Important Author's Notice
‼️ ️ PLEASE READ BEFOREHAND ‼️
️ i. TRIGGER WARNINGS ⸺ the sword of damocles is swinging mostly features the canon typical behaviours, events, and warnings that the original percy jackson books do! there is also graphic and medically inaccurate (because i'm definitely not a doctor!) descriptions of injuries, canon and original character death, topics and descriptions of war, past mentions and flashbacks to the salem witch trials, post traumatic stress disorder, unhealthy coping mechanisms, internalized homophobia and misogyny, time period typical behaviours to time periods mentioned in this book. more warnings will be added as this story progresses, if you're reading this one ao3 please check the tags every time you come to read an update, if you're reading this on another platform new warnings will also be added to the chapter where they are present as well as being added here!
ii. PLEASE NOTE ⸺ major canon divergence and some fanon lore intertwined with canon lore! please check the tags every time you come to read an update so you don't get blindsided by anything that might trigger you! still any new warnings after this chapter that get added will also be added to the chapter where they are present as well as being added in the tag just as a precaution! Also i know percy jackson takes place in early 2000s but i will be throwing that out the window to make references however there's no exact year that this is set in just imagine set whenever you want but know their will be recent references to pop culture from any time past the early 2000s!
iii. AUTHOR'S NOTE pt. I: hey y'all guess who is back on their pjo bullshit,, it's me! and i am so so sorry for the insufferable person i've become BUT it's pjo girl summer and there's so so so many AMAZING pjo fanfics being uploaded and i remembered this pjo OC i created one night in 2020 but never gave her a concrete story only a half-assed one-shot that i never even published i thought hmmmm i think this summer would be a great time to bring her into the light! i am truly knees deep in my percy jackson phase again and i think i can do the OC (and the new OCs i've created for this story) justice now! i've actually had so much fun writing and planning this story, i am truly thriving in pjo girl summer! more stuff will be discussed by me at the end of the intro chapter for those interested in the author's notes!
The Extended Summary
( nulla ) The Sword Of Damocles Is Swinging
the introduction ️ Ashes, Ashes, Dust to Dust
( fandom． percy jackson & the olympians )
THROUGH OUT THE THREE CENTURIES THAT SARAH WILLOUGHBY HAS BEEN ALIVE, SHE HAS COME TO LEARN THAT BEING A HALF-BLOOD THOROUGHLY SUCKED. She had never asked to be a Half-Blood, to be fair, she's sure that no one ever asks to be a Half-Blood, but she especially never wanted this. Born in the ridiculously stupid Puritan village of Salem, Massachusetts sometime in 1677, Sarah Willoughby, the Demigod daughter of Hades and an extremely Puritan woman by the name of Catherine, the young girl was just asking for trouble by existing. Growing up, Sarah had always know there was something irrevocably wrong with her ──── strange creatures would attack her, strange creatures that no one else could see, the strange creatures and the messes they created trying to kill Sarah were always dismissed as natural causes at the hands of a wildly imaginative girl until they weren't just that.
Her mother and the man that was supposed to be her father were highly respectable people in the little town of Salem, so more often than not Sarah got away with things that most wouldn't be able to. Sarah would also come to learn that her real father ──── Hades, the god of the underworld, keeper of the dead souls, and all that other jazz he was associated with, often meddled with her life to keep her safe. Manipulating the Mist that veiled the other townspeople from seeing the true nature of her tall tales, into Sarah's favour. More often than not, the townspeople and the ones that raised her would often forget about the wild stories Sarah would tell them. The gems that bloomed from pathways which Sarah would walk were either overlooked or thought of as a lucky find until they weren't.
The Salem Witch trials began in the cold winter of 1692, paranoia overtook little Salem. People were being accused of practicing witchcraft or laying with Devil, left and right, and as lucky as Sarah had been her entire childhood, she knew it would only be a matter of time before that luck ran out. Sure enough, Sarah had been right, just shortly after her sixteenth birthday, she was accused of being a witch by her best friend. She had told him, multiple times ──── "Lucas, please don't touch that!" "Rubies don't just sprout up from the ground, you shouldn't take it!" "what if it's a trick from the Devil!" and he still took the rubies anyway. Lucas Maycott never listened to nobody so it shouldn't have come as surprise that he took them despite her warnings.
The jewels that bloomed at her feet were a rare occurrence and weren't quite as cursed as she told Lucas, at least when she picked up the jewels and gave them away, they seemed like normal jewels but when others would take the jewels, more often than not bad things would happen to them. Before Lucas Maycott, no one had associated Sarah with the jewels that would appear on the ground like the sprouting dandelions. It happened so rarely that no one had made the connection. And then Lucas was kicked in the head by a horse, an injury that would kill him three days after, and truly it was all Lucas fault that it had happened. Not Sarah, possibly not even the ruby. It was a rowdy horse, it didn't like most people, and Lucas was told by his father not to bother the horse but Lucas Maycott never listened to a word his was told.
Before he died, Lucas had told everyone who would listen that Sarah had placed a curse on him with the Devil's help, he said that Sarah was dealing with the Devil to get riches and a whole load of hogwash. Perhaps, if he hadn't of died, she would have gone ignored as she always was before and he would be written off as a hubble-bubble fellow but alas, he died and his father was quick to continue pointing the finger at Sarah. The rest of the village was quick to put up outlandish stories about Sarah even the man she believed to be her father accused her of being the Devil's daughter ──── "That ain't no child of mine, I've always felt it but she must have cast a spell on me to ignore it, she's the Devil's child, I'm sure of it!" and it was his claim that was the final nail in the coffin.
She would be tried and hanged for being a witch just like like so many others. She awaited her fate for several months, other women of young and old came and well the prison they were all kept in, even a few unlucky men were thrown into the mix, it was a terrible time. And then just the night before her hanging, she was alone in the prison cell, no one to cry to over her impending demise, until a strange girl appeared in the cell. The girl was younger than Sarah, probably the same as as her younger brother ──── only eleven and Sarah wept about the injustice of it all because there's no way a child this young could truly understand their actions. They were just as much victims as the other townspeople, The Devil works in magic and manipulation, all the ones who claimed to be bewitched ──── were they not victims too? After all, they were only mortals and The Devil was The Devil, a fallen angel of unknown power how could they be blamed for being controlled by such a being? Even if the stories were true, why was only Sarah to be blamed for being the Devil's daughter, it was out of her control?
The strange little girl seemed unbothered by the predicament she was in, regarding Sarah with a knowing look, her eyes held a power and age that screamed to Sarah she was not just a little girl, she was so much more. And Sarah was right in believing so, the girl revealed herself to be a Goddess ──── Artemis, the Goddess of the Hunt, the Goddess of the moon ──── Sarah's saviour. Artemis tells Sarah that she is here to rescue Sarah on behalf of Hades, she doesn't look pleased to disclose this information, looking back on it, Artemis had seemed exasperated by it but they had made a deal and so Artemis was fulfilling her end of it. Sarah had no reason to believe it, but in her bones, she knew it to be true ──── A Demigod, Artemis calls her and while the name brings a bad taste to Sarah's mouth, leaves a burden on her shoulder, she still feels that the name puts all the puzzle pieces of her sinful, strange existence together. She is a Demigod, not the Devil's daughter but close enough as it is told by Artemis that Hades is her true father.
"Do you accept my help?" Artemis had asked and what did Sarah have to lose? She was less than twenty-four hours from walking to her death. Sarah nods and bows to Artemis. In the morning, when they come to get Sarah, Artemis had long since vanished and Sarah worried she had made it all up in a way to grieve for her life she was about to lose. The Judge tells her that there's been a change of plans, she would be the first and the only Salem Witch to die by fire. They tell her that she was born in the flames and thus she must die in the flames. Only she doesn't, the flames never burn her, she disappears in a bright flash of silver, and even now centuries later, Sarah can still here their gasps and exclamations of "witch" as she disappeared.
Artemis was supposed to let her go and the deal was just to get her out alive as Artemis was in the area on a hunt at the time. But, Sarah immediately pledged herself to the Goddess without even knowing of the Hunters and thus Sarah became a Hunter, and within decades she became one of the best Hunters next to Zoe and Phoebe. And the mystery of what happened to Sarah Willoughby upon that pyre would remain unsolved, Sarah, in her own right became a legend. She would become a hero, inducting several girls that were almost victims of Witch Trials around the world into the Hunters. A hero, the young girls would call her, Artemis was the girls' saviour, their lifeline, but Sarah was the hero that rescued them from the pits. And Sarah was happy for it, three hundred years of happiness and unity within the Hunters was more than Sarah could ever dream of. But heroes and happiness do not go hand in hand, it never stays, it's how all the myths go, Sarah could never name one hero that was happy so who was she to think that she would remain so.
THREE HUNDRED YEARS AS A DEMIGOD WAS MORE THAN MOST COULD BEAR, MOST NEVER EVEN GOT A SOLID EIGHTEEN YEARS IN. And sure, Sarah had never got her eighteen years in, forever more she would be sixteen or perhaps seventeen, her true age was a mystery to her for all the months she spent in that underground cell. But, Sarah was still alive. Sure, being a Demigod thoroughly sucked no matter how long she had been one, but she was alive, and safe, and loved. And then Thalia Grace was murdered by her father's monsters and things start going downhill faster than Sarah can keep up with.
In the months following Thalia Grace's untimely demise, which Sarah had witnessed and no matter how hard she tried, she could not stop, Sarah had to stay at Camp Half-Blood. It was in part her decision, in fear of of incurring Zeus' wrath and what it could mean to the safety of her fellow Hunters, she stayed to keep herself and those she loved alive. But eventually as spring turned into summer, the storms that would rattle the sky when Sarah would even approach the edge of camp's borders faded to nothing. Sarah wondered if it was lovely Persephone who had talked Zeus out of smiting her right where she stood the second she left the camp or if it was the flowers and blankets that she would leave around Thalia's tree that eventually softened the him to the point where he thought it would be a little too rude to kill her unprompted.
Either way eventually Sarah was able to leave Camp without immediately being struck down by lightning. Nearly a year at that Camp was too much for Sarah as homely as it felt and the friends she made there, it would never beat the feeling of being with Artemis and the hunters. Things are relatively peaceful for the next few years minus the occasional storm contained to only Sarah's tent on hunts, but Sarah can live with that because she could've tried harder to save Thalia from her father's wrath, she deserved it. And then Zeus' Master Bolt goes missing and she is one out of three key suspects so she exiles herself to Camp Half-Blood to keep herself and her fellow hunters safe from both Zeus and Poseidon's wrath.
It appeared that Poseidon had broken that stupid oath, Sarah was only vaguely aware of, just like Zeus had with Thalia, and Poseidon had sired two twin Demigod children. The Jackson twins ──── more like thorns in her side! ──── consisted of Perseus Jackson, the older twin, and Charybdis, the younger twin. All thanks to them ──── Charybdis and her stupid puppy dog eyes ──── Sarah had to go on a stupid quest to find the bolt with one half of the Jackson twins, little Annabeth Chase who wasn't that little anymore, and Grover Underwood. And so Sarah Willoughby sets off on thee quest that sets the Great Prophecy that had spooked the Eldest Gods for decades into motion. And unbeknownst to her, a prophecy that foretells her fate is about to come to fruition.
After nearly dying from Percy Jackson jumping off a torched Gateway Arch with Sarah in tow, then Sarah accidentally sending a douchebag truck driver in the Underworld, also nearly getting stretched to death by a very crusty Cyclops, among many other misadventures, just to find Zeus' Masterbolt and also her father's Helm of Darkness, Sarah is so ready for things to go back to normal. But, she doesn't realize that it won't go back to normal ──── not really. When they reach the Underworld, Sarah and the others go their separate ways. Everything after that, Sarah only hears bits and pieces of how the Quest ended after her departure ──── there's something about the alleged rise of Kronos, a Demigod traitor, and that Sally Jackson was brought home to Percy and Charybdis. She decides not to dwell on the details, because she wants it to be normal again. But, no matter how hard Sarah tries, it doesn't feel normal again.
But, Sarah can pretend. She can even make herself believe that things are normal again. But, the thing about prophecies is that, whether you know about them or not, they will loom over you eventually. They will haunt your dreams, your nightmares, even all your waking moments. Fate, whether written in the stars or waiting on some kind miracle cannot be ignored forever. Not even Sarah Willoughby, who could make home out of denial, could ignore what the Fates had in store for her.
When the Hunters track down a Manticore and save a group of Demigods from the monster, Sarah shouldn't have been surprised to find that Perseus and Charybdis Jackson are at the centre of it. However what follows this rescue, is nothing that Sarah could have prepared for ──── the truth of the Lightning Thief's true identity, the heartbreak and betrayal, the shock of seeing Thalia Grace alive and well, and everything that Sarah has missed since the first, fateful quest. Which is a lot of information to digest, a long and terrible tale, and it would all lead to one thing ──── a war.
THE THREAT OF THE IMPENDING WAR AND INEVITABLE BATTLE IS IMMINENT ──── the sword of Damocles is swinging and it won't stop until it finds itself a hero to cut down in their prime. Now, Sarah does not qualify for The Great Prophecy, she is not the centrepiece in this fight. She does not carry the burden of that prophecy or any prophecy the way that Percy, Charybdis, or Thalia do. But, she'll be damned if she stands on the sidelines and watches as the Demigods she's come to care fight for their life in war the Gods are responsible for. Sarah Willoughby is not a pawn like the other Demigods are, she has only ever known the freedom of the hunt, but she was still built like the other Demigods, the urge to fight in her blood, the makings of a hero in the marrow of her bones. The sword of Damocles is swinging and Sarah will not let it get to her friends, for she was a hero that was happy for far too long, perhaps after three hundreds years of living a relatively blessed life for a Demigod, it was time for Sarah Willoughby to sacrifice something.
YOU'RE DOOMED . . .
( nulla ) the author's commentary of . . .
the introduction ️ Ashes, Ashes, Dust to Dust
. . . THE SWORD OF DAMOCLES IS SWINGING
i. AUTHOR'S NOTE pt. II: it's PJO girl summer y'all and i'm actually participating in something for once! Normally I say I'll participate but then never actually do it but here we are and oh my god I am freaking excited! I have such high hopes for this fic and I'm enjoying the writing and planning process of it all and I hope you'll enjoy reading it!
As excited as I am about this story please expect slow updates because i have so much going on right now and sometimes i forget to update! i'll try to update as often as i can but this is just a hobby and also i have a habit of finishing chapters and forgetting to post them so my updating process is lot messed up! so just be patient with me! The prologue will be up some time in the next few days i'm hoping to have it posted on monday because i just need to figure out a good ending for it but other then a good ending the first chapter is pretty much done and i can't wait for you to read it!
thanks for choosing this story, I hope you enjoyed this little intro chapter/mini prologue thing of sorts and I hope you stick around for the rest of the story! I'd super appreciate it if you added this to your libraries and even comment on it!
ii. CROSS-POSTING ⸺ The Sword Of Damocles Is Swinging is also posted on Wattpad, AO3, and Quotev under the same title and same user!
iii. PAIRINGS ⸺ so change of plans this was originally going to be an endgame grover underwood fanfiction because grover underwood is grover underrated but i suddenly became way too attached luke and the main oc's dynamic and backstory and so they're going to be endgame,, but like also grover/luke/oc may end up as the end game depending on how my plans for the sequel, it's all up in the air really. however because the main oc is a part of the hunters for the majority of the story, there won't be a lot of actual romance! this story mostly focuses on platonic or familial relationship and there's a lot of found family too!
THE SWORD OF DAMOCLES IS SWINGING ──── PERCY JACKSON AU
─────── percy jackson & the olympians: book three to book five
THANKS FOR READING THIS BOOK!
word count outside of author's notes ⸺ 2,698