Thinking About @helenofsparta2s Incredible Post About How Jason, Nico, And Percy Shouldve Fallen Into

thinking about @helenofsparta2’s incredible post about how jason, nico, and percy should’ve fallen into tartarus instead of percy and annabeth.

i was about to say it’d be cool if Lester met Apollo post trials and he got to go home and recover from the ordeal of the past several months, but then i realized something. Lester’s body didn’t survive the edge of Chaos, did it? Apollo regaining his immortality must’ve destroyed any part of it that was left.

Lester died.

He’s gone, and Apollo has no idea (unless he stumbles upon a missing poster and realizes that another innocent soul was sacrificed by Zeus just to punish Apollo, and oh he’d feel so guilty about it)

wtf i’m so sad now

So, I'm workin on an AU where Lester is a Real Person before Apollo takes over, yk. But we really need a baseline abt how he acts and who he is before I get into writing, so we need a place to write down all thats known abt him from a canon pov, to get a bit of a hold on him

He has a New York City Junior Drivers License. This doesn't seem important at first glance, however, junior drivers license means that you have to have some one over 21(usually a parent or legal guardian) to be in the car with you. That means that Real Person Lester has an adult in his life who is willing to sit in a car for long periods of time to let him get driving practice in, in New York City.

Despite his skills from his godly domain being diminished, Apollo still plays the ukulele well. Not only that, but he does not once complain about developing calluses on his hands(which is a painful process when you're doing it with metal strings, trust us), this implies that Meat Puppet Lester's hands already had calluses from metal strings. which, considering that that implies that Real Person Lester had a high end Ukulele rather than a cheap one, also implies that his legal guardian, whoever they might have been, would have supported Real Person Lester in his playing of the instrument, and wanted him to do well in playing so.

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Always

call of the chasm

a/n: first chapter of fanfic based on @helenofsparta2's post about jason, nico, and percy falling into tartarus together. takes place at the end of mark of athena.

tags: @inkyrainstorms

NICO.

When Nico scuffs the ground of the cavern with his sneaker, he regrets it. The cavern has been slowly crumbling ever since the Argo II arrived, and as much as he’d like something to distract himself from Percy and Annabeth’s heartwarming reunion, his efforts to disentangle himself from the spider silk wrapped around his legs have only led to a series of tiny cracks spreading from the rock beneath his Converse.

Ever since he was trapped, he barely has the will to walk, much less bend down to tear the webs away from him. Even now, he watches the rest of the crew decide what to do with the Athena Parthenos with little interest. It’s like everything around him is happening in some film from his old life. Nico’s eyes dart towards Percy as he explains the hell they’ve survived to Annabeth: if anyone is their leading hero, it's him. When Annabeth speaks, he can almost imagine the words flashing on a black-and-white screen, before movies had sound: “So the mortal side is in Epirus. At least that’s somewhere we can reach.”

Finally, Nico speaks up. “But the other side is the problem. Tartarus.”

Which he also regrets. The temperature drops a couple degrees, and most of the group’s attention shifts towards the black chasm that’s been pulsing in time with Nico’s heartbeat since they came. Some of them might've originally doubted that it led to the Underworld, but Nico didn’t. Not that his insight benefits them. As soon as he opens his mouth to tell the crew to get the Athena Parthenos and get out of here, the entire cavern groans.

Nico lurches forward, throwing his arms out to steady himself. Annabeth cries out, Leo shouts, and in seconds, Frank, Jason, and Piper have made their way back to the Argo II. Hazel squeezes Nico’s hand without looking at him, and he feels a rush of warmth at her protectiveness. “This floor won’t last! The rest of us should get to the ladder.” She lets go of his hand to make a leap towards the bottom of the rope ladder leading to the ship, looking back to make sure he follows.

While Nico’s in no condition to run, it’s not the only reason he doesn’t go with Hazel. With narrowed eyes, he watches Percy guide Annabeth towards the ship, except this time, his gaze falls to the spiderwebs clinging to Annabeth’s injured ankle, trailing towards…

The Stygian iron sword in his hand before he knows it. Hazel calls out after him, but Nico doesn’t have the mind to warn the couple before he raises the sword and brings it down centimeters away from Annabeth’s ankle, slashing the silk that would’ve inevitably dragged her into the chasm. Immediately, Percy shoves him back, and maybe it wouldn’t have hurt so bad any other time, but the impact sends him sprawling on the ground. Hazel screams.

“Nico, what the hell was that?” Percy’s sea-green eyes are ice-cold. The son of Poseidon doesn’t have to curse to be threatening, but there’s something else in his expression that makes Nico’s heart drop to his stomach: distrust. Annabeth grabs his shoulder, but with the world falling to pieces around the three of them, his gaze is totally fixed on the demigod in front of him.

“The—” Plumes of dust and cobwebs blast from holes in the floor that Nico barely avoids, and he erupts into a fit of coughs as he weakly grabs the sword that fell out of his hand, unable to explain himself.

“The cobwebs, Percy, he cut the cobwebs!” Annabeth insists, and the realization dawns on Percy as swiftly as the anger did. Without hesitation, he sticks his hand out to help Nico get up. Nico stares at him as he makes the deliberate effort to stand by himself and sheaths his sword.

“We should leave,” is what Nico manages to get out before his legs are swept out from under him and he falls face-first into the ground. Instinctively, he scrambles for purchase, convinced he somehow tripped himself when he stood, but he can feel himself being yanked backwards, towards the very same chasm he tried to save Annabeth from. The cobwebs… Nico didn’t free himself from them.

“Nico!” Percy shouts. Nico throws his hands over the ledge of the chasm, his short nails bloody from the struggle, and in this life-or-death moment, all he can think about is how this time, when Percy says his name, it almost sounds like he’s worried about him. Isn’t that funny?

Hazel yells from the ship, trying to disentangle her cavalry sword free from the rope. “Help them!” Nico doubts Frank and Jason can hear her above the chaos. His arms shake with exertion from holding onto the ledge, and his legs sway in the bottomless pit as he tries to find footing to climb out.

Annabeth is only a few strides behind Percy before he lunges towards Nico, closing the gap towards them by jutting out his hand in a way that tells him he doesn’t have a choice whether or not he wants his help. Except tearing one of his hands away from the ledge he’s pressed flat against to grab Percy seems an impossible feat, and both of them know it.

“Annabeth, you have to go.” Percy’s voice is low under the rumbling of the cavern, but it’s so resolute that it’s the only thing Nico hears. Annabeth shakes her head even though Percy can’t see her, dragging her injured leg behind her to stand over Nico.

“We’ll get him out together. I’m not leaving you, not when—” Annabeth’s voice breaks. It doesn’t take the child of Aphrodite to know they’ve made it as a couple against all odds, and neither one of them is going to give up on the other anytime soon. Nico's mouth sours.

Percy doesn’t turn around to look at her, and the thought hits Nico with such clarity it’s like a blow to the stomach: Percy can’t look at her. If he does, he won’t turn back around to help Nico. Instead, he’ll follow Annabeth right to the Argo II and leave him to fall into Tartarus alone.

“You’re not strong enough to help,” Percy concentrates so his words don’t shake, staring at Nico even though his words aren’t directed towards him. “I’m going to get him out of here, but I can’t do it if I’m worried about you. Please, Annabeth, just trust me. I’ll come back.” Nico, who’s the only one that can see both of them, watches Annabeth’s mouth tighten as she decides what she’s going to do.

Which is to trust Percy. Like anyone would.

It’s fitting that Nico’s life doesn’t flash before his eyes as he’s about to die. It would take too much time. It would be too normal. Instead, what he witnesses might be the most romantic thing he’s ever seen in his life. Annabeth leans down and kisses Percy’s cheek before she turns towards the Argo II, and she looks over her shoulder from beneath the rope ladder. Hazel outstretches her hand towards her, but his sister’s big, brown eyes are still worriedly trained on him.

“I swear to God, Seaweed Brain, if you fall to Tartarus, I’ll find a way there myself just to make your life hell.”

The faintest flicker of a smile appears on Percy’s face. It disappears as soon as he reaches over the ledge to wrap his hand around Nico’s jacket sleeve and begins to pull with all his strength. “I’m not letting anything happen to you.” The pit trembles, and Nico’s entire body shudders with it.

“You keep making promises you can’t keep,” Nico says weakly, trying to drag himself out with his other hand to help Percy’s efforts, but whatever’s keeping him tethered to Tartarus isn’t letting him go anytime soon. Maybe it’s supposed to happen like this. The Doors of Death need to be closed on both sides, and he’s the only demigod who’s been to Tartarus and survived. Maybe he knew, as soon as the Argo II landed and he felt the call of the chasm, that someone needed to follow it down. Maybe he tore the cobwebs away from Annabeth’s body but not his for some unconscious reason. Maybe…

“Nico, come on.” Percy practically throws half his body over the ledge to try and counteract what’s dragging Nico down, but his voice fades into the background with Jason and Frank and everyone else in the crew doing their best to secure the Athena Parthenon and escape safely. Hazel and Annabeth must have made it to the ship to try and call to the others for help, but Nico knows that none of them could make it in time. And Nico knows what he needs to do.

“Percy, you have to make it back to Annabeth. I can’t— I can’t hold on.” Nico watches Percy’s knuckles turn white around his jacket, sweat dripping down his temple. If he has to break a promise to either of them, Nico would rather it be him. There’s no movie without the hero, or his girlfriend.

“I’m not letting go,” Percy grits his teeth and wraps another hand around Nico’s wrist, digging his feet into the ground to give him leverage. Nico’s other hand slowly loosens its hold on the ledge, his body going limp. Nothing escapes Tartarus. Who was Nico to think he could defy one of the oldest gods when he wasn't strong enough to confess to himself that—

With his last strength, Nico channels everything Percy poured into his plea with Annabeth. “Please, Percy. You have to trust me. I’ll meet you on the other side.” As their eyes lock, it’s the first time Nico’s felt Percy truly understood what's happening in his head. When Percy lifts his head up to look towards the Argo II, where the rest of the crew has finally noticed what happened to them, Nico swears he can see Percy search for Annabeth. Jaw clenched, he squeezes his eyes shut as he waits for the moment Percy’s hand slips away from his as the walls of the cavern collapse around them.

This whole time, he didn’t realize this moment might be the closest he’ll get to holding Percy’s hand. Nico almost cracks a smile. There are worse ways to fall to Tartarus.

Except the moment doesn’t end. Nico opens his eyes, and his entire vision is consumed by Percy, his windswept dark hair dusted with cobwebs, his tan skin white with exertion, and his handsome face turned grim with determination. “We’ll meet them on the other side.”

The ledge falls to pieces. When Nico and Percy begin to tumble into the endless black below, Nico doesn’t hesitate to wrap his arms around him. Dully, he stares at the sliver of golden light above, and wonders if he spent any time outside, in the sun, during his last day on Earth. The sliver of gold comes closer, and closer, and Nico swears he can hear someone’s voice.

But Nico can’t trust anything about Tartarus except the boy falling into it next to him.

Hades and Apollo's Fieldtrip to Superhell!!

Based on one of the best fics I've read! Seriously it's so good, the Hades-Apollo bonding took me out and nearly brought me to tears on way too many occasions, 100/10 I didn't know I could be rendered incoherent with emotion when two deities touched each other's shoulders and tolerate each others existence, but here we are.

They're the Uncle-Nephew duo ever <33

Also! I decided to try out a new lineless art style, and I really like how they came out, so I might do some more in the future :D

Eclipse by TsarinaTorment

@tsarisfanfiction I hope you don't mind getting pinged, but I’m not verified on Discord and wanted to show you the art I made for your epic fic :D

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