Author's Notes: Oohhh what's this? Another TwistedFairytale!Au. This centers around Jason and Piper but it'll change somewhere in the end. Percico included. TAKE NOTE. Rated M for violence and character death. Or should I say character deathS. One-shot, btw.
I'm sorry if this didn't come out good. I've planned a bit hastily and I was listening to music while typing this whole stuff down. I can't usually concentrate with music on and I might have used the wrong words.
Disclaimer: As always, I have never owned the characters. They all go to Rick Riordan.
Jack, Jill, and the Water Well
"Another Dead Body Found At Village Lake
Villagers claimed they saw a body floating on the water. At first, assumed the person was only taking a dip but due to closer inspection, found blood surrounding the corpse. Cause of death is two huge gashes on the back of the neck; a sign our murderers Jack and Jill left–"
The boy crumpled the newspaper and threw it behind him. He sighed, frustrated, and ran a hand through his cropped blonde hair. These villagers are idiots, came a thought to him. How long has it been since he and his partner started the killing? He counted mentally.
Ahhh, two months. He recalls the first body he and his partner slaughtered.
It started off as relieving their anger due to their parents abandoning them. The boy lived by himself, survived in a village nearby. Then along came a girl. He found her one night persuading a boy to give her money. From the looks of it, the boy seemed in a trance, and gave her what she desired without hesitation. The blonde who saw everything confronted her as soon as the boy went back inside his home. The blonde admitted the girl looked gorgeous but didn't let her use her charm to her advantage. She got away that night.
There's a famous legend going around the village about deities of different elements roaming the grounds. Their closest encounter to one was when a small forest fire near the village had started six months back. By then, people collected their trashes and burned them down to the ground. Then one night, they heard the yell of a woman about a fire in the forest. Immediately, they put it out. Suspects report they have seen a figure swallowed by the fire but instead of running around in panic or burning, he stood with his arms stretched out as if he welcomed the flames. When the fire died, he was nowhere to be found. Rumors traveled fast. News was the god of fire had started it.
The girl reminded him of a goddess. She may not have delicate clothing but the way she seemed to hypnotize her victims and steal from them was evidence enough to think she may be one.
The next time he saw her, she was stealing food from the market. Anyone who tried to tell her off, she charm-spoke them not to. The boy and the girl introduced themselves as Jason Grace and Piper McLean, got to know each other and found out they had similar family problems. The blonde offered Piper his home and she willingly accepted.
From then on, they became close, sharing anger and other problems with each other. But, unlike Piper's victims, Jason had not fallen for her. She became his source of comfort; the only one who kept him stable. A friend, if one may see it from third person. Eventually, they were no longer able to control their anger and slaughtered people as their source of "entertainment", all because of the past they never left. What was left of their sanity wasn't heard of. Together, they hefted their sharp-edged bladed weapons in the air and brought it down on their innocent helpless victim.
That was two months ago. And yet, to this day, they continue their little game.
"Honey, I'm home!" a voice called. The door shut close. Jason glanced up to see his best friend enter the room.
She had a huge grin on her face. Something told him she was onto something. "What did Jill do this time?" he crossed his arms. The girl with uneven shoulder-length brown hair dropped the bag of apples she stole and tapped her right pocket. "Just a little treasure I found while I was off roaming," she said, "Jack." They were known for their murders yet their true form is guised. Jason thought the idea was irrelevant but after making it to the newspaper countless times, Piper had the nasty idea to write "Jack and Jill strikes again" in their victim's blood on the grass the lifeless body laid.
Not only do they write on the grass to indicate their arrival, but they usually embed two gashes on the back of their victims' necks. For what reason, no one knew. The next time they waited for the newspaper, Jason bellowed with laughter when their false names were displayed on the paper. That was two weeks after they started their homicide.
Jason waited as Piper drew out a long eighteen-inch blade from the side of her waist. She held it up with pride as it shimmered, her reflection in the blade. "It's not as good as your Gladius but this is more for me." She spun it on her hand and extended her arm, arching it in a defensive position. Gladius is Jason's weapon of choice, a sword. It hid well beneath his cloak and the shadows of the night always hid it from sight. He once owned a javelin and named it Julius but Piper said it was better to use something smaller.
"I'm calling it Katoptris." She announced. Jason raised an eyebrow, an action that told the girl he was curious as to why she picked that name. "My father used to tell me these ancient Greek stories and how Helen, of Troy, had a knife. It was given to her by her first husband. It showed more than the holder's reflection but Helen never used it as a weapon." She said. Her face dimmed at the memory, the light tone of her voice faltered low. "So, I'm calling it Katoptris, meaning a mirror or a looking glass. It is shiny, after all." She caressed the blade and smiled humorlessly at her reflection.
"I'm in the mood for takeout." She placed it back where she got it, a scabbard on her waist. She picked the cloak from her drawer and placed it on. Jason saw the glint in her eyes and followed along. It wasn't abnormal for them to suddenly recall their past then get their moods deflated. It either resulted in massacre or a whole day of weeping. He grabbed his sheathed sword, Gladius, and hid it beneath the dark purple cloak he wore.
When either of them felt the bloodlust rise in them, they help each other maim their chosen victim. If it's the two of them both in their state, their days flow on with lives lost beneath their blades.
It was getting dark, a perfect time to slaughter. The village guards were at their posts, watching out for danger. Unfortunately for them, Piper and Jason have succeeded in stalking from behind their backs due to weeks of repeating. Jason, or Jack, raised a hand to cease movement when one guard glanced at their direction. He squinted and when Jason thought they've been seen, the guard turned his head. Sighing, he and Piper crept to an alley far from the guards to hide but what they found pleased them.
There, with his back turned, a small boy sat hunched over something Jason couldn't see from his position. Quietly, Piper tiptoed towards the boy with dark hair and tackled him to the ground. The boy was taken by surprise and would have screamed if it weren't for the tight grip on his mouth. "What's a young boy such as you doing out here in the night?" Piper smiled wide. The boy's eyes widened and he struggled violently in her grip. He was yelling but Piper dug her nails into his cheek, making him stop. The item he was holding was clenched tight in his fist.
Jason walked to them and bent down to pick the item up from the boy's hand. "What do we have here? A blue rose?" he looked at the unnaturally blue rose in his hand and looked down at the boy. His eyes flamed with anger and fright and momentarily forgot Piper's sharp nails. He seemed to be telling him something. Jason motioned Piper to lessen her grip. The girl reluctantly did so.
"Please... That's for my l-lover. I wanted to give it to him-them!" He corrected immediately. "I'll give you what you want but please give that rose back!" the boy glared with unshed tears in his eyes. Jason mockingly hummed as he looked closer at the boy. He had dark eyes and pale skin. Looks young too, he thought. "Won't your parents look for you in this time of the day?" Jason asked while tilting his head. The boy bit his lip and stared hard at him. "I don't have parents." He muttered but the blonde boy heard perfectly.
"Aren't you a little young to be going around spreading your legs for everybody?" Piper jeered. The boy being held down flinched at her words. He gritted his teeth and narrowed his eyes at her. "Maybe you misheard. I'm not a whore. I-"
"Oh, quiet will you." It was more of a command when Jason interrupted.
"He's right. You're all nothing but a waste of our time. I should have listened." The boy mumbled as if he were talking to himself. Thinking less of it, Piper dragged him up and pushed him hard against the wall. "You'll regret ever saying that." She hissed. Before the boy could blink, she dug her dagger deep into his stomach. His eyes widened as blood came spilling out of his mouth. Jason watched as the boy's eyes landed on the rose he was holding. With a smirk on his face, the blonde boy pocketed the flower. "Come on Jill. I've got a new necklace I can make for you." He drawled. The life from the young boy slowly drained as he slowly closed his eyes. As he was being put down, Piper and Jason made two gash marks on the nape of his neck.
The ground beneath them rumbled. Jason kept a steady grip on the walls of the alley and held onto Piper. "An earthquake?" He looked down at the shivering ground. They planned to stay crouched near the bloodied corpse until the violent shaking stopped but it didn't look like it was stopping anytime soon.
"We need to get out of here before anyone finds out what we have done." Jason whispered loud enough for his partner to hear. Together, they hurried back in their cottage without miraculously being seen. They found a spot under the small desk in their home and hid under it together. It wasn't until the sun showed that the violent shaking stopped abruptly.
"What was that about?" Piper mumbled, sleepy from being kept up all night. From afar, Jason could hear the villagers slowly coming out of their houses and talking. "I don't know but it is better you wash that dagger of yours before the guards find the body." He informed, nodding towards their small washroom. She complied and cleansed her dagger from the dry blood. "That's strange." She furrowed her eyebrows as she inspected the dried blood. When before it was a deep dark red shade, it was now a dark golden brown shade. All signs of the red pigment were gone.
"What's strange?" Jason popped up from behind her. But by then, the blood has already been washed off. "Nothing. I thought I saw a cockroach in the sink." She lied. Jason raised an eyebrow but didn't question her. After washing her blade, she hid it in the one place they hid their weapons. Under the ground below the bed.
They dug a hole deep enough for their reach and buried their weapons. "Think they'll send out a search party again?" Piper wiped her hands on her shorts as she stood up straight. Jason shrugged and did the same. "Who knows? We never get caught anyways." He said. Feeling around his pocket, he remembered the blue rose he placed there. "I got something nice for you." He grinned. He brought the blue flower out and watched as Piper's eyes grew wide.
"Oh, you shouldn't have." She waved a hand at his direction and smiled fakely. They guffawed and placed the rose on the desk. "I think it'll look pretty nice as a necklace, my necklace, specifically." Piper grinned as she caressed the blue petals. "I think so too." Jason rolled his eyes. "Now c'mon. I want to see the looks on their faces when they find the dead boy." Jason headed for the door and behind him was a chuckling Piper.
On their way to the large crowd gathering, he heard them talk about the earthquake that lasted eleven hours. The blue-eyed teen craned his neck to see if there were guards checking the alleyway. There was none.
"... And so we think this might be another work of a god." The announcer stated. The crowd gasped and began talking. "Quiet down, now. Whatever the cause may be, we must stop harming the land as we burned our garbage before. This may result better than last night."
Jason and Piper stayed to hear about the recent killing. But as the announcer went on, no news about the dead boy was heard. The crowd dispersed and went back to their homes. Haven't they found him yet? Jason frowned thoughtfully. He tugged Piper by the arm towards the alleyway. "What are you doing?!" She hissed lowly. "Don't you think it's weird no one has reported about the boy yet?" He said, casually slowing down like he was about to walk by the alley.
"Well, usually it takes them a full day before they—"
Piper gasped when they reached the alley, stopping in their tracks. "W-what?" Piper stuttered. Jason blinked and shook his head. The body was gone and all traces of blood weren't there as if the murder hadn't happened at all. "M-maybe they found him and refused to broadcast it in fear of the parents finding out?" Piper shrugged.
Jason looked at her in disbelief. "Piper, he had no parents."
…
Days came and went and no news was portrayed in the newspaper about the boy they slaughtered in the alley that night. Piper had collected beads and a string to make the blue genus Rosa her necklace. Though knowing it would wilt soon, Jason had no idea why she'd do it anyways. It wasn't a week before the water supplies in their village was cut off. Villagers were devastated as they searched high and low for any water source and finding none. Unexplainably, the closest river was drained dry. Their water wells displayed no signs of available water. They have sent people on horses to find water before the village dies of dehydration.
"I know this place," Jason started when he lay in bed with Piper, looking at the ceiling. The girl turned to him with a questioning look. "When I was a kid and our village ran out of water. Not too far from here, too." He said. Piper kept quiet and fiddled with the slowly dying rose on her necklace. "There was this magic water well that never ran out of water. I found it one night when I was hiking up a hill with my family. We were beyond surprised when the water in the well was full of sparkling water." He explained. "There was a sign boarded beside the water well but I was young and unfortunately couldn't read it."
"Thalia, my sister, said she was thankful for the water well keeper. She said something about it being the same thing as the son of the god of the sea but I never listened to her long enough to hear what she said. Every day, we went there to fetch a pail of water when our village requested some. We stopped going when the water came back on. I haven't visited in a long time." Jason stood up and grabbed his cloak. He stuck a small knife in his boot and helped Piper up. "Let's see if this well is still there." Piper agreed.
On their journey, they packed a few sandwiches in case they got hungry. It wasn't far like what Jason said but as they stared at the hill ahead of them, they grew weary. "This looks pretty big." Piper said. "I didn't remember it that way." Jason mumbled but nonetheless, they climbed it. The pair stopped occasionally when they needed to eat then continued their journey up. There were a lot of trees and bugs started to fly around them. They swatted at them mercilessly and wiped their sweat. The day seemed like a week before they arrived at the top. Being older, Jason was finally able to read the dusty wooden sign that was plunged into the ground.
"Once there was a well. A well of endless depth, as humans say. Only the special ones are able to hold their breath for so long and reach the sacred ground below. Rumors went about saying it led to the center of the earth; others argued it was a one-way trip to hell."
"Spooky." Piper grinned. She trekked up the rest of the hill and stopped. Jason followed and was about to ask why she stopped until he saw it. There, with arms leaning on the well, a man with dark hair and a lean figure sat with his face buried in his arms. He was almost leaning into the well and from him came low moaning and sniffling sounds. Piper glanced at Jason questioningly. Jason shrugged, clueless as well. They walked closer but quietly. As they neared him, they heard him often whisper words like "why?" or "should have been there".
The pair slowly grew anxious as they got a closer inspection of the man. He definitely was tan and lean but not much as to show a lot of muscle. Jason coughed awkwardly and that got the man's attention. When he looked up, his sea green eyes dull from crying shocked Jason. No one from the village had those green eyes.
"What are you doing here?" The man with green eyes swiped the dried tears away from his face and looked at the teens carefully. He seemed older than Jason and Piper, he'll give you that much. "Our village has run out of water and we came to check if this well still has some." Jason said. The older boy narrowed his eyes, tilting his head up and looking down on them. "This well is my property. How dare you come at such an appalling time?" The boy rubbed his eyes and stood.
"Yours?" Piper asked, looking at Jason for a second.
"Yes, mine." The brunette confirmed. "This is where I come time-to-time with a… friend. I usually visit this place to express myself. Then I recently found out I lost a loved one not a few days ago." He stated grimly. Jason gulped and clenched his fists. "I am sorry for your loss." He mumbled. The blonde wasn't sure whether he was pertaining to the young boy they murdered a few days ago. But he was a boy.
The older boy snorted. "Call me Percy." he said. Jason nodded and sighed.
"How did your lover look like?" Piper asked, trying to change the subject. She seemed to have a soft spot when it came to romance but she never admitted it to Jason. But when it came to her victims, she would cast romance aside and fulfill her want for murder. There was no saying they still had traces of sanity left.
Percy pursed his lips and looked at the well. "My lover... was a boy. He had messy black hair and wonderful dark brown eyes."
The moment the words escaped his mouth, Jason knew who it was. He needed to get out and leave. If this was the water well keeper Thalia was talking about, he might as well be the god of the sea's son.
"A boy?" Piper asked, seemingly distracted to think. The blonde tried tugging on her hand but she waved him away. "Yes. He and I often met here. He took the liberty of sneaking out at night to talk to me since the guards didn't allow kids up at night. He was also busy for the morning, trying to make a living and feeding himself. His name is Nico." Percy sighed at the memory. Jason was filled with anxiety now.
Piper didn't look like she was getting the hint when Jason sent her warning glances. "A kid, huh?" She repeated. "Yeah. He was the cutest kid. He's around thirteen. He's... young," Percy frowned and looked at the sky. "and I should have been there for him when it happened." He said. "That's a sad story and all but I think—" Jason was cut off when Piper shushed him. "What happened?" She asked. There was silence where Jason thought Percy wouldn't answer her but eventually he did.
"He told me about a beautiful blue rose he saw one day. One of a kind and it reminded him of me, he says. He wishes to give it to me the day after we talked. I waited for him in this same spot. Time passed and I thought he was caught up in work but then I felt the earth shake. I... knew he was gone." Percy's voice hardened and his eyes turned dark. "I swore to find—" He turned around and his eyes ran down Piper's chest where her necklace displayed the wilting blue rose.
Piper froze and so did Jason. They watched as Percy's eyes grew dangerously black. "Where did you get that?" He raised a finger and pointed at the blue rose. Piper said nothing and stared at him. When he didn't receive an answer, Percy growled and suddenly, water from the well rose high in the sky. Jason and Piper took a step back as the wave of water towered them. "You..." The older boy gritted his teeth. His eyes started to tear up.
"You killed him!"
Jason brought his knife out as Piper brought her dagger out. How they'll beat the demigod they didn't know. "And you're next." Jason lunged for Percy but the older boy was faster. He raised his arm and a blast of water from the ground knocked Jason off his feet.
"No!" Piper yelled in fear when Jason stumbled near the edge. Percy walked to where Jason was gripping the edge and kicked him in the face violently. The boy fell with a horrified expression. The green-eyed boy stood and watched as the boy landed on a hard surface, his knife lodged straight to his heart. Percy turned and was met with a swipe to the face with a dagger. Piper was screaming. Percy wiped the blood that dripped from his cheek and sent a wave of water towards Piper, blowing her off balance and down the opposite side of the hill where she fell.
The demigod heard her spine-chilling shrieks as numerous bumps and cracks followed. Then the voice died. The water retreated into the well where Percy came and stared at his reflection. The dark look in his eyes made him sigh. "Us demigods never have a good ending." Percy grimaced and wiped his face with the water. The hill was quiet with the exception of the birds chirping. He fell to the ground and sat with his back against the well.
"Nico..." he whispered in the quiet wind. The wooden sign still hung in its position. Percy got up and neared it. He ran a finger down the board. His great grandfather used to own the well and he was the one who put up the sign. It was years old and Percy resolved to leave it there. "Once there was a well. A well of endless depth, as humans say. Only the special ones are able to hold their breath for so long and reach the sacred ground below. Rumors went about saying it led to the center of the earth; others argued it was a one-way trip to hell." He reread it for the hundredth time in his life.
He never thought to try to dive in the well because simply, the idea sounded stupid. But... if it was hell he were talking about, maybe, just maybe, he could retrieve his lover.
The idea brought him back to reality where he unconsciously stood over the water well. He looked down and saw nothing but darkness. Nico was an heir of the god of the underworld. One thing he found out about the boy was that when he dies, his soul finds its way to his father's castle. When Percy had first met Nico, he sensed something strange about the boy. He was a demigod as well but something radiated off him. The smell of death. The boy finally admitted what kept him different from the others. He was brought back to life by his father when his father's brother, also a god, killed him. His father was enraged and devastated. He resolved to bring the boy back to life.
If Percy could go down into the underworld and beg Nico's father to return the boy he loved back to him, he might get a chance to be with his lover again. Determined, Percy climbed over the well and jumped. For a sea god's son, he had no trouble breathing. He dived deep into the darkness for hours where the water slowly began to fade away into mist and the dark ground was in view.
This was it. Percy turned himself up so that he could land properly. The walls of the well were gone and he now set foot in his lover's territory to retrieve Nico back in his arms where he belonged.
The End
