In Shadowed Eyes
Even the Gods can show sympathy, however unwelcome their blessings may be. When Aphrodite, a goddess born of sea and foam, grants a blessing to another child of the ocean, she irrevocably alters the prophecy. Because when Percy Jackson looks across the Lotus Hotel and Casino and meets the wide, dark eyes of a Son of Death, everything changes. Percy x Nico
x
"But you've only given me three," Percy protested, staring at the softly glowing pearls in his hand.
"Three pearls for three quest members," the Nereid explained. Upon seeing the stubborn look on the Son of Poseidon's face, she made her tone more comforting. "Peace, young one. Your new companions shall find other routes to leave Lord Hades realm. They will come to no harm there."
'But what about Mom?' Percy's eyes narrowed at her words. "What do you mean? How will Bianca and Nico escape?"
"I cannot answer that," the beautiful ocean spirit frowned. "This is not what Lord Poseidon had expected. His brother shows his hand too early. This could not have been planned."
And with those cryptic words ringing in Percy's head, the woman curtsied, the mako shark returned, and the green-eyed boy was summarily rejected from his father's domain. As he waded back to shore, the pearls clutched firmly in hand, he wondered what the Nereid could have meant. Which God was showing his hand too early? Why would Nico and Bianca be safe in the Underworld?
'Maybe for the same reason that I'm safe in the sea?' Percy realized win a shudder. No, that couldn't be right. There couldn't be another two children of the Big Three running around.
Especially not children of this particular God. The Son of Poseidon hadn't heard any good things about Lord Hades from the other campers. He himself didn't really like the God much since Hades kidnapped his mother from him. Not to mention how odd it was to relate an owlish Nico or his more cautious older sister with the Lord of the Underworld. Still Percy's instincts (which had somehow adopted a breathless, almost flirty, feminine whisper) were telling him that his hunch was correct and furthermore, he should keep it to himself. None of the other campers would accept children of the dead and he didn't want his friends to be unfairly prejudiced against.
'Annabeth and Grover would hate him more than most,' Percy recalled. His friends had been chased by the God of the Dead's monster army when they were trying to flee to the safety of Camp Half-blood. While they had reached the borders in the end, it took the sacrifice of Thalia Grace, half-blood Daughter of Zeus, for them to do it.
"Look! There he is! With a shark!" The dark-eyed boy's glee was evident when Percy landed on sand. "Did you get to meet your dad Percy?"
"He sent a Nereid." The Son of Poseidon tried to hide his hurt over that snub. "But he wants us to go to the Underworld. She said that we should head to the DOA Recording Studios in lower L.A."
"If that's what your dad wants, then that's what we have to do," Grover said, resigned. "Why couldn't any of the gods send us to Maine and order us to get sunburn at the beach or something?"
As they trudged back to the boardwalk, Percy snuck another puzzled glance at Nico. The younger boy was explaining what a Nereid was to his sister and his oversized sweatshirt, mussy hair, and wide, dark eyes made him look like even less of an evil demigod son of death than Grover. He was drawn out of his thoughts when Annabeth fell into step beside him.
"We need to talk Seaweed Brain," she announced, peeking back to the di Angelo siblings, "Are you sure we should bring them to the Underworld with us?"
"We can't leave them here alone and they'll follow us down anyway," Percy reminded her. Bianca had made that fairly clear to them.
"I know but I don't feel right dragging two untrained kids down there with us," Annabeth gave him a weary look. "Also, I need to ask you about the younger one."
"Nico? Why?" The Son of Poseidon tried to hide his nerves. He knew that Annabeth was smart but had she figured out the boy's parentage already?
"You're acting weird around him," the blonde said bluntly, counting off her fingers, "Holding hands. Answering questions. Sharing Riptide."
"I'm just trying to be friendly."
"Hmm," she appeared unconvinced. "How did you two meet?"
"We played Mythomagic in the arcade," Percy answered. He felt oddly defensive at her questioning. "What are you trying to say? That Nico did something to me?"
"You saw an arcade full of loud machines and chose a strategy-based card game Seaweed Brain. Does that seem like something you would do?"
"Maybe I wanted to try something new. Gods, Nico didn't even know he was a demigod until I told him. And you think he used some divine power on me?"
"I'm not saying that it was intentional," Annabeth soothed, "But there's a Daughter of Aphrodite at camp that can use charmspeak, a power that mesmerizes people into doing what she says."
'Then I should be fine because he's not a Son of Aphrodite.' Percy fell back so he wouldn't have to continue this fight. He didn't think that Nico would try to magically control him- at least not intentionally- but the doubt was now there. How much did he really know about the di Angelo siblings?
One of whom was walking up to him now. "Hello Percy."
"Hey Bianca," Percy greeted. The pretty, dark-eyed Italian had been less friendly to him than her brother but she still trusted him to keep them safe in the Underworld.
"Were you having a fight with your girlfriend?" Bianca inquired, a teasing smile on her face.
"Huh?" Did she think that he was dating Annabeth? "No! No, she's not my girlfriend. We're just friends."
As the Son of Poseidon attempted to quickly dispel the idea, while not looking into the eyes of a curious blonde, he missed Bianca shooting a thumbs-up to her brother. He did look up in time to see a red-faced Nico punch her though.
"Are you two fighting?"
"No," Bianca answered.
"Yes," Nico said at the same time. "How did you learn that you were a demigod Percy?"
This initiated a quick storytime about Yancy Academy, Nancy Bobofit, and Mrs. Dodds, the world's worst pre-algebra teacher. The dark-eyed boy appeared riveted throughout the short adventure but he could see Bianca frown once or twice. Then the girl requested a story about how he went to Camp Half-Blood and before they knew it, the demigods were telling the siblings about the quest so far. Grover had been complaining about Ares tricking them into Hephaestus' trap when they were stopped by a gang of mortal teens.
Percy immediately uncapped Riptide but the reflexive swing forward only elicited jeers and taunts. He had just remembered that celestial bronze didn't work on mortals when Bianca stepped forward and kicked one of them. Then Annabeth judo flipped the other and punched out a third, who had just been kneed in the balls by the dark-eyed girl. He didn't know how the others dealt with that easy takedown but for the Son of Poseidon, he was wincing in deep male empathy.
'I am never, ever getting on Bianca's bad side,' Percy decided. 'Is she stomping on… oh, Gods.'
"That was a nice kick," Annabeth complimented. "And I like how thorough you were with the last one."
"Thank you," Bianca demurred, "Your shoulder flip was amazing. Can you show me how to do that?"
"Girls are scary…" Nico mumbled from beside him. He couldn't agree more.
They were intercepted on their way forward by a buff man with pale, grayish skin and a bald head. "Did you kids just take these guys down?"
Annabeth and Bianca exchanged looks. "We didn't want to fight them but they wouldn't take 'no' for an answer."
The man raised his hands in surrender. "Hey, hey, I'm not trying to accuse you or nothing. It's good to see this scum taken down a notch every now and then. Been harassing the whole neighborhood, they have. Bad for business."
"In fact," the man declared, suddenly struck by inspiration, "You should all get a little treat for your good deed! Come to my shop and I'll give you something for your troubles."
"Thank you, sir, but we really should be going now," Annabeth said warily, "My dad's meeting us and we don't want to be late."
"It won't take long," the man insisted, putting one hand behind Grover's back and another on Nico's shoulder. "Name's Crusty and I got my mattress shop right 'round the corner."
'This man doesn't feel right.' Percy bristled and pulled the dark-eyed boy out of his reach. Why the hell would he touch Nico like that? 'Pervert. He must be one of those sickos that prey on kids.'
The Son of Poseidon shot a look at Annabeth that practically screamed his desire to get away.
The blonde sent a frustrated glare back and then cut her stormy grey eyes forward. Dammit, the pervert had a tight grip on Grover.
He was pushing Nico behind him- those wide eyes made him look even younger than he already was- and Annabeth was positioning herself for a possible kneecap attack, when Grover was pushed onto a mattress. Specifically a waterbed that jiggled like a mass of grape jelly as the satyr ungainly sprawled across.
"Crusty's Mattress Emporium!" Crusty announced, his wide grin revealing a row of misshapen, yellow teeth. "Best in the state and at the lowest prices! Who wants to try one next?"
"None of us want- hey!" The man quickly grabbed the Daughter of Athena's arms and pushed her onto a thick leopard print.
"Let me go, you creep!" Bianca was tossed into a princess-themed pink one next.
"Ergo!" With a snap of his fingers, the hulking man caused two sets of rope to fly out of the bed and tie his friend's arms and legs. Then Crusty turned to him but Percy had already uncapped Riptide.
"You're a monster," the dark-haired boy realized, looking on in horror as the ropes started pulling back. "What are you doing to them?"
"Just making them the right size to fit my beds!" Crusty grinned. "So many inconsiderate people come into the shop shorter than six feet tall. So I need the ropes to stretch them out properly. Sometimes it ends up ripping bones and tearing spines but you suffer what you must for good hospitality, right?"
'He's standing over them. I need to move him away to attack.' His friend's faces were starting to pale. "And what do you do if they're too tall?"
"Easy! I just cut all the extra inches off."
"Crusty? Hospitality?" Behind him, Nico's voice was bemused and he simply knew that the boy's burrow would be furrowed in thought. "No, your name is Procrustes the Stretcher! Theseus killed you on the road to Attica."
The monster frowned. "Bah, Procrustes is too hard for mortals to pronounce! Crusty is much better. You can remember Crusty's Mattress Emporium."
"Nice as that is, we kind of need to get out now," Grover choked out, his face turning blue.
Just as Percy was trying to think of a distraction, Nico's messy hair of head popped out of his side. "Aren't you a Son of Poseidon too?"
'A Son of Poseidon? Jeez, between the Minotaur, Medusa and now Crusty, I'm starting to think that the real danger is my dad's love life.'
"Don't connect me to that faithless God!" Procrustes shouted, "I forswore him after he allowed one of my mortal brothers to kill me!"
"Probably because you sucked at the basic concept of xenia," Nico mused aloud, smirking as he moved several feet to the left of Percy. The older boy made a half-aborted movement to push him back to safety before Nico's eyes looked directly at his.
'I know what I'm doing. Trust me.'
The message was quickly followed by his newfound second conscience demanding that he do so.
Procrustes appeared enraged. "How dare you? I am a great host!"
Nico considered it. "Nah, don't think so. Most of your beds are for people who are six feet tall which is uncommon today, much less in ancient times when people were shorter on average. You set those guests up to fail, didn't you?"
"I did not! I would never do that!"
"I bet you even ate the rare few that made the cut."
"Shut your mouth, you filthy demigod," the monster hissed, taking one lumbering step closer.
Nico blinked up at him innocently. "How did it feel to be killed in your own bed?"
That did it. With a roar of rage, Procrustes ran forward with a speed that belied his massive form. He snatched the small boy up by his collar, shoving him up against the wall. The monster's hand clung firmly around the boy's spindly neck. Nico's eyes widened.
Mistaking it for fear, the monster sneered. "What say you now child?"
The dark-eyed boy smiled sweetly. "There's a sword tip sticking out of your belly button."
Procrustes looked down. Percy had moved just as quickly and now Riptide had skewered him. "Nooo!"
With a howl of pain, Procrustes the Stretcher crumbled into golden dust. The older boy then cut his friends out of their traps. The first thing Bianca did once her body was free was run up to her brother and hug him tightly.
"Nico, are you alright? Did that beast hurt you?" The Italian girl demanded, checking him over.
"I'm fine," her brother said brightly, "That was a lot of fun."
"I'm glad you're okay little brother," Bianca sniffled, her tone affectionate and almost motherly. A second later and she slapped him over the head. "Niccolo Marius di Angelo, don't ever do that to me again!"
"Your name is Niccolo?" Percy asked.
"Your name is Perseus," Nico reminded him. "I like Nico better, especially because the only person to use my full first name is Bianca. And even she only does it when I'm in trouble."
"Do not ignore me when I'm talking to you Niccolo," Bianca interrupted. She continued scolding her brother for a few more minutes, concluding it with a tight hug and quiet praise for making the monster loose his cool. By then, Annabeth and Grover had found a sheet advertising the address to the DOA Studios.
"A few minutes please," Bianca requested when they were about to leave. She dragged her little brother to the back and when they got out, both di Angelo siblings had suspiciously full pockets that gave off a faint jingling sound.
They followed the directions on the flyer to a plain building with a sign proclaiming 'No Solicitors, No Loitering, No Living'. Inside, the walls and carpet were steel grey, the furniture black leather, and the raised dais in the front occupied by a hooded man in a well-fitting suit. There were plenty of ghosts sitting around the room, mostly children that gazed at them listlessly as they walked by.
"Oh, good, even more dead little ones," the man spoke enthusiastically, a British accent present, as he looked us over, "How can I help you then?"
"We would like to go to the Underworld," Annabeth stated. She looked closer at his nametag and added, "Charon, sir."
"Is that so?" The man's eyebrows rose, "Well, that's refreshing. No screaming, no demands, no insisting that there must be a mistake… how did you all die then?"
"Bathtub," Grover bleated.
"Drowning," Annabeth said.
"Lightning," Percy replied.
"Ah, we got hit by lightning in the bathtub and drowned after being electrocuted?" Bianca offered. The man's eyes swiveled to the Italian girl and suddenly he paled drastically. Noticing the interest, Percy tried to discretely push Nico behind him. The younger boy stuck his head out again and the Son of Poseidon realized that Nico wasn't going to be any help when it came to protecting himself.
"Must be one hell of a bathtub," Charon licked his lips, "Alright then. One ride to the Underworld coming up."
"What about them?" The dark-eyed boy asked, pointing to the other ghosts.
"They can't afford the fare," Charon informed him, "It doesn't matter too much if they come in as adults. I can always add the extra fee to their utility bills or charge their credit cards but kids don't have any money of their own. They'll stay here until I decide to give a free ride across."
"And how often does that happen?" Nico demanded.
"Oh, once every decade or so. Can't give too many free rides. Italian suits are expensive, you know."
"That's not right," Nico frowned. "How much does it cost for one trip?"
"One hundred mortal dollars or one golden drachma. No exceptions."
"Bianca?" The dark-eyed boy looked at his sister pleadingly, making her appear unsure.
"Do you accept credit card payments?" Bianca asked, as Nico waved a familiar platinum card around.
"Not those I don't," Charon snorted, "Those Lotus cards may work on mortals but you're not getting any divine goods from them. Hard currency or nothing."
Percy wasn't entirely sure what was happening as the two siblings exchanged looks with one another. Nico appeared to be begging for something and his older sister appeared just as reluctant to give in.
Finally she reached into her pockets and withdrew one golden drachma. Then another and another, until two tall stacks laid on the desk. Counting them, the dark-eyed girl grimaced. "32 coins for 32 people, starting with the children. Deal?"
"Deal!" Charon greedily swiped the shiny golden coins off the desk and led them to the elevator. "Right. Now there's only enough room left in the barrage to take you brats across. I'll do the others on the next run. None of you freeloaders better change my easy listening station or there'll be another thousand years in it for you!"
As they passed the ghosts, they pressed forward against the barrage keeper, whispering words that Percy couldn't hear. Many of them looked at Nico and Bianca gratefully. One soldier in a tattered uniform that looked like it was from the Revolutionary War even tipped his cap forward.
"You did a good thing," he told Bianca, who was looking mournfully at her empty pockets.
"Blame Nico," she replied fondly, "He's always been a bleeding heart."
The elevator doors closed in front of them, cutting off Percy's last view of the ghosts. Then Charon inserted a key into the slot and the elevator plunged downward. They were heading into the Underworld.
x
On the subject of Annabeth, I'm definitely going to try not to bash her. She's one of my favorite PJO characters and a totally kickass demigod. There will be a little friction at first because she's starting to like Percy too, but the crush is in its early stages, so it will fizzle out soon. My idea of the Nico v. Annabeth rivalry for Percy is encapsulated by whoever wrote this:
Annabeth: So you have a crush on Percy too?
Nico: …
Annabeth: Gods, it's the absolute worst, isn't it?
Nico: [nods furiously]