Hey guys! It's RachelChaseJackson and Drakky28293 over here! This is the first story of our collab account highly influenced by an Indian movie. Hope you guys like it!
Disclaimer: We do not own any of the characters in the PJO and HoO universe. Neither do we own the Bollywood movie Jaane Tu Ya Jane Na
PROLOGUE
A black SUV spray painted with Thor's hammer and flame motifs was speeding down the long road to the air port. Four extremely tuneless voices could be heard belting out the lyrics of Britney Spears' 'Baby One More Time'-
The driver, a blonde youth in his mid twenties with electric blue eyes and a scar on his lip, was singing "My loneliness is killing me"
A dark haired woman sitting on the back seat with the same bright blue eyes as the driver joined in with a high pitched "And I!"
Another woman, despite her timelessly elegant looks and her classy white dress, dove right into the song with "I must confess, I still believe!"
A wiry man with wildly curling black hair and a mad glint in his eyes sitting at the back added a falsetto "Still believe!"
The four of them took up the rest of the song with enthusiasm
When I'm not with you I lose my mind
Gimme a siiiiiign
Hit me baby one more time!
There was a lot of giggling and the curly haired guy blew a kiss to the woman dressed in white who shoved him playfully. He yanked on her cinnamon-toast colored hair in retaliation and she glared at him but blew him a kiss which he pretended to catch and hold to his heart.
The woman with the black hair was outfitted like a Goth, with dark eye makeup which made her eyes look startling and all-black attire. She pretended to retch watching the other two but her eyes were affectionate.
The man in the driver's seat was by anyone's standards, a blonde Superman, who looked supremely self assured singing an utterly goofy song with his utterly goofy friends, until he looked to his right. He cringed.
There was another passenger. Sitting in shotgun was another woman, with long hair the color of volcanic rock. Her eyes were the same hue and currently closed in frustration. She was massaging her temples like she had a migraine. When the car stopped at a red light, she looked out of the window and saw a minivan full of kids laughing at the tone deaf adults with her. She grimaced and mimed pulling a finger-gun at her forehead.
The driver noticed that and gave a small cough, all swag gone. His companions stopped their boisterous play and looked at him strangely. They saw him eyeing the irate woman sitting shotgun. Eyes rolled synchronously.
"Er, you have to excuse us. This song means a lot. To all of us," the driver cleared his throat and motioned at all the occupants of the car.
"Oh no, no! I don't mind at all!" the woman sitting next to him replied, her voice heavy with sarcasm. "You know, you guys remind me of this homeless hippie called Don. He was this happy-go-lucky creature with a humongous Afro and an absolutely tuneless and impossibly reedy voice who would stand at the corner near my first apartment and belt out the hits of Celine Dion, Madonna, Jennifer Lopez and Britney Spears in return for money," she continued, fanning a hand in front of her face, fake-fangirling.
"Aww, isn't that the sweetest thing…" the woman behind her, the one in the white dress, started to say but she was cut off.
"The only difference is you guys sing far worse than Don," the one sitting shotgun sneered.
The driver laughed nervously again. "Gosh, isn't Reyna just the funniest?" he said, his eyes begging at the others in the rear view mirror. Everyone only gave him the stink eye in return.
"Whipped" his curly haired friend in the back muttered. Then he brightened up and nudged the two girls sitting in front of him "Psst. Thalia! Calypso!" he gave a sideways glance at Reyna and began "My loneliness… is killing me"
Over Reyna's outraged "No!" Thalia and Calypso joined in while Jason shook his head bemusedly. A halt in their journey stated that they had reached JKF International airport.
As soon as the car was parked, the man with the curly hair opened the back door of the SUV and jumped out. He ran to open the side door and offered an arm. The woman with the white dress linked her arm through his
"M'lady," he bowed.
"Leo! You're such a clown!" she giggled and chided.
"Don't you just love it Callie?" he smirked and winked at her roguishly. They made an unlikely couple to anyone who saw them at first glance. The man, Leo Valdez, owned a garage. He still had his work boots on and his shirt, underneath his leather jacket, was stained in several places with grease and motor oil. The woman, Calypso, who leaned into him was obviously unmindful of that. She was his fiance and a landscaping artist. As they walked away to the airport entrance, squabbling like children, anyone could tell by looking in their eyes, they were deeply in love with one another.
Contrary to that, the woman who had been sitting shotgun, Reyna, fumed after them in great stomping steps. The driver called after her a bit helplessly, "Reyna!" but she ignored him studiously, following Leo and Calypso.
The woman with the black clothes and the bright eyes leaned her willowy frame against the car door and watched the blond man lock up with a curious look on her face. As he turned to follow their friends, she called out, "Jason! Hey Stapler Boy!"
"Yes Pinecone Face?" he looked back at her
"C'mere" she motioned.
"What?"
"Brother dear," she began, "when may I ask is your flight gonna take off?"
"What are you talking about sis?" he asked, flummoxed.
"I'm talkin'… when will you sing to Reyna?" she poked him in the chest.
"Even by twin standards, you butt in a bit too much in my personal life," Jason grumbled. "What do you mean by 'sing to Reyna'?"
Thalia gave him a huge wink and said, "YOU know… I, I love you like a love song baby! And I keep hittin' repeat-peat-peat-peat-peat"
"Shut up Thals!" Jason hissed, coloring up. "I had to convince her in a million times to just go out with me as a friend. The moment I say the 'L' word, she'll kick my ass faster than Leo got kicked outta military school" he said ruefully.
"My clueless baby brother, Jason. First class boyfriend material. Bringing his air hostess girlfriend to the airport for her first date" Thalia said gleefully, pushing past her brother and going to where their friends were waiting.
After standing morosely for a moment, Jason called out, "I'm not your baby brother! We're twins! You're older than me by like, 3 minutes!" Then he kicked the car and muttered "Excellent comeback Grace, you moron" to himself and ran to catch up with his sister and friends
The twins joined their companions at the entrance.
"What's the matter guys?" Jason asked. "Why aren't we going inside? I'm dying to get into the air-conditioning"
"The entry's banned" Calypso said, motioning to the throng of curious people trying to look into the airport premises over one another's heads.
"Banned? What ever for?" Thalia asked, perplexed.
"They're saying there was a bomb hoax or something. Civilians aren't allowed inside until the bomb detection squad gives the all-clear" Leo said with an almost wistful look in his eyes.
"Grease Monkey, no matter how much you want to go in and defuse a bomb, you aren't moving an inch from here," Calypso told her fiancé sternly.
"Aww man! It's always been my unfulfilled dream," Leo pretended to pout while Jason and Thalia guffawed.
Reyna huffed impatiently. "So does this mean we have to wait out in this heat?" she pulled at the collar of her shirt "I don't believe this!" She glared at Jason and imitated his deep baritone "Come on Reyna! It'll be tons of fun! I have the awesomest friends!" Leo snickered as Jason looked abashed. Reyna continued "Jason Grace, WHAT am I doing at the airport on my day off?"
"I'm sorry Rey, but you see, some friends of ours are due to arrive and I thought we'd all hang out together after we had picked them up" Jason explained hastily.
"You could've brought a gift basket of muffins! You could have gotten them a 'welcome back' placard! What purpose do I serve? I don't even know these people and came along like a dunce to receive them!" Reyna snarled. "I HATE airports!" Leo pretended to cover behind Calypso. She poked at his chest.
Thalia rolled her eyes, made a 'tsk' sound and exchanged a significant look with her brother. His new love interest was going to find it very tough to pass muster.
Glancing around the group saw various people greeting or bidding farewell to their friends and family members. A buff looking Asian guy swung around a dark, petite girl with gold-hued eyes as she squealed in delight to see him. A few feet from that couple, a blonde girl with purple highlights waved goodbye to a large group of people. A dark skinned boy with the physique of a basketball player and several amulets on his forearm kissed the blonde girl's temple and escorted her to the entrance while everyone else in their group cheered. A group of delighted mothers held sparkly banners which read "Congrats Cheerleading Squad!" "Way to go Kelli!" as a team of exuberant teenagers in cheerleading uniformed spilled out. There were affectionate hugs all around.
Thalia sighed warmly. "I LOVE airports" she said with a glance at the still-annoyed looking Reyna. "When people meet after months or years of separation, it's always a sight to behold. Each one of these people has a story to tell"
Reyna put a hand to her hand and said mock-eagerly "I know right? Stories!" Her eyes turned stony "I detest stories. Especially stories that start and end at the air port"
Calypso, who was usually an extremely easy going person with a vast store of patience, was starting to lose her temper. "Is there anything you don't hate or detest?" she asked Reyna in a sweet voice which was a sure sign of danger. "Why wouldn't you like love stories that started and ended at the air port?"
"Why should this even be justified?" Reyna asked incredously. "What kind of impression are people under? Sneaking into airports, by passing security, grounding planes, making declarations of undying love just at the moment of departure? Such people should be gunned down. It's that F.R.I.E.N.D.S. episode that started it all" she huffed
Leo whistled like a cartoon's side effect of a character falling off a cliff. "Not very romantic now, are you Miss?" he asked jovially.
"No," Reyna said with a smile. "I hate romance" Jason gulped and looked down at his feet. Behind Reyna's ranting back, Thalia, Leo and Calypso drew their fingers across their throats.
"Does something like 'true love' even exist anymore?" Reyna continued. "I mean, c'mon guys! All around us we see nothing but miserable couples. Fighting, bitching, cheating, emotional black mail… It's disgusting! And don't even get me started on the institution of marriage. 72 days in, and the couple gets divorced. Is nothing sacred anymore?" she threw her hands up in mock defeat.
"Of course true love exists!" Calypso stated, looking at Leo. "When you find the right person…" she trailed off meaningfully.
"Aww! All this made-for-each-other crap" Reyna said. "Only romance novels are like that. Not real life"
"You can find true love, even in today's world lady" Leo said, snaking an arm around Calypso's waist.
"Really? Can this be the truth? Show me an example of true love, I'm just desperate to hear it!" Reyna batted her eyes at the group.
Thalia told her "For that, you'll have to listen to a story. And you, don't like stories" She and the rest of the group exhanged a meaningful glance.
Reyna said "A story? You mean it has a hero?Is there drama? Action?"
"Yep!" Jason exclaimed enthusiastically.
"Maybe a villain somewhere?" Reyna guessed
"Villains… not so much" Calypso said.
"Will it have lots of fights and misunderstanding?" Reyna asked.
"Overflowing with twists and turns!" Leo assured her.
"Sounds..." She said smiling as if thinking about it and then dropped it immediately." HORRIBLE. I'm not the least bit interested." Reyna huffed.
"You might as well listen to us to pass the time," said Thalia who was beginning to like this cynical girl less and less. "The flight's delayed by an hour anyway"
"Fine! But the second I get bored, I'm going to say so" Reyna pursed her mouth and leaned against a pillar.
"Ok" Thalia nodded. Jason, Leo and Calypso also chimed in with "Ok"
"So Reyna. Once there was this guy…" Jason began and was stopped when Leo clapped his hands on his shoulder.
"Grace, you couldn't weave a tale to save your life," Leo scoffed. "Ooh sass!" Calypso called.
Leo faced Reyna seriously. "Our tale… Starts with a dream"
There are dunes of hot sand everywhere. Rising like a menacing shadow, a jet black charger comes galloping down a hill. A dark veil masked the rider's face. One could only make out his sea green eyes. He heard a strange noise and urged his mount forward.
"Hold on, hang up" Reyna held up a hand. "Is this your dream?" she questioned.
Leo, who seemed extremely busy riding an imaginary horse, looked peeved at the interruption. He rolled his eyes at Reyna. "No, this is not my dream" he said as if he were explaining something to a small child or an especially slow person.
"Then how do you know what the dream was like?" Reyna asked, crossing her arms irritably.
"Because Percy's dreams were all vivid like this" Leo said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
Reyna scrunched her nose. "Who's Percy?" she asked.
"The guy who's dreaming." Leo said. "Now shut up and listen. Hi-yah!"
Love it? Hate it? Please drop a review and tell us what you think! This story is mostly a percabeth story but there are other pairings involved too. Percy appears in the next chapter. Until next time!
Read, review and favorite!- Drakky28293 and RachelChaseJackson