#we could have had forever ;

[soxgetxthisx]

nothing of note, simply a tag dump.

[ironboyxs]

Sea Blood

Fandom: Percy Jackson

Pairing: Percy Jackson x Male!Brother Reader

Word count: 1491

Summary: Percy Jackson, now a young adult, lived a relatively quiet life after his many adventures as a demigod. He was in an interval of missions and taking advantage of the time in Camp Half-Blood. Then, one day, a series of events, or he would discover a secret that would change his life forever.

As incredible as it may seem, it was a calm day at Camp Half-Blood. The world wasn't about to be destroyed or anything like that. There were only young campers enjoying the summer and training as usual. Percy was happy to have some calm and peace, he was sitting with Annabeth by the sea and the two had planned a romantic picnic. Percy didn't remember the last time he was able to spend a calm moment with his girlfriend.

But well, he was Percy Jackson, peace and tranquility didn't suit him very much.

- Percy! Annabeth! Thank the gods I found you. – Will Solace came running out of breath, with a look on his face that something clearly wasn't quite right.

- What is it? Something happened? Monster? Anyone injured? – Annabeth already got up worried.

- Not exactly, it's Rachel, she... has a prophecy.

- Man, if I have to hear one more “great prophecy” I’m going to retire and live at the bottom of the sea. – Percy said, already indignant at the disapproving look that Annabeth gave him.

- It is not a “great prophecy”. – Will explained – Actually we don't know what prophecy it is, the Oracle demands to speak to you Percy.

Percy froze. That obviously couldn't be a good thing. Soon he and Annabeth were accompanying Will to the Big House where Rachel was sitting in a chair, surrounded by the flickering spirit of the Oracle of Delphi. Percy thought he would never get used to seeing his friend like this.

- Percy Jackson. – The Oracle's voice echoed throughout the room. - At high tide, the secret will be revealed, two sons of Poseidon, united by destiny. The sea will test their bond, and the fate of the demigods will depend on their union.

Rachel's head fell to the side, making her red hair cover her face, she used to get tired after prophecies but surprisingly she began to rise with difficulty from the chair.

- Rachel, be careful, you're still weak. – Said Chiron, who was watching everything from the corner of the room.

- Percy, are you okay? – Rachel asked.

- I'm the one asking you, it's not me who has a green spirit coming out of my mouth out of nowhere.

- Idiot, I'm fine. I'm referring to the prophecy.

- Another confused one... couldn't you have a chat with this spirit and see if it can be clearer?

- You know it doesn't work like that. – Rachel said, lightly punching Percy on the shoulder.

- So the prophecy is about me and Tyson, right? I will meet him at high tide, will we discover a secret that will save the demigods? Something like that?

- I don't think the prophecy is talking about Tyson... – Annabeth said.

- Annabeth, if another son of Poseidon existed, we would have noticed. – Chiron said.

- Yes, just as we perceive a son of Hades. – Annabeth wasn't sarcastic but it was obvious to her.

- You and Tyson have already been united by destiny before Percy, it has to be someone different. – Annabeth explained.

- I feel the same thing. – Rachel agreed.

And then first thing in the morning Percy was going into the sea, he knew it wouldn't be so easy to get help from his father. But he knew he could count on the ocean's help. He focused on the water, on the magical powers that could act on it. Maybe if this new demigod was manipulating the ocean in some way he would be able to feel it.

And he was right, he felt a slight tug, as if the current was telling him where to look, and soon he was letting himself be carried away by the current.

Percy follows the clues left by the water and arrives at a remote location, close to a vast and mysterious ocean. He feels an aura of aquatic power in the air and is determined to unlock the secret of the prophecy. As he walks along the beach, he notices a lone figure at the water's edge. The figure appears to be controlling the sea waves with ease.

As Percy approaches, he realizes that the figure is a young demigod, with dark hair and blue eyes, much like his own. The young man seems to be at peace with the ocean, as if it were a natural extension of it. Percy feels an immediate connection to this strange demigod, but he also realizes something is wrong. The aura of power around the boy is undeniable, but he looks tired and lost.

- Who are you? – Said the boy before Percy got closer.

He stood up and easily created a water trident in his hand.

- I'm extremely tired so if you're a monster I advise you not to irritate me now. – He seemed ready to attack if necessary.

- My name is Percy Jackson. I am a demigod, a son of Poseidon. And I don't think I need to explain the concept of this to you, apparently.

The boy looks into Percy's eyes, his own blue eyes reflecting recognition and shock.

- You are the famous Percy Jackson. I'm Y/N. I am also the son of Poseidon, the eldest son.

- Eldest? How is this possible?

- I was born before you, it's not very difficult to understand. – Y/N replied sarcastically.

- But we should have known about your existence, with everything that happened, with the danger of a son of the big three. How come we didn't know anything about you?

- When I was born, my mother didn't want me, she threw me into the sea and Poseidon dragged me to the bottom. I grew up underwater, raised by sea spirits. I was kept hidden during the Titan War.

- Couldn’t you never leave the sea? – Percy asked, imagining how difficult that must have been for the boy.

- No... but now something happened, they attacked my house in the ocean. I tried to ask Poseidon for help but he was of no use, I had no choice but to run away.

- Well then, big bro, it's time to find out together why fate brought us here.

At that moment, Percy notices that Y/N is slightly injured, although the sea water has already healed most of the injuries. Percy also notices the sadness in the boy's eyes, a loneliness he carries with him. He tries to get closer but Y/N shrinks back.

- Hey, is everything okay? – Percy asked.

- Yes... it's just that I'm not used to people. I lived basically alone. Poseidon visited me sometimes and the water spirits told me things. I always wanted to meet my famous brother. But I always thought I would be alone forever.

Percy realizes the depth of loneliness that Y/N has felt throughout  his life. He extends his hand again, but this time with more kindness and patience.

- You're not alone now, Y/N. We have a lot to learn from each other. Together, we can face whatever fate has in store for us and discover more about our heritage as children of Poseidon.

Y/N still feels a little hesitant, but manages a small smile.

- Thank you, Percy. I never imagined this was possible. I look forward to this journey alongside you.

Days later...

Percy and Y/N are in Cabin 3 at Camp Half-Blood, they spent the whole night talking about the mission they would have together, about the prophecy received. Percy could tell that Y/N was still surprised by everything that was happening, but he was getting used to the new reality, he had even made some friends in the Athena cabin.

He knew that Y/N's life had been extremely lonely and he couldn't imagine how difficult it must have been to spend so many years hiding at sea. Percy wanted to make sure that even though a mission had brought them together, now Y/N had a family.

- Y/N, I want you to know that you are not alone anymore. You have a family now, and I'm here for you. Forever. We are brothers, and that means we take care of each other no matter what.

- This means a lot to me, Percy. I don't know how to thank you for all this. – Y/N said, feeling moved by Percy's words.

- No need to thank, big bro. We are on this journey together, and we will face everything head on. No matter what fate has in store for us, our brotherhood is unbreakable.

- Thanks, Percy. I look forward to facing what lies ahead with you by my side. – Y/N says with a smile.

Percy and Y/N share a moment of understanding and unity, strengthening their bond as brothers. Percy wants to make it clear that Y/N no longer needs to carry the loneliness that haunted him, because now he has a family that will support and care for him at all times.

[joeys-babe]

Joey B Blurbs: Blank Space

————————————————————————-

Summary: You prank Joe by texting him the lyrics of Blank Space by Taylor Swift while he's out with the guys.

Warnings: Unserious/funny, pranks!

Pairing: Joe Burrow x reader

Imagine Universe: Into the Mystic

A/N: Part 3 of blurb night!

————————————————————————-

No particular date for this blurb!

Joe had just left to go hang out with the guys at Sam’s house - something about welcoming some of the newly signed players.

I was home alone. Robin and Jimmy had picked up Miles and Tyson this morning to have a little grandparents' day with them, so it was just me.

The house was clean, and Joe and I had started packing to move, but according to him, I wasn’t allowed to do anything without his assistance.

There was no way Joe was at Sam’s yet, so I decided to give him a call.

“Hey, baby. Is everything okay? I just left.” - Joe

“Hi, yes, and I know. I'm just super bored.” - you

“I can turn around and take you with me. Jess will be there obviously, maybe you guys can hang out while we’re there. We’ll probably be in the basement.” - Joe

“You’d do that?” - you

The smile must have been evident in my tone because Joe laughed a little before answering.

“Would I offer if I wouldn't?” - Joe

“No.” - you giggled

“I'll see you in a bit, Mama.” - Joe

“Okay, Joey. I love you.” - you

“I love you too. And baby?” - Joe

“Yeah?” - you

“I turned around as soon as you called.” - Joe 

——

I held onto Joe’s hand as we walked up to Sam’s door, and when Sam opened it, he was surprised to see me there. 

“Oh hey, y/n!” - Sam

“Hey!” - you

“The boys are with my folks, and I didn't want her to be home all by herself.” - Joe explained

Silently squeezing Joe’s hand to thank him for not telling Sam that I’m a hormonal pregnant woman who's so needy she can't be away from her husband, he squeezed back.

Joe led me into the familiar house, and I immediately saw Jess standing in the kitchen by herself.

“See ya later.” - you

“Wait, don't sneak off yet. I wanna introduce you to some people.” - Joe

He directed me to the basement where we would make our rounds, Joe proudly introducing me as his wife over and over again.

“Bye, baby.” - you

“Bye, text me if you need me.” - Joe

“I will.” - you

Joe leaned down and gave me a quick peck before I made my way over to the stairs.

After finding Jess, she thanked me for coming, and we found ourselves deep in conversation.

——

“Wait so you just do it randomly?” - Jess

“Yup. I'll just feel like pranking him, and then I just find one to do.” - you

“Just like that?” - Jess

“Just like that.” - you

Jess laughed as she scrolled through my saved TikTok pranks.

“You should do one on him right now.” - Jess

“Ooo okay. Which one?” - you

After careful consideration of a few different pranks, Jess and I decided on one that would be easiest for us to do. It was a text prank.

Nice to meet you, where you been?

Uhm, in the same house that you're in…?

I could show you incredible things.

You do all the time, baby. 😊

Magic, madness, heaven, sin.

Sounds poetic.

Saw you there and I thought “OMG look at that face.”

Wait when? I'm confused.

You look like my next mistake.

I hope I'm not a mistake.

Love’s a game, wanna play?

We're professionals at that game when it comes to each other, Mama.

New money, suit and tie.

Is that what you want me to get with my extension???

I can read you like a magazine.

I know lol.

Ain't it funny? Rumors fly.

What rumors? Is it bad?

And I know you heard about me.

Heard what?

So hey, let's be friends.

We are already. You're my best friend and lover.

I'm dying to see how this one ends.

I hope it doesn't end, we’re forever.

Grab your passport and my hand.

Woah woah, where are we going that I’ll need a passport??

I can make the bad guys good for a weekend.

What the hell? I'm so lost. I'll be upstairs in a second.

Jess and I cackled as we typed and sent each message, soon Joe was striding into the dimmed living room with a confused look on his face.

“The hell was that?” - Joe

“A prank. It was song lyrics.” - you laughed

“It was my idea, so don't get mad at y/n.” - Jess

“Oh, I wasn't going to.” - Joe

“He can't get mad at me.” - you grinned

Joe jokingly rolled his eyes before plopping down next to me on the couch.

“What are you doing?” - you

“I’m already up here, might as well hang out with you for a bit.” - Joe

Jess smiled at me when Joe cuddled closer to me.

“I feel like I'm third wheeling in my partner’s house.” - Jess

“It's not my fault I'm better than Sam.” - Joe

“Joseph.” - you shoved him

“Am I lying?!” - Joe

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Authors note: Next fic is at 8:15!!!

(I lost the request for this, but it was around the lines of “texting Joe the lyrics of Blank Space by Taylor Swift to see what he’d do”)

[ilyasorokinn]

welcome to new york , tyson jost

note, i am sad once again, but not as sad as i was when he was first t-worded to minnesota. as always, i am wishing tyson the best of luck with his new team and will forever support him wherever he goes. another note, this fic is part of “the jost family” series. check out this masterlist. pair, tyson jost x reader summary, tyson jost gets signed with a new team. warnings, children, pain, dramatics word count, 1303 words

(gif not mine)

Tyson getting placed on waivers was so out of left field, you didn't even see it coming. Tyson let you know that it would happen a couple of hours before it was announced so you could process it.

The thought of having to uproot your entire life again stressed you out. Even if he wasn't signed with a team and was signed to the AHL team, that was still in a different state.

You sat both Noah and Rory down on the couch, "So, we have some news for you." You and Tyson both looked at each other nervously.

"What is it?" He asked.

"Well, we have some news." Tyson let out a nervous breath, "I got put on waivers." They both looked confused, "Do you know what that means?" Noah both shook his head while Rory still looked confused, "Well, it means that..." He was clearly struggling to find the words as he looked over at you.

"Well, it means that the Wild are letting other teams sign daddy." You explained, which didn't help due to the perplexed look on your children's faces.

"They're letting me go, bud." Tyson cut in, "And it means that any other team in the league has a chance to sign me in the next day."

"We have to move again?" Noah asked, his eyes filling with tears and his bottom lip wobbled.

"I'm sorry, buddy." Tyson picked him up and sat him in his lap, hugging him.

"But we just got here."

"I know." You could tell Tyson was beating himself up about the whole waivers thing. Rory climbed off the couch and waddled over to you, seeking comfort in your arms.

The entire rest of the day, you tried to do things that would occupy your mind and most definitely avoided social media. You ordered food in and watched movies for the rest of the night, or until Noah fell asleep.

You looked over at Tyson and could see the cogs turning in his head, "Hey." He looked over at you, "Stop doing whatever you're doing. Stop blaming yourself, 'cause it sure as hell isn't your fault." He nodded but looked unconvinced as he looked down at his lap.

The most you could do with a sleeping child in your arms was reach over and grab his hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze. He looked over at you, "We're not done talking about this."

-

Before you both went to bed, you had a long and lengthy talk about what you would do if he were to get signed to a new team. If it was in America, you would fly out with him, wherever that might've been, and stay with him for a few days to watch him officially sign and watch his first game, then go home.

If it was a Canadian team, he would fly out alone and sign by himself, but you would watch from home, cheering him on.

The next morning, you continued with the game routine as the day before, doing tasks that would take your mind off of the anxiety coursing through your veins.

Noah was pretty much oblivious to the stress you and Tyson were both having, which was for the better. You didn't want him to worry about that.

You were halfway through your second movie of the morning when Tyson's phone buzzed on the table. You and he immediately looked over at each other before he picked it up.

He read the caller ID, then looked over at you and nodded, "I gotta take this." He stood up and walked into the kitchen. You looked down at Rory and Noah, who were already looking at you.

"Nordy?" Rory asked. Nordy was the Wild's mascot, and the easiest way to explain to her that daddy was on a business call was just to tell her that it was Nordy.

"Yeah, it's Nordy." You kissed her head as you all turned your attention back to the TV. A few minutes later, Tyson came back into the room, looking a lot less stressed and nervous.

"So? What's the word?"

"We're gonna need to pack a few bags." He told you.

"We're still in the States?" You asked.

"Buffalo." He smiled, "We're going to New York."

You let out a breath that had been waiting to be let out since yesterday, "We're going to New York." You chuckled.

"Alexa, play "Welcome to New York." The intro to the Taylor Swift song began playing and before you could even blink, Tyson grabbed your hand and pulled you off the couch, and started rocking back and forth dramatically to the music.

Rory and Noah joined in, dancing around you and Tyson as the music kept playing and even after "Welcome to New York" stopped playing. The rest of the morning was filled with more laughter, a great shift from the day before.

-

After lunch, you were packing a few bags and flew off to New York, where you were greeted warmly at the airport by Sabretooth, the mascot, and a few other members of the Sabres staff.

After getting changed, you headed over to the arena to officially sign the papers. Photos were taken of him shaking hands with the owners and all the important people and his new captain.

After getting all the important stuff out of the way, Kyle Okposo, the Sabres captain, turned to Rory and Noah, "Welcome to the team, guys." He bent down to their height and gave them high fives. You knew cameras were on you but kept your focus on Rory and Noah.

"As a welcome to the team, we got you a couple of things." Someone walked over with two bags in hand and handed them to Kyle. He pulled out two Sabretooth stuffed animals and handed them to both kids.

"Look, mommy." Rory turned around to you and showed you her new stuffie.

"Wow, look at that." You bent down next to both of them as he pulled the next thing out. Two jerseys with 'Jost' and '17' on the back, "These are for you two." He handed one to Noah and the other to Rory.

You looked over at Tyson, a shocked look on your face when you saw the number on the back of the jersey. He only smiled and nodded.

-

There was a game on the day you flew into Buffalo, but things were too last minute, so Tyson's Buffalo Sabres debut was pushed back a few days.

While Tyson trained with the team, you made a quick trip to the store to create a sign with Noah and Rory. You wrote 'Welcome dad. We love you!' then let Noah and Rory draw all over it.

You got them changed into their new jerseys and bundled in many layers before heading off to the arena. You got through security and got your family passes, then made your way down to the glass.

You sat in the seat in front of the glass, Rory in your lap, while Noah stood in front of you, holding the sign.

The lights dimmed, and you watched as, one by one, each of them skated out. You waited until you saw Tyson skate out, "There he is." You pointed this out to both kids.

Noah held the sign up higher, trying to get his father's attention. Tyson looked around every side of the glass before he finally clocked you, and he skated up.

Noah beamed brightly as he and his dad did their special little rituals. Before he skated off, he tossed a puck over the glass for Noah, then one for Rory.

You caught them both and handed them to each child, before looking back up and Tyson, and blowing him a kiss. He smiled and blew an exaggerated, dramatic one back to you.

-

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add yourself to my taglist!

i also don't know if he's number 17, but I'm really hoping he is. he can't be 10 cause someone else is also 10, so we can only hope he's number 17 again :)

[thebonggirll]

chapter five

< previous: chapter four

That night after dinner, Quintus had the campers suit up in combat armor like they were getting ready for capture the flag, but the mood among the campers was a lot more serious.

"Right," Quintus said, standing on the head dining table. "Gather 'round."

He was dressed in black leather and bronze. In the torchlight, his gray hair made him look like a ghost. Mrs. O'Leary bounded happily around him, foraging for dinner scraps.

"You will be in teams of two," Quintus announced. When everybody started talking and trying to grab their friends, he yelled: "Which have already been chosen!"

"AWWWWW!" everybody complained.

"Your goal is simple: collect the gold laurels without dying. The wreath is wrapped in a silk package, tied to the back of one of the monsters. There are six monsters. Each has a silk package. Only one holds the laurels. You must find the wreath before the other teams. And, of course...you will have to slay the monster to get it, and stay alive."

Y/N could already sense a bit who she was about to be paired up with. "Hey beautiful," Harris walked towards her smiling. She clicked her tongue at the cringy nickname and said, "Thank god you're with me. I can't handle the stares anymore."

He chuckled and put an arm around her shoulder, slowly pulling her closer. "And does that include him?"

Y/N looked into his eyes, followed the direction he was looking in, and saw the obvious pair of eyes looking at them. "No, we are just friends now. And have decided to start over, forgetting everything," she said and smiled at Percy, who seemed to be in a trance. Was he even looking at them or was he just zoned out? It was surprising how he can be zoned out with a partner like Annabeth, who wants her plans to be perfect and win the game. But well, it's Percy.

While Y/N started chatting with Harris, holding his hand that was hanging over her shoulder, Percy was busy glarin- ahem, observing them. He couldn't just smile back at her at the moment when he was too focused on how close they were standing. Y/N's face was literally inches away from Harris's face. One accidental push from someone and they would literally kiss each other.

Although that won't be required going by the way Harris is eyeing her.

"You look constipated seaweed brain," Annabeth said, "Can you stop being so embarrassing and quit staring at them like an idiot?"

He could sense the disgust in her voice. Well, he knew how embarassing he was being and in any other normal situation, he wouldn't even think about looking at them this way after being discovered by them...or anyone. But somehow...he just didn't care.

Let them look. Let them know how he's irritated.

"You're being creepy," Annabeth sighed, "I get you find him annoying but you can't be possessive about someone who isn't yours in the first place."

This seemed to get his attention, finally breaking away from the trance he was in. "Don't be ridiculous. You act like you're not possessive of her."

"I am, but I know my limits."

"Oh yeah, sure you do," Percy scoffed. It was pretty annoying to think about how he now has to spend time obeying all of Annabeth's orders.

Well, that wasn't the worst part either. It felt like the whole world was against the idea of clearing out the misunderstanding Y/N had with Annabeth and him.

Well, he was certainly right about the world being against him.

The roof slid open and Percy saw the night sky, stars blazing. It was a lot darker than it should've been. Metal ladder rungs appeared on the side of the wall, leading up, and he could hear people yelling their names.

"Percy! Annabeth!" Tyson's voice bellowed the loudest, but others were calling out too.

He looked nervously at Annabeth. Then they began to climb and made their way around the rocks. They ran into Clarisse and a bunch of other campers carrying torches, including Y/N. She looked distressed.

"Where have you two been?" Clarisse demanded.

"We've been looking forever," Y/N said.

"But we were gone only a few minutes," Percy said.

Chiron trotted up, followed by Tyson and Grover.

"Percy!" Tyson said. "You are okay?"

"We're fine," he said. "We fell in a hole."

The others looked at him skeptically, then at Annabeth. 

Shit.

It looked like something else. Like he wandered off with Annabeth to spend some time alone or something. He looked at Y/N immediately to observe her reaction. Thankfully....she wasn't eyeing them suspiciously like the rest of them.

"Honest!" he clarified. "There were three scorpions after us, so we ran and hid in the rocks. But we were only gone a minute."

"You've been missing for almost an hour," Chiron said. "The game is over."

"Yeah," Grover muttered. "We would've won, but a Cyclops sat on me."

"Was an accident!" Tyson protested, and then he sneezed.

Clarisse was wearing the gold laurels, but she didn't even brag about winning them, which wasn't like her. "A hole?" she said suspiciously.

Annabeth took a deep breath. She looked around at the other campers. "Chiron...maybe we should talk about this at the Big House."

Clarisse gasped. "You found it, didn't you?"

Annabeth bit her lip. "I—Yeah. Yeah, we did."

A bunch of campers started asking questions, looking about as confused as Percy, but Chiron raised his hand for silence. "Tonight is not the right time, and this is not the right place." He stared at the boulders as if he'd just noticed how dangerous they were. "All of you, back to your cabins. Get some sleep. A game well played, but curfew is past!"

There was a lot of mumbling and complaints, but the campers drifted off, talking among themselves and giving Percy suspicious looks.

"This explains a lot," Clarisse said. "It explains what Luke is after."

"Wait a second," Percy said. "What do you mean? What did we find?"

Annabeth turned toward him, her eyes dark with worry. "An entrance to the Labyrinth. An invasion route straight into the heart of the camp." 

After the explanation, the rest of them started going back to their cabins as well.

Y/N turned around to leave along with Harris when she felt a tug on her arm. This was happening way too often. 

"What?" she asked, trying to put her best smile.

"It wasn't intentional," Percy said.

"You don't need to explain it to me," Y/N said.

Percy looked at Harris who was still standing close to her. 

Annoying.

He pulled her arm to bring her closer to himself, eyes fixed on Harris, he said, "We need to talk. I have to tell you about the dreams I've been having. Just us. No outsiders."

Y/N felt embarrassed. Harris shouldn't have to deal with this situation. She tried to free her hand from his grip but heard him say, "Well, you can take your time Y/N. It's getting late anyway." She watched him walk away to his cabin. It felt like someone placed a rock in her heart. 

Snatching her arm away, she asked, "Why do you act like an asshole with him?"

"I don't know," Percy tried to calm his nerves but failed, "His face just manages to bring out the worst in me."

"Shut up," she asked, "What did you wanna talk about?"

Oh. Right. The dream. He filled in the details and watched her reaction.

"So...that's the same Labyrinth Nico was talking about right?" Y/N asked.

"Yes," Percy said. He was trying his best to be decent but these days, especially today, he was way too tired to force himself to be decent. Maybe it was how just when he was about to enjoy her attention, Harris seemed to crawl and snatch it away like a little bug. So he blurted out the first question pestering his mind.

"Are you and Harris a thing now?"

next: chapter six >

book four: the battle of labyrinth

percy jackson x reader series

MASTERLIST

[halothenthehorns]

Chapter 9: WE VISIT THE DEMON DUDE RANCH

Magnus looked personally offended at what he'd just read as the new chapter title. "I take it back, I don't want to know what the Triple G stands for anymore."

"Ugh, I'm with you on this one," Alex huffed. "Manly dudes strutting around being all macho with cowboy boots sounds as appealing as going shopping with Karen. Unless some Brokeback Mountain shit goes on, I'm out."

Magnus felt a very debilitating sense of hope as he realized Alex might not think muscular dudes like Hugh Jackman were his type...but wait, what did that say about himself?

"I'm sensing a lot of denim in this upcoming chapter and I am not going to like it," Thalia grumbled.

"Wearing a cowboy hat to cover up horns should be no one's idea of a good time," Jason agreed, though he would totally call in an I told you so to Percy if he guessed it right.

"But, but, cute animals!" Will protested. He enjoyed the south, thank you very much, and missed it quite a lot in the winter especially. It was really charming in the right places.

Nico was huddled up in his seat deep into his jacket. He'd been loathing this oncoming chapter and more of his crappy life on display. Will sighed, but all of the cute farm animals in the world and a merciful dry cold in the dead of winter had nothing on Nico's miserable brown eyes that just wanted to get through this.

We finally stopped in a room full of waterfalls. The floor was one big pit, ringed by a slippery stone walkway. Around us, on all four walls, water tumbled from huge pipes. The water spilled down into the pit, and even when I shined a light, I couldn't see the bottom.

"Now that would have been a badass Poseidon cabin," Jason said.

"I could do my own laundry without getting out of bed," Percy chuckled.

Briares slumped against the wall. He scooped up water in a dozen hands and washed his face. "This pit goes straight to Tartarus," he murmured. "I should jump in and save you trouble."

Percy winced uneasily at that. "I could never have a slumber party in my room though, I just know somebody's bound to fall in."

"Still think it's appropriate," Jason muttered. This area summed up his feelings about Neptune pretty well.

"Don't talk that way," Annabeth told him. "You can come back to camp with us. You can help us prepare. You know more about fighting Titans than anybody."

"You really did just stumble into a game changer of a friend in prison," Jason agreed.

"I will not be putting that in the summary, my mother would kill me!" Percy yelped.

"I have nothing to offer," Briares said. "I have lost everything."

"That's when you should build something," Alex said in one of his most serious tones of voice.

"Tyson would help," Magnus agreed with a gentleness to his voice that didn't surprise anyone.

"What about your brothers?" Tyson asked. "The other two must stand tall as mountains! We can take you to them."

"Oh, so he just needs a growth spurt, explains a lot," Percy chuckled, but it fell flat. Annabeth wasn't here to elbow him to shut up about still making jokes on that.

Briares's expression morphed to something even sadder: his grieving face. "They are no more. They faded."

The waterfalls thundered. Tyson stared into the pit and blinked tears out of his eye.

"What exactly do you mean, they faded?" I asked. "I thought monsters were immortal, like the gods."

Yet Percy looked as somber as anyone else for that question being said out loud. There had already been evidence enough immortal didn't mean one would live forever, Zoe had been more than enough of an experience for them to learn that; having been erased from history even before her death.

"Percy," Grover said weakly, "even immortality has limits. Sometimes...sometimes monsters get forgotten and they lose their will to stay immortal."

Looking at Grover's face, I wondered if he was thinking of Pan. I remembered something Medusa had told us once: how her sisters, the other two gorgons, had passed on and left her alone.

Something of that still nagged at Percy's mind, those two Bargain Mart Ladies that had chased him non-stop no matter how convinced he was they should have died from that bowling ball accident.

Then last year Apollo said something about the old god Helios disappearing and leaving him with the duties of the sun god. I'd never thought about it too much, but now, looking at Briares, I realized how terrible it would be to be so old—thousands and thousands of years old—and totally alone.

"Makes Mr. D a tad more relatable, huh?" Will asked sadly. "Stuck alone at that camp."

"He's not alone," Percy scowled, "he's got us ants there to torture!" He didn't really shout though. It did make a kind of sense put that way, even if he'd still forever wish they weren't Dionysus's punishment.

"I must go," Briares said.

"Kronos's army will invade camp," Tyson said. "We need help."

Briares hung his head. "I cannot, Cyclops."

"You are strong."

"Not anymore." Briares rose.

"Hey," I grabbed one of his arms and pulled him aside, where the roar of the water would hide our words. "Briares, we need you. In case you haven't noticed, Tyson believes in you. He risked his life for you."

I told him about everything—Luke's invasion plan, the Labyrinth entrance at camp, Daedalus's workshop, Kronos's golden coffin.

Briares just shook his head. "I cannot, demigod. I do not have a finger gun to win this game." To prove his point, he made one hundred finger guns.

Percy's heart flinched in his chest like it was trying to flee him. Looking at that given him a shot of pure fear, like looking down a military execution aimed right at him.

But it was just a game. A silly trick he'd done to help Briares escape, but like Magnus had said, it was a lesson the hundred-handed one was turning back on him now to leave.

"Maybe that's why monsters fade," I said. "Maybe it's not about what the mortals believe. Maybe it's because you give up on yourself."

"Wise words for a seaweed brain," Thalia shook her head affectionately. "Is that why you pulled him away, so Annabeth wouldn't punch you for mocking her?"

Percy grinned and mock wiped his brow in relief. "You caught me, please don't tell?"

"Nah, it can be our secret," she smiled.

His pure brown eyes regarded me. His face morphed into an expression I recognized—shame.

Percy knew even Tyson couldn't have stopped this guy and dragged him along, but he still sat there wishing he could. That he'd done something, anything else.

"I never said you have to reenact his faces Percy," Alex told him in exasperation. "Put the shame face away man, you did all you could."

"Yeah, I guess," Percy wanted to believe that anyways.

Then he turned and trudged off down the corridor until he was lost in the shadows.

Tyson sobbed.

"I lied, bring him back and stab him," Alex scowled, hands twitching for his garrote for anyone making Tyson cry.

"Maybe a tad extreme," Magnus put a cautious hand on his shoulder.

"It also disproves Nico's theory I can win any fight, because I sure didn't win that," Percy groaned. He wanted so badly to offer his brother comfort, but even back then he had no clue how.

"It's okay," Grover hesitantly patted his shoulder, which must've taken all his courage.

"I still say that was hitting Medusa, while blind, and flying," Jason grinned.

"Personal courage and battle courage aren't always the same," Thalia muttered.

Tyson sneezed. "It's not okay, goat boy. He was my hero."

"Grover should offer him a jar of peanut butter," Alex said, "nobody could be upset then."

"People allergic to peanut butter," Percy corrected.

"Have you met somebody with a nut allergy? Half of them live life on the edge and eat anyways for that stuff," Alex scoffed at his naivety.

I wanted to make him feel better, but I wasn't sure what to say.

"Never meet your hero's," Nico said casually.

Percy winced, and looked at him again. Percy had looked at him more today than he possibly had their entire time knowing each other.

Nico met those sea green eyes with a sense of relief he'd finally said it out loud for the first time. Not everything, like The Word, he still felt a cold chill run through him every time he realized he'd said that out loud, but it got slowly better every time he realized he did. Like a tight muscle unclenching itself after years of being knotted. As bad as it was for Tyson to learn, Will and Alex had been right. It was still better to know and feel the disappointment than live in ignorance forever.

Finally Annabeth stood and shouldered her backpack. "Come on, guys. This pit is making me nervous. Let's find a better place to camp for the night."

"Reason number 33 she should lead all quests," Percy nodded in agreement. "I would have just stood there until we all fell asleep trying to think of something to say."

"It's okay Percy, nobody accused you of your great strength being rousing speeches," Thalia promised.

We settled in a corridor made of huge marble blocks. It looked like it could've been part of a Greek tomb, with bronze torch holders fastened to the walls.

"Did you cross over to Egypt?" Magnus asked wearily. "Because it sounds like you're sleeping in a pyramid, and I've had enough nightmares of being chased by mummies without you adding to them." The kids in his class used to laugh at him for thinking that 1999 movie was anything remotely scary like it was his fault!

"Pretty sure the Labyrinth is restricted to America," Percy said with a shrug like that was any help at all, and also, no real confidence in that statement.

It had to be an older part of the maze, and Annabeth decided this was a good sign.

"We must be close to Daedalus's workshop," she said. "Get some rest, everybody. We'll keep going in the morning."

"Which means it's probably going to change to the modern equivalent of an art deco building when you wake up," Jason frowned.

"You and Annabeth can compare architecture tips later," Percy groaned.

"How do we know when it's morning?" Grover asked.

"When you all wake up together and happy," Will said, but the awkward laugh that followed was a little to real considering they'd all been living that problem themselves for the past few days under the ocean.

"Just rest," she insisted.

Grover didn't need to be told twice. He pulled a heap of straw out of his pack, ate some of it, made a pillow out of the rest, and was snoring in no time.

"Have I mentioned how awesome that is," Magnus grinned. "We could eradicate homelessness if more people were part goat."

"You heard it here first folks, genetic experimentation to turn all people into greek myths," Alex spoke into an invisible microphone, then tipped it towards Magnus. "Tell us, who would be your first test subject?"

Magnus hesitated for a moment, he really should have thought about that one first and not said anything, but it would be worse for himself if he didn't. And this wasn't just something he'd want to laugh off. So he looked him in the eyes and said, "anybody who denies there's a homeless problem."

Alex grinned and tipped the 'microphone,' back towards himself. "Great answer. Back to you Jason!"

"What did we say about eradicating news broadcasts?" Percy asked in exasperation.

"Only the nonimportant ones that don't check their facts," Alex grinned.

Tyson took longer getting to sleep. He tinkered with some metal scraps from his building kit for a while, but whatever he was making, he wasn't happy with it. He kept disassembling the pieces. "I'm sorry I lost the shield," I told him. "You worked so hard to repair it."

Tyson looked up. His eye was bloodshot from crying. "Do not worry, brother. You saved me. You wouldn't have had to if Briares had helped."

"He was just scared," I said. "I'm sure he'll get over it."

"He is not strong," Tyson said. "He is not important anymore."

"Note to self, start lifting weights," Thalia mock whispered and doodled on her palm, before smacking said invisible piece of paper on Percy's chest.

He brushed it off with an exasperated look at her, but didn't try to fight off a smile.

He heaved a big sad sigh, then closed his eye. The metal pieces fell out of his hand, still unassembled, and Tyson began to snore.

"Now that is a magical ability I bet plenty of people would volunteer to be willing to undergo experiments to do," Jason said.

"Depends on how optional the snoring is," Percy shrugged.

I tried to fall asleep myself, but I couldn't. Something about getting chased by a large dragon lady with poison swords made it real hard to relax.

Will stroked an imaginary beard as if in deep contemplation before snapping his fingers. "Then maybe don't do that again!"

"It wasn't voluntary!" Percy yelped.

"He says, as if he couldn't have turned right back around when he found himself in a prison cell," Jason rolled his eyes.

"To be fair," Thalia said of herself as much as him, "I don't think it's humanly possible to not be curious and look around when you pop up somewhere."

"It is if you don't want to die and or be chased by a large dragon lady with poison swords," Magnus frowned.

"Well look at you and your cushy life," Percy grinned.

I picked up my bedroll and dragged it over to where Annabeth was sitting, keeping watch.

Magnus fought the urge to cover his ears and start humming very loudly. They weren't old enough to have anything resembling a conversation that should warrant that. Yet.

I sat down next to her.

"You should sleep," she said.

"Can't. You doing all right?"

"Sure. First day leading the quest. Just great."

"We'll get there," I said. "We'll find the workshop before Luke does."

She brushed her hair out of her face. She had a smudge of dirt on her chin, and I imagined what she must've looked like when she was little, wandering around the country with Thalia and Luke. Once she'd saved them from the mansion of the evil Cyclops when she was only seven. Even when she looked scared, like now, I knew she had a lot of guts.

Magnus read that with a sense of longing that seemed strange to the others. He wished he could sit around and talk to Thalia and Percy about that time, hear more about her life outside of what Percy had gleaned.

It didn't feel like his business to ask of others though. He wanted to ask her first if she even wanted some weird kid in her life that was part of a family she clearly was on rocky terms with.

"I just wish the quest was logical," she complained.

"It really does sound like the worst scenario for her," Jason agreed with a pained grimace. "Like a real life greek myth, she finally got her wish and it's just mocking her."

"Jason, all Greek tragedy's were real," Percy reminded a tad smugly.

"I'm going to make your death a mystery," he rolled his eyes.

"I mean, we're traveling but we have no idea where we'll end up. How can you walk from New York to California in a day?"

"And without any bathroom breaks," Will agreed in awe. "That's got to be some kind of record."

"Who says I didn't stop and use the little Poseidon's room in that waterfall?" Percy said way to nonchalantly for that to be a joke. "It went straight down to Tartarus after all, and the automatic flushing was nice."

The others groaned while Thalia told Will, "you walked right into that one. Did you really think he wouldn't follow through on that set up?"

"Lesson learned," he promised.

"Space isn't the same in the maze."

"I know, I know. It's just..." She looked at me hesitantly. "Percy, I was kidding myself. All that planning and reading, I don't have a clue where we're going."

"You guys never know what you're doing and it works out," Thalia cheerfully waved off.

Percy gave her a strange, lingering smile as Jason read.

"You're doing great. Besides, we never know what we're doing. It always works out.

"Dammit," she sighed before they both started snickering.

Remember Circe's island?"

She snorted. "You made a cute guinea pig."

"And Waterland, how you got us thrown off that ride?"

"I got us thrown off? That was totally your fault!"

"It was literally her fault with that maximum height nonsense!" Alex argued. Mostly because they suspected he just liked to argue.

"Percy started it with dumping all that water into the ride to escape the spiders," Magnus cheerfully reminded on behalf of his cousin.

They probably would have gone on like that, like they all needed a live reenactment of Percy and Annabeth bickering. Jason had the good sense to clear his throat and silently remind them now wasn't the time.

"See? It'll be fine."

She smiled, which I was glad to see, but the smile faded quickly.

"Percy, what did Hera mean when she said you knew the way to get through the maze?"

"Lies and hypocrisy I assume," Alex scowled anew.

"Did she really show up to sow dissent between you guys?" Magnus sounded more troubled than Jason did about how these gods worked sometimes.

"I mean, that is a thing she would do," Nico said callously while Percy thumped his pen against his temple in frustration. "This time though, I honestly think it might have been meant as a helpful hint." Certainly more than he'd ever gotten, but if this was the kind of help he would have received he was just slightly grateful none of the gods had tried.

"I don't know," I admitted. "Honestly."

"You'd tell me if you did?"

"You have literally never tried to hide anything from her," Magnus said critically. "I can't imagine you starting now."

"Thanks man," Percy grinned. It felt nice sometimes to always be confident someone so like Annabeth saw the best in him too.

"Sure. Maybe..."

"Maybe what?"

"Maybe if you told me the last line of the prophecy, it would help."

"And maybe if I told you what a binturong was you'd be able to cure cancer," Will snorted.

"What's a binturong?" Percy asked blankly.

"Don't change the subject," Thalia tisked at him, already knowing that was a lost cause trying to get him to pay attention to one thing at a time.

Annabeth shivered. "Not here. Not in the dark."

"What about the choice Janus mentioned? Hera said—"

"Stop," Annabeth snapped.

Percy sat back in his seat with a troubled sigh. She'd never snapped at him to shut it before. Their first fight? Or did that whole Athena hates Poseidon thing count first-

He was distracted from that as Magnus kept going in the slightly awkward pause.

Then she took a shaky breath. "I'm sorry, Percy. I'm just stressed. But I don't...I've got to think about it."

Nico felt the oddest sensation yet for her since he'd been down here. Sympathy.

Not quite pity, she had Percy to talk to about all of her problems if she wanted. He was still wrapping his head around the fact Alex and Will had bothered to talk to him. No, it was the recent knowledge of how overwhelming the thoughts in your head could be and knowing you needed to sit with them and yet having no where to start, no way to sort them out that didn't leave you in a mess.

He hoped she did talk to Percy about what was bothering her before it overwhelmed her. He wouldn't wish his confusing life on anyone.

We sat in silence, listening to strange creaks and groans in the maze, the echo of stones grinding together as tunnels changed, grew, and expanded.

The dark made me think about the visions I'd seen of Nico di Angelo, and suddenly I realized something.

"Nico is down here somewhere," I said. "That's how he disappeared from camp. He found the Labyrinth. Then he found a path that led down even farther—to the Underworld. But now he's back in the maze. He's coming after me."

"I guess I should have been more worried what kind of take me out he was going to do," Percy said glibly. He'd never realized you could assassinate someone or have them out for dinner with just one word.

Nico looked at him terrified, like Percy was going to snap his fingers and crush all his bones. Percy just gave him the least awkward smile yet, he'd thought a joke would help lighten the mood.

Thalia elbowed him, hard, while Jason and Magnus looked on with pure confusion. "What?" Percy protested.

"Percy, not everybody's so casual about, um, whatever you and Nico talked about," Thalia whispered to him.

"What?" He was more confused than anything, but he still felt a blush coming back. "Why? Will and Alex are both weirdly okay with whatever they say?"

"But not everybody is," she hissed quietly right by his ear. "Just, wait for him to say anything first before you do."

He had no clue what she was getting at, but he shrugged and let it go.

Annabeth was quiet for a long time. "Percy, I hope you're wrong. But if you're right..." she stared at the flashlight beam, casting a dim circle on the stone wall. I had a feeling she was thinking about her prophecy. I'd never seen her look more tired.

Percy knew that feeling intricately. Sitting in the back of a truck with abused animals and gnawing over what could be so much it made everything hopeless while you stumbled into the next catastrophe.

Annabeth had never let him down on his quest though, and he was determined he would do the same for her.

"How about I take first watch?" I said. "I'll wake you if anything happens."

Annabeth looked like she wanted to protest, but she just nodded, slumped into her bedroll, and closed her eyes.

There had been so little light in that tunnel, his brain had been going haywire all night over the smallest noise. He'd flicked a spider off her at one point before she had to wake up and realize that. Her tangled blonde curls kept tickling her neck and she'd moved and brushed at them in her sleep, smudging that dirt on her cheek as she muttered.

He probably wasn't that good at guard duty, looking back.

When it was my turn to sleep, I dreamed I was back in the old man's Labyrinth prison.

"What's a level above a 3D experience?" Magnus looked at him tragically. "Percy's over here living a double life being in this place two times at once and it's depressing."

"You're telling me," Percy agreed with a thankful smile all the same. Anybody else giving him that pitying look would have made him uncomfortable, but Magnus seemed genuinely sorry for him.

It looked more like a workshop now. Tables were littered with measuring instruments. A forge burned red hot in the corner. The boy I'd seen in the last dream was stoking the bellows, except he was taller now, almost my age.

"That awkward moment where I'm not sure if I'd take juvie or this?" Alex grumbled. The freedom to be able to work in a prison was not something he'd tolerate though under any circumstances, so it was a moot point.

A weird funnel device was attached to the forge's chimney, trapping the smoke and heat and channeling it through a pipe into the floor, next to a big bronze manhole cover.

It was daytime. The sky above was blue, but the walls of the maze cast deep shadows across the workshop. After being in tunnels so long, I found it weird that part of the Labyrinth could be open to the sky. Somehow that made the maze seem like even a crueler place.

Magnus had thought much the same the first time he heard it. He lived the feeling every day of seeing everything he'd never have again as he pulled his jacket tighter around him.

The old man looked sickly. He was terribly thin, his hands raw and red from working. White hair covered his eyes, and his tunic was smudged with grease. He was bent over a table, working on some kind of long metal patchwork—like a swath of chain mail. He picked up a delicate curl of bronze and fitted it into place.

"Done," he announced. "It's done."

He picked up his project. It was so beautiful, my heart leaped—metal wings constructed from thousands of interlocking bronze feathers. There were two sets. One still lay on the table. Daedalus stretched the frame, and the wings expanded twenty feet. Part of me knew it could never fly. It was too heavy, and there'd be no way to get off the ground. But the craftsmanship was amazing. Metal feathers caught the light and flashed thirty different shades of gold.

Thalia shuddered at those things being strapped to her back, but Alex's breath caught in his throat at the beautiful imagery. He could turn into a golden bird if he wished, and yet the craftsman ship of somebody making the painstaking effort in those lit a unique fire in him to long and try the same.

The boy left the bellows and ran over to see. He grinned, despite the fact that he was grimy and sweaty. "Father, you're a genius!"

The old man smiled. "Tell me something I don't know, Icarus.

"Why do I know that name?" Magnus frowned. It was one of those moments he swore he'd heard through osmosis, something circled and passed around in word of mouth he'd swear he had no attachment to.

"Not sure," Percy agreed, "but a kid named Ick- anything must be happy to at least have some isolation from other kids."

Jason snorted in surprise while Thalia sighed in exasperation at the idiot.

Now hurry. It will take at least an hour to attach them. Come."

"You first," Icarus said.

The old man protested, but Icarus insisted. "You made them, Father. You should get the honor of wearing them first."

The boy attached a leather harness to his father's chest,

This boy adored his father, which left a strange silence in the room as Magnus read over that. Not one of them knew that feeling. Most of them barely had a relationship with their dad if they talked at all.

like climbing gear, with straps that ran from his shoulders to his wrists. Then he began fastening on the wings, using a metal canister that looked like an enormous hot-glue gun.

"And you said I didn't have any hand to scar knowledge," Percy grinned. "Try helping your mom out with some arts and crafts project and see if you come away without one of these," he prodded his ring finger where a slight discoloration of skin was, right below a sizeable deep scar from one of his early sword practices.

Or, it used to be.

"I would never accuse a kid like you of not knowing about hot-glue Percy," Alex grinned. "Your mom probably banned you from using them too early in life."

"A successful win, glad you know me so well," he chuckled, but it sounded choked up as he kept prodding at the flesh in his fingers that still moved like normal...yet he'd swear they were somebody else's hands for a moment. He knew that scar should have been there, Annabeth had told him to put water on it and he'd deliberately ignored her because a scar had sounded like the coolest thing to have in that moment...Were his memories coming back wrong...

Thalia had to nudge him again, hard, to get him to pay attention. He felt like he should have a bruise on his ribs by this point as often as she did that, but his creepy baby hands rubbed at the spot and somehow knew that wouldn't happen no matter how many times she did.

"The wax compound should hold for several hours," Daedalus said nervously as his son worked. "But we must let it set first. And we would do well to avoid flying too high or too low. The sea would wet the wax seals—"

"And the sun's heat would loosen them," the boy finished.

Magnus's mind nagged at him more stubbornly by the moment. A story about a boy who flew to close to the sun? He'd read an article once on where the idea was based on, and something of greek stories had played a part in it.

His stomach started sinking low as he put two and two together. There had yet been a Greek story that didn't end in tragedy.

"Yes, Father. We've been through this a million times!"

"One cannot be too careful."

"I have complete faith in your inventions, Father! No one has ever been as smart as you."

Thalia's stomach pitched unpleasantly. The gods never liked it when something like that was spoken into the air. The Fates themselves may have just sealed this boys fate before Athena could have concocted a plan.

The old man's eyes shone. It was obvious he loved his son more than anything in the world.

Alex studied the book intently for a few moments, annoyed that was an expression he could never replicate in a sculpture if he'd never actually seen it.

"Now I will do your wings, and give mine a chance to set properly. Come!"

It was slow going. The old man's hands fumbled with the straps. He had a hard time keeping the wings in position while he sealed them. His own metal wings seemed to weigh him down, getting in his way while he tried to work.

"I'm guessing this was a prototype experiment, maybe needs a few test runs before it's marketable," Jason muttered uneasily.

"I don't think his, um, investor is giving him much time to test the safety features," Thalia didn't need to remind him. If this wasn't a blatant escape attempt then there was a cake about to jump out of that bronze manhole cover.

"Too slow," the old man muttered. "I am too slow."

"Take your time, Father," the boy said. "The guards aren't due until—"

BOOM!

"That one wasn't me!" Percy said with a shaky attempt at a laugh that fell flat fast. The silence was starting to settle around them as they all expected his dream to end with the nightmarish image of someone's death.

The workshop doors shuddered. Daedalus had barred them from the inside with a wooden brace, but still they shook on their hinges.

"Hurry!" Icarus said.

BOOM! BOOM!

Something heavy was slamming into the doors. The brace held, but a crack appeared in the left door.

Daedalus worked furiously. A drop of hot wax spilled onto Icarus's shoulder. The boy winced but did not cry out.

Will winced horribly with him, wondering how much pain the poor boy had been through all these years to learn how to do that.

When his left wing was sealed into the straps, Daedalus began working on the right.

"We must have more time," Daedalus murmured. "They are too early! We need more time for the seal to hold."

"It'll be fine," Icarus said, as his father finished the right wing. "Help me with the manhole—"

CRASH! The doors splintered and the head of a bronze battering ram emerged through the breach. Axes cleared the debris, and two armed guards entered the room, followed by the king with the golden crown and the spearshaped beard.

"Well, well," the king said with a cruel smile. "Going somewhere?"

"I'm panicking right now and don't have a witty comeback for that," Percy admitted. He wanted to be in that cell, to hold off this horrible king and those guards while they escaped.

"Brave soul to admit that," Alex told him, just as impressed as if he had spouted some one-liner.

Daedalus and his son froze, their metal wings glimmering on their backs.

"I really hope he made a prayer to Zeus," Magnus muttered uneasily. "He sounds like he's really going to need all the help he can get." He found himself signing it, like he wished he hadn't had to say it out loud and jinx it. He missed Hearth.

He wasn't entirely sure why they were hearing about this either. He would have thought Percy would be dreaming of how Daedalus had created the maze and all its horrors. Why was the mans death so worthy of this nightmare?

"We're leaving, Minos," the old man said.

King Minos chuckled. "I was curious to see how far you'd get on this little project before I dashed your hopes. I must say I'm impressed." The king admired their wings. "You look like metal chickens," he decided. "Perhaps we should pluck you and make a soup."

"Maybe he'd like a pair of his own?" Nico said with a nasty smile. "Chicken's cannibalize each other. Daedalus would probably be more than happy to make a parting pair so he could join."

"Two sentences I'm sure have no relation to each other," Percy said with a strange look at him as usual when this king was brought up. The flash of outrage that always passed over Nico felt really personal and always amped Percy's headache up to eleven.

The guards laughed stupidly.

"Metal chickens," one repeated. "Soup."

"Shut up," the king said. Then he turned again to Daedalus. "You let my daughter escape, old man. You drove my wife to madness. You killed my monster and made me the laughingstock of the Mediterranean. You will never escape me!"

"All crimes I'm so sure this ass hole had no part of the fault in whatsoever," Jason scowled.

"That bad luck stuff really does come in threes," Percy chuckled. "Maybe he'll get lucky and a drought will come along so he can blame all his problems on the weather next."

Icarus grabbed the wax gun and sprayed it at the king, who stepped back in surprise. The guards rushed forward, but each got a stream of hot wax in his face.

Alex made a humming noise of pleasure and Magnus swallowed uneasily at the vivid mental image of him doing that to someone who next annoyed him.

"The vent!" Icarus yelled to his father.

"Get them!" King Minos raged.

Together, the old man and his son pried open the manhole cover, and a column of hot air blasted out of the ground. The king watched, incredulous, as the inventor and son shot into the sky on their bronze wings, carried by the updraft.

"Shoot them!" the king yelled, but his guards had brought no bows. One threw his sword in desperation,

"With hot wax in his face?" Thalia sounded incredulously impressed. "I hope that man got a promotion for dedication."

"Or more likely was beheaded first," Nico grumbled.

but Daedalus and Icarus were already out of reach. They wheeled above the maze and the king's palace, then zoomed across the city of Knossos and out past the rocky shores of Crete.

Icarus laughed. "Free, Father! You did it."

The boy spread his wings to their full limit and soared away on the wind.

"Wait!" Daedalus called. "Be careful!"

But Icarus was already out over the open sea, heading north and delighting in their good luck. He soared up and scared an eagle out of its flight path, then plummeted toward the sea like he was born to fly, pulling out of a nosedive at the last second. His sandals skimmed the waves.

Thalia looked a tad green around the edges of that being described in such vivid detail. Jason looked downright envious, it sounded magical and something he had a funny feeling he'd dreamed about doing in another life he might actually remember.

"Stop that!" Daedalus called. But the wind carried his voice away. His son was drunk on his own freedom.

Will was wincing over every other word though. This story was probably still so popular as a cautionary tale to listen to your parents, look both ways before crossing the streets no matter how sure you were. Will heard it as the boy having to much faith in his father's abilities. Either way you looked at it, this boy had not deserved such a miserable life only to die like that.

The old man struggled to catch up, gliding clumsily after his son.

They were miles from Crete, over deep sea, when Icarus looked back and saw his father's worried expression.

Icarus smiled. "Don't worry, Father! You're a genius! I trust your handiwork—"

The first metal feather shook loose from his wings and fluttered away.

There wasn't much shock, or a bunch of falsities this story was going to end happily ever after. Magnus read somberly, there was a sense of gentleness in the way he read that indicated this wasn't the first tragic story he'd heard and knew the right way to control his voice.

Then another.

Icarus wabbled in midair. Suddenly he was shedding bronze feathers, which twirled away from him like a flock of frightened birds.

"I feel the need to give a hats off one more time to whoever it is describing that, glorious, mental image," Alex said in a very restrained voice holding back awe, and laughter. He felt a little bad, this was a real kid that had really died, but also that was just to vivid an image to be expressed in only words. His hands ached for some clay to somehow memorialize that, as he was sure some Greek had once done.

"Icarus!" his father cried. "Glide! Extend the wings. Stay as still as possible!"

But Icarus flapped his arms, desperately trying to reassert control.

The left wing went first—ripping away from the straps.

"Father!" Icarus cried. And then he fell, the wings stripped away until he was just a boy in a climbing harness and a white tunic, his arms extended in a useless attempt to glide.

I woke with a start, feeling like I was falling.

Percy fought off the urge to startle in his seat now as he rubbed at his thudding heart, that bronze battering ram might as well have been pounding against his ribs. Maybe he'd been wrong before. He should be more grateful about the nightmares where his pants try to eat him.

The corridor was dark. In the constant moaning of the Labyrinth, I thought I could hear the anguished cry of Daedalus calling his son's name, as Icarus, his only joy, plummeted toward the sea, three hundred feet below.

Nico sighed as he studied his boots and imagined the rest of that kids passing. He was probably still in the Fields of Asphodel for all eternity, having lived an unremarkable life, but moments like this made him wish there was another option.

He'd been no hero, so there was no way he'd get into Elysium, but he'd also never been given a chance. He'd just had a miserable life, and it shouldn't just be the hero's who deserved to try for better.

There was no morning in the maze, but once everyone woke up and had a fabulous breakfast of granola bars and juice boxes,

"You guys are way to young to be eating old people food for breakfast," Alex sighed. "Where's the soda and cake because nobody can't tell you not to? Where's the vodka?"

"Alex's potential alcoholic sugar rush aside," Will said with his eyes closed like the idea physically pained him, "I for one am glad to see Annabeth is a smart packer!"

we kept traveling. I didn't mention my dream. Something about it had really freaked me out, and I didn't think the others needed to know that.

"Not seeing how it would have helped much," Jason agreed warily, "but I still think you should have. It might not have shined a light on your path problem, or anything, but it's still better to get off your chest, and maybe Annabeth would have opened up too."

"And you share every thought that comes to your mind huh?" Percy asked glumly. "Between the terrified peeps Grover kept making for every step we took and Annabeth muttering to herself about which way to go, I didn't want to break the awesome symphony they had going."

Jason wasn't going to keep arguing the point, he just wished Percy understood Annabeth might have liked for her troops to know they could confide any little thing in her.

The old stone tunnels changed to dirt with cedar beams, like a gold mine or something. Annabeth started getting agitated.

"This isn't right," she said. "It should still be stone."

"Why?" Magnus asked in ever growing concern why she still thought any of this should make sense.

"Dirt is the oldest thing on the planet, isn't that an even better path to lead to the oldest workshop?" Alex agreed.

Nobody was so much ignoring their questions, they just didn't have a good answer.

We came to a cave where stalactites hung low from the ceiling. In the center of the dirt floor was a rectangular pit, like a grave.

"Frankly I'm surprised you haven't come across more people deciding to just start digging their own graves," Will admitted with itchy skin. He probably would have if he'd been stuck in that Labyrinth.

Grover shivered. "It smells like the Underworld in here."

"I never really thought cemeteries would smell like pleasant mangroves, but thanks for the confirmation," Percy muttered.

Then I saw something glinting at the edge of the pit—a foil wrapper. I shined my flashlight into the hole and saw a half-chewed cheeseburger floating in brown carbonated muck.

"Nico, we have got to work on your signature exit strategy," Alex told him. "You get points for originality, but that must take way to long to orchestrate, and the waste!"

"I like to think of it more as a really fancy calling card," Nico grinned. "I've been here and you should all know and fear me."

"Hey," Alex grinned and even gave him a finger gun. "Good one!"

"Nico," I said. "He was summoning the dead again."

Tyson whimpered. "Ghosts were here. I don't like ghosts."

"We've got to find him." I don't know why, but standing at the edge of that pit gave me a sense of urgency. Nico was close, I could feel it.

Nico looked around at him in mild concern. "If you start tracking me like a bloodhound you will regret it."

"I was hoping you had some fries left over," Percy admitted with a sheepish grin. He was just to relieved the kid was okay rather than the surge of urgency he'd had in that place.

I couldn't let him wander around down here, alone except for the dead. I started to run.

Nico seemed genuinely touched. He even gave Percy a brief smile, the friendliest expression Percy had ever seen on him. Percy immediately smiled back, really hoping all this awkward crush business had just blown over finally.

"Percy!" Annabeth called.

I ducked into a tunnel and saw light up ahead. By the time Annabeth, Tyson, and Grover caught up with me, I was staring at daylight streaming through a set of bars above my head. We were under a steel grate made out of metal pipes. I could see trees and blue sky.

"Are you in another prison underground?" Magnus asked in trepidation. "Is the whole labyrinth just going to lead you to every prison on the planet?"

"I, really hope not," Percy said with a blank stare.

Thalia made an awkward noise as she tried not to agree. It was certainly an imprisonment for those poor animals.

"Where are we?" I wondered.

Then a shadow fell across the grate and a cow stared down at me. It looked like a normal cow except with was a weird color—bright red, like a cherry. I didn't know cows came in that color.

"Where did you think strawberry milk came from Percy?" Jason said with way to much confidence, it actually threw Percy off for a moment before they both chuckled.

"Um, they kind of can," Alex agreed, "but not bright red. More of a deep red color."

"No, I mean like, Rachel's hair red, I am not kidding," Percy promised.

"So our options on the dude ranch are cute cow shows where they die their cattle rainbow colors, or fiery cows that are going to kill you," Magnus sighed.

Will fought hard to stifle a laugh he was pretty close on that second one.

"Maybe Bessie's parents are there," Alex chuckled.

The cow mooed, put one hoof tentatively on the bars, then backed away.

"It's a cattle guard," Grover said.

"A what?" I asked.

"They put them at the gates of ranches so cows can't get out. They can't walk on them."

"How do you know that?"

Grover huffed indignantly. "Believe me, if you had hooves, you'd know about cattle guards. They're annoying!"

"Poor Grover," Magnus agreed. "I wonder if he can walk over any grate, like those giant ones you see in store parking lots."

"I get the feeling Grover doesn't frequent grocery stores very much for that to be a problem," Thalia reminded.

I turned to Annabeth. "Didn't Hera say something about a ranch? We need to check it out. Nico might be there."

"She also said to keep going past the ranch," Nico supplied with perfect clarity and a very confused raised eyebrow. "You're really ignoring the one good bit of advice she gave you?"

"Like I'm going to take some goddess's advice that stressed out Annabeth so much," Percy scoffed, "we still need to have a talk!"

"Right," Nico agreed with another surprised smile.

She hesitated. "All right. But how do we get out?"

Tyson solved that problem by hitting the cattle guard with both hands. It popped off and went flying out of sight. We heard a CLANG! and a startled Moo! Tyson blushed.

"Sorry, cow!" he called.

There was just friendly laughter going around the room for a moment, along with Alex and Magnus sharing some odd signs about finishing an animal book of noises nobody else followed.

Then he gave us a boost out of the tunnel.

We were on a ranch, all right. Rolling hills stretched to the horizon, dotted with oak trees and cactuses and boulders. A barbed wire fence ran from the gate in either direction. Cherry-colored cows roamed around, grazing on clumps of grass.

"Red cattle," Annabeth said. "The cattle of the sun."

"I was joking about them being able to breathe fire too!" Magnus groaned.

"No, no, you were right on the money with that one," Will chuckled.

"What?" I asked.

"They're sacred to Apollo."

"Holy cows?"

"Are the Greeks responsible for every old saying?" Magnus laughed in surprise. "Like if I say the phrase till the cows come home, are you going to tell me it's based on a myth?"

"Um," Thalia gave him an awkward smile rather than admit, yeah, probably.

"Exactly. But what are they doing—"

"Wait," Grover said. "Listen."

At first everything seemed quiet...but then I heard it: the distant baying of dogs.

Alex did a weirdly good reenactment of that like they needed a live performance.

Jason laughed hard in surprise, for some reason he just knew he had a misplaced fondness for hunting dogs Mrs. O'Leary hadn't quite struck in him.

The sound got louder. Then the underbrush rustled, and two dogs broke through. Except it wasn't two dogs. It was one dog with two heads. It looked like a greyhound, long and snaky and sleek brown, but its neck V'd into two heads, both of them snapping and snarling and generally not very glad to see us.

"Cool," Jason grinned wider than ever.

"Not in the slightest," Magnus muttered, fighting off the impulse to make the warding off evil gesture at the idea of this thing anywhere near him.

"Bad Janus dog!" Tyson cried.

Magnus had no choice but to laugh too though.

"Do you think one head sniffs out truth and the other lies?" Thalia tagged in.

Jason gave her a startled look, something of the description of this dog and that tied in well-

but Magnus kept reading quickly, his dislike of canines wasn't subtle, and he obviously didn't want to linger on this.

"Arf!" Grover told it, and raised a hand in greeting.

The two-headed dog bared its teeth. I guess it wasn't impressed that Grover could speak animal.

"It's like speaking to a New Yorker," Will offered. "Just because you learn the lingo doesn't mean you're welcome."

"Fair enough," Percy said with a bright-eyed thanks, nobody had ever explained it like that before.

Then its master lumbered out of the woods, and I realized the dog was the least of our problems.

He was a huge guy with stark white hair, a straw cowboy hat, and a braided white beard— kind of like Father Time, if Father Time went redneck and got totally jacked. He was wearing jeans, a DON'T MESS WITH TEXAS T-shirt, and a denim jacket with the sleeves ripped off so you could see his muscles. On his right bicep was a crossed-swords tattoo. He held a wooden club about the size of a nuclear warhead, with six-inch spikes bristling at the business end.

"That is a very manly dude on this demon animal ranch," Magnus groaned, fighting off the urge to chuck the book away from him at the chapter title once again being way to accurate.

"I bet he makes good barbeque though," Alex said like he was still willing to give the place a chance if someone let him pet the animals.

"Heel, Orthus," he told the dog.

"He named his dog twilight?" Alex asked with a very concerning, twitching smile. "Well, given the pet, I'm sure I can guess which team he was on."

"We all have our secret hobbies," Magnus said with an eye roll, he really hoped that wasn't one Alex secretly liked.

The dog growled at us once more, just to make his feelings clear, then circled back to his master's feet.

"Um, good dog?" Will said meekly. "It's always nice to express your feelings."

"Maybe not the kind that make you want to cover your throat," Nico frowned, he'd been on the receiving end of those fangs getting a little to close.

The man looked us up and down, keeping his club ready.

"What've we got here?" he asked. "Cattle rustlers?"

"Just travelers," Annabeth said. "We're on a quest."

The man's eye twitched. "Half-bloods, eh?"

I started to say, "How did you know—"

"Well you don't look like cow rustlers," Thalia snorted.

Annabeth put her hand on my arm. "I'm Annabeth, daughter of Athena. This is Percy, son of Poseidon.

"Why the actual fridge fart did she introduce you with your parents?" Jason demanded. "That tends to cause more problems!"

Percy was to busy repeating a particular part of Jason's question to himself to answer while Thalia shrugged nonchalantly. "Dog might have sniffed it out, most monsters know anyways, no point in lying."

Grover the satyr. Tyson the—"

"Cyclops," the man finished. "Yes, I can see that." He glowered at me. "And I know half-bloods because I am one, sonny. I'm Eurytion, the cowherd for this here ranch. Son of Ares.

"I'm curious if that whole, forever grudging hate thing Ares has against you for beating him is passed on through some kind of psychic link to all his kids, not just the ones at Camp," Alex asked, miming a head explosion to emphasize his point.

"You just want to hear about someone meeting me and beating the tar out of me," Percy frowned in accusation.

"Trying to beat the tar out of you," Alex corrected. "You're not wrong, but that's not entirely why I want to know," Alex agreed.

"Well I couldn't guess," Percy said in exasperation.

You came through the Labyrinth like the other one, I reckon."

"The other one?" I asked. "You mean Nico di Angelo?"

"We get a load of visitors from the Labyrinth," Eurytion said darkly. "Not many ever leave."

Will sat up straight in his seat, no more jokes or tiffs about silly things like being afraid of a two-headed dog as he looked seriously from Nico to the book and back. Nico had last said he'd gotten caught, but no more. He really hadn't been that worried about it since he was right here, but now his Apollo-healer tingle started humming if they had actually hurt him while holding him there for however long until he got out.

"Wow," I said. "I feel welcome."

"They should put a mat out instead of some old cattle guard," Alex agreed.

The cowherd glanced bend him like someone was watching. Then he lowered his voice. "I'm only going to say this once, demigods. Get back in the maze now. Before it's too late."

The short, sharp breath that escaped Nico wasn't his first in this room. He'd almost come to expect it in regards to Percy, the boy he'd actually known nothing about really.

This moment caught him off guard anew. That Percy could have run and come back when the quest was over. That he'd followed his impulsiveness to come find him but still had the chance to turn around.

"We're not leaving," Annabeth insisted. "Not until we see this other demigod. Please."

And they didn't. Neither Percy or Annabeth. With everything else weighing heavier on the line, they actually picked him at that moment.

Eurytion grunted. "Then you leave me no choice, missy. I've got to take you to the boss."

"If this guy's just the grunt, how big is the boss going to be?" Magnus frowned.

"You really want to know that?" Alex asked in surprise.

"No," he sighed, "but we're going to find out anyways."

"Well then you can either cover up your ears and ignore it all or make up a lie for yourself in the meantime," Alex scoffed.

I didn't feel like we were hostages or anything.

"And the amount of exposure you've had to that feeling makes me confident in your verification of that," Jason sighed.

"I always wanted an adventurous life," Percy shrugged.

Eurytion walked alongside us with his club across his shoulder. Orthus the two-headed dog growled a lot and sniffed at Grover's legs and shot into the bushes once in a while to chase animals, but Eurytion kept him more or less under control.

We walked down a dirt path that seemed to go on forever. It must've been close to a hundred degrees, which was a shock after San Francisco. Heat shimmered off the ground. Insects buzzed in the trees. Before we'd gone very far, I was sweating like crazy. Flies swarmed us. Every so often we'd see a pen full of red cows or even stranger animals. Once we passed a corral where the fence was coated in asbestos. Inside, a herd of fire-breathing horses milled around. The hay in their feeding trough was on fire. The ground smoked around their feet, but the horses seemed tame enough. One big stallion looked at me and whinnied, columns of red flame billowing out his nostrils. I wondered if it hurt his sinuses.

"I'm sensing a theme," Alex said with interest.

"If Orthus isn't immune to flames then I don't know how they get the herding done around there," Magnus said curiously, "unless they have a separate fire breathing dog just for that and Orthus is security."

"I just want to know what happens when you milk them," Jason chuckled. "Is that were the lava at camp comes from?"

Percy laughed along with them like he didn't have a care in the world.

"What are they for?" I asked.

Eurytion scowled. "We raise animals for lots of clients. Apollo, Diomedes, and...others."

"Like who?"

"No more questions."

"Are we really surprised?" Thalia scoffed. "If he was going to tell you his entire clientele he'd already be bragging about it."

"He didn't really answer my question," Percy insisted, "you know I'd never let something like that go."

Finally we came out of the woods. Perched on a hill above us was a big ranch house—all white stone and wood and big windows.

"It looks like a Frank Lloyd Wright!" Annabeth said.

"The building looks like a person?" Will squinted suspiciously.

"No, I think the guy is famous for organic architecture or something," Jason grinned. "I'm sure I've come across his name, though I have no clue why."

"The house is, edible?" Percy frowned. "It didn't look made out of candy and gingerbread."

"No, they're like, open, modern, utilize the best space," Jason said, his brow creasing with concentration as he tried to remember why he'd read about this. "Um, I think prairie dogs came up at one point?"

"We seriously need a book on what you've been up to," Thalia said, her selfish reasons aside in this case.

"Well, at least we're sticking with a farm theme," Will nodded like that was all the relief he needed.

I guess she was talking about some architectural thing. To me it just looked like the kind of place where a few demigods could get into serious trouble.

"Percy, that's every building you walk into," Magnus scoffed.

"I could put you in a rubber room and you'd find a way to make it explode," Alex agreed with pride.

No wonder he did so well on this very combustible farm, Nico kept to himself, and Percy didn't even explode anything. He was just in his natural element even out of the water.

We hiked up the hill.

"Don't break the rules," Eurytion warned as we walked up the steps to the front porch.

"He hasn't told us the rules yet!" Will protested like he expected the monsters to play fair.

"I guess he never got numb to the pretty scenery and was distracted," Alex rolled his eyes.

"No fighting. No drawing weapons. And don't make any comments about the boss's appearance."

"Oh," Thalia said in great exhaustion. "Percy's screwed."

Percy didn't bother to deny it, he was already tapping his pen against each knuckle with growing unease. Eurytion hadn't bothered him much, but something of this house was setting his instincts ablaze, and he had a feeling it didn't have anything to do with organic housing.

"Why?" I asked. "What does he look like?"

Before Eurytion could reply, a new voice said, "Welcome to the Triple G Ranch."

"Unless the triple stands for gay I don't think this is going to be any fun," Alex pouted.

"And here I was starting to delude myself the G stood for great," Magnus sighed. "Triple Great Ranch, where nobody almost dies!"

"Focusing on the wrong part of that," Thalia muttered low enough Percy couldn't hear.

The man on the porch had a normal head, which was a relief.

Percy wasn't phased by the smattering of snickers that covered the room. They were lucky they'd only had to hear the weirdness described.

His face was weathered and brown from years in the sun. He had a slick black hair and a black pencil moustache like villains have in old movies.

"What's with the evil mustaches in this book?" Will asked nervously, still watching Nico anxiously. He didn't seem particularly traumatized by this guy showing up again, but was back to fiddling with his ring uneasily. "Why can't someone be described with a friendly mustache like Santa?"

"Because nobody wants Nerus to come back," Percy rolled his eyes.

He smiled at us, but the smile wasn't friendly; more amused, like Oh boy, more people to torture!

"I dislike that you know that smile," Magnus groaned.

"It's the only way I've ever seen Mr. D smile," Percy shrugged.

I didn't ponder that very long, though, because then I noticed his body...or bodies. He had three of them. Now you'd think I would've gotten used to weird anatomy after Janus and Briares, but this guy was three complete people. His neck connected to the middle chest like normal, but he had two more chests, one to either side, connected at the shoulders, with a few inches between. His left arm grew out of his left chest, and the same on the right, so he had two arms, but four armpits, if that makes any sense. The chests all connected into one enormous torso, with two regular but very beefy legs, and he wore the most oversized pair of Levis I'd ever seen. His chests each wore a different color Western shirt—green, yellow, red, like a stoplight. I wondered how he dressed the middle chest, since it had no arms.

"People of different backgrounds don't always like their routines on display Percy," Jason rolled his eyes at him.

"That cannot be comfortable getting through your average doorway," Magnus frowned at this bizarre theme of mismatching body parts Percy had been coming across. "Guess that open floor plan was on purpose."

The cowherd Eurytion nudged me. "Say Hello to Mr. Geryon."

"Oh, triple Geryon, I get it," Alex grinned. Magnus just sighed in defeat and said, "yeah, that tracks."

"I'm done," Thalia raised her hands in exasperation at these boys!

"Hi," I said. "Nice chests—uh, ranch! Nice ranch you have."

"Percy, breaking the rules in one sentence," Will chuckled. "You really are a wonder of your own."

"Thank you," Percy grinned.

Before the three-bodied man could respond, Nico di Angelo came out of the glass doors onto the porch.

Will sighed in relief, he'd already been imagining him trussed up in the basement with fire-breathing feral cats or something.

"Bathroom break," Alex nodded in understanding. "Everybody needs that during a monster chase."

"I got caught by Eurytion who told me I needed to come with him," Nico told them in exasperation. Eurytion had actually offered to just keep on driving, but, well, he'd happily let himself be taken hostage too just like Percy for his own reasons. Huh, he'd never expected to be like Percy in this random way. "I agreed because I'd heard of him and needed to speak about, negotiations," he finished lamely. Nobody pressed him for details, they'd gotten mildly better at suppressing that not to hassle Percy to much, but he could feel their simmering curiosity like milk ready to boil over.

"Geryon, I won't wait for—"

He froze when he saw us. Then he drew his sword.

"See, Nico's breaking the rules too," Percy said with an accusing finger at him like that was the important part of somebody drawing a sword on you.

"It's not a competition Percy," Will sighed, "and Annabeth already started it and won regardless before the quest kicked off."

The blade was just like I'd seen in my dream; short, sharp, and dark as midnight.

Alex gave a very loud, longing sigh and flopped against the side of his couch as he gave Nico a hurt look.

"I don't see why you want to know how I got it so bad," Nico smiled at his theatrics. "You've never tried to find out how Annabeth or Grover got their reed pipes and knife."

"Oh, I will when I meet them," Alex promised. "I'm waiting to ambush Thalia about her shield when I can get a chance that doesn't involve her using it on me."

"If you jump out at me and scream boo, you will get a face full of Aegis," Thalia promised.

"See, bidding my time," Alex said with a very calculating look at Nico, who just chuckled.

Geryon snarled when he saw it. "Put that away, Mr. di Angelo. I ain't gonna have my guests killin' each other."

"But that's—"

"Percy Jackson," Geryon supplied. "Annabeth Chase. And a couple of their monster friends. Yes, I know."

"Monster friends?" Grover said indignantly.

Magnus twiddled his fingers uncomfortably as he wondered how Grover was supposed to be classified.

"That man is wearing three shirts," Tyson said, like he was just realizing this.

"I'd love to meet Tyson just to see what he says about me," Jason chuckled.

"That man is to smart to be this dumb," Percy helpfully supplied.

"I would have told you what he first thought about you, but now you can forget it," Jason huffed.

"No, wait-" Percy began to splutter, but Thalia gave them both sharp smacks to their knees to pay attention.

"They let my sister die!" Nico's voice trembled with rage. "They're here to kill me!"

"One of these things is not like the other," Percy said with a nervous chuckle.

"As opposed to a normal person, who would deny both claims," Alex said, framing his hands around Percy's face as if to capture such ineptitude.

Both Thalia and Percy winced hard, the guilt they felt in Bianca's sacrifice still very raw to be discussed.

"Sorry," Nico whispered again. "I know that was harsh, and not what happened now, and-"

"Nico, I don't blame you," Percy promised at once. If anything he still blamed himself plenty, prophecy be dammed. It was his idea Bianca had run off with. "You were just a kid, haven't you been listening? I really did just want to help!"

Nico gave him an understanding nod, but the dull feeling of pain from still being called a kid by him, the flash of nausea that raced through him when he still remembered what had come out of his mouth the last time he'd talked to Percy about this, and the ensuing pressure he still felt inside every time he heard his sister's name wasn't giving him a very eloquent response.

"Nico, we're not here to kill you." I raised my hands. "What happened to Bianca was—"

"Don't speak her name! You're not worthy to even talk about her!"

"What's the level of worthiness?" Alex was the only one who dared keep talking to him right now in anything resembling a light tone. "Just trying to get a scale on that?"

A flash of anger did burn through him, that this wasn't a joke, but he knew Alex didn't mean it like that. He'd never talked about his sister, he didn't know how.

Silence was his answer, but Alex wasn't deterred. He'd just try another way.

"Wait a minute," Annabeth pointed at Geryon. "How do you know our names?"

"I really stopped questioning that when Medusa did," Magnus shook his head.

The three-bodied man winked. "I make it my business to keep informed, darlin'. Everybody pops into the ranch from time to time. Everyone needs something from ole Geryon. Now, Mr. di Angelo, put that ugly sword away before I have Eurytion take it form you."

"It's not ugly!" Will said with a loud, nervous chuckle, his hands fidgeting around making calming gestures at nobody in here. He kept tickling the hair on the back of Nico's neck, and yet he didn't really have the urge to swat him away.

"Don't worry Will, I don't lose it at every insult," Nico sighed. His need had trumped his grudge for Percy, for the moment. He hoped Bianca had been around watching and smiled at that, he was already trying to live up to her wish without even knowing it.

Eurytion sighed, but he hefted his spiked club.

"I'm getting feelings of discontent," Jason said, sharp eyes clearly wondering if they could play these two against each other.

"What a strange child of Ares," Thalia agreed pleasantly.

At his feet, Orthus growled.

Nico hesitated. He looked thinner and paler than he had in the Irismessages. I wondered if he'd eaten in the last week. His black clothes were dusty from traveling in the Labyrinth, and his dark eyes were full of hate. He was too young to look so angry. I still remembered him as the cheerful little kid who played with Mythomagic cards.

Which hadn't changed much from the moment he'd been flung in here. Percy looked sharply away from him, his mind sucker punching him with guilt and memories he still hadn't tied together on how everything surrounding this kid seemed to have gone wrong.

Nico wanted to deny it. He wanted to summon an army of soldiers and dare anyone to call him weak and sad looking. He didn't want their pity!

But Will sighed, his arm across the back of the couch, his posture open, and exhausted. If Will had been talking to him this whole time out of some kind of pity, he couldn't find it. Alex tweaked his nose and gave him a knowing wink. The idea came across. 'I get it, life sucks.'

Reluctantly, he sheathed his sword. "If you come near me, Percy, I'll summon help. You don't want to meet my helpers, I promise."

"I believe you," I said.

"I really want you to hear what just happened Nico," Thalia chuckled. "This ding-dong has ignored gods, Chiron himself, and his mother every day of his life when she tells him to be safe. You, you he listened to without question."

"You mean putting the fear of death into you wouldn't work?" Percy rolled his eyes at her. He'd listened because he didn't want to try talking to Nico in front of these monsters and they needed to not kill each other until then.

Nico winced with guilt Percy had really believed that of him.

Geryon patted Nico's shoulder. "There, we've all made nice. Now come along, folks. I want to give you a tour of the ranch."

"Is there roasted peanuts involved?" Jason perked up at any mention of a tour.

"Athena set the bar to high," Magnus nodded, "I don't know how this guy is going to compete. I bet he won't even mention a snack bar."

Geryon had a trolley thing—like one of those kiddie trains that take you around zoos. It was painted black and white in a cowhide pattern. The driver's car had a set of longhorns stuck to the hood, and the horn sounded like a cowbell. I figured maybe this was how he tortured people. He embarrassed them to death riding around in the moo-mobile.

"You wouldn't believe how scary that thing can look popping up in the labyrinth," Nico scowled.

Magnus spluttered painfully as he tried to subdue a laugh, shaking his hands and gasping, "sorry! I believe you!" His face was turning red, he was probably signing to stay coherent like Nico actually understood that. "Just imaging that ghost getting freaked out by-" he had to stop and catch his breath.

Nico sighed and chuckled good-naturedly. Will even nodded beside him and said, "well I'm glad, I was worried you were dragged there kicking and screaming. This seems, less, um, bad?"

"I knew who Geryon was and wanted to make a deal," Nico nodded, not enlightening the others Minos had mentioned him as a potential ally. "I can't say I, regret, getting in," he sighed all the same his sister had finally shown up because of this mess. They'd saved a bunch of silly farm animals. There were worse outcomes that could have happened.

Nico sat in the very back, probably so he could keep an eye on us.

"The strategic move," Jason nodded.

"Hey," Percy frowned, "neither of us actually want the other dead!"

"If this wasn't a circular room I'd be staked out in the corner from you nutjobs," Jason smirked.

Eurytion crawled in next to him with his spiked club and pulled his cowboy hat over his eyes like he was going to take a nap. Orthus jumped in the front seat next to Geryon and began barking happily in two-part harmony.

Alex chuckled and very much wondered if he could turn into that dog. Oh the fun he could have.

Annabeth, Tyson, Grover, and I took the middle two cars.

"We have a huge operation!" Geryon boasted as the moo-mobile lurched forward. "Horses and cattle mostly, but all sorts of exotic varieties, too."

"Peacocks?" Magnus asked hopefully.

"Monster peacocks, now we're in business!" Alex agreed. "Oh, x-ray eyes! No, no, they look at you and expose the color of your aura!"

"I immediately regret this," Magnus sighed. For one glorious, childish moment the image of getting in one of those things had made him think of riding that with his mom at the zoo.

We came over a hill, and Annabeth gasped. "Hippalektryons?

"She always says these words with such confidence," Percy grinned. "I want to know where she finds the time to figure out how to say it in the first place while reading about the world."

"I bet she secretly has to practice clapping the syllables for weeks," Magnus offered. "Like dilophosaurus," he said from experience.

"A, dolphin dinosaur?" Percy asked, vaguely recognizing the name.

"It's the dinosaur that could spit poison!" Magnus grinned. "Fun fact, its been proved they actually couldn't do that, let alone had a frill!"

"Oh, how lame," Percy said. He'd loved the t-rex the most, and feared to much saying that out loud in case some god got a wise idea to sick one on his life.

I thought they were extinct!"

"I've only ever heard of them as actual made up animals too," Thalia grinned in surprise. "Like the lock-ness monster back then, used to scare kids into behaving."

"That's adorable," Jason chuckled. Thalia smiled, he probably wouldn't think it was so entertaining if he knew the real monsters that had haunted them as kids.

At the bottom of the hill was a fenced-in pasture with a dozen of the weirdest animals I'd ever seen.

"You have clearly not been at the bottom of the ocean long enough to see a fangtooth fish. They live with dead eyes and you cannot convince me otherwise. Your dads kingdom makes ancient greek monsters look normal," Alex confessed.

Percy's brain flipflopped back and forth between the idea of a fish being scary and Alex knowing a fish he didn't before deciding on moving on.

Each had the front half of a horse and the back half of a rooster. Their rear feet were huge yellow claws. They had feathery tails and red wings. As I watched, two of them got in a fight over a pile of seed. They reared up on their wings at each other until the smaller one galloped away, its rear bird legs putting a little hop in its step.

"That's adorable," Magnus couldn't help but agree with Will's little coo of excitement.

"I wonder if they're strong enough for Tyson to finally get that ride he wants," Percy nodded they weren't the craziest thing.

"Rooster ponies," Tyson said in amazement. "Do they lay eggs?"

"Once a year!" Geryon grinned in the rearview mirror. "Very much in demand for omelettes!"

"That's horrible!" Annabeth said. "They must be an endangered species!"

Geryon waved his hand. "Gold is gold, darling. And you haven't tasted the omelettes."

"Oooh, yeah, I hate him," Alex said in way to calm a voice for someone who was clearly now planning at least one major crime.

Will nibbled on his lip as he tried to offer, "there's clearly some kind of good balance? Ah, he's helping an endangered species stay alive enough to breed at least, that's more than they're getting being extinct? Baby steps?"

"No Will," Alex said in that continued eerie voice. "You don't get to optimistic your way out of this one."

"Right, yeah, I'll get the lighter fluid," Will agreed, and not just because those would be awesome to have around camp.

"That's not right," Grover murmured, but Geryon just kept narrating the tour.

"Now, over here," he said, "we have our fire-breathing horses, which you may have seen on your way in. They're bred for war, naturally."

"What war?" I asked.

"Any war," Jason gave him a strange look. "Sell those to some mortals and they'll just think they have a weirdly awesome murder horse that doesn't get hurt by flamethrowers." He had a funny feeling about this place. He was sure he'd never directly been, but something of this caused an annoying tick in his brain all the same.

"How about we not sit around discussing warfare," Thalia sighed. Considering camp was on the brink of one, it wasn't anyone's favorite subject right now.

Geryon grinned slyly. "Oh, whichever one comes along. And over yonder, of course, are our prize red cows."

Sure enough, hundreds of the cherry-colored cattle were grazing the side of the hill.

"So many," Grover said.

"Yes, well, Apollo is too busy to see them," Geryon explained, "so he subcontracts to us. We breed them vigorously because there's such a demand."

"For what?" I asked.

Geryon raised an eyebrow. "Meat, of course! Armies have to eat."

"Ugh, okay, that's disgusting," Will shivered. That was like eating a piece of his dads car tire. How could someone stomach even the thought of wanting to do that?

"So it's not okay when it's related to your dad?" Alex challenged.

"They're not related to me, that's not what sacred means," Will sighed. "I'm of the opinion you can't stop the world from being evil so you should try to make peace," he defended himself. "I'm also of the opinion this place is lucky it isn't raining plague arrows right now and my dad would not be happy about this so we should absolutely intervene before the whole place is set on fire and all the cute animals suffer. More."

"A compromise I won't ignore," Alex nodded.

"You kill the sacred cows of the sun god for hamburger meat?" Grover said. "That's against ancient laws!"

"And clearly nothing bad has happened to him," Percy muttered, his mind still on Chiron's dire warning about how many people were on this quest.

Jason still looked a little grumpy nobody had dumped an ancient library on his head so he could be studying all of this in depth like a psychopath.

"Oh, don't get so worked up, satyr. They're just animals."

"Anybody who ever says that deserves to be fed to animals," Thalia shook her head in disgust. "You know who never says that! Farmers who actually care and understand the balance and the welfare of what an animal needs in life!"

"How many black market animal traders have you guys shish kabobed?" Alex asked eagerly.

"Quite a few," Thalia said proudly, popping the collar of her silver jacket. "Stories I will proudly share."

Alex actually began rubbing his hands in excitement.

"Just animals!"

"Yes, and if Apollo cared, I'm sure he would tell us."

"If he knew," I muttered.

"The fact that he doesn't know is kind of getting to me right now," Nico admitted.

"Welcome to my world," Jason agreed. He'd lost track of what the gods did and didn't know and he was about to start making a list just to satisfy his peace of mind.

Nico sat forward. "I don't care about any of this, Geryon. We had business to discuss, and this wasn't it!"

"You are now the definition of someone who needs to stop and smell the roses," Magnus told him sympathetically. He'd been living a hard life and needed some fun, like a cute animal ride through a nice farm. Just not this one.

"Hard pass," Nico turned his nose up just because of his stepmother though.

"All in good time, Mr. di Angelo. Look over here; some of my exotic game."

"You were half right last time on the birds," Alex grinned at Magnus. "Going to take another shot?"

"I couldn't guess what was in there in a million years," he reminded.

The next field was ringed in barbed wire. The whole area was crawling with giant scorpions.

Causing the others to burst out laughing hard while Magnus threw his hands up in exasperation.

"Triple G Ranch," I said, suddenly remembering. "Your mark was on the crates at camp. Quintus got his scorpions from you."

"Quintus..." Geryon mused. "Short gray hair, muscular, swordsman?"

"Yeah."

"Never heard of him," Geryon said.

"Uhhu," Jason frowned, "and I'm a child of Neptune."

"We look nothing alike," Percy looked around in confusion. "Thalia could pass that off better."

"Yeah, because that's the weird part of what I said," Jason snorted.

"Could you two stay on one topic for five seconds," Thalia sighed.

"Well it's not like we know any more about Geryon or Quintus from this," Jason sighed. "So he bought some scorpions from a questionable ranch. The guy obviously gets around and wanted to impress the camp with a cool monster, and this is the kind of guy, um, monster who would sell his grandma for a penny. I'm not sold on anything."

"I'm now concerned this is where he got Mrs. O'Leary from though," Alex frowned. "Does he have a puppy mill somewhere in the back I am not going to like?"

"Let's just wait and see how this plays out," Thalia said. She honestly didn't know, though Annabeth had promised this place was being run by Eurytion and it was much better now so she hadn't gone to visit herself when she heard these atrocities. She didn't want Percy thinking to much ahead and remembering that though, let alone any other details, so was more than happy to keep them moving along.

"Now, over here are my prize stables! You must see them."

I didn't need to see them, because as soon as we got within three hundred yards I started to smell them. Near the banks of a green river was a horse corral the size of a football field.

Thalia smacked Percy with a very annoyed eye roll. "That field gets bigger every time this story gets told by the way. Last time I was around Camp, it was the size of Olympus."

Percy rubbed his arm with a confused smile. Hopefully all his friends hadn't died a very manly death on the dude ranch if it was a popular tale.

 Stables lined one side of it. About a hundred horses were milling around in the muck—and when I say muck, I mean horse poop. It was the most disgusting thing I'd ever seen, like a poop blizzard had come through and dumped four feet of the stuff overnight. The horses were really gross from wading through it, and the stables were just as bad. It reeked like you would not believe—worse than the garbage boats on the East River.

Jason gagged at just the thought and covered up his nose. Alex, Magnus, and Nico had woken up in the worst of smelling places and still couldn't come close to imagining how the stench of that must have been vomit inducing, eye watering, disgusting beyond all words.

"You haven't been involuntarily shoved into a bathroom in this one yet," Thalia was waving her hand in front of her face like the book was letting out such an odor now. "I hope there's one handy around."

For once Percy couldn't even be annoyed at them for making that joke, if anybody needed a massive toilet it was those poor creatures.

Even Nico gagged. "What is that?"

"Why wouldn't I?" He asked, clearly hurt. "You think I go around sniffing corpses for fun?"

"You'd had this look on your face the whole time like I was about to start hacking pieces off of you," Percy said, a touch guilty, a little defensive. "Sorry to see you have a normal reaction to something."

He huffed and muttered but didn't protest further.

"My stables!" Geryon said. "Well, actually they belong to Aegas,

"Your shield owns horses?" Percy asked blankly.

"Aegas means cloaked, protection, and is most commonly associated with the word Zeus," Thalia shrugged.

"Oh, good, so it's not just Apollo who's prized animals are being mistreated. Equal opportunity and all that," Percy sighed.

but we watch over them for a small monthly fee. Aren't they lovely?"

"They're disgusting!" Annabeth said.

"Lots of poop," Tyson observed.

"The only takeaway we need from this place, as always, is delivered best by Tyson," Will sighed.

"How can you keep animals like that?" Grover cried.

"Y'all getting' on my nerves," Geryon said.

"Did he expect cheers and applause for these animals swimming in their own feces?" Magnus scowled. Horses he did like, and even if this was a pack of wolves, this was the definition of an inhumane environment.

"I hope he still does when I throw him in the nearest portapotty," Alex scowled.

"These are flesh-eating horses, see? They like these conditions."

"I'm not going to believe this guy," Magnus huffed. "Who knew a monster with three chests was heartless!"

Percy winced and gave him a strange look, but his vision went blurry and his headache didn't allow him a second of thought to wonder why.

"Plus, you're too cheap to have them cleaned," Eurytion mumbled from under his hat.

"Quiet!" Geryon snapped.

"Ooo, trouble in the dude paradise," Jason said with interest.

Percy let out a painful gasp and began rubbing at his forehead at that bouncing around his skull next, and Thalia placed a calming hand on his shoulder and a stern look at Magnus to finish.

"All right, perhaps the stables are a bit challenging to clean. Perhaps they do make me nauseous when the wind blows the wrong way. But so what? My clients still pay me well."

"Anything for that bottom line huh?" Percy asked with enough disgust to have his own manure heap packed in.

"What clients?" I demanded.

"Oh, you'd be surprised how many people will pay for a flesh-eating horse. They make great garbage disposals. Wonderful way to terrify your enemies. Great at birthday parties! We rent them out all the time."

"I find that very hard to believe, nobody would go near enough to this thing to be eaten by it, the way they smelled," Nico scoffed.

"Do monsters have birthday parties?" Magnus asked in surprise.

Alex doubled over laughing while Will grinned faintly in surprise. "I thought he meant mortal torture fests with kids mysteriously vanishing, but um, yeah Magnus, maybe." 

"Monsters call in a celebration with beer and flesh-eating horses every time they come back?" Jason said ambiguously, with a very raised brow.

"I bet the invite list is really short notice," Percy chuckled along.

"I'll make it my mission to get on more," Thalia smirked, she and Percy high-fiving at the level of gatecrashing that would soon be involved if this was a thing.

"You're a monster," Annabeth decided.

Geryon stopped the moo-mobile and turned to look at her. "What gave it away? Was it the three bodies?"

"I try to overlook minor things like that," Percy scowled. "It was his shitty personality!"

"You have to let these animals go," Grover said. "It's not right!"

"And the clients you keep talking about," Annabeth said. "You work for Kronos, don't you? You're supplying his army with horses, food, whatever they need."

Geryon shrugged, which was very weird since he had three sets of shoulders. It looked like he was doing the wave all by himself.

Percy watched as those around him gave grudging laughs for that visual while their stomachs sank at finding an answer to a question they didn't have. Magnus had never sat around and assumed monsters needed to eat to stay alive like 'normal' animals and people, they just existed and chose to. Alex had sort of been assuming the Titan of Time could just make money appear at will for whatever he needed.

To hear that there was some kind of financial backer to all of this made it much more real, a new level to a threat they already had plenty of fear in without all of that.

"I work for anyone with gold, young lady. I'm a businessman. And I sell them anything I have to offer."

He climbed out of the moo-mobile and strolled toward the stables as if enjoying the fresh air. It would've been a nice view, with the river and the trees and hills and all,

Jason raised a disbelieving brow at the mention of a river in sight. Percy had once nearly flooded his own camp with one after a tiff with Thalia, where was that temper drowning Geryon now at all of this? He found himself impressed Percy seemed to grow up a little more every book, find a little more self control in him.

except for the quagmire of horse muck.

Nico got out of the back car and stormed over to Geryon. The cowherd Eurytion wasn't as sleepy as he looked. He hefted his club and walked after Nico.

"He could have at least left the club in the moo-machine," Will muttered, "you hadn't drawn your sword again."

Nico gave him a surprised smile, the sense of feeling his arm on the back of the couch had faded to a comfortable presence he was still getting used to.

"I came here for business, Geryon," Nico said. "And you haven't answered me."

"Mmm." Geryon examined a cactus. His left arm reached over and scratched his middle-chest. "Yes, you'll get a deal, all right."

"You haven't even told us how you were paying for the Happy Meals?" Alex asked. "How were you going to pay this guy for anything?"

"I was working on that," Nico said, doing well to keep the childish note out of his voice to hide he had no clue. He'd been basically making this up as he went along from Minos's outline.

"My ghost told me you could help. He said you could guide us to the soul we need."

"Wait a second," I said. "I thought I was the soul you wanted."

Nico looked at me like I was crazy. "You? Why would I want you? Bianca's soul is worth a thousand of yours!

Percy startled in surprise, and then smiled of all things. "That is the best reason I've ever heard for someone not wanting my soul!"

"You're, welcome," Nico muttered in surprise. He still kept expecting Thalia to launch a thousand questions at him over what he was doing, somebody to scold him and be disgusted he'd been willing to do this at all.

For now, it was just Percy touching his chest and smiling, and that was enough to not feel rejected again.

Now, can you help me, Geryon, or not?"

"Oh, I imagine I could," the rancher said. "Your ghost friend, by the way, where is he?"

Nico looked uneasy. "He can't form in broad daylight. It's hard for him. But he's around somewhere."

Geryon smiled. "I'm sure. Minos

"Minos?" Five people yelped so loud it seemed to echo to the walls and back again several times. The only person who hadn't was Thalia, and she looked plenty displeased anyways.

"The evil eyed, pointy beard king who locks people up is your tour guide!" Alex's hands were clearly itching for his garotte. "He needs to be killed properly, stat! Then we'll find the dumbass who didn't kill him properly the first time and do them next!"

Percy had Riptide drawn, the cap of his pen dancing innocently on the floor between his shoes as he sat in place but still looked ready to stab something. "I can't believe you ran away from camp to take advice from-"

There was all that anger Nico had long since been expecting, and his hackles instantly raised. "I didn't ask your opinion on this, or need it thrown in my face! Can you not shut it and just get through this!"

Percy opened his mouth in outrage, he was upset Nico was being manipulated! But the tension of the water was already building around them, and only a gentle clearing of Thalia's throat needed to be heard for now to remind him to clench his jaw shut. This had already happened, and if Nico didn't want to hear his opinion on something, then he should probably accept that lest the kid blurt out any more life confessions as he slowly bent to put the cap of his pen back over his sword.

likes to disappear when things get...difficult."

"Minos?" I remembered the man I'd seen in my dreams, with the golden crown, the pointed beard, and the cruel eyes. "You mean that evil king? That's the ghost who's been giving you advice?"

"It's none of your business, Percy!" Nico turned back to Geryon. "And what do you mean about things getting difficult?"

The three-bodied man sighed. "Well, you see, Nico—can I call you Nico?"

"No."

"You see, Nico,

"He needs to die. Like a lot," Alex scowled. He took nothing more personally than assholes who misgendered, misnamed, or bragged about being a douche.

"In more ways than you know," Nico said with a very satisfied smile for Alex, though neither of them spoke to loudly in case Percy took a hint as he scowled and still held his pen in hand like Minos was still creeping around in here.

Luke Castellan is offering very good money for halfbloods. Especially powerful half-bloods. And I'm sure when he learns your little secret, who you really are, he'll pay very, very well indeed."

Will made such a deep throated noise it actually sounded like a growl. Kids shouldn't be sold around like cattle! And Nico was more than just a powerful bargaining chip!

Nico was already feeling bad for his outburst at Percy, and realizing Will was actually upset on his behalf too made him feel even worse. "Sorry, Percy," he offered, not expecting Percy to accept it. "I, um-"

"It's cool," Percy shrugged with not a chip in sight. "I'm glad you like me better than the creep who would actually sell your soul."

"It's a thin margin," he grinned faintly in surprise while Percy immediately smiled back.

Nico drew his sword, but Eurytion knocked it out of his hand. Before I could get up, Orthus pounced on my chest and growled, his faces an inch away from mine.

Thalia's bow appeared in hand on instinct, no one in doubt she would have shot both of those heads without hesitation, and everyone in the room was starting to feel a little short of breath at all three of these guys finding themselves on edge. Their very presence overlapping each other made the molecules feel more volatile all of a sudden.

"I would stay in the car, all of you," Geryon warned. "Or Orthus will tear Mr. Jackson's throat out. Now, Eurytion, if you would be so kind, secure Nico."

The cowherd spit into the grass. "Do I have to?"

"Yes, you fool!"

Eurytion looked bored, but he wrapped one huge arm around Nico and lifted him up like a wrestler.

Jason's hand clenched into such a tight fist it looked like his veins were spidery arcs trying to pop out of his arm. Like this maniac had no weapon except a weird gold coin and was willing to deck someone anyways. Magnus kept reading in the tense silence and hoped wanting to finish it wasn't a last-minute life goal as he shoved down his fight or flight instinct.

"Pick up the sword, too," Geryon said with distaste. "There's nothing I hate worse than Stygian Iron."

"So does that make it the absolute perfect weapon to kill him with?" Alex asked with could-not-fool a soul innocence. "Or are we supposed to find a way to kill him with money? I'm open to suggestions." The 'whatever it takes to get this guy dead,' went without saying.

"We can always start a list and just play around to see what works," Jason said in a very eerie kind of way, and Thalia's bow vanished as she looked at him in concern. She didn't disagree Geryon needed to die like any monster, but she did not like that cruel edge he got in his tone for it.

Eurytion picked up the sword, careful not to touch the blade.

"Now," Geryon said cheerfully, "we've had the tour. Let's go back to the lodge, have some lunch, and send an Iris-message to our friends in the Titan army."

"You fiend!" Annabeth cried.

Geryon smiled at her. "Don't worry, my dear. Once I've delivered Mr. di Angelo, you and your party can go. I don't interfere with quests. Besides, I've been paid well to give you safe passage, which does not, I'm afraid, include Mr. di Angelo.

"Paid by who?" Magnus yelped in surprise.

"Paid by whom?" Annabeth said.

"It's the correct grammar that really makes that sentence feel off," Magnus admitted, fighting off a grudging laugh.

"It's the fact that he's not going to answer that makes me not care," Percy scoffed.

"Well I sure do," Will's scowl seemed scarier the longer it lingered, all of the light in the room seemed to be sucking right towards him. "Who's paying for just some kids to get through and not all of them? Sorry Percy, you know I care about you, but I'm not okay with that!"

"Neither am I," Percy promised at once. "You really think I'll sit by and let that happen?" He asked casually, like he was asking Will what he had for lunch.

Will seemed mildly soothed by the reminder all the same, though the light went back to normal in the room with a little popping noise. Nico swallowed more shame and anger he'd needed help to get out of this. He'd survived in that labyrinth for months by himself. Percy had come around once, and he was back to being a useless kid.

"What do you mean?"

"Never you mind, darlin'.

Percy decided whatever bits he hacked Geryon into weren't small enough just for calling Annabeth that.

Let's be off, shall we?"

"Wait!" I said, and Orthus growled. I stayed perfectly still so he wouldn't tear my throat out. "Geryon, you said you're a businessman. Make me a deal."

Percy always knew he was doing something right when everybody looked at him in surprise like that. He smiled and fought off the urge to gag at the stench of dog breath still hot in his face.

Geryon narrowed his eyes. "What sort of deal? Do you have gold?"

"I've got something better. Barter."

"But Mr. Jackson, you've got nothing."

"You could have him clean the stables," Eurytion suggested innocently.

"I'll do it!" I said. "If I fail, you get all of us. Trade us all to Luke for gold."

"Assuming the horses don't eat you," Geryon observed.

"Either way, you get my friends," I said. "But if I succeed, you've got to let all of us go, including Nico."

"No!" Nico screamed. "Don't do me any favors, Percy. I don't want your help!"

"You didn't have to do that," Nico said again, more confused than he even had been to Will before. "I, wouldn't have helped Luke. I would have gotten out on my own, I work fine on my own."

"I would have done it for anybody Nico," Percy gave him a bizarre look for saying that at all. "I don't try to help you just because I feel guilty about your sister. You know that, right?"

"Right, yeah, I'm um, getting that," Nico promised awkwardly. He'd spent so long being mad at Percy and then so long avoiding him and then stuck here for what felt like an infernal lifetime now he probably didn't have a choice at this rate but to get used to him.

Geryon chuckled. "Percy Jackson, those stables haven't been cleaned in a thousand years...

"Hercules did it last time I believe," Will offered in some weird semblance of a peace offering and something nice to say while everybody was being held hostage now. "So it's not undoable."

"Great, let's see how I do a remix on that," Percy frowned anew, never pleased to hear his name again.

though it's true I might be able to sell more stable space if all that poop was cleared away."

"So what have you got to lose?"

The rancher hesitated. "All right, I'll accept your offer, but you have to get it done by sunset. If you fail, your friends get sold, and I get rich."

"Deal."

He nodded. "I'm going to take your friends with me, back to the lodge. We'll wait for you there."

"Err," Magnus really hoped he was just missing something in what he'd just read. Was that whole swearing on the Styx thing required to be said out loud? Because he didn't think this hillbilly dude to be a man of his word.

Percy looked so agitated though he decided not to bring it up, considering nobody had lost an eardrum yet to this latest debacle.

Eurytion gave me a funny look. It might have been sympathy.

"If this comes down to a vote, at least he'll be on your side whether the law agrees or not," Jason said.

"Seriously dude, are you like, in pre lawyer school or something?" Percy burst out in surprised laughter.

"I like to consider myself a good judge of character and taking in the terrain," Jason grinned.

He whistled, and the dog jumped off me and onto Annabeth's lap. She yelped. I knew Tyson and Grover would never try anything as long as Annabeth was hostage.

I got out of the car and locked eyes with her.

"I hope you know what you're doing," she said quietly.

"I hope so, too."

"I hope so three," Thalia groaned. Here once again was Percy putting everything on the line in hopes he knew what he was doing. Good thing that always worked out or the world would be doomed.

Geryon got behind the driver's wheel. Eurytion hauled Nico into the backseat.

"Sunset," Geryon reminded me. "No later."

He laughed at me once more, sounded his cowbell horn, and the moo-mobile rumbled off down the trail.

"That is a weirdly menacing sentence," Magnus groaned as he began to hand the book to Alex. "I am sorry for laughing about that earlier Nico, and not just because Annabeth is in it now."

"Circumstances matter," Nico agreed nonchalantly.

[im-overstimulated-and-im-sad]

hi there my darling. <3 i'm sorry it's rough lately. i come with questions about some fictional dudes you love.

🔪 What character are you defending with your life?  (I think I know!!! 🤭) 

🐠Give us a headcanon about (tk and Owen’s relationship)!

❤️ Favorite part of your favorite ship?

Hello lovely 🥰🥰 Thank you for putting up with me ♥️♥️

🔪- most likely yes it’s the one you think it is- I am the head of the Owen Strand defense squad.

Which it is an interesting time in the rewatch to be making this point (this is too big to put in parentheses yet here I go- season three did Owen so dirty- I know they were going for the therapy angle but we went from Owen attacked someone because he is spiraling from finding out he has cancer and- which I know this is dicey because people on here love them some Billy Tyson- but he’s just such a cartoonish mustache twirling villain- like he only got the job because Owen turned it down and the first thing he does is close the 126? That punch was more justified than Owen just punches everyone he has a disagreement with).

Oh bestie why would you do this to me lol- I can’t be normal about this topic 🫣🫣

But there is so much good in Owen and he sees so much good in other people; he sees someone who has never gotten approval from his father and whose job is telling him he screwed up big and tells him “no there should be more people in your profession like you, to hell with anyone who doesn’t agree your old man included” He finds the youngest member of his firehouse sleeping in the gym and says I have an extra room, it’s yours, you can live here forever and that would be fine - he looks the lone survivor of a tragedy in the eye and says you deserve to be here but if you don’t get a handle on the guilt you feel because you’re here and they aren’t well it will consume you alive, I know this better than anyone”

Which is another thing- Owen definitely has chronic hero syndrome but Owen has also been the sole survivor so many times in his life and he fucking hates that- he couldn’t save his brother and ended his parents marriage; there were 14 guys who didn’t get to go home to their families when he did. And when guilt and grief and shame tried to swallow him up he let those feelings win for a while but I refuse to believe that he missed TK’s entire childhood because then, TK wouldn’t have wanted to go to work with that person-

Which is to say, he isn’t a perfect parent but damn he is a good one- and one thing for sure he never made his son feel like he couldn’t be who he was (or that he was such a disappointment that forcing himself to be straight was the answer). But Owen loves his kid and they are so close that TK is as fiercely protective of his dad as his dad is of him, which I feel you really don’t see too much of especially between a grown father and son (the closest I can come up with is Stiles and his father from Teen Wolf - even though Stiles is technically a teenager)

I’m sorry that was so unhinged- but I’ve written a quarter million words on this topic for a reason lol

🐠- (not gonna rant about how it’s that Owen was not completely absent from TK’s life after he turned seven, not gonna do it)

But in light of where the rewatch is, I will say that I HC that Owen and TK talked about TK’s sobriety after the Sadie incident (I’m sorry, I have had so many people try to nicely explain this choice to me but I can’t accept this; there is no reason this should count as a relapse because it was not a choice. If the choice was made for you, then it’s not relapsing). Which I headcanon- I have to believe this because season 3 took every time TK should have talked with his dad and then purposely refused to show it (literally, a man fired a gun into an ambulance TK was in and we didn’t even get a hug from that) so I have to believe that TK and Owen talked about it. Because Owen has seen TK relapse before and could have pointed out, “you didn’t do this. This wasn’t your fault. If you need to be mad at someone then be mad at me, but I don’t want you blaming yourself for this”. And TK pointing out that if not for Owen, he would’ve taken the drugs from the ambulance after Gwyn’s death, so even if what happened with Sadie wasn’t his fault those two incidents make him feel like he lost something and needs to get his feet on solid ground.

❤️ - (this will sound so stupid; which so has the rest of this lol) but I love that you really see Carlos and TK’s relationship develop and change. Like they were so bad at communicating things to each other (that break up was on both sides, you can never convince me that was all TK’s fault) but season four might be my favorite season because things come up and they work through them together (like 98% of the time, granted) and this may be too broad of an answer but it’s what I came up with.

Thank you for the asks- sorry for the rambles 🫣🫶♥️

[plentyoffandoms]

Fall Again (Part 12)

Kenny Omega x f/Reader

Warnings: Some swearing. Mentions of past abusive relationship.

Just like all my other stories, this has not been proofread, but please enjoy.

Gifs & photos do not belong to me.

Story idea by @cashwheelersgirl89

Main Masterlist ♡ AEW Masterlist ♡ Kenny Omega Masterlist ♡ Fall Again Masterlist

Summary: f/Reader & Kenny were highschool sweethearts but broke up after graduation. They now work together at AEW.

Tyson - Kenny Omega ☆ Austin - Adam Cole ☆ Stephen - Adam Page ☆ Benjamin - PAC

YN's POV:

It has been roughly five months since Tyson and I have moved to Holyhead. It took some time getting used too, but we took it all in stride.

Tyson has been working from home and doing odd conventions here and there. When those happen, we end meeting with our friends.

The first one Britt was able to come and when I saw her, the tears didn't stop for what felt like forever. She just held on to me and rubbed my back.

The two of us spent time together in between her prior commitments. We had lunch together while Tyson was with the guys.

I during the lunch I finally had enough courage to ask her what I have wanted to know for months.

"Have you heard anything?" I asked her as we just placed our dessert order. She shook her head no.

"Austin believes that he has gone into hiding."

"Yeah, I can see him doing that. Probably waiting to see if Tyson and I will show up." Was what I said to her.

"Maybe that is a good idea. What if Tyson announces that he coming back to do commentary for a few shows back in the States."

I thought about what Britt said. It doesn't seem like a bad idea.

"I don't think Scott will believe it unless he sees proof of Tyson coming to the states. I know he has fake accounts and is following him on his social media accounts."

Fuck, I am sure he is even following Tyson on Twitch but I am not so sure.

"Look, how about we bring up the idea to Tyson. See what he says. He is a smart man and I know he wants to put an end to this." Britt said to me.

I quickly agreed as I knew I couldn't speak on Tyson's behalf. But just the thought of him being near that psychopath made me nervous.

But my thoughts were pulled away from me by a slight kick to my side. I placed my hand on the spot and rubbed it.

"They active?" Britt asked me. I nodded my head yes and took her hands in mine and placed them on my belly.

I watched a big smile spread over her face when she felt the movement. "That one is gonna be a wrestler."

"Feels like it. Keeps me up all night wrestling with whatever they can find in there." I joked.

"You two know what you are having?"

"Yes. We both decided to wait to tell everyone when they have been born."

"Tell me."

"No Britt. We haven't even told our own families yet."

"But I am more than family. Come on, I won't tell anyone." I gave her a pointed look when she said that.

"Austin doesn't count." She said waving her hand in my face.

"Yes he does."

"Oh come on YN."

"Seeing you beg like this is very unbecoming Britt."

"So are you gonna tell me then?"

"No!"

~

Britt tried for the rest of the day for me to tell her and Tyson told me that night that Austin tried as well, but he didn't give in.

Tyson and I were trying to figure out what to watch when I remembered what Britt said earlier.

"Hey Tyson."

"Hmm?" He barely took his eyes off the massive screen.

"I asked Britt if she has heard anything about him."

"And?" He finally looked at me, waiting to see if I had any news.

Kenny Omega's POV:

She shook her head no but before I could say anything, YN continued to speak. "Britt says that she and Austin think he is hiding and that maybe we should bring him out."

"You are not going anywhere near him YN." Just the thought of her in danger had my hands shaking. YN laid her hands over mine and I calmed down slightly.

"I'm not, but she did say why not have Tony or AEW announce that you will be coming back to do some commentary for a few shows."

"I don't think he will believe it unless I actually go." The plan was already forming in my head.

"Yes, she said that too and I agreed. What if you went. Scott would show his face and he will finally be caught. We can put this all behind us and move on."

"But what if you go into labour while I'm gone?" I was cupping her cheek now.

"Then call Tony and plan on this. The sooner the better. I know you will be back before then." YN assured me.

"I will have to see what the company says."

"I know but I also know they want you back there." She was right on that.

"And besides Tyson, I won't be leaving Wales. This is our home."

YN and I discussed that if Scott ever gets caught and behind bars that we will not move from here. We are going to raise our child here.

~

That was a few weeks ago and it is now time for me to head back to the States. I was nervous about leaving YN here all alone but Kris decided to come and spend time with her.

Kris is recovering from her knee injury but was getting stronger every day. Benjamin said he would stop on by as he is doing a show not far from here.

Matt and Nick announced that I would be coming back for a bit and then doing more rehabilitation.

I put it out on social media that I was returning the States for a few weeks. There was no way that Scott would give up this opportunity.

But as I was kissing YN goodbye and reassuring her that I will be safe, I didn't want to leave her and our baby, but I had too.

"You stay safe baby." She said to me.

"You and this little one better be good until I get back Miss LN." I placed my hand on her stomach and leaned my forehead against hers, just savoring the moment.

The Uber was here and I had to leave. With one last kiss, I got into the car, leaving my whole world behind as I headed to the airport.

~

I was beyond tired once the plane landed and had go through everything to get my stuff, but I knew who was waiting for me.

Matt and Nick were there, filming of course. They knew this would help convince anyone that I was actually back.

"You ready?" Nick asked me as Matt pointed the camera towards himself and talked.

"Ready as I will ever be. It is time this comes to an end."

Part 13 coming soon.

Tag List: if you would like to be added, please let me know. @lghockey @cashwheelersgirl89 @damnnhausen @xkennyxomegax @anaeve @crowleysqueenofhell @bduchrnskei @thenerdybaker523 @brie-mode-activated @vtriggering @alexisquinnlee-bc @nicoleveno14 @hellbrid

[trinity-mia]

a story as endless as the ocean

the sea of monsters

1.9 red sky in morning

warnings : none ( lmk if that isn't actually true )

word count : 2.5k

1.9 The King of the Titans Installs His Back-Up Plan Just in Case He Can't Manipulate Me or I Die (Whichever Comes First)

That afternoon was one of the happiest I'd ever spent at camp, which probably goes to show, you never know when your world is about to be rocked to pieces.

Grover announced that he'd be able to spend the rest of the summer with us before resuming his quest for Pan. His bosses at the Council of Cloven Elders were so impressed that he hadn't gotten himself killed and had cleared the way for future searchers, that they granted him a two-month furlough and a new set of reed pipes.

The only bad news: Grover insisted on playing those pipes all afternoon long, and his musical skills hadn't improved much. He played "YMCA," and the strawberry plants started going crazy, wrapping around our feet like they were trying to strangle us. I guess I couldn't blame them, seeing as I wanted to strangle his 'music' too. However illogically that was phrased. But, because I was a good friend, I managed to restrain myself and not break them. Though, I wasn't about to make any promises if he started on Hilary Duff again.

Grover told me he could dissolve the empathy link between us, now that we were face to face, but I had simply rolled my eyes and told him not to be an idiot. He put down his reed pipes and stared at me. "But, if I get in trouble again, you'll be in danger, Allie! You could die!"

"I'm a demigod, Grover," I scoffed back. "Dying's in the job description." I gave him a stern, unyielding look that said I wasn't going to back down on this. "If you get in trouble again, I want to know about it. And I'll come to help you again, Grover. I wouldn't have it any other way."

In the end, he agreed not to break the link. He went back to playing "YMCA" for the strawberry plants. I didn't need an empathy link with the plants to know how they felt about it. I suspect I did everyone a favor when I confiscated the reeds and rapped him around the head with them. 

As for Tyson, the campers treated him like a hero. I would've been happy to have him as my cabin mate forever, but that evening, as we were sitting on a sand dune overlooking the Long Island Sound, he made an announcement that completely took me by surprise.

"Dream came from Daddy last night," he said. "He wants me to visit."

I wondered if he was kidding, but Tyson really didn't know how to kid. "Poseidon sent you a dream message?"

Tyson nodded. "Wants me to go underwater for the rest of the summer. Learn to work at Cyclopes' forges. He called it an inter— an intern—"

"An internship?"

"Yes." I let that sink in. I'll admit, I felt a little bitter. Poseidon did seem to actually care about Tyson. But me? He said to my face that I was a mistake. Who wouldn't feel a bit resentful at hearing their parent say that, no matter how they felt about the parent themselves? Then I realized, Tyson was going? Just like that?

"When would you leave?" I asked.

"Now."

"Now. Like... right now?"

"Now."

"Oh." I stared out at the waves of Long Island Sound. The water was glistening red in the sunset. I could feel tears pricking my eyelids. "I'm happy for you, bub," I managed. "Seriously."

"Hard to leave my new sister," he said with a tremble in his voice. "But I want to make things. Weapons for the camp. You will need them."

Unfortunately, I knew he was right. The Fleece hadn't solved all the camp's problems. Annabeth and Cody were both still out there, gathering an army aboard the Princess Andromeda. Kronos was still re-forming in his golden coffin. Eventually, we would have to fight them. War was inevitable, and the Great Prophecy loomed over my head like a Sword of Damocles. I would turn nineteen in a little over three weeks, meaning I would be exactly two years away from my much-dreaded twenty-first birthday.

"You'll make the best weapons ever," I told Tyson. I held up my bracelet proudly. "The best. No contest."

Tyson sniffled. "Brothers and sisters help each other."

"You're my brother," I vowed. "No doubt about it."

He patted me on the back so hard he almost knocked me down the sand dune. Then he wiped a tear from his cheek and stood to go. "Use the shield well."

"I will, bub."

"Save your life someday."

The way he said it, so matter-of-fact, I wondered if that Cyclops eye of his could see into the future.

"Just like its creator," I answered softly as he headed down to the beach and whistled, the way I'd taught him. Rainbow, the hippocampus, burst out of the waves. I watched the two of them ride off together into the realm of Poseidon.

Once they were gone, I looked down at my new bracelet. I pressed the sapphire and the shield spiraled out to full size. Hammered into the bronze were pictures in Ancient Greek style, scenes from our adventures this summer. There was me slaying a Laistrygonian dodgeball player, Luke fighting the bronze bulls on Half-Blood Hill, Tyson riding Rainbow toward the Princess Andromeda, the CSS Birmingham blasting its cannons at Charybdis. I ran my hand across a picture of Tyson, battling the Hydra as he held aloft a box of Monster Donuts.

I couldn't help feeling sad. I knew Tyson would have a fantastic time under the ocean. He would love his internship, of that I had no doubt, not to mention seeing Poseidon, whom he idolized. But I would miss everything about him— his fascination with horses, the way he could fix chariots or crumple metal with his bare hands, or tie our enemies into knots. I'd even miss him snoring like an earthquake in the next bunk all night.

"Hey, Allie."

I turned.

Luke and Grover were standing at the top of the sand dune. I wiped a few stay tears from my eyes. 

"Tyson..." I told them. "He had to..."

"We know," Luke replied softly, his expression gentle as he reached out to smooth down my curls. "Chiron told us."

"Cyclops forges." Grover shuddered. "I hear the cafeteria food there is terrible! Like, no enchiladas at all."

I let out a watery laugh, and he gained a pleased expression. Luke wrapped an arm around my shoulders. "Come on, Angel. Time for dinner."

We walked back toward the dining pavilion together, just the three of us together, almost like old times.

A storm raged that night, but it parted around Camp Half-Blood as storms usually did (Thank Olympus for weather wards).

Lightning flashed against the horizon, waves pounded the shore, but not a drop fell in our valley. We were protected again, thanks to the Fleece, safely sealed inside our magical borders.

Still, my dreams were restless. I heard Kronos taunting me from the depths of Tartarus. 

Polyphemus sits blindly in his cave, young heroine, believing he has won a great victory. Are you any less deluded? The Titan's cold laughter filled the darkness of the cavern.

Then my dream changed. I was following Tyson to the bottom of the sea, into the court of Poseidon. It was a radiant hall filled with blue light, the floor cobbled with pearls. And there, on a throne of coral, sat my father, dressed like a simple fisherman in khaki shorts and a sun-bleached T-shirt. I looked up into his tan weathered face and sea-green eyes, all older, but still looking just like me, and he spoke two words: Brace yourself.

I woke with a start.

There was a banging on the door. Grover flew inside without waiting for permission. "Allie!" he stammered. "Luke... on the hill... he..."

The look in his eyes told me something was terribly wrong. Luke had been on guard duty that night, protecting the Fleece. If something had happened— I ripped off the covers, my blood like ice water in my veins. I grabbed a piece of Ambrosia from my secret stash, then threw on a hoodie over my sports bra and pajama pants and shoved on the closest pair of slip-on shoes (which happened to be Gucci slides), while Grover tried to make a complete sentence, but he was too stunned, too out of breath. He wasn't making any sense.

"She's lying there... just lying there..."

Who was she? The only thing I could think was that a new camper must have arrived, deathly injured by the sounds of it.

I ran outside and raced across the central yard, Grover right behind me. Dawn was just breaking, but the whole camp seemed to be stirring. Word was spreading. Something huge had happened. A few campers were already making their way toward the hill as fast as they could, satyrs and nymphs and heroes in a weird mix of armor and pajamas. I spotted Will and his younger sister Kayla Knowles, gripping a box of medical supplies and a quiver of arrows between them as they struggled up the slope.

I heard the clop of horse hooves, and Chiron galloped up behind us, looking grim.

"Is it true?" he asked Grover.

Grover could only nod, his expression dazed.

I tried to ask what was going on, but Chiron grabbed me by the arm and effortlessly lifted me onto his back. Together we thundered up Half-Blood Hill, where a small crowd had started to gather.

I expected to see the Fleece missing from the pine tree, but it was still there, glittering in the first light of dawn. The storm had broken and the sky was bloodred from the rising sun. The color made me queasy, as I remembered an old phrase one of my directors had often spouted. Red sky at night, sailor's delight. Red sky in morning, sailor's warning.

"Curse the titan lord," Chiron said. "He's tricked us again, given himself another chance to control the prophecy. He's given himself a backup plan."

"What do you mean?" I asked fearfully.

"The Fleece," he answered me in a grim tone of voice. "The Fleece did its work too well."

That was, as you may have guessed, completely unhelpful. We galloped forward, everyone moving out of our way. There at the base of the tree, a girl was lying unconscious. Luke was pale-faced and dressed in Greek armor as he knelt next to her. He didn't glance back as we cantered up to the group.

"My gods," he was muttering repeatedly. "My gods. My gods."

My instinctual fear caused blood to roar in my ears. I couldn't think straight. What had happened? Was Luke hurt? Was the Fleece still there? Still undamaged?

The tree itself looked perfectly fine, whole and healthy, suffused with the essence of the Golden Fleece.

"It healed the tree," Chiron said, his voice ragged. "And poison was not the only thing it purged."

Luke finally looked away from the girl at the sound of Chiron's voice. When he saw us, he ran to Chiron. "It... she... just suddenly there..."

His eyes were streaming with tears uncharacteristically, but I still didn't understand. I was too freaked out to make sense of it all. I leaped off Chiron's back and ran toward the unconscious girl. Chiron said: "Allie, wait!"

I knelt by her side. She had short black hair and freckles across her nose. She was built like a long-distance runner, lithe and strong, and she wore clothes that were somewhere between punk and Goth— a black T-shirt, black tattered jeans, and a leather jacket with buttons from a bunch of different bands.

She wasn't a camper. I didn't recognize her from any of the cabins. And yet I had the strangest feeling I'd seen her before...

"It's true," Grover said, panting from his run up the hill. "I can't believe..."

Nobody else came close to the girl.

I put my hand on her forehead, trying to use my rudimentary first-aid skills to assess her. Her skin was cold, but my fingertips tingled as if they were burning.

"She needs nectar and ambrosia," I said. She was clearly a half-blood, whether she was a camper or not. I could sense that just from one touch. I didn't understand why everyone was acting so scared. I shot a scathing look at the medics, who were as frozen as everyone else.

Breakdowns are for later people. Not when there's someone in desperate need of medical aid lying unconscious in front of you. Gods! Well, if none of them were going to help, I would.

I took her by the shoulders and lifted her into a sitting position, resting her head on my shoulder. Then I pulled out the small piece of ambrosia from my pocket. I pinched her nose to make her open her mouth, popped in the ambrosia, and massaged her throat to make her swallow. For a moment, nothing happened.

Then the girl took a shaky breath. She coughed and opened her eyes.

Her irises were startlingly blue— electric blue.

The girl stared at me in bewilderment, shivering and wild-eyed. "Who—"

"I'm Allie," I said, keeping my tone soothing like I was talking to Nessa's little half-brother, or one of the camp's younger kids (usually about five to seven, but there was a four-year-old son of Apollo who had come after his mother's death. I'll give Apollo this, he made certain that none of his children ended up in the foster system). "You're safe now."

"Strangest dream..."

"It's okay."

"Dying."

"No," I assured her. "You're okay. What's your name?" That's when I knew. Even before she said it. I had seen those eyes before, not just in a picture and I had heard that voice before too. "Wait."

The girl's blue eyes stared into mine, and I understood what the Golden Fleece quest had been about. The poisoning of the tree. Everything. Kronos had done it to bring another chess piece into play— another chance to control the prophecy. If I died or he couldn't find a way to control me, he had a backup plan.

Even Chiron, Luke, and Grover, who should've been celebrating this moment, were too shocked, thinking about what it might mean for the future, and the war. And I was holding someone who was supposed to have died seven years ago in my arms.

"I am Thalia," she said, unaware of the turmoil she was about to cause the world. "Daughter of Zeus."

*    *    *

previous | next

SERIES M.LIST | MAIN M.LIST | TIPS

[moonflower1605]

Chapter - 28(Part 2)

(Ella's POV)

I thought Percy was done for until a basketball sized rock sailed straight into Polyphemus’s throat.

The Cyclops choked, trying to swallow the unexpected pill.

He staggered backward, but there was no place to stagger. His heel slipped, the edge of the cliff crumbled, & the great Polyphemus made chicken wing motions that did nothing to help him fly as he tumbled into the chasm.

I turned to look back & halfway down the path to the beach, standing completely unharmed in the midst of a flock of killer sheep, was an old friend.

"Tyson!" I said.

“Bad Polyphemus,” Tyson said. “Not all Cyclopes as nice as we look.”

Tyson gave us the short version: Rainbow the hippocampus-who’d apparently been following us ever since the Long Island Sound, waiting for Tyson to play with him-had found Tyson sinking beneath the wreckage of the CSS Birmingham & pulled him to safety. He & Tyson had been searching the Sea of Monsters ever since, trying to find us, until Tyson caught the scent of sheep & found this island.

Percy & I wanted to hug the big guy, except he was standing in the middle of killer sheep.

“Tyson, thank the gods. Annabeth is hurt!” Percy said.

“You thank the gods she is hurt?” he asked, puzzled.

“No!”

Meanwhile, I knelt beside Annie & was worried sick by what I saw.

The gash on her forehead was worse than I’d realized. Her hairline was sticky with blood. Her skin was pale.

Percy, Grover & I exchanged nervous looks. Then Percy suddenly said.

“Tyson, the Fleece. Can you get it for me?”

“Which one?” Tyson said, looking around at the hundreds of sheep.

“In the tree!” I said. “The gold one!”

“Oh. Pretty. Yes.”

Tyson lumbered over, careful not to step on the sheep.

If any of us tried to approach the Fleece, we would’ve been eaten alive, but I guess Tyson smelled like Polyphemus, because the flock didn’t bother him at all. They just cuddled up to him & bleated affectionately, as though they expected to get sheep treats from the big wicker basket.

Tyson reached up & lifted the Fleece off its branch.

Immediately the leaves on the oak tree turned yellow. Tyson started wading back towards us, but I said, “No time! Throw it!”

The gold ram skin sailed through the air like a glittering shag Frisbee. Percy caught it with a grunt.

We spread it over Annabeth, covering everything but her face, & prayed silently to all the gods we could think of.

The color returned to her face. Her eyelids fluttered open. The cut on her forehead began to close.

She saw Grover & said weakly, “You’re not…married?”

Grover grinned. “No. My friends talked me out of it.”

“Annie,” I said, “lay still...”

But despite our protests she sat up, & I noticed that the cut on her face was almost completely healed. She looked a lot better. In fact, she shimmered with health, as if someone had injected her with glitter.

Meanwhile, Tyson was starting to have trouble with the sheep. “Down!” he told them as they tried to climb him, looking for food.

A few were sniffing in our direction. “No, sheepies. This way! Come here!”

They heeded him, but it was obvious they were hungry, & they started realizing Tyson didn’t have treats for them. They wouldn’t hold out forever with fresh meat nearby.

“We have to go,” Percy said. “Our ship is…” The Queen Anne’s Revenge was a very long way away. The shortest route was across the chasm, & we’d just destroyed the only bridge. The only other possibility was through the sheep.

“Tyson,” I called, “can you lead the flock as far away as possible?”

“The sheep want food.”

“I know! They want people food! Just lead them away from the path. Give us time to get to the beach. Then join us there.”

Tyson looked doubtful, but he said.

“Come, sheepies! Um, people food this way!”

He jogged off into the meadow, the sheep in pursuit.

“Keep the Fleece around you,” Percy said to Annie. “Just in case you’re not fully healed yet. Can you stand?”

She tried, but her face turned pale again. “Ohh. Not fully healed.”

I felt her chest, which made Annabeth gasp.

“Ribs are broken,” I said. “They’re mending, but definitely broken.”

“How can you tell?” Percy asked.

"It's kinda obvious. Clarisse can you carry her...?"

Clarisse picked her up like a sack of flour & lugged her down to the beach while Percy, Grover & I followed.

As soon as we got to the edge of the water, we heard Tyson yell.

“Incoming!” He was bounding down the path to join us, the sheep about fifty yards behind, bleating in frustration as their Cyclops friend ran without feeding them.

“They probably won’t follow us into the water,” Percy told us. “All we have to do is swim for the ship.”

“With Annabeth like this?” Clarisse protested.

“We can do it,” Percy insisted.

We almost made it, too.

We were just wading past the entrance to the ravine, when we heard a tremendous roar & saw Polyphemus, scraped up & bruised but still very much alive, his baby-blue wedding outfit in tatters, splashing toward us with a boulder in each hand.

“You’d think he’d run out of rocks,” Percy muttered.

"Of course he wouldn't." I grumbled.

“Swim for it!” Grover said.

He & Clarisse plunged into the surf. Annie hung on to Clarisse’s neck & tried to paddle with one hand, the wet Fleece weighing her down. But the monster’s attention wasn’t on the Fleece.

“You, young Cyclops!” Polyphemus roared. “Traitor to your kind!”

Tyson froze.

“Don’t listen to him!” I said. “Come on.”

Percy pulled Tyson’s arm, but he might as well had been pulling a mountain.

He turned & faced the older Cyclops. “I am not a traitor.”

“You serve mortals!” Polyphemus shouted. “Thieving humans!”

Polyphemus threw his first boulder. Tyson swatted it aside with his fist.

“Not a traitor,” Tyson said. “And you are not my kind.”

“Death or victory!” Polyphemus charged into the surf, but his foot was wounded. He immediately stumbled & fell on his face. That would’ve been funny, except he got up again, spitting salt water & growling.

“Percy!” I yelled. “Come on!”

“Go,” Tyson told us. “I will hold Big Ugly.”

“No! He’ll kill you. We’ll fight him together.” Percy said.

“Together,” Tyson agreed.

Percy drew his sword.

Polyphemus advanced carefully, limping worse than ever. But there was nothing wrong with his throwing arm.

Eventually Percy & Tyson began to battle against him & I could see them fighting out of the corner of my eye.

At some point Polyphemus roared. He ripped an olive tree out of the side of the cliff & smashed it where Percy had been standing a moment before.

“Humans not the same! Nasty, tricky, lying!”

Grover & I helped Annie aboard the ship. Clarisse was waving frantically at Percy, telling him to come on.

I saw them run towards the ship trying to get away & knew I had to do something to buy them some time.

I closed my eyes & felt power surge through me as I summoned a lightning strike down on the Cyclops. It wasn't enough to kill him but it was enough to daze him for a few minutes.

Percy & Tyson were almost to the ship when Clarisse shouted from the deck, “Yeah, Jackson! In your face, Cyclops!”

“Rarrr!” Polyphemus picked up a boulder. He threw it toward the sound of Clarisse’s voice, but it fell short, narrowly missing.

“Yeah, yeah!” Clarisse taunted. “You throw like a wimp! Teach you to try marrying me, you idiot!”

“Clarisse!” I said. “Shut up!”

Too late. Polyphemus threw another boulder, & this time I watched helplessly as it crashed through the hull of the Queen Anne’s Revenge.

The Queen Anne’s Revenge creaked, groaned & listed forward like it was going down a playground slide.

We were sinking fast, trying to swim, without luck, in the bubbly trail of the ship’s wreckage.

Not many people realize that a sinking ship acts like a sinkhole, & it pulls everything with it.

Clarisse was a strong swimmer, but even she wasn’t making progress. Grover frantically kicked with his hooves. Annie was hanging on to the Fleece, which flashed in the water like a wave of pennies.

I knew that I didn't have the strength to try & save my friends much less save myself..

I felt like I was losing myself slowly as I ran out of air & before I knew it I blacked out..

Ciffhangerrrr...again😌

I know I know...but I'll upload the next chapter soon dw..

But yeah, another long chapter for you guys..🙃

Until next time..👋🏻

Link to the prev chapter is here.

Comment, like & share.

Take care my lovely readers.❤️

Alice signing off.

XOXO.

[basedkikuenjoyer]

The Great Succession Contest Roundup

We’ll call this a spinoff of Late-Night Togashiposting...but being honest this is mostly so I have something to refer to in like, three years when we finally get back around to the main thread of this arc. Not complaining, I’m about to get to see baby Nobunaga so I’m happy. I’m just tired of needing to do a re-read every time and sort out the fluff from the parts I feel like I actually need to remember in order to keep things straight. Sure, what I consider “fluff” will likely come back to haunt me later and I’ll probably have to re-read this arc about six more times by the end. Luckily it’s awesome...I think. That’s Hunter x Hunter for ya. I’m sure it’ll melt my face off by the end. So let’s go from one extreme of sibling bonds to the other and place your bets on who emerges the next king of Kakin!

1st Prince Benjamin: Ew, no. Muscles McHardass and the Stupid Jumpsuit Apparatus? Too obvious even for hack writers. Will likely die in spectacularly embarrassing fashion.

2nd Prince Camilla: Hey! You’re a crazy bitch... I like her. She has what it takes to be a woman in leadership. How you gonna kill her? Checkmate bastards. I mean figurative bastards not the double scar ones.

3rd Prince Zhang Lei: Booooooring. Coin ability seems cool though. I had an RPG villain who did something similar.

4th Prince Tserri: Only calling him that from now on because they made a point of it. Definitely intrigued. He’s set up as a clear villain but the more I see the more I wonder if awakening Nen isn’t pushing him towards something like we saw with Meruem. It’s changing him. That plus the old friends is a cool story bubbling. That said...this mutha has a date with a certain chain dude. He might have the best story, but I don’t see a winner. Too obvious. (See #9)

5th Prince Tsubeppa: Nice to see women in STEM I guess. Gonna do something other than play Dr. Bunsen? Meh.

6th Prince Tyson: Heh, this chick cracks me up. Probably the biggest wildcard. This is a long sea voyage, people are going to get bored enough to read that book. It’s such a devious trap...think about it, even an enemy reading it to try and glean some edge could fall under her spell. I know she doesn’t seem as clear a threat, but keep an eye on Tyson. Never underestimate the power of delusion and a sexy man-harem. 

7th Prince Luzurus: Define “winner.” He might not end up king, but a free cruise spent getting high with Basho sounds like a hell of a time. I’m pulling for ya buddy. You’re right, screw learning Nen superpowers. That’d be like, a total bummer maaaan. More anime potheads.

8th Prince Sale-Sale: First off, momma’s name Swinko-Swinko is awesome and I always remember that. This dude is like Luzurus but not as fun. Though...given daddy’s titty demon Nen Beast, you certainly seem like the most chip off the old block. Otherwise...meh. Easy to kill someone plowing is way to the Dark Continent. Much easier than a perma-paranoid pothead and his warrior poet bodyguard.

9th Prince Halkenburg: First off, nerrrrrrd. With that out of the way, a favorite for good reason. Clearly getting a lot of focus and he has an iron will. This dude is convicted as all getout. That said, starting from the pictured scene (which is a gorgeous panel) I smell Tserri’s opposite. This contest is going to shatter this man’s high-minded ideals. He’ll either win but come out the other side a brutal tyrant or die after crossing a nasty moral boundary.

10th Prince Kacho: KAAAAAAAAAAAAAACHO!!!!! Made me bawl like a baby. You were too good for this world Kacho. Even though you were the second out, you have a path to victory because...

11th Prince Fugetsu: Guardian angel sis has this taken care of. Fugetsu just needs to focus on being her lovely self. Together forever bitches, to hell with the rest! Especially since that tunnel ability is easy mode for assassination should Fugetsu turn to the dark side. Would she use it? No. Would Nencho? Hell yes. Count me on Team Twinsies. They have Ms. Melody. 

12th Prince Momoze: Eh, someone had to die first. Kinda wish it wasn’t here because I did like how she seemed like she had a more shrewd mind than appearances would suggest.

13th Prince Maryam: Bold strategy. Hide out in extradimensional space and hope everyone just kinda...forgets about you. Given the high likelihood of a mass murder-suicide to top this arc off, I actually like his chances. Especially with Biscuit in his corner.

14th Prince Woble: First off, you do have to consider Kurapika’s angling for a stalemate. Which is a real possibility of course. As much a possibility as teaching everyone Nen backfiring. Or getting distracted by an amusing task The Phantom Troupe. Being attached to the main character in the arc is of course a bonus, Queen Oito seems in it to win it, but all of that pales in comparison to Woble’s biggest advantage. Absolute gigchad Bill. Seriously future Rhea, don’t forget about Bill.

[lowercases-and-capitals-blog]

In a punctual way of speaking, good-by.

After you left that night, I felt sad. The next day I went to New York City and I wished you were there with me the entire time. That day wasn’t the first time I’ve felt like I wished you were right by my side. I have embarrassed myself in so many ways with you. You unblocked my number twice that day and I sent you a song and I think I also called you a dingus. My texts are no longer going through to you so I’m assuming our mutual friend told you that I knew you kept unblocking and reblocking my number. I sent you a lot of songs that made me think of you but instead of reaching out I just started making a playlist. When I was in the city, I walked by your old job randomly. 

I actually saw you a couple of days later. That was the first time I had seen you since the night you said I “wasn’t talking to you”. I went into the bar to read my book and you were there. I did ignore you then because I wanted to be left alone and I figured you probably wanted to, too. You left and said “take care”. The next day, I saw you again. I walked right up to you to try and make sure I didn’t make you feel as though I was ignoring you again. We talked for a little while and it was nice. The next day I met your new friend and she and I spoke about the unwanted advances to her that you were making. 

The following day was 4/20 and I told you a riddle that you said you didn’t care about but wouldn’t give up on. Eventually you got it.

The following day, I went out and was talking to a mutual friend of ours and I didn’t say anything to you. You made a very mean and unnecessary comment on the way out of the door which was the moment I decided to no longer involve you in my life. The next night was goth night, and I had a feeling you would be there. When I walked in, there you were, with none other than your new friend. You commented about me bringing my book into the bar and my immediate reaction was to share with you that I never wanted to hear from you again. You have obliged, mostly. 

I don’t remember when or if I saw you after that until the following weekend. I saw you at the show that Friday night and unfortunately by chance timing ran into you on my way out of the bathroom. On Saturday, I saw you again and happened to overhear you telling the story of our failed relationship to your new friend. You slid a beer down the bar to me for some reason. I went outside to ask you once more to leave me alone forever and we ended up getting into an argument. You screamed at me repeatedly and hurt me very badly that night. I left of course. I don’t think I saw you since then until the following week. 

I went into the bar to sit and read. You were there with a mutual friend of ours. I could once again overhear you saying horrible things about me but the one that really stuck with me was when you called me a “frumpy bitch”. That was lovely. The next day I chose to borrow a friend’s phone to send you one final message and ask you to leave me alone forever. You mostly obliged.

I caught you staring at me one night last week from across the room and when I made eye contact with you, your facial expression burned into my brain. You looked somewhere between angry and devastated. It made me miss you and want to hug you but I have to be strong. You are not someone I can have in my life. We tried, it didn’t work. I saw you last Monday randomly. You sat two seats down from me at the bar and I ignored you as much as I could. You asked the person sitting in between us, “you know my friend Kate?”

We had actually just met. You said something about Tyson and I said something about how stinking cute and good he is. I really wish I could transport myself back to laying on your couch with my head on your lap and Tyson snuggle bugging us after you made the only pancakes I think I’ve ever even liked. I hate pancakes but I loved sharing them with you. I don’t like black coffee but the cup you made me the next morning was the only cup of coffee I could ever remember having in my life. I drink it every day but none of it matters to me besides that one cup because I got to drink it next to you in your bed.

You grabbed my waist on your way out and said goodbye. Then you grabbed it again and said thank you.

I saw you a couple of days later but ignored you. You seemed like you were in a good mood which I’m glad for. I was in a good mood too. 

Then most recently, I saw you this past Saturday. It was goth night again and I was playing cribbage with a friend. You taught me how to play cribbage. I was having fun and spinning my beer on the bar and I noticed you doing it too, but I am still not comfortable acknowledging you. You walked up to our cribbage game and asked if he was winning. He was but not by that much, and I accidentally said “fuck you” but I didn’t mean it this time the way I meant it the first time I said that to you. Honestly I regret both. I said it for the first time and meant it (in the moment) the night after we got into an argument outside of the bar.

This blog is for accountability- recognizing and acknowledging my true feelings for you. This title of this entry is a line from The Sirens Of Titan, my first Vonnegut. I didn’t know he was your favorite author until you told me. I think he is my favorite author too. Relatable melancholy. 

[lifeasmanu]

CP

next chapter and a very cute one, so in the morning I got a text from my High school Principal, saying he was around my place and wants to meet, Father Jose has been the kind of mentor everyone deserves and I am extremely proud to have him, he's always been around me in my school life and have always taken good care of me even though it was not needed, I feel all of this relationship or bond that I have with him is scripted, as when h entered the Institution, wherein I was in 11th grade I had this at the back of my head that I want this person to be with me I want a strong bond with him, cause I couldn't have one with the last principle which I had, so here we at, with the strongest of bonds from the school life, and I do remember telling him that the only thing that I will ever remember about this school is YOU, and I'll only ever come here is with the intention of meeting You. and its been more than three years since then, though we had conversations about stuff, about what is happening in my life and in his, I remeber him telling he moved out from Rajsthan to Kerala and now again to Rajasthan. I am all in and excited to meet with him and share with him all that I have been through and all that I have planned for myself, I don't prefer calling him my therapist but he's some kind of a pill, that I'd like for myself I assume at least once in a year.

another great pill, me and him(Tyson) went out for lunch and it was bananas it went so good, we mutually decided to smoke and omg it was my first time, smoking while I was standing omg, I had to tell you it was as if I was levitating and the floor swept away my feet I could see the signs moving the billboards no more stationery, and it was not a great lift but anyways, it was good. I heard from mom that my brother's ex visited the house and I should say this I had neutral feelings about that It was not bad or good, I mean I should be upset but I don't want to give her that much importance in my life at the moment.

it's an unusually long text I presume, but I'm feeling a little good about meeting father. He's indeed a fatherly figure for me after all.

I remember him saying when my dad passed away and he always used to come to confront me about how my day went and how was I feeling, "I would have come if I had known this" those words were enough to share how much he loves me. Thank you, god, for giving me all the best people in the world. I am and will forever be grateful to you.

[shawnjacksonsbs]

The privileges denied to many.      3-18-23

“Your journey has molded you for your greater good, and it was exactly what it needed to be. Don't think you've lost time. There is no short-cutting to life. It took each and every situation you have encountered to bring you to the now. And now is right on time.” - Asha Tyson

Best advice I've read in a while is to know the difference between enjoying your youth and destroying your future. Oh wait. . .Did I do that already? Lol Maybe this advice is forever. Anyway, work and weather. Weather and work. How about this weather we're having? Lol Actually no lol Work is picking up though. . .finally. We're finally starting to stack jobs, and miniature little midwestern blizzards happen with matching cold temperatures to boot. Damn man. I don't know what else to talk about this week. Umm . . . maybe for the first time, I had a grandkid call and change their mind about staying over. I think, I felt a little “irrational” . . . hurt. Irrational (?) Is it irrational? Hurt is hurt? It helps to know that’s not the intent. But. . . Is the day coming when I'm not going to be cool enough for them to spend time with? I mean, I did do that very thing to my grandparents. Granted, I was way older, but I can't help . . . to feel. Lol I know she loves me though. I do. I do think, hope . . .I seriously hope I have more time. I mean, if we're going to hope out loud, I hope I get an unfair amount more than I gave. Might be selfish sounding, but if it means anything I would change the amount of love I gave if I could go back. Just sayin', No lol. . .Just full stop. We'll see . . . How it plays out has a great deal to do with both sides. So I know I gotta put in the work. I wish I had more free time to give to my grandson, to my adult kids . . .to my whole family, really. I try to split the difference where I can. Have you seen Pawpaw’s storytime? But learning to be ok with what we can is one of those ongoing life struggles, ain't it. It’s a new day, another new day, a new Saturday morning, with coffee in hand, full calm in effect, living my routine and knowing in my heart we will win this day. Coffee, bathroom, check forecast, open and check all 3 bank apps. Those take priority every single morning. There are down sides to the internet in the palm of your hand, but there are some upsides too. Lol Forecast (weather), and bank apps for financial "comfort" (work) and to catch any issues as close to the time they arise as possible, if at all. And yes, I am one of those kinds of old peoples now. Early to bed, early rise, just trying to do right by everyone I can, and for those close to my heart to be aware of. It’s still for me, and for them. I hope that part never fades away. Mixed into those morning priorities on Saturdays are these entries. I do tend to "cheat" from time to time with writing full pieces or taking notes throughout the week for these mornings. I am that guy too. If I don't write it down . . . it probably is getting forgotten. Or found, or realized late. That's not just age, which did play a factor I'm sure, but I stay busy with so much going on its just hard to keep up. Lol Mix in the fact that I lived in ways that should have me living in a permanent twitchy state, and I'll count myself fortunate and write some things down from time to time and I'll wear readers when I have to, etc, etc. I'm just thankful I get to be here with everyone, and how! A few snippets from a grateful mind this morning. It's not a giant outpouring this week. Maybe not as many people will skip over it because it's too lengthy to read.  Lol Keep sharing the love and the laughter you've freely been given throughout your life to those who need it too. It's the only frivolous spending that's not generally frowned on. And be kind. Just be fucking kind. Until next week guys, and for your quote reading pleasure; “They say with age comes wisdom, kindness, confidence, and ease. Allow these inspiring quotes to keep you focused on the silver lining of your golden years. - Lindsay Tigar, “The great thing about getting older is that you don’t lose all the other ages you’ve been.”—Madeleine L’Engle, “Why are people afraid of getting older? You feel wiser. You feel more mature. You feel like you know yourself better. You would trade that for softer skin? Not me!”—Anna Kournikova, “You can’t help getting older, but you don’t have to get old.”—George Burns, Last but not least, “If you’re not getting older, you’re dead.”—Tom Petty

P.S. The attached picture is a screenshot. One of the not upsides to having the internet in the palm of your hand. . .or is it. My phone listening into my conversations and reading my entry is offering to help me win my granddaughter back over. Granted granddaughters are special, and they do hold a special place in our hearts. They are a source of joy, inspiration, and endless love, but this might be going overboard. . . . this time. lol

AND I’m off to my grandson’s birthday party!

[pixoplanet]

It's December 25th. 🌈 To quote the greatest science communicator of our time, Mr. Neil de Grasse Tyson, "On this day long ago, a child was born who, by age 30, would transform the world. Happy Birthday, Isaac Newton," who was born on this day in 1642 in Woolsthorpe-by-Colsterworth, Lincolnshire, England. And so today, we celebrate the birthday of one of the most important human beings who ever graced our planet. Isaac Newton was an extraordinary physicist and mathematician who is credited with laying the foundation of classical mechanics and jump-starting the scientific revolution. He believed that all of nature is governed by universal laws that can be expressed mathematically. Newton’s list of accomplishments are long and profound, and his influence will be felt forever. 

Isaac's father died two months before he was born; his mother remarried when he was three. His stepfather died when Isaac was 12, and Isaac was pulled out of school to help run the family estate. Isaac seemed to show little promise in school, anyway, as his reports described him as idle and inattentive. However, Isaac soon showed that he had no talent or interest in managing an estate, either. 

An uncle persuaded Isaac's mother to let him go back to school. This time he must've shown some promise because the school's headmaster later convinced Isaac's mother to send him to University. Isaac entered Trinity College of Cambridge in 1661 at the age of 19 and began studying philosophy, science, and mathematics in earnest. Between the time Trinity College closed in 1665 due to a bubonic plague pandemic and 1667 when he returned to Cambridge, Isaac returned home, and, free to study whatever he wanted to, gobbled up all of the mathematics texts he could lay his hands on. During this time, Isaac developed calculus, the law of gravitation, and different theories on optics. 

Newton is credited with the discovery of the prism (which is how a rainbow works). At the time, scholars hotly debated the subject of whether or not color was an intrinsic property of light. Newton settled the debate when he discovered that a light ray entering a prism is split into different colors (or, wavelengths). This work led Newton to construct the world's first practical reflecting telescope. 

Newton is probably best known, however, for his work with gravity which led him to discover the famous three laws of motion.

Law of Inertia – An object at rest remains at rest or an object in motion remains in motion until an outside force acts upon it.

Law of Acceleration – An applied force on an object is equal to the rate of change in its momentum (F=ma or Force equals mass times acceleration).

Law of Action – For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. 

Also related to Newton's work with gravity is his work with heliocentrism. He determined that a smaller object doesn't actually orbit around a larger object, but rather the two bodies orbit around their common center of gravity. With this realization and ever-more precise measurements of the sun and planets, the heliocentric model of the solar system has continued to become more and more accurate over the years. 

Isaac Newton has unquestionably secured his place in history. He's widely regarded as one of the most important people who's ever lived. Many of his ideas still hold true and his equations are still in use today. When sending a probe to the outskirts of the solar system, NASA scientists don't rely on Einstein's relativity to work out the math – they use Newtonian physics equations. 

Isaac Newton Quotes:

"We build too many walls and not enough bridges."

"I can calculate the motion of heavenly bodies, but not the madness of people."

"If I have seen further than others, it is by standing upon the shoulders of giants."

"I do not know what I may appear to the world, but to myself I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the seashore, and diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me." 

☮️ R.I.P., Isaac… Jamiese of Pixoplanet

[frontproofmedia]

What’s Next For Andy Ruiz Jr And Luis Ortiz?

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By Sina Latif

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Published: September 12, 2022

On a rare Sunday night fight card on Labor Day weekend last week, Andy Ruiz Jr (35-2, 22 KO’s) prevailed against former Cuban two-time world title challenger Luis Ortiz (33-3, 28 KO’s) via unanimous decision in a WBC heavyweight eliminator which may have propelled the Mexican-American into a potential mega-fight in the near future.

Following his win, in which he scored three knockdowns, Ruiz turned his attention to Wilder. 

“Hopefully he (Wilder) gets his victory in October, and we can make this fight happen,” Ruiz said at the post-fight press conference. “He’s under Al Haymon, just like me, so that’s a fight that could easily be made.”

Former champion Wilder, who was ringside to watch Ruiz win against his old rival, returns next month in another WBC ‘semi-final’ eliminator against ‘Nordic Nightmare’ Robert Helenius.

WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman recently stated that Ruiz Jr vs. the winner of Wilder vs. Helenius will be the final eliminator to determine current champion Tyson Fury’s next mandatory challenger.

Wilder entered the ring following the fight and sounded optimistic over the prospect of a future showdown with Ruiz, stating, “Deontay Wilder is back and looking for great, exciting fights to give the fans. If that’s what’s lined up next, I gotta handle business, after that we can get it on.”

At 43 (his official age), Ortiz’s aspirations for another world title shot have likely disappeared forever in an already crowded heavyweight division, but he still showed the ability to compete at this stage of his career and seemed far from ready to hang up his gloves.

“I told you I was going to be a warrior. I love this,” Ortiz said after the fight. “Cuba vs Mexico, this is a war… Everybody that said ‘King Kong’ is old, well I gave you a war today. In boxing, there is always a surprise, but I felt I did a great fight tonight. You think I’m done? You saw a warrior tonight. What do the people want? Do they think that King Kong is done?”

Ortiz’s comments were met with cheers.

With this impressive win against Ortiz, Ruiz is back sitting on the top table of heavyweights. It had been over three years since he defeated Joshua, and the Mexican-American was no longer in a position to dine out on that upset victory, with his presence amongst the upper echelons of the contender rankings appearing numbered with his sluggish performance against Joshua in the rematch and continued inactivity.

Now, Ruiz can continue his quest of relevance in and around the top of a division that is heating up.

Ruiz’s passion and drive for the sport has been seriously questioned since his monumental upset win against Joshua, but the 32-year-old showed he has the desire to improve and still achieve things in the sport. Ruiz’s biggest opponent always appeared to be himself, and he finally appears to be en route to defeating the old version of himself. He defeated an often-avoided Ortiz after 12 rounds of toe-to-toe action, which is a fine victory, but he also did it whilst weighing just over 268 pounds, 15 pounds lighter than he was when plodding along after Joshua in their 2019 rematch. This presented Ruiz’s biggest victory, with the Mexican-American weighing the same as he did when stopping Joshua in their first fight,  showing Ruiz is taking his career seriously again and is placing more emphasis on staying in shape between fights. If he continues to take his conditioning seriously, he will present a threat to all but the very best.

Ruiz’s progress seems to be fuelled by a desire to become a two-time heavyweight champion.

“That’s (Wilder) one of the dream fights that I always had, just like Ortiz, and it’s just another step closer to get that WBC belt that I’ve always been praying and wishing for.”

The key for Ruiz is now stability. Staying in shape on a consistent basis is important, but so is rectifying the trainer situation. Ruiz has now had three trainers in his last four fights. Manny Robles for the two Joshua fights, Eddy Reynoso for the Arreola fight, and Alfredo Osuna for the Ortiz fight. 

Speaking at the LA press conference a month ahead of the Ortiz showdown, Ruiz said: “I wanted to work with Alfredo Osuna a long time ago, it just wasn’t the right time then. He’s used to training for lefty fighters. I feel like this is exactly what I needed for this fight.”

We will see if Osuna was an appointment purely for the task of southpaw Ortiz or a long-term appointment. Looking for long-term success, rather than short-term solutions, will be key to any chances Ruiz has of real success. 

Whilst the uncertain Fury-Oleksandr Usyk-Anthony Joshua dynamic is sorted out with regards to determining an undisputed champion, Ruiz’s best course of action is to position himself favorably. To earn a shot at the champion, Ruiz requires some more notable victories. Sunday night was a good start. Ruiz expressed his desire to be more active and fight at least three or four times a year, and the number of compelling match-ups is not limited. 

Wilder would be a great next opponent. Despite his back-to-back losses to WBC champion Fury, the “Bronze Bomber” remains an elite opponent and has a style that would clash with Ruiz’s to produce guaranteed fireworks. This showdown would have fans on the edges of their seats from the first bell. Wilder has become a genuine star, and this fight would raise Ruiz’s profile even further. 

Daniel Dubois is an option that has not really been mentioned, but the Brit holds the WBA “Regular” title and is a good stepping stone towards bigger and better fights in the future. Guys like Joe Joyce, Joseph Parker, and Dillian Whyte are all heavyweights around Ruiz’s level who would present testing, exciting fights. 

At his advanced age and with blatantly waning punch resistance, Ortiz’s days competing with the top heavyweights are likely finished. He can still clearly compete, and there are potentially exciting fights for the Cuban in a crowded blue-ribbon division, but the days of competing against the upper echelon champions and contenders are likely done.

(Featured Photo: Ryan Hafey/Premier Boxing Champions)