PJatO || BigThreesome || PJatO || The Most Sparkling Diamond || PJatO || Frazeleo || PJatO
Title: The Most Sparkling Diamond – To Search and to Find
Fandom: Percy Jackson and the Olympians / Heroes of Olympus; kind of AU
PJatO 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, of course. They are all copyright by the old Greeks. This fanfiction on the other hand is entirely mine. No money is made with this, though reviews are more than welcomed.
Warnings: shounen-ai, hetero, threesomes, rental love, explicit intercourse, anal, oral, pegging, mentions of rape/abuse, past child abuse, AU, shoujo-ai
Main Pairing: Jason/Nico/Percy, Frank/Hazel/Leo
Side Pairings: Jason/Nico (established), Frank/Hazel (established), Luke/Leo, Octavian/Percy, Malcolm/Katie, Jake/Will, Kayla/Nyssa, Kinzie/Phoebe, Reyna/Piper/Annabeth, Charles/Silena, Thalia/Bianca, Ethan/Alabaster, Luke/Octavian, Chris/Clarisse, Lou/Miranda, Shane/Lacy, Michael/Calypso, Tyson/Ella, Grover/Juniper, Gleeson/Mellie, Chiron/Lupa, Hades/Persephone, Zeus/Hera, Ares/Aphrodite, Erebos/Nyx, Aether/Hemera
Percy Jackson Characters:
Purple Oyster: Perseus Jackson, Annabeth Chase, Piper McLean, Drew Tanaka, Lacy Hunnigan, Mitchell Logan, Silena Beauregard, Charles Beckendorf, Gabe Ugliano
Search for Percy: Nico di Angelo, Clarisse la Rue, Lou Ellen, Jason Grace, Chris Rodriguez, Reyna Anderson, Shadowchaser (Nico's pegasus stallion), Fighter (Clarisse's pegasus stallion), Wicca (Lou's unicorn mare), Trickster (Chris' pegasus stallion), Tempest, Scipio
On the run: Frank Zhang, Hazel Levesque, Arion
Search for Hazel: Leo Valdez, Luke Castellan, Bianca di Angelo, Thalia Grace, Alabaster C. Torrington, Ethan Nakamura, Balance (Ethan's pegasus mare), Mrs. O'Leary, Festus
Still in Olympolis: Chiron, Lupa, Howard Claymore, Gleeson Hedge, Mellie, Grover Underwood, Juniper, Tyson, Ella, Rachel Elizabeth Dare, Octavian Simmons, Malcolm Cage, Katie Gardner, Miranda Gardner, Travis Stoll, Connor Stoll, Jake Mason, Will Solace, Austin Barton, Kayla Hein, Nyssa Black, Hylla Anderson, Kinzie Cohen, Zoe Nightshade, Phoebe Burge, Sherman Potter, Mark Meyer, Lee Fletcher, Michael Yew, Clovis Daver, Butch Knightley, Castor Liber, Pollux Liber, Dakota Elle, Shane McNabb, Christopher Clark, Harley Davis
Godly Characters: Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Demeter, Ares, Athena, Apollo, Artemis, Hephaestus, Aphrodite, Hermes, Dionysus, Hestia, Hades, Persephone, Hemera, Aether, Nyx, Erebos, Chaos
Summary: This is an AU-story, but it's not a total AU. It still takes place in a universe with the Roman and Greek gods, all the characters we know and love are still children of their representative godly parents. But the two Great Prophecies never happened, none of the two wars happened and instead of visiting separated summer camps, all half-bloods live in a sheltered safe haven called Olympolis, where they actually live pretty normal lives with going to school, shopping, everything you need to be a regular teenager. If a demigod decides to live in Olympolis, they get to stay in special apartment buildings, where demigods live in rooming arrangements with each other. The city is protected by the magic of the gods, just as camp borders are. And aside from the average quest now and then, they actually live in peace.
At least until now.
A threat – older and more powerful than the Giants or Titans – emerges as the children of the oldest deity fight. The gods wish to keep out of the fight between Hemera and Nyx, but the older deities want to pull the demigods into their fight, to use them in their war. At first, no one is worried, because the demigods are safe in Olympolis. But then Poseidon and Pluto admit each having another child out there. So the four children of the Big Three, who already are living in Olympolis, are send out with the most powerful demigods of the city to search for those two forgotten half-bloods. What dangers and adventures await them? And can love bloom in the middle of a war?
The Most Sparkling Diamond
To Search and to Find
3. The Firebug, the Witch Boy and the Shadow Princess
There was a deep frown marring the Latino's features as he leaned against the cool metal of his greatest joy and pride, the mechanical dragon Festus. His baby had taken quite the hit from the Hydra three days ago when they were flying over Seattle, forcing Leo and the other members of his quest to take a longer rest for now. With one screwdriver behind his ear and another one in his hand, he continued working on the big robot.
It had been so long now that Leo was traveling with his two companions, so long that he barely remembered how mundane life in Olympus City had been. But the quest to find the child of Pluto and the child of Poseidon had demanded for the already claimed children of the Big Three to pack their bags, snatch the strongest demi-gods and go out into the world to find the two.
Truth be told, Leo would have never figured himself to be part of such an important quest. He never considered himself anything special, just one of hundreds of tinkerers, children of Vulcan or Hephaestus. Just his scrawny, little self. He had never been much of a fighter, always managed to dodge training, instead locking himself up in some bunker or garage to tinker away with his two favorite siblings – Nyssa and Jake, both Greeks like himself and both older than him.
Leo had been young, very young, when his mother had died in a tragic fire. Ever since then he had been horribly afraid of fire. He had ended up in foster care. With foster families. Many foster families. None of those had been any good. There had only been one foster family he had enjoyed staying with – the Jacksons. But then Sally had died and Gabe had growled enough about having to care for Percy, so Leo packed his bags once more and left. Once again all on his own. It had been a nymph, Mellie, who had spotted him during a phase where he was living on the streets. The nymph was, like many nymphs, working together with the satyrs and thus working for Olympus City. Ever since then, Mellie and the satyr who had been send to collect him upon Mellie's call were keeping a close eye on Leo. Not that he minded. Coach Hedge could be quite the hand full, but he was a good guy (and madly in love with Mellie, which was probably the main reason why he took care of Leo to begin with, because he couldn't deny her and she had developed quite the maternal instincts for the 'adorable, little kid'). It had all frightened him at the beginning. Gods. Satyrs. Nymphs. Demi-gods. He had only been twelve years by the time he got collected and the last four years of being handed around from family to family, from foster home to foster home had left their scars on him. Not just bodily. He was scared of his new surroundings, of all the people. It had helped him that demi-gods lived together in small apartments, always four teens. No adults. Which was a great relief, because most of the times it had been the adults mistreating him. This way, he had three boys around his age, helping him out, guiding him, including him. It was how he had met his half-brother Jake Mason, his roommate. The older son of Hephaestus had very soon started to take on the protective big brother role. Though mostly because one of their other flatmates – Luke the thieving trickster son of Hermes – loved to molest Leo. In a 'playful, friendly' way, as Luke's roommate and best friend Ethan loved to say. Other than the molesting, the three others were the best arrangement he had ever lived in. It was nearly like a family and meeting their friends had helped him socializing and for the first time actually belonging.
Belonging didn't make him popular or anything though. He was just one of hundreds of tinkerers, Roman and Greek. His friends were powerful demi-gods, well-trained demi-gods who had spend so many years in Olympus City already while it had only been four years for him now and so far he had managed to escape all kinds of training of the physical kind quite well.
That was why he didn't understand how he had ever managed to join this quest. It was the quest of the century and the four children of the most powerful gods had been chosen to lead it – Thalia, Jason, Nico and Bianca. Everything had been up to those four. They had split up, deciding that Nico and Jason would chase the child of Poseidon and Thalia and Bianca would go looking for the child of Pluto. Each search party chose four more demi-gods to join them, so the parties could also split up for two quests of three, the way quests were meant to be.
Nico chose his two best friends, no surprises there. Especially since Clarisse la Rue was one of the strongest fighters and best strategists Olympus City had. The daughter of Ares wasn't just strong, she was also headstrong. Lou Ellen was a different matter though, she was a decent fighter, good with a sword, but that was not her strong suit. What made her one of the most powerful demigods around was that she was a daughter of Hecate and the powers of witchcraft were, after the Big Three, considered to be the strongest and most various. This trio hadn't surprised anyone and Mayor Lupa and Mayor Chiron had only nodded in approval.
The other half of the quest for the child of Poseidon hadn't been all that surprising either. Jason too chose his best friend, the daughter of Bellona Reyna Anderson, to accompany him. She was the only reason why Clarisse was only 'one of' the strongest fighters and best strategists and not 'the'. Reyna was the Roman version of Clarisse, two sides of a coin, as everyone loved to joke. The third member of this trio was Chris Rodriguez, who most people thought had only been chosen so Clarisse would lay off, because her boyfriend was the only one able to tame her even a little bit. But Leo knew better than that. A child of Hermes came with a variety of trades, not just trickery and thievery, but Hermes was also the deity of travelers and for a quest like that, this came in more than just handy. The 'travelers' part of Hermes' job description manifested in a built-in GPS system for his kids, so to speak. And when you travel the whole US, that was very useful.
Jason's big sister too had chosen a child of traveling, her best friend Luke Castellan. Someone who also happened to be one of the best swordsmen of Olympus City. Ethan Nakamura completed this trio. To balance them out, as ironic as that sounded considering that he was a child of Nemesis. But Luke and Thalia were both very headstrong and stubborn people and as much as they loved each other like siblings, they also fought like siblings. Ethan was a calm and collected boy, always managing to calm them. He also was a good strategist and fighter.
Then there was the fourth trio, Bianca's quest. As the other three children of the Big Three, she too had chosen her best friend to be at her side. Which had been a much appreciated choice by the mayors, because Alabaster Torrington was also a child of Hecate and Lou's older and more experienced brother. And then there was Leo. Right next to the most powerful witch and the Shadow Princess. The Latino had no idea what he was doing there, none at all. Sure, a little while ago they had noticed that Leo could control fire, a rare ability only very few children of Hephaestus/Vulcan could do and none had been able to in over a century. But Leo hated it. Fire was what had killed his mother and there was nothing he hated and feared more than fire. Which led to him never actually using it. Which made him basically useless. A super powerful demi-god, too afraid to use his powers? It was laughable.
"In the name of my mother's magic, if you don't spill what is bothering you, I will personally hex you and turn you into a kitten or something, Valdez!"
Leo yelped and jumped, his tools falling to the ground with a loud thud. Wide, light brown eyes stared up at the freckled boy leaning against the metal dragon right next to Leo. The freckled boy rolled his misty green eyes and raised one eyebrow.
"Jumpy, are you?", snorted the freckled brunette. "If I were a monster, I would have been able to kill you in about... twenty different ways by now. How often do we have to tell you to never let your guard down, kiddo?"
"Sorry, Alabaster", mumbled Leo, pursuing his lips in guilt.
"I don't want to hear that you're sorry", grunted the son of Hecate with a glare. "I want to hear what has you on edge like that. You've been sulking for over a day now and Bibi is worried for you."
"Tell Bianca that I'm alright", replied the Latino, picking up his tools again.
"You are not. Don't bullshit me", snarled Alabaster with one raised eyebrow.
"I said", growled Leo with a glare of himself. "That I'm alright."
"Look", grunted Alabaster, unfolding his arms and stepping closer. "You have three options."
Leo raised one eyebrow skeptically, deciding to put his tools away for today. It was never safe to tinker while the son of Hecate was around. Because Alabaster considered that rude and loved to hex him as punishments. Most of the times ending with Leo walking around with cat ears and a fluffy cat tale for the rest of the day.
"What do you mean?", asked the son of Hephaestus slowly.
"You either tell me what is going on willingly, or I'll go and get Bianca so you'll have to tell her", replied Alabaster, counting his fingers with his arguments. "Or I'll hex you until you spill it."
"You're evil", muttered Leo with a pout.
"Nothing new there", shrugged the brunette and smirked. "Well? Which one shall it be?"
"It's just...", started Leo, running his fingers through his hair. "The two teens I met yesterday..."
"Your two hallucinations?", snorted Alabaster with one raised eyebrow.
"I didn't hallucinate them!", objected the Latino with a glare and turned around.
It was getting dark outside, he should call it quits for today and get back to their hotel to get some sleep. Alabaster followed him, laughing silently to himself. Leo huffed. His two companions hadn't believed him when he had told them about Frank and Hazel the day before.
"You pointed at empty space yesterday", pointed Alabaster out. "And then you were running around frantically and we even helped you looking, but there was no one even close. And people normally don't vanish into thin air, Valdez."
Leo shut his mouth. He knew Alabaster was right. They had looked everywhere, asked people close by, but no one had seen them walk into any direction. There was a possibility, of course, but Leo refrained from voicing it in front of Alabaster. Because people did vanish into thin air. Nico and Bianca did it on a regular base, Bianca even more often so than her younger brother. Shadow-traveling. Something only children of the underworld could do. And they were looking for a child of the underworld, after all. Leo chewed his lower lip.
Alabaster sighed, wrapping one arm around Leo's shoulders and pulling the smaller demi-god close. "Look, it's all cute and adorable that you're crushing on someone, but why someone we meet on a quest? In a city we will leave as soon as you get that bloody dragon to work again? Someone whose full names you don't even know? There are plenty of demi-gods in Olympus City and believe me one thing, the only partner truly fitted for a demi-god is another demi-god. You can't explain what we do and what we can to a mortal. They would never understand. You get that, right?"
Leo shrugged and averted his eyes to stare at the pavement in faked interest. He knew that, he knew all of that. But somehow he had connected with Frank and Hazel. He knew what they were doing. They were on the run, he recognized that paranoia in Frank's eyes, knew it from his own image on the mirror from years of running away from the system. He understood that, he related to that. But it wasn't the only thing. Hazel was stunning. She looked like she had jumped out of some freaking advertisement for Victoria's Secret or stuff like that. With those long legs and hot curves, the long curls and chocolate skin. And those eyes. Leo would swear they were actually golden. And she had been so nice to him. Something he wasn't really used to. While being on the run or in the system, most treated him with little to no kindness and in Olympus City, they only laid off him because he was friends with the strongest kids around. But just genuine kindness without being the protective big siblings like Jake and Nyssa? And then there was Frank. Hot, bulky, strong, muscular, tall Frank. At first the other boy had been hard on him, had only glared at him and shoved him around (and Leo wouldn't admit that it had totally turned him on when Frank had shoved him into the wall).
Shaking his head, he tried to clear his head and not think about the couple. They had vanished, left him alone like everybody else he had ever liked always did. Blinking a few times, he looked up to find himself already in front of their hotel suit. It was a good thing Alabaster had led the way, because otherwise Leo wouldn't have reached it, so lost in thought as he was at the moment. The door opened and a beautiful Italian girl stood in front of them, her long curly black hair in a thick braid, her black eyes sparkling amused, a thin, white summer dress covering her curvy body.
"Boys?", grinned the girl brightly, leaning against the door frame. "You're back. Fantastic. I was just on my way to hit the bar and listen into the city's gossip. Mind to accompany me?"
"As long as you pay for the drinks, Bibi", smirked Alabaster, offering her his arm.
She smiled and linked their arms and looked at Leo curiously. "You coming?"
"Naw, I'll sit that one out", declined Leo with a small smile, pushing past Bianca. "I'm tired."
"If... you're sure...", hummed the daughter of Hades skeptical and leaned in to kiss his cheek. "Be a good boy and sleep well, you need it. You're working too hard, kiddo."
Leo nodded slowly and watched his two friends leave before closing the door. Heaving a sigh, he walked over to the double bed the three of them were sharing and collapsed on it. Grunting slightly, he patted his jeans for his wallet, pulling it out and opening it. There wasn't much he was carrying around, mostly because there wasn't much he owned. He had a magical tool belt – Lou and Alabaster had enchanted it for him so it was 'bigger on the inside' (bloody Whovians, but it did come in handy so he was okay with it) – and the tools within. That was about it. All he had ever really owning. That, and his wallet. It was simple, dark brown leather. What was important about it however were the three photos within. One was of his new family – Jake and Nyssa having their arms wrapped around his neck, Jake's boyfriend Will hanging off Jake on the other side, Nyssa's girlfriend Kayla holding hands with her, Leo's best friend Austin (the younger brother of Will and Kayla) hugging Leo tightly around the mid-section. Another was the most valuable possession Leo had. The only photo that had survived the fire, the only photo Leo had left of his mother and him. Esperanza was around twenty-three on the picture, all smiles and laughter and love, her eyes shining in love for the four-years-old boy she was holding so tightly and protectively. A single tear slipped down Leo's cheek as he looked as his mother's face. And the third photo was of his third family, of the only place after his mother's death and before Olympus City where he had ever felt home. Sally Jackson, the most motherly person aside from his own mother he had ever met, smiling brightly into the camera, both her arms wrapped around two young boys, who were hugging each other tightly, one with sparkly sea-green eyes and dark hair and the other a mischievously grinning Latino imp. Leo sighed again, staring at the pictures with unfocused eyes. He still remembered how he had first met Sally and Percy Jackson. It had been one of his normal days while living on the streets. He had soon noticed that sneaking around grocery shops and picking stuff out of carts from shopping mothers, or elderly people. Because those mostly were sympathetic with homeless kids and gave him the stuff anyway if they caught him in the act, but he normally tried to steer clear from the kids of those mothers, because they were mostly brats and rattled him out. But Percy Jackson had been different...
/flashback\
Leo was fishing an apple out of a shopping card, his eyes trained on the pretty brunette woman that was currently at the front of her car. If he hurried, he could get an apple or two out of this and be away before she returned and noticed him.
"What are you doing there?"
Leo yelped and let go of the shopping card, falling flat down onto his ass. He stared wide-eyed up at the boy standing over him, frowning down at him with his impressive, sea-green eyes. Crap. How had Leo missed that the woman had her son with her? Green eyes watched him curiously, staring him down and switching between looking at his face and at the apple in his hand.
"Mommy!", called the boy, his eyes not leaving Leo.
The brunette woman rounded the car to stand behind the boy. "Yes, Percy?"
"He tried to steal an apple. But I think he's the worst thief in the world", commented the boy – Percy – and pointed at Leo accusingly. "Can we keep him? He doesn't look like he has a place to stay. He can sleep in my room too! Please, mommy!"
The woman frowned and leaned down to look into Leo's eyes. "Hello, dear. My name is Sally and that's my son Percy. No need to be scared. Tell me, where do you live? I'll bring you home. Your parents must be worried for you. You look like you've been rolling around in mud, my boy."
The Latino frowned confused and tried to back away. He hated when people invaded his personal space, it never meant anything good. Instead of looking at them, he looked down at himself. There was mud covering him from head to toe from the last time he sneaked out of a foster home. It had been a rainy night and he had slipped. Not that he had a washing machine at his hand...
"I don't have parents", mumbled Leo, unable to stop the words. "Or a place to live."
"See?!", exclaimed Percy, flailing around with his arms. "I told you! Can we keep him? Can we?"
"He's not a lost puppy", scolded Sally before turning back to Leo. "If you want, you can come with us and take a shower at our place. You and Percy are about the same size, you can wear his clothes and I'll wash yours, it's the least we can do, mh?"
/flashback|end\
The least they could do for someone who had just tried to steal from them. But that was the Jackson-heart, one big place for everyone they met. It hadn't taken much to convince Sally's husband, a horrible, horrible man, to take Leo in. The fact that they would get money from the state for taking a foster child in was all the reason Gabe needed. And aside from Gabe, the place was perfect. Small, but perfect. It had been home. Sally had been wonderful and Percy had been like a brother to him. Sally had always joked that they were like twins. But then Sally had died in a car accident two years later and Gabe would have probably loved to get rid of Percy too, but he couldn't. Not as his legal guardian. But getting rid of the annoying foster brat, that had been easy. After that, being on the street had seemed so much harder than it had in years.
His hand grabbed the phone standing on the bedside table and his fingers dialed a number, all happening without his consent or conscious decision. It rang a couple of times. Leo sighed and turned onto his back, staring up at the ceiling. It kept ringing.
"Hello?", panted a voice at the other end, just when Leo was about to hang up.
The Latino's face brightened and he sat up some. "Percy! It's me, Leo!"
"Hey! How's my favorite stray lion cub doing?" He could hear the smile in Percy's voice.
"Good, well, I guess...", mumbled Leo and licked his lips. "What about you? You sound as if you're in a hurry. If it's a bad time, I can call you later or something..."
"Don't change the topic", warned Percy in his serious voice scolding big brother voice. "You know how I'm doing. What about you? You had said you're on some top secret mission thingy and you couldn't call for a while. What's up? You sound troubled, little bro."
It was wrong to load his problems onto Percy's shoulders, he knew how much his 'big bro' had to go through after Sally's death and how crappy Percy's life was. Leo was lucky compared to that. And if it would be possible, Leo would take the other boy in, it had even been his first question upon arriving in Olympus City, but mortals weren't allowed to live with the demi-gods.
"Well...", started Leo unsure. "There was this girl. And this boy. And I met them yesterday..."
"That sounds interesting", teased Percy. "Tell me more. I have all the time in the world for you."
Leo smiled. That was what he loved about Percy. Whatever happened, he never let Leo hanging. Taking a deep breath the Latino started to explain everything that had happened yesterday.