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
13. A Ride and a Movie
/diary|entry\
I'm really exhausted. As in, dead on my feet. No pun intended. But mom really had not gone soft on me last night, at some point I was sure he would break Skotha with Riptide. But it was amazing! I learn so much from him and he always praises me. He said I'm a fast learner. Not sure if he only said that because I'm his son, but the way he fought me did not indicate that I am in any way related to him. Which makes me kind of happy too, because mom hadn't hold back and pushed me.
Training was good. It took my mind off of Sander. I mean, well, he had left yesterday morning and he had not returned at all so far. When he wasn't around for breakfast this morning, I was kind of upset. I don't know why though, I mean it's not like he has to tell me when he goes somewhere. He doesn't owe me any kind of explanation, he can go wherever he wants. But the fact that he had said good bye to Thea, but not to me, kind of hurts, because I thought we were closer and
/entry|end\
"Hey."
Donny's pen fell down onto the floor, making a clattering sound as Donny jumped in surprise. Sea-green eyes looked up from his dairy to stare at the doorway. He had not expected to be interrupted by Sander's voice. But the son of Clarisse just stood there in the doorway, grinning leisurely.
"Hello, Sander", nodded Donny slowly, playing his blush down. "There something you want?"
Sander's grin vanished, being replaced by a confused frown. "I just wanted to tell you that I'm back. Since I, uh, you know, forgot to say good bye..."
"There is no need for that", huffed Donny and stood to fetch his pen. "You don't owe me an apology or anything, really. Anyway, I just wanted to go to get some dinner... See you later."
Placing his pen on top of his diary, he made his way past Sander. But the older boy was a bit faster, grabbing Donny's upper arm to stop him. The green-eyed boy turned to glare a bit.
"You're not ditching me like that, di Angelo", grunted Sander a little irritated. "I did an honest mistake and now I apologized. I know you're a bit sensitive and tend to take crap like that personal, even though it wasn't-"
"Don't analyze me like some shrink", warned the young Sea Prince, his aura darkening.
Sander blinked surprised and backed off some. He had never seen Donny use his underworldly powers before. And what surprised him even more was how much that turned him on.
"I'm not analyzing you", muttered the brunette and raised his hands in surrender. "Just think about it, Donny. You tend to overthink every little thing. Just take a moment to think about it. Maybe I just did something stupid and now I'm trying to make up for it. Are you going to be a pouty brat about it and go eat dinner, watching your baby brother making googly eyes on Luke, or you'll let me show you what I have in mind to say I'm sorry?"
Donny glared slightly and breathed deep. Sander was right, he tended to overthink everything others did regarding him, because he only had few people who were close to him and he constantly feared to lose them and be all alone. Biting his lower lip, he blushed slightly.
"Okay, so I may overreact a little", muttered the smaller teen. "But I'm serious, you don't have to make up for it. You didn't say good bye, that's not a big deal."
"To others", shrugged Sander. "But it is to you. And I should have taken that into account."
A small smile spread over Donny's lips. "Okay. Then lead the way. What do you have planned?"
The trickster grinned mischievously and took Donny's hand to pull him along. The green-eyed boy blushed slightly as he was pulled toward the stables. Frowning slightly, he tilted his head.
"You want to fly somewhere...?", blinked the son of Percy surprised.
Sander whistled and nodded. Two stallions galloped over to them, one tall, proud and white, the other smaller and black. The black one nuzzled the taller pegasus, whining slightly. Sander had that happy grin on his face as he ran his fingers through his pegasus' mane, that grin Donny loved so much because it showed just how compassionate Sander was.
"Hey, Shadow, hello, Trickster", grinned Donny and waved slightly.
The white stallion huffed irritated and walked past his rider to bump his head harshly against Donny's shoulder. The green-eyed boy blinked a bit surprised and Sander glared.
"Trick! What was that about?!", exclaimed the brunette annoyed.
"When I leave my mate in your care, I expect you to watch out for him, young prince. I do not wish for that filthy Roman to come anywhere near my mate", growled Trickster.
Donny rubbed his shoulder and blinked a couple of times before nodding. "You're right. Sorry."
"Seriously", growled Sander demandingly. "What was that about?"
"Nothing", shrugged Donny. "It's just... uh..."
"Just what?", pressed the brunette confused.
"Shadow and Trickster are... mates... and... uh... Arion likes hitting on Shadow and Trickster just said that he doesn't like that I'm not watching out for his mate when I'm taking off with Shadow..."
Sander had a hard time to progress what was being said, but then he blushed. "Wait. Shadow and Trick are... mates? Like, a couple? And you mean Arion is hitting on Shadow...?"
Trickster rolled his eyes at his rider and nuzzled the black pegasus tenderly. Shadow whined happily, pushing his head against his mate. Both Sander and Donny blushed furiously.
"Answer enough?", mumbled the green-eyed teenager.
"Uhu", nodded the flustered brunette. "Well, anyway, come on."
He climbed onto Trick's back and whispered something into the white stallion's ear. Donny stared curiously, but followed tail, sitting up on Shadowchaser. The two pegasi took off into the blue sky. Donny immediately relaxed. He loved roaming the sky, even though that was an odd thing for children of the underworld or the sea. Time passed way too fast for Donny's liking. He could spend the whole day flying with Sander. But they landed in New Athens way too soon.
"What are we doing here...?", frowned Donny curiously and tilted his head.
"Stop asking questions and come with me", chuckled Sander, leading the way.
"Should we wait?", asked Shadow, imitating the pose of his rider.
"No, I guess you guys can head off", shrugged the half-Italian.
Donny blushed brightly when Sander took his hand to pull him along because he had staggered again, watching the two pegasi heading off again. There was an only slightly awkward silence between them as they finally reached the cinema. Donny blinked surprised at that.
"Wait. You're not forcing me to watch that stupid remake of Die Hard, right? Because I told you mom already had me watch the original and anything but the original is just not right."
"No. I'm not forcing you to watch that. I'll go and see that one with Sam, Trend and Marshall", huffed Sander and rolled his eyes. "Besides, remakes are not meant to be as good as the original, they never could be. It's just to introduce a new generation to timeless classics and amazing plots they may have otherwise missed, because not everyone has such an amazing mom like you who introduces you to the wonders of movie times past."
"Okay, okay, okay!", giggled Donny amused. "So, if not for Die Hard, why are we here?"
"Well, you've been nagging that you wanted to see DreamWork's Rumpelstiltskin so I figured..."
"Really?!", squealed the smaller boy with sparkling eyes.
"Sure...", shrugged Sander, a light blush dusting his cheeks as Donny hugged him.
"Well then come! Come on!", urged the olive-skinned boy, pulling Sander inside.
/break\
Half an hour into the movie, Sander had already completely lost the plot. Not because it was boring or bad or too complicated, but because the cute boy next to him was so engrossed in the movie that his deep, sea-green eyes were sparkling like stars. And the way he was sucking on the Popsicle he had coaxed out of Sander beforehand ("But popcorn isn't sweet enough! I need something really sweet too! Will you buy me an ice, San? Pretty please?" - how was he supposed to say no?) was not helping Sander any either. Munching on his own popcorn, the brunette tried very hard to look away from Donny, which of course did not work.
"What? No!", yelped Donny, completely sucked into what was happening on the screen.
He frantically grabbed Sander's hand tighter (he had started to cling to that ever since the evil King and Queen had invaded Rumpelstiltskin's home to steal the child). Sander chuckled fondly. Donny was just too cute to be true. Now he was really glad he had listened to Nico.
/break\
Another hour later and Sander couldn't stop grinning. He had an eagerly chatting and happily glowing Sea Prince hanging off his arm, talking about the movie without taking a breath.
"I loved it! I loved it so much!", exclaimed Donny, heaving a dreamy sigh. "What did you think?"
Oh, now that was a hard question. Sander had barely paid any attention to the movie. But he couldn't just say that he had been so distracted by the beautiful boy beside him?
"I liked the taboo it broke", noted Sander cautiously. "With it being the first children's movie having a homosexual protagonist. I can already hear the wild roars of the 'traditional families'-defenders that will screech how a confrontation with gays may harm kids."
"Oh, pish-posh. Mom and dad grew up with practically only straights in movies and they still turned out gay. As if stuff like that influences people", snorted Donny and rolled his eyes. "But you still avoided the question. What did you like about the movie?"
"Rumpel. He was really pretty amazing", grinned Sander with a shrug. "I mean, how he rescued the princess from a loveless home after her mother had just sold her for some stupid gold to him. But the audacity of the King and the Queen to demand the kid back! If I were the king, I would have let that bitch of a wife get executed!"
"Seriously?", stuttered Donny wide-eyed.
"The money-hungry whore agreed to give her first born away so she would get the gold to impress the king. Hello? What kind of a bitch does that! I always hated how everyone was ready to tear Rumpel down for taking what was now rightfully his", snorted Sander enraged. "What kind of mother would give her baby up like that? For gold? She didn't deserve it!"
"I think I liked Jack most", drawled Donny to interrupt San's rant.
"Figures you'd go for the knight in shining armor", snickered the brunette amused.
"What? No! It's not because of that! It's because he had the greatest change in morals, how he found the children in Rumpel's care and realized that they were happy and that he was taking care of those who had been forsaken by their parents – like Rapunzel, whose mother had given her up for some stupid salad, and Hansel and Gretel, whose father had just abandoned them in the forest because his wife had demanded it! I love how Jack fell in love with Rumpel's big heart", sighed Donny before realizing where they were. "Oh. What are we doing here now?"
"Eating. I figured all my popcorn and your ice weren't enough to make up for missed dinner", chuckled Sander and opened the door to Katie's Salad Bar.
It was a cozy little restaurant, only serving vegetarian food. Which was the reason Sander normally did not eat there. But Donny loved salad more than anything else. A beautiful brunette young woman with long hair, flowers braided into it, greeted them.
"Hello, boys. I haven't seen you in a while. How are your parents? Come on, take a seat."
"Hello, aunt Miranda", greeted Donny and hugged her. "Mom and dad are great."
"Sis! Donny and Sander are here!", called Miranda into the direction of the kitchen.
Another brunette, a slightly older version of Miranda, poked her head out of the kitchen to smile brightly at them. "Hello, kids! Aren't you supposed to be at camp?"
"We went to the movies, aunt Katie", replied Donny with a grin. "We watched Rumpelstitskin."
"Oh?", hummed Miranda curiously while leading them to an empty table. "Basty and Kitty had been pestering Lou and me to go and see it with them. I've been kind of suspicious since no fifteen years old girl wants to go to the cinema with her parents."
"No, the movie is really great", smiled Donny and shook his head. "It's a movie for the whole family. You should go with them. I think Kitty and Basty would really have fun with it."
"Mh, got to talk to Lou about that", murmured Miranda thoughtful. "Anyway, take your time."
She handed them the menus and left for the kitchen. The son of Nico and Percy blushed slightly as he realized that he was sitting opposite Sander, at a table with a candle in the middle, in a restaurant, just the two of them, after Sander had invited him to the cinema. Like a date.
"So... are we good...?", asked the brunette in a nearly shy voice. "Or are you still upset with me?"
"I wasn't really upset with you to begin with", grinned Donny softly. "I was a little disappointed. But you really made up for it today. You know I'll pay you back once we're at camp again."
"No", objected Sander and shook his head. "I did something stupid, I pay. You're not paying me back anything when we get back home. I insist."
Donny's blush darkened a bit. Miranda chuckled knowingly as she arrived at their table again, a block and a pen in her hands, one eyebrow raised in question.
"What can I get you, kids?", asked the daughter of Demeter curiously.
"A coke and your Grover Special", ordered Sander.
He preferred the salad with enchiladas, because they at least made a bit up for the salad. How much he hated that stuff. Donny opposite of him was chewing his lower lip again, something that never ceased to distract and arouse the brunette.
"I'd like an apple tea and the Caesar salad", smiled Donny softly.
"I'll bring it to you in a bit", nodded Miranda and left again.
"So... You had fun today?", asked Sander slowly, his hands in front of him.
"Very much so", nodded Donny with a blinding smile. "I'd wish we would do that more often."
"Really?", asked the brunette slightly surprised.
The younger teen blushed brightly and nodded reluctantly again. "It's just... We've never done something like that. I mean, hanging out, just the two of us. You never do anything with me when Thea or Herc aren't around. But... I mean, I had fun spending time with you. I like that. I... really would like to hang out with you more often..."
"Me too", interrupted Sander and grinned. "It really was fun. We're definitely going to do that more often from now on, you and me. That cool?"
"Very cool", nodded the slightly embarrassed and very happy Sea Prince.
"What's cool?"
The two boys, who had subconsciously scooted closer until their noses were practically touching, suddenly bolted apart at the new voice. They turned wide-eyed to the three females standing in front of their table. A slightly wicked grinning Latina with wildly flowing, long curls framing her body, a red leather jacket over a sliced-up shirt that was knotted so it showed off her lean stomach. Next to Nico stood Thea, her hair even wilder than normally, with even more feathers and blue streaks. The third girl, trailing slightly behind, showed all her rainbow-heritage, not just with her multi-colored hair, but also with her tie-dyed camp shirt.
"What are you three doing here?", blinked Donny surprised and stood to hug his cousin. "What are you doing here anyway, Nico? I wouldn't have expected to see you here!"
"Your dad brought me to camp when he dropped Sander off", grinned Nico and went to sit down next to Sander, elbowing the boy. "I wanted to visit my Greeks again."
Thea chuckled slightly and sat down next to her best friend Donny while Rainbow Jordan stole a chair from another table to sit at the outer table-side. She nodded slightly in greeting.
"And she wanted to investigate me", muttered Rainbow, rolling her eyes. "No need to look at me like that, Zhang. I know why you invited me to tag along too. Because you want to check if I'm only using Kara for her really soft, big boobs, or if I have deeper feelings. For your information, I am quite capable of having deep feelings for her and still enjoying those boobs."
The glare Nico threw at Rainbow was so dark that both Sander and Donny were eternally grateful she had no underworldly powers, because otherwise the daughter of Iris would have dropped dead now. The son of Nico and Percy shifted awkwardly, staring questioningly at his cousin.
"I have no idea what you want from me, Jordan", grunted Nicole and crossed her arms over her chest, sinking a bit in her seat to get more comfortable. "I'm just here to see my friends and since you can consider yourself lucky enough to be with Kara, I suppose you are part of my inner circle now too, so I have to get to know you."
"Oh yes, I can hear the pleasure dripping from your voice", snorted Rainbow sarcastically.
"You see why I brought them here?", smiled Thea apologetically, staring at Sander. "I just... couldn't stand being alone with them any longer. They were driving me insane."
"Understandable", muttered Sander and took his coke from Miranda as she arrived.
"My, you could have said that your friends would come too", chuckled the daughter of Demeter.
"We didn't know", sighed Sander exhausted.
"Well, can I get you something, girls?", smiled Miranda.
Thea was already reading the menu to see what to get. She may also have used it as a shield so she wouldn't have to look at her still glaring friends. Donny next to her started to feel really uncomfortable. That much for their date-like night. Their friends had to bark in and ruin it. Though maybe that was even for the best, tried the Sea Prince to tell himself. Because he had been way too into this whole date-thing and being under that false impression would only hurt him in the end. He shouldn't live in such fantasies. Him and Sander were only here as friends. So having their other friends there would probably be better for him, to remind him of their just-friends-status.
"Wait. What did you mean, my dad brought you here?", blinked Donny.
"Wow. That was slow. Even for you, Seaweed Brain Junior", chuckled Thea amused.
"You mom and dad had been at our place for breakfast and uncle Nico brought Sander and me here", shrugged Nicole casually. "He said he'd bring me back tonight too. Since I'm having plans with Kara tonight, wouldn't want to ditch her."
She gave Rainbow a challenging glare at the mention of the daughter of Trivia. Rainbow rolled her eyes and twirled her rainbow-colored hair, snorting slightly.
"You wouldn't even know what to do with her if you'd find her naked in your bed. She's not a gadget, what would you know about her?", smirked the daughter of Iris.
Nico growled and gritted her teeth. Sander rested his hand on her upper arm to stop her from lunging at the other girl. The brunette furrowed his eyebrows. He somehow had the feeling that this night would be a very, very long and draining one. Turning his head, he threw an apologetic glance at Donny, but the Sea Prince didn't look as if he was blaming him or taking it bad.
"Believe me, I have very cunning hands", grunted Nico with dark eyes.
"Enough! I really do not need any more images of either of you with Takara!", protested Thea. "How about we just order food and have some fun, yes?"