him, his eyes meeting yours because he never looked away. He looks so sweet beneath the lantern light, flames dancing across his skin like they were always meant to be there, like Leo has lived his life in fire and came out smiling every time. "Thank you, Leo; you really didn't have to help me tonight."

He scoffs. "Don't be daft. Next time you have any issues, I want you to run to me instead of the river naiads, you hear?"

You smile and nod. "I hear."

And so, Leo and you bid each other goodnight, and you watch as he walks across camp, past the Hephaestus cabin, right in the direction of Bunker 9. Half of you wants to go after him, question him on his use of the word special earlier on, but you don't. Your limbs are heavy with exhaustion, and so you turn on your heel and head into the Ares cabin, unable to stop the tiny smile that forms on your face.

----

Bunker 9 looks very nice in the morning.

"Oh, the tin is just glistening!"

Leo yelps, dropping a spanner on the ground as he whirls around. His overalls are covered in oil, along with his face, arms, legs, and every other body part that is presented to you on this fine Monday morning. In your hand is a plate of steaming cinnamon buns that Leo's eyes immediately fix upon, his startled expression quickly being replaced by one of pure hunger. You're almost certain you see his mouth salivating.

You tug the plate back, holding one arm out. "Not so fast, Fire Boy."

He frowns. "What did you just call me?"

"No cinnamon buns for you until you tell me how many hours of sleep you got last night."

Leo raises a brow, a tiny smirk making an appearance. "Are you kidding?"

"Nope. I want the details, Valdez, or these cinnamon buns are all mine."

"That's really unfair, and very unnecessary. A body like mine was made to work off two hours sleep."

Your eyes widen. "Two hours? Leo!"

"Can you just hand me my breakfast already?"

You groan, but a promise is a promise. You set the plate down on a nearby toolbox before pushing yourself onto the counter, legs swinging. Leo dives for the plate, nudging your knee with his hip as he grabs the first cinnamon bun he can see and stuffs it in his mouth, nearly swallowing the thing whole.

"Watch you don't choke."

"Why are you so protective this morning?"

"Two hours sleep, Leo? That's awful."

He shrugs, fingers hovering over the plate as he searches for his next victim. "I'm used to it. I'm not even tired! It was a really refreshing two hours."

"You get worse, you know."

Leo rolls his eyes, looking up at you. "And how many hours of sleep did you get, Sleeping Beauty?"

"More than two hours."

He clicks his fingers. "I want the details."

You roll your eyes, swatting his hand away. "I had six hours, if you must know. I'm refreshed and ready for my day!"

"So am I."

"Liar."

"And what?"

You laugh, and Leo smiles, making the noise louder than it really is.

"But no," he continues. "Don't you go worrying about me, dear. Ol' Leo Valdez can handle himself."

"Ol' Leo Valdez needs to take a nap."

"A nap? Sounds cowardly." He grabs the spanner from the floor, spins it in the air, catches it with an ease that makes your breath catch. "How about I show you the new updates I've made to Festus?"

Festus, Leo's pride and joy, the one thing in the world he will talk about for hours upon hours on end; you've sat there and listened to him every single time, absorbing every word, even if you don't understand it. He talks about circuits and updates and tools you have never heard of, but he says it all with such enthusiasm it's almost impossible not to get involved. And even though you know you should be stubborn, insisting on him getting into bed right this instant, you want to see him in that state again. You always want to see him in that state, eyes glittering with passion, hands moving all over the place, smile brighter than anything.

He doesn't need an answer. You simply smile at him, slightly exasperated, and he says, "Alright!" before spinning on his heel, the very beginning of his lecture.

You listen to him talk like how you would listen to lo-fi music. Your legs swing back and forth, back and forth, a tiny smile gracing your features. Leo shows you different parts, illuminating the inside of Festus's new helmet with fire ignited in his calloused palm. It makes his grin impossibly brighter. It makes his curls that little bit darker. It's him.

Finally, he spins and says, "Cool, right?" and even though you were mildly distracted the entire time, you nod and say, "Very cool. As always."

"What are you doing here so early, anyway?" He strolls over, casually plucking another cinnamon roll off the plate and taking a bite.

"I saw you heading to Bunker 9 last night and just assumed this was where you slept. I thought you said you didn't sleep in here?"

He shrugs. "I sleep in here when I'm stressed; gets me away from the ruckus of everyone else, you know."

You raise a brow. "You were stressed?"

"Of course I was stressed." He looks at you, exasperated. "Do you not remember anything we discussed last night?"

You blink; it's not that you had forgotten - there's no way you'll be forgetting that night any time soon - but you thought for sure Leo had. Yes, he'd been there to help you through it, and he was the reason you went to bed smiling, but you were still a mortal, and your problems surely could never be as big as his. You genuinely sat in front of him and cried about feeling neglected by your mother when his own mother is dead, and his Dad doesn't even talk to him, too busy producing other godly children. But here he is, head tilted and eyes slashed with worry. You almost want to look away, but the colour in them has become so noticeably entrancing these past few weeks that you find it nearly impossible to do so.

"I didn't mean to stress you out," is all you can manage. "I was just ranting."

"You were crying."

"I was - I mean - like - yeah, I guess, but you don't have to stress."

Leo narrows his eyes. "You really are dense, aren't you?"

You open your mouth, ready to chastise him for saying such a thing, but your words are swallowed by the loud clang clang clang of the door opening. Leo stares at you for a second longer before glancing over his shoulder, sharing your shock at the sight of Will popping his head in the door. His lower lip is pulled between his teeth, movements slow and timid.

"Uh, sorry to interrupt," he says. "But we kind of need Y/N up at camp."

Those words are terrifying. They jolt you and Leo into action almost immediately; you slip off the counter, stumbling over a few discarded wrenches and old toolboxes. Leo catches you before you can fall, but neither of you comment on your suddenly linked hands before following Will out the door, curiosity getting the better of you.

You hear the commotion before you see it.

The sound of your mothers shrill voice is all-too familiar, and it echoes now. Bouncing off trees, sinking into the dirt, giving you a blistering headache that immediately makes you want to turn around and pretend you never heard it. But there's a crowd, an ocean of demigods, all with weapons and angry expressions trained on the woman who raised you - the woman who tried raising you - and despite the anger you once felt towards her, you pick up your pace, rush into the scene and say, "Ay! Get that spear out of my face!"

The demigod - you don't even know who she is - stumbles back, gaping at you. You don't give her the time of day, instead pivoting on your heel towards your mother.

There she is, stood in the middle of the clearing with her arms above her head, screaming up at the sky. Blood coats her elbows and knees. Chiron and Emma are beside her, but it seems like both of them have given up trying to make her see sense; they simply stare, Emma with tears in her eyes, Chiron looking like he's on the verge of booting her out of camp right this instant.

Leo stumbles to your side and grabs your arm. "What's wrong with her?"

You touch your mum's arm. "Mum, you're being proper embarrassing right now."

She spins. Her hair is matted, the product of having not been washed in weeks. Her eyes are dark, lips chapped and bitten, utterly destroyed. You've seen her when she's having one of her episodes, but this is worse. This is the worst you've ever seen it. It breaks your heart, even though it shouldn't. It was only last night she was basically calling you worthless, a mistake, the reason her little affair with a Greek god didn't work out.

You swallow. "Mum. . . It's me."

"Emma?"

You bite your lip, trying to ignore how much that hurts. "Uh. . . not quite, but nearly. Emma's over there."

"Don't get me involved in this," Emma spits, roughly swiping a hand across her cheek. "I don't want anything to do with her."

Your heart judders. Your mother's eyes narrow, like she's taking a little longer to process her first childs words. You decide to step in before she has a chance to.

"No, Mum, I'm not Emma, I'm Y/N. I'm here to - uh - take you home."

As soon as you say it, you want to curl in on yourself. It's a truth you've been trying to avoid these past few weeks, the idea of finally breaking away from camp and heading back to your shitty apartment with your shitty mother to live a shitty life of online classes and pretending everything is normal and okay. Behind you, Leo mumbles, "Sorry, what was that?" which hurts your heart even more. "Yeah," you continue, taking another timid step towards her. A branch cracks beneath your foot, and your mother flinches, looks up into the sky like the sound of a god appearing will be nothing more than a simple crack.

"Yeah, Mum, we're gonna go home, and you're gonna get some rest, okay? You look exhausted."

"Exhausted," she mumbles. "Home."

"Home, yeah. Remember home? We liked it there. Things were normal there."

Mum's nostrils flare. "Normal-"

"But our house is also where Ares thinks we are right now!" you barrel on. "He's got our address in his little address book - he doesn't actually know we're at Camp Half-Blood right now."

Her shoulders deflate, eyes brightening. "Oh. You're right. He's probably visited so many times and we haven't even been there! He's going to be so angry!"

"So, so angry." You wrap your arm around her shoulder, gently drawing her away from the crowd of angry demigods, of sobbing sisters and confused centaurs. You meet Leo's eyes only once, and it's enough to shatter your being, enough for the burning of tears to erupt through your senses. You want to turn and run to him, tell him you're sorry, promise to never leave him, but the feelings are so extraordinary and so weird, unfamiliar, that you can't.

You turn your gaze to the floor and guide your mother through the crowd towards the Big House, uttering words about home and comfort, and going back to a life you want to abandon for good. You pretend it's all okay, because that's all you've ever known.

----

Leo finds you that same night.

You left your mother in Chiron's care. She fell asleep immediately, and you were free to do what you wanted after that, but the thought of parading through Camp Half-Blood after being in the centre of such a weird scene made your stomach curl, so you stayed by her side until you were positive most of the campers were in bed, sleeping.

Except Leo, of course.

He sits down in the grass, shoulder brushing yours. You don't look over; you know it's him just from the scent of oil, and the way he cracks his knuckles, and the way he awkwardly coughs into the darkness. These are all little things of him you have memorised. Each one makes your heart ache.

Finally, after what feels like forever, he speaks. "You don't have to do all that, you know."

"Do what?"

"Stick up for her. Make her comfortable.

" You shrug. "I know I don't."

"So why do you do it?"

"Because she's my mum."

"She's barely your mum. She doesn't even do the bare minimum for you."

True. Painfully, awkwardly true.

You shrug again. Leo sighs, tilting his head back. When you glance over, you see him gazing up at the stars, jaw clenched in a way that throws off the soft features of his face you have grown so used to seeing. You don't like it.

You reach over and poke his cheek in an attempt to make him loosen up. He closes his eyes. "I don't get it."

"What?"

"Why you have to be the one taking care of her when she's never taken care of you."

You swallow thickly. "I'm not. . . I'm not taking care of her. I'm just-"

"Then what was that back there?"

"That was me trying to make sure my mum didn't get a spear shoved down her throat. It's basic human decency, Leo."

He purses his lips, like this is something he has never heard of.

You sigh, slumping back against a tree. "I don't hate my mum, you know; she's done some fucked up stuff to me, but I don't hate her."

Leo stares at you. His eyes are lazors, flames, beams pouring into the side of your head, and you want to look at him, but you think it would be a very bad idea right now.

Neither of you say anything for what feels like forever, which is a big deal when sitting with someone like Leo Valdez. The only noise filling in the silence is the steady drip of rain drops rolling down the leaves, bouncing against the lakes surface. A few ocean creatures peak their heads up, examine the scene, duck back beneath the water.

And then, "Are you actually leaving?"

You bite back a sob. "You didn't expect me to stay here forever, did you?"

Leo doesn't respond.

"She's not well here," you continue, tilting your head back. The moon waves at you. The stars smile. "She was bad at home, but being here - around this kind of thing - it's going to drive her insane."

"She's a grown woman."

"Ares messed her up." It's the first time you've said it out loud, the truth. Your mother was okay before she met that man. You've heard stories from your grandparents, your aunts and uncles, of the days when your mum was winning medals for her skills in ballet, the days she was getting awards for her academic success, the days where she played mediator in a house full of people who could never see eye-to-eye on anything. You listened to them with only half-interest, because you never fully believed them. You had lived with the crazy side of her for too long by that point.

But it's true. Ares waltzed into her life, promised her the world, gave her this child with skills beyond human comprehension, gave her a taste of real love for the first time in her life - and then he left.

"Why do gods think they can just get away with that?" you find yourself asking before you can stop. "Mess with people's lives like that. Why do they think that's okay?"

Leo sighs. "They run the world. They can do whatever they want."

"That seems really unfair."

"Yeah, well, it's also unfair that you have to give up your own happiness for your mum."

You close your eyes; there it is again, the topic breached. Leo doesn't understand that this is all you've ever known - caring for her, making sure she's okay, being ignored and neglected because you're not the gods child. He doesn't understand that this has been your life from day one. You were never given a chance to mind it. You were never given a chance to know anything else.

"You know, I think this place could really benefit with someone like you."

You look at him. "You're just saying that."

He shrugs, picking up a pebble and lobbing it at the lake. Always keeping his hands moving, never being still. "Maybe. Maybe I'm just a little desperate for you to stay." He looks at you. "Is that weird?"

You swallow, unable to respond, because you want to tell him no, no of course it's not weird, please keep talking and I'll stay, I'll stay here with you, I'll never leave, I never wanted to leave in the first place.

Leo looks down at his hands, fingers fiddling with the threads dangling from his overalls. "Sorry. I - I didn't mean to - like - put you on the spot or anything. I just care about you. A lot. And I hate seeing you upset. It bothers me."

The way it says it, words spoken through gritted teeth, makes your heart stutter. Oddly, it reminds you of those days spent laughing in Bunker 9, calling him stupid as he tried so hard to keep you amused, like he wanted to keep your attention as firm as possible so you wouldn't get up and leave. For once in your life, someone wants you to stay.

And it's sad - heartbreaking, even - that you have been cursed with these circumstances, that the mere notion of staying at Camp Half-Blood is so beyond reality; you're no demigod. Even if your mother were to head home on her own, do you a favour for once, the chances of Chiron being allowed to let you stay are incredibly, incredibly slim. You won't entertain the idea. You won't get your hopes up like that. You won't play to your own feelings, because that has never done anything for you, nothing but leave you in a state of despair.

And so, you keep quiet, staring out over the lake with Leo by your side, his hands working, his mind probably racing, your heart a steady thump in the distance.

---

The next day, you are ready to leave.

You packed all your things the night before. You said all your goodbyes the night before. You and Emma got into a brutal argument the night before, and now you're stood before her, trembling from head to toe as you patiently wait for Chiron to lead your mother to Thalia's pine tree so the both of you can finally be let go.

Emma stares at you. She's been doing that since last night, her hands balled into fists, jaw strong, so she looks a little bit like her father; you can say that now. You hate him. You think you'd punch him in the face if you ever saw him.

"I can't believe you're actually doing this for her."

"I never understood why you hate her so much - you're the one she actually cares about."

Emma grits her teeth, looking to the ground in that way she so often does when she's trying not to punch you square in the face. "That's not the point."

"You don't even deny it any more," you scoff. "You've just come to terms with the fact that she basically worships the ground you walk on. How about you start understanding how lucky you are rather than giving me grief for taking care of her?"

"Taking care of her?" Emma bursts. "She's your mother! She should be taking care of you!"

"Right, but that's not the way things have turned out, so we might as well cut the shit now before-"

"Leo spoke to me, you know." You freeze. Your mouth stays open, eyes widening; Leo is the absolute last thing you want to talk about right now, not after last night, not after hearing the hint of heartbreak in his voice when he realised it was too late, you were too far gone, there was no keeping you.

Emma nods, even though you haven't said anything, even though you can do nothing but stare at her in complete shock and bewilderment. "Yeah, Leo Valdez, the boy you're head over heels in love with."

You splutter. "What?"

"Oh, don't play dumb! I've seen the way you are with each other. I've seen the way you look at him. I've seen the way he looks at you, and for fuck sake Y/N, you shouldn't have to give all that up for someone like her!"

"That person you're on about is our mother!"

"And what? That means you have to put your entire life on hold for her?" Emma drops her sword in a move close to desperation, startling you when she barrels forward and grabs your shoulders. She holds you at arms length, eyes like fire. "You're my only little sibling, Y/N; it's my job more than anything else to look after you, and I'm not going to sit back and let your selflessness ruin your whole life."

You blink, and only then do the tears make an appearance. You think of Leo, even though you hate it, even though you've already said your goodbyes to him and you should just leave it at that. He hugged you, and you hugged him, and you apologised and he told you there was nothing to be sorry for - it was the perfect potential ending, but you don't want it to be over.

Emma is right; you're jeopardising your own happiness for this woman.

Emma stares at you, the tears leaking from your eyes. Her own lower lip trembles, but she's Emma, so she won't start crying. Not properly.

You inhale shakily, ducking your head down. "I can't let her go home on her own, Em. She'll never make it. She'll never agree to go if she doesn't have someone with her."

"So I'll go."

You freeze. "What?"

Emma tilts her head forward, catching your eye. "I said, I'll go. I'll take her home, get her settled, and then I'll get someone to come take care of her - a professional. Someone who should have been there for her a long bloody time ago. You can stay here for a while."

Your heart thunders. You're certain you've heard her wrong, because this isn't right - none of this is right. Emma's the demigod. She should be the one staying here whilst you get shipped off back home with your mother. That's how things have always been, how things were always meant to be. But when you look back at your older sister now, there is no glimmer of amusement in her eyes; she's being serious, more serious than you've ever seen her before.

She squeezes your shoulders, curling her stubby nails into the fabric of your hoodie. "I mean it, Y/N. If you want to stay here-"

"I do," you croak out. "I really, really do."

"For Leo?"

You blink.

Emma grins. "For Leo." She pats your shoulder, nearly knocking you off your feet. "Go, before her and Chiron make an appearance. I think Valdez is-"

But you don't let her finish. You know where Leo is even without her input, and so you throw yourself into her arms, squeal a thank you in her ear before sprinting off down the hill towards Bunker 9.

The gods should be yelling at you right now, casting lightning and rain and every other deadly element down upon you, because this must be so far out of the rule book. This must be going entirely against everything they have ever set up, every rule they have laid out - a mortal in one of their demigod camps? A mortal hanging around their children like their even close to being equal. Complete blasphemy.

But you don't care. Not when you round the corner to see the door to Bunker 9 already wide open, little flashes of Leo Valdez skimming past the entryway.

You pause in the trees, craning your neck to catch a glimpse of what he is doing, and it is only then do you see the spanner smash against one of the windows. The glass doesn't shatter, but it shakes and it makes a loud noise, and it's followed closely by Leo yelling out a curse that would get him blown to smithereens if his father were to hear it.

You sprint towards the door. "Leo?"

He spins around, eyes widening. He grips his hand, blood seeping from one of his fingers, dribbling down his wrist and landing upon his boots. He doesn't seem to care, though, simply staring at you in shock.

And then, "Y/N?"

You throw yourself forward, grabbing his wrist. The blood from his gets caught beneath your fingers, but you don't care. You stare at it, shaking your head, whispering his name over and over, and all he can do is stare at you, dumbfounded, before he exclaims, "Hey, wait!" and stumbles back, yanking his hand from your grip in the process.

"Leo, let me have a look at that-"

"You shouldn't be here right now!"

"Okay, Leo, yes, we'll discuss that later, but please, let me look at your hand. What the hell did you even do?"

You reach for him, but he's like a wild animal, startled and afraid. He stumbles back, nearly tripping over a toolbox discarded on the floor. You notice the mess that wasn't there this morning, the tools laying everywhere, sheets of torn paper thrown left, right and centre, broken glass littering the hard floor.

"Jesus, Leo," you gasp. "What have you been doing in here?"

"Why are you back? Why aren't you away yet?"

You lift your gaze, narrowing your eyes. "If you want me to go, you can just say so." And right now, looking at the scene around you and the state of Leo's hand, and his startled expression, you don't even feel bad that he very well might just ask you to turn and leave. Your mind is preoccupied, wanting nothing more than to grab him and force him to shut up so you can pay some attention to the gaping wound on the tip of his finger. His mouth opens and closes like a fish out of water. He's staring at you, unable to move, small of his back pressed against the workbench. The blood welling in his fingertip looks to only be getting worse.

"Leo," you say softly. "Please, can we talk about this later?"

He doesn't respond, but he doesn't run away when you take a step towards him, either. His eyes never leave your own as you reach for his hand and pull him towards a chair in the corner, slowly pushing him into it. You softly ask him to reach into that magic toolbelt of his to pull out some medical supplies, and he does so with trembling hands, never saying a word, never really needing to.

You get to work in silence, trying to ignore the thumping of your own heart, the tremble of your own hands, the desperate need you have to just apologise over and over and over for scaring him so bad, for startling him to the point where he can't even form a full sentence, to the point where he was willing to run away from you.

You clean the wound and bandage it the best way you can, remembering all those times as a child when you would cut yourself by accident and your mum would be too dazed or too neglectful to take you to the hospital or do anything about it herself.

Leo watches your hands working wonders until it's all finally complete and you step back, admiring your handiwork with a pleased grin on your face. "Not too shabby."

Leo swallows. Finally you take the time to look at him, his pale face and startled eyes; he looks like he's on the verge of tears, which really isn't the reaction you were hoping to receive when you walked back into Bunker 9.

You fold your arms over your chest, nibbling your bottom lip as you say, "I'm staying."

Leo exhales shakily. "I don't get it. Last night you were so adamant-"

"I know. I know I was, but I never wanted to go in the first place."

"So why-"

"Emma made me realise some things." You push yourself onto the workbench behind you, the very same spot you always found yourself sitting when Leo is working away on one of his projects. You used to sit with your legs pulled beneath you, watching him work in silence.

He stares at you. "I fully prepared myself to never see you again."

You wince. "I'm sorry."

And then he's scrambling out of his chair, stumbling between your legs, grabbing your hands, tugging them into his chest, all in that order. You gasp at the touch, the rough fabric of his plaster rubbing against your wrist, the forever warm touch of his skin so familiar yet you crave it so badly.

He's shaking his head, mumbling "No," on repeat beneath his breath

. "Leo. . ."

"I didn't mean to make you feel bad," he says. "So don't apologise to me again, alright? I don't want it. I don't need it - all that matters now is that you're here, and you - you said you're staying." He looks up, almost timid. "Did I hear that right?"

You nod, dazed; he's not mad. He's happy. He's smiling, and his eyes are doing that thing again where they glint and they crease into crescents, and he looks so cute, so happy, so like the Leo you've come to know and love so deeply. It makes your heart stutter. It makes this entire thing so, so worth it.

He grins. "Oh gods, Y/N, you scared the shit out of me. I nearly tore this place to the ground-"

"I can see that," you croak.

He winces, glancing awkwardly over his shoulder. "I didn't mean to - It was honestly an accident, but-"

"It's okay, Leo." His head snaps back round.

"It's okay?"

"It's all okay."

You reach forward, winding your arm around his neck, dragging him closer. His curls flood through your fingers, his eyes fluttering closed for a split second before he opens them again and says, "Can I kiss you?"

You nod, because of course he can. He does just that, pressing his lips to yours delicately, so, so delicately, like he's afraid you'll shatter. His hands are tender on your hips, thumbs rubbing gentle, mindless circles into the fabric of your shirt, and it's all so slow, all so gentle, but your heart is exploding into constellations, sprinkling over your being in a way you have never experienced before.

For someone who is never still, never calm, never quiet, his kisses are like a warm summer afternoon spent wading along a beach. They are aquamarine waters and birds chirping around a morning sunrise. They are everything and nothing and more than enough but never enough all in the same breath.

He pulls away first, uncertain, glancing nervously into your eyes as he slowly releases you. He takes a steady step back, rubbing the back of his neck, and it takes everything in you not to pull him back in.

Instead you laugh, swinging your legs back and forth like a giddy child. "Don't look so sheepish or I'll think you've poisoned me."

"I'm not very good at that," he mumbles. "Machines don't usually need kissed, so I don't tend to do it that often."

"I'd hope not." You grab his hand, pulling him back between your knees. "I'm sorry for scaring you earlier."

He opens his mouth, ready to protest your apologies once again, but you cut him off with five fingertips pressed to his lips. His eyes cross over as he glares at them, making you giggle. "I know you said I shouldn't apologise, but I shouldn't have been so. . . hasty. I shouldn't have lost my temper with you. I should have let you speak-"

"I don't say very interesting things."

"You say the most interesting things." You drop your hand, intertwine your fingers with his. "But I'm staying, Leo. I promise." He exhales shakily, like this is what he has been waiting to hear for a while now; it breaks your heart, rejuvenates you at the same time, and you realise suddenly just how awful it would have been to pack up your stuff and head home, to live a life without Leo Valdez in it.

---

Your mother looks a little better. A little healthier. A little happier.

Emma sits beside her, dressed in a t-shirt and jeans, a denim jacket over the top. She looks happy, too, a little exhausted, but you never expected anything less. She's still smiling, though, and when her face appears in the Iris message, she lets out a happy sigh of relief.

"I thought you two would fuck it up."

"Go to hell, Emma," says Leo.

You chuckle, leaning back in your seat; it's been two weeks since Mum and Emma went back to the flat together, two weeks since you agreed to spend the rest of your summer at Camp Half-Blood, working on a relationship with Leo Valdez. It's been a grand two weeks, yes, but you still have responsibilities back in the real world.

"So, how's it going?" you ask. "Mum, you're still going to therapy, aren't you?"

"Yes," Mum mumbles, sounding more like an anguished teenager than anything else. "I've told you both already, I don't need it - I got over Ares years ago. I have my own family now - he can go to hell."

"Tartarus," Leo corrects.

"Whatever."

You grin. It's been so long - so long - since you've heard your mum mention you in the same context as Emma, including your name in the same sentence as the word family. Leo must notice your sudden shift in mood, as he chuckles, placing a gentle hand on the small of your back. He does that sometimes, letting you know he's there, like you'd ever forget. You reach behind you and tangle your fingers with his, subtly placing your joined hands in your lap.

"A few more weeks," you tell her. "That's all you have to endure, and then they're putting you on that trial, aren't they?"

"Apparently," Mum replies. "I was thinking of coming to visit you."

You and Emma share a look - the last time your mother was at Camp Half-Blood, things didn't exactly go well. The energy of this place drove her insane, reminded her of days with Ares, reminded her she'd been abandoned by the one man she ever loved.

Leo cuts in. "Oh, no! I was hoping Y/N and I could come out there and visit you guys for the week!"

Your head whips round. "You were?"

"Well, yeah." Leo rolls his eyes, faux exasperation. "I did tell you about it. I haven't been back to your house since the giant threw that boulder through your window." He rubs his finger along your scarred, damaged knuckles, forever torn from the boulder that destroyed all your nerve endings. "I think it would be a grand old time, personally."

"I agree," Emma chimes in. "And it would be less stressful for us - we can just wait here for them to arrive, and you still get to see Y/N!"

Mum hums, thoughtful, and for just a second, you're certain she's going to revert back to her old ways. She's going to call you scum, pretend you don't exist, make you feel like shit all over again; judging by the sudden grip Leo has on your hand, he thinks the exact same thing. You thought this was over with. You thought your Mum had gotten better, that she finally realised you are her child, too, and-

"I guess it would be a lot less hassle."

Leo exhales. "Great! It's a date."

"For you two, maybe," Emma grumbles. "Look, we have to leave in two minutes, so this is goodbye."

"Jeez, Em, tell us how you really feel."

"See you in a few weeks, assholes!" And before you or Leo can respond, the Iris message is flickering to a close, leaving you and Leo alone in Bunker 9.

It's silent for a few seconds. Leo grips your hand, running his thumb along your knuckles, and it suddenly feels so, so hard not to cry.

"She's getting so much better," you choke out.

Leo's head snaps round, eyes widening at the crack in your voice. "Hey, no. Don't you start crying on me, okay? This is a good thing! Good!" He cups your face, forcing you to look at him. He has that goofy look, his eyebrows stitched together, his lips pursed; it makes you laugh every time.

You reach up, wrapping your hands around his wrists just to keep the feel of him against you for a little longer. "I'm not going to cry. I'm not a bitch."

"It's all good here, Y/N," he says. "I always told you it's all good here."

And with his hands on your face, his eyes gazing into your own, the sweet weather of Camp Half-Blood flourishing outside, you know he's telling the truth. It's all good.

181 notes · View notes

mahvaladara · 3 years

Note

100 OC Questions

Arlo 30 - 40

Apollo 52 - 58

For Arlo, teenage Arlo.

30. What music do they enjoy?

Arlo enjoys a bit of all song. He does not have a type. But he prefers upbeat songs, like top 10 summer hits and 90s cheese. 80s, 90s and 00s music are his fave with a good dance and summer hits. Currently his favourite songs are "In my bones", "Watermelon Sugar", "Bad Habits", "Candyman" and "Captain Jack".

Despite a lot of people in school believing "edgelord" Arlo listens to "dark edgy metal", or "emo shit", Arlo actually enjoys very upbeat music.

31. How do they overcome obstacles?

Arlo overcomes obstacles by just going on. He knows he could do the enough or fight for what he wanted, but as of right now, Arlo actually doesn't bother himself much with anything, he barely has the energy to breathe, rather less bother.

He just goes with the flow and honestly just wants to be left alone.

32. When faced with a difficult decision do they get stronger or break?

I'd say they get stronger. But that depends. There's several decisions Arlo will have to take that will not be easy, some he will break and relent. Others he will grow stronger and do what he believes to be right.

33. Do they have any special powers?

Arlo is immortal, with a very powerful regenerative ability, so he's stone-locked in a cicle of rotting and regenerating. Other than that, he also has skills of mediumship, foresight and ESP.

He has other powers, but these are spoilers.

34. How do they change throughout the story?

Arlo was very outspoken and impulsive as a child. Despite lonely, he was imaginative, creative and a daydreamer. He was a bit lazy student with other interests other than studying, but quite smart. He was naive when it came to people and left himself be fooled easily. He was a rude kid and a bit abnoxious but was cheerful.

But after the events of the story, as a teen Arlo is more reclusive and quiet. His rudeness evolved, and he is very cunning and can read people very easily, being an ace at verbally hitting people where it hurts, rather it is by insulting them directly, or harming someone they like.

He doesn't see many qualities in himself or worthy of anything and feels lost, depressed and aimless. He is at a state of life where he feels hopeless, just living because he has nothing else left to do. He doesn't know who he is or if there is anything good to him.

He substituted daydreaming with just wandering aimless one place or the other seeking for portals to close. He still seeks dragons but other reasons.

35. Do they have any friends? If so, are they close knit?

Arlo doesn't have friends. Unless the murderous doll that every now and then manifests in his clubroom counts. She keeps him company, sometimes she tries to kill him, hasn't worked and it's becoming annoying, but he'd rather be slashed up by her than locked inside a dumpster by the Social Justice Comité of school.

36. How is their family life?

Arlo is distant from his mother and absolutely despises his brother. He only gets along with his dad and little siblings. That's one of the few things that make him happy, Syra and the twins, he adores his little siblings and sometimes cheerful imaginative Arlo shows up for the kids, he always has the best stories to tell them and he's a great babysitter.

37. Are they likable?

Depends.

38. Are they the hero, or anti-hero?

Arlo is more of an anti-hero then a hero.

39. Do they make questionable choices?

He's made of bad choices and mistakes.

40. How do they become who they are?

Well, first they lose their only friend to a girl, then no one wants to join their club, then they call the girl a name now everyone is calling him racist, then he gets grounded for being "racist" again to the girl, so he went to apologize to the girl, then everything went to shit. He never got to apologize, he still would like to apologize.

52. Are they more emotional or logical?

Logical by defualt, unless they get irritated, at wich point Paul throws the logic out the door. He's hot-headed by nature, but usually tries to deal with things in a rational way before letting his emotions take the best of him.

53. How do they deal with their emotions?

Depends on the emotions. Sadness, happyness, shame he deals well, but guilt and anger he struggles with. Both guilt and anger can drive Apollo to become violent or aggressive and though he'd rather not hit someone, he has verbally assaulted people in the past, especially his twin brother who's often on the other edge of his insults.

54. How do they cope with sadness?

With support, with either his mother or his girlfriend, Anika. In front of others he tends to hide his tears, he likes to appear level headed and collected, a man in control of himself, but when he is alone with Anika or his mother, he allows himself to be vulnurable and cries, lays out all his sadness, all his fear to them.

55. What is something they care about?

Anika. Apollo deeply cares for Anika even more than he cares for his sibling, for reasons you shall understand soon. Apollo is capable of anything, anything to protect and aid Anika in life. She is his goddess, his star.

56. Would they die for anyone/anything?

Paul used to think he'd die for Arlo, but it was for Anika that he ended 'dying' in a way. He'd die for Anika.

57. What do they do when they are happy?

Football. For a man's who's a genius the level of being a medical student with a scholarship, Paul certainly has a love for the ball. He loves the feeling of running on a field with a team of his peers with a common objective, finding together to achieve this objective. He lives and breathes for this, the cheering of the people watching, the strain on his muscles, the scent of rubber from the ball when it hits his feet.

58. How would they come across to other characters? Examples- messy, lazy, childish, caring ect

To Arlo, Apollo is Eintein Football Jesus.

Everyone else sees Apollo as either a genius, the hero type or a good man.

#dandylion240 #apollo #arlo

10 notes · View notes

elizabeatrice · 4 years

Text

Episode 12 - The Little Mermaid

Let’s Talk About JSHK Anime #3

Warning: Manga spoilers for The Little Mermaid arc, The Clock Keeper arc, and chapter 64!!! (just a bit, skip point no. 5, 6, and 10 if you don’t want to get spoiled) Also … this ended up way longer than I intended.

Well that was one heck of a feels trip. It’s probably my new favorite episode, just because everyone is here being wholesome lmao.

This is mostly hananene meta I ain’t even gonna lie.

Before we begin, shout out to Black Canyon, our newest anime cutie pie. Just look at him, folks. Just chilling with his sunflower seed.

He has no idea the kind of life his owner leads.

I said before that the best part of episode 12 is how it made Daydream worse, so now I’m gonna ramble about it.

“Maybe different species can’t understand each other after all.”

“Maybe it would be better if I were an apparition too.”

This is my favorite part of the episode. And no, not in the sense that I want Nene to die just so that she and Hanako can be together. But because of how Lerche actually explored deeper what was said only once in the manga.

Well, both in the manga and anime Nene ended up accepting the mermaid’s blood because of her desire to be popular, but the anime decided to revisit what she said earlier in the episode.

Not only did that make her decision kinda less selfish, it’s also just … sad. Thinking that your friend, someone you really cared about, doesn’t trust you enough to tell you things about themselves, to the point where you’re willing to go to such lengths as turning into an apparition just to understand them.

And if you think about it, isn’t this part of her true wish? To have her feelings be reciprocated? Man I just realized that as I wrote this and I am mindblown.

She thought she finally got her wish with Hanako. I mean, he said it himself in the first ep (”You wanted someone, anyone, to return your feelings, right? And as far as you’re concerned, sharing a bond with someone is the same thing, right?”). So it must’ve hit her really hard when she thought he didn’t trust her. Especially with all the wrong ideas the fishes were feeding her mind.

Then we got this little flashback. At first I was like, “Girl, you really be thinking that he doesn’t care about you while recalling the moment he apologized to you and hugged you? Are you insane?”

But after some thinking of my own, it occurred to me. Maybe she was too used to having her feelings not reciprocated, she couldn’t believe it when someone finally did. Not to mention Hanako did kinda trick her with his fake confession a while back (heh, he’s not the only one with trust issues, eh?). And that just made the entire thing even sadder.

So when Nene said, “But I thought, if I were an apparition like you, I could get closer to you. Then, maybe I’d be able to understand you, Hanako-kun. Although I know I probably don’t mean anything to you.”

That was a harsh wake up call for Hanako.

(Btw even more full circle, Hanako brought up Nene’s wish to become human again in the first episode. Nice.)

So. We got one daikon girl who’s afraid of not having her feelings reciprocated, and one ghost boy who’s afraid that daikon girl wouldn’t be his friend anymore if she knew about his past.

While in actuality, said daikon girl already decided she wanted to and would be his friend no matter what, and ghost boy had grown to care about her more than he thought he would.

He heard what she said to Tsuchigomori. He knew all about regret, too. I mean, honestly, I think if she had said no, he’d let her walk away right then and there, no questions asked. But she didn’t.

Nene’s wish finally came true here. And the best part? It wasn’t the work of magic or curses. Just Hanako finally shoving his fear aside, offering himself as he was, and letting her decide.

And she still chose to be with him.

Heh. Lemme just. Sob for a bit.

Is my hananene trash brain reading too much into this? Idk. Maybe.

So props to the production team for managing to add even more weight to this arc. Which, they had to, since it’s the season finale and all. But I love what they did!

Onto my commentaries!

1. The KouNene

Good shit. She was worried about him but he didn’t want her to worry so he just smiled it off? These two are precious. Thought they were gonna interact. Sadly not. Buuuut! (see point 12)

2. Hanako’s classroom visit

He. Is. So. Adorable. Someone please take his babey license away he’s too dangerous.

Hanako’s classroom visit is like my absolute favorite clingy Hanako moment, so I’m really happy I get to see it this season. Ugh. My kokoro. Hugging her from behind, that semi confession vibe … Smooth mf.

The Mokke brushing Nene’s hair!!! The radish hairdo tho lmao.

On a sidenote, as a history nerd I appreciate that they’re actually putting lessons in the background. And the teacher talked about Apollo 11 again??? While my boy was in the room? That ish both hurt and pleased me.

3. The Clock Keeper rumor drop

Heeeeeehhhhh? What’s thiiiiiissss?

4. This freaking thing

*flips table* Darn production team been knew I’m hananene trash how dare they do this to me.

And lookie here there’s Kodama chilling.

5. Fishies! (!!!manga spoiler for The Little Mermaid arc!!!)

Pufferfish didn’t die. Well, good for him. Also I can’t believe they just call the other fish ‘yeah yeah’ lmao what the freak. Has it always been like that in the manga?

6. AOI AND AKANE (!!!spoilers for chapter 64!!!)

I swear I did not intend this numbering coincidence.

*claps* Boi. Nene asking Aoi about cutting ties with someone she’s interested in? And then Akane just swooped in and say he’d rather cut his head off than cut ties with Aoi? What about getting impaled, huh, boy? Would that do?

The not-so-subtle call out to these two pairs’ parallel? BOI.

7. Nene and Yako

These two just chilling together having girl talk, and Yako let Nene pet her? That’s some adorable shit right there. Admit it Yako you like her.

Yako also be really hitting home with what she said. It was extra heavy coming from her, considering what happened to her and Misaki. Boiiiiii.

8. Tsuchigomori

Oh my God, his laughter. Just … oh my God.

Tsuchigomori in dad mode is always one of the highlights of the episode/chapter.

By the way, in this scene according to the sub, Nene asked Tsuchigomori who Tsukasa is. But she knew who he is already. Is it possible that the sub misinterpreted it? ‘Cause I think what she actually meant was, “What happened to him and Tsukasa-kun in the past?”

If someone who speaks Japanese could share their wisdom, please do!

9. The 5 pm bell and twilight

Look how pretty they are!!!

Lo and behold, another important hananene interaction while the 5 pm bell plays in the background. Also, twilight? Y’all giving me Kimi no Na wa flashbacks.

“Twilight, when it’s neither day or night. When the world blurs and one might encounter something not human.”

Huh … kinda fits the ‘boundary’ concept but it still hurt.

Anyway they still had Hanako tell her what she already knew. And I did say in my ‘Walking Blind’ post that it’d be redundant. But since the episode kinda emphasized Nene’s desire to understand Hanako, having him actually tell her himself, even though she already knew it, was a big deal. It’s not about what she knows, it’s about him opening up to her. So I’m super cool with it.

10. The Broadcasting Club (!!!spoilers for The Clock Keeper arc!!!)

I love how Natsuhiko and Sakura are actually decent people. When he told Mitsuba that he was free to choose to stay with them or not? That’s solid, man. Though, of course, Tsukasa might not be as kind.

Speaking of, I know it couldn’t be anything else, but I’m still not sure if Tsukasa’s drawing was confirmation for season 2. Don’t wanna get my hopes up. Imma just enjoy what I currently have.

Kinda curious, though. Because Clock Keeper wasn’t Tsukasa’s doing. Maybe he was the one who released Mirai? But tbh I’d prefer if it wasn’t so. Because having more cases of supernaturals going loco without it being one of Tsukasa’s games is interesting, and kinda underlines the need of The Seven Wonders to keep supernaturals in check.

11. Kodama just chilling

12. The Adventures of Minamoto and the Summer Vegetables

You go, Kou! I’m rooting for you oh my God you’re so precious.

And look at that ikemen smile! Him supporting Kou is just top notch sweet y’all I can’t-

Ngl this was the biggest surprise of the episode. Teru finding out that summer vegetables = Nene? Broooooo. Interesting. I don’t think this little addition warrants any changes to their future interaction, so it should be safe. Clever replacement, too, those veggies.

It’s so sweet that Nene delivered those veggies to Kou! Just imagine the Minamoto family having veggies for dinner. Awww.

(Also, Nene wrote her name in hiragana instead of kanji. Is that a reference to how bad Kou is with kanji? Lol, so sweet)

13. The Coda!!!

Look at him. Just look at him. Look how lovesick he is y’all I can’t-

THEY’RE SO ADORABLE.

All in all, I love this episode. Sorry for how long this post is. I’m just dealing with so many feels right now. Gaaahhhhh.

#jibaku shounen hanako kun #toilet bound hanako kun #hanako #minamoto kou #yashiro nene #akane aoi #aoi akane #yako #tsuchigomori #mitsuba sousuke #hyuuga natsuhiko #nanamine sakura #yugi tsukasa #kodama #minamoto teru #let's talk about jshk anime #bea rambles #hananene

569 notes · View notes

greekbros · 3 years

Text

"greek-Bros: The Return of an Old Enemy"

Chapter 9: The 'War' Room

It was approximately high noon, the Dionysian Games were at their peak, all was well for the residents of Delphi except for one. Dionysus was in his competitors tent near the game field, explaining to Hermes the whole situation. Dionysus had agreed to a challenge that had now put Delphi and Ariadne in a compromising situation, if Ares won the joust he would take everything from the land to sleeping with his beloved wife.

Dionysus was laying on a pile of pillows, deeply remorseful of his string of terrible decisions. "I can't believe I would put Ariadne in this situation I really am like dad!", he sobbed, "WHY the fuck did I even agree to this?!", he continued while crying into his pillow. Hermes sat next to him, patting his back trying to comfort him. He couldn't care too much about how it all happened but he had an idea on how he was going to help.

Hermes laid down on the pillows and let out a relaxed sigh, he already had the plan all mapped out. "Dionysus, you know very well even if Ares does win...I'm not letting him screw you and Ariadne. By the way....is he using his OWN horses for this?", he asked. Ares's chariot was pulled by a trio of horses that would be best described as literal Night Mares, these mystical fire breathing war horses are fast, aggressive and can pull a lot more than Ares's weight.

Dionysus turned, sniffling, "....I'm not sure why?", now he was curious as to what Hermes was planning, "why? What are you going to do?". He was desperate to find some way of winning. It would be devastating if Ariadne found out she was going to be a prize for Ares and lose her kingdom let alone have her husband lose a challenge he decided to enter.

Hermes gave a smirk, inspite of current events he always knew how to make time for anything. "Well, I remember correctly....his horses are pretty tough....if he is using his horses, I could let them out....replace them with some of the horses from here.....I mean...how does wine effect horses.... especially ones that....breath fire?", he asked with a sly grin. He leaped up, pacing back and forth. "We could.....get him drunk, throw him off his game...or...we can go a little more further.", he turned to Dionysus for some approval.

Dionysus was catching on with Hermes's plan. He stood up, "...yeah.....I see where you're going with this....yeah.....but how are we going to get the horses to drink the wine? I mean....you can't just lead a horse to water....also....what if an animal that BREATHES fire....wine is flammable you know...". The two were brainstorming, thinking of ways Ares could be sabotaged. Their brain power would get a boost in the form of someone outside. The two heard the familiar but eloquently frustrated voice of Apollo, demanding to see Dionysus. Dionysus rushes to the tent entrance and opens to see Apollo, talking to one of the satyrs guarding the tent. "Hey man how's it hanging?", Dionysus chimed.

Apollo turned around and the look on his face spoke a thousands that all could translate to "What the HELL did I tell you?!". He marched towards Dionysus, pushes him gently back into the tent to yell at him. "WHY IS THERE AN EVENT GOING ON?!?", he shouted, "I thought I told you to hold off on any parties or anything to make sure the people are safe from what's been going on!". He almost couldn't believe that Dionysus would go the point of risking the Delphians for the sake of having fun.

Dionysus slunked into himself like a turtle going into his shell. "W-well Apollo ol'pal...ugh....wow you are NOT going to believe what else....ugh...Ares is here too....aaaaaand I'm in trouble.....more specifically.... Ariadne is in trouble.", he tried to soften the news but even he knew it wasn't going to quell Apollo's mild fury.

Hermes stepped into help in his own way, "Yeah Dionysus bet his wife, Delphi itself and his patronship of Delphi to Ares if he lost.", successfully making the situation far worse. Apollo's usually fare glowingly pale face was slowly glowing a burning fiery orange with anger, it became hotter in the tent, melting any wax candles and drying any leaves from fruits inside. "Come on Apollo, are you really going to get mad inside of this highly flammable tent with your two favorite brothers in mine?", Hermes charmed Apollo. The hot glow dimmed back into the cooler pale tone he usually had, he knew no matter how angry he got it would be pointless to lose his temper.

Apollo took a deep sigh, sat down to further collect himself. ".....ok...now...what do you plan on doing then?", he asked. He could see both Dionysus and Hermes had a plan, and he knew he wasn't going to like it. "Oh good....it seems you both have something cooked up.", he begrudgingly assumed.

The two stood there looking at Apollo, Hermes walked to a table that had a bottle of wine. "Let's just say, Ares isn't going to drive his chariot straight if his HORSES have been drinking....oh..ugh....DID you see his horses?", he asked. Apollo nodded 'yes', so unfortunately, the plan of forcing Ares's horses to drink the wine would pose a challenge. "Ok, so....we will have to feed the horses something else....spiked fruit?", he suggested. The two looked at Hermes, both couldn't argue against the idea yet they found it to be a usable one.

Dionysus chimed in, "yeah I think I have some marinated apples somewhere. We could feed it to his horses if they don't drink the wine.", he left the tent to look for some at a food tent nearby, leaving the two brothers alone.

Apollo knew that Hermes wasn't here just to enjoy watching Dionysus's fake Olympic games, he had been watching what had been going on in Greece. "Hermes, now that we're alone. What have you seen as of late? Is what I've heard from Artemis true?", Apollo was referring to the wolf man that Hermes and Artemis had encountered. He had recently come in contact with Artemis, whom had come to him to ask about Zeus's whereabouts.

His mischievous demeanor calmed into a somber awareness. Hermes took a deep sigh, he got distracted with Dionysus's issue. He turned to Apollo, "yeah, it was pretty freaky...the thing didn't die on the first shot either. I haven't seen them appear during the day though. I think these creatures only come out of night.", he took off hat hat and scratched his head. "Dionysus was getting a lot of complaints....guess people here can't stand still for long....I can see why he caved in, he doesn't want to disappoint anyone....I can relate, buuuuut honestly the whole situation feels weird.". Hermes felt mildly uncomfortable about his encounter, he had been so use to seeing things die and stay dead, that it had never occurred to him that something could reanimate.

Apollo's stern face loosened up, "Well.....he always seems to listen to his mortal citizens more than me so I'm not sure why I always act surprised.", he relaxed a little but noticed Hermes a little bit worried, "Are you ok? Artemis did mention you didn't take too well to the.... creature.". He could see Hermes look like a someone who saw something he shouldn't.

"it's ok", Hermes replied, "....I just prefer dead things to be dead....that's all.". He turned to the shuffling tent wall and sees Dionysus come in with a jar of fruit pickled in wine. "Ah perfect Dio, I'll take the fruit and wine. Wait here and I'll handle the rest.", Hermes took the jar and an amphora of wine and jetted off, leaving Dionysus and Apollo in the tent.

Dionysus turned to Apollo, "sooooo........ugh....hehe, have you seen the games? Man the folks out there are having fun.", he tried to make it as if he wasn't caring about his dilemma but there was no point, "man I fucked up big time..... fucking Ares, the asshole.... should have asked for someone who wouldn't want to fuck Ariadne.....man I'm a terrible husband.", he slumped on to a pile of pillows. He was still worried about the joust, he was worried about losing Ariadne's trust in him, and above all he was worried if he resembled Zeus in the worst way possible. Dionysus let out a deep sigh, "guess I really am my dad's kid..."

Apollo could hear the hurt in Dionysus's voice, he got closer to him and placed his hand on his back. "Look, you messed up even for your standards.....but you're not a terrible husband, you two are young newlyweds, you've been married for a short amount time and mistakes happen.... don't be THAT hard on yourself. There's still time to fix things....does she know about the bet?", asked Apollo.

"No...she doesn't....and I don't want her to know about ANY of it. If I lose, I lose everything that's important to me....if I win...well...I have yet to see Ares be a good sport about losing....for all I know he'll tell her out of spite", Dionysus replied.

"Oh come now, Ares is a difficult person for sure and he's unbarable at times....but I doubt he will be that level of cruelty. Maybe he was just exaggerating...after all the man is the father of Fear and Terror himself, he would know a thing or two about making people fear him." Apollo reassured him. "Plus, I have no doubt Ariadne would forgive you. You've done quite a lot for her if you remember, she knows you love her and you'd end the world for her.", Apollo hoped his words would at least inspire Dionysus not to consider himself a failure of a husband. After all, he along with Hades, have seemed to have rather successful marriages and to compare one's marriage to Zeus's marriage is surly a blow to one's heart and soul let alone their ego.

Dionysus looked at Apollo and smiled, "....thanks....but I just don't want to mess up anyway.", he got up and took a quick peek outside to see how far into the games the people had gotten through. Unfortunately time wouldn't be on their side, it had seems the Delphians had gone through the whole games and have already started giving out makeshift medals. "GAH! THE GAMES ARE ALMOST DONE!", he loudly panicked, he ran towards the set of armor that he set aside so he can put on for the joust, "OH GODS IM FUCKED! Hermes better be done with what he was doing!", he quickly put on his armor.

"I'll go and distract Ares then, see if I can change his mind about the bet, good luck out there Dionysus.", Apollo quickly left Dionysus in the tent.

"Bye see you later.", Dionysus responded.

Elsewhere, Hermes was at a temporary stable where the horses for the joust. Hermes snuck into the stables in hopes no one noticed him. He looked around and could see Ares's three huge, scary looking chariot horses, he slowly tiptoed to them. The horses noticed his presence, these weren't friendly horses, these horses might as well have been the horses of straight from King Augeas's stable. Hermes took a bowl and pored the wine into it, he raised it to the opening of the stable up to the three horses. In a whispered voice, "...hey there buddies, you want something to take the edge off? Come on, it should smell irresistible.", Hermes was hoping the sweet smelling wine would attract their attention, one of the horses did I fact take a sip from the bowl. It drank the whole thing in a few sips, letting out a loud delighted whinny.

"Hehe, perfect.", Hermes poured another bowl to see if he could give more wine, the same horse drank the wine while the second horse became curious and took a few sips as well. Now all was left was to get the third horse hooked on the wine, but the third horse was different, this one was a stubborn mare that lead the trio while they pull the chariot. She wasn't going to fall for the wine as easily. Hermes took a quick peak at the mare, "c'moooooon, what gives?", he could see she was all the way in the corner, glaring at him while her brothers fought to take the last few sips. As Hermes poured the last of wine into the bowl, he went to take out a wine soaked pealed apple from the jar. He gently tossed to the mare, the other two horses could smell the wine on the apple and tried to go right for it, but the mare reared her head, snorting aggressively. The two other horses stopped, the mare sniffed the apple and took a small nibble.

It took a few seconds for the mare to understand why this apple was spicy, however, she seemed to have liked the spiked fruit and ate it in one bite. She clopped towards Hermes, intimidating him for more apples, he quickly obliged and held the jar to the mare. She shoved her muzzle into the jar, eating a few more bits of alcoholic fruit. Hermes wasn't satisfied yet, he left the jar with the mare and he quickly ran to get two more amphoras of wine. He quickly began to pore more wine for all three horses, the more the three sipped, the relaxed and tipsy they acted. The three swayed back and forth, bumping into each other, loudly snorting and whinnying.

Plan A, was a success. Hermes patted the three horses snouts, knowing damn well he would never have a chance to do this with Ares's horses ever again. "Ok, bye bye.", he darted off to see what Ares was doing, unfortunately, he was more focused than ever, he was now for some reason practicing using his sword on an innocent tree as if he was going to fight Dionysus to the death. "What the fuck is he doing, he isn't going to kill dionysus is he?", Hermes questioned to himself. He suddenly saw Apollo call out to Ares, wanting to have a conversation with him. "Ah oh, this is going to be good....or really bad.", Hermes hoped Apollo was going to help.

End of chpr 9

#greek bros #greek-Bros #greek mythology #dionysus #ares #apollo #hermes #short story #greek bros: the return of an old enemy #hellenistic #blood of zeus #hades supergiant

15 notes · View notes

silverdecepticon93 · 4 years

Note

OG young justice team with demigod S/O's (like from percy Jackson)

Aqualad:

Obviously, you’re the child of Poseidon

Date nights aren’t too showy, often going out on swims or a simple movie night.

If you ever need help adjusting to the mortal world, Kalur will be very understanding and does very well in teaching how to adjust and fit in.

Doesn’t mind you’re more powerful than him but he will still be a little worried for you in battle.

If you want to learn hand-to-hand combat, he’d be more than happy to teach you.

If you’re anything like your father, you are ruthless to anyone who dares to cross you, and crossing Kaldur is like crossing you so he kinda has to reel you back in when you get too threatening.

You two are very much the parents of the Team, making sure everyone’s okay and lightly scolding them when they’ve done bad.

It’s a very secure relationship since you two trust each other completely.

He’s very easy to make blush if you kiss him or any other kind of PDA, especially if you do it in front of someone in the League.

“(Y/n), you could get us in trouble.”

“Sorry, Kal, I couldn’t resist.~”

Robin:

You’re the child of Athena (well, more like an adopted kid but you still inherit some of her abilities) which makes sense considering that Robin is a tricky little bird.

Much like him and Batman, the two of you don’t need to talk in battle since you guys seem to think alike.

He also doesn’t mind that you’re more powerful than him unless you embarrass him in front of Batman or something, then he gets all flustered and pouty.

You’re a sucker for that creepy laugh and cute smile of his.

Will offer to teach you hand-to-hand combat if you decline he’s fine and won’t pry into the matter any further, but if you say ‘yes’ then he’s gonna get so excited.

If you also have trouble adjusting to a mortal lifestyle, then he doesn’t mind helping you introducing you to ‘normal’ mannerisms.

You’re accepted into the Batfamily with no problems or qualms at all, you’re just one of them, so accept it.

Expect a lot of greek mythology pick-up lines that backfire on him when you correct him mid pick-up line about a fact or something about a family member.

“Alright, so in order to succeed in this mission, you’re going to have to-”

“Take out all the system remotely while also creating a distraction so you can slip past? Good idea, (Y/n).”

“I am so in love with you right now.”

Kid Flash:

Child of Hermes, loud and proud!

Since Wally doesn’t believe in magic, you like to fuck around with him by doing...you know, magic!

It’s very entertaining for you to watch him struggle trying to justify your magic and abilities but go off, I guess?

You two still love each other deeply, being one of those couples that are incredibly obnoxious but you know that they’d take a bullet for the other.

Expect him to challenge you to races to prove whose faster, you or him.

Sometimes you win, sometimes you don’t. Wally knows when you purposely lose a race and when you don’t so don’t think you can get away with going easy on him.

As for adjusting to the mortal world, you’re don’t really need help. After all, you adapted pretty quickly, which is another thing Wally loves.

Someone who can roll with the punches.

He denies the fact he’s dating a bonafide demigod and calls you his ‘Diety’ or ‘God/Goddess’ for the sake of irony.

“Hey, I realized if we had kids would they be like 25% god or something?”

“If we had kids, they’d be 100% awesome!”

Superboy:

Child of the war god, himself, Ares.

How you and Conner start to get close is when you're being shunned by your aunt Diana because your dad and she don’t have the best track record, he feels your pain and you two kid of bond over that.

Play roughhousing isn’t uncommon but you two are a lot softer than you seem, favoring to cuddle in comfy silence with each other instead.

Literal war couple, both of you equal in power and strength and can trust that the other has your back during a battle.

Both of you adjust to normal human mannerisms together, since you’re both kinda clueless about it.

You two also bring out a softer side in each other because you two know you can vulnerable around the other without fear of ridicule or teasing. You guys just understand each other.

Only gets better when Wolf joins because now you three are in the living room just napping in a comfy doggy pile.

Both of you are resting your heads on a napping wolf where your cuddling Conner, the Team is surprised to see that he’s the little spoon, but know better than to bring it up.

Villians are very hesitant to fight you two because they know that separate, you guys can be taken down, but together you guys can raise hell if angry.

“Oh! Sorry if I hurt you, Conner!”

“As if you could.”

Miss Martian:

Child of Demeter and I might be going off Lore Olympus because why not?

You can see M’gann’s real form but it doesn’t scare you after all if you can handle seeing a god’s true form then you can handle M’gann’s.

You two are literally the cutest since your often baking with each other, watching her favorite reality TV show, or just being wholesome.

You two get very awkward when it comes to PDA so it’s nothing more than comforting shoulder pats and the occasional kiss on the cheek.

Both of you have shape-shifting abilities but you’re slightly more mastered in yours, so you offer to help her whenever you can.

You both listen to each other intently as she tells you about Mars and you tell her all about Olympus.

Someone help Psimon if he thinks that he can hurt your M’gann because there won’t be a god or goddess alive that can save him from your wrath. You’re Demeter’s kid, after all.

You don’t mean to but you kind of reinforce her intrusive mind-reading behavior but that’s only because it was also a normal part of your childhood so if she’s apologizing for accidentally reading your mind, you tell her it’s fine.

The team has to step in and remind you why it’s a bad thing.

“Oh cool! You made me cookies!”

“Well, you were thinking about them earlier and- Hello, M’gann! I did it again...”

Artemis:

You’re the child of Apollo (I feel like it makes more sense) so it does feel kind of weird that you’re dating someone with the same name as your aunt.

Think of nicknames for her quick because you honestly can’t bring yourself to call her ‘Artemis’ unless it’s an emergency or if you really want something.

If she ever feels insecure about herself being a hero or her abilities as an archer, you are going to make sure to list all the reasons why she is THE BEST hero until she’s back to her fully confident self.

You’d feel very honored if she told you about her past and congratulate her about it, acknowledging how brave she was to tell you something so personal.

But seriously, how can she feel so insecure when she’s literally dating a demi-god? I mean, that’d be a pretty big ego-booster in my opinion.

There are nights where you two just like to stargaze as you point from constellation to constellation and tell them her about all the stories behind them.

If I had to choose who influences who more, I’d have to say you. The only reason why is that your able to warm up and get close to Artemis in way no one has for a long time, you’d rather die than break her trust, and she really finds it assuring knowing that you’ll be with her through thick and thin.

Her mom really likes you since you’re a big motivator for Artemis to stay on the straight and narrow.

There’s mutual respect between you and Cheshire and Sportsmaster not only because of your skills but because of your adamancy on keeping Artemis safe and your loyalty to her.

“Do you have my back?”

“(Y/n), you know I always do.”

Zatanna:

The child of Hecate, demi-god of magic.

Klarion is very fearful when fighting against Zatanna, he may be a Chaos Lord, but you’re literally the child of magic incarnate so he’d rather not.

You like to attend Zatanna’s shows and have a look of amazement and awe every time, even though Zatanna is pretty sure you’re much more capable of her when it comes to the mystic arts.

Bitch, you’re mom MADE the mystic arts, yet you just like seeing your Zee perform.

She looks so happy, so at peace, and it just makes your heart flutter thinking about it.

During the events of ‘Misplaced’, you got so scared when she put on the Dr. Fate helmet because even you couldn’t get it off and you knew there was no amount of magic that could. You thought you were gonna lose your Zee.

You feel guilty admitting this but you felt so glad when Zatara traded spots, yes Zatanna had become distant with you, but you’d rather have that than her being enslaved to the helmet till the end of her days.

She warms up to you again and apologizes while you assure her there’s nothing to apologize for. You two plan a whole weekend where you can catch up and spend time with each other, just you two.

You help her whenever you can when it comes to magic but she knows you do it more for yourself than for her, but can she really blame you? You just want to spend as much time as you can with her.

“Zee! That was amazing, you’re improving so much!”

“Well, I had a great teacher, (Y/n).”

#Young Justice x reader #Yj x reader #Yj x you #Young justice x you #Dc x reader #Dc x you #DC Cartoons #Young Justice #YJ #I only date heroes

227 notes · View notes

dgcatanisiri · 4 years

Text

So, this is one of those things that is made obvious by hindsight, and, honestly, given the IRL stuff that created the bind that production was in during season five, I understand that there was probably a proverbial mad scramble among the production staff that hit all sides on production (with New Zealand about to host the Lord of the Rings movies, it was taking away some of their production people, on top of Lucy Lawless’s actual pregnancy impacting a very physical character, as well as Rob Tapert going off for a good stretch of episodes, focusing on Cleopatra 2525, so handing off the reins of the show, and all that fun stuff).

I think the big issue surrounding Eve is that they never really figured out who and what she was to the overall show, leaving her as just this plot MacGuffin and motivator for Xena, not as a character in her own right. Because once they committed to including Lucy Lawless’s pregnancy (which, don’t mistake me, I absolutely applaud the producers for that, considering how there are certain other high profile shows and creators who weren’t so accommodating who I hold a grudge against for NOT doing that *cough**cough*JossWhedon!*cough), they had to account for this baby.

And after Solan, it is 100% in Xena’s character to holding her second child as tight as she possibly could. She lost her chance to not just be a mother to Solan, even the chance to make that right as best she could when he was murdered. So she would hold Eve tight, no matter the cost. Xena would make every effort she could to be the mother to Eve that she never had the chance to be for Solan.

But a Warrior Princess with a baby is a stifling thing on the writing level - it’s a bundle you have to account for at all times, and there is a perception (a bad perception, but a perception, one that was definitely common twenty years ago when Xena was produced and honestly probably still prevalent among studio execs today) that making a “Warrior Princess” into a mother means that you are going to “weaken” the character, because now she’ll be focused on diapers and first moments over killing. Obviously ridiculous if you have any conception of Xena as a character, but I have this feeling that very few of the people who finance anything in the general Hollywood system actually watch the final product unless there’s some news buzz surrounding it, so...

That led to finding a way to age Eve up, which, to remain in character, to stay true to the character of Xena, which, for any and all flaws one can levy at the show, particularly through the lens of hindsight and twenty years of societal progress we won’t get in to here, the show absolutely DID stay consistent with, meant that Xena had to be separated from her daughter.

And then... I really feel they did a disservice to Eve at this point with the Livia stuff. Because after all their talk of how the cycle of reincarnation and “better in the next life” in the back half of season four and the first half of season five... Eve ends up reenacting the greatest tragedy of both her mother’s life AND Callisto’s, going through a similar path as Callisto.

And, from the perspective of the season arc, the Twilight of the Gods, there honestly was a missed opportunity to try and hammer out some flaws, explore the gods now that they felt the danger had passed and how they had settled back into complacency over the time jump, rather than spending time having to redeem Eve, taking up a good couple of hours on her alone, rather than the concept of the Twilight of the Gods.

Consider instead... Joxer had taken her in, then and there, after Xena and Gabrielle were presumed dead. He takes her in, raises her alongside his children, telling her the stories of her mothers and making sure she knew how much she was loved by them, that they sacrificed everything to protect her. Sure, you have to work around the gods missing the fact that Xena and Gabrielle’s closest ally JUST HAPPENS to pick up this infant child RIGHT AFTER the supposed death of Eve, but... I mean, it’s still Joxer, the gods probably don’t really pay attention to him unless they want to use him against Xena anyway.

Anyway, this happens and Eve (raised under another name, probably, I figure Joxer would have that much intelligence) grows up safe and happy, having the chance at a life and love that she deserved as it was, that Callisto, her past life, had never been able to, that XENA never had been able to, the life that Xena would have wanted for her daughter, to know only love and peace, rather than a life of constant battle and blood. When Xena and Gabrielle awaken, they meet her, and she is happy and content to know them... But her path is not that of a warrior, and she has no intention of joining them on their journeys, just being someone that they visit, like Cyane or Ephiny were, characters who only showed up when there was a specific story to tell with them. Have her say “Thank you for doing everything you have and will for me, mother, I love you so much, my place is here, in this peaceful village, living the life I have.” Because I think Xena, despite missing Eve’s life, would be so damn HAPPY to end up seeing her daughter being able to live her life and finding happiness in it, outside of battle.

You can even keep a lot of the various events from that arc, just shift the responsibility over to the gods, give them some focus in the midst of their existential crisis - Ares and Aphrodite are the survivors, so show their uncertainty with this path of killing Eve, Discord had been around for several seasons, yet her death is ultimately so offhanded, if you blink, you might miss it, Hephaestus had appeared as a sympathetic character before in the franchise, yet he dies even more offhandedly than Discord, I don’t think Artemis even gets a proper line in the course of Motherhood, her only appearance in the arc, and even that’s really more than freaking POSEIDON got... Have Athena or Artemis be responsible for Joxer’s death - hell, let him die DEFENDING Eve against the gods. Even visit with or at least touch on what the gods who aren’t actively being killed off on screen are doing in the midst of this - Apollo sent some of his people against Xena, but never appears himself, meanwhile gods like Hermes and Cupid go unmentioned entirely. All of this could have been happening across the episodes Livia and Eve, instead of focusing on having to go through Eve’s fall from Roman grace, descent into darkness, and ultimate redemption.

In the end, Eve never really ends up fitting in to the series, you can tell by how she ends up being written out of Xena and Gabrielle’s travels once they finish the cleanup of season five’s aftermath, and I think making her a drop-in character who is not a warrior (still could be a follower of Eli’s way, just... Not having the background of Rome’s Greatest Warrior and all the sins that accrued), someone who has chosen to NOT fight, would have been even more of a better legacy for her as a character, still set up what does serve as her character’s finale in the show proper. I mean, she just disappears for several episodes after the start of season six, and... Really, nothing is missing when she’s gone, this is a character who clearly was never really made to fit the show, just circumstance.

I mean, yeah, with the benefit of hindsight, twenty years down the line, it’s easy to backseat write out how things could have, should have, would have gone. Like I said at the start, this was probably at least in part due to the background upheaval of general production issues that were outside the creative control that impacted the decisions of the show’s direction. So this ultimately a lot of things that, really, I would easily figure were really just making the best out of the situation they were in and the hand they were dealt.

Still, always interesting to consider the what could have beens. Or at least, it always is for me.

#dg rambles #xena warrior princess

20 notes · View notes

alextriestowritestuff · 4 years

Text

Blood Of Olympus Read W/ Me

This was the worst book of the series by far. I almost didn’t finish it. I think my thoughts are going to be rather short but they’ll still be below the cut for spoiler reasons. There will also be Trials of Apollo spoilers so I highly suggest not reading this if you haven’t caught up with those books! Let’s get into it.

I’d like the start by saying what I like: Nico/Reyna POV. I loved their relationship (which I didn’t see coming at all) it was very big sis-little bro vibes. I love that Nico finally found a place and his budding relationship with Will. What’s funny is though I knew Will would be his love interest (You can’t avoid them in fanfic at all) I thought he’d be more like super sunshine/super happy and that would contrast with Nico’s emo nature. But he was just chill and was like Nico, stop being a dumbass, we’re friends. I think fanfic gave me a different impression of what he’d be like (Granted I never read the fics, just summaries) and I was surprised that he was not like that. It’s not bad or good, just pointing it out.

Oh and Nico telling Percy he liked him and Percy just being like ‘say what?’ I didn’t expect Nico to actually fess up to that one but Percy’s reaction was gold.

The best moment in this book is Reyna taking down Orion by herself. She was that BITCH. Correct me if I’m wrong but the only other person who defeated a giant by themselves was Percy right? In the Battle of Labyrinth when he fights Antaeus? I think Antaeus was a half-giant though because Percy, a demigod, managed to kill him without the help of a god. Anyway, Reyna was everything in that scene. Oh I lied, he took down Polybotes too. They’d be unstoppable together (though I love Percabeth). She was about to sacrifice herself too!! What a queen. I respect the crap out of her. UM Jason you really picked the wrong girl lmao.

I appreciated the Thalia cameo (because again, I didn’t re-read the Lost Hero so I haven’t seen her since the last time I read the PJO series) and the mention of Zoe. I hope Kenzie didn’t really die though, I liked her.

And that’s all the good I have to say about it. Now for the bad...so much bad.

So after thinking about it, I realize that what makes HoO so different from its predecessor series is that there’s no consequences. The closest we got to consequences was Annabeth and Percy falling into Tartarus because they weren’t saved in time. No one important (protagonist/good guys side) died. Leo was resurrected (And I looked it up and found out that he came to Camp in the Trials of Apollo series so everyone knows he’s alive). Even for the Tartarus one, we didn’t even get a PTSD arc. It would’ve been helpful to have Percy or Annabeth’s POV in this book to wrap up that subplot. Instead we get two lines about their time in Tartarus and when Percy brings it up, Annabeth tells him not to mention it. So no PTSD arc. Got it. But we can just casually mention that Octavian committed suicide (which I don’t care for that ending at all). Right.

The HoO books are boring because there’s no consequences. I never felt true fear apart from Percy/Annabeth being in Tartarus. In the Last Olympian, mortals were put to sleep, Annabeth was gravely injured, Silena and Beckendorf died. Luke and Ethan died. There was no magical save for them. Blood of Olympus had NO stakes, coupled with a weak, slightly developed new characters made it a bad series imo. It also doesn’t deliver on the questions posed in the book.

Hazel’s curse is still active, no descendant of Neptune has taken it away. I read the wiki summary for every book of the Trials of Apollo (The last one isn’t out yet) and there’s no mention of her curse being lifted. I think Frank’s stick is resolved imo being that it’s safe in the fireproof pouch but for some readers, they don’t think that’s resolved. Kym told Percy he’d have to face his fatal flaw. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t feel as though he did. Percy also never helped Leo find Calypso but Ig that’s null because he never got the chance to. Also is Black Jack, Frank’s grandmother, Hylla okay? Orion said Hylla got away but I was hoping for another cameo.

Let’s talk about the villains/the entire quest of the Seven. The quest was boring, Nico/Reyna/Hedge’s quest was 100x more interesting and they were transporting a freaking statue. The quest of the Seven was fight this minor god/villain who is working for Gaea who promised them something (Even Jason has a line where he makes fun of this), outsmart/fight them, get to Athens where all the monsters are. Percy and Annabeth’s blood awakens Gaea. The gods come down which makes me angry because most of them weren’t helpful throughout the series. Poseidon wasn’t in this series at all. He didn’t even send a symbol or talk to his son who went missing. I’m pissed that the battle against Gaea wasn’t even in Athens! I’m pissed that they got slapped to New York, like what? The gods really couldn’t poof them back there, they gave some excuse but it was still bs. But I guess Rick needed Argo II to get back to NY so Leo can turn festus back into a dragon. But anyway, the gods come down, the demigods work with to defeat the giants in less than two pages. The giants that were poised as a massive threat for four books straight. Defeated in mere minutes. We don’t even get a cool battle description, they just hack and slash at them and they’re dead. Huh?

Percy, Annabeth, Hazel, and Frank were reduced to background characters and I understand they don’t have a POV but I never felt that characters who didn’t have a POV in a certain book were ever forgotten/not utilized. They didn’t really get to do anything.

We also don’t really see the Roman and Greek gods all that much. I know they’re the same people, different Greek and Roman personalities. But like I thought their Roman side could be seen a bit more but they were having difficulty maintain one persona throughout the whole series. I can tell you what the Greek gods are like and how they interact w/ each other based on the throne room scenes/anytime they help demigods in PJO/HoO. But Roman gods as whole? I can’t tell you how they even interact with each other.

But wait, it gets worse. There’s not even a formal recognition thing like there was at the end of the Last Olympian (where Percy is offered godhood and Annabeth is given position of architect) there’s a little meeting with the gods and the Seven in which Jason is like give minor gods shrine and the gods aren’t really all that interested in what he has to say. There’s no thank you demigods. No, thanks Annabeth and Percy for literally going through Tartarus and Hazel for sacrificing yourself at 13 back in the 1940s. And the rest of them sacrificed something too. Like damn, no wonder why Luke was always like the gods don’t care about their kids.

Gaea was built up to be a big bad (honestly not really, she talked trash the entire time/sent people to do her work) and the woman is easily overpowered by the three demigods. She’s not even awake for 20 minutes and she goes down. WHAT??

Overall, it was anti-climatic and totally did a 180 on everything else established in this series-the fact that Gaea was such a major foe and turned out not to be (that SEVEN demigods had to take her down, not just 1 like Percy’s prophecy) and the giants were to be feared too but they get taken down. At 200 pages in, I dead ass wanted to DNF, it was so boring. I gave it a one star because although the good I mentioned was really great, it doesn’t save the book. So for me, this series had every book be 3 stars or under except House of Hades. 5 books and I only really was able to like one and get through it easily and it still had issues. Like what?

Lastly, I want to touch on Jason. I still think he’s bland though I appreciated him giving Nico a hug at the end there. Again from ToA/being spoiled over the years, I learned that Jason died and I won’t be reading ToA but I read the summary of the book where he died and um, wow. I don’t feel anything for his death but the fact that he and Piper broke up sent me into a laughing/anger rage. Laughing because they really said ‘I love you’ at the end of BoO and they didn’t even make it a year lmao. And the fact that PIPER, miss always insecure in her relationship with him, McLean broke up with HIM. WOOOOOW. But it made mad because I listened to her complain/fawn over Jason for 4 freaking books (not counting tSoN) for NO REASON cuz they ended up breaking up. Overall, I appreciated what Jason, Hazel, Frank, and Piper did in the HoO series because they were helpful but I couldn’t connect with their characters. I’ll admit that in BoO we got a little bit more bonding between characters which is what I asked for in my last read with me and I like the Percy/Jason scene underwater and Piper/Annabeth scene from the beginning. I do think some relationships were summarized when they could’ve been shown--i.e. Annabeth/Reyna/Piper friendship but they have potential.

The bonding was good, it was just too late. It should’ve happened in MoA/HoH as well. Random but I also hate how Leo was treated (esp. by Jason and Piper) throughout the series and I’m glad he got out of that mess. He was reduced to a deus ex mechanic and that wasn’t cool. The Seven wouldn’t have been able to do this quest without him.

Sooo I guess this is it. I don’t think I’m going to read another Rick Riordan book again unless I hear something drastic happens to Percy or Annabeth/Any of the PJO characters and Reyna. I’m strongly reconsidering removing him as my fav author. I still love the PJO series but this one was not it. I don’t know if Rick was on a tight deadline for these HoO books but it was just poorly executed. I don’t regret reading the series, I think reading HoH was worth all the time I spent reading this series. I wish I had just read a summary of tSoN and MoA, especially because I already read them years ago and knew I wasn’t into them from my first read. I wasted my own time by doing that. So if I had done that I would’ve gotten to just read HoH and then only be disappointed by BoO as opposed to three books. It is what it is. It’s nice to be in the loop because I always see these things about HoO characters and spoilers so now I know how it went down.

But that’s it guys, thank you for reading this entire thread and the ones before it. I have a lot of opinions and I don’t think I’m in the minority by saying I didn’t like this series overall. I will get back to my writeblr content and I will leave you guys with my final ratings for the series (My rating system may seem generous compared to my read with me thoughts but I personally don’t give less than 3 stars to books that plot wise made sense. It may not be the most compelling plot or have the best characters but if it made coherent sense, I have to give it at least a 3.) :

The Lost Hero: This score is based off of my original reading in 2012/2013 and my thoughts on the main characters in that book, I give this a 3/5 stars

The Son of Neptune: 3/5

The Mark of Athena: 2/5

The House of Hades: 4.5/5

The Blood of Olympus: 2/5

Worst book of the series: Mark of Athena (Blood Olympus is a close tie but the Nico/Reyna really saves it from this spot) and best book- House of Hades.

#blood of olympus #rick riordan #Percy Jackson #Jason Grace #HoO #Percabeth #read with me #writeblr #alextriestowritestuff #not writing

12 notes · View notes

shes-a-communist · 5 years

Text

One of the things that really annoys me about the PJO fandom is how so many people have for some reason decided to call Apollo a coward. It actually something I see people say quite a lot, and I feel like it’s really unfair, because Apollo is actually a lot braver than people give him credit for. And I feel the need to defend Apollo and explain why he is in fact not a coward (it’s sad that it needs to be pointed out, but I digress). So here goes nothing I guess.

Now of course Apollo does have some moments that are cowardly and unheroic, I will concede to this. But those moments shouldn’t define his whole character. I personally don’t think that having a flaw means that said flaw is your only quality or even a large part of your character. And frankly, a lot of Apollo’s actions that have been labeled cowardly are really just moments where Apollo reacts in ways that most humans would react. Humans naturally care about our own survival before anyone else’s, it's just how we are wired to be. So of course Apollo is instinctively going to react fearfully when faced with danger, because that’s a natural way for human’s to react.

And consider, Apollo has been a god for the majority of his existence, he has never really had to worry much about death, he was immune to the cycle of life. And then he has the rug swept from underneath him and he is suddenly faced with the very real possibility that he could die. So naturally he would be terrified. But the thing that people tend to neglect about Apollo when they call him a coward is that he in fact does do plenty of brave things. He is more terrified than any of Rick’s other protagonists, and yet he still goes through his quest and does very heroic things. At many points he was willing to sacrifice his life for his friends, how is it even possible that someone who is willing to die for his friends or put his life in danger for others could be called a coward? Yes, there are times when he does hide behind Meg and act somewhat cowardly, but when it comes down to it he is very brave and is willing to do whatever it takes to protect his friends.

His narration does make it seem like he is more concerned about his own life than other people’s, which is true at the beginning I suppose, but throughout the series he has shown to care very deeply about others. Here are just a few examples of this, “‘Oh I will,’ Caligula promised. ‘Now, Lester, we both know you’re not going to-‘ He lunged with blinding speed, making a grab for the arrow. I had been anticipating that. Before he could stop me, I cleverly plunged the arrow into my chest. Ha! That would teach Caligula to underestimate me!” Apollo literally fucking stabs himself with the hopes that it would give his friends a shot at escaping and stop Caligula from becoming the sun god. That takes bravery. And also, “the chains and shackles snapped back together, fully mended. They leaped like striking rattle snakes— at me, not Herophile. They lashed themselves around my wrists and ankles. The pain was so intense it felt cool and pleasant at first. Then I screamed. […] I fell to my knees. ‘Meg, Grover— get the Sibyl out of here. Leave me!” Not to mention the fact that within the span of just a few chapters Apollo was willing to die for Meg twice “‘Let the girl go,’ I whimpered through the pain. ‘Kill me and let her go’ I surprised myself. These were not the last words I had planned. In the event of my death I had been hoping to have time to compose a ballad of all my glorious deeds— a very long ballad. Yet here I was, at the end of my life, pleading not for myself but for Meg McCaffrey.” And “‘Yes,’ I found myself saying. ‘Yes, I would die to save Meg McCaffrey.’” Like really guys, would a coward do any of that? I don’t think so.

And I wont lie, he definitely has had a lot of moments that are definitely unheroic, and even cowardly. For example, “Percy cleared his throat. Um, hey, Apollo…” Finally! I thought. “I know what you’re going to say,” I told him. “You and Meg have come up with a clever plan to hold off these spirits while I run away to camp. I hate to see you sacrifice yourselves, but—” “That’s not what I was going to say.” Percy raised his blade. “I was going to ask what happens if I just slice and dice these mouth-breathers with Celestial bronze.” And yeah I’m not gonna lie, that was pretty cowardly. But I have to say, I think most of us would react similarly. Maybe not exactly the same way, as I don’t think most people would openly admit that they would like to run away while everyone else fights, but I feel like most people wouldn’t want to stick around and die for a bunch of strangers. Most people would want to be the one to escape. And then consider the fact that Apollo has literally only had like an hour to adjust to the fact that he could literally die at any moment, his reaction does make sense. And not to mention that in this scene, he probably could have ran, leaving Percy and Meg and hoping for the best, but he doesn’t, he stays with them still. There’s also, “Soon the passage narrowed, forcing us to crouch and waddle in single file. I stayed in the middle, the safest place to be. You may not find that brave, but Grover was a lord of the Wild, a member of the satyrs’ ruling Council of Cloven Elders. Allegedly, he had great powers, though I hadn’t seen him use any yet. As for Meg, she could not only dual-wield golden scimitars, but also do amazing things with packets of gardening seeds, which she’d stocked up on in Indianapolis. I, on the other hand, had grown weaker and more defenceless by the day.” Which isn oddly specific quote for me to pull, I’m aware, but I think it does show that Apollo does instinctively prioritise his own safety at times. That much is true, but when it really comes down to it, he would do anything to protect the people he cares about. And while there are certainly moments where he isn’t particularly brave, I fail to see how it would make him a coward. There are certainly other moments where Apollo has been less than brave, and I could possibly pull more quotes from the text if I wanted to, but in the interest in not making this analysis too long I’ll just leave it at those two, you guys get the point anyway.

And honestly, I would argue that he is just as brave or even braver than any other protagonists in the series. The thing is with bravery is that to be brave you have to also be afraid, and yet still do the thing that scare you in spite of your fears. If you aren’t afraid then you cant really be brave, if you were to fearlessly take down your enemies and rescue your friends, it would no doubt be heroic, but I would hesitate to call it bravery, because bravery can’t exist without fear. To me, how brave you are depends on how afraid you were when you did the brave thing. Apollo is someone who I would consider to be brave, because of the fact that he is so utterly afraid, rather than in spite of it.

#trials of apollo #apollo pjo #meg mccaffrey #pjo #toa

105 notes · View notes

adrasthee · 4 years

Note

All questions for Delia

🌟 When your OC loses all hope, who do they turn to first? What helps make them feel better? What calms them down and reassures them? Why?

Delia turns to Apollo. It’s as simple as that. Since she grew up in his temple and he was her only friend for the longest time, he’s basically his comfort person. Is he always comforting and reassuring? No, not really, with him it’s pretty 50/50, but the familiarity of his person and his temples is usually enough to lead Delia into the path of calming down.

☀️ What makes your OC genuinely happy? A person, an item, their hobby? Where is the place they’re happiest, or most at home? What is the happiest they’ve ever been?

Seeing people happy is a good start, frankly. Then there’s Apollo, of course, which is almost guaranteed to bring her smile on her face, and creating stuff, no matter what or how tends to make her happy too.

🌙 If your OC could have one wish come true what would it be and why? Would there be consequences to this wish or would they regret it once they get what they want? What would they give in return for this wish to come true?

Having a family, because, well she’s an orphan that doesn’t have any and struggles a lot to find a place where 1) she feels home, 2) she feels like she belongs at and 3) she feels loved. If she did have a family, however, she would never really have gotten to know Apollo the way she did and probably never even would have had known him enough to fall in love, which kinda changes a lot? So in a way, yeah, she’d come to regret it.

❄️ What makes your OC sad, so sad that they can’t help but cry all day? How do they cheer themself up? Does their sadness upset any of their loved ones too?

When she feels uneeded, mostly, because she’ll tend of isolate and fall into self-loathing. Delia has this problem where she doesn’t see any reason for her to exist and live if it’s not to be useful to people, especially the gods, and as such, well, feelings of uselessness is easily the best way to make her cry. Usually she tries to deals with it alone as to not uspet anyone, so it’s hard to say if it does upset people? But yeah…

🔥 If your OC known for having temper tantrums? If not, what gets them really angry? What makes their blood BOIL? Is there anyway to calm them down or are they unstoppable? What are they like when they’re angry? Do they take it out on their loved ones?

Not really. Delia’s actually rather known to keep calm and collected through stuff that would enrage most people. However… seeing the people she loves, especially those she considers her children, get hurt is more than enough to get her blood boiling and she won’t calm until the person that did it is dead. She’s not known to take her anger out on people, especially not loved ones, but she can punch a wall if she need so to blow off some steam.

❤️ What would your OC’s ideal lover be like? Appearnce, personality, voice? Would their family approve or would it be civil war?

Delia does tend to like musicians and artists, but since she only fell in love once, it’s kinda hard for her to realise it much, if that makes sense. Unlike many people, she doesn’t really have to bother too much about her family approving of her lovers as an orphan, double that with the fact that the only person she might have to consult is Apollo and, subsequently, the only person she’s ever fallen for… Yeah, I’d be surprised if he refused I suppose.

🕊️ Would your OC ever get married or are they already wed? If they’re married, describe what their wedding was like! If not, describe their ideal wedding (or do this if you feel like it anyway!)

Nope to both! In Antiquity, weddings weren’t for love, but rather for status and, in the case of Greece, passing citizenship to your kids. Delia being an orphan, she has nothing like that she can give to her kids. As such, she sees wedding as something completely pointless.

🍼 Does your OC have any children or want children? What names would they pick? Are they good with kids or a complete disaster?

Spoiler alert? Delia does end up pregnant, now whether or not kids come by… That’s an entire other story. Those kids were ones she honestly really wished for while at the same time being absolutely terrified of what that would mean for them since, well, Apollo is their father. She’d let their father pick the names, since, as the god of prophecies, she feels like he’d be the most suited to know what name would be best for them. Is Delia good with kids? Yes, she’s the best. Not much more to add to this.

☕ Give us one (or more if you feel like it) of your OCs deep dark secrets! Why do they keep it hidden? Spill the tea!

Delia generally looks like the last person you’d expect to exploit and use people yet she won’t hesitate to do so to get the results she wants and needs, especially when it’s to serve Apollo.

🍂 What are their opinions on the different seasons? Which one do they hate and which one do they love and why?

She has a very love-hate relationship with summer; she loves it because it’s the sunniest, but also hates it because that means she gets to see Apollo the least.

🦋 If your OC could change everything (or just something) about their life would they? What would they change? What do they think would happen if they did? What would their loved ones think?

She’d probably change something about being accepted by others or having parents? Like Delia’s grateful for the chance she had when she was raised at the temple, but she really missed the feeling of having parents she could fall back on and the one of not being the strange temple orphan that everyone made fun off.

💐 Does your OC like flowers? What are their favourites? Do they keep a garden of some sort? What flowers would they use in a flower crown? (and if you like, research the meanings behind those flowers!)

She loves flowers, but I wouldn’t say she has a favourite in of itself. Back in Delphi, she grew and took care of a garden mostly filled with hyacinths, a few cypresses and a laurel tree, for Apollo. It was kind of their spot when they wanted to avoid responsabilities and just chat for a while. Eventually, the garden became her final resting place.

🌼 Write a short drabble from your OCs POV meeting their LI (or if they don’t have a love interest, their best friend. If you don’t want to do a drabble, describe their first meeting instead!)

“He should arrive soon, do not forget what we told you: say nothing, accept whatever he is to tell you and obey to his every desires.”

Delia nodded, rubbing her anular in between her thumb and index, trying to focus on the pression on her finger rather than the one all those expectations were putting on her shoulders.

“Don’t look at him directly in the eyes and don’t forget to bow. Clear?”

The Hellen nodded again.

“Today is an important day, Delia, you have been preparing for this since your birth, you better not mess it up and anger him, because if you’re not good enough and he decides to kill you, it will have been deserved and nobody will cry.”

Delia bit the inside of her cheek. That hurt a little… What about Apollodorus? Would he best friend not care? Then again, the priestress wasn’t wrong either, an orphan had nothing to offer and if she were to be gone… No one would lose anything.

“You may go wait in the gardens now.”

With a last nod, the young woman muttered a thanks to the older one and made her way outside, feeling as if she would break if anyone added just a little more expectations.

“Everything’s going to be okay… you’ll be good… you’ve been preparing for this since forever… he’ll be satisfied… you won’t- today’s not the day you die,” she muttered under her breath.

“Well I do sure hope it isn’t, because I’d need to share a few words with the fates about warning me when my best friend is about to die.”

Delia whirled around as she recognised the voice coming from behind her.

“Apollodorus! What are you doing here?!” She took a step towards her friend, giving him am unamused look, “I told you you weren’t supposed to-”

He pressed a finger against her lips, smiling softly, “can’t I be in my garden to officially meet my herald?”

“You-”

The young man winked, bowing slightly, “Phoibos Apollo, at your service.”

🥀 Has your OC ever been hurt by someone they love? Ever been betrayed? Abused? Attacked? Give me the angst! (if you’d like, write a short drabble about it!)

Delia has never been willingly hurt by anyone she loves, but she has lost a teeth when she was a child because of Apollo. Long story short, she tried to eat a rock because of him and broke one of her molar. Thankfully, an adult tooth eventually replaced it.

🏞️ If your OC could travel to anywhere in their world where would they go? Why? If they could live there would they?

She alreayd kind of travels everywhere around what is her world, but if she could go to any places she’s forbidden to go, Delia would probably just want to go in one of those “men only” places out of curiosity. However, she’d never live anywhere that isn’t Delos if she could avoid it.

🏡 Describe your OCs ideal house! Give us a tour around! What’s their garden like? Their bedroom? Kitchen? Where is it and how many people live there?

It’s a small, traditional house, with a room for everyone and a main room and a place to cook. In the best of world, there would be a garden as big as the one she was in charge of, at Delphi, and many flowers of all sorts.

🔪 Has your OC ever killed someone? Ever had to defend themselves against violence? How did this make them feel? Or, alternatively, has your OC ever attacked someone? Seen someone die?

Delia has killed once or twice on Apollo’s request, but also to defend herself (she was, after all, a woman traveling alone in Ancient Greece). She’s never been fond of it, hell, I’d even say she hated it, but if it’s what was needed to accomplish the gods’ will, it was, to her, the right thing to do.

💎 Does your OC collect anything? Is there a reason? When did they start and is it beginning to turn into a little bit of a hoarding issue? What do they do with their collection?

📚 If your OC was given some kind of forbidden knowledge, what would they do with it? Would they tell anyone? Use it for evil or good? How would it change their outlook on life, if at all?

Delia wouldn’t share it with anyone but the gods, in a broad general sense. She would try to use it for good as much as she can and, surpisingly, it wouldn’t change her outlook on life too much. Why? Well, simply put, mortals aren’t supposed to know everything about what is to happen -nor are most gods, let’s be real- but as someone that regularly spends time with Apollo, Deli has witnessed countless prophecies being delivered, including some that should never have been known by mortals like her and she’s kind of used to pretending nothing’s different and to not let it affect her as much as she can. Now, if that forbidden knowledge was to be about someone she appreciates… well things would be a lot different, let me tell you.

🌗 Early mornings or late nights? What do they spend their time doing during these hours?

Early mornings because she loves to watch the night turn to dawn and watch the sunrise! Usually she spends her day going around and doing stuff for Apollo, whether it’s help the Pythia in Delphi or go around Greece and deliver warnings.

👑 If your OC was made royal (or is royal) how would they use their power? Are they a good leader or bad? Do their subjects like them or is it ‘off with their head’? Do they enjoy being royal?

Delia would probably not be quite certain what to do with her newfound powers and end up not using them to do anything but help those that asked her for help. She has the potential to be a good leader and she’d strive to be one, but she’d start off as a pretty ordinary queen since she has only a basic understanding on how royal politics work. I feel like she’d be liked as a symbol or royalty, but not quite as much as a leader since, as I said, she’d be kinda clueless. She’d probably hate being royal because it would mean she needs to be far from the people and that wouldn’t go well with her.

💕 How is your OC like with physical affection? What are their boundries? Do they enjoy being touched or is that a no-go? Is there any reason behind this?

While Delia do loves hugs and enjoys physical affection very much, she’s not afraid of going out of her way to hug someone that seems to need it, but won’t really ask for it either, mostly because she doesn’t think of asking.

☁️ What’s something your OC wishes they could forget? Why is this? Or, what is something that your OC has forgotten? (or do both!)

Honestly, Delia wouldn’t want to forget anything because she knows every memory and everything that happened is intregral to who she became.

👀 Describe your OC through the eyes of another person! (bonus + specify who)

“She’s so… nice. Like a mom, always there to help you and always listening to you and always with the perfect advice. She makes everything feel like there’s a solution and nothing is hopeless. It’s reassuring.” -Alexios probably :’)

❓ A random fact or short drabble! Or make up your own question to ask the OC!

Apollo knows how Delia’s parents died.

#Delia #delia of delos #that one greek thing #that one greek story #ask #ask meme #anon #anon ask #thanks for the ask!

5 notes · View notes

apollo-justice-for-all · 5 years

Text

Ace Attorney + Crypt of the NecroDancer Headcanons

I just can’t stop thinking about it, so here we go.

Trucy

One of the first to get into the game

The Scroll Queen - uses every Scroll she picks up and uses those spells to good effect

Death Metal doesn’t faze her much, but thinks Deep Blues is sad to fight

Somehow manages to get to the next floor successfully without the song ending or without taking the trapdoor

Has no preference on weapons, but seems to frequent Daggers and Swords

Always makes sure to keep a Potion on her at all times

Her character of choice is Cadence

Apollo

Only got into the game because Trucy told him to give it a try, and now he can’t stop playing it

Stays FAR away from any Bombs, Fireball Scrolls or Fireball Tomes he comes across

Uses the Bow, Crossbow and Throwing Daggers more frequently than he’d like to admit

Would rather take a trapdoor to the next floor than face up against a Red Dragon because the one time he faced up against a Red Dragon and saw that it breathed fire, he completely chickened out, and now Trucy will never let him live it down

Gets screwed over multiple times by Death Metal, but is surprisingly good at fighting Coral Riff

Nearly died to the Return of the NecroDancer on his first run as Melody because he didn’t realize that the walls were starting to close in on him as soon as he entered the arena, so he practically spent most of the fight going “shit shIT SHIT” (he still managed to pull off a narrow victory)

He prayed to the Shrine of Blood once and immediately regretted it. He also does not go to the Shrine of Risk for the same reason

His character of choice is Dorian

Sometimes will tap his fingers or his foot to get the feel of the rhythm

Athena

Has played the heck out of this game and the Amplified DLC non-stop, especially as a kid

She pretty much knows the rhythm of every song in the game

Because of this, she pretty much speedruns the entire game, with every character available

Therefore, it should come as no surprise that she prefers Rapiers and items that allow her to move through floors through unconventional means, including the Ring of Phasing

Looks for Heart Transplants whenever she can, and often whines about the 20-second limit that Heart Transplants have

King Conga and Fortissimole still give her a bit of trouble, the former due to the missing 8th beat, and the latter for mixing up the beats with his rap

Does NOT like fighting Direbats or the Monster Shopkeeper, and would rather hit the trapdoor than face up against either of them

Used to pray to the Shrine of Blood, but after the UR-1 incident no longer does that. Her preferred shrine is the Shrine of Rhythm, especially since destroying it gives her a Heart Transplant

Her character of choice is Melody

Simon

Much like with Apollo, only got into the game because of Athena

Not really his kind of game, but he’ll play it every once in a while

Doesn’t really care much about following the rhythm, only wants to kill the monsters before they get to him

As a result, Athena has to lecture him on the importance of following the beats unless he wants to die from a missed beat

Monkeys annoy the absolute crap out of him

Uses Spears, Cutlasses and Swords as his main weapon, and always makes sure to equip the Ring of War

Prays to the Shrine of War like no tomorrow

His character of choice is Bolt

Ema

Loves the game, and is incredibly competitive in the speedrunning category

She’s even bought the Amplified DLC, much like Athena

Cusses a whole lot, but not as much as Apollo

Her favourite Scroll is Scroll of Transmute, but she won’t use any other Scroll. Will also only use the Transmute Tome, but never any other Tome

Makes a beeline for every Food item available for healing

Death Metal annoys her so much, especially since it reminds her of a certain glimmerous fop

Tends to use the Staff often

Doesn’t have a character of choice, but mostly alternates between Monk and Mary

Klavier

Got into the game because Apollo dared him to

He called Dead Ringer “Herr Bellhead” once. Never again

One of the best CotN players of the characters, though not as much of a speedrunner as Athena

Spends way too much time messing around with Death Metal than actually killing him

Also plays Metalmancy non-stop to annoy Apollo

Main weapon of choice includes Spears and Daggers, the former for the long range and the latter for being basic. He’ll also use the Harp on several occasions

Does not like getting Golden-quality items or the Crown of Greed

His character of choice is Bard

Nahyuta

Only plays it because Rayfa convinced him to

Expect him to come at you with Freeze Scrolls and Freeze Tomes in hand

Not a fan of the Shrine of Darkness at all, but definitely prefers the Shrine of Peace

Avoids combat whenever he can (mostly prefers to dig through walls, unless he’s got the Ring of Phasing, which will allow him to phase through walls)

Uses Staves and Harps a whole lot, but mostly Harps. Also won’t hesitate to use the Frost Dagger

His primary character of choice is Dove since it means he doesn’t have to fight any mid-bosses or bosses, but he does use Monk just as often

Maya

Got into the game because she heard there were evil spirits

Pretty much does whatever she wants, picks up whatever she finds, all while keeping to the beat at all times

Uses almost any weapon, but prefers Staves, the Dagger of Phasing and Warhammers the most

Don’t let her access the Shrine of Blood, whatever you do

Her character of choice is Reaper

Phoenix

Played it because Trucy and Maya roped him into it

Uses nothing but Daggers, Potions and the Holy Water

Doesn’t even know what he’s doing 90% of the time

Dies from missed beats more often than he dies to enemy attacks

Honestly, he pretty much just bullshits his way through the game

His character of choice is Aria, which leads to everyone going “Why” because they all know how difficult Aria’s run is

Someone help him, he doesn’t know what he’s doing

#cyber rambles #Phoenix Wright #Apollo Justice #Trucy Wright #Athena Cykes #Maya Fey #Simon Blackquill #Ema Skye #Klavier Gavin #Nahyuta Sahdmadhi #Ace Attorney

18 notes · View notes

howlingwind · 5 years

Text

HARRISON CLEESE ( HERAKLES/HERCULES/“HERC” ) , who strongly resembles THEO JAMES, has been spotted in Pandæmonium. The CISMALEis a THIRTY / 1498 / UNKNOWN year old HYBRID GRECO-ROMAN DEMIGOD–VAMPIRE, SON OF ZEUS/JUPITER, and has been in Pandæmonium for TEN+ YEARS. I hear they’re HEROIC & BRAVE and COCKY & SALACIOUS. If you’re lucky you may catch him working at all, because he’s UNEMPLOYED.

short version of a long story, the dude’s hercules. like the hercules. so yeah. he did the trials, was a god for a while, then he wasn’t anymore. but what you didn’t know is he also spent a bunch of time in ireland, where he became a vampire thanks to his fave wife morrigan turning him after their kid died. oh yeah, and he was desiccating up until like 10-15 years ago, idk that needs to be worked out still, but yeah someone woke his ass up, fed him blood & he was pissed about it because really he was ready to be dead but was afraid of what awaited him when he actually died.

goes by “herc” to pretty much anyone he knows and prefers the name hercules to herakles. he also needed a new legal identity when he woke up, so he uses the name “harry cleese” outside of pandemonium.

unemployed, gets by on an inheritance from some old widow he (intentionally) married right before she bit the dust. she was a nice lady so he didn’t ever drink her blood.

does his best not to kill but he’s not gonna get all batman-y or emo about it if he drinks a little too much blood or has to kill someone in a fight. he’s seen so much death and suffered so much loss that he’s pretty meh about the whole process tbh. and since becoming a vampire he’s especially meh about human life. he’s pretty meh in general these days.

has seen some shit, has done some shit, has been through a whole bunch of shit, now he spends most of his time shit-faced. otherwise he’d just be a cranky old bastard.

knows morrigan is in town but actively avoids her because it’s too awkward & painful.

dude’s bi as a fork in the road. in ancient & pre-ancient greece, not only was this basically the default, but it was a sign of masculinity to have a male lover, and no one was more of a man than hercules, right? honestly that’s why it’s weird there’s not many stories about him & guys, but hey, he wasn’t marrying them and 90% of his lady stories are about his wives or intended wives, so.

has been married a fuckton of times, but only really gave a shit about two of his wives (megara & morrigan). has countless children, most of them illegitimate, but has lost most of the ones he knew & cared for.

he also does his best these days to not sleep with anyone with any sort of greek heritage because chances are good they might be an ancestor of his. not that he really cares after about 3 or 4 generations removed (have you seen him family tree? it’s more of a family-wreath) but he’d rather be on the safe side.

there’s a couple pieces of jewelry that herc always wears — golden claws from the nemean lion hanging from a simple leather necklace, and the daylight ring fashioned by morrigan so he would be uneffected by the sun.

now enjoy this monstrous bio that absolutely no one will read (and i don’t blame you, seriously) but at least it’s there to help me remember stuff.

born alcaeus, to the mortal woman alcmene and the god zeus (who was impersonating her husband), the story of hercules is a long one. lets begin at the the start. the newborn alcaeus, son of alcmene and amphitryon, youngest of three siblings, was a special child. a demigod. the goddess hera, wife of zeus, was well aware of her husband’s constant affairs, and always found a way to take her revenge for each one. when alcaeus was born, hera decided the child could not be allowed to live, and sent two serpents to kill the baby before he was old enough to make the task difficult. too late. mere days after the birth, young alcaeus was already strong enough to catch both serpents as they tried to strike, and strangle them to death. having witnessed what happened, alcmene and her husband renamed the boy herakles, meaning “great glory of hera”. little did they know. with hera seemingly having backed down after the failed attempt on his life, herakles grew into an unparalleled warrior with no idea of where his great strength came from. at the age of only fifteen, he single-handedly led the attack the drove the minyans out of thebes. out of gratitude the king of thebes, creon, offered him the hand of his eldest daughter megara in marriage.

herakles and megara had a good life, for a time. they had three sons, and got a happy four years together (ignoring herc’s infidelities—like father like son—which megara did). as zeus continued his own affairs, it only prompted hera to check back in on the young demigod, who was appalled and furious to learn he’d found such happiness, and such a good wife, yet repeatedly cheated just the same as zeus did to her. he didn’t deserve what he had, as far as she was concerned, so she bore deep into his mind and drove him into a temporary fit of madness, forcing him to murder his wife and children. he didn’t even remember committing the atrocities when all was said and done, only that he awoke covered in their blood and limbs. he didn’t know how he was supposed to live with himself after what he’d done and seeking punishment, he traveled to delphi for advice from the oracle, who told him only the god apollo could help him now, and he was no where to be found in greece, so herakles knew he’d have to embark on a journey to find the him.

herakles’ search eventually brought him to rome, and to draw apollo out, he performed feats of strength and courage, slaying monsters and earning the adoration of the townspeople, who called him hercules, a name with a much preferred ring to it. it wasn’t long before apollo caught wind of the demigod, and decided to pay his brother a visit to finally see him for himself. it was apollo that explained to hercules his true heritage, but decided to protect his aunt hera (fearing hercules to be strong enough to kill a god) and not divulge the true reasoning behind the madness that overcame him. instead, he sentenced him to complete 12 near-impossible labors (decided upon by hera, but he wouldn’t know that) to atone for his deeds, and made him the deal that if he completed all twelve, he’d go through apotheosis upon death and be welcomed into olympus as a full god. if he were to die before completing each labor however, he would spend eternity languishing in tartarus. finally, apollo gifted hercules a bow fit for the trials he’d soon face.

with a new determination, and a new will to live, hercules set off on his first task: kill the nemean lion. then the hydra. they were difficult battles to be sure, but it quickly became clear that no battle was going to stop hercules, so hera decided to have him capture the golden hind and bring it to the king of tiryns so he could make it part of his menagerie. hercules was intercepted by apollo, and artemis (who cared deeply for the creature), and had to beg for the forgiveness of his siblings, explain that it was for his penance, and promise that it would be returned to her unharmed. hercules then tricked the king and let the creature go, at which point it returned to artemis, but he had technically completed the task, so hera and the king conspired to come up with a new task. this time, capture and bring him the fearsome erymanthian boar. furious when he was able to complete the trial, they made the next one to clean all of the shit out of a giant stable in just one day, which was actually the most difficult (and unpleasant) task thus far. as expected, all the rest of the labors were grand feats, but with a bit of wit and perseverance, hercules accomplished them all, until the very last task. unarmed, without bringing any serious harm to the creature, he was to kidnap the hell-hound cerberus. it was a near impossible trial simply because of the fact that there was no such hell-hound in hades. it was a long arduous journey just to locate the beast, he traveled from underworld to underworld, visiting the likes of helheim, tuonela, and even diyu. finally, herc learned of a little known realm known simply as hell, where the beast resided. he’d spent so long searching that now that he’d finally found the one he was looking for, he didn’t waste time sneaking or trying to outwit anyone. he simply stated his reason for being in hell and made it very clear that he’d “come to take the beast known as cerberus.” somehow, hercules pulled it off, wrestling cerberus unconscious, and literally dragging him out of hell to present to the king, hera, and apollo. eventually word spread throughout all of olympus that hercules had completed his final labor, and zeus personally descended from the throne to give his son a pat on the back and promise him immortality.

hercules wasn’t dead yet, however. he still had a lot of life to live and many adventures to go on, from battling giants to saving princesses from sea monsters. one of the adventures brought him to the city of oechalia, where he met iole, a beautiful young princess that captivated him. not long after arriving he entered an archery contest with the king eurytus, who promised his daughter’s hand in marriage if he were to win. obviously, hercules won with ease, but the king refused to give his daughter to hercules out of fear that when they eventually had children, he’d slay them like he slayed his children with megara. iphitus, the youngest son of eurytus (who herc had also met and gotten along with well) argued against that decision, but the king stood his ground. later that evening, cattle were stolen and eurytus immediately blamed hercules and imprisoned him. iphitus knew better than to believe that, however, and freed him, then invited herc to help him find the cattle. they climbed to the highest walls of tiryns so hercules could survey the area and find the thief, but just then, hera struck him once again with a fit of madness and rage, which led to hercules throwing iphitus off the top of the wall, killing him, and beginning a rampage that left eurytus among many others dead. iole was somehow spared, but she was the only one in her family. hercules was mortified, and turned himself in for the crime.

hercules was convicted for the killing of iphitus (and subsequently most of oechalia), and willingly obliged whatever his punishment may be. he was sentenced to spend his life as slave to the lydian queen omphale. during this time he was kept in a state of inebriation, another of the queen’s slaves tasked with serving him only water from a ‘fountain of forgetfulness’. he was forced to work, yes, but the year was mostly spent as a slave to her desires. he fathered a child with her that later became king of lydia, as well as children with a number of the other slave girls. he was eventually rescued by his friend, the king odysseus, who posed as another slave and fed him normal water until he regained his senses and they were able to escape.

eventually another of hercules’ wives, deianira was tricked by a centaur and was about to be raped by it. leaping into action, herc killed the centaur with an arrow poisoned with the blood of the hydra and saved deianira. with its dying breaths, however, it got its revenge, convincing the woman to keep a vial of its blood by leading her to believe it was a magic potion that could keep hercules madly in love with her, so that he’d never stray. it wasn’t long after that hercules met iole again, and despite what he’d done, for the first time since megara hercules was beginning to truly fall in love again with someone that loved him in return. of course, deianira saw it as a now-or-never situation, so in an act of desperation, she poured the blood out on his lionskin “shirt” (a chiton –- fashioned from the nemean lion’s pelt, just like his infamous cloak). when he put the shirt on the next day, his skin immediately began to burn, an agony like he’d never felt before. he didn’t know what to do, and he couldn’t think straight to even try to fight it. instead he went into town and told the townspeople he was dying, and requested they build him a funeral pyre atop mount oeta. when it was finished and lit, hercules wasted no time. he leapt into the flames hoping to succumb to the fire and quickly end his suffering. he couldn’t ascend just yet, however, all the gods needed to agree to welcome him. hera was the last to decide, the only one who hadn’t yet accepted him. to the surprise of the entire pantheon, she finally agreed that he had suffered enough, and so the goddess hebe (daughter of athena, whose job this usually was) rode the chariots down from mount olympus and collected hercules to welcome him to an eternity as a god.

he spent millennia as a god, returned to his the youthful appearance of his late teens. herc served as the gatekeeper of olympus, finally getting to meet and know his divine family. for most of that time however, the gods kept hera’s interference in his life a secret from him. when a drunken, pining hebe let it slip that they could “be together and hera couldn’t ever ruin things like she did with megara,” hercules flew into a rage and attacked his stepmother, ready to murder her right then and there, but hermes and apollo talked him down and kept him calm long enough for zeus to intervene, stripping him of his immortality and casting off of mount olympus. zeus warned him to leave greece and never come back to his domain or he would strike him down where he stood, chasing him away from the now-medieval nation with lethal lighting strikes. hercules spent the next two years traveling north through europe, getting completely inebriated in every city and every nation along the way until he reached the northern shore. far from the god he was, or even the hero he used to be, he was terrified of death now despite retaining his original strength. if he were to die, the only thing that awaited him was the pits of tartarus and reliving the agony that drove him to kill himself in the first place. he was broken. but he couldn’t allow himself to die, so he powered through. he worked the docks for a bit until one day a man got off a ship speaking about an island called ireland, and how beautiful and peaceful it was. the man’s stories made hercules want to see it for himself, so he stowed away on the next ship destined for the island, and that decision changed the course of his life forever.

when he arrived, he was immediately taken by the country. the greenest green’s he’d ever seen, followed beautiful, chilly, foggy nights. it was so different from anywhere he’d ever been before, but in the best way possible. he made a humble life for himself there, but it was almost immediately upended when the dullahan rode through his village. one of his neighbors explained to him that when it stopped riding, one of the villagers would die, and the only way to stop it was to kill it with something made of gold, but no one in the village was wealthy enough for gold. hercules however, immediately looked down to the leather necklace he wore. hanging from it were the claws of the nemean lion. forgetting his fear as the adrenaline surged through him, he tore off the necklace, slipped the claws between the fingers of his balled fist, and ran outside to confront the being. there wasn’t much of a fight, hercules simply leapt into the air and stabbed the dullahan in its headless neck with the claws and watched it burn to ash. the village lauded his name, and for the first time in years herc finally felt like himself again. word spread of his accomplishment, and he was invited to have an audience with the royal family. he was offered gifts in return ( a nicer home, a steed, a servant, and steady work protecting the town from monsters ), but not the one thing that truly caught his eye — the princess. hercules would have to earn the affection of the raven haired beauty, but he’d never met a task he couldn’t accomplish.

before long, hercules and morrigan were set to wed, and not long after that, they had a child on the way. he’d been happy before, sure, and he’d even been in love, but with morrigan things were different. they felt meant to be, more than anything before. she was truly the light of his life, and before long, they’d welcomed even more children into their lives. it was the perfect life, and after so long of nothing but heartache after heartache, tragedy after tragedy, hercules had finally found something peaceful. the perfect person to spend the rest of his life with, and he would not screw it up. for the first time e v e r, the only woman he had eyes for was his wife. the only people he cared about were his family. hercules awoke one night to the sound of a woman shrieking, wailing, and immediately jumped out of bed to see what appeared to be a woman floating away from the window. to any local, they would have known it was a banshee, and to be overly protective of loved ones, but hercules didn’t know. he didn’t know. he didn’t know. he didn’t know. that’s all he could say, repeating it over and over, almost as if in a trance the next morning when he and morrigan found their child drowned in the lake. why did this happen? what had he possibly done to deserve all of this loss, and how could their innocent baby have deserved that fate? he knew it must have been hera who’d done this. that’s why he was in full support of kieran & morrigan’s plan to make them all immortal. he wanted to bring the fight to the gates of olympus –- and never wanted to lose another person he loved. and so he joined morrigan and his children in becoming vampires. when morrigan went off the deep end, he fell right along with her, and their reign of tyranny in ireland was a terrifying sight to behold. when kieran got through to morrigan though, hercules was far from ready to calmly back down. he was beyond being calm. he was hungry. for blood, and for the head of the goddess that’d done him wrong over and over again. and now it seemed he had nothing left to lose, morrigan having betrayed him, his children going along with their mother and uncle. he was alone again.

hercules carved a path of destruction and blood all throughout europe, making the long journey in mere days with his new speed and even further enhanced strength. he may not have been a god anymore, but he sure felt like one. until he got to greece and found himself in for a rude awakening, immediately struck by lighting. he might as well have been a fly compared to the power of zeus’s lightning. why was he still standing? why was he still drawing breath? the moment the bolt struck his body, his hand instinctively wrapped around it, grasping it tight like the necks of the serpents all those years ago and tossing it aside. it burned, far worse than the poison that made him take his own life, but it was nothing compared to the mental anguish of losing everything he cared about yet again. he endured lightning strike after lightning strike, each one searing into his body, he climbed his way to the top of mount olympus. when he finally reached the summit, zeus unleashed one final lightning strike, more devastating than any of the others, but hercules caught this one just as he had before. it narrowly missed his face as he tilted his head, instead reaching up to catch it and use the momentum to send it flying back like a javelin, crashing through the gates. exhausted, he collapsed into the house of the gods, barely dragging himself forward until his body finally gave out and he fell to his knees, quickly surrounded by the entire pantheon. staring up at his father, he begged him for an honest answer. “why? why would you protect her over your own son, after everything she’s done?” and for the first time ever he saw compassion in his his father’s eyes, compassion in hera’s eyes. “this was not our doing.” and another first — his father picked him up off the ground and hugged him. “i’m sorry,” he told hercules, and then another pair of arms were wrapped around him. “so am i.” it was hera’s voice, and hera’s embrace, and hera’s love. and soon, the entire pantheon had him surrounded in a different way, each of them a part of the embrace. except for ares, he was and always had been a dick. and hades because he was too busy getting it on with persephone down in the underworld, since it was like day one of her half of the year down there.

he couldn’t stay this time. the vampirism made it impossible to undergo apotheosis and take his place in olympus once again, and even the gods had no clue how to undo the condition. with no other choice, hercules left olympus. his life had collapsed around him though, the one thing that truly brought him happiness—his family—gone in the blink of an eye. he wasn’t going to try again and invite more pain into his life, he wasn’t going to try returning to morrigan and invite more pain into hers either, he was just done. he was at peace with the idea of his eternity not being spent in the agony of tartarus, nor in bliss of elysium or olympus, just spent in the numbness of life on earth. the next few hundred years passed him by in the blink of an eye, until he caught word of what had been deemed “the new world”. for the first time in centuries, he felt… intrigue? so that’s where he went. he ended up in a fledgling city called new nederland. what he found was… disappointing. it didn’t quite live up to the promise of a new world, and compared to greece, rome, or ireland, new nederland was nothing short of depressing. what did strike his curiosity however, was a small community of people like him — vampires that had been working together to keep themselves a steady supply of blood. hercules made himself known to them, and despite his wealth of experience as a vampire, they taught him things about their kind he had no idea about. decapitation or heart extraction being the ways they could die, their ability to compel, the sire bond (thankfully that meant morrigan was still alive and well, at least), vervain, the wood weakness… but nothing more interesting than the desiccation. despite no longer wanting to live, hercules didn’t want to die. he knew that with what he’d become, there would be no place for him to go except tartarus, or even hell, but with desiccation… an eternity of nothingness sounded absolutely delightful compared to the alternative. so he asked the other vampires to grant him one request: chain him up and bury him. so they did. as awful as the dryness and overwhelming thirst was while he languished beneath the dirt, no concept of the passage of time, or the goings on above the surface, it brought him a twisted sense of peace. finally.

until someone had to go ruining everything and dig him up.

#► harrison alcaeus cleese #pandemonium: intro #tw: suicide #tw: rape #tw: death #tw: murder #// omfg i do not expect anyone to read this so don’t feel bad about skipping it. IT’S LONG #// tag drop:::#starter → herc #mirror → herc #inspo → herc #→ por queue

5 notes · View notes

diveronarpg · 5 years

Photo

Congratulations, ALYX! You’ve been accepted for the role of VIOLA. Admin Rosey: As we all know -- I am a Viola stan first and a human being second. And a Phoebe Tonkin stan third. But that’s beside the point. Viola is a character who is highly complex because of all the moving gears and pieces that she had going on; deception, familial obligation, honor, and heart. She’s a self-made woman and it’s difficult to capture the voice and methodology of a character like that -- but Alyx, you have truly outdone yourself and capture her perfectly. She’s a catalyst and I can’t wait to see what chaos will come undone at her touch. Please read over the checklist and send in your blog within 24 hours.

WELCOME TO THE MOB.

Out of Character

Alias | Alyx

Age | 20

Preferred Pronouns | She/Her

Activity Level | Pretty active! I’m out of school for the Summer and I have yet to find a Summer job so I’ll be around whenever you need me. I will be going out of town for one week in June but even then I’ll have my laptop so I can still rp and keep in touch with the players.

Timezone | CST

How did you find the rp? | Honestly I’ve known about it since its first release. I planned on applying the first time around but I just never felt a serious connection with any of the characters. Now, I was reminded of it when Rosie reblogged a character bio and honestly I was hooked after that.

Current/Past RP Accounts | https://camillepaol.tumblr.com/ and https://emiliadelacroix.tumblr.com/ are my most recent ones.

In Character

Character | Viola

Valentina- “Healthy, strong”

→She prided herself on being strong. At first, it was a means of survival. Toughen up, or you’ll die another nameless kid in the streets. She kept her chin up. She kept her mind sharp. She knew she needed to know the streets of Verona better than the people that built it if she wanted to live to fight another day. Then, it became more of a pride thing. She had made it through the first few years without her parents. She and her brother were still alive. She couldn’t crash now, or else the life she worked hard for might fall apart before her very eyes. She prided herself on being the strong one, the fighter of the duo, and she didn’t plan on changing that. Finally, it felt easy being strong. No tears were shed over meaningless things. No thoughts of giving up after a failed con job. She was told that she needed to break the world or the world would break her, so she any opportunity life threw in her direction and she ran with it. Working for the Montagues was just the peak for her. A purpose, a reason to fight, people to fight for. Yes, there was no doubt in her mind that her strength had gotten her further than any doubt or crying could have.

Persephone- “Queen of the Underworld”

→ She was too young to remember her middle name, so she chose one for herself. Queen of the Underworld, Goddess of Death and Spring. She felt that the name suited her as well as it suited the Greek figure the name originated from. She wasn’t that young girl that ran around picking flowers. She wasn’t naïve enough to think the world was a kind and good place. No, that mentality was lost the moment her parents abandoned her and her brother. That mentality brought on the girl she is today. The woman who calls the night her home. The woman who would walk through Hell to protect her brother. The woman who is locked in a dance with death itself, yet somehow always comes out on top. She was no maiden. She wasn’t as pretty and fragile like the flowers that represent Spring. No, she was the inevitable. She was a queen in the slums she called her home, and she was ready to make people see that she was more than meets the eye.

Gallo- “Family Name”

→ Valentina Gallo. Welcome to this world. Oh, how she wished that’s how her story began. There were days when she wished she had been born into a loving family. She used to be able to picture her brother and her living in a nice house and not having to worry about money or the struggles of growing up. Sadly, that’s not how her story went. There were no Christmas mornings spent around a fire. There were no family meals before school. Her last name didn’t bring about joyous memories, but rather painful reminders of a life that was lost. She had no positive memories of her parents. How could she, knowing how their story ended? How could she think about the good they did when all she truly knows is their absence? Some days she wished she could see them again only to tell them how well she’s been without their presence in her life. Valentina thought about changing her last name. Smith, Erickson, anything to scrub her parent’s burn marks away and allow her a new beginning. She had even traced the steps form her small hole in the wall to the courthouse to make the switch when something held her back— Santino. It was a symbol of their connection. He was the sun to her moon. He was the Apollo to her Artemis. Two sides of the same coin, she’d give up everything to keep him safe. Valentina kept going so he would live. She turned colder so that he could keep his light. He was a soft glow of a candle and she’d be damned if someone blew him out. She’d keep the family name, but only because it allowed them to have a connection so deep that only death could shatter it.

What drew you to this character? |

Honestly my usual type of character would be the soft ones with a tragic past, but I always found myself admiring the strong characters as well. There’s something so captivating about a character with a lot of fight and drive in their system, and I definitely felt that in Valentina’s bio. She’s had to fight from a very young age. She never got to be this soft, delicate little girl who got shielded from the bad things in the world. She’s someone who’s known pain and neglect since childhood and it definitely affected her in a lot of ways— even though she would never admit to the fact.

I think I like her because I understand her. I understand her need to fight the world. She’s a girl driven by passion. That passion could be good and help her, such as putting on a good performance to score some money for her and her brother, or that passion could hurt her, such as becoming a double agent for a mob that wouldn’t hesitate to kill her if she stepped out of line. I feel like she tends to walk a fine line between the two, but she finds a certain thrill in that risk. She’s one to take chances and hope that it pays off in her favor. She’s someone that will accept any challenge thrown her way. She’s daring, temperamental, ambitious, and just a strong willed woman in this rp.

I know she may not be my strong suit when it comes to characters, but I genuinely feel like I can do her justice. I put my all into developing my characters past their bios and connections, and Valentina will be no exception. Especially since this is such an intricate and involved rp, I have no doubts that I can make our local Montague soldier shine in the way she rightly deserves.

What is a future plot idea you have in mind for the character? |

Self: You weren’t born to be soft and quiet.

→ I want her to struggle between her roles. She’s someone who wants more, but more can become too much very quickly. She’s a girl balancing between the Montague soldier that she actually is and the Capulet soldiers she’s pretending to be. At one point, the balance will shift and one side will not be happy with the result. I’m waiting for that day because I feel like it’ll give Valentina a bit of a reality check. She’s someone who believes she could carry the weight of the world on her shoulders and be fine, but the mobs aren’t people to test and she’ll eventually have to learn that lesson.

→ Honestly this one would have to be discussed with the admins and the Santino rper, but I’d think it would be interesting if their parents resurfaced after all of those years. It’s my understanding that they left and didn’t die, so I would love the angst that would come out of the unwelcome reunion. Valentina’s a person who really doesn’t think of her parents with respect or fond memories, but it might be a different story if they were actually face to face with her. Would they be proud of the person she became? Would she care if they were proud? Would she even let them near Santino? All questions that might be answered in due time.

→ I want her to interact with more people. I feel like since she’s playing one side while remaining loyal to another, it could lead to a lot of interesting relationships. I like the thought of her actually being fond of one of the Capulets and being worried because she knows how deep the feud runs and knows people who interact with the enemy don’t last long. I also like the thought of her just getting to know some neutrals and letting the disguises she wears down a little. She’s so caught up in this fight that she often forgets how to breathe, and I feel like a neutral character could teach her how to let go of the breath she’s constantly holding.

Santino: Hell is just another place you’ll go to keep him warm.

→ I want all of the flashbacks from their childhood. They were truly the only thing that kept each other going, so I’d like to explore that dynamic. Go into detail about how they learned to survive on the streets. Explore their first con or first bit of change they snuck out of a man’s pocket. Dive deeper into how they reacted to being abandoned by the people that were supposed to care for them the most. Their upbringing played a bit part in who they are, so let’s take a trip to the past and really get into the mindset of these two street rats.

→ I want something that will tear these two apart. Maybe it’s a betrayal or death, but anything that will drive a wedge between these two siblings. They’ve always been around each other, but what if that weren’t the case? Valentina thinks the world of her brother. Santino loves his sister more than anything. I want to see what will need to happen for that to change. I’m not sure anything will truly turn them against each other, but I do feel like things can happen that will make these two kind of take a step back from their dynamic and explore other relationships.

Ramona: Not yet corpses. Still, we rot.

→ I love these two and would love to explore their dynamic. They’re just so similar, the same soul trapped in two bodies, and I want nothing more than to rp them and their adventures. Valentina’s someone who didn’t grow up around girls and wasn’t used to having female companionship, so I want to explore their first meeting. They’re like thunder and lightning, a frightening combination, and I want to know if people around them always knew they’d end up that way or if their friendship was a bit of a shock to the Montague crew.

→ I want Ramona to find out about Valentina’s secret. This could be done either by accident or Valentina giving her the information herself. Valentina’s someone who has a “I don’t need anyone’s help” mentality, so I think it would be interesting to see her give in and let someone know what she’s been trying to do. I also want to see how Ramona reacts to it. Would she be impressed? Would she think Valentina has a death wish? Would it be a combination of both? We don’t know. All I do know is that Valentina has to tell someone her secret sooner or later, and I’m hoping Ramona’s the person she’ll ultimately end up confiding in.

Easton: We were both created in chaos.

→ I feel like these two share some similarities with each other, and that was part of the reason Valentina sees him as a sort of weak link in the Capulet’s armor. They’re both from shattered homes. Valentina, with her abandonment and fighting to feed her and her brother. Easton, from his misplace in his own family. They’re people that could relate to one another, challenge one another and I feel like Valentina will use that as a way to grow close to the boy. If she was lightning, he would be fire, and together they could do some real damage if they were to become allies.

→ This one would definitely need to be agreed upon with the Easton rper, but I can see these two hooking up? Valentina’s trying to get through his defenses and worm her way into the Capulet’s ranks, and I can see her going this route to try to warm him up to her. They’re two people who definitely think highly of themselves, who wish to fight— whether it be their family or the world in general, and we all know passion and anger tend to walk a fine line.

Castora: You would destroy yourself for her.

→ She loves Castora as much as she loves Ramona. The cousins are the closest friends she has, and Castora definitely has a soft spot in her heart. Valentina knows the girl’s take on love and she finds it interesting. Valetina’s a girl full of passion, a girl that would go to the ends of the earth for those few people she holds dear, so Castora’s just an enigma to her. I like to play more on their opposite feelings. Do they ever get into arguments? Does Castora’s closed off heart ever affect Valentina? Castora’s not cold, but Valentina knows that her mother affected her in a way that was quite opposite to Valentina and her parents. I just think this pairing is interesting and I want to explore their dynamic even more than the biographies have.

Halcyon: You do bad things in order to survive.

→I would love for Valentina to manage to sneak her way into Halcyon’s trusted circle. She sees this woman in power and she’s intrigued—especially because she’s a Capulet. Valentina doesn’t know her story, doesn’t know the struggles she went through to get to where she is, but she’s determined to do anything to get the woman to trust her. If she has to go digging into the woman’s past, then she’ll do it. She just needs a way to connect to the woman, then she’ll be able to work her way up the ladder. It’s a dangerous task to be messing with someone so high up in the Capulets, but Valentina trusts herself enough to take on the risk.

Are you comfortable with killing off your character? | Why am I even being asked this question? Of course you can kill her off. I dare you.

In Depth

In-Character Para Sample:

Valentina was a shadow in the night, a lithe figure that seemed to move around the streets of Verona with an ease akin to that of a cat. She knew the streets like one knew an intimate lover, and the path she was on was certainly one she walked a thousand times before. It was the same every night: wander out, look for those who seem most likely to fall for a sob story or not notice a missing piece of jewelry, then come back and share the spoils with Santino. It was a routine she mastered, but it was also a routine that bored her. There were only so many times she could watch a rich businessman look at her with sympathetic eyes. There were only so many times she could walk away with an engaged woman’s ring before the nights began to blur together. She was a creature of substance, a creature of vices, and she needed to find another vice to fill her desires.

Her eyes always wandered to certain figures during her nightly strolls. Men with guns on their hips and knives strapped to their legs. Woman who walk the streets as if they owned the city itself. She watched them not with a jealousy, but rather a curiosity. She wanted to know more about them— to be one of them. They held power that she could never have in her state. They held fight that she had been displaying her whole life. Whispers were often heard about the Montagues and the Capulets, a rivalry as old as time itself, and she couldn’t help but picture herself alongside them. War is often said to tear people apart, but perhaps she was ready to be made into something new.

This would be the night it all would change. She would propose this idea to her brother: join one of the sides, move up the ranks, and finally make something of themselves. No more cons, no more stealing. They’d get enough money to get their own apartment. They’d be able to afford more food than just a piece of bread or a sandwich to split between the two of them. They’d be free to do whatever they wanted. It was a dream that Valentina only wished to follow. This rivalry would be her resurrection. This war would be her new beginning. If only she could somehow convince her soft hearted brother to go along with her plan.

Her feet carried her all the way back to the abandoned room her and her brother were staying at. She could walk around this city blindfolded and easily get to the right place. The streets had been her domain for so long that it was strange to imagine them actually living in a home and not some old motel or deserted apartment. It was a good kind of strange, though. She would love to finally have her own room and a place to store what little things she kept on her body. Her brother would be able to take up some hobbies and not have to worry about her safety all the time. It was perfect.

What was not perfect was the eerie feeling she got as she wandered up to their little hideaway. She had left her brother alone for a few hours but perhaps that was too long to be away from him. She trusted him, but everyone else in Verona? She didn’t trust them.

As she pushed the door open, her jaw clenched at the sight. The dead body spilling blood all over their few possessions. The man with a gun to her brother’s head. The quiet acceptance in her brother’s gaze—as if this truly was how he would die. There were many questions that ran through her mind, but she would have to ask those later. For now, she needed to pull off one last con and make sure her brother was well and alive.

“Well, I’m sad you all threw a party without me. Really, Santino, inform me next time we have some visitors. I would have cleaned the place up.”

She saw the man’s alarm that there was not one Gallo in his midst, but two of them. Perhaps he thought he would get done with this quickly and move on to whomever else wronged his boss, but Valentina was nothing if not difficult. She casually walked over the dead body in the room and stood near her brother and the man who was invading their space. She gently placed her fingertips on her brother’s shoulder before glancing at the man.

“Now, why don’t you put the gun down? I’m sure my brother and I can figure out some way to settle this misunderstanding. You’ll find we can be quite loyal to those that treat us well. Isn’t that right, Santino?”

And within a few more exchanges, she had sealed their fate. Work for the Montagues. A life of work in exchange for their lives. Her brother may have thought she was signing their death wish, but she found herself signing a new beginning. This wasn’t a punishment. This was a blessing, and she was ready to prove that she could be the soldier they always wanted.

Extras:

https://www.pinterest.com/aesthctics/oc-valentina-gallo/

#accepted #accepted: viola

1 note · View note

aubrey-plaza · 6 years

Note

idk if youre still doing this but: staubrey greek gods au

hell yeah I’m still doing these!

Stacie is Aphrodite (of course she is) and Aubrey is Artemis

Aubrey is the daughter of Leto and Zeus, older twin sister to Apollo. She’s born on the floating island of Delos after her mother is banished by Zeus’ mad jealous wife Hera

Still, Zeus loves his twins something fierce and Aubrey quickly becomes his favourite, often sitting in his lap and demanding a long list of things (one of them being that he never force her into marriage)

She becomes a huntress goddess and lives in the mountains and woods. Pan has a mad crush on her so he gives her hounds for her hunting activities and when she goes to Cyclops, he makes her the most exquisite silver arrows to go with her bow

She’s hanging out in Olympus with some of the other Gods when they bring in Stacie

Stacie is the most beautiful woman any of them have ever laid their eyes on and all the guys spring up eagerly, begging to marry her before Zeus has even welcomed her

(of course he welcomes her to Olympus bc look at her)

When Zeus asks Stacie where she’s from there’s some story about how she floated to Cythera on water foam and was greeted by the Seasons

(and honestly, compared to Athena’s birth story, Aubrey isn’t even shocked that Stacie was formed by the sea and she’s starting to learn that her own (normal) birth is more the exception than the rule)

Stacie becomes the Goddess of Love and Aubrey doesn’t pay much attention to her for a while because she’s got things to do and Apollo to beat in archery

Aubrey quickly realises that Stacie isn’t as brain dead and beautiful as she’d first thought

Well, Stacie is beautiful and her only divine duty is to make love but she’s so much more than that. Women and men come from lands far away for her aid in easing their longing and she’s whip-smart because she knows that love isn’t just nice warm fluffy feelings, that it clouds your judgment and gnaws at you and just plain hurts

It’s why Stacie doesn’t do anything when Sappho starts writing her love letters and dedicating poems to her

Stacie has said over and over that she can indulge in infatuation but not love

Aubrey, in an effort to curb any feelings she might have for Stacie, decides to add more to her plate and tells her father that she wants to become the protectress of childbirth

(somewhere along the way Athena tricks her into staying a virgin goddess but Aubrey’s never really wanted a man anyway and their father already promised her that he would never force her to marry)

The problem with being the go-to gal for childbirth is that it brings her into constant contact with Stacie, because love comes in many forms, not just lustful or whorishness, but also between mother and child and Stacie has always been adamant about doing her job right and making sure everybody has love

“How’s the beautiful Goddess of Light doing today?” Stacie flirts one day and Aubrey rolls her eyes as she pretends to be unaffected

“You know that’s not what I am,” Aubrey answers

“Oh, I’m sorry, Aubrey,” Stacie says and the way she says her name shouldn’t make Aubrey feel as warm as she does. “How’s the beautiful Goddess of the Hunt and Archery, Protectress of Young Women and Childbirth and Bringer of Light doing today?”

“I’m doing fine. And you?”

“Better now that you’re here,” Stacie flirts and Aubrey needs to remind herself that this is how Stacie is and that she’s this way with everybody and that Aubrey isn’t special

Aubrey isn’t really sure why she’s the Protectress of Young Women (because Iphigenia is just one maiden and saving her does not necessarily mean becoming a patron to all women) but she starts receiving presents, specifically from young maidens

Stacie coos from over her shoulder when Aubrey unwraps a golden blanket and finds lingerie there with a note telling her that it’s the lingerie a virgin had worn on her wedding night and that it has been sent as a worship gift

“Is this why you’ve vowed never to marry a man?” Stacie whispers into her ear. “You’re holding out for a beautiful mortal maiden?”

In a moment of spark, emboldened by her worship gift, Aubrey turns her head, her lips brushing against Stacie’s cheek as she says, “She doesn’t have to be mortal or a maiden.”

Stacie looks impressed and impassioned by Aubrey’s words, and their flirtation picks up tenfold

Of course, nothing can ever go smoothly because the Venn diagram of ‘drama’ and ‘their lives’ is apparently a circle

Hera kicks Hephaestus out of Olympus, supposedly because he tried to strike Zeus but Demeter tells Aubrey that it’s because Hera is ashamed of Hephaestus’ deformities (#gossip)

Heph, in true spoiled sibling fashion, does not take it well. He fashions a throne out of gold and when Hera goes to see him (feeling guilty enough to visit him but not enough to let him back into Olympus), Heph shows her the throne and when she sits on it, it turns into a cage

Zeus is Mad™

(Aubrey rolls her eyes because, really, when is he not?)

But apparently he’s hella mad because he wants Hera back and he’s willing to do anything to get her back

Stacie, meanwhile, is the last remaining Olympian who isn’t married (besides Athena, Aubrey, and Hestia who have vowed a life of chastity) and Zeus decides to take advantage of that even though he has absolutely no right to

(for the first time Aubrey understands the hatred for her father)

Because Zeus is so desperate to get his wife back that he promises Stacie’s hand in marriage to whomever brings Hera back

Aubrey goes to Apollo and begs him to try to free Hera and when he asks her why she cares so much, Aubrey can’t get the words past her lips. Apollo loves his sister, though, so he tries. Aubrey will always wonder if he’d have tried harder had he known why, but that’s something she’ll never know. In any case, Apollo fails because he only has arrows of gold and they’re no match for Hephaestus caged throne because Heph is a master forger

Stacie burns with indignation at Zeus’ offer, and her rage leads her to Ares

Nobody fucking likes Ares but she needs his rage and she needs his strength and honestly she’d rather be married to Ares than some unknown second-rate demigod because at least she knows he’s great in bed

Before Ares can even get to Hephaestus and Hera, Dionysus gets involved. Dionysus is dumb as a bag of bricks because he’s always drunk and as a result, he misunderstands Zeus’ words

He gets Hephaestus drunk and Heph releases Hera himself. Technically, that means that Heph was the one to bring Hera back to Zeus and that means that he gets to marry Stacie

(honestly this is the worst thing ever and Stacie is angry af about it)

Nobody goes against Zeus’ wishes though so Stacie marries Hephaestus and she hates every minute of it

“Aubrey?”

“Yes?”

“Did you kill a hunter yesterday?” Stacie asks casually

“Yes.”

Stacie squints at her because even though Aubrey is strict and harsh with punishments for those who don’t meet her expectations, this is a new low. “Why?”

“He saw me bathing in the forest and didn’t have the respect to turn away.”

“So you killed him?”

“I turned him into a stag.”

“How did he die?”

“My hounds tore him to pieces.”

Stacie laughs sharply at that and it’s not what Aubrey’s expecting

“What?”

“You don’t find that a bit of an overreaction?” Stacie teases but Aubrey just scoffs

“He was a mortal man,” she answers with a dismissive wave of her hand

“So if it hadn’t been a mortal or a man, that person would not have met that same fate?” Stacie asks and Aubrey’s eyes snap to hers, the insinuation clear

“You’re married.”

“Eh,” Stacie says with a shrug. “Love has nothing to do with marriage.”

Nothing else happens but Aubrey can’t stop thinking about that word. Love. Because she’d known that Stacie had been infatuated with her, but she couldn’t have imagined that Stacie loves her because Stacie has always said that love is pain

(Aubrey should have known that being the Goddess of Love does not make one immune to its effects)

Aubrey sends Stacie flowers

Stacie sends Aubrey her lingerie

Aubrey sends Stacie gifts

Stacie sends Aubrey more of her lingerie

“Soon you’ll be left with no garments,” Aubrey flirts one day

“That’s the idea,” Stacie replies, trails her hand down Aubrey’s arm. “Then you’ll be forced to look at me in full nudity and hopefully you’ll do something about it then.”

Aubrey doesn’t wait until that day comes, instead appears at Stacie’s favourite love house and finds the Goddess lounging in a clam shell

“You’re such a cliché,” Aubrey says, announcing her arrival

Stacie grins and dismisses everybody from the room as she crawls out of the large shell. “I can’t believe you’re actually here.”

“I can’t either,” Aubrey answers even as she unfastens her chlamys

“I’m glad you are,” Stacie says as she leads Aubrey towards an alcove with a bed. Aubrey removes the last of her garments before reaching for Stacie’s chiton, untying it easily and when her gaze falls on the woman’s body, Aubrey is reminded of the feeling she had when she’d first seen Stacie

“This hasn’t all been a trick, right? To tempt me out of maidenhood?” Aubrey asks when their lips are a breath apart

“Aubrey, there have been many other but I love only you.”

Aubrey kisses Stacie then and Stacie urges her down onto the bed and Aubrey has never felt so loved and Stacie has never felt so happy

Their love affair lasts for a very long time, all without Hephaestus’ knowledge

Love clouds their judgment and they forget that not even the Gods can Mind Their Own Business™

Helios gets involved when he sees them through a window, making love in Hephaestus’ bed and Helios is a snitch who tattles to Hephaestus for the drama of it all

Hephaestus, pissed off like nothing, is a master craftsman, so he forges a trap

Aubrey and Stacie are in bed, naked and closely pressed together and whispering sweet nothings to each other when a golden net falls over them and Aubrey’s heart stops and Stacie is instantly on edge

Hephaestus, angry that Helios had been right and that his wife is not only being unfaithful to him, but being unfaithful with Aubrey, calls over all the other Gods to bear witness

“I’m sorry,” Stacie whispers over and over into Aubrey’s ear as the woman tries to shield herself from the shame

Zeus is extremely disappointed in his daughter and her broken promise and he’s ready to let Hephaestus do whatever he wants to the two when Poseidon steps in. He’s always had a soft spot for Stacie, because she’s technically a child of the sea and the water nymphs love her and he can’t afford to anger the water nymphs

“I don’t care what happens to them,” Zeus says as he walks away and Aubrey cries into Stacie’s shoulder because that’s almost worse

Hephaestus is angry that he doesn’t get to take revenge on and punish his wife and her lover so Poseidon offers him back his seat in Olympus and tells him in no uncertain terms that this is a deal that he has to take and Heph is too afraid of Poseidon to go against him so he lets them go

“I’m sorry,” Stacie says once they’re dressed but Aubrey won’t look at her anymore. “Aubrey, I’m so sorry.”

“It’s not your fault,” Aubrey says through her tears. “I’m sorry.”

“Please,” Stacie pleads, crying as Aubrey turns away from her.

“I love you,” Aubrey whispers

“I love you too,” Stacie says and Aubrey kisses her, slowly and deeply and Stacie’s not sure why but she cries even harder when Aubrey pulls away.

“I love you so much,” Aubrey repeats, like a promise

Stacie’s heart breaks into a million pieces when Aubrey disappears into the woods

Falling from grace in Zeus’ eyes is not an easy position to be in, and Stacie understands. She understands it because she has the protection of her beauty and her love, but Aubrey doesn’t. Apollo is not as great a hunter as Aubrey, but it’s close enough, and there is still a Goddess of Childbirth, and there are even some minor deities who can protect women and Athena is Zeus’ new favourite and Zeus makes it absolutely clear that a broken vow is unforgivable, but it’s forgivable enough for Stacie because he needs her. Stacie’s irreplaceable.

Aubrey’s irreplaceable too, but only to Stacie.

Aubrey’s chair on Mount Olympus remains empty until the end of time.

EDIT: I made this into a fic with a part 2!

read it here

#ohmygod this turned out so sad wtf why am I like this #staubrey #staubrey au #greek gods au #staubrey headcanon #headcanon ask #ask #nicxminorus #pls don't hurt me I know I wrote this but I am as heartbroken as you #THIS HAS BEEN YOUR DAILY LESSON FROM AMBER THE OBSESSIVE #k8 writes

42 notes · View notes

jflashandclash · 6 years

Text

Traitors of Olympus IV: The Fall of the Sun

Ten: Sadie

I Play Trans-Mythological Messenger

(or: I Crush a Commander with my Bum)

A Quick Note from Yours Truly: Jak-Jak the Plague Bringer

Dear Reader,

While I was singing these events to my personal scribe, I was rudely interrupted by a persistent young spitfire, audaciously asserting she could dictate this next section with more eloquence and style. Fortunate for her, spitfires are my style.

Her preferred method is using a low quality voice recorder (like a savage). If you have the misfortune of hearing that version (instead of reading it) I am the one accompanying all of her oration in acapella, to set the mood. I hope her insertion does not ruin the retelling of this epic tragicomedy for you. Though, if you do find yourself wanting to smash your face into a wall—as her brother assures you will—please remember that she’ll only be around for a few chapters and that smashing your face into a wall can cause severe trauma, enough so that you will not be able to attend your next bull fight or read the next release of Trials of Apollo.

And I promise to wrestle the mic from Ms. Kane should she get too vapid. Without a further drum roll (there’s a drum roll happening on the audio version) here is Ms. Sadie Kane.

-Jack Flash

Wrestle the mic? From me?

I’ve tangoed with enough disembodied spirits to know they can make quite a fuss, but Jack, you’ve got no hands!

Well, now that I finally got the microphone from that decapitated freak, we can tell this part of the story proper, where I, an Egyptian magician, deliver a Greek message from the future. Don’t worry, it didn’t make much sense to me either.

I’ll say one thing for Camp Half-Blood: I was not impressed. Brooklyn House is just better. Sure, they had a lava wall and a bunch of fancy cabins. But they didn’t have an albino crocodile guarding it—just a napping dragon who they should consider replacing due to job negligence—and they didn’t have a baboon running around eating Cheerios. I didn’t even see the half-horse guy that Annabeth had been going on about.

I might have also been biased, considering my first few seconds at Camp Half-Blood involved me free-falling out of a portal before something squishy broke my fall.

Sometimes, when you’re traveling by portal, you won’t end up where you plan—oh right. Portals are real. I can use them because I’m a descendent of the Egyptian pharaohs. Long story. At least it wasn’t as bad as the time I appeared three hundred meters above Cairo with a terrified Russian. Thank goodness that Russian could fly. Anyway, enough of flying Russians. Back to Greek demigods about to be obliterated.

I expected a well-placed cushion or a particularly lush patch of grass had broken my fall. Had I known I was going to fall on top of a boy, especially a boy who was having a rather rubbish day, I would have shifted a few feet to the side and taken the worst of it! Honest!

“Hey! Aim better when you skydive, lady!” the boy under me cried.

“Sorry!” I said, scrambling to my feet.

There were quite a few of them—campers I mean, not skydivers. They were gathered in a clearing around some metal dragon thing. After stopping a giant snake from ending the world a few times, I’d grown to resent giant creepy, scaly things, but it looked like they were trying to repair it, not destroy it.

The campers stared back and forth from me to the spot several feet above me, like they wanted to disassemble the air particles and figure out how I’d made my brilliant entrance.

“I need to talk to Annabeth or Percy right away!” I said, clutching a scroll in one hand. Leave it to the gods to make someone as important as me a message runner. Oh, the nerve!

The boy that I had fallen on stood and placed his hands on his utility belt skeptically. He pushed up a pair of goggles from his face and into his hairline, leaving him with circles of soot around his eyes. With the oil-stained shirt and dirt smudges, he looked a bit like a mechanic or someone who had been hit with a steam train.

He was Hispanic, with wild black hair, energetic eyes, and elfish features. Somehow, I felt like he’d be a minion of Loki if Norse mythology were real along with the Greek and Egyptian. (Oh, shut up Carter, you can’t assume it’s real. Honestly, my brother thinks he knows everything.)

The energy and glee in the boy’s eyes seemed to drain as quickly as it came, like my entrance had given temporary amnesia from a bigger problem.

“Are you one of the new campers?” he asked.

“Erm, yes?” I said, confident as ever. I couldn’t just say I was a magician. When my brother, Carter, and I teamed up with Annabeth and Percy to stop a dead, evil magician from becoming a Greco-Egyptian god—also long story—we agreed not to have our two worlds mix. Enough apocalypses to stop with one mythology, thank you very much.

“Which cabin?” He crossed his arms. “Other than the Cabin of Inconvenient Landings.”

Ah, a smart guy.

“I prefer the Cabin of Graceful Entrances,” I said and frowned. Carter was much better about remembering this kind of nerd stuff. I had a hard enough time keeping track of all the Egyptian gods, let alone Greek, and I had lived with an Egyptian goddess.

I wanted to say the Isis Cabin. I vaguely remembered Carter saying something about the Greeks or Romans worshipping her at some point. I knew I should play it safe though. What was Percy’s dad’s name?

“Poseidon’s,” I said.

A few of the other campers whispered to each other. The boy laughed, the twinkle returning to his eyes. “Poseidon? Yea right, lady. And I’m a son of Aphrodite.”

Goddess of Love! I knew that one. (Shut up, Carter. It’s not obvious.)

“Well, you could be. You’re kinda cute when you smile, in a dorky sort of way. Put you on top of a sea shell, paint your nails, and I’m sure you’d fit in their cabin just fine,” I said. And, if it wasn’t for the grime and dirt, he would have been quite attractive. Not my usual type, but not bad. That, and I’ll admit, I might have hoped a compliment from a pretty girl would speed things along.

He snorted. “Okay, if you’re working for Eris, this is the worst infiltration I’ve ever seen. Follow me and we’ll see if Percy can fit you into his busy schedule. And, sorry Pinkie—“ He was referring to the pink streak of dye I’d put into my blonde hair. “—but this Bad Boy Supreme is taken.”

The luster went out of his eyes again as he led me away from the silver lizard and confused campers, past a few fairly impressive buildings that I could only assume were cabins.

Now, it was my turn to snort. “I said you were cute. I didn’t say I was trying to chat you up or anything. Who do you think you are?”

“Commander Leo,” he said. We walked through a field that looked like it lost a fight to a crashing helicopter. There were campers bustling all around, preparing battle defenses if I had to guess. But I’m not Greek. This could have been how they picnicked for all I knew.

“Well, Commander Leo, I have a boyfriend too. Or I think I do.” I sighed, thinking over why I had been so eager to volunteer in delivering this message. “It’s complicated, dating older people, especially deities.”

The boy rolled his eyes. “Tell me about it.”

I rarely needed encouragement to do that, but—as we approached an oddly placed ping pong table with a throne and casino-style lighting above it—I found myself blathering to this stranger. “I mean, it is a LOT of pressure. I’m the reason he lives and everything, and that’s great and all, but I want to get him a hobby or a pet. Something else that reminds him that the pyramids will still be in Cairo if I’m not around.

“I did not mean to literally tell me all about it,” Commander Leo said, though, for a second, his amber eyes flashed with understanding. Not something you expect when you’re discussing problems about your romantic, godly partner.

We walked up to a meeting that looked awfully boring. I’m sure they were discussing important stuff, “Bla-bla-bla defenses here, bla-bla-bla chimera, bla-bla-bla magical, stolen stick” (oh? Do the Greeks have magic wands too?) but Jack tells me you’ve already heard enough of that.

I had to wonder why Annabeth was half-asleep and Percy was sitting on such an odd throne. That didn’t seem his style. They weren’t sitting side-by-side as I would expect of the cute couple, but I suppose business came first. There were other campers scattered around the table, maybe a dozen and a half, all looking agitated.

From a quick glance at Percy’s expression, I could tell he was resisting the urge to bash his face into the table at the discussion. He flipped his pen furiously.

“Hey, Water Boy, this chica fell out of the sky and said she’s your sister on your daddy’s side,” Commander Leo said.

At first, I was offended. Percy scowled at me with irritation like I was a pile of particularly smelly laundry that blocked the end of his chore list. Then his expression lit up with recognition. He grabbed the armrests of his throne. “Sadie! What are you doing here?”

Annabeth startled awake. Her disoriented gaze found me and she smiled.

Commander Leo looked completely taken aback.

I smiled at him smugly. “Told you.” I turned back to my friends. “Hey Percy, Annabeth. Sorry to say that I’m here on official business. Have you ever heard of a bloke called Hermanubis?”

“He was a popular god when the Romans occupied Egypt, albeit he mostly disappeared afterwards,” Annabeth said, “He was a combination of the Greek god Hermes and the Egyptian god Anubis.”

I winced, not wanting to think of any more gods in my boyfriend’s head. Walt hosted Anubis, the god of death and would die of an ancient curse if Anubis left. It was complicated.

“Wait—slow down. Percy, a sister?” said a rather handsome blond boy with stunning blue eyes and enough muscles to punch out a sphinx. He had a cute scar on his lip, probably from fighting a hydra or something else hot Greek heroes did.

“Not another demigod, right? Is she a nymph? She doesn’t look like one,” said a large Asian boy wearing a flowy purple toga with a military haircut.

Maybe I shouldn’t have chosen Poseidon.

“I’ll explain later,” Percy said.

“Questions after the presentation,” I agreed. “So, half-Egyptian, half-Roman god. Yep, that would be the one. Apparently you’ve been talking to some Necromanteion Oracle or some nonsense? Dead people that use the oracle like a delivery system?”

A girl with reddish-blonde hair timidly leaned forward. “The Traitors Prophecy, um, I think Rachel was possessed by that oracle when she gave it.”

“Great,” I said, wanting to rush this along. I rather enjoyed getting out of Brooklyn House, but there appeared to be some eminent destruction underway if we didn’t make it quick. “So, this undead, Greek delivery system had to go through Hermanubis. Something about your gods all fighting each other and your communication being down—er—our communications being down.” Right. Daughter of Poseidon here. “So the oracle had to outsource to Hermanubis to deliver a message. That got to Walt, a host of—”

“A child of Hades,” Annabeth translated for me.

“Of Hades?” a girl with golden eyes and cinnamon hair said in surprise. She and a girl with a long back braid and eyes possibly fiercer than Zia’s (my brother’s girlfriend) exchanged a glance. (What, Carter? It’s not like I can measure it with a staring contest.)

I ignored the whispers around the table and wary glances. “And that message got to me. So, ta-da!” I held up my scroll. “Good to know your g—our gods talk in riddles,” I corrected.

“We’re getting a prophecy now?” Percy sounded annoyed. “We just sent out two sets of questers.”

“Usually the gods are a bit more punctual than that. Like, by several millennia, right?” Commander Leo asked.

“If the gods are all arguing amongst themselves and communication is down, they are a bit pressed for options right now,” the girl with the long braid said. “And I wonder if Apollo had a difficult time with predictions because two Mayan princes were involved.”

Mayan princes? Great. MORE gods.

The Greeks were lucky their gods still chatted with them. All of our gods weren’t allowed back in the world right now, least they’d bring chaos with them, another end of the world, and some other nasty nonsense. I had a calling card for Bes, the ugliest and most wonderful dwarf god you’ll ever meet, Anubis and Walt were sharing a body in the mortal world, and my Uncle Amos could chat a bit with Set, but our options were limited compared to before.

“That’s not the end of it,” I said. “My Uncle Amos has an action figure board in the First Nome that tracks the movement of all mag—all demigods—”

“All demigods?” the handsome blond asked.

“How?” a girl with a feather in her hair sounded just as shocked.

“Action figures?” Commander Leo asked, which I think was the most important question of the bunch.

“Let her finish,” Annabeth said.

Seriously, I wasn’t going to get anywhere with this annoying charade of being a demigod, but I kept going. “Anymore questions I can’t answer right now? No? Alright. So Amos’ magical board tipped us off to some activity in Phoenix, Arizona. And being a host of… a child of…” I glanced to Annabeth helplessly. I had no idea what Set’s equivalent would be in Greek mythology. “Chaos?”

“Eris,” she said absently. Then, her mouth hung open like something brilliant had clicked.

“Another one?” one of two twin girls said on the far side of the table.

“Maybe Pax will have to fight to be counselor of the Eris cabin,” said her sister. “A real competition.” The thought of competition seemed to excite those two a bit too much.

“Anyway,” I said. “Amos is better at keeping track of… other children of Eris. He thinks it has to do with a host of chaos, and a rather nasty one at that.”

Although Annabeth’s eyes were already narrowed from exhaustion, they further slanted, making me fear she’d fall right to sleep. “I’ll bet that’s Lapis Pax.”

“That person I heard arguing with Eris? Eris said that henchy is guarding Hemera,” Percy said.

Annabeth nodded. “We know Hiro is in New York. I would guess Lapis is in Phoenix, Arizona. I just wish I knew why Lapis chose that spot to hide Hemera.”

I had a few ideas, although I couldn’t give it away without revealing the whole Egyptian thing. From what I knew about Greece, they didn’t have many deserts, so I could guess their home goddess of chaos didn’t have desert affiliation, unlike our lovable Set. (Yes, Carter. I know there aren’t any deserts in Greece! Give me more credit.) If this Lapis was hosting Set, then Set would be far more powerful in his natural environment.

“We still don’t know how Hemera is connected,” a tough looking boy with a rainbow tattoo pointed out.

“You said that you have prophecies?” the girl with the long braid and purple cloak said, “They might give us a clue as to the connection.”

“Right.” I unrolled my papyrus scrolls. When I saw the first, tiny slip of papayrus on top of the second, I almost tossed it away in embarrassment. It looked ridiculous compared to the other one, but Walt suggested it likely important. “Well, there’s actually two. The first is a haiku.”

“That would be Apollo,” Percy grumbled, slumping into his throne.

A groan resounded around the ping pong table. At least I knew the gods weren’t trying to pull a prank on me. I still felt awful silly clearing my throat to read out loud:

“If you read this note,

It means I will be captured.

S. O. S! Send help!”

If possible, the campers looked more annoyed.

The girl with cinnamon hair and golden eyes frowned. “Last Thalia said, Lord Apollo was locked in a competition with Lady Diana to see who can capture the Teusmessian fox. And he’s been captured too? Or will be?”

“Another sun god,” the girl with reddish hair muttered.

“What about the second one?” the boy in the purple toga asked.

This one would be much more of a pain to read, but at least it felt official.

“Sand slithers to noon; bells do chime,

To announce chaos’ course, and sun’s decline.

Theft: essence of day, then erode to night.

Parapets decay to beckon the wight.

Two will leave; five and quart’ return.

Death of a god, their hearts do yearn.

Prevail! Trials of Psyche, led by Desire.

Without arrows of bliss, these pilgrims expire.

Growth is death and death is growth.

Cycles again, love phoenix to loathe.

Sprout ashes of rancor, a new blossom to flower.

Hearts of the ancients, these youths shall devour.

End of an era, before night is done.

Sacred tears and gods fear the day to come.”

This one got more of a stir.

Annabeth paled. The red-haired girl put a hand to her mouth. The campers exchanged uneasy glances at the last two couplets.

“What’s a parapet?” one of the twins asked.

“It’s a low, defensive wall, sometimes used for concealing troops,” the girl with a braid said. She glared at the scroll, like her scowl could threaten the verses into revealing their riddle. If it could, we could certainly get her a well paying job in the First Nome.

“I think the second verse is referring to sunset, when Phobetor will keep the Mist barrier down and allow Melinoe, a wight, into the camp. But those next few lines…” Annabeth trailed off, looking troubled.

“Calex was supposed to go with them,” the redhead said.

My head spun. That name sounded familiar. In my adventures, Carter and I had traveled all over the world, in its many layers, but that name wasn’t common enough for it to stick out without importance. We didn’t have any new initiates by that name…

Annabeth nodded grimly. “In the Trials of Psyche, Eros, or Desire, pulled Psyche from her sleep, brought her to Olympus, and made her immortal. Euna has Joey’s quest box, the last item from the Trials of Psyche. Calex, a son of Eros, must be connected.”

“It could also refer to Reyna,” Percy pointed out.

The girl with the braid, Reyna I presume from the way her killer stare made an attempt to scowl Percy out of existence, demanded, “What?”

Percy shrugged sheepishly. “I meant for Axel. Ignoring how you feel about him—”

“Wisely,” the boy in purple said and leaned back into his chair, like he was getting ready to duck.

“—Axel is the one leading them through the labyrinth. And he also received two of the trials, between the whole cereal thing and the ice water. If he’s really into Reyna, maybe having her around will stop him from going crazy and killing everyone.”

The way Percy said it felt a bit too routine for my taste. Did Greeks often go raving mad? Not to say magicians were much better, but it was good to know who you were working with.

“Still doesn’t explain how Hemera or Apollo is connected,” Mr. Rainbow-Tattooed said.

“I’ll bet we can get some answers if we go to Phoenix and beat the snot out of this Lapis person,” I said, rubbing my hands together. It had been awhile since I’d had a good battle. Granted, my magic wasn’t the best suited to combat, but maybe it would give me a good excuse to have Bes visit.

Percy grinned. “Eris said warriors couldn’t go after Hiro. She never said anything about Lapis.”

“And while Eris does seem to act haphazard, there must be some reason she kidnapped Hemera,” Annabeth said. “Saving her could disrupt Eris’ plans.”

“And it is way better than sitting around here without a solid plan,” the girl with cinnamon hair and golden eyes said. She blushed. “Oh—sorry Percy—”

Percy gloomily waved it off. “It’s okay.”

“What else can we do to help you with Lapis?” Annabeth asked and it suddenly occurred to me that neither of them was going with me. Annabeth looked exhausted and Percy kept fidgeting, like he couldn’t get out of that chair.

My heart sank. When I’d come to Camp Half-Blood, I’d partially hoped to repeat some of our adventures—not the Setne trying to take over part, but I wanted to enjoy some quality time with these two.

I shrugged, trying not to show my disappointment. “Not much, unless you have someone who is lightning proof.”

Everyone at the table turned to the handsome blond boy with the scar on his lip.

“Gods of Egypt,” I cried. “Are you really? Fancy that. I’ll take two of him please.”

“The other ‘one of me’ just left,” he said.

The beautiful girl with the feather in her hair frowned. “Jason, are you up to—”

“Yes,” he said in a way that told me whatever might prevent him from going had an embarrassing origin. I’d have to worm that out of him later. “But why lightning? Pax can turn into people, but he can’t use their powers. I assume Lapis will be similar.”

“Sadie will give you the full explanation on the way over,” Annabeth said, eyeing me meaningfully.

“Right,” I said. What luck to have someone lightning proof. “Any chance one of you is fireproof too? I assume that would be too much luck for the gods to grant?”

Commander Leo stepped forward, looking more like a child in a military elf performance than a dangerous ally, and saluted. “Flaming Valdez, here to report. Felix is up and running and I could use this quest to take her for a test drive.”

His eyes flickered back towards camp. I got the feeling there was something he was hiding from back there.

Jason frowned and glanced from Percy to Reyna, to the other boy in purple. “Are you going to be okay here without us? If we leave, we might not make it back in time for sunset.”

“Oh, don’t worry about that,” I said. I’d had to do some ridiculous stuff to get here quickly—tying ancient artifacts to birds and sending them out when you’re hoping no one is looking with strict instructions to fly over a mythical Greek camp. However, getting from New York to Phoenix should have been much easier.

“You guys go have fun,” Percy said with a weak grin. “Sadie, Jason’s a big tough guy, but don’t bully him too much. And Jason, if you know what’s good for you, I wouldn’t let Leo and Sadie plan any pranks together.”

Leo glanced over at me. For that moment, the spark erupted in his eyes again. “Pranks? Me? Never.”

“And I’m a respectable lady,” I chided Percy. “You shouldn’t spread rumors like that.”

Jason paled slightly, though I honestly couldn’t imagine why. I’m sure this Commander Leo was a reasonable person and I would go easy on him if it was Percy’s request.

Everyone said their quick goodbyes. Jason gave the girl with the feather in her hair a quick kiss and some minor reassurance. Leo stood beside me, fidgeting with something in his utility belt with one hand as he saluted a goodbye with the other.

Jason joined me beside Leo and I grinned. “Right, now that all that is sorted,” I said, “how do you blokes feel about jumping into a roaring vortex of sand?”

#Heroes of Olympus #Percy Jackson and the Olympians #Traitors of Olympus #fanfiction #Sadie #Leo #Jason #Percy #Butch #Some other people that--let's be real--don matta for da scene #I've been working a 60 hour work week for the past two weeks and it is so bad that I couldn't remember the name of this book #I stared at my screen several seconds going this.... is book 4..... right...?

8 notes · View notes