So, this came to me out of nowhere. A friend of mine and I were talking about how out of control we would be if we suddenly had fantastical powers that take time to master with no idea how to control them. And... well... this kinda happened.
As per usual, I own nothing except the books and an abiding love for the characters (SOLANGELO FOR LIFE FIGHT ME IRL).
No one really knew how it happened. In the aftermath, people had indeed asked around, but no one found any answers. If the gods knew, they were keeping it to themselves. That was probably for the best, though. If they had decided to react to this round of demigod mischief and mayhem… well, let's just say that two of the prophesied seven would likely have been Hades-bound.
It had started out as a normal enough day. Percy Jackson –two-time savior of Olympus (and the world, by extension), survivor of Tartarus, son of Poseidon, boyfriend of Annabeth Chase –had ambled out of his cabin mid-morning. He strolled over to the Hades cabin and banged on the door, backing away and backtracking to Cabin 1 before the inevitable thud of another object-within-Nico's-reach slamming into the door at the wake-up call. As was to be expected, Jason, Piper, and Annabeth –he swallowed past the lump in his throat as he thought of the demigod missing from their little group, the one that was decidedly not in New Rome –were loitering just outside of Jason's abode, waiting on him and Nico before heading off to breakfast.
"I take it you didn't get a response from Nico," Jason said, noting the younger demigod's absence as Percy neared his three friends.
"I didn't even hear him throw anything at the door," Percy replied with a shrug.
"Well, you know Will said that he really does need sleep after everything he put himself through during the war," Annabeth reminded, ever the logical one.
"You could say he sleeps like the dead," Percy said with a quick grin. Annabeth reached over, almost absentmindedly, and smacked him on the back of the head. Too used to this, Percy didn't even cry out, just raised a hand to rub at his wounded (pride) head. Jason and Piper were also accustomed to these exchanges and simply rolled their eyes in amusement.
"If that's the case, we might as well get going. We'll wake him up for lunch," Piper said, tossing her braided hair over her shoulder and turning towards the dining pavilion. The others followed suit quickly enough, and so their usual routine progressed.
It wasn't until later that day (after a dramatic lunch –Jason had literally dragged Nico out of his cabin while Percy stood by and laughed), that things got weird. Well, weird for a camp full of half bloods, anyway. Jason and Percy has been sparring in the arena for what felt like hours to the onlookers –the two boys were pretty evenly matched –but at the end of the day, the match had to be won by someone. Jason's victory grin was nothing if not gracious ("Gracious Grace," Percy would always mutter under his breath, Annabeth elbowing him in the ribs), and everyone knew Percy well enough to know that his pout was mostly for show. They had no doubt that Percy would win tomorrow, anyway. The two of them tended to be predictable like that. As Jason held his hand out, Percy grabbed it and was about to pull him in for a full on bro-hug when Jason jumped back.
"Ow! What the heck, man?! How did you do that?" Jason exclaimed, shaking his hand and looking bewildered.
"What are you talking about?" Percy asked, sounding equally confused. Sure, he had felt a small surge of some kind of power as he grasped Jason's hand, but he hadn't done anything to him.
"You just shocked me," Jason replied, gesticulating wildly. As he did, the water bottles of nearly every person in the arena burst open and sprayed Percy down. Piper's water was miraculously spared, but she held it away from her like it was likely to bite her if it got too close to her person.
"And you just drenched me," Percy shouted, throwing his hands up in frustration. As he did, sparks flew, and all the demigods dropped to the ground, not wanting to get caught in the crossfire of whatever insanity was surely about to go down.
Annabeth, calm and calculated look on her face, cautiously got off the ground before Jason could respond. "I think you both need to just calm down," she said as soothingly as she could. She was no Piper, but she could certainly handle two upset demigods.
"I'm perfectly calm," Percy said petulantly, thunder booming overhead as he crossed his arms and frowned.
"Me too," Jason replied in a similarly childish tone. As he spoke, the water that had missed Percy began creeping towards him, pooling at his feet.
Annabeth did not outwardly show that she noticed both of the strange elemental reactions to the boys' tempers nor did she let her annoyance and worry cross her face. Instead she said, "Okay. I can see that, but something strange is going on. We need to figure out what's going on with your powers before something bad happens."
"I'm fine," Jason and Percy practically yelled at the same time, storming out of the arena together. They walked in the direction of the beach, both clearly upset and venting to each other. The other campers were quick to remove themselves from Percy and Jason's warpath while the ones who had witnessed what happened in the arena were cautiously creeping outside and wondering just what they had done to deserve this.
"I mean, what does she think? That I've just suddenly lost control of my powers?! I'm not 12 again, for the gods' sakes," Percy said, trying to downplay just how freaked out he was.
"I've been training since I was a little kid! I know what I'm doing," Jason said by way of response. He, too, was thoroughly freaked out but trying his hardest to maintain a calm front.
"We didn't even do anything weird today! It's just a normal day. How could our powers get switched?" Percy asked, seeming to be talking to the sky as much as he was to Jason.
"I don't know! This doesn't make any sense," Jason replied, running a hand through his hair. The two of them finally reached the beach, unaware of the impacts that they had had on their surroundings. While they walked, the sky darkened. The previously blue, sunshine-y day had been blotted out by slate gray storm clouds while the Long Island Sound whipped itself into a frenzy. The air was alive with an unnatural electrical charge, making the hair on the two boys' arms and legs stand on end.
Looking out across the Sound, Jason finally seemed to notice something was wrong. "Uh, Perce," he started, gaping at the massive storm clouds and tumultuous waters.
"What –" Percy said, looking up from where he was scuffing his shoe against the sand before noticing just what Jason was looking at. "Oh."
They both muttered a few choice words just as a blinding streak of lightning shot across the sky, followed closely by an ear-splitting clap of thunder. As their panic rose, rain began to pour down from the sky and the wind picked up, whipping viciously past them and giving the rain a stinging impact.
"I think now may be as good a time as any to say that Annabeth was probably right," Percy yelled to be heard over the howling tempest.
"You think?" Jason shouted back, inserting more sarcasm than Percy thought was strictly necessary into the two words.
"I just –I don't know what to do, man! I'm trying to be calm, but it's not helping," Percy responded, just a hint of his alarm slipping into his words.
"I've tried everything I can think of! This isn't something I can just keep inside and release at will! How do you control this?!" Jason replied, finally acknowledging to himself that, yes, he may very well be panicking.
"You've just gotta –it's not something –you can't just hold back a river or an ocean or a sea! You have to let it flow but tell it where to go!" Percy explained as best he could, trying to put it simply. Later he would reflect on the sick rhymes he just came up with while writing a song titled "Let It Flow." "You can't think about it like a dam! Think about it like you're pouring water out of a bottle –you've let enough out, and now you've gotta turn the bottle upright. No more water can fall!"
"Okay," Jason said with determination. He let his eyes close, as he tried to picture what Percy was saying. He tugged at something intangible within him and could almost feel it as the Sound began to calm, and the falling rain became gentler.
"It's your turn now, Lightning Man!" Percy called out, also noticing the calming waters. "Tell me how to put a lid on this!"
Confidence and calm renewed, Jason began to explain the way he controlled his powers. "It's like something deep within me. The power feels like it's tied to my soul –whenever I use it, I reach within myself and almost grab onto it and throw it where I need it to go. Picture it like Zeus' lightning bolts! But instead of having the physical thing, it's within you!"
"Okay, I've got that!" Percy said, a smile briefly flickering across his face as he felt the power rolling around, seeming like it was just beneath the surface of his skin. It was a testament to the seriousness of the situation that he didn't comment on the lightning bolts thing -Percy was an ex-suspect for the theft of said lightning, after all. "Now, how do I make it stop?"
"It's exactly like a light switch!" Jason exclaimed. "Right now the power is turned on, and you can direct it however you want. You've got to flip the switch, break your direct connection to the power!" Suddenly, the rain stopped. The air lost its electrical charge, and the clouds even began breaking up a little bit. Almost as soon as it had started, the downpour had ended.
Percy gazed skyward, a grin breaking over his face as he noticed some patches of blue. "We did it!" he shouted, looking as excited as Jason felt. Soon Jason was sporting a similarly wide grin, and they had pulled each other into a rough and "totally manly" hug before high-fiving, laughing in pure relief all the while.
Not long after the storm had subsided, Annabeth, Piper, Will, and Nico made their way down to the beach to see what had happened and make sure that the two demigods were alright. The next day, Percy and Jason would find their powers set to rights, none the wiser as to why they had flipped in the first place.
No one ever really understood what or even how it happened, and if equally clueless news reports on the freak weather event showed up that evening, no one said anything about it.
DID YOU LOVE IT? No? Okay :|
I'm kidding. A few comments from me: I love the Percy-Jason brOTP. They're awesome. Bromance for all! Also, I couldn't resist the little hint at Leo. Just. Okay? I miss him too, y'all. I know there's not nearly enough Solangelo in this, but, well, that just didn't fit into my plot... Now that I think about it, Will and Nico switching powers would be hilarious... Maybe an adventure for another day!
I hope you guys read, relaxed, and feel like dropping me a review. Also, happy holidays, everyone! Hope you guys all have a safe and happy season/end of the year/life.