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winter-dayz · 6 months

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Bound to You

Pairing: Hwang Hyunjin x Reader Cerberus AU; Goddess AU; Greek Mythology AU Genre: Fluff; Smut Words: 4337 Warnings: cutting; ritualistic self-harm; sexual content (dom!reader, sub!hyunjin, choking, humping, knife play, female receiving oral, vaginal penetration); strong language

Masterlist | Fictober Masterpost

Taglist: @soobin-chois

“Ceeerbeeeruuus~” She called as she came down the stairs to the grand entrance of the underworld.

“I told you not to call me that, goddess.” Hyunjin growled as she came into his line of sight.

She pouted, “And I told you to call me Y/N, but if you aren’t going to listen, then why should I?”

Hyunjin scoffed at her, leaning against the stone wall beside the gate. He shook his head, letting the fiery red strands block his face from her. “Yours is a matter of station, not preference.”

It was who she was—a chthonic nymph, the Bringer of Nightmares and Madness, daughter of Persephone and Zeus, the goddess of the restless undead and propitiation, Goddess Melinoë, wanderer of the Earth, Y/N. As much as he wanted to disregard all that she was, he never could without repercussions.

Her hand gripped his chin, tilting his face back up to her own. He had no idea when she moved over to him; the nymph was always silent on her feet. A perk, he supposed, since she was a being of undeath. It certainly helped when she was parading all of her lost souls at night and scaring the locals.

Y/N’s eyes found Hyunjin’s icy ones. “What’s the matter, Hyun?”

He rolled his eyes and jerked away from her grip, glancing to the doors. “Nothing, god– Y/N.” He added in a whisper at her glare.

She reached up, hesitantly, and brushed his bangs behind his ear. There was no telling how he’d react when he was like this. He’d either bend to her will or snap at her and send her scampering to her room.

It was who he was—the guard “dog” of hell, Cerberus, a man with a split soul, Hyunjin. He couldn’t help it when he was like this. He couldn’t help when his anger clouded his mind from anything else.

To her immense pleasure, though, as her hand glided through his silky strands, the hair shimmered and blonde was left in its wake.

“Take a break, Hyun…” she whispered.

“You know I can’t,” he whined, pushing his head harder against where she was still petting him.

She cooed at her puppy. “No one will know… Just come by my room for a while? You need to relax.”

“I want to; I really do… But what if Hades notices?” Hyunjin pouted, eyes rounder than they had been before and lips plumper.

Y/N, on the other hand, was scowling at the god’s name. “Let me handle my fa– Hades. If he even finds out.”

Hyunjin frowned at her displeasure and leaned off the wall. He wrapped his arms around his goddess’s waist and nuzzled against her neck, only stopping and pulling away when he felt her demeanor relax against him.

It had been like that for eons. Since Y/N was the offspring of Persephone and Zeus, Hades held a particular dislike for his step-daughter. It wasn’t her fault though. She didn’t ask to be born. No one was to blame but Zeus himself. He had disguised himself as his brother just to sleep with his brother’s wife. Typical.

Still… Hades saw Y/N as a reminder of that and treated her as such. She was sure if it weren’t for her mother’s loving heart, she would’ve been cast out of the underworld. Hades tolerated Y/N for his wife’s sake, nothing more. And, in return, Y/N grew to treat her step-father (slash uncle) with the same “respect” that she received.

What could she say, she was her mother’s daughter… A spiteful one at that.

Her feud with Hades did bear one good thing, though.

A beautiful relationship with Cerberus.

Cerberus was not as the stories told. Or, well… Not quite.

He saw himself as a beast, a monster, and so that is what the mortals saw him as, as well. But, in reality, Hyunjin was a man with a shattered soul. Cursed to immortality and split into three: love, desperation, rage.

Hades saw an opportunity and ran with it. He captured Hyunjin’s souls and chained him (metaphorically) to the gates of hell. He was bound to the king’s will and forced to guard the underworld entrance for eternity.

He loathed Hades for imprisoning him.

Something which he bonded greatly with Y/N over.

“Please, Hyun?” Y/N whispered, breaking his silence and regaining his attention. “I have something important I want to talk with you about… Something private.”

Hyunjin’s gaze traveled from her eyes to the thick chains and locks on the gate. When his eyes remet hers, he gave a subtle nod. “I’ll see you this evening, goddess.”

Lips downturning ever-so-slightly, Y/N understood. She nodded and gave a small bow before turning to head to her room.

With her soft, loving stare no longer on him—her warmth no longer in his presence—Hyunjin’s hair faded once more from blonde to hellfire red.

🎃

As Hyunjin approached her room, he felt himself tensing.

His goddess and he often found themselves alone, but he had never strayed from his post. Not more than a few yards anyway.

Sometimes Y/N would coax him to settle into a nook with her and chat. Other times, she would find him at hell’s doors with paints and canvases in tow to distract him.

If she was busy with her own godly duties, she would bring him books to keep him busy during the many, many hours of the day.

His favorite times were when she would forego meals with her family to eat with him instead. She always shared her fruits with him, and would even sneak sushi back from the mortal realm since it was his favorite.

Once in a while, she had been unable to rest, coming to sit by his side in the dead of night—silence surrounding them—until she drifted back off to sleep.

The first time that had happened, she had slouched against him, looking very un-goddess-like with her mouth open a little and brow furrowed. When he had tried to readjust, Y/N had grumbled and clung to him.

He knew he was a goner then.

He would sooner die than let anything take his goddess away from him. It wasn’t for another fifty years or so that he realized she felt the same way. But once feelings had been reciprocated, their relationship had flourished.

And yet… He had still never been to her room.

He had never dared to defy his orders.

It wasn’t out of respect for Hades. No. It was for fear that if he disobeyed, the king would punish Hyunjin by taking his goddess away.

So why was he putting her at risk now? Why allow her to convince him that this night was worth it?

It had been something in her eyes. The way she had been so insistent to have him just “take a little break.”

She had never suggested something like that before.

Sure, she would bring things to him to help him destress; she would grace him with her presence to help him relax; she would dote on him to help him unwind.

But always at the gate.

Y/N knew the consequences that Hyunjin could face for abandoning his post. So for her to insist on him coming by her room then there was something she needed to tell him within the confines of her own protective wards.

Something Hades could not know about.

“Hyun,” Y/N breathed, opening the door. As their eyes met, his red hair, tinged with a hint of black, lightened. “Come in…” She led him into her room, to a small sitting area by her fireplace. “I’m sorry if I startled you… I could hear you pacing.”

Hyunjin’s lips parted into a sorry smile, but he moved towards Y/N for an embrace regardless. “I was nervous about what you needed to say privately to me.”

“Is that what this is about?” Y/N questioned, reaching up to curl a lock of black hair around her finger.

“Ah…” Hyunjin grimaced. “That was more the thought that you might be ending our relationship…”

His eyes met hers seriously, questioningly, and watered. His hair darkened once more, losing the bits of blonde that had appeared with his love for her, and the inky red—a mixture of his desolation at the thought of losing her and permanent anger at their predicament—took over once more.

Y/N tutted. “I have no plans in ending our relationship, Hyun. Actually… What I needed to discuss with you is quite the opposite…” Hyunjin’s head tilted, and she continued. “When you first explained to me about how you were… trapped. I started doing some research…”

The goddess pulled Hyunjin to sit with her on the couch, gathering a large book from her side table to show him her centuries-old notes.

“The curse from your living days has kept your soul in fragments, divided by the three strongest emotions you felt at the time of your death. The… being that created that curse has long been destroyed, and unfortunately their knowledge along with it. And, without knowing the original parameters, putting your soul back together is… improbable.”

“I– I understand…” Hyunjin whispered, voice wobbling. “Honestly, once Hades found me, I never expected to be put back together anyway. I assumed I would always be this… mess. Monster.” He spat the last bit.

Y/N reached over to him, squeezing his hand in a moment of comfort. He smiled, albeit pitifully, and she continued with her news. “It’s not impossible for you to be whole, Hyun… There are just external forces that have to fill in the cracks.” Y/N sighed, “Technically that is what Hades did for you. He melded the shards of your soul together with underworld magic. He eternally bound you to his realm to serve him… And, I–”

She set the book back on the table, turning her body to bring both hands to hold Hyunjin’s shoulders. “I found a ritual… I’m not powerful enough to break my step-father’s magic, but I can alter it. I can… I can sever your chains to the underworld gates by tying you to another ‘object’ of the underworld, so to speak…”

“What?” Hyunjin whispered, but by the way she gazed over him with a sorrowful love, he already suspected he knew the answer.

“Myself.” Y/N shook her head, cutting off his objections. “I would bind my soul to the fragments of yours. Mine would become the glue holding yours together.”

“You’d be stuck with me forever.”

She smiled, leaning forward to place a gentle kiss on his pouty lips, hands entwining with his—now very blonde—locks. “I could think of no better eternity.”

Hyunjin, however, did not fully reciprocate her affection and gently pushed his goddess away. Y/N’s smile fell, pulling her hands away as well. “I’m sorry I couldn’t give you your freedom, Hyunjin… I tried to find something, anything. But if Hades created a key, he destroyed it long ago… This was the best solution I could come up with.”

“No, goddess,” Hyunjin grabbed Y/N’s fiddling hands, “This is more than enough.” He met her eyes seriously, “Yes, once I would’ve given anything for my independence. But now… All I want is the freedom to be with you… I just worry that you haven’t thought through the repercussions of this…”

Y/N snorted a laugh. “Hyunjin, trust me, I have. I want to spend the rest of my days with you, and after, if The Fates allow, we will be together in our next life as well. We would be bound together, come death and rebirth. I can think of nothing I want more.”

“Then… it would be my utmost pleasure to be bound to you, my goddess.”

With a somber nod, Y/N turned once more to the side table and retrieved a few items. She placed a small wooden bowl with a red string inside between them.

“I will ask this of you once more… Hwang ‘Cerberus’ Hyunjin, Hound of Hades and Guard of the Underworld, do you consent to binding our souls together. Entwining our fates for all eternity?”

“I do, goddess.”

“Please give me your hand.”

Silently, he held his hand to her. She took his hand carefully, caressing the soft skin before placing a light kiss on his palm. Y/N raised her small blade, slowly carving her ritual symbol into his palm.

Hyunjin couldn’t deny how his heart skipped a beat at the kiss, but it nearly stopped as the knife bit into his flesh. He desperately tried to bite back the whimper that he let out when his goddess began to literally carve herself into him.

But he couldn’t help himself and the smallest moan slipped between his plush lips, causing Y/N to hesitate before moving the blade to her own hand.

After another few, silent, moments she showed her palm where she carved his own symbol as well before grasping his palm in hers. Y/N’s eyes finally raised from their conjoined palms as their blood melded and dripped into the bowl, coating the string.

Once the cord had soaked and their hands had healed sufficiently, she withdrew her hold on him to tie the blood-bound string to them both. Her fingers moved deftly in tying a tight knot around his pinky and nodded for him to tie to the other end to her own finger.

His hands tied the knot a bit shakier than hers had but once he was done, Y/N leaned forward to rest her forehead against his.

“It is done…” She whispered, “You belong to me… with me. And I, you.”

Hyunjin glanced at the string in time to catch the ritual magic disintegrate into a red glimmer. The magic soaked into their bodies and highlighted their healing symbols, moving through their veins and into both of their hearts—their souls.

His lips split into a wide-smile, eyes becoming nothing more than crescents as he felt her within him. He felt her undying love for him; her loyalty and trust. He felt the warmth she always brought with her but took when she left… except a piece of it now resided in his own chest, never dissipating.

“Hyunjin,” she nearly panted. His eyes snapped open, his smile faltering at Y/N’s expression. If he was feeling her… was she feeling his soul as well? His love and… desperation for her. His eyes widened as hers darkened, a mischievous smile forming. “Maybe I should’ve chosen a collar for you instead of just a leash, hm? Is that what you want, puppy?”

Hyunjin froze, and when he didn’t answer, Y/N pressed on. “Oh come now… You have to be a good boy and tell me what you want. Show me what you want, puppy.”

He remained frozen for a moment more before she noticed him gulp and his gaze shifted back down to her hand—the one that would forever bear his symbol. His chin tilted upwards, baring his neck, and when she didn’t get the hint, he, ever so slowly, wrapped his slender fingers around her wrist and guided her hand to his neck.

As her own fingers fit against his throat, giving a light squeeze, Hyunjin continued to hold over her hand and hold her eyes as well, pleading. His gaze shifted, lowering his lids until his eyes held a teasing promise of passion, darker and hotter than the depths of hell. He broke her stare, eyes fluttering closed and mouth dropping open, when she truly tightened her grip around his neck.

Y/N tutted. “So that’s what you want then, puppy? You want me to be your collar.” She smirked while she pushed him to sit against the back of the couch, climbing to straddle his long legs. “You know… I can feel what you’ve felt in your soul for eons now. I can feel how desperate you’ve been for me.” She clicked her tongue, alternating between cutting off his blood flow and air supply and caressing his neck lovingly. “Have you touched yourself to the image of me? Made yourself a mess to the thought of what I could have done to you?”

Hyunjin whimpered. “I apologize… I couldn’t help myself. You’re so beautiful, goddess.”

She clenched around nothing, eyes fluttering for a moment, at the use of her normally formal title being used in such a… reverent manner.

“Please, goddess…” Hyunjin continued in a whiny pout, “Let me worship you.”

Y/N’s breath hitched imperceptibly, “Very well, puppy. Get on your knees and show me how much you adore me.”

Hyunjin nodded, eyes glazed and lips wet, as he stood from the couch and dropped to his knees in front of her. Without breaking eye contact, she shifted and spread her legs, raising the skirts of her dress and exposing her dripping cunt.

He leaned forward, nose tracing the inside of her thigh and nuzzling lightly against her pubic bone. “I’ve neglected you, goddess.”

“Should I punish you?” She quipped. Hyunjin’s eyes flew up to hers pleadingly. Hers was the only punishment he ever craved. “No, I think not tonight. Tonight we will worship one another; we will celebrate.”

The whispered promise of pleasure, in combination with the heavenly scent of his goddess just on the tip of his tongue, drew a deep, guttural groan from Hyunjin, eyes rolling back as well.

He waited for no further instruction, no need for pushing, and dove into her. A sharp gasp escaping her at the sudden feeling. Hyunjin, ever so pleased with himself, smirked against her lips before flicking her clit with his tongue.

Y/N’s head dropped back, lolling against the sofa, and she rocked her hips forward when he flattened his tongue. “Hyun… Oh my gods,” she moaned.

Sweat began to gather on her brow—her dress becoming suffocating—as Hyunjin continued to fuck her with his mouth. Her fingers found their way into his hair, tugging harshly on the black locks, when she felt him scissor two fingers into her.

Y/N exhaled slowly, a shudder racking her body while he alternated between sucking on her clit and dipping his tongue into her heat—all while his fingers diligently opened her up for him.

She was going to cum. She could feel it building, fire burning in her belly.

But she wasn’t done with him yet.

Y/N pulled him harshly by the hair, a pleasantly pitiful whimper escaping his lips as he lost contact with his treat.

“Hyunjin.” Y/N scolded as he growled and tried to pull her back to his mouth. He glared up at her, defying her. “Stop that, puppy. You did good, so so good. But I want something else…”

“Yes, my goddess?” Hyunjin’s eyes softened, his head cocking, “I will give you anything, anything to show you how much I adore you.”

“I want to fuck you,” she smirked, pushing him backwards with a foot so that she could gracefully stand from the couch. “All night, if you would like,” she added as she untied and let her dress pool at her feet.

Hyunjin’s eyes widened. He had hoped this might be where things would lead to after he received the depth of her feelings within his soul, but now that it was actually happening, he was shocked.

His gaze met her soft one and trailed down to her outstretched hand. Gently locking his fingers with hers, she helped him stand. Y/N reached up, brushing his own, rather sweaty, hair from his face and caressing his cheek.

She leaned up, placing a lingering kiss to his bottom lip, and whispered, “Come with me.”

He nodded slowly, allowing her to lead him to her bed. Y/N pushed his shoulders gently so that he sat on the edge. Hyunjin was dazed, already fucked out just from tasting her, and he struggled to keep his eyes open.

Anything she wanted, he would give it to her.

Y/N gently threaded her fingers through his hair, scratching the now-blackened roots, and delighted in the shiver that visibly racked his body.

Edged terribly, Hyunjin’s hips bucked forward at a particular tug of his locks. His eyes flew open, widening comically, and her own narrowed on his minute reactions.

He held himself too still, eyes flitting between her stare, her lips, and her thighs.

“Poor puppy…” She tsked, stepping forward to push one of her legs between his and subsequently pressing her delicious thigh against his painfully hard cock. “Just a dumb dog, needing something to hump.”

Hyunjin nodded pathetically, experimentally rolling his hips forward into her thigh. At the press of her warm skin, even against his clothing, Hyunjin felt himself fall fully; his midnight hair reflecting his deep need for his goddess, and only his goddess.

“Hyun, are you okay?” Y/N whispered teasingly, fingering the locks of black that had completely overtaken his blonde hair.

“Yes, please goddess, please continue.” He whined, continuing to rut against her lightly.

She clicked her tongue at him again, “Oh, puppy. You’re more desperate than I thought…”

“Yes…” Hyunjin leaned forward, trailing his lips across her bare stomach. His breath a warm whisper on her, “I’ve wanted you for centuries, my goddess.”

Not one to pass up an opportunity to tease him, Y/N began to pull away, “Only a want, a mere fleeting desire for me?”

“No, goddess! Please, I need you,” Hyunjin cried, swiftly pulling the goddess down and rolling over so that she was pinned beneath him. “I need you so badly. I’ll be a good boy… Please!”

In his begging, Hyunjin had failed to notice that he had begun to grind down against her wantonly. He winced at how hard and sensitive his clothed cock felt, rubbing against his goddess, but he continued regardless, delighting in the painfully pleasurable drag.

Y/N flexed her thigh, enjoying the hiss of appreciation that came from between his thick lips. “Alright, puppy. Let me show you then, what it means to be mine.”

Hyunjin nodded rapidly, almost making himself dizzy, and sat up to straddle her. She pulled on the fasteners of his pants to free his cock.

“So hard, puppy…” Y/N fake pouted as she rubbed a thumb over his weeping tip.

He whined. Loudly. And rutted into her palm, fucking himself with her hand. The faint roughness from the scar of his mark dragged down his shaft, eliciting pretty moans from him further.

Y/N guided him against her wet folds, the tip catching against her clit while he continued to rut, and coated him in her desire.

Finally– Finally.

She lined him with her entrance and gave him the permission he so desperately craved.

“Fuck me, Hyunjin. Be a good puppy, and fill. me. up.”

He pushed into her slowly. Not for any reason as to tease her or defy her orders or even to let her adjust, but because he simply needed to pace himself.

Hyunjin had only dreamed of being able to be with his goddess in this way. He wasn’t going to blow his chances by literally blowing too soon.

Y/N could tell he was struggling, and she grazed her hands up his covered torso, wrapping her arms around his neck. She pulled him to her, kissing him and swallowing the little whimpers he let out every time she—mostly—involuntarily clenched.

As a goddess she was expected to control herself, be in control of herself. But being surrounded by, filled with, Hyunjin made her weak.

Luckily—or not—for her, Hyunjin was just as uncontrolled. The desperation that consumed one of his soul fragments had grown and taken hold of him. And once he felt how warm and tight she was around him, he couldn’t help but snap his hips forward.

Hyunjin’s thrusts became erratic. He kissed her sloppily, movements becoming messier when she moaned and becoming harder when she whimpered.

He nipped down her jawline, biting down particularly hard on her jugular when she buried her nails into his back. When had her hands found their way under his tunic? He couldn’t think of anything else except how good, how right, it felt to be inside her. To fill her and claim her and be one with her.

Y/N felt herself peaking again, never having fallen too far from her own edge, and reached between her legs to rub her clit. Hyunjin might’ve been a bit sloppy, too caught up in his own pleasure, but the stretch of his cock in her was just too delicious to not finish her off.

“Good boy, Hyun,” she moaned in his ear. “Cum for me, in me, puppy. Become mine.”

She hadn’t even finished her words. At his goddess’s command to cum, he was spilling himself inside. Feeling the warmth flood her, Y/N arched herself as the pleasure blinded her, vision whiting out as if she had entered Olympus. She might’ve screamed or maybe that was just the ringing in her ears.

Hyunjin, eyes heavily lidded as he stared down at her, fucked her through her orgasm. And when she settled, he kissed gently around her neck and cheeks.

Y/N smiled, bringing her marked palm to his cheek, and kissed him deeply.

After a few, long, moments of breathing and gathering their bearings, the two readjusted in her bed. Silk and luxury surrounding them, nothing felt more comforting than each other’s arms.

“Hades is going to destroy us when he finds out what we’ve done.” Hyunjin finally spoke quietly into the darkness of her room.

“Good thing I have the fearsome Cerberus to protect me.” She teased, nipping at his collarbone.

“I’m serious, Y/N. I need you… I– I love you. I can’t have anything harming you.” Hyunjin squeezed her tighter to him.

“I love you too, Hyunjin. I swear to you, you will never lose me. I am eternally yours.” Y/N sighed, her heart full. “I don’t know what will happen with my step-father. But, you are mine now as I am yours. We will deal with whatever comes, together, in this life and the next.”

#stray kids #skz #hwang hyunjin #reader #hwang hyunjin x reader #stray kids x reader #skz x reader #fluff #smut #cerberus au #goddess au #greek mythology au #oneshot #fictober

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psyaurorak · 1 year

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Episode 243 criticism

Ok this chapter pissed me off so badly so let’s summarise:

1) Zeus was in labour & asked Persephone to help him because he didn’t trust anyone else to help him

2) Persephone cut the baby out of his leg. And can I just say she did it in the grossest way possible. Because:

- She didn’t use a sterilised knife or sterilised equipment. She picked up a random knife to cut him with

- She didn’t clean up the area before she cut it, she didn’t even clean the bed or provide a sterile environment to this

- She didn’t wash her hands. She stuck her hands into his thigh to pull the baby out without washing her hands. She did wear 1 glove (1! I don’t see the second hand get a glove anywhere and that’s the hand with the knife)

3) The moment she cleaned him she said ‘he looks like Hades.’ Zeus said it was a genetic thing and mentions how Kronos probably disliked how Hades looks like Kronos’s dad. I’ll say that that’s kind of interesting.

4) Zeus then mentions how he’s going to give Dionysus over to nymphs. And what does Persephone do? Refuse to hand the baby and activate her red eyes/wrath form.

Commentary:

This chapter was horrible. Persephone kidnaps a child immediately after the parent gives birth. She refuses to let said parent hold the baby and essentially kidnapped Dionysus (hence the ‘I messed up Hades’ a chapter before)

The narrative tries to make Zeus the villain even though he 1) recognised the danger of having a child 2) attempted to give him away to safe people and 3) arranged a better life that he couldn’t give.

And to be honest, his fear of Hera isn’t unfounded. She’s impulsive. She burnt down a portrait when her kids were in the house and endangers them as well.

There’s something so awful about framing this scene, the narrative makes Zeus seem awful for this. What implications does that have for biological parents giving away their child for a better life?

And what implications does that give to parents that adopt?

Also Persephone’s entitlement is off the charts. What right does she have to refuse the parent that just gave birth, the right to hold the child? What right does she have to take Dionysus? What right does she have to argue with the parent who already has made arrangements?

Why does she imply that the nymphs aren’t sufficient enough to take care of Dionysus? She gets mad immediately after Zeus brings up the arrangements made.

And can I just say, Persephone only got attached after she realised he looked like Hades.

How do I say that doesn’t seem healthy? I mean it seems like it’s bad news.

If your only reasoning for making a decision like ‘taking care of a child’ is ‘he looks like Hades’ that’s awful.

Actually, I think the reason that struck a chord with me was because:

- You should be prepared with children. If you immediately see your husband in your child what’s next? Is she going to expect him to grow up to be like Hades?

- She ghosted Hades after she made the decision to adopt. Does Hades even want to have a child right now? He mentioned a chapter ago that the relationship felt rushed.

- Lastly, it makes her reasons for wanting to take care of Dionysus seem selfish (because it is) She doesn’t want to take care of the baby because it’s a baby and she wants a kid. She wants Dionysus because he looks like Hades.

Power has gone to this girls head. She needs a reality check and fast. If Hades told her to give him to the nymphs and he’s not ready I’d actually support him for once. Which is hilarious cause I hate hate hate hate Hades.

Also, Zeus specifically sought Persephone out because out of everyone else. He trusted her the most!

She broke his trust by stealing his baby!

The audacity of it too, she took the baby, refused to give him the child and then took off. And all she can say is ‘I think I messed up.’ Like No shit Sherlock. Understatement of the century. Now she’s acting like she’s the victim here!

And the worst part? Realising that Zeus can’t speak up about the incident without telling anyone. He knows this. He doesn’t want anyone to know. Persephone knows this. That seems like blackmail.

I’m going to bring up my last point too. Is Persephone really mature? Because this shows the opposite.

This shows she’s immature and she definitely isn’t ready for her position as queen.

She has an entire realm to look after and all she can think about is getting married out of spite, and then jumping to have a kid when:

1) Kronos is out there

2) The underworld isn’t a safe place. Zeus had a point with the nymphs honestly because they’re probably in the mortal realm and right now the mortal realm is probably the safest place for a baby to be. Dionysus shouldn’t be in the underworld at all.

3) The baby Kronos has for some reason is in danger but she doesn’t care about that.

4) Dionysus is the god of MADNESS. Again, should he be in the underworld at all??? That seems like a bad situation waiting to happen.

Tldr: Persephone kidnapped a kid, refused their parent, adopted said kid and then made the choice to ghost her husband right after.

This chapter (again) sucked terribly. All it did was cement Persephone as a character who takes advantage of her power to get what she wants. That’s not ‘girlboss.’ She’s a horribly abusive character and her communication skills absolutely suck.

@/Acethena also mentioned that it’s odd how Persephone acts like this when she goes on about her own agency and how people take from her, yet here she is taking agency from a child.

#anti lore olympus #lo critical #lore olympus criticism #let me know if i missed tags #lore olympus critical #antiloreolympus

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i-cant-sing · 2 years

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i beg of u, yan sis artemis brainrot PLEASE. she is so underrated

"Artemiiiiss~" you whined, as the goddess carried you over her shoulder. "Please, let me sleep! It's too early to go hunting- I DONT EVEN LIKE HUNTING!" You yelled, kicking your legs but Artemis only rolled her eyes and swatted your legs to stop their thrashing.

"Quit whining. I had already told you weeks ago that we were going to the jungle. You need to learn how to hunt."

"Do I, Artemis? Do I? Do I really need to learn how to hunt?! I'm not even a real goddess! I'm just some mere human that Zeus, Poseidon and Hades decided to "adopt" and turn immortal!" You tried to kick your legs again, but Artemis held them firmly this time. "Honestly, I could've been happy staying at home on Earth. I'd probably be watching Netflix and enjoying a large pizza all by myself. Artemis- Artemis, listen to me, I'm an introvert. It does not suit my nature to be out and about to do hunting when I could literally be sleeping in!"

In a second, she'd put you back on your feet and towered over you. "Nonesense! You have your immortal life to be sleeping away, but why would you waste it when you could be learning precious skills with your dear sister."

"But we're not sisters-"

"Hush. Honestly, I don't think you complained this much when you went sightseeing with Apollo and Hermes!"

"I didn't went with them- they whisked me away! And what was I supposed to do when they'd placed me on a cloud? Jump?"

Artemis rolled her eyes at you before grabbing your arm and dragging you towards a tree. "We're going to climb this-"

"We? Artemis, even though I am an immortal now, I literally do not have any upper body strength- WOAH! ARTEMIS!" You barely had any time to react as the goddess suddenly hauled you up with her to a tree branch, about 50 feet above ground.

"Okay, now hold the bow- relax your shoulders. And then take this arrow-" Artemis sat behind you, guiding your hands.

"What are we hunting anyways?"

"You'll see. Look, the prey is there! At North East side. Go on, aim."

You closed one eye and looked in the direction she pointed and that's when you saw-

"Ares?!"

"Hush. We don't wanna scare the prey away."

"That's Ares, Artemis! He's gonna murder us!"

"Pfft. No he won't, maybe try to hurt me, but you're his favourite."

"Favourite?! He dragged me to war with him two weeks ago! Had me sitting in front of him on the horse with nothing but an oversized helmet he'd gotten by slaying so dude's head! He spent a whole war yelling all kinds of war techniques, then yelled some more when I said my thighs were chafed! How is it my fault? He shouldn't have forced me to ride the damn horse for 3 days!"

"Yeah, but did you die?" Artemis asked, head resting on your shoulder as she guided your arms in Ares direction, who was busy hunting some rabbits himself. "You didn't even get hurt? That's a sign that Ares adores you. If anyone else was in your place, especially a human, they'd at least lose a limb, if not be dead by his hands. Now, pull the arrow like this." She pulled your hands and caused you to pull the arrow back.

"What- Artemis, stop! He's gonna get hurt and then be super mad! Why are you even doing this?"

"Because its my forest and he's hunting here without my permission. Besides, this arrow won't hurt him. It's a special kind of arrow."

"Huh-?" You didn't have time to question her because Artemis already made you release the arrow and when Ares heard the sound of it whooshing through air, he turned around and got it by the arrow in the face. But instead of piercing skin, the arrow had magically turned into water, so now it was as if you'd thrown a water balloon at him.

"Oh so thats what you meant by special- Artemis? Hey, where'd you go?" You turned around, but there was no sign of Artemis anywhere. When you looked back, you were met with a very angry Ares.

"Y/N!"

"Oh shit."

You tried to run, but Ares had caught you in less than a second. And now you were hung upside down by the same tree as Ares told you that he was gonna be taking you to the next 5 wars with him as punishment. All while Artemis was watching this unfold from the bushes. Serves you right for ditching on her to have sleepover with her brother and Hermes.

#yandere ares #yandere artemis #yandere greek mythology #yandere greek goddesses #yandere greek gods

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smallrainclouds · 3 years

Text

And part b to part six.

Warning:.some spicness, like kissing and stuff.

🌙💤💤🌙

*Reader's pov*

You were bone tired but pleased with your process. You pushed your hair out your face. Lately you had taken to wearing it down, it was nice not to have to fuss with fixing a bun or the headache that came with it sometimes

You hummed a song as you began collecting the next round of scrolls. You

You heard the door open and your eyes widened, "Hypnos! Here for a second time?"

You waved him in with a smile. He gives a smile in return, "Yeah, I got done early so I decided to stop by to check in."

You noticed there was a tension in his body that you haven't seen before but you decided to hold your tongue for now.

"It's going well. Come on, I got the backroom nearly done. I'll give you a tour."

You motioned to Hypnos to follow you, eager to show off your work. You didn't notice how his eyes stayed on you the whole time.

"So I got the history area set up, and I got it broken down by the time period followed by the area…" you chatted as Hypnos floated behind you. He was mostly quiet except for a quick question here or there.

"And that is it for now." You said, fingers brushing across the wooden shelves.

You looked at Hypnos, candle light was always good to Hypnos. It has taken some time to admit to yourself that You did like the strange handsome look of your husband. Now it was something you couldn't stop thinking about.

"Impressive. Do you enjoy doing this?" He asked.

You tilted your head, not expecting that question. "I do. I like the stories and even the non fiction can help give context to what a story is about."

Hypnos smiled, and damn it, you could feel a blush forming.

"Is this what you would do if you had a choice?"

"I…" You bit your lips, not quite sure what to say. "Maybe. I think I would, but I could be happy doing something else."

"Are you unhappy with your work?" You tried to keep your tone casual. It was already unusual for Hypnos to visit twice in one day and ask questions like these. It was silly but you didn't want to scare him off. Even if he was your husband, he was more like an acquaintance right now.

"That would be putting it mildly." Hypnos shrugged. "Not exactly the type of guy you would want doing paperwork, but that's all I do."

"Why do it then?" You frowned, "I mean being the god of sleep would have to be a full time job on its own."

Hypnos didn't say anything for a few moments, and you feared you may have pushed too much.

"What exactly did your family tell you? About the war, I mean?" Hypnos asked, his voice soft.

You crossed your arms and shifted on your feet. This wasn't what you expected. You still didn't like to think about it. That war had cost so much more problems than it fixed.

"My mother told me some things but not what you did. She did say you were the only reason she didn't lose a war. Which is huge if you know what my mother is like." You locked eyes with Hypnos. You could see the guilt on his face, another thing that surprised you tonight.

"Well, Aphrodite helped some. Even if she didn't realize it." Hypnos matched your gaze.

He grinned a little, and held up two fingers."I…put Zeus to sleep. Twice. I don't think he found out the second time, I was much more careful the second time around."

You gasped at him, "How in the world did you even get close enough to do that?"

This time Hypnos laughed and you tried to ignore the warmth in your body.

"I was a determined and a very stupid child back then. I thought I needed to prove I was worthy of being called a god." Hypnos looked amused at the thought of his younger self. "I saw Zeus had a hard time saying no to a pretty face and gave your mother the idea to trick Zeus by using his own ego against him."

You shook your head with a laugh, "No wonder my mother didn't say much, she probably was mad she didn't think of it first."

"After that, my mother wasn't exactly pleased that I was getting involved with the Olympians so much. She talked Hades into keeping me here until I grew up some. So now I'm here, listing off the dead. I think Mom was trying to show me the cost of that war."

"Oh, it's been so long since that war though. Surely she must have forgiven you by now." You had been a child yourself, just on the cusp of becoming a woman. Those hazy days of youth seem so long ago.

"I suspect if it wasn't for the current war right now, I would probably be out of the house."

A moment of silence then Hypnos floated closer, "Actually, could I confess something? You're probably not going to like me much afterwards though. But I need to tell you."

"Hypnos, I doubt that very much." You watched him stop his floating and stand. You noticed that he could block you from the door, but you felt comfortable enough with Hypnos. And you were sure he wouldn't do anything. Honestly, you weren't sure if you would say no if he did try something.

His face turned serious, "I really hope so."

You frowned at him, "Hypnos, just tell me. I don't like these kinds of games." You couldn't help the nervousness in your voice. If this was some joke…

"I helped your mother for a reason. I… I did it for you." Hypnos said quietly.

You stared, not quite understanding. "But we never even met…"

"No, we have once,Y/N. I don't think you noticed me the other times." Hypnos respond desperately.

You shook your head and took a step backwards, the shelves pressed against your back.

Hypnos grabbed your shoulders, firm but not bruising. He got close enough that you could feel his body heat and you looked away from him. You hated how your heart flip flopped between wanting to push him away and pulling him closer.

"This isn't funny, Hypnos." You snapped at him.

"No, it's not." Hypnos grabbed your chin. "Hey, Y/N look at me. Hey."

You gave in the gentle pressure and allowed Hypnos to pull your face up. You realized you were trembling as you met his light golden eyes.

"You really don't remember me, do you?" He whispered. You shook your head, unable to speak.

"I remember. Each time I saw you. The first time, you didn't see me I think. It was a party, you were dancing with one of your sisters. I was there because I wanted to see what the big deal was about the Olympians."

His thumb brushed your face, a small smile on his. "The second time was when I first tricked Zeus, you were in the hallways and I had to hide so no one would see me. I almost got caught anyway since I couldn't take my eyes away from you."

You couldn't look away, you almost felt like you were in a trance, only able to listen to Hypnos' voice. "The third time… I was in your mother's living room, and I could see you in the garden. I sneaked off so I could get a closer look, and that when I found you trying to listen in. You looked like a painting to me, this beautiful little goddess hidden among flowers. I had to send you off before I could even talk to you."

Your eyes widen, an old memory rushing back.

"The red poppies." You murmured and Hypnos' face lit up.

"She tried to offer me anything. Wealth, boons or strength, anything a young god could want. But… I wanted you. My mother tried to stop it, to save you from my foolishness, but Hera had already swore to the river Styx."

"Hypnos- I - this is too much." You shook your head. You placed your hands on his chest, but you were trembling too much to push him away. Your hand just curled into his tunic, shaking in a mix of anger and stock. And hurt, you thought maybe you could trust him.

"How- I can't even talk to you. My sisters-" you pulled your face away from him. Your voice cracked, "my sisters. My home."

Hypnos used both hands to hold your face as he bent down to look at you. "I know. I shouldn't have kept it from you. I would have thought your family would have told you."

You took a deep breath, "I-i thought you were a friend. I thought you were in the same boat as me. I thought maybe you were helpful in a battle or something and my mother saw a chance for some dumb political move and that Nyx was in on it."

You glared up at him, "I didn't know you traded for me, like -like I was some dumb cattle!" You stepped away from the side, back facing Hypnos; trying to get air into your lungs. You hated the fact the only reason you were able to get away was because Hypnos allowed you.

"First of all, you will not talk about yourself like that." Hypnos' voice went hard but you just scoffed at him, too upset at him.

He got close to you again, tone a little softer "And second, it wasn't like that. I honestly didn't think she would offer her own daughter up. I-"

You whirled around to face him, finger in his face. "You didn't have to take her up on it though!"

He grabbed your wrist and pulled you to him. His face is a mixture of anger and desperation. He wrapped his arm around your waist and held you flushed against him. You raised your hand to his chest to push off but the fire in his eyes stopped you.

"I knew I would never get another chance to have you, Y/N. By blood and darkness,it was my only chance and I took it! I know what the almighty Olympians really think of us. I know I would never get to see you again if I didn't take up on her offer."

Hypnos lean down, almost close enough to kiss. "I would have done anything for you. I still would."

You tighten your hand on his chest, unable to move away, not wanting to move away. "You barely know me, Hypnos. Why? Why me?"

"Because I do know you, in the way that matters. I see how hard you try to please your family, how you get lost in the words of a story."

You shook your head, unable to deal with emotions that were building up in you. But Hypnos just kept talking.

"I know you have a soft spot for everybody, even the outcasts, how smart you are and how you always try to make sure to help anyone who needs it."

"I- Hypnos." You whispered.

He let go of your wrist to wrap his other arm around you. "Y/N, I don't know everything, not yet. But I would like to. Will you let me?" He asked softly, desperately.

You couldn't speak if you wanted to. You cupped his face and pulled his lips to yours in a chaste kiss.

Hypnos tighten his hold on you. Gently, he pressed a little more into the kiss. You gasped against his lips and he took the opportunity to deepen the kiss.

You wrapped your arms around his shoulders and just tried to hold on.

You didn't know how long or short the kiss went on when both you and Hypnos both took a breath. He pressed his forehead against yours, his golden eyes on your eyes.

"I'm still mad at you." You murmured, fingers caressing his cheek. He smiled, "If this is how good you are when mad, I can't wait to kiss you when you're happy."

"Oh, for goodness sake." You rolled your eyes, not able to hide your smile. Hypnos pressed a kiss against your cheek and then another one, slowly working his way to your neck.

You tugged him back up to face you before he could continue because if you didn't, you were to make some very foolish decisions.

"Can I kiss you again?" Hypnos asked, his hand cupped the back of your head and you nodded as you pulled him down for another one.

Suddenly the doors bang open, "Hey Y/N! I got past- oh." Zagreus' voice halted. You hid your face in Hypnos' chest, wishing for a pit to open up and swallow you whole.

"Zagreus, buddy. Ever heard of knocking?" Hypnos snarled, "Let me help, it when you use your head and-"

"You know what, I will come back later. Much later." Zagreus slammed the door shut.

Then opened it again.

"Congratulations you two!"

And slammed close again.

"I'm going to kill him." Hypnos murmured into your hair.

"Be nice, he is your best friend." You murmured into his chest.

"But he gotten used to dying." Hypnos brushed a kiss against your head. You sighed and looked up at him, "I said no, Hypnos. You said anything for me."

"I did." Hydnos agreed easily. He dipped his head down to met you in another kiss.

"Anything for you, Y/N."

#hypnos x reader #this fic had taken over my life #marriage au #tangled starlight

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antiloreolympus · 3 years

Text

7 Anti LO Asks

1. does ... does anyone on the LO art team know anatomy? why does daphne look like that? (also im p sure the flower petal hair idea was stolen from punderworld and/or hades game, because all flower nymphs before in LO never had that feature but now do?)

2. Weird thing but Daphne was/is a health it. She runs, is a yoga teacher, and probably more since she has a lot we “don’t expect” yet Apollo is just following behind her, like not flying not some weird god power, just chasing after her as she runs from him. Sure the dress might slow her down but she tied it. I feel like she could have gotten farther faster.

3. i kinda get what LO is doing by trying to make Demeter "redeemable" by making her a victim too, but that shouldn't be via depowering her so much to where Zeus and Leto and even Hecate can push her around, but also we still saw Demeter was emotionally and mentally abusive to Persephone, that doesn't just go away over the span of a stressful month. I get LO is doing this so Persephone isn't stuck with an abusive mom half the year, but this is the worst possible way to do it.

4. I honestly hate Apollo’s character in lo. He’s not a fun villain or a villain to root for. He’s not even a villain I love to hate. Apollo’s motivations are barely even explained. His character makes me so uncomfortable and makes reading lo harder than usual.

5. the only two times ive seen a depiction of hades running a business like LO it was HADES and Hadestown, and the former made sure to show Hades paid everyone and have them benefits like time off, and the latter was about how capitalism is a cruel and unjust system. Meanwhile LO is like "slavery is good, actually", like ...

6. I used to really love Lore Olympus - to the point where I would argue with the anti's to leave the comic alone. I'm Greek, and I hate the Percy Jackson series with a passion and I think I clung onto LO as the closest thing to what a non-Greek could produce that was actually pretty good.

And to be honest, season 1 wasn't that bad at all! There were a few funky pacing issues, and some things that needed an explanation (why Apollo was entitled, why Demeter kept Persephone hidden, a bit more on why Hades is considered a bad person, ext.) But I just interpreted that these things would come with time. After all, it's a series.

But then, season 2 actually came out. This is when I started to notice that the webtoon, even in season 1, had a ton of bad writing.

Apollo is cartoonishly and unreasonably evil. He has no nuance to him, like the other gods and goddesses. In Greek mythology, everyone did shitty things, so I guess I expected a bit more nuance to his character since Smythe had given this to her other villain-like characters - like Minthe, Zeus, even Chronos was hinted at having some emotional issues. Yet Apollo comes in and the only thing we know is that he could be being pushed by his mother - but we don't really see his side of the story - and if anyone tries to bring this up it immediately gets put down as "You're a r@pe apologist!" No, I just need a bit more consistency - you can't give Minthe a reason as to why she does what she does, make Zeus nuanced, but then treat this other character like the devil himself - especially when this God is such an important part of Greek culture and mythology.

Smythe's Demeter has become a joke. How is it, the Goddess that was once referred to some ancient Greeks as Mother Earth herself, a powerful Chthonic Goddess along with her daughters Persephone and the mysterious Despoina, was one of the most important Goddesses to date, is not a Fertility Goddess and is easily captured? I mean, ok, Leto was indeed a Titan of Night/Light of Day and considered to be one of Zeus's brides; but Smythe didn't even bother showing us the Goddesses fighting or interacting! There was no struggle at all?! On top of that, she is a perfectionist that is considered overbearing and snobbish - I don't understand how Demeter can be shown as strong and even threatening in season 1 and was even hinted at having a history with Zeus and Hades is now just....a character trope?

Why is Persephone being written as a Mary Sue? I never thought I would have to bring this word up in the Lord's year of 2021, but here we are. Persephone has too many men after her or has shown a slight interest (Hades, Ares, Apollo, Hermes, Hephaestus, and possibly Chronos? Seriously?) Like, I know that in *one* story it was mentioned that those Gods mentioned offered her wedding gifts, but Demeter turned them away- but they weren't all going after her at once. Demeter's fertility Goddess title was obviously taken from her (among other Goddesses) to make Persephone the super special one. And now her Act of Wrath is being downplayed and Zeus is being villainized for wanting to convict her...I honestly stopped feeling sorry for her. I'm at the point where I want Zeus to give her to Apollo haha.

Hades's character is inconsistent - first, he's portrayed as a 'scoundrel' CEO type that people fear - one that literally rips someone's eye out and forces the dead to pay to get into the afterlife- and then he's portrayed as a gentle and loving man? These two character types do not flow together smoothly, and Smythe has made little to no effort to harmonize them.

When I presented these criticisms to the recent fast pass chapter - I was attacked. More than 10 dislikes and fans telling me that I need to stop reading and that saying that Demeter and Apollo are badly written is me missing the point of the story. The fandom has also become incredibly toxic, and I'm ashamed to say that I even defended this comic.

7. id be so mad if i spent years reading this comic only for them to get together off screen. i really hope rachel isnt pulling that because as much as the fans are annoying, they deserve to actually see what they've been waiting and paying for, not have it all happen off screen and rushed.

#anti lo #anti lore olympus #lore olympus critical #lo critical

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poptropicontent · 3 years

Note

Bro we should do a top ten best poptropica twist villains

and do we did ;)) @cacaocheri

top 10 best poptropica twist villians

day 2 of mutual insanity over poptropica feat her ETHERAL blue text commentary .

10: Jeeves

Forgot this dude even existed. Also his name is Jeeves. 0/10

we accidentally referred to do this dude as the governor for the duration of our rankings he was so irrelevant. only made the list bc we had a villian apologist moment over the captain from S.O.S.

9: Preston Wilhelm

His scheme was pretty clever....and he could've gotten away with it, too.....if it wasn't for us meddling kids.................

im biased bc nightwatch is one of my favourite islands but this dude was so wild like. literally owns a printing company and resorts to larceny like I respect that so hard but. how. what's the progression there.

8: The Construction Workers

The construction workers were so obviously going to be the villains, but they got bonus points because their twist came with a good message: deforestation is bad, kids!

literally do not remember these mfs at all but cherry brainwashed me into remembering that they were bad so uh tree good capitalism bad what she said thank you <\3

7: Henry Flatbottom

Magistrate sucks but his twist was pretty good. Sure, when you meet him he reeks of dirty rat bastard vibes, but I would have never predicted he did that.

afraid to say that he fooled me. I knew he was kinda sus but had NO idea the twist would play out the way it did like... impossible to see that coming.

6: Zeus

I love poptropica so much for diverging expectations and making zeus the villain. In almost all media, hades is normally the villain. We finally got some zeus slander.

poptropica DID that. honestly agree 100% w cherry hades slander is so overused in the media it's abt time someone pulled a complete quick one on us and made ooga booga cloud man the villian.

5: Ringmaster Raven

Raven was a pretty good twist....poptropica built it up so well with the newspapers and everything....by the time you realized he was the villain, it was too late....

raven bb I'm so sorry for putting you on the villian list hnngsgnhggsg.

4: Madamosille Moreau

I had moreau higher up BUT mads opened my third eye when she told me that moreau was like the only non historical person on the train, so that's a pretty big giveaway. Also we were gonna suspect her at one point or another because the whole point of the island was to look for a villain.

yeah!! moreau is probably my favourite villian on this list but it is possible to discover she's the villian before her reveal at the end. HOWEVER her reveal is done so cleverly and I will never get over the last dialogue exchange w gustave pls.

3: Director D

Director D quite literally played chess against himself, and we were all the pawns. It was kind of genius, not gonna lie. The only reason he isn't higher up was because there was literally a clue that said "don't trust director d"

that kinda gave it away but I mean. his character as a concept literally leaves no room to imagine that he could possibly be a twist villian because every island needs a 'good' character like him.

2: Black Widow

Black widow by far the sexiest twist villain. I trusted the inspector with my life. When we received the hint that we shouldn't trust someone close to us, I literally didn't even consider the inspector. I was blind with love for her design, and it was a fatal mistake <\3

could not of said it better i was too busy staring at sexy women's red lipstick to notice the whole red flags surrounding her.

1: Dr. Jupiter

The way poptropica reused a villain from another island was absolute genius.....never in a million years would kid me think they would bring back zeus..... and all the foreshadowing they did for him (like the thunderstorm at the beginning) was so fucking GOOD. if I were to play it now, him being zeus would be a lot more obvious (jupiter is literally the roman version of zeus) but like.....the NOSTALGIA bro....poptropica is all about the nostalgia.

this was the biggest villian that I DID NOT see coming whatsoever. not zeus, not even dr. jupiter being a straight up villian either like man. this was executed so well and??? everything just CAME together.

@cacaocheri thank you SO SO much for doing this with me!! your mind is galaxy moment and your commentary is so in depth and detailed in the best way possible <333 smooches

#oh #poptropica #poptropica villians #villians #poptropica has SO many twist villians like its literally every second island man they went OFF #our zeus vs dr. jupiter discourse was SO funny im not lying when i say it weny on for like. a solid hour #we switched sides at the last moment and kinda went at the same time HEBRJBDJFF

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californiannostalgia · 4 years

Text

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

Artemis

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

Hermes

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

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

Aphrodite

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

Ares

Athena was here.

"Yes," he said.

The war goddess had come to face him.

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

Athena

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

Hephaestus

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

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

Dionysus

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

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

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

“No,” he said.

Hestia

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

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

Demeter

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

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

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

Hera

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

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

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

Hades

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

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

Poseidon

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

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

Learning kindness came later. Much, much later.

Zeus

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

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

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

Apollo

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

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

My father kept staring.

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

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kookie-doughs · 3 years

Text

Y/N L/N AND THE HALFBLOODS

Percy Jackson X Reader -Y/N L/N met Percy Jackson and everything was now ruined.

CHAPTER 8: I Really Hate Water

The next few days I settled into a routine that felt almost normal, if you don't count the fact that I was getting lessons from satyrs, nymphs, and a centaur. Each morning I took Ancient Greek from Annabeth and sometimes Luke, and we talked about the gods and goddesses in the present tense, which was kind of weird. I discovered Annabeth was right about my dyslexia: Ancient Greek wasn't that hard for me to read. At least, no harder than English. After a couple of mornings, I could stumble through a few lines of Homer without too much headache. The rest of the day, I'd rotate through outdoor activities, looking for something I was good at. I had struck around with Percy the whole time unless it was dinner time or night where I spent with Luke. Chiron tried to teach Percy and I archery, and we found out pretty quick he wasn't any good with a bow and arrow. He didn't complain, even when he had to desnag a stray arrow out of his tail. It was hilarious. While I on the other hand, could compete against Merida and Hawkeye with wining in favor of me. Foot racing? He sucked. The wood-nymph instructors and I left him in the dust. I told him not to worry about it. They'd had centuries of practice running away from lovesick gods. But I guess, it was a little humiliating to be slower than a tree. And wrestling? Forget it. Every time he got on the mat, Clarisse would pulverize him. Luckily I took some martial arts class back then and stood some chance against her. "There's more where that came from, punk," she'd mumble. The only thing he really excelled at was canoeing, and that wasn't the kind of heroic skill people expected to see from the kid who had beaten the Minotaur I guess. But hey, He's better at canoeing than me. I don't even know how I drowned all the time. Percy had to save me a couple of times. I knew the senior campers and counselors were watching us, trying to decide who our Olympian parent was, but they weren't having an easy time of it. I was as strong as the Ares kids, or as good at archery as the Apollo kids. I have Hephaestus's skill with metalwork, luckily I didn't have Dionysus's way with vine plants. Luke told me Percy might be a child of Hermes, a kind of jack-of-all-trades, master of none. But I got the feeling he was just trying to make him feel better. He really didn't know what to make of me either. Despite all that, I liked camp. I got used to the morning fog over the beach, the smell of hot strawberry fields in the afternoon, even the weird noises of monsters in the woods at night. I would eat dinner with cabin eleven, scrape part of my meal into the fire, and try to feel some connection to my real parent. Nothing came. I tried not to think too much about my mom and dad, but I kept wondering: if gods and monsters were real, if all this magical stuff was possible, surely there was some way to save them, to bring them back.... Even D/N would do...

I started to understand Luke's bitterness and how he seemed to resent his father, Hermes. So okay, maybe gods had important things to do. But couldn't they call once in a while, or thunder, or something? Dionysus could make Diet Coke appear out of thin air. Why couldn't my parent, whoever they were, make a phone appear? Thursday afternoon, three days after we'd arrived at Camp Half-Blood, I had my first sword-fighting lesson. Everybody from cabin eleven gathered in the big circular arena, where Luke would be our instructor. We started with basic stabbing and slashing, using some straw-stuffed dummies in Greek armor. I did okay. At least, I understood what I was supposed to do and my reflexes were good. The problem was, I couldn't find a blade that felt right in my hands. Either they were too heavy, or too light, or too long. Luke tried his best to fix me up, but he agreed that none of the practice blades seemed to work for me. We moved on to dueling in pairs. Luke announced he would be Percy's partner, since this was his first time. And then my turn after his, so I had to train with another kid from the cabin. "Good luck," one of the campers told us. "Luke's the best swordsman in the last three hundred years." "Maybe he'll go easy on me," Percy said. The camper snorted. By the time he called a break, I was soaked in sweat. Everybody swarmed the drinks cooler. Luke poured ice water on his head, which looked like such a good idea. I turned to talk to Percy and he had done the same. "Okay, everybody circle up!" Luke ordered. "If Percy doesn't mind, I want to give you a little demo." I wanted to try going against Luke as well. I wasn't confident with my skills. The Hermes guys gathered around. They were suppressing smiles. I figured they'd been in his shoes before and couldn't wait to see how Luke used Percy for a punching bag. He told everybody he was going to demonstrate a disarming technique: how to twist the enemy's blade with the flat of your own sword so that he had no choice but to drop his weapon. "This is difficult," he stressed. "I've had it used against me. No laughing at Percy, now. Most swordsmen have to work years to master this technique." He demonstrated the move on me in slow motion. Sure enough, the sword clattered out of his hand. "Now in real time," he said, after Percy had retrieved his weapon. "We keep sparring until one of us pulls it off. Ready, Percy?" He nodded, and Luke came after him. After a while of clashing, Percy tried the disarming maneuver. His blade hit the base of Luke's and he twisted. Clang. Luke's sword rattled against the stones. The tip of Percy's blade was an inch from his undefended chest. The other campers were silent. He lowered his sword. "Um, sorry." For a moment, Luke was too stunned to speak. I had a huge grin on my face. I had no idea why, but I was proud. I was so close on giving him an encore and all that. "Sorry?" Luke's scarred face broke into a grin. "By the gods, Percy, why are you sorry? Show me that again!" I didn't want to. The short burst of manic energy had completely abandoned me. But Luke insisted. This time, there was no contest. The moment our swords connected, Luke hit my hilt and sent my weapon skidding across the floor. After a long pause, somebody in the audience said, "Beginner's luck?" Luke wiped the sweat off his brow. He appraised at me with an entirely new interest. "Maybe," he said. "But I wonder what Percy could do with a balanced sword... ." My time with Luke wasn't as amazing as Percy's was but I wasn't that bad. Friday afternoon, I was sitting with Grover and Percy at the lake, resting from a near-death experience on the climbing wall. Grover had scampered to the top like a mountain goat, but the lava had almost gotten me. Percy and I's shirts had smoking holes in it. The hairs had been singed off our forearms. We sat on the pier, watching the naiads do underwater basket-weaving, I was resting my back on Percy's since I felt like any moment they'd drown me. Percy then ask Grover how his conversation had gone with Mr. D. His face turned a sickly shade of yellow. "Fine," he said. "Just great." "So your career's still on track?" He glanced at me nervously. "Chiron t-told you I want a searcher's license?" "Well... no." I had no idea what a searcher's license was, but it didn't seem like the right time to ask. "He just said you had big plans, you know... and that you needed credit for completing a keeper's assignment. So did you get it?" Percy said. Grover looked down at the naiads. "Mr. D suspended judgment. He said I hadn't failed or succeeded with you yet, so our fates were still tied together. If you got a quest and I went along to protect you, and we both came back alive, then maybe he'd consider the job complete." "Well, that's not so bad, right?" "Blaa-ha-ha! He might as well have transferred me to stable-cleaning duty. The chances of you getting a quest... and even if you did, why would you want me along?" "Of course I'd want you along!" Grover stared glumly into the water. "Basket-weaving... Must be nice to have a useful skill." I tried to reassure him that he had lots of talents, but that just made him look more miserable. Percy and him talked about canoeing and swordplay for a while, then debated the pros and cons of the different gods. Finally, I asked him about the four empty cabins. "Number eight, the silver one, belongs to Artemis," he said. "She vowed to be a maiden forever. So of course, no kids. The cabin is, you know, honorary. If she didn't have one, she'd be mad." "Yeah, okay. But the other three, the ones at the end. Are those the Big Three?" Grover tensed. We were getting close to a touchy subject. "No. One of them, number two, is Hera's," he said. "That's another honorary thing. She's the goddess of marriage, so of course she wouldn't go around having affairs with mortals. That's her husband's job. When we say the Big Three, we mean the three powerful brothers, the sons of Kronos." "Zeus, Poseidon, Hades." "Right. You know. After the great battle with the Titans, they took over the world from their dad and drew lots to decide who got what." "Zeus got the sky," I remembered. "Poseidon the sea, Hades the Underworld." "Uh-huh." "But Hades doesn't have a cabin here." "No. He doesn't have a throne on Olympus, either. He sort of does his own thing down in the Underworld. If he did have a cabin here..." Grover shuddered. "Well, it wouldn't be pleasant. Let's leave it at that." "Why though? What would children of Hades do then? How would they fend themselves?" "I-I don't know... Its not my idea not adding Hades!" He shrieked as if he was at fault and felt guilty. "But Zeus and Poseidon—they both had, like, a bazillion kids in the myths. Why are their cabins empty?" Percy changed the subject. Grover shifted his hooves uncomfortably. "About sixty years ago, after World War II, the Big Three agreed they wouldn't sire any more heroes. Their children were just too powerful. They were affecting the course of human events too much, causing too much carnage. World War II, you know, that was basically a fight between the sons of Zeus and Poseidon on one side, and the sons of Hades on the other. The winning side, Zeus and Poseidon, made Hades swear an oath with them: no more affairs with mortal women. They all swore on the River Styx." Thunder boomed.. . . . . .. I said, "That's the most serious oath you can make." Grover nodded. "And the brothers kept their word—no kids?" Grover's face darkened. "Seventeen years ago, Zeus fell off the wagon. There was this TV starlet with a big fluffy eighties hairdo—he just couldn't help himself. When their child was born, a little girl named Thalia... well, the River Styx is serious about promises. Zeus himself got off easy because he's immortal, but he brought a terrible fate on his daughter." "But that isn't fair.' It wasn't the little girl's fault." Grover hesitated. "Percy, children of the Big Three have powers greater than other half-bloods. They have a strong aura, a scent that attracts monsters. When Hades found out about the girl, he wasn't too happy about Zeus breaking his oath. Hades let the worst monsters out of Tartarus to torment Thalia. A satyr was assigned to be her keeper when she was twelve, but there was nothing he could do. He tried to escort her here with a couple of other half-bloods she'd befriended. They almost made it. They got all the way to the top of that hill." He pointed across the valley, to the pine tree where we'd fought the minotaur. "All three Kindly Ones were after them, along with a horde of hellhounds. They were about to be overrun when Thalia told her satyr to take the other two half-bloods to safety while she held off the monsters. She was wounded and tired, and she didn't want to live like a hunted animal. The satyr didn't want to leave her, but he couldn't change her mind, and he had to protect the others. So Thalia made her final stand alone, at the top of that hill. As she died, Zeus took pity on her. He turned her into that pine tree. Her spirit still helps protect the borders of the valley. That's why the hill is called Half-Blood Hill." I stared at the pine in the distance. The story made me feel hollow, and guilty too. A girl my age had sacrificed herself to save her friends. She had faced a whole army of monsters. "Grover," Percy said, "have heroes really gone on quests to the Underworld?" "Sometimes," he said. "Orpheus. Hercules. Houdini." "And have they ever returned somebody from the dead?" "No. Never. Orpheus came close... . Percy, you're not seriously thinking—" "No," Percy said. "I was just wondering. So... a satyr is always assigned to guard a demigod?" I looked over to him warily. "Not always. We go undercover to a lot of schools. We try to sniff out the half-bloods who have the makings of great heroes. If we find one with a very strong aura, like a child of the Big Three, we alert Chiron. He tries to keep an eye on them, since they could cause really huge problems." "And you found me. Chiron said you thought I might be something special." Grover looked as if I'd just led him into a trap. "I didn't... Oh, listen, don't think like that. If you were—you know—you'd never ever be allowed a quest, and I'd never get my license. You're probably a child of Hermes. Or maybe even one of the minor gods, like Nemesis, the god of revenge. Don't worry, okay?" I got the idea he was reassuring himself more than us. "What about me?" They looked at me. "Chiron said you didn't know I was a half-blood..." "We didn't. When you didn't forget who... Mrs Dodds was. We thought you just saw through the mist. Then when I saw you with Percy that night... and your parents aware of me and the camp. I assumed you were... a half-blood." "How about now? What do I smell like?" He looked at me gingerly then at Percy, "Nothing. You smell too human. Even for a very minor god. That's why there are plenty of satyrs then are confused as to why there's a human here. That night after dinner, there was a lot more excitement than usual. At last, it was time for capture the flag. When the plates were cleared away, the horn sounded and we all stood at our tables. Campers yelled and cheered as Annabeth and two of her siblings ran into the pavilion carrying a silk banner. It was about ten feet long, glistening gray, with a painting of a barn owl above an olive tree. From the opposite side of the pavilion, Clarisse and her buddies ran in with another banner, of identical size, but gaudy red, painted with a bloody spear and a boar's head. I turned to Luke and yelled over the noise, "Those are the flags?" "Yeah." "Ares and Athena always lead the teams?" "Not always," he said. "But often." "So, if another cabin captures one, what do you do— repaint the flag?" He grinned. "You'll see. First we have to get one." "Whose side are we on?" He gave me a sly look, as if he knew something I didn't. "We've made a temporary alliance with Athena. Tonight, we get the flag from Ares. And Percy's going to help." The teams were announced. Athena had made an alliance with Apollo and Hermes, the two biggest cabins. Apparently, privileges had been traded—shower times, chore schedules, the best slots for activities—in order to win support. Ares had allied themselves with everybody else: Dionysus, Demeter, Aphrodite, and Hephaestus. From what I'd seen, Dionysus's kids were actually good athletes, but there were only two of them. Demeter's kids had the edge with nature skills and outdoor stuff but they weren't very aggressive. Aphrodite's sons and daughters I wasn't too worried about. They mostly sat out every activity and checked their reflections in the lake and did their hair and gossiped. Hephaestus's kids weren't pretty, and there were only four of them, but they were big and burly from working in the metal shop all day. They might be a problem. That, of course, left Ares's cabin: a dozen of the biggest, ugliest, meanest kids on Long Island, or anywhere else on the planet. Chiron hammered his hoof on the marble. "Heroes!" he announced. "You know the rules. The creek is the boundary line. The entire forest is fair game. All magic items are allowed. The banner must be prominently displayed, and have no more than two guards. Prisoners may be disarmed, but may not be bound or gagged. No killing or maiming is allowed. I will serve as referee and battlefield medic. Arm yourselves!" He spread his hands, and the tables were suddenly covered with equipment: helmets, bronze swords, spears, oxide shields coated in metal. "Whoa," I said. "We're really supposed to use these?" Luke looked at me and laughed. "Unless you want to get skewered by your friends in cabin five. Here—Chiron thought these would fit. Do you want to be border patrol with Percy or come with me?" I smiled at him, "Tempting offer but I think I'll stay with Percy." "Your lost." He smirked then ruffled my hair. I went over to Percy who was holding a shield was the size of an NBA backboard, with a big caduceus in the middle. Our helmet, like all the helmets on Athena's side, had a blue horsehair plume on top. Ares and their allies had red plumes. "Looking at real good." I laughed. He frowned at me. "Like you look that different." "I am sporting this helmet just fine excuse you." I said picking up a dagger from the table. Annabeth yelled, "Blue team, forward!" We cheered and shook our swords and followed her down the path to the south woods. The red team yelled taunts at us as they headed off toward the north. Percy and I managed to catch up with Annabeth without him tripping over my equipment. "Hey." She kept marching. "So what's the plan?" Percy asked. "Got any magic items you can loan me?" Her hand drifted toward her pocket, as if she were afraid I'd stolen something. "Just watch Clarisse's spear," she said. "You don't want that thing touching you. Otherwise, don't worry. We'll take the banner from Ares. Has Luke given you your job?" "Border patrol, whatever that means." "It's easy. Stand by the creek, keep the reds away. Leave the rest to me. Athena always has a plan." She pushed ahead, leaving me in the dust. "Okay," he mumbled. "Glad you wanted me on your team." "I don't want to be near the creek." I said anxiously. "Maybe I should just go with Luke..." Percy then took my hand. "Since when have I ever let you drown? Don't worry. I'll be there for you." He smiled. With a pout and a worried look I stuck out my pinky said, "Promise me." "I swear I will never let you drown. I will save you with all I can." He swore connecting our pinkies. "Everyone knows pinky promises are better than Styx." We laughed and made our way to our station not letting go of each other's hands. It was a warm, sticky night. The woods were dark, with fireflies popping in and out of view. Annabeth stationed us next to a little creek that gurgled over some rocks, then she and the rest of the team scattered into the trees. The bronze sword, like all the swords I'd tried so far, seemed balanced wrong. The leather grip pulled on my hand like a bowling ball. There was no way anybody would actually attack me, would they? I mean, Olympus had to have liability issues, right? Far away, the horn blew. I heard whoops and yells in the woods, the clanking of metal, kids fighting. A blue-plumed ally from Apollo raced past me like a deer, leaped through the creek, and disappeared into enemy territory. I lied down on the ground. "This is so boring." "Stand up, who knows when an enemy will show up." He scolded pulling me up. "I don't know... I think I'd rather shrivel and die." I shrugged. "Plus I know I got a knight in shining helmet to save me." "I mean yeah of course you do." "Luke's like few meters away after all." I smirked. He turned to me with a frown and a 'not funny' face. Which made me laugh. Then I heard a sound that sent a chill up my spine, a low canine growl, somewhere close by. I stood up and Percy pulled me behind him as he raised his shield instinctively; I had the feeling something was stalking me. Then the growling stopped. I felt the presence retreating. On the other side of the creek, the underbrush exploded. Five Ares warriors came yelling and screaming out of the dark. "Cream the punk!" Clarisse screamed. Her ugly pig eyes glared through the slits of her helmet. She brandished a five-foot-long spear, its barbed metal tip flickering with red light. Her siblings had only the standard-issue bronze swords—not that that made me feel any better. They charged across the stream. There was no help in sight. I could run and leave Percy. Or I could defend myself against half the Ares cabin with no more than 9 inch dagger and Percy Jackson. I managed to sidestep the first kid's swing, but these guys were not as stupid the Minotaur. They surrounded me and Percy, while Clarisse thrust at us with her spear. Percy's shield deflected the point. My hair stood on end. "Electricity. Her stupid spear was electric." Percy groaned and I pulled him back. Another Ares guy slammed me in the chest with the butt of his sword and I hit the dirt. They could've kicked me into jelly, but they were too busy laughing. "Y/N!!" Percy yelled but he had a sword pointed at his throat. "Give her a haircut," Clarisse said. "Grab her hair." I managed to get to my feet. I raised my dagger, but Clarisse slammed it aside with her spear as sparks flew. Now my arm numb. "Oh, wow," Clarisse said. "I'm scared of this guy. Really scared." "The flag is that way, let her go!" Percy told her. "Yeah," one of her siblings said. "But see, we don't care about the flag. We care about a guys who made our cabin look stupid." "You do that without my help," I told them. It probably wasn't the smartest thing to say. Someone took a hold of Percy so the sword was no longer pointed at him. Two of them came at me. I backed up toward the creek, tried to raise arm, but Clarisse was too fast. Her spear stuck me straight in the ribs. If I hadn't been wearing an armored breastplate, I would've been shish-ke-babbed. As it was, the electric point just about shocked my teeth out of my mouth. One of her cabinmates slashed his sword across my arm, leaving a good-size cut. Seeing my own blood made me dizzy—warm and cold at the same time. "No maiming," I managed to say. "Oops," the guy said. "Guess I lost my dessert privilege." "Y/N!! I will kill you all!!" He was thrashing around. "Let her go! She can't swim!!" "It's fun seeing your girlfriend suffer ain't it?" Clarisse laughed. The guy finally pushed me into the creek and I landed with a splash. They all laughed. I figured as soon as they were through being amused, I would die. I was sinking. I couldn't breathe. The water was pulling me for what felt like 10 meters deep. Blood were coming out at every wound I had. I was loosing consciousness. Help me. Please... -With Percy- Clarisse and her cabinmates came into the creek to get you, but you weren't there. "Hey, she's missing?" One of the cabinmate said. "What? It's like 3 meters deep. She's just there." Clarisse scoffed. "I's telling you she's can't swim! Water pulls her down! I will kill you if she doesn't survive!" Percy managed to get power from somewhere and got out of the hold. He knew what to do. I swung the flat of my sword against the first guy's head and knocked his helmet clean off. I hit him so hard I could see his eyes vibrating as he crumpled into the water. Then he jumped down. Hoping to see you somewhere. Muttering your name over and over in hopes to catch you. Save us He heard from his right. When he turned he finally saw you at the bottom. He swam with all could and got a hold of you. To haul you up. Finally surfacing, Percy panted and laid you of the ground. Pumping your chest. When the water finally came out of your mouth. Percy turned to glare at the people. Ugly Number Two and Ugly Number Three came at me. He slammed one in the face with his shield and used his sword to shear off the other guy's horsehair plume. Both of them backed up quick. Ugly Number Four didn't look really anxious to attack, but Clarisse kept coming, the point of her spear crackling with energy. As soon as she thrust, he caught the shaft between the edge of my shield and my sword, and I snapped it like a twig. "Ah!" she screamed. "You idiot! You corpse-breath worm!" She probably would've said worse, but Percy smacked her between the eyes with his sword-butt and sent her stumbling backward out of the creek. -Back to you- Coughing myself awake. Water came out of my mouth. "Percy..." I called. He turned so fast that I was surprised his neck didn't snap. "Y/N!" He ran to me and pulled me in a hug. I couldn't move, I felt tired and weak. "I want to sleep." I could feel my wounds stinging. Cold air hitting it. I felt sore despite barely moving. Then I heard yelling, elated screams, we both turned and I saw Luke racing toward the boundary line with the red team's banner lifted high. He was flanked by a couple of Hermes guys covering his retreat, and a few Apollos behind them, fighting off the Hephaestus kids. The Ares folks got up, and Clarisse muttered a dazed curse. "A trick!" she shouted. "It was a trick." They staggered after Luke, but it was too late. Everybody converged on the creek as Luke ran across into friendly territory. Our side exploded into cheers. The red banner shimmered and turned to silver. The boar and spear were replaced with a huge caduceus, the symbol of cabin eleven. Everybody on the blue team picked up Luke and started carrying him around on their shoulders. Chiron cantered out from the woods and blew the horn. The game was over. We'd won. Percy carried me still with an angry expression and tense body. I wanted to reassure him but I knew it wouldn't work. Luke looked over and saw us. I could see his sudden shift of emotion. He wanted to approach but he was surrounded by every cabin. We then heard Annabeth's voice, right next to us in the creek, said, "Not bad, hero." I wanted to turn to see her but I couldn't. I could barely keep my eyes open. "Where the heck did you learn to fight like that?" she asked. The air shimmered, and she materialized, holding a Yankees baseball cap as if she'd just taken it off her head. She was now in front of us. I felt Percy tense up once more. "You set us up, You put us here because you knew Clarisse would come after me, while you sent Luke around the flank. You had it all figured out." Annabeth shrugged. "I told you. Athena always, always has a plan." "Because of you, Y/N is like this." The venom in his voice were obvious. "I came as fast as I could. I was about to jump in, but..." She shrugged. "You didn't need help." "I didn't. But Y/N did! And what did you do?! She could've died!" Percy was shaking. I could feel it. "Calm..." I managed to whimper. "What's that?" Annabeth pointed at Percy's neck. "A sword cut, obviously." "No. It was a sword cut. Look at it." The blood was gone. Where the huge cut had been, there was a long white scratch, and even that was fading. As I watched, it turned into a small scar, and disappeared. "I—I don't get it," Percy said. Annabeth was thinking hard. I could almost see the gears turning. She looked down at our feet, then at Clarisse's broken spear, and said, "Step out of the water, Percy." "What—" "Just do it." He came out of the creek and immediately I could feel myself better. Percy almost fell over, but I managed to hold him. "I got you." I panted. "Oh, Styx," she cursed. "This is not good. I didn't want... I assumed it would be Zeus... ." Before I could ask what she meant, I heard that canine growl again, but much closer than before. A howl ripped through the forest. The campers' cheering died instantly. Chiron shouted something in Ancient Greek, which I would realize, only later, I had understood perfectly: "Stand ready! My bow!" Annabeth drew her sword. I drew my dagger and pushed Percy behind me. There on the rocks just above us was a black hound the size of a rhino, with lava-red eyes and fangs like daggers. It was looking straight at me. Nobody moved except Annabeth, who yelled, "Percy, Y/N, run!" She tried to step in front of me, but the hound was too fast. It leaped over her—an enormous shadow with teeth—and just as it hit me, I was pushed aside as Percy stumbled backward and its razor-sharp claws ripping through his armor, there was a cascade of thwacking sounds, like forty pieces of paper being ripped one after the other. "Stop that!!" I screamed and somehow managed to grab her. She turned to me sharply and stared me down. As if she was waiting for the perfect opportunity to jump me. It approached me and settled down at my feet, sitting down as if she was an obedient dog. She watched as I catch my breath. From the hounds neck sprouted a cluster of arrows. The monster fell dead at my feet. By some miracle, I was still alive, and wasn't even hurt. I instantly turned to look uat Percy. His chest wet, and I knew it was badly cut. Another second, and the monster would've turned him into a hundred pounds of delicatessen meat. Chiron trotted up next to us, a bow in his hand, his face grim. "Di immortales!" Annabeth said. "That's a hellhound from the Fields of Punishment. They don't... they're not supposed to... How did..." "Someone summoned it," Chiron said. "Someone inside the camp." Luke came over, the banner in his hand forgotten, his moment of glory gone. Clarisse yelled, "It's all Y/N's fault! Y/N summoned it!" "Be quiet, child," Chiron told her. We watched the body of the hellhound melt into shadow, soaking into the ground until it disappeared. "You're wounded," Annabeth told Percy. "Quick, Percy, get in the water." "I'm okay." "No, you're not, Y/N get him to the water," she said. "Chiron, watch this." "No... She doesn't do well in water..." Percy choked. I carefully swung his arm around my shoulders and without thinking twice, I stepped back into the creek, the whole camp gathering around us. Instantly, I felt weak. I could feel the pulling me down. Some of the campers gasped. Percy who could barely stand few minutes ago got a hold of me. I could feel my consciousness loosing once again. "Look, I—I don't know why," Percy said, trying to apologize. "I'm sorry... But I need to get out of here. Y/N---" But they weren't watching Percy's wounds heal. They were staring at something above our head. "Percy," Annabeth said, pointing. "Um..." By the time I looked up, the sign was already fading, but I could still make out the hologram of green light, spinning and gleaming. A three-tipped spear: a trident. "Your father," Annabeth murmured. "This is really not good." "It is determined," Chiron announced. All around us, campers started kneeling, even the Ares cabin, though they didn't look happy about it. "My father?" Percy asked, completely bewildered. "Poseidon," said Chiron. "Earth shaker, Storm bringer, Father of Horses. Hail, Perseus Jackson, Son of the Sea God." Percy looked down at me. I wasn't sure what but I had the feeling it was somewhere along the lines, 'I am the reason you drown every time you step on water.' "You're claimed..." I managed to squeak. Percy stepped out of the water. "Congratulations." I smiled weakly.

Previous | Masterlist | Next

UwU Here's another chapter I am sorry for some holes in the story -kookie-doughs

Taglist?

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

#Percy Jackson #Percy Jackson X Reader #Percy Jackson X Y/N #percy jackon and the olympians #pjo #luke castellan #Luke castellan x reader #Y/N L/N #Y/N L/N and the halfbloods #X Reader #Lightning thief #Book 1 #Chapter 8 #Fanfiction #fanfictions

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thewidowsghost · 3 years

Text

The Daughter of the Sea - Chapter 6

(Y/n)'s POV

Once I get over the fact that my brother's Latin teacher was half horse, we have a nice tour.

We pass by the volleyball pit. Several of the campers nudge each other. One points to the Minotaur horn Percy is carrying. Another says, "It's them."

Most of the campers are older than me. Their satyr friends are bigger than Grover, all of them trotting around in orange CAMP HALF-BLOOD t-shirts, with nothing else to cover their bare shaggy hindquarters. I'm not normally shy, but the way they are staring at me and Percy makes me uncomfortable. I feel as though they want us to do a flip or something.

I look back at the farmhouse. It's bigger than I'd realized - four stories tall, sky blue with white trim, like an upscale seaside resort. I'm checking out the brass eagle weather vane on top when something catches my eyes, a shadow in the uppermost window of the attic gable. Something had moved the curtain, just for a second, and I get a distinct impression that I'm being watched.

"What's up there?" I ask Chiron.

He looks to where I'm pointing and his smile fades, "Just the attic."

"Somebody lives there?" Percy asks.

"No," he says with finality. "Not a single living thing."

I get the feeling that he's being truthful, but I am also sure something had moved that curtain.

As we get closer, I realize how huge the forest is. It takes up at least a quarter of the valley, with trees so tall and thick, you could imagine nobody had been in there since the Native Americans.

Chiron says, "The woods are stocked if you care to try your luck, but go armed."

"Stocked with what?" Percy asks. "Armed with what?"

"You'll see. Capture the flag is Friday night. Do you have your own swords and shields?"

"My own - ?" Percy is cut off.

"No," Chiron interupts. "I don't suppose you do. I think a size five will do for you, Percy, and a size three for you, (Y/n). I'll visit the armory later."

Finally, Chiron shows us the cabins. There are twelve of them, nestled in the woods by the lake. They are arranged in a U, with two at the base and five in a row on each side. And they are, without a doubt the most bizarre number above the door.

Except for the fact that each has a large brass number above the door (odds on the left side, evens on the right), they lock absolutely nothing alike. Number Nine has smokestacks, like a tiny factory. Number Four has tomato vines on the walls and a roof made out of real grass. Seven seems to be made of solid gold, which gleams so much in the sunlight it was almost impossible to look at. They all face a commons area about the size of a soccer field, dotted with Greek statues, fountains, flower beds, and a couple of basketball hoops (which were more my speed).

In the center of the field is a huge stone-lined firepit. Even though it is a warm afternoon, the hearth smolders. A girl, maybe nine years old is tending the flames, poking the coals with a stick. I wave at the girl and she looks surprised, as though no one acknowledged her often, and waves back with a smile.

The pair of cabins at the head of the field, numbers one and two, look like his-and-hers mausoleums, big white marble boxes with heavy columns in front. Cabin One is the biggest and bulkiest of the twelve. Its polished bronze doors shimmer like a hologram, so that from different angles lightning bolts seem to streak across them. Cabin Two is more graceful somehow, with slimmer columns garlanded with pomegranates and flowers. The walls are covered with images of peacocks.

"Zeus and Hera?" Percy guesses.

"Correct," Chiron says.

"Their cabins look empty."

"Several of the cabins are. That's true. No one ever stays in one or two."

I stop in front of the first cabin on the left, cabin three.

It isn't high and mighty like Cabin One, but low and solid. The outer walls are of rough gray stone studded with pieces of seashells and coral as if the slabs had been hewn straight from the bottom of the ocean floor. I peek inside the open doorway and Chiron says, "Oh, I wouldn't do that!"

Before he can pull me back, I catch the salty scent of the interior, like the wind on the shore at Montauk. The interior walls glow like abalone. There are six empty bunks with silk sheets turned down, but there is no sign anyone had ever slept there. The place feels so sad and lonely, I am glad when Chiron puts his hand on my shoulder and says, "Come along, (Y/n)."

Most of the other cabins were crowded with campers.

Number five was bright red—a real nasty paint job as if the color had been splashed on with buckets and fists. The roof was lined with barbed wire. A stuffed wild boar's head hung over the doorway, and its eyes seemed to follow me. Inside I could see a bunch of mean-looking kids, both girls and boys, arm wrestling and arguing with each other while rock music blared. The loudest was a girl maybe thirteen or fourteen. She wore a size XXXL CAMP HALF-BLOOD T-shirt under a camouflage jacket. She zeroed in on Percy and gives him an evil sneer.

"Oh, look," Chiron says as we approach Cabin Eleven. "Annabeth is waiting for us."

The blond girl I'd met at the Big House is reading a book in front of the last cabin on the left, number eleven. When we reach her, she looks me over critically, like she was still thinking about how much I drool.

I try to see what she was reading, but I can't make out the title. Then I realize the title isn't even English. The letters look Greek to me. I mean, literally Greek. There are pictures of temples and statues and different kinds of columns, like those in an architecture book.

"Annabeth," Chiron says, "I have Masters' Archery class at noon. Would you take Percy and (Y/n) from here?"

"Yes, sir."

"Cabin Eleven," Chiron tells us, gesturing towards the doorway. "Make yourself at home."

Out of all the cabins, Eleven looks the most like a regular old summer camp cabin, with the emphasis on old. the threshold is worn down, the brown paint peeling. Over the doorway is a caduceus.

Inside, it is packed with people, both boys and girls, way more than the number of bunk beds. Sleeping bags are spread all over the floor. It looks like a gym where the Red Cross had set up an evacuation center.

Chiron doesn't go in. The door is too low for him. But when the campers see him, they all stand and bow respectfully.

"Well, then," Chiron says. "Good luck, Percy, (Y/n). I'll see the two of you at dinner."

He gallops away towards the archery range.

Percy's POV

We stand in the doorway, looking at the kids. They aren't bowing anymore. They are staring at us, sizing us up. I know this routine. I'd gone through it at enough schools.

"Well?" Annabeth prompts. "Go on."

So naturally, I trip coming in the door, and (Y/n) grabs my upper arm, straightening me up. There are some snickers from the campers, but none of them say anything.

Annabeth announces, "Percy and (Y/n) Jackson, meet Cabin Eleven."

"Regular or undetermined?" somebody asks.

I don't know what to say, but Annabeth says, "Undetermined."

Everyone groans.

A guy who is a little older than the rest comes forward. "Now, now, campers. That's what we're here for. Welcome, Percy, (Y/n). You can have those two spots on the floor, right over there."

The guy was about nineteen, and he looks pretty cool. He's tall and muscular, with short-cropped sandy hair and a friendly smile. He wears an orange tank top, cutoffs, sandals, and a leather necklace with five different colored clay beads. The only thing unsettling about his appearance is a thick white scar that runs from just beneath his right eye to his jaw, like an old knife slash.

"This is Luke," Annabeth says, and her voice sounds different somehow. I glance over and swear she's blushing, but after a moment she sees me looking, and her expression hardens again. "He's your counselor for now."

"For now?" (Y/n) asks, looking rather curious.

"You're undetermined," Luke explains. "They don't know what cabin to put you in, so you're here. Cabin eleven takes all newcomers, all visitors. Naturally, we would. Hermes, our patron, is the god of travelers."

I look around at the campers' faces, some sullen and suspicious, some grinning stupidly, some eyeing me as if they are waiting for a chance to pick my pockets.

"How long will I be here?" I ask.

"Good question," Luke replies. "Until you're determined."

"How long will that take?"

The campers all laugh and (Y/n) facepalms.

"Come on," Annabeth tells us. "I'll show you the volleyball court."

"We've already seen it."

"Come on."

Annabeth grabs my wrist and drags me outside. I can hear the kids of Cabin Eleven laughing behind me and (Y/n) waves good-bye shyly.

When we are a few feet away, Annabeth says, "Jackson, you have to do better than that?"

"What?"

She rolls her eyes and mumbles under her breath, "I can't believe I thought you two were the ones."

"What's your problem?" I'm getting angry now, (Y/n) watching us cautiously. "All I know is, we kill some bull guy -"

"Don't talk like that!" Annabeth tells me. "You know how many kids at this camp wish they'd had your chance?"

"To get killed?"

"To fight the Minotaur! What do you think we train for?"

I shake my head. "Look, if the thing we fought is really the Minotaur, the same one in the stories . . ."

"Yes."

"Then there's only one."

"Yes."

"And he died, like, a gajillion years ago, right? Theseus killed him in the labyrinth. So..."

"Monsters don't die, Percy. They can be killed. But they don't die."

"Oh, thanks. That clears it up."

"Percy," (Y/n) says calmly. "I think what Annabeth is saying, is that monsters eventually reform."

Annabeth nods and I think about Mrs. Dodds. "You mean if I killed one, accidentally, with a sword—"

"The Fur...I mean, your math teacher. That's right. She's still out there. You just made her very, very mad."

"How did you know about Mrs. Dodds?"

"You talk in your sleep," Annabeth answers and (Y/n) suppresses a laugh.

"You almost called her something. A Fury? They're Hades' torturers, right?"

Annabeth glances nervously at the ground as if she expects it to open up and swallow her. "You shouldn't call them by name, even here. We call them the Kindly Ones if we have to speak of them at all."

"Look, is there anything we can say without it thundering?" I sound whiny, even to myself, but right then I don't care. "Why do we have to stay in Cabin Eleven, anyway? Why is everybody so crowded together? There are plenty of empty bunks right over there."

I point to the first few cabins, and Annabeth turns pale. "You don't just choose a cabin, Percy. It depends on who your parents are. Or...your parent."

She stares at me, waiting for me to get it.

"Our mother is Sally Jackson," (Y/n) says softly. "She works at the candy store in Grand Central Station. At least, she used to."

"I'm sorry about your mom, (Y/n). But that's not what I mean. I'm talking about your other parent. Your dad."

"He's dead," I say simply. "We never knew him."

Annabeth sighs. Clearly, she'd had this conversation before with other kids. "Your father's not dead."

"How can you say that? You know him?"

"No, of course not."

"Then how can you say -"

"Because I know the two of you. You wouldn't be here if you weren't one of us."

"You don't know anything about us.

"No?" She raises an eyebrow. "I bet you moved around from school to school. I bet you were kicked out of a lot of them."

"How -"

"Diagnosed with dyslexia. Probably ADHD, too."

I try to swallow my embarrassment. "What does that have to do with anything?"

(Y/n)'s POV

"Taken together, it's almost a sure sign. The letters float off the page when you read, right? That's because your mind is hardwired for ancient Greek. And the ADHD—you're impulsive, can't sit still in the classroom. That's your battlefield reflexes. In a real fight, they'd keep you alive. As for the attention problems, that's because you see too much, Percy, not too little. Your senses are better than a regular mortal's. Of course, the teachers want you medicated. Most of them are monsters. They don't want you seeing them for what they are."

"You sound like...you went through the same thing?"

"Most of the kids here did. If you weren't like us, you couldn't have survived the Minotaur, much less the ambrosia and nectar."

"Ambrosia and nectar."

"The food and drink we were giving you to make you better. That stuff would've killed a normal kid. It would've turned your blood to fire and your bones to sand and you'd be dead. Face it. You're both half-bloods."

A half-blood.

I am reeling with so many questions I don't know where to start.

Then a husky voice yells, "Well! Two newbies!"

I look over. The big girl from the ugly red cabin is sauntering towards us. She has three other girls behind her, all big and ugly and mean-looking like her, all wearing camo jackets.

"Clarisse," Annabeth sighs. "Why don't you go polish your spear or something?"

"Sure, Miss Princess," the big girl says. "So I can run you through with it Friday night."

"Erre es korakas!" Annabeth says, which I somehow understand is Greek for 'Go to the crows!' though I have a feeling it was a worse curse than it sounds. "You don't stand a chance."

"We'll pulverize you," Clarisse says, but her eye twitches. Perhaps she isn't so sure she can follow through on ht threat. She turns towards me, then she looks at Percy. "Who are these's runts?"

"Percy and (Y/n) Jackson," Annabeth says, "meet Clarisse, Daughter of Aries."

Percy blinks. "Like . . . the war god?"

Clarisse sneers. "You got a problem with that?"

"No," Percy says, seemingly recovering his 'wits'. "It explains the bad smell."

Long story short, Percy made the toilets explode.

Yeah, I said it. He made the toilets explode . . .

Word Count: 2455 words

#percy jackson x sister reader #reader insert #fem reader #female reader #percy jackson and the olympians reader insert

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gay-ghostwriter · 2 years

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HAPP BIRTHDAAAA!!!!! Can you give us five random facts about each of your OCs?

Thank you!!!

Dante Olympios: (Disney Descendants)

-Dante is a pyromaniac, it's a child of Hades thing

-If Hades wasn't living on the Isle of the Lost, Dante would have his own imp minion (I like to think it'd be named "Agony")

-He's actually kind of afraid of Zeus and Hercules

-He built his guitar out of scrap metal and shoe strings. He doesn't actually know how to play a real guitar

-Ben had to find fireproof bedsheets for Dante's room before the VKs came to Auradon

Quinn Heart: (Disney Descendants)

-She was originally supposed to be a daughter of Gaston named Gabriella, and her story arc would've been about learning that she doesn't have to be a perfect housewife

-Quinn is afraid of animals. All animals. Even the cute ones.

-She does not know how to play croquet! The Queen of Hearts refused to play with actual wooden croquet mallets

-Quinn is the only one of the VKs who is actually close to their parents. The King and Queen were very doting, they just failed in other areas

-She's a lesbian but doesn't figure it out before coming to Auradon because she was raised to believe that princesses had to marry princes (no one ever told her about marrying for love)

Britches Anarcy: (Panty and Stocking With Garterbelt)

-Younger brother of Panty and Stocking, and got kicked out of heaven for being a bloodthirsty rage machine

-He can turn pants into a battleaxe

-Britches, unlike his sisters, actually tries to act like an angel. And he can pull it off, until something makes him mad

-His song on the soundtrack would be called "Trigger Happy"

-Britches and his sisters do not get along. They call him "Bitches" and tease him, he thinks he's better than them but really isn't.

Midas: (Hazbin Hotel/Helluva Boss)

-Son of Mammon, he's like an evil version of Charlie

-Uptight, stuffy, overly formal. Corrupt business executive aesthetic

-He was responsible for Loo Loo Land, and is constantly trying to one up the other princes of hell

-Currently building his own hotel in Pentagram City that acts as the opposite of Charlie's

-Has a thing for Angel Dust, who can't remember him, despite meeting multiple times

Dean of the Fur Kingdom: (Cursed Princess Club)

-Actually listens to Prez's lectures on politics

-The Fur Kingdom has strict laws against magic, which is why no one tried to fix Dean's antler curse

-Like an actual deer, he's easily startled and runs away from problems (and social interaction)

-He does not care about getting his curse lifted, and is happy being a member of the club

-Saffron doesn't know Dean has a crush on him, or that Dean exists, because they've never spoken

Jordan Zaman: (Young Justice)

-Superhero name is "Loki Liesmith", his power is copying other people's powers (like Rogue from the X Men)

-Terminally online zoomer, he's very quiet and tries not to draw attention to himself as a civilian, but hams it up as a hero

-Falls in love easily

-Obsessed with a webcomic called "Pantheon High", which reimagines various gods as angsty high schoolers. His favorite character is the comic's version of Loki

-secretly (to even himself) destined to become a supervillain named Ragnarok, who ends up killing Doctor Fate

Clair Maxwell: (Young Justice)

-Superhero name "Ember", Homo Magi with fire magic

-She's afraid of fire! Oops

-Parents gave up their magic when they moved from Africa to America, were hoping Clair wouldn't have any if they pretended they never did

-Always has her nose in a book, and will read anything that involves swordfighting women (she's a sword lesbian)

-Doesn't know how to take compliments

#long post #my ocs #i don't know if you meant five facts in total #or five for each character #but i'm doing the second one because it's fun

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deathmetalunicorn1 · 1 year

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Funny Request, God Fighters, plus Loki, Ares, Hermes, Rudra and Indra with a Human Female Reader who’s an Atheist and doesn’t believe in the Gods (With the Human Fighters and Brunhilde laughing hysterically from the LOOKS on the Gods’ faces when Reader says this)

Atheist!Reader (Jokingly): I’ll believe it *The Gods* when I see it!

Gods (Breathing behind her): Am I a joke to you??

-Brunnhilde knew what she was doing when she selected you, a super sarcastic, sassy pants, atheist.

-During your time spent in Valhalla, being surrounded by gods, was a bit eye opening for you, but it was so much more fun to tease them!

-They always got so mad!

-When Brunnhilde was introducing all of the fighters, she introduced the humans first, before she spoke, “And for the gods we have-”

-You rolled her eyes, which she saw, trying to hide her own smile, at least from the gods, “Yes, Y/N? Is something wrong?”

-You, jokingly, to piss people off, spoke, “C’mon Brunnhilde, we all know gods don’t exist!”

-Thor- Knew what you and Brunnhilde were both doing, as he saw you conspiring earlier; he’s easily able to keep his stoic face, for a bit anyway.

-Zeus- Gawked at you, posing, “How can you say we’re not real! We’re right here!!” you patted his head, having no fear, “Sure thing old man, pretty sure you’re just senile.” Which in turn made him rage in silent fury before he saw Brunnhilde’s smile, knowing that you were just tricking him.

-Poseidon- Unamused by your words and your little prank with the valkyrie, as he could see the grins on the faces of the other humans. Just rolls his eyes and turns away.

-Hercules- Could see the grins a mile away, biting his bottom lip hard to not laugh, he thought it was hysterical that you were teasing them so easily.

-Shiva- Pouting and glaring at you, “Oh yeah, when why do Rudra and I have four arms?!” you just shrugged, have no regrets, “You probably played in a toxic waste dump and got mutated!” Shiva’s eyelids twitched in anger, in disbelief of your clapback.

-Hades- Another who was trying not to smile, seeing what you were pulling, he knew you were an atheist, but he wasn’t bothered by it, mainly because he couldn’t really care, but your prank was quite funny.

-Beelzebub- Rolled his eyes at you, knowing what you were doing, trying to get the gods riled up, but you weren’t going to bother him, mainly because he knew you were just teasing.

-Odin- The all-seeing eye sees all so he knew that you were just pranking them; his face was stoic but he did roll his one eye at your antics, but did find some of the reactions of the others amusing.

-Loki- Beside himself, floating over, cupping your cheeks, “I’m right here! Can you feel me! I’m literally a god touching you!” you pulled out a whistle, blowing into it, “Stranger danger!!” making Loki panic. Was rather pouty when he found you were just pranking them, as you had fooled him.

-Ares- Another in disbelief by your words, flexing, “If I was anything but a god how would I get muscles like this?!” you just shrugged, “Intense body work outs and steroids probably.” Ares immediately deflated like a balloon, tears pouring from your harsh words.

-Hermes- He heard it all before you entered the room, so he wasn’t shocked, finding it amusing that you had managed to prank so many people all at once, a bit impressed.

-Rudra- Just like Shiva, was in shock by your instant clapback about playing in toxic waste, thinking they were just humans with extra limbs from a mutation, annoyed.

-Indra- Rolled his eyes, taking another drag of his cigarette, seeing the smiles on yours and Brunnhilde’s faces and the grins on the other humans, knowing you were pranking them, unamused and unimpressed.

-Human Fighters- All holding their guts, dying in laughter, unable to breathe.

#record of ragnarok #ror x reader #ror thor #ror zeus #ror poseidon #ror heracles #ror shiva #ror hades #ror beelzebub #ror brunhilde #ror loki #ror ares #ror indra #ror rudra #ror odin

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the-ghost-king · 3 years

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"in general he doesn’t really know what he’s doing with most of the gods..." Hard agree. Love Rick's books, but his portrayal of the gods sometimes is straight up painful. I know it's fiction but the way he bends and breaks them to fit certain narratives of his is crazy. (I.e. Ares being a complete ass, etc) Idk, I also find it kinda disrespectful in the sense that it's still a real religion, but 'cause it's "mythology", it's a "do whatever you want" for so many authors.. Just my opinion tho

No I absolutely agree!

I don’t personally consider myself Hellenistic polytheistic but I do interact a fair bit with the community on other blogs and this is something that comes up again and again in conversations.

The Greek gods are only malleable to a certain extent, you can choose different myths or have different takes but you can’t completely modify or change their character to make them whoever you want, there’s an air of respect you have to maintain, it’s by no means a dead religion. Beyond that as well almost every author goes to “this god is bad, and this god is good” which isn’t how Hellenistic Polytheism works at all, the Greek gods are not good or bad they are both and that is the intention.

Making Ares evil doesn’t make any sense either, he’s not evil, the god of war and the goddess of love wouldn’t get together and fall in love if he was so awful. Ares is not the god of war by choice, and when I was personally making my uquiz about the Greek Gods I was aware of this and talked about him as such, saying this about him:

You have so many walls around you, you clamor for blood so that you are not the one being hurt. Your heart was kind once, and you went into the world free of concern or fear, I'm so sorry they hurt you. It's okay to lower your defenses sometimes, it's okay to try to reason with someone before fighting, there is no need to be so angry anymore, the danger is gone now. You're strongest when defending other people, and they care about you for all that you do, it's okay to ask for them to return the favor sometimes, it's okay if you need help patching some wounds.

Because that’s far more accurate take of Ares than what some people like to argue, war is always violent, but the opinion of the Greeks was that it can be justified as well as senseless. And analyzing Ares, it’s possible he’s so hard on himself and others because of how he was raised.

As much as people don’t like to admit it, in Greek myths Zeus isn’t all bad, and when you analyze him alongside ancient Greek culture and look at how people would have worshiped him, you see a much more complex character, a much more complex god- and you realize Zeus is simply lost and hollow feeling rather than intentionally causing harm.

Greek gods are malleable! And this is good! Great even! Because you can relate to all of them or at least recognize how someone would relate to them, and the more conversations you have with people who dedicate or focus their worship to one god the broader understanding you have!

Rick and a lot of other authors who pull from Greek myths don’t do this or even attempt to, they think it’s just fun to play with the myths without considering the consequences of that. For example the idea the Persephone willingly went with Hades was a lie made up by a woman in the 90s-2000s, who didn’t want to tell her kid the truth- but it has had lasting and devastating effects on content people have made off that falsified and non existent version of the truth. Or take Lore Olympus for example, which has screwed the characters personalities around so incorrectly and made Apollo a rapist.... Which despite all the myths he’s in and all the horrible things he’s done, that was something he never did even when driven mad by Eros’s arrows.

Obviously people consuming that content aren’t bad or anything, so long as they recognize that it’s inappropriate to function the mythology that way out of certain spaces. But with say Rick’s work and similar it’s not always so obvious when he’s 1, off the mark, or 2, making up bullshit. And that’s honestly a lot worse.

I know some people are upset he didn’t include Asian and Indigenous mythology and many other religions which have shaped society, but honestly sometimes I think it’s for the best because he would have skewed those gods as well in many ways.

You can only bend and break mythology so much before it’s become disrespectful or erasure, or some mixture of both, and it’s not uncommon to see and is generally accepted. Blood of Zeus and PJO both do this too, Blood of Zeus may have nailed Apollo’s design better and gotten some of the relationship dynamics more accurate but they did this at the expense of making Hera a vilian, completely changing the myth of the titans and turning the plot into a more Christian storyline which is wrong. While PJO may not be openly disrespectful either, it also pulled Christian storylines and beliefs into its plot and characterization where it was unnecessary.

So you’re not wrong anon, and it’s a valid opinion to have in these sorts of situations!

#long post #crit #??#asks #anon #greek mythology

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wizardysseus · 3 years

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i was thinking about once upon a time (abc) in bed this morning so i decided to write this list

subject to change, since awhile ago i was in the middle of season 6 when they took it off netflix and i never quite got around to picking it back up. i’m gonna finish if it kills me i promise

top 5 things about once upon a time

5. anna frozen

when ouat introduced frozen characters, most fans decided the show had jumped the shark. they were not wrong. however, it was this very thing that allowed the show to be fun again! after an excruciatingly bad season 3 (we will get to that), bringing on anna and elsa literally transported directly from their own unaltered story in cheap ass versions of their unaltered movie costumes allowed the show to let loose and do... basically whatever it wanted. this became the hallmark of the show for those who stuck with it: absolutely not making sense at all, but being fun about it. post-season-three ouat becomes a totally different soap opera from season one, but by god you are never bored.*

personally, the flashback episode where anna annoys rumpelstiltskin and gets the better of him and he’s so fucking mad about it is like top 10 episodes**

4. 2x16 “the miller’s daughter”

this episode is just another personal favorite. it exemplifies what this show was really good at when it was good, and also where everything went wrong. i think cora is a great example of a good ouat villain, i think the twist on the rumpelstiltskin story is great, i think the dramatic beats really work.

...and in typical ouat fashion, cora immediately dies and two more villains we don’t care about at all are introduced. (sonequa forgive me you know i’m in love with you but tamara was nothing. it’s not your fault.) yes we get that great scene of snow aggressively doing archery practice while listening to “bad reputation” but was it worth killing off a compelling villain just as you’d dug into her story?

3. the commitment to regina’s redemption

and lana parrilla in general. i mean i’m gay and she’s hot but the worse the show got, the more acting lana gave it. and this is just speculation, but i think lana is more comfortable with drama than with camp? because regina becomes a much more interesting character as someone conflicted and on the path to redemption than as a villain. and by god, they were gonna redeem regina.

if only she had been gay we really could have had it all.

2. rumpelstiltskin

the sweet spot with rumpelstiltskin for me was seasons one and two when he was unabashedly bastard, there was an attempt to make him sympathetic but nobody except belle actually liked him, you weren’t quite sure how much he knew, he was pulling all the strings, and he was just really fucking weird. it will surprise no one who follows this blog to hear that that is my type of wizard.

1. season one

it’s a good season. it’s a good season. there are some bad things about it, but it was extremely watchable. it was doing fairy tales with occasional disney nods in a (mostly) cohesive fashion. the lore and the magic hadn’t sprawled out of control yet. it had the strongest relationship, imo, between emma and henry, and emma and snow. as for iconic episodes, most of the greats are here, plus sebastian stan as the mad hatter and giancarlo esposito as a series regular. the crowning moment for me is the scene at the end of skin deep, when regina confronts gold in the town jail and he reveals that he remembers his real name (after beating the shit out of belle’s dad with his cane obviously). god. that is some good television.

worst 5 things about once upon a time

5. the adoption politics but everyone knows this one.

4. WASTING the talent

you had the love of my life sonequa martin-green and gave her nothing. you somehow scored oded fehr as jafar and gave him nothing. you had giancarlo esposito and regina literally forgot he existed. i will kill you

3. rumpelstiltskin.

it’s no secret that robert carlyle was acting circles around most of the cast; my opinion is that the showrunners felt that if they committed to either his redemption or his villainy, they would never find someone else with the talent to fill his shoes as bastard wizard. so they flip-flopped on him every half-season, which ruins his story longterm, slowly kills the light in robert’s eyes, and gets reallllllly old. it’s also no secret that my favorite rumpelstiltskin is bastard wizard, but they screwed over belle BIG time in the process and for that i will never forgive them.

also like. the rumpelstiltskin fairy tale is antisemitic to begin with and they did not minimize that by comparing him to a lizard and naming his storybrooke counterpart mr gold. they just. did that.

2. THE FUCKING NEVERLAND ARC GOD IN CHRIIIIIIIIIIIST THAT HALF-SEASON IS EXCRUCIATING

1. captain hook

*it’s my opinion that if you are bored, you’re watching a hook-centric episode. every time i dropped the show and forgot about it for months at a time, it was because i had been in the middle of an episode about hook and just could not get through it. how do i describe all the things i don’t like about what killian hook jones did to the show? with subpoints!

1a. the episode where gold gives him back his hand and he never changes.

**this is actually the same episode i mentioned about anna and, like i said, it’s one of my favorites and not at all boring. look, i’m not pretending this list isn’t subjective as hell.

remember when hook blackmailed mr gold into magically reattaching his hand, which gold has been keeping in a jar, because hook has a date with emma and wants it to go well? but also, gold tells him that if he reattaches his hand with dark magic, it will turn him evil? and then hook spends the episode doing evil things, only for mr gold to tell him “i was just messing with you! the hand was not evil, you gave yourself permission to be evil ;)”

yeah, that’s basically hook’s mo.

1b. episode where emma tells him his brother is lying to him and he learns the exact wrong lesson from this and never changes.

so emma goes to the underworld to get hook back after he dies (while being evil and doing villainous things). they find his brother down there, too, and emma senses that he has a dark secret (because he does) and is lying to them (because he is). but hook always idolized his older brother, so he won't believe her. when emma confronts the brother directly, hook interrupts to rant to her about how he knows what this is ~really all about.

actual dialogue:

HOOK: i don't need proof to know what's really going on here. emma, when are you gonna admit that this isn't really about my brother? EMMA: what else would you think it was about? HOOK: us. you think if you can prove that liam is a villain, then i’ll somehow feel like i was less of one.

who... would EVER come to that conclusion. and why is the lesson he learns at the end “perhaps i do deserve saving after all” (another direct quote), and not “NOT EVERYTHING IS ABOUT YOU, BECAUSE EMMA WAS LITERALLY RIGHT ABOUT YOUR BROTHER LYING TO EVERYONE”????

1c. the emma dark one arc, where hook never changes.

this would be the arc that leads up to the above underworld arc, and it is deeply dumb, entertaining, and hard to explain. suffice it to say, during this whole arc, killian (along with emma) has all the powers and ~~~Darkness~~~ of the dark one (formerly rumpelstiltskin). unlike emma, he is not aware of this for most of the season. the moment he finally finds out, he turns on emma and goes through with all the revenge plans he’s apparently been holding onto since season two.

it’s supposed to be sympathetic, because emma made this choice for him to be a dark one, which is clearly awful, when he didn’t want it. so i get that. but on the other hand, it is..... boring. because (a) it's nothing we haven't seen him try to do and fail at before, his motivations really aren't that complex. and more importantly, (b) he was the dark one the whole time! the only thing that changed, that made him act evil, was finding out about it. at that point, it's not the ~~~Darkness~~~ making you do evil things. it’s just you. because you’re a dick.

how is this arc resolved? well, he dies. after the underworld arc (which i very much enjoyed tbf), a sizable part of robin hood’s death episode is devoted to people telling emma to slow down and grieve for killian, since at least two arcs have revolved around her inability to let hook go when he is literally dying or dead. (it’s been said a million times but being his girlfriend really sucked the personality out of emma and i miss her.) and in the end he just... comes back anyway. no explanation given; he says it must be a reward from zeus for killing hades... while he and emma make out literally in front of the coffin of robin hood... who actually died fighting hades. killian died half a season before. while he was evil. and emma reverts to tearful girlfriend.

it’s insulting. it’s grating. and it is a Killian Hook Jones Guarantee that his episodes will involve some measure of this.

like, is it more or less the same shtick that the writers kept giving rumpelstiltskin, too? backsliding and screwing over his love interest who gets less and less say in the matter? yes. definitely. the crucial difference is that i, personally, love rumpelstiltskin, while i find hook boring and not self-aware. but clearly i have had a lot of fun complaining about him! again, this is not an objective list.

conclusions

this show ran for 7 years. it got cancelled not because it deserved to, but because no one liked the soft reboot. it was on until 2018.

#thoughts #once upon a time #long post

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buoyantsaturn · 3 years

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Bring On The Monsters (8/8)

chapter title: The Prophecy Comes True

word count: 4,520

read on ao3

The Doors of Orpheus let them out into the middle of Central Park, and from there, Will did his best to lead the di Angelos to the Empire State Building. In his defense, he’d only ever been in the city once, and Argus had driven him and the rest of camp there in a camp van.

When they got to the door, Bianca set a hand on Will’s shoulder to stop him from walking inside. She held the Lotus card out to him.

“You should go back to camp,” Bianca said. “We don’t know how Zeus is going to react, and we don’t need him getting angry at you and your dad when he’s only mad at ours right now. Trust me, Will, it’ll be safer for you this way.”

Will took the card, looking dejected, though he nodded in acceptance. He kept his gaze on the ground as he said, “You’ll wanna go to the 600th floor. Ask the doorman for the key. He’s gonna be a real jerk, but don’t let that stop you. And…” He lifted his eyes and met Nico’s. “Find me when you get back to camp, okay? I’ll be...in the infirmary, probably, but maybe the pavilion, depending on what time it is, and if it’s after dark then I’ll be in my cabin, but--”

Nico jumped forward and pulled Will into a hug. “Be careful.”

Will hugged him back. “You too.”

Will pulled away and glanced at Bianca, holding his arms out awkwardly. She punched him in the arm. “If you manage to get yourself killed between here and camp after the week we just had, I’ll find you in the Underworld and kill you again myself.”

Will nodded. “Noted.” He pushed forward for a hug that lasted no more than a second, and then he ran toward the street to hail a cab.

With one hand, Bianca tightly gripped the strap of her backpack, and reached down to grasp Nico’s hand in the other. “C’mon, Nico, let’s pay our uncle a visit.”

Will had been right about the doorman giving them a hard time, but after Bianca threatened him with her knife, he handed over the keys and pointed them toward the elevator. After what seemed like half an hour, the doors finally opened, not into a building, but out onto a stone path that wove between lush green hills.

Every building on Olympus was white. White and bright with little bits of silver decorating everything that reflected the sun straight into Nico’s eyes. He wished he was back in the Underworld, and he’d barely even stepped foot in Olympus at that point.

They followed the path to the palace, which was almost an exact replica of the one in the Underworld, only - of course - white and silver instead of black and gold. Nico hated it already. At least they had a good idea of where the throne room would be once they got inside.

Zeus was much more unnerving than their father, having chosen to appear as a larger being while Hades had opted for a regular human height. Zeus towered over them and glared with so much force that Nico thought would kill them in an instant if he had his bolt. And Hera’s presence at his side was nowhere near as comforting as Persephone’s had been.

“Hello, um,” Bianca started awkwardly, and then fell to her knees and bowed her head. She tugged Nico down beside her. “Uncle Zeus. We came to deliver your Master Bolt.”

“Admitting guilt?” Zeus asked with a raised brow.

“No, sir,” Bianca answered swiftly, and started removing her backpack. “We were set up. Ares gave us this bag during our quest, and it must have been...enchanted, somehow, so that the Bolt appeared after a certain amount of time.”

Zeus watched them for a second before replying, “Are you telling me that my own son stole my symbol of power? You do realize that it’s impossible for another god to do so.”

“No, sir,” Bianca said again. “He was working with someone else.”

“Who?”

Bianca hesitated, so Nico answered, “We don’t know.”

“Our dad had a guess,” Bianca told him, “but he wouldn’t tell us what it was. He said it was impossible, and that he couldn’t believe it was true.”

“And something about things stirring,” Nico said, though he wasn’t sure why he chose to bring that up specifically.

Something about it must have struck Zeus, though, because his eyes widened and he leaned back on his throne. He whispered something to his wife, whose expression turned to one of shock and fear, which definitely wasn’t making Nico feel any better.

“Give me the Bolt,” Zeus said, holding out a hand. Bianca took the cylinder out of her bag and approached the throne, setting the Bolt in Zeus’s hand. “I shall let you both live, for now. Return to camp, mention nothing of this stirring to anyone.”

Was that supposed to be their dismissal?

Bianca seemed to think so, because she returned to Nico’s side, barely stopping to grab her back with one hand and Nico’s arm with the other as she left the throne room. “Not even a thank you,” she muttered as soon as they were out of the palace.

They marched back in the direction of the elevator, though this time Nico caught himself watching the scenery as they went. There were nymphs and minor gods wandering about, and someone that looked an awful lot like… “Will?” Nico said before tripping over his next step.

“What?” Bianca asked. “Did you say you saw Will? He followed us up here after I told him not to?” She sounded angry, and was scanning the horizon in the same direction Nico was looking.

The Will look-alike appeared to notice them, and said goodbye to whoever he had been talking to. He jogged toward the demigods with a sunshiney grin, and it didn’t take Nico long to realize that this definitely wasn’t Will. For one, his hair wasn’t quite as golden, and he lacked Will’s freckles. And he was a good foot and a half taller than Will.

“Hey, di Angelos, right?” the man - probably a god, Nico’s brain supplied - greeted. “My son’s been praying non-stop for the last hour that I stop Dad from smiting you two, though I don’t know how he expected me to do that. But anyway, you made it out alive! That’s great!”

“Your...son?” Nico asked, feeling his face heating up at the attention the god was showing to him. That, and the fact that his chiton showed much more skin than it was probably supposed to.

“Will!” he said, his face somehow lighting up even more at the name. “I’m Apollo, you know, god of the sun? And poetry, and healing, and blah blah, all that. Hey, thanks for keeping my baby safe out there on his first quest. Well, he’s not my baby, but you know what I mean. My youngest. Well, my youngest at camp. Anyway, he’s going to be really happy to see that you both made it back to camp safely. And trust me, I’m also the god of prophecy. I know.”

“I don’t suppose you know how we’re getting back to camp,” Bianca said. “I gave Will the rest of our money, because I didn’t know for sure that we would be leaving. So now we’re sort of stuck here.”

Apollo thought about it for a second, tapping his chin with one index finger. Then, he reached behind himself and brought out a single gold coin. “This should be enough for a cab.”

“Cabs take mortal money,” Nico pointed out. “Not drachmas.”

Apollo grinned. “So don’t take a mortal cab!”

Nico was not a fan of the Gray Sisters. He almost puked in the back of their cab more than once in the ten minute drive - which was supposed to be closer to an hour. Nico and Bianca stumbled over Half Blood Hill, still struggling to regain their bearings. Once he could finally see camp, Nico’s eyes started scanning for Will.

He ran at full speed toward the infirmary.

Nico burst through the door, his eyes wild and searching. There were blond sons of Apollo inside, all looking at him with startled expressions, but none of them were Will. Finally, Lee grinned and said, “Hey, Nico, he’s--”

“Nico?” Will’s voice came from across the infirmary, and he practically flew out of the storage room. In a second, Nico was nearly knocked off his feet with the force of Will’s hug. “You’re okay! I was so worried, I kept praying, and you’re okay!”

“I’m okay,” Nico said with a giddy laugh, closing his arms around Will and tucking his face into his friend’s shoulder.

Suddenly, Will pulled back, just a few inches. “Wait, and Bianca?”

Nico nodded. “She’s okay.”

Will hugged him again.

After a few moments, Lee approached them and ruffled Will’s curls. “Alright, Will, let the boy breathe.” Will released Nico reluctantly and took a step back, but he took Nico’s hand instead. Lee turned to Nico and set a hand on his shoulder. “Glad to see you again, Nico! Any injuries I should know about before we go talk to Chiron?”

Nico squeezed Will’s hand, then shook his head.

“Alright, then let’s go get Bianca, and we’ll have Chiron call a head counselor meeting,” Lee said, then turned to Will and winked. “You’re in charge until I get back.”

The counselor meeting was just as uncomfortable as the first, if not more. It was clear that the other counselors still weren’t very fond of the di Angelos, but they were interested to hear about the quest - especially when Nico slipped up and mentioned the stirring again. There was a short debate over who Ares might have been working with, though Chiron had seemed thoroughly uneased, and ended the meeting early, insisting that Nico and Bianca needed rest. They were shuffled into their room in the Big House and left alone.

It made Nico feel trapped.

When they got to their room, though, Nico spotted gifts on each of their beds - wrapped, but in a way that showed exactly what was underneath. He figured it was probably difficult to wrap a sword without making it look like a sword.

There was a note left beside the sword that Nico couldn’t decipher, so he handed it off to Bianca to read for him.

Dear Nico,

I understand that your visit has left you unarmed, so I had your sword fished out of the Styx. The river has wiped away the curse placed upon it, and has transformed the blade from Celestial Bronze to Stygian Iron. This new blade is equally effective against monsters, though it has other properties that I would be happy to teach you of in person. The offer to visit again still stands, and I can ensure that you will receive the best training Elysium has to offer.

I hope to see you again soon.

Your Father

Bianca received a similar note, alongside a new knife and a bow. The blade of her knife, the heads of her new set of arrows, and the blade of Nico’s sword were all made from the same black material. Almost like obsidian, though it didn’t reflect light, and it was freezing cold to the touch.

Nico couldn’t wait to try it out.

He and Bianca had sword practice in the arena with the Hephaestus cabin about a week later. Just about everyone from cabin nine wanted to get a closer look at Nico’s sword, though he didn’t want to let anyone touch it until he learned about those other properties that Hades had mentioned. He wasn’t going to be responsible for… For sucking out somebody’s soul, or something.

When Beckendorf asked, though, Nico found he couldn’t outright deny him. He had made the sword, after all, even if it had been changed since then. Beside, Beckendorf was actually Nico’s friend, unlike most of the Hephaestus cabin. Sure, everyone had started warming up to Nico and Bianca by then, but Beckendorf had been there from the beginning. Sort of.

He was no Will, is what Nico was trying to say.

So, when Beckendorf asked to try out Nico’s sword, Nico had refused. And when Beckendorf came back with, “How about later, during free time? We can go out into the woods, so no one has to know.” And Nico figured, as long as nobody could see that he was playing favorites, then it was probably okay.

Which was how Nico found himself sneaking off with his sword just after dinner, making his way into the woods in the direction of Zeus’s fist. Beckendorf was already in the woods waiting for him, a few cans of Coke on the ground next to the rock he was sitting on. He smiled when he saw Nico.

“Hey, man, I was starting to think you’d ditched me,” Beckendorf joked. He reached down for one of the cans. “You want a Coke?”

“Bianca says I shouldn’t have sugar,” Nico told him.

Beckendorf tossed him the can. “She doesn’t have to know.” He cracked open his own can, and nodded to the scabbard at Nico’s hip. “So, you gonna let me see that thing, or what?”

Nico pulled the sword out of its sheath and stepped closer to Beckendorf to hand it over. The son of Hephaestus stood, then nodded toward the rock he’d been sitting on for Nico to use as he started to move away.

“It’s really well-made,” Beckendorf said, testing the weight in his hand and eyeing the blade to make sure the lines were all straight.

“You made it,” Nico reminded him, and Beckendorf shot him a confused look. “It’s the same sword I left camp with. My dad, uh-- Apparently, if you dip a sword in the Styx, it comes out like...that.”

Beckendorf took a few practice swings into open air, then came back to Nico. He handed the sword back, and reached around Nico for his own scabbard, on the ground behind the rock. “Why would he dip it in the Styx?” he asked, moving away again. “Did he say?”

Nico hesitated. The sword had been cursed, but Nico didn’t know when that could’ve happened, since it never left his side after he left camp. Which meant it must have been cursed before he left… Surely not all curses were bad, if it had been cursed at camp. “He said it was...cursed.”

Beckendorf nodded, like he wasn’t surprised, then gripped the hilt of his own sword. “Well, not all curses are bad, you know. I just made a new sword for myself, complete with a few curses of its own. Wanna see?” He didn’t even give Nico a chance to nod before he pulled it from the sheath.

The sword was easily a foot longer than Nico’s, and it reflected the sun almost blindingly compared to Nico’s. The blade was split down the middle, one half Celestial Bronze, and the other half something closer to silver.

“It’s really difficult to forge these two metals together,” Beckendorf was saying. “It took quite a few curses just to keep this thing from busting apart with a single hit, but it’s definitely worth it.”

“What is it?” Nico asked.

Beckendorf grinned. “I call it Backbiter. Half Celestial Bronze, half steel.”

Nico flinched. “Steel? But we’re not supposed to--”

“And whose rule is that?” Beckendorf cut in. “Chiron’s? Do you really think he knows what’s best for us?”

Nico ducked his head and shrugged, flicking at the pop top on the can without opening it.

Beckendorf kneeled down in front of Nico, setting a hand on his shoulder. “Nico, the gods make all sorts of rules for us to pretend that they care, when really, they’re just trying to keep us in line. They don’t realize that, together, we’re way more powerful than them. You’re going to be the most powerful demigod in the world someday, kid, and the gods are just going to keep piling on more rules to keep you from taking them down. Why should you have to reign it in when they never do?”

Nico frowned, and said the first words that came to mind. “My dad cares about me.”

Beckendorf gave him a sympathetic smile. “He doesn’t.”

“He does,” Nico shouted, shoving Beckendorf’s hand away. “He told me himself, and he wants me to come back to the Underworld!”

“So he can trap you there,” Beckendorf said, rising to his feet to tower over the younger demigod. “He knows how powerful you could become.” He held out a hand to Nico, though his other hand tightened around the hilt of his sword. “Look, Nico. I’m leaving camp, and I want you to come with me. I can help you train. We can find every other demigod before they make it to camp, and we can build up an army against the gods.”

“Why would I want to fight against the gods?” Nico asked, eyes flickering between Beckendorf’s face and his sword. “The gods help. It’s the monsters that we have to fight!”

Beckendorf raised his sword to Nico’s chin. “I thought you trusted me, Nico. I came to you because I thought we were friends! Are you really going to make me kill you? What do you think will happen to Bianca? Will she join me when I tell her that your dad sent another hellhound to take you out? Or will I have to kill her, too?”

Nico’s sword was in his hand without him realizing that he’d even picked it up. “Don’t touch my sister!” he screamed, and lunged blindly. Beckendorf parried his strike easily, and Backbiter sliced through Nico’s skin, just beneath his ribs. Beckendorf yanked the sword back, tugging Nico forward with it and knocking him off balance. Nico dropped to his knees.

“It didn’t have to come to this, Nico,” Beckendorf said as Nico clutched at the wound in his stomach. “Hopefully Bianca won’t choose to fight.”

Then he was gone.

Nico didn’t hear him walk away (probably due to the pounding of blood in his ears) and he couldn’t see any sign of Beckendorf around him (though there were black stops in the corners of his eyes that were moving inward). The only thing that Nico found around him was his sword. With one hand still holding pressure on his stomach, Nico reached for his sword, then used it somewhat like a crutch as he pulled himself toward the nearest shadow. He would never make it back into central camp on his own two feet, and he still didn’t know how the whole teleportation thing worked, but he had to try.

Hades had said something about shadows, so that’s where Nico went. And instead of crawling onto solid ground, he slipped through the earth, reappearing in the shadow of the Apollo cabin.

And he passed out.

Nico’s stomach hurt. Not like he’d eaten something he shouldn’t have, but like he’d pulled a muscle. Or a lot of muscles. Or like someone else had tried to pull his muscles out of his body.

He opened his eyes. He was in the infirmary, and there was a familiar head of blond hair resting on the cot at Nico’s side. Will’s hand was gripping Nico’s hand tightly in his own, despite how heavily he was sleeping.

“Charlie…” Nico whispered, suddenly remembering what had happened. He tugged on Will’s hand, but the other boy didn’t move. “Will-- Bianca!”

The curtain around his bed shifted, and one of Will’s brother’s poked his head in. Michael, Nico thought after a second. He was one of the only children of Apollo that didn’t have their father’s golden hair. He didn’t smile much, either, and those two facts had always caused Nico to have a hard time believing that he and Will could be related, let alone brothers.

Michael crossed to Nico, setting a hand on his shoulder with a stern, “Don’t move. Will put a lot of work into keeping you alive, and he won’t be happy if you mess that up.” He glanced down at his younger brother with the beginnings of a fond smile. “He healed you all by himself. And knocked himself right out.”

“Where’s Bianca?” Nico demanded. “Beckendorf, he--”

“She’s okay,” Michael cut in. “She wouldn’t leave your side when you suddenly appeared out of nowhere, and Chiron just took her to grab some lunch. They’ll be right back.”

“And Beckendorf?” Nico asked.

Michael frowned. “What about him? I haven’t seen him since dinner last night.”

“He stabbed me,” Nico said, feeling his body starting to shake at the memory. “He said he was going to kill me, and that he was gonna kill Bia next. He’s-- He’s running away to build an army!”

Michael’s eyes widened. “Woah, dude, uh. Maybe you should wait for Chiron to come back before you start talking about stuff like that.”

“Betrayed by a friend,” Nico mumbled to himself. “The prophecy...it wasn’t over yet.”

Nico and Bianca were kept under close surveillance for the rest of the summer, and Beckendorf never showed his face again. Nico wasn’t sure how many people had heard the truth, but it seemed like there was something of a divide at camp. There were the people who were on Nico’s side - the Apollo cabin, a bunch of Will’s friends, and a few who had befriended Bianca at some point or another - and the people who were in some way loyal to Beckendorf. Nico wondered how many of those people were going to disappear, and end up as part of Beckendorf’s “army.”

By the end of the summer, Nico felt more welcomed at camp than he ever had before. He had friends, more than just Will, and he didn’t feel like so much of an outsider. He was happy, and he was excited to stay at camp, until one day in August when Will sat him down by the lake and announced that he was going home to Texas for the school year.

“I’ve been at camp year-round for the last two years,” Will told him. “I miss my mama, and my grandparents. We all agreed that I would be safer here, but after going on that quest… I think I’ll be able to keep myself safe out in the real world, too.”

Nico felt ice in the scar on his stomach. “But… Charlie.”

Will’s expression dropped. “I know. But Nico, you have to know that I would never go with him after what he did to you.”

“But he could hurt you.”

Will shook his head. “I won’t let him get close enough. I’m fast, I can outrun him no problem. Besides, once you figure out your teleporting thing, you can come check up on me.” Will bumped Nico with his shoulder. “I know you’ll keep me safe.”

“I don’t...know how it works,” Nico told him.

“You’ll figure it out! While I’m with my mama, you can go visit your dad, and he can teach you all sorts of stuff,” Will said. “And when you come back to camp, you can sneak onto the computer in the Big House and email me about all the cool stuff you’ve done!”

Nico pouted down at the grass. “I don’t know what that means.”

“I’ll show you,” Will promised.

“And…” Nico hesitated. “Beckendorf, he said… He said that my dad doesn’t really want me to visit. He said that Hades is just going to lock me up so I can never get powerful enough to fight back against him.”

Will’s expression darkened at the mention of Beckendorf, and he sighed in frustration. “Well, he wasn’t there, and I was. I saw how much your dad wants you to visit him, and how much he wanted to help you learn stuff. I wish my dad would tell me stuff like that, but I’ve never even met him.”

“I have,” Nico said.

“What?” Will asked. “When?”

“On Olympus. He said you were praying that Zeus wouldn’t kill us,” Nico told him. “He thanked us for keeping you safe on the quest, and he gave us money to get back to camp. He… You look a lot like him. He called you his baby.”

Will’s nose scrunched up. “That’s...embarrassing. He really said that?”

Nico nodded. “You know, if you go away for school, then you might not be the youngest when you come back.”

Will’s eyes widened. “What? Did he tell you that? Do I have more siblings?”

“He said you were his youngest at camp,” Nico replied. “He… He didn’t say anything, but he implied it.”

“Woah,” Will said, glancing out toward the lake. Then, he shoved at Nico’s arm. “You’re just saying that because you don’t want me to leave! You think I’ll stick around just for the chance that I get a new sibling.”

“Well...won’t you?”

Will laughed. “And then what am I supposed to do all winter when you’re in the Underworld with your dad?”

“Who says I’m gonna do that?”

“You’d be stupid not to.”

Nico shoved him. “Maybe you’re stupid for going to school.”

“I’m definitely gonna be if I don’t.” He grinned at Nico, poking him in the stomach near the place where he’d been stabbed. “Now that I know I’m such an awesome healer, I’ve decided that I’m gonna be a doctor someday, so I have to go to school.”

Nico grabbed Will’s hand to stop the poking. “Promise me you’ll be careful? And Iris Message me if Beckendorf shows up. I don’t care if I don’t know how the shadow travel stuff works yet. I’ll figure it out, and I’ll come get you.”

Will squeezed his hand. “Maybe you can come visit for Christmas. Don’t let me leave camp without giving you my email address, okay? And my home address. And my mama’s phone number!”

The end of summer came a week later. Some of the campers wouldn’t be leaving for a few more days, but Will was set to leave right after breakfast. He’d given Nico about six different ways to contact him during the school year, and he’d sneaked Nico into the Apollo cabin to help him pack the day before.

At breakfast, Chiron enlisted the dryads to hand out clay beads to every one of the campers. The beads were small, but Nico could make out the design of a white angel on the black surface. The di Angelos, Chiron had announced, the angels.

Nico and Bianca helped each other with their necklaces, and after breakfast, Nico gave Will one last hug before he was shuffled off toward the van that would take him and a few other campers to the airport.

Nico sat on the top of Half Blood Hill in the shade of Percy’s willow tree and watched the van drive away. Then he stayed a little while longer, until finally pulling himself to his feet and heading back to the Big House to pack a bag.

He was going to see his dad.

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