Hello my beautiful readers! To everyone who follows me, I know what you're thinking 'Why Lynn, why do you keep posting stories, when you constantly complain that you have to many and can't update them?' I'll give you a reason: My inner fan girl can't help itself, and I need to right my self, because one of my OTP's just got sunk by Rick Riordan. But, never to fear, I've got the perfect Thalico story, that accommodates the fact that Nico is gay. Anyways, enjoy the story. I don't own PJHOO, but I'm trying really hard. I haven't made much progress, though. (P.S., punk love rules!)
My palms were sweaty and I quaked with nervousness. Immortality wasn't what it was cracked up to be. Sure, it was great at first. You were stronger, faster, and felt a lot calmer, but then settled in the boredom. Everyday was a routine: get up, eat breakfast, destroy some monsters, eat lunch, make fun of how stupid males were, destroy some more monsters, eat dinner, go to sleep, and repeat. It got old fast.
Despite the repetitiveness of it, it still wasn't half bad. My fellow hunters were almost like my sisters. We supported each other, and were best friends... for the most part, anyways. As much as I loved them, I still loved my other friends as well, including the ones that were male, in a strictly platonic way, of course. I could barely say hi, or even smile at Percy, or even Jason. I could barely talk to my own brother without them shooting me with icy death glares.
Now here I stood, shaking, outside of Milady's tent, attempting to gather the courage to ask for what I had been longing for: freedom. Not a permanent separation from the hunt, but a small taste. I had originally joined the hunters to escape from that godsforsaken prophesy. Now since all titan-giant-Gaea mumbo jumbo was over with, the sting of watching the world grow old with out me started to seep into my reality. Annabeth, the sweet, little girl that I had defend while on the run, was now over two years older than me. Bianca's little brother was my same age, fifteen. It was unsettling to think about.
Without giving myself a chance to chicken out, I stepped through the sheer silver curtain that served as the door to the tent.
Lady Artemis looked up at me from sharpening her hunting knives. "Is there something you wish to talk to me about, dear Thalia? I've sensed that your thoughts and emotions have been... troubled lately." I had long grown used to it, but on occasional moments, it was still eerie to hear a goddess's voice speak from a twelve year old girl's body, another thing that unnerved me about staying immortal. One day, my friends would all be old, with gray hair and wrinkles, and with their grandchildren by their side, while I would forever be a teenager.
I automatically bowed, and glanced up at my patron hesitantly. "Yes, Lady Artemis. My thoughts have been troubled." My voice faltered for a moment, but I soon was able to speak again. "I don't know if I am content to stay in the hunt. It's amazing; the fighting skills, you and the hunters, the immortality, all of it, but it's also unsettling. I miss my friends. I miss being able to go up and have a regular, platonic conversation with Percy or Jason, without feeling like I'm committing treason, and most of all, I'm not sure if I'll be able to handle it when all of my friends have children and are married, while I'm forever a teenager." Even to myself, I sounded like I was walking on eggshells, attempting not to break anything. I hadn't dared speak of my boredom with the routine, nor had I mentioned the letter I had received from a close friend, asking my help with a promise to pay handsomely for my service, for fear of upsetting her further. She could most certainly tell I was holding back, but she didn't know what info was withholding.
"And what do you want me to do about it?" Her question wasn't harsh, simply direct. It was obvious she was preparing to lose her lieutenant.
I couldn't meet her eyes, so I stared at the deerskin on the floor. "I would like to leave; not permanently, but for a year or so to decide whether or not I truly want to be a mortal."
Artemis's voice was strained when she spoke, and her shoulders were hunched with defeat. To her, I was lost. "I can't force you to stay here, if you are not happy." Her eyes burned into me, and shame overcame me, for a moment. "I'll break the news in the morning, and I will call for Apollo to take you to Camp Half-blood in the morning. I'll get your things together for you, since the loss of immortality will knock you out until morning." Her voice sounded wistful, like she had seen many a hunter go down the same road. "I release you from your oath. "
That was the last thing I heard before I collapsed on the floor.
...
My morning was far from pleasant. Despite the fact that Artemis had told the hunters that this was temporary, and I just needed to get my thoughts together, I was treated as an outcast. I supposed I was, and they more than likely felt betrayed. I was the one who chose to leave them, after all.
The cold shoulder from the rest of the group would have been more than enough to put a damper on my day, but then, the sun god himself had to come and pick me up. He came in a tacky sports car, a brand-new, red Maserati. He wore a too-loose cut off shirt, and a pair of Buckle jeans. He flashed his usual, million-watt smile at me, before addressing Artemis.
"Hey! Little sis, I was right! I knew this one was too pretty to stay a hunter. Couldn't help but fall for the Apollo charm." I gagged a little, but otherwise didn't say a thing.
"How many times do I have to tell you, we are twins! We are the same age. Besides, this is only temporary; she's taking a year off to get herself together." Artemis snapped.
"Yeah, yeah." Apollo shrugged. "Get in the car, beautiful. "
I was more than willing to get in on my own, but he scooped me up bridal style anyways, and set me in the passenger seat. I looked at Artemis in outrage, but she had a stoney look on her face. I then remembered that she no longer was allowed to object to me being around males. Apollo got in shortly after me, and draped his arm around my shoulders, and I smoldered at the floor of his stupid car.
I focused on not shocking, slapping, or screaming at the god, unwilling to anger him and cause the car to malfunction, especially after we took off and started flying.
After what felt like an eternity, and long after my knuckles had turned white from gripping the sides of the seat, we arrived at Camp Half-blood. I woozily stumbled out of the car as fast as I could, just incase he took off again.
Apollo strode over and wrapped his arm around my waist, steadying me, while he spoke with Chiron in a low voice.
"She left the hunt?" Chiron inquired.
"Yes, she says it's temporary." Then he whispered, barely loud enough for me to hear. "But who is she kidding?"
I pretended that I didn't hear that last part. "Yes." I slurred, still dizzy. "It's temporary. I needed a year to get myself together."
Chiron nodded, like this made perfect sense to him. "You'll be staying in the Zeus cabin. You're stuff is waiting there for you." He informed me.
I was starting to recover. I stepped out of Apollo's grip and attempted to walk over to my cabin. Of course, after the first two steps, I fell flat on my face.
"Here, why don't you let me help you, sweetheart?" Apollo asked 'suavely'. I wasn't going to accept his help; I'd rather crawl to my cabin.
My wishes were ignored when he picked me up bridal style again, and Chiron told him "That might be a good idea. She still seems weak from the loss of immortality."
He just had to walk straight through the middle of camp, where every one could see us. I could imagine their thoughts. "Scandalous! Why is the Lieutenant of Artemis being carried around by Apollo?" Every set of eyes was on us, and I felt my face unwillingly blush and I felt like one of Apollo's scared cattle; red, slow, and dumb, but don't tell him I said that.
After the most embarrassing walk of my life, he finally set me down in front of the Zeus cabin. He attempted to kiss me, but I turned my head, and he just grazed my cheek. "I best be going sweetheart." He drawled.
"Good riddance." I muttered under my breath before stepping inside and shutting the door. I stumbled over to one of the beds, and collapsed. This mortality stuff was a lot more tiring than I remembered. At least I couldn't be punished for Apollo's behavior. I had missed associating with guys, maybe not Apollo, but other guys were alright. I wasn't sure why all of the hunters so vehemently hated boys. Most of them were alright, most of the time.
Speaking of guys, I had just enough energy to pull a crumpled letter out of my jean pocket.
"Dear Thalia,
I know it's more than fair for me to ask this of you, but I need your help, and I'm willing to pay through the roof for it. I implore that you could find it in your heart to help. I'll tell you what it is next time you're at camp; it's something that you need to hear in person. If you haven't been to camp a month after I send this, I would really appreciate it if you would write me back, so I could arrange a time to talk to you. If you can make it to camp within a month, meet me a Zeus's fist at midnight the day you arrive. -N.D.A.
I sighed, and set the small alarm next to the bed for 11:30. I'd sleep before going to go meet him. If it was who I thought it was, I was more than curious as to find out what he wanted.
...
I was rudely awakened by the alarm, before I remembered that I needed to go and meet my mystery letter-sender. Grumpily, I sat up. I was sure that my hair was standing up in gnarled tangles, but at the moment, I didn't care. I didn't feel the need to change my clothes, since I had fallen asleep in my back skinny jeans, and black, Death to Barbie t-shirt. I pulled on my combat boots, and raked a brush through my unruly hair, before finally touching up my make up slightly and heading out.
Irritated did not describe how I felt at that moment. I had been waiting for over twenty minutes, and it was twelve o' seven. He had better not have meant twelve in the afternoon, otherwise things were not going to turn out well. Luckily for him, he stepped out of the shadows right before I decided to just leave.
"What freaking took you so long?" I quipped.
"Sorry. I assumed you were asleep, so I checked your cabin first." Nico responded.
"Well, I was here early." I huffed. Softening my voice slightly, I asked, "What did you need help with?"
He shifted his gaze downward, and shuffled his feet a little. "It won't make sense I tell you the backstory. " Now I was truly curious. He sounded depressed as he continued on. " I realized, shortly before I left Camp Half-blood when I was like ten, I wasn't normal, not even by demigod standards. I never really liked girls, and I developed a crush-" He was having a difficult time spitting out his words. "-on a guy. I realized I was gay." He sounded on the verge of angry tears. "Or at the very least bi. Like I said, I've never really felt attracted to any girl, but then again, I haven't been around that many girls, since I left, and I'm a social outcast being a child of Hades, and I thought to much about my other crush to think of girls, and now since everything's over, everyone has been asking me 'why don't you have a girlfriend' and I'm-" She cut off his long, rambling speech by covering his mouth with her hand.
"I'm going to stop you there. So, basically what you're saying, is you want me to be your beard."
"My what?" Nico asked, obviously puzzled.
"Your beard. A beard is a girl a gay guy pays to be his girlfriend, so no one thinks he is gay." I explained.
"Oh. Yeah, I guess." He sounded so ashamed, and it set off a small facet of pain in herself. She could definitely empathize; he was afraid of being rejected, or of being not good enough.
I paused for a moment. This was not going to look good. Artemis would assume that I had dropped out of the hunt because of a boy, and she would be angry: very, very angry. I couldn't say no; Nico had been too good of a friend to me He had always just blended into the background. I'd seen him several times while with the hunters, and had talked to him quiet a few times as well. It turned out, he was a good talker, once he warmed up to you, and an even listener. He seemed nice enough, just a little misunderstood and a little rough around the edges. We were into a lot of the same things. Greenday, the color black, and the list goes on.
Nico interrupted my mini self-inflection by hastily saying. "If you don't want to, that's fine. You were just the first person I thought of. I'll just keep making up excuses until I figure out how to tell them."
"No. I will." I surprised myself by agreeing. Looks like I've dived in head first to this, without thinking it through completely.
His face relaxed and he breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you."
"Are we almost done, or can we finish this later? I'm freezing." I complained.
He stared at me, as if he had just realized I was shivering. "Here, take my jacket. " He offered. He removed his aviator's jacket and slipped it around my shoulders, revealing a skinny but muscular frame."You can keep that and wear it, since everyone around here knows it's mine. I think it'll add to the ploy." He said indifferently.
"Yeah." I agreed. I was just grateful the jacket was still warm. It smelled like him, musky with a cold edge.
"We can finish up our deal tomorrow." Nico relented. "You're probably still tired from losing your immortality." With that, he sauntered back down towards his cabin. As I stood, still trying to process the recent events, one thought crossed my mind. "Since when did he get taller than me?!"
Yay! That is finally done. Maybe know I can concentrate on some of my other stories, and get them finished. I just had to get this out there before someone stole my idea. I love Thalico. I don't see how Rick doesn't see that they are meant to be. (once again, punk love rules!) There might be quite a lapse between now and the next update, since I'm going to be participating in NaNoWriMo (national novel writing month, which is November). I might be persuaded to update sooner if I get plenty of reviews. So, if you want to see this story updated, be sure to leave a review telling me what you think. (I am a proud review hog.)
