soulofstaars

Saturn Devouring His Son (1819-1823), Francisco Goya / I Would Leave Me If I Could, Halsey / Let Your Dad Die Energy Drink, Daniel Lavery / The Pain Scale, Eula Biss / Three Eyes, Amatullah Bourdon / John Winchester's Journal, Alex Irvine / The Sun Is Also a Star, Nicola Yoon / Woodtangle, Mary Ruefle / And My Father's Love Was Nothing Next To God's Will, Amatullah Bourdon / Forgiving Our Fathers, Dick Lourie / Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, Benjamin Alire Sáenz / A Dead Wolf (1600s), Jan Fyt

Had she really thought I would not know him? I could recognize him by touch alone, by smell; I would know him blind, by the way his breaths came and his feet struck the earth. I would know him in death, at the end of the world.

— MADELINE MILLER, THE SONG OF ACHILLES

(WHAT WILL YOU DO WHEN WAR COMES FOR YOU?)

Every child of War awaits the day that it arrives on their doorstep.

Less a question of if and more a question of when, there is only one certainty for the children of Mars: that eventually, their father's brutal domain will find them. No two battlefields look the same (there are many kinds of wars, each with their own delicate intricacies, and even more ways to fight them) but the inevitability of its arrival remains: war will come for them someday, whether they are ready for it or not.

For Ajax Rath, War was waiting for him at his first breath—and at his mother's last.

It was War that took Ajax from his mother's arms and delivered him to the Wolf House to be raised by the goddess Lupa and her pack; War that bid him ave atque vale—hail and farewell and promised that someday, they would meet again before leaving him behind. It is a promise that Ajax does not take lightly, carrying it with him for years. He intends to be ready the next time war comes for him; to be a soldier worthy of Mars and of Rome—the very best that the Twelfth Legion Fulminata has to offer. The kind of son that would make his father proud.

There's just one problem: Jason Grace.

For as long as Ajax can remember, Jason has been the one constant in his life—and the one person to which Ajax has always been considered second-best. If Ajax is good then Jason is better; if Jason is great, then Ajax is lesser. Jason is the golden boy, the perfect son, everything Ajax has always tried to be but fallen short of. There has never been a question of where Jason Grace, son of Jupiter—king of gods, belongs. Exalted not only by birthright through his god-king father, but as the chosen champion of his father's divine wife, Juno—queen of gods, Jason's destiny is a well-paved path to the frontlines, where glory and greatness is won. Where Ajax, often forced to the sidelines, desires to be most.

It'd be easier if Ajax could hate him. (Really, he wants to hate him.) Instead, he finds that he'd rather remain on the sidelines of Jason's glory than stand on the frontlines of his own alone.

Then Jason vanishes without a trace.

As war gathers like storm clouds on the horizon, Ajax knows the someday his father promised him will arrive sooner rather than later. He will learn the hard way that no matter how ready you may think you are for war, you will never be ready enough.

(GREET IT WITH A KNIFE'S EDGE SMILE—I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR YOU.)

ARCHIE RENAUX. 𓃦 AJAX "AJ" RATH.

I wish I was good at something other than war.

Harris Dickinson. Jason Grace.

Ryan Corr. Mars / Ares.

Timothy Olyphant. Jupiter / Zeus.

Monica Bellucci. Juno / Hera.

Anya Chalotra. Andromache Rath.

Sophie Thatcher. Thalia Grace.

Shelley Conn. / Sana Rath. †

Indira Varma. / Zoya Rath.

Diane Kruger. / Beryl Grace. †

Max Riemelt. / Krios.

DISCLAIMER

this is a work of fanfiction made purely for entertainment purposes. all rights belong to the original creators. that being said: please do not plagiarize / borrow any original ideas or repost to other sites without permission.

TRIGGERS AND WARNINGS

your mental health should always be your number one priority. please do not read this book if you are uncomfortable with themes including but not limited to:

graphic depictions of violence, character death, adult language, complex family dynamics, abusive family relationships, internalized homophobia, mature themes, discussions/portrayals of complex mental health issues.

any additional warnings will be added if needed!

DEDICATIONS

PARK — for making some incredible covers for this story, for being an amazing fic consultant, and for listening to all my unintelligible ramblings about this book and an assortment of other topics 🫡

JULIA — for making the beautiful story gif, for being one of the kindest and most generous people on this app, and for joining me in hadesgame shenanigans 🫶

author's note: well...! it's been. quite a while since i have written or published anything on this site and i feel horribly rusty, but here we are all the same! 🫡 to preface all of this: i sort of fell headfirst back into the greek mythology wormhole that consumed most of my childhood after getting covid early this year and having to quarantine 😵‍💫 which led to me starting the video game hades which then inspired me to re-read all the pjo verse books and finish some of the ones i hadn't had the chance to read yet. then i did a re-read of madeline miller's tsoa and started circe which inspired me to start a re-read of the iliad and the odyssey and ultimately wound up here so... yeah. yeah! 🥹

i've got tentative plans for few other fics set in the same universe, but this one ended up being the easiest to solidify and make ready for publishing which is why it's come first. it doesn't really matter which order they're read in, but some may contain spoilers for the others. each book will explore different themes and things i wish had been further expanded upon or maybe done differently in the series. they also serve as what is essentially a love letter to greek mythology and some of my favorite characters from those myths that i've held near and dear to my heart since i first picked up a book of greek myths for kids in my fourth grade classroom.

in particular, this book will explore themes of fathers and their children in greek (or roman) mythology—kronos as a father to zeus, zeus as a father to ares and his other children, ares as a father to his children, etc. and the intricacies of these relationships and how they impact each other. i personally was not a fan of the portrayal of ares in the first series, but i did find the portrayal of mars and a lot of his interactions with frank more enjoyable. for that reason, this book will be drawing more from mars than ares (and also because it primarily takes place in camp jupiter). aspects of this book have also been inspired by achilles and patroclus and different renditions of their story across various means of storytelling. whether or not these characters will share a similar fate... only time will tell! 🤫 ajax's name is meant to be a tribute to ajax the greater of the iliad, who was considered to be second best warrior out of all the greeks fighting in the trojan war—second only to achilles. i don't think i need to beat you guys over the head with that parallel. andromache also shares a name with hector's wife. however, rest assured that she will most definitely share a kinder fate than the one that andromache faced.

as far as the timeline goes: this book will cover from before the heroes of olympus (re: the titan war) all the way through the trials of apollo. i may fudge around with the timeline a bit and things won't always strictly follow canon, but i wanted to give a general idea of when things are happening. more characters will show up in the cast list, but alas—i was running out of room here. expect to see camp jupiter friends, foes, and co. in the dividers.

i promise i'm almost done rambling... i feel like i'm forgetting to say something and also like i've said too much but bottom line: i'm super excited to share this story with all of you. rusty as i may be, i honestly missed being on here and coming up with stories and all the excitement and genuine joy that comes with doing that. i hope that you are also excited and enjoy this book. thanks for reading!

p.s. i would love to read some more pjo verse fics as i am brand new to this fandom on here, so please feel free to comment if you'd like me to check out your book and i will try to do so! 🫶

p.p.s. general disclaimer that while i enjoyed the stories of the pjo verse, there are certain choices made in the books that i do not agree with or condone and will be rewriting or removing entirely. similarly, while i enjoyed the the very beautiful prose of tsoa and circe, i do not agree with a lot of choices—especially regarding characterization—made in those books and my work will reflect that. if you have any issue with that, feel free not to read! if you would like further elaboration on those things, i am more than willing to discuss in more detail.

PUBLISHED: 04/19/22
FINISHED: — / — / —