The Buried Archaeologist

Happy Halloween Eve! Today is day eight, and we have Annabeth up!

This was written well over a year ago, and was the original inspiration for this whole thing. I hope you like it! 

Context: 1903, Valley of Kings, Egypt 

Terms: 

Valley of Kings-  a valley in Egypt where, for a period of nearly 500 years from the 16th to 11th century BC, tombs were constructed for the Pharaohs and powerful nobles of the New Kingdom 

Howard Carter- the famous archaeologist who discovered King Tut’s tomb in 1922 

Here is Annabeth’s portrait  and lmpadora’s PJO Challenge

1903, Valley of Kings, Egypt

Annabeth loved her job. As an archaeologist she was able to travel all over the world and recover artifacts that past human civilizations have left for humanity today. It was just the turn of the century and women were starting to gain the rights they finally deserved. Well, not really considering it was only 1903. But she was lucky enough to attend Harvard University and get a job right out of college. Annabeth was not a regular woman. A woman at her age, which is twenty two should already be married and bearing children. She was never a fan of having children anyway.

She and her crew were located in the deserts of Egypt trying to locate old tombs of the ancient pharaohs. So far they’ve gotten nothing but a lot of sand everywhere. It was kind of frustrating but they had all signed up for this archaeological adventure. Annabeth Chase was always up for a challenge, and she knew that finding new tombs of Ancient Egypt could be dangerous.

The entire crew had locals help them guide across the deserts of Egypt with the camels they had. Only the people who helped carry the expensive new device called cameras walked on the sand. It would be too bumpy to have that equipment on the back of a camel. Cameras were not easy to come by that was for sure.

As they trekked, the sun was beating down hard on top of Annabeth’s skin making it burn a red color. She sighed and put her curly blonde hair up in a nice bun to keep it from sticking to the back of her neck. The light blouse she was wearing did not help her feel less hot. The black trousers and leather boots she had on were burning her a little bit and she regretted that choice in clothes just a little bit.

“Feeling a little sweaty there Chase?” One of her fellow crew mates asked her.

Being the only woman on the crew, she was often ostracized for being there. Women were still considered inferior and she tried not to let the men get to her. She huffed and grabbed the reins on the camel again.

“Just as much as you are,” she retorted back.

The Burned Miner

Here is day seven! Leo is up. 

This was written weeks ago, and I haven’t read through it since then but I hope you all like it! 

Context: 1864, Nevada, United States in the Sierra Nevada mountains 

Terms: 

Transcontinental Railroad- a railroad line in the US that connected the East to the West

Nitroglycerin- an extremely deadly explosive used back then to blow through mountains  

gringo- spanish slang for white people 

James Howden- produced the nitroglycerin on sight of the job 

Here is Leo’s portrait and the PJO Challege 

1864, Nevada, United States

Leo Valdez came to America to be free. He was born in Texas, which had been a Republic when he was born before it had become a state. Now with the American Civil War ripping the nation into pieces the Union was hiring people left and right to finish something called the Transcontinental Railroad. He didn’t really know what he was signing up for, but it was a job and it was a mechanical one which Leo could do.

The bosses of this mechanical feat wanted it to be complete by the time 1869 came rolling around. It was 1864 at the current moment. It seemed almost impossible considering they had to blast their way through the Sierra Nevadas which had killed and trapped Americans going out west years ago. But the people were determined to do it.

As Leo lit his cigarette and straightened out his straw hat he was casually walking with his pickaxe over his shoulder. It was sweltering hot this morning and beads of sweat were already forming on his face. The white people watching over in their nicely tailored clothing were writing things down on their paper. Leo smirked and let out a wolf whistle.

“Hey gringos I hope your trousers don’t get too dirty today, would hate it if they got ripped!” he taunted.

They looked up with their monocles in their eyes and their bushy mustaches. They just gave him a glare before going back to whatever they had to do. For good measure he spit by their shoes making them scamper back like a rat had just ran past them.

“You dirty latino! Get back to work!” One of the more daring ones called out.

Leo just rolled his eyes and continued on his way to his post. There were other immigrants working on the railroad. Most were from China or Ireland but he had some spanish speaking ones as well. He started hacking at the limestone.

The Cursed Bride

Here is day six! And we have Piper! 

Man, I keep writing these out of character. I mean I don’t know why, but it just happens. These stories are dark because I guess I’m just super into the mood of darkness and eeriness of halloween. So yeah, Piper is super out of character for this one too. Sorry. 

And I’m putting my AP Euro knowledge to the test in here. A lot of historical references. 

This was also really influenced by the Haunted Mansion (the ride). There’s one point where you see all the husbands of the bride who she killed with a hatchet, which is where this idea sprouted from.

Warning: mentions of murder and being beheaded. 

Context: 1793, Paris, France during the height of the French Revolution

Terms: 

Guillotine- a machine used to behead people 

Ancien Regime-  the political and social system in France before the Revolution of 1789. 

Maximilian Robespierre- prominent leader of French Revolution and in charge of the Reign of Terror 

Committee of Public Safety- in charge of cleansing all the people “against the revolution” and headed by Robespierre 

Reign of Terror (or just The Terror)- from 1793-1794 anyone who was accused of betraying the Revolution and Republic was guillotined 

here is Piper’s portrait  and lmpadora’s PJO Challenge 

1793, Paris, France

France was better off with the King, Piper thought as she looked down from her balcony of her estate.

The streets were bustling with people trying to get from point A to point B. Many walked with their heads hung low trying not to make eye contact with anyone else. It was dangerous to do so. One wrong look can send you to the guillotine and have a public execution for all of Paris to see. She would know, she sent three of her husbands to it.

Piper was born in France to Venus d'Olympique, a wealthy socialite in France with many connections in Europe. Never knowing who her father was, she was raised in France in the aristocracy. Lavish clothes, makeup and fragrances were handed to her. At first she had wanted nothing to do with it. She would rather play out in the streets with the boys than fit into another corset or attend another salon with her mother and airhead, fake enlightenment lady friends. But as she got older, and prettier she realized that there was no escaping the life she was in.

Voodoo Witch

Here is day five! Hazel is up! 

Just a warning, HAZEL IS SO OUT OF CHARACTER. It just happened really, and I didn’t mean to write her so darkly, but it was kind of unavoidable. Also there is burning at the stake mentions and slavery. I don’t go too into detail about either but it’s there. 

And I don’t know anything about voodoo, I tried to do some quick research about it while writing but honestly I could be so wrong in depicting it, so sorry. 

Context:  1692, Salem, Massachusetts during the Salem Witch Trials 

Terms: 

voodoo-  a set of spiritual folkways that developed from the traditions of the African diaspora. (straight off of wikipedia) 

hemp- stuff rope is made out of 

Here is Hazel’s portrait   and lmpadora’s pjo challenge

1692, Salem, Massachusetts

Hazel had taken every precaution to make sure she wasn’t ever discovered. She didn’t know who snitched her out, but when she found out she would make sure they suffered with her in the afterlife. There were plenty of witches in the colonies, and especially in Salem. Of course the ones she was in a cult with helped fight off the evil spirits that lurked in the shadows at night. But Hazel’s witchcraft was different from the others.

Hazel’s grandmother had been sold into slavery from Africa and sent to part of the French colony called New Orleans. With her she had brought her magic that she had been taught by her family as well. Louisiana voodoo was something that many slaves knew how to do and often used it with each other for protection. Hazel’s mother had become a Voodoo Queen down in New Orleans within the slave population. The white folk had feared Marie Levesque and wanted her dead. But she had given all her tricks to Hazel. It was the only way to feel connected to her mother while she was forced to watch her burn at the stake in front of the whole town.

After Hazel soon fled north out of New Orleans, not wanting to be discovered for witchcraft there. Some white folk had found her traveling through and brought her up to Salem in the colony of Massachusetts. They were missionaries for Puritanism and had taken her in as their slave. Being a slave in the north was very different from where she was in the south. Hazel’s duties were inside the house serving the white folk, not working out in fields and in the harbor all day doing back breaking work.

The clothes that covered up every inch of her body helped too. The women wore simple dresses that covered their necks all the way down to their ankles. Hair was tied back under a bonnet and only in simple colors that weren’t bright. Hazel was able to cover up the runes that were tattooed into her arms and hands.

Ghost Pirate

Here is day four! Sorry for the hold up. Today has been very busy. Our very own Percy is up! 

Context: Tortuga, Saint-Domingue 1558. 

Terms: 

Tortuga- a former notorious pirate port in what is now Haiti

Saint-Domingue- the French colony name for what is now called Haiti 

Queen Elizabeth I- Queen of England from  1558-1603 

wench- slang for young woman 

And yes, I did get the a lot of inspiration from Pirates of the Caribbean. I listened to the soundtrack while writing this out. 

Percy’s portrait  lmpadora’s PJO Challenge

1558,Tortuga, Saint-Domingue

Percy wasn’t always cursed. When he was mortal, he sailed the seas under her Majesty Queen Elizabeth I of England. Joined a ship to become a merchant for the Crown. He wanted to explore the new world and all it’s fine treasures. In his mortal state he was extremely loyal and ambitious. Always wanting to please his captain and serve his country proud. It wasn’t until he met Calypso when things turned bad.

His ship had docked Tortuga, which they at the time were unaware that it’s where pirates festered inside of. They had stopped for the night to stock up on supplies for the crew. When Percy woke up the next morning he found his entire crew was bound up by pirates with knives and swords held to their necks ready to slit their throats. The pirates were a mix of former sailors working for France and Spain along with natives of the Caribbean as well. Percy as captain of his ship was shocked when he saw the sight before him. His crew was innocent, only doing their jobs and no harm.

A woman with tan skin and angelic features came up to him. Her eyes were golden in color, giving a haunting look at Percy. Her light brown hair was plaited with many jewels making it glitter. She looked like she had just come out from the jungle for the first time. She had ripped cloths sewn together to make a dress with fishnets covering it on top. She radiated power and scared Percy, but she was beautiful. She walked right up to him so he was only a few inches from her face. She snapped her fingers and two bulky men grabbed his arms and put them behind his back.

“You have made a grave mistake my captain,” her voice teased.

Angel of Death

Here is day three! Nico is up. 

Context: Venice in 1348 when the height of the Black Death was occurring in what is Italy today. 

Just a disclaimer, I am not that religious but for the context of the story, almost everyone in Europe was highly religious. So I just thought it would  make more sense to call Nico an Angel of Death and to make biblical references. 

And I’m sorry for what you’re about to read. It might get sad. 

Terms: 

Death- one of the four horsemen of the Biblical Apocalypse

 Serf- a peasant who lives on a fief and serves a lord and works on the property of a lord

Book of Revelation- Part of the New Testament in the Bible, about the Biblical Apocalypse 

Link to Nico’s portrait  

1348, Venice, Republic of Venice

They called him the Angel of Death. He had come into existence, neither have been born or died. Collecting the souls of the dead to bring them to the afterlife they deserved. Calling him the Angel of Death is wrong. He is not Death. He is just a follower of Death. Him and others do the reaping of souls on Earth for Death. Death appeared to Egypt when he had killed all the firstborns who were not protected by the blood of the lamb. And he will appear once again when the Book of Revelation shall come to pass. For now though, Death itself is in heaven waiting for its calling.

Nico had never met Death before. He had heard that they were so beautiful, that even an angel like himself would have his eyes burned out. Twelve sets of pure black wings, so large they covered Egypt for three days before he came down to slaughter.

If Nico knew better, he would’ve thought the apocalypse was starting now. Pestilence was making its way through Europe. Humans were dropping like flies by the hundreds every hour. Nico hadn’t seen a plague this bad even in his existence. Not even a place so holy like Rome was safe from it. Nico and all his other fellow death angels were working over time, reaping souls left and right trying to get them to the afterlife whether it be in heaven, hell or purgatory.  Nico had to wonder what God was up to and why he was cursing humans now. From what he has seen, God was their only hope. Many suffered enough as serfs working away six days a week from sunrise to sunset. They prayed and sung and recited the stories of the Bible every day. When he would come to collect their souls, they seemed almost, happy to die. Most would often ask if they were going to heaven. Nico wouldn’t be able to say until he passed them on to other angels who were in charge of guiding them fully to the afterlife.

The Gladiator.

Here is day two! Reyna is up for today. 

Context: Ancient Rome, in the year 66 AD during the reign of Emperor Nero. 

Warning: Blood, gore and death. 

Terms: 

Gladiatrix- literally a female gladiator 

Emperor Nero- Known for setting Rome on fire, and he was a crazy SOB. 

Link to Reyna’s portrait  thanks lmpadora again! 

66 AD, Roman Empire

Reyna inhaled the musty air. With her eyes closed and her right hand tightly gripping the spear, she mentally prepared herself. She has trained her entire life for this moment. Picked out from a young age, and raised to be a gladiatrix. There were few who were deemed worthy enough for a status that equals a male gladiator. And now all her training has led to this event; her debut in the Colosseum for all of Rome to see.

Her father was a well known warrior in his tribe over in Iberia. The Romans had taken notice of him immediately and used him to help them. All the fathers of the Ramírez tribe had been great leaders for Rome. They had fought in the Punic Wars for Rome against Hannibal and Carthage. Her bloodline was extremely loyal to Rome.

She opened up her eyes and looked around her. She was in a holding cell preparing herself for the fight. She was standing on hay and the air was hot and humid. The only light in the area was the faint glow of her breastplate and Imperial gold spear tip. Reyna could feel the slight tremble of the people in the stands chanting for blood and death. It didn’t make her doubt her skill though. Reyna was the best gladiatrix Rome had, and she was willing to prove it.

The Mutilated Solider

Okay! Just as promised, today is the first revealing of the short one-shots I have lined up based on the wonderful lmpadora’s PJO Halloween Challenge. With her permission, I was able to write these one-shots and use her images to help you get a nice visual too. 

I’d really like to thank her for giving me permission to use her artwork for this and seriously, you should all check it out. Thank you again lmpadora! 

So today is Frank’s story. And because I’m a huge history geek, I’ve based his story in Ancient China. For the sake of the historical background, Frank’s name is Zhang Fai for the story. I will provide some information that probably isn’t common knowledge, but if you did know before hand what they were, kudos! 

Context: Takes place in 154 BC. Conflict is this little war called The Rebellion of the Seven States. It was an actual conflict between Seven Chinese Princes wanting to stop the Emperor of China from centralizing the Chinese government. 

Emperor Jing- Emperor at the time of the conflict coming from the Han Dynasty

Xia- an ancient name for China 

Qin Shi Huang- The First Emperor of China 

Okay, let’s roll with the story! Enjoy! 

Here is the link to Frank’s picture. Go reblog it after the story!

154 BC, Eastern China

War was on the horizon. The Seven Princes were starting to militarize their armies to defeat the great Han Dynasty. Zhang Fai, a prominent military leader for Emperor Jing had asked him to come back for service. He had come from a long line of strong leaders for the Chinese Imperial Army and would do anything for his country.

Zhang Fai walked up to the jade doors leading to the throne room of the Emperor. The two men guarding the doors stood up straight and bowed down to Zhang Fai as a form of respect. Keeping a stone face he did the same before the doors opened up before him. In the back of the room, sitting on a jade and gold throne was Emperor Jing in his regal robes.

Fire in bronze torches were lighting up the room dimly casting shadows over everything in sight. Emperor Jing sat with his back straight radiating power from the seat. Zhang Fai walked up and got down on his knee and bowed his head as a sign of great respect. There was silence for a few moments.

“My greatest general, stand up before me,” he commanded.

Black Velvet

Heyoo so it’s like 2 AM and I just had this crazy and sudden inspiration to write a fic so I’m gonna share it all with you. It’s probably crap cause I’m really sleep deprived and it’s...well 2 AM and I’m a college student neglecting her responsibilities. 

AU Prompt:  i had a one night stand the night before i started a college class and WHOOPS I ACCIDENTALLY BANGED THE PROFESSOR

Don’t worry no serious smut cause I’m complete shit with writing it, just brief mentions of it and of course implying of sex.  

It was the day before classes started again and all Annabeth wanted do was get laid. She wasn’t really one for serious relationships, one night stands were her forte. It was her third year at Manhattan College and now it was time that she would start really concentrating on her major. She was studying to become an architect, so she majored in both mathematics as well architecture. And as much as she hated to admit it, her father rubbed off on her a little. Her father, a professor of war history at Berkeley University all the way in California, had always sprouted random facts about war growing up. So she secretly developed a love for history as well. So she was minoring in that.

Her punk look would convince people that she was some kind of convict who was hell bent on wreaking havoc on society and ripping it down from the seams. It has always been that way. With the right side of her head shaved off in an undercut, the bottom of her blonde curls dyed a dark red to match with the lipstick she wore, it was something Annabeth had gotten used to. With the multiple piercings on both of her ears, eyebrow and nose she was bound to get some weird looks from elders. Younger people didn’t really care all too much these days, a lot of them were doing it.

She worked at the Hard Rock Cafe to help pay for some of her tuition for college. Sure it only helps a little, but every penny is something that brings her closer from getting out of debt. But tonight was her night off, so she and her roommate Piper were going to head off to the bar for the night.

Annabeth was getting ready for her night out when she heard the door knock. Piper opened it up and stepped in already ready. Annabeth was still figuring out what she should wear. It was August so it was still hot and humid all the time. She turned towards her roommate.

“Help me pick out an outfit,” Annabeth asked.

Happy October and Halloween Season!

Hello guys and gals! It’s finally October and Halloween season, my favorite part of the year. And guess what that means? Halloween themed fics! 

So last year the wonderful lmpadora created a pjo Halloween Challenge set of drawings which are honestly so great. And with her permission, I will be writing a set of fics based off of each picture. They will be posted one a day during the last nine days of October with the final one being on Halloween. I’m having so much fun writing them and I think you’ll enjoy reading them. Here’s the order they will be released in: 

1. Reyna 

2. Frank 

3. Nico 

4. Percy 

5. Hazel 

6. Piper 

7. Leo 

8. Annabeth 

9. Jason 

They go in chronological order because each fic takes place in a different part of history, with Reyna starting in 66 BC all the way to Jason in 1943 AD. 

So I hope you look forward to them and they will be ready for release on October 23. If you have any questions or curiosities, you can hit me up with a message on my personal account here.  Happy Halloween and Happy October!