#amphithemis

“Kid where did you get your new scar?”

“Oh your dead dementia nanny gave me that”

His name is Amphithemis

(Fun fact: I spent full minute trying to figure out how to pronounce that)

He looks so sweet for someone who apparently seems unhinged.

He's half-centaur, half-satyr!

Tbh, at first, I was like, "What centaur and satyr did the deed? How did that work? Aren't centaurs and satyrs all male? At least, we haven't seen any female centaurs, right? And satyrs reproduce with nymphs, right? So...???" But then I saw it was just Hera's fault, lol. Of course it was.

I wonder why Zeus sent him to Tartarus. I also wonder if we'll get a reason as to why Amphithemis didn't try escaping through the Doors of Death to keep looking for the child/god. Who did he make this promise with to protect the child? Whose kid is it? Also, how did he lose a child in Tartarus? Or did he lose the child on Earth (does Tartarus not count as Earth?) and then Zeus sent him to Tartarus as punishment? Maybe he lost the child on Earth and then Zeus sent him to Tartarus (for some unrelated reason) before he could find him again. Or did he find the child in Tartarus, swear to protect him, but then lose him? But that doesn't make sense, because how would the child be a god if he's from Tartarus...

Who is this child? What god is it? Have we met him? Have we heard of him? And why, if he's a god, is he just chilling on the surface? Why didn't he ever go to Olympus? Has he been there before? Does he just prefer Earth? So many questions...

And don't tell me Nico and Will are going to go down to Tartarus, only to have to go back up to find the god, and then they'll have to make their way back down again. That would be so inconvenient for them. I can see them becoming so annoyed if that is the case, lol. That'll make two trips to Tartarus for Will and three for Nico.

And is Nico connected to this god somehow?

They've definitely met before.

I wonder who this child is and how he's related to Nico. As we know, Nico is somehow a social butterfly despite his reserved and introverted nature, so it could literally be anyone. At least Nico usually makes friends with the many people he meets, so this mysterious god probably isn't an enemy... hopefully.

And what in the world is the Acheron? Is it new? Have we seen it before? Let me know, cause I don't remember it.

Honestly, how dare they leave us with so many questions while the book is still a whole month away. Well, they definitely know how to get our interest peaked.

Alright, that's the end of my rambling, lol. Thanks a lot to everyone who read it all. The book comes out May 2nd! Only a little less than a month to go!!! So close, yet so far...

Part 3

@pjo-hoo-toa-freakazoid thank you so much for the help!!!!!!

Disclaimer: I know tsats was supposed to be about Nico, but I'm making this about Octavian and everyone else is collateral damage.

Also the nightmare part was supposed to be in italics to be more clear it was a dream, but for reasons it ended up not being italized.

Enjoy the confusion Octavian felt.

...

"Mother, did you request us?"

"Shouldn't the demigods have nightmares?"

...

Octavian saw himself. Not as he was now. He saw him alive, without the burns and injuries, with his body and teddy bears. His face expressed disdain.

Octavian saw himself, planning the attack about to happen. The centurions around the map, him making last minute adjustments, the Greeks making a mess.

He was furious. He wanted to kill every single one of those Greeks, and to think one of them was a son of Apollo. What a waste.

“Can you believe how stupid you were?” 

The face of disdain had become scorn.

“No wonder Apollo stopped talking to you, abandoned you. Who would want to keep a deal with a buffoon?”

“You are seeing what is happening!! It was not my fault!! The stupid Greek-”

“If they are stupid, what does that make you? Afterall, they were able to fool you.”

“Apollo promised-”

“What does it matter what he said? You’re on Tartarus while all the Greeks are well and alive and even going to Camp Jupiter.”

Octavian could feel himself trembling with anger while imagining all the atrocities Perceus was doing at his home. If he had no respect before, now that New Rome lost the war, the little piece of shit would be going nuts.

“It is not my fault.”

“Then, whose fault is it? Didn’t the god of prophecy make you a promise?”

Octavian didn’t sleep. He couldn’t sleep. He was a ghost. But somehow he had a nightmare. It wasn’t a memory which made him unsure if he was in the past or the present. It was a nightmare. 

Maybe it was Tartarus. Maybe that was why he had a bad dream. Tartarus.

A hero on Tartarus. Something was wrong. Instead of hearing his own self mocking what happened, he heard Reyna. She would find this very funny. He remembered feeling humiliated and looking at her for aid to only find a smirk.

When Octavian paid attention to what was happening again he saw himself going in the direction of a river. He walked as far from it as he could. He would not be tricked by it. He refused to become one more ghost to be forever suffering on it. Stupid tricks. Stupid burns. Stupid broken bones. 

Would he be bleeding if he had a body? His injuries would be way better if he had a body. A body could heal. He could only be permanently in pain.

“Where are we going? Why are you following me?”

Amphithemis. Octavian had the same conversions with him over and over again. Some words changed, but the essence did not. It should be tiring. It was nice talking to someone. It was nice to be dragged out of his thoughts a little.

“You said we were leading me to a safe place to rest since the Giant was not in his cave.”

“He was not?! That is so weird he was always there! But don't you worry, we can find another safe place to rest. I feel light."

Light. Apollo.

His dream-self was wrong. Apollo didn’t abandon him. Amphithemis was the proof of it. Apollo would take care of all mistakes and he would finally leave Tartarus and be treated as the hero he was. 

…

“I’m worried about him. I thought he was getting better, but after the talk he had with Percy and Annabeth…”

“It seems more likely that he was just bottling everything up and that was the last straw.”

Hazel nodded. Reyna was the few people who truly understood Nico and after everything that happened it was nice having her to talk about him because she honestly didn’t know what to do.

“Do you think we should give him space?”

“I don’t think being alone is the best for him right now.”

“But if we invited him to come, how would we help him?”

Reyna looked at Hazel and they just stared at each other without an answer. 

…

“Maybe he will not help, he made his sentiments for his legacy very clear.”

“Then we need to find another person to help Nico.”

“Which demigod? And don’t you think the other gods would get mad at you? They need to perform good parenting from time to time and Nyx is too much for all of us.”

“Do you think they would mind if the demigod was already dead?”

…

It was weird to stand there looking at Michael Kahale. Last time Will saw the guy he probably was with a concussion and let his friend die. And now…

…

Everything on the field was dead. You would walk and walk and only see dead plants. Nico couldn’t care less. There was no place for guilt over this on him at the moment. There was no space for anything. He felt empty. He filled himself with void. 

Bob. 

So we got introduced to this character, Amphithemis on ReadRiordan, who's apparently gonna be in "The Sun And The Star". And I think I tracked down the myth he's from!

See, he's stated to be a half-satyr, half-centaur who hates Zeus and Hera because of him being given an impossible task, and I think I know what it was.

I think his task was to guard the baby Dionysus from Hera - a task which he and the others of his group failed at, and that Hera transformed the group of them into ox-horned centaurs for. You can read their entry on Theoi.

One of them is named Amphithemis.

...I don't understand why the being separated part should be a theory. like. it's bound to happen at some point. you don't bring your homie to a hell designed to kill and expect it not to tear you two apart. at this point, I'm not surprised.

what I do find disheartening though, is that Will is hinted to be the one alone. Bah. Throwing the less fighting-oriented in a desolate dangerous situation? Where's the fun in that? No. Go for the more challenge. The warrior. The more resilient one is, the more satisfying it is to crush their will. And the triumph shall be mine----ok that's enough.

On the other hand, we have seen Nico alone and tortured for so long that it's everyday business at this point. It might be fun to see him with someone who radiates chaos and is by no means sane like Amphithemis, also. I just hope Nico doesn't appear... adverse (?), or disgusted by him. You are not sane either Nico.

Anyway, all in all, it's not something new... Romance and kindness aside, Will's decision to accompany Nico is the most stupid, emotion-driven ever - as typical of young love. He is bound to pay for that in Tartarus. He will suffer. If he doesn't I'll be very disappointed.

However, Will doesn't have any weapons? Rick better makes a logical excuse otherwise I'm throwing him, Nico, and Apollo into the Phlegethon for their poor planning skills. What could have possessed you to let a child of Apollo into Tartarus unarmed?

Part 2

...

"Why the son of Hades?"

"Which other demigod would willingly come down here?"

"But his father-"

"His father can try whatever he wants. If it is my desire to have his son down here so it will be."

...

Octavian was with a headache, he wanted some painkillers. Were there painkillers for ghosts? It was an annoying pain, maybe he had been working so much. This wasn’t an uncommon occurrence. He would probably have another argument with Michael about this. Michael wasn’t on Tartarus. Octavian was. They would argue about anything. The Greeks killed him. 

You have a great plan.

Octavian wanted to pray to Apollo, to speak to him again. He wanted some direction, wanted to know what was happening. Could he use his powers as a ghost? Stupid damn burns who never got better and always hurt. How long has he been on Tartarus?

“That is weird. There used to be a nice Giant in that cave.”

A nice Giant? Was Amphithemis working for Gaia? Was she going to use him as bait for Apollo? 

“Do you know what happened to him?”

Octavian shook his head. Amphithemis had forgotten who he was. Jason had forgotten who he was. Jason abandoned him like it was nothing. Good-bye, traitor. The insides and the outsides of his neck hurt. Why did his injuries never get better? He didn’t have a body anymore.

“Did you know him?”

“No. You said you’d guide me to a safe place. Was this the safe place?”

Amphithemis was so happy. He always was. 

“I’m so glad I found you!! I’m so relieved!! And don’t worry, this is a temporary safe place! Just so we can rest and recover without needing to worry about monsters attacking us.”

Didn’t Amphithemis realize he was a ghost? That he had no body? That nothing could touch him? Were there any creatures who could harm him and Amphithemis was keeping them a secret? Was he really sent by Apollo?

Octavian’s stomach was hurting. He must have some burns there. He wondered if Reyna mourned him. He still couldn’t understand why she just left him. Sometimes they fought, sure, but they were a team. He and Apollo were a team.

An empousa surged out of nowhere and attacked Amphithemis. He was lucky to quickly dodge her and kick her hard in the face. There was a shadow. The empousa ran away. Was that a trick from Tartarus?

How did he end up in Tartarus? How long had he been there? He hated his burns, they hurted all the time. Could ghosts eat? Maybe if he ate something his stomach would hurt less. Those stupid damn Greeks. It was all their fault. They should be in Tartarus instead.

“Who are you? Do you know what happened to the Giant who was always here?”

….

“Bob…”

“We are really sorry, Nico.”

Disclaimer: the different povs all happen at different times, some with months of difference.

Thanks @overanalyzer for the help!!

...

"Will you do this for me, darling?"

"Of course, Mother…"

"If you have anything in your mind you can say."

"I… understand the interest, but why put so much effort on a mania and that creature? Why is that demigod so important?"

"He is not, but I realized we can get something very interesting with those three."

...

Octavian couldn't understand. It was clearly a trick, a trap, a lie. How could she fall on it? How could she leave him? Betray the legion in such a way? If she came back she would see. He would make her pay for her crimes, for her betraying, turning her back on him like that. Would he forgive her? He needed her, wanted her back. He would make sure she left humiliated.

Except he wouldn't. Octavian was on Tartarus and Amphithemis was sleeping. The weird faun seemed to have a bad dream. Octavian couldn't remember when was the last time he slept, but he could swear he was having tons of nightmares.

Burns through his body, a body he didn't have. At least he didn't feel tired. But he felt hungry. He thought it was hunger, maybe the emptiness on his stomach that hurt was another thing. Octavian wanted nothing more than to rip his skin. How did this happen with him? It could only be a mistake. This would explain Amphithemis. Apollo sent him to correct the mistake. 

Apollo… Octavian was sure he had done everything right, followed their deal, what went wrong? The Greeks, those stupid Greeks. His left leg was hurting. Had he cut himself somewhere on Tartarus? He got into Tartarus after being a ghost, he cut himself while he was still alive. He didn’t remember it. 

Amphithemis woke up. Would he remember Octavian this time? Octavian could hear the sound of Jason’s spear against wood, he was training. No, it was too dark to be training time, he was taking his frustrations out. Octavian missed his teddy bears.

“Who are you?” Always like an animal about to be attacked. It made sense considering where they were. They weren’t on Camp Jupiter, they were at Tartarus. “Why are you staring at me? What do you want?”

Maybe his shoulder was hurting because he was taking his frustrations out with Jason and got hurt.

“You said you’d get me to a safe place.”

Such a bright smile. Reyna only gave him small smiles that you could easily miss and he hadn’t seen Jason for months. Mike always hid his smiles. 

“It is you!!” Always the disarming and uncomfortable excitement. “But we don’t have time to chat, something is coming.” 

Amphithemis held Octavian’s arm and pushed him to start running. He was a ghost, the hands went past him. What did it feel like to have hands touching you?

“Imagine what Hera would do if I lost you again?”

Hera? Wasn’t he sent by Apollo? What did Hera have to do with this? Did Apollo ask Hera to send this weird faun? Apollo wanted him out of Tartarus, right? Of course, he wanted to! That stupid Greek demigod was just messing with his head, saying lies! And Nico di Angelo preferred to work with that loser and Reyna instead of him.

Octavian saw Cyclops coming after them. It was weird, all this time he had been on Tartarus the monsters had been ignoring him. How long had he been on Tartarus? The monster was not after him, it was after Amphithemis.

They turned behind a rock. The Cyclops lost them. A shadow made the Cyclops lose them. That was weird. Octavian’s face was always bothering him. He wanted to burn it away, which could make it worse since it was the burns that bothered him. He didn’t care. 

Lord Apollo, what happened? Why can’t I see the past and future anymore? 

“He won’t be able to follow us anymore.”

“Who are you talking about? Even better, who are you?”

Why was he on Tartarus? Apollo said he would die as a hero.

...

Death. He was expecting it, although he had no idea how it was supposed to be. Real death. Nothingness. Was that his fate?

Apollo opened his eyes. He was in the underworld, Hades was looking at him.

"Did I die?"

Not the death he thought he would have, normal death.

"I think we should wait for him to recover."

A female voice. Where was it coming from? It didn't sound like Persephone.