Just a little something that I threw together while being bored out of my mind in quarantine. Probably won't persue finishing it, or making it into a full story in any way shape or form, but I also hope you enjoy it!
Lots of Demon Slayer/Kimetsu no Yaiba elements woven in! But not exactly a crossover, so here it is!
In Love, Erebus.
Percy was never really sure what other people dreamed about.
It was a question that oftentimes found its way into his head, especially when he was younger and the world was maybe a little brighter than when Gabe showed up, and he had time to wonder about things like dreams.
He didn't do much of that anymore. Wondering about dreams, that is, because there was really no need to wonder about anything anymore.
Percy knew he was different.
Because he always had the same dream.
Every night since he could remember, he would close his eyes and open them to a spectacular sight that washed his worries away and flooded him with warmth; which was ironic, because in the dream, he was always freezing cold.
The frozen air would bite at his lungs as he breathed, and was always the first thing he noticed; the bitterness of the air and the sharpness of it on his face was always how he'd known he'd fallen asleep. Then his eyes would open, and he'd behold the same sight for the entire night.
There, dressed in strange yet beautiful red, black, and gold robes, with a veil that bore the kanji for fire covering his face, was a man, and in his hand he held a strange, branched staff, which was covered with bells and ribbons. All around them were torches lit with the most beautiful golden flame, forming a circle in which the man stood at the center, where the snow - which covered the ground in all other places - would not touch.
And then, he would dance.
It was a beautiful dance that gave birth to a fire in the dark haired boy's very bones, his heart of hearts, and chased away whatever cold or torment he'd faced the day before, and left him feeling light and powerful. So he would watch, and he would never look away.
As he grew, Percy began getting flashes of what he called 'perception'. He would flash between being himself, and being the man. Between being the watcher, and the dancer.
This continued, on and on until one night, when he was twelve, it was him who danced. All through the night, on and on until the sunrise, with not a bead of sweat on his brow. He danced and danced and danced, and would not stop until the sun met the horizon, and the shadow of the man bid him farewell with a smile that Percy had never seen before.
He'd never had a father before. Lost at sea, his mother always told him, but whether or not that was the truth didn't matter. To the young boy, his birth father had given him nothing, but this man - the man who danced - had given him everything. So, to Percy at least, in the secrecy of his own heart, he told himself that the dancing man, that was his father. His real father.
And like a father was supposed to, the dancing man continued to show up for Percy. On the best of days, and the worst of days, he was always there when the dark haired boy closed his eyes and laid his head down for the night, and awoke to the sharp cold and the movement of the fire and the dance. Eventually, he even began speaking to him.
It was always little things, here and there. Never a lot, but always just enough.
Percy got expelled once for picking a fight with some bullies and kicking their butts, and as Gabe yelled and called him useless, and his mother gave him that soft, disappointed look that told him he'd messed up, but didn't tell him how - only that they would find a new school, and it was ok - the man who danced did neither.
After Percy became the one who danced in the night, the man would appear to watch outside of the ritual clothing. Dressed in black and wrapped in a checkered green and black overcoat - a kimono, his mind supplied - the man would sit quietly and watch with a smile as the green eyed child danced, until he didn't sit silent any longer.
"Percy," He said, soft and loving and everything the black haired child had ever wanted in a father, "You need to understand that fighting… Isn't good."
Unable to respond, Percy continued the dance.
The man sighed. "Let me show you something. Something my father showed me."
And then, for the first time ever, the scene shifted, and Tanjiro stood before a different man. He was similar to the dancing man, but not the same. He was skinny, sickly looking, so very frail, and he was standing before a massive bear.
Somehow, Percy knew - in that you just kinda know, dream sort of way - that the bear had been killing and eating people nearby, and that behind him, was a house which housed the man's family.
His father, because this was the dancing man's father, and he was the dancing man - at least, in this instance - spoke gently to the bear. It was the same tone that the dancing man had used with Percy earlier, all kind and even, but the words that he spoke were anything but.
"I'm very sorry about your hunger. However, if you come any closer, I will not let you off easy." His voice, while remaining so very calm, was laced with certainty. "If anything, or anyone, tries to harm my family, I will show no mercy. It doesn't matter who you are."
Still no hardness, no animosity. He was like a plant.
Gripping the hatchet and taking a stance, his arms crossed in such a way that the green eyed boy felt a twinge of familiarity, he spoke one last time.
"I will take your life."
It seemed like, if only for a moment, that maybe the bear would listen to the man. But then it roared, and just like that, it was over. The father was suddenly in the air, axe bloodied, and the bear's head was on the ground.
There was no hesitation, no fear, not before or after he'd severed the beast's head, and neither was there any sort of animosity - intent to kill - in his eyes. He looked behind him, meeting the eyes which Percy knew were not his own, and giving him a look.
And then he was back, dancing in the circle of fire, with the man who was like his father giving him the same look that his own father had given him.
"Think about what I showed you. As much as you're given trouble for it, you are not stupid, Percy. You'll understand soon enough." And then he smiled, nodded, and went silent once again, leaving the raven haired child with his thoughts.
Thought's which would plague him for days, weeks even, as night after night he would dance, and night after night would be unable to come up with anything that felt like the right answer. Until one night, he did, and for the first time ever, he was able to speak to the man.
"He didn't take pleasure in it. He fought because he had to, because there was no other option at that point. He never held any animosity towards the bear, never any hatred or anger, he just did what he needed to do." Percy spoke as he moved, barely catching the man's smile from where he sat outside the circle.
"Almost."
"Then…" Percy thought, feeling as though the pieces were falling into place, "He… I… Fighting isn't good. People get hurt, people die, and it's never something someone should seek out. But… There is a time and place to stand and fight. You just have to make sure you're on the right side of the battle."
Have to make sure you're not the bear, but the warrior. Have to make sure you're only fighting as much as strictly needed. No more, no less.
"There you go my boy."
Percy had never been happier in his life.
And so he continued dreaming, and learning, and sometimes speaking.
Then, he learned the man's name.
Tanjiro Kamado.
Percy liked the sound of it, and in the safety of his room, and eventually his dorm - when he made his way to that horrid boarding school - he let it roll off his tongue with a few minor differences.
Percy Kamado… Not too bad. I kinda like it.
Percy thought having his math teacher transform into a demon right in front of his eyes would have a lot worse effect than it did. Now that's not to say it wasn't terrifying, because it was.
Until Grover arrived, and suddenly he had a sword in his hand.
Then everything became easy, and Tanjiro's voice whispered through his head like a gentle breeze, and he knew exactly what to do.
He breathed.
Hinokami kagura… Enbu!
Fire, so familiar and yet still so beautiful, consumed the blade in his hands as he launched himself towards his opponent. The demon - because that was the only word that made sense to the young man - was startled, unable to dodge, and utterly unprepared to even try and get away from something as fast as the young dark haired swordsman, who cleaved through the air faster than anyone could visibly comprehend, and brought his blade down where he knew without a shadow of a doubt the monster could not possibly survive a hit to.
It's neck.
Cleaving through the ashen flesh like butter, like something softer than butter, Percy felt his functioning brain take over once again as he fell towards the storage shelves on the far edge of the room.
"Ah shit."
Smashing against the wall, the young dancer fell to the ground in a heap.
Damn it that hurt.
Looking up to meet the face of his best friend and favorite teacher, both of whom looked shocked beyond belief, he forced himself to stand - a difficult endeavor to say the least, his entire body straining against him as he pushed his shaking flesh from the ground - raising an eyebrow.
"I think you two have some explaining to do."