Chapter 1: JASON or Three Old Men Debate My Virginity
Notes:
Hello!
So... this is something that I've wanted to post for a while. I have another story running concurrently while I update this that I said was the reason I came back to writing, but this is the ACTUAL reason. I just wanted to push out the first chapter of this because I am still unsure of how I want to continue this. It's a big project that I've mused on starting for a year now, and I feel like, with all the hype of Jason possibly being in The Court of the Dead, I need to put this into reality just as a starting point.
Jason's death really hit me hard when it happened, as it was the first instance of death in a series I truly cared about. Coupled with the fact that the book was released the same year that my first dog died, I was devastated to the highest degree. So, as a way to say happy 7th year being deceased, why not write a story centered around him? And everyone I've seen online wants a prequel story to showcase his accolades, but I think the best way to grieve is to move forward and give him an adventure that transcends death. Make him work just a bit more overtime, y'know?
Enjoy the first chapter of something that I hope might do him justice if people enjoy it.
Important Note: There is a hyperlink at the first instance of "JOY!", so I heavily recommend you listen to it WHILE you read. This is the only instance of 'music fic' in the story written so far, but it's important to feel the story and live through the moment.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
There was no way Jason could handle much more of this line.
Okay, yes, he could. He could spend all of eternity in this line because he was dead.
Wow, that was a rough way to start a story. But to be quite honest, he didn’t care. It was a truth that he spent four months preparing for, knowing that the choice he made was one that he would stand by if he had the chance to redo it all. There was no turning back as he opened his eyes, the entrance to the Underworld appearing to him in the form of a recording studio, Dead on Arrival Studios.
How very punny.
Deceased souls just like him filled the rows of empty chairs, crowds of kids swarmed the place, and people begged for denarii so they could cross the River Styx. There, they'd make it to Charon, who’d take them to be judged by the Three Judges of the Judgement Pavilion. Jason was approached by a very tired-looking lare holding a clipboard.
“Name and cause of death?”
“Jason Grace, death by arrows and spear between the shoulders.” Wincing at the cause of his death, the son of Jupiter rubbed the area where he had been stabbed and gasped when he felt the soft tissue of his insides instead of the sharp tip of a spear. Looking further down and spreading out his arms, gashes in the shape of arrows gouged into his skin. His body looked like a jar of Skippy’s peanut butter after someone had scraped the inside with a butter knife.
“Alright. Do you have payment to cross the River Styx?”
Jason rummaged around in his pockets, fumbling until he procured a denarius , feeling the supposedly cold metal in his hand burn hot in his palm. “Will this do?”
The lare nodded in relief and pulled him into the elevator hurriedly. “Going down to the Underworld. Please keep all limbs inside the vehicle until you have reached the bottom floor. I will direct you to Charon myself.”
An inordinate amount of time passed until they reached the bottom floor. Leading him to Charon’s boat, the dreadful feeling in Jason’s stomach amplified so that even he could notice it. The River Styx was massive, filled with what seemed to be debris. Jason thought he could see the debris of a broken temple but chose to ignore it, walking onto the boat with trepidation.
The boat ride was silent, at first, with Charon looking ahead at Cerberus, the guard dog of the Entrance to the Underworld. For the non-existent life of him, he could not see how his Greek demigod friends had been able to play with it and tame it so easily. This creature looked like it could swallow an entire neighborhood if it pleased, and it just sat there, chewing on three massive dental chews.
Well, except for the children of the God of the Underworld. Of course, they’d be able to calm the giant beast of their father’s domain. Thinking of Nico and Hazel playing with the giant dog made Jason's heart swell with the pain of not being able to say goodbye.
Jason turned to the surprisingly suave-looking gentleman in front of him and decided to strike conversation.
“So… your suit is amazing looking. Tan is definitely your color.”
“Really?” Charon spoke with a lilt, a mesmerizing British accent inflecting his words. “I appreciate the compliment, Grace. It’s a Rubinacci, custom-fitted. Nico got it for me as a gift the last time he visited. Good kid. I have to wear something special for this fine occasion.”
“Fine occasion? My death being seen as a spectacle by the Underworld’s ferryman doesn’t sound so relieving.”
“Oh, you’ll see.” Charon brought the boat to a stop. “Here’s our final destination.”
Jason reached into his pocket to grab the denarius, but Charon stopped him, shaking his head. “On the house. Once you see Pluto, just tell him to give me a raise.” Giving him a small wink, he pushed off the side of the dock and sailed off, off to grab his next batch of dead patrons.
Looking up, Jason followed the lumbering crowd and walked the path to the main gate. Gazing around, he noticed one of Cerberus’ heads finished its dental chew. Sniffing the air, it scanned the crowd until it locked eyes with Jason. Not good.
The two other heads suddenly froze before they swallowed their treats whole and bounded their way toward the entrance. Jason was not the only one on the path, so many other ghosts suddenly started screaming and making their way to the gates, scared they’d be dragged to the Fields of Punishment by the hellhound.
All of a sudden, a spectral chain appeared around the neck of the dog and snapped mere inches from Jason’s body, making the head choke out in pain. A rubber ball the size of the blonde’s head bounded toward him, and he understood immediately what they wanted. Gingerly, he picked up the sopping wet ball and looked back at the pet.
“Fetch?”
The heads all stuck out their tongue happily, and Jason smiled, throwing his arm back before sending the ball far into the distance. “Go get it!”
The dog leaped after it, all three heads fighting to grab it before the leftmost one snatched it from all of them and ran back to Jason. This process happened maybe fifty more times before he waved goodbye at them, realizing that he was… delaying the inevitable.
“Bye, Cerberus. Hope you had fun!”
The dog whined pitifully as it watched its new friend walk past the gates, into the sad area where no one came out.
And then there was the aforementioned line he was talking about. Jason had been standing in this line for seven hours already. Or seven days. Or just seven. He didn’t know the time anymore since he had died.
But finally, he entered the Judgement Pavilion. The pavilion looked like a giant black tent with large onyx pillars erected to support the canopy. It was filled with the eerie shadows of the Underworld and stuffed to the brim with dead souls awaiting their fate. Three ornate thrones made of obsidian sat in the middle, all seating separate judges. To his dismay, he could not see William Shakespeare or Thomas Jefferson. Instead, three Greek men sat on the thrones as they filed through the line of people like they were cattle.
“Name? Asphodel.”
“Name? Asphodel.”
“Name? Oh, that’s nice. Asphodel.”
Most of the time, it seemed like the major populace was sent to Asphodel as they had achieved nothing of note in their lives. Passed over true judgment for a life amongst the wheat.
There was only one interesting individual, however, before Jason. A singular person who caught the attention of King Minos.
“Name? …Oh, I see. Then we can start a true trial.” And with the clap of his hands, King Minos began a judgment.
The thrones sank lower into the ground and an obsidian table rose, the judge's names appearing on shiny little placards that read King Minos, King Rhadamanthys, and King Aeacus. From the floor, a girl was raised on a Stygian ice stage. She seemed to be maybe two or three years older than Jason, her once lustrous brown hair singed into a bob, and her arms covered in burn marks. Her extremely weary brown eyes flitted uncomfortably from each judge as she quivered in fear.
“So you died a hero’s death, yes? Well, this is not the Halls of Valhalla but the Judgement Pavilion. We shall inspect each aspect of your journey and determine whether you truly deserve a place in Elysium or to rot in the Fields of Punishment.”
A giant projector screen came down and the demigod’s entire life story was brought into view in 4K definition. Born as a daughter of Tyche (how ironic, Minos commented) and growing up in the countryside of Montana to a casino mogul, once the monsters started appearing, she escaped and miraculously made it to Camp Half-Blood. There, she grew up in the Hermes Cabin for years without being claimed by her godly parent. Unfortunately, this caused her to grow to hate the gods, and she fought on the side of Kronos during the first Titan War.
“So you chose to defy the Olympians, knowing that you’d still one day come down here and defend your life against the Judgement Panel?” Rhadhamanthys asked her coldly.
The girl pleaded, saying she redacted her ways after being influenced by some Luke Castellan. After breaking from the spell after luckily surviving a Greek firebomb attack on a ship called the Princess Andromeda, she returned to the side of the Olympians and gave the demigods valuable information that helped them turn the tide in one of the areas of The Battle of New York.
As an outsider to the battle, seeing this girl’s perspective of the battle showed how rough both sides had it. In Jason’s fight against Krios, many died on the hill of Mount Othrys. Roman demigods by the dozens were slain as comets and constellations fell on their heads, some piercing right through their plumes and into their skulls, and some facing a gruesome end as the starry rocks flayed their skin. He still had nightmares of the sight of his legionnaires falling around him as he slayed the Titan of the Stars.
Of course, life was not over yet. He watched as the girl made her way back to Camp Half-Blood, branded a traitor but elected as the new head of the Tyche Cabin. She was left with all of the responsibilities of a counselor, yet not trusted at the counselor meetings as she had been a spy. The only few to give her any remorse and comfort were her siblings: two younger boys and a foreign sister by the name of Chiara. She stayed year-round to protect them, and even as the time came when she might be able to leave and live a normal college life, she instead opted to stay a bit longer to help her younger brother settle into his new role as Head Counselor.
Then Jason came. The blonde saw her view of his descent into Camp Half-Blood and cringed, knowing how bad shit would hit the fan soon enough. The Romans came into the picture, and she was forced to teach her siblings to fight for their survival in the War of Camp Half-Blood to defend against the Mother of Titans, Gaea. After a brutal year, she lost her successor, her baby brother, in the bloodshed, screaming over his lifeless body as arrows passed by her without harm. She was too lucky to die with him.
The Second War ended. A new camper came to the camp by the name of Lester Papadopoulos, who the girl found out to be Apollo, one of the gods that she had detested. Grappling with her feelings of hatred for the man who had been cast down from Olympus, she told her siblings that if they were to ignore the now-mortal teen, they would survive. Surely enough, just a few days after he arrived, she was able to save Chiara, who had caught the eye of Lester, from running off into the forest, stating that her dead brother and boyfriend had called to her. Fearing the worst, the daughter of Tyche looked at her two remaining siblings and told them that they would be leaving.
It would prove fruitless, however, since Chiron had sensed she was trying to take them with his watchful eye. After a calm talk and making sure that she was sound in the head, she was sent back to her cabin, and the hunt for the missing campers continued.
After the campers had been rescued and everyone had recovered from hay fever, the girl asked for some time to explore New York City as a way to relax. So, at the end of the month, she requested a break time with a group of other similarly stressed demigods. But during that, she got captured by this company... the Triumvirate Holdings? Jason sucked in a breath as he remembered Caligula, one of the leaders of the organization and the cause of his death.
She awoke as the final survivor of her group a few days later and was told to join lest they find her brother and sister and kill them. However, she had changed and insisted that she would never fall into the hands of a dirty organization like that again. Unluckily (or luckily for her), she survived all forms of torture pitted against her over the months, such as being forced to endure illusions of her brother and sister dead, limb stretching, waterboarding, and, most horrifically, poena cullei . Jason could barely stomach it as he saw the girl thrown into the body of water in the sack with the animals, the screams muted for him but audible for the panel, if their grim faces said anything.
As she reached the end of her life, Jason saw that she had earned that they had funded the Princess Andromeda ship that she had escaped from, and that they were the ones funding all of the wars. She vowed to destroy all the supplies they had on hand in the upcoming month, this month of March. Over the weeks, she plotted out the whereabouts of different exits, the habits of guards, and even foot patrols. On the day of her suicidal escape, she tore through the neck of her guard with a coin they had dropped that she whittled into a tiny shiv. Snatching his access card, she slid it on all the cell,s and she and a couple of other trapped demigods wreaked havoc on the place, even setting a warehouse on fire.
Unfortunately, backup arrived. The group was pinned between escape and being captured again, or someone staying behind to give them some time. She told everyone else to get out while she stayed behind to keep them at bay. Knowing she was not going to make it out alive, she sent a prayer to Tyche to keep her new demigod friends and siblings alive and to put all her remaining luck into them. As a final send-off to the world, she lit a couple of bottles of Greek fire she had found a few minutes ago and blew up the loading deck.
After the screen went dark, the entire crowd remained silent. Looking around, no one was watching the movie of her life at all, but instead sighing at the ground or picking at their nails. Waiting for their turn on the big screen.
It unnerved the son of Jupiter. It was not the appropriate reaction for a hero’s final moments. So Jason, at that moment, decided to clap and give a final moment of praise to the courageous girl who lost her life the same day he did. She deserved that from a fellow demigod. The nervous girl looked up at the source of the clapping, made eye contact with Jason’s electric blue eyes, and screamed.
“NO!!!”
The daughter of Tyche started crying hysterically as she saw a Hero of Olympus, one of the Seven of Prophecy, stand in line watching her life story and waiting to be judged for death just like her. The blonde awkwardly stopped his clapping, knowing he, too, would react similarly if he were in her shoes. She fell to the floor in pure shock and gripped her knees to her chest.
“Please, please, please… say it’s not so…”
King Minos looked at the despondent girl on the floor and rolled his eyes.
“Another sob story, yes. We all see those. Lost too soon.”
“And yet,” Aeacus nodded at her, “she managed to hinder the efforts of the Triumvirate greatly. Even though she aided Kronos, it was only because her negative emotions had been amplified under the effects of his host. Due to her efforts in the Second War and the current situation above with Apollo, she has already greatly proven herself as a worthy entry to Elysium.”
“All in favor of Elysium?” Rhadamanthys asked as both he and Aeacus clicked a button on their thrones, looking at Minos with a withering gaze.
“Alright, fine!” Minos yelled as he slammed his hand down on the button.
Instantaneously, it felt like Jason was watching a Golden Buzzer moment from America’s Got Talent. One second, the mood of the room was dreary and filled with pain. The next second, time slowed down, and he could hear cheesy emotional music sound off as a shower of shimmering gold confetti rained down on the girl. She hugged her sobbing body, whether it be from anxiety or relief, Jason could not tell. The arena suddenly filled with cheers as it felt like Elysium had been awaiting her entrance.
He saw the girl shakily get up, hands cupping her face as her wounds miraculously healed, now wearing her long hair loosely down her back and brown eyes puffy from crying. She wiped her nose, thanking the judges before getting off the podium, staring at Jason in wretched horror the entire time. Their eye contact only broke as something caught her attention. Out of the corner of his eye, Jason saw her wail again, happily this time, as she ran to grab her brother in her arms, both having made it to Elysium. The line started moving again as she walked out of sight.
After a couple more people, it was his turn. A white headlight shined on him, and he covered his eyes, blinded by the sudden brightness.
“Name?”
“Jason Grace.”
“I see… AH!” Rhadamanthys shouted out in surprise. “Alright, brothers, I think we have another son of Zeus in our midst!”
Immediately, the mood of the judging panel shifted. All three judges, who had been either eerily somber or cruel, suddenly turned jovial.
“Ah, it’s been a long time since we’ve seen another spawn of Dad!” Aeacus grinned, leaning back on his obsidian throne.
“I must say, he’s got the dashing looks of a son of Zeus. Bet he gave it to the girls real good when he was alive.” King Minos said with a grimy smile and Jason felt like he had just been sexually assaulted.
“Minos, don’t pester our younger brother like that! Let his slideshow show the epic deeds of his life.”
Almost immediately, the sons of Zeus groaned at the screen.
“What the fuck! He was so close! Son of Jupiter? Really?!”
“His sister Thalia was able to be born a daughter of Zeus, why not him?”
“When does he start bagging girls?” Yeah, Jason really did not like King Minos.
The rest of his life played out, from his time with Lupa to the beginning of his time as a legionnaire and then to the battle of Krios. The men took extra special care to stay silent during his perspective, eating popcorn and pointing out different aspects of the fight.
“Oh, that was a good parry. Would have died otherwise.”
“Ouch, that looks painful. I think I remember judging her, we gave her Elysium, right?”
“Ah, yeah. That traitorous boy definitely went to the Field of Punishment.”
The lighthearted commentary of the panel and the dichotomy of the brutal deaths of his fellow Romans left Jason with a dull pain in his gut.
The Battle of Mount Orythys ended, and the spirits started clapping as if his life was already over. “Elysium. I vote Elysium.” Aeacus said soundly and pressed his button.
“I do agree. He slayed a Titan, after all.” Rhadamanthys nodded at him and pressed it as well.
They both looked at King Minos, who shrugged his shoulders.
“His life has not ended yet. I’m still waiting to see how much game he had in life.”
Thus, the beginning of the Second War commenced. King Minos had the audacity to boo when he saw Nico appear with Hazel at the entrance of the Caldecott Tunnel.
“Fucking hate him!”
Jason felt a shock run through his body at the swear. Oh, wow, he forgot that he was allowed to do that.
The switch between Percy and Jason happened, and the blonde was thrust back into the world of the Wilderness School when he had just met Leo and Piper. At the time, it felt like he’d known them for weeks but it was all a lie. A ploy by Hera to get the two camps to interact again.
He relives his bout with Poryphion again, almost being defeated at the hands of the giant. Minos begins to grumble as he sees the son of Jupiter begin to fumble over and over again. First, it was him getting knocked out by a stray piece of stone, then seeing him get possessed by an Eidolon, and then by being detained by a couple of dolphins.
“Are you truly a hero? Why is it that you fail so often in the presence of your Greek companions?” King Minos sneered at him as he watched the teen duel with Percy against Ephialtes and Otis. It only soured his mood more that the reason for this duel was to save the son of Hades, which confused Jason for some reason. Did they have beef with each other or something?
Once they rescued the son of Hades, Jason only could watch with misery as he allowed his two quest companions to fall into Tartarus. The guilt of leaving them as they fell into literal Hell felt fresh on his mind as he could now hear the screams and listen to Nico numbly try and comfort him.
It only got worse as the quest went on. Minos laughed when he saw Jason hung upside down by the dwarves, sighed disappointedly when Jason lost his sword that he had to ask for the help of Hazel, and growled in anger when they got to Split.
Jason blanched, feeling his stomach turn in knots as he heard himself express disinterest in going to grab the scepter with Nico. He could sense the false niceties he had put up to deal with the sullen teen as he asked him why he cared about Croatia when, at the time, he hadn’t even given it a second thought.
The memories flowed back in crashing waves, showing the moment that Nico and Jason were taunted by the Roman god of love. He could feel the light bulb click in his mind as Nico cried out how he had loved Percy, not Annabeth, and that he had hated being near the camp because of that. The alive Jason, horrified by how he perceived Nico, tried to mend it.
He tried consoling the boy, calling him brave (which he was). He attempted to connect with the boy, failing miserably to understand that his and Nico’s plights were not one and the same as Jason was “The Golden Boy” and Nico was hated for his lineage. Jason felt a gasp leave his body as he called Nico out for running away and hiding from everyone the boy looked at him with a painful fury that made him look down in shame. He could hear the words “I’ll help you and then go away forever” ring in his ear like a scratchy record on repeat.
“Why are you so shocked, brother? Is this not how we all think of our uncle’s offspring?” Minos stated, flicking his button in boredom.
Jason seethed silently as he looked back on his hearings with Auster, coming to terms with his feelings of not being Roman enough, but not Greek enough. He sees himself come to terms with accepting that the winds have now blown him in the direction of Camp Half-Blood. And in the depths of the Underworld, only then does he realizes that Notus had truly set an example for him. To not care about who he had been born to, but what he wanted to be remembered for. As he looked out at the judges once more, it dawns on him that he is being judged not by the Roman side of his lineage but the Greek side due to this decision. Would the Romans have been more lenient with him, as he had died in battle and slaid Krios? Or would they have cast him down, seeing him as a traitorous scum?
“Is this necessary? All I’ve seen is Jason put down his life for his other companions, aiding them on the overall journey of the Second War. You know how this ends, Minos.” Aeacus said with a hard tone as the indolent king bickered on and on.
“And I have yet to see this brother of ours court one girl besides this Piper McLean. Courtesy of Hera, of course. Was he even able to get it up?”
Jason felt a surge of rage push through him, his voice ringing out clearly for the first time since he got to the Judgement Pavilion. “Do not speak about Piper like that! She and I were manipulated by the Mist to do that!”
“So why did the Mist never help you get it on? That Coach Gleeson may be part of the issue, though.” Minos said as he watched Jason down the cup of poison for Nico, frowning extra hard.
Jason ignored the man as he watched him, Annabeth, and Piper infiltrate the home of Odysseus as suitors. He watched with a hard glare as Michael Varus summoned a mania of his mother to taunt him, only for him to stave away the vision and kill Antinous. But then, a sword of Imperial Gold stabbed his guts and he called out to Juno to save him. The three kings watched as Juno consoled the son of Jupiter before he, once again, passed out.
The slideshow moved past his recovery from the stab wound to a time in Piper’s room. He could remember why he went there, to check on her and confess his troubles about his interaction with his mom’s mania, but he saw his ex-girlfriend praise him, saying that he was nothing like his mother and that he would never give up. He could feel that there was no Charmspeak in her words, only her pure thoughts, as they leaned in to kiss.
Minos leaned forward in his seat and pumped his fist. “Finally!”
And then Leo walked in, asking for a moment of his time.
“HOLY HERA, THIS FUCKING DUDE!” Minos got out of his chair angrily and started pacing, making his two fellow judges pinch their nose bridges.
“Minos, either you sit down and judge Jason Grace or I will have to get William Shakespeare in here to press that damn button!” Rhadamanthys bellowed at the agitated king.
“Fine, fine! Just know that I am very disappointed, Grace.” King Minos wagged a finger at the blonde like he should give a shit whether he impressed him or not.
Jason sees his interaction with Kymopoleia in the ruins of the Poseidon domain, watching Percy get swallowed in poison as they try to defeat Polybotes for the third time. As he breathed in a bit of Dylan each time, he looked on with sadness as he swore to erect a temple for Kymopoleia at the Greek and Roman camps. Something that he had been working on tirelessly before his death.
The scenes blur together as he receives the golden glasses that fix his eyesight and meets his father for the first time which garners the attention of the judges. They whistle impressively as they see him survive calling out to Zeus for punishing Apollo.
“You are a brave one, brother. More than most gods.” King Aeacus nods his head at the son of Jupiter. “Father would have punished us.”
The Battle of Half-Blood Hill is short but arduous, watching as he rode Festus after summoning the full strength of a lightning storm. He sees Leo slam Festus into the mound of Gaea and die in a fiery explosion, watching as he falls from the sky and is picked up by his fellow eagle friends.
The following aftermath is followed by partying, with him gaining the title Pontifex Maximus, and his first kiss alone with Piper. He remembers that night, the pleasure and feelings that coursed through his body as he finally made love to his then-girlfriend.
“And he’s done it.” Minos nods, a happy smile on his ugly mug. “He lost his virginity.”
“Now, Minos, I do believe there is a bit more. Look, there is still how he saved Apollo, Meg, and Piper throughout all of this! And the temples for the minor gods.” Aeacus said calmly.
Wait, excuse me? So they didn’t even have to watch the damn slideshow if they knew all of what had happened? What a bunch of dramatic assholes…
“Yes, yes. He goes on to get dumped by his little fling, he finds out that the Sybil has foretold one of them would die, and he sacrifices himself by dying to Caligula! I know, I understand that. I’m just a bit underwhelmed by the latter half of your life, brother.” King Minos looks at the son of Jupiter with a bit of pity. “You did so much for two whole wars and here you are, having been brought to the Underworld by the hands of a third-rate emperor.”
Jason took a calm breath and looked back at Minos with a dead expression. “Yes, please keep discussing how utterly sad my life became. I wasn’t able to finish the temples, I wasn’t able to say goodbye to my friends, and now I have to listen to you whine about how I never dicked down more people during my life.”
“Right!?” Minos said, completely ignoring the boy’s tone. “I would have even preferred it if you tapped the ass of that fruit of a son of Hades. He definitely needed it when he was younger. Maybe put him in his place for me, writhing in the sheets under you as-”
“Will you shut up! ” Jason let out a thunderous roar, catching all three of the kings off guard. “Don’t you DARE talk about Nico di Angelo like that! Just because you have some grudge against him that I know nothing about, that does not mean you can slander my friends. He is a brave person who time and time again put the gods of Olympus above his own mental and physical health! He even has his boyfriend now so I wouldn’t dare try to do that.”
“Calm down, Grace. Minos shouldn’t be opening his mouth anymore, just judging your worth of Elysium. Truth be told, after the first war, you more than proved yourself as a worthy fighter. I welcome you to Elysium. Now, Minos…” Rhadamanthys warned the king as he sat on his throne like an impudent child.
“Fine! Gods, you all can’t sense a couple of brothers ribbing each other?” King Minos rolled his eyes as he pressed his button.
Jason closed his eyes angrily as he waited for the cheering to start, to hear the pop of the confetti cannons as an acoustic rendition of “Imagine Dragons - I’m On Top of the World” blasted through the tent. Maybe even “Bruno Mars and Lady Gaga - Die With a Smile” if they wanted to make it bittersweet. The Pontifex Maximus of Camp Jupiter, Centurion of the Fifth Legion, a Hero of Olympus, one of the Seven of Prophecy, and the son of Jupiter was ‘ready’ to be ingrained into the stones of history as a legend. A hero with his legacy. Someone taken too soon from the world before he could figure out… who he truly was.
But none of that happened. Instead, Jason began to feel a bit hot. He grabbed his shirt, fanning himself as he pumped his arm to billow air onto his body.
“Gods, why is it so hot right now…” he mumbled before opening his eyes slightly, before snapping them wide to take in his surroundings. Looking at the table of judges, he suddenly felt like something had gone completely wrong.
The three kings had faces of utter disbelief on their faces, with even King Rhadamanthys covering his face with a shaky hand. Even the people in line, usually morose and unresponsive, were suddenly active as they began to whisper to each other as another screen came down. Jason looked down at his body and drew a ragged breath, nearly tripping over his now luminescent form. His already pale skin glowed with bright white energy, dripping with memoria, and he could see thin tendrils of smoke seeping out of his wounds. Jason reached out to some of them, but they dissipated, fading between his fingers almost instantly. Above him, he could see a new projection hit the screen, where a group of nine women sat in a room together.
These women were gorgeous, a mixture of different skin tones, body sizes, and facial features that came together to form a rather fun-looking friend group. They made conversation with each other from inside their recording booth, some sitting on a plush couch and laughing as if they were spilling the hottest tea imaginable. The booth was adorned with an arrangement of animal pelts and rugs from different eras of time, proving the room of sound as various record albums adorned the walls. It seemed to be a privately broadcast live stream from HephaestusTV as an overhead voice sounded inside the studio.
“You’re live, girls.”
Smiling at each other excitedly, the nine women stood up, resembling a bell curve with the tallest one in the middle and descending heights on each side. The one in the middle was dressed in high-waisted grey pants and a sleek purple V-line satin shirt, matching the royal purple coat that hung off her shoulders and purple bandana that held up her afro. She seemed to be the leader as he walked forward, waving at the camera with a bright grin.
“Jason Grace, son of Jupiter. Pontifex Maximus and a Hero of Olympus.”
Another woman, this time dressed in a white sundress, the pop of color in her outfit coming from the many yellow accessories that she wore. Yellow sandals, gold jewelry, blonde hair like him, and startling golden eyes. She also waved at him.
“Honesty Osei, daughter of Aletheia, the Executor of Justice and Legacy of Minerva.”
Who the hell was that? Jason looked to his left and right but saw no one standing there. Unfortunately, the third person was already coming up. She wore punk rock attire, her myriad of piercings and black eye makeup reminding Jason of his sister. Gods, he wished she were here to tell him what the hell was going on. She swished her white hair out of her eyes and gave the camera a wicked grin.
“Theodore Magnette, son of Hecate, self-proclaimed Mist Extraordinaire and Protector of Secrets.”
Were they… saying his name? But he wasn’t called Honesty or Theodore. But… his soul recognized the titles. It beat with a pulse like it was pumping forgotten blood through his body. Looking down, Jason found that he looked the same, but the glow was fading with each name. The tendrils of smoke were coming out faster, and more easily.
A final woman walked up, dressed in a fine-pressed black tuxedo with a purple handkerchief in the front lapel, hair cut in a fearsome bob. She pulled out a small harmonica and blew into it, all of the women humming in perfect pitch and Jason knew in an instant who they were. These were the Muses.
Stepping back, the leader woman in the middle of the group wiggled her fingers eagerly at the camera, a bright grin on her face.
“We are the Muses! Goddesses of the arts, and proclaimers of heroes…” Oh, gods…
“Calliope, don’t get us started on that…” The girl in the punk clothes frowned as she started back toward the couch.
“What, Mel? It’s a reference that Jason here will understand! I thought that movie was very…”
“Inaccurate?” Cunty-Bob stated.
“Watered down?” The plump woman in the yellow sundress asked.
“Offensive?” A woman wearing a jazz lounge dress blew on a cigar as she questioned Calliope.
“Rude that it didn’t include me?” A traditional-looking Graecus woman spoke, holding a pan flute like a threatening knife.
“All of those things, girls!” Calliope waved her hand energetically, watching as the discordant energy washed away. “But we ain’t got time to focus on that! We have to see to it that our special guest gets the best welcome possible! They need to feel...”
"JOY!” All of them screamed in unison as they hit the first note, a wave of music hitting the Judgement Pavilion in harmonious call-and-response.
Jason was floored as the group of women started singing to him, using their voices like literal instruments and adding vocal percussion to have him sway to the song. Their screams of ‘joy’ hit the pavilion with a concordant burst of energy as they serenated the crowd of souls.
Unspeakable-speakable
Don't mean it's unreachable
I'll go where they lead me to
More synonyms, I'm gon' need a few
Lately, I've had a hard time
Ain't been satisfied when I testify
Wanna make sure I'm sharp when I make the point of view
When them blessings come through (I'm clear then)
And even though I'm clear (When you do it again)
They must understand the point of view
This song… was a reflection of his time on Earth? Jason tried hard to listen closely to the lyrics, catching bits and pieces in between their singing. Unspeakable, unreachable? He didn’t know what those referred to. And the second half of the lyrics, he could tell that talked about his time with Zeus. How he had been so adamant not to listen to him and instead punished-
The last word doesn't come from the doctor
Who's the world that the doctor comes out of?
Just keep praying beyond the last hour
Now you've witnessed the procedure of power
-Apollo. Of course, not a doctor but the god of healing. Asclepius was the god of medicine and Jason felt his hand run up his face before he realized that his eyesight had been cured. Was this what getting into Elysium felt like? Having all of your mortal ailments cured? But the girl before him hadn’t had smoke pouring from her body.
Mumbling to myself, must think I'm crazy
But I'm humbling myself and I'm giving praise
Fumbling gods in myself, they don't what I'm saying
If you crumble and need help, I know who can raise you
They wrapped back to the chorus and Jason felt his wounds fully close, his skin no longer having the gouges from before. He could feel his head clear and the sound of the Muses singing had him starting to tear up. It was a strange feeling, almost like he was meant to cry at this moment, but it hadn’t hit him why as the next verse hit the crowd.
Said I couldn't change that, that's another life
But I scrubbed like Ajax, I've stayed on my grind
I was way (Way back), now I'm front of line
Was I supposed to say that? Ain't tryna undermine
That’s another life? Was he a reincarnated soul? The names said at the beginning hit him again.
Honesty Osei. Theodore Magnette. His previous lives.
A crushing pressure suddenly hit his chest and the blonde teen stumbled to the floor, a heavy gasp hitting his lungs as he realized how many souls before him there were.
Two.
And they had reincarnated until it got to him, the third, who made it to Elysium. This was not real. This had to be a dream, an illusion created by Caligula. Something that was-
Unspeakable-speakable
Don't mean it's unreachable
He had won the demigod lottery. He had made it to Elysium three times and done the unreachable.
Dark situations can make them much brighter, yeah, yeah, yeah
If your spirit's weighed down, we can make them much lighter, yeah
You're just takin' off, you can go higher
Now let the joyful water fill your eyes up
Tears finally filled his eyes as he looked up at the Muses above him who were personally welcoming him to his new home at the Isles of the Blest.
Oh, I've got (Joy)
Wonderful (Joy)
Great joy (Joy)
Powerful (Joy)
The Muses suddenly hit the soul in the song as he heard them take a group of Greek and Roman people to metaphorical church. Calliope began a vibrant solo as her fellow Muses danced, exalting and celebrating around their studio, laughing and sychronizing in time to the vibe of the situation. He felt a hiccuping sob hit his body and he began to cheer gratefully, feeling like the daughter of Tyche as relief filled his soul. He had done the impossible.
As the song continued to its end, Jason realized they had not been saying the word ‘blessing’ this entire time. Instead, they had been ushering them in the entire time.
When them Blest come through
(When them Blest come through)
When them Blest come through
(When them Blest come through)
The kings of the panel started clapping and hollering, along with the rest of the crowd. Jason turned around to make eye contact with them and let out a huge gasp as he saw something incredible behind him.
Two demigods stood staring up just as awed as him, a girl and a boy. They both seemed to be crying in different ways. The sleepy-looking girl jumped up and down in absolute happiness, holding what appeared to be a tiny weighing scale. Her hair was pulled into a long weave, tiny microbraids running all the way down the back of her spine. She stayed relatively quiet with her tears as the other, smaller boy made up for it with his noise level.
He whooped and hollered, fat ugly tears falling under his sunglasses as he watched the Muses perform a song just for them. His hands clenched tightly as he fisted the air, spurring them on to complete their incredible performance. The crazy thing about both of them, however, was the fact that they were both semi-translucent, shimmering grey and made of the tendrils of smoke that had emanated from Jason.
These were his previous lives. He’d been dipped in the River Lethe twice to get to this point. Getting up from his position on the floor, he ran up to the both of them and hugged them tightly, pulling them into a giant bear hug.
“Thank you…”
But as he spoke, his soul-parts also spoke at the same time and they smiled at each other, obviously finding this amusing. Pushing their heads together, Jason felt them get absorbed back into his body and he knew that they would be there to talk with later.
There were so many things that had gone wrong for him, from his mother throwing him to the wolves to being raised to fight numerous monsters from the age of four to fifteen before slaying the Titan Krios and being thrust into a world-ending prophecy that ended with a god coming down and being mortal, leading to the end of his life. It was fine, the payoff had been worth it.
All he could feel was…
Power, peace (Joy)
Joy (Joy, Joy)
Joy (Joy)
Joy
Right?
Notes:
There we go!
Jason's two past lives will be very important characters in the story, and I try extremely hard to make original characters feel realistic and relevant to the story. Other original characters will appear later in the story, too, so let me know how they feel if you enjoyed this snippet of the story.
Fun fact: The Tyche demigod's name is never mentioned, but she is an original character named Katlin 'Clover' Prosper. She is now reunited with her brother :)
The song JOY is what spurred me to start this first chapter. I was always thinking of how to create a Jason Grace story, and hearing this song on my Spotify recommendation reminded me of what every demigod tries to strive for: the Isles of the Blest. Coupled with how awesome the song is, I can see the Muses bringing Jason to the afterlife with it.
Please let me know if I should continue this! Thanks for reading!
Chapter 2: JASON or The God of Death is a Techwear Icon
Notes:
Next chapter! I'll put it out there to see if it is alright, just as a way to garner interest. I really do want to continue writing this so I will continue to update this periodically as I see fit. With the new book coming out, I don't want to get super deep into it in case some canon stuff comes out that conflicts or could be a good story point but please leave comments if you'd like to see more!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Jason looked upon the streets of Elysium with mild interest as he passed by a 1300s-style smithery that shared street space with a yoga studio. Oh, the wonderful whimsy of the underworld.
He hadn’t considered the variety of shops on display when he entered the Underworld. Granted, a lot of the people who made it here had their own lives and interests that they could spend eternity mastering, but it was still nice to see it when all he had been surrounded by was politics, war, and the need for survival. Watching adults and kids alike explore their passions made Jason yearn for his hobby of choice.
He’d have the entirety of existence to do it.
He was excited! He was…
Parks and land stretched across the road of Elysium seemingly endlessly, stretching as far as the eye could see. Jason ran his hand through the fields of rainbow grass, sighing hopelessly in love as he gazed upon the idyllic landscape. It reminded him of the hills in the East Bay where he grew up, a snapshot of the brief moment between January and April when the hills bloomed green and the air smelled sweet with dew.
Rubbing the spot where he was impaled for the 50th time just to make sure he wasn't injured anymore, a tendril of smoke peeked out impatiently to tap his hand. Jason let out a small laugh of amusement, extending his arm so the other two could bask in the paradise.
It was still dawning on him that he had lived three lives, each making up the essence of his soul, and that they could ask to be brought out whenever they pleased. The two didn’t remember anything, unfortunately, but Jason gathered what he could from their names and what they looked like.
The first one to pop out was his most previous incarnation, a breezy teen by the name of Honesty Osei. The eternal sun grazed her warm umber skin tone, glowing from the fading memoria, as she yawned out of her internal rest. It didn’t help that she had constantly sleepy brown eyes that reminded the blonde of a dark topaz, her dozy gaze constantly analyzing her surroundings. A new detail that came with each escape out into the afterlife showed that she now had little beads braided in between each strand of her hair, lightly clicking whenever she walked alongside her soul-sharer. Her legs were long and toned from her time training as a demigod, already standing at nearly the same height as Jason when he passed away.
As she popped out, she stretched her muscles and glanced at Jason, sizing him up and down. The more that he let them out, the more that the memoria solidified and revealed her attire. She was wearing what she had been buried in, a bright orange shirt from Camp Half-Blood and a pair of high-waisted jeans, a bit bleached from overwashing. It honestly made her look older, but that may be due to the difference in generations. Finishing off the look, she wore a necklace that had three beads. Three quests.
“Thank you so much for that. It's nice not having to walk all the time. I say, Jason, I’m going to go surprise some of my friends at their places. I’ll be back soon, okay?” She stated as she ambled off, not in a rush despite the way she worded it.
Jason jogged to catch up with her. “Wait, do you even remember them? Where do they live? Did they even make it to Elysium?”
“Nope, I don't know, and I hope so,” the older girl stated as she smoothly snatched a fresh slice of a random pie off a windowsill. The person who had been cooling it looked out the window at the relaxed teen who walked off, wishing her a good day. “But they’ll remember me. Even if I don’t remember them, they should remember me.”
“But both you and Theo got dipped in the River Lethe, so you have nothing to go off of. This could take a while.”
“I’ll have you know, Jason, that I must have been quite the person when I was alive!” The other soul-sharer exclaimed as another tendril of smoke escaped Jason’s arm.
The young man was shorter than both Honesty and Jason by about five inches, but made up for it in personality. Jason doesn’t think he’s seen him yet without a pair of Ray-Bans on, but he could only assume that the small moment he saw dark grey eyes underneath sparkled with enthusiasm. He seemed to enjoy combing back his ruddy red hair with his hands as he walked with a slight gait, possibly a lifelong ailment that came from an injury gone wrong. Jason wondered why that hadn’t been fixed when they arrived. His attire was less mundane: an obsidian purple silk scarf wrapped around his neck and a pair of dusty blue jeans, and a thin cotton shirt.
The shorter teen struggled to keep up with the long strides of his successors as he yelled ahead to them. “You remember what Melpomene said about me? She said I was ‘Mist Extraordinaire and Protector of Secrets’! There ought to be someone who knows who I am. Oh, I should tell Mom that I got into the Isles of the Blest! She’d be so proud.”
“Yeah, they called me the Executor of Justice. Fancy ass title,” Honesty said. She placed her empty plate of pie on top of a trash can, turning to the two boys following her. “It’s not every day that a daughter of Aletheia is given the chance to live in maximum paradise, so I should too. I don't even know if I met her while I was still alive. But the gods aren’t allowed here, Theo."
“Whatever! When Hermes is back in town, I’m going to be the first one to write a message to her!” Theo laughed, hands going back in his pockets. “Jason, you have your memories! Anyone you want to see?”
Anyone Jason wanted to see? Of course, he had people he wanted to see! Campers who had fought beside him, his praetors who died in battle before him, his friends from before the war. Who should he start with?
"I’ve always wanted to meet the other demigods of the Greek pantheon who knew Percy, Annabeth, and Nico. There are some people from the Fifth Legion that perished during the Battle of Mount Orythys, I’d like to see them too.”
The shorter boy nodded and kicked it into high gear, racing off down the street. “Let’s find them then!”
Jason rolled his eyes at the excitable kid. "Don't go running off now, Le-"
Holy Hera. Leo. He has to be here. A chill ran down Jason's spine, trying to ignore the cold that cut through his enthusiasm. Once he saw his old cohort friends, he'd find that little imp in this place and tell him everything. Update him on how Piper dumped him, how he was able to save her, and what the hell they were going to do now that they were in Elysium together. Maybe check out the shops?
Scouring the landscape of Elysium until he found a cluster of Roman-style buildings, all a bit further away from the hustle and bustle of the town square. This area seemed to be a little cleaner and orderly, with the characteristics of a Roman upbringing exuding from the foundations. Something Jason was familiar with.
He did find his fellow legionnaires, all from the First Legion, playing a couple of rounds of Mythomagic together and having a hearty chat. However, the playful atmosphere went away as one of them dropped their cards once their eyes fell on Jason.
“Grace? Di immortales, what are you doing here? Don’t tell me…”
Jason opened up his arms, a tearful smile hitting his face as he realized he hadn’t seen all of them in three years. “Yep. They got to me.”
Everyone threw down their cards and approached Jason, some hitting him on the back in solitude and others bemoaning how he should have had more time. One of them, a son of Bellona who had been older than Jason when he died but was now younger, nodded his approval at the young man.
“I see Senectus wasn’t successful at keeping you tied down. That’s good. Dying in battle is an honor.” Jason wanted to roll his eyes at the toxic mindset, but he instead grinned at him.
“Good to see you too, Mu-yeol.”
The boy nodded his head but leaned in closely to speak with him once the others started discussing something. “And… Reyna. Is she-”
“She’s alive. Don’t know anything else.” As soon as the words hit Mu-yeol, his face crumpled into one of relief. The strong facade that he had put up was gone, and he hugged Jason tightly.
“It’s good to see you again.”
“Yeah.”
“Hey, Grace!” One of the kids yelled at him as they pointed a finger at his two soulsharers. “What’s with these Graecus? I know the camps merged or something over the past few years, but they look a bit… old? Especially Grandma Pants.”
“Hey, Honesty, you know what I’m thinking?” Theo asked the taller girl, fingers tingling with magic.
“Yeah, but it's fine. I'll sit back here and watch you take on them all. Yell if the sword slashes start to hurt too much, and I'll jump in,” Honesty drawled out as she leaned against the wall. Theo rolled his sleeves up and tried to walk up, but Jason walked up to him and raised both hands in surrender.
“Hey, don’t get in a fight with these guys. Not because we won’t win but because we’re in Elysium and this shit is not worth it. And c’mon, man,” Jason turned towards his former legionnaire who was now backing up in panic, “don’t discriminate. You’ve had three years to coexist. I think we all deserve to just get along.”
“Wow, Jason. You’ve come a long way from your fight with Krios. Granted, you’ve always been a little bit of a wuss when it comes to confrontation, but to accept the Greeks so easily? That Prophecy of Seven some of the newbies were talking about must have influenced you,” Mu-yeol said to him with a slightly dismayed expression. Jason narrowed his eyes just slightly.
However, Mu-yeol just shrugged and put out his hand to the two outsiders. “My name is Mu-yeol Kwon. You guys?”
“Honesty Osei. Daughter of Aletheia, but I’m also a legacy of Minerva? Didn’t know that was a thing,” the unimpressed girl said back to him, tired eyes scanning the group. Immediately, the crowd of people looked a little more accepting.
“Ah! She’s got Roman and Greek blood? Fascinating…”
“Oh, Minerva! She does give off that aura.”
“Mutt.”
“Who said that?” The daughter of Aletheia’s voice rang clearly through the crowd, shocking everyone except Jason and Theo. The group of fallen legionnaires felt their hands tremble as one lone hand rose in the crowd, seemingly against their will. Honesty’s eyes glowed bright orange as she let out a suppressed breath, filled with tense energy.
Oh no.
Jason jumped into action, holding back the girl as she strided forward, no longer tired but filled with anger. “Let me go, Jason. He can't say whatever the hell he wants!”
“Calm down!” The blonde shouted as he and the brown-haired boy both tried their best to hold back the incensed girl. After a brief struggle, Jason could feel her temper calm down, and he looked her in the eyes, an apology on his lips. “Okay, I’m so sorry for them. They’re just…”
“Roman? Good people? Trust me, good people don't say things like that,” Honesty remarked as she sat down on a stoop to catch her breath. Jason looked at the rest of the group with guarded eyes.
“Gods, can we be a little civil?” Jason rolled his eyes as he looked at Theo. “Wanna introduce yourself?”
“My name’s Theodore Magnette, and I’m a son of Hecate,” The previously enthusiastic boy said with a reserved tone, clearly uncomfortable around this group of kids.
“Yeah. These guys are my soulmates. Wow, that sounds weird when I say it out loud,” Jason remarked as he glanced from Honesty to Theo.
“We’re his previous incarnations,” Honesty provided helpfully from the ground, glaring at the group of Romans with thinly disguised dislike. “We got into the Isles of the Blest and-”
“JASON! Did you get into the Isles? Oh, gods! This is great!” Mu-yeol cut off the girl before she could finish. “All of you got in? I’m so glad for you!”
Jason gave a small smile and nodded at him. “Well, couldn’t have done it without the heroics of these two. Whatever they did in the past must have been legendary.” Jason looked at the other two and smiled.
The girl on the floor didn’t look at him, opting to inspect her braids. Theo rocked back and forth on his feet in silence. They obviously didn’t feel welcome anymore.
Jason sighed and looked at Mu-yeol, disappointment apparent on his face. “I’m going to head back to finally check out the Isles of the Blest. We haven’t even checked in because we wanted to explore. I was hoping to catch up with the rest of the legions soon, so I’ll be back in a day or so. I’ll catch up with you all later.”
Mu-yeol grabbed Jason and pulled him into another tight hug, one that the blonde remembered he had given before they ran into battle together. “See you, Grace. And goodbye… Jason’s soulmates.”
The three of them exited the Roman housing area, and as soon as they were a few blocks away, Theo burst out with anger.
“Gods, I didn’t think meeting the Romans would be so… ugh!”
“Yeah, and they didn’t even say sorry for calling me a mutt. I was hoping you'd blast them with a magical ball of fire or something.”
“I guess we can’t interact with Romans before the merge, otherwise they’ll just keep acting like that…”
Jason sighed, walking ahead of the two. “Not true. Some people also didn’t fit in like me before the merge. They made up the Fifth Legion, but those guys were a part of the First Legion. The elites of the camp, if you will…”
“So they’re the top of the hierarchy. When you’re down here, there is no more hierarchy, just death…” Honesty said bluntly, slowly fading back into memoria. “I’ll come back out when we get there.”
“Same,” Theo said as he turned back into a glob of smoke. “See you then, Jason.”
Jason nodded and let the two back into his arms, one on his right and the other on his left. That did not go well at all. With a slightly heavy feeling in his heart, the blonde made his way to the docks.
In the pleasant peace of Elysium, there were two ways to get into the crystal blue waters that surrounded the Isles of the Blest. One was by renting out a jet ski, complimentary in part due to the efforts of the children of Vulcan and Hephaestus. They provided this service so anyone, demigod or human, could explore and admire the attractive view of the Isles, but the other way was only capable by the select few of the Isles of the Blest.
Approaching the docks of the Isles of the Blest, Jason was the only one in the Express Lane to the islands as drones of people stared in awe. Once he reached the front, a very peppy tour guide faun approached him.
“Hello there! A resident of the Isles of the Blest?” Jason nodded once, and a hush fell over the people currently strapping into their rented jet-ski.
“Alright! Let me just check…” The faun pulled out a piece of parchment and scanned it thoroughly. “There you are! Wow, a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Grace! My name is Fiona, and I hope you make it there safely! Just shout out my name if anything goes wrong. Super excited to see you make it to the Isles of the Blest.”
Jason gave a small nod and flexed his fingers before he jumped into the air and soared off. He could hear the crowd of people gasp and point, but he tried to ignore the obvious shouts of “Superman!” that sounded as he began speeding his way over the water.
He had missed flying like this. The soft breeze that ruffled his hair, the golden sun that hit his back, and the fluffy clouds that he could count when he got too lazy to look at the floor of the ocean and the droves of fish that swam by. It felt great.
Once he landed, he heard someone call out to his head.
Jason, it’s Honesty. Can we come out now?
“Yeah, we’re here.” And here was gorgeous.
As Honesty and Theo jumped out onto the sand, Jason was still trying to take in the intense scenery.
The Isles of the Blest felt like something he’d have gotten if he were a billionaire back on Earth. The rocky formations stretched high into the artificial blue sky, completely blocking the sun and providing a welcome shade for the three residents. There were palm trees surrounding the entirety of the estates, a total of three islands to choose from. The one Jason had landed on had the mansions either built upon or installed into the entire mountain face, a Grecian-style entryway with an open-floor plan aesthetic leading them to a reception desk. There, zombies walked the halls carrying little snacks and drinks for the guests to drink. Jason took a cup of water and walked towards the front desk as he left the other two to explore.
He could see a singular person working the desk, warming their hands over an electric hand-warmer and humming to herself as she sang a somber song. Jason almost did not recognize her if not for the Camp Half-Blood shirt that Nico had warned him about.
“Lady Vesta?”
The young girl turned toward him and, for a brief moment, Jason could see her form flicker to a sterner, older version in military garb, before reverting to her original childlike form and waving at him with a gentle smile.
“Welcome, guest. You may call me Hestia, as it is the name of the form that I take today. I assume you are a Roman demigod?” The goddess calmly stated, pulling out a small stack of papers.
“Y-Yes, Lady Hestia. Why… why are you down here?”
“I am the goddess of hospitality. Hades and I have a deal that I should be the one to welcome any heroes who are first-time guests within the Isles of the Blest in the last… 300 years, I think? 500 years? I lost track around year 70,” The little girl said as she smiled at him, Jason’s heart filling with warmth.
“It’s been quite a while, then.”
“Yes, it has. Do you happen to have a rewards plan with the Isles of the Blest? You can earn travel points on- oh, my joke doesn’t seem to be working on you.” The goddess covered her face in a light laugh as she noticed Jason cocking his head in confusion.
“Apologies, Lady Ve-Hestia. I am still in shock at being admitted into… the Isles of the Blest. It’s lauded by all demigods, Roman and Greek. And I’m one of the lucky few.”
“Yes, you are. You would think the Isles being regarded as the pinnacle of happiness is an overstatement, but I assure you that my Vestal Virgins take care of this realm quite seriously.”
The WHO?! “What? The Vestal Virgins upkeep these islands?”
“Yes, of course, they do, amongst other duties,” Hestia replied to the shocked teen as she crossed her T’s on a piece of paperwork. “My Vestal Virgins are a clandestine organization in the mortal realm in which very, very few demigods get the privilege of figuring out their location. Only the most dedicated are a part of them, and they try their best to spread out their help when needed. I believe our only location left on Earth is… a secret, dear guest. I wouldn’t want to involve you in any more petty mortal affairs, just relaxation.”
“Only location left on Earth? Where else would there be locations? Asgard?” Jason asked casually, trying to make a joke of his own.
Bad call.
The goddess stopped writing on the piece of parchment, the scratch echoing through the halls. She raised her glowing red eyes at Jason, a deadly serious gaze piercing his soul. She placed down the pencil and the blonde suddenly felt the power of the hearth start to creep on his body. It was suffocating, like the embers of a dying fire pressing on his chest. He could feel the warmth but he could also feel the dying of the flames, slowly becoming colder, colder, colder…
… until Hestia pushed a piece of paper towards him, an application for the house key.
“I have your paperwork ready. Sign here, here, and here as well. Once that’s all set, I can provide you with the keys to your nine residences.”
Jason let out a breath that he didn’t know he was holding, which was weird because he didn’t need to breathe. He signed thrice on the lines and gave her back the papers, starting to fear the tiny goddess.
“Good. Please let your incarnations know the rules provided below. I’m not a landlord or anything, but please do try and keep everything on the less destructive side for my Vestal Virgins. This is where they prefer to rest too out of all of the realms.” Hestia winked at him.
Jason already did not like the sound of the plural “realms”.
All of a sudden, he noticed something odd on the papers. “Wait, you mentioned nine residences?”
Hestia nodded, jumping from her swivel chair to a stepstool to grab the keys.
“Yes, each guest of the Isles is entitled to one residence per island. If you want more, you’ll have to discuss that with Pluto. Now, where did I put those keys…” Hestia grumbled as she tried to reach the top shelf with her stubby arms.
Jason could not believe this at all. The Isles of the Blest was cracked.
The three demigods could not close their mouths as they walked into Jason’s home.
The entire place was insane. The ‘house’ Hestia had given him a key for was a couple of hundred feet in the air, carved cleanly into the rock face and giving a perfect vantage of a sector of the city skyline. It felt like he was staring down at ants when he looked out at the city of Elysium. Even from this height, he could see the fine palace of Pluto, where he was probably grumbling about the overpopulation of the Underworld or traffic jams along the Fields of Asphodel. Jason should ask the god of the Underworld if he needed help with that.
Entering the living room, Jason saw an empty flat with tons of space, easily able to fit a basketball court, a tennis court, a pool, and a lounge area together. Separated from the flat was a kitchen that housed state-of-the-art appliances, seemingly hand-crafted by the Vulcan/Hephaestus kids a couple of days prior. The second floor of the house was privy to all the bedrooms and guest rooms he desired, with seemingly infinite storage for items he didn’t even own. He’d just have to shop in the depths of Elysium until he got what he needed.
The bathrooms were incredible, with western-style seats equipped with bidets that were written in Latin, thank Hestia. Jason groaned in appreciation as he saw everything was labeled in Latin and English, making reading so much easier. The bathtubs were Cerberus-sized, giant industrial tubs that made Jason think he was in a pool rather than a bubble bath. The shower was a gravity shower, with different inputs to change the pressure intensity and type of shower. He could bore a hole in his head with one that felt like someone pouring a bucket on top of him, or get blasted by a full rain shower with no issue.
The third story of the house (yes, because this house needed a third story) was home to the entertainment systems. Because they were dead, they did not need to worry about the attraction of monsters to the haven of the Underworld, so they got access to games, television, and phones. Speaking of…
“Can I use this phone to contact people above?”
“No, but you can use it to contact people in other realms.” Hestia had explained like it was common knowledge. “I use it to contact my Vestal Virgins all the time.”
Hestia needed to quit giving Jason such cryptic answers or else he was going to implode. It made sense, of course, that there would be other… pantheons considering that the Greek and Roman ones existed. It’s just… he’d never interacted with one. Which ones existed? Obviously, the Norse one if Hestia’s look about Asgard said anything. Did that mean the Egyptian gods existed? What about the Yoruba pantheon, the Buddhist gods, and the Sumerian gods? Jason’s head spun at the implications of how tiny his world truly had been while alive.
They walked up the steps to the second floor, only for Hestia to pause, making the touring guests pause in their wake. She looked up at the third floor and sighed.
“You already have your first godly visitor, Jason Grace. I hope they brought a housewarming gift.”
Jason immediately froze, glancing at Honesty and Theo with a wide gaze. A guest? That didn’t mean anything good. The Isles of the Blest were supposed to be secure and exclusive so whatever god that stumbled in here must be powerful.
Hestia walked up first, and the three demigods followed suit, making sure to keep a close distance. In the distance, they could hear the sounds of a television as someone played a game, uncaring of the owner of the house’s privacy wishes.
“Show yourself, guest,” Hestia said as she opened the door and sighed. “Oh, Thanatos. I see you're having fun?”
Thanatos was here? In his residence? Jason immediately stepped into the room, ready to prostrate or kick out the god, when he was given a very big surprise.
The god of death, Thanatos, was in his room playing Stardew Valley and popping pieces of candy in his mouth. The god had kicked his feet up on a table and he sighed, turning his golden eyes towards the tiny girl, then Jason Grace. He nodded once at the pair.
“Good timing. I just got done reorganizing my farm during my break.” Thanatos said as he got up, and Jason had to gawk at his insane outfit. This deity was wearing a full wardrobe worth of techwear.
He had black combat boots, baggy black parachute pants that were outfitted with too many pockets, a long-sleeved black jacket that was clipped together in the middle by a giant metallic side release buckle, and a techwear cloak that flowed off his shoulders. His hands were covered with fingerless gloves as he pulled a black baseball cap over his flowy black hair. His royal face had been partially covered by a face mask, also black in design, but he pulled it down to frown at the group of visitors. His wings furled out over his cloak, shining black and purple and blue, almost like a way to intimidate the guests.
He looked so freaking dumb Jason had to stifle a cough.
“What’s so funny?” The god glared at Jason, who raised his hands in surrender.
“Nothing, nothing. I wasn’t laughing, I was just… surprised. By how… good the outfit looks on you.” This seemed to placate Thanatos as he nodded, smiling as he gestured down his body.
“It’s meant to conceal my identity. No one can see when Death comes.” Thanatos turned invisible then, startling the three demigods.
The next moment, a purple light flashed across the room and placed itself at Honesty’s throat, a slight tingle as she felt the cold Stygian iron start to seep her life essence. The god of death turned visible again, his pure black scythe flashing an eerie purple before he sliced it through the air, making it vanish.
“I’ve been waiting for you, Osei and Magnette. I have a quest for you two-”
“I accept.”
Thanatos cocked his head, looked at the son of Jupiter with confused eyes. “I beg your pardon?”
“Thanatos, I accept the quest. I want to help out my friends above.”
Jason walked across the room, arm outstretched to shake. He may have died, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t willing to go up to help them out one last time.
“I apologize, Jason Grace, but I do not believe I asked for your help. I asked for the help of your other incarnations.”
A stab of hurt ran through Jason. “Uh, what do you mean? I want to help fight against the Triumvirate and Python. We need to get Apollo back to-”
“You have already died in the mortal realm and cannot go back there unless given permission by Hades himself. You have been accepted to the Isles of the Blest and are expected to rest here,” Thanatos cut him off, his golden eyes piercing his face. “While it is important that Apollo regains his godliness, it seems like your father has failed to recognize that the other pantheons rely on each other for support. This matter has spiraled much further than Zeus could have predicted, even more so for the loss of his own flesh and blood. So, the current issue I have is reserved for elsewhere. The demigods up there can handle the Triumvirate Holdings and Python.”
Wait, other pantheons? So they did exist…
“Well then, why can I not come back up?” Jason asked urgently, his face pinching slightly with agitation. “What is so important that I am not allowed to be considered for help yet my soulmates are allowed to come back up?”
“That is a matter for me to know and for you not to involve yourself in. Is this not what you want, Grace? To not be at the beck and call of the gods? Enjoy your well-deserved rest. I do truly mean it.”
Thanatos turned towards the other two demigods, bowing slightly.
“There is an issue I’d like to discuss with both of you. This matter is meant to be highly confidential, so I would prefer to talk to the two of you in private.”
“Um, issue? What's the issue?” Theo piped up from the back.
“Theodore, this matter may need someone of your expertise as a child of Hecate.”
“Oh! Oh… really!?” The redhead jumped at the offer, running up to the death god with hearts in his eyes. “I appreciate it, Thanatos, sir! May I ask what style of clothing you wear currently?”
“It's a modern style called techwear.”
“Well, you are certainly one hell of an icon in these clothes. Come by my house and we can discuss it! Honesty, you coming with?”
Honesty, who had been nursing the slight nick she got from the Stygian Iron scythe, shook her head as she gazed at Jason. The son of Jupiter stood in the middle of the room, clenching his fists. “I'll stay here with Jason. Fill me in later. I think he needs someone to help him go shopping.”
Notes:
Honesty, Theo, and Mu-yeol are all original characters to the story! You'll see more of Honesty and Theo as the story goes along and they have big plans for the future (in my notes).
Enjoy your week!
smbrita3 on Chapter 1 Wed 02 Jul 2025 02:14AM UTC
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MageOfLogomancy on Chapter 1 Tue 08 Jul 2025 02:04AM UTC
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smbrita3 on Chapter 1 Tue 08 Jul 2025 03:19AM UTC
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MageOfLogomancy on Chapter 1 Tue 08 Jul 2025 02:04AM UTC
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smbrita3 on Chapter 2 Thu 10 Jul 2025 05:09AM UTC
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MageOfLogomancy on Chapter 2 Sun 13 Jul 2025 06:14AM UTC
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smbrita3 on Chapter 2 Sun 13 Jul 2025 06:39AM UTC
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