Author's Notes: The character that pretty much all of the drabbles will be about is Percy. Or Nico. Or maybe both. Because they're both my favorites and I can't choose between them. :P
I wrote this for my friend, Alyssa (Thief of Blood), so she can read all about Nico and Percy to her heart's content! xD
Oh, and if you want to take this challenge yourself, go read RavenclawBeauty14's story Percy Jackson and the Olympic Shuffle. The directions are written in the story.
1. Monster (Skillet)
Percy had a dark secret. He kept it hidden deep inside and he never let anyone know about it.
Whenever he was battling monsters, there was a terrible thing inside him that he couldn't control. It was vicious bloodlust. That dark part of Percy loved killing monsters. That dark part of Percy loved watching them die as he stabbed them. That dark part of Percy loved how it felt to kill.
Percy wanted to stop that part of him, but he didn't know how. He wanted to find a way to control the beast that lived inside of him. He hated the way it took over him.
It was almost like he was the real monster.
2. Move Along (The All-American Rejects)
Something inside Percy broke when Silena Beauregard died, and Annabeth knew it. She'd noticed how he wasn't his normal easygoing self lately. He kept blaming the deaths of all of their friends who'd died on himself.
Today, however, was much worse than the other days. Annabeth was deeply disturbed by the fact that Percy had just muttered that he should just tell Kronos where his mortal point was.
"Percy, you've got to move on," Annabeth said to him, slipping her hand into Percy's and squeezing it. "Silena, Beckendorf, and all of our friends were and still are counting on you. They would want you to keep moving along with the war effort. Don't let their sacrifices be a waste. You're strong guy, Percy. I have faith in you."
Percy studied his best friend. She appeared to be telling the truth. If Annabeth had that much faith in him, then he decided he should have faith in himself as well. "You're right, Annabeth," he replied, grabbing Riptide as he stood up. "I've got to be strong. Let's go get those Titans!"
3. Dead Walker Texas Ranger (Sleeping With Sirens)
Having monsters wake you up by trying to eat you is not pleasant. Percy knew that firsthand.
Percy hadn't been sleeping very well lately. He practically slept with one eye open to make sure no monsters were going to eat him in the night. Because he was a child of Poseidon, one of the Big Three, he attracted much more monsters than the average demigod. The monsters that chased him were relentless and brutal. They wanted his blood. They wanted his flesh. They wanted his bones.
On this particularly happy morning, Percy woke up to the beautiful face of an empousa, a monster who appeared to be a beautiful girl, but demigods could see past that innocent mask and recognize a demon who had one donkey leg and one leg made of celestial bronze. She had been persistently following Percy and Annabeth for a long time now.
"Crap," said Percy. "You know, you're really starting to annoy me." By this time, Annabeth had also woken up and groaned as she saw the empousa.
"Not again!" growled Annabeth. "We told you to get lost!"
"Aw, come now, Percy," wheedled the empousa, ignoring Annabeth completely. "My darling, all I want is to suck your blood. Just a little bit of it! Please?" the monster finished with a cute little pout.
"Nope," said Percy. "Not today." He reached into his pocket and uncapped his pen, which burst into a full-length sword called Riptide. He lunged. "Die, demon!"
The empousa burst into flames and her eyes glowed red. Her arms reached out for him as if to hold him tightly. With a yell, Percy leapt forward and buried Riptide into her brain. She hissed at him as she dissolved and her body was sent back to Tartarus.
"That'll teach you to chase me," said Percy simply, going back to sleep. With one eye open, of course.
4. Not Your Birthday (Allstar Weekend)
Everyone was happy, regardless of the fact that it had been the worst day of their lives. Kronos had finally been defeated by Percy. As soon as everyone had gotten back to camp, an unplanned party had somehow started. All the campers were dancing around outside of the cabins. The Hermes cabin and some satyrs had smuggled in some Cokes.
"Come and get your drinks before they're gone!" called Connor Stoll.
Travis Stoll was messing with his iPod, trying to hook up the speakers to no avail, until one of the guys from the Hephaestos cabin came over and helped him.
"Geez, it's like it's someone's birthday!" Connor laughed.
"It's not yours!" Travis replied.
"No," said Connor. Suddenly, an evil grin appeared on his face. "But I know whose birthday it is today."
"Whose birthday?" asked Travis.
"Percy's," replied Connor.
"Um, where is Percy by the way? And where'd Annabeth go?" Travis looked at Connor. Connor smirked. Suddenly, Travis understood. "Oh!"
"Exactly," said Connor. "Someone must be having a pretty sweet birthday, apparently. Shall we get everyone to go, er, make sure they're behaving?"
"Oh, yes," replied Travis, rubbing his hands together excitedly. "Let's go wish him a happy birthday – Stoll-style!"
5. All I Wanted (Paramore)
Nico missed Bianca a lot. He thought of her all the time. He still couldn't believe she'd died. He kept half-expecting her to return.
She had defended him against the cruelties of the world. It was a shame she wasn't there to help him now.
He thought about the beginning of their journey together as half-bloods. He wished he could relive the happiest moments with his sister. He wished she could be there to hug him once more. He thought about all of his favorite moments with her.
All he wanted was his sister back.
6. I'm Only Me When I'm With You (Taylor Swift)
Annabeth and I have been through quite a lot together. We've recovered Zeus' masterbolt, stolen back the Golden Fleece, defeated Kronos and his Titan army, saved each other's lives multiple times, and have been on countless other adventures. She always has my back. I trust her with my life.
Annabeth is my best friend. I know everything about her, and she knows everything about me. She even seems to know these things about me that I didn't even know about myself.
I love her more than anything. I'm so glad she loves me. True, she drives me crazy half the time, but the other half, I am so happy that we're together. We're the only ones that really match each other. We can be ourselves around each other and we just accept each other for who we are.
I don't want to live without her.
7. Ohioisonfire (Of Mice & Men)
I watched the bullets from the guns of Hades' warriors blow pass me harmlessly. The warriors swung their swords and blasted their rifles, but none of the blows from the weapons did any damage to me. I couldn't even feel their attacks. I destroyed his army single-handedly, relentlessly lunging and stabbing at them all with Riptide. The soldiers crumbled to dust as soon as my sword connected with them.
Hades' undead warriors no longer scared me. They seemed entirely helpless.
I was a living nightmare.
You see, generally people aren't supposed to go bathing in the River Styx. It kind of makes them invulnerable to death, except for one small spot on their bodies where if wounded they could die. When people sneakily bathe in the Styx, it kind of messes with the classic sense of order, so Hades doesn't really like it when people do that. Well, I did. So he hates me and thinks I'm out of line. (Well, he hates me more I should say. We've had a couple more run-ins in the past. But that's not important right now).
"I wish you were dead, Jackson," Hades sneered at me.
"Yeah, I figured," I answered him. "Too bad. I'm alive and relentless."
"Well, you'd be better off dead!" Hades barked.
"You know that's not true," I countered. "I'm going to save the world. I kind of have to be alive for that."
8. Bring Me to Life (Evanescence)
I had quite a shock when I opened my eyes. Wait... how was I even able to open my eyes?! I died, right? What... what was going on? I looked up to see Chiron, Annabeth, and this boy with sea green eyes and black hair all peering at me. When I looked into the boy's eyes, it was if I could see directly into his core. I instantly felt connected to him, like we'd either be best friends or mortal enemies.
"We need nectar!" called the boy.
"Annabeth!" I called. "Oh my gods, I never thought I'd see you again! What happened?" I asked her.
"We'll explain later," said Annabeth, looking really shaken up. "We need to heal you right now."
"Did you guys just like, bring me to life?" I joked.
"All will be answered soon," Annabeth told me.
I stretched. "Geez, it seems like I've been sleeping a thousand years, and yet I still feel the same. It's like I was frozen in time!"
The boy knelt down next to me. "What's your name?" he asked, but I could tell he already knew it.
"I am Thalia, daughter of Zeus."
9. Playing God (Paramore)
"It's all your fault Bianca died!" Nico shouted at me.
"That's not fair!" I said. "I was going to climb into Hephaestos' creation, but she climbed in instead. How was I to know that she was going to... well, you know?"
"I don't care!" yelled Nico. He pointed a finger at me. "I hate you, you know that? You're really stupid and uncaring! You were just too scared to take her place!"
That's it. He'd gone too far. "Stop pointing fingers at me!" I told him. "I'm not the only one who is to blame here! You can't start assuming things about me without having valid reasons for them. You don't have to believe me, but I'll tell you the truth: I honestly didn't know she was going to die."
"Liar," Nico sneered.
I ignored that comment and changed tactics. "You know Nico," I said, "regardless of whether you believe me or not, the way I see it is that Bianca was a hero. I deeply admired your sister, and I still do today. I've often wondered why she sacrificed herself for me and the others. I'll never know why. But I do know that Bianca loved you very much and she was really proud of you. I hope you'll remember that." And with that, I turned on my heel and left Nico standing behind me with that thought about his sister.
10. My Dilemma (Selena Gomez)
She can make me so frustrated sometimes! She thinks she knows everything! It's always, "Percy, why can't you think things through?" or, "Percy, quit acting so stupid!" Geez, I'm not a dumbass. I swear, I'm gonna lose my mind one of these days!
And yet, I can't help but to love her. I want her. I can't get her out of my head. And those eyes. Those beautiful grey eyes of hers can always stop me from speaking and believe anything she says.
Gods, Annabeth. You're my dilemma.
