fandomhigh | So You Say You Want a Revolution: Week 13, Period 3

The class had been notified to meet in the Danger Shop, and that was where they found Aly who was looking slightly gleeful as she made sure the final settings were correct. Once everyone had come in, she turned to clasp her hands in front of her and greet the students.

"Good day, everyone. We're talking about explosions today. Mostly because I like them, but also because they an be a great strategic weapon in a street fight. We won't have time to cover all types of explosives - there's another class for that this term - but I very quickly want to mention pipe bombs and molotov cocktails - two types of improvised explosives that you can pretty much make anywhere. They are both nice bombs, but they're a bit sloppy. They're street weapons more than tactical weapons, and they can't necessarily be directed towards strategic goals."

"This isn't to say that there isn't a place for that type of weapon. In a revolution, you use any weapon you can get your hands upon. But unless you're planning on simply erecting barricades in the streets and never moving beyond that - and that rarely works as an overall strategy - you're going to have to move to a more strategic outlook."

"We did this twice while fighting in the Copper Isles. The first time," a shadow and then a look of triumph crossed Aly's face quickly, "we destroyed the Rajmuat slave docks. It was a message to the King and to his Spymaster - that they couldn't stop us and they couldn't continue to profit off the labour of slaves. The second time, the capital's armory was blown up to distract the soldiers for a bit while we set up for the endgame. Strategic use of explosives - they're a means to an end. Not the end itself."

"What I've done today is given each group a structure to decide how to destroy. We're not focusing on the actuality of the explosives this time. Let's assume that you have an co-conspirator who can handle the making of the bombs. What I want you to do is decide where to place them and discuss the possible problems with destroying these bridges and forts and the possible issues that may arise while attacking them."

"If you have someone in your group who has the magic to deal with the situation, that's fine. You can use that, but I'd like you also to look at the problem without magic."

"After you've made your plan, the Danger Shop has all these structures programmed in. You can choose where to want to place your devices and see how big an explosion you can make."

"Questions? Ideas? Worries?"

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Oh great, remind me of being a girl!" Nico had really effectively blocked that from his mind until today. "Wait, wait, you had to kill humans?"

"Yeah. I mean...there was something wrong with them," he said, like that made it better. "But they were still mortal."

And funnily enough, after killing the first one Luke didn't feel much about killing the others.

That really didn't sound good. Or positive for Luke's future. "That's...wow. I could live without getting sent anywhere more insane than the Underworld."

"It was bad. That place...when I got there I pretty much landed on top of a dead body," Luke said. "And I'm not much for water in the first place, so being in a city that was completely underwater was bad. I like the air. Flying. Any place where I can make a quick exit."

Which made sense considering who his father and grandfather were.

"Underwater? Sounds like someone else's Elysium. So you're trapped underwater with murderous humans...why?" This really was lacking in the sense department for Nico.

"Something went weird with the island's mechanical stuff? I don't know, I'm no son of Hephaestus," Luke said, shrugging. "A bunch of people got sent to different places because of it and we couldn't get back until the stuff was fixed."

"Freaky," Nico said, still a little confused. "Maybe going to camp for break wouldn't be a bad idea." Miss out on the next strange thing.

"Do you hang out at camp a lot?" Luke asked.

"Sometimes. I end up getting sent off a lot and I chill in the Underworld a bit," Nico told him, figuring it was harmless to share.

Luke thought it was kind of weird that Nico liked hanging out in the Underworld, but he couldn't really see him fitting in at camp either. "So do you stay in cabin eleven? Or does Percy let you bunk with him or something since there's room?"

He never understood why Hades didn't get at least a ceremonial cabin like Hera did.

"Um," Nico didn't know how to gauge the importance of his cabin situation at camp. "I mostly stay on my own. Percy's got Tyson and all. Trust that I will be installing an entertainment system like yours when I get back."

"Yeah, I don't understand half of that," Luke said. "I mean, I understand, but I don't know who Tyson is or how you have a place of your own."

"My own cabin? There's been a lot of construction in the last few years. And you mean to tell me Percy hasn't mentioned his brother to you?" What a prick.

Yeah, you're welcome for that cabin, Nico.

"Well, no. But it's not like I told him about all my siblings either," Luke said. "I don't know who all my siblings are."

"Well, Tyson's kind of a cool kid." Or cyclops, whatever. "It'd be like talking about your cabin and never mentioning the Stolls."

"Oh." Well now he wondered why Percy said it was just him in his cabin. "We don't talk a lot about where and when he's from. It's how fights start."

"You say that like your fights don't end with me wandering the dorms for hours on end." Like a creeper.

"Ha, shows what you know. When we fight one of us gets punched or storms off," Luke said. "We don't have angry...fooling around."

Though the world would probably be a better place if they did.

That...didn't make Nico any happier with Percy's stupid decision to pursue Luke.

"Does that mean you're falling for Percy Jackson?" Huh.

Luke looked mildly horrified by that question. "What? No! Why would you say that?"

Nico was amused by the horror on Luke's face but had no trouble explaining his reasoning. "Hey, if it's not angry, it must be happy, and it happens pretty frequently... I mean, if anyone spent that much time getting in one guy's pants, they must be falling for him."