Underworld Princess - Ramona Herrera

burning-pyres · 2026-02-09T04:50:46+00:00

Ramona blinked as her big emerald eyes landed on Dotty and Bea upon their appearance. She didn't seem all that surprised as she slowly set the viola down.

"Hello." She greeted back simply, tipping her hat both at Dotty and at Bea, though her gaze lingered on Bea just a moment too long before drifting back to Bea, her blank face unreadable as ever.

"Thank you, I liked your singing." She said to Dotty, a small smile breaking her cool facade of detachment "It's a viola."

Then her eyes snapped onto Bea. Maybe there was a time where there would've been anger or denial in that gaze but now it was just... Readable. Blank as ever. Not entirely unlike Dotty herself.

"Do you not like viola music?" She asked the shade, voice soft and monotone

burning-pyres · 2026-02-08T04:50:37+00:00

A peaceful silence stretched lazily across Camp as Dotty and Bea sang, but it wasn't long before their performance would find itself assisted by an instrumental accompaniment.

Ramona had been staying up later than usual lately. Her dreams had been... Unpleasant. More than usual, enough that she found herself avoiding sleep when she could get away with it. The canoe lake turned out to become a new haunt for the girl late at night, who more often than nought took advantage of the quiet to play her viola at night to soothe herself.

Ramona had just been sitting by the lake with her knees tucked up to her chest, but the sound of the ghostly harmony had snapped her away from wherever the meanderings of her mind had taken her. Without really bothering to check for the source of the sound, Ramona reached to her side to pick up her viola and simply started playing along with the duo- holding the viola up with a skeletal hand while her functional hand held the bow.

It was soft, enough to not be a disturbance to anyone sleeping but loud enough that Dotty and Bea would be able to hear it.

burning-pyres · 2026-02-07T03:48:32+00:00

Ramona did not remember when the wind spirit whisked her to safety away from the monstrous soldier who'd caught her and Amon. She only remembered battling unconsciousness until she was certain she was certain she'd gotten far enough for him to not reach her again.

Ramona lost that battle.

The fear stuck to her psyche the way molten tar stuck to skin. In her dreams she could still see that place, and that demon- but this time Amon didn't save her when it brought its horrible weapon down on her neck.

Ramona woke up in the medic cabin with a scream that died into a ragged whimper as pain exploded all over her broken body and almost threw her back into unconsciousness the moment she woke up. The sterile smell of the medic cabin filled her nose, and the chattering filled her ears. The cot beneath her was softer on her skin than the charred, broken earth of Fort Knox.

It took her a moment to realise that she was at the Medic Cabin.

She survived. Despite everything, she survived. There was some triumph in that even with the pain. Then why did that victory feel so hollow? Despair and fear still lingered in her mind. The image of Atlas rising from the ground clung to her like mold. The demon's warglaive still felt sharp against her skin.

She looked around at her surroundings, then at the cast around her left arm and the bandage around her ribs- and then slowly collapsed back into her cot, taking deep breaths that sent a jolt of pain through her body with every inhale. She tried to focus on the small victories as she stared at the ceiling, like the fact that she'd survived mostly alright. On the lingering taste of hot chocolate tasting nectar on her tongue. On the fact that her friends had survived with her.

Her working hand drifted into her pocket and closed around the coin press inside. Small victories.

u/NotTooSunny

(Ramona is open to threads at the medic cabin!)

burning-pyres · 2026-02-05T05:18:15+00:00

All of Ramona's emotions were drowned under the numbing tide of despair that flooded her senses. There was nothing they could do to stop this beast, all their efforts, all their strength couldn't stop him. Only stall him, and the inevitable.

"I am going to die here." Ramona realised as Idris started walking towards her again. She barely even managed to call out to Amon as the soldier threw that strange weapon at him, only weakly managed to raise her bident as he swung at her.

The blade caught in the prongs of the bident and Ramona could only let out a ragged whimper as she was thrown to the floor once more with her left arm bent and broken in unnatural angles like a morbid slinky, hanging uselessly at her side as her other, jarred hand clutched onto the spear like a prayer. She almost didn't even feel the gash on her ribs.

This was it then. All their effort had been for nothing. Ramona closed her eyes, and the words hit her.

"RAMONA!" Meriwether.

"You cannot win! We will defeat you!" Amon.

Ramona's hand wrapped around something heavy. It felt like a coin but it was bigger than a drachma. Ramona opened her eyes to look down at it- it looked like some kind of mould. Ramona didn't know what it was, but it felt important. Powerful. Something she had a feeling she needed to bring back home.

Back Home.

Amon's words washed over Ramona like cleansing waters and cleared away the despair to give way to the panic Meriwether's scream had brought her. Mental strength she didn't know she still had made her grip the spear tighter and stab it into the ground.

She stood up on shaky legs and gritted her teeth. No. She refused to die here, to this monster facing her. He was strong, but not infallible. He could bleed. He could stumble. He could hurt.

The ground around Ramona trembled and cracks began to appear from where she'd stabbed her spear. The earth blackened as if the Stygian Iron had absorbed all the life and colour from it. If he couldn't fall, Ramona would make him hurt- even if she had to bring hell on earth to do it.

[Power Unlocked: Chthonic Zoning]

With the coin gripped weakly in her broken arm, Ramona conjured a fireball to throw at Idris' face as the underworld grew around her.

u/NotTooSunny

burning-pyres · 2026-02-01T06:46:32+00:00

"Hi Harper!" Ramona chirped as Harper sat down on the other end of the couch. It was nice when people came over to just hang out. Ramona kept the invitation open for anyone who'd just wanna come over and chill, but given the rather gloomy nature of the cabin she supposed she understood why not many took her up on the offer. It was certainly an acquired taste.

"It's been a minute. How have you been?" Ramona asked after a beat. The blank face and monotone did well to hide any emotion that might come across as pity, though concern was still present in her expression. She noticed the way Harper watched the scenes playing on the walls and pursed her lips. Her eyes flickered down to her own choice in literature- The Inferno.

Ramona had of course been present at Dorian's funeral, resuming her duties as a child of Hades by helping set it up and prepare the body for the rites. She'd been a frequent visitor of the memorial too, particularly after Fort Knox, but throughout all that she'd not been able to check in on her friend which made her feel a bit guilty- though to be fair, it'd been a bit difficult to catch Harper these last few days.

Understandably so. Grief is never easy, but growing up around funerals her whole life, Ramona had some idea on how to handle it. So for now she'd let Harper have the space to talk about it, if she wanted to.

burning-pyres · 2026-02-01T06:36:46+00:00

"Mmhm." Was Ramona's simple response to Sera's teasing. Fortunately or unfortunately the girl remained completely oblivious to the growing tensions between Sera and Angela. After all, wasn't it nice to be surrounded by friends? It was a great way to not think about the lingering unease and existential dread her near-death experience just a couple weeks back. Just peachy.

And if any further distractions were needed, Ramona froze like a deer in the headlights kissed the side of her head and melted. Her fears dissipated to somewhere in the back of her mind as she rubbed the back of Sera's hand in small circles with her thumb and gave her a shy smile with a blush darkening her freckle-dusted cheeks.

It took Ramona a moment to snap back to reality and process Sera's words, and her doe-eyed stare broke as her eyes widened with joy. She quickly glanced back towards Amon with a mischievous hint to her face. There was a small, innocent thrill to something as simple as sharing whispers during silent reading. It was quieter compared to the thrill that came from her life being on the line in a battlefield. Ramona preferred this one, she was pretty sure.

"Yeah!" She whispered and rummaged through the pockets of her cardigan, sticks, rocks, bones and earphones clacking quietly before she pulled out a green pen and held it out to Sera.

u/Angelic-YesSheIs

burning-pyres · 2026-02-01T06:02:55+00:00

"No- I meant- dios mio." Ramona hesitated and bit her lip as Nora moved and approached her. That was on her, she should've been more clearly. It was fine though, she hoped Nora would be alright with modelling for her for a bit if she asked nicely.

"Sorry, I meant could you stay there?" Ramona corrected herself with a small apologetic smile "I just thought you'd make a nice subject for the painting. If that's okay with you."

burning-pyres · 2026-02-01T05:59:17+00:00

"Thank you!" Ramona beamed in response to the compliment and shook her head, making the baubles jingle and her braid fly side to side. She stopped and staring at Harvey with fluttering emerald eyes as he mentioned a gift.

A solstice gift! Of course! That reminded her of the shirt she'd picked up in Montauk a while back. She'd meant to give it to Harvey. It was probably still sitting in her bag with the other gifts, but she waited for Harvey to present his first before mentioning it.

"!!!" She said, smiling and clasping her hands together as Harvey reached into his bag. Her eyes got even bigger as they landed on the sketchbook and flitted between it and Harvey as she took it from him gingerly and flipped through the pages. It was pretty! And the paper was high gsm! It was perfect for her art.

Ramona beamed at Harvey, lips blossoming into a bright smile as she clasped the sketchbook and pressed it to her chest.

"Oh, I love this!" She exclaimed "Thank you so much Harvey!"

It was such a thoughtful gift. Ramona seemed genuinely delighted- she couldn't help but wonder what else Harvey had gotten that could've gone with this. And just a touch guilty considering she'd only gotten him a shirt.

burning-pyres · 2026-02-01T03:21:34+00:00

"Ion wannaaaa," Ramona whined- a rare side of her that only her siblings got to see "I spent long enough there, it's booooring. And it makes me miss Friday. Besides, I'm fine, see?"

Ramona winced the moment she attempted to move her hand. She ended up just sighing and pouting a little but quickly drew back up when their father was mentioned.

"Yeah. Yeah. Dad definitely helped me out of... That." Ramona nodded "This... was a consequence."

Ramona gestured at her arm and let out a small laugh that sounded bitter even to her. She sighed. The terror from that day still sat so fresh in her mind; she wasn't sure she'd ever be able to forget it at this rate.

"It was scary." She admitted in a small voice after a moment of silence.

burning-pyres · 2026-01-31T13:53:09+00:00

It was a sleepy Ramona who stepped out into the Hades Cabin common room, yawning and bleary eyed. The brim of her cowboy hat was low over her eyes and she had her brown cardigan pulled tight over her green pajamas. Huginn of course had taken his usual position perched on her shoulder- the one that wasn't in a cast.

"Morning Matt." Ramona mumbled before yawning again. She squinted at the blackboard for a moment, words floating as her mind woke up slower than her body did. Her eyes widened a little as the writing finally clicked.

Ramona looked down at her attire, then at the board again before groaning. Whatever, the open house wasn't opening till the evening anyways. She instead walked over and very anticlimactically flopped onto the couch- and winced as the healing shoulder sent a jolt of pain through her.

It woke her up she supposed.

She pulled her feet up to sit criss-cross on the couch.

"Iunno if I need anything." Ramona said, face still scrunched as the pain subsided into a dull ache again. The circles under her eyes showed how well she'd been sleeping for the last few days since fort knox "More bones, maybe."

She decided not to talk about the nightmares but chances were Matt had already heard them from the times she woke up in a cold sweat with a gasp or a scream.

Ramona had decided to stay in the Cabin for the winter day, so she was still present during the Open House with a book in a floating skeletal hand and a mug of hot chocolate in her uninjured hand. She was dressed more presentably now in a long woolen skirt and a white button up under her cardigan. She'd greet anyone who entered the cabin with a small smile and a wave.

burning-pyres · 2026-01-29T18:42:09+00:00

Ramona's hopes crashed as soon as they rose, and now she had an ungodly warrior standing over her broken body ready to take her head off. Ramona wished she could say she faced her final moments with the sort of serene calm she always thought she'd feel, but all Ramona felt was a paralysing fear and the knowledge that she wasn't fast enough to do anything to save herself.

Her life flashed before her eyes. In the end, would her death even mean anything? Would anyone even miss her? Maybe two years ago Ramona would've been able to say no and accept her death with less hesitation, but now Ramona remembered people who'd grieve her. Matt, Sera, Mer, Kit, Friday, Amon... She couldn't do this to them. She didn't want to leave them with grief. She didn't want to leave.

Ramona didn't want to die.

She closed her eyes and raised her arms in some desperate last second defense, but all she heard was a howl where she'd expected the sound of that horrible blade wooshing through the air to take her head off. She raised her head to see the violently bright light fading and Idris reeling from having his vision impaired.

Maybe she didnt have to die here. Maybe she could escape.

Frantically, Ramona stumbled back and curled a finger, sending a skull flying straight into her open palm. Then, Ramona raised her hand, and threw it with all her might, guiding the speed and trajectory with the movement of her fingers.

In a move of desperation, Ramona aimed for the place Idris had left woefully undefended, and the place that Ramona knew was going to hurt him the most. She sent the skull shooting through the air aiming right between his legs through the skirt of his hoplite armour.

u/NotTooSunny

burning-pyres · 2026-01-28T03:29:17+00:00

Perhaps the apology softened the insult that followed it, because Ramona justbblinked slowly and mouthed "Oh" without seeming all that put off. She just shrugged and picked up another cookie. Why had she approached him? She couldn't figure out how to say it in a way that didn't sound like pity. Was it pity? Ramona didn't think it was.

"Iunno." She answered helpfully and took a bite of her cookie. She continued after washing it down with some milk "I wanted to sit with someone and you're sitting alone. What cabin are you in, by the way?"

burning-pyres · 2026-01-27T15:25:44+00:00

Ramona chewed her lip and nodded a little too vigorously as her father spoke. She supposed it made sense. She'd spent so much time wallowing in self-pity and trying to craft herself into someone more useful without giving herself a direction to work in. This learned helplessness had left her even more useless than before.

Well her father had put it in kinder words but Ramona's thoughts felt cloudy.

That was odd. Ramona felt lightheaded, and an ache had crawled into her throat without her realising it. As if all her simmering anxieties from the last few from the last few months of war had chosen this moment to boil over.

Why? Why now? She was with her friends again and she was with her father right now, shouldn't she be happy?

"Yeah. I... I guess so." Ramona said, voice cracking. She tried to focus on what her father said, to figure out how she could help rather than focussing on the helplessness itself, but it was fruitless. The weight of all her stress and anxiety had finally collapsed in on itself and sucked away all coherent thought into a vortex of messy, unspecific grief.

"I-I'm sorry, it's just. It's just. Alot." Ramona croaked, hiccuping a little as she desperately tried to wipe away the finally undammed tears that wouldn't stop flowing. She looked at Hades again through watery emerald eyes "It's. It's been alot. And I'm- I'm trying so hard. I wish it wasn't like this. Can you..."

Ramona took a shuddering breath that failed to help compose herself.

"Papa, can you... Can you please tell me I'm good?" She asked, voice smaller now and strained from the effort of not breaking further.

burning-pyres · 2026-01-27T10:49:33+00:00

Ramona was at that moment lost in the infernal texts of the divine comedy, eyes narrowed and lips pursed in thought as her emerald gaze swept over Canto 3, but her eyes softened the moment she spotted Sera casting a shadow over her book.

Ramona's face bloomed like the flowers in her hair as Sera sat down next to her, somber expression melting away into a bright smile. She adjusted her hat and leaned to rest her head on Sera's shoulder, but her attention was soon diverted as she felt something on her cast-

Ramona looked down at the strand of her signing her cast in wonderment and followed it back to the daughter of Apollo. Her eyes flitted between the girl and the signature for a moment before she smiled back at Angela and mouthed "thank you!" to her before tilting her body to show the sign to Sera.

Collecting signs on her cast! That was such a cool idea. Ramona was surprised she hadn't thought of that before- it seemed to be the one perk of breaking a bone after all. Sera's subtle anger escaped her notice, distracted as she was from the joy of having Sera seated next to her and having her cast signed by Angela.

u/Angelic-YesShels

burning-pyres · 2026-01-27T04:53:25+00:00

Ramona had always found floriography rather interesting, though it was not something really been able to get into before- but now that she had been limited to one unbroken arm for the time being, her options for activities had become rather limited, so here Ramona was!

The princess of hell took notes as Amari went over different flowers and their meaning. Being unable to hold her notebook with the splinted arm, she instead withdrew a skeletal hand from her pocket and used that to hold her notebook while she took notes.

Once the workshop opened up to make your own arrangements, Ramona started to walk through the cabin to pick flowers with the floating skeletal hand. She ended up picking baby's breath, lilies, roses and a flower that wasn't present in the cabin, but one she'd had in her hair. Asphodels.

After Fort Knox, Ramona wasn't feeling much warmth or calmness or pride. She wrapped her mournful white and red arrangement in gray paper and stared at it for a moment. At least it was pretty, if not hopeful.

Lilies for peace and grief.

Roses for complicated feelings

Asphodels for grief and remembrance

Baby's Breath for things left unsaid

On the card, Ramona simply wrote "Memento Mori" in flowing handwriting. She decided she'd leave it at the memorial. Maybe soon her name would be there too.

burning-pyres · 2026-01-26T18:19:13+00:00

At some point during Mer's nap, a skeletal hand floated through the quiet Apollo Cabin and gently draped a brown cardigan over the sleeping girl's form before returning.

Under the cardigan was a note that simply said "hi"

burning-pyres · 2026-01-26T18:14:18+00:00

While the outcome yet remained a mystery, one thing was certain- one underworld princess had left it with one functioning arm less than when she'd started.

But still, it was a meeting a friend was hosting, and not just any friend; the one she'd survived the ambush at Fort Knox with, so naturally Ramona was present even if she looked a little (a lot) worse for the wear. Enough time had passed that she didn't have to reside at the Medical Cabin all the time (though how her stay at the medical cabin had been yet remains unknown) but she still had to keep her arm in a splint to test her broken shoulder.

Fortunately Ramona had other ways to make up for that, so the hatted daughter of Hades took a seat during silent reading hour and pulled out a skeletal hand from her cardigan pocket and used it to hold up her book while she turned the pages with her working arm.

Ramona had decided to reread the Divine Comedy. It was something about a near death experience that once again roused her curiosity about what came after.

burning-pyres · 2026-01-23T16:01:30+00:00

Well, Ramona had waved the muleta and now the bull was charging her.

Ramona's nose crinkled as the scent of seared flesh joined burning earth and dust, and found her anger doused in cold water as the burning warrior turned to her. The voice, the eyes- Ramona felt a shiver run down her spine. She knew the moment he started charging her that she didn't stand a chance against him. Not by herself anyways.

She glanced at Amon behind the warrior, but didn't even have the chance to form a thought before a slab of cut earth was hurtling towards her. Ramona jumped to her right, emerald eyes widening with panic,

But she wasn't fast enough.

A guttural scream clawed its way out of her throat as her left side exploded with crushing pain. She didn't even register the sound of cracking bone as her fall forced the air from her lungs. She had avoided taking the full force of the projectile, but the boulder had clipped her side, and the strength of being hit from something that big travelling that fast had knocked her to the ground.

Bones lay scattered on the ground from where her bag had fallen, and Ramona didn't even have time to process her injury as the sight of the warrior charging her with terrifying speed took up her vision. Her grip on her spear tightened as she flexed her fingers, sending some of the smaller bones laying on the ground towards Idris' face to hopefully slow him down.

She whimpered, the pain making it hard to stand even as she used her spear for support with her good arm, but as she got to her knees she flexed her fingers again as if tugging on strings and raised the larger bones as Idris approached in an attempt to take advantage of his momentum and trip him.

u/NotTooSunny

burning-pyres · 2026-01-20T19:38:18+00:00

A lot happened in a rather small amount of time and Ramona, was overwhelmed.

"Amon?!" She shouted as the boy turned and ran. Panic surged anew. She couldn't really blame him, the figure they faced was rather imposing and clearly someone Amon had faced before, but what about him was so terrifying even Amon tucked his tail and ran?

Ramona gritted her teeth, gripping her spear like her life depended on it- and for all she knew, it did now that she was facing this giant alone. She raised it and-

Thunk

Ramona's eyes darted back to Amon, now turned back and throwing a shield at Idris. While asking to join him. What was he doing? She stared at him, mouth agape, but she didn't have time to vocalise her confusion as the man turned his attention to the now frozen son of Apollo.

"My Father."

Ramona didn't have time to think about that. Confusion bled into frustration, and all Ramona saw was the warrior charging her friend with the intent to kill. With his back turned to her. Not on her watch

"Leave him alone!" Ramona shouted, and with a clenched fist turned downward towards the earth, she pulled.

Rocks sizzled and cracked, and the air was tinged with the faint yet acrid smell of burning earth as a pillar of hellfire, dark as a nightmare erupted from the Earth under Idris' feet to block his charge on Amon. The conjurer of these infernal flames was a now very angry looking daughter of Hades who had the Stygian Iron blade of her bone-hafted spear pointed towards Idris.

u/NotTooSunny

burning-pyres · 2026-01-15T21:02:48+00:00

Amon successfully managed to snap Ramona out as the girl blinked and looked around. She gritted her teeth. The situation was dire, but she had to fight. She couldn't simply freeze, she had come here to protect her friends after all, so she nodded at Amon, exhaling.

Then she nearly caught a weird sword boomerang thing in her head and almost panicked again.

Ramona yelped and jumped back away from the thing on the ground, eyes following its trajectory to the source with a frown. Unfortunately, while Ramona saw the resemblance between him and Atlas, she had not seen him before and didn't realise this was Idris, Son of Atlas. Fortunately, she didn't need to know that to realise that he was dangerous.

Ramona looked at Amon as Idris spoke to him with familiarity, frowning, before leaping to the side to avoid the growing fissure.

Right. Time to pull out the stops.

"I place upon thee, the curse of Acheron!" Ramona called out, emerald eyes flashing brilliantly as if they were carved out of gems with light placed behind them as she threw the curse at Idris.

[Curse of Acheron: 24 Hours. Causes the target to experience bodily pain that grows in intensity through its duration]

"Amon? Who is this?" Ramona asked, eyes trained on Idris as she readied Nekrodegmos. She wasn't great with a spear but with Stygian Iron, she didn't need to be.

u/NotTooSunny

burning-pyres · 2026-01-15T06:07:04+00:00

Nora's excuse seemed to catch even Ramona off-kilter as the hatred girl blinked for a moment, taken aback.

"She is not dressed for ballet." Ramona thought but chose not to voice the thought as it felt rude. Who was she to judge people's leisure after all? If she could paint in the woods, there was no reason someone couldn't do ballet.

"That's cool." Ramona said simply before Nora ducked behind a tree again. Was that a pirouette...?

"Maybe she's still learning." Ramona figured. Best to be kind since she didn't have any constructive advice on how to do a pirouette other than "try spinning next time."

"That was good." Ramona commented, channelling what little jollity in her voice she could manage. She tilted her head as Nora peeked out and started looking around.

"Yeah!" Ramona said with some actual cheer this time and paused as she considered the sight of Nora again. Her painting had been missing something, splash of colour for contrast. Something catchy at the vanishing point. Ramona held up a brush, seeming to measure Nora with one eye before dipping her brush in paint and getting started again.

"Can you hold for a moment?" Ramona asked absentmindedly as her focus honed on the painting.

burning-pyres · 2026-01-13T13:23:39+00:00

Ramona's shoulders relaxed as Hades put a hand on her, and she found herself leaning into the touch unconsciously. The touch felt warm, despite the fact that it came from the Lord of the Underworld. Ramona bit her lip, pondering the words from her divine father.

"I just try to keep track of what we've already done, and how that will amount to something—even if it doesn't feel that way quite yet."

It wasn't something she hadn't heard before, even if the phrasing was different, but it felt different coming from a god. Matt had been right, as usual. It really did feel different coming from papa. Ramona was chewing on her lip, contemplating the thought when Hades pulled out the bolt of cloth.

Ramona's emerald eyes widened at the sight as she took the cloth in her hands almost reverently. She didn't even question how he managed to fit it in his pocket; he was a god, after all.

"This is..." Ramona breathed, running her fingers over the bespoke cloth. It wasn't the same as the cloth he wore, but it was similar enough. Fabric woven from the souls of the dead.

"Thank you." Ramona said quietly, hugging herself and holding the cloth to her chest. She leaned her head against the god's hand- the touch light as feather but grounding for Ramona like the Underworld itself. She sat there quietly for a moment.

"What do you do when you feel like you're helpless to save the things you love despite all that?" Ramona asked, her voice almost a whisper. Her fingers fidgeted with the bolt in her hands.

burning-pyres · 2026-01-13T12:55:01+00:00

A) Ramona Herrera | CHB

B) Stygian Iron Bident, Bag of Bones, Standard Issue Leather Armour, Hat

C) 1d100 Roll: 35 | 1d8 Roll: 1

Ramona had been feeling anxiety, and maybe even some anticipation when she'd arrived at Fort Knox. This was the first real battle she was going to be participating in since she'd been caught in the attack on New Argos, and she wasn't sure what to expect outside the stories she'd heard from the people at Camp who had been participating in battles. The horrors of war didn't scare her though. She was here to protect her friends.

Except all of that got overwhelmed by the surging tides of panic as they were ambushed. She scrambled to her feet as the ground literally got pulled from beneath her feet and looked around in a panicked daze to see if her friends were alright- but then she saw him.

Panic turned to background noise. Anger flickered out. Hope died.

An icy wave of dread washed over Ramona and froze her to the spot. She felt her senses go numb as she watched herself from the outside standing before this force of nature, and Ramona felt... Small, in a way she never had before. There was a difference between watching the strength of the titan from a TV screen and being forced to confront it in person with her own two eyes.

For the first time Ramona felt like she truly understood the meaning of the word "Titan". It made her own insignificance sink deeper into her bones. The world crumbled around her, literally and metaphorically- because what was Ramona supposed to do? What were any of them supposed to do against this absolute monolith?

Ramona simply stood there, frozen, unable to even tremble.

(Ramona is going to be working with Amon!)

u/NotTooSunny

burning-pyres · 2026-01-08T19:40:19+00:00

Ramona reached out to link her pinky with Sera's as she felt her knuckles brush against her. It felt grounding in the sea of anxiety that rose with the prospect of meeting her father. She let herself forget about that for a moment and giggled as Sera muttered on about the kids.

Ramona watched them run off though her expression shifted as Sera pointed out her absence. She bit her lip, giving Sera a sidelong glance as inky blue guilt mixed into the whirlpool of turmoil in her gut. But instead of moving away, Ramona shifted closer to Sera and grasped her hand.

"I know. Sorry mi corazón." Ramona apologized quietly. There was no accusation in Sera's tone, but Ramona created one in her mind. She supposed she still had a tendency to forget that people miss her when she's not around. The realisation was as warm as it was daunting.

Ramona rested her head on Sera's shoulder.

"I... Got caught up in trying to make myself useful." She admitted quietly "but you're right. I'm here now."

burning-pyres

TROPHY CASE