Do As They Do
By: xXxDaughteroftheKingxXx, musiclover99, bubble drizzles, Eleos, larkgrace, bookluva98
AN: Whoa, whoa, whoa. Stop right there. Do you eyes deceive you? Are you really reading the first official chapter(alright, prologue) of Do As They Do?
Oh, heck, yes.
We're about nine chapters into writing an approximately twenty-five chapter story, so updates won't be as frequent as we'd like, but rest assured, this will be updated. We decided to post it because, well, I, for one, am sick and tired of flames from certain people about the J/A pairing. Hopefully, this prologue sort of begins to explain how.
Now, I'm going to laugh because all of you are going to feel incredibly stupid, because HA HA, we have been tricking you all this time. I think you'll understand more when you read, but just a heads up: Pretty much all of our stories take place in TLH, right? Or so you think. (;
I'm done spoiling. May I present to you, the prologue of Do As They Do.
Disclaimer: We don't own PJO/HoO.
Prologue
By: xXxDaughteroftheKingxXx
At Ogygia
Percy Jackson walked back to Calypso's oh so familiar meadow, heart heavy. How could he—a simple demigod—cause that much chaos? Did he really blow up a mountain? All those people... evacuated from their home. Some had been injured; others were suffering from illnesses, all because of him.
What had he done?
And, that wasn't even the half of it. Hephaestus had pretty much come and told him that—oh yeah—in order to find Daedalus, he had to ask Rachel Dare for help. There was no way in Hades that Annabeth was going to let him doing that... She'd probably rather die in the Labyrinth than get help from a mortal—let alone Rachel.
Percy ran a frustrated hand through his hair, finally reaching the meadow. Calypso, as usual, was tending to her glowing flowers. Despite the inner turmoil that the conversation had brought, Percy had to smile. She didn't even try to be, but Calypso was beautiful. She just... was.
"He has ordered you to return." It wasn't a question; it was a statement. Her voice was sad, terse, like she already knew that it was coming.
Percy shook his head. "Well, not ordered," he admitted as he walked up to her.
The two locked eyes, and in a slightly nervous, quiet voice, Calypso said, "I promised I would not offer."
"Offer what?"
"For you to stay," she said, voice growing quieter with every word.
The son of Poseidon seemed stunned. "Stay," he said, brows furrowing. "Like... forever?"
Calypso nodded. "You would be immortal on this island," she whispered. "You would never age or die. You could leave the fight to others, Percy Jackson. You could escape your prophecy."
If possible, Percy was even more stunned. She really was tempting him... An eternity spent in a beautiful island, with a beautiful girl... A chance to escape the stress of being the prophecy child...
"Just like that?" he said, finally after a couple of moments of stunned silence.
With a nod, she confirmed, "Just like that."
"But…my friends." Percy looked down. He wanted to stay... but he just couldn't...
Calypso rose and took his hand, a small, sad smile resting on her face. "You asked about my curse, Percy. I did not want to tell you." Her voice shook. "The truth is the gods send me companionship from time to time. Every thousand years or so, they allow a hero to wash up on my shores, someone who needs my help. I tend to him and befriend him, but it is never random. The Fates make sure that the sort of hero they send…"
Her voice trailed off, and she looked down, refusing to meet the son of Poseidon's eyes.
Percy squeezed her hand tightly. "What? What have I done to make you sad?" he whispered in a sincere, loving voice.
Finally, she looked up, expression pained. In a soft murmur, Calypso explained,
"They send a person who can never stay," she croaked. "Who can never accept my offer of companionship for more than a little while. They send me a hero I can't help…just the sort of person I can't help falling in love with."
A silence settled over the two; the only sound that could be heard was the gurgle of the fountains and the waves crashing gently against the shore.
"Me?" Percy finally said, his voice shocked.
"If you could see your face." Calypso said with a small, sad smile. She stared at the demigod intently, and said in a soft voice, "Of course, you."
"That's why you've been pulling away all this time?"
"I tried very hard," she said, "but I can't help it. The Fates are cruel. They sent you to me, my brave one, knowing that you would break my heart."
Percy still looked very surprised. "But…I'm just…I mean, I'm just me," he stammered.
"That is enough," Calypso promised. Her voice was strained, like she wanted to go on, but was forcing herself not to. "I told myself I would not even speak of this. I would let you go without even offering. But I can't. I suppose the Fates knew that, too. You could stay with me, Percy. I'm afraid that is the only way you could help me."
His hand intertwined in Calypso's, Percy stared at the beautiful horizon. Dawn was appearing. He contemplated Calypso's offer; with this one choice, he could be free of everything. He wouldn't have to worry about the prophecy—about possibly dying. He'd have everything he would need here. He could be with Calypso for all of eternity. He could just... disappear from the world.
Percy's heart sank. He thought of Annabeth... of his mom. And Grover, and Tyson, and Rachel... If he stayed here, he'd never see any of them ever again. The offer was so tempting... The pros outweighed the cons...
"I want to stay," Percy said softly. Calypso looked at him expectantly, as if waiting for him to state why he couldn't, but no other words were said by the demigod. Her eyes widened. He couldn't actually stay... could he?
"You... mean it?" she whispered, excitement bubbling inside of her.
Percy smiled at her and nodded. "I... I know I haven't know you that long," he muttered, a rosy blush spreading to his cheeks, "but... I think I do like you... and I wish I could stay here with you."
Calypso beamed at him. "Well, then, Percy Jackson," she said softly. "Your wish is my command."
On Mt. Olympus
"Is the lad insane?" Hephaestus roared. The god's eyes were glued on the IM of Percy Jackson and Calypso, who were currently staring at each other lovingly and just talking and chatting, have not a single clue that thirteen immortal beings were watching them like a TV show.
"Not insane," Aphrodite corrected, an adoring smile on her face, "lovestruck!"
Poseidon narrowed his eyes at the goddess, but chose to keep his mouth shut, at least to her. Instead, he turned to Zeus and asked, "Well, what now?"
Mutters arose from the other gods and goddesses, all looking at the King of the Gods, who was staring intently at the IM, while he stroked his gray beard.
"Well," he said, at long last, "what do you suppose we do?"
"Force him off the island?" Ares suggested with a slight grin. He unsheathed his sword, grinning wickedly.
"We gave the boy a choice for a reason, Ares," Artemis said, cutting him off with a stern glare. "Obviously, he made the wrong choice, which proves that he must not have been cut out for being the prophecy child."
"Oh, come on, Artemis! Can't I just cream the punk a little bit?"
Poseidon sent the war god a harsh glare. "There will be no creaming of my son, Ares." He looked around the room of the gods. "Anyone else have an idea?"
"Why don't we just let the prophecy pass to the next Big Three child?" Dionysus said lazily with a shrug. "Hades's kid... Oh, what's his name? Nicky? Nicholas?"
"Nico," Hades corrected, crossing his arms. He looked annoyed to be here, and very out of place amidst the large, fancy thrones sitting in his own makeshift stone seat.
"As much as it pains me to say this," Athena said with a sigh, "Dionysus is correct. We must let the prophecy pass to the next demigod child of the Big Three. If it is Nico, then he will be the child of the prophecy."
Hades smiled smugly at his two brothers, who just looked annoyed. Most of the gods nodded their agreement to Athena's(technically, Dionysus's) plan.
All except for Hera, who wore a frown.
"Apollo," she said, turning to look at her step-son, "this Great Prophecy... Was it passed to the Romans, as well as the Greeks?"
All the gods in the throne room tensed at the mention of their other sides... This was the first time in a while that someone actually brought up the Roman gods.
"Yes..." the god of prophecy said hesitantly, eyes shifting back and forth to various places in the room. "Why?"
A smug smile slid onto the Queen of the Heavens' face. "Then, I believe that it means that Hades's... spawn is actually not the prophecy child."
Hades did not look the slightest bit pleased at this news. Teeth gritted, he spat, "Who?"
Hera flashed a sweet, but cold smile to her brother. "Jason Grace," she said smoothly. "My champion."
Hermes, having been to the Roman equivalent of Camp Half-Blood as Mercury, looked at the goddess curiously. "Jason Grace," he said, slightly warily, "son of Jupiter? Thalia Grace's little brother? Member of the Fifth Cohort?"
"And champion of Juno," Hera said proudly. "That is him. He will be the child of the prophecy."
"That can't happen!" Hades argued, throwing his hands up into the air. "Kronos is clearly going after the Greeks, not the Romans! The only way for Jason to be the prophecy child would be if..." His voice trailed off, but the gods in the room knew what he was going to say.
"So, what do we plan on doing?" Apollo said finally, breaking the ice. "Are we going to do it?"
Zeus frowned, and he looked at the twelve other immortals, dead serious. "It must be done," he said, "but the Council will take a vote. All in favor?"
Several hands in the room went up—Hera's, Athena's, Apollo's, Aretmis's, Zeus's, Aphrodite's...
"Okay," Zeus said with another frown. "All against?"
The remaining gods' hands went up, except for Ares's. All eyes turned to the war god, who merely shrugged uncaringly.
"Ares, what is your vote?" Hera asked impatiently. "We have little time."
A cold smile slid onto the god's face, and out of nowhere, a knife appeared, and he began picking underneath his dirty fingernails with it. "Do I look like I really care?" he said with another shrug.
"You will care," Artemis said in a cold hiss, "when your home is destroyed, and Kronos makes you his prisoner!"
Ares rolled his eyes, slouching into his throne. "Fine, fine. Chill out. My guess is that, if they unite, there'll be some bloodshed involved. So, I'm for it."
"So be it," Zeus said. "The Council has decided that we will reunite the two sides."
The King of the Gods' form began to flicker. His grew taller and thinner; his beard shortened. His pinstripe suit changed to a regal, purple toga, lined with gold. On his head, he wore a golden laurel, and a gladius hung at his side.
The god, now in the form of Jupiter, frowned gravely at the other gods, some who were also in the process of changing to their Roman forms, in the room. "It's time," he said grimly. "It's time for Rome and Greece to be reunited."
AN: Dun. Dun. DUN.
If you guys can guess the quote that this title is based off of, you'll get a few virtual cookies. (::) (::) (::) See? :) (It's so obvious, guys.)
Thanks for reading! Happy Easter!
-Lex