Spirits.
Different life forms living in critical space and cause peculiar disasters upon manifestation on Earth for reasons unknown.
Strategy one: Annihilate them through military force and power.
Strategy two: Capture their hearts and make them fall in love.
Will violence repel their carnage or will they be overcome by love? The time has come once again as the decisions of humanity are put to test for the fate of the world.
Date a Nico
A waft of a certain crispy scent tickled his nostrils as seventeen years old Percy Jackson walked down the winding street, passing along a crowded café on the way home one Thursday sunlit afternoon. A tiring day it was, and he stretched his aching back as he strolled alongside his friends, relaxing his tensed muscles and taking a deep breath of the pleasantly fresh air around them.
'Percy?' He turned his head around a tad to face the boy who uttered his name. 'Yeah, Jason?' he said attentively, noticing the blonde's startling blue eyes staring at him with an air of curiosity rippling across his face. Percy smiled.
'What's with all those flowers and floating hearts kinda thingy? And those clothes, laces and ribbons overloading that shop. Are they supposed to be decorations?' Jason Grace was yammering away incredulously, his right hand a blur pointing at the various scenes around them, twirling his body as he did so.
'Jason, those heart thingies are called balloons. And it's almost Valentine, for gods' sake!' said Rachel Dare, who was walking aside them, much to the blonde's bewilderment. 'Valentine?'
Oh, so it was already that time of the year. Manhattan's shopping district was bizarrely dressed in shades of pink and red, as florists ran amok the streets selling roses to desperate customers, gift shops were overcrowding with lovers, and restaurant employees diligently working on pretty embellishments and adornments for the upcoming festivities. One could say that love is definitely in the air.
Percy cast a furtive glance on his watch. It was the 12th of February. Two more days to go.
'Valentine is a day we celebrate love and affection, basically just a romance holiday,' Rachel elaborated the subject in a matter-of-factly tone. 'You know, like boyfriends burning their pocket money on dumb things for their girls.' Considering by teenager's standard, the day of romance ought to be known by all normal high-schoolers as basic knowledge. Adolescence was a time of hormonal frustrations, sexual attractions and the shattering of young hearts, after all.
'Earthlings are weird, celebrating love with shades of pink,' Jason grimaced at the idea. But that sounds –,' he paused and settled for a smile. 'Magical.'
Jason by all means is not even a human. He is a Special Disastrous Designated Creature, abbreviated as a Spirit; extraterrestrial beings that travel across dimensions before manifesting on Earth, much to the acknowledgement of Percy and Rachel. A dangerous being capable of triggering abnormal calamities known as spatial quakes, or spacequakes, seemingly out of their own will. Believing them as a threat to the planet, governments all over the world kept their existence a secret, away from humanity.
And hunt them down.
So the lack of information on Earthly subjects was excusable for his sake.
In all of a sudden, the Spirit wrapped his arms around Percy's torso, relatively obscuring his motion. 'Hey, dude!' he yelled, his cheeks tinged red as Jason giggled against the nape of his neck, tightening his grip a bit more.
'Does that mean you'll celebrate it with me?' the Spirit asked excitedly, causing the raven-haired boy to smile earnestly. 'Of course we will, along with Rachel, Nico and the rest.'
So much for being romantic.
As sudden as his gesture before, Jason roughly pushed him away, a pout forming on his face, his golden-rimmed glasses askew. 'You're no fun,' he said, much to Percy's amusement. Rachel snickered at Jason's antics, which was quite the contrary of who he really was; composedly matured and wise in his actions. Well, unless it involved Percy.
Pout still in place, he mumbled, 'Don't you love me?' The raven-haired boy grinned sheepishly, placing his arm around the Spirit's shoulders. He cleared his throat, stumbling over his words a little as he said, 'A–Always, Jason. Don't forget that.'
A smile graced Jason's features, much to his pleasure and relief. A sincere scarred smile that he deemed worth protecting. Taking extra precautious measure; which was to maintain Jason's good moods, they walked up to a gift shop and Percy got the Spirit a red heart-shaped balloon, who grinned with elation, never having such a thing before. Frankly speaking, it was quite sad to not have a normal childhood.
If he even have one, that is.
'Hey, we're almost there,' Rachel said, looking pointedly at another school complex that was coming into view. On the way home, the trio will always have to fetch their friend Nico everyday, who was studying in another school. The red-haired girl sighed heavily. 'This is getting rather tiring and troublesome, all these useless detours. For all we know, we could just make it home immediately after school! I have to arrange Nico's transfer with Ratatoskr as soon as possible.'
Percy's eyes widened. 'So he's going to our school soon?' he asked and the girl confirmed his speculation. 'There's already an available vacancy in his year. Just yesterday, a guy was kicked out of school, so I'm gonna have to alert Chiron on this matter soon enough.' Well, that sounded fun.
The Ratatoskr Organisation.
All in all, Ratatoskr is a top-secret organisation that deals with Spirits through peaceful means in a way of understanding the volatile creatures, as opposed to most governments' military movements around the world; who seek to exterminate them. The acting director of the United States' branch was no other than the great Miss Rachel Elizabeth Dare, who commandeered a legendary crew of professional officials residing in the airship Olympus, monitoring Spiritual activities and spacequakes occurrence around the designated area.
Jason was the first Spirit to be saved by Percy. No longer emitting Spiritual disturbance, he was monitored closely by Ratatoskr to ensure the progress of his acclimatisation in living amongst humanity on Earth. So far, there were no problems regarding his current existence, as no spacequakes has occurred lately for a few weeks.
'Oh, there he is,' Rachel's words interrupted through Percy's thoughts.
Sure enough, Nico di Angelo was perching on a tree branch, silently waiting for their arrival. Noticing the trio, he jumped off the branch with an elegant twirl, landing gently on the ground with a thud. Judging the impossible height of his position earlier, any normal human being would probably break a bone or two, but of course, Nico was no human.
Similar to Jason, he was another Spirit under the jurisdiction of the organisation.
'Percy,' he said, grinning broadly at the said boy before affectionately hugged Percy's left arm, much to Jason's dismay. 'Hey, get off him,' he huffed in annoyance, but Nico clung tightly to his saviour, all the while smirking victoriously at the blonde. Still fuming, Jason grabbed Percy's other arm, occasionally rubbing his cheek on the boy's bicep as they walked, very much like a fond oversized kitten.
Rachel shook her head upon the sight of two Spirits, who were always brawling and fighting for Percy's undivided attention. 'My, my, how popular can you be? I wish I have a boyfriend,' Rachel sighed mockingly, earning a glare from the boy.
'Alright, guys, you can stop now.' Both ignored him. Noticing that they were still in front of the school's vicinity, and students all around them were starting to give him suspicious looks, Percy decided to take off now, dragging along the two insistent beings clinging on him.
One do not get the privilege to see two guys fighting for Percy the boys-magnet everyday, especially since one of them (the tallest one, mind you) were clutching a balloon ridiculously tight like an anxious kid. That was more than a reason to get out of there, fast.
Skipping slightly, Rachel followed suit, smirking as she took out her phone, snapping a photo of the boys. Not to mention that her photo gallery was chock-full with the pictures of the Spirits' behaviour around Percy, strictly under the cause of expanding the study regarding the knowledge on Spirits' nature to a whole new level.
To be honest, not exactly.
She browsed through her collection of Percy's Moments photos in her gallery. Yesterday's was taken when his face was being severely tortured as Nico and Jason fought to kiss his cheeks. They were badly swollen; he had to sooth them with a bucket of ice. The day before, they managed to flood the bathroom fighting for the sacred intention of rubbing Percy's backside as he bathed. For their beloved's comfort, they have claimed. He was caught between the crossfire of their battle, and the aftermath was never pretty.
Rachel wondered if she can rake herself in cash if she sells the photo of the three wearing absolutely nothing in the bathtub to various 18+ websites. Or perhaps found herself charged with the crime of voyeurism. Well, they forgot to shut the damn door so who cares?
Admiring her friend's determination on keeping both Spirits under his protection to be pleased and contented living in this already messed-up world, her smirk widened.
'This is going to be hella fun.'
Date a Nico
'You okay there, bro?'
A smile carved its way to his lips as he observed Jason cautiously arranging layers of mozzarella on the aluminium tray, his focus unwavering as his hands worked according to the task.
'Almost done here.' He had his tongue stuck out a little bit, focusing on his job to help Percy make breakfast.
Percy could not help but admired the way Jason's sky blue eyes squinted in concentration, his slanting eyebrows furrowed as his lips pursed; accentuating the scar on his upper lip that just made him so awfully adorable. His blonde short-cropped hair was a mess, leaving an obvious hint of sexiness that made his looks just irresistibly as delicious as the lasagna they were cooking. The raven-haired boy blushed at his own explicit thoughts.
Ironically destructive, Spirits are fascinatingly beautiful creatures. Great beings of splendour and magnificence.
The Spirit was wearing a sleeveless basketball jersey, so ogling Jason's exposed biceps made Percy sliced the tomatoes into slightly uneven sizes, and he was so entranced that he unknowingly let his guard down. Nico took his chance (albeit feeling envious) and crept soundlessly behind him.
Well, accidents do not come with a set of alarms and sirens.
'Gotcha!'
'Oh, shit!'
Nico abruptly hugged Percy from behind and nuzzled his cheek upon the boy's neck, giggling as he did so. Surprisingly for the Spirit, he yelped in pain, and Nico could not help but felt a little bit hurt. He had not anticipated retaliation, but rather at least a smile. That was obviously a gesture of affection, and he expected a return of similar ones.
'Oh shit, shit, shit,' muttered Percy, slightly groaning in pain, apprehensively flicking his wrist, a noticeable trail of a certain red liquid oozing across his palm from a small wound on his index finger. The sudden motion had him accidentally cut himself with the knife in use, spraying the tomatoes with dots of blood.
'Gods, love, I'm so sorry.' Guilt gnawed over Nico, condemning himself over his evident brainless and foolish action. Good lords, Percy was busy cutting tomatoes without a problem before he stepped in and ruined the pleasant atmosphere. Noticing the uneasiness on the Spirit's expression, the boy waved his hand off, reassuring that the ordeal that happened was out of anybody's control. 'No worries, man.'
Jason looked on from his corner of the kitchen, eyes demonstrating worry and anxiety. He remained stationary though, seemingly that it was just a small cut, far from being life-threatening or fatal.
Gently lifting Percy's hand to his lips, Nico blew small billows of air soothingly at the wound, minimising the dull throb of the pain. He licked the wound to clean away the clotting blood, causing the boy to raise his eyebrows in an alarming speed. At the sight of a single strand of saliva connecting Percy's finger to Nico's parted lips, the other Spirit huffed with displeasure and indignantly turned away.
Nico had no time to flash even a little smirk to mock his fellow Spirit when blood suddenly oozed out of the wound in a critically unexpected speed. Percy whimpered as the sharp pain grappled his conscience, although regretting it later on sight at the expression of sorrow and guilt present on Nico's face.
Accidents rarely gave insight to any possible consequences.
The surrounding of the room enveloped itself in gloominess and despair. The restless emotions encircled Percy in wisps of shadows. Tendrils of darkness writhed their way up his leg, inducing panic and dread up his chest. 'What the –,' he cursed under his breath. In the grim atmosphere, Nico looked aghast. 'I'm not doing anything, Percy!' he said desperately, flinging his arms aimlessly in attempt to take control of his agitated shadows.
Of course he's not, this is entirely my fault, his thoughts rebuked him.
Burying himself in Nico's embrace; much to the latter's astonishment, he sidestepped the table and let his wounded fingertip soaked by the running water in the sink. Relief surged through him in a whim, washed away by torrents of cold water. At one corner of his vision, Jason was parrying a wispy vine of animated shadow with a spatula.
The boy had expected warmth, but Nico was agonizingly cold. He was still chiding himself, whispering, 'Stupid, stupid, stupid,' all over again, gritting his teeth all the while. Percy gently nudged his chin with his forehead. The Spirit opened his eyelids, startled by the mirthful sea green eyes that twinkled upon his sight.
'Hey,' he sighed. 'There's nothing to worry about.' The darkness around them gradually dissipated within minutes.
The boy raised his unblemished finger, a smile in place. The wound was gone without a single scar.
Date a Nico
Scraping her fork on the platter decorated with intricate motifs of stargaze lily and clustering leaves, Rachel complimented Percy for the hearty breakfast of lasagna. Besides her, Chiron, the analysis officer for the US branch of Ratatoskr, was sipping mint tea from his mug, his eyes inspecting the surrounding glow of the neat little apartment.
'So, let me get this straight. Nico's Spiritual powers will return to him if he's emotionally unstable. Is that what happened then?'
Chiron set the mug on the coffee table and nodded briefly. He kindly began the explanation that was repeated countless times before. 'To seal a Spirit, you must make him fall for you, am I correct?'
Percy nodded, involuntarily smiled at the memories.
'Almost all powers of a Spirit are sealed inside you the moment you kiss them. They will be no different than humans. The same rule applied to both Spirits you sealed; Jason and Nico.'
He made a swift single line of motion with his finger from the mug to the teapot. 'An existing bond will establish upon the sealing; an unseen connection known as the 'pass'. When Nico's mental state becomes unstable under certain conditions, it is through this 'pass' a leakage will occur; resulting in the return of his powers.'
Breathing in the soothing scent of the tea, Chiron continued, 'It was a little bit fortunate for us that Nico demonstrated his powers in a very small scale this morning, unable to be detected by anybody. Should the unfortunate happens, the Spiritual disturbance will trigger the security alarm of the city. We cannot afford DEM to be acknowledged by the Spirits' presence in their vicinity, can we?'
'So basically, they will be –,' Rachel paused, noisily slurping her tea. After an annoyingly suspenseful period of waiting, she gulped the enlivening liquor. 'Ah. Slaughtered.'
Percy tensed up. Glancing at the door, he began to reconsider his decision of letting Jason go with Nico for a morning walk without his supervision. The worried feeling seemingly would not leave him alone. He cannot forgive himself if those two were threatened with something as dangerous as the DEM Industries, whose sole purpose of establishment is to ruthlessly destroy Spirits.
'There's another thing, Perseus. We detected an anomaly in Nico's emotional stability this morning. Even though it's in a miniature scale, the risks of him emitting Spiritual waves are very high, considering many possible triggers around him,' Chiron explained, his face depicting a look proving the dire situation they had landed upon. 'Did something happen?'
Percy gave out an exasperated sigh. 'Yup, I cut myself and he almost went out of control.'
'You do understand how much they cared about you, right?' Chiron cleared his throat before moving on. 'So we need your contribution in a strategy we devised specifically for this problem.'
'You'll need my help?' Percy could not help feeling curious.
Rachel flashed him a mischievous smile. 'You have the rare gift in sealing Spirits, you know that? In fact, you are one of the only two known human under Ratatoskr who possess this specific ability to seal them,' she sipped her tea. 'Plus the charm to lure and woo our extraterrestrial friends into fascination,' she giggled at her own words, earning an alarmed glance from her best friend.
'Enough with the flattery. So… what about it?'
'Easy. Your Valentine date would be the Spirit known in the record as Spectre, Nico di Angelo.'
Author's Notes: Sweet greetings to whoever stumbled upon my second work! This is for dearest Takara Phoenix and also for those who willingly read this, so thank you for spending your time here.
Peculiar title isn't it? Haha I took the privilege of the name of the verse this tale took place, Date a Live, but changing it a little bit to Date a Nico. (What kind of name is that? Well, don't ask me, but I'm obsessed with the series :D)
This is rather PJO and HOO in a Date A Live alternate universe, so I'm giving it my best shot. Sorry if it's disappointing for you. Hoping it would expand into more works and ideas :D
Reviews are more than welcomed and appreciated. It'll help me improve and thus be better, because I'm quite inexperienced.
Sincerely, Hecate.
Disclaimer: All rights reserved for the Percy Jackson and the Olympians and the Heroes of Olympus series belongs rightfully to Rick Riordan. All rights reserved for the Date A Live franchise belongs rightfully to Koushi Tachibana. The rest of the plot and any significant else are all specifically mine.