Trigger Warnings: Death, Child Death, Illegal Medical Practice
There was a story once about the son of beautiful Danaë... he who, men tell, was from a flowing stream of gold begotten.
His name was Perseús, a warrior unlike any other. Beautiful and strong, and just as his name suggested, he destroyed those that opposed him, and shaped generations for eons to come. Yes, the eagle son of the golden Sire was a sight to behold. But there are bare mentions of the woman at his side.
Beautiful, Andromédē who shines as bright as the stars in heaven, the sun held in its embrace, pressing loving kisses onto her earth-toned skin. The people say that she had no story, but she had a role and a lineage. The people say that she punished for her mother's húbris, her boastful words against the lovely Nērēḯdes, who symbolized everything that is beautiful and kind about the sea. The people say Poseidón sent a monster from the depths of the long-laughing waves to ravage the lands. The people say it was Perseús that rescued her.
They make no mention of how she saved herself for she gazed upon him as he flew on top of the winds in Hermês. They mention not that even as she faced certain death, she smiled prettily, one mingled with fear and joy. Charming was the very beauty of her form. Her beauty grabbed ahold of his heart, unconscious captive to her charms, so begotten by her that the swift wings of his sandals almost forgot to wave. And when she spoke to him, her words were like a siren's song as she told him her name, her country's name, and how her charms had been her mother's pride.
So quick, she played him, her mind as cunning as she was beautiful. Beauty was love and love was beautiful and she knew he loved her well. And she knew men that went to battle because of love; wars that have lasted eons. And he slew the monster and her uncle to for he was to whom she was betrothed and this son of who delights in the thunderbolt fashioned men as statues from top to toe.
She went unnoticed at his side as they ruled together for the years that followed, conniving in secret and teaching her only daughters that their looks were just as much as a weapon as their minds. She stood at his side as brandished the head of the monstrous gorgon like a trophy and she bit down her rage for he was kind and loving and yet still so much like the other men who claimed bodies like prizes. She looked at her youngest, her darling Gorgophone whose name was a tribute to his actions. She taught her how to use it as a warning for she is her Father's daughter, she was a member of the House of Perseús, that son of Danaë and he who gathered the clouds.
Oh yes, the people speak all the time of the hero but they forget the lovely Andromédē.
And history oft repeats itself in a number of ways for there was a new Perseús and a new Andromédē but she was not one to be unnoticed as the stars fell to the earth, as she gained wings on the winds of heaven, as she smiled so prettily yet tinged with a hint of malice... Akhos grips the Lukan, the destructive daimon as she, rich-haired Leaneíras who Poseidón begat, frightens even the patient-hearted warrior.
Hell Hath, No Fury like a woman scorned.
Hermês sat upon his throne within the golden-floored hall of the council chamber. Father sat upon the peak of Olympos, Apóllōn and Themis, at his side alongside Βία, Krátos, and Nikē. Zēlos was currently being tended to by his Mother once word had gotten out that it was because of him that Luke had gotten close enough to steal the Master Bolt; the weapon being watched over closely by Brontê and Astrapê.
The Moirai and the Horai were working alongside Îris as they were keeping a close eye on Typhôeus' current prison that was consistently shifting. Truthfully speaking, as the god of commerce, he should also be over there so that he could calculate how much of their funding would be needed in response to the destruction that was sure to follow.
(Twas a good thing that he was a god. There was already a sizeable dent in his funds to fix Hḗphaistos' forge, but he was definitely pushing the bill onto Poseidón if Typhôeus did manage to claw his way through. Though of course if the monster was released and he somehow managed to reach Olympos, then all the gods would have to pitch in to fix it and the Wind Gods got so ticky when they had to deal with the lesser storm spirits.)
A glance over towards his Aunt Hestia showed that while the flames may have dimmed by two percent, the divine Hearth-fire was still ever-burning at the center of the hall.
Ganymēdēs and Hêbê were making their rounds serving ambrosia and nectar to the various gods within the chamber room and those that linger out in the courtyard. The hounds of Ζεύς were perched close to the exit ready to spring into action with the slightest indication from their master alongside Pegasus and his other four companions that carried Father's combat lightning bolts were ready to pull his chariot if needed.
One of Hḗphaistos' screens had been interfaced with one of Îris' rainbows and thus, his Uncles were able to speak with Father and his Aunts about the things on in their own realm. Hermês supposed that it was only because Déspoina, Makaria, Melinoë, and Zagreus were there that Persephónē and Dēmḗtēr did not immediately pack their bags to lighten the load upon the Nether Realm. And if it were not for Amphitrítē 's nonsense attitude, Hḗrē would have probably sound the call for war to all those in the sea that were causing distress to one of her baby brothers.
But that was all background information for he was paying closer attention to the battlegrounds below.
On one side of the States, Camp Iūpiter was showing off how formidable they were and the ease of a good army consistently demolishing the invaders plowing through their defenses. The Verus boys alongside Iūnō's champion were spearheading the cohorts that were completely opposite of one another yet still doing the most damage. And Medea was still not responding well to the betrayal of her brother and now with him dead and out of the reach of her anger... well, most of the enemies tended to run when they saw her approaching, magicka pouring off of her in waves that disintegrate anyone that got in range and was not considered an ally.
Admirable really and he threw out a couple of his own blessings to a few that he favored, but his attention was not for them.
In the grand scheme of things, they were simply cockroaches popping up and causing mass hysteria and not matter how much RAID and Combat used, they were still there.
In the grand scheme of things, he would burn, freeze, and drown the heavens, the earth, the seas, the underworld, and tartara itself when it came to his Leaneíras as she fought in the battle at Camp Half Blood.
His gaze moved to the expansive view of the world below allowing him to observe mankind from the heights. He kept his focus purely on her, watching as she danced around targets with ease, standing back to back with Drew as they attacked the people that came towards them. He watched as she twirled about managing to save one of Apóllōn's sons from being clobbered by a giant and using that same momentum to flatten half a dozen enemy half bloods under said giant's buttocks. She utilized one of Drew's netting arrows to catch the demidivine that was spearing Dionysos' son in the back by transferring the pain to that demigod while she threw out another life-preservation spell to keep him healed until better help could come.
Her smile had frozen over and sharpened to a degree that would have had his hackles raising if it weren't for the fact that he was so turned on by it.
She was almost feral in anger when she saw Anthony, Drew's favored brother just as Silena was her favorite sister, go down with his head cut from his body. The roar in anger that she gave matched with the scream of Aphrodítē that gave and the resulting blasts the goddess of love as her powers exploded matched with her children as they went from defense to full on offense in wake of seeing their leader die in such a way. They tore into the enemy, some even going as far as to drop their weapons and tear into them with their bare hands and celestial bronze coated stilettos.
(And it made a bit more sense why his Leaneíras was terrified of them. One: who wore heels onto a battlefield and two: he was pretty sure that they had better weapons that the children of Hḗphaistos, Athḗnē, and Árēs combined. Where did that tennis racket come from and how was that violin doing that and perfume seriously?)
(Oh, and now the children of Aphrodítē's retinue sense the change in the atmosphere and wow... beauty was pain.)
He kept his eye on his Leaneíras who was taking her grief out on the enemies around them while keeping an eye on her brother, Drew, and Alabaster. She had taken to riding on the back of Salome at this point before casting a flying spell to put her above the army. Drew had been placed upon Salome and the girl was holding on tightly to the little pixie that had followed them from Pterophoros casting ice that was then being liberated by Perseus calling upon the water around him.
The golden tables and tripods within the room were automatons animated by Hḗphaistos, and trundled in and out of the hall as required constantly filled with treats from the various vendors around Olympos and lightening Ganymēdēs's and Hêbê's workload.
Hermês reached out for a chalice of nectar, sipping on it absently as he took note of the hesitant way that his Leaneíras was fighting, no doubt terrified of all that she could do yet still so fierce in her protection as she turned a pack of khromadai into actual mops. She and Alabaster teamed up to throw out a combined blast of pure mageia that swirled together and vanquished half a platoon of hellhounds that went out with pitiful whimpers. Still, he would have to devote time into helping her refine control back into her mageia
When the son of Háidēs call the dead from the ground, Leaneíras was by his side placing him onto the back of Salome as Drew slid off, the latter pulling out a sword of gold and reminding them all that while her patron may have been a god of archery, he was also the god with the golden sword.
(There were also her concerning comments drippled with charmspeak that forced monsters to blow up and had her Mother and Apóllōn sharing vicious smiles.)
(Terrifying.)
Kampê shot into the sky, her bat wings fully extended. She landed on the top of Ζεύς' Fist and surveyed the carnage. Her face was filled with evil glee. The mutant animal heads growled at her waist. Snakes hissed and swirled around her legs. In her right hand she held a glittering ball of thread—Ariadne's string—but she popped it into a lion's mouth at her waist and drew her curved swords. The blades glowed green with poison. Kampê screeched in triumph, and some of the campers screamed. Others tried to run and got trampled by hellhounds or giants.
"Di Immortales!" Kheírōn yelled. He quickly aimed an arrow, but Kampê sensed his presence for the centaur was a son of Kronos and raised by two Olympian gods. She took flight with amazing speed, and Kheírōn's arrow whizzed harmlessly past her head.
Tyson untangled himself from the giant whom he'd pummeled into unconsciousness. He ran at the defending lines, shouting, "Stand! Do not run from her! Flight!"
But then a hellhound leaped on him, and Tyson and the hound went rolling away.
Kampê landed on the Athḗnē command tent, smashing it flat.
But his Leaneíras ... his brave and foolhardy Leaneíras ... took one look at the monster and threw spell after spell at it. Each of the animal heads at Kampê's waist were being targeted one after the other and it became apparent that Leaneíras was leading her away from the main fighting so that the others could regroup. Drew and Alabaster flanked her side, both staring the monster down grimly as they battled her. Her poisonous blades were kept well out of range until Alabaster switched the target so that for every swing, it inflicted pain back onto her.
Thankfully, the intervention of Daidalos and Briareôs came at just the right time because Hermês had seen Percy gearing up to assist his sister and he certainly did not want to think of the implications of what would happen if Kampê had harmed even the small strand of hair on Percy.
(He feared that the eastern seaboard would no longer exist considering all the shocks that Leaneíras was going through.)
(He needed to go through the list of deities that could play therapist for his beloved after all this was over. Holding all that end could not well and what did that show she was so fond of continuously say? Powers being connected to emotions which was not something anyone would want to think about in regard to the daughter of the Earthshaker and whose twin brother's name meant Destroy. Emotions had just as power as names.)
His throne creaked dangerously as his hands tightened when one demigod had gotten close enough to slice a long wound across his Leaneíras' back. Lou Ellen immediately moved in to heal it while slipping her a piece of ambrosia while his son; his beautiful and darling son Travis, threw the mortal onto an active landmine and didn't even blink when he got coated in blood and guts as he walked away to protect his siblings and cabinmates.
But soon... soon it was all over as Leaneíras' rage finally reign its head and she threw out a killing curse upon her enemies right as the young satyr, Grover; the one who failed in protecting young Thalia and inadvertently led his son down this darkened path– though Hermês was not blind to his own hand in Lucas' destiny which reminded him that he needed to visit May and make sure that she was doing okay and had taken the medication that Apóllōn and Dionysos prescribed her.
The satyr gave such a terrible cry that he recognized intimately from his other son, Pán. Hermês' heart clenched for he knew now that his son faded away allowing himself to turn back into the dust primordial essence that would be reborn anew the moment they called for this universe to end.
Hm, Camp Iūpiter's actions spilled out onto the mortal world, but at least this was coming out of the pockets of Iovis, Iovis, Venus, Trivia, and Phoebus. He made a note to talk about strengthening the boundaries of both camps because they really did not have enough land to keep moving mortals around.
Right as everything seemed to smooth itself over, there was crack in a more metaphysical sense in atmosphere, Mount Saint Helens erupted in a spray of lava that looked more so like a phoenix and alarms started to blare from Poseidón's end.
Oh, dear. Well, that may be a problem.
Hermês Kyllenios began to summon the campers' ghosts; he held in his hand the golden rod that he uses to lull men's eyes asleep when he so wills, or again to wake others from their slumber; with this he roused them and led them on, and they followed him, thinly gibbering. As in a recess of some eerie cave a chain of bats may be hanging downwards from the rock, but one of them drops from the clinging cluster and then all the rest flit squeaking round, so did these ghosts travel on together squeaking, while easeful Hermês led them down through the ways of dankness. They passed the streams of Okeanos, the White Rock, the Gates of the Sun and the Land of Dreams, and soon they came to the Field of Asphodel where the souls, the phantoms of the dead have their habitation . . .
There were too many good-byes.
It was the first time Lea had seen camp burial shrouds and she never wanted to see it again. While she had been able to save Lee Fletcher and Castor from dying, the same couldn't said for anyone else. And even they hadn't come out unscathed. Castor may never be able to move even his pinky without assistance as the sword had been coated in poison. But he was alive, and the Seventh Cabin were already in talks about physical therapy because they were sure that they could salvage it just a bit.
But the losses were still high.
Anthony had his head magically reattached, but he was still buried under a rose-gold shroud with a dove embroiled in it. His siblings doing their best to remain strong even if Lea knew one wrong word would set off a chain reaction to tears. A couple of Demeter kids went down in the fighting and their siblings did something to the bodies that was going to have the reborn into seeds and mushrooms to be planted either back with their parents or around camp.
But the kicker of it were the twins. The pride and joy of Cabin Five and Ten. The current youngest members of Cabin Five. Year-rounders. Orphans. Just a few weeks shy of their tenth birthday. They had been regulated to sitting in one of the command centers at the edge of the battlefield so far from the fighting but close enough that they could help with coordination. Clarisse had personally given them the order to run... run for the barrier... run to Peleus and don't look back.
They had been gunned down, too many arrows sticking out of their bodies and the sheer rage and grief that their siblings had felt had brought all of them to their knees, clawing at their eyes and ears filled with terror and panic and the need to attack anyone that breathed wrong.
It set the recoveries back by at least sixty percent before Lou Ellen found the strength to tranq them with a knockout spell.
Salome had a bad limp. Lea had taken the time to sit and bandage her paws before sending the tiger on to Cabin Three to rest. At least it kept everyone from staring at her when they caught sight of giant bite marks in the bodies or those that were literally torn apart.
And then, she found humor in the way that they treated Mrs. O'Leary especially when she learned that the Jackson family just gained another pet.
She couldn't help but to think about how she was going to fit in their apartment much less his dorm room. Still, she teased her brother: "That is a grown woman that is going to need to start paying some bills. Look at her. She's about as long as a CVS receipt. She needs a job with good dental benefits and competitive 401k."
He whined though without a bit of humor as they couldn't help but to take in the camp around them. "Hey. No one said anything about Salome!"
"You take that back," she gasped. "Salome is still a kitten."
They kept working though. The various healing teams were getting a better rollout though that was mainly because they had healed enough to heal other people. Lea was getting a hands-on approach at healing mageia and she had to excuse herself to vomit when she was literally holding guts in as they were being operated on by people that had looked at the Hippocratic Oath as less of a motto and more of a minor annoyance when dealing with enemies that cut holes in them and their siblings.
(You know how fucked you were when you pissed off the healer healing you while they were still healing from an attack you did? Conflict of interest left the building when the last body dropped.)
She checked in with Alabaster who was working with his siblings to disarm the magical traps on some of the bodies and their armor. The first time one had been activated was... well, Kayla and Sherman were in body casts for the foreseeable future.
(When it went off, at least fifty swords had been drawn and the least said about the bazooka filled with greek fire and rat poison that Harley pulled out the better.)
(Where did he even get that he was like five?)
Annabeth had left and came back quickly enough to attend her aunt's funeral bringing back a plethora of cookies from her stepmother and more medical supplies once they realized that they got low enough even in the emergency stashes.
(Lea made a mental note to start up a few safe houses off the books in places that people wouldn't think to look. Small towns where they can blend in but not one of those everybody knows everybody towns)
(If Luke or... or Ethan touched a single hair on her Mother's or Usnavi or Daniela's head...)
The satyrs and dryads worked to repair the damage to the woods. And Hermes' kid did what they did best, showed off their incredible speed, lockpicking skills and thievery. They ran out supplies quick and the closest centers around alongside the nearest stores soon found themselves missing a bunch of medical supplies that had been there for the morning inventory, but no one was caught on camera.
She was pulled away soon enough by Eliza—Drew's younger half-sister and unofficial twin since they were born on the same day, but Eliza didn't appear in a flower bud in Japan—not being carried on a seashell surrounded by doves on a private island was any better apparently; Eliza was also the terrifying sibling that made a violin work in ways that should not be possible.
(Again, the Tenth Cabin was terrifying.)
She followed her into the cabin and her gaze was immediately drawn to her best friend as she curled into her older sister. Drew's body was shaking with the force of her tears and Lea wanted to walk right back out. She knew she was going to cry the longer she stayed. And Drew needed her just as she needed her siblings. Just as they all needed Anthony who had stepped down from leadership so that Silena could have go while he prepped for college. Just as she needed Ethan to not be a traitorous bastard.
(And it didn't hurt when Lea told Drew what happened... Lea let Drew charm her when she told her about Ethan, ducked out of the way when the key lime pie—Ethan's favorite dessert—went flying through the air, held her as she cried and rage, gave her a new set of arrows stronger than the last as she took her rage out on the people that he chose instead of her. It didn't hurt because Lea had already been reeling from the truth of Ethan's betrayal. She had already been hurting. No, it didn't hurt but it was maddening and Lea had wanted nothing more than to travel to the Underworld and make Tanaka Asahi pay for his actions... for making Drew question her worth.)
"She told us to leave her alone," Brinkley said as Lea pursed her lips, watching as Drew clung tighter to her sister with the letter that Ethan had the audacity to send clutched in her hand. Her siblings were huddled into one corner of the room, eyes filled with pain and rage and hatred as they watched her."She used her charmspeak, but I don't think she was even trying to use it because it failed in the middle of her words."
(When Lea came with the news, she had never felt more in danger than being in that cabin, but nothing compared to the way the attitude changed from her to Ethan and she would have pitied the boy if it weren't for the way that Drew had broken.)
(They had moved into formation like the goddamn mafia and people wondered why she was so damn scared of them? Not a real force of power, Lea's ass!)
(She was not going to be surprised when one of them decided to take over the world and the world was going to thank them for it. Lea had money on Mirajane or Valentina.)
Lea nodded even as she moved closer to the younger girl. "Hey, Drew."
"Go away," the girl sniffled, curling tighter into herself. Tears streamed down her face, and it was admirable how she even managed to make grief look beautiful. Lea could kill Ethan for breaking her heart like this.
"No, I will not," Lea sniffed, crawling onto the bed beside her and not saying anything when the girl turned in her arms. "It's okay to feel bad, Drew. It's okay to be angry and hurt and want to rip his eyes out of his socket."
Drew shuddered in her arms.
"He hurt you," Lea continued. "And it's okay to hurt. You told me that feeling my emotions doesn't make me a bad person and it doesn't make you one either. And it's okay if you still like him or love even when he betrayed you. Look at Annabeth. She still believes in Luke and he is apparently the vessel for Grandfather now."
Lea pursed her lips, forcing back her own tears. She wouldn't cry. She wouldn't.
"I think you'd feel better if you acted out instead of letting this hurt bottled inside of you. You're a child of love, Drew and even outside of that, you're still a person that cares very deeply. When I saw Trent on that mountain, it was like someone ripped my heart out and spat on it. And when we fought, I was so fucking hurt. But you know what, I forgive him. Feeling your emotions isn't wrong but man is it so hard."
Tears were streaming down her own face, and she didn't pay any mind to Drew's siblings that were shifting uncomfortably in the corner. "When I saw Ethan, I had been so upset. I cried enough to fill the Nile River; hell probably overflow it. I lost so much control over my mageia that I'm sure wherever the hell we were should be giving reports about global warming and how it managed to become -42 degrees Celsius. When I came back here and realized that I was going to have to tell you about it, Hermes had to stopped me after I broke at least ten cauldrons. But Drew, it felt good. All those emotions that I was able to drain out of me even if I used it on the people that took him from us."
Even if she had been thankful that he wasn't one of the bodies that they found.
"Fighting with a friend is the fucking worst, especially if you have feelings for that friend."
And again, fuck Trent. Thankfully that crush ended as quickly as it appeared though it was more so for his safety considering her soulmate was a stalker with delusions of grandeur.
"Do you forgive them? Do you make them work for that forgiveness? Could it be forgiven? There's no right answer to that. I chose to let it go because I like them more than I hate what they're doing. I didn't reach this decision until I broke first. So, if you want to beat people up, do something illegal, cut your hair off, change your wardrobe, chant random shit in Latin and get banned off holy grounds, that's okay."
Actually, that was more than okay. She needed to search up the biggest church in America. They could definitely pull off the Whore of Babylon thing.
"Feelings aren't anywhere as pretty as you. Fights aren't pretty. Your reaction does not have to be pretty either. As long as it feels right to you, I think you should do whatever makes this hurt less, even if it means staying inside this cabin like a very fashionable hermit with good hair. I know it feels like the end of the world right now because he was your soulmate and the two of you had just managed to find your footing but it's not. I won't let it. You're going to be alright. I promise."
Even if she had to make a few people disappear.
She knew at least four of the aliens that would help her.
When Drew finally cried herself to sleep and Lea knew that she was leaving her in the good hands of her siblings, she slipped back out to coordinate with the others. Except she had to deal with her own twin that wasn't actually her twin.
Mageia pooled around her hands even as she smirked a bit darkly. "Look at that gorgeous bastard," Lea laughed. "It's like looking in a mirror."
"Leaneíras Jackson."
"That's my name," she snarked. "And my face you're wearing. You got five seconds to stop it, or I won't be held accountable for what Percy does to you. He's a bit trigger happy at the moment for anything that caused me distress. And I can cry on demand."
The person sniffed disdainfully. "I am Peithō, wife of Hermês, herald to her Lady Aphrodítē, daughter of Ōkeanós and Tēthýs. I am—"
"Wasting my time," Lea scowled. "Lady, my camp was just attacked. My best friend is one heartbreak away from making the Trojan War look like a food fight. We're still finding bodies in places the fighting wasn't even at. I don't have time for whatever pissing contest you have going on about right now especially since I'm not even dating your damn husband."
"Hmp," Peithō sneered, rage flashing in her eyes. "You sure are defensive about it. I don't care what lie you tell yourself, but I want you to know that he eats my ass. From the roota to the toota."
"Good for you."
"And I am pregnant."
"Does that supposed to hurt my feelings?" Lea shrugged, wondering if she was going to need to find a way to get the alien version of a restraining order. "You're the one letting a man put somebody that you don't know in your stomach. I would press charges. my mother told me about stranger danger." She moved to walk away from her. "Seriously, I'm about to start calling you pterodactyl because this level of bird behavior has to be ancient and ancestral."
Lea had things to do.
WORD COUNT: 5283
Searching for Location - Location Found:
1) Rachel is somewhere. Magnus is at Sally Jackson's apt
2) Medea is back at CJ letting all her grief and anger loose on their invading army (Seriously, did you all think Trent was the only traitor over there?)
3) Everyone else is back at Camp Half Blood
Things to Know:
1) Andromédē is black. She's Ethiopian.
2) Aithiopia. A kingdom on the Red Sea coast of Africa, south of Egypt.
3) Libya. The Ancient Greek name for the continent of Africa.
4) She is commonly whitewashed.
5) Which is stupid and racist as fuck and is something that scholars comment on because the choice to white wash her is deliberate.
6) Anyway, she's a very beautiful black woman (And also black ppl come in all shades tyvm)
7) (This also means that y'all favorite hero, Hēraklēs has some black in him because she is his great-grandmother.)
8) She was described as the most beautiful woman in the world, tawny hue and all (only the best for a son of Ζεύς, am i right)
9) So in Ancient Greece it goes from her to Helénē then it moves on to Rome where its Psykhḗ.
10) In my verse, it goes on from Andromédē to Helénē to my OC Ariadne, to Hektōr's little sister Laodike, then to Rome where its Psykhḗ.
11) Βία, Krátos, and Nikē and Zēlos guard Ζεύς' throne. So, for Luke to get that close means someone had to help him right?
11A) Zēlos is the god of rivalry and considering how Rick writes them then a few words would have been enough for him to turn a blind eye.
11B) "But Luke was invisible!" Yeah, and they were guarding the throne so either Luke had help because how else would a weapon that size be moved without anyone noticing or all four of them are incompetent. Exactly.
Comments from the Author:
1) I have never wanted to rage as much as I had writing this chapter because you know what? Right as it was going up for posting... my entire system went down and none of my work was saved, and I doubt even think God himself would have faced me with how pissed I was.
1A) It was perfect.
1B) All I had left was to write Peitho in because she's about to become a nuisance and ughghghghghgrh
2) Anyway, so I saved Lee and Castor but we still have a bit more deaths to deal with.
2A) Anthony is a favorite OC of mine simply for the fact of his part in Drew's characterization as I have him and Silena as her moral compasses.
2B) He is most certainly named after Anthony Edward Stark of Stark Industries. The best hero to come out of Marvel and no, I will not hear any arguments.
2C) Clarisse gets some more humanizing mainly because she is also one of my favorite characters. Between her soulmate and now her baby siblings, she is not having a good time.
2D) Travis definitely received a blessing from Hermês for saving his blessing.
2E) The gods are reacting to the death of their children across the camps and even those that were traitors, but Hermês isn't paying attention to any of them because the only children he lost are Luke and Pan. He feels for them truly, but his concern is mainly on his own kids and Lea.
3) Reminder this is a story about soulmates even if we are deep into the PJO timeline.
4) We're also seeing her struggle with her fatal flaw real time. (Her fatal flaw is apathy.)
4A) I bet Lea wished she could go back to not letting people in where she only cared about her mom, brother, and the ppl of little dominican republic.
5) Two? chapters left of this arc; I think. They're mainly filler. And we get Percy's khaosmark which I have decided not to tag just to keep the mystery of it.
6) My favorite thing is that I can lines from previous chapters and build around them. I mean, I did this twice with Lea going feral and will undoubtedly do it again, but this right here? Some of Hermês scene came from the TTC arc.
7) I would say that we would be able to speedrun through TLO but SOM is the shortest book in the series and its the second longest arc here considering BOTL just beat it, so I have no hopes.
7A) We are sooo going over 110 chapters.
8) Drafting the sequel means having to dive back into the theogony and I do not like that at all.
8A) Fair Warning: I live in imperialistic America with its heavy influence on western thinking. My plans for the sequel dealt a bit with other cultures and names some that will come from eastern countries and again... I live in America so there is a good chance that's its wrong and I haven't been to my local and severely underfunded city library to check out books that may also be wrong.