Prompt #029 – Birth
A Mother’s Love
Time Frame: Just after Zeus’s Birth
Pairing: Vague Kronos/Rhea
POV: Rhea (Kronos’s Wife)
A/n: This one requires some mythology knowledge of how Kronos ate all his kids when they were born because there was a prophecy that one of them would overthrow Kronos. But Rhea gave Kronos a rock and Kronos thought he ate Zeus but Rhea hid Zeus where he grew up and later came back and chopped up Kronos and rescued his siblings that were growing up unharmed (since they’re immortal) in Kronos’s stomach. Ta-da!
**
“A father may turn his back on his child, brothers and sisters may become inveterate enemies, husbands may desert their wives, wives their husbands. But a mother's love endures through all.”
-Washington Irving
**
I am paralyzed with fear.
Not another of my children, not another of my children. It is a mantra in my head.
I clutch my newborn child closer to my chest, turning away from his gaze. I can feel him take a step closer to me. The ground shivers and quakes and I seem to shrink in his presence. I can feel my new son wriggle in my arms, as if he knows something is coming.
“Rhea...” My eyes are squeezed shut, my muscles tense as a bowstring, “Give him to me.” No, no, no, not another of my children.
“It’s just a prophecy…” I whisper. There was no way he could have heard me, but the whispers pour from my lips, regardless. “Please…no….”
All of my other sons and daughters, gone because of what might happen. Not again, not again.
“Rhea,” his voice seems to make the very air around us tremble. Amongst the terror I acknowledge that my baby isn’t crying. Strong, brave little Zeus. He was just born to this world moments ago. Please, no… “Give him here.”
I will not let my husband take away another of my children.
Not again.
My son will grow tall and strong; he will save his siblings. He will become the king he was born to be.
Not another of my children, I think as I stoop to grab a rock, never again.
~fin~
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Prompt #028 - Children
Prompt #028 - Children
Beside Still Waters
Time Frame:Camp Half-Blood
Pairing: None
POV: Poseidon
**
“A day's light told me of my son's fate
Pulled under the raging waters, my child
Sank in the drowning currents, my son
Guardian of the shore will sleep in your warmth
Lull the folk of cold water
Banish the serpents of the dark
To the river let me go and fetch my son away
Untouched I shall walk by the river of the night
My child
My son”
-Silent Waters by: Amorphis
**
It is at moments like these that I cannot stand being a god.
What is the point, I wonder, of controlling the entire might of the oceans if there is nothing I can do for my son? I see him, I watch him from high up in the clouds on my throne and I can do nothing.
I watched him grow. My little boy having to face the evils of the world alone, not knowing how special he was, how important he was. That killed me. To see him sitting in class or in his room, thinking he was stupid and a loser and a nobody—for him to have to go through it alone.
I should have been there to tell him the ancient stories as he fell asleep at night. I should have been the one to teach him how to hold a sword. I should have been there, telling him how vital he was, how strong he would become.
I should have been there to be his father.
But I wasn’t.
And now my son is growing older everyday, and each day the powers of evil and chaos grow steadily closer to him. From up on Olympus I can see as he cannot on the ground. And I watch in anguish as a tangible dark cloud slowly closes in on my son.
And there is nothing I can do but watch.
I yearn to be down there, to help him, to fight for him—to show him his father is strong and powerful and there for him.
But the time for protecting him is long over. My chance for that has slipped through my fingers like water through a sieve.
I lost my chance to be there for my son.
And now he must face his trials alone, regardless of how much it kills me to watch him hurt and cry and feel lost and abandoned.
There is nothing I can do now but watch as my pride and joy—my Percy—attempts to navigate the rushing, violent currents of his life.
There is nothing I can do now but hope with every fiber of my being that calm waters await him further downstream.
~fin~
Beside Still Waters
Time Frame:
Pairing: None
POV: Poseidon
**
“A day's light told me of my son's fate
Pulled under the raging waters, my child
Sank in the drowning currents, my son
Guardian of the shore will sleep in your warmth
Lull the folk of cold water
Banish the serpents of the dark
To the river let me go and fetch my son away
Untouched I shall walk by the river of the night
My child
My son”
-Silent Waters by: Amorphis
**
It is at moments like these that I cannot stand being a god.
What is the point, I wonder, of controlling the entire might of the oceans if there is nothing I can do for my son? I see him, I watch him from high up in the clouds on my throne and I can do nothing.
I watched him grow. My little boy having to face the evils of the world alone, not knowing how special he was, how important he was. That killed me. To see him sitting in class or in his room, thinking he was stupid and a loser and a nobody—for him to have to go through it alone.
I should have been there to tell him the ancient stories as he fell asleep at night. I should have been the one to teach him how to hold a sword. I should have been there, telling him how vital he was, how strong he would become.
I should have been there to be his father.
But I wasn’t.
And now my son is growing older everyday, and each day the powers of evil and chaos grow steadily closer to him. From up on Olympus I can see as he cannot on the ground. And I watch in anguish as a tangible dark cloud slowly closes in on my son.
And there is nothing I can do but watch.
I yearn to be down there, to help him, to fight for him—to show him his father is strong and powerful and there for him.
But the time for protecting him is long over. My chance for that has slipped through my fingers like water through a sieve.
I lost my chance to be there for my son.
And now he must face his trials alone, regardless of how much it kills me to watch him hurt and cry and feel lost and abandoned.
There is nothing I can do now but watch as my pride and joy—my Percy—attempts to navigate the rushing, violent currents of his life.
There is nothing I can do now but hope with every fiber of my being that calm waters await him further downstream.
~fin~
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Prompt #027 - Parents
Prompt #027 - Parents
Carry On, My Wayward Son
Time Frame: Anytime after Luke’s quest
Pairing: None
**
“You hate someone whom you really wish to love…”
-Sri Chinmoy
**
I hate him, Luke decides. I absolutely hate him.
What a stupid quest. What a stupid way to prove himself. What a waste of time.
Luke doesn’t understand. Why did Hermes send him on Hercules’ old quest? Luke bets they were pals back in the day.
He bets Hermes would rather have Hercules for a son.
He goes on a stupid quest, to get a stupid apple, and all he gets is that stupid scar. A forever reminder of all the times he’s been blown off and almost died, and only escaped by the skin of his teeth because he is strong and knows how to survive. Not because his father cares enough to help.
It’s as if nothing Luke ever does is good enough for him. Even though Hermes is his father, Luke has only met his father once. And during that meeting, every time he looked at Luke, his eyes held and expression of pity.
Sorry?
Luke clenches his teeth. Luke has trained and trained and trained to be the fastest, the strongest, the best swordsman for so many years, and his father looks at him, not with pride…but with pity.
Hermes. Stupid god of thieves. He stole Luke’s childhood from him. Stole his mother’s sanity.
Stole his only chance of a normal life.
But none of that matters now. Nothing matters now.
~fin~
Carry On, My Wayward Son
Time Frame: Anytime after Luke’s quest
Pairing: None
**
“You hate someone whom you really wish to love…”
-Sri Chinmoy
**
I hate him, Luke decides. I absolutely hate him.
What a stupid quest. What a stupid way to prove himself. What a waste of time.
Luke doesn’t understand. Why did Hermes send him on Hercules’ old quest? Luke bets they were pals back in the day.
He bets Hermes would rather have Hercules for a son.
He goes on a stupid quest, to get a stupid apple, and all he gets is that stupid scar. A forever reminder of all the times he’s been blown off and almost died, and only escaped by the skin of his teeth because he is strong and knows how to survive. Not because his father cares enough to help.
It’s as if nothing Luke ever does is good enough for him. Even though Hermes is his father, Luke has only met his father once. And during that meeting, every time he looked at Luke, his eyes held and expression of pity.
Sorry?
Luke clenches his teeth. Luke has trained and trained and trained to be the fastest, the strongest, the best swordsman for so many years, and his father looks at him, not with pride…but with pity.
Hermes. Stupid god of thieves. He stole Luke’s childhood from him. Stole his mother’s sanity.
Stole his only chance of a normal life.
But none of that matters now. Nothing matters now.
~fin~
Prompt #026 - Teammates
Prompt # 026 - Teammates
Common Denominator
Time Frame: The Titan’s Curse – Chapter Six
Pairing: None
POV: None
**
“We need a common enemy to unite us.”
-Condoleezza Rice
**
There is an electricity in the air tonight at Camp Half-Blood. As the camper strap on their armor, anxiously anticipating the coming game, it is somehow more intense than other game’s they’ve fought.
Because this time, it is not cabin versus cabin, camper versus camper. This time, they are all playing against one foe—the Hunters.
For this one evening, small feuds are forgotten in the shadow of larger quarrels. There is no petty bickering between the Stoll brothers and the Ares kids. There is no nasally complaining from Silena and her siblings. There is only focused intensity on the coming battle.
Fifty-six times the campers of Half-Blood Hill lost. And among the varying lineage and characteristics, they are all thinking today, the fifty-seventh game will turn the tide, and the children of the gods will reign triumphant once more.
For a moment—for this brief, sharp, intense moment—there are no cabins, there are no grudges, there are no divides.
There is an “us”, and there is a “them”.
The world is black and white for once as they grab their swords and shields and bows and spears.
And with a common enemy, they march into battle.
~fin~
Common Denominator
Time Frame: The Titan’s Curse – Chapter Six
Pairing: None
POV: None
**
“We need a common enemy to unite us.”
-Condoleezza Rice
**
There is an electricity in the air tonight at Camp Half-Blood. As the camper strap on their armor, anxiously anticipating the coming game, it is somehow more intense than other game’s they’ve fought.
Because this time, it is not cabin versus cabin, camper versus camper. This time, they are all playing against one foe—the Hunters.
For this one evening, small feuds are forgotten in the shadow of larger quarrels. There is no petty bickering between the Stoll brothers and the Ares kids. There is no nasally complaining from Silena and her siblings. There is only focused intensity on the coming battle.
Fifty-six times the campers of Half-Blood Hill lost. And among the varying lineage and characteristics, they are all thinking today, the fifty-seventh game will turn the tide, and the children of the gods will reign triumphant once more.
For a moment—for this brief, sharp, intense moment—there are no cabins, there are no grudges, there are no divides.
There is an “us”, and there is a “them”.
The world is black and white for once as they grab their swords and shields and bows and spears.
And with a common enemy, they march into battle.
~fin~
Friday, July 16, 2010
Prompt #025 - Strangers
Prompt # 025 - Strangers
To Wander
Time Frame: Anytime before the end of The Lightning Thief
Pairing: None
POV: None
**
“Because they’re sharing a drink they call loneliness
But it’s better than drinking alone.”
-Pianoman by: Billy Joel
**
Being a half-blood, constants in your life aren’t something you can take for granted.
Especially if you’re a son of Hermes.
Luke sits in his bunk—that a luxury in itself since the rest of the cabin is stuffed full of unclaimed kids—and stares at all the new faces. He’s leader of the Hermes cabin, yeah, but some of the kids are in and out so quick he doesn’t even learn their names—traveling, just as Hermes does.
If you’re a child of Hermes, it’s kind of your destiny to be forever drifting.
So Luke is okay with not having a really place he feels comfortable calling home. Because home is where the people you love are. And there are too many variables in the Hermes cabin for that to happen. Kids constantly going in and out, finding out who they are, moving on, getting killed by some monster.
Luke is a traveler on the roads of life, he likes to think. His home is not a stationary place.
But for the rest of them in Hermes cabin—those who are perpetually unclaimed, they are the ones who are forever wandering.
Sure, they are stuck in the Hermes cabin, but they are the ones who are the true travelers…they are the children who are still searching for who they are.
Forever surrounded by a sea of strangers, those who are still searching, but on a different path, or those who have already found where they belong.
And forever strangers to themselves, forever wondering who and where they come from, longing for the past to reassure their future.
Luke guesses for the time being, though, they’re found a place here among the perpetually lost.
They’ve found a home on the road for a while.
And perhaps made some friends among strangers.
~fin~
To Wander
Time Frame: Anytime before the end of The Lightning Thief
Pairing: None
POV: None
**
“Because they’re sharing a drink they call loneliness
But it’s better than drinking alone.”
-Pianoman by: Billy Joel
**
Being a half-blood, constants in your life aren’t something you can take for granted.
Especially if you’re a son of Hermes.
Luke sits in his bunk—that a luxury in itself since the rest of the cabin is stuffed full of unclaimed kids—and stares at all the new faces. He’s leader of the Hermes cabin, yeah, but some of the kids are in and out so quick he doesn’t even learn their names—traveling, just as Hermes does.
If you’re a child of Hermes, it’s kind of your destiny to be forever drifting.
So Luke is okay with not having a really place he feels comfortable calling home. Because home is where the people you love are. And there are too many variables in the Hermes cabin for that to happen. Kids constantly going in and out, finding out who they are, moving on, getting killed by some monster.
Luke is a traveler on the roads of life, he likes to think. His home is not a stationary place.
But for the rest of them in Hermes cabin—those who are perpetually unclaimed, they are the ones who are forever wandering.
Sure, they are stuck in the Hermes cabin, but they are the ones who are the true travelers…they are the children who are still searching for who they are.
Forever surrounded by a sea of strangers, those who are still searching, but on a different path, or those who have already found where they belong.
And forever strangers to themselves, forever wondering who and where they come from, longing for the past to reassure their future.
Luke guesses for the time being, though, they’re found a place here among the perpetually lost.
They’ve found a home on the road for a while.
And perhaps made some friends among strangers.
~fin~
Prompt #024 - Family
Prompt # 024 - Family
Tales From Another Broken Home
Time Frame: Pre-Lightning Thief
Pairing: None
POV: Percy
**
“According to you
I’m stupid, I’m useless,
I can’t do anything right.”
-According to You by: Orianthi
**
It’s just another day in the life of little nobody, Percy Jackson. Percy clenches his fists. His mom hangs up the phone, her face looking more tired than usual—which is saying something.
“They reject you again, kid? Surprise, surprise.” Gabe’s sarcastic drawl from the living room makes Percy’s blood boil. That’s all he is to this idiot. Stupid, retarded, mentally-disabled Percy. He hears the slob take a drink of beer and switch the channel. Percy wishes he’d turn down the damn volume. “God, can’t even make it into sixth grade,” he hears Gabe chuckle sadistically and Percy can also make out the sound of a chip bag crinkling. “I vote we kick him out Sally. Looks like he’s not amount to anything anyway. Might as well cut your loses while you’re ahead.” Percy’s pretty sure the guys not really kidding.
His arms are trembling with rage, wanting to hit and kick and break and shatter anything he can get his hands on. Who does this guy think he is? Percy takes an unconscious step towards the living room but a thin hand on his shoulder stops him.
“Its okay, Percy,” the calm manner of his mother’s voice is not only a reassurance, but a warning. Don’t, it implies. “We’ll just have to find another school to apply for this year.”
“If you can find one that hasn’t kicked him out yet,” Gabe’s raspy tones interject from the other room.
“Percy…” the whisper in his ear is the only thing that stops him from sprinting to the living room and shoving Gabe’s face through the TV.
“Why do you do it, Mom? What could you possibly see in that creep?” He is still roiling and writing inside—rage and injustice and hate fighting to the death inside him.
Sally doesn’t look at him. Only lets her long, unkempt hair slide forward to cover her face as she mutters:
“He’s part of the family now.”
“He’s not my family,” Percy spits. “It’s bad enough I have to live with him. If I was related to him I might just go jump off the roof.”
“Then why don’t you, kid? Might save your mother some trouble!”
This time Sally literally has to hold him around the waist to keep Percy in the hallway and away from Gabe.
“Percy! Percy, stop!”
“All right, Mom, all right!” Percy exclaims and twists out of her grasp, stomping loudly towards his room. As he passes the living room he calls without turning his head, “Stay the hell away from me!”
He slams his door, shutting out whatever Gabe’s stupid comeback would have been. Half-blind with rage, Percy’s fist slams into the drywall. Over and over until it there is a decent sized hole in the middle of his wall.
Finally, left with only an aching hand and a hole in both his wall and heart, he sits down on his bed and simply stares.
“He’s part of the family now.”
Yah, right. This dismal little apartment with that awful, pathetic excuse for a father-figure, and his sweet amazing mother run down to a fraction of what she used to be…this is not a family.
A family is people who are there for you, who you love and miss when you’re apart. They feel like part of you, even if you don’t like them all that much. They support you and love you no matter what.
What Percy Jackson has isn’t a family.
It’s a broken, shattered home.
~fin~
Tales From Another Broken Home
Time Frame: Pre-Lightning Thief
Pairing: None
POV: Percy
**
“According to you
I’m stupid, I’m useless,
I can’t do anything right.”
-According to You by: Orianthi
**
It’s just another day in the life of little nobody, Percy Jackson. Percy clenches his fists. His mom hangs up the phone, her face looking more tired than usual—which is saying something.
“They reject you again, kid? Surprise, surprise.” Gabe’s sarcastic drawl from the living room makes Percy’s blood boil. That’s all he is to this idiot. Stupid, retarded, mentally-disabled Percy. He hears the slob take a drink of beer and switch the channel. Percy wishes he’d turn down the damn volume. “God, can’t even make it into sixth grade,” he hears Gabe chuckle sadistically and Percy can also make out the sound of a chip bag crinkling. “I vote we kick him out Sally. Looks like he’s not amount to anything anyway. Might as well cut your loses while you’re ahead.” Percy’s pretty sure the guys not really kidding.
His arms are trembling with rage, wanting to hit and kick and break and shatter anything he can get his hands on. Who does this guy think he is? Percy takes an unconscious step towards the living room but a thin hand on his shoulder stops him.
“Its okay, Percy,” the calm manner of his mother’s voice is not only a reassurance, but a warning. Don’t, it implies. “We’ll just have to find another school to apply for this year.”
“If you can find one that hasn’t kicked him out yet,” Gabe’s raspy tones interject from the other room.
“Percy…” the whisper in his ear is the only thing that stops him from sprinting to the living room and shoving Gabe’s face through the TV.
“Why do you do it, Mom? What could you possibly see in that creep?” He is still roiling and writing inside—rage and injustice and hate fighting to the death inside him.
Sally doesn’t look at him. Only lets her long, unkempt hair slide forward to cover her face as she mutters:
“He’s part of the family now.”
“He’s not my family,” Percy spits. “It’s bad enough I have to live with him. If I was related to him I might just go jump off the roof.”
“Then why don’t you, kid? Might save your mother some trouble!”
This time Sally literally has to hold him around the waist to keep Percy in the hallway and away from Gabe.
“Percy! Percy, stop!”
“All right, Mom, all right!” Percy exclaims and twists out of her grasp, stomping loudly towards his room. As he passes the living room he calls without turning his head, “Stay the hell away from me!”
He slams his door, shutting out whatever Gabe’s stupid comeback would have been. Half-blind with rage, Percy’s fist slams into the drywall. Over and over until it there is a decent sized hole in the middle of his wall.
Finally, left with only an aching hand and a hole in both his wall and heart, he sits down on his bed and simply stares.
“He’s part of the family now.”
Yah, right. This dismal little apartment with that awful, pathetic excuse for a father-figure, and his sweet amazing mother run down to a fraction of what she used to be…this is not a family.
A family is people who are there for you, who you love and miss when you’re apart. They feel like part of you, even if you don’t like them all that much. They support you and love you no matter what.
What Percy Jackson has isn’t a family.
It’s a broken, shattered home.
~fin~
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Prompt #023 - Lovers
Prompt # 023 - Lovers
Out to Sea
Time Frame: Nine Months Before Percy was Born ;P
Pairing: Poseidon/Sally
POV: None
A/n: Rating is upped a little more. Not graphic or anything. Just slightly mature themes. The prompt is Lovers after all…
**
“I want to swim away but don’t know how
Sometimes it feels just like I’m falling in the ocean
Let the waves up: take me down
Let the hurricane set in motion…yeah
Let the rain of what I feel right now come down.”
-Into the Ocean by Blue October
**
His eyes and his hands and his lips...they are like water pouring over her. She is submerged in the silky currents as sheets and hands alike slide along her skin. The blood pounding in her ears sounds like the waves crashing on the beach, and when she lays her head against his chest, she can hear his heartbeat…a small, simple, yet profound sound that lets her know there is something real and tangible they have in common: a heartbeat.
“I love you.”
Back and forth, love and energy and heat passed between them, back and forth. It crashes upon Sally’s shore, the water desperate to touch the sand, to caress and kiss its warm solid earth. And then the undertow drags the water and sand back out to sea, pulling some of the land back into the cool waters, embracing it.
“I love you.”
It sounds like a sea breeze whipping through Sally’s hair. Like the soft roar of the distant water. Powerful and mysterious and wonderful.
“I love you.”
A soft caress—water surging about her ankles as she wades deeper. Step by step the waves reach up the shore, desperate for contact with that it can never truly have. Step by step, sea and earth and rock is whisked into the water, swirling about it, merging together.
“I love you.”
Step by step…
“I love you.”
…land and sea become one.
~fin~
Out to Sea
Time Frame: Nine Months Before Percy was Born ;P
Pairing: Poseidon/Sally
POV: None
A/n: Rating is upped a little more. Not graphic or anything. Just slightly mature themes. The prompt is Lovers after all…
**
“I want to swim away but don’t know how
Sometimes it feels just like I’m falling in the ocean
Let the waves up: take me down
Let the hurricane set in motion…yeah
Let the rain of what I feel right now come down.”
-Into the Ocean by Blue October
**
His eyes and his hands and his lips...they are like water pouring over her. She is submerged in the silky currents as sheets and hands alike slide along her skin. The blood pounding in her ears sounds like the waves crashing on the beach, and when she lays her head against his chest, she can hear his heartbeat…a small, simple, yet profound sound that lets her know there is something real and tangible they have in common: a heartbeat.
“I love you.”
Back and forth, love and energy and heat passed between them, back and forth. It crashes upon Sally’s shore, the water desperate to touch the sand, to caress and kiss its warm solid earth. And then the undertow drags the water and sand back out to sea, pulling some of the land back into the cool waters, embracing it.
“I love you.”
It sounds like a sea breeze whipping through Sally’s hair. Like the soft roar of the distant water. Powerful and mysterious and wonderful.
“I love you.”
A soft caress—water surging about her ankles as she wades deeper. Step by step the waves reach up the shore, desperate for contact with that it can never truly have. Step by step, sea and earth and rock is whisked into the water, swirling about it, merging together.
“I love you.”
Step by step…
“I love you.”
…land and sea become one.
~fin~
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