(A/N) School has started. UGGGGHHHHH. Wake up, go to school, come home, do homework, read, goof off like the idiot that I am instead of writing this, go to sleep. Repeat. There's A LOT of Jercy in this chapter, but not really. I ship it. I ship it a lot. It's not my OTP, but it's a close second; only being shadowed by Percico. I do not care if you don't ship it. Deal with it.
Disclaimer: I do not own THG or PJO
Percy POV
I woke up with a start. Oh gods, I'd had this horrible dream that we'd lost the war and tortured, and then we were thrown into an arena to fight to the death! I sighed and relaxed into my mattress. Just a dream. Just a dream. That's when I realized something. I was sleeping sitting up and my mattress was slightly…curvy? I buried to face into the fabric and smelled something…familiar. I sat wriggled up more and something brushed against my cheek. My eyes snapped open. Oh no. Oh gods no.
A strand of golden hair had lightly skimmed my cheek and I wasn't sleeping on a bed; I was leaning against Jason. I looked around to see that we were surrounded by trees and that foliage caused the light of the oncoming morning to shine through the treetops. It hadn't been a dream. This was reality. It was a horrible, gruesome, sick reality, but still reality all the same.
Roused by the movement, Jason stirred slightly, mumbling something to himself. He smelled like the cologne he always wore. It was funny that we were in an arena where other tributes could possibly gut me in my sleep and I was musing over Jason's freaking cologne, but I still relaxed into his chest all the same. It was comfortable and we seemed to fit together, like two puzzle pieces. No bones or limbs were jabbing me or causing me discomfort. It was perfect and almost comforting.
I wrapped my arms around his neck and he opened his beautiful blue eyes a crack, only to close them again, a smile playing on his lips. He embraced me; his arms tender and his touch light. I traced over his back with my finger, mapping out all of the muscles, bones, and little indents. He chuckled softly and I felt lips brush my cheek softly. A shiver raced up and down my spine and a little fire ignited itself in my chest. I drew back, astonished.
"Did I take it too far?" he laughed quietly. Just the sound of his rich voice made that fire burn a little brighter. I felt the heat rising to my cheeks as Jason brushed a loose strand of hair out of my face. I shook my head no to his question and he smiled, causing my blush to deepen so that my cheeks were a color that was usually reserved for tomatoes. I broke away from him as Nico began to stir, sitting up and rubbing his eyes whilst groaning. Jason's expression looked hurt, but it was replaced by a look of urgency and we knelt beside the son of Hades.
Our shoulders brushed and it seemed like electricity sparked off of him and traveled around my body, giving me the jitters. If I hadn't known that his powers were disabled, I would've thought that that exact thing happened. Nico blinked and turned to the two of us.
"Am I dead?" he asked in bewilderment. "Who won the Hunger Games? I hope it was one of our friends and not one of those douchedicks from the Giant's army…aside from Raven. Raven is okay."
"Douchedick?" I asked, my confusion clearly showing.
"Sorry, inside joke." The son of Hades chuckled.
"No, you're not dead. Still, Raven is bad news. She's dangerous and can easily kill any one of us. She must've escaped the bee-things that stung you guys; her picture wasn't in the sky and I haven't heard a cannon since…" my voice cracked as I remembered Hazel and Frank.
"They're called tracker jackers. They're mutts; mutated wasps. Raven warned me in the first place, but I was a retard and ignored her. She's a great ally. You can trust her, I know it." Nico insisted.
"She threw a knife at my head!" I snorted.
"Oh please, at least you're not dead." Nico scoffed
"Well my ear was all red."
"No it wasn't. You looked fine."
"Jason. Dude. You just spoiled the flow." I snorted and crossed my arms. Jason looked offended, but he somehow looked insanely attractive while doing so. Wait…did I just say that? I was, or had been, truly and sincerely in love with Annabeth. I was straight. Then why did a zing go through me every time we touched, no matter how abrupt? Was I bisexual or something? I've never felt this way towards guys…before. What was happening to me?
-Ω-
"Man, do I love messing with their hormones." Polybotes laughed and elbowed Porphyrion in the ribs as they watched the seen displaying Nico, Jason, and Percy. Percy looked dumbfounded and he shivered whenever Jason touched him, so that suggesting that the tracking device was doing its work. Tracking the tributes and disabling powers wasn't the only thing it could do.
"Really?" Porphyrion grunted, not looking very amused.
"C'mon, it's funny. You have to admit. So far Percy and Tetro think they're gay or bisexual, even though they've been straight their whole lives, Annabeth and Cara think they're lesbian and I'm going to mess with all the other tribute's hormones as well. It's fun to do and funny to watch. The only three I cannot touch are Nico, Jason, and Raven; Nico is already gay, Jason is bi, and the after effects of the tracker jacker poison are still wearing off on Raven." Polybotes snorted.
"Stop. You're provoking gay and lesbian ships." The Giant King growled.
"You got a problem with that?" Polybotes snarled to his brother, clenching his fists. "Because I don't see a problem with that. We get more viewers; Jercy T-shirts are getting so much buys that we could build a second arena with it. And I'm talking like billions of dollars. I think they should be coined the Star-Crossed Lovers."
"Well, yeah. It's a problem. It's not natural-"
"Homophobe. You freaking homophobe."
"Excuse me?"
"Your VIP pass into the heart of the Hunger Games' computer system has been taken away. Go. Leave. Or else I'll stop the Hunger Games and set all of the tributes free to rampage the Capitol."
"You wouldn't dare."
"Try me."
-Ω-
(Still Percy POV)
Jason, Nico, and I trudged through the forest; shouldering through thickets and dense clusters of trees. It was a really rough terrain. We kept our eyes peeled for any other tributes or one of Leo's traps, but saw none. Jason's hand skimmed against my lower back for a moment as Jason slipped and tried to grab onto something before he fell, which happened to be me. I helped him up and he smiled at me, his blue eyes like pools of beautiful sparkling water. I didn't feel that zing that I'd had whenever he touched me, though. I almost wanted it back, even if it meant that the love between Annabeth and I had only been brother and sisterly love; that I was really gay, which I honestly didn't have a problem with, though I wish I'd had my sexuality in order by the time I turned fourteen.
"You okay? You seem…disturbed." Jason whispered, his lips brushing against my ear as he said this. What was wrong with him? I mean, being gay wasn't a problem or anything, but Jason currently had a girlfriend.
"I'm fine. Other than the fact that I have to fight my friends to the death and only one of us is going to survive, I'm okay." I reply, but my voice sounded rather crestfallen. Nico scouted ahead, raking the surrounding landscape with his keen sense of vision. He hacked away at branches and leaves with his sword, which was unfamiliar and alien to us; we were so used to seeing him with a Stygian Iron blade in hand. The son of Hades turned to us, his face sullen. My stomach chose this time to howl like a malnourished dog. My two comrades chuckled a little at this, but their faces became serious once more.
"We should get food." Jason exclaimed.
"Says who?" I asked, putting my hands on my hips.
"Your stomach."
"Just because I'm hungry, guys, doesn't mean you have to get food. I don't want to be the weak link or anything."
"Don't worry; even I'm hungry. Nico is probably hungry, too. Aren't you, Neeks?" Jason asked the tribute from District 12, who only shrugged. The son of Jupiter smiled, sending shivers up and down my spine. Thank gods the feeling was back once more. I was worried I'd never feel the same way again. "Then I'll go look for some berries. Don't worry, I memorized all the plants from the Plant Identification station. I won't feed us poison berries." And with that, he disappeared. My stomach twisted. I knew it wasn't safe to let him venture alone, but I had to let him go about his own business and not be on him like a tick.
I collapsed against the bough of a tree, my feet aching and my stomach roaring. My muscles screamed from all of the labor and my throat was dry. I turned to Nico, who was fiddling with his sword. He drew a heart I the ground, though I thought that Nico would draw something along the lines of a bloody corpse or a grinning skull. I was relieved that Jason had brought along his sword as he ventured out, but I was still more than worried; I was terrified.
"You haven't talked much." I noted and Nico looked up with round, sad eyes. He shrugged and continued to draw as he waited. I swore that he drew a P + N inside the heart, but he quickly scuffed up the drawing with his foot. I frowned. Obviously something was bothering Nico. "You okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." He sighed.
"You don't look like it. Are you sure?" I asked.
"I'm sure. It's just that…we need to talk."
"About what?"
"Well…there's something I should've told you a long time ago."
"Like…?"
"I have…I have a…sort of a…" Nico was just about to spit it out when the cannon sounded.
"JASON!" I screamed and leapt to my feet, drawing my sword. I ran the way that Jason had gone with Nico right on my heels. The look on his face showed relief, though why he would be relived about the cannon sounding was a mystery. "JASON!" I screamed again. There was no reply. Uh-oh. We ran through the forest, shouting the son of Jupiter's name over and over again, but to no prevail. Was he dead? Who killed him? That's when I crashed into something and the impact knocked me to the ground. My head ached with a horrible pain, but I didn't think that I'd run into a tree.
I looked up to see Jason rubbing his forehead and groaning. He saw the two of us and his tight features were replaced by a look of utter relief. "Oh my gods that goodness you're alright. I thought that you guys had been ambushed." He sighed and helped me up.
"You thought we had been ambushed? Jason you were alone. We thought that someone had…had killed you!" I hissed and hugged him tight. He tensed and looked at Nico, who was poker-faced. Behind those eyes though, was anguish; as if it were painful to watch us hug. Was he…jealous? I quickly tore away from Jason. But that's when we head rustling. All of us whirled around to see a figure strut into view as if she owned the place. She had curly blonde hair that fell down her shoulders in a cascade of golden locks and he held a long knife in her hand. Annabeth.
I tensed and leveled my sword so that the point was aimed at her throat. She wasn't any of our allies; only Cara's. If that was the case, though, then where was Cara? That's when I saw the fresh blood on her dagger; so fresh, in fact, that it was still dripping. She had made the most recent kill.
"Where's Cara? I thought you two were allies." Jason demanded. "If you're here to challenge us, there's three of us and only one of you." A sly half-smirk quirked on her lips. Her steely grey eyes glimmered with intelligence.
"I killed her." She said simply. The three of us gasped. I'd thought that Cara was more likely to break their alliance than Annabeth was. What the hell was wrong with her!?
"Why did you do that? You had an alliance; you're not supposed to kill each other unless it's the final battle. Cara was more decent than you and she worked for the Giants." Nico spat. His fists were clenched and his eyes burned with a rage that I'd never seen before. Ever. Why was he so upset? What did Annabeth do to upset him? Annabeth laughed; a maniacal cackled that sent shivers racing up and down my spine. I used to love this girl. Now look what the Giants had done to her.
"She told me to kill her." She sneered. "I am going to win this, do you hear? So I was more than happy to do so." Then it dawned on me. Cara had seemed so depressed; she looked hard and strong on the outside, but if you looked into her eyes you could see so much sadness and suffering. The second suicide of the Hunger Games. First Frank. Then Cara. My life was falling apart. It took all of my will to prevent tears from coming down; I barely knew Cara and crying about her just made me look weak in front of my completely insane ex-girlfriend.
"What do you want?" I asked, but my voice was trembling.
"Oh, that's easy. I want you all dead." She snickered. Nico made a menacing snarling sound in his throat and Jason scowled deeply. I could feel my own rage building up inside of me, threatening to break free.
"And how are you going to do that?" Jason hissed. His sword glimmered in the light of the late afternoon sun.
"With this." Annabeth produced a vial from the pocket of her jacket. Glowing green liquid sloshed around inside of it. Greek fire. The three of us backed up as she held it out over the ground. If she dropped it, the entire arena would set ablaze.
"You wouldn't dare." I growled. "You'll just kill yourself as well as us."
"That doesn't matter. As long as you're dead, Percy, I really don't care what happens to me." I repeated that last sentence over and over and over again. Before the Giants took over, she never would've said that to me. Ever. A tear finally made its way down my cheek when I thought about the memories we shared. None of that mattered now. We were enemies in an arena.
"Where did you get that? I didn't see any Greek fire in the cornucopia." Nico hissed, his voice dripping with anger.
"I got sponsored. Unlike you three losers." She laughed, but it was without any humor. "Goodbye forever." And she dropped it. We were only able to run for a few yards before a column of blazing green flames shot into the sky. Everything in the immediate vicinity set ablaze. I waited for the cannon to sound; signifying Annabeth's death, but it never came. I ran side-by-side next to Nico and Jason as we dashed through the trees. Smoke billowed into the sky as the Greek fire ate away anything and everything in its path. I gagged and choked on the fumes as I tried to keep low in order to breathe, but Greek fire wasn't like that. The smoke was everywhere and it burned my throat as I breathed.
The fire was spreading so quickly that it was gaining on us. That's when I heard a crackling sound. Not from the Greek fire or the burning plant life. It was from something else and it sounded as if something was building up. "Duck!" I screamed and we all dove to the ground as a fireball the size of your average basketball hurtled over our heads. It struck the tree in front of us and green flames immediately began to eat away at the bark.
We pivoted and ran to our right, the sound of the flames roaring in our ears. Fireballs hurled at us from behind and we could only barely dodge them. Jason came so close to being fried that the tips of the hairs on the top of his head singed. My legs screamed and my throat and lungs burned like lava. The smoke was killing me. It choked and suffocated my; filling my lungs with burning fumes. I only barely was able to breathe in enough oxygen as the smoke became denser.
The trees began to open up to reveal the clearing of the cornucopia. We were almost safe; the cornucopia would be able to shield us from the worst of the fumes and the fire. My heart pounded in my chest and blood roared in my ears as I forced myself to run faster than I ever had before. We could make it. We could make it. That's when Jason collapsed onto his side, coughing and gagging. "Go!" I screamed to Nico and shoved him forward. "Go to the cornucopia! We'll be right behind you!" Nico looked at me. His eyes were wide with terror and he shook his head.
"No, I won't leave you guys!" he screamed over the hissing and crackling of the green flames, which were closing in on us.
"Just go! If we die, win it for us!" I yelled back. At this, Nico turned and ran. I saw tears streaming down his face as he disappeared behind the trees and ran towards safety. I turned and sprinted to Jason, kneeling at his side. His chest heaved with effort and he was choking on the smoke. Ash and soot smeared his face and his blue eyes were growing dull.
"Jason." I murmured and touched his face. He managed a weak smile.
"Go." He rasped, pushing me with a weak hand. "Don't let me ruin your chance of survival. Nico needs you." The roar of the fire was growing louder as the flames neared us. A tear trickled down my face and I shook my head.
"No. I'm not going to leave you to die alone. If we burn, we burn together." I murmured into his ear and sat beside him. The son of Jupiter struggled into a sitting position and he wrapped his arms around me. Tears fell as he buried his face into my hair. The fire raged around us and the smoke stung my eyes, nose, and throat, but at that moment it was just the two of us. I kissed him. My first time kissing another guy, but a kiss was a kiss. Tingles raced up and down my spine as he entwined his fingers into my hair and pressed me closer. Even if we were an inch from death, we still had each other.
"I love you." He whispered. His voice cracked and more tears trickled down.
"I love you too." I replied hoarsely. The flames closed in and lapped at us, just close enough to singe the hairs off of my arms. I didn't care though. Jason was there and I felt safe, even if the Greek fire was about to engulf us. That's when the capsule dropped from the sky. It was made of metal and made beeping sounds and it floated down on a parachute. The little capsule landed in my lap and I exchanged a look with Jason.
"Open it." He croaked. The flames were burning us now; scorching our arms and legs but not close enough to actually burn our chests and faces. It was agonizing and stung like a thousand bees, but I didn't care. With trembling fingers I opened the capsule and there, neatly tucked inside, was a delicate glass vial. Red liquid sloshed around inside of it and I immediately remembered a similar potion from training back at the Tribute House. This was a potion of fire resistance. Next to it was a note that read: Jercy 4 evah! Warning: This potion doesn't protect your clothes. :) –Silena
Oh my gods. This was a sponsorship.
"Quick! Drink half of it and gimme the other half!" I exclaimed urgently and handed the potion to Jason, who fumbled with the cap and drained about half of the vial. I snatched it out of his hands and drank the rest; tossing the bottle back into the flames. That's when the stinging pain of the burns receded. I looked at Jason and gasped. He was completely engulfed in green flames but he looked fine, except for the fact that his clothes burned off. I looked down and realized that I too, was surrounded by flames. We looked at each other and became red-faced, diverting our gazes.
"We should get moving before the effects of the potion wear off." I say awkwardly. Jason only nodded in agreement and we set off towards the cornucopia. It was weird walking in fire. This must be how Leo felt when he was using his fire-user abilities. My skin tingled with a peculiar sensation as the deep green flames danced around me, trying to burn me to a crisp but unable to do so. Finally we emerged into the clearing. There was no more grass, only blackened earth. Apparently the fire hadn't been able to get much fuel from the grass.
Immediately, I leapt into the water of the nearby lake, wading in until it was covering my waist. Jason got the hint and leap in after me, dousing me with a huge splash.
"You little crap!" I snarled and splashed him back. He spluttered and retaliated and that's when an ultimate fight to the death became a splash war. We looked up to see Nico standing at the edge, his mouth agape.
"How…?" he began.
"Sponsorship." Jason and I replied immediately.
"Your clothes…?"
"Got burned."
"Then how…you know what, never mind. I shouldn't ask. As long as you guys aren't dead I'm okay. I honestly was waiting for the cannon to go off. I guess I'll just-"
"Nico?"
"Yeah?"
"Are there any leftover clothes in the cornucopia? I don't feel like killing enemy tributes in a leaf loincloth or anything."
"Oh, Percy." Jason scoffed, rolling his eyes.
"Was it something I said?"