pocket full of posies
❛ iii. fight the fatality ❜

━━━━━ FATAL FLAWS WERE called fatal for a reason. They get you killed, and often, in nasty, painful ways. Unfortunately for Posie, fear could get you just as easily killed as stupid bravery. And right now—she was utterly terrified.

There was no doubt that fear hindered her in everything she did. Even months after discovering this fear could be fatal, she hasn't gotten rid of it. She felt like the fear was embedded into her DNA; it felt like it was as much as her as that ugly green glow was. She wanted nothing more than to get rid of her fear and that glow that haunted her. Unfortunately, again, that fear and that sickness was Posie. And right now, Posie could feel the fear eating away at her—a heavy weight on her chest, the muscles in her shoulders and arms tensing, and the blinding reality that she could easily die at this very moment. Even worse—a burning sensation in her hands. That only meant bad things. She tried repeating things she had learned. It would've been easier if Onesimus was still around; he would've helped her remember ...

The unknown only made fear worse, too. Posie had no idea what kind of monster Dr. Thorn was, but she knew he could smell her fear. He sneered at her, like he always did, and swept through the snow. She shivered, turning around to look—Percy clutched his shoulder, the shoulder that had been grazed by the ... spike. By the poisonous spike. Posie's hands itched—not burn this time—but she kept them securely at her sides. While in the Underworld, she read—a lot, and about poison, death, and all sorts of other non-Apollo things. She had trained, and had come to the idea that she could take the poison out of someone's body—but Posie never had the chance to try.

Percy locked eyes with her. The fear was back, the fatality won, and Posie turned back around. Dr. Thorn was leading them outside, and Westover Hall loomed over them like the evil castle it was. The wind was bitter and snow blew into Posie's eyes, causing her to squint. All of a sudden, Dr. Thorn stopped. He seemingly sensed something and whirled around. Behind him, Bianca backed away, placing an arm out in front of her—in front of Nico, who gripped the back of her jacket.

Dr. Thorn sneered over their heads. "What are you doing, Jackson? Keep moving!"

Posie looked—Percy had stopped dead in his tracks, still holding his shoulder. He hissed, his eyes closed tightly. "It's my shoulder." He sounded miserable. "It burns."

Posie wiped her hands against her jeans. How her hands were sweaty in such cold weather? Well, that's fear for you. Her palms still itched, but she wasn't going to try to sap the poison out of Percy's skin. She had never done anything like that before, and it could go horribly. She couldn't do that to him—or to anyone.

"Bah!" Dr. Thorn snapped, whirling around with his hands waving angrily. "My poison causes pain. It will not kill you. Walk!"

Silently, Bianca and Nico glanced at Posie. She pursed her lips as she sighed. There was no fighting Dr. Thorn, even if it seemed like they had the good favor. The monster marched the four into the woods—a snowy path dimly that was lit by old-fashioned lamplights. It was cold. So, so cold. It felt like it was numbing Posie's mind along with her limbs, and the wind broke through her jacket despite how much she wrapped it around herself.

Posie wasn't smart—not like how Annabeth was—but her mind was still whirring, going into overtime as she tried to think of a way out of this. Her eyes darted around, trailing up the tall trees that overlooked above the five. Anthos and Arsis were heavy weights on her hips, but there wasn't a chance she could pull them out with Dr. Thorn not hearing anything. It would be great if Annabeth was around—even Onesimus. He would be telling her things—probably calling her an idiot for getting here—but his voice would be better than letting Posie's mind wander all on its' own.

"There is a clearing ahead," Thorn spoke after a moment, breaking the whistling wind. "We will summon your ride."

"What ride?" Bianca demanded, curling her arms over her chest. "Where are you taking us?"

"Silence, you insufferable girl!"

"Don't talk to my sister that way!" Nico bit back. His voice quavered, but Posie was shocked he could even have the bravery to say anything at all. Even she didn't have the bravery to.

Dr. Thorn made a growling sound—a sound that was not human, and Posie curled into her shoulders. The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. She didn't want to keep walking, but Percy bumped into her, hooking an arm with her own arm.

"We need to do something," he whispered to her.

"Well—yeah," agreed Posie. "But what?"

"What about your ... glow green thing?"

"No way!"

Percy shushed her. "Fight poison with poison," he insisted.

"Fight poison with sickness," corrected Posie. "And, no. Not here. Not with ..." She motioned her head towards Bianca and Nico. "I—I don't know what will happen."

"Oh." Percy's expression flickered, and he frowned. "I mean ... have you really not—"

"Silence!" Dr. Thorn snapped at them, his teeth barred. "The lovebirds are talking—" Posie made a choking sound from the back of her throat "—trying to conspire against me—"

"That's not true!" Posie croaked, unhooking her arm from Percy's.

Dr. Thorn's nostrils flared so hard they turned as white as the snow on the ground. "No touching."

Silently, Posie took a step away from Percy. She sent him a look. No going green, she mouthed to him. I can't. She easily could—her fear was off the charts now, and the sickness that waited around in her body was moving at a hundred miles per hour. But she wasn't putting anyone in harm's way, not Percy and especially not the di Angelo siblings. They had no idea what was going on, and Posie would only make it worse by trying to rot their vice principal-turned-monster.

Out of the blue, Dr. Thorn ordered; "Halt."

The woods had opened up—a cliff overlooked the churning, grey sea. At least ... that was what Posie could hear, and her stomach churned worse than the ocean right now. The crashing sound was loud, and the smell of the sea was there, along with the breeze which wasn't helping Posie with her chilliness any. But as far as she could see ( which wasn't much, in all honesty ), their surroundings were mist and darkness. Goosebumps raised along Posie's arms. The darkness was much more unsettling now with Dr. Thorn; even the grey moon wasn't helping Posie's uneasiness anymore.

Dr. Thorn pushed them towards the edge. Percy stumbled, but Posie managed to catch him before he took himself and her down.

"Thanks," he murmured.

Bianca leaned towards them. Posie noticed how her eyes were glassy with unshed tears. "What is he?" she asked in a whisper. "How do we fight him?"

Posie's eyes flickered in Percy's direction. "He's—he's ..." How could she admit she had no idea what monster was trying to kill them? What kind of help was she? "Um, anyway, we're ..." She looked at Percy, "we're working on it."

"Maybe," Percy grumbled under his breath. Posie only elbowed his side.

"I'm scared," Nico mumbled. He was fiddling with something—a little metal figurine. Was that part of the card game he was always talking about?

"Stop talking!" Dr. Thorn barked at them. "Face me!"

The four turned. Thorn's two-tone eyes glittered hungrily, making Posie's skin crawl. He pulled something from under his coat. At first, Posie was convinced it was a switchblade ( which he couldn't even have on campus ), but she took a closer look—only a phone. Which wasn't any more comforting.

He pressed the side button and murmured into it, "The package—it is ready to deliver."

There was a garbled reply, and she realized Thorn was in walkie-talkie mode. It was weird and too modern—a monster using a cell phone in walkie-talkie mode was never her idea of death.

Dr. Thorn looked up from the phone, his two-toned eyes locking on Percy. His cheek twitched and he laughed. "By all means, Son of Poseidon. Jump! There is the sea. Save yourself."

Bianca's eyes widened. "What did he call you?"

"I'll explain later," Percy promised quickly.

"You do have a plan, right?" asked Bianca, looking between Posie and Percy. She frowned when they didn't immediately respond. "I mean, don't you?"

Posie squeezed Percy's shoulder which had been injured, making him wince. She made an apologetic expression; this was only her way of telling him to not say anything that would scare the di Angelos even more. "Um, yeah. We do." She didn't want to blatantly lie to the siblings, but she didn't want to make them even more scared. Scared people do stupid things. But giving them hope was also a bad move—it makes them too careless and easy to kill.

"I would kill you before you ever reached the water," Dr. Thorn drawled suddenly, in a bored sort of manner. He looked at Percy and Posie harder, his lips curling into a sneer. "You do not realize who I am, do you?" he asked them.

A flicker of movement behind him, and another missile whistled so close to Posie that it nicked her ear. She had moved her head just in time—instead of nicking her ear and potentially her head, it only caused her ear to ring like static was in her ear drums. Something had sprung up behind Dr. Thorn—like a catapult, but more flexible ... like a tail.

"Unfortunately," Thorn continued, sniffing at the lack of reaction, "you are wanted alive, if possible. Otherwise, you would already be dead."

"Who wants us?" Bianca demanded suddenly. "Because if you think you'll get a ransom, you're wrong. We don't have any family. Nico and I ..." Her voice broke a little. "We've got no one but each other."

Dr. Thorn cooed at the girl the way you would at a cute kitten. "Do not worry, little brats. You will be meeting my employer soon enough. Then you will have a brand-new family."

"Luke," Percy suddenly decided. "You work for Luke."

Dr. Thorn's mouth twisted with distaste when Percy said that name. He was acting like that traitor was some annoying coworker you just had to put up with. Luke Castellan—a former camper whom Posie had thought highly of at one point ( until he tried to kill her and her friends many, many times ).

"You have no idea what is happening, Perseus Jackson," snapped Thorn, curling his fingers around his phone tightly. It shook slightly in his hands. "I will let the General enlighten you and little Josephine. You two are going to do him a great service tonight. He is looking forward to meeting you."

"The General?" Percy asked. But instead of asking how he normally would—with a heavy New Yorker accent—he blatantly mocked Dr. Thorn with a horrible French accent. Posie nudged him again, and he coughed; "I mean ... who's the General?"

Dr. Thorn looked towards the horizon. "Ah, here we are. Your transportation."

Posie turned her head to look, and spotted a light in the distance—a searchlight over the sea. Then, she heard the chopping of helicopter blades getting louder and closer.

"Where are you taking us?" Nico asked, his voice wavering.

"You should feel honored, my boy," Thorn told the young boy. "You will have the opportunity to join a great army! Just like that silly game you play. With those ugly cards and ridiculous dolls."

"They're not dolls!" Nico sneered at his former vice principal. "They're figurines! And you can take your great army and—"

"Now, now," Dr. Thorn placated, spreading his hands to them. "You will change your mind about joining us, my boy. And, if you do not, well ... there are other uses for half-bloods. We have many monstrous mouths to feed. The Great Stirring is underway."

"The Great Stirring?" Posie repeated, a tone of disbelief taking over.

"The stirring of monsters, Josephine." Dr. Thorn smiled cruelly at her. "The worst of them, the most powerful, are now waking. Monsters that have not been seen in thousands of years. They will cause death and destruction the likes of which mortals have never known. And soon we shall have the most important monster of all—the one that shall bring about the downfall of Olympus!"

It's always the downfall of Olympus they want. How horrible it was to have a father apart of the Olympians.

"Okay ..." Bianca whispered, sounding like she was trying to convince herself more than anything. "He's completely nuts."

"We have to jump off the cliff," Percy responded without missing a beat. "Into the sea."

"Oh, super idea." Bianca looked at Posie, as if to silently ask You're friends with this guy? "You're completely nuts, too. Posie, are you going to tell us that we need to pound this guy with snowballs?"

No, but Onesimus would probably love that idea. But Posie never had a chance to argue for her name. No, she didn't—because an invisible force slammed into her and Percy.

✿

Looking back on it, Annabeth's move was brilliant. Wearing her cap of invisibility, the daughter of Athena plowed right into the di Angelos, Posie, and Percy—she sent them all sprawling to the ground. For a small split second, Dr. Thorn was taken by surprise, so his first volley of missiles zipped harmlessly over their heads. This gave Thalia and Grover a chance to advance from behind—Thalia wielding her magic shield, Aegis.

If you've never seen Thalia Grace ( but never use her last name, apparently she hated it more than she hated the gods. But Annabeth had let it slip once talking to Posie, so now she knew ) run into battle, you have never been truly frightened. She uses a huge spear that expands from this collapsible Mace canister she carries in her pocket, but that's not even the scary part. Her shield is modeled after the one her father, Zeus, uses—also called Aegis—a gift from Athena. The shield has the head of the gorgon Medusa molded into Celestial bronze—even though it won't turn you to stone, it's so horrible most people will panic and run at the sight of it.

Even Dr. Thorn winced and growled when he saw it.

Thalia moved in with her spear. "For Zeus!"

Posie thought Dr. Thorn was dead meat—Thalia jabbed at his head, but he snarled and swatted the spear aside. His hand changed into an orange paw with enormous claws that sparked against Thalia's shield as he slashed. If it hadn't been for Aegis, Thalia would've been sliced like a loaf of bread. As it was, she managed to roll backward and land on her feet. Posie's skin crawled, the sound of the helicopter was getting louder, and her ears felt like bursting at the noise—and all she could do was ... stand there. Like an idiot. She was always like this. She never helped where it mattered.

Beside her, she heard whimpers. Bianca and Nico huddled together, still lying in the snow. She saw the tears in their eyes, but Bianca still tried to put a protective arm around her brother's shoulders. Ignoring the feeling of ants all over her skin, Posie shuffled closer to them. "It's gonna be okay," she told them. "Thalia—she's got this."

Bianca looked at the daughter of Apollo. "What is happening?"

Posie licked her lips. It didn't even feel like ants anymore; it was like spiders, large spiders crawling up and down her arms. Her fingers burned, but they weren't glowing green. At least she had that—no green glow in sight. She sighed, ducking her head to lean closer to Bianca. "We're gonna solve this, okay? Just, um, stay out of the way."

"Posie, answer me." The older sister's eyes were pleading. "Please."

There was never an easy way to introduce demigods to the truth, but this had to be one of the worst ways—getting nearly kidnapped, learning you're going to join a family of monsters, and having your vice principal try to kill you.

Before Posie could stumble over an answer, she spotted something—Dr. Thorn launched another volley of missiles at Thalia. This time, Posie saw exactly how he did it—a leathery, scorpion-like tail that bristled with spikes at the tip. The missiles deflected off Aegis, but the force of their impact knocked Thalia down.

Before Dr. Thorn could crumble the daughter of Zeus underfoot, Grover sprang forward. He put his reed pipes to his lips and began to play—a frantic jig that sounded like something pirates would dance to. Grass broke through the snow. Within seconds, rope-thick weeds were wrapping around Dr. Thorn's legs, entangling him.

The vice principal roared and began to change. He grew larger until he was in his true form—his face was still human, but his body was that of a huge lion. His leathery, spiky tail whipped deadly thorns in all directions.

"A manticore!" Annabeth gasped, now visible. Her magical New York Yankees cap had come off when she'd plowed into them.

Bianca gasped loudly. "Who are you?! And what is that?"

"A manticore?" Nico gasped, suddenly starting to reach for the pocket of his jacket. "He's got three thousand attack power—and plus five to saving throws!"

Before Posie could process any of what Nico said, Dr. Thorn had already clawed his way through the weeds Grover's music had sprung up. She gritted her teeth as the manticore turned towards them with a snarl worse than the Furies ( and trust Posie, she knows what the Furies look like ). "Down!" she shrieked, pushing Nico and Bianca further into the snow.

Percy ducked beside Posie, fiddling with the watch his half-brother had given to him last summer. Finally, he smacked the face of his wristwatch, and metal plating spiraled out into a thick bronze shield. Not a moment too soon—the thorns impacted against it with such force they dented the metal. There was no way it was surviving another volley of thorns. There was a thwack and a sharp yelp, and Grover landed next to Percy with a thud.

"Yield!" the monster roared.

"Never!" Thalia yelled from across the field.

She charged the monster—and, for a second, Posie thought she would run the manticore through. But then there was a thunderous noise and a blaze of light from behind them. The helicopter appeared out of the mist, hovering just beyond the cliffs. It was a sleek black military-style gunship, with attachments on the sides that looked like laser-guided rockets. The helicopter had to be manned by mortals, but what was it doing here? How could mortals be working with a monster? The searchlights blinded Thalia, and the manticore swatted her away with its tail. Her shield flew off into the snow. Her spear flew in the other direction.

"No!" Percy screamed, scrambling to his feet to run and help. He parried away a spike just before it would've hit Thalia in the chest. He raised his shield over himself and the daughter of Zeus, but even Posie knew that would never protect them—even Percy knew it wouldn't.

Dr. Thorn laughed. "Now do you see how hopeless it is? Yield, little heroes."

They were trapped between a monster and a fully armed helicopter. They had no chance. Posie's skin burned worse, and she prayed to Hades—Not here, not now. I can't. Then she heard a clear, piercing sound: the call of a hunting horn blowing in the woods.

The manticore froze, clearly having heard it too. His head perked upward as his eyes frantically darted around. For a moment, no one moved. There was only the swirl of snow and wind and the chopping of the helicopter blades. "No ..." Dr. Thorn murmured. "It cannot be—"

His sentence was cut short when something shot past Percy like a streak of moonlight. A glowing silver arrow sprouted from Dr. Thorn's shoulder. He staggered backward, wailing in agony.

"Curse you!" Thorn cried. He unleashed his spikes, dozens of them at once, into the woods where the arrow had come from—but just as fast, silver arrows shot back in reply. It almost looked like the arrows had intercepted the thorns in mid-air and sliced them in two. Posie started to perk upwards. There were few archers she knew could do that; Michael hardly ever had shots that good.

The manticore pulled the arrow out of his shoulder with a howl of pain. His breathing was heavy. Percy tried to swipe at him with Riptide, but Dr. Thorn wasn't as injured as he looked. He dodged the attack and slammed his tail into Percy's shield, knocking the boy aside.

Then the archers came from the woods. They were girls, about a dozen of them. The youngest was maybe ten. The oldest, about fourteen, just a little older than Posie. They all wore silvery ski parkas and jeans, and were all armed with bows. They advanced on the manticore with determined expressions.

"The Hunters!" Posie sat up, a hopeful expression on her face.

Across the field, Posie saw Thalia roll her eyes and grumble something.

One of the older archers stepped forward with her bow drawn. She was tall and graceful with coppery-colored skin. Unlike the other girls, she had a silver circlet braided into the top of her long dark hair, so she looked like some kind of Persian princess. "Permission to kill, my lady?"

Posie scanned the other archers, looking for ... Well, she didn't know what her aunt would look like. Posie had never met her aunt, but she figured she might look like Apollo—tan, blonde, sunny. Or ... maybe she would look like the opposite.

The monster wailed. "This is not fair! Direct interference! It is against the Ancient Laws."

"Not so," another girl argued. This one looked to be Posie's age, thirteen or so. She had auburn hair gathered back in a ponytail and strange eyes, silver-yellow like the moon. Her face was striking and scary, and her expression was stern and dangerous. "The hunting of all wild beasts is within my sphere. And you, foul creature, are a wild beast." She looked at the older girl with the circlet. "Zoë, permission granted."

The manticore growled. "If I cannot have these alive, I shall have them dead!"

He lunged at Thalia and Percy, and Posie screamed. She started to get up from the ground, but Annabeth grabbed her arm. "Your hands!" she hissed. Posie saw what Ananbeth was talking about—steaming in the snow was a small pool of green poison. Just vaguely, Posie saw a nasty burn mark on the palm of her hand—red and raised and irritated. That burn mark was exactly where her skin felt like it was crawling and burning. It should not hurt as bad as it did; it seemed easy to heal, but it hurt like she would never be able to use that hand again.

The daughter of Athena's expression was grim. She locked eyes with Posie just before she scrambled from the ground. Posie gasped, "Annabeth—!" as the blonde ran across the field and charged for Dr. Thorn.

"Get back, half-blood!" the girl with the circlet commanded. "Get out of the line of fire!"

But Annabeth leaped onto the monster's back and drove her knife into his mane. The manticore howled, turning in circles with his tail flailing as Annabeth hung on for dear life.

"Fire!" Zoë ordered.

"No!" Posie and Percy screamed.

But the Hunters let their arrows fly—the first caught the manticore in the neck. Another hit his chest. The manticore staggered backward, wailing, "This is not the end, Huntress! You shall pay!" And before anyone could react, the monster, with Annabeth still on his back, leaped over the cliff and tumbled into the darkness.

"No!" Posie cried, climbing to her feet. A steaming hand print was left with steaming green edges. She started to run for the blonde, but the enemies weren't done. There was a snap-snap-snap from the helicopter—the sound of gunfire.

Most of the Hunters scattered as tiny holes appeared in the snow at their feet, and Posie backed away from the small bullet holes in the snow; however, the girl with auburn hair just looked up calmly at the helicopter. "Mortals," she announced with a tone of disdain, "are not allowed to witness my hunt." She thrust out her hand, and the helicopter exploded into dust—no, not dust. The black metal dissolved into a flock of birds—ravens, which scattered into the night.

The green sickness seeped back into Posie's skin like she was a sponge. She was in the middle of the battlefield, a couple of steaming hand prints that glowed green in her wake as she tried to stop Annabeth. She swallowed a sick feeling as the Hunters advanced forward.

The one called Zoë stopped short when she saw Thalia. "You," she sneered with distaste.

"Zoë Nightshade." Thalia's voice trembled with anger. "Perfect timing, as usual."

Zoë scanned the rest of them. "Five half-bloods and a satyr, my lady."

"Yes," the younger girl agreed. "Some of Chiron's campers, I see."

"Annabeth!" Percy got to his feet, looking dazed. "You have to let us save her!"

The auburn-haired girl turned to face him. "I'm sorry, Percy Jackson, but your friend is beyond help."

Posie's eyes locked on the girl. "What? No, no. There has to be something!"

The girl looked at the daughter of Apollo next. Her eyes flickered, and she had a ghost of a smile. "If there was, I would tell you. There isn't. Your friend is gone."

Percy's expression flickered. "You're lying!" he sneered. He started to walk forward, but some Hunters grabbed his arms.

The girl sighed and pursed her lips. She turned back around to face the son of Poseidon. "You are in no condition to be hurling yourself off cliffs," the auburn-haired girl said, almost sounding like she was chiding him.

"Let me go!" he demanded. "Who do you think you are?"

Zoë stepped forward as if to slap Percy.

"No." The other girl raised her hand to stop Zoë. "I sense no disrespect, Zoë. He is simply distraught. He does not understand."

"And I don't either!" protested Posie, stepping forward. As quick as light, before anyone could spot it, she tucked the burned palm underneath her crossed arms. "What do you mean?"

The young girl looked at Posie fully, her eyes colder and brighter than the winter moon. "I am Artemis, little niece," she said. "Goddess of the Hunt."

✿  DEC. 31ST, 2023  /  this was supposed to come out on christmas ... (it did not come out on christmas)

there's a lot of talk of fatal flaws this chapter (that's literally where this chap's title comes from) but it's sort of up in the air what exactly posie's fatal flaw is- and that's because ... i don't have an exact answer for you. yeah, i know. i mean- don't get me wrong, posie has flaws and issues, but what EXACTLY her fatal flaw switches between two things and i can't decide which one because they feed off/build on one another. the two flaws are fear/self-doubt and i'll kind of go in later (like a chapter or two later) how they build on one another- and we'll def see it later on in the fic exactly how they feed off one another!

i find it interesting how different all my ocs fatal flaws are. when i make my ocs i'll always sprinkle in some of myself into them (like, for elisa (from royal cries), it's her anger; for violet (from on this spring day), it's her refusal to acknowledge her mistakes; and for aj (another oc from on this spring day), it's how he snaps at people out of anger). because of that, i always really worry that they're too similar (and i'm sure, in many ways, they are too similar), but i think with how different all their fatal flaws are help me realize that they're not that similar, i only think they are because i focus on their flaws/shortcomings for plot reasons and their flaws come from me 🧍which ... is sad. but here we are LMAO

i'm going to guess that updates (for any of my fics) are going to slow down after the new year- because i either have to start spring semester (i took a semester off), or get a different part-time job (so i have to go applying), or probably both. i think (hopefully/not hopefully) both- i need to start college in the '24 spring semester so i can get some classes under my belt

anyways,, thoughts? opinions??

(not edited nor proofread)