#pjo ficlet

[thejakeformerlyknownasprince]

would you ever post a half written like castellan fic?

Sorry, I don't really want to post the half-a-story because I'm not happy with the writing anymore. But I can give you a somewhat detailed outline with the dialog snippets I do like:

• During House of Hades, Annabeth and Percy are stuck in Tartarus, battling Kelli and the other empousai on the banks of the Phlegethon River. All looks hopeless when suddenly one of the empousai dissolves into dust, having been struck from behind. A very familiar celestial bronze dagger falls to the ground amidst the dust. It takes Percy a second to realize the knife was thrown from further up the bank — and that an equally familiar blond kid is running down after it.

Annabeth: ...Luke?

Luke: Hey, Anniebanany! I thought I told you to hang onto this. [tosses her knife to her]

Annabeth: [yanks the knife away and backs up several steps] And I thought I told you not to call me that anymore.

Kelli: Luke, help me!

Luke: [turning back, sword raised] For the last time, it was one night, I don't want a relationship, and even if I did, I don't date preps! [stabs Kelli to death]

Percy: [silently resolves to forget the last 3 seconds of his life] Luke? Wow. Thanks.

Annabeth: Yeah, that, Percy, let's go.

Luke: Aw, c'mon, we can't let bygones be bygones?

Annabeth: You TRAPPED me under the SKY and left me there to get crushed — 

Luke: Please, I always had a plan to — Crap! Titan!

Bob: I'm not a Titan, I'm Bob, and I'm friends with —

Luke: [beheads Bob with his sword] Yeesh, what was Iapetus doing around here?

Percy: Did he say 'friends'? Are you sure he was attacking us?

Luke: Dude, I just saved your life! Twice! Would it kill you to... [sheathes sword, holds up hands] Sorry. Okay? Sorry about the thing with the sky, you guys were just in the wrong place in the wrong time and I needed Atlas's help. Okay?

Annabeth: You stabbed Thalia with a poison dagger and left her to rot!

Luke: And it all worked out for the best! She looks great, much more mobile, less sappy. So do you, by the way, but what the heck you doing down here?

Percy: Yeah. About that. Do you know a way out?

Annabeth: Luke, can you give us a sec? [drags Percy several yards away] This is a terrible idea! We are not trusting Luke of all people. I know he... All that. But there are a million ways he could lead us into a trap down here.

Percy: Look, do you have a different way to escape? Hazel and Leo and the others need us, and I don't know how else to get back to them. We'll be careful, okay?

• The whole group reluctantly starts walking together, Luke acting the whole time like they're all very good friends here while Annabeth glares daggers (semi-literally; she still hasn't sheathed her knife) and Percy focuses on figuring out which river is which. Luke takes them to Hermes's Shrine and shows them how to use it, both to receive food and to send messages, which results in a little bit of a thaw within the group. When Luke asks again how they ended up in Tartarus, Annabeth explains while Luke asks several follow-up questions that show blatant apathy toward anyone but Thalia.

Percy: But why are you down here? You said... just after... [almost mimes stabbing himself, realizes mid-gesture that'd be rude] you said you were destined for Elysium.

Luke: Look. Sometimes, when something really bad is about to happen and you're talking to a dumb kid, the nice thing to say to get them to feel better is not —

Annabeth: He lied. Because he always lies. About everything.

Luke: I did it for you, Anniebanany.

Annabeth: I know. That makes it worse.

Percy: But...

Luke: Percy, kiddo. I stole from Hades. Stole his symbol of power. What did you THINK was going to happen to me?

Percy: So why aren't you pushing a rock up a hill right now or whatever?

Luke: My dad's the psychopomp, means me and the sibs have the run of the place. [Gestures rudely at Hermes's Shrine.] Speaking of which, if you're done IM'ing, then let's get going again.

Annabeth: And give you a chance to lie to us some more?

Luke: You want to leave me, go brave the other monsters? Most of them aren't as nice as me.

Percy: Other? You're not a monster. [to Annabeth, suddenly worried this is a Proteus situation] He's not, right?

Annabeth: He isn't.

Luke: I'm the unwanted spawn of a god, I'm in Tartarus, I kill people. Of course I'm a monster.

Percy: No. Luke, you died saving the world.

Luke: She knows I'm right. Same goes for you. Come on, Annabeth, you're smarter than this. When are you going to learn that we're all half-bloods, and that 'hero' means 'naïve little sheep willing to sacrifice itself for daddy's approval' [gestures to his right cheek] and 'monster' means 'anyone not pretty enough or obedient enough to get chosen as favorite'?

Annabeth: Stop it. [visibly upset] Just stop. You know that's not true. The gods aren't perfect, but I never want to see the world the way you do.

Percy: And what about Bob?

Luke: Who?

Percy: Iapetus. It seemed like he was trying to help us, and then you killed him. For being a Titan.

Luke: Fine. If you guys are that determined to make me your enemy, then I could always just kill the two of you too. I did notice you're not invincible anymore, Percy. When did that happen?

Percy: Sorry, I didn't mean to be a jerk. Let's keep going, okay? But can you at least tell us where?

Luke: The Doors of Death. They'll take you out of here.

• Various other crap goes down as they continue across Tartarus. [There was a bunch of stuff in here about my concepts for eternal torment that were mostly cribbed from my Classic Lit teacher's ideas about Greek hell-as-monotony, but tbh none of it worth repeating.]

• Luke seems to have a lot of enemies down here, which could be either a good sign or a bad one by Percy's way of thinking. Along the way, the thing that always happens starts happening: he finds himself enjoying Luke's company, and their effortless rapport snaps back into place. Rather than hiding themselves, they rely a lot on sneaking around obstacles by secret ways — as always, Luke demonstrates more of Hermes's skill than he wants to admit.

Percy: [freshly escaped from Arachne] Thanks for that.

Luke: We've talked about this, you're a one-trick pony. You have got to get better at sword-fighting on dry land where you can't rely on Daddy's cheap tricks to save you.

Percy: I know, I know.

Luke: And your left shoulder —

Percy: You know, you're the only person who has ever claimed that I have that tell.

Luke: Yeah, and I've used it against you how many times? If I can spot it, other monsters can too. Work on it.

Percy: [looking back toward where Arachne was] Luke. You're not a monster, not like her.

Luke: [winks] Give me time.

Percy: But Kronos used you.

Luke: Please. Do not make me out into some kind of helpless victim.

Percy: He did. And he tried to do the same to me — 

Luke: It's real simple: I asked every god in the pantheon for help saving my mom, and only one answered. So I made my choice.

Annabeth: Yeah, and how'd that work out for you?

Luke: Okay, he lied about helping my mom. I know. But he also told the truth about payback on the pricks who mindfucked her. You win some, you lose some.

Annabeth: Like Chris Rodriguez lost? And Selina? And Ethan?

Luke: [clearly shaken, and trying to cover for it] What do you want from me? We're demigods, we're born to die young in our parents' wars — that's the whole reason we exist! Ethan and the others chose to die trying to stop the cycle of bullshit, and... What? You're going to take that away by claiming I brainwashed them? While I was also brainwashed by Kronos? You of all people cannot be that dumb.

Percy: Okay, let's keep going, okay? We'll agree to disagree about Kronos. He's dead anyway, Luke saw to that.

Luke: [much quieter] Annabeth...

Annabeth: Let's find these Doors of Death.

• Luke does explain that someone will need to remain in Tartarus to hold the button in order for anyone to ride it up to the mortal world. He also mentions that Gaea and her forces have chained the doors in place, but that the chains are unbreakable and cannot be undone without killing everyone who has ever ridden in the elevator, which would include Hazel (and soon Percy and Annabeth). He offers to hold off the monsters of Tartarus until Percy and Annabeth can get through.

• Outside the elevator, Annabeth suddenly grabs Luke in a hug. She hangs on even as hordes of monsters and the god Tartarus himself are approaching.

Annabeth: I love you. I'm sorry.

Luke: Me too. To both.

Annabeth: We'll find a way to get you out.

Luke: Don't count me out just yet. I'll find a way on my own.

Annabeth: [through tears] What'd I say about lying to me?

Luke: Hey, that one was true! [shoves her toward the Doors]

• Percy and Annabeth board the elevator, Percy holding his breath and half-expecting to disappear for the entire twelve minutes. But they make it to the top, where Hazel and Nico are waiting.

Hazel: Are you okay?

Annabeth: We—

Tartarus: [turns visible again as he steps off the elevator behind Percy and Annabeth] Ah, excellent.

Percy: How did you get in there?

Tartarus: How do you think? [He slices first Percy then Annabeth with one massive swing of his sword, spilling their combined blood onto the ground. This finishes the spell to awake Gaea.]

• Gaea, at the height of her power, erupts from the Earth in the middle of Camp Half-Blood. The demigods are completely unprepared, so it's a slaughter. The Doors of Death are jammed open, meaning monsters pour freely from Tartarus and begin taking over the Earth to wipe out humanity. But one monster in particular only walks a few feet beyond the door before stopping.

Luke: [standing over Annabeth's corpse] See? Told you I had a way out. And I hate to say it, but Gaea has a point about humanity.

Luke: [picks up Annabeth's knife, sheathes it on his own belt] Anyway [glances back toward the open Doors] be seeing you soon, kiddo.

[neurodivergent-fangirling]

Imagining Percy and Annabeth walking up to the Mary Tyler Moore statue on Nicollet Ave. Annabeth pressing the button and saying, "Command sequence: Daedalus Twenty-three. Defend Minneapolis. Begin activation."

And then Percy pointing out that actually the locals seem to be doing a pretty good job of organizing themselves and maybe an army of automatons isn't the best way to keep the city safe from invaders.

[justonemorechapternicercy]

Watched Hadestown. Had some Hadercy thoughts.

“That's fucked up,” Percy murmured as the last note of the Hey, Little Songbird trailed off.

A scoff came from his side, and a deep voice replied, “Well, it's Hades, isn't it?”

And that was just it.

It wasn't Hades. Not the Hades Percy knew. It is the Hades everybody believed him to be; cruel and cold, unfeeling and malicious. It was the Hades Camp Half-blood tried to turn him against; the one Chiron was adamant to be the one behind the stolen lightning bolt. The one nobody trusted in.

Not the one Percy got to know.

“No,” he whispered, eyes never leaving the stage. It was a captivating play - he’d never really been to theater before -, and the story was something he love-hated. Still, it made him so mad to see Hades portrayed like this.

“No?” Asked the person sitting next to him in a surprised tone. Percy didn't reply - it would have been rude. The play was still going on, after all.

-

The intermission came as a surprise. He was captivated; the songs were beautiful, the music something he didn't really experience before. Everybody had been so quick to dismiss his interest in the show, thinking that theater was too good for him, but if all musicals were like that, he wouldn't mind visiting other plays as well. It was not the best going to places alone, but maybe he could take Estelle with him, sometimes. She would probably love it - and she deserved a better childhood than his was.

“Well, Little Songbird, what did you mean by no?” His neighbor’s words brought him back from his thoughts. He blinked, looking back to the person next to him, and.

Well.

Contrary to popular belief, he wasn't stupid. Oblivious, maybe. Scattered brained, definitely - he had ADHD for fuck's sake. But stupid? No.

So, when he saw the gorgeous guy next to him, he knew that it was a god. Not because he was unfairly handsome, but because gods who tried to blend in humans tended to still stand out - in Percy's opinion at least. He didn't know who he was, but that guy was definitely a god. And a god, who tried to trash talk about Hades in front of Percy.

He narrowed his eyes, and said, “What? Do you have problems with understanding a simple word? It means that I disagreed with your statement. I understand that it might come as a surprise, but keep up.”

The god looked surprised, then laughed. It was a good look on him, Percy noted distantly.

“Little Songbird got a sharp tongue, I see. So, if you are so opinionated, what’s your opinion on Hades?” asked with a calculating look.

Percy had no trouble with putting gods in their places. So, he started, “Well, first of all, he is portrayed as a villain everywhere. But like, for what the fuck? He is the Lord of the Underworld, not Death. He does not decide who dies and who lives, he just rules over them. And I would also be pissed off if my realm would be overcrowded. He did not kidnap Persephone without consent. He is not cruel, not compared to basically any other god. And-”

Before he could finish his tirade, he was pulled out of his chair, onto the lap of the god. Who was-

Oh, of course. He wasn't even surprised.

“If you don't want me to kiss you, tell me. Otherwise, you will experience what it is to be kidnapped with consent at first hand.”

“Not before the end of the play,” Percy huffed, pulling away from the tempting embrace. He wanted to enjoy his first time at the theater at its fullest, damnit!

A pause, then, “After the play, then.”

It sounded like a threat.

For Percy, it was a promise.

[rowanintheriver]

going to quickly self-advertise my jercy fic: in which, instead of percy and annabeth, JASON and PERCY fall into tartarus!! woohoooo (below is an excerpt of the middle of the first chapter hehe)

· · ·

[jason] took hold of the winds bringing them closer to tartarus— as if they were puppet strings— and, with all he had in him, he pulled. as if his body was simulating his powers on a physical level, he felt himself pull the rope too, with a strength he didn't know he had. percy, annabeth, and nico were propelled far away from the range of the ledge they were at, crumbling on the floor behind him. hazel too went backwards, her back slamming into the wall. the wind didn't really affect jason: he didn't move.

although the adrenaline hadn't quite faded from him, the mix of relief and exhaustion hit him, and he let out a few tired swear-words. "annabeth!" hazel yelled and ran ahead to her, hugging the fatigued and stricken girl tight. in the gesture, they both took a step closer to the edge and jason winced.

"please," he croaked. "back off from the chasm, guys." he wanted to sigh but found it unnervingly difficult to take a proper breath. all eyes turned to him, but no one argued. the side of nico's head was bleeding from that crash against the ledge and he stumbled once when walking but pointedly denied percy's help. the other boy helped anyway. hazel steadied annabeth, still holding her in a half-hug and saying something to her as they walked towards the ship.

they were all quite far behind him, away from the ledge, when he felt the force that had tried to drag them down come again, but he was ready for it. he kept a strong hold of the winds, although the effort was making him dizzy and weak. "hurry," he said to the rest of them, but his voice came out so ragged he wondered if they could hear him properly. "the ground's unstable."

percy looked at him for a moment too long. a frown creased his eyebrows. "you hurry as well, man."

he wanted to smile but could only manage a weirdly twisted expression instead. "i can fly," he said. but, in the state he was, he knew that he sure as fuck could not. annabeth had boarded the ship first; she collapsed on the spot. hazel was climbing up the ladder, and nico was behind her. he watched with a spectator's dull stare, then remembered that he needed to move as well.

right then, jason realised how close he was to the pit. how had he even gotten there? he hadn't moved at all. yet there was the gateway to tartarus, hardly a metre besides him. he blinked. the pull coming from it had disappeared. just as well, because he was completely drained. even if it were a matter of life and death, he doubted he could even summon sparks.

its a trap, his rational would've known. but he was starting to see things in a blur, and all he could think was that he had to stand straight.

he took a step forward and swayed. he felt lightheaded. looking up, he saw percy's face: he was saying something, along the lines of, "are you okay?"

then he felt something pull him backwards. percy wasn't pulled though, and jason vaguely wondered whether it was a certain vengeance reserved for him. he didn't even try to fight it— he couldn't, really. his vision had turned grainy, like a spoilt television screen with coloured images just breaking through.

he was saying something. what was he saying? he felt his lips moving to form the same words again and again. later, he would learn that he was saying, "stay away. i'm alright."

tartarus didn't even need to drag him into the pit: jason did that for him. his balance and energy finally gave up, and he fell.

· · · read it from the start on ao3!! · · ·

and if u do read it comments would be appreciated ty 🥹👀👀

[madamewalburga]

"Say hello to the sun and the stars for me"

The last thing Nico di Angelo saw was Will Solace glow brighter as as he charged the also glowing titan Iapetus (who now has gained full consciousness) when the titan was most vulnerable: during his transformation to his titan form. There was a supernova of light, and Nico could swear he saw the sun before he closed his eyes.

That was his mistake.

(the last among many.)

He shouldn't have closed his eyes.

(he shouldn't have bought will here in the first place.)

For when he opened them, all he saw was glittering light, like a shower of stars, falling and fading.

Iapetus and will solace could not be found.

"say hello to sun and stars for me."

Nico brought the sun to Bob, and Bob took him to the stars.

(did he really think a titan would remain his friend forever?)

"say hello to sun and stars for me."

He didn't even let him say goodbye.

[percabeth4life]

Thaluke + “what if?” au

What if she hadn’t died?

Luke wondered at times where they would be now. Would she have grown dissatisfied with her father like he had?

Would she be happy at camp? Happy to be trapped within?

Would Annabeth be happier? Would Annabeth have joined him too?

What if they hadn’t met?

Luke didn’t think he would’ve survived if not for her. He only lived through the battle they met at due to her.

Sometimes he wondered if his father guided her to him.

Other times he knew it was her father not protecting her.

What if they’d admitted it?

He’d never told her he loved her.

He liked to imagine she loved him too, but how could he know without words from her?

He wanted her in his arms so much he ached.

What if he’d never poisoned her?

She wouldn’t be back, but then he wouldn’t know her eyes looking at him filled with hate.

She wouldn’t have healed, and he wouldn’t have hurt Annabeth so.

What if he’d taken her hand?

He knew the answer to that one.

If he’d taken her hand, he wouldn’t be falling to his death right now.

So many What If’s, but only one What Is.

[son-of-poseidone]

Not So Sleepless Nights

Word Count: 525

He wasn’t sure what time it was, but it was late. It was pitch black outside and even the traffic on the roads was quiet. For New York at least.

The TV was still going, some show that he had never seen before and was probably only aired during the wee hours of the morning. This generation’s version of George Lopez. Annabeth was asleep next to him, her head leaning against his shoulder and the light from the TV was reflecting off her face. The shadows contoured her face and even though her hair was up in a messy bun, practically falling out of the hair tie, she was stunning. Her face was calm and peaceful and Percy couldn’t help but smile. They’d been married for ten years now and his heart still swelled with adoration every time he looked at her.

Movement from the corner of his eye made him look up and he saw his daughter, Sophie, standing at the entrance of the living room, rubbing her eyes with one hand and holding her teddy bear with the other. Her bottom lip was pouted and she was staring at them with bleary eyes.

Almost like she could sense being watched, Annabeth breathed in a deep breath and stretched, waking up from their late night couch nap.

“I had a scary dream,” Sophie said, sleep making her small voice raspy.

Percy rose from the couch and said, “Aw, you did?”

Sophie nodded and sniffled.

He walked over to her and just before he bent over to pick her up, her hands shot up straight in the air, her big gray eyes wet with tears. His hands wrapped around her and she clung to his neck like she hadn’t hugged him in months. He heard the floor creaking behind him as Annabeth was walking over to join them.

“Was it the hydra again?”

At the mention of the beast’s name, she clung to him harder and she nodded wordlessly.

That was the last time she was listening to one of Leo’s campfire stories.

Annabeth stood next to him and she caressed Sophie’s head. Her hair was down now and the hair tie was on her wrist. “I think we can spare a little room in our bed tonight,” she said. “Does that sound good, sweetie?”

Again, Sophie nodded wordlessly, but Percy could feel relief relax her body.

“Alright then,” Percy said. “Let’s get us all to bed.”

They walked down the hall and walked into their bedroom and he plopped Sophie in the middle of the bed. She laid down and clung on to her teddy as she watched her parents get into bed with her.

As Percy laid next to her, Sophie grabbed his hand as she slowly started drifting off to sleep. The room was quickly filled with the sound of his two girls breathing slowly and deeply, completely asleep within minutes. Percy ran his thumb back and forth over the back of Sophie’s hand and a content smile stretched across his face as he felt himself drifting off.

If he could turn back the hands of time, he wouldn’t change a thing.

[blotchofwatercolor]

also how rachel makes percy laugh when he gets too into his head / stressed out, or vice versa.

Thanks for the prompt!! It would b my pleasure c:

____________

It didn’t take a genius to notice Percy was stressed, which was good, since that was something Rachel wasn’t.

She saw it in the subtle clenching of his hands, how tense and curt - even to her - he’d been acting all day. It wasn’t like him, which meant he was possessed - somewhat likely - or stressed, which was also somewhat likely.

Rachel was going to assume he was stressed.

She was half-temped to ask him what was so interesting about old sneakers, seeing as he’d been staring at them for a better part of the day. But it was worry that kept her from saying anything, and frustration - frustration that he still wouldn’t tell her, not always, when he was stressed, frustration at everything that made their lives so difficult.

Rachel frowned deeply, scratching at her mane of fiery red hair, and inspecting her boyfriend like he was a really cool bug. For a second she considered asking him straight out, but gave pause, a different idea popping into her mind.

“Hey,” Rachel said, and she must’ve been stewing in ideas and unsaid words for longer than she’d thought, since Percy jumped a little.

“Yeah?” He asked, annoyingly good-looking face turning to her.

A slow grin spread across her face and tickled her freckles, one of the ones that came face when she realized how stupid what she was about to say was.

“Guess what,” she said, and the way she said it was so filled with giddy excitement that his eyes brightened, and he shifted closer.

“What?” He asked, and by the look on his face, he really had no idea what she was going to say. She could announce the end of the world, for all he knew - and Rachel found it funny (familiar) that the option of the apocalypse wouldn’t be a bad guess.

“Guesssss whaaatt!” She edged, and Percy was now leaning even more forward, there was interest in his voice as he said, with some about of sass:

“I have no idea, that’s why I asked,” Percy said, and Rachel forced her face into something resembling normal - or at the very least not murderously happy.

“You need to say what,” she told him. He had forgotten, by now, what he was so stressed about. His ADHD jumping onto this new thread quicker than a cat. Rachel knew she couldn’t just ignore whatever made him so tense, but they could talk about it later, for now just making him look up and relax was all she needed.

“What?” Percy asked.

“Chicken butt.”

Percy looked stunned, and Rachel supposed he really had been thinking it was something serious. He kept staring at her, and just as she was about to explain the joke to her boyfriend, he started laughing.

She giggled along, and when he kept laughing, she started to crack up - it wasn’t really that funny, but something about his unbridled happiness make her laugh with him. “It wasn’t that funny,” she managed to get out breathlessly, and he laughed harder. Soon the both of them were there, clinging to each other in mirth as they snorted and chuckled and laughed, grins on their faces.

Later, yes, they could figure things out, but for now, living in the moment was all they needed.