#yes this about nico and hunter leave me alone | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

stackofstories · 1 year

Text

Title: ????

Chapter: 5/?????

“Well. That was a huge waste of time,” Connor said, letting out a long breath the second they were away from the Big House.

“What do we tell the kid?”

Connor closed his mouth. “What.”

Travis looked at him like he was plain stupid. “The kid. Nico. What do we tell him?”

“Tell him—?” Connor asked, perplexed.

Travis made a frustrated sound in the back of his throat, pinching his face together. “I know you can be Connor sometimes and worrying about other people isn’t exactly natural for you, but surely, even you can understand how delicate of a situation this is: his sister was nominated for a quest. A quest she’s unprepared for. A quest where she might die.”

“Might is doing a lot. She is going to die.”Connor shrugged. “And I don’t see how that’s our problem.”

“It’s our problem because Nico’s in our cabin,” Travis said. “Because you’re a head counselor.”

Connor snorted and rolled his eyes. “That only means something to you. I’m in it for the shower privileges.”

The pinched look on Travis’s face relaxed. “Yes. I’m trying to be a good head camp counselor because it’s my responsibility and I care for the kids even if they’re just passing through. And I don’t know, maybe, I care about Nico more than I should. You heard what Aphrodite said.”

Connor hesitated.

The goddess of love gave them a simple enough task. Give the shirt to the Hunters. She wanted nothing to stand in the way of Percy going on the mission. In gratitude, she had told them, when Nico gets his heart broken chase after him.

“Nico’s sister is leaving. She should be the one to tell him,” Connor said.

“We agree.” Travis folded his arms. “But I don’t think she will. She’s barely talked to the kid since she’s been here. Whatever her reason, I think the sooner the better. There’s been a lot of excitement tonight.”

Connor found himself nodding along. It had been a lot between the capture the flag game and the oracle deciding to take a midnight stroll.

“We can tell him in the morning during breakfast. There’s barely anyone else out,” Connor said.

“And we’ll tell…”

“Him the truth, Travis. That being a half blood is dangerous. It’s scary. Most of the time, it gets you killed in painful, nasty ways.”

Travis looked at him but Connor could tell he was somewhere else.

“What?” Connor asked.

“It’s just. I don’t know. I’m glad we have each other,” Travis said.

Connor’s grin widened, a warmth in his chest at the acknowledgement of them. “You’re such a chick.”

“Dick.” Travis’s face mirrored his own.

Together they walked the worn path back to their cabin. Thankfully the harpies had been warned of their meeting so they weren’t prowling around waiting to pick one of them off. Nico noticed them first.

He popped up from his spot on the staircase, beaming at them. He raced over. Drew followed at a slower pace.

“You’re not dead. That’s awesome! Look at what Drew got me. Look!” Nico shoved a plastic pack of cards in Connor’s face.

“Nico, I don’t think he can see like that.” Connor heard the smile in Travis’s voice.

A moment later Connor blinked rapidly. Nico chattered. “I’m sorry. It’s the limited edition Africanus Extreme expansion deck. It has Ananasi and Katobleps and Eshu, and so many others. I can’t wait to go back to Westover. Man, Donovan is going to be so jealous. Thank you, Drew.”

“I told you, Nico. It’s no big deal. I was going to give it to my brother for Christmas, but Mom got there before me.” Her eyes were bright as she did a half shrug.

“Very cool.” Travis placed a hand on Nico’s head, gently ruffling before leading him up the cabin. “And it’s way passed lights out. C’mon.”

“I don’t even know who my brother is anymore,” Connor said when they were alone.

Drew’s smile widened.

“He’s a cute kid,” Drew said. “There’s really nothing more to it. The meeting?”

“You’re going to have to keep an eye out for Silena. She’s fixin to fight every Hunter that looks at her funny.”

“Hmm. I’ll talk to the meatheads in Ares. Was it bad?”

“I’ve never heard of a good prophecy,” Connor said.

Drew glared at him, a hand on her hip. “Anything about Annabeth?”

Connor raised an eyebrow.

“Don’t look at me like that. She’s an annoying know-it-all with a self important stick jammed up her cooch. But. She’s Annie.”

“Your heart really has grown three sizes.”

“Why are you so annoying?”

Connor threw his head and laughed. “There wasn’t anything about Annabeth. It was agreed the Hunters would go with their chosen three, then Grover and Thalia would make up our two. Grover promised to search high and low for her.”

“So, Percy’s not going.”

“I think he believes that.”

Drew snorted. “He’s got it bad. Oh well. They’re pretty cute for being basic. I’ve got to go now.”

She waved goodbye to him, sashaying away.

The floorboards creaked in the dead of night. It was another reason Connor knew Nico wasn’t theirs. Most of their brothers and sisters don't make noise when they move kinda like an assassin or ninja. Nico's steps were loud and clumsy …

Connor lifted from his mountain of pillows.

“Wait.”

Connor moved close to the edge of the bed, he leaned over, staring at his brother long ways on the bottom bunk.

“Don’t follow him.”

“Werent you the one bitchin’ earlier about how we need to protect the rugrat and swaddle him like he's the newborn baby Jesus?”

Connor couldn't see it but he knew his brother rolled his eyes. “OK, smartass. One day, you and I are gonna sit down and talk about the words compassion and empathy. Anyway, I'm saying we don't follow him because what if he’s seeing his sister.”

“And what if he’s running away with his sister because he learned the truth?”

If he ever found out Travis was going on a quest, he’d follow him in a heartbeat.

“That’s his choice.”

Connor laughed. “The monsters sure will be lucky when the di Angelo’s step passed the boundary. It’s like a two for one deal.”

“Would it kill you to show optimism?”

“Probably.”

“Just leave it. The kid needs some privacy.”

Connor pulled back from the edge and settled on his pillows. He got comfy. It was whatever. If Nico wanted to run away then that was his decision. If the Gods were kind he’d be eaten two seconds alongside his dumbass sister.

It would save them the trouble of having their hopes and dreams die a slow and torturous death.

The next morning Bianca and Percy were nowhere to be found and Nico was parked between them swinging his legs as he picked off his fruit salad, bright eyed and bushy tailed as always.

“I have a secret,” he announced.

“Do you now?” Connor buttered his toast.

“Well, I’m not supposed to tell,” Nico’s voice dropped. “Percy might get in trouble.”

“You can trust us,” Travis said as sweet as a sinner in church. Connor nodded.

Nico beckoned them closer. His curious dark eyes darted between their faces. “Percy went on the mission with the Hunters even though he wasn’t supposed too. He promised he would protect Bianca, my sister. I lied to Mister Chiron and he believed me.”

It was adorable how Nico thought he pulled the wool over the eyes of a kid-trained thousands year old being. Travis gave him a look, which told him not to break the fantasy. He was no fun.

“Really?” Travis grinned. “That’s awesome!”

Nico nodded practically purring with self importance.

“But you know Bianca can still get hurt?” Connor asked.

“I know that. That’s why Percy’s going with her. Percy’s the strongest demigod ever. You should have seen him when he was fighting.” Nico mimicked holding a sword slicing the air with his cutting edge noise effects. “He’s a hero! No one can stop him. As long as he’s there nothing bad will happen!”

Did you hear the sound of that flush? There it was. The script of them gently breaking the news of Bianca’s almost sure death just flushed down the toilet with this hero worship crap.

Connor caught the startled look in Travis’ eye and the twitching smile he struggled to keep. He had really fallen head over heels for the kid if he wasn’t prepared to yank him back down to reality.

“Percy’s pretty strong,” Connor agreed around a mouthful of toast. “And he always manages to come back from pretty dire situations. He’d probably crash his own funeral. He’s like a roach now that I think about it. Those things could survive a nuclear blast.”

Nico nodded. He picked off the last remaining pieces of strawberries and blueberries. “I’m all done. Can I go shoot arrows with Drew?”

“Go on,” Travis said softly. “Meet us back at the pavilion at noon.”

Nico headed over nearly tripping over his own feet in his excitement. Without a care in the world.

Travis groaned, he slumped onto the wooden table. His fingers tapped a nervous rhythm.

Connor continued to eat his breakfast. He’d never budge on his opinion even years down the line. They should have told Nico the truth.

Sometimes people made promises they could not keep. Sometimes the best of heroes failed.

#rough draft #tldr #long post #stollico #connor stoll #Travis stoll #Nico di Angelo #pjo #drew tanaka #emptying drafts #nico x the stolls #nico’s crush on Percy is so obvious okay #okay Connor is absolute asshole and I will be keeping this headcanon #Percy the water bug #everyday I post I’m hoping someone will do me the honor and write Stollico #it has been my otp for what feels like a decade

52 notes · View notes

mandysxmuses · 1 year

Note

i demand more coda vs nero content

"... Getting warmer. Getting warmer, keep going." The voice on the other end trilled. It was a shame the surprise he was getting was definitely going to be a problem. Jinx sounded as excited as if it was a damn birthday party set-up.

As it was, though, he had been forced out into the woods. Coda could make out that she wanted him isolated and vulnerable, but there were no mirrors, so he really didn't get why she wanted him out here so badly.

"Mm. Alright. I'm warmer. What are you trying at, getting me mauled by a bear?"

"Stop, to your right-- ... your right, idiot. There you go. WARMER."

"This isn't about another of those worm things, is it? My toilet's still clogged."

... God, did this conversation sound weird with no context ... he hated that it was something he could be so casual about, though. So casual about a conversation that was basically asking how his life was being threatened.

"Y'know guessing won't save you, right? Okay-- THERE, right there, stop. Okay. Okay, just stay there, don't move an inch-- YES! Okay! Alright, alright, have fun."

And just like that, she hung up on him, leaving him no more aware of what the surprise was than back when he put on his shoes to leave. He could hear the buzzing of insects and the wind in the trees, but couldn't see any real threats at all yet.

There was a distinct sense of paranoia settling in. He'd recalled a good too many videos about predatory animals and how if you hadn't seen the threat yet, it was already too late.

Well, he'd been through actual, literal hell before, so maybe a bear or whatever this was wouldn't be that big a deal... but he doubted Jinx would have been that excited about something he could easily manage.

... As if to answer all his unspoken questions about the threat, he heard something cracking apart in the distance -- something like a tree being felled or uprooted. His head snapped in the direction of the sound, but he still couldn't tell what was making the sound...

And he still didn't know until said entire tree came flying through the air, straight for him.

"Oh-- hell."

Assuming this was the surprise (how couldn't it be?), he dove out of his place and ran, screaming as the tree came crashing down behind him. He saw the one who threw it, and was beginning to feel a little cheated by Jinx. This wasn't surprising to him at all!

But he could hear the hunter approaching on him fast, and knew he would probably be just as opening to listening and hearing him out as last time. Coda also knew he didn't want to give up like last time. But he didn't have much time at all to figure out an escape plan, so he needed to come up with something good, now.

It was then that in the distance he saw something that wasn't far from Nero the last time they'd met, either. That van.

If he could just get to it without getting killed, the outside mirrors...

Sure, it would be going from the frying pan to the fire, but he'd been dealing with hell for nearly a decade. Obviously they wanted to take their time with killing him more than Nero did. And if Nero wanted to kill some demons, fuck it, he'd give him demons.

Normally leading others into hell was something Coda was terrified by of, but this brat trying to slaughter him every other day? He could clearly handle himself better than a human being. He'd made a living off this shit.

"Why are you always running? Can't put up a fight unless it's someone weaker than you?!" barked the hunter.

In the midst of his taunting, Nero spotted the direction he was running, and.. well. It wasn't hard for him to put two and two together. Apparently Coda intended to answer his question right then. The asshole was headed straight for Nico!

"HEY! LEAVE HER ALONE!!"

The gunsmith had been rather casual about the encounter at first -- she always was. But most of the time, said encounters didn't get nearly so close to the car, and it looked like Coda was headed straight for her. Nero easily had the genes behind him to let himself get smacked around by demons.

She did not.

"Hands off the car, asshole!" All she could really think to do was lock the doors, though. Otherwise, it was easily fortified enough to prevent any problems.. but it seemed he wasn't really going for her, or maybe just using her as a threat, because Coda just stood with his back to the door, his hand harshly gripping one of the mirrors as Nero came storming for him.

She.. didn't really know what happened next.

Coda moved his hand, and turned his gaze to look into it. Then, he started to scream... and his body warped as she could see a sort of vortex forming, somehow managing to do the impossible and pull him in. Nero, just behind him, started to be pulled in from behind him.

... She didn't think she'd ever seen him so scared.

"Nero?!" She screamed from inside the van, watching him desperately shoot out his clawed hand and dig into the dirt next to the van, leaving some devastatingly large marks in its wake but doing absolutely nothing to stop himself from being sucked straight into the portal.

And then it was gone. Both of them were gone.

#M; Dance with a Devil #M; Hellish Reflections #M; SSSmokin' Gunsmith

1 note · View note

writingpaperghost · 2 years

Text

The Rise (Chapter 1)

Chapter 1: Are the Bugsters Safe?

Something's going on with the Bugsters and no one really knows why. Asuna and Graphite investigate.

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/41520462/chapters/104132316

It had been a few days since Lovelica had appeared at the hospital, and since the appearance of Cronus. Since, things had returned to normal as much as possible, despite the lingering tension. They hadn’t told Emu about Cronus appearing, only Lovelica, since Emu seemed to be in no place to mentally deal with all that, at the moment. After all, even a few days later, he was still shaken from whatever had happened to cause those cuts.

Graphite was… probably not too much better off. He knew about Cronus’ appearance and had only become more clingy, and he’d already been pretty clingy since he’d brought Emu to the CR. It… worried Asuna, a little, but he’d always seemed to be like that. Sure, it had lessened as things got better and Emu didn’t need Graphite’s presence so much, but this causing Graphite to keep by Emu’s side more wasn’t really all that surprising.

They hadn’t even really been able to figure out why Lovelica had appeared at the hospital at all. Nico suspected that he’d been after Yaotome, given he’d shown up where she was and had very much followed after the two of them when they’d fled. That and, according to the two, Lovelica himself had claimed that he’d wanted to “speak” with Yaotome. But beyond that, they really didn’t have a whole lot to work with, though it seemed likely that there was someone that both Lovelica and Cronus were taking orders from. They just had little to point to just who this “game master” was.

“Flower! Flower! Looky!” Mu ran up to Asuna, a piece of paper in hand. He holds it high so she can see, it was a drawing of a person, one that resembled how Mu drew Emu. “I drew the scary person who hurt Emu!”

“Oh really?” The only thing different about how this “Emu” was drawn was that this one didn’t have pink hair or the black scars. “This just looks like Emu.”

Mu shakes his head, “No, no! Erm, well, yes! The scary person looks like Emu but he’s not!” Lowering the picture, Mu frowned. “You guys gotta find him so he doesn’t hurt Emu again, ‘cause it’s really scary.”

Smiling, Asuna ruffles Mu’s hair, “Don’t worry, Mu. You and Emu are safe here.”

“Okay… oh! Do you know if Mr. Sports is busy? He promised to help me ride my bicycle better on bumpy roads.”

Come to think of it, Asuna doesn’t think they’d heard much from any of the Bugsters in Carnival recently. She wasn’t exactly in the best position to know but… Maybe she could ask Graphite. “I’m not sure if Charlie’s busy or not… why don’t we ask Graphite and see if he knows?”

At the mention of Graphite, Mu’s face lit up and he nodded vigorously. “Okay!” He spins around and runs back the way he came. “Dragon! Dragon!”

Kiriya laughed as he watched him leave and Asuna smiled, following shortly behind. She caught up to find Mu bouncing in place as Graphite looked up from his book, curled around the unconscious Emu. “Do you need something, Mu?”

“Do you know if Mr. Sports is busy?”

Placing a bookmark in the book – it was Mighty themed, the top being Mighty’s spikes and eyes – Graphite shook his head, “I haven’t heard from any of the Carnival Bugsters in over a week, Mu. I don’t believe Kuroto has, either.”

That was… strange, usually either Kuroto, Graphite, or Mu were in contact with the Bugsters in Carnival every few days, between the three of them. Mu had pretty much viewed all the Bugsters there, save Salty, as his playmates – and the Bugsters for their part were happy to play along. Kuroto usually tried to keep in contact to satisfy the Ministry, but it was likely that with Yaotome’s work starting, he had been more lax about it. And Graphite often went into the Drago Knight Hunter Z section of Carnival when he wanted to be left alone – but that would have stopped with Emu’s strange behavior the past few weeks.

Asuna hummed, “Well then… maybe we should go check!”

Graphite stared. “You can go check.” He said, “I’d much rather stay here with Kin.”

“Don’t you think you should do something else? Besides, it’ll be really quick, and Emu will obviously be safe, because Kiriya’s here.”

“I get the impression you won’t take no for an answer,” Graphite sighed, setting his book to the side and carefully extracting himself from Emu.

Excitedly, Mu asked, “Oh! Can I come too?”

Just as quickly, Graphite answered, “No, stay here.” He was probably hoping to keep Mu from wandering into trouble in Carnival. That had, apparently, happened a few times.

Mu pouted, “Aw…”

So Asuna gives him a smile, “Think about it this way, Mu, you can help Kiriya protect Emu.”

Face lighting up again, Mu nodded seriously, “Right! I’ll help Mr. Bike protect Emu!” He pulls out his Gashacon Breaker and sits down beside Emu, keeping his serious but ecstatic expression. Beside him, Ai rolls closer, though still appeared to be asleep.

“Costume Change!” Asuna switched back into being Poppy. “Now, with that, let’s head into Carnival.”

She grabbed Graphite’s wrist and dragged him away. Kuroto had, thankfully, created an access point into Carnival from the CR, and had, sometime in the past few months, removed the block that kept things in. Technically, the Bugsters within could come and go as they please, but seemed content with staying there, most of the time. Poppy was pretty sure the Ministry didn’t know that Kuroto had done that, but given Kuroto claimed it was more of a hassle to leave the block in and since the Bugsters had been behaving, she didn’t see much of a problem with it.

It was useful, for Graphite and Mu at least, who were the only two Bugsters that actually entered Carnival with any regularity. Poppy had gone in once or twice but… for some reason, the DoReMiFa Beat area always felt a little too empty, and she was still uncomfortable around most of the Bugsters. All she could remember was Chronicle, and even though she knew that they all weren’t in full control of themselves, it didn’t really help much.

The two hopped into Carnival, finding themselves in the deserted entrance area. It was quiet from the lack of life, but that itself wasn’t that strange. The Bugsters didn’t often congregate there, and often just stuck to their areas. Even if they were visiting with one another, they were usually in one of the game areas. They just seemed to prefer it there.

“Most likely, Charlie will be in the Shakariki Sports area,” Graphite commented, pointing towards the aforementioned area.

Poppy nods, “That makes sense,” So far, there was nothing strange.

But she couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong, even though there wasn’t a whole lot of reason to think that. Choosing to ignore that feeling, for now at least, Poppy follows Graphite into the Shakariki Sports area.

The cityscape that appeared around them was eerily silent. Not a soul could be found in the city, and it seemed almost like it was dead. Looking around, Graphite frowned, “There’s no one here.”

“Maybe Charlie’s somewhere else?”

“No,” Graphite shook his head, “I mean, there should be NPCs about the city. I’ve been here with Mu enough times to know that.”

Surveying the deserted city, she continued to find no signs of life, NPC or otherwise. “Then… what could have happened.”

He got an uneasy expression on his face, “I don’t know… we should check out the other areas.” It was possible whatever happened here had happened in the other areas. Or the answer could be found there.

“Where do you think we should check next?” Ultimately, Graphite was more familiar with Carnival than Poppy was, and doubly more what the game areas within were like.

“I’d say… probably either Taddle Quest, Bakusou Bike, or Drago Knight Hunter Z.” Graphite offered, “Taddle Quest and my game both have decently populated town or city areas, but it’ll take some traveling to get there. Bakusou Bike usually has a populated racetrack as the first area, so that may be the better bet.”

As the two exit the area and return to the level select area, Poppy inquired, “Usually?”

With something that was almost an amused tone, Graphite answered, “Motors has been known to switch it up from time to time. As long as we don’t land in the middle of a race, we should be fine, but I think Kuroto fixed that bug.”

They approached the entrance to Bakusou Bike, “You think?”

“Well, I hope, at least.”

True to Graphite’s word, they wound up just outside of a racetrack in Bakusou Bike. Though, instead of hearing the roar or hum of engines, of even the cheers and murmurs of a crowd, they were once again greeted with silence. The stands outside the racetrack were empty too, and various racing vehicles, mostly bikes, sat in the middle of the track untouched.

Even Poppy could tell that was unusual. “Empty, again. And no sign of Motors.”

“It’s certainly concerning,” Graphite observed, “Where are they? What happened to their areas?”

“Do you even think they’re still in here?” Poppy wondered as the two left Bakusou Bike, returning to the stage select again. Suddenly the silence felt incredibly wrong and off putting.

Graphite stopped in the middle of the area, “I… don’t know.”

The terrible feeling was overwhelming. Poppy didn’t want to be here anymore. “I think we should leave and ask Kuroto what he thinks.”

“I’m inclined to agree.”

When the two arrive back at the CR, Mu is gone and Emu sits at the table across from Kiriya. Taking a look at the two, Poppy asked, mostly out of habit, “Everything okay while Graphite and I were gone?”

Giving the two a smile, Kiriya nodded, “Yeah, nothing interesting happened.”

A frown planted itself onto Emu’s face, “Except the fact that you were gone for like, fifteen minutes, Lazer, and in those fifteen minutes my scars got… weird.”

Now that Emu mentioned it, Poppy noticed that the black was gone from the tips of his hair, and the scars on his face seemed… different. Emu rolled up his jacket sleeves and, without any long sleeves on underneath, revealed the scars on his arm, now more resembling black veins than they did his actual scars.

Glaring at Kiriya, Graphite hissed, “You left?”

“I had something I had to deal with!” Kiriya raised his hands placatingly, “And I was as quick as I could be!”

Poppy did her best to give Emu a reassuring smile, “Don’t worry, Emu, we’ll figure out whatever it is.”

His head falls, “I sure hope so.”

“Now, Graphite and I are going to go talk to Kuroto, we’ll be back soon,” she sends a glare Kiriya’s way, “Try not to leave this time, Kiriya.”

---

The bags under Kuroto’s eyes were worse than normal. Poppy was pretty sure that he always had some kind of bags under his eyes, but normally, they weren’t quite this bad. Clearly the appearance of Cronus, most likely, had distressed Kuroto. Which was fair, there weren’t a whole lot of people they knew that would be able to use the Chronicle Gashat, and one of them was dead and the other was Emu. Sure, Nico had proved you could pull it off with a lot of determination, but the Cronus that they saw on the roof didn’t seem to be bothered by using the Gashat, and had been using a Bugvisor II, not a Gamer Driver.

Not that they knew how he’d gotten it, given there were only two Bugvisor II, and Poppy had one. Kuroto had the other, having repaired it after Chronicle, but it hasn’t been used since.

“Have you checked Carnival recently?” Graphited asked, flopping into the chair beside Kuroto’s desk.

Seeming a bit annoyed, Kuroto stopped typing and sighed heavily, “No, Graphite. I’ve been a bit… busy.”

Graphite snorted, “Well Carnival, is a bit empty. Even the stages are like a ghost town.”

“What?”

“Poppy and I checked. No one. Got an answer for that?”

In an incredibly measured voice, one that made Poppy think Kuroto was trying very hard to stay calm, he answered, “I haven’t a clue, are you sure they’re not elsewhere? In a difference area?”

Rolling his eyes, Graphite groaned, “We looked.”

“I don’t have an answer for you,” Kuroto’s voice was strained, “I really don’t.”

“Kuroto…” Poppy frowned, “This could be a problem.”

He rubbed his forehead, “I am aware of that. But without knowing where they went or what might have happened, there’s not much I can do.” Tiredly, he drummed his fingers on his desk. “Though knowing our luck, this is somehow connected to Lovelica and Cronus.”

“Then maybe we should focus further on trying to figure out what Lovelica is up to, it seems to have something to do with Dr. Yaotome…” Poppy tapped her finger against her cheek.

“We’ll go talk to her, next.” Graphite said. “Oh, and Kuroto… Kin’s black scars have… changed. Those scars had something to do with his Gamedeus infection, right?”

The frown on Kuroto’s face on deepened, “They do… that’s why Masamune had the black veins when he’d absorbed Gamedeus’ data. It’s concerning that they’ve changed… I’ll have to go visit him this evening.”

Speaking of Masamune… Now that Poppy thought about it, Emu’s scars now reminded her an awful lot of the veins that Masamune had gained. Were they somehow connected? Or was it just because they both were caused by Gamedeus, in one way or another, and so they’d obviously share some similarities?

As the two turn to leave, Kuroto called out, “Hold up, Graphite, I have something for you.”

Turning to face Kuroto, Graphite is presented with the Bugvisor II and what looked to be a modified version of the Drago Knight Hunter Z Gashat. “What’s this?”

“I’ve been working on it,” Kuroto explained as Graphite warily picked up the two items. “I thought that it would be good to… at least have the opportunity to put this Bugvisor II to good use. And so I created a modified version of Drago Knight Hunter Z, I figured you’d prefer to use your own Gashat, after all.”

Staring at them, Graphite spoke in a strained voice, “I don’t need these to fight.”

“No, you don’t. But when you’re fighting things that aren’t regular Bugsters or Ride Players… then you may need the extra help.”

Though Graphite was clearly not pleased, he slipped the Bugvisor II and Gashat into his jacket. “Fine,”

---

“I assume that it would be a stretch to think you know why Lovelica was after you?” Poppy asked Yaotome as she and Graphite crowded into the makeshift office Yaotome worked in.

“You assume correctly,” Yaotome sighed, “The best I can guess is my work might get in the way of whatever his master is planning.”

Graphite huffed, “Which doesn’t really give us much more to work with.”

“I’m sorry, I really wish I could help you.” She did seem remorseful that she couldn’t provide them with more. “May I ask how Emu is doing? I heard that he hasn’t been feeling well recently.”

“Hopefully, it will pass,” Graphite responded, “It’s unlikely he’ll be up to meeting you anytime soon.”

With a smile, Yaotome nodded, “That’s understandable. I can wait.”

---

Mu didn’t like this room.

It was cold and dark and scary – all sorts of monsters could be hiding in the darkness! But it wasn’t the monsters in the shadows that scared Mu. It was the monster that appeared behind that door.

He wanted to go home, but he couldn’t. The door was the only way out of this cramped little closet, and it was locked. So he was stuck here until someone let him out. Hopefully, someone would notice he was gone and come and save him. And hopefully Emu was okay.

#kamen rider ex aid #kamen rider exaid #kamen rider #my writing #there is a me who can become strong #the rise

1 note · View note

phantaloon-books · 4 years

Text

Things about Tower of Nero that I want to highlight to remember them forever:

Lu being an absolute badass woman, I just love her too much

Piper McClean being canon wlw, she was actually kissing another girl, we really fell in love in october

Chaos being canonically female (just chaos being mentioned as a deity rather than what's below tartarus)

nobody DIED, like no one on the good side at least?? yes plenty of beings have died throughout TOA, but nobody died in TON?? so many died in TLO and BOO, I expected to mourn someone and I didn't have too??! it made me so happy

solangelo. that's it. solangelo makes me happy.

will being incredibly supportive of nico, and instead of stopping him, going with him on dangerous adventures because he doesn't want to leave him alone. also them treating Nico's PTSD for what it is

WILL SOLACE CANONICALLY GLOWS IN THE DARK. HE'S A GLOWSTICK BABY.

also will just appearing at the gates of the throne room, glowing in rage because someone touched his boyfriend (and tried to kill his dad), and him just marching through everyone (everyone else letting him), just to pick up his hurt precious boyfriend and take care of him.

meg McCaffrey got her happy ending. she's baby, she deserves her family and her happy ending. also Lu being the mother and the 12 children being siblings?? that's one hell of a way to tell nero to fuck off and right his mistakes. we love meg.

dionysus being the best olympian after apollo. the duo content we needed, and now will never get

nico mentioning bob and how he wants to go look for him, because he can still be in tartarus

rachel still being a Total badass and hitting people in the eye with her blue hairbrush thus being iconic

meg acting as lester's anchor and only reason why he didn't let go of the ledge, not falling into chaos, is top tier 'reasons why I cried reading', because if you think about it, Meg is the first ever friend apollo ever had, and them being best friends is everything to me

also apollo choosing to go looking as lester rather than apollo because lester feels like home is on top tier 'reasons why I cried reading' too

again, the only thing apollo did in the end (once he was god again) that could be described as 'godly' was be in several places at once, fly his chariot, and get meg her unicorn

but apollo shooting fucking fire out of his hands is crazy asf, it was so cool. he really got amazing godly powers this book.

rick being bold enough to showcase abusive parenting knowing that a huge porcentage of his readers are minors, helping many realize that they could be in abusive households, and giving them a tool to reach out for help

apollo defeating nero was so satisfactory, because you realize in the end, that nero wasn't really a monster, he was monstrous, but still very much human (if only with some godly power), and pretty useless once he couldn't hide behind props and weapons, his being wasn't powerful, he was just under layers of protection

the jackson/blofis scene was so warm and loving, they really are willing to put their family in danger, baby estelle in danger, to help 'percy's friends' even tho she knew percy didn't like apollo, but she still takes in everyone who needs help, and paul being a loving and accepting husband

sally working on her SECOND novel, she really is having her best life

none of the big heroes from other series having protagonism, besides nico and will, instead giving the other kids from camp halfblood their chance to show they're just as worthy as the "heroes of olympus"

(still I would have loved to see a scene with everyone else, like the heroes of olympus guys, fighting together one last time, just for nostalgia's sake - I legit hoped to see percy and annabeth arriving with chiron in triumvirate tower, but yeah)

the arrow of dodona may have been a dumb, cringey, and slightly ridiculous thing at first, and I personally rolled my eyes everytime it said anything, but it knew what would happen from the start, and without its sacrifice, apollo would have achieved nothing. we stan one arrow

nico wearing a white cowboy hat. idky but it makes my heart swell with joy. he a gay cowboy

y'all know I love Apollo's arch, and I just gotta point this out. his trials, his time as lester, started with him falling to earth, and ended with him getting up after purposely throwing himself off the earth, towards tartarus, almost falling to chaos. that's really clever writing.

the olympians watching over him, and some actually being concerned for him rather than his progress.

poseidon not really giving a fuck about the world or council meetings anymore because percy's not there anymore

athena being the only one apart from artemis who trusted apollo could do it makes me warm fsr

lester deciding that the best way to retell his adventures is by singing is hilarious to me, he really thinks it'll solve everything

Grover not telling percy and annabeth jason died seems so funny to me, he really said "nah it doesn't matter much, field trip, yes"

"hey man" my heart broke in twenty million pieces. like I don't know where I expected to see jason. but that wasn't it. and it hurt me as much as it hurt apollo man.

(also I kinda hoped we would see nico summon his spirit or smth, but I'm actually happy nico realized that jason went by his own choice, and he was in peace, so he decided not to summon him, because it was alright. that hurt too)

kinda love how lester passes out after literally every battle. it reminds you that even tho he's apollo, his body isn't. I'm sure we all would pass out too if we did a quarter of what lester did in the span of 4 days. his body isn't made to endure that, it doesn't even have a halfblood endurance, it's a weak mortal body

the trogs were fucking hilarious. their screeches and grrs, idk there's something ridiculous and so childish about them, it's so fun

really happy that apollo never had a /real/ love interest (reyna doesn't count), cause that wasn't what his story was about. instead he got to make so many friends, and have quality time with them and his children, it's amazing

apollo being thankful people were telling him he'd grown, and was more human, because he realized that was the best thing he could have learned from his time as a mortal

also him saying fuck you man to zeus and his speech, like "no asshole dad, I did learn, I'm not going to see this as punishment, it was a great time in which bad things happened but I enjoyed it." yes, we love apollo not letting zeus win

getting to see what everyone will do now. nico and will figuring out rachel's prophecy, probs saving bob. rachel living her best life away from her parents. leo doing what leo does, always helping those who have no one else. the hunters' open storyline about this fox, possibly hinting at content? piper settling down in a quiet life is what she deserves tbh, she's earned quiet life with a cute gf, wish her the best. Frank and hazel being the best praetors, and I bet they will continue to be so. And annabeth and percy, who chose their happiness over all, at last

kinda wish we got to see someone still really miss jason after apollo becomes god again tho lmao like apollo missed jason more than the others, nico and piper being the exception. I mean, leo is fine and dandy, hazel and frank are okay, percy and annabeth are done mourning... I just we got to see any of them really mourning, rather than reading they mourned. it would have made it feel more emotional

the last conversation and the last words in general. "the sun always comes back" and "we're friends now. call on me. I'll be there for you" that shit got me sobbing my heart out. rick really managed to do right by the books and end it like he should have, unlike BOO. he took what made TLO good and used a similar formula. it's very different from "and for once I didn't look back", but it still fills you with warmth and the feeling that even though it's over, it's okay.

I'm just really emotional, this is all I can think about, but you bet I'm gonna add more when I remember

1K notes · View notes

the-sympathetic-villain · 3 years

Text

You Belong With Me - Chapter 38

AO3 | First | Previous | Next | Masterpost

Description: Much to his surprise, after being released from prison for a crime he didn’t commit, Logan has been appointed as a the prince’s new advisor.

Word Count: 5024

Chapter Warnings: Anger, Lashing out, Mentions of criminal activity, Crying, Self-Esteem issues, Mild suicidal ideation, mentions of loss (Let me know if I missed anything!)

---

“Remy,” Virgil hissed as the fae slipped through the trees ahead of them, nearly losing them yet again. “Where the hell are you going?”

“Just keep up.” Remy muttered, dodging out of the dense trees as he swept gracefully out of the woods as he turned onto the narrow road in front of them. His shadows curled around his feet as he stalked forward along his path. He could feel their agitation building as they twisted and clawed at his calves for his attention as he ignored them.

“Hey, stop.”

Virgil's hand caught his arm, spinning him around as he let out a threatening hiss, to which the kid responded by hissing back at him just as threateningly. Remy stopped, taken aback as he stared blankly at Virgil.

“Listen, Rem. I know you’re upset, but it's the middle of the day. What if there are hunters around?”

“I'm not upset.” Remy yanked his arm from his friend's grip. His eyes flared a bright pink as he glared at his friend. “I am pissed and I pity any hunter who has the nerve to stand in my way today.”

Virgil stood with his mouth agape as Remy swept around down the road, leaving a trail of menacing trail of darkness in his. Glancing back at Roman and Patton, Virgil swallowed back his nervousness at their helpless expressions as he turned to chase Remy through the slick mud.

“Remy—”

“Relax, kid.” Remy muttered, casting an exasperated glance over his shoulder at Virgil. “Hunters ain’t stupid enough to travel this road.”

Virgil nearly stopped in his tracks as he glanced around the suddenly ominous woods. He let out a long groan as he rushed after Remy. “I'm sure I don’t want to know what that means.”

“Means only the worst kind of criminal dares this far into this part of the woods.” Remy replied dryly. “A slow, painful death awaits anyone who enters here when they are unwelcome.”

“And we're here because?”

“The defenses are down, Virgil.” Remy deadpanned, not even glancing back at him. “Not to mention, these fools value their miserable lives. They wouldn’t dare cross me.”

Virgil grumbled at Remy's apparent disinterest and was nearly about to make a sarcastic retort when a small, log cabin seemed to come out of nowhere on the road ahead. Virgil choked in a breath as the silence suddenly hung heavy over them. Hs friends slowed as they approached the aged, single-story building and Virgil shivered as the apothecary sign creaked over their heads, swaying with the breeze as the rain fell on their heads.

“Rem—”

Virgil lifted his head just in time to catch sight of Remy’s shadows as they seeped into the frame of the door. His eyes widened and he flinched. On pure instinct, he stepped in front of Patton and Roman as the door blew clear off its hinges into the shop with a loud crash.

Remy disappeared through the door before Virgil had a chance to react. Virgil swore under his breath as he turned to charge after Remy, but a hand caught his arm. He turned to see his other friends looking wide-eyed at him.

“Are you sure about this guy, Virge?” Roman asked, eyeing the building in front of them with suspicion in his eyes.

“I trust him, princey.” Virgil muttered, glancing nervously at the door.

“We've only got one shot on this.” Roman prompted gently. “If he doesn't know where Logan is, we're not going to get another chance. Just please tell me you’re sure about this.”

“I am, princey. If anyone can get us there, Remy can.”

“Okay.” Roman nodded hesitantly looking back at Patton. “Then, go.”

Virgil nodded back before quickly darting up the steps and swinging around the corner. He rushed in, expecting enemies, but as he crossed the threshold, the sight of Remy standing silently alone in the room stopped him in his tracks. Cautiously, he stepped forward, ducking through the doorway of the seemingly empty building as he approached Remy.

The floor creaked underneath Virgil as he moved across the old wooden floor. Herbs lay abandoned on the counter as if someone had given up on preparing them midway through the process and Virgil could tell by the layers of dust collecting on the shelves that no one had been here in weeks.

“Rem,” Virgil asked, taking a timid step forward. “Why are we here?”

“Bastards.” Remy muttered under his breath, eyes glowing as his shadows crept over the counter. Bottles and jars surrounded his hands, but as he approached, Virgil could just make out a note clutched tightly in his grip. “As if skipping this realm is going to stop me from peeling the skin from their bones when I get my hands on them—”

“Remy—” Virgil ducked as one of the bottles of oil went flying across the room, shattering against the wall. “—Stop!”

Remy glanced over his shoulder, faltering as he stared back at Virgil with a blank expression. His eyes flickered back to their usual soft brown as he seemed to register Virgil standing across the room from him. The powerful fae’s shoulders slumped as a numb shock settled across his face. Virgil hesitated, unsure of what to do until a flash of red sent him rushing forward.

“You’re bleeding.”

“Am I?”

“Yes, you idiot.” Virgil sighed at Remy’s dazed expression as he took his arm. He started to roll Remy's sleeve up, examining the narrow cut as he continued to mutter under his breath. “A piece of that glass probably came flying back at you.”

“Whatever. Doesn’t matter.” Remy grunted, pulling his arm out of Virgil’s grip as he swayed toward the door. “Let's go.”

Virgil groaned, jumping back as be held out an arm to block Remy from leaving. “Hold on for one minute—”

Remy growled in exasperation as he glared at Virgil. “We don’t have a minute to spare, Virgil. The kid's fucking gone.”

“Then make it quick, because you’re not taking a step out of that door until you tell me what's going on.” Virgil shot back, growing irritated as he gestured to Roman and Patton in the doorway. “Our friend is missing and I need to know if you're wasting my time.”

Remy's agitation faltered as he took in their faces staring back at him. He gritted his teeth holding a finger up to Virgil. “Listen, babes. The only way any of us get to the kid in time is if we move quickly—”

“Remy—”

“The kid spent the better part of a century as the crown’s prized possession, and suddenly one day, he's nowhere to be found. Didn't that ever sound a little too convenient to be true?”

Remy slowed his words as he flashed Virgil a meaningful look. “Except you know what happened to him, Virgil. He ended up in the countryside with a family that could take care of him. Now, it wasn't wasn't the most accommodating placement given the kid had to stay hidden, but girl if you haven’t put the rest of the story, I can’t help you.”

Virgil felt a lump in his throat as realization swept over him. “He was one of Emile’s kids.”

“There we go.” A gentle smile spread across Remy’s face as he took in the shocked faces staring back at him. “Admittedly, he was a bit more complicated than most of the kids I sent to Emile, but the concept was the same. Kid needed a home after I took him from that tower, so we brought him here—”

“Took him?” Roman's voice trembled with anger as he stepped out of the shadows. “You kidnapped him?”

Remy raised an eyebrow, amused at the accusation. “You might have been able to say that if it weren’t your daddy who put the kid in my hands, hun. However, seeing as that’s what happened I will be accepting zero blame for that whole affair.”

“My father—” Roman stared at him dumbfounded, glancing back at Patton. “What does he have to do with this?”

“Girl, it was your father who sent Logan with me.” Remy stated impatiently before catching sight of shocked disappointment on Roman's face. His anger quickly faded to sympathy as the prince stared up at him.

“Where was I?” Roman whispered breathlessly, suddenly feeling unsteady on his feet.

“This was a few months before you and your brother were born.” Remy leaned back against the counter, running a hand through his hair.

“He never said anything."

“Don’t take it personally, kid.” Remy muttered, softening his tone. “That part wasn't exactly his choice.”

Roman’s eyes narrowed. His gaze danced suspiciously between Remy and Virgil as he took in Remy's quiet response. “And why is that?”

“King Thomas agreed to give up a portion of his memories to keep Logan safe.” Remy shrugged, watching the prince with softness in his eyes. “Well technically, both of your fathers did, but Thomas is the only one who remembers when I come to visit. Nico never really had a hand in the kid's life.”

“You visit my father?” Roman spat in disbelief as he took a threatening step towards Remy. “Why would he consort with a criminal like you?”

“Back off, princey.” Virgil puffed up, stepping to cut Roman off from Remy with a defensive growl.

“Really, Virgil?” Roman's voice dropped as he glared at Virgil. “You’re going to side with that bastard over me.”

“Don’t you dare put that on me, Roman.” Virgil hissed back. “If it weren't for him, I wouldn’t even have been alive long enough to even meet you—”

Remy rested a hand on Virgil’s shoulder as he huffed. Virgil turned to look at him, confused at gentle look on Remy's face as he looked toward Roman. ““Virgil, he's fine. You deserve to know the truth about what your father and I were doing, Prince Roman."

Roman's eyes darted from Remy to Virgil defensively as Remy stepped toward him, but he held his ground as the fae approached. “Then, enlighten me.”

“I see him in you, babes. You've got that same fire in your eyes that he does.” Remy smiled, raising a hand as he gestured to Roman’s face. “In fact, he reacted to the idea of working with me in about the same way as you just now.”

“And yet, you’re expecting me to believe he that he just handed a child over to you.” Roman retorted with a huff, stepping out of Remy’s reach. “I won't believe that he's the kind of villain that would play politics with a child's life.”

“No one was playing games with Logan's life.” Remy stated plainly, dropping his hand. “He was trying to send Logan home.”

“What?”

“Being locked away in a tower was no life for that kid—”

“My father wouldn’t do that.” Roman spat, leering at Remy. “He'd never mistreat a child.”

“Now that you’re right about.” Remy met Roman's gaze. “The kid was definitely mistreated before Thomas, but the king treated him like his own child. He loved that kid and he gave Logan the best life he could, but nothing changes the fact that he was stuck in that tower.”

Roman's eyes filled with skepticism as he met Remy’s gaze. “So, you took him to work among criminals?”

“Babes, you’re awfully judgmental for a guy whose best mate was the best pickpocket I ever trained.” Remy’s gaze danced to Virgil who shifted nervously beside him as the prince’s eyes flashed with guilt. He paused, resting a reassuring hand on Virgil’s shoulder as he stared at Roman seriously. “People do what they have to in order to survive. Not everyone was born with the privilege you were.”

“I know.” Roman hung his head as Remy chastised him. “I didn't mean to belittle anyone for doing what they need to.”

Remy stared for a long moment before relaxing into a subtle smile. “You’re okay, kid. You just need a little direction to your passion.”

Roman scoffed, glancing subtly at Virgil's cheeky grin. “That's something I'm reminded of every day.”

“Good.” Remy stepped forward. “Listen, your family tree has had its share or rotten apples, but your father wasn’t one of them. He treated Logan like his own son and it devastated him to have to give him up, but Logan wasn’t safe there anymore.”

“Okay.” Roman sighed, tension releasing from his shoulders as Remy smiled at him.

Remy nodded with a sad smile. “The night I took Logan—There was nothing political about what happened. Thomas and I made a deal. Your father agreed to keep the law off me and I spent whatever time I could trying to find a way to spare Logan from the curse.”

“You what?” Roman straightened upright. The tension in his shoulders eased though his gaze remained skeptical.

“I love that kid, Roman. He’s the kindest soul I've ever met and there’s no limit to what I would do for him.” Remy smiled, almost shy at the admission. “Normally, I would have been checking in on him every couple weeks, but this last trip into the Other Realm looking for answers nearly did me in for good.”

“You've been trying to save Lo?”

Remy tipped his head up as Patton’s small voice broke the silence. His shoulders were shaking as he wrapped his arms around Roman.

“I have.” Remy bit his lip, quelling back his worry as he playfully wrapped an arm around Virgil’s neck, grinning into his ear. “I care about every child I've helped, but this one and Logan have a special place in my cold, black heart.”

“Shut up.” Virgil grumbled as heat rose in his cheeks.

“—or perhaps I can’t resist a kid who can’t keep out of trouble.”

Virgil bit his lip, groaning at the knowing grin on Remy’s face. “I don't get into that much trouble."

“Girl, please.” Remy cooed as Virgil pushed away from him. “If I had a silver piece for every time I pulled your ass out of the fire, I could bathe in my riches.”

“Can you save Logan?”

Virgil lifted his head at Roman's weary voice. His stomach sunk with guilt at the exhaustion in the prince’s eyes. He frowned, turning to Remy as the fae's expression turned serious once more.

Remy straightened up, slowly slipping his hands down in his pockets as he stared at Roman. “There’s nothing that I can do.”

Virgil sucked in a sharp breath as the air seemed to deflate from his friends. He clenched a fist as he took a step towards Remy. “There has to be a—”

“We’ve wasted too much time here.” Remy muttered, stepping towards the door. “If we move through part of the night, we may be able to make it to the entrance to the Other Realm by morning. They still have a half day' travel on us, but if we’re lucky—”

Virgil blinked, his mouth hanging agape. “I thought you said—”

“I said I can't help him, Virgil,” Remy smirked as he tipped his head toward the exit, indicating for them to follow him out the door into the pouring rain. “but fortunately, he happens to be with the one person in the world who might have a chance at saving him.”

---

Logan blinked his eyes open gently. The chill of the morning air rushed over his face and he shivered as he raised a hand to his face to wipe the sleep from his eyes. He breathed in a soft gasp as he felt wetness on his cheek, bringing back memories of night before.

He rose up slowly, careful not to wake Janus as he pushed himself to his feet. The full chill of the morning air swept over his body as the thick blanket dropped to the ground and he could almost feel his teeth chattering as he glanced down at the man who'd been lying next to him.

Janus was almost peaceful as he slept, curled loosely in the corner of the blanket. Gratefully, it seemed that he'd at least taken a portion of the dense covers as the fire had died down, though Logan could guess by the fae's blue lips that it was not nearly enough to keep him warm.

Logan let out a long breath as he knelt down to pull the blanket over Janus' legs before turning back to the dimly glowing embers from the fire from the night before. Silently, he rose to his feet and glanced around nervously as he headed deeper into the cave. The hair on the back of his neck started to raise as he nervously started to move away from the dim twilight of the morning as he searched the dark reached of the cave for Janus' stash of kindling.

Thankfully, his search for suitable kindling was quicker than anticipated. Logan had assumed they had burned through the majority of Janus' stock, but to his surprise, the walls of the cave were stocked nearly to the ceiling with extra wood and dried underbrush.

Janus said this is a portal to the Other Realm.

Logan swallowed timidly as he squatted to gather a suitable amount of fuel for their fired. The thought bounced around in his head for a few minutes as he gathered a few logs into his arms.

This place was the last point of rest before the Other Realm. It made sense that fae would rest here for the night before moving on. He couldn’t help but wonder how many of his own kind had passed through these walls. The thought should have been exciting. He would have loved to learn more about his ancestry at any other time, but in that moment, the though rested like a weight on Logan’s chest. Melancholy settled over him as he gathered the last of the kindling and followed the light back the dwindling fire, lost in thought.

Fortunately, the embers were still glowing when he returned and it didn't take him long to have the fire roaring to life in front of him. The heat swept over him, chasing the heat from his bones but still he felt restless. He let out a long sigh, glancing up at Janus. The man was still sound asleep, and thankfully he seemed to have stopped shivering as the fire's heat filled the cave. A sad smile twitched at Logan’s lips as he stared at the sleeping fae. At least one of them was resting well this morning.

Logan’s gaze dipped to the ground as he fidgeted with his cloak. He glanced at Janus for a moment longer before ducking out of the cave into the twilight of the morning. His mind slowed as the bright light filled his vision, giving him a brief moment of reprieve from the loud, echoing thoughts in his mind.

Unfortunately, it didn't seem to be meant to last. His eyes slowly adjusted to the light, bringing with them a feeling of emptiness that filled his chest. He glanced around the damp foliage of the forest as his breath caught in his throat, feeling heavy as he turned the corner outside of the cave. His body suddenly ached with desperation as he rushed around the side of the cave.

A silent sob was ripped from his throat as he spun around leaning into the trunk of a tree. The bark was mostly dry as he slid down, trying to catch his breath as he rested back on his ankles. The events of the past few days washed over him as his emotions came rushed to the forefront of his mind.

Minutes felt like hours as his chest heaved and tears streaked down his face. Images of his friends’ faces played in his hand as he imagined how Virgil felt waking up to find he'd snuck out without him. He imagined how hurt Patton would be that he hadn't even gotten the chance to talk to him on the day he left. Worst of all, he knew the guilt that Roman would feel that their last conversation was that where he told Logan of the destruction of the Fair Folk. Logan sucked in a sharp breath as his throat ached with regret.

Gods. Why did I waste the last three days I had with him?

It seemed so petty now as he curled against the tree in the middle of the woods as his silent cries pulled painfully at his chest. After what seemed like hours, his tension started to ease as he finally felt the cathartic release of the emotions he'd been suppressing for the last few weeks. His cries eventually quieted and a numbness began to settle over him as he listened to the quiet sounds of the forest. He was still for a moment before a familiar voice filled the air.

“Logan?”

Janus' voice shattered the silence, sending a wave of panic straight to Logan's heart. His shoulders stiffened as he wiped away the wetness on his cheeks, trying to hide his moment of weakness.

“I'm here.” Logan called, swallowing with distaste as his voice cracked. “Just give me a mom—”

His plea came a moment too late as Janus turned around the tree next to him. Logan ducked his head as he caught sight of Janus’ scales glittering above him.

“You’re up.” Logan muttered as he tipped his head down, allowing his hair to fall over his eyes as he pushed himself to his feet. “Good. Let's go.”

“Go where?” Janus voice was soft as he put up an arm to block Logan’s way.

“Wherever you’re taking me.”

Janus seemed to pause as Logan stopped in front of him, head tucked to his chest as he avoided Janus' gaze. “I told you last night. I'm not taking you.”

“You have to—” Logan’s heart sank as he crossed his arms across his chest. “—I appreciate the comfort you afforded me last night, but I know what has to happen. You don't have to sugarcoat anything for my benefit.”

“My words last night weren’t empty promises, Logan.” Janus took a step forward, hesitating as Logan tensed. “You’re going home. I promise there’s no tricks this time.”

“You said there wasn’t much time left to reach our destination.” Logan whispered, shifting his feet anxiously. “We should go.”

“Even if we rushed, I'm not sure we could make it before the Dark Moon tonight. The hunters put us behind at least half a day.” Janus whispered, leaning against the tree as Logan’s eyes darkened. “There will be another. We'll figure something out before the next—”

“Someone could get hurt if I don't do it now.” Logan interrupted quietly. His eyes were bloodshot as he finally looked up at Janus staring at him in sympathetic shock.

“You will get hurt if you do this.” Janus pressed, resting a hand on Logan’s shoulder.

“I've been living on borrowed time for long enough—” Logan’s voice cracked as tears threatened to fall from his eyes again.

“Is that what you think this is?”

Logan glanced up at Janus’ sharp tone with a weak glare, stopped by the look of concern in the man's eyes.

“I should have died in that dungeon.” Logan whispered hoarsely. “Everything since has been too much. I don't deserve what I've been given, especially if others must die for me to keep it.”

“Your time was stolen from you. By Remus, by this curse and even by me.” Janus’ grip tightened on his shoulder as he reached up to push Logan's hair out of his face. His expression softened as Logan’s reddened eyes tipped up toward him. “Go home to your friends, kid. You've given more than enough to this war that wasn't yours to begin with.”

“My friends—” Logan’s gaze faltered and dropped to Janus' chest and then to the ground as he looked around frantically for glowing yellow piece of amber. “Your gem—It's gone. D-did you drop it?”

“Hold on, kid. Just relax.” Janus held up a hand in gentle reassurance, forcing Logan to take a breath as he pulled the luminous piece of crystal from his pocket. “It's here.”

“Oh.” Logan bit his lip, staring anxiously at the gem as it glowed in Janus hand.

“I didn't want my captors to catch sight of the amulet, so I stashed it away when I got a chance. Luckily, they seemed content enough to catch me and didn't search my person while I was out.” Janus whispered as guilt wavered in his voice. “Listen, you don't have to worry anyway. Remus won't hurt your prince.”

Logan's stare at the small crystal faltered as he glanced cautiously up at the sudden timidity in the man's demeanor. “What?”

“What I said yesterday about the gem yesterday was…intentionally misleading.” Janus paused as he ran his thumb over the smooth surface of the gem. His eyes flicked up to Logan as he eyed him suspiciously. “The amber is a signal gem, and it is true that if it were broken, Remus would know something was amiss on my end. But even if the gem were broken, he would only collect your friends and return them to the castle. He’s under strict orders not to harm them in any way.”

Logan furrowed his brow and the suspicion in his gaze intensified as his eyed danced between the gem and the apologetic look on Janus' face. “But you said—”

“I said, if the gem was broken, Remus would know he could do as he liked.” Janus sighed as he held the necklace between his hands, running a finger along the black fabric that he had used to tie it around his neck. “Remus would no doubt love the opportunity have the prince under his control, so the statement wasn’t entirely false, but he will not harm them. You have my word.”

“Why?”

Janus tipped his head up at Logan soft question. The suspicion in the kid's eyes made his stomach twist, but he forced himself to continue. “I needed a way to force your hand if you resisted—”

“No.” Logan interrupted stiffly. “Why did you tell Remus not to hurt them?”

Janus stared blankly at the distrust in the kid's eyes for a moment before his resolve weakened. “I never wanted to hurt anyone—”

“You let him hurt me.”

Janus froze as Logan took a step back, looking away from him. A pit of sadness settled in his stomach as Logan’s fingers reached up to the cut still healing on his face.

“I know." Janus whispered. “I am sorry, Logan. There’s truly no excuse for the way I've treated you.”

Logan winced as he felt Janus take his wrist, relaxing slightly as he looked down to see Janus’ wrapping the black ribbon of the amber amulet around his wrist. After a second wrap around Logan’s wrist, he secured the amulet with a sturdy knot. Janus dropped his wrist as Logan continued to stare at him uneasily.

“I wish you'd met me when I was a better person.” Janus hung his head. “When I lost your mother, I didn't just lose my best friend. Everything else seemed to go with it. My friendships, my relationships—Gone, and all I was left with was a task to finally end this war for good. It's consumed parts of me in a way I don't think I'll ever recover from.”

“I'm going to end it. I just—” Logan started quietly.

“No, you’re not.” Janus raised a hand to interrupt him. “You’re going home. You’re going to go home to the life you deserve to have, because I'm not letting this curse take any more good out of this world.”

Logan ran his thumb over the glowing piece of amber secured around his wrist. “Janus—”

“I never reported your presence to the courts. They still think you disappeared with your mother.” Janus whispered. “Even if your prince arrests me when we return, that should give you some time to figure something else out—”

Janus' grunted as Logan rushed forward and his arms curled around his chest. His stoicism melted away as he let his arms drop around Logan as emotion welled in his throat. “I'm so sorry, kid.”

“Thank you, Janus. I appreciate what you’re doing, but—” Logan sucked in a breath as tears rolled down his face once more. “but I can't—I can't be responsible for the loss of an entire generation of fae and do nothing. I can't—"

“An entire generation?” Janus leaned away. “What are you—”

Janus' statement was cut off as he glanced at the ground. Shadows curled at his feet as he stared, tracing the curling darkness back into to the forest. His body tensed as he pushed Logan away, snarling at the shadows. “Logan, run—”

Logan yelped as Janus was swept of off his feet and dragged into the forest. He stared blankly at the empty space before him before his reflexes kicked in and he quickly ducked under the branches, taking off in the direction Janus had been dragged. Having sight of Janus, Logan’s heart dropped as he heard a pained groan ahead of him. He ducked down, sprinting forward as the trees opened up to a clearing to reveal the last person he expected to see.

“Where's the kid, Deceit?”

“What kid?”

Janus lay pinned on the ground by the man's knees. A dagger rested precariously on his throat as the man glared down at him with glowing pink eyes. Shadows twisted around the man's body, sending shivers down his spine as he felt the anger emanating off of him as he stared down at Janus.

Remy.

“Don't play with me, love." Remy’s voice radiated with power as he growled down at Janus. “I know you have him.”

Logan stepped forward hesitantly overwhelmed with emotion as he skirted the edge of the clearing to get a better view. The sight stopped him in his tracks as he stepped out of the forest to the man he thought he knew.

“R-Remy?”

#sanders sides #sanders sides fic #sanders sides fanfiction #sanders sides fanfic #ts remy #ts virgil #ts roman #ts patton #ts logan #ts janus #logince #You Belong With Me #villain writes

53 notes · View notes

i-am-a-reader-fear-me · 3 years

Text

A Percabeth AU where they keep their relationship secret in fear of what their parents might think. (Warning: this goes over both PJO and HoO so it's very long):

The beginning of TLT goes as it should but after Percy is claimed, Annabeth is suddenly meaner and colder.

He remembers the Poseidon/Athena rivalry but doesn't see why they have to hate each other bcuz of their parents.

But Annabeth doesnt relent.

They still go on the quest together bcuz "you are so going to fail without a daughter of Athena."

But they still argue a lot and give poor Grover a satyr migraine.

When they have that bonding moment on the truck, Percy thinks maybe they're sorta friends, but Annabeth proves that wrong later by calling him a "Seaweed Brain" bcuz he's so stupid.

Percy fires back with "Wise Girl" but Annabeth seems to take that as more of a compliment than an insult.

(He doesn't stop calling her that tho)

After Luke betrays Percy, Annabeth's the one that found him after the dryads and she drags him to the infirmary but completely denies caring about him afterwards.

By SoM, Percy is so done with this and goes over to her asking if they could be friends.

Annabeth, who actually would like to be his friend, agrees with reluctancy, saying, "We have to keep it a secret though, or who knows what our parents might do."

Percy agrees.

Grover knows they're friends now cuz of the empathy link, but doesn't say anything.

In TTC, when Annabeth falls off the cliff, he blames himself more than ever, bcuz if they hadn't been fake arguing she might not have been distracted and fallen.

Thalia blames him even more too, and he has to keep his cover and can't tell her he knows it's all his fault.

Nico asks if Annabeth is Percy's girlfriend.

He says no, but he has a funny feeling in his heart.

He goes to the attic to ask the Oracle about Annabeth.

It doesn't answer.

When he thinks Artemis is about to ask Annabeth to join the Hunters, he knows he has to tell her something, even if it meant blowing their cover.

He breathes a sigh of relief when Artemis asks Thalia, and Annabeth is waiting for him to talk with narrowed eyes as if trying to figure out what he wants to say.

He chokes. (~Like doesn't say his feelings, not actually choke lol~)

In BotL, they are totally going out on a secret unofficial movie date but ofc the fiasco with Kelli at Goode happens.

Annabeth gets really jealous when Rachel appears. (Especially since Rachel has more opportunity to go out with Percy bcuz Annabeth and Percy have to pretend to hate each other.)

Percy, ofc, does not realize why in Hades she's acting like she really hates him even though they're in private.

At camp, they're playing Capture the Flag when they stumble on an entrance to the Labyrinth.

They go down to hide from monsters and end up stuck.

It's so dark Annabeth grabs his hand to keep from being separating. (~this is canon, they were holding hands I checked~)

When they find their way back out, it appears almost an hour had gone by when they were sure they were down for a couple minutes.

The campers were searching for the two of them and are immediately suspicious when they find the two alone. Together.

But they forget about that when Clarisse comes and asks about the "hole" they fell into and Annabeth suggests they continue talking in private.

It is then that Annabeth, Percy, Grover, and Tyson go on their quest.

When Annabeth and Percy reach Mount St. Helens they are quickly found out.

Percy tells Annabeth to escape saying he has a plan. (He really doesn't)

She kisses him. (~whaaaaaaaat~)

When she leaves, Percy apparently decides to cause a volcano to erupt. (~ya he doez~)

He lands on Ogygia, while Annabeth, thinking he is dead, goes back to camp, alone.

When she returns, they ask where Percy, Grover, and Tyson are but she refuses to say anything.

They realize what happened.

They have a burning of the shroud ceremony where she doesn't say anything, sitting, her face emotionless, but her heart in turmoil as she listens to Chiron.

That's when Percy crashes the funeral.

Annabeth is outraged.

She pretends it's because "THE WHOLE QUEST IS BEING HELD UP BECAUSE OF YOU! AND WHAT WERE YOU DOING, ENJOYING A VACATION AT PARADISE ISLAND?!?!"

It's really because she was head over heels with worry and grief (while he's off with sOmE imMorTal gOdDeSs) but she can't let anyone know that.

She is certainly not happy when Rachel joins their quest.

(Percy still doesn't get it.)

Before TLO, they are playing Capture the Flag, and the two are on opposite sides. (~in The Demigod Files, the story they find Festus for the first time in~)

Annabeth and Silena capture Percy and Beckendorf and the boys suffer an utter loss. (Were the myrmekes part of the plan? They'll never know.)

Beckendorf and Silena totally know they like each other no matter how much Percy and Annabeth fake it and try to get one of them to ask each other to the Independence Day firework show.

Annabeth does end up asking Percy and they watch the fireworks secretly next to the woods so no one sees them.

They hold hands or something else just as cute idk.

In TLO, when the Battle of Manhattan starts, everyone is surprised when Annabeth let's Percy take the lead.

When she takes the blade for Percy she says it was bcuz "I didn't know it was him!"

"So you would take a blade for anyone if it wasn't Percy?"

"...yes."

But by this time everyone secretly ships Percabeth so no one questions it.

After the war, Percy gives up immortality mostly for her but only those two know it. (And maybe Grover).

Annabeth asks him to meet her in the woods and when he does, she brings him a lumpy blue-colored cake which Tyson helped make. (Bcuz of course Tyson knows that they're secretly friends but Grover told him not to tell anyone).

They kiss, duh.

But then a monster comes out from the woods and they don't want to fight it after they just had a war so they run.

They end up by the lake and Percy pulls Annabeth in to get away from the monster.

Cue best underwater kiss ever.

They date in secret for two months but Percy's mom knows.

When Percy goes missing, Annabeth freaks.

She searches for him everywhere and if anyone asks why she's searching so hard for someone she doesn't even like, she just replies, "He probably just disappeared bcuz it's his turn to do the camp chores and I will not let him slack off," or "Who else am I supposed to use for target practice???"

(None of the campers who'd been in the Titan war buy it.)

In SoN, the only thing Percy remembers is Annabeth, but for some reason, he has this instinct to not tell anyone about her so he doesn't.

In MoA she still judo flips him and acts all mad (which she is) but he still laughs it off and says all sarcastic, "Oh, did the smartass daughter of Athena miss me?"

But he missed her too.

When they go to eat lunch Annabeth and Percy excuse themselves to "go to the bathroom" but they really snuck off to have their own private reunion.

"I missed you so much, Seaweed Brain. Don't ever disappear like that again."

"I'm sorry, Wise Girl. I missed you too."

*kissing*

Later, when Annabeth and Percy sneak off to the Pegasi stables on the Argo II and sleep next to each other.

Frank finds them.

They swear they didn't do anything and threaten Frank into silence.

He can never look at them the same way again though.

When Annabeth has to get the Athena Parthenos, Percy paces the deck of the Argo but says he's not worried about a daughter of Athena.

When she finally gets the statue, he goes down to meet her but she trips and falls into the Pit.

He catches her, but now he's hanging on a ledge.

"Percy, let me go. You can't pull us both up." She whispers, knowing they're too low for the others to hear.

"We're staying together. You're not getting away from me. Never again." He whispers back.

"As long as we're together."

At least in Tartarus, they don't have to pretend they don't absolutely, utterly love each other.

In Blood of Olympus, Percy, Annabeth, and Piper are walking underground to the monster's base in the Parthenon when they see a trident mark in the ground.

Annabeth says it's the place where Poseidon struck the ground.

At this point, Percy turns to Piper and asks, "Can you keep a secret?"

Piper nods.

That's when Percy kisses Annabeth.

When he pulls away, he says, "This is where the rivalry ends….for us, at least."

Piper acts surprised but on the inside she is rAGING bcuz now Leo owes her ten bucks but she can't tell him.

After the Giant war they consider telling their friends, but they're not sure…

Idk how to end this just keep going

Sort of a bonus:

The Hephaestus and Athena cabins worked together to make everyone monster-proof phones (which also correct their dyslexia) and Annabeth and Percy use them all the time to text each other and no one knows.

Jason asks Percy to come to a cafe with some of the others, and Annabeth and Percy are texting the whole time.

Their convo goes something like this:

'hey Annabeth, me, Jason, Frank and some of the others r going to that cafe on 31st street'

'*Jason, Frank, some of the others and I' 'Really? Piper, Hazel, and I are going there too. They mentioned Jason, Frank, and Leo might be there, but not you.'

'weird, they didn't say anything about u either' 'hey wait a sec, Jason's texting on some gc called Operation Get Them Together' 'the other guys' phones r ringing everytime he sends something…'

'What? Operation Get Them Together???'

'yeah'

'....'

'what'

'Oh no.'

'what??? Annabeth????'

'They're trying to set us up.'

'wdym set us up'

'I MEAN, they're TRYING to get us TO GET TOGETHER'

'huh?'

'THEY WANT US TO GO OUT PERCY! YOU KNOW, TO BE A COUPLE???'

'ok okkk u don't have to yell'

'🤦‍♀️'

'so what do we do'

'I think we should go along with it.'

'wait hold on, Jason's asking me who im texting'

'Wait, tell him it's your girlfriend. Just to screw with them.'

'haha yes ur a genius'

'I know.'

Percy tells Jason that he is texting his girlfriend, to which Jason replies by "What?!" and frantically starts typing on the group chat to tell everyone that 'YOU GUYS PERCY SAYS HE HAS A GF ABORT MISSION ABORT MISSION!!!'

To which Piper is the first to reply, saying, 'Nah, trust me, keep going with it'

At this point, they reach the cafe, and the boys and girls meet up at a table.

Annabeth, immediately going into acting mode, says, "What is he doing here?"

Percy fires back with a scowl and says, "You didn't tell me she was going to be here. I'm leaving."

Jason stops him tho

Percy and Annabeth sit down at the table, but everyone is still standing.

Piper and Hazel say they have to go to the bathroom and leave.

Jason and Leo say they're going to go order (even tho it's a sit down with a menu and order type of cafe???)

Everyone seems to have some kind of excuse to leave until Percy and Annabeth are left alone.

The two pull out their phones again.

'Seriously? This is their plan? Say we're all going out to eat and then leave the two of us alone?'

'ig' 'what do we do now'

'I don't know.' They're probably spying on us…'

'um is that Reyna, Hazel, and Calypso in the bushes with mud and green war paint on their faces?'

Reyna, Hazel, and Calypso were indeed hiding in the bushes (with binoculars) with mud and green war paint on their faces.

'Wtf?? How'd they do that so fast???' 'And is that Leo and Piper holding newspapers with eyeholes cut through???'

'lol yea...then that eagle flying above us is prolly Frank'

'Jason is hiding in the clouds to your six.'

'where r Nico and Will?'

'I think that's them making out in the bushes.'

'lmaoo im so gonna tease them for that' 'so what do we do now Wise Girl'

'...' 'Follow my lead.'

'k'

Annabeth puts away her phone and stands up.

Percy follows her lead.

She says, "We know you guys are there, just come out. It's not going to work. And we see you too, Nico and Will."

The other demigods come out of their hiding spots (the two who had been called out looking especially sheepish).

"Why not?" Piper says, knowing perfectly well why not.

Percy looks between Annabeth and Piper, and seems to come to a decision.

"Because," he says and goes over to Annabeth and kisses her, "we're already together."

The responses were very diverse.

"What?!"

"I knew it!"

"Leo! My ten bucks. Now."

"Yeah, I walked in on them sleeping together…"

"So we did all this for nothing???"

"Wait, did you say sleeping together?"

They arguing stops as two flashes of light almost blind everyone and two gods appear.

Poseidon and Athena.

For several seconds, the two gods just stare at Percy and Annabeth (who are now holding hands just bcuz)

Then, finally, after what seemed and EXCRUCIATINGLY long time, Poseidon turns to Athena and says:

"I was right, you were wrong, I was RIGHT, you were WRONG, I WAS RIGHT, YOU WERE WRONG, YOU OWE ME FIFTY DRACHMAS BIRD BRAIN"

This was not the reaction the demigods was expecting if you couldn't tell

Athena just scowls and makes a pouch filled with drachmas appear, and throws it at Poseidon.

Poseidon catches it, bringing out what appears to be a phone and starts calling someone.

Athena goes over to Percy and Annabeth.

She looks mad, and Annabeth tries to let go of Percy's hand, panicking, trying to think of a lie, but Percy doesn't let go.

"My daughter is the smartest and best of my children, and as much as I don't approve of this, if she chose you, sea-spawn, she must have a good reason. But if you step one foot out of line, I will have you punished, understood?"

Athena addresses this to Percy, who nods fearfully.

"Good."

Suddenly there are a bunch more flashes of light as more gods appear bcuz apparently, Poseidon wanted everyone to see that he was right and Athena was wrong.

Ofc chaos ensues.

But Percy and Annabeth are still holding hands and look at each other and feel overwhelmingly happy for the first time in a long time because now they don't have to keep their relationship a secret anymore.

THE END~

WTF HAVE I WRITTEN.

68 notes · View notes

percabethfeelsfandom · 3 years

Text

Writing Prompt: Nico Visiting Elysium

SPOILERS FOR THE BURNING MAZE AND THE TOWER OF NERO

The walk to Elysium was one that Nico was familiar with. Some days his feet would bring him there subconsciously, hoping to one day find his sister among the souls that resided there.

That day hadn’t come yet. But the heroes that were there were familiar with his presence, they weren’t bothered by the shadows beneath his feet, the tendrils that clung to his wrists, and winded themselves around his sword handle, ready to shoot out at his command. They didn’t blink an eye at the bags under his eyes, no matter how much sleep he got. When you’re a spirit constantly surrounded by death, you forget what life looks like. The same went for Nico.

It had been a while since he’d been to the Underworld to see his father and step mother, but the way the rubble crunched beneath his feet was almost comforting. He knew where the dips in the hill were, where to avoid the holes and minor chasms.

The environment and atmosphere of the Underworld began to shift the closer he got to Elysium.

Nico’s eyes adjusted to the brightness of Elysium, and the glittering blue lake where The Isles of the Blest resided. He shouldn’t have been able to enter through the gates, but being a child of the Underworld had its perks. The gates opened at Nico’s touch and Nico was greeted with the beautiful view of Elysium. For a home made for the dead, the place exuded a significant amount of life and light, yet it lacked the warmth real life did. It was beautiful in the way jewels were beautiful, sparkly and well-cared for, but not the way flowers were, in their life and their aliveness.

The trek to the pavilion where he usually met with spirits was hard, it didn’t get easier to see the spirits of heroes Nico had watched or felt die in battles he had also fought in. Every time he saw the familiar gleam of Hunter-silver he had to hold back a flinch. The flowers of Elysium were of gold and silver and Nico had come to the realisation that they were the only plants that didn’t wilt in his presence, it left him feeling an odd sense of pride as he picked one from the ground and placed it in his pocket for later. There was no breeze down here, yet the grass rippled in colours of the rainbow as spirits passed through, wanting to see why the child of Hades was present. Small voices called out to him beyond the gates, wanting to feed on his light, and his life but he pulled up a barrier in his mind, imagining a fortress to protect himself.

He stood in the middle of the pavilion and held out his hand. He wouldn’t need food to summon who he needed to speak to, he knew that they’d come.

“Jason Grace.”

His voice came out stronger than he thought it would. But he still wasn’t mentally prepared enough for the shape of Jason to appear so easily. He knew that Jason had died in his school uniform, but someone had taken the liberty to put him in a purple Camp Jupiter shirt, despite this, the colour was pale, as if all the colour had been bleached out.

Nico caught himself against a pillar as Jason’s form materialised by Nico’s feet. Jason was kneeling as if he was praying, head bowed and arms out trying to hold himself up.

“Jason?” Nico repeated.

The silvery outline of Jason seemed to grow brighter, before he rose to his full height. Nico tried not to stare, but it was difficult not to notice the gaping holes in his chest that glowed with silver through the purple shirt.

“Nico?”

When he was little, Nico had been taught by his mother and by Bianca that eye contact was important, it was rude if you didn’t meet people’s eyes when you were speaking to them. But over the years he had also learnt that in order to meet people’s eyes constantly, he needed to be prepared for other people to look into his eyes, allow them to see that vulnerability that he knew he showed.

Nico forced himself not to avert his eyes as Jason looked at him astounded, his wire framed glasses still sat atop his nose but Nico could no longer see his reflection in them. Everything about him looked the same, his voice too.

“Hi Jason,” Nico breathed, blinking hard. It was getting significantly harder to remain standing as Jason watched him. It had only been a couple of months since- but Nico hadn’t been able to bring himself to come down and search for him. It was a pain that reminded him all too much of the time when he'd just found out he was a demigod and his world had turned upside down.

“You’re angry with me,” Jason said, a small smile growing on his mouth. Nico let out a choked laugh and shook his head.

“I’m learning that grudges do me no good, especially against...especially against the dead,” Nico admitted. He waited for Jason’s form to blur into a corporeal version, but he remained in a hazy silvery state, like Nico was in the middle of an Iris message with him and Nico guessed perhaps they were; except instead of being miles apart and trying to communicate, it was the absence of Jason’s life and the existence of Nico’s that enabled them to talk despite Jason’s body being buried at Camp Jupiter.

“I always thought I wasn’t scared of death…when you’re a demigod of a prophecy you learn to be, and then Leo died, and I knew. I knew that whatever happened I had nothing to be scared of because he’d be here for me…”

“And then he wasn’t,” Nico filled in. Jason nodded, looking beyond the pavilion at the Isles of the Blest.

“I knew that he wouldn’t be here...yet, I don’t know, maybe it’s selfish to wish that I wasn’t alone-”

“It’s not,” Nico said firmly, standing up straighter to meet Jason’s gaze. With a sharp intake of breath he realised that he had slightly grown since he’d last seen Jason, and now he’d be immortalised at this height.

Jason seemed to notice at the same time, losing his train of thought as he looked down at Nico.

“You’ve grown taller,” he said fondly. Jason reached out almost as if he went to pet Nico’s head, but his hand passed through Nico, leaving him with a brain freeze. Jason noticeably winced and muttered an apology. The pain in Nico’s stomach was second to the odd feeling of familiarity. It had been many years since Nico had had an older sibling, and only recently had he become one again, yet Jason, in their small time period of knowing each other had grown closer than Nico would have thought. It was a nice thought, to think he had someone else watching over him, even if it was beyond the life he was currently living. Nico found himself thinking about Bianca again, the way he always did when he felt lost.

“I saw your plans for the temples,” Nico managed. He gripped the hilt of his sword, using it to ground him as his emotions began to unfurl, curling around him like a dark cloud.

“Apollo kept his promise?”

“He was adamant in doing so.”

Jason smiled, and it made him look younger, bringing a light to his face that should’ve been hard to achieve in the Underworld but he made it look easy.

“Will you try for the Isles?” Nico asked, and though he tried not to, fear laced his words as he watched Jason look at the island in question, a wistful look upon his features.

“Maybe…” Fear, as hot as lightning struck Nico in the chest, and he thought he was about to say goodbye to another demigod he had looked up to.

“But not yet. There are heroes here. Heroes that I fought with during the titan war, one’s I didn’t know the name of, same with the giant war. I think it’s time that I learned them.”

"Jason?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you still scared?" Absentmindedly Nico placed his hand in his pocket where he kept a small token of luck, the familiar groove in the old mythomagic toy bringing him a bittersweet comfort.

Jason tilted his head to the side for a moment, thinking before he shook his head.

"Not anymore, no."

As he spoke, his light began to flicker, becoming more of a mirage than anything. Nico poured his power into him, praying to his father for more time. He had so much more to say, messages to pass on, and- he just wanted more time.

“Piper she-”

“Is she happy?” Jason asked, interrupting. Nico thought of Piper with her girlfriend, and the life she was building outside of Camp Half Blood and nodded slowly.

“And Leo?” He continued. This time Nico thought about Leo’s easy laugh and his constant energy, bouncing off the walls, and his smiles around Calypso.

“Yeah he’s happy but-”

“And Reyna? Percy and Annabeth? Frank? Hazel? Are they all happy? Right at this moment?” The question almost took Nico by surprise but he wasn’t lying when he said his answer.

“Yes.” Images of the other demigods, speaking via Iris message, and on visits to each other's camps flashed in Nico’s head. Reyna and her pledge to the Hunters echoed in his head, an almost mirror to Bianca and Thalias. The pictures Annabeth and Percy had sent to Chiron when they had arrived at college, pinned on the board in The Big House. Then of his little sister with her purple cape, matching Franks.

“They’re happy,” he repeated, more sure of himself when he said it. Jason seemed to relax.

“And Thalia?” he asked softly.

“She’ll be okay,” he replied honestly.

“I never wanted to leave her.”

“She knows.”

“What about you, Nico? Are you happy?”

The question jarred Nico and he hesitated to answer, thinking hard about it. He thought about the haze he had been in right after Jason’s death. The nightmares that had resurfaced, the voices that called to him from beneath the ground.

“I want to be.” It was the closest to the truth he could get. Will’s face flashed behind Nico’s closed eyelids, and unconsciously Nico smiled and nodded with more certainty.

Jason smiled again.

“Then I’ll be okay.”

53 notes · View notes

outoftimewriting · 4 years

Text

Imagine (Son of Hades! Percy; Godswapped! Big Three's kids) (8/8) or (13/13)

Blood of Olympus pt.2 - The War

Hello! If you're here, it means you probably already know - but check the masterpost for both warnings and the other twelve parts.

I want to thank everyone who followed this fanfic? Imagine? AU? for the month it took us to get here. Tell me what you thought about it, if there's anything you are anxious to see in the epilogue - yes, we'll have an epilogue!

If you like my writing, you might be happy to know that I'm starting another AU - same style, no patience for prose - this time, a daughter of Zeus! Percy. Don't worry - it bares almost no similarities to this, and part 1 will be out before the epilogue, so stay tuned. For now, good reading :))

Maybe it was the death of Malcolm, but after that night, there was something different about the crew of the Argo II. Their journey to Gaea changed them.

Will notifies them as soon as morning rises, leaving Annabeth secluded in her room and Perseus to whatever was happening upstairs - they are told not to interfere.

No one knows exactly what happened on the deck between Perseus and whoever dared to attack them - there is nothing there but sea salt and dried ichor when Frank goes to take his shift.

The screams will haunt him for the rest of his life - they pleaded for mercy, but after this journey, no one in here is a merciful person.

There's an aura - an aura Frank recognizes well, for it clogged around Hazel in her first days in Nova Roma. An aura of death. Perseus is looking at the sunrise, cleaning his gold-stained ax.

He looks happy - for the first time since Tartarus, he is humming a melody to some song that Frank is pretty sure is from Disney. Percy grins at Frank.

"Hey, man."

Frank doesn't ask. He trusts Perseus - Perseus took a whip to the back, side by side with him. Perseus fell on Tartarus for his best friend. Perseus would give his life for any of them. The son of Mars Ultor is sure he did what he had to do.

It still spooks him a little when Perseus leaves, whistling what he now recognizes as Fathoms Bellow.

They're journeying to Delos - for more half a day - and then, finally, to Athens. Frank wonders if the monsters are too afraid of them - or if Gaea just told them to stop attacking.

The fact is that, for several hours, no monster touches them again. Might be the death air encapsulating the ship's bow. Might just be their reputation.

With nothing to do, Frank watches as the sun rises and his friends starting to walk around.

Leo has no fixed hours - so he might be either awakening or going to sleep. He crosses through Frank in his post and rambles for a second - the Legionis thinks it's cute.

Leo crosses Hazel - she never wakes past eight unless she had a night shift - who is probably going to breakfast. They exchange a kiss, and Frank's heart aches.

Hazel stops to talk with Jason - the last one awake, since Perseus and Will are probably sleeping, Annabeth still hasn't left her room, and Nico and Piper went to their room after the morning announcements - probably to grief.

The blonde is uncharacteristically serious for such an early hour, but with recent news, it's expected. Frank goes back to look at the sea - and wonder if any of them will ever be free of this.

The two of them retract to the war room - to plan the attack on Gaea. They are at a serious disadvantage. It might be better for them to ride back to Long Island and try to unit the camps and plan a war - just like they did with Kronos/Mount Otris.

It's very improbable that Gaea will give the same considerations to put Manhattan to sleep. Kronos wanted power - not to destroy humanity. Gaea is a nesting mother who lost her kids - she wants chaos.

But with all giants here - wouldn't be easier to do this here? Even if they have no support whatsoever? If they tailed back to Long Island, would the giants run rampant through Europe?

They wait until after lunch - when everyone is more or less up - to congregate and vote.

"There are seventeen giants - one for each Olympian plus Trivia, Proserpina, and the Fates, except for Dyonisus who has two and the twins who share two - and nine of us."

"Fifteen" Retorts Percy from his place opposite to Jason "I killed Aristaeus - the bane of Proserpina - yesterday. And the bane of Ares... Damasen... he was a good giant. He didn't reform."

Jason doesn't argue - Perseus was the one on Tartarus - even though he wants to ask who helped him kill the giant - and if he killed them afterward.

Fifteen is still a staggering number of giants. They have no chance alone - so after Delos, they solve to make their last stand on Camp Half-Blood.

Will, Perseus, and Jason are the ones to go down to the small island. Finding Apollo is exceptionally easy: it's just a matter of following the sound of the lyre.

He laughs at their request - full-blown laugh. Jason wants to punch him - the world is ending.

"There's no need for flowers. You already have the Physician's Cure. This is a name my son gave to his union to Zagreus - life and death."

Jason wants to scream. He wants to kill Nike - who is in her island, chilling after sending them in a goose chase. But Perseus and Will are already miles ahead of him - whatever happened last night unlocked something in him, even if the gloves never left.

"You'll come to Long Island. You'll fight - for as long as needed - against Orion and Gration." It's Will - defying his own father. Jason doesn't know if he has the courage.

"Promise - on your immortality, because I don't trust the Styx."

"I could still evaporate you"

"You won't. You need us too much."

Apollo promises - maybe because he sees everything and knows more than Jason about whatever will happen, maybe because that ax still bears gold in it - and exchanges some words with Will that neither of them hear as they walk back on board to tell the news.

Will and Percy disappear into a room - it makes something stir in Jason's stomach, as he remembers that he no longer knows this Perseus, but the one he knows, he loves.

Will and Perseus talk for hours - before being invaded by Leo - only to keep talking until the next morning.

"Change course to Athens. We have the Physician's Cure. Gaea will rampage through Europe. Hercules is on her side. There's no way we can go back now."

They agree - there's no crossing Hercules little island again.

An IM from Reyna cements their decision. A group of demigods serving Gaea - including the Censor that unjustly tried Hazel and was exiled - tried ambushing she and her sister - but the Amazons and the Hunters won against them. Thalia is alive - and she drove an arrow through Gwen's eye, the traitor in Nova Roma.

The Hunters called the Pegasi - and they all set course to Athens - while Reyna followed the statue who set course by the sea. Pegasus himself is going to Athens - he fought once against the Giants, he would do again.

They reach Athens in a little more than five hours. It's the last day of their time - and they are ambushed as soon as they cross the Parthenon.

They fight well - Gaea wants Perseus and Piper, so they rally around them.

Perseus is a fighting beast himself, but he is overwhelmed by the sheer number of monsters and unable to help others. He kills the Minotaur once again - the armies of monsters are almost endless - is the battle of Manhattan all over again.

Piper strikes against the three gorgons - Medusa can't petrify anyone without petrifying her own allies - and keeps the head as a prize.

Nico is in the sky - he looks like part of the storm. The flying monsters rally around him, but Nico doesn't disappoint - his sword cuts through them like butter.

In the end, the nine annihilate the whole army - Gaea has just her giants now.

But in the fray, two griffins escape - carrying with them Jason and Hazel. Now they have no option but to follow.

Perseus almost hits his head on the wall. Why was he so dumb? Gaea was playing them. Gender had nothing to do with the sacrifice - it's just one of the sea, one of the earth. And Hazel, as much as she is a daughter of the sky, her powers exist on earth.

He could deal with the bounty hunt on him. Even on Piper - just a person to protect - but not on two. He was not expecting this. Perseus thinks Gaea must be laughing right now.

He feels guilt creep on him. That was his plan, and now two of his best friends are gone in the sky. Leo looks even worse than him - he is weeping as if the two demigods are already dead. They probably are.

Annabeth takes the reins - and they fly to the Acropolis quicker than ever. The ship slams against the ground - it probably needs repairs. But they are here.

Jason doesn't remember feeling that much pain. He wakes up, chained in a sacrificial altar, Hazel just behind him. Their powers don't answer - the chains are as dark as Perseus' ax: stygian iron. In front of them, Porphyrion and Polybotes laugh.

"We'll be glad to offer your fathers your severed heads"

He wishes to talk back - but his mouth doesn't work. It's Clytius taking his voice away, right behind them - holding a scyther that is not unfamiliar. Is the same scyther that took Uranus manhood - the same one that cut him to pieces and reduced him to the sky.

"We take an arm from the daughter of the earth, blood and flesh, so that her connection with the ground is given to our Mother, so she is able to reclaim her dominion."

There's blood everywhere. Hazel's left arm is twitching on the floor, and she lets out an ear-splitting scream, before passing out.

"We take the ability from reproduce from the son of the sea, blood and flesh, so that his fertility will be given to our Mother, so she is able to reproduce again, the ability his father took from her."

Jason feels like the world is spinning. They will... they... they want to castrate him. He sees Hazel's blood staining the marble and the floor, running through his skin, and he wants to vomit - but something is preventing him from doing so.

Hazel is paling fast - she'll be dead in thirty minutes if they don't stop the bleeding. But he can't move. He can't help. A scream strangles in his throat.

If Hazel's voice was able to cut through Clytius magic, would his powers too? If he focused enough if he stretched himself enough.

Jason forces himself to stop thinking about the chanting, and focus. He imagines Nico - with no family, losing Hazel. Or Frank and Leo. Or Perseus. He pushes and pushes.

He doesn't find a source of water - but he feels her blood. He can stop it from coming out - just for a second, just for a minute, just until they rescue them.

They are going to rescue them. They are - none of them are dying today. They have to survive this war.

Jason focuses his thoughts on good things. After this, he is going to go to college. He is going to spend time with his sister. He'll work on greek-roman relations. He'll ask the male Praetor on a date. He'll punch Octavian. Everything will be just fine.

The scyther is just over Clytius head, ready to strike when an arrow takes its place in his eye. Thalia, mounted on Pegasus, barges in. The horse is bigger than Clytius - and he takes their chains, before flying off to the arena.

Thalia cuts his chains - throwing a gladius at him. Hazel is still passed out - curled into herself in the ground. Jason stands before her, still doing his best to keep her blood inside. It won't work for long.

The giants follow them - but to no effect. The ship crashes between them, the demigods jumping off - armed to the teeth. With a scream of war, the Amazons and the other Hunters come flying in their own Pegasi.

Reyna is not with them - Jason hopes, not for the first time, that the demigod settlements are in peace. That they won't have to deal with two battlefronts.

It's not the time for petty wars. They should be here, helping, if they were not caught up in past fights of over a hundred years ago. Gaea is much more urgent than whatever they are debating.

These fighters are not enough - they are fighting a losing battle. No gods are coming, and between immortal hunters and Amazons, no one is a deity.

Jason starts thinking he is hallucinating - wishful thinking - for the sky opens, and from there descents all the Olympians and Hecate. Nike is the first to appear, guiding the chariot of Zeus, a scream of battle in her lips.

Juno is in a chariot guided by peacocks. Behind her, Aphrodite - that's not Venus, but Jason has never seen Aphrodite so ready for war. There are no doves or flowers in her - just a giant bow and arrow and a spear, riding in a horse side by side with her husband and her lover.

All twelve Olympians, plus Hades, plus the Fates, plus Trivia, Nike, Juventa, Bia, and Enyo. Proserpina is not there - nor the court of Atlantis.

Jason can't help but think is too little too late. Why they didn't show before? Before Hazel lost her leg? Before Malcolm died? Before Perseus fell? Before this journey took everything from them?

The gods pair off with their children - Hades with Perseus, Athena with Annabeth, Aphrodite with Piper, Mars with Frank, Zeus with Nico, Hephaestus with Leo, Juno with Hylla, Thalia with Poseidon.

Before pairing with Will - who looks reluctant to do it - Apollo comes to them. Jason is good enough to go - but he won't leave Hazel.

"I can't regrow her arm - not here, not now. And never, if it has been amputated by a titan weapon. The best I can do is close it."

Jason is so tired of the gods being unable to do stuff they should be capable of, but he sighs and nods. Hazel's color starts coming back, even if she doesn't wake up.

It's Trivia who comes to take the place of Jason. He stalls - he doesn't trust any deity anymore with the well-being of his friends - but they are not much, and they need him to fight. He joins Ceres as she raises a sickle to go against her bane - Asterius.

The hunters follow their mistress and Amazons divide themselves between the remaining gods - Dyonisus and Mercury - and they attack.

It's not enough. They are stretched too thin. Clytius is the only fallen one after thirty minutes of battle - Trivia burns him down in rage for her acolyte and makes a still groggy Hazel make a little cut on so he dissolves.

Perseus fights alongside his father, mounting Mrs. O'Leary as he does Cerberus. Small Bob can't die unless struck by celestial bronze, so the giant's effort to kill the creature is useless. Both of them don't hold back. It's the first time he really remembers his training with the Lord of the Dead. But mostly, he remembers Persephone too, and the gardens of the Underworld.

Percy has to go back to her. To his stepmom, and his mom, and his other stepmom. He has to go back to his life - the life he can barely remember now, but that was everything for him.

He has to go back to the gardens and the lakes, to blue cookies and bare feet. At least one of the rulers had to be in the Underworld, so Persephone is waiting for them to come back.

It gives Perseus strength. They have to win, so the earth can prosper - so that they can go back to the Underworld. So he can meet Thanatos, and play with Cerberus, and debate with Charon. So that they can be a family.

They keep fighting, but even with Perseus renewed will, there's no winning. Alcyoneus retorts them blow for blow and they tire quickly. Hades turns to him - there's a grim expression in his face when he throws his helmet to Perseus.

Perseus notices to late what his father is about to do - and is unable to prevent it.

"FATHER"

It's the first time he recognizes it. Hades has always been the lord of the dead to him - he only ever called him father in mockery. But this time, it's yelled in anguish.

"Tell Kore that I love her."

A giant blow from the Lord of the Dead makes both of them stumble. The giant falls to the floor, but not before running his sword through Hades' neck.

It's the first god to fall, and when Perseus cuts Alcyoneus' head in return, he stays dead. But it's not enough, because Hades is dead.

He'll have to tell Kore. Kore that loves Hades so much that she leaves the surface for months on end to stay with him. He'll have to tell her that he wasn't enough to save Hades.

Cerberus whine loudly and tries to wake his master - he sniffs at the ground soiled by ichor. No giant is able to approach the body or Perseus - Cerberus growls at every enemy who tries. Small Bob stays by his side, fighting alongside him.

A tear escapes his eye. After so much time, so much resentment, he didn't think he would care. His father lies on the floor like a puppet with the strings cut - and Perseus rages. He closes his father's eyes but doesn't stop - there's still a war going on, so he puts on the Helm of Darkness and goes on to join Ceres and Jason.

A scream rings through the arena - is Poseidon, noticing his oldest brother is gone. He throws his trident at Polybotes head - between him and Thalia, the giant is gone in the next ten minutes.

The god of the sea runs through the field, stepping through dead bodies and avoiding the corner where Trivia is taking care of Hazel. He clutches his brother's prone body and cries, ichor staining his clothes. Cerberus whines at his sound - it's heartbreaking.

Across the field, all four siblings cry together for their fallen brother, but none of them as badly as Poseidon. There's a cold spreading through the field - and soon enough, the sky opens again.

It's Vesta. The last Olympian - the one who stayed behind to tend to the hearth. But now, she looked as fiery as her nephew - descending from the sky with no armor or chariot. The eldest child.

Family - that's Vesta domain. Perseus never saw her fight, but she does this time - throwing herself against the closest giant - Gration.

But Hades is not the last to fall.

Between Jason and Perseus, there's no match for Asterius. Ceres cuts his head off, still sobbing for her son-in-law and brother, sobbing for her widowed child. It doesn't help when her sister falls by her side - Juno, in full battle armor, is cut in half by Eurymedon.

Perseus thinks it might be a scene worthy of being painted - her lifeless eyes stare at the sky, as her crown rolls off her and stops at the giant's feet. Hylla keeps on fighting - now joined by her mother, who changes from Enyo to Bellona.

Zeus, in rage for his wife's death, kills Porphyrion before striking against Eurymedon with his general and her daughter. Nico, even if he never cared for Juno, follows suit - there's a path of destruction behind them, where lightning bolts hit the floor and filled the ground with craters.

Dyonisus kills Elphiates with his oldest daughter by his side, but his brother doesn't die as easily. Athena is still fighting against Enceladus - Annabeth striking the giant from all angles, in perfect synchrony with her mother, with help from Nike, who shields them both with her wings.

Mars and Mercury fight against Hippolytus - but he is faster than even the god of travelers, and evade them at every turn. Frank is a dragon, and then an elephant, and a snake - but nothing hits the giant.

After a blow on the arm by Bia, Periboea spears the still masculine body of Piper. Her blood falls from in-between her legs as Aphrodite - scarier than even Ares - runs her spear through the giantess's eye, killing her.

To save her daughter, Aphrodite shifts her completely into a girl - it's jarring, and something that takes adaptation, but the only way she can keep fighting without dropping.

But it's too late, the damage is done. Gaea is awake, by the seed of a daughter of the sea. Perseus exchanges a look with Leo through the fray - Mimas is just defeated, as Hephaestus smashed his head in with his hammer, but he regenerates quickly as if nothing happened.

There's no winning anymore. The fallen giants don't rise again - the Doors are closed - but the seven remaining ones don't die either - Enceladus, Eurymedon, Orion, Mimas, Otis, Hippolytus, and Thoon - their mother healing all their injuries.

The gods that killed their banes rally together against Gaea - but it's futile. It's just like Perseus in Tartarus - there's no battling a primordial in their own turf.

Will leaves his father to battle Orion, with his sister and the hunters - as Gration lays, probably dead, across the feet of his brother, courtesy of Vesta - and joins the duo.

The three of them sprint through the muddy ground, and onto Festus. There's no winning from Gaea on the ground - but they might have one way.

"Don't let me die, okay?"

Will and Percy join hands across Leo's forehead - and try to bless him the best they can, without being gods themselves. A green sheen covers Leo - and this might be it.

Leo mounts Festus - now again a giant dragon - and rises to the sky. It is enough to attract the Earth. She leaves her battle against Vesta, Aphrodite, Bia, Poseidon, and Ceres - to go after the dragon.

"Trying to escape me, my little demigod?"

An explosion of fire rocks the sky. It's not enough to kill Gaea, but between Zeus' thunder and Leo's explosion, the primordial is unconscious.

Perseus focuses - on keeping Leo's soul in his body. Will, by his side, shines as Apollo himself - there's a sheen of sweat in his face. It might've worked

None of them have the power to kill her now - just the union of all the remaining Olympians would even be capable of rendering her asleep again.

They can't find Festus or Leo - Perseus renders this as a good sign, the sign that their powers were enough.

But for now, with her unconscious, she can't heal the giants. So the remaining gods do quick work of killing them - the last to fall is Eurymedon, with Zeus' bolt across his forehead.

The king of the gods falls on his knees and weeps. Juno is dead. Hades is dead. There are six hunters and twenty amazons remaining - from tens and hundreds.

Mrs. O'Leary died - from a stray arrow. Cerberus paws the ground where her dust is - Perseus can't even imagine his puppy back on Tartarus.

Nike - both wings pointing into different sides, spine broken by Enceladus foot - is sprawled on the ground. Her unblinking eyes stare at Athena, who is holding her hand.

"Did... did we... win?"

"Y-yes"

"Give them the... the crowns... don't forget..."

"I won't"

"There's no... no friends.... in victory. I wish I had... someone."

"I am your friend, Nike"

"My best one... don't let them forget.... champions don't die..."

"Never"

She gags in her own blood. It drips around her chin. It's the first time Perseus sees Athena cry. It hits him - they, all of them, have known each other for thousands of years.

Mars is crying by his mother's head, his spear broken on his feet. Juventa, burned blonde hair blowing around her face, hugs Hephaestus as he cries for their mother - the one that never cared for them, but that was their mother anyway.

Vesta has Hades head on her lap, while his body lays broken on the floor. Ceres is trying to calm Poseidon - but the god of the sea can't stop crying.

On the other side of the Arena, most demigods are together around Hazel - Will is explaining about Leo, but most of them look hopeless. Hazel is crying in Frank's arms.

Eight of them are here - Hazel is missing an arm, Piper went through a jarring body change and Frank has a broken leg - but eight of them are alive, and there's hope for Leo.

Perseus stands in the middle - not joining the gods or the demigods. He looks at the ichor stained floor, the upcoming battle against Gaea looming. Cerberus and Small Bob are together on each side of him.

Apollo - from where he is laying with his unconscious, but alive, sister - raises to help the demigods. None of them are happy about any godly presence - but they need treatment, so they let it happen.

Perseus is the first to break the silence after everyone is healed. Some gods are still crying - but there's no time for grief now. He doesn't look at where his father lays dead - he can't process this right now.

"We... we need to go. To Long Island. We need reinforcements - the war isn't over."

"We need to recharge" Is Hephaestus that retorts "There's no way we can fight right now. Maybe in a day or so but..."

"I don't think we have this time." Jason points "We could try and stall things, prepare... Can you send us there?"

"I can" Say Pegasus, who was fighting alongside Thalia.

Perseus wants not to care. To say that Juno or Nike deserved it. But it's not fair - not even them deserve to die, to go back to the void or Tartarus to reform or be lost for centuries.

Annabeth, however, sits in her corner with the ghost of a smile in her lips - so many demigod's lifes lost for them, for their petty struggles, and now they have to pay the price too. Everyone is paying the price now.

If they helped before, if they didn't spend months cooperating with Juno's useless plan, perhaps now no one would be dead. They could have united the demigods without waisting eight months on stupid missions to kill giants - just for them to come back.

If they stopped thinking about their "oh so bad" split personalities, maybe they could've made this journey quicker, instead of letting them spend two months going in side-quests, fighting minor gods, and retrieving useless information.

So yes, Annabeth is vindicated. This - all of this, those deaths, the ichor soiling the ground - it's their fault.

Piper feels tired. This - this body, this recognition from her mother - is all she ever wanted. But now that she has it, she can't even appreciate it. Was it worth it? She would give everything back for Perseus' leg, Hazel's arm, Malcolm, Leo.

She looks at their mismatched little family - and remembers that yesterday, they had lunch together - all of them. It was not the best moment, but they were laughing.

They could've been happy. If they weren't demigods, most of them would be in college by now. They wouldn't be broken.

Perseus solves to travel by shadows with Cerberus - he still has his father's Helm, and the immortal horse won't let him mount with it. He feels sick - that's his father's dog and his father's armor. But that's their chance of survival.

No god look at him when he melts into the darkness - it's too fresh, too painful. Part of their family is dead.

She jumps on the Pegasus, holding Hazel up - she can barely hold on to her brother in front of her. The wound is closed, but the daughter of Jupiter is off-balance - there's nothing on her right side.

Hazel closes her eyes and rests her head across Nico's back - she is so tired. Leo is gone - maybe forever - and she doesn't have an arm. There's nothing there - nothing. She goes to move and she forgets it for a second - but then she tries to hold tighter to Nico and can't.

Nico feels his sister's tears on the back of his shirt and holds tight to Frank - who is almost strangling Will in his efforts not to panic - he is flying over the sea.

Jason is behind Piper - he is the last one - and he is much more comfortable. That's his half brother after all.

They land in Long Island after ten painful hours - and Will seethes, because their journey could have been so easy, so small - but the gods were too occupied by their insignificant problems that they had to journey for months.

One after the other, they dismount just shy of the river - Jason thinks the naiads look mad when Frank vomits all over their water.

"Flying on a ship is a thing. Flying on a horse is another."

He stills looks queasy when they cross the Pavillion. There's no one there, which is weird because it's morning. There's no one anywhere.

Perseus - powered by the Helm - is the first to get there - almost two hours before them. And the first thing he listens makes him utterly mad.

"Give our soldiers back - or Nova Roma will strike back!"

It's Octavian's voice coming from the hill that harbors Thalia's tree - and Perseus sighs. He looks at himself - he needs a shower, and sleep, and food. They need traps. They don't need a second war.

He is in no condition to fight right now. So he'll have to put his diplomatic skills to use - just the reminder of his father's death sparks a dull pain in his chest - still covered in ichor and dust, his ax slung over his shoulder.

Cerberus stays by his side. Perseus sends Small Bob to Persephone through the old Labyrinth entrance - he needs the big dog, but the skeleton tiger would just be easy prey.

"TWELVE LEGION, STOP"

Perseus looks mightly tired as he takes on the scene - the greeks following Clarisse, Connor, and Lou, the Romans following Octavian and Mike Kahale. Reyna between them, with the gigantic statue.

The demigod looks between his first and his second family, none that he ever fit right, both of which he was the leader, and hold on to Cerberus.

"We - and by we, I mean nine of us, greeks and Romans, the Amazons, and the hunters - just defeated fifteen giants, with the gods. In Athens. We could've - and should've - had reinforcements."

"Percy-" Connor starts, but Percy raises a hand to stop him. There are shadows curling against his arms - his celestial bronze leg shines under the Athena Parthenos.

"I may have been gone for a while, but I'm still your leader - and their Praetor. You choose me to lead - both of you. Me, and Reyna, and Annabeth, and Frank, and Jason."

"Praetor Jackson-"

"Shut the hell up Octavian, this is all your fucking fault" Intercedes Reyna.

"I went through Tartarus - for a month - because of that damned statue, to close the Doors so you could be safe. I don't care about your petty little problems now - Earth has risen."

"IT'S A LIE, IT'S ALL LIES" Screeches Octavian.

"How can you know? You were here, raising trouble and creating unnecessary problems while we went on the freaking mission to save the world."

Octavian tries to reply, but Reyna's sword in his throat stops him.

"My father is dead. The gods are coming - but we need to stall Gaea. There's no time for this."

"I say kill him." Replies Reyna.

"I agree." Says Perseus, to the surprise of no one "We're the Praetors of Nova Roma. Our word is the law. For treason against our people, you're condemned to death, Octavian Simmons."

"Apollo will curse you for this!" Are his last words as Reyna cuts his head off. Mike Kahale backs down - no one would dare to go against them, not when Perseus is holding the symbol of his father in his hands and the Guardian of Hell in his side.

"Now that... that was solved, let's prepare for the true war. Gaea is coming - in hours from now. We have to hold on until the gods come."

They enter the Camp - the Greeks and the Romans aren't a unit, but at least they all trust Perseus, who sits on the top of the amphitheater with Reyna, and they wait until the others get there. Jason is the first to come to sit down by them - followed by the other six.

"I won't ask you to trust each other. I ask you to fight - with all that you can. Juno and Pluto, or Hera and Hades, are dead." Cries erupt from that, but silence quickly at Reyna's fulminant look "Nike, or Victory, has also fallen. Pray for your parents - burn food, whatever - so that they can take strength. They should be here in a few hours. We just need to hold on."

"Romans and Greeks - no one will survive if we don't fight. Together. For now, you take your orders from Reyna and Clarisse." It's Jason who completes.

Reyna and Clarisse sit down to discuss ideas - they don't trust each other, but are both daughters of war - and their objectives are simple. Lou goes to call her brother as Connor joins the table - Alabaster apparently refused to join the battle against the Romans.

While Romans and Greeks trade strategies and weapons, the travelers rest. Perseus is the first to fall asleep - holding his father's Helm of Darkness like a teddy bear, while most of the others keep their distance from it.

Cerberus makes the campers stay away from the eight. Two of his heads sleep and one keeps growling at whoever gets too close.

Annabeth is the last to fall asleep - she joins the strategy group for about thirty minutes before joining her quest mates behind the giant dog - it sniffs at her. She wonders if remembers the red rubber ball.

They have eleven hours to plan and rest. It's a miracle - Leo managed to knock Gaea down for 21 hours, almost a day.

At least is enough time for everyone to sleep and eat and plan traps. It won't be enough against the primordial, but it might just hold her for a while. They have no way of causing explosions to Leo's proportion - at least they have numbers.

Gaea rises from the earth like an evil mountain - she is the ground. Some of them - the ones on bare earth - die immediately, sucked into the mud as it turns to quicksand.

Frank takes the lead as the whole army charges against the goddess, striking again and again in every part they can find.

They last the three hours before the gods appear - but they lose two-thirds of their forces. Mangled corpses are everywhere on the battlefield.

The gods win - against a tired Gaea - without major losses for themselves. There's no need to recount their battle, for they will lord about it for many centuries.

What counts, however, is the deaths on the demigods' side - the ones who will be forgotten in the shadow of their parents' victory.

Connor sobs over the almost unrecognizable body of his brother, who died holding hands with Katie Gardner, being veiled by her sister, Miranda.

Hazel is helping Alabaster to find his sister, who missing somewhere in the rubble with the other 56 demigods, who are unaccounted for. The first they find is Clarisse - her still hot corpse trying in vain to protect Chris Rodriguez.

Jason holds Thalia's circlet - the only remaining thing of the Lieutenant of Artemis, who came into the battle with her mistress and died to save her. There are just two hunters alive. The sister he barely knows - and won't ever have the chance now.

Piper holds on to him - she can't bear to look as Mitchell and Ariel mourn little Lacy, killed by a fallen tree. Drew died taking a stone to the head for Piper - she doesn't know how to feel about it.

Will would help - but sadness devours him. Of his whole Cabin, he is the sole survivor. All greek children of Apollo are gone. His boyfriend is also dead - his metal foot caught on the quicksand, and he was swallowed by the earth.

Nyssa mourns her siblings - Jake, Leo, Thalassa, Kira. There's only six of them now - back to where they were just after the first war.

Reyna is alive - although with half of her face burned. Hylla - the last of the Amazons - hovers over her, tending to her injuries.

The smaller cabins help each other - there wasn't a lot of them at first, and now there is even less. Cabin 17 has no demigod alive - and won't ever house one again.

Frank is helping the legion to unearth the bodies and rescue the survivors - it's weird to see a giant mole with only an eye. He is the one who holds Hazel's hand as they have to break Lou Ellen's arm to take her from under a pillar.

Grover died protecting Juniper from Gaea's earthquakes. He became a little juniper tree, side by side with hers. Coach Hedge is the only satyr from Camp Half-Blood left.

But maybe the worst scene is where the Pavillion once was - Perseus Jackson is flicking in and off, large gashes in his torso. Hazel is the one to find him. Most of the survivors - and the eight travelers - stop to look. It's their leader, their savior.

Nico holds his head as blood pools under them - the irony, Perseus took a boulder in the chest for him, flying across the Camp at the end of the battle, and Nico was again unable to catch the hero.

Annabeth sobs over his body, screaming. She lost Luke to the gods. She lost Thalia to the gods. She lost Malcolm to the gods. She lost Leo to the gods. She lost Grover to the gods. Everyone is gone - she won't lose Perseus too.

"FIX HIM" She screams at Apollo "FIX HIM"

Apollo shakes his head sadly. In his benefit, he managed to save all demigods who still held on after battle - and most of their limbs - but Perseus is too far gone.

"FIX HIM! HE SAVED YOU. ALL OF YOU. HE DESERVES TO LIVE!"

"Annabeth, he is beyond-"

"YOU ARE GODS! WHAT ARE YOU FOR?"

"We can't, child"

Annabeth doesn't relent. She lost too much. She lost everything. They took all she was, all she had. She won't fail Perseus.

"Immortalize him."

"Annabeth, no-"

"Shut up, Nico" She barks. There's a mad look in her eyes. "You didn't let Heracles die, and he deserved it far less. Save Percy. Make him a god. You have the Fates right there."

Most of the gods look uncertain. Perseus denied immortality the last time - but they couldn't let the hero die.

"DO IT"

No one disagrees with her. Most of their friends - the ones who know Perseus better, who aren't blinded by grief - look horrified.

Nico would argue strongly - but he promised himself that no harm would come upon Perseus after Tartarus. So he backs off - better than he hates them forever than dead.

Zeus is the one who finally takes a step forward. Perseus soul is almost leaving him - it's now or never.

"All in agreement?"

The gods nod and raise their hands over his prone body. It burns so brightly everyone has to look away

When they look again, there's Perseus - still missing a leg, but better than ever. He looks like his father - uncannily so. There are tears in the corners of Ceres's eyes. Poseidon can't look.

Juventa brings the jar of nectar - she is the one who can grant eternal life, the one who guards over her mother's apples. She puts the jar to his lips, and the boy - the god - wakes up, disoriented.

"W-what... h-how am I here? I-I was with Charles and... and Ethan..." He mumbles under his breath, looking lost.

The Fates look at him - but there's no pity in their eyes. He sees again the blue line being cut - is his life. It's gone. Even before they speak, he knows what happened.

"Earthopener, The Silent One, The Rich One, Lord of the Dead. Hail Perseus, the Underworld God"

57 notes · View notes

seavoice · 3 years

Text

Horse Trading

(link to ao3 on title, or continue reading after the read more)

“Octavian was an asshole,” Reyna said, a contemplative look on her face as she laid on the floor of Hazel’s Praetor Villa, “but sometimes I think, can you really blame him?”

“Yes,” Hazel said, from her position on the floor next to her, where she was trying to sketch Reyna, a task made inordinately difficult by the older girl’s constant moving around. “I really can.”

Reyna sighed. It was a long and contemplative sigh. It wasn’t unusual to see Reyna with a brooding, thinking look on her face, but the relaxed and content expression added a new dimension to it. It was something structural; it somehow made her look younger yet more self-assured at the same time. “Octavian,” Reyna repeated, “was an asshole. But this Villa, Hazel. This Villa. I can see why Octavian was so desperate for praetorship. This house almost makes up for the stress of leading a child army.”

“It does not,” Hazel said. “It really does not, Reyna. Distance has just made your heart grow fonder. And delusional.” She sighed as Reyna shifted her position yet again. Reyna winced as a wordless apology. “Also,” Hazel said, reaching for her eraser, “Octavian didn’t want the praetorship for the house. He wanted it because he was a power hungry and blood thirsty politician.”

“At least you agree the bed is worth it?”

The bed was very nice, Hazel had to admit. Californian King, which seemed excessive, but was appreciated, and the fluffiest pillows Hazel had ever laid her head on. “Maybe. But I’m not agreeing with you when you literally opted for laying on the floor instead of the bed.”

“Fair enough,” Reyna said. She stretched on the floor, some complicated starburst. Hazel decided to give up her endeavour at drawing Reyna and flipped to the previous page in her sketchbook where she had been working on a drawing of Arion. It was half completed, and it was an attempt at drawing purely from memory, but Hazel enjoyed the challenge. “But it’s good for your back, believe me.”

“You’re an immortal Huntress now. Does that really matter?”

“Also fair enough,” Reyna agreed. Reyna rolled over to prop herself up on her elbows and peeked at Hazel’s sketchbook. She raised a single eyebrow. “Oh, that’s certainly more...horse-y than I usually look.”

“I gave up. You move too much.”

Reyna inclined her head in acceptance. Still on her belly, she folded her arms and laid her head down on them.

It was weird to see Reyna so carefree. Weird in an undoubtedly good way, but weird nonetheless. Immortality had, perhaps ironically, taken years off her shoulders.

Hazel hadn’t invited Reyna to New Rome to draw her, but inevitably, that was what the visit had come to. She had written to her asking for advice — advice on running an entire city, advice on leading a quote unquote “child army” in times of peace, advice on not going crazy with stress — and Reyna had accepted so readily that a ventus spirit had brought her letter the very day Hazel had sent hers. Hazel had prepared for the visit with a single minded focus; she had brought a notebook for note taking, three different colours of pens, a highlighter, and her firmest handshake.

But then they had skipped the firm handshake and instead had hugged, tight, and Reyna had snagged a bowl of jelly beans from the Praetor office, and for the next few hours they had done nothing but lay on the floor of Hazel’s newly acquired Praetor Villa, swapping stories after stories, lazing around and sketching. Reyna had told her about the Hunt’s newest undertaking, some mythological boar or the other, and also about Thalia’s new obsession with 80’s rock. Hazel had told her about Lavinia’s latest shenanigans, and Gwen’s new job as a much valued mental health counsellor for the Legion. No notetaking had taken place. No praetor advice had been shared.

“It’s very good,” Reyna said, gesturing to Hazel’s drawing of Arion. “The likeness is stunning.”

Hazel beamed. “Really?”

“Of course!” Reyna scrambled to sit up. “It’s uncanny. This is really, really good, Hazel. It’s like…” Reyna made a hand gesture like she was pulling something; Hazel recognised it as an unconscious tick that Reyna had, one usually employed in Town Hall meetings when she was struggling to find the correct words to use for convincing reluctant denizens. “It’s like make a career out of it good,” she finished.

It was a warming compliment. Hazel’s smile grew wider; this was a pride unlike any other, something simple and easy and painless. Hazel had convinced herself to take pride in the smaller things more often. It made a dreary life just a little bit happier and easier when she could take pride in mastering her mist magic, in baking a sweet cupcake to perfection, in a good sparring session, in making a friend smile. But this pride in her artwork was somehow—brighter. It was something she’d dedicated long hours to.

“Horse artist?” Hazel said. “You think there’s a market out there for that?”

“Are you kidding me? Pet artist! Lucrative as they come.” Reyna laughed, an easy, lovely sound, and this too was unusual, this too was good, this too warmed Hazel. “People go crazy when they get pets. Put them in all cute little kinds of outfits and hire professional photographers, artists...I’m serious, Hazel. Business idea.”

“I’ll keep it in mind,” Hazel said, with a laugh of her own. Then she sighed and set down her pencil. “I appreciate the business advice, though honestly, what I need more is Praetor advice. I feel I’m going insane.”

“You’re doing wonderfully,” Reyna said. “You don’t need my advice, Hazel. You’re a force of nature.”

This was a sweet sentiment, and Reyna probably meant it, but it didn’t help Hazel’s case. “Thanks,” she said. “Like—genuinely. But I do feel...I do feel like I’m going insane. It’s—it’s a lot.”

Reyna’s eyebrows furrowed. She looked older at once, older in all senses of the word. Like the Reyna of before the Hunt, and the break from her duties—Reyna in charge, Praetor Reyna, sixteen year old Reyna with the world on her shoulders. She sat up straighter. “Is someone giving you trouble?” Reyna asked. “I was joking about Octavian earlier, but gods, if someone’s coming up to take his spot as Asshole of the Year—“

“No,” Hazel said quickly. “It’s nothing like that. That’s nothing. I could deal with someone like that no problem. It’s just—like you said...child army.”

Reyna exhaled softly and closed her eyes. “Yeah.”

Hazel hated bringing the mood down, hated evaporating Reyna’s good cheer, but she set that uncomfortableness aside for the time being. She pulled up her legs to her chest and rested her chin on her knees. And there was solidarity in this too, acknowledgment. “Yeah,” she agreed. “Everything’s—okay, now, for the time being. Doesn’t mean it’s going to stay that way forever.”

“That’s not really ever in your control,” Reyna said with a rueful smile. “But I do...I do get what you mean. I understand.”

“I thought you would,” Hazel said. “That’s why I wrote to you.” She’d thought of going to Frank with these thoughts too, and she was sure he’d give good advice, and be kind about it, but a part of her—a stubborn part, maybe, a conscious part, sure, but a valid part, nonetheless—hadn’t wanted to show a weakness to her co-Praetor, even one as familiar as Frank.

“I don’t know if I can give you any great advice,” Reyna said at last. “I don’t know if I can tell you anything you don’t already know, and you are doing a great job.”

Hazel tried to keep the sadness out of her smile. “Hm.”

“What I needed?” Reyna said. “What I needed when I was a praetor was...gods, just a ear. Just someone to bear it with me. Someone to understand. Jas—he was gone, and it was just me. For the longest time. But then with Frank, it wasn’t as hard again, because we could...we could switch off. We could share. That’s the only thing I can really tell you, Hazel. Only advice I can give you. Share. Share it with me, always. With Frank. Lavinia. Nico. Your friends. Don’t make the mistake of thinking you’re alone. You don’t have to be.”

“I know,” Hazel said. She’d been alone for so long in Asphodel she had thought she could survive loneliness, if she had to. But she didn’t have to. And she didn’t want to. “And you sold yourself short Reyna—you do give great advice.”

“Sounds like I didn’t say anything you didn’t already know.”

“But I think I needed to hear that from you,” Hazel said. “From someone else. You said it yourself—I just needed to know someone else understood. Otherwise it gets...it gets lonely.”

Reyna’s smile was soft. “You’ve got good instincts, Hazel. You’ll be just fine.”

Gods, she hoped. “Thanks for coming out here on such short notice. You probably were busy with the hunt.”

“Hey, don’t worry about it,” Reyna said, and there was that strange new lightness to her again, a relaxed happiness. “Haven’t you heard? I’ve got time now.”

Hazel picked her pencil back up. “You know, if you try sitting still, maybe I can still do a quick sketch. Before you leave.”

“Actually,” Reyna said, and was Hazel imagining things or did she actually look self-conscious? “I have a sketch request, if you’d accept.”

Hazel was intrigued. “Oh. Oh. Sure. Who?”

Reyna smiled a little sheepishly. “Don’t laugh okay? I miss him. Scipio.”

Pet artist...Hazel let out a small giggle. “Oh, so when you said people go crazy when they get pets, you meant—“

“I told you not to laugh!” But Reyna was laughing herself. It wasn’t sad, but it was sort of wistful. “I never dressed him up or whatever, but he’s been on my mind lately; I’ve been wondering when he’ll reform. Pegasi reform slow, apparently. I thought I’d never see him again in this life, but now that I’m a Hunter—holy Pluto, I can. And you drew Arion so well—“

“I think it’s sweet,” Hazel said. It was, exceedingly so. Hazel was trying to recall Skippy in her memories, and she felt a pang of sadness as she remembered him soaring above them during the War Games. It had been a long time since she had seen him, but she thought she remembered enough to manage a sketch for Reyna. “It might not be a perfect likeness—“

“I’ve got a photo.”

Now, Hazel absolutely couldn’t control herself. She smiled wide, a fond laugh bubbling in her chest. “Oh, Reyna—“

“Will it, or will it not make it easier to draw him?” Reyna asked, tips of her ears a faint pink.

“It’ll be perfect,” Hazel promised. “Where have you got it? In the Praetor office?”

Reyna reached into her pocket and brought out a worn out photograph. As much as it was hilarious, it was also heart-warmingly sweet, a touch melancholy. Hazel sympathised with her—she couldn’t imagine losing Arion. She probably would start carrying a picture of him everywhere too; it wasn’t a bad idea.

“Sure,” Hazel said, studying the picture. “I can do a drawing for you no problem. You can carry it everywhere along with the picture. A horse drawing in exchange for solid advice. My first political quid pro quo as Praetor.”

“That’s a terrible deal, Hazel. I can literally commission you, if you want.”

“I’ll settle for a refill of my jelly beans,” Hazel said, gesturing at the now empty bowl of jelly beans. They’d made fast work of it. It hadn’t survived the first hour.

Reyna sighed and stretched out on the floor. “Oh, I forgot,” she said glumly. “One more piece of advice, Praetor to Praetor.”

Hazel looked up. “Yeah?”

“Stock up on those beans,” Reyna said mournfully. “And never let anyone break into your stash. You’ll need them.”

#hazel levesque #reyna avila ramirez arellano #reyna ramirez arellano #pjo #heroes of olympus #voop fic #eh this is kind of choppy but i do really love these two and think they should be friends #also not relevant to this story at all but frank and hazel are very much NOT a couple here. just co praetors and good friends #goodnight I’m going to bed

16 notes · View notes

whitewitchdani · 4 years

Text

Laters, Baby: Chapter 12

Read Chapter 11 Here

Word Count: 1780

Pairing: Winchester!Sister x Reader

Warnings: angst, language, description of injury, mention of a serial killer

A/N: Sorry I’ve been MIA y’all. I had to go back to work and it sucked. lol. Here’s chapter 12! Let me know what you think and if you’d like to be tagged. :)

Laters, Baby Masterlist

“Simple salt and burn my ass. Did Bobby do any research on this house before he gave us this case?” You complained as you sat at the motel table doing research while Dean cleaned his gun on the bed and Sam had just finished showering.

“Why, what’s up?” asked Sam as he approached you from behind drying his hair.

“This house was the site of a serial killing. A victim of the BTK killer was killed here, oh my god.”

“No way. Really?” Sam asked as he looked at the laptop over your shoulder.

“BTK? What the hell is that?” asked Dean as he slid a magazine into place.

“Seriously Dean? He’s one of the most famous serial killers in history; he killed at least 10 people. I learned about him in one of my classes at Stanford. BTK stands for bind, torture, kill. Guy still gives me the skeeves,” you shuddered.

“Shit really? And this is a victims house?” Dean asked as he walked toward the motel table.

“Yeah checks out. And the way the people have been being attacked lines up with the way the girl was attacked and killed,” answered Sam.

“So is it the victim or BTK?” Dean asked as he walked around the table and sat down, leaning back to reach the fridge and grab a round of beers for everyone.

“Well Rader, BTK, died in prison. So there’s no reason for him to be tied to that house. I’d say it’s definitely our girl,” you replied as you accepted the beer from Dean.

“This is going to be an interesting case,” Sam said with a sigh as he took the beer from Dean and sat down. “Haven’t had a good ghost hunt in a while.”

“It says here she’s buried in the town cemetery. So, Dean, you wanna go dig her up while Sam and I go to the house?” you asked as you shut the laptop.

“Why do I always get the dirty jobs?”

“You lied to Sam and me for over 25 years; I don’t want to hear you complain about anything I ask you to do for a very, very long time,” you batted your eyes at your eldest brother.

He nodded his head at you, “Touché, kid. Touché.”

------------ Later at the house, you and Sam made sure the place was empty. The previous occupants had fled after the last attack, leaving the home vacant. It was silent in the small house, until the ring of Sam’s phone caused both of you to jump.

Sam grabbed it and looked at the caller ID, “It’s Dean.” Flipping it open, he put it on speaker and answered. “Hey Dean, did you find the grave?”

You both heard heavy breathing on the other end of the line, “I’m getting too old for this shit.”

“You’re 30, Dean,” Sam rolled his eyes, “Did you burn the bones?”

“Yes I burned the bones,” he replied out of breath. “I just finished filling in the grave.”

“Alright, Sam and I will sweep the house one last time so just get back here.”

“Super.” Dean rasped out before he hung up.

Sam flipped the phone closed and turned to face you, “Well, you take upstairs and I’ll take downstairs?”

“Meet back at the front door and then we can get the hell out of here in time to hit the bar.”

Sam rolled his eyes with a smile as you ran up the stairs. You looked through the bedrooms and, finding nothing, began to trudge back down the stairs. As you hit the second step on the staircase, you felt two hands in the small of your back and before you could react, they gave you a hard shove. With a scream, you tumbled down the stairs and landed at the bottom with a thump.

Sam came scrambling around the corner to the base of the stairs to see you groaning at the bottom. “Y/N!” He rushed to your side and breathed a sigh of relief to see you were still conscious. “Are you alright?”

“Just peachy, Sam. Not like I just fell down a damn flight of stairs or anything.” You rolled your eyes at your twin. Attempting to stand, you hissed and grimaced as you put weight on your right hand, “Ah! Son of a bitch! Goddammit I think I broke my wrist.”

Your brother grabbed your wrist to examine it and opened his mouth to speak but was cut off by the front door slamming open. You both turned expecting another ghostly encounter, only to see your older brother strut in waving his gun around.

Dean walked in and cleared the room before looking at his siblings on the floor, “I heard Y/N scream, what happened?”

Sam helped you stand as you answered, “Well, either our girl’s tied here some other way, or there’s something else in this house. Something pushed me down those stairs and now my goddamn wrist is broken.”

“I burned those bones, there’s no way that ghost is still here.”

“Then what else could be here?” Sam crossed his arms in frustration.

“Well I didn’t throw myself down the stairs. Something is here,” you groaned as you held your wrist and leaned on Sam to stay upright.

“Good observation, Winchester.”

All three of you turned to follow a British accent towards the staircase finding a tall, blonde man standing in the middle of them. As your eyes met his, he flashed his blue eyes onyx causing every Winchester in the room to let out a collective sigh.

“Seriously? I’m gonna kill Bobby. Simple salt and burn my ass,” you repeated your sentiment from earlier in the evening.

“Don’t blame your surly hunter friend, Winchester. Before I arrived it WAS just the spirit here.” The demon began to descend the stairs as he spoke, “No I’m here for a different reason all together.”

“What could you possibly want?” you yelled.

“You, Miss Winchester. You see, our Father has issued a bounty on you. Any demon that brings you back to him alive will be rewarded greatly, and I intend to be that demon.” His thin lips curled into a sickly smile.

“Like hell.” Dean fired the shotgun into the demon’s chest, causing him to fly backwards. “Time to go.” He grabbed your good wrist and pulled you through the front door, Sam pulling up the rear.

Suddenly, Sam got thrown by a force into the lawn.

“Sam!” you yelled. You and Dean turned to look back and saw the demon in the doorway.

Your brother put an arm protectively in front of you, “You aren’t taking her to Lucifer. Over my dead body.”

“That can be arranged.” The demon smiled, “Just give me the girl and no one gets hurt. For once no one gives a rat’s ass about the infamous Winchester brothers, just their whore sister who miraculously is the soulmate to the devil.”

“Hey!” You yelled at him. “Just because you’re a demon doesn’t give you license to be a dick.”

“No one talks to my sister like that.” Dean lifted the shotgun once more but with a wave of his hand, the demon flicked it out of his hands. With another wave, Dean was thrown away from you.

“Dean!” He and Sam were groaning in a heap on the lawn, leaving you alone with the demon on the sidewalk. You turned your attention to him, “I’m not going with you.”

“My dear, I don’t think you’ll have a choice. See, I’m a demon and you’re an injured, female hunter. Not exactly much of a fight,” he smirked. In a flash, he backhanded you across the face.

Your face turned to the side with the force. You looked at him wide eyed as you wiped the blood from the corner of your mouth, realizing he had a bit of a point. But you’d be damned if you went down without a fight. Bringing your leg up behind you, you grabbed Ruby’s demon knife out of your boot. You leaned forward and slashed, making contact with his arm.

“AH! You bitch! You’re lucky Lucifer wants you or I’d kill you right here.”

“Not if I kill you first you black eyed bastard.”

Fighting with your non-dominant hand was difficult, but you held your own. The demon got a few licks in, but he was no match for the knife. Dean yelled from the lawn, causing the demon to look away from you just long enough to make your move. With one swing, you brought your left hand around and plunged the demon knife into his chest, causing him to spark orange inside his vessel as he died.

The vessel collapsed on the ground as your brothers rose from it, making their way over to you. You bent over and pulled the knife from the man’s chest, the blade still smoking.

Sam got to you first, “You alright?” He grabbed your face to check the split lip and saw a bruise forming on your cheek.

“I’m fine Sam. I just need Bobby to set this stupid thing and I’ll be good as new.”

“Friggin’ demons man.” Dean growled as he made his way to the driver’s side of the Impala.

“My sentiments exactly. But Dean, Lucifer issued a bounty for me. Attacks like this are only going to get worse,” you slid into the backseat with your twin, him tending to your injuries.

“I know, kid. We’ll figure something out.”

Dean threw the car into drive and headed back to Sioux Falls. With a yelp from you, Sam set your wrist and wrapped it in a bandage from the first aid kit. You gave him a look of contempt as he did so since you A. weren’t expecting it and B. expected Bobby to do it when you got back.

“You better not have fucked that up, or I’ll re-break it on your jaw,” you smirked at your brother.

“Ha-Ha. You know it’s right; I wanted to get it set before it started to heal wrong.” He sighed, “What are you thinking Y/N/N? I can see your wheels turning.”

You sighed in return, “That I should just go to Lucifer like I planned. You and Dean are gonna get hurt soon and I don’t wanna risk it.” You replied to him lowly so Dean wouldn’t hear; he was pissed enough.

“You know that isn’t an option.”

“I know but-”

The screech of the impact of metal on metal interrupted you as another vehicle rammed into the passenger side of the Impala. The car flipped twice before landing right-side up on the side of the road, leaving all of the Winchester’s inside unconscious.

Read Chapter 13 Here

Tag List:

@lovesamwinchester @tomhiddleston-is-mischief @ditu-m9 @stuckinsaudi1 @sugar-nico @potato-extra-pot @humbledarkness @the-fiery-ghost @jo-wayward @streetghostfighter07 @millieccino @some-local-dumbass

57 notes · View notes

gingerhulksmash · 5 years

Text

The sketchbook.

Hazel has gotten used to throwing away little scrap bits of paper bearing any marks of her boredom during senate meetings, but she’s beginning to regret it now, as she’s bundling old meeting notes into a recycling bag. They never contained anything vital to the meetings, just stickmen blowing rude speech bubbles, games of hangman and tic-tac-toe, Jason’s chicken scratch scrawl asking did she want to get donuts after the meeting? She can’t remember if she’d said yes, or if she’d smiled, or if she’d told him she had drills to run.

She hopes she’d said yes. She hopes she’d scribbled yes, I would love to get donuts with you, so he had known for sure that there was nothing else she’d rather have done that day. If she’d known what was coming, she’d have asked him, after every meeting, and stretched out what should have been a longer friendship. What should have been more time with her first friend in Camp Jupiter. What should have been more time with someone she saw as a—

As a—

She’s getting distracted, and her eyes are starting to prickle. With a shuddering sigh, Hazel goes back to gutting Jason’s old desk. Purging it of all traces of it’s former occupant, though she’s fighting the urge to have it towed towards his funeral pyre. Whoever sat at it next wouldn’t be quite so deserving, not of the title, not of the office, not of the desk so covered with the imprint of his late night work and coffee spills, she begins to wonder if they couldn’t conjure Jason’s soul from out of the grainy wood itself.

But, she reminds herself, it’s just a desk. No more a part of Jason than the office, the chair, the pages and pages of work scattered around. As she plucks the sheets from the drawers, her fingers brush the soft leather spine of an old sketchbook. She gasps quietly, fingers jarring with uncertainty — as if she’d found a diary, some private relic that Jason would have forbidden her to touch if he’d been there.

He is not there, and Hazel pulls the book from it’s hidden corner of the desk drawer, glancing around to make sure she is completely alone.

Inside is a comfortingly familiar mess of writing, and drawings. Almost every page is stained with coffee or ink — after the Giant War, Jason’s hands had developed a slight tremor, and she sees it in the unsteady lines in the details. The pages are dated, signed, almost pedantically. Habits of a boy whose life had been pulled out from under him, once, twice, thrice. An ache in her chest tells her that he was making sure he forgot nothing, that he had something to fall back on to remember himself, if no one else did. Then, as she turns the pages, loose pieces begin to fall out. The first one she picks up again knocks the wind out of her a little.

She’s looking at her own face, sketched clumsily in blue ink. He’s not the most articulate artist — the eyes are uneven, the light seems to be coming from all directions, and not a shadow or crease in the clothes visible — but the light strokes of the pen, the careful curve of her nose and every stray hair, speaks volumes. Signed, dated, and labelled with her name, he has captured a moment she can’t remember at all. More loose sheets contain faces of friends, Frank, Reyna, Gwen, Bobby, Dakota — it goes on, and on. The sketches get better the closer they get to his last visit. She makes more appearances, as do their new friends. She gets misty eyed over drawings of Leo and Piper, passages written about Festus and how to repair him, just the way Leo taught them in case he couldn’t do it himself.

The margins are full of birthdays, important dates, minute sketches of New Rome and Camp Halfblood, flashes of scenes from quests. He has not travelled far, and the places he has been allowed were chained to danger. But to anyone who had not known Jason, it read like a How To Remember Your Friends guide. Like a memoir. He’d even kept all the little notes that they had traded in senate meetings, wedged in between loose sheets and sometimes glued to the pages. He’d kept the ridiculous drawings as if they were precious photos. It’s getting harder and harder to keep a straight face.

The last piece she picks off the floor is an old drawing of Thalia. She’d recognise the face anywhere, even with Jason’s haphazard drawing; blue eyes overlined so vividly, the blue ink had seeped through to the other side of the page, the hair an inky splash, and freckles dotted across a rakish grin. It was not signed, or dated, but it had one sentence scratched across so messily, he must have written it in a fit of something.

She’s real, his writing reads. She’s real, her name is Thalia Grace. She’s not imaginary. I’m not the only one. My sister is real.

Something wet splatters on the page, and the ink bleeds blue down Thalia’s face. Hazel forgets to clean the rest of the desk, forgets she is surrounded by scraps of paper, and dust, and cobwebs. She sits on Jason’s chair, rests her head on her arms, and bawls.

——————————

Waiting for Nico to appear sends her back to her first days at Camp Jupiter. Hazel doesn’t know if she’ll see him, if he’ll warn her of an absence or a visit. Today of all days, she does not blame him for hiding a little. They grieve the same loss in different ways, but she needs her brother here, too. She needs the reassurance, and the understanding, and the presence to prove to her she’s not on her own.

Just like in old times, when her stomach is in knots about Nico not showing up, it’s a Grace who approaches her with a kind hand on her shoulder. But when Hazel turns to face Thalia, her heart leaps to her throat.

Thalia looks like she’s been quietly rusting the past few days. Pale, shoulders slack, her hair dripping down her face. She is not wearing her circlet, her eyes look bloodshot and grey. If someone told her that grief could rob a soul of it’s immortality, Hazel would have believed it from just one look at Thalia.

But there she stood, with a strained smile tugging at the corner of her mouth, looking through Hazel.

‘You wanted to see me?’

Suddenly, Hazel feels like this is the worst idea she’s ever had. Jason’s sketchbook sits heavy in her bag, weighing her thoughts down until there is no room for words to form. All she can think to say is how are you, but it is the silliest question in the world right now.

‘I did,’ she sits as she speaks, gently prompting Thalia to do the same.

Thalia remains standing for an awkward minute, wondering perhaps if Hazel has worse news for her. She seems to decide it isn’t possible, and sits, avoiding eye contact all the while.

‘Will you be leaving soon?’ ‘Don’t know. We have some business to attend to while we’re here,’ Thalia’s voice is brittle, too.

Hazel has seen every sign of crying except the tears, and she can’t help but wince internally at how similar that was to Jason. The closest she’d ever come to seeing Jason weep was the night he had told her about Mount Othrys, and even then, he had held his composure for her sake. He did not like to make others feel obligated to comfort him, and she understood. If Thalia was anything like that...

‘You can’t take a few days off?’ Thalia makes a noise that might have passed as a laugh. ‘Hunters don’t get sick days, Levesque.’

It’s eerie. He’d almost said the same. Praetors don’t take sick days.

They fall into silence. Hazel wishes Nico would appear soon, so that someone who knew Thalia better could deliver the book. So someone who knew Thalia better could handle the fallout. So someone who knew Thalia better could talk about her brother, and not make Hazel feel stupid for ever thinking of Jason as her own family, when Thalia had more right to cry and scream and break down than she did.

But that didn’t feel right. It didn’t feel fair. And the anger hits Hazel as soon as she’s thought it. If rifling through that sketchbook had shown her anything, it was that Jason had been as desperate for family all his life, as she had been desperate to not feel alone when she reached camp, too. Nico and Thalia could come and go as they pleased, but Jason and Hazel — they had been the ones left behind, they had been the ones to pick each other up again. They had been the ones to reach their hands out, with every fear of rebuke and rejection, to any other lonely soul who might be in need.

Just as she starts to think, I should keep the book myself, Thalia sighs.

‘If I don’t do my job, someone else suffers,’ she says, after a long pause. ‘What would I do with my days off, anyway?’

To this, Hazel has no answer.

‘Are you taking any days off?’ Thalia continues, finally turning to look at her. ‘No. I... I can’t,’ ‘Why not? He’s like a brother to you, too.’

Again, her eyes prickle. A lump in her throat makes it hard to speak for a few more seconds, and in lieu of an answer, Hazel reaches a shaking hand towards Thalia’s. Thalia squeezes her fingers back weakly, and sniffs.

Slowly, Hazel reaches into her bag, and draws the sketchbook out. It feels heavier than anything she’s ever held before, but she holds it tightly, for fear that a second of slack grip would send all the pages flying into the air, never to be seen again. Gingerly holding it in her lap, she pulls the hand holding Thalia’s to rest on the cover.

‘What is that?’ ‘It’s Jason’s,’ immediately, as Hazel says it, Thalia stiffens. ‘We used to draw together, now and again, when he had time. He, um. He kept a lot of the things I drew for him, and — and drew some of his own,’

Thalia is looking at the book as if it’s going to bite her, but before she can pull her fingers loose, Hazel closes her hand over them, too soft to constrain, but quick enough that Thalia might understand it as a plea to hold on.

With a shaking voice, Hazel finishes. ‘I want you t — I think you should have it.’

‘What am I going to do with it?’ The rasp in her voice tells Hazel she might cry, or yell. Maybe both. Both might be good for her, for Hazel, too. ‘Look at it. On your days off,’ Hazel offers. ‘Look at it now.’ ‘I can’t. I didn’t even know he liked to draw,’ ‘That doesn’t matter,’

She peels the cover open, blinking furiously to ward away any tears, and lets Thalia try. When she doesn’t move, when Hazel can hear her breathing become difficult and tight, she turns the pages for her, shows her the friends and adventures scribbled there, the notes, the reminders. Her hands shake as she shows Thalia all the drawings of her, her eyes begin to blur.

‘He loved you so much. It doesn’t matter if you didn’t know this about him, he’d have wanted you to have it,’ her voice cracks, at long last. ‘He barely knew me at the start and he loved me, he wouldn’t have cared if — if you didn’t —’

Thalia’s hands on her face, wiping away her tears, are what alert her to the fact she’s crying. Through her hazy vision, she can make out Thalia’s stony expression, fighting valiantly to not break. How like Jason; these are the habits of someone unaccustomed to having the space and permission to feel. She was no older than Hazel, something she remembers with another swoop of pain — Thalia had died at thirteen, too. She understood the gravity of a second chance, and now the pain of having that blessing tainted by loss, by grief, by danger.

Before she knows it, Thalia has pulled her into a hug, one arm tight around her shoulders, the other hand at the back of her head. She lets Thalia hold onto her, until it feels like she is being leaned on in turn, until she hears the quiet shudder of a sob that gets louder and more heartbroken.

The book, still in Hazel’s clutches and pressed to her front, is forgotten and unimportant for the moment. But when this is over, she knows Thalia will take it. When this is over, Nico will come home to Hazel. Tyson will go home to Percy. The cohorts and cabins in both camps will close in on their loved ones, and Thalia will vanish into the wilderness with nothing but this book, and it will be all she has of him. Paper, ink, a leather back that will slowly but surely break apart over the years as it’s yanked open to bring Jason back to life, for a moment or two.

Hazel holds Thalia until her sobs subside to a tremor, and thinks, maybe, she doesn’t have to be alone. Maybe after this, when this is all over, Thalia will visit, they’ll get donuts, and pore over the book together. Maybe she’ll teach Thalia to draw, and they’ll draw together. That would have to wait — for now, she will make do with the comfort she is being offered and has the chance to give back. She’ll hold onto Thalia, and Thalia will hold onto her, and as he should have been there in person, Jason was there between them, with his family.

#jason grace #hazel levesque #thalia grace #drabbles #This was a rush job but god was I angry #Mostly about Reyna but #I'm saving THAT rage for a better fic.#this isn't proofread at all oh gosh

932 notes · View notes

coeursetcolores · 3 years

Text

What I Would Add To/ Change About: Devil May Cry 5

Hello again! Today is March 8th! Two years ago, Devil May Cry 5 was released, over ten years after Devil May Cry 4. Such a long gap caused many to believe that Capcom abandoned the franchise, but to our surprise at the 2018 E3 conference, after years of silence and tentative hope brought by a picture of Reuben Langdon and Johnny Yong Bosch in mocap gear, the day we dreamed of happened: DMC was back!

Now here’s the million dollar question: Did Devil May Cry 5 live up to it’s fans’ expectations after all those years?

I’m pleased to say, YES!

To the whole collective fandom, this game was totally Smokin’ Sexy Stylish!

To me individually...

Well...

It wasn’t really what I’d thought it’d be.

This is all just my own personal opinion and if you disagree with me, that’s perfectly okay! If you’d like to talk about a point I made, please let me know, but please try to respect my opinion as I respect yours.

Fair warning, I won’t talk about online stuff. I’m not an online gamer, that’s just not me.

Well, with out further ado, let’s get started!

SPOILERS AHEAD!

Like the last time, I’d like to start with the positives before getting to the things I wasn’t 100% on board with.

Combat. It’s DMC, and it’s styling way past any other game that dare challenge it.

The music: Frustration is getting bigger! BANG, BANG, BANG! Pull my Devil Trigger!

NICO. I jut love that crazy chick. And yay! Nero has a friend!

The death screen changes were SO helpful. Giving an option to come back in the middle of a fight saved me so much time! As long as it stuck to in-game currency...

The backgrounds are so detailed, Redgrave City looks amazing! And I was really happy when they brought back that gorgeous gothic architecture for Sparda’s mansion!

Bosses are tough, but not to unfair levels. It really makes you feel awesome when you finally knock that last bit of health out.

I’ll never miss an opportunity to fight Vergil. One for having an opponent that doesn’t tower over you, two for his fights just being great as usual. And after everything he’s done, yeah, it feels good to beat the ever loving crap out of him.

Dante dance. I cannot do it justice.

Lady’s new outfit is so cool!

Patty! Call her back Dante!

MOTORCYCLE! BUZZSAWS!

Dante has officially embraced being a silver fox. I salute him.

LORE!!!!!!

NERO! NERO! NERO! BEST BOY, SPICY SON I LOVE YOU SO MUCH YOU PRECIOUS BLOODTHIRSTY SWEETHEART!

You can see just how much detail went into the game. From the blood tubes staining you to V decomposing, it’s astounding.

Nero got a Devil Trigger! And it’s GORGEOUS! ...I do miss his persona, though...

Seeing all our favorite demon hunters again! I missed these guys!

Okay, but before we get to what I wish they added, I want to say something.

I have a lot of issues with this game, but while I can blame some of that on the writing and design teams, a lot of it is also on me having spent years basically imagining the story that would be perfect for me and probably me only. So a lot of my problems may boil down to the game not matching my imaginary scenario, so take my suggestions with a grain of salt.

Now here are some things that could have possibly made me like the game more.

ADD:

MORE LADY AND TRISH. These women were screwed when it came to the plot and they could have done more, what the heck?! Maybe some scenes where they try to process what happened to them, have them distraught at having been used by Urizen to help him destroy the city and blame themselves. Have Lady blow up at Dante for not warning them about what was really going on, for letting them go in unprepared, let her tell him that the blood of the city is on their hands because he kept his mouth shut. Lady is a huge influence in his life, and I feel like this would really open his eyes to how much he messed up.

As for Trish, she knows better than anyone else that you can really screw up and hurt someone that cares about you. Maybe after everything goes down, she could be the one to encourage everyone that, “Yeah, we messed up big time. But sitting around here hating ourselves isn’t getting anything done. So get up, we’ve got a city to fix.” I feel like this could really show how human she’s gotten from being with Dante and the others. I think it’d make her look more multi-dimensional.

And how come Vergil can get a DLC when he was in the game even less than they were?! The women in these games deserve equal representation, Capcom’s DMC developers!

And as for Vergil, maybe make his deal less ambiguous? I mean, the whole “Is Vergil really redeemed?” debate is really bringing out the worst in people. Like yeah, keep it ambiguous to the characters, it makes sense for Vergil to not show something “weak” like remorse to others, but show it in a way that the player can easily interpret.

Give Vergil some missions to himself where he takes in exactly what he’s done. Have him see Redgrave City, where he was born, devastated, people he may have once known reduced to ashes and know this is all because of him. That just because he wanted to be stronger, he’s destroyed lives, because even if he had no intentions of doing so, the split went against his wishes and left him weak to see a tyrant slaughter countless people without any goal. Have him realize that even if that was unintentional, he still nearly almost ended humanity once before with a sound mind (Temen-ni-gru) so he can’t pretend he’s in the right and that he’s actually probably a disgrace to Sparda’s legacy. Have him run into a sobbing little boy crying that his mother was killed and he lost his brother, maybe in the ruins of the family home. Have Vergil look into a mirror and see Mundus, have him realize that he’s no better than the demon that killed his mother and imprisoned him for years. Have him hallucinate Sparda disowning him for going against everything Sparda believed in. Have him see Eva sadly tell him that she wanted to save him, but seeing what he’s become lament that she lost her life trying to save a monster. And when Dante tells him Nero’s his son, he freezes. He abandoned and maimed his own child, left him for his brother to care for. Dante sees this and doesn’t know what to do? Is Vergil...sorry? Can he take a chance on him this time?

Or leave him an unrepentant jerk that’s just upset he still can’t win and expressly tells Nero he’s only going to cut down the Qliphoth down so he can fight Nero again and because he doesn’t want to give up Yamato.

And for that matter, make V’s goal clearer to the player. Have him expressly state, when he’s by himself with his familiars with no one that he can manipulate around that:

A. He wants to stop Urizen and prevent anymore devastation as atonement for his crimes as Vergil and part of the reason he wants to merge again is that while he does want to fight Dante again, he deserves to die as Vergil or defeat Dante and fix his mistakes by himself, realizing that Dante’s been cleaning up his messes for years.

B: He wants his power back, his mind got stuck in the human half and he can’t stand how weak it is. Everyone is just a stepping stone for him to be stronger.

Actually have the characters react to the Qliphoth. Seriously, everyone is crazy apathetic to all the death and destruction that they failed to stop. Aren’t they supposed to be the “heroes?” The only character this would make sense for, ironically, the one who actually seems to remember it exists at the end, Nero. Yeah. Remember how he didn’t care about anything but Kyrie in 4? Remember how the developers said he would just walk away after Dante shot the pope if Kyrie wasn’t there? I’m not say he needed to stay apathetic, I’m just saying it doesn’t make sense for him to be the righteous character.

Have Dante at some point just look out at Redgrave and see that if he had told the others what was going on, maybe this wouldn’t have happened. “...This didn’t have to happen.” Have this weigh on him. He’ll still act goofy, but he realizes that his selfishness can have real consequences.

Have him realize that he really hurt Nero with what he said and that he used Nero’s trauma and insecurity against him in the heat of the moment and it’s causing a rift between him. When he’s alone, make him privately promise to make it up to him later and actually apologize at some point near the end. Dante should know from his experiences with Vergil that insecurity can lead someone down the wrong path and that if he doesn’t do something he could lose one of the few positive relationships he has.

Have Nico have at least one freak out at everything around her and realize that she might not be as ready for this as she thought. She hasn’t experienced something like this before like the others. Nero comforts her and it makes their friendship grow stronger.

When Nero starts talking about family, he should acknowledge that while he is related to Vergil, they’re not really a family yet until they actually work for it, and that he knows what a real family is like, the ones who adopted him and were there for him (Kyrie’s parents, Credo, Kyrie, Nico, Dante, Lady, Trish, etc.).

Make it clearer that Vergil isn’t forgiven for his crimes, but that they’re willing to give him a chance. His last one.

Alright, now for the overall changes.

CHANGE:

The entire ending. Instead of Dante going down with Vergil, Vergil stops him and tells him that his life is here, with people that haven’t hurt him like he has. Dante tries to protest, says he can’t leave Vergil free to do whatever, but Vergil gives a bittersweet smile and tells him he can’t stop him, but it’s obvious Vergil’s not going to do anything again. When Dante gets desperate and tells Vergil he can’t leave him again, Vergil tells Dante he’ll be back, once he’s cleaned up his own mess for once; he’s the older brother after all. With that, Vergil goes to fix his mistake.

Dante’s left behind by his brother again. Instead of brushing things under the table, Nero is furious with Dante for never telling him the truth about his family. Especially after he was left uncertain about the future and looked to Dante for guidance, Nero feels betrayed. Dante understands and apologizes. Nero’s too upset to accept and tells Dante he needs time to think before he’s ready to talk to him again. Instead of begging Nero to stay and keep a connection he desperately needs, Dante lets him go, realizing that if he wants to fix things, he needs to start learning how to talk about how he actually feels instead of covering things up and unintentionally hurting those he loves.

Vergil destroys the Qliphoth, but doesn’t leave the Underworld. Realizing just how much he’s sinned, starting all the way back to Temen-ni-gru, he resolves to not go back to the human world until he’s made himself one worthy of being a Son of Sparda, finally understanding what that really means. Descending into the Underworld, he won’t leave until he’s eliminated those that would harm the world his brother, father and son protect so hard. This could be the start of his own spin-off series that would focus more on the demon lore in the games and take place entirely in the Underworld with Vergil struggling to be a better person and take responsibility for his own actions. Devil May Cry: Atonement, maybe.

Nero heads back home with Nico but doesn’t read V’s book. Hurt from his betrayal, he puts it in a box and seals it up for Vergil’s maybe return. When Nico starts talking about how Agnus is the reason she’s alive, she also acknowledges that she already has a real father and family that love her and subtly (and stutteringly) implies Nero’s a part of that, cementing that Nero has a family that loves him and is there for him. Nero thanks her and the two descend into silence for a bit before they start mocking each other and end up laughing before Nico realizes Nero’s crying. When she starts freaking out, he explains that he’s scared he’s still not strong enough to protect them, but before Nico can say anything, the phone rings. Answering it, a voice says, “You don’t have to be.” Looking out front the two see Kyrie and Patty, decked out in hunting gear, a phone in Kyrie’s hand. Smiling at them, she says into it, “We’ll protect each other.” Running out of the van, Nero scoops Kyrie up in a hug. When Patty starts complaining about them ignoring her, Nico pulls her away and tells her not to interrupt. After a bit, the group looks out at the horizon and vow to fight together, not letting themselves fall to the bitterness that led to this mess. Seeing some demons approach and watching his crew get ready, Nero smiles before smirking and gets ready to throw down. “Let’s rock!” Devil May Cry: Forsaken.

Dante looks out over Redgrave from his childhood home, silently miserable. After a while, Lady and Trish come over and try to talk, but he cuts them off with an apology. Fully realizing how his inability to let other people in nearly got them all killed, he encourages them to leave so they don’t end up like that again. Stunned from Dante apologizing, the two are silent. Then Lady angrily asks, “What the hell?! Just how dumb are you?!” She tells him that yeah he really screwed up this time, but they’re not going anywhere! He’s an idiot, but he’s THEIR idiot, and they’re not leaving him alone. They need him and he needs them. Trish tells him that if he has time to mope, he has time to clean up the city. The girls begin to walk back to the city and tell him to hurry up. A genuine smile on his face, Dante looks to his family’s home one more time, sheds some tears and walks away, from his past to his new family. Devil May Cry 6 will pick up on what happens next.

If Resident Evil can have like 50 spin-offs, why can’t DMC?

Alternatively, I’m also open to the suggestion of Vergil being stuck as V for the rest of his life. Karmic punishment at it’s finest.

In all honestly, Vergil was really unnecessary to bring back. Like, just make him DLCs, his whole story is done. It just feels like fanservice and the writers banking on a popular character to bring in sales. I also feel like the game bends itself over backwards to please him (back to life, cheat coded to power, no more nightmares, gets to fight Dante whenever he wants, gets a son who wants his acknowledgement he didn’t have to raise, crimes are basically swept under the rug) while everyone else gets kind of screwed over (Dante has to leave his friends behind, Nero’s abandoned again, Lady and Trish are captured and get no screen time, V’s familiars are gone, millions are dead).

I think Urizen and V should have been their own things: I liked the idea of Urizen being the general of Mundus that attacked Dante’s house (his ACTUAL reason for fighting) and V being Mundus’ son who was abused and bonded with his henchmen who decided to become a devil hunter in vengeance for his mistreatment. I dunno, I feel bad V (who legitimately creeped me out) was just made into a convenient little redemption arc.

Nero’s character arc really should have been something else. I think he should have learned throughout the story to stop caring what others thought about him (a trait that should have been visible in 4 if it was going to be such a big deal in 5) and learn to trust his own strength. He should’ve realized that he doesn’t need to prove anything to Dante, he’s never going to be the same and he should be happy with who he is. Also, wanting Vergil’s acknowledgement doesn’t make sense. He may be his biological father, but literally the only things Nero knows about him is that he ripped his arm off, started the apocalypse, got millions killed, manipulated him and wants to kill the guy who was actually like a dad to him. Biological ties can only count for so much.

Alternatively, his arc could have been about becoming a more compassionate person. Like I said earlier, it’d make sense if he didn’t care about anyone other than Kyrie being in trouble. And remember when he tried to kill an armor he thought had a human in it in 4? Along with the seemingly human Agnus? Have Dante worried Nero might go down the wrong path. Have him tell Nero about Vergil WAY earlier (months after 4) and have Nero worried if he’ll turn out like that. Nero actually had more potential to be dark than Dante, and I feel like that in trying to make him look like a perfect hero in 5, they had to make Dante look worse (keeping secrets, ignoring suffering, etc.).

And instead of “deadweight,” Nero’s berserk button should have been Dante not telling him things. You know, like the Order? The group he worked for that tried to start the apocalypse in secret and nearly got him and his girlfriend killed along with actually killing his older bother? Yeah.

I do not like the hyperrealism. This is purely on me preferring more animesque art styles, but I always felt that not looking like actual humans helped the series’ fantastic elements shine.

Dante’s new outfit is just so...muted. It’s just boring. Dante’s supposed to be flashy, dang it! Give me back the chaps!

Nero’s hair is awful. It just looks terrible on him, I wanted him to have long, pretty hair. They should have just kept his trigger hair all throughout the game.

Also, Dante’s the hunk, give Nero back his soft, pretty boy face!

DON’T GET RID OF DEVIL BRINGER! I hated using the Devil Breakers, who wants breakable weapons in Devil May Cry?! What’s next, reloading ammo?! And if you can come back from being stabbed, shot, electrocuted, impaled, would it kill you to let Nero grow his demon arm back to keep his playstyle easier?! And if you needed a challenge, congratulations! Nero lost his Devil Trigger! WORK WITH THAT!

Please don’t get rid of Dante. I love Nero, but he can’t do the main protagonist role. This is Dante’s series and he needs to finish it. Sure, give Nero a spin-off or two, but let Dante finish the story; the “Sons of Sparda” storyline was just 3. Not the whole series. Vergil is an important figure in Dante’s story, but he’s not where it ends. Dante. And. Vergil’s. Lives. Do. Not. Revolve. Around. Each. Other. They just liked to fight each other and developed opposing ideals, but their overall goals ultimately didn’t really factor in the other.

The whole Vergil abandonment thing shouldn’t have happened along with his beating Dante obsession, it seriously weakened Vergil’s character. He started out as someone who wanted the power to defend himself and became so deluded that he was ready to disregard any moral limitation to get it and simply fought Dante to amuse himself while never letting it get in the way of his goals. And him blaming Dante and Eva and insisting that Dante had an easier life, while I can understand it, just makes him come across as a spoiled brat throwing a tantrum.

Let V’s familiars kill demons without him. That was just really annoying.

And that’s it. My dreams for Devil May Cry 5 and the reality were two very different things and honestly...I’m afraid I’m growing out of this series.

I’ll still post some content I want to get out, but I’m not sure I’ll be picking up the next one.

#What I Would Add to/Change About...#Devil May Cry 5 #Criticism #Praise #My Silly Personal Opinion

5 notes · View notes

writingpaperghost · 3 years

Text

There is a Me Who Can Become Strong (Chapter 13)

Chapter 13: Defined Destiny

In the wake of Christmas, the Riders are forced to get used to a new normal. Emu deals with losing his friend and the secret he is once again forced to keep alone. Then, he finds himself in the possession of a new, strange, blank, Gashat.

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/32857183/chapters/83270452

When Nico next sees Yuko after Christmas, it’s once the new year’s come around, when Yuko pops into Taiga’s clinic, one evening. Her hair’s no longer dyed blue, instead now being a bright green and she’s leaning over Taiga’s shoulder, watching him. One would think that Taiga would be annoyed by this, but if he is, he doesn’t say anything.

The moment Taiga notices Nico, he turns in his chair and tells her, “Get your friend out, now,”

Yuko pipes in, “Not like he could make me leave,”

Taiga grumbles, “Says the one who looks like a low-effort Snipe cosplayer.”

Gasping, Yuko dramatically put a hand on her chest, “How dare! If I was cosplaying – which I’m not – I would not be a low-effortcosplayer.”

At that comment, Nico cackles, then looks at Yuko, “Come on, Yuko, we can go talk,” She gestures at Taiga, “Taiga’s just being a grouchy old man.”

Once Nico’s brought Yuko back to her room, Nico sets about reorganizing the theory board. After a few moments, Yuko speaks, “Hanaya told me about what happened to your friend, since I already knew about the Kamen Rider thing and everything.” There’s a pause, before Yuko continues, “I really think, that if you’ve already gotten your rematch, you should really quit while you’re a head.”

Nico stops what she’s doing, frowns, and turns to face Yuko, “Why would I do that?”

“Because this is dangerous,” Yuko answers, “Because your friend died and you could too.”

“I can’t,” Nico insists, “I know what I’m doing, but Yuko… I need to know what’s going on.”

Frowning, Yuko shoves her hands into her coat pockets and makes her way over towards the door, “I’m really regretting telling you about this.”

---

The new year’s come, and Emu’s started a new internship, a surgery internship, with Saki supervising. He’s sure he could have gotten a worse supervisor, but it’s definitely odd for him. Not that he’s exactly had an easy time focusing recently. Even when he was doing something that he could normally focus on so easily, like playing a game, he would eventually lose focus.

All he could find himself thinking about was Kiriya – the way his body was glitching and the pixels… It would only lead him to thinking about that day six years ago, the bodies of the Next Genome Institute scientists on the floor, glitching and pixelating just like Kiriya. It was horrifying and while he knew he wasn’t responsible for what happened to Kiriya, not like with the scientist, it wouldn’t stop coming to his mind.

“Emu?” Saki’s voice snaps him out of his mind. He blinks, remember what he’d been doing. Right, he’d been practicing a surgical procedure. And then he lost focus again.

“Sorry,” He apologized, “I… don’t know what happened.”

Saki watches him for a moment, purses her lips and responds, “I know you’re still bothered by what happened to Kujo,” That was one way of putting it, “But you can’t let your emotions interfere with treating a patient.”

He knew she was right, but it was hard not to think about it, not to get distracted. He was at least eighty percent sure he and Kiriya counted as friends, and it hurt to see him die. After six years ago, he’d thought he wouldn’t have to deal with that feeling again, but Christmas had brought it all back.

Not that he was able to think all that much about it, given they were quickly alerted to a new patient in the CR, which needed their attention. Their newest patient was a famous surgeon, a man named Kazuki Shirakawa. Emu had never heard of him, but judging by the way Saki’s eyes had widened, she did.

So you know, no pressure or anything. Emu wasn’t too worried, between him and Saki, they could probably handle whatever Bugster appeared. That was their job, after all. Yet as they entered the patient room, they realized it wasn’t going to be quite so easy.

“I had suspected I had the game illness,” Shirakawa said, “Though there is no need to operate on me.”

“You’ve been infected,” Saki reminds him, pulling out her Gamer Driver, “It’s our duty to help you.”

Like a lever had been pulled, Shirakawa gasped and a Bugster began to appear. This time, it was Alhambra, who quickly declared, “This time, I’m Level 5!” Being a higher level than Salty had been, this might be a bit harder than they initially expected.

Grabbing their Gashats, Emu and Saki transformed.

Mighty Action X!

Taddle Quest!

Level up! Mighty jump! Mighty kick! Mighty-Mighty Action X!

Level Up! Taddle meguru! Taddle meguru! Taddle Quest!

Behind them, Saki catches the director on the other side of the window, gesturing to them to take the fight out of the patient room. So Saki using the stage select to send them to a quarry.

Axe in hand, Emu wastes no time in slashing at Alhambra, followed by Saki slashing with her sword. Despite their attempts, Alhambra dodges their attacks, countering with an ice spell. He hadn’t known that before – meaning that when a Bugster reaches a higher level it can learn new skills.

As the two tried to break and pry themselves free of the ice, they hear what sounds like Kuroto laughing. Looking up, they see a new Rider they’ve never seen before, white and black colored with red and blue eyes. On his waist was the device they’d seen Kuroto use. At his side was a Rider using a Gamer Driver and the Proto Mighty Action X Gashat.

“Para-DX, Brave,” Kuroto says, “I’m afraid the Beta is over, and we no longer are in need of our test players.”

“What does that mean?” Saki grunts, managing to melt through some of the ice with her Gashacon Sword’s flame mode.

It was the other Rider who spoke, “It means we’re taking back your Gashats,” It sounded like the other voice that had once come from Gemn.

Nodding, Kuroto agrees, “Yes, Ex-Aid is right. You’re Gashats will be returned to me at once.” With that statement, Gemn summons the Gashacon Sparrow in his hand.

At the sight of Kiriya’s weapon, Emu freezes. Then, like a switch in his mind flipped, he finds himself pulling out the Drago Knight Hunter Z Gashat. How dare Kuroto use Kiriya’s weapons, after he killed him?

Drago Knight Hunter Z!

Do-Do-Drago Kni-Kni-Kni-Knight! Dra! Dra! Drago Knight Hunter! Z! Para-DX!

Breaking what remained of the ice, Emu rushes towards Gemn, sending a powerful attack at him. Ex-Aid had the foresight to step away while Emu was transforming, so the only one caught in the attack was Gemn.

A cloud of purple smoke erupts from Gemn and then he gets right back up. Cackling, Kuroto declares, “I’ve surpassed even death!” His health bar, it was empty. It had been empty the whole fight. Ex-Aid seems surprised at Gemn’s declaration.

But Emu ignores it. He attacks Gemn again. While in the midst of their fight, Kuroto calls out to Ex-Aid, “Ex-Aid, go help Alhambra with Brave,”

Ex-Aid doesn’t immediately respond, almost seeming like it took him a moment to register what Kuroto had said. He nods and runs towards where Saki and Alhambra were fighting. Then, Emu hears a familiar Gashat.

Giri Giri Chambara!

It only served to make him more angry.

Gemn presses a button on the Buggle Driver, a tone ringing out.

Critical Dead!

A large amount of humanoid, shadowy creatures, almost like a horde of zombies, appears. They begin to grab at Emu and for a moment, he’s a little scared. This was new and Gemn was already bringing surprises from the moment they started this fight.

Then, Saki tackles him out of the attack, right before the shadowy horde exploded. As she reaches to deactivate both their transformation, he can hear Ex-Aid cheer, “Wow, Kuroto! That was so cool!”

Then, they’re back in the CR.

Saki’s staring at him crossly, “Intern,” And Emu knows he’s in trouble, “What were you thinking, trying to fight Gemn like that?”

Normally, getting lectured by Saki was scary. Or at least, it should be scary to Emu, but right now he isn’t really Emu, is he? Would Emu have gotten so upset like that? It’s hard to say as Emu never had any friends, so he couldn’t have lost any but… If nothing else, he was upset, whether or not that was in character for Emu.

“He killed Kiriya,” He answers, coldly.

“I told you earlier,” She reminded him, “You can’t let your emotions interfere with your patient’s treatment.”

Rolling his eyes, Emu counters, “The treatment he doesn’t want?” Then he scoffs, “Besides, you did the same thing with Graphite. Only focused on fighting him no matter what trouble it caused everyone else. Who are you to talk?”

She takes a deep breath, before holding her hand out and looking him in the eye, “Intern.” She speaks just above a growl, “Give me your Gashats.”

Emu meets her eyes, “Why should I?” At the glare she gives him, he scoffs and digs them out of his pockets, “Fine, whatever.” It’s not like he hasn’t managed things without Gashats before.

---

“You’re already working on a new Gashat?” Mu sounded amazed when he peered over at Kuroto’s desk, seeing a strange blank Gashat. It looked like two Gashats fused into one, with some kind of knob on the back. To be fair, there were three Gashats on Kuroto’s desk, another like the one he was working on currently, and one that looked like two fused together, but without the knob. But Kuroto was only actively working on the one.

Kuroto nods, “Yes, when it’s finished it’ll allow the user to switch between two Gashats, as well as being a higher level than anything we have now.” He holds the Gashat for a moment, before sighing slightly and setting it down, “But it needs data, so it may not be ready for a while.”

Mu doesn’t ask why Kuroto decided to make a strongerGashat, right after finishing Dangerous Zombie. Instead, he just watches Kuroto, while seated on the couch. After a while, Kuroto got up and left the room, stretching in the process.

Then, Graphite teleports in, quickly noting the Gashat on Kuroto’s desk. “Another one already?”

Nodding, Mu explains to Graphite what Kuroto had told him. For a while, Graphite’s gaze would always fall back to the Gashat, for some reason or other. Mu wasn’t sure, nor was he really sure he wanted to know. Still, he was a bit worried about Graphite’s odd behavior, “Is everything alright?”

Blinking, Graphite looks back at Mu, then at the Gashat. Finally, he responds, “I… You said the Gashat needs data? Bugster data?”

“Yes?”

Graphite picks up the Gashat, “I have an idea.”

Pursing his lips, Mu nods, “I won’t tell Kuroto,”

With a small smile, Graphite nods and teleports away.

---

“Mr. Shirakawa,” Saki begins, “Why do you refuse our help?”

Sighing, Shirakawa explained, “While I may be infected with this ‘Game Disease’ I also have an inoperable pancreatic cancer.” He seemed terribly resigned about the entire thing, “Even if you were to cure me of this disease, I would die anyway.”

Saki’s not sure what to say to that.

---

Emu’s outside of the hospital, sitting on a bench. He’s not really sure what to think right now. Maybe… maybe Saki was right. After all, during that fight, he’d only been focused on Gemn. He couldn’t even say what had happened with Saki in her fight against Alhambra and Ex-Aid.

Nor did Saki really deserve what he’d said, no matter how accurate it was.

It was times like these where Emu wondered why he was so insistent on achieving someone else’s dreams. Because where Emu had always been so good at being kind and caring to other people, he could barely keep from wanting to strangle people, some days. And today… his anger at Gemn for killing Kiriya, and then taking that anger out on Saki…

Maybe he was no good at this doctor thing. Sure, everyone in Pediatrics thought he was great, but that didn’t really mean much. After all, it hadn’t been his dream until achieving Emu’s dream had become his own dream. At least, if he wasn’t a doctor, he wouldn’t have to worry about his emotions interfering with treatment. Or at least have no obligation not to let them.

“You’re moping,” Emu shoots off the bench, spinning around to face the startlingly familiar voice. Standing by the bench was Graphite, in his human form.

“You’re dead,” Emu counters, wishing that he had even one Gashat to work with. “We killed you.”

Graphite rolled his eyes, “You’re fighting Alhambra again right now, aren’t you? And on Christmas you fought Salty.” He walks to Emu’s side, “We Bugsters get better easily. You should know that.”

Turning to better face Graphite, Emu narrows his eyes, “What do you mean?”

Shaking his head, Graphite pulls something out of his coat. It was a blank grey Gashat, two fused together with a knob on it. He holds it out to Emu, though Emu only eyes it warily. Sighing, Graphite shakes it a little at Emu, “Take it,”

Still, Emu’s not entirely convinced, “What’s this?”

“A Gashat,”

“It’s blank.”

“Yes,” Graphite says, a tone almost like what one might use when explaining something to a child, “It needs Bugster data.”

That didn’t really answer all that much, “Then why are you giving it to me?”

“You’re a Bugster, aren’t you?” Graphite eyes him with a calculating look.

Emu gasped, “How did you know?” The look Graphite gives him tells him he won’t get an answer, so he shakes his head, but takes the Gashat anyway. He examines it for a moment, turning it around in his hands, before saying, “I don’t have a game, you know.” Yet when he looks up, Graphite’s already gone.

---

The bright side about how the Stage Select function of their Gamer Drivers worked, meant that it was really easy to figure out when one of the stages was in use. Nico noticed that the forest stage was activated, figuring that Emu and Saki were fighting whatever Bugster they’d briefly fought earlier. She wasn’t so much interested in the Bugster, though, as she was Gemn. She needed to figure out what Kiriya had found out that had gotten him killed.

As she enters the stage, she can see that Saki has already transformed to Level 3, fighting Alhambra. She saw a black and white Rider and then the purple and black Rider that was using Proto Mighty Action X. Notably, he was using Giri Giri Chambara for a Level 3.

“Gemn!” She calls out, catching the attention of the white and black Rider. That meant that this new form was probably the product of Gemn’s new Gashat.

Gemn looks over at the other Rider, “Ex-Aid,” He said, “Go help Alhambra again, I’ll deal with Snipe.”

As the other Rider, Ex-Aid, joins Alhambra in fighting Saki, Nico doesn’t let it distract her much. She pulls out her two Gashats. “Alright, what was it that Kiriya figured out?”

Bang Bang Shooting!

Jet Combat!

Jet! Jet! In the sky! Jet! Jet! Jet Combat!

“Now why should I tell you that?”

This new form of Gemn’s is strong, way stronger than her Level 3. Not to mention, how he used Kiriya’s Gashacon Sparrow. Nico wanted to know what Kiriya learned and now she also wanted Gemn gone. It’s hard to block his attacks when they’re close up and she can’t get away to get an advantage.

Out of nowhere, Alhambra freezes her and Saki, following the attack with a blast of fire. Gemn attack Nico, knocking her out of her transformation, while Ex-Aid attacks Saki, doing the same. As Gemn towers in front of them, ready to use the Gashacon Sparrow to attack them, it’s clear they needed help.

Nico didn’t know why Emu wasn’t here, but she hoped he showed up fast.

“Stop!” Both Gemn and Ex-Aid turned to the voice, Emu running towards them.

“Emu!” Saki gasps, “Why are you here?”

Emu’s holding a strange grey Gashat in his hand, a fact that didn’t go unnoticed by Gemn. “How did you get that?”

Instead of answering, Emu just grabs the knob on the Gashat, twisting it back and forth hesitantly. When he rotates it the first time, nothing happens. When he rotates it to the other side, though, there’s a flash. A red, blue, and purple cloud erupts from Emu as he clutched the Gashat.

“Kuroto, what’s happening?” Ex-Aid gasped, glancing over at Gemn.

“It’s a blank Gashat,” Gemn explained. The cloud that emerged from Emu soon was absorbed by the Gashat. Now in Emu’s hands was a blue Gashat, with a yellow knob. On one side was a game called Perfect Puzzle, on the other side a game called Knockout Fighter. Gemn finishes his explanation, “Although, it seems to have found it’s data.”

Emu rotates the knob to the side labeled Perfect Puzzle.

Perfect Puzzle!

Dual Up! Get the glory in the chain, Perfect Puzzle!

A picture appears behind him, depicting a blue Rider, unlike Emu’s previous forms. It moves closer to him, merging with him and giving him the armor. Around him, all sorts of power ups spawned.

Once more, Ex-Aid gasps, “What the hell? He can do that?”

Gemn growls, “A bootleg game,”

Dodging out of the way of Gemn’s incoming slash, Emu pulls up a sort of grouping of items. He arranges them, combining strength items with speed items. Taking the power up he just created, somehow merging the items together, Emu kicks Gemn, sending him backwards. He dodges out of the way of Gemn’s next attack, speeding to behind him and landing several punches.

Taking a step back, Emu grabs the Gashat out of its holster and rotates the knob to the other side.

Knockout Fighter!

Dual Up! Explosion hit! Knockout Fighter!

Like before, a picture of his rider form, this time red with large fists, appears. It replaces the blue armor. Emu quickly punches at Gemn, who barely manages to dodge out of the way.

Ex-Aid slashes at him with his Gashacon Breaker in sword mode, though Emu blocks it. He knocks the weapon away and punches Ex-Aid sending him backwards and causing his Gashat to eject.

“Kuroto!” Ex-Aid quickly scrambles to stand up and get farther from Emu, almost hiding behind Gemn, though a distance behind. “Why is he so strong?”

“Because he’s Level 20,” Kuroto growls, “How dare he-“

Running up and tugging at Gemn’s arm, Ex-Aid says, “We can’t stay right now…”

Grumbling, Kuroto nods and the two, plus Alhambra escape.

Emu removes his Gashat and drops his transformation. He feels… tired, that’s for certain, but he thinks it’s more from giving the Gashat data. That definitely was the draining part. Not that he could tell Saki or Nico that.

He examined the Gashat for a moment. He’d never… well he’d never thought he’d even had a connection to a game. The idea that his data could contribute to the creation of a Gashat had never crossed his mind. But here they were, not one, but two games, though in one Gashat.

Then Nico breaks him out of his thoughts, “Where the hell did you get that Gashat?”

“Uh…” Emu squeaks, “Well… I think Graphite may still be alive and gave it to me.”

Neither of the two looked impressed, Nico crossed her arms while Saki unamused responded, “You realize that we killed him?”

“Well yeah,” He agrees, “But we killed Salty and Alhambra too.”

Nico huffs, “Whatever, I’m going home.”

#kamen rider ex aid #kamen rider exaid #kamen rider #my writing #there is a me who can become strong

2 notes · View notes