PJatO || Nicercy || PJatO || Nicercy || A God Among Men || Nicercy || PJatO || Nicercy || PJatO
Title: A God Among Men – Life in the Kingdom of Demetria
Fandom: Percy Jackson and the Olympians / Heroes of Olympus; ancient Greece AU
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, gods, magic, fluff, kink for powers, worship, explicit intercourse, anal, oral, bondage, shoujo-ai, hetero, threesome
Main Pairing: Nico/Percy
Side Pairings: Reyna/Annabeth, Octavian/Luke, Ethan/Alabaster, Jake/Will, Frank/Hazel/Leo, Grover/Juniper, Malcolm/Katie, Chris/Clarisse, Charles/Silena, Jason/Calypso, Poseidon/Amphitrite | Poseidon/Sally, Zeus/Hera, Hades/Persephone, Ares/Aphrodite, Hephaestus/Aglaia, Nico/Drew (one-sided)
Percy Jackson Characters:
Thieves: Perseus Jackson, Luke Castellan, Cecil Rogers, Chris Rodriguez, Travis Stoll, Connor Stoll
Royals: Nico di Angelo, Bianca di Angelo, Hazel Levesque, Maria di Angelo, Drew Tanaka
Royal Advisers & Palace Servants: Jason Grace, Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano, Annabeth Chase, Malcolm Cage, Ethan Nakamura, Will Solace, Katie Gardner, Grover Underwood, Juniper
Palace Guards: Frank Zhang, Clarisse la Rue, Thalia Grace, Hylla Ramírez-Arellano, Kinzie Cohen, Zoe Nightshade, Phoebe Burge
Priests: Alabaster C. Torrington, Lou Ellen, Piper McLean, Silena Beauregard, Ella, Rachel Elizabeth Dare, Octavian Simmons
Blacksmiths: Charles Beckendorf, Leo Valdez, Jake Mason, Nyssa Black, Tyson
Godly Characters: Poseidon, Amphitrite, Triton, Demeter, Persephone, Hades, Hestia, Hera, Zeus, Hermes, Apollo, Artemis, Dionysus, Athena, Enyo, Ares, Aphrodite, Hephaestus, Aglaia, Feronia, Furrina, Laverna, Calypso
Summary: Perseus is a minor Sea God, son of Neptune and prince of the sea. And utterly bored. Gods, is he bored. Instead of staying bored under the sea, he decides to pose as a mortal and walk the Earth. Throughout ancient Greece, one small island kingdom in particular took to worshiping him, the Demetria Isles. So that's where Percy goes, to see what kind of people worship him.
He runs into interesting people. Lives with thieves, learns from priests and falls for the prince...
A God Among Men
Life in the Kingdom of Demetria
Chapter 4: The Perseus Protection Squad
"My. Son. Is. Gone."
The roaring of the Sea God's voice was echoed by the violent crashing of the waves beneath. Poseidon's fists were shaking as he paced the throne room on Olympus. The other Olympians were present – and not just them. Hera looked not too impressed, her and her nephew were not on the best of terms, and for once, she and her husband seemed to be conform with each other, because Zeus was really not a fan of Percy and his antics. In Zeus' humble opinion, Percy meant nothing but trouble and he usually pulled Zeus' children into his messes. The two sets of twins were arguing loudly – Ares and Enyo having practically a battle with Apollo and Artemis over what would be the best approach to find their lost cousin. Dionysus didn't look too fazed as he lifted his head.
"Oh, he'll be fine", assured Dionysus bored. "He might just be on a party. Laying under a table too hung over to return home. Your curfew is too hard. How is the boy supposed to have fun?"
"Him being drunk somewhere does not help ease my mind", snapped Amphitrite angrily as she kept shifting between Roman and Greek form, torn by missing her Roman son. "He is gone."
"And you're sure you checked the whole palace?", asked Hermes, earning twin glares from king and queen of the ocean. "What? He learned how to hide from me. Maybe he's still there."
"We checked", growled Poseidon, slowly growing impatient. "Triton and his siblings are leading search-parties throughout the ocean to find my child, but not a fish can tell where he might be."
"So you think Perseus is on Olympus?", asked Hephaestus with a slight frown.
He wasn't very good with children. They were small and breakable and he would prefer not to interact with them, but his wife was too fond of Percy and often brought him over. Aglaia had started cooing over Percy together with Aphrodite when Aphrodite had started dating Ares and started spending more time around Olympus and the royal family there. Aphrodite, he kind of understood. She was a child of the sea too, after all. But somehow, the two Beauty Goddesses were hard to separate and if Aphrodite had an obsession, so did Aglaia. And against better judgment, Hephaestus had actually grown a little fond of the bright-eyed, curious child. Percy loved Hephaestus' inventions, the way his eyes would sparkle with wonder when he received a new toy from Hephaestus, it made the blacksmith puff his chest out a little. It was hard not being fond of Percy, the boy just had this way of worming his way into someone's heart.
"We... We don't know", sighed Poseidon as he sat down, suddenly seeming drained.
"We will scout the Earth, uncle", assured Artemis as she straightened her back. "Me and my huntresses are the best trackers, I will make sure my mascot is returned home safely."
"He's not a pet", grumbled Apollo beneath his breath. "And if anything, he's my mascot!"
It would be archers against war, as Ares and Enyo had always been quite competitive with Apollo and Artemis. Percy didn't have a heart of war, but he had brilliantly unorthodox plans. He made the war games between Enyo and Ares so much more fun; an element of surprise. The idea of Percy down there, where real, dangerous wars were happening, it didn't sit right with either War God twin.
"We are going to find him first", declares Enyo, narrowing her eyes at Artemis.
Ares grunted in agreement and puffed his chest out. Even though personally, Ares wasn't as fond of Percy as Enyo was, he also had another motivation. He knew his girlfriend Aphrodite loved the boy to bits and pieces. The way Aphrodite smiled pleased at him and kissed his cheek from his other side told him that if he was the one to find Percy, there would be a reward waiting for him.
"I will alert my nymphs, Sally", added Demeter, taking Amphitrite/Salacia's hand to squeeze it in support. "We will find your missing child, my dear. All of us will do everything in our power."
Demeter turned to glare very pointedly at Hera and Zeus to make both of them nod in agreement. She knew what it felt like to have a child disappear, to be alone and searching relentlessly. Her eyes automatically found said child. Persephone shifted a little in guilt at her mother's glare.
"He's not in the underworld, stop glaring, sister", grunted Hades irritated. "I didn't start a collection of my siblings' children down there. But we will help looking for him."
Persephone giggled just slightly at the insinuation. She wouldn't mind keeping Percy around in the underworld, he was always cheerful and bright and fun. What little time she got to spend with her cousin, she thoroughly enjoyed. She did wonder what might have happened to the boy. He was naive, yes, but not dumb. So there was a chance he might have ended up endangering himself, but she was also confident he would find his way out of it alive again.
/break\
The meeting had run late, because quite frankly it was just too large, with too many arguing parties. Persephone gathered her very own meeting afterward, because she knew who was cooperative.
"Okay, girls. I think we all know it's up to us to find Percy", declared Persephone.
"Excuse me!", exclaimed Apollo and Hermes with matching glares aimed at her.
"As I was saying, girls, our precious Percy is missing and it's up to us to find him", repeated Persephone pointedly, giving Apollo and Hermes a look.
Apollo and Hermes huffed and pouted a little as they sank down in their chairs, because yeah, they had somehow become honorary girls. They couldn't even tell which one of their sisters was at fault for this – Enyo, Persephone, Artemis, take your pick. Those three were in the conference room too, not the least bit impressed by the two pouting males. Additionally to the five of them, there were also Aglaia and Aphrodite, the two Beauty Goddesses braiding each other's hair while simultaneously contributing to the conversation at hand, because if there was one thing they were good at, it were make-overs and multi-tasking. There were three other goddesses with them however, three who didn't have relations to the Olympians. Three minor goddesses who didn't even exist to the Greeks. Exclusively Roman minor goddesses and Percy's best friends.
Feronia, the free-spirited goddess of water, freedom, wildlife and fertility. A jumpy Nature Goddess with the attention-span of a fly and the heart of a lioness.
Furrina, also a goddess of water, but also of travelers and death. She frequented the underworld and was friends with Persephone's Roman side too, as well as Hermes'.
Laverna, the goddess of cheating, thieves and tricksters – and one of Mercury's best friends.
While Percy had met Feronia and Furrina in Atlantis, where the Water Goddesses, just like most water deities, liked to go shopping in mermaid form. The three had instantly bonded over being exclusive Roman gods; it was always a little hard on gods to be exclusives, he had met Laverna during one of Hermes' poker-nights of tricksters and mischief makers (which were basically always a disaster, especially when both Seth and Loki showed up).
"He's a tricky, slippery little fish", mused Laverna, half amused. "He stopped using his godly powers. That makes it downright impossible for us to find him in the mass of mortals."
"Not entirely", argued Furrina with a frown. "Mercury and I are gods of travel. He is traveling. Between realms, at that. From the sea to the land. It won't be impossible."
"Just very hard", offered Hermes with a sigh. "Not that we can't, but... it might take some time."
"Oh, I'm sure he'll be fine", assured Feronia in a chipper mood. "He's always been a freedom-seeker and it goes against my realm and my morals to bring him back so he can be locked into a golden cage. I think we should allow him to roam the Earth and explore."
They were the same age – Feronia, Furrina, Laverna and Percy. New and young gods, exclusive to Romans. The three girls had always backed Percy up and they always would, the other gods knew that. Persephone frowned at the young goddess a little.
"He could be in danger", pointed Persephone out gently.
"Oh, he's strong. I trained him", argued Enyo now, glaring. "Percy beat my brother when he was only twelve years old. A feat I am still most proud of. He will be fine."
Persephone sighed and wavered just a little. Aphrodite smiled gently as she placed a comforting hand on Persephone's shoulder, gaining the Spring Goddess' attention.
"Maybe it's love?", offered Aglaia with a smile. "Just like it had been for you. Maybe he met his true love and because of his over-bearing parents, they decided to run away together to be happy."
"Yeah and I still live to regret that", stated Persephone sternly before flushing. "Not that I regret Hades, but the running away part. It was immature and it hurt my mother badly. She literally still keeps me grounded every couple months as punishment and it's been decades!"
"But she's slowly forgiving your husband", argued Aglaia gently. "I mean, she does spend time with you at Hades' even during spring and summer, right? So it can't be that bad."
"She's still too over-bearing", sighed Persephone with a slight pout.
"Sounds like something Percy would say about Poseidon", pointed Apollo out casually.
"So we're actually thinking he ran away for love?", asked Artemis doubtfully.
"Oh, just because you don't recognize the finer things in life doesn't mean others don't!", huffed Aphrodite as she straightened up to full height, glaring at the eternally virginal goddess.
Persephone clapped loudly before Artemis and Aphrodite could fall into their favorite argument yet again. "Very well, girls. We'll search the Earth, the sea, the underworld and Olympus until Perseus is found again! I will not have my cousin make the same mistake as I did. He will live to regret the pain he's putting his parents through. For now, me and Hades have to return home. We left in such a haste, it might just have caused some problems of its own."
"We'll stay in contact though", offered Hermes, the messenger.
/break\
"You worry for Perseus", noted Hades gently.
He was tenderly fastening Persephone's robes, beautiful sapphire and ruby flowers intertwined by pure golden vines elegantly weaving their way along her neck. She heaved a sigh and continued attaching golden and silver flowers to her hair, the light-brown curls framing her face beautifully.
"Of course I do. He's my baby cousin", whispered Persephone back. "He has always looked up to me and idolized me, you know that, love. The goddess who defied her over-bearing mother and ran away for true love, falling for the baddest boy of all bad boys. Defying what everyone would expect from a Flower Goddess. I know he always aspired to be like me, defying expectations and finding his own freedom of sorts and love with someone he didn't grow up with."
Hades had to smile a bit, as untypical as others might claim that to be on him. He had first met Persephone when she was seventeen, a rebelling teenager who was tired of her over-bearing mother Demeter, her negligent father Zeus and her abusive stepmother Hera. She had fallen hard for his bad boy charm and for the fact that he wasn't one of the family members she had grown up close with. She got to be herself around him – all head-strong and fierce – without him associating her with some kind of little girl he had helped raise. Back then, Hades truly hadn't spent a lot of time on Olympus and he had been surprised when he had met the Spring Goddess. She was so unlike anyone he had ever met. Like a breath of fresh air and Hades hadn't realized how much he needed that air to breath until he met her. Hades knew Perseus shared a lot of characteristics with Persephone. He was just as fierce and head-strong and stubborn and determined and beautiful. Hades knew that the boy would one day break a lot of hearts and Hades would make sure that only someone worthy would get to Percy, because Hades knew first-hand how valuable, precious and breakable a golden heart like that could be. Hades would never admit aloud how much he cared for his nephew, so he would continue denying it and claiming he would be looking for the boy for the sake of his beloved wife Persephone and his beloved brother Poseidon. Sighing, Hades leaned down to place a gentle kiss on Persephone's neck.
"We will find him, my love", promised Hades, voice deep. "And if any god or monster thought it a good idea to abduct my nephew, they will come to face the wrath of the underworld. And if someone thought to seduce the naive lad, they will also be in a lot of trouble."
"The protective dad thing suits you, love", giggled Persephone gently, kissing him. "I did kind of miss that when Makaria started dating, you know. To think you'd pull it out for Percy."
"Makaria is a strong young woman and her chosen one is already scared out of his mind from me", chuckled Hades with a sadistic glint in his eyes. "I'm just glad Melinoe is more responsible."
"I think Zagraeus is the one we really have to worry about", mused Persephone with the slightest frown as the couple teleported to their palace. "He's... His heart is undecided."
Hades hummed deep in his chest as he started leading his queen along the halls. He knew his wife was worried about their son, but quite frankly, Hades wasn't too worried. He had been the last of his brothers to find a wife, it had taken him long to settle down and find love. He was certain that if given time and direction, then their son would be just fine too.
"M—Mother? Father? You're back already! You left in such a haste the other day!"
Hades' face lit up as his beloved youngest child ran right into his arms and he got to hug his daughter tightly. Her golden eyes sparkled in relief that her parents were home already. Makaria was a strong, beautiful young woman, but worry for her family easily made her crumble. It was where her older sister Melinoe came into play, because that girl could always keep a leveled head and cool mind. It was why they had put her in charge of their army.
"Where are your siblings, my princess?", asked Hades gently.
"The dining hall, I believe. I was on my way myself", replied his daughter with a smile.
"Perfect. I am starving", sighed Persephone relieved as she took their daughter's other hand.
They made their way to the dining hall and as the doors opened to reveal the unexpected king and queen, everyone straightened their backs some and someone cleared their throat to properly announce their entry. Personally, Hades found those kind of procedures unnecessary.
"Returned from their journey, King Plutonius and Queen Maria, as well as Princess Hazelina Makaria", announced Malcolm in his serious voice.
Their other children, Bianca Melinoe and Nicodemos Zagraeus, stood to greet their parents. Hades nodded at them in greeting, face neutral as he observed curiously. There was always an edge of tension between his two older children whenever Hades and Persephone had to leave for a while.
"That was a fast return, father", whispered Zagraeus with a curious frown.
"It was... a short debriefing of sorts before all parties went their own ways", replied Hades.
He reached a hand out to smooth Zagraeus' wild curls down. Nico. The boy preferred to be called Nico, much to Hades' dismay. Zagraeus was a strong godly name. Nico? Not so much. Why were teenagers so rebellious, really? Then again, the boy didn't really know of his own godly heritage. None of their three children did and Hades and Persephone – or Plutonius and Maria, the human identities they had taken on twenty years ago – knew of their true heritage.
The Demetria Isles had started out as a little place of vacation for Hades and Persephone. She needed nature, she needed the world above. The underworld had been suffocating her. The islands had been under no certain guidance and the two gods just decided to keep them. Named them and formed them and within the shortest time, thanks to some godly magic, it grew into a flourishing kingdom, it became more than just a vacation place. It became kind of their pet-project.
The dead were one thing and Hades liked ruling them most of the time, but they were dull and, well, dead. Here? Everything was alive. Families, children running around and laughing, young love blossoming. Hades got to be the king of the kind of kingdom he had always wanted.
And when their first child was born, both Hades and Persephone knew that they did not want to raise her in the underworld. The underworld was no place for a child. Not to mention the pressure and danger of being the first child born to Hades, one of the Big Three. No, Hades wanted for Bianca Melinoe to have as much a normal life as possible for as long as possible. The same went for Nicodemos Zagraeus and Hazelina Makaria. They were supposed to grow up as human as possible, for there were values in humans that Hades respected and found lacking in the gods. Not to mention, their existence was a secret to the gods and thus kept them out of harm's way. Hades knew how vindictive Zeus could be, how dangerous the titans and giants and even just other gods could be. Growing up human would keep the three children far safer and happier than growing up in the underworld ever would, Hades and Persephone agreed on that. Even if it meant that they had to leave their children alone very often. Many things could easily be solved by teleporting to the underworld briefly multiple times a day, sometimes the king and queen had to leave for a few days, in more extreme cases a few weeks. But overall, Hades knew he could trust Thanatos and Olethros to keep the underworld as well in check and running as he would. Everyone down there was dead, after all, so there wasn't too much drama and riot to be expected on a daily basis.
"If I might ask, what urgent business did you have to attend to?", asked Bianca Melinoe.
"The... The son of a close friend has been abducted and the king asked for our help. We met them half-way at a camp-side to offer our aid", replied Hades.
"I'm so sorry", whispered Bianca concerned.
"It will be alright", assured Persephone with a small smile. "They have strong allies willing to help them find their child and we offered our resources to help too."
"Tell me when to assemble the Royal Guard and debrief them on the situation", offered Bianca.
"Later", sighed Persephone, still unsure how to properly approach the subject just yet so she decided to change the topic at hand. "Dinner first and after dinner, I would like to go and visit the temple of Lord Perseus. Would any of you care to join me on the visit?"
"Of course, mother", chorused all three of their children instantly.
Persephone smiled a little at that. She knew her children worshiped Percy above all others, after all he had been the one to save them years ago. Something that had only made her love her adorable little cousin even more and something, she was pretty sure, that had forever earned Percy a permanent place in Hades' heart too (not that the big softy didn't already cherish his nephew as it was, regardless of how hard the 'big, bad Death God' tried to deny it). She briefly wondered what her children would say if they knew their beloved god was missing. The small smile on her lips took a soft, amused turn as she imagined Nico throwing on his armor and polishing his sword while readying everything to go into war and save Percy as though the god was a damsel in distress. Persephone knew her son was desperately looking for a way to prove himself, in any way possible. Saving a god? Being a great hero like the heroes Persephone had told him bedtime stories about? Oh, Nico would so love that. Part of Persephone suspected that Percy would love that too, though he would probably also slap Nico for assuming he needed saving in the first place.
Persephone's face darkened again. What if Percy needed rescuing? What if he had indeed been abducted by a villain? There were so many countless Sea Gods and about half of them resented Poseidon for being the king. Taking revenge by going after Poseidon's son? It would be a possibility. Persephone also knew that Percy could easily be lured in by promises of humans and their culture. The boy was concerningly obsessed with humans. It was why Persephone had wanted to take him to the Demetria Isles for years now, thinking that he would love this pretense of being mortals just as much as Hades and Persephone did. Sadly, Hades didn't trust Percy to be able to keep a secret. Not out of malice, but simply because Percy was an honest, gentle soul who wouldn't like having to lie to his mother and father like that. Now however, Persephone wished she had taken him nonetheless, because then Percy would at least have a guide through the mortal world. Right now, Percy was out there, somewhere, all alone, maybe exploring the mortal world all on his own.
Author's note: Sooo, show of hands, who saw that coming? :D I mean, come on, I'm not gonna make immortal!Percy fall in love with mortal!Nico, doomed to tear them apart in death... ;_; (Also, yes, I took some liberties with Zagraeus' parentage since he's usually considered the son of Zeus/Persephone, but some sources also note him down as only Hades' child... so, why not remove the father-raping-his-daughter element from that equation and make him Hadephone's child? :D)
Next chapter, Percy is going to help Leo meet Hazel while Leo's still busy showing Percy around the city, even though the only sight Percy really wants to see is the prince ;)
Also, I gotta admit, I kinda don't have as much plot planned for this as I'd like, so if you have suggestions of things you really wanna see happen - feel free to share, if they fit right with what I have planned, you might get a chance to see it happen ^_~