PJatO || Nicercy || PJatO || Nicercy || Fate Written On Your Skin || Nicercy || PJatO || Nicercy || PJatO

Title: Fate Written On Your Skin – The Troubles of Writing Your Soulmate With No Answer

Fandom: Percy Jackson and the Olympians / Heroes of Olympus

Disclaimer: All rights reserved to Rick Riordan. 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.

Tags: m/m, soulmate AU, pining, amnesia, hurt/comfort, fluff

Main Pairing: Nico/Percy

Percy Jackson Characters: Perseus Jackson, Nico di Angelo, Maria di Angelo, Hazel Levesque, Annabeth Chase, Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano

Summary: Soulmates could communicate with each other by writing on their own skin, making the writing appear on their soulmate's body. As a child, Nico never got an answer. Because his soulmate hadn't been born yet. Now, living in the 'future', he is too afraid because his soulmate is a boy and then too angry because of Bianca's death. Until the gods steal his soulmate and writing to him becomes the only means to reach Percy Jackson.

Fate Written On Your Skin

The Troubles of Writing Your Soulmate With No Answer

"Why does she never answer me?" asked Nico frustrated.

He held his grandfather's fancy ink pen in his hand, the ink having leaked onto his finger-tips, the writing on his arm hard to decipher but also hard to miss. Maria approached her son from behind and knelt down next to him, gently kissing his cheek and taking the pen from him.

"Nico, sweetie, you're only six. Perhaps your soulmate hasn't been born yet, or they don't know how to read and write just yet," Maria's voice was gentle as she ruffled his curls.

"Then she better hurry up and learn!" Nico pouted. "I wanna meet her."

"And you will," promised Maria, pressing a kiss to her son's temple. "Your soulmate is meant for you, you are meant to find each other. You will, you'll just have to be patient, Niccoló."

"I don't li—ike waiting," complained Nico with a pout. "How much longer is she going to keep me waiting? Weeks? Months? Years? Decades? Mamma!"

For as long as he could remember, he had been obsessed with the idea of soulmates. Once upon a time, humans had four arms and four legs until the gods forcibly split them apart. But the fates had mercy on them and gave them one last magical means to communicate with their other half – the ability to make marks on one's own skin appear on the skin of their soulmate. Ever since Nico could hold a pen, he had been doodling onto his arm, little things, hellos, hoping to one day get an answer. Now, at age six, he was slowly growing impatient with his soulmate. Surely she could not be that much younger than him, right? Yes, six years weren't that much of an age-difference, if he looked around the neighborhood, but still. He wanted a soulmate he could actually already spend time with.

They would become best friends and fall in love and become husband and wife and have a dozen children with each other, to keep the di Angelo name alive for a long time and they would live happily ever after and mamma would adore Nico's soulmate too and dote on her future grandchildren. The way a young man's life was supposed to unfold.

/break\

Nico di Angelo's life was meant to unfold very, very differently.

Only a few years after this conversation, his mother died and Nico and his sister found themselves whisked away by their father, hidden in a magical hotel where time stood still and Nico truly did have to wait many decades before he finally got to meet his soulmate.

Percy Jackson, holding his hand out to Nico with a bright smile, arm bare because he was wearing an orange short-sleeved shirt. Arm bare aside from Nico's latest doodles. And Nico panicked.

On the one hand did he want to know everything about Percy right now. On the other hand was Percy a boy. Boys were supposed to be with girls. He was supposed to get a cute wife with whom he would have many children. Why was his soulmate a boy. And why was his heart beating like that, racing in his chest as though it was trying to break out of his rib-cage. Why did he look at Percy, at this boy, and think that he was cuter than any girl Nico had ever seen. Boys weren't cute and boys weren't supposed to find other boys cute either. This was just too much.

So he didn't speak up. Didn't reveal himself as Percy's soulmate. Instead he stuck close by and asked a billion questions, trying to learn more about his soulmate. Perhaps that could help him make a decision, even though he wasn't sure what kind of decision that could be.

And then. And then there was a quest. And Bianca, his big sister, the only family he had left, went with it. And Percy, his soulmate, the person the Fates had decided was made for him, went with it. And Percy promised, he promised to protect Bianca. And Bianca died. And Nico made his decision.

He ran away, cursing the Fates. There must be something wrong with this, must be. Because he was a boy, why would his soulmate be a boy. His soulmate had promised to protect his sister and he had failed. And none of that added up, it made no sense. This wasn't how it was supposed to be.

/break\

Percy had always loved doodling on himself. He wasn't much for writing elaborate love letters to his soulmate like some other people. Though he was no great artist, he still found joy in the swirls and funny patterns that his ballpoint pen drew on his skin and he liked to imagine his soulmate somewhere out there, seeing the scribbles appear on their own skin – and that thought made him giddy. He wasn't even bothered that for the first thirteen years of his life, he never got a reply, never got any marks of his own from his soulmate. However, for a glorious few months, he got doodles back! Also just symbols and drawings, sometimes words in a foreign language.

They stopped again as suddenly as they had started. Not that Percy had much mind to worry about it, if he was being honest. For a few weeks, he'd ask about it – hey, are you alright? Are you still there? – but he gave it a rest after a while. Maybe his soulmate was in like a coma, or in a situation where they couldn't communicate with Percy. Percy's thoughts drifted to Gabe for a moment and how trapped he had felt, how hopeless at times.

But Percy couldn't afford to dwell on it and as awful as he felt about it, he couldn't think too much about his soulmate either, because the actual fate of the entire world rested on his shoulders.

Finding his soulmate now would only endanger them. He needed to save the world first and then he would become the most obnoxious soulmate possible, plastering questions all over his own body and bothering his soulmate until they'd cave and tell Percy where to find them.

Not now. Not yet. There was only danger and potential pain waiting for them. After, when all settled down, when the world was saved, Percy could have his soulmate. Percy could have his happily ever after. That was what he was working toward, what he was fighting for.

/break\

Despite running away, Nico couldn't entirely stay away from his soulmate. He kept tabs on Percy, watching him from the shadows – quite literally so; he could walk through shadows, ever since he had realized he was the son of Hades. When Percy was in danger in the labyrinth of Daedalus, Nico couldn't stay away. He tried to help Percy, trailing him like a love-sick puppy-dog.

The drawings never stopped. Percy no longer wrote to him, having given up on asking Nico who he was and where he was and why he was no longer writing. But the drawings never stopped. Nico would wake up to a sunflower on his palm, a heart on his knee, any such small things. Tiny drawings that felt like gentle reminders that Percy wasn't giving up on him but rather just giving him space. And that... shouldn't make Nico's heart race and ache like that, should it?

Nico found himself going on a quest with Thalia and Percy, for the sake of Lady Persephone. It was strange to be out there with Percy, fight at his side. Percy was beautiful, more beautiful than he had been the last time Nico had seen him. Stronger too. Nico's heart...

The Great Prophecy concerned a child of the eldest gods turning sixteen. Nico was thirteen. Thalia was immortal. Bianca was dead. Percy was fifteen. So Nico started a relentless search for ways to keep Percy alive, to make sure his soulmate would survive the war, until he found the Curse of Achilles and stole Percy away to bathe him in an underworld river.

Sometimes, Nico wondered what his behavior must look like to Percy. One moment, Nico was cursing Percy out, blaming him for Bianca's death (still blaming him), the next Nico risked his own life to protect Percy and went against Hades' explicit orders to help Percy. It didn't matter.

The war ended and Percy became... pushy. One morning, Nico woke up with a giant HEY written on his forehead. Very subtle. It made him huff out a small laugh. He didn't laugh much anymore. The messages resumed, becoming more insistent. But Nico had more important things on his mind than his soulmate's clinginess (his heart skipped a beat at the thought of Percy clinging onto him).

In his attempt to find and bring back Bianca, Nico had learned that she had been reborn and moved on. On his search for her soul, Nico had found a different soul. Hazel Levesque. A daughter of Pluto. And now that the war was over, Nico was a bit busy resurrecting his half-sister, settling her into the Roman camp and bonding with her. She was kind and warm and sweet. It was different, being a big brother as compared to being the little brother he used to be.

He even made friends. The praetors. The leaders. To them, he was the ambassador of Pluto and at first, he kept running away again, going back to the underworld, where he lived. They were skeptical, death was feared by the Romans, but slowly, the more often he came back to be with Hazel, he started to warm up to them. To the city. He made a life for himself with Hazel, living in a small apartment in New Rome. For the first time in a long time, he felt like he could breath.

There were gay people in New Rome. Two girls kissing, two grown men living together and holding hands in public. It wasn't the norm, he was told it was still not widely accepted in the world, but it was... more normal. More accepted. Boys could be with other boys, could have feelings for other boys. The thought made his heart stop and his mind wander to Percy.

Slowly, he started to believe that maybe, he was in love with Percy Jackson and maybe, those feelings weren't all wrong. Maybe the Fates had given him Percy for a reason and that reason was not to taunt him and mock him. But because the Fates had known he was this way, he liked boys and not girls. Now, at age fourteen, he realized that. As a child in Italy, he had simply romanticized the life laid out for him by social norms and accepted it in its vagueness. Now, when he thought more concretely of kissing a girl or being with a girl, his stomach turned. Yet when he thought of kissing Percy and being with Percy, his heart leapt into his throat. He'd been noticing boys more, noticed how pretty Jason Grace was too. Though the blonde praetor didn't make Nico's heart race the way thoughts of Percy did, he couldn't deny he found Jason attractive. So it wasn't entirely a Percy-thing – like he might only like Percy because Percy was his soulmate and that was the only reason – it was a Nico-thing. Nico liked boys, not girls.

He was slowly coming to terms with that. It'd been three months now since he had brought back Hazel and in these three months, he had grown into himself and come to this realization and he was nearly ready to talk to Percy. Not tell him how he felt just yet, but... start answering the writing on his skin. Start talking to Percy. He was finally accepting that the Fates must know what they were doing, because... ever since Nico had come into this new life, this future, Percy had been a constant part of it, Nico kept orbiting around him, kept wanting to save him.

/break\

Then the drawings stopped. One day in December, Nico woke up, highly motivated to talk to his soulmate and give this a chance... and there was no drawing anywhere on Nico's body. Okay. That was... That was fair. Nico had been ignoring his soulmate for actual years at this point.

So Nico had to work for it. Okay. He should have to. After how long he kept Percy waiting. Taking a deep breath, he used a pen on his arm for the first time in years. He drew a dolphin on his arm. It wasn't much and it was very cartoon-y, but Percy liked dolphins. A metaphorical olive-branch.

"You look... pensive," commented Reyna curiously, tilting her head.

"I'm just..." Nico gently rubbed over his arm where he had drawn the dolphin.

He was wearing his leather jacket. He always wore his leather jacket. It covered his arms, covered whatever messages Percy left on him. Right now, for the first time, covering the message Nico had left for Percy. Shaking his head, Nico grabbed his tea cup and took a sip.

"Nico finally decided to reach out to his soulmate," declared Hazel with a smile.

He flushed and ducked his head, unsure what to do about that. Reyna smiled at him warmly.

"Good for you. A soulmate makes you stronger," commented Reyna.

She traced a smiley on her wrist that Jason had left there. Yes. He had to admit that seeing them, Jason and Reyna, had shown Nico how good soulmates could work together. The instant communication ability between soulmates was what had made fighting and leading the war easier for Jason and Reyna. They communicated through their soulmate marks, coordinated attacks and retreats that way quickly and easily. The trust between them was absolute. Nico wanted that too.

"He hasn't replied yet," muttered Nico beneath his breath, clasping his own arm tighter.

"He?" echoed Reyna surprised, raising her eyebrows for a moment, before smiling. "Ah."

Nico frowned and averted his eyes at that. He held his breath, still nervous and tense about this. But he knew that now that he was seeking out Percy as his soulmate, people would know. Putting his feelers out in the small, safe circle of his best friend and his sister was better than ripping off the band-aid in public in front of strangers. Reyna's smile was kind as she regarded him.

"I'm sure he'll come around, if you give him time. You're soulmates and you have to trust the Fates to know what they're doing. Perhaps they know that it is not yet time for you to meet."

Nico bit his tongue about how he had, in fact, already met Percy. Too hard to explain.

/break\

Jason Grace had disappeared from New Rome. He'd been missing all day but at first, they didn't worry too much. He tended to wander off. For a bit, they even thought there might be a quest he had gone on – a misunderstanding made them each think he was with the other. Until it became undeniable that he was missing. Reyna tried contacting him, but he didn't answer.

Percy wasn't answering either and suddenly, Nico started to suspect that perhaps it wasn't about Percy pouting because Nico had taken too long. What if whatever had happened to Jason had also happened to Percy? There was an easy way to find out, but it actually felt quite hard too.

"Where is Percy?" asked Nico as soon as he spotted Annabeth Chase.

He hadn't been back to Camp Half-Blood since the war had ended. Annabeth looked up at him, annoyed and... tired. There were bags beneath her eyes, her hair was put in a messy bun.

"That's the thing we all would like to know," Annabeth glared. "He disappeared."

Damn it, Nico hated being right. "Why aren't you looking for him?"

"Don't be a brat, di Angelo," Annabeth narrowed her eyes at him. "You disappear for months and now you waltz in here, demanding us to do what we are already doing. I haven't slept in two days. Thalia and the hunt are out there, Grover is roaming the wild, we sent out quests. We are looking."

"But you're not finding," Nico sneered – not at her, but at the Fates. "Then I will."

Before she had the chance to say something else did he open the shadows and walk through. He was going to find his soulmate. If anyone could, it was him. His shadow-travel allowed him to reach more places quickly, he had more information than either of them and he... was Percy's soulmate.

/break\

The day after, Jason Grace turned up at Camp Half-Blood. With no memories. Nico was exhausted, he had been traveling all night to all kinds of places, asking around, trying to find Percy, writing messages on his arms, asking Percy where he was. If Jason appeared at the Greek camp, then Nico expected Percy to be sent to the Romans. He decided to let it play out, for now.

Four days later and Jason and his new friends saved Hera, who was behind his abduction. Jason started regaining his memories. Percy still hadn't shown up in New Rome. Was Nico supposed to intervene? Bring Jason back to the Romans? For now, Jason seemed determined to stay. He had written a message to Reyna, telling her not to worry and that he was safe, that there was a quest he had to take care of. He kept feeding her bits of information that way. Easing her into it. Nico decided to stay out of it then, if this was the approach Jason wanted – if he wanted back home, he could very easily return, or Iris Message them. He chose to stay. Nico chose to let him.

Instead, he decided to focus on his soulmate, who had finally started answering. Who are you? How are you talking to me? Who am I? Percy had no memories and Percy was lost. Nico had no idea how to approach this, what to tell him. He chose honesty, much to his own surprise. I'm your soulmate. That's how we communicate. You're Percy Jackson. You're a hero. You're my soulmate. Nico gave him some time to digest this, before asking him where he was. He asked Percy to trust him, to tell him where exactly he was and then Nico would come and get him. It took Percy hours, probably weighing his options before trusting strange writing on his body, but he finally gave Nico an address. Thanks to his shadow-travel, Nico reached it within moments.

"Percy," whispered Nico with longing and relief.

There he stood, Percy Jackson. A wild look on his face, his hair messy, clothes dirty and torn. He'd been missing for nearly two weeks now. Sea-green eyes stared at him in curious confusion and something akin to recognition. Slowly did Percy step up to him, the fingers of his right hand absentmindedly rubbing his left arm, where Nico's last words still stood.

"I know you," Percy frowned as he approached. "I don't know your name but I know you."

"I'm... I'm Nico. I'm the one who messaged you," Nico's throat felt tight.

"Soulmate," Percy's voice was filled with wonder.

Hearing that word from Percy warmed Nico and made his heart race. "Y... Yes."

The next second, he had Percy wrapped around himself, hugging him like a clingy octopus. Nico didn't know how to comprehend this, what to do with a clingy Percy, but after a few moments, he wrapped his own arms around Percy, pulling him closer. Percy started shaking with tears. He'd... never seen Percy cry before. Nico held him, held him upright and close and safe.

"It's okay. I got you," whispered Nico warmly. "I got you, Percy. You're okay."

"I'm not okay," Percy's voice broke with frustration, anger and exhaustion. "I'm... I woke up, on the streets, not knowing where I was or who I am. I've been sleeping on the streets, stealing food. And then monsters started attacking me. Monsters! Monsters are real and they tried to eat me."

Oh. Nico cursed Hera in his mind for doing this to his soulmate. To rip him from his home, to steal his memories, to then just... abandon him. Jason, he had been safely placed in Camp Half-Blood, been given two companions and comforting fake memories. Meanwhile, Percy was left all alone.

"You're not alone anymore," promised Nico, pulling Percy even closer. "I'm here."

The way Percy sagged in his arms, like that was all he needed to hear. Okay. He couldn't take Percy anywhere like this. Not back home, not to New Rome. He gently guided Percy toward a close-by motel whose neon-sign shone bright in the dark of the evening. Being the son of Hades came with its perks; his father had long since given him a black credit card that had allowed him to live pretty much on his own ever since. He got them a room and led Percy upstairs.

"What are we doing here?" wondered Percy confused.

"We're going to get you a shower, a good night's sleep, fresh clothes and a good, warm meal and then I'll explain everything to you, okay?" offered Nico gently.

"Okay," answered Percy without hesitation, heading toward the bathroom.

"Take your time," called Nico after him. "I'll go and get you clothes. I won't be gone long."

He took a shortcut through the shadows to get to a city where shops were still open so he could buy Percy clothes and then he traveled to Italy to get them two pizzas. With the pizzas still steaming did he arrive back in their motel not even half an hour after he had left. The water was still running. It made Nico smile just a little bit, because of course did the son of Poseidon take long showers.

"I'm putting your clothes on the toilet seat," announced Nico as he entered the bathroom.

"You're back already? What is that smell?" Percy sounded eager and curious.

"I brought pizza. Come join me when you're ready, okay?"

Nico headed out into the hallway, where he had seen a vending machine earlier, and got a couple of drinks for them. When he entered the room again, Percy was sitting cross-legged on the bed, staring rather fixated at the pizza-boxes. Nico put the drinks down next to Percy and pushed the pizzas closer toward the other demigod before sitting down opposite him.

"Dig in," Nico opened one of the boxes. "And if it's not enough, I'll get more."

That was all it took for Percy to tear into the pizza, wolfing down two pieces before Nico even had the time to take one bite. He watched in awe how Percy devoured the pizza with a blissful look on his face. At least his soulmate knew to appreciate Italian cuisine.

"This is the best thing I have ever eaten. Admittedly, I don't remember anything I've ever eaten before two weeks ago, but this is still the best," declared Percy with a mouthful.

"Good," Nico smiled amused, his eyes wandering over Percy.

He already looked better. Cleaned up, less tense. The shirt Nico had bought hugged Percy's torso nicely. A bit tight – well, Nico had only guessed Percy's size. Same with the jeans. Very distracting.

"Okay. Who are you, who am I, what in the world is going on," was the first thing out of Percy's mouth as soon as both boxes were empty. "Just, as a starting point."

"I'm Nico di Angelo, I'm your soulmate. I'm also a demigod, a son of Hades – the god of death and king of the underworld," Nico spoke deliberately slow, keeping his voice gentle, to give the words a chance to sink in properly instead of overwhelming Percy. "You are Percy Jackson. The greatest hero of our generation. The son of Poseidon – god and king of the seas."

"Ri—ight. Demigods. Sure," Percy nodded slowly, looking doubtful.

"Explains the monsters, doesn't it?" countered Nico with one raised eyebrow.

To further prove his point, he lifted his hand and tore the shadows off the wall, making them swirl around his hand as though they were a living entity. Percy gasped startled and jumped backward, nearly falling off the bed. After a moment, he eagerly leaned in to take a closer look.

"That is really freaky and really cool," commented Percy with wide eyes. "Can I do that too?"

"Not with shadows, but..." Nico reached for one of the water-bottles he'd bought and uncapped it. "Try it with this. Concentrate on the water and on making it do what you want."

For a split-second, Percy looked lost, before he shrugged and decided to give it a try. His eyes sparkled with joy and excitement when he actually managed to pull the water out of the bottle.

"Oka—ay, I am officially buying that whole demigod thing," declared Percy. "Now explain what happened to me. Why can't I remember anything but my first name?"

"A... goddess kidnapped you," Nico winced. "Yes, I know how that sounds. But... that's what happened. She took your memories. I'm not entirely sure why, what her goal is."

"So..." Percy kicked the empty boxes off the bed so he could lay down. "What now?"

It took Nico a moment to process, because Percy had rested his head on Nico's lap when laying down and there was a Percy in his lap, looking up at him so openly. This was... so casual and so intimate, but Percy acted like it was completely natural? What did this mean? Right, no. Percy thought – knew – that they were soulmates. He probably figured this was... normal. Temptation was too strong and Nico reached out for Percy's hair, gently carding his fingers through it. He had wanted to do this for years now, wondering what it'd feel like. It was surprisingly soft. The motion made Percy smile and close his eyes, relaxing into it. Nico fell a little more in love with him.

"For now, we rest," whispered Nico, still playing with Percy's hair. "You've been through a lot and returning home is going to be overwhelming. I want you to sleep at least one night in a proper bed before you're thrust back into this, is that okay, Percy?"

"Long as you stay with me," Percy's voice was soft and tired.

Percy was asleep before Nico even had the time to process those words. Just... asleep in Nico's lap. What was Nico supposed to do with that? He simply stared at his sleeping soulmate.

/break\

Percy woke up well-rested and content for the first time since he had been taken from Camp Half-Blood. Wait. He blinked repeatedly, surprised. His memories. He could remember. With all his memories rushing back at him, he sat up quickly, staring around wide-eyed. Nico was still asleep, right next to him, his arms... around Percy's waist. A blush painted Percy's cheeks as he stared at the possessive arms holding him. Holding him... safe. The way they had done yesterday, when Nico had found him. Nico had found him. Nico... had found him... through their soulmate bond. Percy's eyes wandered to his own bare arms. They'd both taken showers yesterday, so nothing of the writing was there. Without dislodging Nico, Percy reached for the ballpoint pen on the nightstand. Slowly did he draw a little heart on his arm, watching how it appeared on Nico's arm in real-time. Fascinated by that did Percy continue doodling until his entire arm was covered in drawings.

"You absolute jerk-face," muttered Percy frustrated. "You knew all this time, didn't you?"

"I did," whispered Nico, voice sleepy as he woke up. "I'm... sorry."

"Would like to hear a better explanation than that. Jerk-face," Percy glared at his soulmate.

"I don't know how well you paid attention to history, but I was born in the 1920s. Homosexuality was... Soul-bonds were portrayed as only possible between man and woman, all others are an abomination, were forcibly separated," Nico sat up and looked away from him. "I thought it was a mistake. I was afraid. And then Bianca died and I was sure it must have been a mistake. I ran. From you, from my feelings, from everything. But I was... falling for you... I've recently come to accept our bond and accept that the Fates must know what they're doing. Just for you to be abducted."

Okay, the whole 'I grew up in the build-up to WWII' spiel was very effective. Percy wiggled his nose. Carefully did Percy reach out to take Nico's hand, his thumbs tracing the heart he had drawn.

"You... have always come when I needed you the most. When I needed someone, you were always there," whispered Percy, biting his lip. "Can we stay here a little longer, before returning home?"

"As long as you want, anima gemella," promised Nico, lifting Percy's hand to kiss it. [Italian translation: soulmate]

Percy closed his eyes and leaned against Nico's shoulder. Just a few hours, with only them.

~*~ The End ~*~


Author's note: Okay listen tumblr's broken search function is trying to gaslight me and tell me this wasn't a thing but I am 98% sure that this story was born from me going "hey, Gen, I wanna write Nicercy, tell me something that I can write" and giving me the soulmate idea. I KNOW THIS CONVERSATION HAPPENED. Anyway, yeah. Soulmates with denial and godly intervention, because I said I find the writing on skin AU boring because you just ask "what's your name/number/address?" and bahm solved. Boring. But what if soulmate in denial because internalized homophobia