Miscellaneous Ideas Thread

DhampyrX2

Well-Known Member
#51
...and now I have a weird mental image of Loki appearing to Percy as Kid!Loki. Even though Percy Jackson started around '05 IIRC and thus Kid!Loki is nowhere near in play. Still you raise some excellent points in that its established that the gods can appear in whatever form they wish to appear in. And Loki is a consummate shape shifter on top of that. Of course now I'm of two minds on how to have all of this play out. Lightning Thief has to happen pretty much as normal because Percy was really only involved in the quest for the chance to rescue his mother. He won't have the time to free Loki if he is still imprisoned.

Then again, that is a gray area. The fact we know how Ragnarok ends implies that its either happened already or humans are off quite a bit on how it will happen. And considering that immortals, including the gods, can't be killed in the traditional sense there's nothing saying that Ragnarok did not already happen fifteen hundred or so years ago (if not more given that the end of Ragnarok can oddly parallel the start of the story of Adam and Eve) and the Norse pantheon could have reformed without a problem. After all gods only fade, the closest they get to truly dying, when people forget about them and they give up on life. Marvel has had the Norse pantheon gaining strength for decades now. Especially Thor and Loki. And before that they weren't exactly forgotten in Scandanavian areas even with the forced conversion to Christianity.

Actually, that would be an interesting caveat about how perception shapes reality. Has mass appeal of Marvel's Asgard led to to the birth of a real Amora the Enchantress or has it merely shaped Freya to take on characteristics of Amora's persona?
 

Fellgrave

Well-Known Member
#52
Having only read the first book years ago, I'm afraid I won't be too much help with actual plot for this. Everything else though I'll put in my little opinions.

I'd say when it comes to belief, the Norse pantheon is the clear leader in the field of polytheistic religions, followed by Hinduism. The Greek pantheon isn't nearly as strong as it used to be, especially considering it's their Roman counterparts that are more well known, to the point that the other planets in our solar system are named for Roman deities.

As for mass appeal... either, or, or even both are options. Some people may believe that the two are the same, thus causing Freya to take on those traits, and some people may have enough belief to create a whole separate being from their will. Whose to say the two options are mutually exclusive.

Sides, if we're talking about humorous Lokis, I shall point you to the very entertaining Loki of SGVY.
 

DhampyrX2

Well-Known Member
#53
The Greek and Roman gods are the same gods in the Percy Jackson universe. They just take on a different aspect to deal with each society. There is even a Roman camp, Camp Jupiter, in California near San Francisco. The gods keep their Greek and Roman children carefully ignorant of each other as they tend to end up fighting. In fact, the US Civil War was the last time Greeks and Romans interacted in and comparable numbers. (Although you could argue that WWII was another. Roosevelt was a child of Zeus, Churchill a child of Poseidon, and Stalin a Child of Hades while Hitler was a child of Pluto.)

Of course there is also the rather muddy water in regards to the differences between Loki and Utgard-Loki as well. In fact Loki was traveling with Thor when Thor was humiliated by Utgard-Loki. And really, when you read the Eddas, Loki wasn't immediately imprisoned for killing Baldr. He was only imprisoned after he showed up at the mead hall and trolled every god and goddess there about their hypocrisies and infidelities while they were all really drunk. For all we know Loki's "imprisonment" was the equivalent of being tossed in a drunk tank for a weekend to dry out and he was released promptly afterward.

I really need to work out whether Loki is bound at this time or not. If he is I could see Percy working toward a side-quest in the second or third book in order to free him. (He was, after all, left out of the quest initially which left him free to rescue the Ophiotaurus in Titan's Curse.) Or he could have an additional quest given to him by Hel to free her father during the school year when he isn't bound to Camp Half Blood. But again, given that killed gods reform there is no reason that Loki or his children need to be dead or imprisoned at this time.
 

Fellgrave

Well-Known Member
#54
Right. But that still splits their devotion. Ah, nothing quite like a family feud eh?

Hmm... troll!Loki. Something to consider.

I like Hel. I like the idea of having her give him the question, so that when he goes back to the camp after finishing it, he's already taken a few levels in badass and gotten some tutoring from the original Troll.
 

Emerald Oracle

Well-Known Member
#55
So, I was re-reading the Tamuli, by David Eddings, and I'm reminded once again how much I pity the Main Villain. I'll spoiler tag the rest of my thought/idea to avoid spoiling the book for anyone who hasn't read it.

So the main badguy, Zalasta, goes pretty far off the deep end pretty quick, but that to me seems to be because he got royally screwed over during his formative years by Aphrael, the Child-Goddess. He does some really heinous and wrong shite, but the reason he goes all crazy is because Aphrael stole the most important part of his childhood/young life when she was born. Prior to that Zalasta had thought 'oh I love Sephrenia I'm going to marry her great!', but once Aphrael was born there was Zero room in Sephrenia's life for anyone else. Zalasta jumps off the slippery slope pretty quick after that, arranging to have their home village attacked when Aphrael was 6, Sephrenia 15, and he somewhere in his late teens. He then spends centuries learning secrets man was not meant to know and consorting with horrible things in an attempt to figure out how to kill Aphrael and generally losing anything that made him a decent person or remotely redeemable while still doing a great amount of good to maintain a facade for the world.

Now, all of this MAY seem like an overreaction, but Aphrael's first reaction to hearing that Zalasta thought Sephrenia would be his is "NO SHE'S MINE AND ALWAYS WAS MEANT TO BE!!!" The only time that Sephrenia has any relationship with anyone its sanctioned by Aphrael and the serious ones also count as sorta worshipers of her. Aphrael is also noted to be as inscrutable and alien as any other god in the setting (which is saying something) but has a modus operandi based on manipulation. Rather than commanding as most gods do she manipulates people and events as she wishes. It's pretty clear that she did so when she was Sephrenia's sister and just didn't do Zalasta right.

NOW! My idea is this: Zalasta is pretty clearly one of the most capable individuals and magic workers in the setting. What if somehow he hadn't gone batshit crazy? Perhaps Aphrael manipulates him just a bit better, maybe he gets shocked into sanity by the results of his first act of evil (massacring his home village). Whatever the case he isn't a bad guy anymore, while still being massively hung up on Sephrenia. What would he do and how would that change the setting? A nigh-immortal sorcerer trying his best to make himself powerful and worthy enough to attract his love away from a goddess, who knows what he might do.

Warning it's a bit wall of text-y.
 

DhampyrX2

Well-Known Member
#56
Fellgrave said:
Right. But that still splits their devotion. Ah, nothing quite like a family feud eh?

Hmm... troll!Loki. Something to consider.

I like Hel. I like the idea of having her give him the question, so that when he goes back to the camp after finishing it, he's already taken a few levels in badass and gotten some tutoring from the original Troll.
Dude Percy fought and beat Ares by himself. At twelve. Granted he used the sea and there were extenuating circumstances out the ass but he still beat the frakkin' God of War as a pre-teen with like two weeks worth of actual demigod training. You don't get more naturally badass then that.

Ironically I could see him learning eagerly at Loki's feet even after the Lightning Thief. I mean Poseidon talked to him for like five minutes and made the verbal cock-up of calling Percy a mistake to his face while speaking with Zeus. Getting Loki free and having Loki and Sigyn embrace him with open arms wouldn't be that difficult to see. And the fact Loki could teach him how to think and plan things out for himself makes it that much scarier when you think about it. It might also make Percy grow as a person. He'd be fine with the thought of embracing Tyson as his brother despite Tyson's being a cyclops in Sea of Monsters. And if Loki gives him his blessing in the form of being able to talk out of his ass I could see Percy actually being able to charm the likes of at least Polyphemus. I don't know if he'd charm his way out of his encounter with Circe before she made him into a guinea pig but dealing with another monster child of Poseidon besides Tyson might not be too hard.

And there is something else that runs through my head. If Percy is a disciple and friend of Loki's, as well as a child of Poseidon, he might have the ultimate sea serpent guarding his back in the form of Jormungandr. Suddenly the Ladon doesn't look all that intimidating in Titan's curse.

Then you have the actual battle against Kronos in Last Olympian. How exactly would Typhon and Kronos deal with the idea of Loki, Thor, and quite possibly some of the rest of Asgard's finest coming to do battle beside the Olympians? Heck, Loki being Loki, he could conceivably rally the Jotunn to his aid in fighting Typhon.

There are just so many places to take this.
 

DhampyrX2

Well-Known Member
#57
Ok the talk of Hel being an intermediary got me thinking and that is never a good thing. Now I have a rather unique cross in mind with the Marvel/Marvel movie universe. There have been more than a few fics (many by the same author) that have Loki as Percy's father or his mother in one way or another. One popular theme seems to be Loki making a more durable that usual clone of himself in female form that takes on the persona of Sally Jackson. I want to take that idea and go in a slightly different direction with it...

What if, at some point, Loki taught Hel/Hela (I'll go with Hela since this IS a Marvel Universe) how to make clones of herself that she could change so that she could have some kind of happiness outside of Nifelheim? With the clones she could have some kind of life while still performing her duties as Queen of the Dead with the Allfather and Heimdall being none the wiser. One of those clones took on the moniker "Sally Jackson." In fact, think of Sally as an older and less daddy-complex version of Leah from the comics. Now imagine her surprise when she encountered the Greek god Poseidon on Montauk Beach one day. What took place after that was a whirlwind romance that left the clone, and thus technically Hela herself, with an (as far as the Greeks know) half-mortal son to care for on Midgard. In fact, it was Hela's hidden nature that forced her to refuse Poseidon's offer to build her a palace for herself under the sea to stay with him.

Ok, now comes the tricky parts. First off, Percy isn't really a demigod and thus the Great Prophecy can't technically be about him. (Actually it can, since it references a half-blood rather than specifically a demi-god but that's the tricky thing about prophecies, they unfold in ways you don't see coming.) Both his parents are technically gods even if they are from differing pantheons. Second, he's at least an quarter Jotunn (he should be half given that both Loki and Angrboda were Frost Giants in Marvel but it's a grey area with Loki's shape shifting and Hela's own unique nature as a goddess of the dead.)

Third is how the respective pantheons will react to the discovery of a non-monster kid in the House of Loki. Well okay, Zeus will overreact in all kinds of ways I am sure because he's a the paranoid drama queen of the gods. I can't see Poseidon getting overly worked up given he legitimately loved Sally and he's as fiercely loyal as Percy himself. Hades might be miffed at his brother for getting in a relationship with another god of the dead. Or he might be entertained by it. Dionysus, ironically, might like Percy better since he is not a Demigod and it's demigods like Theseus that he has a problem with. Then you have the Norse contingent to consider. Loki will obviously be thrilled to become a grandfather even if he wants to throttle Poseidon for knocking up his little girl without wedding her first. I think both Thor and Frigga would be delighted to learn about the addition to their family. Odin...well Odin is a dick but he's not as bad in the movie universe as he is in the comics. And without a prophecy regarding a child of Hela floating around I can't see him getting overly worked up about his new great-grandson beyond huffing to himself about Hela dividing her attentions away from her duties and acting too much like Loki in creating this new mischief.

And now the fourth and most questionable part. Should Percy know? I mean I could see Sally bending the truth enough to tell Percy that her father was Loki without mentioning that she was Hela, thus raising him to think she was a demigod herself in a lie of omission. I could even see her enduring Smelly Gabe as cover to help her hide Percy from Olympus and Asgard. It might not change that much of the lightning thief until after the Minotaur attack. Sally might keep up the ignorant mortal act for Grover's sake until that point. But it goes off the rails once she is kidnapped and brought to the Underworld. I can't see Hades missing that he has the mortal shade of a rival God of the Dead in his realm. So how would things go from there?


As usual any thoughts, suggestions, comments, etc. would be greatly appreciated.
 

Fellgrave

Well-Known Member
#58
Hmm... I think if you have her act unaware, in the hopes that maybe he didn't inherit anything major from his parents and that he was a 'normal' kid, you could have more development that way.

The Greeks, Poseidon and possibly Hades aside, I might see as getting rather pissed about sharing a child with another pantheon, especially the Norse. Poseidon, as you said, would be loyal and care for his son. Hades... I'd see him as amused by it.

Loki as a grandfather... oh boy. Loki as protective father? OHDEARGODRUNITSTHEENDOFTHEWORLDASWEKNOWIT! And I feel fine...

His family? Thor would be his usual self, and after hearing about what adventures his nephew has been having, either being incredibly proud of him for 'vanquishing such powerful foes', or rather angry that someone is targeting said nephew. Odin. Not sure on this one. I'd say he'd be glad, because he'd see it as a possible way of keeping Loki on his side.

With the Underworld thing, I can't help but see Disney!Hades flirting with Hel(a) and making 'hot stuff' comments. I don't why, but I do.

Anyway, I think Hades would be entertained and pleased to have someone to talk shop with.
 

DhampyrX2

Well-Known Member
#59
Well when you consider that until The Last Olympian Hades we pretty unfairly ostracized by the rest of his family (much like Loki and Hela were, actually) I couldn't see him caring less that Poseidon dipped a toe into the Norse side of the pool. And I already have a "d'awww" moment mapped out in my head where Poseidon sees Hela's real face without her helm that hides her half-rotted side and not caring one bit what she looks like in her natural state. (I kind of have a head canon for the movie-verse where her "half-rotted" side is more her having Jotunn skin color and features on half her face and the Aesir making weird assumptions about it because they have no idea that Loki is Jotunn himself.)

Odin is kind of the wild card in all of this. He's always been harsh toward Loki's kids, but then again Loki's kids are all prophesied to help bring about Ragnarok. I mean, Fenrir is supposed to eat Odin personally and Jormungandr is supposed to kill Thor. I can sort of see where Odin is coming from there. Although adding the Percy Jackson rules to deities means that dying isn't all that permanent for gods either. I would see Odin being fairly hands off in regards to Percy since he's never been overly affectionate toward Loki or Loki's kids. That's not to say he wouldn't stand up for him should Zeus threaten to kill him (he is still technically a possible heir to the throne of Asgard and Odin understands that a pissed off Loki looking for revenge would be a VERY BAD THING.) I just don't see him being all that welcoming toward Percy. If anything I would see him making a compromise where Percy is, much like most of the rest of his family, forbidden from living in Asgard. I mean really, other than his birthright due to Loki's (currently unknown) adoption, Percy has citizenship/heritage tying him to almost every realm BUT Asgard. He's part Jotunn, born on Midgard, his step-grandmother Sigyn was from Vanaheim IIRC, and his father is an Olympian. He might let Percy visit (better that than dealing with not only Loki's but Frigga's irritation with him in not getting to spend time with the newest addition to the family) but I don't see him ever welcoming him to stay in the Realm Eternal. Of course Thor would welcome Percy with open arms the moment Odin stepped down but that's neither here nor there.

As for Hela/Sally acting unaware that works to a point, but there are little things to consider too. One, she would want to prepare Percy for when any of his family might come calling. Another is Percy is technically a godling. He's half Olympian and half whatever kind of Aesir/Jotunn hybrid Loki and Hela count as but the one thing he's not is a mortal human. I could easily see him bleeding golden ichor when hurt and being naturally stronger and more resilient to damage than a child his age and size should be. And that not even taking into account the potential he might inherit to manipulate seidr. Then you have his jotunn blood to take into consideration. Blended with Poseidon's water manipulation I could see Percy relying much more on ice, freezing snow, etc in his use of his powers. And since it still falls under Poseidon's domains nobody would think twice about it until Loki's heritage became known.

Then you have how Percy could potentially bond with Nico and possibly Bianca if she doesn't get killed off in the third book. After all, Percy will know what the stigma of being a child of the God(dess) of the Dead feels like. He might not experience as much at Camp Half Blood as they would focus on his Olympian heritage, but every Aesir other than Thor, Figga, and Loki most likely would treat him differently for being Hela's son.

And I will admit that part of me wants to include Amora in this just because I could see her bothering Percy with questions about whether she is more attractive than Aphrodite. Especially once Percy gets older. And Amora and Loki have always had a business relationship bordering on a friendship anyway so it would be interesting to see Amora trying to take a positive role in the life of a young man. (Perhaps getting into competition with Aphrodite over who gets to mess with Percy's love life.)
 

Fellgrave

Well-Known Member
#60
Right. So Hades would be cool, and like I said, he'd probably appreciate having someone he can relate with. I like that d'aww moment idea.

Odin I see as being very smart. He's had to deal with incursions by Hel for a long while, and he sees that accepting her and her son, his own great grandson, as a way of making peace. And if you're going by Movie-verse, I'd say he does care quite a bit for Loki, and that he sent Hel away because whatever it was that caused her appearance to be split meant he couldn't protect like he did Loki.

Hmm... I could see her using the magic angle as a way of explaining things actually. She tells him that she's a witch, shaman, whatever, and her family's bloodline originated in Russia or Norway and that it specializes in Winter magics. That way she avoids the whole god thing, she can teach him to defend himself, and she protects him all at once.

As for other characters from the books, like I said, I read the first one years ago. Heimdall would probably be rather ambivalent as well. Odin too possibly. All the rest of the Aesir would be horrified to know that Hel reproduced with someone.

If you include Amora, I see her as taking on a more of a big sister or fun aunt kind of role.

...idea just hit me. IIRC the Marvel-verse had it's Ragnarok, correct? And after that the Asgardians were reincarnated into mortal bodies? Maybe you could use that. That way you could say that while Percy was a godling, the fact that his mother was a mortal at the time of his birth also granted him a (mostly) mortal shell as well.

The fact that Loki was female at the time has nothing to do with it. Absolutely nothing. *whistles innocently*
 

DhampyrX2

Well-Known Member
#61
The Ragnarok thing has one pretty insurmountable wrinkle in it. Hela didn't die with the rest of the Aesir. She was busy ruling Nifelheim. And Loki sacrificed himself to end the cycle of Ragnarok once and for all. Actually, I think Hela and Amora were the only two survivors of Marvel's most recent Ragnarok. Plus this would be the movie!verse for the most part and thus starts off before Thor 1 and has had no Ragnarok.

I could see Hela teaching Percy seidr and dissembling a bit. Maybe mentioning that there were rumors they were descended from Loki himself (technically true, she's just not saying how closely) while teaching Percy to defend himself. I could also see her using a combination of seidr and the Mist to help conceal Percy's divine nature from everyone, including himself.

Just for the sake of background, Bianca and Nico DiAngelo are the two demigod children of Hades. Zeus killed their mother and tried to kill them some time in the late 1930's and but Hades was able to save them. He bathed them in the River Lethe to erase their memories of him and put them in the Lotus Casino to hide them from Zeus. For a while he thought to have one of them become the Child of Prophecy but that didn't pan out. Artemis recruited Bianca into her immortal hunters and Bianca was them promptly killed during a quest to rescue Artemis when she had been captured by Atlas. Nico went off the rails being manipulated by the spirit of King Minos before coming around. He ended up being instrumental in getting Percy to bathe in the River Styx to make him invulnerable like Luke before the final battle and rescued Percy from Hades who intended to keep him prisoner so that Nico could become the Child of Prophecy. (You also had an epic battle just after Percy bathed in the Styx where he went berzerker and took out and entire legion of Hades' undead soldiers.) This version of Percy could bond with them even more than canon Percy did with Nico and could possibley save Bianca on their shared quest. I mean it was essentially Loki's role to save Thor and his friends from certain death with his seidr and wits when THEY went on quests as kids so why shouldn't Percy continue the family tradition?

Amora would definitely be the fun Aunt. Maybe the teasing Mrs. Robinson-ly one at that once Percy gets older. Although, like Loki, Percy would not be considered overly attractive by Aesir standards. Black hair and lean frames are not exactly seem as desirable on Asgard. They prefer men to look like Thor and women to look like Sif before Loki turned her hair black. I could see her getting very fierce and warning Aphrodite to back off when Aphrodite starts showing too much interest in Percy. Not that I think Aphrodite would listen. She's shown a disturbing amount of glee at the thought of causing problems in Percy's love life in the future. Up to an including lamenting his love for Annabeth as it robbed her daughters of the chance to break his heart.

I have to think about whether Percy would inherit anything related to fire given Loki's domain as the God of Fire. Fire and Ice make water, which strengthens his already inherited water powers. Maybe he would have domain over steam? Food for thought.

Another thing to consider would be how Percy and Hela's situation could impact the events of Thor 1 and/or the Avengers. I mean if Percy is banned from living on Asgard, the first thing Loki would do as King would be to rescind it. Obviously he could not do the same for Thor as Thor's banishment was the Allfather's last standing command and was a concession to try to hold off war with Jotunheim *cough*bullshit*cough*. But Percy might be in danger if he is not where Loki can keep watch over him *cough*evenmorebullshit*cough* and would be safer in Asgard. Given the relative timeframes, Thor 1 should take place roughly just after the final battle with Kronos in the Last Olympian. And if things still play out with the Avengers anywhere near what they did in canon you would have to consider Loki's reluctance to launch an invasion essentially on the doorstep of both Olympus and in the very city where his daughter's shade and his grandson make their home. Or Thor at least would have to consider just how out of character that would be for "Grandpa Loki."

Of course that's well into the future. We need to get through the first book to start off. Maybe the second too as the Sea of Monsters would be very interesting as a chance for Percy to meet his Uncle Jormungandr in person. the encounter with Echidna would be interesting as she shares the title of "Mother of Monsters" with Loki to a degree. And honestly, Percy would find his grandfather to be far more intimidating than Echidna and the Chimera.
 

Fellgrave

Well-Known Member
#62
Well, it was just an idea. I mean, there wasn't much reason to use, I was just putting it out there. Female-Loki Female-Loki Female-Loki Female-Loki Female-Loki Female-Loki Female-Loki Female-Loki Female-Loki Female-Loki Female-Loki Female-Loki Female-Loki Female-Loki Female-Loki Female-Loki Female-Loki Female-Loki Female-Loki Female-Loki Female-Loki

*cough*

Uh, where was I?

Right, Movie-verse. Gotcha.

Bianca, Nico and Percy? Yeah, I can dig it. Certainly having Loki as a grandfather, and Hel as a mother and teacher, would give him a step up on pretty much every other demigod I can recall from the series. I can't remember if there were any for Haephestus though, but even then they'd probably be socially-awkward geniuses.

...damn tangent.

Amora teasing Percy, sounds good. As for attractiveness, this is the same woman who created her lover Keep from Thor's decapitated body. And this is what he looks like:

Yeah, I don't think Loki's looks would bother her much.

As for Aphrodite... somehow I can't help but see the two get into a competition as to who can get him the better woman(en).

And that idea somehow led to me thinking of the story of Paris and Helen of Troy, which led me to think of Eris. How would the God of Discord react when she finds out Poseidon's latest is the grandson of THE God of Chaos and Mischief?

Stick with the water and Winter magic. If your thinking Movie-verse, Loki doesn't display any aptitude towards Fire magic, and two, even if you don't go Movie-verse, it would just needlessly complicate things.

As for changing things... I'm not sure. It depends on whether or not Hel told Loki about Percy or not. If she's trying to keep him safe by keeping him hidden from everyone, she may not tell him about it. Thus, Percy can go off on his adventures and finish them... say a little bit before the Avengers starts and Loki returns. He shows up and of course his face gets everywhere, which instantly gets Hel's attention. I'm not quite sure how the events of the movie would play out after that though.

Heh, Jormungandr could eat the Leviathan as a snack. Something tells me that if the great serpent suddenly appears, the rest of the party would think him some great and terrible monster, only to be completely and untterly stunned when it greats Percy as it's nephew. Which of course makes the gods go "Say What Now?".
 

DhampyrX2

Well-Known Member
#63
Well the basic premise starts at The Lightning Thief in '05, which would out Percy to Asgard pretty quickly given that Asgard and Olympus are at least on semi-friendly terms in Marvel. So Loki would be aware of his new grandson a full 5-6 years before the events of Thor 1.

As for Hephaestus, he not only has kids but he's one of the twelve Olympians with his own cabin at Camp Half Blood. His kids aren't pretty as a rule, but they are strong, run the forges at CHB, and tend to make everything from swords to steampunk-esque automatons that border on mad science.

Eris would be fun. She's very underused in Percy Jackson as a rule, much like most of the so-called minor gods. I think she might appreciate Loki's high stature in Asgard as a God of Mischief. She might even take a look or two at Percy himself when he gets a few years on him. (Because we all know Sigyn would have to choke a bitch if she started looking at Loki directly.) And I could see either Amora or Aphrodite encouraging the idea. Of course whichever ones does the other will automatically hate it on principle.

I agree about Keep, but then again he WAS made from part of Thor and Amora has always had an unhealthy mad-on for him. Of course I think Hela has tried to bed him in the comics too so take that for what you will.

The timelines match up almost too well. You have Percy's introduction with Loki and all of Asgard discovering him. Five years of various battles, quests and adventures. You have the final battle with Kronos. Then you have both Thor 1 and the bridge to the Heroes of Olympus series. Where Hera erases Percy's memory and sends him to Camp Jupiter while doing the same with Jason Grace, a son of Jupiter (also Thalia's - the girl in the tree and Zeus's daughter - brother; which was a major no-no for Zeus mixing pantheons with the same woman) and Praetor of Camp Jupiter, who gets the same treatment and sent to Camp Half Blood. Basically Hera was trying to set things up to combine the two Camps as part of the next upcoming Great Prophecy and War against Gaia (technically Thor's biological mother in Marvel) and the returning Giants.

If that takes place as normal part of Loki going nuts in Thor 1 might be worry of the disappearance of his grandson. Although I think even Thor, Sif, and the warriors Three would concede he would have reasons to be upset with a missing grandchild.

I agree with sticking to water and winter powers, though they are technically natural abilities rather than magic. In fact Percy's ability to use seidr might catch the attention of Hecate and her children as they are usually the only demigods capable of using magic in Percy Jackson.
 

Fellgrave

Well-Known Member
#64
Hmm. Right then. If he knows, then I see things going rather differently. Now, while Percy is made aware of the fact that his father is a god, at what point does his mother tell him her family history? Because while the Olympians may have told the Aesir about their new rising star, I doubt most of them would connect him to Hel and Loki without some big evidence.

Eris as a potential love interest? Got my vote. And with the perception and belief thing we discussed earlier, I can just imagine her showing up at least once as the Grim Adventures depiction, either that or when Percy remarks on how she's nothing like what he expected she curses the show and it's creator for ruining her image.

Huh. Alright then.

Now, if Hera erases his memory, what happens with Hel? I doubt she'd take someone coming in and messing with her son lying down. Now the Giants thing... If Loki worked with the Giants and let them into Asgard, maybe he could do the same thing with Midgard as he searched for his missing son, thus causing the Prophecy, in part, to come true, as when Percy goes to battle them, Loki meets him and undoes the magic on his memory, before they both deal with the Giants and Loki returns to Asgard.

Hecate... hmm... Potential Love interest #2? Loki and Hel would both be rather happy to have a Goddess of Magic in the family I think. Hmm...
 

DhampyrX2

Well-Known Member
#65
These Giants are the children of Gaia. Each one is a direct opponent and "bane" for a specific Olympian with the same domain and can only be killed by the combination of a god and a demigod working together. Although I could see Loki pulling something more like his classic comic self and bringing Frost Giants to Midgard to help fight at Percy's side. I'm leaning toward something that seems sort of head-canon to me already in that Thanos was pulling a major mind-fuck on Loki all throughout the Avengers. I just can't see where a direct assault like that shows any of the brains and cunning Loki is known for. And with the threats from the Other and how strung out Loki looked all through the Avengers it just fits. In fact, the only moment he seemed like Loki was when he asked for a drink after Hulk smashed him.

Now picture the same things taking place only Thor points out that this doesn't make sense as Loki would never risk the safety of his grandson like this. I think Coulson and Black Widow might start to connect the dots even if Thor doesn't right away. Also note that while Loki's eyes weren't ice blue like Hawkeye and Dr Sevig, we never really SAW Loki's eyes. His real eyes are Jotun red and are always hidden under an illusion/shape shift. You might never know if he was under the influence of what appeared to be the Mind Gem.

I kind of see Eris more like her incarnation in Hercules the Legendary Journeys.


Meighan Desmond makes for a very hot Eris/Discord.

Hecate... well she was actually against Olympus, as were many of the minor gods, during the second Titan War. They were tired of their children and themselves being ignored and marginalized by the Olympians and sided with Kronos. Still I could see her being very interested in Percy and his ability to use magic. If she doesn't pursue him herself a daughter of hers might take a stab.

I think Hela would be outed fairly quickly. Mostly because once Zeus discovers that Percy is half Norse he will flip his shit and try to kill him, which will force Hela to drop the Sally Jackson Persona to defend him, which will immediately call the attention of all of Asgard. And like I said, Odin can be a dick but he won't sit there and let Zeus threaten his great-grandson just for existing. Besides, Loki and Hela could very well wage war on Olympus alone if he didn't intercede and that would not be pretty for anyone involved. So yeah, Hela will be forced to out herself within the timeframe of the first three books at most, maybe at the end of Book 1. Which means that while she will leave her "Sally" shade there to guide Percy she will also have more direct interaction with him, as will Loki, Thor, Frigga, and Sigyn.

Hmm, at some point I need to have Amora meet Artemis. After the quest to rescue her from Atlas Percy became one of the only males she respects and tolerates but she is anathema to both Aphrodite and Amora. Amora would find a lot of fun in little pranks on Artemis here and there when not butting heads with Aphrodite. And I could see several Olympians popping in from time to time to insist that Percy control his Aunt's idea of fun before she kicks off a war of the gods.
 

Fellgrave

Well-Known Member
#66
Ah, okay then.

I have to admit that I have a bit of soft-spot for the idea of Loki getting his head messed with by Thanos.

Agreed. In which case my latter version of Eris, commenting on how Maxwell Atoms made her look, would be a humorous scene to have.

Hmm... if many of them were against the Olympians... why not have some, instead of joining Kronos, join the Asgardians instead, assuming Odin let them? An oppurtunity to increase his pantheon's power while simultaneously weakening his chief rival's? Sure, as well as it serve as a bit of a 'screw you' for getting his great grandson in such danger.

Heh. I like it. Maybe you could have both Amora and Aphrodite agree to put aside their differences in order to Artemis to loosen up and get laid.
 

DhampyrX2

Well-Known Member
#67
Hmm that is a good point. Although all of Kronos' army, except for the monsters, was made up of unclaimed Greek demigods and the kids of minor gods and goddesses that were shunted off into the Hermes cabin and forgotten about. That would likely half Kronos' army to have the kids of claimed minor gods siding with their parents and staying out of the growing conflict. It would also cause shit for Percy with Zeus as he would likely blame Percy for the desertion of various minor deities.

I have to wonder how Percy will develop with his fellow campers in this world? I mean how would Annabeth deal with him not only being Sea Spawn when she is a daughter of Athena, but also technically being a minor godling that isn't full bound by the Ancient Laws of Olympus? Heck, how would Thalia deal with one of her cousins being half Norse when she gets out of the tree? He should get on well with the less popular kids like the unclaimed and kids of minor deities as he will be something of a natural outcast himself.

Then you have the changes to Hela herself. Sally Jackson is a far cry in personality and demeanor from Hela. Suddenly she would know what it is to love someone in Poseidon and to love her child with her whole heart. She might become more sympathetic toward Loki and what he has done for her publicly and behind the scenes in Asgard over the years. And she might be that much less forgiving of Odin should Odin screw Loki over. But then again, now she has someone to protect in the form of Percy. I don't know if that's a good thing or not.

For anyone more familiar with the Percy Jackson world (or willing to look up the wiki for it lol) I could see Percy being more drawn toward Clarisse LaRue than he is in canon. After all he would have "Norse" instincts that leave him more accepting, if not more inclined, toward battle. Of course that assumes that Percy does not take more after his grandfather in preferring a scholarly path rather than the typical Asgardian one. I am toying with the idea of Percy being naturally inclined toward learning the Alltongue, which would essentially negate his dyslexia. Being hardwired to speak and write an language that naturally translates itself is a little easier on you than being hardwired to only understand Ancient Greek and some Latin.

As for the Amora/Aphrodite rivalry, I could see Artemis getting sucked into it. Especially if she offends Amora at some point. I could easily see Amora deciding to get revenge by subtly pushing Artemis toward Percy. (Which would probably upset Apollo as he seems to have severe Big Brother Syndrome toward Artemis despite the fact she is the older twin.) But given Artemis' maiden vows, her general disdain of the male gender, and the fact she actually seems to take one of the most active roles in her domains I can't see the efforts paying off all that well. Unless Amora gets really ham-handed with a love spell or potion, which would likely upset Loki and Hela, if not all of the Royal Family of Asgard as well as the Olympian Council.
 

DhampyrX2

Well-Known Member
#68
Okay, here's the first real divergent point I can thing of in the book. Obviously I need to work out some dialogue with Sally before her death and I have a half-written flashback/prologue worked out but it seems to honestly jump into things too easily with Hela revealing herself off the bat so I started with this little snippet instead. This takes place toward the end of the chapter the night before the capture the flag game where Percy is formally claimed.


Percy brooded to himself as he waited in line for the chance to sacrifice some of his meal to his godly parent with the rest of the residents of Cabin 11, despite having no clue who that parent was. Part of him thought to offer a prayer and sacrifice up to Loki, the Norse god of Mischief instead, as his mother had told him that her family was said to be descended from him directly. In fact, she had said that it was their connection to the Silvertongue that had given Sally and Percy both the ability to work some small bits of magic, or seidr as his mother called it. But he knew it was a bad idea. He already had more trouble with Greek gods than he knew what to do with.

The thoughts of his mother and the Greeks made Percy grit his teeth. Why hadn't she used her seidr to defend herself properly against the Minotaur? He had seen her use it more than once confuse Smelly Gabe when he got too agressive for his own good. And if she had godly blood in her veins, no matter how diluted, why didn't she at least try to cross the barrier into Camp Half Blood? Damn it, if only he had the Uru dagger she had given him for his seventh birthday they might have been able to defend themselves properly. But no, the one time Percy needed the thing he had forgotten it and his mother had paid the price.

The dark and self-recriminating thoughts continued all they way up the the sacrificial brazier where Percy silently offered a full half of his meal as well as cutting his palm with his knife and adding a few drops of his blood as he thought, Hear me, blood of my blood. I swear I will find my mother and if I can't bring her back I will avenge her. I will look for her until the day I die or until Ragnarok come.

The oath to Ragnarok was an old one, something Percy mostly just thought of as an old expression his mother used when it was only the two of them around, but it still had Power. And as it was made a God of the Seas, a Goddess of the Dead, a god of Chaos and Mischief, a giant snake, a giant wolf, and an eight-legged horse all went silent and looked to the sky as one across many Realms as the smell of barbecue reached them along with a sense of fierce determination.

*****

"Well, that might be something worth taking a look at," Loki Odinson murmured to himself.

"What is that, my Love?" Loki's wife Sigyn asked as she looked up from the book she was reading to regard her husband.

"I felt a prayer, Sigyn. Not one directed to me directly but one that does concern me," Loki replied.

"Ah. One of the old families on Midgard that still remember themselves or one of those new 'biker' mortals that seem so enamored with Thor and the Allfather because they fancy themselves modern vikings?" Sigyn asked.

"Neither," Loki replied distractedly. "In fact, I've never felt anything quite like it before. It was far more intimate than any of the usual prayers. In fact, if I didn't know any better, I'd almost swear it was a blood oath of some sort. But that makes no sense. None who would make such an oath in our family would feel so distant. This might need investigation."

Sigyn smiled knowingly as she added, "And the fact it is something to distract you from whatever foolishness Thor and his friends get up to does not hurt either, does it?"

"Well it does save me from Sif's sniping at me for a time," Loki added with a disarming grin.

*****

And in Nifelheim, Hela frowned as she heard her sweet child, her little miracle's oath all too clearly. She would have to keep careful watch over the events to come. If things got too dangerous she would teleport herself to the realm of Hades directly and confront her shade's abductor. She was not about to put her only child at risk just to maintain her "cover" as Sally Jackson. Besides if the limits on Percy's power she had placed were to fully break it would attract the Allfather's attention and that was the last thing she needed. There was no telling what the treacherous old goat would do to his great-grandson. Valhalla knew he never spared any love for his actual grandchildren.

No, she would not risk Perseus to his "tender" mercies. Nor would she allow the paranoia of Zeus to threaten her son. She would bring the Ragnarok to their very doorsteps herself before she allowed that to happen.

*****

Poseidon frowned as he felt the sorrow and determination of his son as Percy made his oath. It was only because of the ridiculous accusations and posturing of Zeus that Poseidon was not bringing the full weight of his displeasure down upon Hades for taking Sally the way he did. And it was only the fact that he knew there was more to his "Queen among Women" then she revealed even to him that he still did not make more trouble in Los Angeles in the form of storms and earthquakes to draw Hades out.

But may Mother Rhea herself help Hades if Percy was unduly hurt on the quest Poseidon was arranging to get Zeus back his little toy so that Poseidon could finally shut his annoying younger brother up. Because the Fates knew that Poseidon would have no mercy in him if Percy was harmed.
 

Prince Charon

Well-Known Member
#69
Interesting. Very interesting.
 

DhampyrX2

Well-Known Member
#70
Ok... here's kind of an intro thing. Let me know what you all think.




She could feel his presence. She always could. Well, she could more than anyone else ever could, at least. That put her ahead of those two-faced bigots that she laughingly called the rest of her family. Honestly he was the only one she would tolerate beyond the presence of her brothers, not that she would admit it to him. He didn't deserve that kindness. Not for simply teaching her a way to partially slip the leash of her banishment. After all, how hard could it be for the God of Mischief to teach a few paltry ricks to his only daughter.

But she supposed none of that mattered. He always showed up to check in on her at least once when she sent a new shade to Midgard. Part of it was to remind her of her promise to always look in on her imprisoned brother but she go the feeling there was more to it than that.

He sat next to her in the movie theater where she was watching a rather charming tale called "The Nightmare before Christmas." There was something about the film and its benevolent, or at least unintentionally malevolent, monsters trying to do what they thought was right that spoke to her. Then again, to most that knew her she and her family were monsters.

"Daughter," he said in a whisper, although she didn't know why he bothered. His seidr could hide his voice from the mortals around them even if he shouted as loud as he could.

"Father," she responded dully.

"Welcome back to Midgard. Have you been here long?" he asked amiably.

"You know fully well I haven't. I have not even had time to choose a name for my new shade," she spat resentfully. "I hardly ever do before you just happen to run into me."

"Is it not a father's prerogative to want to see his children?" he asked mildly.

"Always the Liesmith. If you really cared my true self would not be forced to remain in exile in Nifelheim. Instead you give me scraps to taste a freedom I will never know. And use me to check on my brother in the seas as payment for teaching me your tricks," she hissed.

"Daughter," he said (for he dared not use her real name anymore than she would use his for fear of attracting the attention of certain Gatekeeper), "there is so much more than you understand. If you would only listen-" he began only to be cut off.

"I will hear none of your excuses. I am not one of those idiots you can wrap around your finger with a few words. Like that simpering... Vanir woman you have chained yourself to. I an a queen in my own right and will be respected," she shot back hotly before returning her attention to the screen to see the character Sally lamenting her loneliness. It was something she knew all too well.

"And so you shall. But never doubt that I love you, child. Just as I love all my children. Not even the Allfather can deny me that," her father responded seriously.

She grunted, unwilling to dignify his words with a verbal response, and kept her attention on the movie screen. As she did her father took the time to take note of the mortal form her shade had taken. she looked to be in her young adulthood by mortal standards, like in her early to mid-twenties if he was to guess. Her hair was a dark chestnut brown and her eyes a vibrant green much like his own. If anything, it looked like she had simply duplicated her... unmarred half and changed her hair color a bit. All in all, she greatly resembled his female form. He wondered if that was a conscious choice on her part or just some small part of the bond that existed between father and child? Quite honestly, he wasn't sure which answer he would prefer.

They sat there in silence for a time watching the film before she grew exasperated and announced, "I will be going to a local beach to contact him after the film. Montauk, I believe it is called."

"Very well," he replied amiably. "So have you decided on a name for yourself this time?"

She looked contemplative before her attention returned to the scree as the blue rag doll tried to deceive the villain of the story to free "Sandy Claws." Yes, that would work. "I believe I will be called Sally in this lifetime," she declared.

"Hmm," he replied, amused. "So would I be called Jack, then, given my cunning and penchant for mischief?"

"Don't be crude. You know full well that would imply romance. How vile," she spat.

"You have such a narrow mind. Perhaps you are a child of their union named for your mother? Sally Jackdottir? That sounds like a fine name," he teased.

She snorted once in disgust before taking the time to mull over what he said. "Well the mortals do prefer you to have a family name. But they don't really use family delineations like that anymore. The closest it would get here would be Jackson," she mused.

"Sally Jackson? Well that sounds like a a fine name too. And it's not like you don't know how to look male of you wanted to. We are nothing if not... flexible in appearance. More so than others, for certain," he offered.

"Indeed. I suppose Sally Jackson is as good a name as any. Although I will stay as I am," she declared.

"Of course," he agreed with a smirk.

The watched the rest of the movie in companionable silence until its and and walked out of the theater together. "So, what are you plans now?" 'Jack' asked as they strolled down the street toward the beach.

"I think I will rent a cabin on Montauk to try to contact my brother. He looks forward to my visits however brief they may be," the newly named Sally replied.

"And you will be careful? No matter what the mortals like to tell themselves this is the heart of Olympian territory. You don't want to step on the wrong toes here," he warned.

"The only one that could have any right to be offended is on the other side of this continent. And I'd like to see him tell me what I can and can't do even if he wanted to," she replied acidly.

"Do recall you have nothing approaching your full strength in your shade. That is reserved for your whole self. You would have a bit of seidr here and there and a few extra tricks, but no more. Even if you do have ichor running through your veins instead of mortal blood," 'Jack' cautioned.

"As if destroying a shade would do me any lasting harm," she complained with a roll of her eyes.

"It would expose you, daughter. It would make it that much harder to gain ANY freedom from the halls of the dead. Do not be co cavalier about loosing the little freedom I have helped you to achieve. You have worked too hard for it," her father reminded her.

Sally looked taken aback for a moment before she schooled her expression and nodded, "I will remember, Father."

"Good. I can do very little to help your brothers. I would hate to see the help I have given you go for naught," he replied. He put a comforting hand on her shoulder and smiled that mischievous grin he was know for before fading from sight before her very eyes. She scoffed at his theatrics as they both knew full well that the Greek Mist would hide his presence from the eyes of mortal regardless of what he was doing unless he WANTED to be seen.

"Well I suppose I should head for that cabin. It will be nice to feel the ocean breeze in my face," she said to herself as she headed toward Montauk. Little did she know just how spectacularly she had lied to her father in saying she would avoid Olympian attention. Or how the attentions of a certain Olympian of the Sea were about to change her whole world.
 

Fellgrave

Well-Known Member
#71
Nice. It's a pleasant change to see the caring side of Loki, and I liked the origin of Hela's cover name. Very nice.
 

DhampyrX2

Well-Known Member
#72
I really wish I could come up with everything cohesively instead of random snippets here and there. But it is what it is, I suppose.


Percy scowled to himself as the trio of himself, Grover, and Annabeth regrouped within Medusa's lair. This whole quest had been a mess from the moment it was issued. First Annabeth had insisted she come along because he "would need Athena's wisdom," then they lost most of their gear when the three Furies had attacked the bus in Manhattan, and now they were trapped in an off-the-beaten-path garden gnome emporium that just happened to be the lair of a monster that was apparently an old ex of his Dad's.

Oh and Annabeth's mom had happened to turn that ex into an immortal monster with razor sharp talons and the ability to turn people into stone with a glance in punishment for getting frisky with Poseidon in one of her temples. Yeah, that was really wise. It's not like she couldn't have cursed her with horrible acne, or smelly feet, or ANYTHING other than making her an immortal monster. Goddess of Wisdom my foot. More like the Goddess of things that could come to bite future generations of her own family right in the ass, Percy thought sourly.

In fact, the only positive to this whole ridiculous mess had been the fact that Percy had managed to "go to the bathroom" while they had been waiting for their bus in Manhattan and sneak home to get his Uru dagger. As much as he liked his new sword, Anaklusmos (or in English: Riptide), that his father had instructed Chiron to give him; he still felt better with the familiar weight of the dagger his mother had given him for his tenth birthday. A weapon she had said had been passed down in their family from Loki himself, who had tricked the Dwarves into making another weapon from the same fearsome metal that had been used to craft Thor's hammer, Mjolnir. He wasn't even certain the Uru would work against Greek monsters, but if he happened to run across a bilgesnipe or draugr or something on this quest he had no intention of taking the chance that Greek celestial bronze would be enough to take care of it.

"So we have your mother to thank for this monster?" Percy accused as he and the others tried to catch their breaths.

"No. It was your father that was defiling Athena's temple with Medusa, which was hugely disrespectful," Annabeth countered.

"Okay, his mistake. How does that make it a wise idea to transform her into a monster that can never die and will be eager to kill any children of the gods she might find, especially children of Athena?" Percy shot back sarcastically. "You can't tell me there weren't other punishments that would hurt her without leaving her out there to endanger every demigod she finds for the rest of eternity."

"Well..." Annabeth started only to find herself at a loss for words. Percy tended to do that with her. He would look at things in ways nobody had ever considered and make anyone challenging him feel foolish in the process.

"Guys, can we save the argument for when the snake-haired monster lady isn't trying to make us all dead? Cause right now you're giving me a migraine and satyrs can't even GET migraines," Grover cut in with an exasperated sigh.

"Fine. What do we do then? Because if I recall correctly my namesake had to wait until she was asleep to kill her the first time and she doesn't seem all that sleepy to me right now," Percy asked with a roll of his eyes. It would have been so much less aggravating for him if Clarisse had come with him instead. At least the daughter of Ares could enjoy a good fight without acting like he was the bane of her existence for being a child of Poseidon. In fact, they had formed a tentative friendship when he had offered a sacrifice to her father, Ares, to replace her electrified spear that Percy had frozen solid and shattered during capture the flag. The time it took to make that gesture when she had never been anything but hostile to the son of Poseidon had earned a degree of respect from the larger girl.

"You'll have to be the one to do it," Annabeth said to Percy as she thought out various strategies in her head. "You're the only one of us that she'll let get near her. I think she's still sweet on your dad and the fact you look like him means you might be able to get close enough to strike. The rest of us she would shred before we could even try it."

"Actually, my mom told me before that I resemble a more tanned version of my grandfather. Same green eyes and all. Makes me wish I had met him before he passed away. Must have been a good looking guy, " Percy countered with a mischievous grin.

"You wish, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth scoffed.

"Fine. You guys head outside, I'll try to get the drop on Medusa. I guess I can use one of the glass globes in here to make sure I only look at her reflection. Too bad we can't get her veil, though. If she could look at us through it safely that means it would have worked to protect us without the funhouse mirror effect. Make it a lot easier to go for a fatal strike," Percy instructed with speculative glance at a decorative mirror ball on a pedestal.

"Are you nuts man? We can't just leave you," Grover insisted as Annabeth nodded in agreement.

"Yes you can. You said yourself I have the only chance of doing this and if I die someone still needs to inform Chiron since we're trying to stop a war of the gods here. Better to have someone able to call for back-up to keep the quest going. This is too important to risk failure," Percy insisted.

Grover looked ready to protest again before he was quieted as Annabeth put her hand on his shoulder. "He's right. As much as I hate to say it getting back the Master Bolt is more important. But you better not die, Percy. We don't want to have to deal with what your dad will do if you get yourself killed."

"I'll be fine. I have a few tricks up my sleeve. Remember capture the flag?" Percy reminded her.

Annabeth scowled at the recollection but nodded in agreement before she said, "We'll meet you at the trees directly east of here. If you're not there in an hour we're calling Chiron." She huffed and gave him one more worried look before dragging Grover a quietly protesting off toward the front office and the exit.

Well that was a load off of Percy's mind. At least now he could use a little of the defensive seidr his mother had taught him without Annabeth asking awkward questions. She already got on his case enough about how and why he had been making frozen weapons out of water from the creek in Camp. And she refused to take, "They feel more natural to me" as an answer.

*****

As the two half-bloods and one satyr were hashing out a battle plan Medusa herself was stalking through the rather extensive greenhouse she used to store the statues that she failed to sell. If only she could get more steady customer than Hades and Persephone, but it was just so hard to get the faces right. And nobody but the Lord of the Dead was willing to buy statues of terrified half-bloods, mortals, and other assorted creatures.

Still she would not part with young Perseus' statue once she added it to her collection no matter what expression he held. He looked so like her dear Poseidon that the mere thought of parting with him was too painful to bear. Nor would she she part with that disgusting blond Athena-spawn. She looked forward eagerly at the opportunity to smash that one to bits, starting with clawing out her pretty little gray eyes. She supposed she might be able to sell off the satyr with what he had said was his uncle though. Especially if she could get him in a similar pose playing his pipes. Matched sets like that sold really well.

Her musings were cut short as she caught a scent she had not had the chance to enjoy in a very long time. Perseus Jackson smelled faintly of the sea as his Father Poseidon did, although not as strongly as he should. There was a cool note to his scent like the air of an arctic wind and even a note of brimstone that made her wonder if his mother might have been a distant legacy of some kind? Perhaps someone descended from Khione and Hephaestus?

"Percy," she purred. "Just give up. You will be much happier as a statue. Why should you risk yourself for the treacherous gods. You'll be safe here with me. Less pain that way. Less pain," she said, using a hint of power to draw him out. The enchantment she had used to bring the children into her trap in the first place should still make him open to suggestion.

"That might be more enticing if I wouldn't be dead as part of the bargain," Percy's voice called out, although Medusa could not pinpoint from what direction. Curious, her gorgon ears should be able to locate him quite well.

"You may have a point," Medusa replied as she looked around cautiously. "But surely you must understand that I need to kill the grey-eyed one? Look at what she did to me. I was a beautiful woman once. But Athena was jealous of me and made me into this monster."

"Yeah, can't say I agreed with that one. Or that the Wise Girl and I get along all that well, but I can't just sacrifice her either. That tends to look bad back at camp. And my mother always taught me to be respectful to ladies," Percy noted as he approached carefully from behind, using his seidr to throw his voice, and walking in a sideways crab-walk as he watched Medusa from a mirror globe in his left had as he held Riptide in his right.

"The same mother the gods stole from you? Why should you do their bidding?" Medusa demanded.

"Mostly for the keeping my uncles from killing me thing. And for my father. Mom always said he deserved respect even if she could never tell me who he was," Percy answered.

"Your father was the only god I ever cared for. The only one worthy of respect. Did you know he fathered a child of mine? A boy just as cursed by the wretched Wisdom Goddess as I was? Do you really want to fight the mother of one of your brothers?" Medusa asked.

"Not really. Then again you are trying to kill me," Percy answered.

"No Percy. I want to save you. Just come to me. Look into my eyes. You'll see my sincerity," Medusa responded with a sly smile before turning abruptly to stare right at him as he was no more than five feet away.

Percy froze in shock as he looked at the gorgon's face distorted in the globe. He knew she was lying. He could almost always tell when someone was. But part of him wanted to believe her. To find another ally in this insane quest to satisfy his uncle's paranoia.

"Put down the sword, child. You won't need it with me. I could never harm such a handsome young man. You look so much like your father. Please look at me. Show me those beautiful green eyes. You will be powerful enough that you will not turn to stone. I promise," she swore with a wicked leer.

Percy gulped fearfully as he thought, She has such as nice voice. Maybe she's telling the truth? One look can't hurt, right?

"That's it, Perseus. Look at me. Please," Medusa cooed as she stepped ever closer to the young hero.

She was less than an arms length away when Percy dropped the globe and turned to her, his eyes cast down at her feet. He wanted to look up. His body was fighting him in he tried to resist the temptation but it was a losing battle.

"That's it, child. Look up. Let me see those lovely eyes," Medusa hypnotically commanded.

Percy could resist no longer as he body gave in and he slowly raised his head. Medusa smiled triumphantly at his gaze traveled up her form into her serpentine gave met the frosted ice blue of Percy Jackson's eyes.

Wait. Frosted blue? Shouldn't they be gre- was the last thought she managed to have as Anaklusmos sliced through her neck and severed her head in a single strike.

"I suppose I should have mentioned the ice contacts to keep me from seeing you properly. My bad," Percy commented with a shark's grin as Medusa's body dissolved into golden dust as all monster corpses do, leaving only her severed head as a spoil of war.

"That would have been so much easier if I could make a copy of myself the way mom can," Percy groused to himself as he flipped Medusa's veil down before searching for a box or something to put her head in before he went to get Grover and Annabeth. It would be just his luck that the stupid thing could still turn someone to stone and he really didn't want that happening to his best friend or the wise girl.
 

DhampyrX2

Well-Known Member
#73
"Well, this is interesting," Hades commented as he looked over Sally Jackson once she was brought to his realm. "And it raises several interesting questions too."

"What might those be, Lord Hades," Sally asked as she tried to keep her temper. It made her teeth itch to play the helpless mortal captive rather than face her fellow God of the Dead as an equal. Still she wasn't going to tip her hand and risk her son's life if she could help it.

"Well the first might be what you are? Whatever it is, it certainly isn't mortal. I could sense that much the moment you entered my domain," Hades commented idly as he cocked his head to the side to regard her more closely.

"Don't you mean when I was kidnapped?" Sally spat at him with a furious scowl.

"Yes. It's a flaw of mine, at least according to Demeter and her incessant nagging. But since my dear wife seems to prefer being here with me when she can I tend to try to tune her mother out," Hades responded with a shrug.

"Well I can assure you I don't share Lady Persephone's feelings on the subject," Sally replied evenly.

"No, I don't suppose you would. My bothers and I tend to all be attracted to very different types of women, and vice-versa. Someone that found old Barnacle-beard appealing would likely be repulsed by Zeus and I both," Hades agreed clincally. "And it doesn't answer the question about who or what you really are. I can sense that this is some kind of fragment or construct, but it's not the whole of your soul. And what I am feeling about that soul gives the distinct impression that there might be quite a bit of power behind it. So are you supposed to be some kind of trap? A threat sent by Poseidon to strike at me when my back is turned?"

"Don't flatter yourself. If you hadn't sent that accursed Minotaur after my son I wouldn't even be here," Sally replied with a glare a she fought down the panic at Hades' words. She should have known better. Her shade would be no more likely to hide in the Realm of Hades undetected than an Olympian would be able to roam through the mists of Nifelheim.

"Fair point. But it still does not answer my question?" Hades pressed.

"I'm Sally Jackson, mother of Perseus Jackson, the innocent child you are threatening," Sally replied acidly.

"Your son's innocence remains to be seen. But for now I will settle for knowing who else you are," Hades shot back with an ominous glare.

Sally resisted the urge to scoff at the attempt at intimidation. The worst he could do to her would be to kill her shade and if he did that she would appear in her full form to show him her displeasure at his stalking of her child. Still she felt a streak of defiance she had to get from her father well up in her as she snidely replied, "You seem to know oh so much, Lord Hades. Why don't you tell me?"

Hades resisted the urge to blast the woman even as her response gave him pause. There was venom in her sentiment, but no fear at all. And not because of some childish arrogance that he would not dare touch her for fear of angering his brother, Poseidon. She just genuinely did not fear him. Not even trapped in his own realm as she was. All she seemed to feel was ire at his pursuit of her child. Something about this was even stranger than he thought. And he was getting the distinct impression that no Olympian was seeing the whole picture at this moment.

Finally something seemed to click behind his eyes as he asked, "My brother doesn't know, does he?"

Sally's eyes widened in shock for a moment before she schooled her expression and asked, "Know what?"

"That you are not a mortal. All he knew of you is this Sally Jackson," Hades pressed.

Sally folded her arms in annoyance and looked away to hide the embarrassed blush on her cheeks as she grumbled, "What business is it of yours. You hate your brothers."

"Perhaps, but they are still family. Call it familial curiosity," Hades replied evenly.

Sally snorted as she replied, "I never told him. He might have suspected but I said nothing to him. My... status is one of the reasons I refused when he offered to build a Palace under the Sea for Percy and I when he discovered I was pregnant."

"He would have sensed you were more than you appear in his domain just as I did," Hades noted with a nod of his head.

"Well I didn't exactly want to be closer to his wife while I was pregnant and vulnerable, either," Sally noted with a dash of the sarcasm she had passed down to her son.

"I doubt Amphitrite would have cared overly. Her relationship with my brother has been complicated since Zeus forced their union to try to lessen the threat of Oceanus. It would have probably bothered her son, Triton, more," Hades replied with a shake of his head.

"Wonderful," Sally groused, hoping Hades had forgotten she had not told him anything substantial about her yet.

Sadly, she was not that lucky as he inquired, "Well are you going to stall more or are you going to tell me who you are?"

She turned back to face him full, staring his fearlessly in the eye for a long moment in a way that made the Greek God of the Dead vaguely uneasy before she noted, "You most likely will not enjoy the answer. It might be kinder for us both if you let me son make his way here and get me out of your hair."

That made Hades' own ire rise as he snarled, "You expect me to let you little bastard waltz in here after he has stolen the Master Bolt AND my Helm of Darkness to help Poseidon start this pointless war?"

Sally looked at Hades for several long seconds in confusion before she let out a snigger. That snigger grew to a giggle, which evolved into a full blown laugh as she considered what Hades has accused her lover and her child of.

"What is so blasted funny?" Hades demanded as he grew so furious he almost lost himself and took his true Divine Form in his rage.

"Y...you- haha, a-actually, believe Percy came here before to seal from you? Unless he's been claimed at camp he has no IDEA that Poseidon is his father. I never told him. And he would be hopeless as a thief. Ask you Fury you set to watch him in school. He might sell candy in his room or get in fights to defend his friends but he couldn't even filch a piece of pizza from the fat slob I married to hide his scent as he grew. Never mind how ridiculous the idea of Poseidon betraying you both like that for no reason is. The man should practically be called the God of personal loyalty," she wheezed out between guffaws.

Hades stood there in shocked fury for several long moments before deflating a bit as he conceded her point about his brother. Poseidon had never been the type to resort to thievery to get what he wanted. It was something that had bothered him about this whole mess from the start.

Finally, the Lord of the Dead squared his shoulders and demanded, "You will tell me who you are and what you want with Olympus. You will do it Or I will go to the mortal world and strike down your child myself-"

He was cut off as a blast of green seidr from Sally Jackson knocked him back a step as he fury rose to match his. "I will grant you certain liberties in making demands because this IS your realm, even if I was brought here unwillingly, but you will threaten my Percy again at your own peril, Greek. I promise you that what you will unleash will make this stupid tiff between your brothers seem like a child's slap-fight if you so much as look crossly at my son again," Sally warned in a deadly hiss.

"You are nothing approaching a mortal, not are you monster or nymph. Name yourself woman, or face my wrath," Hades demanded in shock.

Sally's hair seemed to darken and her skin grew pale as she glared at Hades. The right side of her face seemed to lose an unnatural amount of blood as it seemed to almost wither and grow and unnatural blue as he right eye faded from a vibrant green to a bright red as it seemed like blood was hemorrhaging into the eye until it sunk back to a dark black as she idly flicked her now much longer hair to hide it. Her clothes were green and not in a style used by any mortal, or any Greek or Roman god for that matter. In fact the closest Hades had ever seen to them was the last time he had been forced to attend a diplomatic function with the...

"Asgardian. You are Hela. Daughter of Loki and Goddess of the Dishonored Dead," Hades noted with a kind of detached shock.

"A shade of her, at least. But I assure you, Lord Hades, that if you harm my son you will see ALL of me and I will bring the Ragnarok to your very door in my rage," Hela icily.
 

Prince Charon

Well-Known Member
#74
You're very good at this.
 

DhampyrX2

Well-Known Member
#75
Percy cursed to himself as he noticed the forked tongue on the old lady standing met to him at the top of the St Louis Arch. He was just thankful that Annabeth and Grover had managed to catch the previous elevator down before him. It might make this confrontation somewhat easier. The only other people on the arch with him were a family that he desperately hoped would not be harmed and a dark haired guy in an very nice three-piece suit with a green scarf draped around his neck.

Granted it was a little strange to be wearing a scarf in mid June like that but some people were cold all the time. After all, who was Percy to judge when his water powers from his father tended to come out as ice in one form or another?

His thoughts were cut short as the fat lady with the forked tongue's chihuahua jumped down and started growling and barking at him.

"Now, now, sonny," the fat lady said, "does this look like a good time? We have all these nice people here."

Percy tuned out a small child crooning to his mother about the dog as he took note of the black drool falling from its mouth. He reached for the pen form of Riptide with one hand as he his other went for his Uru dagger. Hopefully one or the other would be enough to get him out of this mess.

"Well son," the woman sighed, "if you insist."

Percy felt ice forming in his stomach in a way that had nothing to do with his powers was he asked, "Um, sis you just call that chihuahua your son?"

"Chimera, dear," the fat lady corrected, "Not a chihuahua. That's an easy mistake to make."

As she spoke the Chimera continued to bark. With each bark it grew in size until it stood taller than Percy and began to take it's true monstrous form. Percy idly noted a collar on the crature that identified it as rabid, poisonous, and fire-breathing as well as giving an extension in Tartatus to call if the beast was lost.

"Well isn't that interesting," Percy noted coolly.

The strangest thing though was not the family and park ranger that were trying frantically to escape down the fire escape stairs at the sight of the beast. It was the smartly dressed man that seemed almost amused at the sight of the creature.

The serpent-tongues woman gave a hissing laugh as she said, "Be honored, Percy Jackson. Lord Zeus rarely allows me to test a hero with one of my brood. For I am the Mother on Monsters, the terrible Echidna."

The Chimera snorted a puff of fire at Percy at his mother's declaration which annoyed Percy himself as he scowled and took out his dagger as he uncapped and revealed Riptide. He was about to retort when the well-dressed man took note of his secondary weapon and interrupted by stepping between Percy and the Chimera to get a closer look.

"I must say that is a very handsome weapon, Percy, was it? Where ever did you acquire it?" the man asked, his green eyes alight with mischief and curiosity.

"Get out of the way mortal, or you will feel my son's wrath like this miserable half-blood," Echidna sneered as the Chimera growled ominously.

What came next though was more frightening to Percy than Echidna and the Chimera put together. The pale man gave him a playful wink before turning to scowl in annoyance at both Echidna and her son. "Do you mind?" the man asked waspishly. "I am trying to have a civilized conversation here and you are both being spectacularly rude. You can get back to trying to intimidate this boy after I have spoken to him or I will deal with you personally and I assure you, madam, you will not enjoy those consequences."

Echidna's skin began to turn green and scaly as she started to assume her own true form at the insolence of this fool as she spat, "Who do you think you are? I am Echidna, wife of Typhon, mother of all monsters. I will rend the flesh from your bones and then grin them into dust."

The man could not look any more bored at her threats of he tried as he turned back to Percy and made a hand gesture asking for him to wait a moment before returning to face Echidna and the Chimera once more. "I suppose I was a bit forgetful in not introducing myself before. Allow me to correct that," be began as he clothes stated to shimmer and be replaced by and outfit of green leather with golden armor accents and a flowing forest green cape. On his head he bore a golden helmet with two nearly impossibly long horns that seemed reminiscent of giant fangs when looked at from the proper angle. "I am Loki Odinson, of Asgard, God of Lies and Mischief. And you will not interrupt my conversation again unless you want to see the full extent of the power of someone that has also born the moniker 'mother of monsters' with much more impressive results that you could ever boast you pathetic little garden snake."

"Impossible. Gods are not allowed to directly interfere with a half blood on a quest. And why would an Asgardian show an interest in a Greek half-blood?" Echidna denied.

"That is something I was here to find out until you and your mongrel decided to make a nuisance of yourself. Now you will either stand down and quietly wait your turn to speak to the boy or I will make you stand down," Loki warned as his right hand began to glow green with power.

"This will not be tolerated, Asgardian. You can not interfere, it is against the Ancient Laws," Echidna roared in anger.

"You seem to have me confused with a Greek. I can assure you I am neither bound by, nor interested in, the so-called Ancient Laws you hold yourselves to. To quote a favorite saying of mine, 'I do what I want'," Loki dismissed as he returned his attention to Percy only to have the Chimera charge him while his back was turned. Loki didn't even bother to turn around he his hand darted out in a viper-quick motion as he threw a dagger through the beast's head and ended it's life.

"Sonny!" Echidna screamed in horror as she watched her precious child crumble into golden dust.

"Consider yourself lucky that I chose to temporarily dismiss him back to Tartarus. Should he or you ever cross me again I assure you that you will both be going someplace far worse that there is no return from." Loki warned ominously.

It looked like Echidna would have dearly liked to have attacked Loki herself before she thought better of it. She was powerful, but there was no way she could stand against a god on par with the Olympians. She was not her husband, after all. "I understand, Lord Loki," she growled hatefully. "But I must still test this half-blood when you are through with him."

"That remains to be seen. But I will allow you to live at least until I an through speaking with him," Loki acknowledged sternly before relaxing his expression as he faced Percy fully and asked, "Now where were we?"

For his part Percy stood there wide-eyed and gobsmacked before falling to a knee and bowing his head as he recapped Riptide and brought his fist to his heart in a traditional Asgardian salute. "Lord Loki, I...I am honored," he said respectfully.

"I'm certain. Now get up. As much fun as watching someone bow to me can be it does not make for easy conversation and I have a few things to ask. The first being where you got that dagger in your left hand, as well as you're explaining why you, a Greek demigod apparently, called a blood oath of vengeance for you mother to me of all deities?" Loki asked

Percy looked up, his mouth dry as he recalled the prayer and sacrifice of blood he had offered up days ago at Camp Half-Blood. "Well, if my mom was right about out family history they kind of have the same answer, my Lord," Percy began.

"I'm listening," Loki replied imperially as he took careful note of the child before him. If he did not know any better he would swear the boy was a younger clone of himself with slightly more olive-tanned skin and a different shape to his nose.

"Well, my mother gave me the dagger as a coming of age present years ago. She said it was passed down in our family," Percy explained.

"I see, and how exactly did a very rare dagger that I had commissioned especially for my daughter many thousands of years ago become your family heirloom?" Loki demanded.

"Well, sir, according to my mom, we're your direct descendants. I guess I'm your however-many times great grandchild through the daughter you gave the dagger to," Percy replied nervously. Unlike Mr D, Loki presented an aura of power that demanded respect.

"I see. And what is your mother's name? It was my understanding when I deciphered your oath that she was missing?" Loki inquired.

"Sally. Sally Jackson is her name, my Lord" Percy replied hollowly as he looked at his feet.

Had he been looking up he would have seen the gosmacked look on Loki's face as he put together what his mind had been trying to deny until now. A grandchild. Hela has given me a grandchild. One that apparently is half-Olympian and thinks he is mortal. The Allfather will not like this news. Thor, Sigyn, and Mother should be pleased, though, Loki thought to himself before stepping closer and reaching out to lift the distraught boy's chin so that he could look him in the eye.

By the nine those eyes are like looking into a mirror, just like Hela's own. Daughter why did you not tell me? I would have helped you to protect him, Loki thought as he said, "That's enough of that 'Lord' nonsense, child. I will not have one of my line speaking to me so formally away form the court of the Realm Eternal. Since I am uncertain of how distantly we are related," he lied," you can simply refer to me as 'Grandfather.'"

Percy still looked nervous as he nodded and replied, "Okay, Grandfather."

"Now, can you explain what has happened to you mother and why you apparently have the King of Olympus giving permission of high-level monsters to test you?" Loki asked.

Percy nodded again as he explained the quest to reclaim Zeus' Master Bolt and the apparent demise of Sally Jackson at the Minotaur's hand. He discussed his vow to find and return her from the Underworld and all that he and his friends had faced thus far.

"I see. Well know that you have my blessing, grandson. You will be able to control seidr and ferret out lies from truth with no effort," Loki said.

"But I can already do that. I mean, mom taught me to use seidr to defend myself and I could always tell if someone is lying," Percy replied, confused.

Loki looked impressed for a moment before he smiled amicable and replied, "Then those gifts will be enhanced by my blessing. Now, you said that you father was Poseidon? What powers did you gain from him?"

"Well I can control water and it makes me heal faster, especially salt water. And for some reason I'm really good at making ice," Percy answered with a shrug.

"That you most likely get from your Asgardian heritage," Loki responded after a moment to think about the ability.

"Huh?" Percy asked.

"Percy, I have but one daughter, the goddess Hela. Her mother was the sorceress Angrboda, a shape-shifting Jotun maiden who also bore my sons Fenrir and Jormungandr. You likely get your ice affinity from her," Loki explained. He was somewhat disappointed to note a lack of recognition from Percy as Loki used Hela's name. Clearly the girl had been hiding her identity from even her own son. Well that just added to the list of things he would be speaking with her about. Right behind not telling him about his grandson and her apparently having some kind of tryst with, the last Loki bothered to check, a very MARRIED Olympian of the Seas.

"So I have another god on mom's side of the family?" Percy asked in awe.

Loki laughed as he replied, "You have many. Asgard does not discount family as the Greeks tend to do. We may fight and squabble but we are still family. I can assure you that, at the very least, my bother and my mother would be ecstatic to meet you some day. And I imagine my wife, Sigyn, will be interested in meeting her new step-grandson. We do not often have additions to the family in the Realm eternal. We are not known for siring children we do not intend to claim if we can help it."

That made Percy feel oddly warm. He had been railing against the fact that Poseidon had not claimed him until he was needed to retrieve the Master Bolt in his mind for days now. But here was Loki, a god his mother had always told him should be respected, not only claiming him but calling him family the second he became aware of him. It was clear the Norse gods did things very differently than the Greeks.

The bonding moment was cut short as Echidna screeched, "This is an outrage! A mixed child like that should be destroyed immediately it is an abomination!"

"You dare say such things about some with royal blood, MY blood, in his veins? A member of the House of Odin no matter how many generations removed?" Loki demanded darkly. "I do believe I warned you about crossing me again, beast," he added with a wicked sneer.

Echidna realized her mistake too late as her serpentine eyes widened as she made a dash for the same fire escape door the human patrons had used earlier. She didn't make it three steps before she was engulfed in green flames and vanished with an agonized screech.

"What did you do with her?" Percy asked after a moment.

"She is currently visiting a relative of your far less forgiving than I am. I get the impression Hela will want to have words with that irritating gnat," Loki replied with a sly grin.

*****

And in Nifelheim, a cruel smile to match Loki's adorned Hela's face as she looked into the horrified eyes of Echidna. "So, you think that Perseus Jackson, my son is an abomination that should be destroyed?" Hela demanded.

And in that moment Echidna understood real fear as the magnitude of what she heard hit her full force. That boy had been no half blood. He was a full godling and Zeus had sent her on a fool's errand to attack him. And now she would be paying the price for Zeus' folly. She should have known better than to deal with any Olympian.
 
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