PJatO || Nicercy || PJatO || Sonny || Chasing Fireflies || Sonny || PJatO || Nicercy || PJatO
Title: Chasing Fireflies – The Next Generation of Heroes
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, fluff, h/c, mpreg, explicit intercourse, anal, oral, D/s, bondage, masturbation, toys, spanking, rimming, handjobs, magic, knotting, collars, past rape/abuse, (temporary) character death, depression, threesomes, shoujo-ai, hetero
Main Pairing: Sander/Donny, Trend/Derek/Sam and Nico/Percy
Side Pairings: Chris/Clarisse, Piper/Annabeth, Frank/Hazel/Leo, Jason/Reyna, Travis/Connor, Malcolm/Katie, Lou/Miranda, Jake/Will, Kayla/Nyssa, Alabaster/Liam, Tyson/Ella, Paul/Sally, Hades/Persephone, Tempest/Blackjack
Side Pairings OCs: Trend/Sam, Herc/Thea, Joe/Nico, Marshall/Sara, Loki/Blance, Dash/Kara, Vic/Stella/Jonas, Chuck/Melissa, Luke/Thess, Kitty/Percy, Fred/Carry, JP/Milly
Percy Jackson Characters: Perseus Jackson, Nico di Angelo, Clarisse la Rue, Chris Rodriguez, Annabeth Chase, Piper McLean, Hazel Levesque, Leo Valdez, Frank Zhang, Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano, Jason Grace, Will Solace, Jake Mason, Katie Gardner, Malcolm Cage, Miranda Gardner, Lou Ellen, Travis Stoll, Connor Stoll, Nyssa Black, Kayla Hein, Alabaster C. Torrington, Thalia Grace, Rachel Elizabeth Dare, Octavian Simmons, Ella, Tyson, Grover Underwood, Sally Blofis, Paul Blofis, Chiron, Small Bob, Mrs. O'Leary, Blackjack, Tempest, Arion
Gods: Hades, Persephone, Demeter, Poseidon, Artemis
Own Animals: Shadowchaser (Donny's shadow-pegasus), Trickster (Sander's pegasus), Nightowl (Thea's pegasus), Fighter (Sam's pegasus), Rush (Trend's pegasus), Poker (Jack's pet-bunny)
Own Characters of the Next Generation:
Nicercy: Bianca Maria 'Bia' di Angelo, Hades Poseidon 'Donny' di Angelo, Sally Persephone 'Percy' di Angelo, Theseus Paul 'Thess' di Angelo, James Charles 'Jimmy' di Angelo, Laura Silena 'Silly' di Angelo, Jackson Tyson Jack' di Angelo
Chrisse: Calandra 'Cally' Rodriguez, Chrysander 'Sander' Rodriguez, Charisma 'Carry' Rodriguez
Pipabeth: Theadora Tiphane 'Thea' Chase, Lucas Thomas 'Luke' Chase, Tristan Frederick 'Fred' Chase, Matthew Robert 'Matt' Chase
Jayna: Hercules 'Herc' Grace, Thalia Hylla 'Thyl' Grace, Jupiter Perseus 'JP' Grace
Frazeleo: Esperanza Nicole 'Nico' Zhang, Sammy Marie Zhang, Emily Fey 'Milly' Zhang, Claryssa 'Claire' Zhang
Matie: Amarilla 'Amy' Cage, Anthismos 'Andy' Cage
Louranda: Kathryn 'Kitty' Ellen, Alabaster 'Basty' Ellen
Jakill: Elizabeth 'Lizzy' Mason (adopted; daughter of Apollo)
Stolls: Hunter 'Hunt' Hood, Hayden 'Heist' Hood (adopted; sons Hermes)
Own Demigods: Samuel Raser (Ares), Derek Rhys (Demeter), Trend Austin (Athena), Marshall Mikaelson (Enyo), Sara Mers (Mars), Joanna Foxx (Vulcan), Phylicia Rosenberg (Persephone), Bellatrix la Fey (Ares), Phineas DeVorut (Venus), Melissa Montgomery (Dionysus), Charles Smith (Apollo), Stella Ribeiro (Aphrodite), Jonas Meyer (Enyalios), Victor Kruger (Hephaestus), Erik Anderson (Enyo), Lila Lovegood (Hecate), Rainbow Jordan (Iris), Takara Thompson (Trivia), Sedanur Aykan (Apollo, augur), Loki Murdock (Mercury), Blance Lamour (Chione), Ulrika Schuster (Eris), Arielle Schneider (Triton), Liam O'Riley (Hecate)
Summary: Donny di Angelo never cared about fighting or becoming a hero. Quite the opposite of Sander Rodriguez, who was the greatest Greek hero of their generation. Together with his beloved cousin Nico Zhang and his best friend Thea Chase, Donny faces the hardest quest possible. The one for confidence and love. His biggest support though are his parents and siblings. Being a teenage demigod was hard, being the son of the greatest hero ever was even harder.
Chasing Fireflies
The Next Generation of Heroes
9. The Dead Gorilla
/diary|entry\
I am sooo bored. Seriously, I could fill this whole stupid book with 'o's at the moment to emphasize my point. It's like... everybody is busy doing stuff and I'm just sitting here, waiting for night to come.
Jack ran off with Thea's youngest brother Matt, the two doing some kind of mischief. All of camp is still one big playground for Jack and he's very, very busy discovering it all. Silly is in the woods, talking with the nymphs. She loves hanging out with the nymphs, more than with the demigods that is. And Jimmy is planning a prank or two with his two best friends. I think Thess is snogging with Luke and Percy is being all lovey-dovey with Kitty. Which leaves me all alone in the Poseidon cabin at the moment. I wanted to hang with Thea, but she has a flying class, which means I can't even talk to Nightowl, her pegasus. And Shadow and Trick wanted some... er, privacy. And I seem unable to find Sander anywhere... He... has been really odd all day long.
I mean, at first I thought he was just being cranky because of his lack of sleep, but then he practically ran away from me, not without a remark on how he liked to train unlike 'others'. I knew it. I knew he was bothered that I'm an untrained weakling... But hearing that makes me really, really sad. Even more sad than I already was just because he looked at me so... angrily. I don't like it when anyone is angry at me, but with him it's especially bad. I went looking for him to apologize for whatever I had done to make him so angry at me – because I'm not stupid, I know when someone is looking at me angry and not just in general. But I couldn't find him anywhere. Not even the arena. I only found Trend and Sam there, but the two were so busy fighting, I doubt they even noticed my presence... Well, maybe I can apologize at the bonfire tonight.
Anyway! There's something else I wanted to tell you! When I was in the Hades cabin yesterday and trying to hide the lube and the dildo, I had found a secret part in my drawer. And inside had been a camp shirt and a letter. A letter from my dad. It was really cool, because it was all about how he had always refused to wear a camp shirt because he had never felt like he belonged here because the children of Hades weren't very welcomed and that only Percy Jackson had been responsible that there was a Hades cabin now and how he was sure that whoever found the letter certainly heard from the greatest hero of the modern time. He wrote that he only accepted the shirt after he had gotten together with 'the greatest hero ever', because he made him feel like he did belong there too. And then the letter ended, with something like if he as a child of Hades could date the most well-respected hero without earning odd looks from other campers then they finally belonged there too and that every child of Hades should be proud to be part of this camp too.
You see, I've always only been wearing my camp shirt beneath my regular clothes because I never really felt like Camp Half-Blood is a place for me. I'm a halfling with the blessing of spring. But reading how my dad had finally learned that he belonged here makes me think that I belong here too. I've been wearing his shirt ever since I found it yesterday evening. Even though it's a bit too big for me. But that was to be expected...
Great, now I'm still bored and it's still hours until bonfire. Why can't Apollo pull the sun chariot out of the way earlier today? I just want to get to the training part of the day! I can't wait what dad will be up to. I'm really giddy to get to spend some alone time with him again. And with mom. There had always been a younger sibling nagging, demanding attention, for as long as I can remember. It's especially hard since Jack's birth because he's really hyperactive and needs much attention. And I don't want to take that away from my siblings either, but I just miss having my mommy all to myself sometimes. Now with the training, I'll get the chance to!
/entry|end\
Donny sighed with a pout, his feet dangling off the bed as he sat there. The diary laid beside him, unused for now since he was finished for today. There was nothing left to say. Sadness clouded his eyes as he stared out into empty space, thinking of Sander and how angry the brunette had been.
"Lu—uke, take your hands away", giggled a voice.
"Why? It's mine now", growled another voice slightly possessive.
Donny blinked and shook his head to clear his mind. Turning to look at the entrance, he saw his younger brother Thess, heavily blushing, with a tall blonde groping his butt.
"Lucas, remove your hands from my brother's behind or I'll tell our father", warned Donny.
The blonde turned wide, multiple-colored eyes on him, begging for this to be a joke. The son of Nico chuckled amused and shook his head no. If his mom and dad said something then that was law. And Thess was only fourteen, he was too young for such inappropriate behavior!
"Aw, come on, Donny", pouted Luke with begging eyes. "It's just a sign of affection. We're not doing anything! He wouldn't even let me go below his shirt! ...Uh, not that I tried, of course!"
Raising one eyebrow in question, Donny shifted some and glared at his little brother. Thess blushed the most furious red and sneaked over to sit next to his big brother, hiding his face in the crook of his brother's neck. Ruffling the younger boy's hair, Donny smiled slightly.
"I won't be telling dad. For now", chuckled Donny before glaring and Luke. "But if I hear you going too far, I will hand your ass over to grandpa personally and see you in the fields of punishment. So consider yourself warned, Chase."
"Y—Yes, Donny", nodded Luke and saluted slightly before grinning mischievously. "Damn, you are going to be an awesome protective mom one day."
"W—Why mom?!", yelped Donny and blushed furiously, glaring after the blonde.
Luke laughed and ran out of the cabin after blowing his boyfriend a kiss. The two brothers were left alone, Thess shifting a bit to get more comfortable and lay against his brother's side. Donny sighed and leaned his back against the wall, wrapping one arm around his baby brother.
"He's right", grinned Thess and winked. "You'll be an awesome mom. And Sander would be a great dad. Oh, I'm sure my nieces and nephews would turn out to be totally adorable."
"What in the world are you talking about?", hissed Donny red-faced.
Thess' grin grew and his eyes wandered indicatively over to Donny's diary. "Though I still wonder where you hide that toy of yours since I haven't found anything here."
"You little kelp-face!", yelled Donny wide-eyed. "Why are you reading my diary?!"
Thess giggled and jumped off the bed to get away from his angry big brother. "Oh come on, you have five younger siblings. Did you really expect none of us would read it if you let it lay around like that? But don't worry, I hid it away before Percy found it. Besides, I only read it because I was concerned for you. You've been behaving odd these last few weeks. Though now I at least now why. Because you want Sander to spank you."
Wide, Tartarus-dark eyes stared at Donny, Thess suddenly very silent. It took the older di Angelo a moment to realize that the whole Poseidon cabin had darkened into nothingness, pure pitch-black darkness. The playful look on his little brother's face had melted into one of fear.
"S... Sorry", mumbled Donny and tried to breath deep, his stomach knotting in guilt.
He was still no good at controlling his emotions. When he got angry – really angry – then he would pull the shadows closer until everything around him was dark. When he was sad it rained outside. And when he was happy, there were some sort of critters closing in on him.
"N... No problem, brother", replied Thess, trying to calm down, though he was still shaking nervously. "But... can... can you come and get me, please?"
Donny nodded and walked over to his little brother, his steps easy and hitting solid even though everything around them was like an ocean of ink. He could see how uncomfortable his water-bending little brother was in the shadows. Wrapping his arms around his baby brother, Donny tried to focus very hard on the Poseidon cabin, until they landed on the soft surface of a bed again.
"You... really brought us back", blinked Thess surprised. "I didn't know you could already control your shadow-traveling. That's cool. Oh! How is your control over water? Can we train together?"
"No. I don't... I don't want others to know that I train", muttered Donny and blushed. "What if..."
"What if you're as awesome at it as mom?", ended Thess, not accepting any other option. "Come!"
The younger di Angelo glared at his brother in determination and pulled Donny along out of the cabin. Though Donny slowed his sibling down some as he saw his best friend.
"Thea!", called Donny loudly, catching the brunette's attention.
"Oh. Hey, boys", grinned the native American and jogged over to them. "I'm pretty busy actually..."
"I just wanted to ask you if you had seen San...?", drawled Donny and blushed a bit.
Thea frowned for a moment confused. "He's not here. He had told me so like three hours ago. He said he'd be staying with uncle Jason for a couple of days. Hadn't he said good bye to you?"
Sea-green eyes blinked surprised at that information. "Oh... Well... Maybe he didn't find me..."
"I guess", shrugged Thea, not very convinced.
But before she could ask what was going on between her two boys, another girl ran over to them from where Thea had come from. She had practically every color of the rainbow on her head, her eyes seemed to swirl in different colors too and her camp shirt was tie-dyed.
"Thea. No time for girls talk. There's a class of newbies waiting for us!"
"Right. Sorry, Rainbow", mumbled Thea and nodded. "Bye, boys."
The two girls dashed away and Donny glared after them a bit. He didn't like Rainbow Jordan very much, but mainly so because she was Thea's female best friend so he felt like he was competing with her. Besides, how stoned had her dad been, calling a daughter of Iris Rainbow, really?
"Donny?", asked Thess softly, worry evident in his voice. "Is everything alright between you and San...? Did something happen? He never leaves for the Romans without you and Thea."
"I don't... know", shrugged Donny uncertain. "I mean, he was kind of angry at me this morning... But... I don't know why. Maybe... I did something wrong...?"
"You?", blinked Thess ridiculed. "You've never done anything to hurt anyone, I couldn't picture what you could have done wrong to make him angry at you! It's certainly not you."
"If... you say so...", nodded Donny with a small smile. "Now come, you wanted to go to the lake."
"Yes!", exclaimed Thess and nodded hastily, continuing to pull his brother along.
/break\
Donny yawned completely exhausted as he stood in the middle of the woods, shortly past nine in the evening. He had spend three hours swimming with Thess, training so far beneath the surface that no one could watch them. He hated to admit it, but his younger brother had actually taught him a thing or two. But now he was dead on his feet and he was supposed to train with his dad.
"Someone is looking not very enthusiastic to spend time with me. Maybe I should go and get Jacky? He's always excited to see me", chuckled his dad from in front of him.
Donny blinked wide-eyed. He hadn't even noticed that his dad had arrived. The son of Hades leaned leisurely against a tree, his arms crossed in front of his chest, one eyebrow raised in question and a teasing smirk on his lips. He was practically radiating bad boy vibes (that's what his mother called it and also what his mom claimed to be the reason he had fallen so hard for the Ghost King back then). Blushing a bit in shame, Donny averted his eyes.
"Sorry, dad", mumbled Donny and bit his lips. "I am excited, I'm just tired a bit..."
"So you want us to skip training and you'll go to bed?", grunted Nico with a slight frown.
"No!", exclaimed Donny and shook his head violently. "I want to train!"
"Good", nodded Nico and pushed himself off the tree. "Then let's begin."
Donny nodded eagerly and made a move to activate his magical ring sword, but his father stopped him and shook his head. Frowning in confusion, Donny tilted his head.
"But you just said...", started the son of Perseus.
"That we'll train, yes", nodded the Ghost King. "I didn't say a word about swords. You mom is the sword-manic. I'm good with my sword too, but he's better so he'll teach you that. I'm more into combat. So I will teach you that. You don't need both of us teaching you the same. Oh, and don't give me that look, bambino. I'm not going to beat you up. We'll do that differently."
Under the observation of his very confused son, Nico raised a skeleton. Smirking at the teen, Nico crossed his arms. And the skeleton did the same. Donny gulped, still confused.
"Now it's your turn, bambino", ordered the son of Hades. "Raise the dead. Control them. It's not hard. You have to concentrate on that part of your powers. I know it's the only aspect of your variety of powers that you haven't elaborated yet. So I thought we should bind it into this training. Concentrate on the darkness and the earth, feel what lays beneath it."
Donny nodded obediently and closed his eyes, trying to breath deep. He tried to do as his cousin had explained to him. Separate his powers by how they feel. By now he knew exactly what the control of water felt like and how shadow-traveling felt. But death...? It was an irksome feeling, cold and creepy, making him shudder slightly. But he found it. Concentrating on it, he tried to call to them. Imagining a skeleton crawling out of the earth, ordering it to do so.
"Well, I suppose that will do. We'll work on the species later on", grunted his father.
Blinked curiously, Donny looked at what he had raised from the dead. A gorilla. Not quite what he had aimed for, but at least he had managed to raise something. Grinning proudly, he looked up at his dad for further instructions. Upon seeing that grin, Nico had to laugh and ruffle his son's hair.
"You're just as adorable as your mother, bambino", chuckled the son of Hades and shook his head. "It's a miracle I don't have to fend suitors off left and right wherever you go!"
"Da—ad!", yelped Donny embarrassed and blushed.
"Okay. Next we're going to control the skeletons", redirected Nico their conversation, slipping his serious face on once more. "We'll fight, hand-to-hand. But through the skeletons. You will picture what you'd do with your thoughts and project them as orders onto the skeleton. I'll counter. And so forth. That way, none of us will get hurt and you'll improve your control over the dead and memorize the movements in a completely different way."
Smirking at his son, Nico took a fighting stance. So did his skeleton. Donny gulped nervously and looked over at his gorilla. Curiously lifting one foot, he imagined for the skeleton to do the same. It lifted an arm. Well, at least it was a limb, right? Gritting his teeth, he concentrated on the right foot. Up into the air and one step forward, damn it. He couldn't let his dad hang here. He didn't want to disappoint him. That stupid dead thing had to move!
"Woah, bambino, calm down", grunted Nico and eyed the gorilla warily. "If Chiron sees a dead gorilla flying over camp, he'll hand my ass over to my father."
Sea-green eyes opened again just to stare up at the floating skeleton. It had obviously lifted more than just a foot. Blushing embarrassed, Donny tried to bring it back down again.
"Sorry, I just... really wanted it to lift a foot, but...", shrugged Donny awkwardly.
"Don't be sorry for an accomplished goal", chided the Ghost King. "You made it lift a foot. It lifted more than that, but it still did as you wanted. You need to channel that emotion. That want. You need it to move, you want it to move, you have a motivation behind that. Channel that energy and use it concentrated. It'll empower you."
"It will?", asked Donny with a doubtful frown. "What are you... channeling?"
"When I first taught myself how to use my powers, I..." Nico gulped, guilt flashing through his dark eyes. "I channeled my anger and wrath toward your mother. By now, I channel my love for him."
Donny nodded in understanding. He knew the story of how his aunt Bianca had died and how complicated the relationship between his mom and dad had been at the beginning. Breathing deep once more, Donny tried to reach that motivation. He wanted to make his father proud. He needed for this to work, the exact was as he ordered. Fascinated he watched how the gorilla slowly lowered itself onto the ground again until it stood face-to-face with the other skeleton. Now the foot. Donny glared at it demandingly. And it moved. His heart jumped nervously.
"Good. Now we'll go through the basics of combat. I want you to do them yourself too though. Let the skeleton to as you do", ordered Nico and started to explain.
/break\
Two hours later had a sweaty, panting Donny laying spread-eagle on the ground, sniffling the grass. His father sat on a stone next to him, watching him amused.
"You were good", smiled Nico proudly. "Better than I expected for the first try. Tomorrow your mother will come again and the night after it, we are going to try and raise a human, mh?"
"Y... Yeah, dad", nodded Donny, still a bit embarrassed about the gorilla.
The two skeletons had already been ordered to return to the underworld. The son of Hades turned his gaze sky-ward and hummed in acknowledgment. Then he stood and laid down onto the grass too, pulling his son into a hug. Donny turned onto his back, resting his head on his dad's chest. They stared up into the starry night at the Huntress. The constellation always made Nico mournful.
"You were lacking concentration", noted the son of Hades, trying to clear his head. "What's up?"
"I... Sander had been acting odd today", replied Donny and chewed his lower lip. "He had been really grumpy this morning and then he left for Camp Jupiter without saying good bye to me."
"Well, Clarisse's boy is just like her. Stubborn as a donkey and just as cranky sometime", chuckled Nico lightly, ruffling Donny's hair a bit. "Don't think too much of it. He probably only had a rough night or something. I've heard from Chris that he just recently broke up with the Demeter boy?"
"Derek Rhys", nodded Donny with gritted teeth. "Yeah."
"Well, maybe it's tha-", started Nico, though then he interrupted himself and looked at the glare in those sea-green eyes, a glare he knew all too well. "You're jealous, bambino! Because of Sander?"
"I—I—No!", declined Donny and shook his head hastily. "What makes you think that?!"
"Because you got that same kicked-puppy look as your mother whenever he gets jealous because I'm being nice to someone he doesn't know", chuckled the son of Hades amused. "You're both not getting angry, but rather like an attention starved little pup... Very adorable."
"Okay, yes, so maybe I am jealous", huffed Donny flustered and crossed his arms.
"Clarisse's boy, eh?", grunted Nico thoughtful and turned back to look at the stars. "I suppose it could be worse. He's a great hero, had rescued your life quite a couple of times already. I'm guessing that is why you wanted to train, eh? You don't want to always be the damsel in distress. That's very Jackson of you, bambino. Your mother had always been a fighter too."
"So... you're not going to rip his head off...?", asked Donny with a skeptical and hopeful look.
"Of course I will rip his head off", huffed Nico and rolled his eyes. "That lad dares to sleep around, making my baby boy sad! He's going to suffer for that, padre mio!"
"Da—ad!", whined Donny with a quivering lower lip. "Please, please don't! That's my thing! I want to tell him that I like him myself, I don't want him to learn because you kicked his butt!"
"Well, I suppose", drawled Nico. "Your mother and his mother would not be very pleased with me if I did... He will get a period of grace. For now. But if he does anything else to hurt you...!"
"Thanks, dad", grinned Donny and kissed his father's cheek. "I should go to bed now though..."
"Yes, I should be going too. Your mom is waiting for me", chuckled Nico. "Good night, bambino."