PJatO || Nicercy || PJatO || Nicercy || True Love's First Kiss || Nicercy || PJatO || Nicercy || PJatO
Title: True Love's First Kiss – The One With the Pomegranate-Chocolate
Fandom: Percy Jackson and the Olympians / Heroes of Olympus; post both series
Disclaimer: All rights reserved to Rick Riordan for he created the awesomeness that is Nico di Angelo. And everything else related to Percy Jackson and the Olympians / Heroes of Olympus. Aside from the Gods, they belong to the old Greeks. This fanfiction and its OCs on the other hand are entirely mine. No money is made with this, though reviews are more than welcomed.
Warnings: shounen-ai, Nico Feels, Valentine's fluff, kidnapping/entrapment, drugged, misunderstanding, meddling, magic, human-turned-merman, hetero
Main Pairing: Nico/Percy
Side Pairings: Jake/Will, Jason/Reyna, Hades/Persephone
Percy Jackson Characters: Perseus Jackson, Nico di Angelo, Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano, Jason Grace, Cecil Rogers, Lou Ellen, Will Solace, Jake Mason, Small Bob, Mrs. O'Leary, Jules Albert
Godly Characters: Hades, Persephone, Thanatos, Cupid
Summary: Hades has been tired of Nico's whining for a while, Persephone is tired of Hades' complains about Nico's whining and Thanatos has heard enough from both of them, so they sit together with his counter-part Cupid, who is more than on board, to cook something up.
What they don't know is that the combined force of Nico's blondes – aka Jason and Will – have Nico that close to confessing his feelings to Percy. And then the gods screw things up, badly.
With Nico stuck as a merman in the lake at Camp Half-Blood and Percy stuck in the underworld... how will Nico's meddling friends and family solve all of this with a happy ending...?
True Love's First Kiss
The One With the Pomegranate-Chocolate
Hades had already told Nico so before, when they had met during Nico's travels with Coach Hedge and Reyna, that he has had enough of hearing the name 'Percy Jackson'. Retrospectively, he should have known better than to think it would stop any time soon.
Nico had openly opposed Hades – his father, the king of the underworld, one of the three mightiest gods in existence – on several occasions, for the sole purpose of helping and saving Percy Jackson. First by showing Percy how to apply the Curse of Achilles, even though Nico knew that Hades wanted him to become the hero. Then by freeing Percy from the dungeons even though Hades had thrown Percy into those with the expressed desire to let him rot there for all eternity.
Hades knew from own experience that the only thing that makes you dumb enough to challenge a stronger opponent is love. The things people did for love had always been headless and reckless.
He spoke from experience, after all he had kidnapped Zeus' daughter against better judgment because he had fallen in love with the beautiful goddess and couldn't picture living without her.
So of course the name 'Percy Jackson' still felt quite frequently around the underworld. Even though the wars were over. Even though Nico was now staying quite often at one of the two camps. Even though Nico was – supposedly so – over his 'crush' on Percy Jackson.
And oh deary did the gods have a good laugh at that. Well, the gods of the underworld anyway, since he doubted the Olympians ever payed as much attention to their kids as he had in the past.
That Nico truly thought he had anyone with half a brain fooled with his little lie. Cupid was the god of love and desires and per definition, being over someone means not to hold any desire anymore. Cupid, the god of love, would not see a mere 'crush' as anything worthy of his time. Much less as enough of a challenge to deserve any kind of reward from the vicious god.
It was endearing and a little embarrassing to watch how desperately Nico tried to deny his feelings – to himself, to Cupid, to Jason, to anyone. He'd rather admit to loving Annabeth Chase than even uttering the barely-there words that he had a crush on Percy. Granted, even Hades himself would not have had the patience to pull any more teeth with that stubborn boy.
"What am I going to do about this boy?", sighed Hades annoyed.
He slid down his throne, glowering after the retreating back of Nico di Angelo as the boy stormed off to his own room. Hades had thought the whole Nico-making-friends thingy going on would get the boy out of Hades' hair. He really should have known better. The underworld had been his home for four years and the only three people Nico had ever been close to had been Bianca, Hazel and Percy. And even so, he had never let anyone truly close since Bianca had died. Not even his other sister, not even the boy he loved truly knew Nico di Angelo. So there was no way this boy would just out and jump into camp-life and be happy about it. At least once a week, all the pestering friends became too much for Nico, all the... Percy became too much for Nico and he came home.
"Mh? Did you say something, love?", asked Persephone next to him, removing an ear-plug.
"...Really?", asked Hades slowly, blinking a couple of times.
"Oh please, it's always the same thing", sighed Persephone, waving one hand dismissively. "He comes, he bitches on about how nagging Will Solace is, how overly affectionate Jason Grace is and how annoying, irritating and obnoxious Percy Jackson is. Which, judging by his tone of whining, translates to how sexy, adorable and cute Percy Jackson is. Then Nico storms off and you start complaining about his complains. Honestly, I have a special kind of migraine thanks to you two."
"Preaching to the choir. Even the souls on the fields of Asphodel complain about this 'new brand of torture' of listening to the underworldly soap opera unfolding every week."
Hades and Persephone were turning toward the window through which Thanatos descended. Hades huffed undignified and Persephone giggled a little to himself. No one had respect these days!
"What we need is a solution", stated Persephone firmly.
"Yes. Yes, something to make him stop talking about Jackson", sighed Hades in agreement.
"Well, there must be something the three of us can figure out, right?", inquired Thanatos amused.
"I'll be damned if we don't", muttered Hades with a glare.
/break\
"Nico! Look who came to... Nico?"
Jason's enthusiasm died down when he noticed that the only ones in the infirmary were a glowering Will Solace, with his feet in Jake Mason's lap. There were also Cecil Rogers and Lou Ellen, sitting together with them, snickering to themselves and exchanging money.
"Oh, the Golden Retriever puppy returns, with his mistress", grinned Lou teasingly.
"Reyna decided to visit", mumbled Jason, looking a little upset. "I was looking forward to abducting Nico and having some fun. But he wasn't in his cabin, so that generally means he's hanging around the infirmary. But judging by the expression on Will's face... he is not."
Will huffed and turned to glare at Jason and Reyna. The Giant War had been over for four months now and most the time, Nico stuck around, sometimes even laughed, participated in camp-activities. He wasn't the most social guy – but Will was fine with that. He didn't like crowds, but he stuck around with Will, Cecil and Lou – and Jason whenever the pontifex maximus was at camp too. Still, Nico had been through hell, quite literally so. He was not okay yet.
He was also not over Percy Jackson, but Will didn't judge him for that. After all, it was why Will had first befriended Nico. His gay-dar was more than functioning, he knew Nico was gay even at the times Nico had been denying it to himself. Will remembered what a challenge coming to terms had been for himself, how painful it had been and how unsettling. If possible, he wanted to help others not to go through all those hardships on their own. But Nico had been blocking him – and he knew that without the previous work of Jason and Reyna, he still wouldn't have succeeded.
Working with Nico had been harder than with any other case he could have pictured. After weeks of pestering Nico and forcing his way in, Nico finally started to open up. Talk about his feelings, concerning being gay – finally saying it out loud. Nico had lived at the verge of World War II, when being gay in Europe meant being carted away to find a cruel end. Of course that set a boy, who already was completely at his own, even more unsettled about his feelings.
Will blamed the stress and the near-death experience for the brief moment of blind bravery when Nico had, once again, used a half-truth to come around. Admitting his feelings to Percy out loud, but wavering when he actually stood in front of Percy, claiming he was over him. Hoping against better knowledge that saying it out loud would make it true.
It didn't, but it led to a lot of conversations about Percy and by now Will was finally aware of the full picture – a rather large picture at that. From the day Nico had first seen Percy, love at first sight what a nice notion, to the day Bianca had died and still, Nico couldn't bear to harm the boy he blamed for his sister's death, how he had put himself in danger – by trusting Minos, by arguing and flat-out denying Hades, by going through Tartarus – all for Percy's sake. In the name of love.
"Well, we got Witchy, Tricky, Sunny, Tinkery and Nerdy... I am missing our seventh dwarf. Where is Grumpy?", inquired Reyna with one arched eyebrow. "I came all the way to see him."
While Lou and Cecil laughed about their names, Will chuckled mildly fondly, Jake looked annoyed and Jason looked flustered. Jake started to massage his boyfriend's feet again, which always put Will at ease when he got overly annoyed. Sometimes, Jake disliked the friendship between Will and Nico, because Will had developed a nearly motherly protectiveness over Nico, causing him to worry a lot. A lot more than was healthy. A small laughter escaped Will as Jake kissed his big toe.
"Will and Nico had another one of their educational arguments", replied Jake.
"You know, the ones where Nico goes all 'But mom, I wanna be a doctor!' and Will goes all 'Son, you need to finish high school first'", explored Cecil with bad impressions of the other two.
"And then Nico did one of the two things he does best. Running", finished Lou, rolling her eyes.
"Two?", mouthed Jason confused, looking at Reyna.
His girlfriend also rolled her eyes, albeit in a somewhat fond way. "Running away from things and stalking Percy Jackson. Obviously. Talking about, if I can't see Nico, where's Percy?"
"Oh, that's a good plan", agreed Jason with a grin, taking her hand.
"Well, it's not like we got anything else to do", shrugged Lou bored.
"You children go, I have some... adult plans with dad", ordered Will, pulling Jake close.
"Have fun, mom", chimed Cecil with a snicker.
/break\
Cupid was highly amused by the three gods of the underworld and even more so by how proud those three looked. They had come to him, complaining and whining, if he was being honest. Hades would probably rephrase it as requesting Cupid's assistance.
"Now, the magic in those is even stronger than that which I used for you, 'Phone, dear", stated Cupid calmly but seriously. "The only thing left for you to do is make Percy Jackson eat them."
A borderline wicked smile was on his lips as he handed the heart-shaped box of chocolates to Hades. The little son of Hades had been highly entertaining so far. Love hurt, it was what made Cupid thrive. And no one suffered more for his love than Nico di Angelo. As much as Cupid liked to torture his peers, he occasionally also enjoyed to reward those faithful.
"Oh, I doubt that will be hard", grinned Persephone and tied a blue bow around the box.
Cupid smirked downright wickedly as the three underworld-gods left. He would allow Nico di Angelo a happy ending, but that brat had to work for it. And it so happened that Cupid quite approved of Hades' idea. Hitting Percy Jackson upside the head, abducting him, shackling him to the dungeons until Stockholm Syndrome kicked in. Sadly, Persephone wanted a more romantic approach. Apparently, she considered her own story romantic enough, so they had mixed something together. Seeing as today was Valentine's Day, they had made chocolate – twelve heart-shaped, blue-dyed pralines and in the heart of every praline, one magical pomegranate-seed. They got put into a heart-shaped box, with a tag reading something cheesy about a secret admirer and that should do the deed. Percy finds the box, is happy about the blue treat and the attention, eats it and wakes up forever stuck in the underworld. And then they'd get back to the whole Stockholm Syndrome part. Cupid leaned back, feet put up as he waited for everything to unfold.
/break\
Having spend the day with Jason, Reyna and the rest of what Percy had dubbed Nico's Gang had been a nice change to the pace of Percy's days. If he was being honest, he barely did anything anymore. Everything was a routine of waking up, forcing down breakfast, smiling for the bystanders, going to school, eating again, going home, doing homework, going to bed. He was good at hiding his pain, or what he was thinking. The Titan War had taught him, the Giant War had made him perfect it. With Rachel still at Camp Jupiter to take care of the Sibylline books, Jason mostly jumping around to build the temples he promised as the pontifex maximus, Annabeth and Piper being busy building the Greek equivalent to New Rome – New Athens, seeing as it was Annabeth's baby – and Frank, Hazel, Leo and Reyna living in New Rome, Percy felt rather... lonely. On the one hand, that was good because it meant less pretending. On the other hand, it was only more upsetting for him. Before, he had been able to distract himself with his friends and their problems.
Now he had a lot of time to think about things. Things like Nico's confession. It had shaken him up quite some. Mainly so because he had not even thought about the possibility – there had been so much on his mind ever since he had met Nico and the shadow of his guilt over Bianca's death had always loomed over their relationship. Never would Percy have thought that Nico would be able to love him. It made him start thinking about things. About himself. He had scarcely taken a moment to think about himself, if he was being honest. Ever since he had learned that he was a demigod, one thing had always been followed by the next. Some kidnapping – of a god, a friend or himself – or a prophecy to decipher, a quest to take, a monster to slay, a war to win. It became just easier to do as others wanted him to do. Take the quest, slay the monster, decipher the prophecy, save the kidnapped, win the war. So when camp started to push him toward Annabeth, it was the easiest thing to do to fall into a relationship that was practically presented to him with neon-signs above. Instead of thinking about the way Luke had made him feel and Luke's betrayal had made him feel and Luke's death had made him feel. The thing about Annabeth was, he knew that all those things were also going through her head and she did not want them there. So for her, it was most likely the same decision. In a way, they were doing what Nico had been doing for years – running from their own feelings and hiding, burying themselves deep beneath something fake.
But hearing Nico admit to his feelings for Percy, now that finally the wars were over, no quests to bother them, no one being kidnapped, everything slowly falling into place and finding its rightful pace, it finally forced Percy to think about things. About himself. About what he wanted.
Which now had turned to become his new distraction. Thinking about his feelings, his sexuality, it made him not think about Tartarus, about the death of friends and his failures. Coincidentally, Annabeth had started thinking about her feelings while Percy had been gone – especially so with taking Piper into consideration. Being single, having no exact goal for his life for the first time in years, Percy had the first real chance to think about what he wanted.
Apparently, he wanted Nico. Badly so. Which made him feel pathetic, if he was being honest with himself. A guy tells him he's over Percy and Percy realizes he could have had that all along, he would have wanted that all along. Maybe it was Percy's destiny to stay alone. Luke died, Rachel became a virginal oracle, Calypso he had abandoned, Annabeth turned out to be a lesbian apparently and Nico, well, he was too late to have Nico.
The part that made him feel pathetic was that having a relationship seemed the only thing he could picture himself having or doing. He had no idea about life – college, a job, actually becoming an adult. All those things, he had kind of abandoned them when he first learned about being a demigod. When he had learned about the prophecy, about how he may never live to turn sixteen.
Without Nico, he would have never turned sixteen. Without the Curse of Achilles, he would have died half a dozen times before and during the Battle of Manhattan alone. And Bob... Bob...
Percy shook his head hastily as he entered his cabin again. The more time he had to himself, to think and sort his thoughts, the more he found himself thinking about Nico. Not just because of the confession, or the things Nico had done for Percy, but also because while Percy seemed to drift around aimlessly, Nico had finally found a route for himself.
He had made friends, he was slowly getting better, he had a goal in life – becoming a doctor.
"Stop. Thinking", muttered Percy, fingers clawed into his hair as he collapsed on his bed.
Something crunched beneath him, so he slowly rolled over, frowning a little. Sitting up, he took a look. A black, heart-shaped box with a blue bow. How odd. Then he remembered – because he had send flowers to his mom this morning – that it was in fact Valentine's Day. Even odder. Frown deepening, he noticed a small note under the blue ribbon, so he pulled it out.
"For the sea I want to tame – Your Secret Admirer", read Percy to himself, blinking slowly.
A secret admirer? He had a secret admirer? His eyes flittered over to the black heart-shaped box and for a second, his heart fluttered with hope. Could it maybe, perhaps, be from... Nico? Heaving a sigh, he opened the lit. Just to perk up again, because the chocolate inside was blue. Well, wasn't the whole point of Valentine's Day that depressed singles would drown their sorrow in chocolate? Curling together on the bed, he started eating the delicious treat, deciding not to think about anything for a little while. Especially not Nico, or feelings, or his undecided future.
/break\
After spending the afternoon with Snow White, the six other dwarves decided that their Grumpy needed a push. Because Will's gay-dar had been going off during the past weeks whenever Percy was around Nico, so to speak. So, seeing as it was the day of love, they decided to brew up a little something. The plan was easily formed – with Reyna's strategic mind – and easier yet executed with Lou's magic. When the evening rolled around and they knew Nico would return from his moping, Cecil and Lou were supposed to finish up while Jake took Will out on a date and Jason took Reyna out to a romantic dinner. Everything was perfect. Or at least it was supposed to be perfect.
Cecil and Lou carried the bags filled with Happy Meals into the Hades Cabin, where an annoyed Nico was laying on his bed, glaring up at the ceiling. As the smell of McDonald's filled the cabin, Nico slowly sat up some, turning to look at his two friends.
"We bear sacrifices for the god of grumpiness and pouting", grinned Cecil.
"Oh, so funny, guys", huffed Nico and rolled his eyes.
"Well, then give us one good explanation as to why you constantly run away from your arguments with Will", prompted Lou as she sat cross-legged down next to Nico. "Here, fries."
Nico took the fries and munched them slowly. "Because he reminds me of Bianca..."
"Come again", grunted Cecil surprised, blinking. "I know his hair is a little long, but he doesn't look that girly. Well, a little maybe, but..."
"It's not about the looks, dumbass", grunted Nico and rolled his eyes. "He's so... overbearing and bossy and annoying when he thinks he knows what I should do and what's best for me. Gah."
Lou grinned amused and pushed the Happy Meals over toward Nico. She and Cecil just shared some fries. All the potion was soaking the burgers and they were specially for Nico.
/break\
Eating sweets had made Percy sleepy. Or at least he supposed so, because the next thing he knew was waking up. Waking up to satin sheets beneath his finger-tips and an eerie cold. Blinking a couple of times, he looked around. This was definitely not the Poseidon Cabin. Everything was black, the walls looked like black marble, the bed was giant and with satin sheets, all black. Four posters held up black silken curtains. Frowning a little, he sat up.
"Where in the world am I?", muttered Percy confused, stretching some.
"In the underworld, actually", clarified an amused, female voice.
Turning some more, Percy saw Lady Persephone leaning against a wall. "...Why?"
"How well do you know my story? Of how I became queen?", asked Persephone.
"Hades kidnapped you and made you eat some kind of seeds that bind you to the underworld, but you didn't empty your plate so you only stay a couple months per year", replied Percy.
"Close enough", chuckled Persephone amused. "He gave me a pomegranate and I ate three seeds of it. They tied me to the underworld, yes. The chocolate you ate, in every piece was one seed."
The display of emotions on Percy's face was fascinating and amusing the same time. "W—What? But... that means I'm... I'm... stuck here now? Why? Who? Why?"
"Hades and I figured it would be the easiest solution", shrugged Persephone nonchalantly. "Don't worry, you'll get used to it with time. The underworld isn't that bad, neither are its gods. For safety measures, we'll ensure that you stay in these chambers for now. Servants will bring you food, there's a bathroom attached to this room and the home entertainment system should be satisfying too."
"W—What? Wait!", called Percy out as the goddess just vanished. "No! Come back!"
/break\
Nico's head was roaring when he woke up. No, wait, the roaring wasn't inside his head, it was... the water around him? Frowning confused, he looked around. He was laying at the shore. By the feeling of the water on his skin, he was also naked. Had the Stolls pulled another prank on him? He thought they had learned their lesson the last time he send an army of zombies after them. Sitting up, he slowly looked down on himself. Okay. This was a new level of pranking, even for the Stolls. There was a fish-tail attached to his waist, but it wasn't a costume – when pulling his legs closer, the tail moved. This tail was his legs. How had that happened? It was black, but when the light hit the scales, they seemed to shimmer blue. He ran his fingers over them.
"You like it?"
His head snapped up to glare at Cecil and Lou, both grinning like the maniacs they were. "You two better have a good explanation and the antidote for this before I drown you."
"Sorry, the only one who has the antidote is Percy", grinned Cecil.
"What? Why?", asked Nico confused, glaring at them.
"It's... a love-potion", replied Lou mischievously. "I thought the merman-angle would give it a nice personal touch, considering it's for the son of Poseidon, you know?"
"Explain it to me now, or I will actually drown you", warned Nico impatiently.
"Simple. The only thing that can turn you back human is true love's first kiss", answered Lou.
"You know what? I'll drown you anyway", growled Nico and lunged for them.
But Cecil and Lou just backed off enough so Nico couldn't reach them anymore. He growled frustrated that he couldn't even chase them. He was even more frustrated that he couldn't turn back. He was aware that sweet, kind Percy would probably give him that kiss if Nico explained the prank. But that would mean to reveal that his feelings were deeper and still very much present, contrary to what he had been willing to admit months ago. And he just wasn't ready for that. Not yet.
"Very well", muttered Nico with a glare. "Then I'll just send zombies after you until you break your little spell. I'll make your life hell until you change me back, Lou Ellen."
/break\
Percy was through all of David Tennant's episodes of Doctor Who while eating Chinese take-out. He had his own butler named Jules Albert, who brought him whatever Percy wanted – he had even asked for blueberry ice-cream and silly things, but the zombie brought him whatever he wanted. All the food, games and DVDs even. Apparently, Hades seemed very set on keeping Percy content. As content as Percy could be, stuck in a room in the underworld palace.
"Meow!", interrupted Small Bob.
The skeleton cat walked up to Percy and pushed his head against Percy's hand. Smiling a little, Percy started patting the kitten. The latest things that Jules Albert had gotten Percy – his pets. After all, Small Bob and Mrs. O'Leary both were creatures of the underworld. Since the bed war gigantic, even Mrs. O'Leary comfortably fit onto it, allowing Percy to lay cuddled up against her, with one large paw laid over him as though he was her pup. Occasionally, she would lick his head, causing his hair to stick up. They made this place feel at least a little like home.
He was now on his third day of being here and he had tried about everything. IM his family, both camps, Rachel. The IMs didn't connect. Climbing out the window proved that there was an invisible force outside that didn't allow him to get through. There was no door, so not even a lock to pick. The zombie just materialized from a shadow. After Small Bob and Mrs. O'Leary joined him yesterday, Percy had tried to shadow-travel with his trusted hellhound, but she couldn't travel. Percy suspected it was a similar trick as with the window. Well, after Persephone's story, Percy suspected that Hades knew how to keep someone from running away until they grew comfortable.
"By my father, that scene always makes me cry", sighed Persephone softly.
"I think everyone cries at that scene", huffed Percy, stealing some popcorn from her.
Apart from Jules Albert, Persephone was the only one who came visiting Percy. Apparently, she and Hades thought that since she had once been in his situation, she may be able to ease him into it. So far, Percy was really getting along well with her. They watched Doctor Who and occasionally movies or cartoons with each other and talked. Really talked. She asked him about his life, about how he was coping with the aftermath of the wars and somehow, it was easier to talk to her. She hadn't been close to him – not before he had come to the underworld, but certainly by now – and that made it easier to open up. Easier because she wasn't one of his friends or family, so he didn't feel like burdening her with it, in a way. In return, she also shared a lot with him. About her life with Hades, drawing quite the different picture of the cold, heartless god of death. Then again, when being an outcast among gods, a cold facade served as protection. Percy was startled to realize that he actually shared something with Hades. Granted, Percy hid behind smiles and laughter where Hades hid behind a glower and glare, but both tried to shield their true feelings from others so they wouldn't show weakness. Percy because he didn't want to burden those he loved and Hades because he didn't want to be vulnerable in front of those he couldn't trust.
Persephone told him a quite different story, different from what Percy learned in the myths. Then again, it figured that the myths were not one hundred percent correct and that, if Hades had that facade, he wouldn't want it broken by the truth. There were always two sides of a story and Persephone's story had, quite clearly, been written by Zeus, not Hades.
The way Persephone told it, she had been miserable on Olympus, being raised by her father Zeus, who never had time at all anyway seeing as he was not just the king of Olympus but also the father of far too many other gods. In a way, like the demigods at camp, because they were just a few among too many. No one had more kids than Zeus, so Zeus couldn't play daddy to them all. Leaving Persephone with her spiteful stepmother Hera. She had always hated the affairs of her husband, but to be stuck with one of his bastards – one sired with their big sister Demeter on top of that – she had a special kind of hatred for Persephone, because she was the daughter of the big sister Hera had always admired, she was a goddess and not just some little demigod on Earth and away from Hera's home, no instead she was living on Olympus, taunting Hera with her mere existence.
Stuck with that stepmother, Persephone had been quite the rebellious teen. Percy had to grin as he tried to picture Persephone in a Nico-esque attire. She had just smiled and confirmed that. Black robes, drawing skulls on the walls with chalk to piss Hera off. And then she had met Hades – the epitome of a bad boy. The outcast of Olympus. The best way to piss Hera off. They had fallen in love and Hera, Zeus and Demeter all protested wildly. So Hades came up with a plan. Sadly, they had been found out before they had been fully through with things.
"Another episode?", suggested Persephone as turned to look at Percy.
"Why not? It's not like I have anything else to do", huffed Percy, pouting as he looked at her.
He didn't glare, because he was aware that right now Persephone was his only friend – even though she was part of those who were behind all of this. And Percy was too much of a social creature to live locked up in here without anyone. But Percy still had no idea why he was here.
"So, is this your husband's thing then? Collecting his brothers' children?", asked Percy slowly.
"Mh?", grunted Persephone confused, before she understood. "Oh. Oh no, you're not for my husband. You're for my stepson. You see, I realize that I may have been rather unfair to him in the past. Much to my horror, I seem to have turned into Nico's personal Hera. So, you see, you are a gift to him, because I'm still a goddess and I don't do apologies. But I also don't want to be Hera. Ew."
"I don't get it", grunted Percy with a confused and adorable frown marring his features. "Nico?"
"Oh, honey", laughed Persephone amused. "That boy has been hopelessly in love with you for years. His moping has been driving my dear husband crazy for too long now, which is why you're here. If Nico can't manage to confess to you in the mortal world, we'll just lock you in here until he does. This is his room, by the way. But we removed the door as a... safety measure."
"You got that all wrong", said Percy, shaking his head. "He's not in love with me. He used to have a crush on me. But that's been long ago and he's over me and I'm not his type."
"A funny thing about crushes is that in my experience, they always cover someone's 'type'. It's the true love that may break patterns", countered Persephone amused. "And Nico has quite the track-record of lying about his feelings. How he lied about not being in love at all, then about being in love with that Athena-girl instead, then about past feelings for you. It's like pulling teeth with that boy, really. One by one. Can't wait until we finally get that boy to say the truth out loud."
Persephone proceeded to change discs and they continued with the fifth series of Doctor Who, while Percy just sat there, gaping at her. Somewhere in the back of his mind did Percy also register that he had spend the past nights sleeping in Nico's bed, apparently.
/break\
The lake sucked. It was nice to look at, Nico spend a lot of time looking at it because it had become his substitute to looking at Percy. Like he was slowly trying to get off the drug known as Percy by taking a placebo. But the lake sucked to live in. It had been three days of Nico pouting in it – and yes, he was aware that at this point, he really was just pouting. Cecil, Lou, Will, Reyna and Jason occasionally visited him, but since he knew they had been behind all of this, he easily chased them off before they could even properly approach him. He had found out that he could control the water to a small degree now that he was a merman. And apparently, his friends didn't like being splashed by giant waves. It was at least mildly entertaining. But now, after four days, Nico grew bored. He was laying on his back, staring up at the sun and glaring some, flapping his tail.
"Nico! Please don't try to drown us!", called a voice from the woods.
Nico frowned and turned around, seeing Reyna and Jason approaching, Jason with his raised to look innocent. Rolling his eyes, Nico motioned for them to come over. He was bored out of his mind, after all. Heck, he was that short of admitting to Percy that maybe, perhaps he wasn't as over the other boy as he had claimed before. After all, he had been brave enough to say it out loud around Halloween – that he was gay. That simple, little word seemed to weight so much on his tongue and after he had said it aloud to his friends for the first time, it felt just so different, so relieving. A couple weeks later and he had found the courage to admit it aloud to the camp. Everybody already knew from that frightening moment of weird strength when Nico had admitted to having a crush on Percy – in public. It had been the pressure of that that had made him waver and play down the truth. So everybody knew, but still he had never sound it aloud in public before. It hadn't been for them, it had solemnly been for Nico. Part of the progress of growing comfortable with himself.
"What's wrong?", asked Nico confused as he noticed the serious faces.
"We've been thinking about telling you for two days now, but you were a little angry and we also thought that it would only upset you since you can't be of much help", replied Reyna slowly.
"Okay, you're starting to freak me out", grunted Nico with a glare. "What. Is. Wrong?"
"Three days ago, Percy... disappeared", answered Jason reluctantly, shifting a little nervously. "Reyna and I will leave to get back to New Rome to organize a search there."
"What do you mean with 'disappeared'? And what does three days mean?", demanded Nico.
"You know how Percy is these days", sighed Reyna. "He's not the most social creature so at first no one noticed, thinking he took some time to himself. His cabin was locked and when he didn't come around for breakfast, we thought he may sleep in – everybody knows of his nightmares, even though he tries to hide it – and for lunch we thought me may just... still be upset about his last nightmare. But when he didn't show up for dinner, we came and broke his door in. He wasn't there. We... hoped he may have just gone for a walk. But today is Friday and the last confirmed time that he had been seen was Monday, when we went for a swim with him. Which means we're right now suspecting he's been gone since Tuesday. It's been three days and we tried to do everything we could from here, but... three days are a lot of time, so Jason and I decided to leave this to Annabeth and Piper, while we put an own search party together with our Romans."
"And what did you do for three days?!", spat Nico irritated. "Just put your feet up, or what?!"
He gasped as Reyna hit him quite hard square in the face. "Do not talk to me like that. Percy is our friend too, he's important to us too. We only noticed Tuesday evening and spend the whole night searching all of camp. In the morning, we went to see if he may have returned home to his mother. Then we contacted Tyson, asked if he was maybe in Atlantis, where he wasn't. We put search parties together, informed the hunt and by then, Wednesday was already over. I spend the whole day yesterday trying to discuss with the undiscussable Olympian council to request their help, with Jason and Annabeth together, while our search parties were still looking everywhere. But now it's Friday and we're no closer to finding a clue. So do not dare to say we didn't try."
Nico averted his eyes and took a slow breath. "I'm sorry, I didn't... mean it. I know you probably did all you could, but... you didn't tell me. Percy disappears – again – and no one tells me."
"And we're sorry for that", admitted Jason awkwardly. "But, well, you're right now literally stuck here because we don't have Percy to break the spell so... we didn't want to worry you in case it's nothing. Apparently... it is something. No one has any clue. I mean, Neptune literally jumped Juno. But she is not responsible, at least not as far as the other gods got out of her."
"We're going to check in with Rachel and Ella, see if maybe there's some prophecy we overlooked, something, anything that may explain his disappearance", added Reyna. "But before we go, we wanted to tell you ourselves and say goodbye. I promise we'll call as soon as we have clue."
"Wait", requested Nico, looking up at her. "How... is his mother?"
A small smile tugged on Reyna's lips. "Sad, of course. Panicked, I guess... But we told her everything would be alright, that we'd... find out what happened to him."
"Okay. Keep... me posted", whispered Nico and nodded slowly. "And... get home safely."
"We will", promised Jason, saluting and winking at Nico playfully. "You just wait, we'll get your Prince Charming to break your curse in no time, don't worry."
Reyna snickered and Nico send them off with a wave, leaving them soaked and freezing.
/break\
Percy had started to count the days of his imprisonment with fezzes. So far, he had reached six fezzes, which meant it must be Saturday, seeing as he had been abducted on Valentine's Day, which had been on Monday. Which meant that today was the day he was supposed to get back home.
"I don't know if Nico will like little red squares on his walls", commented Persephone amused.
"Well, if this is my prison-cell, I will treat it that way", replied Percy nonchalantly. "Why hasn't he come back here already anyway? He never stays more than three days at camp without leaving."
"Yes, we've been wondering that too", sighed Persephone and shook his head.
"But why do I care anyway? It's Nico. At one time, he'll come back down here anyway and it's not like I have any places to go", huffed Percy and rolled onto his back. "I mean, I'm stuck here."
"For half a year", grunted Persephone and rolled her eyes.
"W—What?", gasped Percy out and sat up at high speed. "What did you just say?"
"You... only ate six pralines before you fell asleep. I thought you knew that", stated Persephone, blinking a couple of times. "Is that why you're pouting that much? Oh, stop worrying. You only have to stay half a year down here. So by September, you'll be back on the surface."
"That is still half of my life that I will have to spend down here", countered Percy with a glare.
"You're in a mood today", chuckled Persephone and turned the TV on. "Come on, we were in the middle of a Little Mermaid marathon when I last visited. I know you want it!"
Percy hummed softly and slowly adjusted himself to have a better view on the television. Half a year. That was probably do-able. It was better than having to be down here all the time, because this meant he would get to see his family and friends again, at all. It had been his biggest concern, that his mom would never get to see him again. It would break her, after everything they had been through. Half a year and he would get to see his mom again. He still wondered what she and everyone else must be thinking right now. He felt bad for putting them through all of this again.
/break\
Every second he was stuck in the lake was an agony right now. He just wanted to help. To go and find Percy. With his shadow-travel he would easily cover far more perimeters than those slow, on-foot demigods that were scouting for him. Of course Nico was grateful they were looking at all, but they weren't fast enough, or effective enough. What if it had been some old enemy, come back to get revenge? Or a new one, who decided to take the biggest threat out first?
"He'll be fine", whispered Will softly, carding his fingers through Nico's hair.
Nico had his head resting in Will's lap. Apparently, the son of Apollo was playing shrink and personal watchman for Nico these days. Not that Nico minded, company kept him from going crazy with worry for Percy. He knew Percy was capable of taking care of himself, but it was Nico's own helplessness that made him go insane at the moment.
"I know he'll be fine, but... the last time he disappeared, I spend every minute of each day looking for him until I was the one to find him", whispered Nico frustrated. "I... I have to..."
"You have to come home."
Both Nico and Will turned to look at the new voice. There stood an annoyed looking Hades. Will backed off some. It was rare for gods to visit, but the king of the underworld? Will was a little scared. Nico sat up, supporting himself with his arms on the sand, glaring at his father.
"Really? I thought you were the one who wanted me to get out more", grunted Nico.
"Yes, well, that was before I locked Percy Jackson into your bedroom", grunted Hades back, with an equally annoyed glare on his face. "And let me tell you, his whining is as annoying."
It took a moment to sink in, but then Nico started struggling. "What's that supposed to mean?!"
"You, whining about Percy Jackson is extremely irritated", replied Hades, arching one eyebrow. "So your stepmother and I decided to change that. But, for once, you decided to stay at camp."
"It wasn't exactly a choice", countered Nico, flipping his tail.
"...What is that?", asked Hades astonished. "You know the themed roleplaying normally sets in after you get together with someone... and I always hoped you'd be Eric..."
"Did Lord Hades just make a Disney reference?", whispered Will in awe.
"You would do good if you'd forget about that", warned Hades with a growl in his voice. "Now run and tell your little friends that Percy is alright and safe. We keep him well-fed and well-entertained and now I'll take my son with me, so he will also have good company. Shoo."
Will complied and ran. Nico sat up and glared, but the glare Hades countered it with was strong too.
"You abducted Percy... for me?", asked Nico ridiculed. "That is the dumbest idea I ever heard."
"Well, it worked out well for me and your stepmother", shrugged Hades casually.
"...You didn't just abduct him", whispered Nico horrified. "You imprisoned him..."
"Six months a year, that's practically nothing", dismissed Hades unimpressed. "Your story?"
"Well, you're not the only one who thought Percy Jackson would be an appropriate Valentine's gift for me, so they poisoned me with a potion that turned me into a merman and I can only turn back into a proper boy if I get true love's first kiss", explained Nico reluctantly. "But seeing as you decided to hide my 'antidote' in the underworld, I've been like this the whole week."
"You demigods drive me insane", sighed Hades and shook his head. "Close your eyes, I'll teleport you to your room, you get to kiss Percy Jackson, your curse is broken and you still get over five months down in the underworld with your boy-toy."
/break\
Ever since Persephone had revealed that Percy only had to stay in the underworld half-time, he had started to relax some. It was like a long vacation, right? He'd still be able to see the people he loved and so far, Persephone had been more than nice and Jules Albert had brought Percy everything the boy had ever wanted to try. It was cool, he had made an actual list of weird or rare or overly expensive food that he'd like to eat and he kept crossing things off. And once Nico would finally start coming here again, Percy would also get to spend a lot of time with the boy he had seriously fallen in love with over the past few months. His face turned dark red at that thought and he went under the water so it covered his nose. The only thing about the underworld Percy truly loved was the gigantic bathroom with the pool-like tub and the big shower, because it was completely beautiful, right from the black and dark-blue tiles and down to the size of everything. So right now, Percy was enjoying a nice bath, honey-scented. Jules Albert also got him everything non-food that he wanted – like substances that made his baths smell and bubble, or sponges, or special little ducks. Percy by now had little ducklings representing all fourteen Olympians. Hera had peacock-feathers in a crown on its head, Hestia wore a little apron, Hephaestus had a tiny hammer in his hand, while Poseidon had a trident and Hades was holding a little skull. It had just been a test from Percy for Jules Albert when he had send the zombie out to get him a Hades-rubber-duckling. So when the zombie had returned with a toga-wearing, grumpy looking black duckling holding a skull in one wing, Percy had been stunned and curious if Jules Albert would find more.
Living sponsored by the god of wealth himself, with unlimited access to every place on the world certainly had its perks. Food from all around the world, DVDs, toys, comics. And oh yes, Percy, who had always been happy and content with few things and who had never been greedy a day in his life, felt like rubbing it into Hades' face. If Hades thought he could just kidnap Percy like that, then the very least Hades could do was be the best gods damn host possible.
"You wait here and I'll get Percy."
Percy yelped, accidentally swallowing water because he was so surprised at the sudden voice. Hades materialized in the bathroom, right next to the tub. The king had not yet graced Percy with an audience – probably part why Percy kept demanding a lot of stuff and even expensive stuff, because he hoped one day Hades would just flip and come over to scream at him or something. But while Percy was in the bath? That was highly appropriate! Something splashed into the water, turning Percy's attention away from Hades but to the water. The first thing he saw was a tail, the fins wildly spread and hiding the face of what must be a mermaid. Percy gasped.
"I swear I didn't order that!", yelped Percy loudly, straightening. "I mean, I know I ask silly things of Jules Albert, but I swear I didn't ask for a mermaid!"
"What in the world are you babbling on about?", asked Hades confused and annoyed.
"I figured you came to complain about the stuff I order. I mean, the signed DVDs may have been over the top, but I swear I didn't order a mermaid", answered Percy awkwardly.
"Oh no, this one is... on the house", chuckled Hades amused arching one eyebrow.
"Okay", nodded Percy and took a deep breath before lifting his hand. "Then you have entirely no business in my bathroom, I don't care if you're the king, get out."
Hades was hit by a ball or rose-scented water right in the face and once he was soaking wet, he disappeared, growling something about disrespectful sea-brats. Percy took a shaky breath. His life was a catastrophe. He had no means of talking to his parents or friends to even explain where he was, he couldn't leave this room and the only human interaction he had was with a goddess, which already made it disqualify as human interaction. All he did all day was swim in his little pool, watch his favorite shows and movies or read his favorite comics, while eating the most delicious, exotic and fancy food he could picture. The bad thing was the conflict between those two. Because on the one hand, he really enjoyed this comfort he had here – all the things he never admitted out loud that he wanted because he knew they were too expensive or impossible to get – but he hated that he liked it, because he knew he was worrying the people he loved. But he couldn't change his situation, so wasn't it maybe okay to enjoy the perks of it while it lasted?
"...You made my chauffeur buy you signed Doctor Who DVDs?"
Percy blinked slowly and looked up at the merma...n. The Nico-merman. That was Nico, as a merman, with black tail and fins and scales. Nico. Shirtless Nico, showing off his by now rather impressive physique. Percy gaped, unable to formulate a single thought past: There's a shirtless, toned, sexy merman Nico in the tub with me while I'm naked. I may have actually, sub-consciously ordered that because it's really all I ever wanted – and how did Hades know?
"What... happened?", asked Percy slowly, gulping hard. "T—To you?"
Now it was Nico's turn to take a shaky breath. There was literally no way around this anymore. Not at this point. And honestly, he didn't want to get out of it. The past week of isolation in the lake forced him to think about things even more. And by now, he just wanted the truth out. Percy would kiss him to break the curse, simply because Percy was good to the core and would always to everything to help his friends. And Nico really missed his legs. He also just wanted to get it over with. The rejection would come and maybe then, maybe then he could finally move on.
"It's a prank from Lou. Child of Hecate style, you could say", started Nico awkwardly, flipping his tail around nervously. "I can only turn back human again when I get my... true love's first kiss."
"Oh. Huh", grunted Percy surprised, blinking a couple times. "Well, uh... W—Who...?"
He was so afraid of the answer, mostly so because he couldn't picture it. The people Nico spend most time with and was most affectionate with were Will and Jason, but both were in quite happy relationships. Growing hyper-aware of his nakedness, Percy slowly pulled his legs up.
"You", muttered Nico, barely audible, running his fingers through his hair.
"Hugh?", repeated Percy confused. "Is that the new Ares-kid?"
"What?", grunted Nico, knitting his eyebrows. "No. You. Y-O-U. You, Percy Jackson. I love you."
"Love? Me? You?", repeated Percy, eyes growing wide.
"Oh, not again", groaned Nico and threw his head back into his neck. "Don't start it with the stuttering again, please. I mean, did Rachel, Calypso and Annabeth have to go through that again, or is it just me you like stammering about and blushing like your head will explode?"
"I—I... Don't make fun of me, jerk!", exclaimed Percy irritated. "You keep throwing me off with your weird confessions! First you decide, out of the blue and like five minutes after we won a war, that it would be a great and appropriate time to tell me in the freaking overfilled infirmary that you thought I was 'cute', but not worth your time, which made me feel confused and somehow also put down at the same time, so excuse a guy who thought he was straight and that there was only straight that he was confused when pushed right into the middle of that! And now, while you're a freaking merman and I am butt-naked and we're both sharing a bath, you decide to confess your love to me, which completely contradicts with your little 'but I'm not really into you'-stunt six months ago! So excuse me for being thrown off-guard a little, yeah? I'm only human too!"
"Gods, I love you so much", whispered Nico in awe as he stared at Percy.
The rage and irritation whirling in those sea-green eyes, that adorable way of freaking out. Nico knew he was a hopeless. There was no getting over Percy Jackson, because Percy Jackson was his personal perfection. He stared with open mouth at the gorgeous, wet, blushing and naked boy.
"Stop it!", exclaimed Percy irritated. "You don't get to look so adorable and say something like that when I'm just in the middle of exploding in your face! I'm being angry, don't make me feel those fuzzy feelings while I'm supposed to be pissed at you!"
"Oh, don't blame me for that", huffed Nico with a glare. "It's not my fault you're so cute, even when you're being angry you do it in a cute way and just make me fall in love with you all over again!"
"S—Stop screwing with me", warned Percy with a frown. "So... are you... serious?"
"I've never been more serious in my life", sighed Nico, looking at Percy like a kicked puppy. "I loved you since the day I first met you. I didn't know what it was back then, you were just there, all glorious, shining and with that bright, blinding smile of yours and you were perfect and a hero – and I thought it was just that, that you were just my hero. But then Bianca died and I couldn't even... I couldn't even hate you, regardless of how hard I tried. And then we... spend more time around each other. Enough to make me realize even more of your annoyingly adorable quirks and I just... I realized what it was. That it was love. That I was... gay. I panicked, because of my sexuality and because of the inappropriate target my heart had chosen. The straight, shining hero."
"You just decided that", whispered Percy, barely audible.
"Mh?", grunted Nico confused.
"You just decided that I was straight", repeated Percy more clearly, looking up. "You saw Rachel flirting with me and Annabeth flirting with me and you just decided that because girls are interested in me, I must be straight. You just weren't around when Luke used to flirt with me. You are not the only kid who gets confused by his own sexuality, okay? I never... I never thought about it. About me, about labels. I just always went along with things. But after you confessed to me and people started whispering about how you were 'gay for Percy Jackson', I started... thinking about things. Labels. Sexual orientations. Possibilities. I'm not gay. But... I'm not straight either. I just... don't really care about gender, I care about a person, you know?"
"Okay. So... You made me question my sexuality, I made you question your sexuality. Funny how those things happen", grunted Nico, growing more and more frustrated by the minute.
"You did", nodded Percy and blushed a little, looking at Nico nearly shyly. "You also made me think about... you. A lot. And... I think I realized a lot of things, when thinking about the past and myself. A lot about the things you did for me. And... I... I... You... Oh, damn it."
Nico grunted at the force of Percy knocking into him. Nico's eyes grew wide in panic, confusion and surprise as he felt every inch of hot, bare skin press against his own, Percy's arms around his neck as Percy pulled him into a slow yet passionate kiss. Percy's lips were incredibly soft and they tasted like strawberries and salt-water. Nico's eyes fell close as he started to move against them. At least until a dull pain interrupted his thoughts and the kiss. They parted as he hissed. Percy looked concerned, until he realized that it was Nico's tail, turning back to legs. Percy's heart did odd things at that – at that physical confirmation that he indeed was Nico's one, true love. The realization made him dive right in for another kiss, fingers clawing into black, messy curls.
"I love you", whispered Nico as they parted for breath.
"Mh, yeah. I got that message", grinned Percy broadly. "I... I love you t—too."
"I love you so much", murmured Nico, eyes so incredibly bright as he looked at Percy.
"Wow, that opened a flood-gate, eh?", giggled Percy. "But, uhm, can we... move this? Somewhere where we're try and clothed, maybe? Because I just remembered I'm naked. And so are you."
"Right. Yes. Good plan", nodded Nico wide-eyed, blushing furiously.
/break\
Kissing Nico had brought Percy a door. That was an improvement. Apparently now that he and Nico were dating, Hades trusted him some more. Generally, life improved incredibly since that one kiss. Nico had left again, once he was dressed – to bring a message to Sally and another one to Annabeth. Nico obeyed and assured everyone that Percy was safe. Hades didn't spend a lot of time in the underworld these days, because he was, once again, going through the process of being fried by the Olympians for kidnapping a kid of one of his brothers. Not that Percy or Nico minded, because it was the least Hades deserved for this stunt.
Percy and Nico had been dating for three months now and the door was not the only thing Hades had given them. Percy could use Iris Messages again, he even send packages and letters to his mother. She had been so relieved to see him again and even more so to learn that he would return.
All in all, life was pretty close to perfection as Percy was laying between Nico's legs, with his head resting on Nico's chest, both of them curled against a content Mrs. O'Leary as they watched a Danny Phantom marathon while eating sushi. This was actually exactly what Percy had needed. Time off, away from everything, just to himself and his thoughts and a little piece of happiness.
"I love you", whispered Nico, as he did at least once an hour.
Percy grinned to himself, as he did every time he heard those words, hitting Nico's chest. "Sh, you know I love Vlad's and Danny's banter. They're awesome."
Nico just chuckled a little and placed a kiss on Percy's temple. He remembered this feeling, faintly. From back in Venice, with his mamma and Bianca. The feeling of home. The boarding school, Camp Half-Blood, the underworld, New Rome, none had ever given Nico that. But Percy did.
~*~ The End ~*~
Author's note: Happy Valentine's Day to all of you! ;)