The Varangian Guard
is an AU Percy Jackson and the Olympians fanfic, with prominent Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard parts, written by shanodarkwing.
The point of divergence happens when a Natalie Chase dying well before her hour entrusts her brother Frederick with the care of her young son Magnus. Frederick decides to accept — he's already raising one demigod, his own daughter Annabeth, so it shouldn't be that different, right?
Unless Magnus reveals himself to be another kind of demigod entirely...
This fanfic contains the following tropes
- Angst? What Angst?: In-Universe, Magnus is surprisingly cool with his divine father refusing to claim him, something that amazes more than one Greek demigod, and this is well before suspecting he wasn't Greek himself.
- Awful Truth: How Magnus first reacts when he starts to suspect he might not be a demigod from the Olympian pantheon.
- Blood Knight: Legendary sword Gram is quite fight-happy, to Magnus' dismay.
-
Broken Base: On whether the story should have had romance or not. Despite the author saying there would be no romance many people have argued that it would have been good for the story and that Magnus had good chemistry with Percy. - Child of Two Worlds: Magnus, as a Norse demigod raised and trained among the Greek heroes.
- Fantastic Racism: A Norse demigod joining a Greek camp is cause for a lot of political tension between Asgard and Olympus, the former screaming about poaching while the latter refuse to give an asset back.
- Family Relationship Switcheroo: Magnus sometimes is mistaken for Annabeth's brother instead of her paternal cousin, likely because of the Strong Family Resemblance and their good relationship.
- Entertainingly Wrong: Being aware of the Olympian pantheon's existence, Frederick doesn't bother looking further when he realizes his nephew is a demigod, casually assuming that Magnus cannot be anything than Greek.
- Green-Eyed Monster:
- Annabeth feels pretty furious and envious of her cousin's easy bond with Percy.
- Magnus notes Nico is "glaring daggers" at him while enjoying a hug from Percy.
- Heart Is an Awesome Power: As a son of Frey, Magnus has the power of "creating peace". It allows him to stall Ares in spite of the god wanting to kill him.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners:
Word of God preemptively sank any ship as the story's main focus isn't romance, so Percy and Magnus' friendship will remain such in spite of Magnus' canon pansexuality. - Ho Yay: Magnus and Percy engage in a bit of this. Word of God says that despite the story having no romance that they have good chemistry.
- Magnus describes other males including Apollo as attractive
- Jurisdiction Friction: Asgard is understandably unhappy about Olympus "poaching" their demigods, with the assimilated souls' afterlife being a huge point of contention.
- Locked Out of the Loop: Deconstructed — Annabeth knows her cousin is hiding something and it drives her slightly crazy, alongside making her feel hurt.
- Parental Neglect: Gods as a rule aren't invested in their half-mortal offspring. Everyone at Camp Half-Blood is appaled by Magnus' father refusing to claim him — it's actually more complicated — and Asgardians outright ignore their kids until they die in glory and ascend to Valhalla.
- Really Gets Around: Gods enjoy so much having affairs with mortals they tend to have a lot of kids. When Asgard learns a son of Frey will play an important role in their future, the Vane god doesn't immediately peg Magnus as said son because he has to verify it's not of the other ones.
- Shown Their Work:
- The Varangian Guard was a real-life Byzantine army made of Norse warriors famed for their Undying Loyalty to their adoptive culture.
- Magnus is able to speak fluent Swedish as Frey is heavily associated with the country through the royal family claiming descent of him.
- Spotting the Thread:
- Annabeth cannot help but comment on her cousin's weirdly eclectic powers. Then he manages to gain a sword from Scandinavian origins...
- Nico finds rather suspect the fact that Magnus' soul isn't guaranteed to join the Greek Underworld because it tends to be automatic for a demigod to join his pantheon's afterlife.
- Take Care of the Kids: Nathalie Chase on her deathbed entrusted her son to her brother Frederick, making him swear on his daughter Annabeth's mother he would protect the boy.
- Undying Loyalty:
- Even after learning he hails from a different pantheon, Magnus stubbornly defends the Olympian side for taking care of him and Annabeth.
- Percy's main characteristic, of course. He reassures Magnus he still wishes to be his friend in spite of the other teen's Norse parentage.
- Villain Respect: Being a deity of mischief and chaos, Loki relishes the sheer trouble that Magnus getting adopted by the Greeks unleashes on Asgard.
