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californiannostalgia · 4 years

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In honor of The Tower of Nero’s Loser Gods, here are my favorite Greek God character study snippets from Were I That Burning Star and a fact easily forgotten (we named our crowns ourselves) that I loved writing most.

Artemis

Her voice began to climb. "Century upon century upon century of loss, and we changed. We are everlasting, and they are not. Did you honestly expect us to endure it without going mad? Do you truly think I did not weep for my loved ones, and for the thousands of souls I never gave myself the chance to know?"

Hermes

It had been May’s choice that drove her to madness. It had been Luke’s choice that drove him to his death.

It’d taken him a long time, but Hermes had come to terms with it. He couldn't have saved them. Their fates had never been his responsibility. It had always been theirs. He would mourn. He would remember. But he would not dishonor them by regretting the choices they’d made for themselves. Regret was a choice that belonged to them. Whether to love them, their choices and all? That was his.

Aphrodite

It was a burden, but at the same time, it was a blessing. They could offer her a throne, the world, a weapon for her hands and the promise of respect—it wouldn’t matter. She wouldn’t trade away this Love for anything.

Ares

Athena was here.

"Yes," he said.

The war goddess had come to face him.

"Yes," he said again, then roared, “YES!”—in approval, in delight, in uncontrollable exhilaration that burned like wildfire through him. He summoned his broadsword and drew the blade from the scabbard in one clean motion, the sharp sound of slithering steel serving as his own clarion note of challenge. “YES, ATHENA!”

Athena

She fantasized about it. When the day came, she would fight her fiercest against the justice of a rising world order. She would fight and she would lose, but part of her looked forward to the end. When responsibilities both wanted and unwanted left her shoulders, would she still be herself enough to look her newborn counterpart in the eyes and pull them closer to whisper, weighed down with pride and sorrow and all the complications newborn deities had no hope of understanding, “I was justice once”?

Hephaestus

“Their hatred made me something else," he acceded, thinking of Hera and the throne he'd engineered to be a trap. "Something I did not want to be. So I sought to get myself back, but couldn't remember what that looked like."

He fitted the new parts into place. He tried to say it right. "Maybe there is no kinder original of myself to reclaim. Maybe they killed that. But I have been. Trying. To be something other than what they made me. I think that matters, somewhat. So I don't believe I will become them.” Hephaestus weighed his words. "I don't think he ever noticed, or tried, to be less him. So I don't believe you will be anything like him either."

Dionysus

“We chose wrong,” Ariadne said, “but I am content with where I have arrived. I have enjoyed moments I would not have had if I hadn’t chosen wrong.”

Dionysus closed his eyes. She smelled of honey and old books and dusty paths traversed by very few.

“I have regrets,” the goddess of the labyrinths said, “but I do not regret you. Do you regret me?”

“No,” he said.

Hestia

Hestia still remembers the day Rhea nudged them outside, father and newborn. Immortal children are born walking, but Kronos offered to hold her hand. They found themselves a shady spot at the edge of an overgrown forest, and he told her the story of how her uncles had claimed the four corners of the world as their own. She remembers being entranced—not by the tale, but by the way his voice slowly climbed in excitement, his face and hands taking on a life she hadn't seen on him before. He smiled upon the conclusion of the story. She asked for another.

Hestia remembers Kronos in a way her brothers and sisters do not. It is a curse she will never share with them.

Demeter

"I did not choose my lovers to become a parent. I did not want to be a mother. My mother did not wish to be a mother, either. Reproduction is an unfortunate side-effect of intercourse." Demeter smiled bitterly. "My mother’s life was consumed by her children. I believe she hated us as much as we hated her.”

Apollo remembered Rhea and her tie-dye headbands—her warm, callused palm on his forehead, absorbing his pain. “That isn’t true.”

“Love and hate aren’t mutually exclusive, nephew. I can love her for her kindness and hate her for failing to save me. She can hate me for the sorrow I brought upon her, just as much as she loves me for the joy.” Demeter raised an eyebrow. “As an insignificant mortal once said, we contain multitudes.”

Hera

No, she thought with vitriolic fury, no you don’t. She had spat curses into Kronos’s face as he had unhinged his jaw. She was no coward. The Titans had not managed to cow her. She would not be cowed by her husband.

She concocted the most poisonous curses and bestowed them on his demigod children. Here is what I think of your legacy. She arranged the most painful deaths for his mortal lovers. Here is what I think of your infidelity. When he came to her in a rage, she pushed him into a wall and tore at his lips with her teeth. You do not scare me, she thought, high on adrenaline and victory.

“Do I scare you?” she asked, giddy with the power she had discovered for herself.

Hades

After the victory, there must have been a reason—when they drew straws to divide the world, and Poseidon looked like he had been saved and Zeus looked like he might smile—there must have been a reason he didn’t contest the draw. Must have been something that made him say, yes, I will take the underground.

He held the keys to the prisons incarcerating their most hated enemies—himself acting as jailor, judge, and executioner—and only then did he realize how utterly satisfying it was to have the proof of his safety be himself.

Poseidon

He embarked on the war slightly crazed and considerably scared. He ended the war entirely too crazed.

The sea swallowed him up and he devoured it back. The white-capped waves and salty shores became his lungs, his heart. Fault lines and volcanoes ran on the heat of his blood and the force of his temper. The ocean’s depths were never dark, not in a way that he feared. He raced with his passions and raged as a storm. He laughed at the world that knew to fear him.

Learning kindness came later. Much, much later.

Zeus

Tomorrow he might close his eyes and trace the King Cannibal’s palace etched on the backs of his eyelids. Tomorrow he might feel an immovable weight crushing his chest and pushing down his shoulders.

But today he held up a hand to shield his eyes from the southern sun and kept looking up, tracing clouds and chasing falcons. He pictured leading his brothers and sisters back out into the sunlight. He imagined lying down in the grass and having his siblings sit beside him. He was unable to visualize their faces, their height, the way their hands might move when they spoke. But if he succeeded—when, not if (it was foretold, he could do this, he would)—maybe he could learn.

He stared up at the bottomless blue sky and dared to dream of freedom.

Apollo

I looked upon the carbon duplicate of Demeter's apathetic despair, crystalized into a glass jar holding lightning. I realized I was exhausted of trying to be heard by the thing behind the glass walls, because he wasn't ever going to hear me, was he? Not really.

"I used to love you." A painful lump got stuck in my throat. I swallowed it down.

My father kept staring.

"I hate that I was born as your child," I said as a farewell, and I walked away.

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tabbyrp · 3 years

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@brooklynislandgirl @tarnishedhalo

{Tropes in the Wild West, part 2} {Cont from [x]

The Colton Brothers’ General Goods Store prided itself on quality. Buckets of nails able to pierce the hardest of wood. No finer tobacco this side of the state line. And their prices, well, the Colton Brothers considered them fair, considering a lack of competition within the town and the surrounding miles. Tabby held differing opinions while handing over a goodly sum of coins and receiving a meagre bag of pecans in return.

Above the saloon were lodgings for the women who worked there. Four apiece to each room, with simple wooden bunks wedged nose-to-tail against the walls. Three were still occupied when Tabby crept back in with expensive provisions in hand. Her bed lay pressed beneath the window, and when the nights were cool, she cursed the draft prone position. This, however, was morning and she used her access to ease one wooden shutter open before scattering a few pecans over the windowsill. Complaints often came from the other girls that she was encouraging rats to loiter. Tabby ignored them, convinced that something else entirely came to devour each last morsel before a new dawn broke.

“C’mon, Miss Tab. Dance with me.” Persistent as he was cheerful from the half-drunk bottle in his grip, Old Butch’s mottled red veins left spiderwebs over skin tanned by endless years beneath the sun. “They say them Indians have a dance that will make the rain fall.” He attempted a demonstration, the wild flailing reminiscent of desperate efforts to stamp out rogue sparks from a campfire.

“Are we in India? I thought this was Texas.” After making her point with an arched brow, she softened, for Butch was a grizzled, yet harmless, widower stuck in his ways. “And the only result of you and me dancing would be stepping on toes for both of us.” It was a lie. In those younger years when she sold dances with lonely men for a dollar a spin, Tabby was all lightness and grace. She had stopped that route for coin though, now preferring to simply sell drinks and weave flowers like sunsets into her hair.

Butch took the rejection in stride and melded into the group observing a raucous game of dice. The click-clack of boots announced another group of patrons arriving. Readying more bottles in preparation, Tabby ignored a flicker of chagrin which she could never entirely extinguish. It was foolish to wish for one particular man to come striding in, instead of an endless rotation of the local townsfolk. The sun was long set and Riley never visited after dark.

A new day came. Then another, and another more. Gifted flowers wilted into loose petals, and the bag of pecans she continued to dole out over the windowsill was half spent. All anyone could talk of was the drought. Two grey clouds took shape in the sky, giving false hope before dissipating into familiar swathes of blue. Come evening, disappointment had turned folks waspish. Two local cowboys chose to turn their emotions into a fist fight at the saloon, leaving blood on the floor and whiskey spilled everywhere else, including down Tabby’s skirt.

Retiring to the rooms to change, Tabby was half-way dry when an unfamiliar item on her bedding caught her attention. A single envelope nestled upon her pillow, a firewheel bloom laying across atop it. She tucked the bloom behind one ear, smiling, before investigating further. Easing back the flap revealed a piece of paper folded once down the middle. Tabby pulled a lantern closer to examine the words neatly inked upon the page.

Meet me outside, behind the saloon, as soon as you can. AR.

She was almost to the rear door before hesitation slowed Tabby’s eager step. It was the first time Riley had written her this way. The first surreptitious meeting he had requested. Hope warred with caution, curiosity weaving its way into the mix before Tabby made compromise with them all. Lantern in one hand and an iron poker stick appropriated from the fireplace in the other, she slid out to the rear of the building. Little existed there beyond dirt that rolled into patchy grassland, and one long rail for horses to be tied to when the street became overly crowded.

The rail was where Tabby stopped, holding her light aloft to peer deeper into the shadows. “Riley?” A whisper carrying her fading confidence and growing certainty this was all some cruel prank. Her eyes had begun to adjust when a blinding pain exploded across the back of her head. The poker fell from limp hands, the lantern following soon after, with no witness other than a creature perched upon a windowsill, gnawing shards of nut between sharp, pointed teeth.

Riley awoke with a start. Half upright in his bed, it took a blink and shedding of slumber to identify what had woken him from troubled dreams. Scritch. Scratch. Scritch. Scratch. His first thought a bold rodent had chosen to skitter across the floorboard. Except his bedroom only stretched so far and unless the rat was engaged in an endless circuit, it should have finished its route already. Scritch. Scratch. Scritch. Scratch. The sound growing more frenzied with each passing second. Pushing blankets free, he rose and stepped first onto his good leg, the other needing longer to gain mobility. With a hop and a drag, he tracked the noise to the window. Yanking open the shutters, Riley looked out, then down, where nothing sat except a smattering of half-eaten pecans.

Her cheek. Something was touching her cheek. Dry. Rough. Tabby blinked, winced, resurrected from her torpor with painful alacrity. The ground hard beneath her back and she rolled blindly, certain a snake was slithering over face. No reptile emerged but she did land on something softer. A rug. Fur that she could grip with her fingertips. Furnishings meant she must be inside. Shapes came into focus. A bed. A wooden table with two chairs tucked beneath the edges. Uneven wooden walls lit by an iron stove, the fire within burning so hot that sweat broke out upon Tabby’s brow.

Hands took her by the arms. Pulled by a strength that defied normally, Tabby became dragged upright. She kicked wildly. Yelled obscenities no lady should be familiar with. Then her captor took form and panic froze a scream in her throat. The husk that had once been Old Butch rasped and wheezed, sucking on the air. More corpse than man, desiccated skin clinging to gaunt bone, his swollen tongue licked over flaking lips and fetid breath expelled into a hiss of words. “Dance with me, Tabitha.”

The house began to blur as Butch swung her round and around. “Dance with me.” Acrid scent filled the air as her sleeves dissolved first, then flesh turning an angry pink where the monster trapped her into this deadly waltz. Worse than the desert at high noon mid-summer, the air grew too dry, stealing the beading sweat from Tabby’s skin and the moisture from her mouth.

“Let me go,” she croaked out.

“You heard the lady.” An explosion of gunfire and Butch’s skull cracked open, dust bursting from the seams instead of blood. Bony fingers released their captive, and strong, warm, human hands took their place, Riley scooping her into his arms. “I’ve got you, Tabs.” His promise the last thing she heard, and yellow rings in his eyes the last sight she saw, before sinking into unconsciousness once more.

“How is she?” Riley made his inquiry from the safety of the hallway. Beth’s ministrations had required stripping Tabby down to the chemise and her brother remained averse to seeing women disrobed without their permission granted in advance. Drawing the sheet higher over their resting guest, Beth thought to answer in her natural tongue, then chose the language which grated familial nerves the least. There had been enough torment for one night.

“Come see for yourself.” Beth lingered while Riley stepped inside. If the sight of Miss Tabby bothered him, wan and sleeping, Riley hid it from his sister. Still, when he dragged a wooden chair next to the bed, sitting down as if preparing for a long watch, Beth rested a soothing hand upon his shoulder. Mending bodies was her domain, and perhaps she preferred that burden, compared to the questions that would inevitably want answers once Tabby was awake.

Leaving Riley to his vigil, Beth was of mind to return to the soft nest of her bedding. Light was yet to creep around the edges of their sealed windows, and she could regain a few hours of lost slumber before dawn began to break. There was only one matter to attend to first. In the kitchen, she rummaged around through cupboards until a glass jar packed with peppermint sticks revealed itself. Beth liberated one, paused, and then a second.

She could not bring herself to throw open a shutter, not when night still gripped the lands, so instead Beth slid the confectioned treats through a gap beneath the front door. They had barely disappeared from sight when came the quick-snap crunching sound of sharp teeth finding their quarry. Clearly her impropriety for using the porch was forgiven. A relief, considering how fickle those creatures could be. A bowl of cream left upon the windowsill used to be the tradition. Now it was pecans and peppermint sticks.

If only other forces could be so easily appeased. Poor Old Butch. Beth spared a thought of pity for the man, and more for the lives that the drought was yet to claim.

#brooklynislandgirl #tarnishedhalo #meme reply #cut for length

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mythologyfolklore · 4 years

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Ares and Athena through the years - Ch. 16

Chapter Sixteen: Meanwhile ...

When Ares had chosen to leave for a world journey, Aphrodite and his children had tearfully said goodbye.

Hephaistos had been there too, although he given his older brother a warm grip of the hand, rather than shedding tears.

The rest of his family had also come to say goodbye.

“Take care of yourself”, Artemis had said, while giving him a firm hug.

Ares had laughed: “I'll do my best.”

“Don't get caught by giants and locked in a jar”, Hermes had grinned.

“Oh shut up, squirt!”, the war god had snorted and lightly slapped the Messenger's shoulder.

Hera had given her son an awkward hug; after the Trojan War things were more tense between them than usual.

Zeus had been more affectionate, giving his son a firm embrace and a kiss to the forehead (an extremely rare gesture of fatherly love from the King of the Gods).

“I suppose you will be gone for a few Olympian decades?”

“Yes, father. Seeing the world and getting to know new people takes a while.”

“Goodbye then, my son. Take care of yourself, as Artemis said. Don't forget to write. We want to know how you are doing and how it is, where you're staying.”

“Unless the place I get to doesn't have a writing system, sure!”

With that, Ares had spurred on his horses and left Olympos.

First he had gone to Thrace to say goodbye to his twin and his friends.

Enyo had tearfully begged him to stay or at least take her along, same as Eris.

But Ares had insisted, that he needed some alone time (although it had hurt him to leave his twin behind).

“I need someone to do my duties”, he had told her. “You're the only one who can, Enyo. Your domain is the same as mine. You guys just take care of my home, okay?”

Then he had left.

At first he toured around Hellas. It couldn't hurt to see what was going on and maybe check how the survivors of the Trojan War were doing.

Many of the Trojan women had died or worse, were living a miserable life as concubines.

Aineias, the son of Aphrodite, had gathered a few survivors and was now sailing the seas.

To his great delight, most of the Achaeans had met a bitter end: Agamemnon had been killed by his wife and her lover, Ajax the Lesser was dead, so were many others. And the best thing was, that his old enemy Diomedes had gone through some shit, only to come home to a nasty surprise.

Now the hero who had once wounded him and Aphrodite, was wandering the lands and seas in search of a place to live.

Ares couldn't resist the temptation and descended onto the earth.

Diomedes was done with everything.

He had almost drowned in a massive thunderstorm, then been washed ashore on the coast of Libya, only to nearly be sacrificed to Ares. Then he had landed in Attica, where the local king had mistaken him and his crew for pirates and had attacked them. And when he had finally come home to Argos, he had found his wife not only unfaithful to him, but also ready to kill him.

Now he had nowhere to go.

This moment he was walking through a forest, when he spotted a small river. Tired from the long march, he sat down, let his feet dangle in the water and sighed contentedly at the sensation.

“Feels nice, doesn't it?”

He jumped at the sound of the voice and hastily grabbed his spear.

But it was just a little girl sitting on a branch of a nearby tree, dangling a leg.

Except it wasn't.

Diomedes still had his enhanced sight and knew a god, when he saw one.

The girl twirled her auburn hair and eyed him with twisted curiosity.

“You look like life wasn't kind to you, sir”, she noted.

He shrugged. “Is life kind to anyone?”

“To some”, she replied. “You look like someone glorious. A hero. Isn't that a kindness of life?”

“I'm not so certain anymore.”

The child giggled.

“You seem pretty happy”, he remarked.

“Likely happier than you”, the other teased. “Then again, heroes almost never get to live happily ever after, huh?”

Diomedes resisted the temptation to roll his eyes.

“Your disguise isn't very subtle, Lord Ares Polydakros¹.”

The other snickered and leapt off the branch. When his feet touched the ground, he had turned from a little girl to what was basically a human form of his divine shape.

It made the Argive shudder. He almost averted his eyes, but managed to steel his nerves and hold the other's burning gaze (though his body refused to stop trembling).

“So Glaukópis² let you keep your enhanced sight”, Ares noted. “Interesting. Not that it's of much use to you now.”

“Have you come to gloat?”

“Yes, actually. After your stunt back at Ilion³, it is really satisfying to see you this humbled. And I don't even need to have revenge, because Aphrodite already had hers. Betrayal is a nasty thing, isn't it?”

The god's grin was twisted and way too broad. Obviously he was revelling in the other's discomfort and misfortune.

Diomedes refused to dignify the god's remark anyhow.

“But don't feel bad”, Ares chuckled, “It could be much worse. Most of the Achaeans drowned, Agamemnon was murdered and that psychopathic brat Neoptolemos was slain by Apollon's priests for some blasphemy a few days ago. Also, Menélaos, my half-sister Helene and Odysseus are all stuck far away from home. Compared to that, you got off easy!”

His smirk vanished. “You should be grateful, son of Tydeus. Considering the shit ton of murder attempts you escaped, you're actually really, really lucky.”

Diomedes bit his lip.

So he isn't going to kill me, then.

“No”, Ares answered his thought. “I'm not.”

Diomedes took a deep breath and forced himself to stop trembling, before putting his spear down.

“You can't blame me for being afraid of you”, he told the god bluntly.

The Man-Slayer laughed: “I don't. Only a fool wouldn't fear war.”

“What do you want then – apart from gloating, obviously.”

“Give you a piece of my mind”, the war god replied bluntly. “Remember how my granddaughter Kallirhoë saved you from being sacrificed to me by my son? You could at least have thanked her.”

Diomedes blinked in confusion. “But I left her a letter?”

“Kallirhoë couldn't read, Diomedes.”

Oh. Oh shit.

“The Libyans don't have a writing system”, Ares explained, “And even if they did, she was mentally disabled. It would have been extremely hard for her to learn how to read, if at all. Not that it matters now; she's dead. Hanged herself, because you broke her heart.”

Shit times two.

“Of course killing you sounds tempting”, the god went on. “But luckily for you, my family has other plans for you. Don't think Athena has forgot you. After all, you and Odysseus have always been her favourites. So before I leave, one last piece of advice: take the next ship to Italy, find the last surviving Trojans, lead by Aphrodite's son Aineias and return the Palladion to them. Only then will your misfortune end, for even though you had Athena's approval, that doesn't change the fact that you robbed it.”

For a few seconds Diomedes considered, if this was a trap. But it sounded logical enough, so he memorised it anyways.

Ares stood up and unfolded a pair of huge red wings. Then he took to the air and was gone, leaving behind only a single red feather.

Diomedes knew better than to consider this a sign of goodwill.

Ares, having gained just a bit of closure, continued his tour.

He had seen what he had wanted to see. Now it was time to leave Hellas and explore the rest of the world.

He hadn't been to Aigyptos in quite a while. He had a few friends there, who would be delighted to see him.

“ARES! EYYY!”, Sekhmet roared in delight.

“EYYY, SEKHMET! SO GOOD TO SEE YA!”, Ares yelled back and they engulfed each other in a bone-crushing hug.

“IT'S BEEN SO LONG, MOTHERFUCKER! HOW ARE YOU DOING?”

“DOIN' GREAT, YOU BOSS ASS BITCH! AND YOU?”

“GREAT! THE OTHERS ARE TOO!”

“AWESOME!”

A dignified cough interrupted them.

“Can you two please stop yelling?”, Thoth asked. “It's headache-inducing. Apart from that, welcome, Ares. What brings you here?”

“I'm travelling the world!”, Ares beamed at the ibis-headed god. “Just started my journey and I wanted to see old friends, before I discover the rest. My presence won't be needed in the next centuries, so why not get away from it all and do something new?”

“That's fair”, Thoth agreed. “Sadly, none of us can leave Ta Meri⁴ right now; the earthly world is quite a mess.”

Ares frowned: “Yeah, back in Europa too.”

---

1) Polydakros: "Of Many Tears/Of Much Weeping", an epithet of Ares, referring to the woe and grief, which war brings. 2) Glaukópis: "Bright-Eyed/Owl-Eyed", an epithet of Athena, because of her bright eyes, which depending on the source are either grey or blue (in my version they're blue). 3) Ilion = Troy 4) Ta Meri: "Beloved Land", one of the ancient Egyptian terms for ... well, ancient Egypt, as the word Egypt is Greek in origin. The Egyptians also called their country Kemet, "Black (Land)", referring to the fertile soil along the river Nile, which was very dark because of the yearly inundations. The desert parts of Egypt were referred to as "Ta Desheret", which means "Red Land" and was the domain of the goddess Sekhmet and the god Set (and some other deities associated with the desert.

#Greek Mythology #ares #aphrodite #artemis #hermes #zeus #hera #enyo #eris #diomedes #egyptian mythology #sekhmet #thoth #world-weariness #tw: suicide mention

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flightfoot · 5 years

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Commodury Chapter 2

First Chapter

“George! Martha!” I cried in relief.

My caduceus had been stolen AGAIN. While I could have sent some demigods on a short quest to retrieve it like I did last time, it wouldn’t have been nearly as effective. As my symbol of power, I could vaguely sense its location, but it wasn’t exact by any means. Between that, the caduceus moving around, AND the fact that I didn’t know who stole it this time... well without a prophecy pointing the demigods to its location, I didn’t expect to get it back anytime soon without retrieving it myself.

Besides, being teased about losing my Caduceus was the LEAST of my worries. With Apollo’s punishment...

I sighed. Zeus had recently decided to turn Apollo mortal and toss him to Earth. Again. For the third time. Never let it be said that Father is CREATIVE with his punishments.

I wasn’t too worried at first - Apollo had been through this twice before, and he’d been alright both times. Heck, the second time he even picked up a boyfriend during the ordeal - but something was different this time. It had never taken this LONG to turn Apollo mortal before. And no one had been allowed to see Apollo during his ‘preparation’, not even Artemis. She’d talked to me about it recently. She hadn’t even been able to sense Apollo properly since Zeus started turning him mortal. With none of us knowing where Apollo was or how he was doing... well I’d been getting antsy. Artemis tried to hold it together, but I’d known her long enough to know it was a front. Those two were really close. As much as they ribbed and teased each other, they cared about each other a lot.

I shook myself. Worrying about Apollo would get me nowhere. Right now I had to focus on my own problems.

Namely, freeing my caduceus.

Martha finally roused herself from her stupor. Alarm bells went off in my head. She should NOT be this exhausted. What had the thief done to my snakes?!

“Hermes... run...”

What?

I turned around and prepared to book it. Contrary to popular belief, I DO sometimes listen to other people. And right now, Martha telling me to run in THAT tone of voice? Made her one of those people.

I got two feet away. Then some sort of leash seemed to activate. As much as I pulled and tugged, I couldn’t get free.

I tried to turn into pure essence and get away that way. I couldn’t do it. Not that I expected that to work. Anyone who was strong enough to trap a god in the first place would plan for that move.

Well if I couldn’t run AWAY, maybe I could...

I lunged at my caduceus. No luck. The leash tightened the rest of the way, leaving me unable to move.

I was trapped.

And no one knew where I was.

No one except my captor.

I looked around wildly. Evil god trappers typically LOVED to gloat.

I wasn’t surprised when a man stepped out of the shadows, smirking.

I WAS surprised at WHO the man was.

“Commodus?” I asked, confused.

Wasn’t he dead? Like a LONG time ago?

Yes, he’d definitely died. I remembered comforting Apollo after he’d come to me crying about needing to kill him.

Yet here he was, clearly not dead.

Did he come through the Doors of Death?

I narrowed my eyes. No...

I paled. Had he really...?

“So you’ve noticed,” he told me, flashing his teeth. “I wondered whether you other gods would realize.”

“Let me go or BE DESTROYED!” I bellowed, trying to keep the fear off my face. It was a bluff of course. I couldn’t move a muscle, I couldn’t manipulate my essence, the most I COULD do was talk. Or scream, in this case. But hey, I could try. Maybe having a god screaming in his face about the doom he’d brought down on himself would be enough to get him to reconsider.

I could dream, couldn’t I?

“Hm. You know what? I’ll take my chances.”

He strolled into the room.

“You know, I wanted to go full glitz and glam in this room. Lots of lights! Tigers jumping through flaming rings! A band heralding my triumph over one of the Olympian gods! But alas, Medea said that would ruin the trap. It’s worth it though, to see you like THIS.”

He moseyed over to me.

“You’re one of the people Apollo cares most about, aren’t you?”

I stayed silent. What was Commodus playing at?

Dread trickled down my back.

He approached, reaching up to touch my head.

I spit at him.

Rage filled his eyes.

Then they went cold.

I became completely paralyzed. I couldn’t even blink.

He drew back a fist.

“I”

He swung.

“Don’t”

I felt something break. Had he reduced my durability with the spell as well, or was he simply THIS powerful as a god?

“Think”

I wanted to cough up ichor. I NEEDED to cough up ichor. But I couldn’t. I couldn’t move even enough for that automatic reaction.

“You”

Commodus seemed to take my lack of response as an indication that he hadn’t hurt me enough.

“Understand”

He hit me again.

“The”

And again.

“Position”

And again.

“You’re

All the while my face remained rigid and impassive, unable to show the pain I was in.

“In.”

It would’ve been funny how futile the efforts to make me crack were, if I were able to laugh right then.

After a few more minutes of him wailing on me and my still not reacting, he stopped and stormed out. I would’ve breathed a sigh of relief if I could, you know, BREATHE.

Martha lifted her head. “I’m sorry, Hermes...” she rasped.

I would have reassured her - it was MY fault this happened, for losing the caduceus, for letting her and George fall into Commodus’s hands - but again, I couldn’t even open my mouth.

I wondered, was this how Ares felt all those long months in the jar?

No. He could yell and scream at least. I didn’t even have that.

But then again, he’d had to sit there, screaming, waiting for help that didn’t come for over a year.

Would I be left to languish that long?

No. No, I couldn’t go down that road. It would do no good.

And so I waited, trying desperately not to think.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I didn’t know how long it had been. There was no way to tell time in that small room. It felt like forever.

I could feel myself slowly weakening, strength leaving my limbs. Not that it mattered. They were as frozen as the rest of me.

Then SHE entered.

I tried to glare at her as best I could while totally frozen.

“Hmmph.”

She strutted over to me, cupping my chin in her hands.

“Oh, how the gods have fallen,” she tutted. “You know, it’s a pity Caligula is set on being the new sun god. I could have you dissolved and ready to feed to him in a matter of hours.

DISSOLVED?!

I’d considered that one day I may fade. It wasn’t something I LIKED to dwell on, but it had crossed my mind more than once. Scattering seemed more likely, with the wars recently. I’d tried to ignore it, but with as strong as Typhon had been, it was a real possibility.

But what she was describing sounded way, WAY worse than that.

“I suppose we’ll just have to make use of you in a different way,” she declared, sounding uninterested.

I wasn’t sure whether to feel relieved or not. On the one hand, I wasn’t going to be ‘dissolved’, whatever THAT meant. On the other hand, I had a feeling that whatever she had planned would be worse.

She played with my hair, running her hair through it, then cupping my chin in her hands, forcing me to look up at her. Unlike last time, I couldn’t spit at my harasser. I didn’t have the capability.

“Caligula may not want to be the messenger god, but we still need to control communications. Split up the demigods and strike when they least expect it, when they’re unable to call for aid. But in order to do that...”

She approached my Caduceus - approached George and Martha.

I wanted to scream, cry, ANYTHING to take her attention off of my companions. off of my closest friends.

She stroked George. He hissed weakly, but couldn’t do anything else.

She looked back at me. “I needed both you AND your Caduceus. Your Symbol of Power.”

She smiled. I wished I could punch her teeth out. “I don’t limit myself to only Greek or Roman magic. No. If you want to manipulate gods, there are few fields better to study than Egyptian mythology.”

At this point my mind started spewing expletives. The Egyptian Magicians had found ways to control, absorb, and banish their gods. If she had studied their magic and combined some of their knowledge with her own - well I couldn’t say that being dissolved seemed MERCIFUL in comparison exactly, but it seemed like it may be the least worst option compared to whatever she had planned.

“A Symbol of Power like this makes for a good stand-in. It’s even more powerful than a shabti would be in these circumstances. I COULD use it to destroy you completely... but we have better plans. You’re going to work for us. Though I suppose calling it ‘you’ might not be entirely accurate. With what I’m about to do with you... well a mortal’s mind would be destroyed forever, even if they could somehow be freed from the spell. Whether a GOD could withstand it... well. I’d say that it would be interesting to find out, but we’re not planning on ever letting you go free, so it’s a moot point.”

She started chanting, a golden light surrounding my Caduceus.

My mind broke.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Oh Commodury~ be a dear and kill these four. As painfully as possible.”

Master had called for me.

I flew in.

When Master called, I answered.

That was my reason for existence.

I looked down on the four Master had ordered to be killed. I had no opinions on them. Opinions were for masters, not slaves. Master had ordered for them to die, and so they would.

Yet I knew that he didn’t REALLY want me to go after them right that moment. I could feel the true intentions of Master’s words. It was part of how he made me such a great slave; since I knew what he wanted, there was no chance of my misinterpreting his wishes.

I was glad for it - as much as a slave could be glad. It made me better at serving Master. That was all that mattered.

One of the four seemed especially horrified at seeing me. He dropped his bow. Not that it made a difference. I could overpower him, weapon or no weapon.

“Mercury...?”

Wait, what?

Mercury... that was my name.

No. No, my name was Commodury. Master had named me himself. I couldn’t be this “Mercury”.

So why wouldn’t the thought leave my head?

Master laughed. I didn’t like it.

Didn’t like...? Slaves don’t have opinions. Slaves SHOULDN’T have opinions. They CERTAINLY didn’t have NEGATIVE opinions of anything about their masters.

So what did that make me?

“Oh no. Not anymore. He’s MINE now. He won’t respond to that name anymore. He is - and as far as he knows - as far as he’s aware of ANYTHING - he always was, and always will be, nothing but Commodury. Isn’t that right, dear?”

Master was right of course. Master was always right. I gave him the response I could feel he wanted. What was expected of me.

“That is correct, Master.”

The boy seemed to grow even more horrified at that. I didn’t like it. I didn’t want him to feel that.

I didn’t understand WHY though. He was no Master. I knew that. Master had ordered me to kill him.

But I... didn’t want to?

“How perfect,” my Master hissed. I was growing to hate his voice. “Do you know what it feels like to be killed by someone you loved? To be killed by someone you thought would never harm you. Do you know how it FEELS?!”

To be killed... by someone he loved?

I... was someone he loved?

But I was a slave. I was a tool. Nothing more. To be used at Master’s pleasure. For whatever he wished of me.

It made no sense for someone to love me.

It made no sense for me to CARE that someone loved me.

Master continued speaking. “Oh, and if he ever DOES manage to get free, he’ll have to live with the knowledge that he killed you himself. And YOU’LL... well I guess you won’t really be around anymore, now will you?”

I wasn’t paying much attention to him at that point, eyes locked on the boy. The one who dropped the bow. I could feel Master wanting me to follow through on the orders now, to kill the boy and his three companions as horrifically as possible. But I didn’t want to.

I didn’t move.

“Commodury. Kill them. NOW.”

I moved. I didn’t have a choice. Whatever Master ordered, I had to obey. Especially when said like THAT.

But I didn’t want to. I really, really didn’t want to.

I focused on the girl with the sword. Master hadn’t specified WHICH of them to kill first after all. And even his mental orders were fairly vague, though they pointed more towards killing the boy with the bow - or without the bow now, since he’d dropped it.

I struck at the girl. She parried every blow. Somewhere inside, I felt a hint of...satisfaction maybe? I wasn’t upset that she was stopping me from fulfilling my orders.

Then the music started.

I heard the boy sing of Hermes sneaking out, defying rules.

Sing of... myself breaking the rules?

Yes. I was a rule-breaker. A mischief maker.

What was I DOING?

I slowed my attacks. I didn’t want to attack this girl. I didn’t want to follow orders.

“YOU USELESS IDIOT! YOU INCOMPETENT EXCUSE FOR A GOD! KILL THEM!” Master bellowed.

Master?

I was Hermes. I was Mercury.

I had no master.

The boy sang of my cattle theft, of the trick I pulled to keep anyone from discovering where I’d hidden my ill-gotten gains. He sang of my creation of the lyre, and how I’d exchanged it for his Caduceus and eternal friendship.

Lyre... Caduceus...

Apollo?

I froze. Commodus continued screaming. I ignored him as best I could, my head pounding.

Apollo. The boy was Apollo.

My friend. My BROTHER.

He’d come.

He was weak, mortal, no divine power left as far as I could tell, but he’d COME.

“Apollo...?” I whispered. “You’re here...”

“Mercury! Hermes!” he shouted.

Hearing my names - my TRUE names - lessened the pounding in my head a little.

But Commodus caught onto the problem.

“YOU. ARE. MINE.” he snarled.

I doubled over.

You are Commodury. You are a slave. You belong to me. You have no will except to please me.

I... what was I doing? Why wasn’t I obeying Master? Master must ALWAYS be obeyed.

NO!

“Leave...” I forced out. “Leave... please. I... can’t.... hold him off... much longer....”

I couldn’t hold off Commodus much longer, couldn’t maintain my identity for long.

But maybe I could hold him off long enough to save my brother.

I HAD to.

“GO!” I screamed.

I hoped he heeded my warning.

You are Commodury You are a slave obey Master please Master KILL THESE KIDS-

I’m sorry Apollo. I can’t hold him back any longer.

I’m sorry.

I’m....

...

I’m Commodury. I am a slave. I obey Master’s orders.

He wants me to pursue and kill these intruders.

And so I must obey.

But there are too many of them. I can’t find the real ones.

The fakes vanish after a few minutes.

I failed my Master.

I flew back to him. He already knows.

Anger flashes in his eyes.

“You have been a very naughty boy, Commodury,” he whispers.

I didn’t know what he was talking about.

I didn’t matter.

Master was displeased with me.

His pleasure was everything to me.

“You disobeyed me.”

I did?

Master said it, so it must be true.

“I think you need another lesson on WHO IS IN CHARGE!”

He tackled me to the ground, punching me repeatedly.

I did nothing to stop him.

Slaves don’t fight back.

Whatever Master does is right and just.

He stabbed my legs repeatedly, golden ichor coating his blade.

I gasped in pain.

You deserve this.

Master kept stabbing, going up my torso. More and more ichor poured out, until it almost looked like a waterfall.

You deserve this.

He stopped stabbing once he got to my neck.

“Commodury! Get up!” he yelled.

Slowly, I got to my feet, my legs and torso screaming. The pain was unbearable.

I bore it anyway.

You deserve this.

He had me walk over to a pool.

“Lay down in it,” he ordered.

I did so.

He sat down on the edge of the shallow pool and forced my head under, squeezing my neck until it felt like it was about to pop off.

All the while I watched my Master mouth, You deserve this. You deserve this.

And I did.

I was Commodury.

I deserved anything Master did to me.

...Didn’t I?

#Commodury #trials of apollo #hermes #commodus #apollo #fanfiction

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crimsonxrogue · 5 years

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( Zoe Kravitz, 29, cisfemale, she/her ) Have you seen VIVIAN SINCLAIR around ? I hear they’re an ANTIQUES DEALER who can sometimes be MERCURIAL & DECEITFUL. But I also heard they can be COURAGEOUS & CLEVER if you catch them on a good day. They’re usually hanging around HISTORIA & EDEN in their spare time. I sure hope they’re alright !

Hey hey people! I’m bringing you this very smol wildcard girl who deals in art and antiques (owner of Historia) and works at Eden as a dancer/singer and also is never up to any good. But she’s pretty nice otherwise, I promise - feel free to drop a like and I’ll pop into your DMs or you just pop straight into mine!

BASIC STATS

➤ NAME: Vivian Anais Sinclair ➤ AGE: 29 ➤ DOB: November 2nd ➤ BORN: Paris, France ➤ HEIGHT: 5′2′’ ➤ SIBLINGS: sister ➤ MBTI: ENTP-A ➤ ORIENTATION: bisexual ➤ OCCUPATION: owner of Historia, art and antiques dealer/thief and con-artist, singer/dancer at Eden ➤ EDUCATION: BA in Art History and English Lit ➤ TATTOOS: a sword and a flower entwined near her hipbone, small tattoos of DOBs of her mother and Astor, a faded tattoo of the gang that had taken her, covered with scars and bracelets ➤ SCARS: amorphous scars that cover the tattoo given to her by the gang, a few marks from a cattle prod that was used on her when she was young (on her back and stomach), an old, silvery gunshot wound on her left shoulder ➤ AESTHETICS: expensive dresses and black lace, agent provocateur and dior, the scent of chanel lingering in the air when she passes by, black leather gloves and deft fingers, small diamonds glinting on her neck, a fiery red ferrari, the glow of marble statues in distant lamplight, scent of old books and reflections in ornate, old mirrors, soft pearls and eyes hidden behind sunglasses, black nat shermans and nails painted red, knuckles wrapped in cloth the sound of them hitting a punching bag, a small figure riding wildly on the back of a towering horse, something quaint and scholarly about Historia, and her house, and her, hands messy with paint and whatever material she’s working with, skintight black clothes, a dark figure slinking through the expensive houses looking for her prize, something elegantly haphazard about her movement just like there’s something haphazard about her, careful eyes and red lips stretched into a delighted smile, laughter and eyes looking up beneath her lashes, hands pulling you after her, something careless and lively when she dances for herself, something dark and enticing when she dances for others, a soft french accent when she lets it through and when she’s tired, poems and books quoted ➤ VICES: tobacco, alcohol, sex, pretending to be someone else for fun ➤ PETS: yes, a borzoi named Achilles - Vivi had rescued him after Achilles’ career in racing had ended and they discarded him, and a dobermann named Artemis that looks way meaner than she actually is (spoiler, she’s an even bigger puppy than Achilles) whom she’d gotten from Nate, also there’s a throughbred named Ares who was a gift from her parents, but obviously he doesn’t live at her house but rather she visits him almost every day to take care of him where he’s stationed a bit outside of the city (in order to be able to roam free)

QUICK RUNDOWN

Listen, this shit got long so here’s a quick rundown of Vivi so you don’t have to waste time unless you want to hahaha

Born in Paris, France to affluent parents - her mother was a politician and her father a real estate magnate.

She was raised to be the picture-perfect daughter, mild and timid and set to follow in her parents’ footsteps. Let’s just say she was not thrilled with that.

She was kidnapped at the age of 7 and held for ransom, it messed her up and she still has nightmares from that shit. 3 weeks later her parents got her back, but then put her under a bell jar and threw away the key.

She rebelled, ran away from home, hid away at the Louvre, generally did not obey especially when they forced her hand.

They moved away to the US when she was 14 and she coped with it by creating her own game of play pretend - she figured out she had a penchant for pretending to be someone else, changing both her mien and looks, and it was her way of taking control over herself.

At 18 she met Astor, a con-artist, at a banquet her parents attended and figured out what he was when they’d both tried to play each other by pretending to be something they weren’t. He wanted something from her parents’ house and she just gave it to him bc girl was SMITTEN.

She ran off with him and the two bounced around the world for about two years, growing into their infamy as someone who could get their hands on anything you possibly wanted.

They were on a mission in New York when shit went down, Astor disappeared (she still doesn’t know if he betrayed her or he got killed and it’s TORTURING her) and Vivi was kidnapped by a gang, branded as their property and had to live through hell on earth for almost a year.

There was a raid and she escaped during that raid (she guesses it was someone from Chicago who was involved, and is still looking into who tf it was bc she owes them her life), took Astors Ferrari and got back to her parents.

Studied Art History and English Lit while living with them, and then a few years later (after dealing with her trauma) she eventually moved to Chicago to open Historia.

She nurtured her reputation as someone who could get shit for you that wasn’t even on the black market, as well as her connections to both the O’Sheas and the Fausts while remaining starchy neutral.

Started working at Eden a year in, as a dancer/singer - it was a way for her to take control of her body back and deal with her trauma from New York.

HISTORY

Born in Paris, France to parents who were affluent in their respective fields - her mother, working in politics, and her father, a real-estate magnate. She was coddled from early on, raised to be this picture-perfect daughter, with her destiny set in stone. Even though she was born the younger daughter, it didn’t mean anything less was expected from her.

She showed an affinity for art and literature and music early on - and her parents let her focus on it, for now anyway. But she’d always been a wild child, interested in anything and everything, from running through museums to ballet to horseback riding.

When she was 7, she was kidnapped and held for ransom by a group that didn’t like her mother’s ideas, but liked her father’s money. Her parents would get her back after almost 3 weeks of a tug of war that was heavily publicized, but not without permanent scars that would mark Vivian for life, both mentally and physically.

From then on her home life took a grim turn - her parents, terrified after what had happened to her little girl, decided to put her under a bell jar and keep her inside. Though terrified herself, Vivi was a social, lively kid that whithered away once cut off from the rest of the world, home-schooled and monitored at all times.

She would perform rebellions of her own, little at first - unsatisfied with being locked up and told what she was supposed to do with her life. She would not be shoved into politics, or forced to take on her father’s business, or even worse - marry a wealthy, affluent man who would then take on her father’s business. She would be wild, and no one could take that away from her.

These rebellions escalated with age - from running out and hiding in the gardens, to running out and hiding in the Louvre. The one rebellion she couldn’t perform at 14 was staying in Paris when her parents packed up and decided to move to the US, taking away what little agency she still had in a city that held so many familiar hiding spots.

There she learned she had a penchant for pretence - she could morph herself into whatever she wanted to be. All she had to do was tweak her make up, what she wore, the way her eyes would burn with indignance or be downcast in delightful bashfulness, the lines of her smile, lips painted a seductive red or charming pink. It was an art form in itself, this game of make-believe.

By the time she was 18, it had become almost second-nature to her - she was all of it, both the lonely girl trapped beneath the bell jar and the characters she would come up with. It would not be until she met Astor that she’d realise she was not alone in this game - he too knew how to play this game, and played it well. But neither of them played well enough to not call each other out by the time the banquet was over.

And while she did it for the freedom of being someone else, he did it because it was a way to attain connections, find his way into houses that held something he wanted, a precious jewel, an antique, information. Vivi would become enthralled by him - and how could she not? He was a wildcard, a creature of freedom, everything she ever wanted.

It was not long before she was running away with him, leaving behind in her room only a promise that this time she was disappearing of her own volition. It would not be easy at first, with her parents organizing a manhunt - for her daughter, and the man who had ‘taken her away’ from them. But Astor had a way with avoiding notice, even if he was the type of person to attract all eyes towards him, and the two would bounce around the world, drunk on their exhilaration, young and in love and at the top of the world.

Vivi, raised with this romantic ideal of love and destiny, thought it would never end. They would always be this, infamous for their ability to attain what no one else could, legends in making, young and beautiful and brilliant. But it did. It was a mission gone wrong, out there in New York - and the two of them would get separated, Vivi left behind to be dragged away once again, and Astor to never be seen again.

Her abilities were only useful when she was free, but now - kidnapped and abused into submission, she was once again stripped of her agency, her beloved freedom snatched away, her spirits shattered into a million tiny pieces. She was marked, her wrist tattooed, made into nothing but property. And she’d almost believed them, she’d almost let them take her soul away.

There was a raid eventually, and in the midst of the commotion, she did what she did best - slipped away, unnoticed. She’d steal Astor’s car from their garage (they’d taken that too), a fiery-red 250 GT California that made her soul ache, and fled. Through diplomatic channels, she’d manage to reach her parents, and return home after being gone for almost three years.

Back home she refused to be put under control once again - the bargain was struck, her return for her freedom. But freedom, after everything that had happened to her, was a dainty, broken thing. She was terrified of her own shadow, her soul bruised, wondering what had happened with Astor - unsure whether to mourn his betrayal or his death. She would live with her parents for the next few years, learning to be whole again, studying Art History and Literature, immersing herself in that experience.

She’d find eventually that not all of her was taken away in those months she’d spent trapped in New York - and eventually, she would move to Chicago, to open Historia, her antiques shop, to find out who was behind that raid in New York that had let her escape, to find herself again.

She’s been in Chicago for a few years now - building up a name for herself, as someone who’s able to attain anything your heart might desire, building up connections with both the O’Sheas and the Fausts. Illicit antiques or antique weapons - you name it and she will find it, even if it’s not readily available on the black market.

It was almost a year into her stay that she’d joined the Eden crew as a dancer and a singer both. That was a rash decision, made because something broken still ached in her chest - a way to take control of her body back. She would be seen and admired under her own conditions, and no one could take that away from her ever again. A strange way to deal with her trauma, some would say, but she’d always liked doing things the way she felt was right.

HEADCANONS

Drives a fiery red Ferrari 250 GT California Spyder that was originally Astor’s. She loves that car like it’s a piece of her soul and in a way - it is. It was stolen from them when their operation was busted in NYC but she literally risked her life during he raid just to get it back. She knows it’s a wild cliché, but she would protect that piece of metal with her life. Sure, it’s a pretty thing, and she likes the way she feels behind the wheel – but there is a certain amount of sentimentality involved. When she’s not in that car she’s got a motorcycle to get around and loves dressing up for it.

Even though Historia looks innocent enough at first glance, and it mostly is (you can just walk in and buy stuff from the shelves), if you’re aware of Vivi’s capabilities you can ask her to get anything for the right price. She works to get stuff that’s not even on the black market for both the O’Sheas and the Fausts (artefacts or antique guns, depending on the request). She will straight up walk into someone’s house and steal that shit if necessary hahaha

Despite her reputation as being very reliable and getting the original stuff for her usual customers, she will sometimes con rich assholes she doesn’t’ like into buying something that’s actually a forgery. She has a talent for making those and does an impeccable job at making them look legit - from forging them to look worn and aged to making the documents look legit. But if she likes you or if you’re a familiar customer she’ll straight up tell you don’t buy this, it’s fake af. Like she won’t do this unless she has a secret bone to pick with someone.

She will rather stand on precarious stacks of various items or chairs, than admit she can’t reach something – which happens often, given her height, and has been the culprit behind a few bruised elbows.

Absolutely loves horseback riding, and has since she was a child and took her first lessons. She actually owns an Arabian thoroughbred named Ares whom she’d gotten from her parents as a gift, and has brought him along with her to Chicago. Whenever she is feeling stressed or lonely it’s where she can be found, either just tending to Ares, or taking him for a ride.

She has in the past, and still does - give out a fake name and a persona when she’s feeling like doing it. She’ll tweak her accent and her personality and dress appropriately and just play along - it’s not done out of malice, just an old habit she’s had since she was a teenager. If she likes you she’ll probably admit to it eventually and say who she really is.

Does have a faint French accent that slips through when she’s irritated, tired or distressed - or when she feels like being extra. Words like mon cher and merde are used often enough though.

Dances and sings at Eden as a way of taking control of her body again - it’s a way of coping with trauma, even if most people don’t know it is.

When she was kidnapped and imprisoned by a gang in New York, they tattooed her wrist to mark her as their property. She doesn’t like to speak of everything she’d endured there, from being forced to work in one of their clubs to being abused, and the scars she’d made over the tattoo are usually hidden beneath bracelets or long sleeves or gloves.

She’s still a lively persona that refuses to be chained down by her trauma - she’s that person that’ll grab your hand and drag you on stage with her to sing karaoke, or refuse to leave when you’re dealing with something tough. She just loves people, and is willing to give herself away for them - it’s why she suffered so much and rebelled when her parents tried to lock her away to keep her from harm.

Loves painting/photographing people and animals, nature is fine - but she prefers to paint the living things, mid-movement and gilded with life.

You can count on her to randomly quote shit, from poetry to literature. Her love for it has always been about escapism, but even now she can’t let go of it - she’s always caught up in some story unfurling in her mind.

Her favourite things in Historia are old books and first editions - she’s hesitant to sell them sometimes, especially when she’s doubtful they’ll end up in good hands.

Can’t fight properly - I mean she’s better than the average person, but there’s no way she could hold her own against someone who actually knows how to fight. Which is probably why she’s always on the lookout for someone who could train her, both to fight and to handle a gun. There’s a certain desperate need in her to learn how to protect herself - she doesn’t like feeling powerless.

Has killed someone when trying to escape from New York - she still hasn’t entirely gotten over it. It’s a struggle because she liked doing it - taking control back and avenging what they’d done to her.

Will hide her scars the best she can - she doesn’t think they take anything away from her beauty but she also doesn’t like to be reminded of what was done to her, and tries to avoid curious glances and questions.

Loves playing the piano, and has one right in the middle of her living room - it’s all a very pretentious affair at first glance, but she actually does it because it’s familiar and soothing.

PERSONALITY

+ courageous, loyal, charming, caring, clever - stubborn, mercurial, guarded, deceitful, rebellious

WANTED CONNECTIONS

The Sister - I’ve intentionally left her sister kinda unspecified because I want to leave room for the player to shape her and her story the way they want! But I would love to see this connection happen and I think Vivi absolutely adores her older sister, and while she hasn’t had problems rebelling against their parents, I think she’s always feared disappointing her sis. ksdfmlsdk I just need this in my life ngl

Astor - The name isn’t set in stone btw, I can just change his name in the intro so you’re free to do with him what you like! (like the name, age, where he’s from, why he is who he is etc.) But basically, I would love to see this connection happen because the idea was that he didn’t die (even though Vivi isn’t sure if he’s alive or dead) and instead managed to get away. Why he did it can definitely be discussed and the connection has a looot of potential for being angsty. They haven’t seen each other in years but Vivi was once absolutely smitten with him - I think it would be interesting to see what their dynamic would be after all those years have passed and the trauma they both suffered. She will not give him back their Ferrari though. Might agree to shared custody and that’s only if he can bribe her hahah Anyway this doesn’t have to be a romantic connection - I mean that entirely depends on how they deal with what happened and if Vivi can even forgive the betrayal, but it can still be angsty either way.

The one that set her free - Okay so there was a raid in New York, and someone didn’t bat an eyelid while she escaped, or actually helped her escape when they figured she was held against her will (we can tweak this, again it’s not set in stone) She’s figured out they are somewhere in Chicago, but it can be anyone really - from gang members to unaffiliated charries to police. She just wants to figure out who it is and thank them for saving her life tbh This can be legit anything - the charrie could recognize her but not say anything and she’d have to figure it out on her own, or she could actively seek them out, or they could tell her, anything works!

Fake persona/name victims - Honestly this bitch be out there pretending to be a British art curator or a French duchess or a member of a rock band or some shit like that. It’s open to more than one charrie and she’s been all around the world so this could work for anyone, any age or location. There could have been an affair, but tbh it could have also been a business deal or a friendship or anything really. I would love to have these connections and have her have to explain who tf she really is.

Someone who recognises her from New York - pretty self-explanatory. I would love to explore that part of her history and tbh this could force her to explain what had happened to her. She could’ve admitted to them that she needed help but they couldn’t do anything to help her, or she could’ve just played her part there (not to get punished) and they could think that was the real her, she could’ve probably danced for them or smth and maybe resents them for it? Honestly, this could be as positive or as negative as we want it to be (whatever fits your bby i’m down for it)

Historia customers - Tbh your bby could be just a casual visitor or someone who’s privy to her connection with the black market. She could’ve gotten something from them that they couldn’t get otherwise. This can be anyone since she’s on neutral territory but it can also be a member of O’Sheas or Fausts bc she does work with them and tbh prefers them to the Vasiles - she’d like her market to stay free and open and not for someone to have a monopoly over it.

Historia employees - She def needs help with Historia, so your charrie could be working there! Esp if they’re a fan of art and old things and old books - we can figure out the position! They could be aware of her more... illicit dealings or they could be completely clueless and there could be some drama when they find out! Also, they can nerd out over this stuff together...

Partner in crime - This could be set at any point in time - perhaps they worked together on a mission to get something, they might be an art trader or a con-artist themselves, or she asked (maybe even paid) for their help when there was a particularly tough mission and she needed backup and protection. skdfjosodl I would love this so much, like we can even do a present thread for it - she’s still in the business after all.

Someone she duped/stolen from - again, pretty self-explanatory, but this could be anyone that might have had something she wanted - I’d love to see her get called out on it. It could but doesn’t have to be a dark and resentful connection, it can always be amiable and she can be like ok I’m sorry I was just doing my job - do you want me to get smth for you pro bono?? Or they could call out her thieving ass in a darker way hahaha

Friends - past and present both! Someone she knows from her travels, someone she’s been friends since she was kid, and especially someone she’s friends with now. She’s amiable and loves people so it’s not that far fetched and it could work for anyone, she’s not picky or judgy haha

Her squad - please?? We stan that stuff in this household. Doesn’t matter who they are and what their gender is, but Vivi would straight up die for these people, and she really likes being alive so that says something. They could even be neighbours or something! Ooh they could also work at Eden, I’d love to see that! She’s very protective of them probs.

Eden customers - people who know her from Eden (they can know her from Historia too), they might be friendly with her, or she might have even danced/flirted with them or slept with them. She’s not above it if she particularly likes someone and would do it anyway, even though she’s not an escort.

ALL OF IT - exes, friends from the past, enemies, people she flirts with or has had a one night stand with (still does maybe?), frenemies esp, someone who works in the same field as her and she doesn’t like them getting in the way, or people who work a legit job in the industry (antiques, art, etc.) and she asks for their opinions and loves discussing things with them...... Take your pick! Or if you have some other idea, don’t be shy and reach out to me, we can work it out!

#crimson.intro #muse;; vivi

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anatemori-dughter-of-art · 5 years

Text

The Prophecies and The Quest

Last Chapter: “Where are you going?” asked Jason “I need a minute” is all he said as the door closed behind him.

The Prophecies and The Quest

As I sat on the beach watching the lack under the for once, clear midnight sky and remember back when this all started. Back on Mount Olympus, just after the gaea and giant war when all the greeks and the roman army filled the room filled with the Olympic gods.

********

Camp half-blood and Jupiter were still at odds with each other, even in the presence of the god they still didn’t trust the other, thunder and lightning shocked the air and in came Zuse, the King of Drama.

With the rest of the gods “everyone, we have summoned you all here to...to give are appreciations in your assistants in the war,” assistants? but we did all woke I thought raising my eyebrow, for a long time Zeus talked bullshit about how he and the gods did something, I have no idea what.

I mostly tuned him out only lightning when Annabeth elbowed me, it was all going relatively well till there was a sharp gasp, looking around to see Rachel, her eyes where a smoky green with dirty green smoke coming out of her mouth, which could only mean one thing: no, no no, Hades no, can't it be someone else.

I thought as Annabeth and I pushed ourselves to get to her, along with the camp counselors and the seven-plus Nico and Reyna as well as Chiron who ordered the campers to get back, we all made room for her, not wanting to crowd her, just as the people who were assigned to her came to through in the nick of time as Rachel was about to speak.

Twins of the eldest gods

Shall reach sixteen against all odds

Shall battle the Lost son

In the land where creation won

In a world painted black

And the gods held back

As all three worlds unit to

Triumph evil's might

A choice will be made

To save the gods or they Shall fade

As Rachel finished her last word she fainted, “well...that was...something” Dad said nervously, “what was that” a roman camper said “the gods will fade,” said another as more and more Romans and Greeks alike started freaking out.

“SILENCE!” Zuse shouted as the entire hall quieted down, “as you all heard, it seems a new great prophecy has arrived” he said “The Twin Prophecy, father” Apollo said who looked seriously and in pain“did you see anything Apollo” Artemis asked him who was shaking their head in pain, “it was so fast and bright even for me” he said holding his head in pain.

“Dad!” both the roman and greek kid of Apollo said softly “did you at least get a glimpse of something?” Asked Hera, she was just as pale as Zuse “well for starters this is well into the future, I saw brown hair...lightning...and blue eyes... Along with floating water...and, the dead were rising” well that was “WHAT?!” nearly all the gods shouted.

“LIGHTNING?! ZUSE DID YOU HAVE ANOTHER CHILD” Hera shouted “HE ALSO SAID WATER, POSEIDON DID YOU” started Zeus but Dad in his chill tone said “calm down brother, I swear to you Percy is the only son I have” Hera raised an eyebrow in disbelief “are you sure about that brother” she challenged back “yes sister, Percy is the only son I know of” he replied coolly.

“did you all forget that Apollo also said the dead were rising so HADES DID YOU CHEAT ON MY DAUGHTER AGAIN!!! I know you were a-” Demeter ranted on and on as Hades looked two seconds away from shadow traveling out of here, “EVERYONE” Athena shouted, gathering their attention“did you all forget, this prophecy dictated the birth of twins that will someday be the choosers of our fate, instead of guessing who sired them we must first find or look out for theses two” she explained in a commanding tone.

“brown hair, blue eyes and they may be able to control the powers of Zeus, Poseidon and Hades” Hermes listed, “dang these kids sound like legacies” he continued “dangerous, is what they sound like” mumbled Zuse yet we all heard him “now brother, quiet your paranoia this is serious business” Dad added “yes, indeed we need not worry about these Twins but also this Lost Son” Hades joined in.

“foreknow I believe we must wait" Hera said surprising everyone "what do you mean Hera" Zuse asked "I mean husband, is that instead of like the last great prophecy all we did was trust three brothers not to have children but only one followed through and don't forget all the death that was caused because of the fear we have of that child it talked about" she pointed out.

"instead of fearing this prophecy let us wait and see what it brings us, and maybe Hermes is right they could be legacies or even they have been given blessings declared them there champions by Zuse, Poseidon and Hades did none of you think of that" Heras words got us all thinking and agreeing with her, but don’t tell her I said that "you're right Hera" Athena said looking surprised.

"then what should we do? just sit around and wait" asked Artemis "yes, it seems so but the oath still stands" Zeus declared “but you broke it first” mumbled Hare "but brother you broke the oath first, twice even maybe we should keep a close eye for if any more of your children pop up" Dad said in a teasing manner.

"I could do a scan" Hephaestus said nonchalantly which got all of are attached "what do you mean a scan, brother," Ares asked Hephaestus who looked up from the gimmick he was working on "well you see after the discovering of Perceuse, I decided to build a machine that can scan the entire western hemisphere of a demigod with are godly makeup" he explained as he pulled out a box made of celestial bronze "and when did you make this contraption Hephaestus " asked Athena.

“I got the idea around the time Perceuse went missing and just about last week was when it finally started working,” he explained as the bronze box floated towards Zuse “just add a drop of your ichor and press down on the red button” Hephaestus. explained as Zuse dropped a bit of ichor into the bronze box it then began to emit a golden glow till a hologram of the western hemisphere of north, central along with South America was on full view and in North America, the United States in the south coast of Arizona is a blue dot, well dam, “ZEUS?!” Hara shouted in anger well Hades grubbled in ancient greek and Dad laughed so hard he almost fell out of his throne“we have another sibling” Jason said astound “oh great” Thalia said sarcastically but not surprised, as we all stood or sat looking at Hera yelling at Zeus for cheating on her, again.

“everyone” said a soft calm voice it was Hestia “why don't we bring them here, by the looks of it they're already fourteen we'll be going against the oath we made too Perseus” she said looking at the hologram which had zoomed into the blue dot and had words on it “yes, and Hera you can't harm them” Zuse said as he snapped his fingers and poof in a cloud of smoke stood two-finger.

the first a tall guy he has pale skin and dark hair styled in an undercut next to him was a kid around eleven or twelve with messy black hair that could give Nico a run for his money, with pale skin as well their backs were facing us so I couldn't see their faces, “w-what, where are we?” the taller male said as he looked around “welcome to mount Olympus, son” Zeus with all his drama said “mount Olympus like the stories” he said in disbelief “yes child, all you have read and heard about us greek god is real and you are my son,” he said.

“um...I’m Takashi Shirogane, please call me Shiro, I’m 14 I attended the galaxy garrison in Arizona and this is my little brother Keith, and it’s nice to meet you, Zuse...Dad...sir but why am I here?” my gods' poor guys freaking the heck out just then a red bore popped up on the kid Keith’s head “I had a feeling you were one of mine,” Ares said.

“and who the f***ck are you” said the kid and whoa the look on Ares face makes me wish I had a camera “Keith, please don't anger the gods” Shiro said sounding as if he's used to it “well you little Sh**t I’m ya Dad, Ares god of war” Ares said back, Keith who looked at him up and down “the guy that got trapped in a jar by two ideats?” oh my gods I really wish I had a camera on me right now, everyone laughed and I mean everyone, the greeks to the gods hack even the Romans who respect the war god more than Zeus.

Ares, on the other hand, looked two seconds away from blowing up“Shiro” called Zeus “yes” he said, “Do you have a twin?” wow smooth “Zeus my invention already looked for all your children there can't be another” Hephaestus. said “yes” Shiro said which surprised all of us “his name was Kron Shirogane he died when we were two” oche “my apologies for breaking up bad thoughts son” he said showing some sympathy he then snapped his fingers Shiro then had a blue lightning bolt floating above his head and a black glove on his left hand.

“what's this sir” he asked still looking nervous “this son is symbol of me claiming you as my own as well as giving you a means of protection the glove will transform into a sword when needed, you can ask your older brother and sister for help” that’s what didn't shock Shiro, he just grabbed Keith who by the way was having a glaring match with Aries and walked closer to us “um...hi everyone I’m Shiro and this is Keith” he said looking a bit more relaxed than before.

“hi I’m Leo, this is your blond superman of a brother Jason and scary huntress sister Thalia” Leo enthusiastically as he pointed at the two “hi nice to meet you” Shiro said outstretching his hand, Jason shock it “great meeting you at least know I’m not the only one in the Zuse cabin” he said “cabin?” he asked “will explain later,” I tell him just as Demeter staches the bronze box and throws it onto Hades who rolls his eyes and drops his own ichor into the device nothing popped up but two black dots in new york Hazel and Nico.

“see you ranting women I have done nothing” just as he tossed the box to Dad who without complaint did the same as the other and just like Hades nothing happens except for one, me.

“then it has been proven that the Twin Prophecy won't be happening for a long time, till then we shall head Hares word and instead of postponing the issue we shall all be ready” he announced “unm...Father sir can you please send us home I don't want to explain to parents how we ended up in Olympus” Shiro said.

“don't worry young one we will send a message to your parents of your whereabouts” Chiron explained, “ok now that we have gotten all this prophecy stuff out of the way, why don't we PARTY!?” Apollo shouted back to his usual bright self, as a big celebration was held as I looked around of how the Greeks and Romans were actually starting to get along and how Jason and Thaila were talking with Shiro looking around to see everyone having fun being carefree.

Twins of the eldest gods

Shall reach sixteen against all odds

Why does it sound, so close to mine, are they gonna be kids just like how I started only time can tell really I just hope I’m alive when they arrive.

******

“Don’t you think you have been out for too long son” I turned see Dad sitting next to me “how did you not know” I asked “they had a spell or seal powerful one on them, that's why Hephaestus machine couldn't find them they were just well hidden” he explains blankly.

“their mother I met her a few years after you were born at the time was traveling in Cuba that's when I meet her, Rosalena she was a great friend, but we were never meant to be nothing more than that” he chuckles softly, “If I had to take a guess it must've been around the fall of that year-” oh no “Dad, please don't tell me how my half-siblings were created I’m scared enough” he laughs half-heartedly.

“anyway, right now the god are baffled by this news and are just waiting,” he said as we got off the beach “it about time you head onto bed son doesn't want to keep you knew siblings waiting in the morning for ya” Dad teased as he walked into the water and disappeared. While heading to bed, my mind was filled with thoughts of what happens now? Do they go on the quest Rachel said before? And how in the span of thirteen months I become an older brother what is my life.

*******

I wake up to yelling, a lot of yelling as I run out the cabin to see a bunch of non-flaming skeleton hellhounds chasing what looks to be Keith and some other Ares kids. Well, Shiro is arguing with Nico, behind him Lance was standing guarding someone against behind with a look promising murder well the ground we starting to freeze around him.

“Percy!” I heard Annabeth call out turning and Thaila and Jason along with Leo and Piper “what happened we heard yelling and screaming,” she said, “are those hellhounds?” Leo asked looking at the hounds that were chasing the Ares kids “yes, yes they are why are they attacking the Ares kids?” Thaila asked “guys, I don’t know I literally just woke up, let's go ask Nico why he's arguing with Shiro and why Lance looks two seconds away from turning the camp into Antarctica,” I tell them as we race towards the arguing between Nico and Shiro.

“Guys, guys what happened,” Jason asked as he got between them “I’m trying to get Lance to stop tormenting my brother” Shiro explained “they.stabbed.Lana” Lance who was barely containing his anger, said through clenched teeth “we can go get Chiron for this, not sick hellhound on them” Shiro said glancing worryingly at his brother and Ares kid who were being chased around, those who were caught were thrown so far they landed in the lack some were even thrown all the way to the lava wall seeing this Leo whistled.

“Lance, stop, it's just a scratch” Lana said from behind him “but that's still not aloud how can they just stab a person and get away with it” he said back turning to her “then why is Keith among them, when he was doing nothing” Shiro said back “oh, no no no he was trying to defend those a**holes-” ''Languages!” we all yelled “he just busted in and started to say crap about how we shouldn't be on our high horses just because of parentage.”

a few more splashes where hard and once again Shiro, Nico and Lance started arguing and yelling well Jason, the poor guy tried to defuse it will everyone else tried to catch the hellhounds or the campers, maybe both “EVERYONE STOP!!” we heard Clarissa yelled as she and Chiron stood next to “Mr.D...you's back” I said “yes, Peter, I have returned to this miserable heap of temper tantrums and hormones” he said with his usual disinterested tone well summoning a Diet Coke.

“who’s this?” Lana, who was healed thanks to a nearby Apollo kid asked well taking a few steps back “this is are camp counselor we call him Mr.D but he’s the god of wine” their eye whined of the fact that there was a god in front of them “Dionysus” they said together “so you're the mysterious brats that I've been given every one

Upstairs heart attacks” he said with a laugh “wait, gods get heart attacks?” Lance who finally calmed down and didn't look ready to kill whispered to himself but came out about loud for me and maybe Nico to hear.

“anyway, we are having a meeting in the council room,” he said as he walked away towards the big house “and bring peter's new siblings as well as Jace’s little brother too” he said as he got to the door “that was Dionysus” Lana said “yes, what did you expect” Leo said as all the cabin counselors headed towards the big house and Lances hellhounds returned to earth as we all walked into the big house and stayed around and around the pinball table.

“so, what's the meeting for Mr.D” Piper asked “it's about the prophecy” he started looking more tired than usual “you don’t mean” I said not likening where this is going “yes peter, they have to go,” he said in a dry tone “what's going on, and what prophecy?” Lana asked, “remember what Rachel said last night.”

Nico asked them they both looked in deep thought, “it sounded like a poem starting with sea and death shell bare twins. That will rise above creations sins,” Lana said “yeah, it was really catchy I remember “shell travel south with the youngest son of skies and find where the eldest goddess lies, Sea and death shall find the key” Lance continued “but loses sight of what they truly see. for a choice, they shell mack, for love or heartbreak and may they find themselves in a bind For a friend will end their time” Rachel and “sounds ominous” Lana said “sounds sad” Lance added “it’s your quest” Mr.D said.

which surprised all of us, not it being the twins quest but him actually caring and being involved at the meeting “sorry, say that again I think I heard you wrong” Lance in shock asked “I, Lorenzo McClain am never wrong this quest is for you three children” he said looking at the twins then at Shiro! “Whoa, whoa Mr.D I think you got this all wrong Shiro can't go he's still new at this Demigod stuff,” Jason said coming to his Brothers defense who looked a bit sick.

“I don't see what is there to be wrong about Jackson, you were nearly fifteen when you saved Hera from the giants and peter was twelve when he returned Zeus's master bolt, what difference is there if they go on a quest at this age themselves” Mr. D ranted on again it's not normal, did Zeus finally let him drink “there are our siblings Mr.D, and Unlike us there are people worried about them” Thaila said “along with people capable of taking their place” Jason added just as loud thunder cracked across the sky “Jason you know one cannot avoid a prophecy, this is their time you must know this” Chiron said.

“hold up, so you're saying that me, Lance and him have to go on a quest to find a goddesses like in the greek stories” Lana said “yes” is all Mr.D said before the twins made a run for it, they were out the door before anyone could stop them “great, you scared them, now how are we going to find them” Thaila said “Mr.D what did the gods say about them, the twins I mean” Leo asked “first off, their mother pleased an ancient seal on them which completely blacked of all traces of there exists,which didn’t go well with Hephaestus heck even know, when they have been claimed and the seal is broken I can barely feel their presence, it freaked a lot of them out, my father at first won’t stop laughing when he remembered Poseidon's words of only Peter being his son, only when it was pointed out it was Poseidon's kids who’ll be in the prophecy again did he not only stop but flash out in anger and Hades just went back to the underworld to talk with Thanatos.”

he said which surprised a lot of us, there Mom was able to evade the gods “Whoa” Leo and Conner awed “now what” Clarisse said “Shiro, this may sound unbelievable to you but you and the twins are to go on this mission by dusk, right now we need to find the twins know to go along” Chion commanded as all of us left to go look for the twins and the grace siblings helping Shiro pack.

*******

It was two hours before dusk and no-ones found the twins yet even after getting the entire camp looking. It wasn't until Rex came running towards us “guys guys” he said “there at half-blood hill Henry Shay and I got all these things ready there just waiting by Thaila’s tree,” he said.

“But why did they run like that” Jason who was next to me asked just as everyone else was running over “there scared, and confused, first they lost their Mom and suddenly there Dad and Grandpa claimed them as their own and now there being told to go of and fined a goddesses, yeah no, Lance and Lana may look tough and act smart and confident, but they just needed a place to breathe to just not have to worry about all this for just a second so we took them to the strawberry fields than to the woods and climbed the tallest tree we all stayed there till a little over an hour ago was when they decided to go on the Quest.”

Rex explained all this in one breath “so there just waiting for Shiro and Argus” Annabeth said nodding is all Rex did as he ran back to the half-blood hill, as we went to tell everyone where they were Shiro was packed and ready along with “Keith?” I called out to him who had an angry look on his face, “what's wrong, still mad for what Lance did this morning” I asked he huffed in irritation “no, I’m not mad about that I heard what happened and besides, why can't I join Shiro on this quest I’ve worked really hard on my swordsmanship and I know my understanding of greek mythology isn't high but I can still help” he pleaded.

“Keith” I said as I kneel down eye leveling with him “you know it's against the rules” I tell him knowing I sounded like a hypocrite “lies you yourself snuck on a quest, so why can't I” he yelled angrily, well crap know I really regret letting the other tell them my quests I know this day would hunt me “Keith the reason Percy had to be on that quest was also apart of the prophecy so it was meant to happen, but you are not to go you may walk with Shiro to half-blood hill but no more than that” Chiron said seriously.

I looked to the twelve year old son of Ares who with one last anger glare held his brothers hand and walked off towards half-blood hill, as we walked Jason who cached up to us Chiron who kept a close eye on Keith and Shiro who looked anything but happy as we made it to the hill there stood Argus with Henry Shay and Rex standing there near the white oak tree.

“Hey, where are they?” Jason asked in which Henry shushed him and pointed toward the twin who where just thirty feet away kneeling down placing rocks sticks and flowers, down an area which had grass stained with dried blood “is that the spot” I asked “yes” Shay said softly as the twins backed away looking at their work the rocks were piled up neatly and to form a small hill with flowers poking around, some in or out of the rocks the sticks wrapped around the rock flower hill with the help of a liter the twins lit each branch when done they did what looked to be a pray as they turned around their eyes were puffy and red the closer they got.

The more I notice the clothes they wore, Lance an old brown 80s jacket and camouflage shorts with the camp t-shirt sticking out, with navy blue combat boots Lana, had on a black long sleeve shirt, with a sleeveless camp shirt we may live in the north but it’s still summer, how is she not boiling anyway she wore them with brown pants and the same navy blue combat boots.

as Lance as they walked up to us ignoring everyone but the trio of friends “hey Shy, well we're gone can you add flowers…” she trailed “of cores I will when you come back the spot will be blooming with a thousand flowers” she said softly again “if we survive” I heard Lance mumble which looking around they heard it as well which didn’t go well with Keith “hey!” he yelled walking close to them Lance glared and Lana sighed.

“what” he shot back in which Keith just pointed to Shiro “that’s my brother, my family, I can't come with you to watch his back so can you please watch it for me” his angry and confident tone changed to a soft and vulnerable one with each word as he locked eye with Lance, “yes, you moron if you think for one second I’m going to lose someone again especially some who is loved, no, never” he spoke in confidence “Keith, we promise we’ll bring you brother back” Lana added in.

“Styx” oh my gods did he just “ok, Keith I think that going a little too far” Jason said but I see that the three kids where ignoring us, the twins looked at each other with a look of determination, oh, so that’s how stupidity looks like “I Laura Amara Nyx Aleja McClain” she said “and I Lorenzo Alejandro Nicholas Calisto Erenos McClain” he also said and at that moment I knew what it felt like to be everyone else dealing with me “swear on the River Styx that we will bring back your brother alive.”

they said together as a loud thunder and lightning crashed down on the other side of the ditch sealing the Oth and my fate to worry about these two idiots for the rest of my life, “uh” I mumbled out in realization “what?” Jason asked “I now know what it feels like to be, well, all of you who goes on a quest with me,” I tell him as Argus the twins and with one last hug from Keith, Shiro went downhill and into the vane and off they went.

“Father, please give them warmth and protection” Henry prayed “Mother gives them shelter and keep them well-fed” Rex and Shay prayed as we walked back to the camp and waited.

*******

As the van drove out of Long Island and into New York City streets, was have Argus left us “so where to next?” I asked them Lance looked at me “first, we need to go to Gettysburg Pennsylvania” he said as he and Lana started walking towards a bus stop as I ran to catch up “why?” I asked he looked at me again and smiled “Grampa wants to talk.”

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imgonnabeyourbubblegumwitch · 7 years

Text

It’s Not What It Looks Like

For the anon who asked for the following:

“Omg please can you do Jason and/or percy bursting in on Nico and Will having a heavy makeout? I'm laughing just thinking bout how uncomfortable Jason is, how mortified Nico is and Percy and Will just being little giggling shits”

I hope I did okay! :)

Nico threw another piece of popcorn at his boyfriend who batted it away without taking his eyes away from the screen. Nico sighed heavily and slumped back against the wall. They were watching a film in Will’s cabin, sitting together on the bed. Nico could usually cope with Will’s film choices, even the musicals, but he just couldn’t get into this one. It didn’t help the screen on the laptop, that combined effort from the Hermes and Hephaestus cabins had hacked, bashed and rewired to get wifi without the monster attention, was tiny. Plus the colour palette for the movie was, and he couldn’t believe he was saying this, too dull and could have done with some colour.

Will liked it though, and for a while Nico had been content with watching Will watch the movie. Nico liked watching emotions flicker across his face: surprise, fear, happiness. However, even that got boring and Nico began throwing popcorn at Will instead.

“Get lost!” Will complained, as a piece hit his cheek. He shoved at Nico without looking, but just ended up upending the bowl. Nico picked up another kernel from the blankets.

“This film is really boring,” Nico complained, aiming for the hood of Will’s jacket.

“I was going to suggest we do something else,” Will said. “But then you started throwing popcorn so now you can just deal with it.”

“Piper said relationships were supposed to be about compromise,” Nico told him.

“I’m compromising by not kicking you out of my cabin for being annoying,” Will answered, still refusing to take his eyes off the screen. “Now shut up! I’m trying to watch.”

Nico huffed and threw another piece at Will. Will didn’t react. Nico shoved his shoulder lightly. Will swayed but still didn’t look away from the screen. Nico took that as a challenge and judging by the slight smirk on Will’s face, Will knew it.

He lunged at Will meaning to shove him off the bed, but Will anticipated that and knocked him back while he was off balance. Nico fell, grabbing at Will’s arm as he went. If he was going down, Will was going down with him.

He landed with a heavy thud that jarred his back, Will collapsing on top of him in an ungraceful heap half a second later. Nico groaned as all the air whooshed out of his lungs.

“You are so heavy,” he told Will, trying to shove his boyfriend off of him. He heard the door open, and Will tried to get up in response but they were awkwardly tangled and he just fell back down again with a huff and a giggle.

“Nico?” Hazel called, “Jason said you were – oh my gods!”

Will had by now dissolved into full on hysterics and so was utterly useless.

“It’s not what it looks like!” Nico said quickly renewing his efforts to relocate Will. He eventually manged to push Will to the side, sitting up so he could face Hazel. She was backing towards the door, her cheeks bright red and a hand over her mouth.

“We were just – I pushed Will and – we weren’t –!”

He looked at Will, who was slowly pulling himself up, using the bed as an anchor. His boyfriend was making a token effort not to find the situation funny but he was having to press his lips together so tightly they were bloodless and his shoulders were shaking with the effort.

“Help me!” Nico instructed.

Will could only shrug.

“You’re literally the worst and I don’t know why I’m dating you,” Nico told him. That just made Will laugh more.

Will had been suffering from nightmares. He claimed he wasn’t sure what had set them off but Nico thought it might have been because Will had lost his first patient in over six months: a small girl who had arrived at camp bleeding out from a cyclops attack. Will had done all he could, but the girl had made it to safety just a little too late.

Day to day Will was dealing with it in a surprisingly healthy fashion. He insisted that he wasn’t naïve and knew he’d lose many more people over his career, and that he knew it wasn’t his fault. It was all very well saying the words, and Nico had no doubt that in the daylight Will truly meant them. If Will was going to be a doctor he was going to have to face death Nico knew that, perhaps better than most. He just thought that night time Will wasn’t quite subscribed to the same world view as day time Will.

He'd asked Will what his nightmares were about but Will had just shrugged and become evasive. He did know Will was no longer getting much sleep and eventually he’d turned up in Will’s cabin and sat by his side. It meant Nico didn’t get much sleep either, but he was there for Will when Will woke himself up screaming, which gave Kayla and Austin a break from the aftermath of Will’s night terrors.

No matter how much sleep Will got he was awake with the dawn, some days more gracefully than others, and that meant Nico was up too. The two went up to breakfast together, for once both in dire need of coffee. Usually it was just Nico who stumbled around like the zombies he’d summoned before he was able to choke down the most bitter concentrated drink Chiron would allow him to make. Today Will was as zoned out as he was and in desperate need of caffeine.

Piper was sitting on the Hades table when they arrived. She glanced at Nico.

“Are you alright?” she asked. “Hazel said you weren’t in your cabin last night. We were worried.”

“Oh I slept with Will last night,” Nico answered without thinking.

Piper’s face was a picture, running through several emotions almost simultaneously. She swallowed her juice with difficulty and tried to form a question as Will burst out laughing.

“That’s not what I meant,” Nico said with a sigh, pre-empting her. “That’s not – I was in his cabin. Will! Tell her!”

Will didn’t because he was still laughing as he stirred his coffee. Nico wanted to call him a brat but he kind of liked that Will was smiling again so he let it be and settled for sulking in silence instead.

“On your left,” Nico said.

Will twisted and knocked an arrow out of the air with the end of his bow. Since dating Nico, Will had spent more time training with the others instead of just tending to the Infirmary. Seeing Will in battle, even if it was the simulated battle of capture the flag, still made Nico nervous and brought up all his fears about people he cared about being stolen from him. But he had to admit, Will was good. He would describe himself as untalented, but that was in comparison to his siblings. Nico was as confident as he was ever going to be given his total paranoia about people close to him, that Will could handle himself.

It helped the Ares cabin really weren’t as talented archers as the Apollo lot and tended to miss more than they hit. They made up for it, however, with quantity and large amounts of aggression.

Will pulled Nico to the side, as an arrow thudded into a tree and Nico began to really appreciate Will’s ability to calculate trajectories.

“We must be pretty close,” Nico said. “Or they wouldn’t be wasting all this effort.”

“I don’t know,” Will said. “They’re no Annabeth. Who knows if they actually have a plan?”

Nico smirked.

“Fair point,” he began to say, but suddenly there was a whooshing noise and he was pulled in towards an unassuming tree like it had suddenly acquired a gravitational pull. He thought for a moment he was the only one affected but then Will was plucked from his position too. They were both dragged in and ended up stuck fast to the tree.

Will was really close. Nico could see every individual eyelash, count every freckle, see every fleck of darker blue in Will’s irises. Despite the situation he felt a stupid impulse to kiss his boyfriend, which was quickly dampened by the sound of footsteps and the recollection that they weren’t alone.

“It worked!” a small, shrill voice crowed.

“Harley!” Nico snapped, trying to pull away from the tree and failing. “What have you done?”

“You fell into my trap!” the little pipsqueak said, emerging from a clump of trees but hanging back what was apparently a safe distance. “There’s a high-powered magnet on the back and it’s attracting the metal of your armour! How cool is that?”

Nico thought that if he ever got out of this he was going to lock Harley in a cupboard somewhere where he couldn’t cause trouble.

“Super cool,” Will said in his best appeasing-small-evil-children voice, “Now since you know it works, maybe you could let us out?”

“No way!” Harley said. “Then you’d be free to take our flag! I’ll come and get you later.”

Harley didn’t give them time to argue or bargain, just turned and began to scamper off. Nico thought it would probably be considered uncultured and morally wrong to swear at little kids, but even so he came very very close.

“Now what?” he asked as Harley’s footsteps faded into the distance.

Will sighed.

“We’re screwed,” he said.

Kayla found them what felt like days later but what was really, she later assured him, merely half an hour. She immediately burst out laughing when she saw them.

“If you two want some room…”

“It’s not what it looks like,” Nico told her dully. “Now quit laughing and get us out.”

“Are you sure?” Kayla asked. “You two don’t want another a couple of minutes?”

“Don’t be a brat Kayla,” Will said but he was starting to laugh too, probably at the exasperation on Nico’s face and the way his cheeks were reddening. Will Solace was a terrible person.

Kayla grinned but shimmied out of her armour and came over to turn the magnet off.

“I have no idea how to work this thing,” she admitted. “So you two might want to get comfortable.”

“You’re hilarious Kayla,” Nico said sarcastically.

“I try,” Kayla answered. Nico couldn’t see her but he just knew she was grinning brightly.

“Will?” Nico asked.

Will turned to him. He’d been reading for the last five minutes, and Nico had been watching him toy with the corner of the page for the last three. In the dim light of the Hades cabin, Will practically glowed like the baby sun he was. He had managed to sit in the only patch of sunlight, weak though it was from having to filter in through the thin curtains. It caught in his hair, highlighted his freckles, made his eyes shine. It made him beautiful.

Nico sometimes wondered if the shadows did the same to him. They’d probably hide the darkness under his eyes for a start.

“Nico?” Will prompted.

Nico had forgotten what he was going to say. He compromised by kissing Will.

“What was that for?” Will asked, when Nico pulled away.

Nico shrugged, shook his head. Dust floated past, golden in the evening sun. Nico really needed to clean.

Will gave him an odd look.

“Nico? What’s going on in your head?”

What was going on was that he sometimes had trouble believing Will was his. And sometimes he hated camp because he liked Will, he liked Will a lot but he wasn’t the kind for public affection and a lot of the time they were nothing more than a stolen kiss here and there. And that bothered him. Sometimes he missed Will when he was right next to him.

“Nico? You’re starting to scare me.”

Nico looked at his boyfriend, his beautiful stupid boyfriend and his heart suddenly felt very full of something he wasn’t quite ready to name or think about. Instead he took Will’s book away and hesitantly, slightly afraid for no real reason that Will would push him away, moved to sit on Will’s lap.

Will still looked slightly confused, but the worry drained from his face and he stated to smile. He waited to see what Nico would do though, and Nico kind of adored him for that. And so he kissed him.

He’d kissed Will before plenty of times, and it had always been amazing but this was – different somehow. Maybe it was that strange, fledging, fragile new feeling that was making his chest swell. He finally thought he got all those stupid descriptions he’d read of kissing, that it was like fireworks, like the earth moving. He lo-liked Will so much it made his chest ache, and he knew he never wanted to pull away. His hands found Will’s hair and somehow he’d forgotten how soft it was, but he was happy to remind himself.

He didn’t even register the door bursting open and crashing against the wall, until Jason started talking and it was far too late.

“Nico you’ll never guess – oh!” Jason came to a very sudden stop. There was a dull thud and someone, and oh gods it sounded like Percy, muttered a quiet oath.

“Jason what -“ Percy said before stopping equally dead.

There was a moment of complete silence. It was so utterly, horrendously quiet that Nico thought he might have heard time passing, heard the blood rushing up to turn his face scarlet. He thought he might even have felt the ground stir, perhaps responding to his very pressing desire for the earth to swallow him up.

He tried to shove Will off of him, then remembered that it was actually him who was sitting on Will’s lap and he hadn’t thought he could get any redder but from the heat in his cheeks his face was giving it a good go. He scrambled up, moving away from Will like his boyfriend was radioactive.

“It’s not what it looks like?” Will tried, with a cheeky, devastating smirk that Nico hated him for.

“Oh my gods!” Percy said. Nico’s eyes shot to him as Percy just collapsed into laughter.

Jason glanced at Percy. He was possibly redder than Nico, rubbing at the back of his neck awkwardly and trying to pull Percy out of the room with little success. He could barely look at Nico, didn’t know where to look at all: his eyes darted all over the place rather than rest on Nico or Will.

“Has someone given you the talk boys?” Percy asked, through peals of laughter.

“I’m in charge of the infirmary,” Will said. “If anything, I’d be the one giving the talk. You want me to go through it with you and Annabeth?”

Percy aimed a finger gun at Will conceding the point, still laughing hysterically as he did so. Will was starting to crack now too, his shoulders shaking. Nico shoved his side irritably, wondered how Will could be so calm when Jason and Percy were in his cabin and they saw, oh gods they saw. Shoving Will only served to break him though, and he began giggling.

“I hate you,” Nico told him sulkily.

“Didn’t look like it!” Percy quipped. Jason gave him a frustrated look and Percy put up his hands in surrender.

“Sorry,” he said. “Couldn’t help it.”

Jason did not look happy and pulled again at Percy’s arm and he finally succeeded in dragging Percy from the cabin.

“I really do hate you,” Nico said, dropping to the floor as his legs finally gave up.

“That’s such a lie,” Will said, and gave him a kiss.

#Nico Di Angelo #Will Solace #will solace/nico di angelo #writing #fulfilled asks #solangelo #percy jackson and the olympians #fandom

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