#and both of em are demigods

[snazzy-specter]

Greek myth where there's these twins and one's father is mortal while the other is a god, but nobody knows which is which. like the twins look roughly the same, act pretty similar (mostly as in one's not braver/stupider than the other), just kinda hang out and like idk work the farm together so nobody can tell which one is a demigod. someone tries to attack one twin to see what happens and the other always comes to save their ass.

Bonus Points: Hermes thinks this is the funniest thing and helps them, maybe even gives them ambrosia so they'll both be full gods when they die. even more bonus points if he also doesn't know which is which and doesn't care because it's hilarious.

#spooks speaks #mythology #kinda #like i made it up #also if you wanna fandom this #with like pjo #knock yourself out #like maybe they can be twins of hermes #and because no one knows which is a demigod #they both get trained #the other campers try to figure it out #the Athena hut is obsessed with it #but the twins just constantly fake em out #like they try with the adhd/dyslexia #except both of them are adhd/dyslexic #they try with the greek #but they both knew for long enough #that they can both read ancient greek perfectly #or at worst tell what's being said based on the other #the barrier lets them both passed #because Hermes thought it'd be funny to keep the joke going

[kokomos]

 ✴    new habits die hard     ࣭     ๋  𖥔 ݁  ˖  ‏☽

— starring    AU!  LUKE CASTELLAN !  ♆

  ⤷     ⅱ. new habits die hard

MDNI 18+

warning : weed! suggestive themes (not explicit)

alternate universe : takes place in an au! where there are no gods, or demigods for that matter. luke lives with his mother, alone, and takes care of her full-time when he's not off doing odd jobs for the locals.

description : after moving several states away from his home in suburban connecticut, luke found himself in unfamiliar territory and in need of a new plug. lucky for him, you're the town's resident drug dealer.

tags : fem! reader, dealer! reader, loser! luke, au! luke; dom! reader if you squint, subby! luke; luke and reader are both heavy stoners, reader is high during the exchange.

how luke got this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity was beyond him. a girl dealer. after a year or so of nothing but egotistical and overly competitive men—luke needed this, needed you.

there he stood: in the confines of some shabby little trailer, on the outskirts of town, that you called home. his cheeks were flushed, tints of red betraying him as he tried his best to remain stoic in your presence. despite the fact that you were obviously high, luke still couldn't bring himself to meet your gaze for more than a few seconds at a time.

not that you noticed, or at least you didn't at first; you were too busy leisurely packaging his eighth. your eyes were trained on the scale as you weighed the strain of his choice out, shifting focus to neatly tuck the nugs away into a tiny, pink baggie. a heart embellished the shimmering plastic, a signature that this was from your supply. luke wondered for a moment if there was anyone in town who actually didn't prefer using you—for dealing purposes, of course.

your arm extends out towards your new (favorite) customer. “here you go,” you chirp jovially with a smile. in your hand holds the eighth, sealed and stuffed to the brim.

maybe you gave him more than he paid for, just a bit. but what further justification did you need other than the fact that he was cute, and kinda shy—you liked that in a guy.

he freezes for a moment before reaching out to procure the package, meeting your gaze momentarily before dropping his attention to your hand. a smirk graces your face, delighted, or more accurately amused, by the realization dawning on you.

once the product's out of your possession, he hastily stuffs the eighth away in the pocket of his sweatpants. luke tilts his head up to thank you, but seems to freeze yet again when he finds your eyes scanning his form.

“if you were my boyfriend,” you start abruptly and he watches your eyes slowly meet his, “i wouldn't let you walk around like that.”

his cheeks heat up exponentially, the color darkens against his skin, and he has to stop himself from crumbling entirely when he observes that teasing look you've got plastered across your face. shameless and cruel, by his regard. still, he couldn't deny that he was enjoying every second of it.

he did look pretty slutty, to be frank. a black, tight-fit shirt hugging his abs and those gray sweatpants—they looked amazing on him, but you'd argue they would look even better on the grotty floor of the trailer's one bedroom. your master suite.

following your titillating remark, he swallowed his next breath and let his eyes travel down to survey the clothes he so carelessly threw on hours before. “like… what?” he asked, seeming so nervous that it wouldn't be too far-fetched for someone to misidentify him as utterly terrified.

you chuckle lightly prior to indulging in his curiosity, “like you wanna fuck.”

his eyes instantly snap to yours and his cheeks flare an even deeper maroon. “what?” he nearly chokes on the word. “that's—not,” he stutters, “i was working out before and—”

you cut his pitiful excuse for a defense short, “you've got pretty eyes.” sincerity bleeds through the drug-fueled haze, “it's a shame you don't let me see ‘em too much.”

and without another word, or glance in his direction, you reach for the pre-roll on the table to your left and spark up. he watches intently as you take the first pull, how your plump and glossy lips wrap so delicately around the end of the joint. when your eyes flicker to him, as you exhale some of the smoke, he looks away.

“you gonna pay me or...?” you trail off, keeping a flirtatious tune in your voice. he fumbles around for what he owes in his other pocket, and hands the cash over with a ‘thank you’ and a rather bashful smile.

he leaves the encounter with an eighth in his pocket, your mellifluous voice engraved in his memory, and the feeling that this would only be the start of a new (bad) habit.

ᡣ𐭩  with love , honey

#luke castellan #luke castellan x reader #luke castellan x dealer!reader #luke castellan x you #luke castellan imagine #luke castellan headcanons #pjo #pjo x reader #pjo x you #pjo imagine #pjo headcanons #loser!luke #dealer!reader #au!luke

[violetren]

PJO!Show Medusa is a very special kind of tragic that feels much deeper than I remember it in the original book.

In the very first episode of the series we see Sally taking little Percy to a museum to learn a little about ancient Greece to help set him up for his inevitable future, but also planting the seeds of independent thought and a strong moral compass that will make Percy simultaneously an excellent hero and th BIGGEST headache for every Olympian, Titan, and otherwise supernatural being in the world. And she does this by prompting Percy to question his preconceived ideas of the monster Medusa. A woman who was tossed around by the whims of the gods and ultimately killed by them too.

The memory of this lesson carries over and is a major driving force in Percy's decision to follow Medusa inside her home even as his companions AND his enemy react to her as a straight up monster even before she has actually arrived on the scene. Annabeth sees a couple of statues and the "Aunty Em's" sign and is ready to GTFO immediately.

However it's not the only lesson in play.

In this same episode we are introduced to the concept of how monsters hunt. Not all of them are mindless beasts chasing down the scent of the most powerful demigod they can find. Some are drawn in by the demigods desire for glory, or feelings or inadequacy, their fear, or dissatisfaction with their relationship with the gods, and will use those same criteria to manipulate and tear down their prey. Something interesting about this explanation is that it still implies monsters are out there actively tracking down demigods to kill regardless of what is attracting them.

Medusa doesn't really fit with this proactive predator model creating a degree of separation between her and other monsters we learned about and seen so far. However they are very careful to never let us forget that she is a threat. As our heroes arrive there are petrified monsters everywhere and Alecto doesn't come closer than the driveway even after Medusa retreats inside because she knows that Medusa is 1. Powerful, and 2. Doesn't like her personally. Her personal distaste for another monster in the moment helps further distance her from the classic monster model we have been taught to recognise.

Inside the house we learn Medusa's version of the tale. How devout she was with nothing in return. How intoxicating it was to finally feel seen even if not by the god she had spent her life dedicated to. How she was shamed and punished for how eagerly she accepted that attention. She took her cursed punishment and turned it into a gift, a way to protect herself. It's a sympathetic tale. Percy is primed to be sympathetic. Grover who lived in the mythical world first then the mundane unlike both Percy and Annabeth even shows hesitation instead of being able to treat her as an out and out monster even if only for a moment. Annabeth is the only one who identifies her as a monster and sticks to it all the way through.

Everything is set up to make us question whether this iconic monster of Greek Myth, who we know from the books will attack, really is a villain this time around. This is especially effective in the current era of Medusa retellings as a tragic heroine, a protector of those who have been assaulted and abused, who was beloved by Athena not reviled.

Then the turn comes. She offers a deal to Percy, she'll help make sure no one can stand in the way of his goal, she'll petrify Grover and Annabeth if he asks. From there everything spirals out. We go down to her basement storage reminiscent of both a temple and her history as a shrine maiden, and the cave she lived in as a monster until Perseus came to claim her head. We get her villain monologue. Paraphrasing: "You could have taught the gods a lesson by taking a path other than obedience to them and their teachings. Now I will send you as examples and reminders of what their actions have wrought. I will make them see me."

Medusa in this show very much is a monster, despite all of the misdirects, but unlike all of the other monsters we have seen and all those we have been taught to expect even as she is stalking the kids in her basement she doesn't feel like some overblown mythical monster. She feels like a woman who has been driven to madness. Like she is trapped in a cycle and doesn't know how to exit it, so she pushes the onus of breaking the cycle on others and then punishes them when they can't.

If that wasn't tragic enough I have a theory on what she preys on as a monster and why.

She hunts on loneliness or at least a sense of being isolated, because that is the feeling at the heart of her creation as a myth and a monster.

She went a lifetime ignored by the figure she loved the most. Her curse isolated her. It was supposed to drive people away from her/prevent her from getting close to anyone. She was killed without being acknowledged as ever having been human. Then by the rules the dictate monsters in the PJO universe she came back, probably a few dozen times at least before we met her in canon. She set up her shop in the middle of nowhere, harkening back to her life after being cursed in her original myth. Most importantly she sets up on a saytr path in the middle of a new jersey Forest where she'll likely only be stumbled across by other singular lonesome beings.

To really nail down that feeling of tragedy, even though a lot of her victims clearly never got past being terrified of her, someone did. Grover's uncle Ferdinand did. He looked at her with solemn understanding, at peace with his fate, maybe even a touch pitying. He couldn't make her feel seen, or make her realise that she didn't need the gods attention after all this time. And if he couldn't then there was no way in hell that a couple of 12 year olds and barely working age saytr could, and so once again the cycle repeated and she had to die.

#chirping wren #pjo show #pjo medusa #medusa #pjo

[shygirl4991]

Brewing Romance Chapter 4 Eye for a eye

A Collab Story with @lizaluvsthis SMG3 and SMG4 design for the AU by Liz!

Last Chapter Next Chapter

Summary: :SMG4 starts to struggle with his finances when he learns living in his newly built castle is more pricey than he thought. So when he gets an invite to the grand opening of SMG3 Coffee n Bombs he manages to land himself a second job as the cafe waiter where both men will learn that coffee won't be the only thing brewing in this cafe.

Tags: Slow burn, fluff, comedy, just two idiots in love, love confession, first kiss, angst, blood and injury, Canon Character death

SMG4 gets home letting out a sigh as he changes out of his uniform, he sits on his bed holding the hat and origami rose. He was extremely happy to see such a rare sight of SMG3 kindness, he could still feel the warmth in his hands. One thing he wasn't a fan of is knowing how good Three is at reading him, then again that skill is what helped him reach out to Four when he lost himself making the perfect video. 

Setting the hat and origami rose on the table stand next to him, SMG4 lays down and falls asleep thinking about the events that happened years ago.

Two years ago

SMG4 runs around the house in a panic, SMG1 told him to bring a box of memes to Omnia academy for the meme research club and thanks to a late night of editing he is cutting it close. He picks up the box of memes and dashes to his car, he starts it only for the vehicle to make a strange sound. He groans, headbutting the steering wheel before stepping out to see what was wrong. Looking around the car he noticed the issue “What the hell? Why is there ravioli in the car engine!?” 

A horribly written note was stuck next to the mess, while he couldn't read what the note said he knew the person behind this. Running out of time he runs to catch a taxi to get to the academy. 

At Omnia academy SMG1 and two were teaching a class on memes, standing in the middle of the room was Mario. SMG1 walks up to Mario “And as you can see here, the universe's avatar is just a regular human but with extraordinary abilities!” The class gets excited taking notes as Mario stands there picking his nose not fully understanding what was happening. SMG2 chimes in “Now up next, we are going to see how meme energy can be used to power up our avatar!” 

SMG4 finally arrives at the school, he taps his shoes and skates as fast as he can to the class. He pushes the door open keeping the box of memes balanced on his right hand, he smiles and waves at the other SMG’s as he skates in “Hey so sorry i'm late guys!”

He drops the box of memes then glares at Mario “SOMEONE thought it would be funny to fill my car engine up with ravioli!” Mario laughs pointing at him “Ha got em!” SMG4 had half a mind to punch his avatar over what happen

SMG2 smiles softly at Four “Don't worry SMG4, you're just in time!” two then walked up to the box “Wonderful you brought them.”  SMG2 opens the box while one speaks up “Ok class, SMG2 and i will now conduct a little demonstration. While SMG4 explains what's going on.”

SMG4 felt himself getting nervous, this whole guardian role was new to him after all he is just a youtuber that loves memes. How he ended up being some kind of demigod over meme energy he will never fully understand, even more that his other half is his rival of several years.  Taking a deep breath he begins to explain the situation “So we meme guardians can transmute memes into energy, and then transfer them into our avatar.” SMG1 and two hold hands focusing on the memes in the box. The memes then turn into orbs and slowly flow into Mario.

Mario starts to glow as his hand grows, he stares in awe before getting excited “Hey, just in time for the end of no nut november!” SMG4 sighs hearing his friend's words. That's right everyone this idiot here is the avatar of the world, things could be worse on avatar choices they could have ended up with Bob.  SMG4 turns and smiles at the class “So we have to be careful with meme energy as it can be extremely volatile!”  At that moment Mario came up with an idea. Opening his mouth he eats one of the energy orbs, he then soon regrets it as his stomach starts to scream in pain. He spits out the energy knocking SMG1 and two down. 

Losing concentration the energy in SMG1 and two start going wild, all the students start turning into energy as they flow into mario. SMG4 panics grabbing SMG2 “You guys stop!” the pair try to pull apart unsuccessfully “W-we can't.”

SMG4 pulls as hard as he can to break the connection, with one final tug he pulls them apart. He lets out a sigh of relief only to hear Mario panicking, he turns to see the energy has turned Mario into a rocket SMG4 screams as Mario hits him they go flying taking Meggy who was in lunch with them. The rocket finally crashes when it hits power 101 exploding and knocking SMG4, Melony, Meggy and Mario down. 

The professor glares at the group “DETENTION!!!”

The crew sit in detention, annoyed at how they got in there in the first place, Melony sighs looking down at her desk. She takes out a notebook and starts doing small doodles of her and Axol, that's when something wet hits her cheek. She turns to see a student she didn't recognize sitting next to her smirking, letting out a sigh as she looks forward, the teacher still scolding them for what happened. 

SMG4 wasn't sure why he was even in detention given he wasn't a student, though since he had meme training later in the week at the school he assumed that was good enough to mark him as one. The teacher walks out of the room talking to someone which caught the attention of SMG4 “Oh no…” Swag and Chris walk into the room. 

“HELLO YOU MISBEHAVING HOOLIGANS.” Swag lets out a smirk as he looks at everyone in the room. Meggy couldn't believe out of any pair to watch over detention it would be these two “What are you guys doing here?” Four nods agreeing with Meggy “Yeah aren't you mean to oh i don't know be in the military protecting the kingdom?”

Chris sighs at Four’s comment “We are temporarily suspended because someone thought it would be funny to stuff the tank engine with ravioli!” he turns glaring at his partner. Swag chuckles to himself “HA GOT EM!”

SMG4 couldn't help smacking his forehead hearing the story, at least he knows he isn't the only one in the world dealing with an idiot.

Swag then starts telling everyone how to escape detention “GO WRITE “SWAG IS BEST” ONE BAJILLION TIMES ON THE BOARD, THEN YOU CAN LEAVE.” 

Four and Meggy roll their eyes at what they were hearing, Meggy raises her hand “And what if we don't?” he looks her straight in the eyes “I'M GONNA START YODELLING.”  In a panic SMG4 and Meggy start writing on the board, Melony goes back to doodling in her notebook while Mario comes up with his own escape plan.

Mario starts a war with Swag and Chris to escape while SMG4 and Meggy get into a competition over their assignment to escape detention. Through all the chaos someone hit Swag with a random object “ALRIGHT WHO'S THE WISE GUY!” 

“It was her!” the voice said, Swag’s head turned to look at Melony who was still practicing her drawings. She looked up confused then shook her head, all she wanted was to figure out her god power so she could never lose a loved one again. Why did things have to get so complicated, after being scolded she turns to the person next to her “What was that for?” 

He tosses another item shifting the war to the crew now throwing random items at each other, Melony did her best to avoid it all. The moment she missteps she gets hit in the face knocking her down. The guy next to her chuckles “Well you were close, next time predict their trajectory yeah? The name is Niles.” Melony looks up at Niles, taking in his words. He then hands her a goomba “Cmon clueless, fight back!”

She takes the goomba, throwing it softly in front of her, Niles laughs at her making Melony glare at him “Im trying!”

“You gotta channel your inner energy as you throw, aren't you in power 101 i thought you would be better than this.” he looks away from her acting disappointed. Melony was getting annoyed by Niles, he had a point in what he was saying but she wasnt a fan at how mean he was being about it. She needed to focus,she wanted this so she would be stronger, with her power she can make sure no one ends up like Axol. She can feel energy flow through her as she gets ready to throw another item, taking a deep breath she throws a koopa at full speed. It knocks Swag down, everyone takes it as their chance as they all run out of the room at full speed. 

It was the next day and SMG4 was standing outside waiting for his partner to show up, he looked around to see all his friends training. The one training the hardest being Melony, understandable after what happened with zero and Axol.  He lets out a sigh when he looks at the time “Where the hell is he?” 

SMG3 was panicking, going back to school after everything that happened in the past with memewarts. Man did life love to laugh at him, he drops to the floor unsure what to do. He hears a click and turns his head seeing Terrance, he lets out a soft smile “Your right Terrance, Im Supermemeguardian 3 this won't be like last time cause im better then everyone haha!” he lets out his evil laugh then grabs a pair of sunglasses. He wasn't going to be a loser this time, he taps his shoulder for Terrance to climb up then snaps his fingers to open a portal. 

SMG4 turns his head when a portal suddenly appears, there he sees SMG3 walk out with a huge grin “Yo sorry i'm late, meme guardian stuff, yada yada you know?” he lowers his shades and makes eye contact with Four “oh, hey jerkface!” SMG4 crosses his arms “Good to see you to SMG3,” his eyes flicker to the meme casually sitting on the man's head “You don't expect to train with that knuckles on you do you?

Knuckles squeaks at the attention, the thought of sending Terrance home gives Three anxiety. He knew Terrance would have his back, he made him feel that he can be loved and cared for. Sending him back would mean he might have to relive memewarts and no one would be there for him. Covering his mixed emotions he rolls his eyes “Sorry Terrence, looks like the fascist doesn't want you here.” Terrence nods, climbing down and giving his father figure a hug before going back home. SMG4 walks up to SMG3 clearly pissed off “WHAT DID YOU CALL ME?” Three gets even closer their faces just an inch apart “You heard me or do you need to clean out your ears, heh maybe if you did you can finally hear how unfunny your memes are!” 

SMG1 claps, getting the pair's attention “Alright! Its training time,” noticing how close he is to SMG4 he slides away from the man slightly blushing. SMG2 smiles at the pair “I know it’s been a while, but let's start off with some basic meme transmutation.” SMG3 frowns knowing that means he has to hold the other man's hand, SMG1 steps in the middle giving them a stern look “There is something important you both must know before we get into it, never use your meme powers alone.” SMG4 tilts his head “We could use meme energy alone?”

“Yes and no, to explain we can channel meme energy and make it do what we want. But meme energy is wild and hard to fully control, using it alone without your partner could lead to damage to your body…maybe even death if done too much.” SMG1 walks back to his partner and grabs his hand only to get a smile from his long-time best friend. SMG3 and four exchange looks before One continues “Not to mention alone your meme abilities are weak, after all we come in pairs for a reason we are stronger together!” SMG2 nods pointing to the chest of memes “Now get ready to transmute!”

SMG3 looks around nervously “Aww man, do I have to hold his hand we’re in public.” The thought of someone seeing him hold his rival's hand makes him feel sick. It’s not like he enjoyed the feeling of the other man's hand in his, it didn't bring him any comfort either just made him annoyed. SMG4 couldn't stand it anymore “Dude how are we going to train if you're gonna be insecure every time we do it!” SMG3 glares at Four and stomps the ground “HEY! I'M NOT INSECURE YOUR INSECURE! Baka…” he blushes as he looks away from his other half.

Seeing SMG3 blush made SMG4 giggle, he wasn't sure why but he couldn't help finding his rival cute when he blushed. Smirking he reaches out waving his hand, with a sigh SMG3 grabs his hand. They both start to glow as they slowly absorb a random meme walking around campus. Meanwhile in the background the box club gave Mario a mission to go around the school and collect students for their ritual. Their mission was clear, with enough students to sacrifice the god box would answer them and give them unlimited power. SMG1 nods pleased with the energy the pair has absorbed “Good! Now up next we’re going to use this meme energy offensively.” SMG2 puts down several dummies “Concentrate your focus and throw the energy at the dummy over there!”

Feeling each other energy they stare at the dummy launching the energy at it only to completely miss the target. SMG2 slowly turns to the pair “Yeah uh…you guys overshot a little bit there.” SMG3 shivered, the power he felt when he connected to SMG4 was amazing to him “woah…so…..much…power! If he could lure Four to the dark side he could only picture how they both would rule the world, he chuckles to himself causing SMG4 to give him a strange look.

SMG1 claps to gain the pair's attention again “lets try that again, this time aim please.” SMG3 chuckles, grabbing Four hands “Please i bet i could aim only using one eye!” Boopkins runs up to them in a panic “Guys, Mario has been kidnapping students you have to help!” SMG4 chuckles “What? Nah he’s probably just trying to steal spaghetti or…something?” He watches as Mario drives a truck taking one of the students. Without thinking he tightens his grip on SMG3's hand, feeling this SMG3 walks closer for Four to let him know he is there  “Come on let's stop our idiot avatar.”

Seeing this SMG1 lets out a soft smile at the pair before they all run after Mario.  Catching up, the box club leader turns and stares at the group in shock, ignoring the others SMG4 lets go of Three’s hand to get closer to Mario “Mario what the hell are you doing?” Mario keeps eating his pile of spaghetti as he lets out a shrug, that was answer enough to Four that Mario was yet again doing something for food. The club leader steps in front of SMG4 “You dare interrupt the god box ceremony?!” 

SMG1 and two gasp in shock catching the groups attention, shaking SMG1 speaks up “Did….did you say god box?”  SMG4, noticing their fear steps closer to his partner “Uhh what's a god box?” SMG1 explains the God box to the group slowly losing SMG3 the moment he heard unlimited power, with which he could shape the world and be loved by all. SMG1 gives the go for the crew to fight, they need to make sure no one finds the god box. SMG3 was lost thinking about the god box not paying attention to the fight going on in the room, he was still stuck with SMG4 even with the unlimited power. He wondered if there was a way he could seduce the other man to the dark side. 

Niles smirks “Hey! It’s time to put your training to good use.” Melony nods as she connects to her deity form  The box club leader seeing this turns to the one member of the group not fighting “Hey you want power? Stop them and I will take you to the god box!” hearing this Three’s eyes brighten up as he looks around and notices Mario. Since Mario is the avatar he knew they would have no choice but to stop fighting, after all no Mario means the world ends. He walks to Mario lifting him up and hanging him above the sacrifice hole  “Oi losers!”

Four growls seeing what Three was doing “WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!” SMG3 looks into Four’s eyes “I want unlimited power,” he blinks and suddenly is hit by Melony. He hits the floor with a harsh thud, she readies her sword to stab SMG3. Seeing this SMG4 sprints towards them “NO! MELONY STOP THAT'S TOO FAR!”  SMG3 starts to see his life flashing before him, all his life alone and hated with no one caring if he was alive. Then an image of Terrence hit him, looking at four he gave him a sad smile “Look after Terrence for me..” 

Hearing this SMG4 runs faster throwing himself in front of SMG3 with the sword stopped an inch away from Fours neck. Melony shakes her head fighting for control “NOOO!” she drops the sword, then turns away from the pair in shock with what she almost did. SMG3 sits up staring at SMG4 with wide eyes “You…saved me?” shaken, Four drops to his knees letting out a shaky laugh “Of course..we fight and try to kill each other but I still believe we can be friends that you can change,” he turns, giving Three a bright smile “we are partners after all!”  

SMG3's heart skips a beat seeing his bright smile, blushing as he turns away confused by a strange emotion. Melony started to clutch her head in pain, the pair turned their attention to her. Before they could do anything she flys off in a panic leaving everyone behind. It was the next day, Melony was running around looking for SMG3. She wanted to check on him after what happened, lucky she ran into SMG4 who thankfully wasn't harmed when she lost control, he smiles and tells her where to find the other guardian. She finds him sitting at a table alone, slowly she approaches “Um..I’M SORRY!” She then hands him a piece of paper, nervous about his reaction. SMG3 was startled to have someone yell an apology at him, slowly he takes the paper unsure exactly what the girl was trying. 

He blushes when he sees it a drawing of the two of them back when he first recruited her, blushing he folds the paper and puts it under his hat “oh..well it's whatever, you were just doing your thing.” he wasn't sure what to do in the situation and just hope those word were enough to get rid of the melon girl. It didn't, she smiles and takes out a notebook showing him her art “Axol told me if you can't figure out your words, draw them!” She then hands him a pencil and watches him. He sighs and starts to doodle, he had to admit it was relaxing for him as if he could let his feelings out and no one would judge him. His face goes red when he notices he doodled him and Melony hanging out at Peach's castle, he attempted to hide the drawing from the girl but it was too late. Seeing the drawing her face lights up, she ends up hugging the flustered man in excitement “YAY! I hope you know I never hurt my friends, I'm going to get stronger and I will protect you all!” 

She lets Three go and gives him a wave before running off with her notebook, SMG3 couldn't help letting out a soft smile “She has changed a lot from the day we first met, wonder if it's because of that shrimp she fell for?” Remembering he had a final to get ready for he gets up, then a thought came to mind.Looking around he takes out a notebook of his own and starts to write in it “Dear Diary, Melony isn't so bad these days.” he then did a doodle of Melony, it wasn't the best looking drawing in the world but SMG3 isn't an arts guy and he never would be. “Only time i do this, after all arts and crafts aren't for manly men like me.” Humming he walks to meet his other half for training. 

Then everything changed, the box club kidnap Melony seeing that the crew goes after them only to get lured into a trap. The crew slowly started passing out, SMG3 attempted to reach Melony only to pass out a few steps away. A few moments later they woke up, the guardians stuck together while the others were locked away “Oi! What the hell is this?!” barked SMG3 as he pulled at the restraints. “Calm down, it will be over soon.” the club leader chuckled, making the guardians nervous. Meggy growled as she kicked the cage door “You're so dead when we are out of here!” The leader explains how they are going to use the guardian's power to ascend to the god box, SMG3 eyes light up hearing about it only to get a glare from his partner in return. “Oh come on, think about it SMG4, we are already powerful but with this box we can be stronger!” 

SMG1 couldn't stand it anymore “YOU IDIOT IF THE BOX OPENS THE WORLD ENDS!”  The guardians start screaming when the leader hits a switch to end their conversation, using their power he turns the members of the club into meme energy creating a ship to fly to the god box. The leader then shakes Melony and wakes her up, seeing that Meggy cheers “Kick their ass Melony!”

She blinks looking around “Guys? Where am i? Niles?” the crew stared at her confused “Who is Niles?” Tari asked. Hearing this Melony points to an empty spot next to the crew, she freezes in shock when she realizes she has been the only one able to see the man. “Who...who are you?”  Niles walks up to her and smirks, lifting up his bangs to reveal a familiar eye “It’s been a while huh Melony?” “ZERO!” with that a huge blast erupts from Melony transforming her into her deity form, in no time he takes over her body and heads straight for the god box.  

Now knowing Zero is back and now in control of Melony the group make a plan to escape and beat Zero to the god box using the SMGs USB. The crew was helping with evacuation, using Terrance they were able to find trapped memes and help them escape. SMG3 smiles proudly seeing his right hand doing such a good job, Terrance runs up to him excited to see what his father figure was thinking. SMG3 looked around to make sure no one was looking before hugging the meme "Terrance, things are going to get tough so promise me no matter what you won't leave me." after a clicks from the meme promising to stay by his side SMG1 and two arrive with their USB ships.

In no time the group get in their ships ready to face zero and save Melony, as the crew lift off no one notices an extra member making his way into the ship. Mario, SMG3 and SMG4 look around in this strange area they are in. They notice memes floating around with an energy the group has never seen before, SMG1 calls their usb “So the myths are true thats an anti meme, after memes become corrupted and the universe collapses pieces of the universe and i guess the memes end up here.” 

Mario gets nervous and holds on to SMG4 arm “Mario doesn't like the way it's looking at us,” just as those words escaped his mouth the anti meme charges at their ship. The two start screaming as SMG3 looks around trying to come up with a plan, seeing a piece of a world floating in front he speeds up the ship. Four seeing this panic “Three what the hell are you doing!? We are going to crash!” at the last second he dives the ship making the meme crash. SMG4 runs up and hugs Three making the man blush “That was amazing flying SMG3!” flustered from the attention he pushes Four away “You could have thought the same if you bothered using that brain of yours.”

Staring at the meme a thought came to mind, these anti memes were still memes therefore he and SMG4 could absorb its energy. Without another thought he grabs SMG4's hand, confused he squints at SMG3 “What are you doing?” then a surge of energy hit them both. SMG3 looks at their hands with a huge smile “This feels amazing!” another anti meme was going to attack, seeing that he uses the new energy they absorb and blows up the meme. SMG4 could only stand watching in shock of this new power flowing between them. “That felt amazing didn't it four?” he turns to the man seeing him stare at his hands “Yeah…that did feel good.” 

SMG1 seeing what happened turns on the mic “Guys anti meme energy is extremely unstable more so than normal meme energy, i would suggest you don't use it again.” SMG3 waved his hand at the older guardian “Yeah yeah, hey look a piece of a universe let's look there and not talk about this!” The group went to different universes asking every meme still living there if they have seen Melony, at one point Four lost his two companions only to find the pair at a club throwing dollar bills at dancing skeletons. Years of being rivals and somehow SMG3 was fitting right in with his friends. Back on the ship they kept getting attacked by anti memes, Three and Four grab hands absorbing the power as they fly through. The more energy they took the more the pair felt high off of the power, then they grabbed an anti meme and threw it to a piece of a universe destroying it. 

Mario’s eyes go wide seeing this, he turns to his friends to see them laughing “YESSS FEEL THE POWER!!!”SMG3 wanted more, SMG4 was starting to get into it himself.  Shaking Mario walks closer to the pair “Guys..i’m scared Mario doesn't like what's happening,”  growling SMG4 turns around “SHUT UP MARIO, YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND WHAT IT'S LIKE TO BE BLESSED BY THE GOD BOX!” Mario holding back his tears shakes his head “But Mario knows this isn't you, please don't go coo coo crazy!”

Seeing Mario about to cry he snaps out of it, this power was not worth hurting the people close to him. He hugs Mario “I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me.” SMG3 gets excited seeing that they were finally closing in on Melony's ship he takes Four hand “Quick lets use the meme energy to take that ship down!”

Before SMG4 has a chance to pull back he can feel the corrupted energy flow through them, Mario panics “GUYS THAT'S GOING TO KILL MELONY!!!” he runs pulling at their hands he had to break them apart he was the avatar he knows he can do this. Feeling a strange energy he pulls at their hands one more time breaking them apart causing the energy to go wild blowing up their ship. They wake up in a strange cabin looking around “What happened?” Mario stomps in front of them furious “Don't you remember? You both went coo coo crazy and blew us all up!” SMG4 frowns “Right sorry guys..”

SMG3 sits up noticing another person in the room “Who the hell are you?” the person smiles and waves at them “Oh my name is SMG0! Welcome to my home.” They all freeze hearing the name, seeing this zero knew exactly what must have happened “Oh no..he.. i..we hurt you didnt we?”

SMG0 takes a deep breath looking away from them, as the group yells all kinds of questions at him. He gives the group a sad smile as he explains everything that happened, the crew stayed silent learning the truth of everything. After a few moments SMG4 speaks up “Oh no then that means, Niles that's why he came here to fuse back with SMG0!” in panic Four grabs Zero “YOU NEED TO GO NOW!” It was too late. Niles crashes through the roof finding exactly what he was looking for “Hey Zero, how you been? Missed you and was hoping you were ready to get back together?” 

Nervous Zero steps closer to the other guardians “Niles, you don't need to do this! Look see we got our old universe back. Everything is perfect again so please, come home. ”  Niles glares at Zero “Perfect?! This floating rock isn't perfect, but with the power I have acquired I can make a true paradise for you and me!” Mario, sick of the talking, runs up to Niles and kicks him, throwing him across the room “Mario’s not the smartest guy in the room but Mario knows enough to say you need to shut up and let Melony go!” Niles starts laughing as he slowly gets up, SMG3 and four get up from their seats, nervous about what Niles was planning. “Wait your turn Mario, I'm still gonna need an avatar after all this.”  Then he punches Mario, knocking him down with a chuckle, then turns to SMG3 and kicks him down holding Melony's sword above him. SMG4 panics seeing Three in danger again “STOP! JUST GIVE US MELONY BACK!” 

Niles chuckles, lowering the blade close to SMG3 right eye “I think Four SMGs is a bit much, don't you? Maybe let's cut it back a bit.” Everything went slow as he saw the blade move across SMG3's eye. SMG4 runs and kicks the possess Melony out the window quickly after he turns freezing up at the sight, SMG3 right eye was sliced, it was hard to tell how bad given three covering his eye screaming “FUCK! My eye…he got my eye ah it hurts!” Mario runs up SMG3 crying as he places his hand on top of SMG3's hand to help stop the bleeding staining his own gloves “DON'T DIE PLEASE FOR MARIO!”  Four started to shake seeing the state SMG3 was in. He wasn't fast enough, SMG3 is hurt and if they dont something he could die. He could feel himself struggling to breathe as the world became nothing but white noise, then a memory came to him.  He looks at his hand then at Three, a meme guardian can use meme energy alone but at a risk.

Without a second thought he rips his sleeve and sits next to Three who was starting to lose consciousness, he moves both men's hands seeing the wound he gasps. If he took even a second too long SMG3 wouldnt have an eye to save, shaking his head to not focus on the damage he wraps the eye. And focuses his meme energy “Don't worry SMG3 i will save you, an eye for an eye.” his eyes glow as the energy transfers to his hands stopping the bleeding. As he stops the bleeding his left eye starts to hurt, Mario noticing Four losing his focus places his hand on SMG4 shoulder “Mario believes in you!”

Suddenly four stops glowing, feeling weak his body slumps into Mario’s arms. He gives a soft smile to Mario before noticing the world looking a bit blurry, he touches his left eye “Guess I see what SMG1 was talking about.” He had no time to worry about his eye, he forces himself up to then lift SMG3. Hearing screaming outside they run out to see Melony has broken free from the control and Niles has gotten zero. 

Melony in her deity form saw her friends and waves at them “I got this go to the ship!” with a nod they run to the ship gently placing SMG3 on the floor. SMG4 starts hitting buttons and groans “Shit we can't go anywhere like this!” Mario starts to clap, catching Four’s attention “Terrance?!” he watches as SMG3 right hand meme starts fixing the ship. The moment the ship lights up, Three slowly wakes up feeling extremely weak “Uh what happened..?” he touches his face and freezes feeling SMG4 sleeve around his right eye.

He stays silent, understanding enough as Terrance gives his father figure a hug for comfort, SMG4 starts the ship as a chase begins. SMG1 and two announced they were going to blow up the god box and they all needed to leave. As the chase went on Melony did her best to fight back Zero, then in a flash Melony was gone as the creature ate her. SMG4 felt all the air in his lungs leave him, this can't be happening he lost Axol, almost lost SMG3 to now lose Melony.  SMG3 seeing the dark look on Fours face grabs his hand “Mel is strong this won't keep her down, trust in your friend and lets get out of here!” 

Zero, angry he can't reach the ship, tosses a piece of the universe at them blowing up their ship, now floating in space the crew had nowhere to go. Four sighs knowing this is the end “Mario, despite everything you’ve been a great friend.” Mario’s eyes start to water as he looks at his best friend “You too..”  Then SMG4 turns to SMG3 “Hey Three…thanks for staying by my side these past days.” Melony wakes up and slashes her way out of Zero.

The group cheered seeing her alive,  she smiles at them then at her drawing of her and Axol she will defeat Zero for him.  She charges at Zero ready to get revenge for Axol, as the fight goes on anti memes start showing up “Looks like all this noise attracted some visitors.”  the anti memes start getting in Melony’s way. Seeing this, Three comes up with a plan “Lets transmute these anti memes and get them away from Melony!” SMG4 shakes his head “It’s too risky plus what if your wound opens because of it and you bleed out! There has to be something else we can use, think!” 

SMG3's heart drops knowing there is only one way out, slowly he picks up Terrence doing his best to hold back his tears he gives the meme a sad smile “Terrence…i'm sorry little buddy. We need you to save the world…please don't hate me…goodbye.”  Terrance then hugs SMG3 “I love you,” Closing his eye he quickly grabs SMG4 hand “Three are you sure?” suddenly the meme before them is gone and the energy is going into Mario “We don't have a choice.” SMG3 turns to see the energy has turned Mario into a giant head perfect for getting rid of the anti memes and saving the day. 

It was finally over, Melony killed Zero, the god box was destroyed and the day was saved. The crew was now in the hospital being taken care of, SMG1 sighs looking at Fours eye “I told you using your meme power alone would do damage to your body, your left eye has lost a majority of its vision and color. Lucky for you we have made you a special contact that can help, they last two months before you have to come see us for another.” 

Four was getting sick of the ear full he was getting from the older SMGs, he knew what would happen choosing to save SMG3. So he can't see well in his left eye and it's now a more lighter blue, that didn't change he had no regrets. SMG2 smiles and hands him the box “The contact will also cover up the change in color, if you have any questions come to us anything!” He nods waiting for them to leave, once gone he sprints to the other room. He had to see SMG3. He needed to know the man was okay, so he opened the door to feel relief to see SMG3 with a patched up eye drawing in a notebook “SMG3! You look like a pirate thank god.” 

SMG3 glares at his partner “Really that's the first thing you say, since you mention my eye WHO THE HELL COVERS AN INJURED EYE WITH A GROSS SLEEVE! Who knows if they even wash that thing.”

SMG4 runs to hug SMG3 making the man blush “Hey what are you gay?! Stop hugging me, people might see this!” SMG4 giggles at the man letting him go. His eyes then drift to the doodles Three was doing and notice drawings of Terrence. He frowns slowly grabbing SMG3's hand, Three looks away feeling awkward from the hand grab “I’m sorry about Terrence…i know he meant a lot to you, but you're not alone you have me.” hearing this the man turns looking into Fours eyes.

He squints his eye, noticing the other man's left eye seemed strange, then again his eyes aren't doing the best after the battle Three brushes off the thought to focus on his partner's words.  “I promise SMG3 as long as I live I will always be by your side, i won't leave you no matter what.” 

Present Day SMG4 wakes up in a cold sweat, those were memories he didn't want to relive. Just remembering how badly hurt Three got put him in a panic, he had to make sure the other man was okay. He picks up his phone to call SMG3, he hears the phone ring. For him it went on for too long in his panic state, he throws his phone and runs to SMG3 coffee and bombs.  He pounds the door in a panic, SMG3 hearing the pounding run from the back room “SMG4?” 

He opens the door to be tackled by a crying SMG4, confused he holds the man close not noticing his hat slowly slipping off “Hey it's okay what happened?” he awkwardly pats four back. Once SMG4 relaxed he steps back sniffling “Sorry, I had a dream about…you know the god box and zero.” It was strange just seeing the man and being near him made all fear and panic vanish, everything felt so much better.

SMG3 sighs, this was his fault for rushing the hat and hurting himself due to it. He should make a note to keep better care, he gently takes four hands and leads him to a chair to sit on. “Guess I'm making more coffee for us since it seems you can't stay away,” SMG4 giggles wiping his tears away “Can't help it if i have such a charming boss!” as Three walks to the machine his hat slips off. Turning quickly to grab the hat he forgot that his bun was tied loose due to lack of sleep. SMG4 eyes go wide as Three grabs the hat and his long hair is set free, Four needed a distraction and a distraction he got.

Time felt like it slowed down as he watched Three catching his hat and flipping his hair out of his face, Four started to blush as his mind went blank “You…uh the er hair is long..you look haha so how about that latte?”

#smg4 #shygirl4991 #smg34 #smg3 #smg4 smg3 #smg43 #lizaluv #smg34 fanfiction #smg3 coffee n bombs #brewing romance #tw death #tw blood

[definitelynotamhafan]

A cave at the edge of a universe (Darkness pt.2)

Warnings! Flashbacks.

The day had gone by in a mixture of awkward silence and mistrustful glares, nothing you weren’t used to, of course.

Now, as the sun was setting, your bare feet dug into the still heated sand, you couldn’t help but feel uneasy. The sound of silence was swirling around you, the wind carrying a salty scent.

The sea. Oh how you missed it. You remembered the days of the first sprouts of plants ever growing on the soil beneath your feet, the way Amun slipped his hand in yours, both of you running along the shore…

No. Amun was gone, he had changed, what use was to dwell in the past if it only caused you pain?

Your screwed your eyes shut, taking a deep breath and going back in the tent. You grabbed a bowl from one of the tables, pouring yourself some water for your parched throat. As you tilted the bowl, your lips pressed against the smooth ceramic carved with depictions of some pharaoh you couldn’t care less about, you felt a pair of eyes on you.

Staring at you, with a glare so sharp that it was burning the back of your head, was Seth.

“Are you just gonna keep glaring at me like that? You’ll get wrinkles.” You said, chuckling.

“You still play that game, huh?” He retorted. “Acting like you aren’t an evil god.”

You paused. Evil? Out of all the words he thought, evil was the way to describe you?

Unfair? Sure. Damned? Yeah, why not. Cursed? Go ahead! Unwanted? Unforgiven? Bring ‘em in! But evil? That didn’t sound right.

“Says the god of chaos.” You said. “At least I’m not punished to live as a demigod.”

Now it was Seth’s turn to go silent.

“You know?” He asked.

“Of course I do. I can smell it on you. Half god, half human. Such a pitiful punishment.”

“What did you just say about my punishment, you asshat?!” He snapped

“You heard me first, Weasley!” You retorted.

“…what?” He asked confused.

“Nevermind, you wouldn’t get it. What did you do to deserve that shit anyways?” You asked, putting the ceramic bowl down and tilting your hunting dog headdress back.

“I cut Osiris into pieces.” Seth said, looking away.

You paused.

One beat.

Two beats.

And then you burst out laughing.

“Fuck yeah! That green pea-looking bastard deserved it!” You managed to say between laughs.

Seth was stunned. I mean quite literally shook™️. He had no idea that someone would actually hate Osiris this much to agree with him.

“Really?” He asked.

“Of course! That dude is wayyyyy too obsessive for his own good. He didn’t do anything to you, right?” Your expression turned serious at the end. “Right?”

———

“HE DID WHAT?!” You gasped. “Oh you poor thing…” you extended your hand out to Seth, wrapping it around his shoulders comfortingly.

The way his head rested against your chest, it felt just like-

“Am-heh! Wait up!” Ra called out, running after you. “Slow down, love.” He whispered, trailing kisses on your skin as soon as he reached you.

“And if I don’t?” You teased.

“Then I might just make sure you can’t run away.” He winked.

“Oh? And how is that?” You inched closer, your faces inches apart.

“We’ll find out tonight, won’t we?” He teased, before turning into his female form, guiding your hands to her waist. “You won’t run away from me, right?”

“Never.” You sealed her lips.

-no. Not again. You pulled yourself together, ignoring the throbbing pain at the back of your head. Amun-Ra was gone. She wasn’t the same anymore. Now she was just Ra, goddess of the sun. Not your dear Amun. Once the love of your life, who couldn’t take his eyes off of you as you created the stars, embroidering the sky with their light, or creating the fabric of the Nile from your cloak of darkness. They weren’t the same. They would never be. Never again.

“You still don’t trust me?” You teased Seth a little bit.

“Maybe a little.” He replied, snuggling against your chest, his breath so deep that you were surprised he hadn’t fallen asleep yet.

Yet one thing couldn’t escape your mind as sleep began closing in on the both of you, as you laid face-up on the bed. The familiar rocks, the darkness surrounding you, the cool breeze seeping in your bones…. Something was calling out to you. And you knew where it was hiding.

In a cave at the edge of the universe, at the end and beginning of time, somewhere where the clock is pointing at the 25th hour, and no ticking will ever be heard. Somewhere where your memories will haunt you forever.

#seth ennead #egyptian gods #ennead mojito #ennead manhwa #ennead seth #fanfic #fanfiction #x reader

[will-and-lester-defense-squad]

Damn I’ve been seeing a good bit of criticism about the pjo show and while everyone can have their opinions on it, so can I. So. (Lemme warn yall this is gonna be a long one)

I’ve seen a lot about how things are being figured out too easily in the show and it’s taking the mystery out of the scenes from the book (i.e. the lotus casino, “aunty em” being Medusa, etc). What this boils down to (to me at least) is that people think the trio is.. too smart??

I get where they’re coming from but if anything? I think that makes everything in the show better compared to the books for a few reasons:

they can focus more on keeping season 1 character-centric and story-driven instead of constantly about action (which sets a lot up for the next 4 seasons when they can dive into all the action because the characters and their motivations/personalities have already been fleshed out and established)

(and much more importantly) the trio is supposed to be smart and somewhat prepared for this quest

Like i get the whole “they’re 12 year old kids” argument but we’re forgetting that they’re not regular kids. Because they do suck at regular people stuff: Percy sucks at driving (ik he’s a kid still), they have a hard time communicating with each other, their relationships are rocky as hell for a while, they don’t do well with listening to or respecting authority figures.

But when it comes to the demigod stuff? There’s a reason they’re all so good at it. For one, it’s explained that the same ADHD and dyslexia that makes their regular lives so difficult, makes it easier to function in the mythic world. And when it comes to each character, lemme go through them one by one.

Annabeth: the literal daughter of the goddess of wisdom and strategy. the girl who learned on her own how to survive using nothing but her quick thinking and wits at 7 years old before being picked up by Luke and Thalia. the girl who spent 5 years training and learning everything she could in hopes of getting a quest to prove herself. and then on top of that, that pride she’s got just pushes her even more to be the smartest and bravest version of herself.

Grover: the satyr whose literal job description is to be a protector of demigods, which means he’s been trained just as much, if not more than annabeth and taught everything he needs to know to shield these demigods while they’re in the real world. He’s smart, adaptable, strong, and has the added advantage of increased senses and a connection to nature and animals that comes in handy.

Percy: whose mother spent his entire life preparing him for this life, knowing one day he was gonna have to do all of this himself. She told him all the stories. She knew as a son of Poseidon, he was gonna have to face all kinds of gods and dangers. And he does constantly use what he’s been taught to get him through whatever he faces. The only reason he seems inexperienced is because he is. He’s only been a demigod for a week at this point. But both Grover and annabeths experience more than make up for this. Because they’re a team and they travel and fight together as one.

They may be 12 year old kids, but they’re not regular people like the rest of us. They’re demigods. And they might still have a lot to learn, but they’re still demigods. They have training! They have amazing instincts! They know the history! The stories!! The Greek tragedies!!! They learned them so that they don’t repeat the same mistakes their ancestors made, and they used that to their advantage at every stage of their quest so far.

So yeah, I’m glad they’re smart enough to know when they’re about to walk into a trap. And I’d hope to god they use these advantages at their disposal, because nothing else they face is gonna be easy regardless. They have no choice but to be ready, it’s literally life or death.

At the end of the day, a complete copy of the book would be so boring as a show. We already read the books. We know what happens. So the changes they’ve made so far have really just been for the better. I love watching smart protagonists that don’t make me yell at the tv when they miss the glaringly obvious!!

#pjo #percy jackson #pjo tv show #percy jackson and the olympians

[lozzamez3]

I can't believe this is happening!!!!!!!!!! Finally we'll have an offical cookbook.

Pre order now!!

Dine like a demigod with over 60 recipes fit to be served anywhere from Camp Half-Blood to Mount Olympus in the only official collection developed for fans of the books and the Disney+ Original Series.

Make any meal an epic offering to your friends and family, with mythical recipes inspired by Percy Jackson and the Olympians. Filled with delicious dishes straight from Sally Jackson’s kitchen, Aunty Em’s Garden Gnome Emporium, Waterland, and beyond, this cookbook is a hero’s culinary journey of its own. Featuring instructions from Grover Underwood, helpful tips and tricks from Annabeth Chase, plus full-color photography, this deluxe recipe book has all the essentials to see any home-chef fulfill their destiny. Not to mention a whole host of blue dishes, designed with love, to bring your community together over a dinner that looks as good as it tastes.

QUEST YOUR WAY THROUGH OVER 60 RECIPES: 

Serve up dozens of appetizers, main courses, desserts, and beverages with roots in both classic Greek and American-style cuisines.

BRING CAMP HALF-BLOOD TO YOUR HOME: 

From enchiladas to ambrosia, cook up dishes that bring the unique magic of Percy Jackson’s world right to your kitchen.

SEE PAST THE MIST WITH FULL-COLOR PHOTOGRAPHY: 

Stunning images throughout this cookbook reveal mythically good meals.

PERFECT FOR ALL SKILL LEVELS:

Great for beginners and experienced chefs alike, this cookbook will help you prepare amazing dishes for your friends and family inspired by your favorite gods and heroes.

GIFTABLE & COLLECTIBLE: 

As the only officially licensed cookbook for the TV series, this is a must-have for any fan looking to capture the myth and the magic for themselves.

#percy jackon and the olympians #percy jackson #perseus jackson #annabeth chase #grover underwood #rick riordan #heroes of olympus #trials of apollo #leo valdez #hazel levesque #frank zhang #piper mclean #jason grace #thalia grace #luke castellan #rachel elizabeth dare #pjo fandom #walker scobell #aryan simhadri #leah sava jeffries #pjo #percabeth

[harrisonarchive]

Danny ‘Kootch’ Kortchmar, Jim Keltner, George, Paul Stallworth, and David Foster, 1975.

“[O]ne afternoon the phone rang and a familiar voice said, ‘Hullo, David, this is old Harrison here. I was chatting with Jim Keltner, and he says you play all right.’ It was George Harrison. I was struck mute for a moment, but I quickly found my voice. ‘Keltner says I play all right, does he?’ ‘Won’t you come down?’ He said. He was very casual about it, but I was a nervous wreck. I kept thinking, I’m talking to George Harrison. He was one of the Beatles. This can’t be happening. I’m just a kid from Victoria. I went down to the studio and met Harrison, and he was mellow and very friendly, as if he were just a normal guy, not a demigod. He wasn’t very talkative, however, so I didn’t get any great stories out of him, but I know he liked my work, because a few weeks later he flew me to London to help with thew arrangements on two albums, Extra Texture and 33 1/3, which were released in 1975 and 1976, respectively. I wrote several string arrangements for both of then, and I worked hard, but neither album was the hit we’d hoped for. Maybe I was part of the reason; I don’t know. […] I began by asking him [Paul McCartney, in the ‘80s] about George Harrison, since I’d worked with him and knew him a little. ‘What do you want to know about George?’ Paul said. ‘He was an amazing songwriter, wasn’t he? I mean, “Something” is truly one of the greatest songs of all time.’ Paul flashed a sly grin. ‘Well, I suppose everybody’s got one in ‘em.’ I thought he was kidding, and maybe he was. Then again, maybe he wasn’t — maybe the press had got it wrong from the start: Maybe the rub wasn’t John and Paul, as everyone assumed, but George and Paul. I could have dug a little, and asked him to explain further, but I’m not sure I wanted to know.” - David Foster, Hitman: Forty Years Making Music, Topping Charts, & Winning Grammys (2008) (x)

#George Harrison #David Foster #Jim Keltner #Paul McCartney #1970s #1975 #1980s #Harrison songwriting #The Beatles #George and Paul #Danny 'Kootch' Kortchmar #Paul Stallworth #fits queue like a glove

[blackautmedia]

It ended up being way more intensive than I had planned, but I did finish the writing for the Zelda video.

I managed to grab that James Somerton video he made about queer portrayals in Nintendo before it was privated. I haven't located any evidence suggesting it was plagiarized given the extent he's done it in nearly all his videos but that doesn't mean it hasn't occurred. I'm still trying to search and see if I can find any evidence of plagiarism to credit its proper author(s) if it is in fact stolen. There will be a section discussing the intersection of queerness and race with queer readings of Link and the Gerudo.

That aside, I wanted to share a bit! I picked out paragraphs out of order from how they're actually written, but these are a few of the points in the section about "the natural order of Hyrule."

Both film and TV westerns purport to be based on US history: the past is reframed as a glorious undertaking, the fulfillment of God's wish for his chosen people or as a rescue mission designed to rescue the pitiful other from himself or from some demonic other. Such fantasies serve to justify and legitimize colonial norms and practices. Stam and Spence explain that the colonial enterprise was often presented as a philanthropic "civilizing mission," reframing the colonial presence as a humanitarian intervention rather than an invasion. - Native Americans on Network TV : Stereotypes, Myths, and the 'Good Indian'

In Zelda Lore, it's said according to an entry in Hyrule Historia that "Hylians possessed a special power: it was said that their long ears allowed them to hear the voices of the gods." there's an inherent birth connection to the gods and to divinity in this series.

The best examples of community portrayal in the game exist when you remove Link from the equation. There are numerous instances of the different tribes providing support to one another--the Gerudo providing aid to refugees of Lurelin village, people providing resources to the Rito in their time of crisis, and the construction town helping in the rebuilding effort.

But a central part of what separates gaming from other types of media like books and TV is that you're not just a reader or viewer, but a player--you're asked to actively take part in the narrative and influence it yourself.

That community commentary also conflicts with the desire to treat Link as a demigod with the most major figures in the story continually sacrificing their autonomy and personhood to become resources that Link is ultimately to wield. Rauru gifts Link with some of his powers to save him from the Gloom. Mineru becomes little more than a rock 'em sock 'em robot for Link to pilot with little to no actual concern for her as a person.

Zelda is given the illusion of having agency in this story with how she orchestrates the conditions for Link to be able to defeat Ganon, but ultimately that doesn't come from her utilizing her research skills or building off the things her family provided her. Rauru even says he believes Zelda arrived to them for a reason, and based on what happens, it was ultimately so she could sacrifice herself yet again.

I'm not in the camp of people who wanted to see Zelda permanently stay a dragon at the end, I just want Zelda to not continually be sidelined in a series that constantly asks to sacrifice herself so she can't be an active part of the story.

The land and society once owned by gods must be restored and brought to its former glory as it is fated to be led by the divinely chosen Hylians. To that end, to defeat the evil and violent Middle Easterner who has defied the natural order of Hyrule, everyone must sacrifice themselves for Link to become the divine governor of power.

(This portion is part of the conclusion)

In thinking over what to write for this last portion, I came away feeling Nintendo's patterns here are a good example of why we should heavily value and take seriously the talents of artists and character designers.

It's important because art is so valuable in how it shapes the implications of the story, intentional or not.

I'm not here to convince you to boycott or stop playing Zelda because the issue goes beyond the scope of this individual franchise. What I ask more than anything is to see the people being propagandized as human and to equip yourself with the tools to better detect and resist the narratives both in fiction and non-fictional media.

#tears of the kingdom #totk spoilers #james somerton #imperialism #I have a slightly different take on the Totk imperialism I feel but hopefully it makes sense #The game feels less critical of Rauru because his failure as a king is framed as an inevitability #so the game feels less concerned about him and more sees Link as a divine governor of power and resources #and ultimately its Links duty to govern over everyone's power and resources that they must surrender to him in order to succeed #and I feel there's a far more imperialistic reading in Link gaining the power from Rauru and the others in how he triumphs over Ganon #theres also the way the Zonai contribute to the Native Extinction myth as well #totk critical #gerudo #you know this is extensive when we're talking about how Oracle of Ages compares to totk's writing

[johncarrera]

Thinking about how any egg death would be devasting in so many ways. Like yeah, it would be very sad for both the audience and the islanders but also like... It could very much start a goddamn war?

If Leonarda dies, you just angered two incredibly powerful demigods, one of which is literally feared by the rest of the island for terrorizing em with mines. Imagine what Vegetta would do if his daughter died? Not only that, Foolish can genuinely be a threat if he wants to. We're seeing how far he's willing to go for the "funsies'' and to rescue a capybara. What if it was a quest to avenge his family.

Then you consider all of the eggs with single parents. Philza, Fit and BadBoyHalo. The Angel of Death, a Veteran Mercenary who survived a wasteland with no rules and the Grim Reaper himself. We've seen how far they go when their eggs are threatened.

We've seen how BBH, one of the best PVPers and richest players, reacted to Dapper losing a life to a code attack. We've seen how Philza reacted to the codes mimicking his children. Fit has gotten so attached to Ramon that he deviated and got distracted from his original plan, his original mission on the island.

Not only are these people super dangerous, they're also extremely attached to their eggs thanks to carrying the burden of parenthood by themselves. They'd go insane if something happened to them.

And then, you get to the polycules.

Etoiles, the crazy pvp monster who more than anything wishes for a good fight. The man who 2v1d the codes. The one who wasn't sure he'd get into the whole egg thing but now cares so much for Pomme.

Baghera, Pomme's mother. The one who got attached to her the fastest. Genuinely super underestimated, she's hella smart and observant and had a whole ass wall with notes about the island.

Aypierre, who I don't know that much off but I wouldn't want to fight the man who made a Gegg factory and completely invaded and destroyed the federation's base because he wanted a picture.

And do I really need to talk about the brazillians? These people break the Federation's rules every single day. They are rich, smart, powerful and so fucking determined. Mad scientists, escaped convicts, the leader of Ordo Theoritas and his right-hand man, the creator of project NINHO. These people would go to hell and back for their friends. And boy, do they care about the eggs. Cellbit and Forever were almost crying when Bobby died. Mike still feels guilt from letting Richarlyson lose his first life.

If Richas dies for real? The server will explode the very next day.

And that goes for every egg.

If ElQuackity ends up killing one of the eggs as retaliation? His ass is dead the second anyone spots him.

But not only that. Thanks to his affiliation with the Federation? That could mean all-out war.

#qsmp #qsmp eggs

[a-deck-of-cards]

core 4 polycule hcs ( + some lgbtq+ hcs )

bc i want what they have :(

inspired by this post!1!1! ( go check it out srsly, it’s amazing )

tim is transmasc n bi

kon is cis n omni

bart is cis n asexual but he’s not too sure

annnd cassie is bi n closeted demi-girl

and ofc all of em are poly

tim is dating benard and cassie is dating cissie as well !!

tim is autistic, bart is audhd, kon has adhd and cassie is cassie (im not too sure yet)

when bart is overexcited / overwhelm, his powers go haywire and he really can’t control it anymore so kon uses his ttk to pull bart back to his feet

ma kent would invite them over to the farm where they learn how to make flower crowns with their colours

tim is red, bart is orange, kon is blue and cassie is yellow.

tim and kon were the first ones to start dating, then cassie joined in and then bart.

they would do cuddle piles all the time to get rid of the touch starvation.

tim didn’t want to tell bruce about this yet because he was unsure on how he would feel and whether he could accept it

they (cassie, kon, bart) told him to take his time and whatever happens, they will never leave his back.

cassie have chronic nightmares and panic attacks because of the nightmares.

tim would help cassie whenever she’s having one because he’s the most familiar with it and he’s usually up due to his insomnia

he would stay with her until she falls asleep again

kon, bart or cassie picks tim up to go to places bc apparently vehicles take too long

sometimes bart and kon would abduct tim bc they have no sense of boundaries.

cassie is too sensible to do that though.

everyone except bart have a drivers license to use when they’re in their civilian identity

bart is either too distracted or can just use his super speed without being seen.

bart has the biggest hair out of all of em

so they like to play and braid it sometimes

they also played with tim’s hair when he grew it out.

(short hair cassie supremacy)

cassie and kon are tall and is very muscle-y and tim and bart are small and lanky (tim especially)

so when they cuddle tim and bart have to be on the top or else they’d get crushed.

bart and tim constantly play video games with each other because yk theyre both obsessed.

i feel like ppl underestimate kon’s ttk

he can literally control any matter at touch

so he helps warm up cassie’s stomach whenever she’s have cramps

tim is the only one who gets sick bc

bart’s a speedster and they heal very fast, kon’s half kryptonian and well cassie’s a demigod

so they band up together to try and take care of tim when he’s sick

but tim would say he isn’t for the first couple days until it became too big of a bother

and he has it worse bc of his missing spleen

usually it ends in chaos

#theyre so cute #hshshhshsja #core 4 #young justice #tim drake #kon el #cassandra sandsmark #bart allen #cissie king jones #benard dowd #cissiecassie #timber #autistic tim drake #autistic bart allen #adhd bart allen #adhd kon el

[zkoh001]

"If you think it is my husband you should fear, you are nothing more than a fool."

Im dubbing this the tigermom au, where Misako had a legit reason to leave Lloyd, and it was to put fear of god in the hearts of destinies writers the moment they hear the Garmadon name. (In the meanwhile getting stuck in a time loop/trap)

Honestly I just feel like she COULD be a really cool character, if her abandoning Lloyd with no fair explanation didn't weigh her down. She pretty effortlessly rizzed both sons of god, and is one of the few non EMs shown doing spinjitzu. Also was quite good at it, if we can believe Wu. Tho I think she could do a bit more sass. (She was sassy like twice, and I live for it. Also sassy Lloyd, but that doesn't belong here)

Here are a few scattered ideas:

° When she hears the prophecy, she realises the only way to save her family is to rewrite destiny. Good thing she knows where to do that

° Using her archeology/history background she begins looking for ways to move amongst realms

° She leaves Lloyd at Darkleys (only for a few weeks, she swears) temporarily. Why Darkleys? Well, he probably would be safer with his father idolized rather than despised (see the movie for example)

° I'm not sure of the deets, maybe Travelers tea or some other method, but she leaves for Cloud Kingdom (or perhaps Time blades shenanigans, but honestly, I want her to punch Fenwicks jaw trough his skull.)

° Not looking for a nice chitchat with the people who broke her family, she wreaks havoc amongst the denizens of CK, looking for two specific scrolls

° Eventually they kick her out with joined efforts, and she returns dejected. The worst she expected was Lloyd starting a Garmadon cult amongst the students, not her son all grown up, hanging out with a bunch of teens in pajamas.

° I want to make her showing up more impactful. I want Wu and the ninja to be surprised, I want her to be devastated when she puts two amd two together (she doesn't know about tomorrows tea, so it seems even worse). I want her to mourn the time lost, but still be determined to make it up somehow.

° Note, that while it's not nearly as bad, she still had the attitude, of fighting her way out of her problems over trying to raise Lloyd into not killing his dad. This could be a character flaw to explore, and it could make Lloyd more drawn to her, since her attitude is quite a bit similar to Kai's

Sidenote, I know that sounds like Maya over again, but it does't need it to be similar really. I like to actually make Ray and Mayas kidnapping make sense, with Krux knocking them out with the tea, kidnapping them, and THEN forcing them to stay with the "I know where your babies live" threat.

So while Maya was kidnapped, Misako would have left willingly, albeit, for longer than she meant to.

But let's get to the mom part shall we?

° Honestly, outside of making Misako more interesting, this is a bit self indulgent, because I think Lloyd should have a healthy outlet, since trauma dumping Akita is not really an option now

° Lloyd would be conflicted, not being able to hate her, but still, she was never there

° "You don't have to forgive me"

"It's okay, you didn't mean to..."

"But it still hurts doesn't it? You can let it out"

° I know, it's harder to manage more characters, but I want her to BE there for her son, also let's scrap Wusako, I wanna make her love Garmadon, to the very end, even if it's tragic.

° She won't leave when going gets tough, and she would offer her own fighting skills to help too

Just some fun extras:

° She showed up to the Monastery after some rumors about demigods living there, to examine the place. The spinjitzu brothers found her, she used some incredibly stupid pickup line with fingerguns, and procedeed to steal both their hearts

° She's got rizz that literally only works on these two.

° The spinjitzu brothers would stare down any EM who dares question her presence, and she fucking knows it.

° Will watch with a shit eating grin as Wu lectures, and Garmadon threatens the poor sap

° Since Maya is the overenthusiastic mom, I will make Misako the bad influence mom, who makes her son do dumb shit kids his age should do (and 100% joins in, cause, whose gonna tell her she can't?)

° Lloyd inherited his grandfathers hair, his father's eyes, and his mom's face.

° I just find it funny if Lloyd showed up to CK, and everyone was hostile/angry towards him. And Lloyd being Lloyd would assume it's about his dad, since it always is. Except not now.

° "YOU! I know who you are! You are that woman's son!"

° "...Yeah, he is my fa- wait, what?"

° "Hey, look, looks like your mom made quite a mess for ya"

° " Which only means even more people hate me so thanks MOM."

° Lloyd is the house cat, if he doses off on you, you are not allowed to get up/disturb him (I like to think it started when he was little, but since he is still the youngest mentally, it stuck). The ninja (and his family) strictly enforce this, even on random visitors who fall under the cat-curse. This is not even really Misako related just Cat Lloyd? Cat Lloyd.

° ... Also, I think he should have a ponytail. (Seriously, that hair would be realistically such a hassle while fighting. Pull that hair back, so you can SEE you dingbat)

Just... I mean, Lloyd and Garmadon are already cat coded according to the fanbase, why not give them a feral wildcat mom/wife? She will hiss at anyone who messes with them, don't worry.

#ninjago #misako #wu #garmadon #spinjitzu brothers #tigermom au #essay #or maybe she passed in time cause of time blade shenanigans #someone in the reblogs gave me the ck idea #and i like it #cause then she can punch those assholes in the face #also garmacat family i guess #ponytail lloyd supermacy #I apparently can't write an essay without relapsing to HoT in some shape or form. #but it's okay #i accepted my fate #thanks for reading! #if you're still her this is off topic #but the ninjago fandom is feral #you guys interact with my shitposts more then other fandoms with my fully rebdered art #lookin at you #undertale fandom cough cough

[alannybunnue]

sobre semideusa! leitora, agora imgine que o yandere deus da tempestade foi o primeiro a sequestra nosso leitor. claro o deus afogado, ficou muito ficou desesperado, saiu como louco pelo mar afora sem comer e nem descansar, só querendo achar sua amada filha. depois que ele descobriu quem sequestrou ela, ele e o deus da tempestade, viraram eternos inimigos. Claro o deus afogado consegui salvar a filha, mas o deus da tempestade, ficou com tanta raiva, que quando sentia falta de sua amada, ele chorava, o mundo dos humanos sentia isso com as fortes chuvas caindo. 

depois que os conquistadores sequestraram sua filha novamente, o deus afogado teve deja vu. leitora! semideusa tava tipo 🤦.

" já fui sequestrada por coisa pior, mas pelo menos ele me deixava nadar e dava muitas concha pra mim, além disso meu pai não ficará nada feliz, sinto pena de vocês. os conquistadores ficarão, " ele quem?".

o reinos foram muito atormentados pela ira do deus afogado, o mar dava respostas a eles.

quando o deus da tempestade descobriu, o inferno começou ( como se a irá do deus afogado não fosse o bastante).

um tempo mais tarde, na sala do trono do nadar, é invadida por água, o deus afogado estava ali em sua forma humana.

e o deus da tempestade chegou com sua irá, 

os dois deus fizeram uma tortura aos sete reinos.

moral da história: não mexa com quem está queito.

Feliz natal atrasado, muito anos de vida para você, que seus trabalhos continuem sendo maravilhoso, que você tenha muita saúde 🇧🇷🎄☃️

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

EU ESTOU GRITANDO MEU DEUS-

Que maravilhoso mano, Feliz Natal atrasado meu bem 😍💖🇧🇷

•

So @vyndiesel, we got an idea here

And I'm going to translate all of this for you guys, because this is beautiful 💖

->

"About the Demigod!Reader, now imagine that the Storm God was the first one to kidnap our reader, of course the Drowned God was in despair, went like crazy without resting, just wanting to find his beloved daughter.

Once he discovered who took her, he and Storm God became eternal enemies. Sure, the Drowned God was able to save his daughter, and his enemy, everytime he remembered his beloved, he would cry, and human world would feel that pain through strong rains.

After the Conquerors took his daughter, the Drowned God had a deja vu, and the Demigoddess was like 🤦‍♀️.

"I was once taken for worse reasons, but at least he would let me swim and would gift me many sea shells." - "Also, my father won't be pleased by this, i truly pity you"

The Conquerors were confused - "Who?"

The Sea soon began to torment the 7 kingdoms by the wrath of the Drowned God, giving an answer to their question. But once the Storm God discovered, hell truly began (In hasn't already with the Drowned God)

Soon, the Throne room would be invaded by the sea and the Drowned would appear. As the Storm god would erupt with wrath.

Both truly tortured the 7 Kingdoms

Moral of the story: Don't mess with those who were quiet"

Honestly, i loved this.

The part where they appeared to confront the Conquerors was crazy, this is a eternal battle.

THIS IS WHY I AM SO HYPERFIXATED ON THE STORY.

And also, another reason for Papa to find a proper husband to the reader

#ask #yandere concept #a song of ice and fire #yandere x reader #house of the dragon #game of thrones #blackfyre rebellion #robert's rebellion #aegon's conquest #yandere imagine #westeros x reader #demigod!reader #the drowned god #the storm god

[twoidiotwriters1]

The Curse of Oenone (Leo Valdez xFem!Oc)

A/N: I'm going to Hozier's concert next week and I've been waiting SO LONG to post this one omg -Danny Words: 2,038 Series' Masterlist Previous Chapter // Next Chapter Listen to: 'Who We Are' -by Hozier

XV: Are We the Baddies?

"Where are they?" Coach Hedge comes up running. "Who do I kill?"

"No killing!" Annabeth shouts. "Just help me defend the ship!"

"But they interrupted a Chuck Norris movie!"

Piper runs up the steps. "Got a message through to Jason. Kind of fuzzy, but he's already on his way. He should be—oh! There!"

"Frank!" Hazel exclaims in relief.

Leo is not a fan of eagles as a way of transportation, judging by the amount of curse words that are leaving his mouth as they fly past them. 

"Never seen Jason fly before," Percy points out. "He looks like a blond Superman."

"More like Captain America," Ara also looks up. "If Captain America could, you know, control the wind—"

"Wait, doesn't that other Captain America have wings, Sam—"

"This isn't the time!" Piper snaps them out of their conversation. "Look, they're in trouble!"

Ara spots the flying chariot behind them. "Coach!"

"I'll get 'em!"

Ara sees him reach for the ballista. "NO—"

It was lucky they were close to the fort, otherwise, everyone would've plummeted to their deaths. Not that crashing against hard rock was any better, but at least there the bodies would be easier to find.

"Coach!" Piper scolds him.

"What? That was just a warning shot!"

"Percy!" Ara shouts tensely as they get closer to the wall. "This ship doesn't come with water brakes—"

"Don't worry," he says, holding onto her shoulder. "I got it."

Annabeth approaches them. "They're too many, we can't fight them all—once we're there, Percy, you're going to have to hold off the attackers. The rest of the group should help him guard the ship, but you," she looks at Ara. "I need you with me."

Ara nods. "Now, Percy!"

The boy pulls on the currents so the ship slows down, Ara hears an unpleasant screeching, but if any damage was done to the ship, she'll fix it later.

"The fort is crawling with Romans," Percy warns them. "You'll have to fight your way through, find our friends—assuming they're okay—find this map, and get everybody back alive. All on your own?"

"Just an average day," Annabeth kisses him before leaving. "Whatever you do, don't let them take this ship!" 

Ara shouts as she runs away. "If you let them damage Festus or the ship, you'll wish you'd stayed at Phorcys's exhibit!"

The girls race through dodging frightened tourists and angry demigods. Frank is fighting as an elephant—an odd choice, but certainly better than any other—Leo is throwing balls of fire at eagles, and Jason is taking as many demigods as he can without hurting them much. 

Ara presses twice on her compass and it turns into a bow. She reaches over her back, where a quiver has appeared. Ara doesn't know if her stash of arrows is unlimited, she's never counted them and she doesn't use this version of Almighty that often.

"Okay, now what?" She asks over the chaos.

Annabeth stops and shouts. "Jason! Get the other on board!"

"What about you two?" He yells back.

"Don't wait for us!"

Ara shoots an arrow that lands on a guy's foot. "Nice shot!" Jason pushes the injured boy out of his way and runs towards Leo.

"I was aiming at his hand..." she makes a face.

"Get the people out of our way," Annabeth urges her. "Let's start with those doors!"

Ara raises her voice. "We're pest control! Step away from the corridor, ma'am—please, seize your children!"

Annabeth reaches the room, but when Ara tries to follow her in, the door slams shut in her face. "Annabeth!" She slams both fists against the wood. "Annabeth!"

"She's okay," a voice speaks behind her. "Just needs a moment, you know, for introspection."

Ara turns around, eyes narrowing. "You have to be kidding me."

Janus smiles. "Hello again, Arae Jackson."

Time suddenly stays still, and the noises around her get quieter.

"So you took the greater path," Leftie says. "It won't be this easy all the time, you know?"

Ara thinks of all the things she's gone through since the last time they spoke. "Easy?"

Right chuckles. "Last time was about power, this time is about commitment."

The girl presses her back against the door. "Can we push back my episode in the wheel of fortune for like, I dunno, twenty more years?"

Leftie snorts. "No. You must choose today."

"The cause," Right lifts his hand, holding a gold disk.

"Or your friends," Leftie raises his hand, holding a picture of the crew who built the Argo II. Ara has her arm around Lily, and both girls look happy.

Right smirks. "Last time worked just fine, didn't it?"

"But will it be the same this time?" Left wonders.

"What are y—" The door opens and Ara falls back. She scrambles to her feet and picks up her bow and arrows. "Annabeth!"

Her friend's standing in the middle of the room with a haunted expression. 

"Di immortales, what happened?" Ara asks with concern.

"Later," her friend replies hoarsely, moving out of the room. "How long has it been since I got stuck?"

"Not much... I think," Ara's unsure whether Janus stopped time to talk to her, or if things just got quieter in her head. "Where to now?"

Annabeth scans their surroundings. "There!"

They run to a mortar, Ara keeps shooting arrows at the eagles trying to seize them. She chose the bow because that's her worst skill, therefore the chances of hurting someone in a deathly way are lower.

Annabeth stares at the mortar like she's seeing something in it that no one else can, which is probably true. "In the mortar—Of course..."

"Hurry up! I'm running out of arrows!" Ara warns her.

Annabeth works fast to retrieve the map, and as she pulls it out, Ara realizes it looks exactly like the item Janus was holding in his right hand. "What's—"

"No time, let's..." Annabeth stumbles to a stop. Ara groans, locking eyes with Reyna.

"Rushing off?"

It takes a lot to intimidate Ara. She grew up with Thalia, Clarisse, and Percy, after all. But if Reyna was impressive without her battle gear, now she's downright terrifying. Her automatons are also there on each side of her, ready to attack them.

"Reyna," Annabeth starts, "what happened at Camp Jupiter was Gaea's fault. Eidolons, possessing spirits—"

"Save your explanations. You'll need them for the trial."

"You know we don't have time for this," Ara presses. "Let us go!"

"If you let Gaea drive our camps apart," Annabeth continues, "the giants have already won. They'll destroy the Romans, the Greeks, the gods, the whole mortal world."

"Don't you think I know that?" Reyna snaps. "What choice have you left me? Octavian smells blood. He's whipped the legion into a frenzy, and I can't stop it. Surrender to me. I'll bring you back to New Rome for trial. It won't be fair. You'll be painfully executed. But it may be enough to stop further violence. Octavian won't be satisfied, of course, but I think I can convince the others to stand down."

"It wasn't us!"

"It doesn't matter! Someone must pay for what happened. Let it be you. It's the better option."

 Annabeth and Ara share a look. 

"Better than what?" The older girl asks.

"Use that wisdom of yours. If you escape today, we won't follow. I told you—not even a madman would cross the sea to the ancient lands. If Octavian can't have vengeance on your ship, he'll turn his attention to Camp Half-Blood. The legion will march on your territory. We will raze it and salt the earth."

Janus shows up again, behind Reyna. Ara's insides twist in dread. It's time to choose.

"Take me," she blurts out. "I'm the Greek General, you don't need anyone else."

Annabeth looks at her with wide eyes. "No!"

"Shut up," Ara grabs Lily's dagger from her belt and hands it to her. "Give this to Lily if you see her again."

The girl steps forward but Annabeth yanks her back. "We're going," she says stubbornly. "I'm following the Mark of Athena to Rome, and Ara comes with me."

"Let go!" Ara tries to slip off her grasp, but Annabeth holds onto her tighter.

"You have no idea what awaits you," Reyna's eyes are wild with fury. "Ara is not part of the prophecy, if she wants to yield—"

"I do know!" Annabeth exclaims. "This grudge between our camps... I can fix it. Ara has a prophecy to fulfill as well and I promise you, if you kill her before it's time, we will suffer the consequences."

"Our grudge is thousands of years old," Reyna makes a face. "How can one person fix it?"

"Annabeth!" Ara insists with a shaky voice, but she knows her friend is right. 

If she stays, she'd be abandoning the people who looked after her when no one else would. If she leaves, she'd be giving up not just the quest but Leo too. How can she possibly choose one over the other?

"The quest has to succeed," Annabeth insists. "You can try to stop us, in which case we'll have to fight to the death. Or you can let us go, and we'll try to save both our camps. If you must march on Camp Half-Blood, at least try to delay. Slow Octavian down. Ara stays."

"One daughter of a war goddess to another, I respect your boldness," Reyna's expression darkens. "But if you leave now, you doom your camp to destruction."

"Don't underestimate Camp Half-Blood."

"You've never seen the legion at war."

Annabeth lets go of her without warning. "Your choice," the girl stares at her with piercing grey eyes, so similar to Lily's.

"W-What?"

"You're the General," Reyna agrees. "Both of us respond to you. Octavian won't listen to reason, but I can try to slow him down... or you can put a stop to it today."

"And put the whole world at risk by doing so," Annabeth counts. "Ara, think of Leo and Percy—you think any of us would forgive the Romans if they kill you?"

Ara stares at the older, smarter girls in front of her, and her heart crawls up her throat. All she can think of is Mike and Lily... But now there's also Leo to consider, she wants to protect both so badly...

Don't be rash.

Letting herself die in a ceremony of fake justice is an insult to both camps. She's supposed to be an ally to all demigods, but she's being forced to turn her back on them to succeed. It doesn't make sense!

Reyna's eyes stare at her, rageful and urgent. They remind her of Nico's eyes, who is also counting on her, and she can't fail him again. This isn't a fair solution, it's more like a shot in the dark, but all she can do is hold the gun steady when she pulls the trigger.

"Reyna..." she says shakily. "I have offered you nothing but friendship since we first met. Remember that when you go to massacre my home."

Reyna understands what's about to happen, and her expression stiffens. "You've left me behind to clean up your mess. You are no ally to me." She gestures so her dogs back up. "When we meet again, we will be enemies on the field of battle."

Janus vanishes then, a wide smile on both their faces. You have made your choice.

Ara and Annabeth are free to go. Reyna joins her army in the middle of the small storm Jason and Percy created, and no one seems to notice she'd been missing. 

Annabeth drags Ara through the crowd. She isn't fighting it, sticking to her new plan. She presses twice on her compass and turns it into a shield so it protects them from the incoming spears and arrows.

Ara screams orders, slipping charmspeak in each of them so they let them through. Piper is on the gangplank waiting for them, the ship is moving and they need to jump to reach it. Annabeth goes in first, and together Piper and her pull Ara in.

"Go!" Annabeth shouts. "Go, go, go!"

The ship moves violently as they gain speed, Percy lifts them on a tide that pushes them several yards away from Fort Sumter. Ara glances at the fort, then back at the people on the ship. 

Annabeth is glaring at her, but there is sympathy in her eyes. "You did the right thing, Ara. I promise."

She's decided to sacrifice her home, just like Helen did. She could've gone back with Reyna to ease the Romans's spirits, but that's not how the story goes. Ara's composure—what is left of it—collapses. She drops Almighty with a heavy thud and falls to her knees.

All I've done is set the curse in motion.

Next Chapter –>

Taglist.

@siriuslysirius1107 @ask-giggles1303 @asnyox-the-hoarder @im-planning-something-look @bandshirts-andbooks @coolninjapaper @thewaterlily @whenisthefall @1randomcomic @you-bloody-shank @sunflowergraves @owlalex44 @taylordaughter @typicalsolangelolover @writingmia @espressopatronum454 @slytherinnqueen @orbitingpolaris @obxstiles @ellipsisspelled @thepixiechicksh

#twoidiots writing #leo valdez x oc #doo #leo valdez fanfic #pjo fanfic #percy jackson and the olympians #heroes of olympus

[colorless-hallway]

The Shardbearers- Finale

So uh, I decided to redraw both Radahn and Rykard, as well as add some extra touches to the shading. I'm much more happier with the end product now. I think the Great Runes are much easier to follow up (or down) the drawing. Below is some close-ups of each demigod, if y'all wanna check em out.

#elden ring #elden ring fanart #godrick #malenia #mohg #morgott #rennala #radahn #rykard #fromsoftware #my art #artwork

[thewidowsghost]

Seeing the Beauty (Piper McLean x Fem!Jackson!Reader) - Chapter 10

Series Masterlist

Main Masterlist

(Y/n)'s eyes fly open, and she rises towards the surface of the lake.

Ripples break the surface of the water, but there is no sound.

Then she catches sight of a figure kneeling over the gleaming bronze body of a massive dragon.

Silently, (Y/n) exits the water, creeping towards the figure. And she recognizes it – Leo.

"Leo!" (Y/n) says, and the son of Hephaestus looks up.

"You're alive!" Leo says.

There is a crash – like two dump trucks slamming together from the direction of a factory. Metal crumples and groans, and the noise echoes across the yard.

"Piper and Jason?" (Y/n) asks, uncapping her pen. Tsunami glows with an unnatural bronze light.

"Let's go," Leo says, frowning. "Gimme the biggest hammer you got." He reaches into his toolbelt and pulls out a three-pound club hammer with a double-faced head the size of a baked potato. Then he jumps off the dragon's back – (Y/n) matching his strides – and runs towards the warehouse.

. . .

The two demigods stop at the door and Leo tries to control his breathing.

Gray morning light filters through the hole in the roof of the warehouse. (Y/n) and Leo can make out the catwalk above, the dim shapes of heavy machinery along the assembly line, but there's no movement.

(Y/n) can see Leo ready to call out, but she shakes her head. Then he realizes what was off – it was the smell, like burning motor oil and sour breath. Something not human is inside the factory.

(Y/n)'s body shifts into high gears, all her nerves tingling.

Somewhere on the factory floor, Piper's voice calls out: "Leo help!"

The two demigods hold their tongues.

(Y/n) gestures to a cargo container, and she and Leo slip inside the warehouse, ducking behind the container. Slowly, gripping their weapons, they work their way towards the center of the room, hiding behind boxes and hollow truck chassis. Finally, they reach the assembly line.

Piper's voice calls out again: "Leo? (Y/n)?" Less certain this time, but very close.

(Y/n) and Leo peek around the machinery. Hanging directly above the assembly line, suspended by a chain from a crane on the opposite side, is a massive truck engine – dangling just thirty feet up, as though it had been left there when the factory was abandoned. Below it on the conveyor belt sits a truck chassis, and clustered around it are three dark shapes the size of forklifts. Nearby, dangling from chains on two other robotic arms, were two smaller shapes — maybe more engines, but one of them is twisting around as if it's alive.

Then one of the forklift shapes rises, and Leo realizes that it is a humanoid of massive size. "Told you it was nothing," the thing rumbles. It's voice too deep and feral to be human.

One of the other forklift-sized lumps shift, and calls out in Piper's voice: "Leo. (Y/n), help me! Help –" Then the voice changes, becoming a masculine snarl. "Bah, there's nobody out there. No demigod could be that quiet, eh?"

The first monster chuckles. "Probably ran away, if they know what's good for 'em. Or the girl was lying. Let's get cooking.

Snap. A bright orange light sizzles to life – an emergency flare – and (Y/n) is temporarily blinded. She and Leo duck behind the crane and (Y/n) blinks until the black spots clear from her eyes. Then she takes another peep and she swears she's living a nightmare.

The two smaller things hanging from the crane arms aren't engines. They are Jason and Piper. Both hang upside down, tied by their ankles and cocooned with chains up to their necks. Piper is flailing around, trying to free herself. Piper's mouth is gagged, but she's alive. Jason didn't look so good – hanging limply, eyes rolled up in his head, and there is a red welt the size of an apple swollen over his left eyebrow.

On the conveyor belt, the bed of the unfinished pickup truck is being used as a fire pit. The emergency flare had ignited a mixture of tires and wood, which, from the smell of it, Leo can tell it had been doused in kerosene. A big metal pole is suspended over the flames – a spit, (Y/n) realizes, which means that it's a cooking fire.

But most terrifying of all, are the cooks.

Monocle Motors: the single red eye logo. Why didn't I realize? Leo thinks.

Three massive humanoids gather around the fire. Two are standing, stoking the flames. The largest one crouched with his back to the demigods. The two facing him are each ten feet tall, with hairy muscular bodies and skin that glow red in the firelight. One of the monsters wore a chainmail loincloth that looks really uncomfortable. The other is wearing a ragged fuzzy toga made of fiberglass insulation, which also would not have made Leo's top ten wardrobe ideas. Other than that, the two monsters could've been twins. Each had a brutish face with a single eye in the center of his forehead. The cooks are Cyclopes.

Leo's legs start shaking. He'd seen some weird things so far – storm spirits, winged gods, his best friend talking horse, and a metal dragon that liked Tabasco sauce. But this is different – actual, fresh-and-blood, ten-foot-tall living monster who wanted to eat his friends for dinner.

Leo is so terrified he can hardly think. If only he had Festus. He could use a fire-breathing sixty-foot-long tank. And then (Y/n) rests a hand on his shoulder and Leo can focus more. He had (Y/n) – whom he heard was a good fighter. Then he looks at the hammer in his hand – the three-pound club hammer looks awfully small compared to those Cyclopes.

This is what the sleeping earth lady had been talking about. She'd wanted Leo to walk away and leaves his friends to die.

That decides it for Leo. No way is he going to let her make him feel powerless – never again. Leo slips his backpack off his shoulder and quietly starts to unzip it.

(Y/n) glances over questioningly at Leo. "Want me to distract them?" she breathes to Leo.

Leo shakes his head, and (Y/n) nods, focusing on the Cyclopes again.

The Cyclops in this chainmail loincloth walks over to Piper, who squirms and tries to head-butt him in the eye. "Can I take her gag off now? I like it when they scream."

(Y/n) almost gags at the comments. The crouching Cyclops grunts, and Loincloth rips the gag off Piper's mouth.

Piper doesn't scream. She takes a shaky breath like she's trying to keep herself calm.

Meanwhile, Leo found what he wanted in the pack: a stack of tiny remote control units he'd picked up in Bunker 9. At least he hopes that's what they are. The robotic crane's maintenance panel is easy to find. He slips a screwdriver from his tool belt and goes back to work, but he has to go slowly. The leader Cyclops was only twenty feet in front of them. The monsters obviously had excellent senses. Pulling off his plan without making noise seems impossible, but he doesn't have much choice.

The Cyclops in the toga pokes at the fire, which is now blazing away and billowing noxious black smoke towards the ceiling. His buddy Loincloth glowers at Piper, waiting for her to do something entertaining. "Scream, girl! I like funny screaming!"

When Piper finally speaks, her tone is calm and reasonable, like she is correcting a naughty puppy. "Oh, Mr. Cyclops, you don't want to kill us. It would be much better if you let us go."

Loincloth scratches his ugly head. He turns to his friend in the fiberglass toga. "She's kind of pretty, Torque. Maybe I should let her go."

Torque, the Cyclops in the toga, growls. "I saw her first, Sump. I'll let her go."

Sup and Torque start to argue, but the third Cyclops rises and shouts, "Fools!"

(Y/n) and Leo almost drop Tsunami and his screwdriver. The third Cyclops is a female. She's several feet taller than Torque or Sump, and even beefier. She is wearing a tent of chainmail cut like a muumuu. Her greasy black hair is matted in pigtails, woven with copper wires and metal washers. Her nose and mouth are thick and mashed together, like she spends her free time ramming face-first into walls; but her single red eye glitters with evil intelligence.

The woman Cyclops stalks over to Sump and pushes him aside, knocking him over the conveyor belt. Torque backs up quickly.

"The girl is Venus spawn," the lady Cyclops snarls. "She's using charmspeak on you."

Piper starts to say, "Please, ma'am —"

"Rarr!" The lady Cyclops grabs Piper around the waist. "Don't try your pretty talk on me, girl! I'm Ma Gasket! I've eaten heroes tougher than you for lunch!"

(Y/n) fears Piper would get crushed, but Ma Gasket just drops her and lets her dangle from her chain. Then she starts yelling at Sump about how stupid he is.

Leo's hands work furiously. He twists wires and turns switches, hardly thinking about what he was doing. He finishes attaching the remote. Then he creeps over to the next robotic arm while the Cyclopes are talking.

"— eat her last, Ma?" Sump is saying.

"Idiot!" Ma Gasket yells, and Leo realizes Sump and Torque must be her sons. If so, ugly definitely runs in the family. "I should've thrown you out on the streets when you were babies, like proper Cyclops children. You might have learned some useful skills. Curse my soft heart that I kept you!"

"Soft heart?" Torque mutters.

"What was that, you ingrate?"

"Nothing, Ma. I said you got a soft heart. We get to work for you, feed you, file your toenails —"

"And you should be grateful!" Ma Gasket bellows. "Now, stoke the fire, Torque! And Sump, you idiot, my case of salsa is in the other warehouse. Don't tell me you expect me to eat these demigods without salsa!"

"Yes, Ma," Sump says. "I mean no, Ma. I mean—"

"Go get it!" Ma Gasket picks up a nearby truck chassis and slams it over Sump's head. Sump crumples to his knees. (Y/n) is sure a hit like that would kill him, but Sump apparently gets hit by trucks a lot. He manages to push the chassis off his head. Then he staggers to his feet and runs off to fetch the salsa.

Now's the time, Leo thought. While they're separated.

He finishes wiring the second machine and moves toward a third. As he dashes between robotic arms, the Cyclopes don't see him, but Piper does. Her expression turns from terror to disbelief, and she gasps.

Ma Gasket turns to her. "What's the matter, girl? So fragile I broke you?"

Thankfully, Piper is a quick thinker. She looks away from Leo and says, "I think it's my ribs, ma'am. If I'm busted up inside, I'll taste terrible."

Ma Gasket bellows with laughter. "Good one. The last hero we ate — remember him, Torque? Son of Mercury, wasn't he?"

"Yes, Ma," Torque says. "Tasty. Little bit stringy."

"He tried a trick like that. Said he was on medication. But he tasted fine!"

"Tasted like mutton," Torque recalls. "Purple shirt. Talked in Latin. Yes, a bit stringy, but good."

Leo's fingers freeze on the maintenance panel. Apparently, Piper was having the same thought he was, because she asked, "Purple shirt? Latin?"

"Good eating," Ma Gasket says fondly. "Point is, girl, we're not as dumb as people think! We're not falling for those stupid tricks and riddles, not us northern Cyclopes."

Leo forces himself back to work, but his mind is racing. A kid who spoke Latin had been caught here — in a purple shirt like Jason's? He doesn't know what that means, but he has to leave the interrogation to Piper. If he is going to have any chance of defeating these monsters, he has to move fast before Sump comes back with the salsa.

He looks up at the engine block suspended right above the Cyclopes' campsite. Wish I could use that — it would make a great weapon. But the crane holding it is on the opposite side of the conveyor belt. There is no way Leo can get over there without being seen, and besides, he is running short on time.

The last part of his plan is the trickiest. From his tool belt he summons some wires, a radio adapter, and a smaller screwdriver and starts to build a universal remote. For the first time, he says a silent thank-you to his dad — Hephaestus — for the magic tool belt. Get me out of here, he prays, and maybe you're not such a jerk.

Piper keeps talking, laying on the praise. "Oh, I've heard about the northern Cyclopes!" Which (Y/n) figures is bull, but she sounds convincing. "I never knew you were so big and clever!"

"Flattery won't work either," Ma Gasket says, though she sounds pleased. "It's true, you'll be breakfast for the best Cyclopes around."

"But aren't Cyclopes good?" Piper asks. "I thought you made weapons for the gods."

"Bah! I'm very good. Good at eating people. Good at smashing. And good at building things, yes, but not for the gods. Our cousins, the elder Cyclopes, they do this, yes. Thinking they're so high and mighty 'cause they're a few thousand years older. Then there's our southern cousins, living on islands and tending sheep. Morons! But we Hyperborean Cyclopes, the northern clan, we're the best! Founded Monocle Motors in this old factory — the best weapons, armor, chariots, fuel-efficient SUVs! And yet — bah! Forced to shut down. Laid off most of our tribe. The war was too quick. Titans lost. No good! No more need for Cyclops weapons."

"Oh, no," Piper sympathizes. "I'm sure you made some amazing weapons."

Torque grins. "Squeaky war hammer!" He picks up a large pole with an accordion-looking metal box on the end.

He slams it against the floor and the cement cracks, but there is also a sound like the world's largest rubber ducky getting stomped.

"Terrifying," Piper says admiringly.

Torque looks pleased. "Not as good as the exploding ax, but this one can be used more than once."

"Can I see it?" Piper asks. "If you could just free my hands —''

Torque steps forward eagerly, but Ma Gasket says, "Stupid! She's tricking you again. Enough talk! Slay the boy first before he dies on his own. I like my meat fresh."

No! Leo's fingers fly, connecting the wires for the remote. Just a few more minutes!

"Hey, wait," Piper says, trying to get the Cyclopes' attention. "Hey, can I just ask —"

The wires spark in Leo's hand. The Cyclopes freeze and turn in his direction. Then Torque picks up a truck and throws it at him.

Leo rolls as the truck steamrolls over the machinery. If he'd been half-a-second slower, he would've been flattened.

He gets to his feet and (Y/n) inches around behind the Cyclopes towards Jason and Piper. Ma Gasket spots Leo, and she yells, "Torque, you pathetic excuse for a Cyclops, get him!"

Torque barrels towards him, and Leo frantically guns the toggle on his makeshift remote.

Torque is fifty feet away.

Twenty feet.

Then the first robotic arm whirls to life. A three ton metal claw slams the Cyclops in the back so hard he lands flat on his face. Before Torque can recover, the robotic hand grabs him by one leg and hurls him straight up.

"AHHH!" Torque rockets into the gloom. The ceiling is too dark and too high up to see exactly what happens, but judging from the harsh metal clang, Leo guesses the Cyclops had hit one of the support girders.

Torque never comes down. Instead, yellow dust rains to the floor. Torque had disintegrated.

Ma Gasket stares at Leo in shock. "My son . . . You . . . You . . ."

As if on cue, Sump lumbers into the firelight with a case of salsa. "Ma, I got the extra-spicy —"

He never finishes his sentence. (Y/n) throws Tsunami like a boomerang with so much force that the sword sinks into Sump's chest, and he explodes into golden powder. The bronze sword drops to the floor with a clang.

Two Cyclopes down. Ma gasket locks her eye on (Y/n). She grabs the nearest crane arm and rips off its pedestal with a savage roar. "You busted my boys! Only I get to bust my boys!"

Leo punches a button, and the two remaining arms swing into action. Ma Gasket catches the first one and tears it in half. The second arm smacks her in the head, but it only seems to make her mad. She grabs it by the clamps, rips it free, and swings it like a baseball bat.

It misses Piper and Jason by an inch. Then Ma Gasket lets it go – spinning it towards (Y/n). She rolls to one side and comes up standing.

Leo starts to realize that an angry Cyclops mother is not something he wants to fight with a universal remote and a screwdriver. The future for Commander Tool Belt isn't looking so hot.

She is standing about twenty feet away from Leo now, next to the cooking fire. Her fists are clenched, her teeth bared. She looks ridiculous in her chainmail muumuu – but given the murderous glare in her huge red eye and the fact that she's twelve feet tall, Leo isn't laughing.

"Any more tricks, demigod?" Ma Gasket demands.

(Y/n) instinctively reaches into her pocket, and feels her pen there. She pulls out the pen and uncaps it. The pen extends into a sword with a shink but Ma Gasket either doesn't hear, or is too focused on Leo to turn and figure out the source of the sound.

Leo glances up. The engine block suspends on the chain — if only he'd had time to rig it. If only he can get Ma Gasket to take one step forward. The chain itself . . . that one link . . . Leo shouldn't have been able to see it, especially from so far down, but his senses tell him there is metal fatigue.

"Heck, yeah, I got tricks!" Leo raises his remote control. "Take one more step, and I'll destroy you with fire!"

Ma Gasket laughs. "Would you? Cyclopes are immune to fire, you idiot. But if you wish to play with flames, let me help!" She scoops red-hot coals into her bare hands and flings them at Leo. They land all around his feet.

"You missed," he says incredulously. Then Ma Gasket grins and picks up a barrel next to the truck. Leo just has time to read the stenciled word on the side — kerosene — before Ma Gasket throws it. The barrel splits on the floor in front of him, spilling lighter fluid everywhere.

Coals spark. Leo closes his eyes, and Piper screams, "No!"

(Y/n) can only see red, she charges at the Cyclops – all thoughts of her brother Tyson leaving her – but apparently, Ma Gasket figured she'd have time to look at the source of the sound this time, and she turns to focus on the demigod charging towards her.

Her eye fixes on the sword in (Y/n)'s right hand, and she swings to knock it away, but faster than Leo or Piper can comprehend, (Y/n)'s sword is suddenly in her left, and she thrusts the sword – hilt deep, into the lady-Cyclops's thigh.

She takes the one step back that Leo needs.

He points a finger in the air and summons all his will. He'd never tried to do anything so focused and intense – but he shoots a bolt of white-hot flames at the chain suspending the engine block above the Cyclop's head – aiming for the link that looks weaker than the rest.

The flames die. Nothing happens.

Then the chain snaps – the single link heats beyond its tolerance point – and the engine block falls, deadly and silent.

(Y/n) grabs Tsunami by the hilt, using the Cyclops's stomach as a springboard, wrenching the sword free and landing on one knee, five feet away from the Cyclops.

The engine block – Smash! – no more Cyclops – just a pile of dust under a five-ton engine block.

"Not immune to engines, huh?" Leo says. "Boo-yah!"

Then he falls to his knees, his head buzzing. After a few minutes, he realizes (Y/n) and Piper are calling his name.

(Y/n) is kneeling beside Leo, shaking his shoulder gently – and Leo is slightly confused how she can be touching him. Isn't my skin scalding hot? He wonders.

Leo gets to his feet with (Y/n)'s help. He'd never tried to summon such intense flames before, and it had left him completely drained.

Leo cuts Piper's chain, and she drops into (Y/n)'s arms.

"Uh, hi," Piper says, and then she looks away, her cheeks darkening.

"Nice of you to drop in," (Y/n) grins at her own joke, setting Piper on her feet and helping untangle herself from the chains.

Then together, they lower Jason, who's still unconscious. (Y/n) manages to trickle some nectar into his mouth, and he groans. The welt on his forehead starts to shrink, and his color comes back a little.

"Yeah, he's got a nice thick skull," Leo says. "I think he's gonna be fine."

"Thank god," Piper sighs. Then she looks at Leo with something like fear. "How did you — the fire — have you always . . . ?"

Leo looks down. "Always," he says. "I'm a freaking menace. Sorry, I should've told you guys sooner but —"

"Sorry?" Piper punched his arm. When he looks up, she is grinning. "That was amazing, Valdez! You saved our lives. What are you sorry about?"

Leo blinks. He starts to smile, but his sense of relief is ruined when he notices something next to Piper's foot.

Yellow dust — the powdered remains of one of the Cyclopes, maybe Torque — is shifting across the floor like an invisible wind is pushing it back together.

"They're forming again," Leo said. "Look."

Piper steps away from the dust. "That's not possible. Annabeth told me monsters dissipate when they're killed. They go back to Tartarus and can't return for a long time."

"Well, nobody told the dust that." Leo watches as it collects into a pile, then very slowly spreads out, forming a shape with arms and legs.

"Oh, god." Piper turns pale. "Boreas said something about this — the earth yielding up horrors. 'When monsters no longer stay in Tartarus, and souls are no longer confined to Hades.' How long do you think we have?"

Leo thinks about the face that had formed in the ground outside — the sleeping woman who was definitely a horror from the earth.

"I don't know," he says. "But we need to get out of here."

. . .

Jason's eyes snap open. "Cyclops!"

"Whoa," Leo says from in front of him, driving. They are flying through the winter sky as though nothing had happened.

"D-Detroit," Jason stammers. "Didn't we crash-land? I thought —''

"It's okay," Leo says. "We got away, but you got a nasty concussion. How you feeling?"

Jason's head throbs. He remembers the factory, then walking down the catwalk, then a creature looming over him — a face with one eye, a massive fist — and everything went black.

"How did you—the Cyclops—"

"Leo and (Y/n) ripped them apart," Piper says. "They were amazing. Leo can summon fire —"

"It was nothing," Leo says quickly.

Piper laughs. "Shut up, Valdez. I'm going to tell him. Get over it."

And she does — how Leo and (Y/n) had single-handedly defeated the Cyclopes family; how they freed Jason, then noticed the Cyclopes starting to re-form; how Leo had replaced the dragon's wiring and gotten them back in the air just as they'd started to hear the Cyclopes roaring for vengeance inside the factory.

Jason is impressed. Taking out three Cyclopes with nothing but a tool kit and a sword? Not bad. It doesn't exactly scare him to hear how close he'd come to death, but it does make him feel horrible. He'd stepped right into an ambush and spent the whole fight knocked out while his friends fended for themselves. What kind of quest leader is he?

As though hearing his thoughts, (Y/n) speaks up. "Jason, it's not your fault." He glances back to meet her comforting sea-green gaze and he relaxes slightly.

When Piper tells him about the other kid the Cyclopes claimed to have eaten, the one in the purple shirt who spoke Latin, Jason fells like his head was going to explode again. A son of Mercury . . . Jason feels like he should know that kid, but the name is missing from his mind.

"I'm not alone, then," he says. "There are others like me."

"Jason," Piper says, "you were never alone. "You've got us."

"I — I know . . . but something Hera said. I was having a dream . . ."

He tells them what he'd seen, and what the goddess had said inside her cage.

"An exchange?" Piper asked. "What does that mean?"

"Percy?" (Y/n) questions, her voice a little wistful.

Jason shrugs his shoulders. "I don't know, but Hera's gamble is me. Just by sending me to Camp Half-Blood, I have a feeling she broke some kind of rule, something that could blow up in a big way —"

"Or save us," Piper says hopefully. "That bit about the sleeping enemy — that sounds like the lady Leo told us about."

Leo clears his throat. "About that... she kind of appeared to me back in Detroit, in a pool of Porta-Potty sludge."

Jason isn't sure he'd heard that right. "Did you say... Porta-Potty?"

Leo tells them about the big face in the factory yard. "I don't know if she's completely unkillable," he says, "but she cannot be defeated by toilet seats. I can vouch for that. She wanted me to betray you guys, and I was like, ' Pfft, right, I'm gonna listen to a face in the potty sludge.'"

"She's trying to divide us." Piper crosses her arms, and (Y/n) can sense her tension without even looking at her.

"What's wrong?" Jason asks.

"I just . . . Why are they toying with us? Who is this lady, and how is she connected to Enceladus?"

"Enceladus?" (Y/n) says thoughtfully. "Wasn't he one of the giants?"

Piper wants to slap herself, She's clearly smarter than I'd given her credit for. I'm going to slip up. I'm going to kill my friends.

"I mean ..." Piper's voice quavered. "It's j-just one of the names I could remember."

(Y/n) gets the feeling there is a lot more bothering her, but she decides not to press her.

Leo runs his fingers through his curly hair. "Well, I dunno about Enchiladas —"

"Enceladus," Piper corrects.

"Whatever. But Old Potty Face mentioned another name. Porpoise Fear, or something?"

"Porphyrion?" (Y/n) asks. "He was the giant king, I think."

Jason envisions that dark spire in the old reflecting pool — growing larger as Hera gets weaker. "I'm going to take a wild guess," he says. "In the old stories, Porphyrion kidnapped Hera. That was the first shot in the war between the giants and the gods."

"I think so," Piper agrees. "But those myths are really garbled and conflicted. It's almost like nobody wanted that story to survive. I just remember there was a war, and the giants were almost impossible to kill."

"Heroes and gods had to work together," Jason says. "That's what Hera told me."

"Kind of hard to do," Leo grumbles, "if the gods won't even talk to us."

"From what I remember, the gods have never been good about talking to their kids," (Y/n) says, frowning bitterly.

Piper turns to meet (Y/n)'s gaze. "Did you remember something else, (Y/n)?"

And (Y/n) tells the story:

The gods set about repairing the throne room, which goes surprisingly fast with twelve super powerful beings at work. Grover, Percy, and (Y/n) care for the wounded, and once the sky bridge reforms, they greet with their other friends had survived. The Cyclopes had saved Thalia from the fallen statue. She is on crutches, but otherwise she's okay. Connor and Travis Stoll had made it through with only minor injuries. They promised (Y/n) they hadn't even looted the city much. They told (Y/n) and Percy that their parents were fine, though they weren't allowed into Mount Olympus. Mrs. O'Leary had dug Chiron out of the rubble and rushed him off to camp. The Stolls look kind of worried about the old centaur, but at least he was alive. Katie Gardner reports that she'd seen Rachel run out of the Empire State Building at the end of the battle. Rachel had looked unharmed, but nobody knew where she'd gone, which also troubled (Y/n).

Nico di Angelo came into Olympus to a hero's welcome, his father right behind him, despite the fact that Hades was only supposed to visit Olympus on winter solstice. The god of the dead looks stunned when his relatives clap him on the back. (Y/n) doubts he'd ever gotten such an enthusiastic welcome before.

Clarisse marches in, still shivering from her time in the ice block, and Ares bellows, "There's my girl!"

The god of war ruffles her hair and pounds her on the back, calling her the best warrior he'd ever seen. "That drakon-slaying? THAT'S what I'm talking about!"

She looks pretty overwhelmed. All she can do was nod and blink, like she's afraid he'd start hitting her, but eventually she begins to smile.

Hera and Hephaestus pass the Jackson twins, and while Hephaestus was a little grumpy about Percy's jumping on his throne, he thought I'd done "a pretty bang-up job, mostly."

Hera sniffs in disdain. "I suppose I won't destroy you two and that little girl now."

"Annabeth saved Olympus," Percy tells her. "She convinced Luke to stop Kronos."

"Hmm," Hera whirls away in a huff, but (Y/n) figures their lives would be safe, at least for a little while.

Dionysus's head was still wrapped in a bandage. He looked me up and down and said, "Well, Percy Jackson. I see Pollux made it through, so I suppose you aren't completely inept. It's all thanks to my training, I suppose."

"Urn, yes, sir," Percy says.

Mr. D nods. "As thanks for my bravery, Zeus has cut my probation at that miserable camp in half. I now have only fifty years left instead of one hundred."

"Fifty years, huh?" (Y/n) tries to imagine putting up with Dionysus until she's an old lady, assuming she lived that long.

"Don't get so excited, Jacksons," he says, and the Jackson realize he is saying their name correctly. "I still plan on making your lifes miserable."

(Y/n) can't help smiling. "Naturally."

"Just so we understand each other." The wine god turns and begins repairing his grapevine throne, which had been singed by fire.

Grover stays at the Jackson twins' side. From time to time he would break down in tears. "So many nature spirits dead. So many."

(Y/n) puts her arm around his shoulder and gives him a rag to blow his nose. "You did a great job, G-man. We will come back from this. We'll plant new trees. We'll clean up the parks. You're friends will be reincarnated into a better world."

The satyr sniffs dejectedly. "I . . . I suppose. But it was hard enough to rally them before. I'm still an outcast. I could barely get anyone to listen to me about Pan. Now will they ever listen to me again? I led them into a slaughter."

"They will listen," (Y/n) promises. "Because you care about them. You care about the Wild more than anyone."

Grover tries for a smile. "Thanks, (Y/n). I hope . . . I hope you know I'm really proud to be your friend."

Percy pats his arm. "Luke was right about one thing, G-man. You're the bravest satyr I ever met."

He blushes, but before he can say anything, conch horns blew. The army of Poseidon marches into the throne room.

"Percy! (Y/n)!" Tyson yells. He charges toward them with his arms open. Fortunately he'd shrunk back to normal size, so his hug is like getting hit by a tractor, not the entire farm. "You are not dead!" he says.

"Yeah!" Percy agreed. "Amazing, huh?"

Tyson claps his hands and laughs happily. "I am not dead either. Yay! We chained Typhon. It was fun!"

Behind him, fifty other armored Cyclopes laugh and nod and give each other high fives.

"Tyson led us," one rumbles. "He is brave!"

"Bravest of the Cyclopes!" another bellows.

Tyson blushes. "Was nothing."

"I saw you!" (Y/n) smiles. "You were incredible!"

Percy thinks poor Grover would pass out. He's deathly afraid of Cyclopes. But he steels his nerves and says, "Yes. Urn . . . three cheers for Tyson!"

"YAAARRRRR!" the Cyclopes roar.

"Please don't eat me," Grover mutters, but (Y/n) doesn't think anyone had heard him.

The conch horns blast again. The Cyclopes part, and Poesidon strides into the throne room in his battle armor, his trident glowing in his hands.

"Tyson!" he roars. "Well done, my son. (Y/n) and Percy—" His face turns stern. He wags his finger at the Jackson twins, and for a second (Y/n) is afraid he's going to zap them. "I even forgive you for sitting on my throne. You have saved Olympus!"

The god of the sea holds out his arms and gives his two children a hug. (Y/n) realizes, a little embarrassed, that she'd never actually hugged her father before. He is warm, and he smells of a salty beach and fresh sea air.

. . .

"Percy and (Y/n) Jackson!" Poseidon announces, the names echoing around the chamber.

All talking dies down. The room goes silent except for the crackle of the hearth fire. Everyone's eyes are on the two children of the sea – all the gods, demigods, Cyclopes, and spirits. They walk into the middle of the throne room. Hestia smiles at them reassuringly. The goddess is in the form of a girl now, and she seems happy and content to be sitting by her fire again. Her smile gives (Y/n) the courage to keep walking.

First, the Jackson twins bow to Zeus, and in sync, they kneel at their father's feet.

"Rise, my children," Poseidon says; they rise uneasily. "Great heroes must be rewarded," Poseidon says "Is there anyone here who would deny that my son and my daughter are not deserving?"

(Y/n) waits for someone to pipe up. The gods never agree on anything, and many of them still didn't like her or her brother, but not a single one protest.

"The Council agrees," Zeus said. "Percy and (Y/n0 Jackson, you will have one gift from the gods."

Percy hesitated. "Any gift?"

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

"Whoa," Leo interrupts the story. "So you're immortal?"

"No," (Y/n) frowns, continuing her story:

(Y/n) stares at the King of the gods, stunned. "Um . . . a god?"

Zeus rolls his eyes. "Dimwitted gods, apparently. But yes. With the consensus of the entire Council, I can make you both immortal. Then I will have to put up with you forever."

"Hmm,"Ares muses. "That means I can smash him to a pulp as often as I want, and he'll just keep coming back for more. I like this idea."

"I approve as well," Athena says, though she is looking at Annabeth.

Percy glances back. Annabeth is trying not to meet his eyes. Her face is pale. Percy flashes back to two years ago, when he'd thought she was going to take the pledge to Artemis and become a Hunter. He'd been on the edge of a panic attack, thinking that he'd lose her. Now, she looks pretty much the same way.

(Y/n) think about the Three Fates, and the way she'd seen her life flash by. She could avoid all of that. No again, no death, no body in the grave. She could be a teenager forever, in top condition, powerful, and immortal, serving her father. She could have power and eternal life.

Who could refuse that?

Then (Y/n) looks at Annabeth – thinking about her friends from camp: Charles Beckendorph, Micheal Yew, Selena Beauregard, and so many others who are now dead. Then she thinks about Ethan Nakamaura and Luke Castellan.

(Y/n) and Percy exchange a look, and they knew what to do.

"No," Percy says.

The Council is silent. The gods frown at each other like they must've misheard.

"No?" Zeus says. "You are . . . turning down our generous gift?" There is a dangerous edge to his voice, like a thunderstorm about to erupt.

"We're honored and everything," (Y/n) says. "Don't get us wrong. It's just. . . we've got a lot of life left to live. I'd hate to peak in my sophomore year."

The gods were glaring at the twins, but Annabeth had her hands over her mouth, and she meets Percy's gaze. Her eyes are shining. And that kind of makes up for it.

"We do want a gift, though." (Y/n) continues. "Do you promise to grant my wish?"

Zeus pauses, "If it is within our power."

"It is," Percy says. "And it's not even difficult. But I need your promise on the River Styx."

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

"Someone once told us," (Y/n) says, looking at Hades, "you should always get a solemn oath."

Hades shrugs. "Guilty."

"Very well!" Zeus growls. "In the name of the Council, we swear by the River Styx to grant your reasonable request as long as it is within our power."

The other gods mutter assent. Thunder booms, shaking the throne room. The deal is made.

"From now on, we want you to properly recognize the children of the gods," (Y/n) says. "All the children . . . of all the gods."

The Olympians shift uncomfortably.

"Percy. (Y/n)," Poseidon says, "what exactly do you mean?"

"Kronos couldn't have risen if it hadn't been for a lot of demigods who felt abandoned by their parents," Percy says. "They felt angry, resentful, and unloved, and they had a good reason."

Zeus's royal nostrils flare. "You dare accuse—"

"No more undetermined children," (Y/n) says. "We want you to promise to claim your children — all your demigod children — by the time they turn thirteen. They won't be left out in the world on their own at the mercy of monsters. I want them claimed and brought to camp so they can be trained right, and survive."

"Now, wait just a moment," Apollo says, but (Y/n) is on a roll.

"And the minor gods," (Y/n) continues. "Nemesis, Hecate, Morpheus, Janus, Hebe — they all deserve a general amnesty and a place at Camp Half-Blood. Their children shouldn't be ignored. Calypso and the other peaceful Titan-kind should be pardoned too. And Hades —"

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

"No, my lord," (Y/n) says quickly. "But your children should not be left out. They should have a cabin at camp. Nico has proven that. No unclaimed demigods will be crammed into the Hermes cabin anymore, wondering who their parents are. They'll have their own cabins, for all the gods. And no more pact of the Big Three. That didn't work anyway. You've got to stop trying to get rid of powerful demigods. We're going to train them and accept them instead. All children of the gods will be welcome and treated with respect. That is our wish."

(Y/n) finishes her story, and they fly in silence for about ten minutes.

"You gave up immortality to help some kids," Piper turns, meeting (Y/n)'s gaze.

The look in Piper's eyes makes butterflies erupt in (Y/n)'s stomach.

Word Count: 6801 words

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