#they left out the part of him staying in the hermes cabin at first???

[wenigstenshabeichesversucht]

Golden Hour

Pairing: Luke Castellan x Apollo kid!Reader

Summary: Everything Luke did was out of love for you

Warnings: Ominous Foreshadowing, english is not my native language

Word Count: 979

The sun was slowly going down and the camp was buzzing with life. Around Luke, campers were rushing around, everyone was trying to finish their afternoon activities before it was time for dinner. But he only had eyes for you. You, who were sitting with a few other campers, a guitar in your lap and glowing like the sun. With your sun-kissed skin and your smile brighter than the star you all revolved around, nobody could doubt that you were Apollo's daughter. Of course, he couldn’t help to gravitate to you like the earth did to the sun. You were his sun.

For a short moment, doubt overwhelmed him. Finally, you seemed happy. But in a world like this, your happiness wouldn’t last unless he took care of it personally. Therefore, he had to do it. He had to do it for you. Because he remembered. He remembered the many months you were struggling in the Hermes Cabin, still unclaimed, asking yourself, far too often, why you weren’t worth it. Back then, seeing your self-doubt had destroyed a part of Luke. He always had known that you were worth more than the gods could ever give you. And, it seems, like he had to take matters in his own hands.

He could only hope that someday you would understand his motivations. However, even if you didn't, at least you would have a better life. And that was enough for him. You had already given him more than he ever hoped for since arriving at camp. He would always remember it, like he remembered your arrival.

You were lost, figuratively speaking. Three days ago, some guy, half boy, half goat had told you, your father was a god, and now you were hunted down by monsters. Of course, first, you didn’t believe him. But the evidence was speaking for itself, and after you barely escaped a monster attack with your life, you couldn't deny it anymore.

When you finally reached Camp Half-blood, a sanctuary for kids like you, you were so relived, that you didn’t die, that you felt like crying. So, this was what you did. You started to cry ugly, fat tears were streaming down your face while you gasped for air.

This was how Luke found you. And even with fourteen years, he found your beauty rivalling Aphrodite’s. Not that he would ever say that out loud, gods were merciless when it came to things like that.

He took you under his wings. In a world where you felt like an intruder, he gave you a home. It quickly became clear that you were not a child of Hermes. Living in the far too full cabin, you couldn’t help but feel out of place. They told you, all you had to do was find the thing you were good at, and your father would claim you. But days, then weeks, then month went by, and you stayed at the Hermes cabin. The only thing that kept you sane was your friendship with Luke.

But luck wasn’t on your side, and Luke had to go on a mission. Following the god’s wishes, he left you behind. Many nights, you cried yourself to sleep, feeling worthless. Until after 7 months, your father finally took pity on you.  

  

Luke barely managed to get back from his mission. The cut he received had become inflamed. He didn’t remember how he got back to camp, but when he opened his eyes, he thought he had died and ended in the Elysium.

Your face was hovering over him, and you were glowing. Gently, your fingers were working their way over his wound and Luke needed a moment to realize, that you were healing him.

“Welcome back, hero”, you whispered when you saw that he was finally awake. “I missed you.”

Probably not more than he missed you. But he didn’t say it. Instead, he chose another topic.

“Looks like he finally claimed you”, his words made a happy smile form on your lips. However, Luke wasn’t happy. He could only think about, how he would miss your presence in the Hermes Cabin and at the dinner table.

Back in the present, you finished the lesson. Giving the guitar to one of your siblings, you made your way to Luke. You were so much more than his best friend, but he had never talked about his feelings for fear of complicating things. However, everything would soon change, and he would have to leave.

“Walk with me?”, he asked and with hesitation you agreed.

Without thinking, his feet led him to the lake, where the sun kissed the water on the horizon.

“Something is bothering you”, you broke the silence, after a moment of just watching the sunset.

Taking a deep breath, Luke tried to calm his nerves. All these years he hadn’t mustered up the courage, but from today on this would all be in the past.

“Some things will change in the near future, but I want you to know, that my feelings about you will never change.”

“Your feelings about me?”, you echoed surprised, and instead of an answer, Luke did the one thing, which he had been waiting for since he was 14 years old. He kissed you. You did what he always dreamed of, you kissed him back.

“Everything I do, I will do for you. I would fight for you, I would lie for you, and I would die for you”, Luke whispered against your lips, after you interrupted the kiss to gasp for air.

“I love you too”, that was all he wanted to hear. Looking down at you, the last sunbeams of the day were illuminating your face, he couldn’t help but think, that you were his golden hour. But now the night was starting, and he could only hope, that tomorrow the sun would rise again.

[lady-ashfade]

I thought It Was Normal

Percy Jackson character x male!reader (gods x reader) (platonic all)

╰･ﾟ✧☽ reader: like klaus from TUA. reader is a little oc in this, but i couldn’t help it. I needed this because I got a funny idea.

╰･ﾟ✧☽ warnings: short , me having little knowledge of what’s to come in the books, not canon just a silly idea

Camp got new campers every year so it wasn’t like they thought anything of you. The only thing is, you looked too confused to be there, everything Chiron said you would would give him the strangest look. Percy happened to be passing by, you got a tour of camp just like he did. And you were a bit to loud with your words- and let’s face it. He’s a little nosy.

“So you’re saying all the gods just drop their kids off here- or, don’t give them attention until they do something they deem worthy?” You ask like you had no care.

“Really a great idea. Half gods with daddy and mommy issues running around in the same place. Doesn’t sound dangerous at all.” You comment and continued walking with a eye roll.

Percy was interested in you right after that. You made him laugh and shared his views when he first came here, and he still thought them. He didn’t have to wait long to introduce himself since you left Hermes cabin in a rush to get away from people.

You didn’t want to talk to him at first. He tried to introduce himself but you brushed him off and said you weren’t willing to speak.

“I know it’s a lot to take in, but I’m sure you’re parent will claim you.”

You stopped in your tracks and turn around and started to flail your arms. “I am human! I have no godly parent, not like you-. Honestly I wish I was because I would be less concerned about my future.”

“That’s new.” A girl’s voice popped up from behind you and out of no where. A girl with a cap in her hands yanked down from her head, she looked intimidating to you.

“Can you all do that? Just appear out of no where?” You asked slightly scared but amazed.

“Let’s go back to the part where you’re human,” Percy stepped forward like you were a bomb of some sort ready to explode. “Why are you here?” You scuffed and shrugged your shoulders.

“So, i happened to eat a crystal I found in the woods behind my house. It was weird and it had me hypnotized, surprised I didn’t break any teeth, and the next minute I know I’m seeing the dead. And these voices are talking to me, then I’m moved off to this camp.”

“Wait the dead?”

“The gods say I need training before I came to them. Which is weird because you think they would train me themselves…do you guys know what I should do? I have no clue why they want me.” You look at both of them for help but Percy is just staring with his mouth open and shocked. Annabeth looks annoyed and looking you up and down.

“Don’t piss them off.”  she was going to be great help.

Months go by and you grow closer to the trio. it was strange how you seemed to have more strength then a human, and could kept up in training with them. not once did you ever get claimed and it still surprised them to this day how you just become something out of the blue. They tried so hard to get their parents attention but you just- stumped upon something and had the gods interests?

yes, you were human. but no longer a human boy, but a god in training.

“did it have to be him? he’s more chaotic then your son Poseidon.” zues rubbed his temple as the gods watch down on you.

“fate is a funny thing brother.“

“I for one love the kid.” ares smirks as you trip percy and let out a vicious scream. nothing evil or mean behind it, just a adrenaline rush. but ares didn’t take it that why, you were going to be a monster.

“I’ll bless him soon, he should stay in my cabin.” Aphrodite smiles and played with her hair. 

“We all know he’s basically my child, the dead thing? Yeah, he’ll be staying with me in the underworld when it’s time.” Hades smirks at all of them.

and just like that the gods are starting a war all over again.

Reader: stumbles upon a crystal

the voices: eat me!!

Reader: No!! Let me go!!

Reader then becomes a god.

[my-pjo-stuff]

Selkie!Percy AU - Luke is the only one besides his mom Sally, [who is a full-blooded Selkie, who chose a human life], who knows, that Percy is a Selkie and his pelt is his cardigan.

It is Luke, the best person he has met since his mom, that Percy trusts to keep his skin, knowing that Luke is too good to take advantage of it.

Luke really does it - while Percy is on a quest, Luke lovingly protects his cardigan, keeping it clean and protecting it from other children, others find it a little strange, but they know that Luke cares deeply about his promises.

Luke found out that Percy was a half-selkie when he was looking for him to return to his cabin before curfew, Percy came out of the sea in his white seal guise and stood naked in the moonlight except for his skin in the form of a cardigan that was long enough to cover his private parts. Percy was terribly scared, Luke calmed him down and promised not to divulge his secret on the river Styx.

Luke confesses his "loyalty" to Kronos holding Percy's skin in his hands and Percy turns cold with horror, Luke swore only to protect his secret, not to use it…

Luke throws a cardigan at Percy that was in excellent condition and tells him to make his choice - stay at the camp or join Kronos.

Luke gave Percy his own choice.

I'm starting the phase of loving demigod-demi-inhuman Percy and his platonic connection with Luke again - I'm going to bombard you a little bit. You are so interesting and pleasant.

. . . . Ok wow so first off, WHATEVER POSESSED YOU TO SHARE YOUR WONDERFUL THOUGHTS WITH ME I AM SO GRATEFUL 😭😭😭💖💖💖

Bombard me all you want please, I have never been complimented more in my entier life <333333

ANYWAY TO ADD ONTO THIS AND THE PLATONIC RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PERCY AND LUKE (also, platonic Luke & Percy to the TOP) Imagine if the way Luke acted directly overlapped and paralleled with the way selkie parents and older family members usually act, which played into Percy trusting him so much. For example : Selkie kids don't usually go hunting their own food while wearing their pelt due to the dangers. Their parents hunt and bring them their food. Out of pelt, this translates into selkie kids not really getting their own food. Instead having their parents bring it to them. Luke, when he noticed Percy never really going up to take his own food during meals starts to bring some with him. Before he found out about the other's heritage Luke had assumed that he was simply shy. Just imagine little Percy sitting uncomfortably at the Hermes table. Starring down at his empty plate and very clearly being hungry- but also too afraid to get his own food due to his own instincts screaming at him to stay and wait for his parent. And suddenly there's Luke next to him, giving Percy his most reassuring smile as he shoves a plate of different foods towards him. Also just think about the idea that normally, older family members take care of the pelt of the younger family members. When the younger members are still small and can not yet take care of their pelt fully on their own usually an older relative takes over. They show them how it's properly done by demonstrating it. It's something deeply personal and familial between selkies, usually reserved only for parents & children or siblings. When Percy had lost his mother he struggled a lot with the upkeep of his pelt at first. He was still pretty young for a selkie, and while he knew the basics he didn't yet have the same skill level that his mother had. He figured it out after a while, but it was a bumpy road. So when he gave his pelt to Luke to look after and care for it was actually a HUGE thing for selkies. One could have taken the action as Percy endorsing Luke as his family.

Of course that wasn't the case back then- the gesture came from a place of need. Still there were rumors among the nymphs born from it. It's also why Percy broke down after Luke left for Kronos. He spent the night curled up in bed, crying as he clutched his pelt. The pristine condition of it did nothing to soothe Percy. Because it was physical proof of the fact that Luke cared. He cared for him.

The pelt looked better than during the first few days of camp where Percy hadn't yet quite gotten the hang of caring for it yet. And Luke didn't even have the experience he had before- he wasn't even a selkie.

Yet he also took time to learn, and to keep it in perfect condition.

To Percy it felt like losing his mom all over again. It felt like he lost the bit of family he had at camp.

And he couldn't even comfort himself with the idea of Luke never caring in the first place because he did.

[the-pjo-archive]

No Home In Sight

This is part 2, go check out part 1 here

~~~~~~~~~~ I sat on the porch of the big house, I had been briefed and was resting before I had to tour the camp and meet people. Chiron and Ulysses had gone inside to talk, which would have made me anxious but I was too tired, and there was a god just a few feet away and that kind of took all my attention. Dionysus, the god of wine... and madness; it was the madness part that worried me. I had seen first hand what it's like when someone looses their mind, having the god of that sitting across the porch from me was.. terrifying. The thought briefly went across my mind that maybe he was the reason my mom went crazy, but the man sitting there, drinking diet coke and playing cards, did not seem like the man people described my mom meeting.

Eventually someone around my age with curly blond hair and bright blue eyes came walking up the path with a bow in hand, he was unstringing it as he walked like he just got done shooting "Hello, you're the new kid right? Eric? I'm Lee." He held out his free hand and I shook it standing up, "Yeah, I'm Eric, nice to meet you." Lee smiled and started walking back down the path, "You came at a good time, most the summer campers have left so you don't need to deal with quite as many cabinmates," we stopped by the archery range as Lee put away his bow. "Here's the range, obviously, and over there is the arena for sword fighting" he gestured to an open area with dummies "we'll get you a weapon as soon as you get settled, training is always in the afternoon but I'm normally out here as soon as the sun is up if you need extra practice." We walked around camp as he showed me everything and told me pretty much how it all works. He also warned me to stay away from Clarisse and the Ares cabin in case they tried to "initiate" me, I guess demigod camps aren't much different from school.

After what felt like forever we ended up at the Hermes cabin, aka my new home; it was pretty full, even if summer campers were gone. Lee patted me on the back, said good luck, and left just as the two who looked the oldest walked up; they had smiles that immediately made me distrust them, like they were about to pickpocket me even though I didn't have anything. "Hey, I'm Travis, this is Connor, before you ask, no we aren't twins, I'm the oldest, and we are your head councilors." Connor grinned and tossed me a sleeping bag roll "Here, stake out a spot with this, dinner is in 10." I set down the sleeping bag in an empty corner feeling kind of overwhelmed though I didn't have much time to sort myself out before everyone got up and we had to go to the dining pavilion.

The before dinner rituals here are weird, first we all get food and have to scrape some into the fire "for the gods" even if we don't know our godly parent, then Chiron gives announcements. Unfortunately for me new campers are an announcement. "Good evening everyone! We have a new demigod, Eric Ansel!" I sat there awkwardly has everyone politely clapped, then their claps halted and there was a murmur, I looked around bewildered, wondering if I had done something wrong when Chiron muttered "di immortales" and Travis told me to look up; there, floating above me, was a hologram of a black scythe. I heard people murmur the name Demeter but there seemed to be a general state of confusion. Chiron and Mr. D looked at each other and Mr. D nodded and Chiron walked (or trotted) down from the head table and asked me to follow him.

At the big house we sat down, he looked very grim "Eric, have you had any... nightmares lately?" I looked at him confused "Not that I can remember? What's going on? What did that mean?" Chiron sighed heavily, "Eric, do you know of the ancient greek gods? And more importantly their parents? The titans?" "Well yeah a bit, I took a class on it in school and I listen to Hades Town." "Well the symbol that appeared above you, the scythe, that was your parent claiming you... but it's not a god." "What do you mean?" "Eric... your father is Kronos."

[janeaustinforevermore]

MY MӨƬΉΣЯƧ DΛЦGΉƬΣЯ // My mothers daughter

Summary: Alara Koc is a 18 year old daughter of Aphrodite who was brought to camp after being taken out of her foster home. This is the story of her last year at Camp Half Blood.

contains: talk of SA, mentions of fighting, cursing, innuendos. 

authors note: this is my first work! I don't know if this is even good, but I like it! If you notice any issues please be kind but I would love to hear them! Now, let's get started!

1, 2, 3

At 18 years old there were few things I cared about. My (half) sister, my cat, and falling in love. I had always been drawn to it, but it never seemed to work in my favor; this became increasingly apparent in the string of failed romances I had left in my wake. At 13 I had my first kiss with Robbie Finkle, it ended with me catching him telling all the guys at camp that I "gave it up easy". We broke up the next day. At 14 I flirted with a son of Hermes who had just come to camp. He died (you get used to it as a demigod). At 15 I dated a guy for 2 months until he started dating a Demeter girl in secret and I cut it off. By 16 I gave up on guys and tried women. I went back to men. At 18 I had already had several unsuccessful attempts at relationships, and I still tried to hold out hope that the right guy is out there. Maybe he'd find me. Whether that has proven to be true will be revealed in time reader. But let's get back to where we were: Camp Half Blood. 

Cabin 10 is like the Met Gala, if you took out all the billionaires and threw in a little hormonal acne. Oh yeah, and there's also never enough closet space. The only thing that made it worth it was my sister, Penelope. Penelope is one of those people who can only be described as something of an angel, and if you think I'm exaggerating, that's because you've never met her. Penelope was brought to camp at 6, where she was taken under the wing of Chiron immediately, as she was the youngest kid there. She's at present been here every year since. Not including the small outings Chiron has taken her on. But since she was here so young, she's been the cabin leader since she was 13, and my best friend since I got here. I love her more than life itself. As I got ready for the day I heard her slip in next to me as i waited for the next available sink. 

"Hey Lara, do you have any concealer I could borrow? I'm all out and I can't see Leya without it!" Leya is Penelope's girlfriend of the past two years, and if you're wondering why they've been together that long and she doesn't want her to see her without concealer, I don't have an answer for you. It's kind of a 10 thing.

"Of course, you know I have more concealer on hand then an Ulta." 

"You're the best!! I seriously don't know what I would do without you!" True by the way, Pen loses something once a day and it's easier to just have extra than it is to try to remind her. Plus, I like taking care of my sister. It's a nice role to fill. 

"Hey by the way, I was talking to Jack in Hephaestus, and he mentioned that Layne's single... I thought maybe you two could go out..? He's our age, funny, AND taller than you!"

"Ew, no! Layne dumped Margot a few months ago when she told him she's saving herself, I do not want any part of that!" 

"Ohhhh I forgot about that! Yeah that's true, he was such a dick about it. I just wanted to mention it, I mean, I know you're trying to stay solo for a while - which I respect- but I thought that was a temporary thing?? it's been 8 months since you said that and I'm just trying to make sure you're not closing yourself off." 

"I do want to find someone, which is why I'm trying to stay open, but I want it to be right this time. Plus, I'm kind of over all this high school BS. What's meant to b mine will find its way to me. I read that in a magazine! When it's right I'll know it."

"Okay, I'll back off then. Do you have a moisturizer I could borrow?" 

As I finished up my routine I looked in the mirror and thought of my mom. I've never met her, but I like to imagine she looks like me; full lips, dark curly hair, tan skin, dark brown eyes covered by two thick Turkish brows. The only thing I think would be different is our height. At 18 I'm pushing 5'10, and if I have to hear anymore "the lakers need a center" jokes I will personally go find them one to shut everyone up. It's not that I'm insecure about my height per se, I think I'm pretty, but it's hard to feel like feminine next to a bunch of 5'5 girls with tiny hands and size 6 feet. I've always found it funny that me and Penelope look so similar since we're only half sisters, the only huge differences being she's a bit paler and is about 5'6 with a rounder nose than mine. We always bonded over having curls in a cabin full of silky haired redheads. I scrunched the leave in conditioner into my hair, and watched it fall down my back as I put in my small hoop earrings. I wouldn't say I'm vain but I'm self aware enough to know I'm not humble. In all honesty, it's hard not to be a little stuck up when your mother is the goddess of beauty. 

I quickly fixed my tennis dress and tied my white platform converse as I ran out to catch up with Vivienne, my other sister. 

"Oh hey Alara. Did you see the schedule for today?" 

Vivienne has blonde hair that stops at her shoulders in loose waves, green eyes, and freckles that look straight out of an old western movie. To top it all off she has this perfect Georgia accent that other girls at camp used to make fun of before we kicked their asses. 

"No, what is it? I swear to gods, if we're doing anymore archery!" I've always sucked at archery. Also at sword combat. And I don't like running. I like Greek though! 

"No actually! We're on for riding and stable maintenance, and helping the littles with swimming. Also, don't forget Zeke wants to lead another bonfire tonight! Oh and mom needs a few more candles on the alter, which I've already ordered from the store!" Vivienne helps keep the cabin running. Honestly, she's pretty cool when she's not cheating on whatever guy she's seeing at present. I've never liked it about her but she's my sister. And everyone knows she does it so it's kind of on them for dating her? 

"Oh not bad, it should be a good day! Also, If you see Trent send him my way, I have to go over a few things with him!" 

We near the tables right as I'm saying this, and I see Ben from Hermes wink at me as we walk by. I give him a flirty wave and keep walking, seeing how his sister laughs and hits him on the shoulder. Just because I'm not dating doesn't mean I can't kiss a guy here and there. A girl needs her hobbies! 

After breakfast I found a way to sneak off to meet Ben by the amphitheater. 

"Hey pretty girl ." Ben Jenkins is the cutest guy in Hermes, he has black curls currently pulled into twists that hang in his eyes, he stands at 6'1 (6'3 if you asked him) and a white smile that stands out on his dark skin. 

"Pretty girl huh? It was Gorgeous girl two days ago." I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear and I lean in closer with a small smile on my face. This always gets him.

"My bad, alright? I'll never demote you again." He laughs as he pulls into his chest and begins to kiss me deeply. 

My hands find his hair and pull, my baby pink nails scratching along his neck as I trap him against the wall. I feel his hands drift lower and begin to grip under my dress. I let out a soft moan and move to his neck right when I hear someone start to walk closer. I quickly push off him and go run behind a tree as he follows. 

"Oh shit, it's Mr D!"

"Shut up!" I pull him behind and we both ran as fast as we could. I press a quick kiss to his cheek and ran the other way as fast as I could. 

Reading this you may be thinking "so much for staying single!" But believe me when I say, I had no intention of dating Ben. In fact, Ben was actually in love with a girl in the Athena cabin who didn't  even give him the time of day. We both just wanted a body to keep warm. 

As I headed to the stable I checked that my dress was sorted and tried to blend in with the others. 

"About time idiot. I hope you used protection, you would be a terrible mother." Pen laughed as she clicked her long nails against the stable doors. 

"Oh please, nothing interesting ever happens to me. I'm the definition of a non player character." 

And at the time I genuinely meant that. I had only ever been the side character people toss aside when the fun heroine came in to save the day. Until the day I wasn't. 

[thewriterwithnoplan]

THE HERO'S SOULMATE (1/2)

Summary: Humans once had four legs, four arms, two heads, and two hearts. For humanity's hubris, Zeus struck them in two. Somehow, beyond the will of the King of the Gods, mortals continue to find their other half. Drawn together inexplicably by fate and aided by a seemingly random visit from their soulmate's future self. For mortals, it can be as brief as a glimpse and a name. But you are a demi-god.

Soulmate AU: You meet the future version of your soulmate.

Pairing: Future!Luke Castellan x Young!Reader (platonic), Young!Luke Castellan x Future!Reader (platonic), Luke Castellan x Reader

Word Count: 1902

Warnings: Canon typical warnings, swearing, Young!Luke gets a little flirty with Future!Reader, it's a little confusing I am aware.

Masterlist

Luke Castellan had never met you, but he had certainly heard of you. He had barrelled into Camp Half-blood with Annabeth and Grover and Thalia’s ghost in tow, almost two years after you had disappeared. There was no overlap, no reason for him to know your name yet still, it echoed through his new home as if it were carved into the very foundations. You were the infamous cautionary tale across Camp, but it felt as if you took special pains to haunt the Hermes Cabin.  

It took him several months to muster up the wherewithal to form curiosity and then several more to weasel information out of his siblings. It was not uncommon, Luke learned, for Half-Bloods to go missing, to simply vanish among the ever-churning mass of godly offspring. But they didn’t vanish from camp, certainly not those who stayed safely within its borders year-round. Not twelve-year-olds, in their seventh year at camp, in the middle of July. That was not how demigods died. And so, you lingered, a half-forgotten memory.

Once there had been a girl who slept on the floor, in the corner of the Hermes Cabin. A girl who ranted at the sky and refused to give up offerings. A girl who had been dumped on their doorstep at five by a catholic father.

You kept to yourself, some said. You were friends with everyone, others whispered.

You were unclaimed. You knew your mother. You hid it.

It was Aphrodite. It was Athena. It was a father, and he was Ares.

You left. You had a quest. You were struck down by Zeus.

A whirlwind of stories that had bled so quickly into myth. Even Mr. D had once spoken of you when plied with enough sweet juice to make any mortal sick four times over. He had painted you as a raging, terrible thing. All the parts the Gods despised in their offspring. You had craved mortality; Mr. D had given a theatrical flourish as if the very thought were preposterous. You had rejected every opportunity to unearth a godly talent, glossed over anything that could tie you to the Gods, and chosen a pair of compact, brutal knives as a weapon, so they could never fashion you out to be one of their heroes.

You were a good student, Chiron had said. A little melancholic, somewhat of a malcontent but a promising young girl with a bright future.

You were brash and angry and violent, an Ares kid had argued. You took to fighting like a fish to water. You fought like a demon. Like a Greek, they might have said if the Gods weren’t listening. Like you were liable to tear yourself open and claw your way through skin to prove your own mortality.

You were just lost, Chiron had assured, confused.

And then, Luke caught what might have been his first real snatch of the girl you had been.

A boy you might have known – if the rumours were to be believed – one of Annabeth’s brothers.

Your soulmate had come. You had learned something that night and you had fled.

You met Luke Castellan when he was 23 and you were 12. Not incredibly romantic for your first encounter with your soulmate. Having to crane your neck back and hold back a cringe at how much older he was. At least he had been handsome. With a mop of onyx curls and warm brown eyes. You had admired him; the sharpness of his nose, the fullness of his lips, the crease between his brows.

“Will I be there when you get that scar?” Was how you greeted him.

He grinned down at you. What a pretty smile. “Do you not like it?”

“You’re too pretty for scars.”

“You like it when we meet,” He assured.

You hesitated slightly, nothing you learned from him could really change anything, even still you insisted, “I should warn you.”

He considered you for a long moment, “We meet when we’re nineteen. Two years after I got this on my quest.”

“You’re a demi-god.”

“You’re still smart at twelve.”

You huffed, half-flattered, half-something-that-ached-like-an-insult, “How could we meet two years after you get a quest? Why wasn’t I invited to your Selection Ceremony?”

“You won’t be at Camp Half-Blood when I am.”

“I live here.”

His expression softened, “But you and I don’t really belong. Do we?”

“The Gods make me leave.” You accused.

“No. I tell you to leave.”

“But we don’t meet for another seven years.”

“I’m telling you now, smart–” He pulled himself up short.

“I’m twelve, I know what smartass means.”

He noded solemnly, “Yes you do. I’m telling you now, smartass.”

You huff again, “But if I stay here, you’ll come, get your quest and I can meet you sooner.”

“I really wish it were that easy,” He sighed. You were so small and so young. But he had to tell you and you had to leave. “That’s not the way the story goes.”

“What if I want to skip to the end?”

“Precious,” He groaned, and you scrunched up your nose even as you went warm all over. “I know this isn’t what you dreamt of from your soulmate, but I need you to work with me here.”

“Sorry,” You looked up at him guiltily and pointed to yourself. “Smartass.”

He looked up at the sky and grinned so wide that a pair of dimples revealed themselves. You wanted to press your thumbs to them even though you knew it was far from inappropriate. This wasn't your soulmate. This was you-from-over-seven-years-in-the-future’s soulmate. The thought seemed suddenly so unfair you could cry. Your soulmate was somewhere out there in the real world keeping his smile and his stupid nicknames and his dimples all to himself like a selfish asshole. You had to steady yourself with a long breath when he looked at you again.

He's serious again as he says, “Your mother is Amphitrite.”

“Right, yes. I knew that.”

“And Poseidon is your stepfather.”

You frowned, “Sure.”

“His son is your stepbrother.”

“If he had one, I mean yeah, technically.”

“Your brother’s name is Percy Jackson.” He says gently. “He lives in New York. Terrible things, monsters, are going to come after him.”

Your eyes go stormy, “Poseidon–”

“Trust me.” He gives you a meaningful look, though you aren’t sure what exactly it means. “Go to New York, find your brother, and I promise when we meet it will be just like you planned.”

You seemed to cool all at once, “Like fireworks?”

His smile turned saccharine, “And popping candy.”

You tilted your head up, “What’s your name? So, I know what to call you when we meet.”

“Luke. Luke Castellan.”

You held out your hand for him to shake, “Then I will accept your quest, Luke Castellan.”

“It’s not a quest.” He says but his eyes are sparkling.

“Sure.” You grinned up at him, “Tell future me I hope she’s badass.”

“Oh, she is.”

Luke Castellan’s laugh rings in your ears when you wake. You hear it, pretty as a bell, as you pack your bag. It follows you all the way up Half-blood Hill and then falls silent.

As you hitch a ride to the nearest bus stop, you know you’ll spend the rest of your life trying to find that sound again.

When Luke meets you, he’s 17 and he swears he has died in his sleep. You wore a cornflower blue skirt that flared at your thighs and a delicate white blouse with pearl buttons that ran up your front to the delicate waves embroidered onto your collar. You wear a chain around your waist – he’s sure it’s a gift from him – with two knives hanging from at your sides, each about the size of his hand from hilt to blade. You’re an inch or two shorter than him, even though you must be at least five years older than him. Luke has seen a lot, in these first few days on his quest, but nothing as beautiful as you.

“You’re lovely.” He says aloud and then promptly wants to bang his head against a wall. Your laugh is worth any embarrassment, he thinks as it washes over him.

“Hello to you too Luke.”

“You’re my soulmate.” He manages to say because as he looks at you, he’s not sure he’s ever thought of words in his entire life.

You seem to take it in stride, “That I am. In the flesh, or rather this dream.”

“You’re definitely in my dreams.”

You give him a half-bemused, half-unimpressed look, “Really, Castellan?”

“Does it ever get weird calling me that?” He asked cheekily, “What with it being your last name and all?”

You choke down another laugh, “Watch yourself, kid, I have a soulmate back home.”

“I don’t see a ring.”

You tug a delicate necklace from under your collar, it’s strung with eight Camp Half-Blood beads that he doesn’t recognise, and a ring hewn entirely from what might be sapphire.

“You win it from Theia.” You show him proudly.

“The titan?” He leans forward, definitely sapphire, “You don’t wear it.”

“I use both my hands to fight,” You smile a little guiltily at him. “You understand. You wear yours on a necklace too.”

“Did you win mine from a titan?”

“I stole it from Hades.”

“So, we’re married?”

“My Luke Castellan and I are engaged.” You can’t hold back your grin at his delight.

“What is your name then?”

You tell him. He repeats it to you, once and then again with his last name.

“You’re the girl who disappeared from Camp.”

You squeeze the bridge of your nose tiredly, “Nobody calls me that anymore, Sweetness.”

You pull your hand away, glace at him and make a horrified face at yourself.

Luke practically preens, “Sweetness.”

“Don’t get ahead of yourself, kid.” You cross your arms and lean on your right hip, “That’s it? You just want to tease me and ask if we’re married?”

“I want to tease you and ask you to marry me.”

You laugh again and he wants to bottle it and lean against your chest so he can feel the vibrations in your ribs. He wants to block his ears so the sound can’t escape his head and dance circles around you and make stupid faces and say stupider things until your laughter is all he can hear.

But then you pause, turn over your shoulder and huff, “Asshole.”

“What’s wrong?” Luke is at attention, strung tight as a bow in an instant.

“Nothing,” You shake your head at him in false exasperation, a smile lifts the corner of your lips, “You are – well older you is waking me up.”

“Wait.” He rushes because you’re getting blurry around the edges. “When do we meet? Do I do well on my quest? How do I win your ring? Do you–”

“You do your very best on your quest, and when you meet me when we’re nineteen, you tell me the story and I’m so proud of you. You and Kronos–”

Luke swears he can still hear you talking when he wakes up. It’s dark and cold and it’s his turn to take watch. But it’ll all be okay, he thinks, because somewhere out there is you, his soulmate, waiting for him to win you a ring and a future. All he has to do is fulfil his father’s quest; his first of many steps toward greatness and you.  

(Part 2 : The Traitor's Soulmate)

[ghostwriter-of-silly-things]

I'm Not Delusional, Promise

Word Count: 3,224

Warnings: none i can think of? if i've missed something let me know

I was rather tired of dealing with people by the time the campfire started, even after the solitary meal. Which wasn't that lonely given the screaming children and just... everyone being there. It was safe to say I was ready to go to bed and maybe even sleep, although my dreams of late had been getting decidedly worse, so probably not if I was being honest with myself. That and the fact that I had pretty much not slept since coming to camp, despite the occasional cat nap after training. 

  I was sitting alone on the amphitheatre steps, the other campers staying away from me. Look, the the thing with Connor was his own fault. Don't sneak up on people -- that should be, like, a rule. Even the rest of the Hermes cabin who I was rooming with were keeping their distance. To be honest it wasn't too bad -- winter was a quiet time for Camp Half-Blood, but it still felt like too much. I was so used to being... not alone, but certainly left to fend for myself, enough that the people I was around weren't too bothersome. This was too real. I mouthed silently the words to the sing-along, my body on autopilot. It ended with rowdy applause, which jolted me back to reality, and Chiron trotted up to address the campers. 

  "Very nice! And a special welcome to our new arrivals. I am Chiron, camp activities director, and I'm happy you have all arrived here alive and with most of your limbs attached. In a moment, I promise we'll get to the s'mores, but first -"

  "What about capture the flag?" somebody yelled. Grumbling broke out from the Area cabin, who were cranky, presumably that they couldn't stab people. I caught Clarisse's eye and gave her an apologetic look. She responded with a roll of her eyes directed at the Hephaestus cabin. 

  "Yes," Chiron said. "I know the Area cabin is anxious to return to the woods for our regular games."

  "And kill people!" one of them shouted. 

  "However," Chiron interjected. "until the dragon is brought under control, that won't be possible. Cabin Nine, anything to report on that?"

  He turned to where the oil-splattered and frankly char-grilled Hephaestus kids sat. Leo winked at Piper and shot her a finger gun, then saw me watching and wiggled his eyebrows before turning to the girl next to him. Nyssa spoke, and her voice was filled with uncertainty and uncomfortableness. "We're working on it."

  "How, Nyssa?" Someone demanded. 

  "Really hard," She said. 

  The air was immediately filled with sounds of whining and complaining, and the fire sputtered chaotically. This was a good start. Chiron eventually stopped waiting for the campers to quiet down and stamped his hoof on the fire pit stones, and the campers fell silent. 

  "We will have to be patient. In the meantime, we have more pressing matters to discuss."

  "Percy?" Oh for the love of the gods. Over half the campers turned and stared at me accusingly, like I'd personally caused his disappearance. I had been the only new arrival save Leo and co. and that seemed to warrant suspicions. 

  "What?" I snapped at the kids staring at me. "Why do you think I know anything?"

  Chiron sighed, catching the rest of the group's attention, then gestured to Annabeth. 

  "I didn't find Percy," she announced. Her voice seemed to catch at the back of her throat as she said it. I gulped down the feeling of sympathy that bubbled up inside me. "He wasn't at the Grand Canyon like I thought. But we're not giving up. We've got teams everywhere. Grover, Tyson, Nico, the Hunters of Artemis - everyone's out looking. We will find him. Chiron's talking about something different. A new quest."

  "It's the Great Prophecy, isn't it?" I internally groaned, and made a silent prayer to any gods that were listening that I wouldn't be part of any quest for a long while, at least until he adjusted. Unfortunately for me, it nerve usually worked out like that. 

  Everyone turned to Drew, who, as it turned out, had made the comment. 

  "Drew?" Annabeth said. "What do you mean?"

  "Well, come on." She made it seem like it should be obvious to everyone what she was on about. Because if you didn't know, you were definitely stupid. "Olympus is closed. Percy's disappeared. Hera sends you a vision and you come back with three new demigods in one day. I mean, something weird is going on. The Great Prophecy has started, right?"

  I saw Piper whisper something to Rachel, the resident Oracle, before everyone looked at her in waiting. 

  "Well?" Drew called. "You're the Oracle. Has it started or not?"

  Rachel looked more like an Oracle in the firelight. Less crazy art lady, and more serious. She stepped forward calmly despite the situation and said: "Yes. The Great Prophecy has begun." You have got to be screwing with me. I couldn't have just a moment of peace, could I? 

  The other camper had a less subtle reaction. Yelling and shouting broke out, and I was pretty sure I saw a punch or two thrown. I shrank against my seat discretely and covered my ears, to block out as much noise as I could, and closed my eyes. It didn't go unnoticed by Rachel, though, who looked at me with concern. 

  It finally subsided, and I breathed heavily for a few seconds. Noise was not my thing. 

  "For those of you who have not heard it," Rachel began. "the Great Prophecy was my first prediction. It arrived in August. It goes like this:

    'Eight half-bloods shall answer the call. 

     To storm and fire the world must fall-'"

  Jason stood up suddenly, as if struck by lightning. Even Rachel seemed off-guard. "J-Jason? What's -"

  "'Ut cum spiritu postrema sacramentum dejuremus," he said, half crazed with a wild look in his eyes. "Et hosted ornaments addent ad ianuam necem.'"

  Well that's... not normal. I knew Latin, but it was clear that most of the campers had no clue what words Jason had just spat out. 

  "You just... finished the prophecy," Rachel stammered. " -An oath to keep with a final breath / And foes bear arms to the Doors of Death. How did you -"

  "I know those lines." He put his hands to his temples, as if trying to remember something vitally important. "I don't know how, but I know that prophecy."

  "In Latin, no less. Handsome and smart." Oh do shut up. Drew's outburst was followed by obedient tittering from her cabin. The campfire still managed to look nauseous, despite it being, well, just a campfire. 

  Jason sat down, and Annabeth gave him a pat on the shoulder. Rachel looked shaken, while Chiron stood grim and silent. I thought of my prophecy, how I'd been told I'd be important to something big. I clearly wasn't getting out of this. 

  "Well," Rachel said shakily. "So, yeah, that's the Great Prophecy. We hoped it might not happen for years, but I fear it's starting now. I can't give you proof. It's just a feeling. And, like Drew said, some weird stuff is happening. The eight demigods, whoever they are, have not been gathered yet. I get the feeling some are here tonight. Some are not here." She scanned the crowd, her eyes landing on some of the campers and few seconds longer than the others. 

  "I'm here! Oh... were you calling roll?" Clovis, from Hypnos cabin, had half-woken, bleary and disoriented. 

  "Go back to sleep, Clovis," someone yelled. 

  "Anyway," the Oracle continued. "we don't know what the Great Prophecy means. We don't know what challenges the demigods with face, but since the first Great Prophecy predicted the Titan War, we can guess the second Great Prophecy we predict something at least that bad."

  "Or worse." Chiron murmured. Everyone overheard the comment. The campfire turned purple and the mood visibly darkened around it. 

  "What we do know, is that the first phase had begun. A major problem has arisen, and we need a quest to solve it. Hera, the queen of the gods, has been taken." Now that was shocking. 

  It took a while to get the attention back. 

  She explained about the incident at the Grand Canyon, the storm spirits' warning that this was only the beginning, and a great mistress that would destroy everyone. Then, Piper passing out in Hera's cabin and Jason's vision. 

  "Jason, um... Do you remember your last name?"

  He shook his head self-consciously. 

  "We'll just call you Jason then. It's clear Hera herself has issued you a quest." She paused. 

  "I agree." He nodded tersely. 

  "You must save Hera to prevent a great evil, some sort of king from rising. For reasons we don't yet understand, it must happen on the winter solstice, only four days from now."

  "That's the council day of the gods," Annabeth said. "If the gods don't already know Hera's gone, they will definitely notice her absence by then. They'll break out in fighting, accusing each other of taking her. That's what they usually do."

  "The winter solstice is also the time of greatest darkness," Chiron spoke up with this happy news. "The gods gather that day, as mortals always have, because where is strength in numbers. The solstice is a day when evil magic is strong. Ancient magic, older than the gods. It is a day when things... stir."

  He managed to make stirring sound like first-degree murder. Happy thoughts. 

  "Okay," Annabeth glared at him. "Thank you, Captain Sunshine. Whatever's going on, I agree with Rachel. Jason has been chosen to lead this quest, so -"

  Someone yelled out from the stone seats. "Why hasn't he been claimed? If he's so important -"

  "He has been claimed. Long ago. Jason, give them a demonstration." Chiron announced this gravely, looking Jason right in the eyes, which was unsettling at the best of times. 

  He stepped forward nervously, and glanced over at Piper, who mimicked flipping a coin. Jason took a virtually nondescript one out of his right pocket, and when he caught it, it was a long golden lance. 

  "Wasn't that... I thought you had a sword." Annabeth murmured shakily.

  "Um, it came up tails I think. Same coin, long-range weapon form."

  "Dude, I want one!" Someone shouted. 

  "Better than Clarisse's electric spear Lamer." Four people had to physically hold back Clarisse from laming him. 

  Jason murmured something to himself, then raised his javelin. Lightning burst from the tip of his weapon and struck the campfire with, well, a shit-ton of force. I flinched in shock and my ears rang loudly. 

  "Um, sorry."

  "A little overkill, perhaps, but you've made your point. And I believe we know who your father is." Chiron grimaced. 

  "Jupiter... I mean Zeus. Lord of the Sky."

  "Hold it! How can he be he son of Zeus? The Big Three... their pact to not have mortal kids... how could we not have known about him sooner?' Annabeth was confused, and it was clear she didn't like it. Chiron didn't answer. 

  "The important thing," Rachel interrupted, "is that Jason's here now. He has a quest to fulfill, which means he will need his own prophecy."

  She swooned rather dramatically, and was caught by two Apollo campers. She was set down on a stool, her eyes and the smoke that poured from her mouth glowing emerald. 

  "Child of lightning, beware the earth, 

   The giants' revenge the eight shall birth.   

   The forge and dove shall break the cage, 

   And death unleash through Hera's rage."

   Bloom of the lost, lover of old, 

   Aid of past penance and record unfold."

  She collapsed after issuing her prophecy, but was, again, caught. 

  "Is that normal?" Piper piped up. "I mean... does she spew green smoke a lot?"

  "Gods you're dense!" Drew sneered. "She just issued a prophecy - Jason's prophecy to save Hera! Why don't you just -"

  "Drew. Piper asked a fair question. Something about that prophecy definitely isn't normal. If breaking Hera's cage unleashes her rage and cause a bunch of death... why would we free her? It might be a trap, or - or maybe Hera will turn on her rescuers. She's never been kind to heroes." Annabeth's contempt for Hera was ever clear. 

  "I don't have much choice. Hera took my memory. I need it back. Besides, we can't just not help the queen of the heavens if she's in trouble."

  Nyssa stood. "Maybe. But you should listen to Annabeth. Hera can be vengeful. She threw her own son - our dad - down a mountain just because he was ugly."

  "Real ugly." She sure is making a meal out of this. 

  "Shut up!" Anyway, we've also got to think - why beware the earth? And what's the giants' revenge? What are we dealing with that's powerful enough to kidnap the queen of the heavens?"

  Annabeth and Chiron had a silent, angry conversation. 

  "It's Jason's quest." She announced, "so it's Jason's choice. Obviously, he's the child of lightning. According to tradition he may choose any two companions."

  Chiron shook his head slowly. "On this quest, i think, he needs three."

  "What?"

  "Just... trust my judgement, Annabeth."

  Silence followed for a second. "Well, you obviously, Annabeth. You've got the most experience." Someone called from the stands. 

  She responded simply. "No. Hera deceived me every time I tried to help her, and I leave tomorrow to find Percy."

  "It's connected." Piper blurted out. "You know that's true, don't you? This whole business, your boyfriend's disappearance - it's all connected."

  "How? If you're so smart, how?" Drew demanded. 

  "You may be right, Piper. If this is connected, I'll find out from the other end - by searching for Percy. As I said, I'm not about to rush off to rescue Hera, even if her disappearance sets the rest of the Olympians fighting again. But there's another reason I can't go. The prophecy says otherwise."

  "It says who I pick." Jason agreed. "The forge and dove shall break the cage. The forge is the symbol of Vul- Hephaestus."

  "If you have to beware the earth, you should avoid travelling overland. You'll need air transport." Nyssa said dejectedly. "The flying chariot's broken, and the pegasi, we're using them to search for Percy. But maybe Hephaestus cabin can help figure out something else to help. With Jake incapacitated, I'm senior camper. I can volunteer for the quest." 

  Leo stood. "It's me." Some mumbling waved around camp like a Mexican wave. "No, it's me. I know it is. I've got an idea for the transportation problem. Let me try. I can fix this!"

  Jason studied him for a moment. "We started this ride together, Leo. Seems only right you come along. You find us a ride, you're in."

  "Yes!"

  "It'll be dangerous. Hardship, monsters, terrible suffering. Possibly none of you will come back alive." Nyssa said gravely. 

 "Oh... I mean... Oh, cool! Suffering? I love suffering! Let's do this!" 

  Annabeth nodded. "Jason, third quest member. The dove -"

  "Oh, absolutely!" Oh my gods, does she ever shut up? "The dove is Aphrodite. Everybody knows that. I am totally yours."

  "No." In-fighting now. Why won't this ever end? 

  "Oh, please, Dumpster girl. Back off."

  "I had the vision of Hera; not you. I have to do this."

  "Anyone can have a vision. You were just at the right place at the right time. Look, fighting is all fine, I suppose. And people who build things... Well, I suppose someone has to get their hands dirty. But you need charm on your side. I can be very persuasive. I could help a lot."

  "Well... given the wording of the prophecy -"

  "No! I'm supposed to go."

  "Get over it! What can Piper do?" She looked smug as Piper offered nothing in response. "Well. I guess that settles it."

  A collective gaps echoed. Well damn. Dumpster girl has turned into a beautiful princess. Yayy. Yikers, this is messy. 

  "What?" Piper demanded. She looked, saw the dress, and yelped. "Oh, god. What's happened?" She sounded genuinely distressed at that point. 

  "Beautiful." Jason suddenly said. "Piper, you... you're a knockout."

  Drew's face was contorted in horror. "No! Not possible!"

  "This isn't me! I - don't understand."

  Chiron knelt. "Hail, Piper McLean. Child of Aphrodite, lady of doves, goddess of love."

  No one quite knew what to do in the moments that followed. Annabeth managed to break the tension. 

  "There's a fourth person, according to Chiron. So, I guess, the third line? Bloom of the lost? That's... not helpful." She spoke heavily and with uncertainty, not very Annabeth-like. 

  Jason was silent. He looked around trying to find someone who might fit that description, scrutinizing us.

  A wave of sudden dread crashed over me like a tsunami -- a general anticipation of future happenings spiked with uneasiness, a gut instinct I'd learned to listen to. Something was definitely going to go wrong. Maybe for me.

  .... 

  Probably for me. 

  The next thing I knew, assorted greenery had sprouted up around me like a movie, and I was vaguely aware of a golden sort of light shining down. I was not aware I was a Disney princess, but the more you know, I guess. 

  I cursed under my breath. Of course, I'd never been officially claimed by my mother -- Demeter, in case the plants hadn't been enough of a giveaway -- but I suppose now would be the time to do so. Right before a quest that I was clearly not in well enough shape for. For Christ's sake, Bloom of the lost? Thanks, mum. What sort of stupid cryptic nonsense do I have to be involved with this time? The lover of old bit was also very much unappreciated, a reminder I would happily do without.

  I sighed, squeezing my eyes shut in hopes it would all go away. It didn't, obviously, so I stood up, staring straight at Chiron. "It's me, isn't it." My voice shook embarrassingly and I wished I was anywhere else. The obvious nature of my recently highlighted accent was not doing much to help matters.

  "I'm afraid it rather seems so -- you had a vision earlier, didn't you," he said gravely. There were a few murmurs, but the old centaur knew a lot of things, and those things would be more than damning evidence of my potential involvement in this quest should they ever come to light, and the camp held a general respect for him that most did their best to uphold throughout the generations. He was the final decisions man, and for him, that sentence was pretty final.

  "I think you should come." Jason addressed me directly. 

  I looked up and sighed. "It's not like I really have a choice, is it?"

prev chapter • series m.list • next chapter

[moss-c0uch]

bruh the pjo movie sucks did they read the fuckin book

[notpietro]

My solangelo headcanons:

•The first time Will noticed his crush on Nico was in ttc, when Nico was asking Percy to take care of Bianca, because he had to be up soon to help in the nursery(Lee got mad at him for being late bc after Percy left, he stayed around 20 minutes just staring at Nico)

•After hoo(but before toa), Will decided that, atleast once a month, all Apollo kids would have a karaoke night and made his siblings accept Nico there with the same zombie excuse that Nico used to sit next to him toa

•After a year of dating, Will admited to Nico that the karaoke night was an excuse to sing taylor swift songs(more especifically the lover album) to him and Nico blushed extremely hard

•In Nico's first birthday with Will, Will made him a corn party and made fun of him for over a month bc of that

•Every second saturday of the month, Nico and Reyna left their camps(and, later, the hunters) to go to mc donalds, and, when Will asked him abt what he did every second saturday of the month and why he was so busy, he said it eas family meeting

•The first person Nico told abt his crush on Will was Jason and the first person Will told was Michael Yew

•Nico used to sneak around to the Apollo cabin to sleep in Will's bed and just cuddle when he had nightmares, but all Will's siblings thought it was something else, so Will started to go to tge Hades cabin instead

•Every time Will slept in the Hades cabin with Nico, Apollo made the sun not hit in their faces bc he though they were the cutest sleeping like that

•Nico is the ultimate cone head(coana gray stan)* and Will is the ultimate swifty(taylor swift stan), but both totally love gracie abrams

•None of them actually proposed(you'll understand what i mean)

•To the proposal, Nico summoned a bunch of skeletons to help him decorate their house and make a special picnic in the garden(with a surprise party inside the house celebrating the engagement), but he got tired and slept before Will got home from the hospital he worked, so Will found him sleeping in the garden, and when he woke him up, the first thing Nico said was "yes, I'll marry you, future other ghost king" and then kissed him, letting Will totally confused, after comming back to sleep in his arms

•In the morning after the non-proposal, Nico explained everything and they just enjoyed the party without formally proposing to each other

•Will's best man and women were Kayla and Austin, and Nico's were Percy and Annabeth

•They adopted a Hermes child whose mother was their neigborhood after she couldn't take care of him bc of the monsters and left the country

•The name of their daughter was Bianca and turned out the percabeth's daughter(Silena) was her type

*the Nico-cone head headcanon is from @ ghostking on tiktok

That's it, I hope u guys liked and I'll probally do a part 2 later

[chasingpj]

𝐔𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐑𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐳𝐯𝐨𝐮𝐬

"I might spread a rumor about you and Percy rendezvousing at midnight. The Aphrodite cabin will have a hoot with that one."

pairing: percy jackson x child of hecate!reader

words: 4,931

warnings: none

timeline: post sea of monsters

if you want to be tagged every time I update this story, click here

a/n: hi hi! this is part one of a self-insert series I'm working on. in this story, y/n is a child of hecate, and this storyline follows the books. the current timeline here is post sea of monsters and will continue through the Heroes of Olympus books. though it follows the original plot, y/n has her own storyline and quests. i tried to make y/n gender-neutral but as I continued to work on the timeline for this project, i had decided that this fic is for a fem reader. guys, this is really just me projecting my fantasy into fanfiction lol. i feel like this is a slow start?? and there is a lot of info dumped in this so bear with me. it'll get better and I'll be working to improve my writing as the series continues. I was on a writing hiatus for a really long time and I'm out of practice so this is my way to get back and hopefully, exceed the skills I had when I was a consistent writer. anyways, if you have any feedback, let me know! I'd love to hear what you think. as i get deeper into the series, i might ask for some suggestions on what to do with the fic. anyways, i'll stop rambling and i hope you like it!

Part One Part Two

You ignore the aching in your neck as your focus is fixed on the herbology book in front of you. You’ve been seated at your desk for Zeus knows how long reading and taking notes in your Book of Shadows, determined to finish reading it as fast as possible. Your half-brother, Alabaster, insisted that you need to memorize all the herbs and their properties before he can properly teach you how to use them in potions. Even though you understand its importance, you hated introductory work. You are itching to get to the real stuff, resulting in you glued to your chair, studying through the night as your cabin mates were fast asleep in their beds. But as determined as you are, Ambrose, your familiar, wasn’t much help. Ambrose whines as he rubs his head against your legs like a needy kitten, making it difficult to ignore him.

“What is it, Ambrose?” You whisper, sitting back in your chair in defeat. You take a second to massage the back of your sore neck before turning to face the translucent hound sitting attentively at your side. His tail sweeps the floor as it wags excitedly, and a short huff leaves his snout as if he was proud to have finally gotten your attention.

Your eyes meet his, racking your mind to figure out what Ambrose needs to tell you. At first, you thought he wanted to play, but you didn’t have time for that, so you decided to ignore him. Usually, after being ignored for a while, Ambrose will give up, finding something else to occupy him. But tonight, he was particularly persistent, and he’s only like this when he needs to tell you something.

Before you can ask what he wanted again, Ambrose gets up from his seated position, running over to the small table that stands beside your bed. You furrow your eyebrows, the first thing you notice when you walk over are your crystals neatly placed in front of your spell books as usual. Seeing them made you suddenly remember what you had planned to do.

You had told Ambrose to remind you to charge your crystals and collect water from the lake since there is a full moon tonight and of course, Ambrose being your loyal companion, did exactly that. Before looking down at the hound, who now is breathing heavily, his tail somehow wagging faster than before, you smile to yourself.

“I told you to remind me earlier, didn’t I?” Ambrose snorts and runs around your feet enthusiastically. You couldn’t help but giggle at his excitement as you reached down to pat his head. “Good boy. What would I do without you?” You continue to praise him, grabbing a black pouch and carefully placing the crystals in it. You put your index finger to your lips, signaling Ambrose to be a little quieter despite his excitement. If he accidentally wakes anyone up, then you definitely weren’t going to be able to fulfill your plans.

You bite your bottom lip as you tiptoe out of the aisle between the bunks. You look around the notoriously cramped Hermes Cabin to make sure your assumption that everyone was asleep by now was correct. It wasn’t hard to make out the faces of your cabin mates since seeing clearly in the dark was one of your many gifts, so you carefully walked along the bunks, being as quiet as you could. You are especially cautious as you approach the front where your cabin leaders, the Stoll brothers, slept. You study them for a second, knowing for sure Travis was asleep since he was snoring and loudly at that. Before you can check if Connor is asleep, you hear him shifting in his bed. You stand frozen in your spot, hesitantly looking over and you were expecting to be met with the usual mischievous grin. Instead, his back was towards you now. You have a feeling in your gut that he wasn't asleep, the timing of his moving was much too convenient. You really didn't want to wait any longer though so you decide that you might as well leave before he could stop you.

You turn on your heels, walking over to the window before you push it open. You cringe softly as the hinges creak, and you look back at the cabin to double-check if anyone has woken up from the sound. You sigh in relief when you see no one has moved, and you turn back to the window, carefully crawling out of it. This wasn’t unusual for you. You’ve done this so many times that using windows as a mode of exiting and entering a room was as natural to you as walking in and out of a door, and soon you were hopping down onto the grass. Your back is pressed against the cabin as you walk the side of it. You look up at the trees and the sky, eyes scoping around for any harpies hanging around. After deeming that you were alone, you begin making your way to the lake, Ambrose walking by your side attentively and cautiously to make sure you are safe.

The night was clear; the stars and especially the moon shone brightly in the sky. You sigh softly, taking in the stillness of the night, admiring the glistening lake reflecting the full moon placed above it. You’ve always enjoyed how quiet and cool the nights were, preferring it more than the daytime.

Unfortunately, you couldn’t avoid it as much as you wish to. Most of your siblings can agree with you that they’d prefer to sleep in most days so that they can study and practice their magic at night. However, that wasn’t the schedule of the Hermes Cabin. It was pretty impossible to sleep in since the mornings were always hectic. In fact, the cabin was just hectic, period. There was always something going on, whether it was an elaborate prank or the guys arguing over who gets to shower first after coming back from training which usually resulted in an intense game of rock, paper, scissors. You can’t say that you didn’t like it; at least you were entertained.

You also always had someone to talk to, and because there were often new campers coming in and out of there, you have easily familiarized yourself with a lot of the kids at camp. However, like your mother, you did enjoy and yearn for the occasional periods of solitude. As fun as living with the Hermes kids was, you and your siblings did find yourselves getting a little irritable at their shenanigans. It was at those times, you did wish that your mother, Hecate, had a designated cabin.

You and your siblings had always said if they ever got a cabin of their own, they would make sure everyone had separate rooms and would have designated spaces to socialize and practice their magic so that it was quiet for the most part. Alabaster, especially, was really passionate about this topic. He complained how it didn’t make sense that your mother wasn't recognized since you and your siblings were a powerful little bunch. You all needed a space to practice your magic and practice preferably at night since you were the most powerful at that time of day; you were also less prone to making mistakes in your spell casting at night. You agreed with him and would get upset about it sometimes, but the Hermes Cabin was a place you considered to be a second home. The communal feel of the space was something you enjoyed, it was one of the few places where you felt fully accepted which was rare to find being a demi-god with abilities like yours. In return to the Hermes Cabin welcoming you with open arms, you accept the inconveniently loud environment as an admirable quirk and went on with your days.

Then to compensate for the lack of silence and solitude, you would often stay up late, taking advantage of the quiet to focus on your studies. Even if you had to sacrifice the amount of sleep you got, you felt like it was worth it.

It doesn’t take you long to arrive at the dock, sitting down close to the end with your legs folded under you. You first collect lake water in a jar before carefully taking out the pouch's crystals. Assuming you had only a few left in the pouch after laying most of them on the dock, you tilt it with your hand under it, only for the crystals to come out all at once. You fumble, hands trying to bring them to your chest, but with your luck, one of your crystals falls right into the water with a plop.

“Dammit!” You peer over the edge and groan, Ambrose whining at your misfortune as he stands beside you. You look down at the water, noticing Ambrose’s and your dim reflection in it. There was no way you could get that crystal now because you didn't know how to swim, and you consider that maybe tomorrow you can convince your twin brother, Atticus, to look for it or Alabaster if Atticus refused, which you were expecting him to.

Your breath hitches at the back of your throat, jumping back as a head of dark hair abruptly pops up from right where you were staring. Ambrose barks loudly next to you, equally as startled, and your eyes widen. You stand up hastily at the realization that Ambrose's loud barks in the dead of night will catch the attention of the harpies, and right now, that was more important to you than the mysterious person that just sprouted up in the water like a zombie coming out of a grave.

“Shush! Ambrose, quiet!” Your frantic command was enough to make him stop with a whine, and you sigh shakily, turning towards the camp to check if there were any harpies.

“I think you dropped something.” Ambrose moves in front of you protectively, a low growl coming from his chest as he cautiously studies the person. You look back where the voice came from and to your surprise and your relief, you find that the mysterious person in the lake was no other than Percy Jackson. You never had a conversation with him before, but you definitely knew about him. It was kind of hard not to know who he is since he’s been the talk of the camp since he’s arrived. Your thoughts about him weren’t any different from most of the camp. You’ve seen him fight and use his powers during capture the flag, and you were just as impressed as everyone else. You did have to admit that you found him to be pretty cute too. His eyes were gorgeous, clear, and bright like a shallow, cyanic sea. You also found it adorable how his hair always looked a little disheveled.

Your (e/c) eyes met Percy’s green ones before looking at your rose quartz in his hand. You smile sheepishly, noticing the amused look on his face.

“Ah, yeah, that’s mine.” You walk over to him, but as you get closer, so does Ambrose, and his growls get louder. "Ambrose, heel. It's okay," you say softly, and he stops in his place, but his stance is still at alert, his eyes watching Percy cautiously. You pat Ambrose's head before walking past him and over to Percy. "Thanks," you smile, taking your rose quartz from his hand.

"No problem… I don't think your ghost dog likes me," Percy jokes, moving to look past your legs at Ambrose, who’s standing tall on your left side.

"Yeah, well, you kinda scared the crap out of us," you point out, amused. You take in Percy's goofy smile as he pulls himself up from the water, and you notice that he’s completely dry as he settles on the edge before turning his body to look at you.

“It’s y/n, right?” He asks, and you nod, figuring he’s probably heard about you in passing from Connor and Travis since he was friends with them too. “What are you doing out here so late?"

"I could ask you the same thing," you retort playfully, making him smile. You move to sit down where you were standing. You spread the crystals neatly on the wood, making a mental note to get them before you go to bed.

"I couldn't sleep, so I came out here to hang out, but then a hippocampus swam up. One of its friends got stuck in a fisher's net not too far from here, so I went to help," he explains, and you nod. "I told you my excuse, so what's yours?"

You hum, "It's a full moon out tonight, so I thought I should take my crystals out. I also needed moon water for a potion, so I collected some for that," you point over at the big mason jar full of lake water. "It’s not as cool as your excuse,” you say playfully.

A short laugh comes from Percy, and when you look up from your crystals, you notice he was looking at Ambrose again, who was still in his tense stance. Ambrose was especially protective of you and Atticus, and it wasn’t unusual for him to be cautious of the new people you come across. You assumed that Ambrose was particularly tense with Percy since he had successfully caught you both by surprise.

"Ambrose, relax.” You pat the top of his head to soothe him. "Lay down." Ambrose whines, licking your hand affectionately for a little, and you can tell he was still uneasy about the other. He was hesitant, but he follows your command anyway, laying down with his head on your lap.

"You can touch him?" Percy asks, his eyes wide and curious as he watches you pet Ambrose.

"Yeah, I can touch ghosts in general. My mother is Hecate, goddess of necromancy, along with magic, the night and the moon," you tell him. "This is Ambrose. My mother gifted him to me to be my familiar, kinda like a guardian." You look down at the hound, smiling softly as you scratch behind his ear softly.

Ambrose is a burly Molossian Hound who lived in the time of Alexander The Great. From what your father told you, his breed was well valued in Ancient Greek and Roman times and was often used in war. It is easy to understand why the breed was used in war. Ambrose is huge and muscular, about 6 feet tall when he stands on his hind legs, and he weighs around 200 pounds. At first, Ambrose can come off as a little intimidating. You remember how your siblings had avoided him when you first arrived at camp before they realized that he was the clearest definition of a gentle giant. Even though he was trained to fight when he was alive, he was still as gentle as a well-trained house dog unless he was given a reason not to be.

"When did you get him?" Percy asks, his eyes focusing on Ambrose’s translucent body that looked like it is made up of this gray swirling vapor. He couldn’t exactly wrap his head around how Ambrose’s head was comfortably propped up on your thigh.

"We met on the night I was on my way to Camp so about 2 years ago. Without him, my brother and I probably would have never made it to the borders.” You look up at Percy, meeting his eyes again; you watch as his face softens as he shifts to lean back on his hand.

"Really?" You hum and nod, ready to drop the conversation there, thinking you shouldn’t bore him with the details. You didn’t really like talking about it much, but the way he was looking at you made you feel like he was inviting you to continue talking.

"We got separated from our father at the gas station a couple of miles away from here. He went inside the convenience store to get us snacks, and while he was in there, a cyclops had found us, tried to grab us out of his car. We jumped out and ran into the woods nearby," you explain as you look out at the dark horizon.

You remember the sound of your father yelling after you and Atticus and how it broke your heart hearing, for the first time, such despair in his voice. You knew your dad didn’t want to bring you guys to camp, but he knew it was in Atticus’s and your best interest to come here and be with other people like you guys.

When you and Atticus started developing your powers, your father had simply told you guys that you were special and to refrain from using your telekinesis anywhere else but home. He didn’t say anything more until one night, you and Atticus had gotten in a screaming match about a reason you don’t even remember. However, in your screaming match, the both of you were so angry that a green aura had formed around you both, and books, magazines, even cutlery were being flown across the room because of the sheer energy you were admitting as a unit. It was then your father had decided to take you and Atticus to the camp to control and learn about your powers before you guys destroyed the house over a dumb argument like who’s turn is it to have the TV remote.

"We were more concerned about the monster hurting our dad, so we decided on a whim to run in the forest. My brother and I have telekinesis powers, and I aimed well enough to send a rock right at the cyclops eye. We lost him a little after that, but we didn't know where we were. We made too many twists and turns; we had no idea what direction we came from. And then, this buddy appeared out of nowhere from a distance. I saw him glowing from far away and couldn’t make out what he was, but I felt that I had to follow him. So we did, and he got us to camp with no detours for any other monsters. He's been with me ever since," you say, and a low whine comes from Ambrose’s mouth as he nuzzles the side of his face on your thigh contentedly.

Percy nods, and he huffs softly, "You guys got lucky. How old were you and your brother when you got to camp?"

"12, we're twins. We actually got here a couple of weeks after you did,” you mention. You watch Percy’s mouth curve into a half-smirk.

“Wow," he says, amused, and shakes his head. “So you have a twin and a dead dog, no fair," he jokes. You giggle, rolling your eyes playfully,

"Oh please, and you have crazy water powers. You’re completely dry after swimming! I think that's pretty envy-worthy."

"Hey-,” he shrugs, taking a second as if to form a protest. “I guess you're right,” he admits and laughs. You laugh with him, opening your mouth to say something else but unfortunately, you were interrupted by a screech echoing in the distance.

Both you and Percy stand up quickly, trying to figure out which direction it came from. “The harpies,” you both mutter in unison. You bend down to grab your things, and you look at Ambrose.

"Go distract them, bud," you tell him, and Ambrose jumps up to his feet, and you watch as he runs away, barking to get their attention. Just then, you see the wings of the Harpies coming up from the trees of the forest. You turn to Percy, grabbing his hand quick,

“Incantare: Transpectus!" You exclaim confidently, closing your eyes to envision you and Percy becoming transparent on the dock. You've never tried doing this spell before, but you've gotten better at visualizing and setting intentions, so you had some hope in yourself. You open your eyes, not feeling any different, and you hoped that you just didn't make a fool of yourself in front of Percy. But when you look down at your hand hesitantly and notice it was hard to make out since you were see-through like glass, you sigh in relief. You smile to yourself, more than satisfied that you were able to pull that off.

"Woah, are we invisible?" You look over at Percy, able to see him just fine since he was under the spell with you. Percy looks down at himself, eyes widened as he processes he can’t see his body anymore. You observe him for a second, finding it cute how he looked surprised and obviously entertained at the fact that he was completely see-through. You feel yourself growing a little flustered, trying not to focus too much on the fact that you were holding hands with him.

"Something like that. C'mon, it won’t last too long," you whisper, and your grip around his hand tightens as you guys begin running to his cabin. You hear the harpies screeching in frustration as they swoop down to try and grab Ambrose, only for their claws to go right through him. While the harpies were growing more annoyed, Ambrose, on the other hand, was having way too much fun, running in circles and barking at them as if he’s teasing.

"Man, I wish I had a ghost dog," you hear Percy mutter behind you as you arrive at the steps of his cabin.

"Yeah, Ambrose is pretty great," you admit, watching him play with the harpies before shifting your gaze over to Percy. "Thanks for getting the crystal for me." As much as you wanted to stay talking to him, you knew you couldn't stay too long. You were still eager to finish studying, and Ambrose can only hold off the harpies for so long.

"It was no problem. It was on my way up anyways," he shrugs, and you smile, trying to ignore the fluttering feeling in your stomach. You look down, the two of you still holding hands even though the spell wore off already. You awkwardly let go of his hand, shifting on your feet.

"Well, I'll see you around," you say sheepishly, fiddling with your fingers.

"Yeah, I'll see you.” His hand comes up in an awkward wave. You nod, returning the wave. Your eyes meet Percy’s green ones one more time before turning on your heels and walking down the steps of his cabin. You notice that Ambrose is now long gone into the forest, taking the harpies with him to give you time to rush to the other side where your cabin is.

As you hurry back to your cabin, you couldn’t help but smile to yourself as you replayed the interaction you just had with Percy, and you couldn't help but wonder when would be the next time you could talk to him.

You carefully hoist yourself up, climb back into the cabin through the window, sighing softly once you get in. You slowly close the window, your face scrunching at the creaking sound, but you successfully get it closed before turning around, only to be faced with Connor Stoll standing a few feet away with his arms crossed over his chest. You gasp loudly, almost dropping the mason jar in your hand, being startled for the second time tonight.

“Oh, look who’s back,” he says, his lips pulled in his usual mischievous smirk, his right eyebrow raised as if he's suspicious of you. You shift, giggling nervously under his graze,

"Hey, Con.” Shit. You knew he wasn’t asleep, and a part of you wasn’t surprised that he had caught you sneaking out again. You weren’t too worried since Connor wasn’t one to be strict or easily angered, neither was Travis, but you can understand if he did get a little upset with you since the cabin could also get in trouble, and he worried about you getting hurt.

"You leave so often, I'm starting to think you're seeing someone," he teases, and you furrow your eyebrows, not really sure what he was trying to get at.

"I'm not seeing anyone. You know what I do when I sneak out," you tell him, putting your hand out to show him the jar full of water. After being caught the first couple of times, you had explained to Connor why you occasionally needed to head out at night. He was understanding of your reasons, telling you to try and not sneak out as often. When he did catch you, he always kept your outings secret. It came with a price, though. You were sometimes stuck doing extra chores, especially anything that had to do with cleaning, since he hated doing anything that had to do with mopping or sweeping.

"So that wasn't you and Percy on the dock?" Your eyes widen, and you feel your face get hot again. You shake your head, stumbling over your words for a second.

"Uh… n- that was a coincidence!" You hear him snort, laughing quietly as if he didn't believe you. Even though he couldn't see your facial expression very well in this lighting, he can still tell how flustered you were at his sudden question.

"Yeah, sure," he says sarcastically, and he hums, "Anyways, what are you going to do for me so that I don't tell on you?" He asks, and your mouth drops open. Usually, he wasn't so forward, and he never threatened to tell on you. "I might spread a rumor about you and Percy rendezvousing at midnight. The Aphrodite cabin will have a hoot with that one."

You gasp, "Connor, are you blackmailing me right now?" You narrow your eyes at him, and he shrugs,

"I guess you can say I am." You shake your head, walking over to your desk to put down your moon water before turning toward him and crossing your arms in front of your chest.

"... what do you want?" You ask, expecting him to make you take up one of his chores. But from the way he was smiling at you, you can tell that there was something more he wanted, and you were beginning to worry.

"Help me turn the Ares Cabin into bunnies," he says, and you shake your head frantically,

"No way! Clarisse will kill me," you whisper. Connor smiles,

"No, she won't. She can't kill you if she's a bunny," he points out, and your face falls flat,

"They're not gonna stay bunnies forever," you say, and you fiddle with your fingers nervously at the idea of the outrage you'd get from the Ares Cabin after shifting back from being bunnies. "I don't know, Con. I don't even know if I can turn all of them into bunnies at once."

Connor waves his hand at you, dismissing your concern. "I don't care for the logistics now. We can work on that later, but you have to agree to at least help me," he says. "Or I'm telling everyone I saw you smooching Percy on the dock."

"What!? We didn't even kiss. We talked for like 5 minutes!" You whisper-yell, your reactions much too entertaining for him, and he was having a hard time holding in his laugh.

"Your decision, y/n."

You sigh, throwing your head back. You look at the ceiling for a second as you consider your two choices. And you decide that getting your head potentially put on a stick by Clarisse was better than the burning embarrassment of Percy thinking you're spreading rumors about kissing him. "Fine, whatever. I'll help you do the bunny thing," you mumble, your shoulders slouched.

Connor nods with a proud smile on his face for trapping you into helping him. "Good choice. I will be going back to sleep now. Good night… again," he announces, turning on his heels and walking over to his bed. You frown a little as you walk back to your desk to study. Plopping down onto your chair, you decide that you’ll worry about Connor’s little plan later so you can focus on your studying. After a while, Ambrose comes trotting in, joining you by the desk as usual. You smile at him, praising the other for distracting the harpies for you before he lays down, his head laying on your foot.

As you study, you find that you couldn’t help your mind drifting back to Percy once and a while. You deem that there was no way that you could have a crush on him since you guys have only spoken once. In the midst of your internal debate to decide what you felt for him, you suddenly remember the crystal that was retrieved for you. You remember how Percy presented it to you, holding it out for you with his fingertips. It was your rose quartz. What a coincidence. You smile, rolling your eyes as you tell yourself that you’re thinking too much into it. You look over, noticing the dim illuminating light of the beginning sunrise shining through the curtains. You sigh, deciding that you should probably get to sleep and take advantage of the maybe, four hours of sleep you’ll get tonight. You close your herbology book before making your way to your bed, and with a soft sigh, you retreat under the covers, and finally, you surrender to your drowsiness.

masterlist

[lucianinsanity-only-art]

[ID: Several digital character sheets of TMA characters as teens in a Percy Jackson AU. The background is a light blue.

The first one is Jonathan Sims. Jon is a thin latin american young man with medium brown skin, wavy greying brown hair. He uses glasses. He has a long scar on his neck, various smaller scars on his face and hands and two longer scars on his left elbow. He has a purple bag and is holding a knife, and is looking nervously to the side. He is wearing a CHB "Camp Half-Blood" T shirt and dark jeans.

The text on his sheets reads "Name: Jonathan "Jon" Sims, Age: 14, Height: 1,57, God: Atenea. History: Jon was tormented by spiders his whole childhood, he is found and brought to the camp where the spider attacks stop, but he still has to confront that, or so the oracle says. He was recognized by his mother when he gets to the camp at the age of 9. He still visits his grandmother but mostly just stays in the camp where monsters can't find him. Extra: He is extremely curious, he had some missions on the outside and came back with minimal scars (usually something spider related)".

The second one is Martin Blackwood. Martin is a chubby white young man with blonde hair, brown eyes, and freckles. He has some scars in his hands. He is smiling nervously and wearing a CHB T shirt and jeans.

His text reads "Name: Martin Blackwood, Age: 15, Height: 1,49, God: Unknown (Apollo). History: He was found fighting a monster by Sasha, who helps him get to the camp safe. He is still new and in the Hermes cabin while he waits for his divine parent decides to claim him (he wants for his mother to not be his real mother, but he knows is a hopeless matter). Extra: he survived on his own for a long time thanks to an interest on mythology that was very useful when fighting with monsters or tests. He likes poetry and tries to write some. After he discovers his father is Apollo he tries to justify his poetry with this fact but he actually has healing abilities. "

The last one is Tim Stoker. Tim is a thin black young man with curly brown hair pulled back with a green headband. He is using glasses. He has some small round shaped scars all over his skin, there's a long scar on his right elbow. He is flexing his muscles and wearing a CHB t shirt and jeans.

His texts reads "Name: Timothy "Tim" Stoker, Age: 17, Height: 1,72, God: Hermes. History: He also gets to the camp when very young, he gets there with Sasha after loosing his brother in some part of the labyrinth they found by accident. Both, him and Sasha get out of there out of sheer luck (or demigod abilities) and meet with a satyr who leads them to the camp, where they live since then. Extra: He is very good with directions and getting people to give him information. He went in some missions with Jon and Sasha in some occasions. He got some nasty scars but nothing a demigod can't handle." End ID.]

My part for the @seasons-in-the-archives snowflake!!!!

For @anothergoddamnmystery hope you like it!!!!!!

Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4

[kookie-doughs]

Y/N L/N AND THE HALFBLOODS

Percy Jackson X Reader

-Y/N L/N met Percy Jackson and everything is now ruined.

Chapter 22: Then It Ended

As soon as we came, Annabeth ang Grover tackled me. We were the first heroes to return alive to Half-Blood Hill since Luke, so of course everybody treated us as if we'd won some reality-TV contest. According to camp tradition, we wore laurel wreaths to a big feast prepared in our honor, then led a procession down to the bonfire, where we got to burn the burial shrouds our cabins had made for us in our absence.

Annabeth's shroud was so beautiful—gray silk with embroidered owls— Percy told her it seemed a shame not to bury her in it. She punched him and told him to shut up. Percy being the son of Poseidon, he didn't have any cabin mates, so the Ares cabin had volunteered to make his shroud. They'd taken an old bedsheet and painted smiley faces with X'ed-out eyes around the border, and the word LOSER painted really big in the middle.

As I was still unclaimed, Hermes cabin had made me one. (Just... IDK go crazy with your shroud IG) It was fun to burn. As Apollo's cabin led the sing-along and passed out s'mores, Percy and I was surrounded by my Hermes cabinmates, Annabeth's friends from Athena, and Grover's satyr buddies, who were admiring the brand-new searcher's license he'd received from the Council of Cloven Elders. The council had called Grover's performance on the quest "Brave to the point of indigestion. Horns-and-whiskers above anything we have seen in the past." The only ones not in a party mood were Clarisse and her cabinmates, whose poisonous looks told me they'd never forgive us for disgracing their dad. That was okay with me. Even Dionysus's welcome-home speech wasn't enough to dampen my spirits. "Yes, yes, so the little brats didn't get themselves killed and now they'll have an even bigger head. Well, huzzah for that. In other announcements, there will be no canoe races this Saturday...." Going back to the cabin I finally had time to talk to Luke. Who just expressed his relief of me being fine, and how he was scared when Annabeth told everyone about me. No wonder everyone was so shocked seeing me come back with Percy. On the Fourth of July, the whole camp gathered at the beach for a fireworks display by cabin nine. Being Hephaestus's kids, they weren't going to settle for a few lame red-white-and-blue explosions. They'd anchored a barge offshore and loaded it with rockets the size of Patriot missiles. According to Annabeth, who'd seen the show before, the blasts would be sequenced so tightly they'd look like frames of animation across the sky. The finale was supposed to be a couple of hundred-foot-tall Spartan warriors who would crackle to life above the ocean, fight a battle, then explode into a million colors. As Annabeth, Percy and I were spreading a picnic blanket, Grover showed up to tell us good-bye. He was dressed in his usual jeans and T-shirt and sneakers, but in the last few weeks he'd started to look older, almost high-school age. His goatee had gotten thicker. He'd put on weight. His horns had grown at least an inch, so he now had to wear his rasta cap all the time to pass as human. "I'm off," he said. "I just came to say ... well, you know." I tried to feel happy for him. After all, it wasn't every day a satyr got permission to go look for the great god Pan. But it was hard saying good-bye. I'd only known Grover a year, yet he was my oldest friend. Annabeth and I gave him a hug. She told him to keep his fake feet on. I asked him where he was going to search first. "Kind of a secret," he said, looking embarrassed. "I wish you could come with me, guys, but humans and Pan ..." "We understand," Annabeth said. "You got enough tin cans for the trip?" "Yeah." "And you remembered your reed pipes?" "Jeez, Annabeth," he grumbled. "You're like an old mama goat." But he didn't really sound annoyed. He gripped his walking stick and slung a backpack over his shoulder. He looked like any hitchhiker you might see on an American highway. "Well," he said, "wish me luck." He gave Annabeth and I another hug. He clapped Percy on the shoulder, then headed back through the dunes. Fireworks exploded to life overhead: Hercules killing the Nemean lion, Artemis chasing the boar, George Washington (who, by the way, was a son of Athena) crossing the Delaware. "Hey, Grover," Percy called. He turned at the edge of the woods. "Wherever you're going—I hope they make good enchiladas." Grover grinned, and then he was gone, the trees closing around him. "We'll see him again," Annabeth said. July passed. I spent my daysplanning out strategies with Luke for capture-the-flag and making alliances with the other cabins to keep the banner out of Ares's hands. I got to the top of the climbing wall for the first time without getting scorched by lava. From time to time, Percy and I would walk past the Big House, he'd glance up at the attic windows, and think about the Oracle.

I tried to convince him that its prophecy had come to completion. "You shall go west, and face the god who has turned." "Been there, done that—even though the traitor god had turned out to be Ares rather than Hades." "You shall find what was stolen, and see it safe returned." "Check. One master bolt delivered. One helm of darkness back on Hades." "You shall be betrayed by one who calls you a friend." Percy recited. "Ares had pretended to be our friend, then betrayed us. That must be what the Oracle meant.... Or maybe Nereid?"

"And you shall fail to save what matters most, in the end." He sighed. "I had failed to save my mom and lost you..."

"So why are you still uneasy?" The last night of the summer session came all too quickly. The campers had one last meal together. We burned part of our dinner for the gods. At the bonfire, the senior counselors awarded the end-of-summer beads. Percy and I got our own leather necklace, and when I saw the bead for my first summer. The design was pitch black, with a sea-green trident shimmering in the center.

"This is so beautiful..." I smiled to Percy. "The choice was unanimous," Luke announced. "This bead commemorates the first Son of the Sea God at this camp, and the quest he undertook into the darkest part of the Underworld to stop a war!" The entire camp got to their feet and cheered. Even Ares's cabin felt obliged to stand. Athena's cabin steered Annabeth to the front so she could share in the applause. I'm not sure I'd ever felt as happy or sad as I did at that moment. I'd finally found a family, people who cared about me and thought I'd done something right. And in the morning, most of them would be leaving for the year. * * * The next morning, Luke called me. He gave me a paper, telling me to fill it out, and asked me to meet him as soon as I could. I knew Dionysus must've filled it out, because he stubbornly insisted on getting my name wrong: Dear (WRONG NAME) , If you intend to stay at Camp Half-Blood year-round, you must inform the Big House by noon today. If you do not announce your intentions, we will assume you have vacated your cabin or died a horrible death. Cleaning harpies will begin work at sundown. They will be authorized to eat any unregistered campers. All personal articles left behind will be incinerated in the lava pit. Have a nice day! Mr. D (Dionysus) Camp Director, Olympian Council #12 That's another thing about ADHD. Deadlines just aren't real to me until I'm staring one in the face. Summer was over, and I still don't know what to do. I had no where to go to. The only option I had was Percy's or maybe Hades was not joking about inviting me back to the Underworld. Sighing I decided to just meet Luke before filling it for second opinions. The campgrounds were mostly deserted, shimmering in the August heat. All the campers were in their cabins packing up, or running around with brooms and mops, getting ready for final inspection. Argus was helping some of the Aphrodite kids haul their Gucci suitcases and makeup kits over the hill, where the camp's shuttle bus would be waiting to take them to the airport. I was walking around looking for Luke. I jumped when I felt someone tap me from behind. I instinctively unsheathed my knife and turned only to see Luke with his hands raised.

"Whoa! Calm down just me." He laughed.

"Kinda weird seeing someone laugh at a knife pointed at them." I smirked sheathing my knife.

"I only laugh since its you." He smiled and ruffled my hair. "Are you done with everything?"

"Not really. I don't know whether to leave or not yet. That's why I came. Help me?" I asked him.

He turned to me and to the forest. "How about you hear me out about something... important and private... then decide?" He gestured towards the forest.

"Not planning on killing me are you?" I squinted at him.

He gasped. "Not you. Never. I would never hurt you."

I let him lead me to a shrouded area of the forest.

"How serious is this thing that you can't let anyone see? I am blindly trusting you here Luke." I laughed nervously. But when he didn't reply I felt something was off. "Luke, okay this isn't cool. How deep into the forest do we have to go?"

"Y/N remember when you said... You want to be the person I trust...? How you promised to help me?"

"Luke?" He took my hand and pulled me sharply. I winced at how hard he pulled me. "That hurts! Let me go!"

He snapped back and let go of my wrist. "I-I'm sorry... Y/N..."

As much as I knew I had to leave, I couldn't I was worried about him. I reluctantly placed a hand on his shoulder. "What's happening?"

"I did it..." I said and sat on the ground. "I swear I didn't mean to get you hurt. But, I confess to everything. I  stole bolt and helm, I summoned the hound, I gave Percy the cursed shoes... And just now, I tried to kill Percy Jackson." He looked at me with empty eyes.

I shot up and looked at him in emotions I couldn't put in words. "W-Wh---" I wanted to leave and check on Percy. But once again, seeing him right now... I need to stay with him. "Why are you telling me this...?"

"Join me... please?" his voice was weak. He sounded vulnerable. "Let's serve my Lord together..."

"L-Luke... no. I-I can't do that!" I took his shoulder, "Y-You should stay with me instead. How about that, huh? L-Let's explain to Chiron and the others... come on please. I could help you!"

Nothing was working.

"Come with me..." He muttered.

"Luke, I won't join you. You have to change your mind. You can't do this."

"I can't change my mind."

"I can help you with that? How about you go with me huh? I could spend all my time doing this and that. Please, just change your mind."

He didn't reply for a while until he whispered, "Promise me."

"Promise you what?"

"You'll stay with me."

"What? Luke I wo--"

"You won't join... Just...don't stay here for the year... and stay with me."

"I-If I stay with you... what would that mean?"

"Yo-You... might change my mind."

"I'll go." I replied with no hesitation. "I'll leave camp for the year. And I'll find my parent to prove to you that Gods and Goddess aren't all bad. We'll find my parent together."

"I do my lord's bidding--"

"You can still do it. If you want to. But whatever happens... stays only between us. I'll stay with you until I change your mind. And I'll bring you back to camp."

"I would never do anything to ruin your trust in me." He knelt down. It was kinda awkward but hey... "I need you."

Worry not hero. We shall stay.

"Please..."

We'll meet again. Wait for us, we shall join you soon. Now leave.

I had no idea what happened since when I came to Luke was gone and there was no sign of him anywhere. How were we going to st---

We will meet him once we leave. Now go as our hero needs us.

I suddenly remembered Percy's state that Luke had told me about. So I ran. I ran to the Big House

***

Percy finally opened his eyes. He was propped up in bed in the sickroom of the Big House, his right hand bandaged like a club. Argus stood guard in the corner. Annabeth and I sat next to Percy, I was holding his nectar glass and she was dabbing a washcloth on his forehead.

"Here we are again," Percy said. "You idiot," Annabeth said, "You were green and turning gray when we found you. If it weren't for Chiron's healing..." "Now, now," Chiron's voice said. "Percy's constitution deserves some of the credit." He was sitting near the foot of the bed in human form. His lower half was magically compacted into the wheelchair, his upper half dressed in a coat and tie. He smiled, but his face looked weary and pale, the way it did when he'd been up all night grading Latin papers. "How are you feeling?" he asked. "Like my insides have been frozen, then microwaved." "Apt, considering that was pit scorpion venom. Now you must tell me, if you can, exactly what happened." Between sips of nectar, he told them the story.

I bit my lip trying to keep what happened between Luke and I private. It was a risky move that would not be approved by anyone after all. The room was quiet for a long time. "I can't believe that Luke..." Annabeth's voice faltered. Her expression turned angry and sad. "Yes. Yes, I can believe it. May the gods curse him.... He was never the same after his quest."

Percy was looking at me as if checking what was my reaction to his story. "This must be reported to Olympus," Chiron murmured. "I will go at once." "Luke is out there right now," Percy said. "I have to go after him." Chiron shook his head. "No, Percy. The gods—" "Won't even talk about Kronos," Percy snapped. "Zeus declared the matter closed!" "Percy, I know this is hard. But you must not rush out for vengeance. You aren't ready." "Chiron... your prophecy from the Oracle... it was about Kronos, wasn't it? Was I in it? Y/N? And Annabeth?" Chiron glanced nervously at the ceiling. "Percy, it isn't my place—" "You've been ordered not to talk to me about it, haven't you?" His eyes were sympathetic, but sad. "You will be a great hero, child. I will do my best to prepare you. But if I'm right about the path ahead of you..." Thunder boomed overhead, rattling the windows. "All right!" Chiron shouted. "Fine!" He sighed in frustration. "The gods have their reasons, Percy. Knowing too much of your future is never a good thing." "We can't just sit back and do nothing," He said. "We will not sit back," Chiron promised. "But you must be careful. Kronos wants you to come unraveled. He wants your life disrupted, your thoughts clouded with fear and anger. Do not give him what he wants. Train patiently. Your time will come." "Assuming I live that long." Chiron put his hand on Percy's ankle. "You'll have to trust me, Percy. You will live. But first you must decide your path for the coming year. I cannot tell you the right choice...." I got the feeling that he had a very definite opinion, and it was taking all his willpower not to advise me. "But you must decide whether to stay at Camp Half-Blood year-round, or return to the mortal world for seventh grade and be a summer camper. Think on that. When I get back from Olympus, you must tell me your decision." "I'll be back as soon as I can," Chiron promised. "Argus will watch over you." He glanced at Annabeth. "Oh, and, my dear... whenever you're ready, they're here." "Who's here?" Percy asked. Nobody answered. Chiron rolled himself out of the room. I heard the wheels of his chair clunk carefully down the front steps, two at a time. Annabeth studied the floor. "What's wrong?" Percy asked her. "Nothing. I ... just took your advice about something. You ... um ... need anything?" "Yeah. Help me up. I want to go outside." "Percy, that isn't a good idea." Percy slid his legs out of bed. Annabeth and I caught him before he could crumple to the floor.

I said, "I told you ..." "I'm fine," He insisted.

He managed a step forward. Then another, still leaning heavily on me. Argus followed us outside, but he kept his distance. By the time we reached the porch, his face was beaded with sweat. But we had managed to make it all the way to the railing. It was dusk. The camp looked completely deserted. The cabins were dark and the volleyball pit silent. No canoes cut the surface of the lake. Beyond the woods and the strawberry fields, the Long Island Sound glittered in the last light of the sun. "What are you going to do?" Annabeth asked us. "I don't know." Percy replied. "I got the feeling Chiron wanted me to stay year-round, to put in more individual training time, but I'm not sure that's what I want. I also don't want to leave you both with Clarisse only." Annabeth pursed her lips, then said quietly, "I'm going home for the year, Percy." He stared at her. "You mean, to your dad's?" She pointed toward the crest of Half-Blood Hill. Next to Thalia's pine tree, at the very edge of the camp's magical boundaries, a family stood silhouetted—two little children, a woman, and a tall man with blond hair. They seemed to be waiting. The man was holding a backpack that looked like the one Annabeth had gotten from Waterland in Denver. "I wrote him a letter when we got back," Annabeth said. "Just like you suggested. I told him... I was sorry. I'd come home for the school year if he still wanted me. He wrote back immediately. We decided... we'd give it another try." "That took guts." She pursed her lips. "You won't try anything stupid during the school year, will you? At least ... not without sending me an Iris-message? Both of you?" Percy managed a smile. "I won't go looking for trouble. I usually don't have to."

"You already know my plans."

"When I get back next summer," she said, "we'll hunt down Luke. We'll ask for a quest, but if we don't get approval, we'll sneak off and do it anyway. Agreed?" "Sounds like a plan worthy of Athena."

She held out her hand. Percy shook it. She gave me a hug. "Take care, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth told Percy. "Keep your eyes open."

"You too, Wise Girl."

Then turned to me, "Good luck on your own quest Droopy."

"Of course Peabody." We watched her walk up the hill and join her family. She gave her father an awkward hug and looked back at the valley one last time. She touched Thalia's pine tree, then allowed herself to be lead over the crest and into the mortal world. "I made my decision." Percy said. "What's yours?"

"I'll be leaving camp... I'm going to look for my parent..." He looked at me in shock. "I'll be back next summer," I promised him. "I'll survive until then."

"Alone?"

I smiled at him.

"Don't you want to stay with us? Mom said---"

"I want to find my parent. I need to. I'll be fine Percy."

I helped Percy to his cabin so he could pack and went to mine. To my surprise I see a middle-aged man with an athletic figure slim and fit with salt-and-pepper hair, and a very familiar sly grin. He had bags at his foot.

"Delivery for Y/N L/N."

"Uhm..."

"Hermes." He said.

I froze and looked at him with wide eyes.

"Personally packed. As a thank you for what you're about to do." He smiled softly and handed me the bags.

"H-Huh...?"

"For helping Luke."

"I..."

Don't forget her mail!

Ooh! And tell her to bring us snacks next time we meet since it'll be often now!

No it wouldn't be often! She'll be with Luke!

"Both of you keep quiet." Pulling out a mail he handed it to me. "Luke... prayed to me telling me about your plan. He asked me to help you. I don't know what or why he did it. But I know he'll change thanks to you. So do guide him."

"Sorry you lost me at the talking air..." I blinked.

Hermes laughed and showed a caduceus. "It's just George and Martha."

"Hi?"

Hello!

Hi

"I just wanted to let you know. No god or goddess could see you. No matter how hard they tried. So your secrets.. are really secrets. Good luck on your travel."

Next time we meet you should have snacks.

Then he vanished.

Staring at the letter on my hand, I was stunned seeing it was from... my mom and dad.

Sweetie,

You've made quite a friend here.

-Mom and Dad.

I immediately knew where to look. I hurriedly took my bags not bothering to check the contents. I ran to Percy's cabin and helped him out so we could leave.

Percy got a cab and looked at me worriedly.

"I'll write you. Stay safe Arthur Curry." I ruffled his hair and watched him go.

I didn't know where to go so I just went to the first secluded area I saw.

"You have more stuffs than when you arrived." I heard someone behind me.

"You prayed to your dad. I hope he knows how to pack." I sighed turning to him. Turning around I barely made out Luke from the few days I last saw him. "You okay?"

"Do you know where to look first?"

Call upon our hound.

I whistled, I don't know why. But when I did, D/N came out of the blue. Luke looked at me and my dear dog, who was probably bigger than the hound he'd summon back then. "How do feel about L.A?" I said riding on D/N and making space behind me for Luke.

~~~END OF BOOK 1~~~

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END OF BOOK ONE!!! THANK YOU FOR READING YLATHB I HOPE YOU ENJOY!! I'LL PUBLISH BOOK 2 WHEN I'M DONE OR EVEN AT LEAST HAVE WRITTEN 5 CHAPTERS OF THE BOOK 2 ;))

I HOPE TO SEE YOU NEXT TIME!!!

Taglist?

@gayer-than-the-gayest-gay @the-natureofme @booknerd-3000 @katara720 @ynfics

[wallstoothin]

Revolution (P5/PJO)

A warm up fic that I'm too nervous to put on A03. Unedited.

At age sixteen, Akira never expected to be part of a war. But then again, life as a demigod is anything but normal to begin with. He’s not even...he’s not even anything in the eyes of the gods but for some reason he was the child of the prophecy, whatever that meant. Akira always considered it a death sentence in waiting. Aren’t prophecies once in a lifetime opportunities?

Since the age of eleven, Akira has been forced to go on all sorts of different quests ranging from petty things such as being an over glorified uber eats for a god or something like preventing a war between two different monsters. Now it was a war.

A war that could be easily prevented if the gods or even some of the camp managers and leaders just opened their eyes and look. Akira would know. He was the son of a minor goddess after all, a mother who never bothered to claim him and a camp that force him into a cramped cabin of a god who is “so kind and merciful to let someone like him inside.”

Children of minor gods are usually one that can live in the outside world without major trouble. Apparently their scent is thinner and are less appealing than children of major goddesses such as his bunkmate Ryuji, child of Hermes and sweet Ann from Aprohidites. They are his best friend and he does not envy them at all. Both Ryuji and Ann has been through s much trouble because of their parent lineage. Left alone to single parents and their own human trouble combined with their demigods' trouble. He would do anything for them. Still, it would be nice to have someone to call as family. The only reason Akira even found out about his parentage is because of Goro.

Goro.

Goro had high expectation placed under him. As the son of Zeus it was expected. But he was never chosen to be in any important quest and spend most of his time training or in his cabin. Goro was one of the first people Akira met when he first came to camp. According to gossip, Goro has been in camp since the age of seven after his mother killed himself, overpressed by the idea of raising a child of god and especially after how lord Zeus practically left the two on their own. Goro was a loner on the outside and very bitter on the inside. When Akira got his first quest a month later, Goro practically ignored him. It was heartbreaking for the eleven year old for his new friend or at least someone he consider his friend to suddenly hate him.

He really wanted to go to the outside world with him but instead went with Ryuji and Ann. When he came back, bruised and bloodied, filled with new fears and deep hatred for salt water. He hoped his time away would have let his friend cool down enough for them to talk again but as soon as Akira laid eyes on the other the boy ran straight for his cabin. It wasn’t long until Akira got his first fetch quest. This time with Yusuke, son of Apollo and Futaba the quirky daughter of Hephaestus. It was a strange team, filled with dumb fights and hiding in the bathroom but it was successful.

Goro still won’t talk to him. Instead he ended up with two Ares girls on his twelfth birthday.

It was after this quest when he was finally given a small break. At this point he was desperate. He was tired,scared and most of all he wanted his friend back. So once he was left alone after dinner, he dragged Goro by the arm from the archery ring and into the Zeus cabin.

“We need to talk.”

They talked and talked and talked way past curfew, maybe they could have reconnect months ago. If only Akira was given a chance to settle down. But now he did.

It was Goro that figured out who his parent was, Goro always did say that whenever he was around Akira he always felt safe, at home. Other people told him that too. Even Akira felt the sense of family whenever he’s with his friends.

They hit the book soon after and came up with an answer.

Epione, the goddess of soothing pain.

Akira’s power seems to work with mental pain and after going on a quest with Goro and Hifumi, he can soothe small physical pain. Anything bigger than a small knife wound would leave him passed out on the ground. But it was better than any ambrosia or nectar, it was a rewarded feeling and an especially tiring one.

It made the quest after a lot easier.

Everything breaks down around the age of fifteen, it was quiet and sudden. Akira knew of camp deserters, they all did. It is often talked about in late night horror stories. Akira may have made one or two up on his own as well. But there has been an increase in unrest between the minor god and goddess children.

“The gods are using you as their playthings aren’t they?” Ten year old Nozoki told him one day. “How long can you keep winding yourself until you break?”

He still hasn't told anyone of his talk with the gods, yet.

It was after that day that people started leaving the camp in groups.

Yukki

Nozoki

And Goro.

The older boy didn’t even say goodbye.

Was it something Akira has done?

Their last talk was another late night one. This time hanging out on the roof of Goro’s cabin. They were talking about school. Akechi was close to finishing high school and Akira was on his way to his last year. When Akechi asked of his future plans, Akira hesitated. Was there a future for him? Akira never thought he would make it this long, even then, he did not have the time to develop any hobbies or focus on school work compared to his peers. Who cared about school when the world was ending.

Maybe it was his defeated tone, he hated it at first he really did. But now Akira just accepts it as another part of life. Demigods don’t get to live long, everyone knows that, that’s why the camp was created in the first place to provide children a safe place to live and to teach them to survive. Akira who's been in and out of the camp in almost all of his teen years has a higher chance of an early death compared to his friends.

“What if everything change.” Goro talked in a low and deep voice. A tone Akira rarely hear outside of anger and battle. He must be serious. “What if we had a chance to go out into the world without any fear of getting killed or being forced by the gods to do whatever they want.”

“That’s a dangerous thought you have there.” He replied.

“Humor me Akira.”

“Well,” What kind of answers would satisfy Goro. He honestly never really bothered to even spend time daydreaming about this. What are somethings the seasonal campers talk about during dinner time?

“I think I want to go somewhere populated.”

“Somewhere populated, Kurusu-kun?”

He nodded. “Yeah like the scramble or Kyoto, maybe even destinyland.”

“Those are tourist traps Kurusu-kun.” Goro replied wirily.

“So? What I want my wallet to get tricked by the many faces of capitalism. Aren’t they places of memories. I don't mind spending my whole day in these places. It seems like fun.”

“You know, I expected someone like you to want something more dramatic. For someone who always lives in the danger zone.”

He shrugged. “Normal is Ok, I think I would like to be that mysterious man behind the bar.”

Goro actually snorted at that. “Are you even able to stay in one place for that long?”

Ok, so maybe Goro has a point. There no why he can stay in one place for so long. But if he gets to meet new people everyday it sure to be just as fun.

“-beside, I can’t see you handling alcohol.”

“Geez Goro, way to crush my dreams. I was thinking of running some kind of underground coffee bar. “

“An underground coffee bar. That sounds like you. I think I might have isted everyday.”

“Oh? A loyal customer ? Thank you for your patronage, good sir.”

“You’re very welcomed overworked barista.”

They sighed.

“Goro is everything OK?| He finally asked. “What you have been saying lately has me worried. You know the people upstairs can hear everything here right?”

“Of course, please do not worry about me Akira-kun, I’m sure you already have lots on your plate right now.”

“But I always have space in my heart for you. Please ‘kechi, I won’t tell anyone no matter what you tell me. On my life.”

“You really shouldn’t be putting your life on the line so easily.” Goro mumbled, mostly to himself but Akira heard it all anyway.

“It’s all part of the job.” He chirp back.

The next day he was gone.

A traitor everyone called him, someone who abandoned the gods to join the wrong side historically and morally. It did not take long for the rumors to start around camp.

“I’ve always knew he was evil.”

“He was always acting so creepy around Akira I wonder if he was ever planning on killing him.”

“It’s good that he left, who knows what he would’ve done if he stayed. “

It was getting harder and harder to face each day with a smile without Goro. His other friends at least one that has yet to publicly disowned Goro stayed by his side comforting him telling him that everything is alright.

But war, war is coming and Akira is expected to be in the front line as a leader. He can’t. He does not want to do this any more. Oh godly parent please give him a sign.

But nothing came.

Nothing but ruin for Tokyo.

They were

Winning

Losing

Dying

...fighting.

They were fighting for their life, each of his friends split up into different groups to try and take back different parts of the city.

Akira was tasked to find the leader of the resistance and to put an end to it once and for all, a fitting task for the hero.

It did not take long to find him, he was exactly where Akira expected him to be and exactly where Goro wanted him to be at.

“Goro,” He mumbled, approaching his enemy with his dagger clutched in his hand tightly. “I came to stop you.”

Goro turned around to face him. Instead of the camp t-shirt and ripped jeans that Akira normally sees him in. He was instead wearing a leather jacket and a collared shirt underneath his regular jeans. It was a strange combination but Akira can’t help but to think it suits Goro well.

“I’m happy you came.”

“This is our meeting place after all.”

Enough with the banter, Akira can’t afford to stall now, not when everyone is fighting for their lives.

“Goro, surrender now. I can get the gods to put you on probation or something bu-”

“You know that’s not true. Do you really think that will pay attention to a mortal even someone like you, since when have they done anything for you.”

“I-”

“Think Akira.” Goro shouted, holding on to his shoulder for dear life. “You’ve been used over and over again. We were just kids. You don’t even have a childhood doesn’t that upset you?”

It did, it still does but Goro knows that he does not like to think about that.

“I used to be so scared.” Goro’s volume went down all the way to a whisper as if talking about this of all things would finally get him stuck down by lightning. “Everytime you come home your eyes would grow darker and darker. I used to have nightmares that the darkness would eat you alive. The trauma you endured. As a son of one of the big three it should have been me.”

Akira shook his head vigorously, he could even feel some of the hair strand stabbing his eyes. It burns a bit, but that’s not important.

“No Goro! I would never wish this life on anyone. The quest, the glory. It’s not worth it! I wanted you to be safe and happy but you ignored me.”

“I know.” Goro’s hand slowly trailed down until they came right above his waist putting the two in some sort of half hug position. “I’m sorry Akira.”

Akira swallowed back a sob threatening to come out. His dagger was right there and Goro was so close and vulnerable. He could end this, he can stop this war once and for all.

“Goro please, end this war. That way everything will go back to normal.”

“You know that’s not what’s going to happen. The gods will use you again and again until you one day burn out and they choose the next unlucky kid to be the hero.” Goro paused. “Akira...why don’t you join me.”

“Hu-”

“Lots of our men need healing. With your powers you can save them! Your mother may not recognize you but we do. We can stop this cycle and give everyone a better future. We would no longer live in fear or worried over someone’s temper tantrum. Akira, I know I haven’t been a good friend to you but I can make it all up now so please.”

Goro reached out his hand and dropped his weapon.

“Join me.”

Akira dropped his dagger as well.

He knows this isn’t the right choice, if they were to fail both Akira and Goro would face harsh unimaginable punishment. But Goro along with everything he ever wanted was right there.

Akira reached out his own hands and-

[gaarasgirlfriend]

claimed

bakugou x reader - demigod/pjo au!

in which the son of ares guides the cute new camper to her cabin 

“dude have you seen the new arrival? she’s smokin’ hot! 10 drachmas says she’s an aphrodite kid.” kaminari, son of apollo, told his friends.

hours ago, kaminari was on his way to bother chiron again, wanting to go on a quest because he was ‘bored out of his mind’ but before he could even get a word out he was met by a stranger. a very beautiful stranger. a stranger who kept glancing down at chiron’s hooves.

ah. she was new to the camp.

chiron was telling the girl about the camp’s layout, pointing over to the volleyball court where kaminari’s sister, jirou, also a child of apollo, was playing with momo who was a daughter of athena.

“i know it’s a lot to process.” chiron said, a sympathetic smile on his face.

“no kidding. the other day i was just taking a nap trying to do my algebra homework and now you’re telling me that greek gods exist and that medusa and minotaurs are real and would very much like to kill me.” the girl said.

“the woes of being a demigod...” chiron mused.

the centaur looked up to see kaminari watching the pair, “ah kaminari my boy, come here.”

‘gladly’ he thought, checking out the girl.

“y/n this is kaminari son of-”

“kaminari, son of apollo. it’s a pleasure.” kaminari grabbed her hand and kissed her hand.

“do all children of aphrodite do this? because i’m more creeped oout by this than any gorgon sister honestly.” y/n said, taking her hand back after kaminari kissed her hand.

“i’m actually a child of apollo but i’m sure that my good looks confused you~ it’s okay~” he chuckled.

“this whole interaction will be so funny if i ended up being a child of apollo.” she suddenly mentioned, which made the blonde-haired boy freeze up. 

“i- are you-” he started to say.

“don’t worry though, it’s my mom who left.” she said, with a slightly hurt tone that kaminari picked up on, after feeling the same way for 13 years he could recognize another lonely person from a 100 miles away.

he suddenly smiled, “ don’t worry, you’ll find family at this camp.” he patted her back as he directed her over towards the cabins, waving bye to chiron as he left to scold mineta, a satyr, for harassing yet another wood nymph again

“bet you’re hoping that you’re not part of that family after flirting with me.” she snorted.

kaminari’s face flushed, “it’s a habit!”

currently he was telling the bakusquad (nickname given by mina after the five of them were on a quest) about the girl he was with earlier.

“ i hope she ends uo being your sister. that’ll really teach you not to flirt with every girl you see.” sero, child of hermes, said while shaking his head. 

“i guess falling for relatives runs in the family. izuku’s dad for example.” mina joked. izuku’s father, zeus, wed his sister, hera, who had no children at this camp out of loyalty. 

“be careful saying shit like that you pink haired dumbass! you never know when zeus is feeling less merciful than usual.” bakugou, son of ares, seethed.

“aww! bakugou~ you care for me~” mina teased the boy who was sharpening his sword.

a pair of crimson eyes rolled as the owner scoffed, “better pray to morpheus because that would only happen in your dream you fucker.”

the group laughed at the blonde boy who continued raging at the pink-haired girl. 

“anyways, i’ll take you up on your offer kaminari! we had an aphrodite kid two weeks ago so i don’t think we’d have another one so soon.” kirishima said.

the redheaded son of hephaestus was sitting on the floor, tinkering with some weapons, with sero and mina sitting down with him. 

“me too.” bakugou’s gruff voice called out.

the group looked back at him, eyebrows raised.

he gave them a wicked smile, “i’m just praying that she ends up being a child of apollo.” he started to cackle, the rest of the group, excluding kaminari, joining him.

“where is she now? i want to meet her!” sero said, standing up. 

“yeah me too!”

“same here!”

“i was going to show her around but then jirou and momo took over. jirou said that i ‘wasn’t to be trusted with any girl’. it hurt! i wasn’t going to pursue her until after she got claimed!” kaminari sighed, shaking his head.

“as they should. they probably saw you kissing the poor girl’s hand and decided to save her.” mina said.

“yeah, yeah, whatever. anyways sero! you ready to fight bakugou?” kaminari said.

the boy got his sword and stood up, “been ready but you were on that tangent about that chick.”

“whatever. anyways let’s start.” bakugou said.

meanwhile while they were fighting, you were with momo and jirou. it really surprised you when you found out that they were brother and sister, given his bold personality and jirou’s chillness.

“okay so sero is going to show you to the hermes cabin, where you’ll be staying at until you’re claimed.” momo explained to you.

“got it! is sero a son of hermes?” you asked.

“yes, he’s been at this camp since he was 12. most of the campers have been here since they were 12 but once in a while we get an older kid like you.” jirou explained.

“how about you guys? how long have you been here?” you asked curiously.

“we actually arrived together. we went to the same school and we er, ran away together after a cyclops attacked us while we were camping.” momo said.

“oh gosh, that was probably terrifying.” you mumbled.

“it was. but luckily there was a satyr there who helped us.” momo said.

talking a bit more, you guys finally made it in front of the arena where sero supposedly was. the arena was a huge conference building that towered over most of the other buildings. it was between the cabins and the armory.

“oh my god, this is the arena?? it looks like the roman coliseum! it’s huge!” you said, amazed by the big building.

“wait till you see the amphitheater and climbing wall.” jirou snickered.

“a climbing wall? what?” you looked at jirou.

momo chuckled, pulling you inside of the building, “come along now.”

walking inside of the building, you were met with about 50 people inside of the building. a few of them spared you a glance or waved to momo and jirou but other than that, everyone went back to their training. the room was lined with dummies and weapons. the sounds of angry grunts, yells, and swords clashing seemed to fill the air as you looked around in amazement.

‘holy shit! that kid’s hands are glowing! and he’s? making the dummy levitate? who is he the child of and can i have magical powers too?’ you thought to yourself.

you looked towards the back of the arena to see a small group circling two swordsmen. one of them had black hair and pale skin, although he seemed to be knowing what he was doing, he was losing to the other guy.

‘oh damn.’ was your first thought when you looked over at the blonde haired boy.

he was tall, with a muscular build that was adorned with a black tank top and sweats which was a bit strange as most of the other campers were donned with the standard orange shirt. but you weren’t complaining. he looked good. his body was coated with sweat, and his muscles flexed with each swing of his sword. he was gaining distance on his opponent. his crimson eyes were narrowed in concentration, a slight scowl on his face as the black haired boy dodged his sword.

that soon ended when the blonde guy suddenly disarmed the ravenette, his sword clanging on the floor as it fell about 5 feet away. the blonde boy had his sword pointing at the other boy’s chest, his own chest heaving up in down.

the black haired boy sighed, with his hands up, “i give up.”

the blonde haired boy smirked, and you could feel yourself almost gasp.

you would’ve believed in all of this greek mythology shit a lot sooner if they showed you this boy. he was literally carved by the gods themselves.

the boy went over to his friends as the small crowd dispersed. a red-haired boy handed him a towel.

“hey sis! hey momo! bold of you to show your faces around these parts when you stole y/n from me.” kaminari said.

jirou rolled her eyes, “i have a legal obligation to protect all women in this world from you. thank god the hunters of artemis haven’t met you. you would’ve been killed on the spot.”

“whatever! hey y/n! missed me?” kaminari said, walking up to you.

“how could i miss the guy who may be my brother even though he flirted with me?” you chuckled.

he suddenly looked up to the sky, “whoever y/n’s parent is please claim her! u-unless it’s you dad!”

they laughed at the boy’s dumb antics. kaminari then took them over to where his friends were sitting.

“hey guys! this is y/n! she’s new here so be nice! looking at you bro~” kaminari said.

you looked over to see he was talking to the guy who won the fight. your eyes made contact with his before he suddenly looked away with a small ‘tch’.

“he’s like that sometimes. you get used to it. i’m kirishima, son of hephaestus, nice to meet you!” the redheaded boy said as he was putting together a weapon. he seemed like a very kind person.

“hey girl! i’m mina, daughter of dionysus!” the girl with pink hair waved to you.

“i’m sero, son of hermes! i’ll show you to your temporary cabin!” the black haired boy grinned.

“nice to meet you all! i’m y/n, like kaminari said and i hope we get along!” you said.

you looked over to bakugou since he didn’t introduce himself yet, “and who might you be?”

“...bakugou, son of ares.” he mumbled.

“son of ares huh? that makes sense. he’s the god of war right? you were amazing with that sword! well granted i don’t know much about swords or anything like that but it looked badass! you too sero, you did amazing!” you said.

“thanks! i wonder what kind of weapon you’ll wield...” sero said as he tapped on his chin.

kirishima suddenly jolted, “y/n! you have to let me build your weapon once you find out what you like!”

you nodded, “of course!”

“we’re gonna be heading out now! bye y/n!” jirou and momo called out to you.

“bye guys, thanks for showing me around," you called out to them.

you turned back to face the group when sero suddenly said, “we should probably head out soon too-” he was interrupted when a young boy around the age of 8 or 9 came up to him,

“sero! you’re still gonna train me right? i haven’t gotten the hang of my new sword that kirishima built for me.” kirishima grinned at the fact that the young boy was taking training so seriously with the weapon he built for the boy.

sero squatted down to the small brunette boy and ruffled his hair, “of course lucas! let’s go over to that dummy to practice!”

“yay! thank you sero!” the boy said, energetically dragging the older boy towards the dummy.

sero looked behind him to look at you, “sorry!”

you only smiled back, “it’s okay!” if a kid as cute as lucas ever asked you to do anything, you didn’t think you could say no to him either.

“well now that sero’s plans have been foiled i will take it upon myself to deliver y/n to the cabin of hermes.” kaminari declared.

“oi dunce face, i’ll take her. after what happened earlier i don’t think you’re to be trusted with another girl for at least another 100 years.” bakugou snorted, earning a laugh from you.

kaminari pouted as bakugou gestured you to follow him. the remaining bakusquad members only stared at the leaving duo as they made their way out of the arena. 

“no way.”

“i agree.”

“bakugou just offered to walk a girl back to her cabin? kaminari did you hex me again?” kirishima said. 

“so what’s the story behind the nickname dunce face?” you asked as you walked beside the tall boy. 

finally being close to him you could see him even closer. he had faded scars littered all over his arms, but there was a scar that was underneath his collarbone that stuck out to you. it was quite big, probably from a monster’s claw. his skin was slightly tanned, from being outside training, you assumed. his spiky hair looked very soft and you had to stop yourself from touching it. but oh lord did you want to pat his head.

bakugou snorted in response to your question, “that idiot was in a prank war with the hermes cabin. he tried to hex them but messed up and ended up hexing himself to be dumber than usual for a whole 24 hours. amusing as it was, it was tiring taking care of him.”

you laughed, “i barely know the guy but i can say with full confidence that that is something he would do.”

his lips quirked up for a second butt you didn’t seem to notice, “yeah he’s a dumbass.”

“how long have you been at this camp? and how long did it take for you to get claimed?” you asked curiously.

he shrugged, “about 6 years. a hellhound attacked me while i was on a school trip but chiron was disguised as my substitute teacher so after a phone call to my mom, we arrived here. it took about 3 days for ares to claim me. it was right after a game of capture-the-flag, my team won courtesy of me. i guess dad was so proud he decided to proudly show me off or something.” he smirked.

“woah, that’s cool!” you said, looking at bakugou in amazement.

“damn right it is.”

a few minutes passed as you guys walked towards the cabin.

“how’d an idiot like you even find this place? a satyr help you?” he suddenly asked.

“yep. his name was mineta, i think? i was about an hour away from this place before a hellhound attacked me. mineta was nearby oogling at some chick and he helped me here.”

bakugou suddenly looked at you, “MINETA? that perverted bastard? i hate his ass, he should be fed to cerberus.”

“i agree with you on that one buddy, while we were hiding he kept on staring at me. what a creep. but he was pretty helpful when we were running away. guess he decided his life was more important than a pair of boobs and actually got serious.”

bakugou’s ears suddenly got very hot as he sputtered, “y-you idiot girl! you’re even more perverted than that dumbass mineta!”

you only laughed in response.

“we’re here.” bakugou said.

you guys had reached the cabins and you were gazing at them in awe. all of them were huge. there was one that was made out of pure gold, one was made of silver, one looked like a mini aquarium, another was covered with barbed wire and housed some very loud kids. you guessed that that one was the ares cabin.

you saw a kid with half red and half white hair come out of the black cabin that looked like a haunted house. he went up to the house in the center of the half circle of cabins to meet up with the green-haired boy walking out of the cabin that had a big lightning bolt etched into it. 

“woah…” was the only thing you could say.

���okay bye.” bakugou said, suddenly walking towards the cabin cabin that had a pair of kids wrestling in front of the doorsteps as other kids cheered for them.

“huh? wait!” you grabbed his hand.

“let go of my hand dumb idiot!” he said, a small blush on his face.

“you have to walk inside with me! I don’t know anyone.” you pouted at him.

he rolled his eyes, “only if you let go of my hand.”

once you let go of his hand, you guys headed inside.

the cabin was normal enough, but it was slightly bigger than the other cabins. you assumed it was to take in unclaimed demigods such as yourself. it was filled with about 50 bunk beds. but only about 20 kids were in their bunks, most of them taking naps.

“incoming!” you heard a feminine voice say from above you. 

before you could look up, bakugou pulled you into his body as he moved towards the right. a storm of water balloons that seemed to be enchanted was hurled at the stope you were standing at. 

“rin! you said you would finally get them outside the cabin this time! at this rate the apollo bastards are gonna win.” you heard a girl say.

“relax yuki! i’m gonna make it this time i can feel it!” rin said.

“sorry about that!” they both called down to you.

you paid them no attention. how could you when you were chest to chest with bakugou right now? you could feel his firm chest against yours and you could’ve sowrn you felt a set of abs underneath that thin tank top. 

“dumbass, you didn’t even move out of the way. just accepted your fate, huh?” he teased.

he gently pushed you away and saw the slight blush you had on your face, “did being that close to me have that much of an effect on you?”

“shut up~” you whined as you hid your face in your hands. 

he chuckled and you suddenly looked up at him, he was cute when he laughed.

“hey! are you a new camper?” an orange-haired girl walked up to you.

“looks like it, poor thing has been following this aggressive bastard all day. i saw them in the arena!” the blonde boy next to her laughed. he was suddenly elbowed in the stomach by the girl. you decided that you liked the girl.

“i am! y/f/n unclaimed and at your service,” you said.

“so lame…” you heard bakugou mumble underneath his breath. it was now your turn to elbow him.

“i’m kendo! this is monoma! both children of hermes!” the orange-haired girl said.

“i bet she’s a demeter kid. i get nature vibes from her.” monoma said.

“what the tartarus does nature vibes even mean?” bakugou asked. was he getting offended on your behalf? how sweet. also what the hell was tartarus?

“she looks weak-” bakugou’s eyebrow twitched in annoyance at the boy’s response.

“anyways! we’ll take over from here bakugou!” they walked away, motioning for you to follow them.

you took a step towards them before glancing at bakugou, “thanks for bringing me here bakugou! it was nice talking to you, you’re a fun guy to be around!” and with that, you walked away. 

‘a fun guy? me?’ a ghost of a smile appeared on his lips.

it suddenly dropped, “oh shit.”

he suddenly looked up towards the sky, “dad, please tell me you kept it in your pants for her mom.”

the sky gave no response.

“ya know, i usually hate the color orange but i’m liking this shirt! makes me feel like i’m apart of something exclusive!” you told kendo as you checked yourself out in the bathroom mirror.

“i know the feeling girlie! but you look good in that shirt! also what’s up with you and bakugou? you two a thing?” she teased to which you blushed in response.

“n-no! i mean he’s cute but-“ 

“aha! i knew it! you two are so cute! but i’d wait until after you get claimed… ya know… so you know for sure you’re not siblings.”

“oh it’s fine! it’s my mom who’s gone!” you said.

“oh then you’re good!” she smiled at you.

“but does he know that?” 

your smile dropped, “uh oh.” 

“DUDE! can’t believe you’re in the same boat kaminari was in!” kirishima howled as he clutched his stomach.

“SHUT UP BEFORE I HAMMER YOUR FACE IN WITH THAT NEW SHIT WEAPON YOU MADE!” bakugou growled.

“i mean i would ask her if it’s her mom or dad that’s gone.” kirishima said after calming down.

bakugou went quiet. he often did this when kirishima said something that bakugou did not think of. like this for example.

“thanks.” he mumbled very quietly. to the untrained ear, it would’ve sounded like bakugou said nothing. but kirishima knew better, “go get her buddy.” 

it was finally time for the campfire and you were excited! granted, any situation that called for s’mores made you happy. walking to the campfire where most of the students were, you waved at monoma and kendo before heading over to where kaminari and sero were.

“hey guys!” you smiled at them.

“hey y/n! liking the shirt!” sero said.

you laughed, “finally one of you guys!” 

“how was the hermes cabin?” kaminari asked you. 

“chaotic. there was a prank war going on between your two cabins. but it was kinda fun! monoma swiped me some apollo kid’s bow but i had no idea what to do with it.” you shook your head.

“y/n! hi! ohh i see you’re finally one of us now!” mina said as she arrived with bakugou and kirishima.

“yep!” 

“gather around campers!” chiron said before starting the camp fire songs.

you couldn’t really participate, as you didn’t know any of the songs, but you were still enjoying the experience.

“hey.” a gruff voice called out to you, breaking you out of your stupor.

“bakugou! woah you’re actually wearing the orange shirt for a change… consider me impressed.” you teased.

with a minuscule smile on his face, he sat down next to you on the tree log as you both stared into the fire. his body heat was arguably hotter than the fire itself. he was very warm and you wanted to cuddle up in his arms. 

“so how was your first day of camp?” bakugou asked.

“kind of crazy honestly, never thought that satyrs or centaurs would exist. nor did i expect to be attacked by a scary ass dog while i was just strolling through the city. but it is nice to finally get some answers as to who i am. plus i met some pretty cool people along the way.” you looked into his eyes and grinned.

he laughed, “yeah, i find kaminari cool as well. even if that shithead is currently burning his tongue with that marshmallow.”

you rolled your eyes and punched his arm, “i hate you.”

“hate me? you’ve literally been following me around today like a little duckling. i don’t know if you could call that hate.” he nudged her with his shoulder.

“who else was going to show me around? kaminari? would you have let him?” you mused, leaning a bit closer to him.

he chuckled, a smile on his face, “maybe, who knows.”

he suddenly realizes that you’re very close to him and he leans back, both of your faces hot.

you realize that you need to tell him about your mother before he decides to stop to pursue you. 

“hey bakugou… i need to tell you about my parents…” you suddenly say, bakugou meeting your eyes once again.

“yeah, what about them?”

“well my mother is actually-” you started before you noticed he was staring above your head. you looked around to see almost every camper looking at you. you looked up to see the image of a glowing pink dove.

“huh?” was all you could say before you looked down to see yourself in a white ancient chiton dress. you lifted your dress and saw yourself in golden sandals. your arms were adorned with gold bands. you touched your hair and felt that it was done perfectly. you felt your lips coated with gloss, so you assumed your makeup had been done as well.

“the fuck…?” you muttered before looking up at everyone. 

they all were bowing to you, bakugou included.

“all hail, y/n l/n, daughter of aphrodite, goddess of love and beauty.”

“well at least he doesn’t havent to worry now.” kirishima mumbled to his friends.

“nice meeting you camie and shindou!” she waved at the pair. they were her siblings. that would take a while to get used to.

“call me sis!” camie squealed while shindou rolled his eyes at her and walked away towards the rest of the aphrodite kids.

“looks like kaminari didn’t have to worry after all.” you heard bakugou say behind you.

when you turned around to look at him, you felt him suck in a breath. did you look that different?

“looks like it.” you smiled.

“s-so what was that thing you were going to tell me?” bakugou cursed himself for stuttering. but who wouldn’t curse while in your presence? makeover or not, you were still probably the prettiest girl bakugou has ever seen.

“oh… i was going to tell you that my godly parent was my mom, not my dad.” you mumbled.

“oh?” he smirked, “and why did you feel the need to tell me that?”

you rolled your eyes, “you know why you idiot.”

“please enlighten me.”

“it’d be really weird to want to date your brother, so i just gave you the go ahead.” you said, suddenly finding the ground very interesting.

“did aphrodite make you bolder too along with that makeover?” bakugou questioned, snickering to himself.

“huh? i’ve always been bold! remember when i talked about boobs-”

he clamped his hand over your mouth, looking around the camp to make sure no one overheard.

“you’re crazy. wouldn’t be surprised if you were a dionysus kid.”

“whatever…” you rolled your eyes, a smile on your face.

a moment of silence pass as you looked around the camp, many of the campers were heading back to their cabins and you decided it was time to leave.

“i think it’s time i head out, everyone is leaving.” you said.

“see ya.” you heard him ay, a slight look of disappointment on his face.

you took one step towards the cabins before you turned back towards the blonde haired boy, “actually i can’t seem to find my way back to my new cabin. could you help me out?”

he smiled, “you really are a dumbass.”

[therainbowwillow]

For a Price AU Part 4

In which Orpheus is raised by Hades.

(Ps. I cut this part in half, which is why it’s comparatively short. Real-life springtime comes with a whole new world of tasks that must be accomplished and I’ve had less time to write.)

Eurydice rarely leaves her cabin. Day after painstaking day, she cares for Orpheus, forcing him to drink and eat and keep breathing. She desperately tries to pry information out of him when he’s conscious, rare events, few and far between. It is a struggle to get him to say anything without a coughing fit to follow. And when he does manage speak up something, his words are hardly coherent. 

He’s awake now and Eurydice attempts to coax information out of him once again. She has a million questions. Where are you from? How far did you walk? What is happening to you? She asks only one. “Is anyone looking for you?”

“I... don’t know.” His words are strained, but he’d given a coherent answer. She pulls him into her arms as he begins to cough. Somehow, he’s still conscious when his fit ends.

“Who would look for you?” One more answer. Please.

“Mom and dad. My family.”

To her shock, he doesn’t start coughing. His breaths are shallow, but he’s breathing. That’s plenty enough to will her to continue her questioning. “What are their names?”

“Persephone and Hades.” She tenses. What cause does a man have to lie when he is on his deathbed? 

She keeps her voice even. “The queen and king of the underworld?” she asks, sweetly.

He nods, his head against her chest.

His breaths are labored now. She doesn’t have much longer before he passes out. “Do you live with your father?”

“Yeah.”

Eurydice forces herself to take a deep breath. “Does he know you’re here?”

“No... mama left... in the morning...”

“Is she looking for you?”

“It’s springtime,” he chokes out. Then he’s coughing again. Longer than usual and far worse. 

When he falls silent, he’s unconscious, barely breathing. Eurydice leans back against her pillow, holding Orpheus next to her. When she rests, she sleeps beside him in case he wakes. Or worse, he doesn’t. 

Today however, she doesn’t sleep. If he is telling the truth- and she is nearly sure he is- then she is harboring the son of not one but two deities, the heir to the underworld, clearly some kind of young god himself, if his song has anything to say on the matter. And he’s in her arms, barely breathing. 

She hates herself for her selfish inquiries, but the questions press at the back of her mind. What happens to her if he dies? Would she be struck down by the Lord of the Dead himself? By some other family member of the well-connected poet? Tortured for an eternity for her failure to save him? 

Orpheus coughs. His breaths suddenly quicken. “You’re awake?” She tries to hide her surprise. Already?

There are tears on his cheeks. For all of his pain, he rarely cries. Perhaps he doesn’t have the energy. Eurydice pulls him a little closer. He relaxes at her touch, as he always does. 

“Your mother visits the surface, right?” She hates to question him like this. She is no detective and he is not a prisoner. Still, she asks, in fear that she soon will not receive answers.

Orpheus nods wearily.

“I’m sorry, Orpheus. I just want to keep you safe,” she says, leaving out the saving-her-own-skin part for the sake of his trust. “Will your father get word to her of your absence?”

Another nod, very slight.

“You’ve gotta answer this out loud,” she warns him. “How can I contact your parents?” The instant the words come out of her mouth, she regrets them. Isn’t the whole point of all this simply to survive? Keep Orpheus alive long enough to sing a garden into existence, pray he disappears again, and be sure to advise him never to return at every chance she gets. That’s the plan. Stay on the good side of the gods. Save her own ass. To hell with the rest.

Absent from the plan is purposely contacting his divine parents to come smite her for failing to protect their son. And yet here she is, protecting Orpheus’s safety over her own.

“I don’t know,” he tells her. Eurydice sighs in relief. She tried. At least she won’t have to live with not having tried.

“Thank you for answering my questions.”

“Mm hm.” He hums, absentmindedly. She follows his gaze over his shoulder, fixed upon his guitar.

“You want to play?” she asks.

“I can’t sing anymore.” Eurydice hates to see him so defeated. He had seemed so sure of himself once. Where had his confidence gone? His joy?

She stands and retrieves the instrument. She helps Orpheus sit upright, propped against a pillow. She takes a seat next to him and lets him lean on her shoulder. “I’ve never played before. I can sing, and you can teach me how to strum the right notes,” she explains.

Orpheus grins. “It isn’t so simple.”

“I’m learning from the best. I’m sure I’ll figure it out,” she teases, trying to keep him distracted. He hadn’t spoken so much for days.

“You’re holding it wrong,” he remarks.

“Oh.”

Orpheus laughs softly. Eurydice watches the way his eyes crinkle up. And when he laughs, the sound is almost like music.

He adjusts the positioning of her hands. “Strum.” She does. “That’s the first chord.”

“Simple enough,” Eurydice shrugs. 

“Ah, but you have to sing on top of it.”

She glares at him. “Well now you’re making it harder on purpose!”

“You have to dance too!” he says with a laugh. 

Eurydice rolls her eyes. “Spare me from that, at least.” 

“Fine, fine,” he concedes. “Here’s the second chord.” Orpheus plays it for her and she repeats it. 

This process continues until Eurydice has learned the basics of a few simple lines, singing the notes and all. As long as she sings, Orpheus seems a little stronger. His eyes are brighter, his skin cooler to the touch. Still, he tires quickly, and soon, he does not guide her hand as she strums his guitar, opting instead to lean up against her, his eyes closed, simply taking in the music. His breathing slows as he drifts into sleep. Eurydice continues to sing, considering it her payment for the garden he had once provided her.

...

“Lord Hades.” Thanatos speaks, Death embodied. Hades recognizes his voice. The King of the Underworld does not open his door, dreading what he might hear.

Thanatos does not wait for an answer. “Forgive me, Lord Hades, but this is a matter of immediate concern.” Hades says nothing, only lifting his head from his papers. 

“I have located your son.” Hades wants to shout at him, demand word of Orpheus’s location, but Thanatos continues: “He cannot survive much longer. My Lord, I will not harm him so long as I can prevent it, but my duty to death is not preventable.”

Hades forces himself to keep his breaths even. “You found him and made no attempt to return him home?”

“That is not my domain. I fear I would have harmed him further.”

“Is Hermes aware of this development? And my wife?”

Thanatos nods. “I spoke to them both before yourself. I believe Orpheus may survive until they locate him.”

There is no comfort in those words. “Will he or won’t he live?” Hades growls.

“I do not have an answer.”

“How long does he have?”

Thanatos considers for a moment. “No longer than days, if that.” 

“Bring him no harm,” Hades implores.

“I will try.”

...

Orpheus does not wake in the morning. His breaths are shallow and his skin is colorless, as it had been before he had disappeared. Eurydice curses herself for sleeping so long. Maybe she would’ve noticed the progression of his condition if she had not been resting herself. 

She searches her shelves methodically for something to eat, turning up only a few dried leaves. Her stomach growls, but she does not eat them. Instead, she shakes Orpheus until he wakes, half conscious. He groans in pain. She brushes the tears off his cheeks. “What is it, Orpheus?” she asks.

He coughs in response, half sobbing. Now Eurydice is afraid. She has always known that her care isn’t adequate. She has no medicine, nothing filling to eat, and her meager shelter is hot in the days and cold as ice by night. Even so, she had been hopeful that it might be enough. Orpheus had been improving. 

“Please,” she begs. “Say something.”

“I love you.”

Eurydice squeezes his hands. “I love you too, Orpheus.” She has no time to be shocked at the words she’d just spoken before Orpheus is overcome by a coughing fit. Eurydice pulls him into her arms, gently patting his back and whispering words of comfort. Comfort, she tells herself, not lies. His coughs grow weaker and weaker.

“Shh... shh... You’re alright,” she attempts to comfort him, “Breathe.”

Suddenly, he does not breathe. He does not cry. “No... no!” Eurydice shouts for him, receiving no reply. He doesn’t turn to ash or bloom into a flower or ascend into the sky. He simply lays in her arms, motionless, as any mortal might. Eurydice screams and shakes him and pours the last of her water across his face, praying the shock might wake him. It does not. 

He’s dead. It hits her like a rush of cold air in the summer’s heat. He can’t die. Not like this. Not her Orpheus, who had sung the world back to life in the dead of winter and walked a thousand, thousand miles just to speak to her one more time. 

“Lady Persephone, hear me!” Eurydice begs. There is nothing proper about her cries. She has nothing to sacrifice, no words to recite. “Lord Hades! Someone, hear me! Anyone...” If she is heard, no one answers. 

Eurydice feels like a madman, screaming into nothingness. Maybe Orpheus had been lying all along and she had only bothered deities who cared very little for her mortal fears. She pulls Orpheus into her arms and sobs. “Don’t do this to me,” she whispers, as if he has a choice in the matter.

[notfeelingthyaster]

Imagine (inspired by the incomplete fanfic Son of Underworld) (2/5) (Son of Hades! Percy AU)

Check the other parts in the masterpost - read the warnings before proceeding. Good reading!!

After the worse summer, Percy goes home.

Luke's proposal keeps swimming in his head - the blonde is not wrong, but Percy has been scammed before - he remembers once that a "friend" convinced him to be a lookout for him to do something shady at the Dean's Office and then put the blame on him.

And he was blamed - Percy is black, and black kids are never the innocent ones - but now he knows better.

Being a child of the Underworld gods is not that different from being black. 

Percy is comfortable with his skin though - his mother is incredible, and most people at Camp are mixed up. Charles is African-American. Selena's father is Muslim, and the Stoll's mother is Jewish (half the reason they are year-rounders). Clarisse's mom is from Nicaragua. Michael Yew has a Brazilian grandma with Japanese heritage.

He isn't friends with most of them - Charles is like a big brother to him and Michael Yew taught him how to shoot an arrow, but Clarisse is at most a good spar partner and nor the Stolls nor Silena care for his company very much.

Percy tells himself that he doesn't care.

He packs his bags - a blue and red backpack and a few surf shirts from the amusement park where he destroyed a pool and made the ground swallow mechanic spiders, both the Minotaurs horns, now fashioned into very cool knives, his Warhammer and his ax slung across his back. The only sweater he has, the one he came here with, the blue one, is warming him up to the chill of autumn.

Chiron asks him if he doesn't want to stay. He touches the willow standing in the furthest shore of the river, the one that marks the barrier of Camp Half-Blood. It used to be Thalia Grace, daughter of Poseidon.

Chiron looks to him with pity. He doesn't need to know that Percy is planning to murder Gabe Ugliano.

Percy goes to do that. He travels, by car. He has enough money - he has money appearing in his pockets all the time now, his father must be truly guilty.

Then he opens the door of his old apartment - but Gabe is not there, in the living room. There's just his mom, on the couch.

His mom

Alive

Percy cries, and they hug, and then they trade stories. She tells him she was asleep in Olympus, and Zeus gave her back when the bolt got to his hands.

He is less angry. But the heavy weight of indignation seats in his stomach. 

There's no time for it now: Percy is going back to Yancy Academy - his grades were not bad - and Gabe is now a very charming statue for someone very rich (later, he will discover it was Persephone who bought it).

He tells her everything, safe in her arms, no shirt, no gloves. His mom can touch him everywhere - not even a cell in his body would attack her.

He is so touch starved he keeps sleeping in her bed for a week, and, at night, he cries. Percy has horrible nightmares - he is just twelve and he has killed.

He tells her about his meeting with his father in hushed whispers at an evening where the sky is blue and pink - just how he likes it.

Sally almost goes to the Underworld herself smack sense in her ex-lover, but she knows Persephone would do so for her.

Percy tells her about Luke - not about the Rebellion, lest any gods hear him, but about Luke and Alabaster and Ethan and those kids, alone in a Cabin of rejects.

She says she is going back to college - and that she'll do her best to go see him every weekend at Yancy.

He tells her about his powers. Sally doesn't like the risks but say he should start practicing for his own safety.

They cuddle and Percy clings to his anchor like a lifeline. Percy wants to go to the Underworld again sometime - more to play with Cerberus than to do anything else.

He takes the bus reluctantly - he offers to stay and go to public school, but he knows his chance lays at Yancy.

Percy study Math. He is in seventh grade now - the real Math is here, the financials and calculus and they keep putting him in "Gifted and Advanced" classes for it.

His English still sucks. Biology, for all that should be easy for him, its way too boring - he prefers dead bodies, thank you very much.

He excels at Math and Health&PE (which summer camp took care), passes with acceptable grades in World History, Geography and Social Studies (he nails a project about demographics with some really helpful ghosts), does badly in Science and fails tragically at English and Literature.

They call him a genius - and a genius has areas they specialize in. His grades in math are enough to push him to the eighth grade.

At weekends, when his mother can't come to see him, he locks his dorm and practices his shadow traveling and his powers over the earth and metal manipulation.

His shadow traveling is a mess - once he ends up in Ukraine, and panics trying to come back, just to end up in Wyoming. Again.

Thrice, he manages to reach the underworld. It's winter - Persephone is somewhere down there, but he doesn't want to see his father. He plays with Cerberus when he has some energy - the first two times he just cuddles up with the dog and sleeps a little.

The last time he goes to the Underworld, it's the last day before summer break - he still has not made any contact with his dad, he still doesn't know if he wants to join Luke, he still doesn't know if he wants to go back to CHB.

He goes back to his Mom's house with a hellhound puppy and makes kitten eyes until she lets it stays - if he trains and feeds him and whatnot.

He has dreams about Grover in a bride's dress. It freaks the hell out of him because there's a cyclops in it.

Percy is crossing the street with groceries when he sees a cyclops. He doesn't give the creature a chance to see him - he goes to his room and start packing - it's too dangerous for him, and he can't lose his Mom again.

He cuddles his Mom and the puppy - which he named Blackjack - and calls Chiron.

Chiron is sending Annabeth - apparently, something happened to the borders of the camp.

Percy decides to help, for Annabeth, for Grover, for the small kids at Cabin 9 and 11, and the newbies (there's one, Will Solace, who isn't even eleven yet and he has been there for a year).

He packs his colorful sweaters (rebelling, but in the opposite direction of his father’s aesthetic), put his puppy in a leash (it's bigger than a mastiff now, but all dogs are puppies) and wait for his best friend.

She meets him with an expression of someone who is announcing a funeral - Grover is lost in his searches for Pan.

Percy thinks the little tremor that shook his building it's a good enough hold in his powers, nothing is broken and no one is dead, so it's fine.

He hugs Annabeth and feels warm inside. Health classes covered changes in his body, but he didn't expect to be that quick. Annabeth is taller than him by at least five inches and much prettier.

He picks up his Warhammer and his ax (how does the mist occlude that? do everyone think he is doing cosplay?), throws a duffel bag in his shoulder, his loyal puppy beside him.

"Are you getting into the dark vibe, Corpse Breath?"

"Shut up Annie"

The camp is being attacked - they get a weird taxi thing, pay extra and are given three random locations in the mainland.

Percy doesn't forget the names. There's Agramonte, in Cuba; Okeechobee, in Florida; and Pic La Selle in Haiti.

CHB is being attacked when they get there - by bronze bulls no less. Percy goes to battle with a weapon in each hand, like a war god.

Clarisse does way more damage than him, bashing bull metal skulls left and right like a master. But he kills one of five and does damage to other two.

She claps him in the back - he is glad he has a sweater on, even if it is a horrible shade of brilliant orange.

Charles and him take the weapons to the Forge to correct any damage. Charles hugs him and then starts gushing about Silena.

Charles and Annabeth takes him to see the new Camp Director.

It's Tantalus.

Percy laughs so hard he almost falls down, and Dionysus looks bored - but Percy isn't dumb, he sees mirth in his eyes.

He wants so badly to do a smart comment. He wants to see if his powers can rip a ghost that his father reinstated. He wants to taunt Tantalus.

"What are you laughing about, metic?"

"Nothing, you remind me of someone."

But Percy fends off other questions, and sits at the Cabin 11 table obediently. He wants to startle that man so badly he won't ever sneer at Percy anymore.

He knows just the people for the job. They aren't in any way close, but they all up for mischief. His opportunity comes with the chariot race announced - Percy corners the Stoll Brothers.

"Let me race with you" He starts, and they look surprised by any emotion coming from him in their direction (Percy smiles were reserved for Annie and Grover and Luke and Alabaster and Ethan).

"I want to startle Tantalus and you want victory - I can give you any chariot, if you let me swarm the whole road with skeletons"

The Stolls look at one another, and mentally say something, before doing a random coin toss.

"I'm racing with you" Says Connor.

They mark a time to see the chariot in the next day. They take the whole Cabin 11 with them to prevent attention - Percy is not letting this game go.

Percy gets a chariot directly from the underworld, black obsidian (not Stygian iron, way too rare) and silver, with blue gems that glisten under the sun, a Helm with wings marking its front.

There are four horses pushing it - skeletal horses, incapable of feeling pain or thirst.

It's the first time Percy feels like he belongs - this is a competition, and he is going to win.

Connor and Travis have an array of contraptions and grenades and smoke bombs.

They arrive at the start line at last, for maximum impact. No one is expecting this - they're waiting for Hermes' old chariot, a rickety thing that should be scrap years ago, with any Pegasi they managed to gather in the stables.

They forgot something: Percy exists. It's normal, and Percy it's okay with it in this instance.

The Stymphalian Birds appear - and are countered by his skeletons hitting their spears and swords on their shields. None of them hit him, and the Cabin 11 arrives at first followed by a disgruntled Clarisse after she fought at least 20 skeletons.

Tantalus tries. He really tries to accuse Percy of cheating, but it's pointed out - with approval of Dionysus to boot - that the Demeter kids used their vines to place third and Pollux and Castor did the same to get the fifth spot - just behind the giant contraption that was the Hephaestus chariot.

Clarisse is not happy with the second spot and the silver laurels, but she claps him in the back anyway - Ares is the god of war, not bad sportsmanship.

The Hermes Cabin is in euphoria - Apollo, who placed last, after Aphrodite since they unleashed a dozen doves with a sleeping potion in their faces, it's doing all of the Cabin 11 chores for a month - and they are having a feast of the gods.

Just that night, Percy sacrifices a big pomegranate for Hades and one for Persephone - forgiveness, can you imagine?

He sacrifices to Hermes, as always, for taking the small kids. He sees the joy in their faces - and while Percy is a person reserved to his friends and now he is mostly stoic Perseus, son of Hades, forge gremlin, he always hugs the kids that have nightmares.

It's not what he wanted - it's weird to be touched. It's weirder to have someone want to be next to him. Percy is a cactus, he is prickly. He never smiles. He misses his mom - she would know what to do.

But the little kids trust him. Lou Ellen is unclaimed since the ending of last summer - Percy doesn't know if she has someone to return to.

Those kids at Cabin 11 deserve more then a couple of teens taking care of them. Those kids deserve better, they all deserve better.

There are seven-year-old children there. They barely know how to read. Percy teaches - Annabeth teaches history and myths and Greek, but is he who takes on math to the younger ones, the ones who barely know how to multiply.

He considers staying year-round. They all had Chiron - but it isn't enough. It isn't a family. It isn't. Percy is not their family either - he doesn't overestimate himself - but at least he cares. Not because of their godly blood, but because they are children.

He still hates touch. He is never without his sweaters and gloves. He never smiles at anyone that isn't Annie or Grover or Luke or Alabaster or Ethan.

These days, he only has Annie.

He misses Luke, and he wants to scoop all of these children and take them with him to Kronos, away from the gods. But for what? Another master to fight for?

Was Luke the one who poisoned Thalia? Would he do the same to Percy if Percy denied him?

A mission is issued to go after Golden Fleece - it's in the same place Grover is, it's what Annie and Percy agree on.

Percy is a calculating boy. He deals in numbers, in measures. He is completely oblivious when it comes to feelings and anything that's more subjective than an equation.

But she thinks he likes them. Her and Grover, and those little kids that follow him around sometimes.

She likes the way her yellow hair contrasts with his dark skin, the way his curls flop in his forehead. She likes the specks of green in his eyes. He is her best friend. It's not the love she has for Luke, but it's something akin to admiration.

Percy and Connor are chosen to go on the mission - and Tantalus tries and bullshits some reason for them to go alone, but Percy shakes his head.

"The oracle said, three people"

He is bullshitting them. Tantalus makes him take Clarisse, and Annabeth stays behind.

"I doubt you can get in the sea of monsters without crossing water, eromenoi"

Perseus laughs and laughs, and his eyes are dark as the night without moon. He shoves his hands in the pockets of his soft blue hoodie, and motions for Connor and Clarisse to follow.

Before he leaves, he kisses her cheek softly. It's going to be okay. He will bring Grover back.

He shadow travels the three on them for the closest location the Grey Sisters gave him. It’s difficult, even with a hellhound. He aims for Okeechobee and lands in Miami.

Percy needs to sleep for at least a day, so they use the time to reach their destiny by car. Connor is a very adept child of Hermes, and soon they’re on the road in a red old pickup.

“So Corpse Breath is the hammer, and you’re the polishing stone? Fitting” snorts Clarisse, and just like that, they are bonding.

Percy expects them to trade shitty childhood stories and stupid hobbies or badmouth their deadbeat godly parents, but that was another trip, with very different people.

Clarisse La Rue is sixteen. Her favorite weapon is a javelin or a spear, but she will always prefer hand to hand combat. She loves Led Zeppelin and thinks Silena’s white hijab is the cutest thing in the world. She speaks Spanish - a relief because Percy barely speaks English.

Connor Stoll is fifteen. He prefers gas bombs to grenades - and he does a mean Molotov. He did graffiti until he was twelve. He thinks the Gardner Sisters from the Demeter Cabin are both cute - but Pollux got hot during the winter.

That’s how Percy discovers bisexuality - in a stolen car with a giant hellhound, a girl who has arms larger than his thighs and drives like a grandma and a boy who is two seconds away from spontaneous combustion.

He thinks that explains Luke and Annabeth - but he doesn’t voice it. 

Percy doesn’t smile to them for a long time - he knows not even muscular spasms are free of charge.

He stays stoic until they stop to sleep - and Connor has wings in the back of his underwear and its the most ridiculous thing ever.

They reach the city and wander. They do encounter someone - Hecate herself.

She says to Percy it is her last favor - and he knows she already left for Kronos. Luke’s drachma burns in his pocket. She opens a wall of stone - a passageway the Huntresses use sometimes.

“My son waits for you” his quest mates pretend not to hear it - and he pretends nothing is happening. At least Alabaster is okay.

They walk across the cave for what it feels like a day. He is almost sure Hecate has plans to kill them when they find the exit: In an island spa.

A girl comes and analyze them. She looks at them with a kind smile - but Percy knows smiles have prices.

They go meet with the owner: C.C. He doesn't recognize her, but Connor takes one look at those weird guinea pigs and tap Percy's hand twice.

It's a code: Danger.

They are patient. Clarisse is looking at the flimsy girls with their togas and golden braids - she is not going with them.

C.C. Apparently accepts that Clarisse is "more male than a female" like gender is something defined by dresses and makeup.

As soon as the girls are out of the room, Percy taps Clarisse's hand, and she runs her spear through C.C.'s belly. The woman bleeds ichor - but disappears in a cloud of golden sand.

They go through her things for money while Connor explains that he learned about her from Charles. Charles's first mission almost ended up with him as a guinea pig. At least now they know they are in the right place.

Percy takes all her money and their weapons back. He straps as many knives he can throw in his pants and belt: One can never have enough weapons.

They find some hoods and sneak out to the boats on the beach. Connor steals again. Percy hates water: But the Sea of Monsters is beyond Poseidon's direct control, and Percy is going to hole himself up until they get to the next island.

He vomits. He is so seasick, it's not even funny. He hates boats. He hates large bodies of water. Anything bigger than a pool, and he is out.

Clarisse thinks it's funny. She laughs at him - and weirdly, he smiles back a little. The daughter of Ares plays with Blackjack, and they bond.

They are not friends - but they would kill for each other. They find it weird they had no godly intervention from Olympus - but then, Percy remembers he is just a son of Hades, and the Olympians hate him.

He burns food to Hecate. He doesn't burn food to Hermes, who appears in everyone else's quests, but avoid his own son's.

None of them has enough hubris to try and listen to the sirens. Clarisse's fatal flaw is bloodlust and Connor's is arrogance - the idea he can do anything, steal anything, and he'll never be punished.

They don't hear anything. Their next stop is the Isle of Polyphemus.

This time around, Connor is Nobody, Clarisse sneaks under a sheep to save Grover, and Percy gets the Fleece. They try to escape through a passageway that Percy's powers say lead to Haiti, but the cyclops colapses it with a boulder.

Percy hates cyclops.

They shadowtravel. Percy isn't any better at it, and with Grover tagging along, it's pretty obvious what happens, even if he is wearing the Golden Fleece like a giant blanket of strenght.

They end up in Wyoming. Percy sleeps for a week: he is starting to flick, like a ghost, and the magical sheep skin can only help so much. In this week, apparently, they meet the Party Ponies.

Chiron takes Percy in his back to CHB with the Fleece, but his friends stay behind because the centaurs won't let them mount, and they can't keep up on feet.

Clarisse, Connor and Grover meet Luke, Ethan and Alabaster in their way to an airport. It goes badly, but no one dies. They tell him Ethan only has one eye now, and that Luke looks tired and mad.

Percy thinks joining Kronos might be a bad idea. But then, he goes back to Camp, save the tree, and things don't change. The kids are still kids, alone and sad.

Will Solace was claimed. He says he misses Cabin 11, and some of his brothers don't want him to talk to Percy anymore.

It hurts. They try and keep contact for the following week, but peer pressure pushes Will away. Percy doesn't blame him.

The tree spits Thalia, daughter of Poseidon. She has black hair with green accents, green eyes, uses heavy makeup, and looks like a "Hades spawn" should look.

Percy likes her. He has no need for being the leader, and he has Annie and Grover (and Luke, and Alabaster, and Ethan, he thinks). Annie and Luke love her, so she must be amazing. He tries.

Thalia doesn't like him. She hates Hades, the one who killed her. She doesn't trust him or the fact that he never touches anyone.

Perseus tells himself he doesn't care. And suddenly, Thalia goes from "could be a good friend" to "better stay away".

The Camp celebrates Thalia. He is the hero, he brought the Fleece back, he is also a child of the Big Three. But they hate him, just like the kids in school hate him for his skin colour.

Annie has no time for him. Grover goes back to his search. He doesn't think he is going to join Kronos, but the drachma is still in his pocket.

He goes back to his mother, and then, to Yancy.

This summer, he was the hero. But no matter what, he was still the son of Hades.