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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 12: The God of Lost Travelers

Nico watched in mortification how the King of the Ocean stepped forward, his size slowly shrinking until the man standing before them was 'only' 10 meter high. He still loomed over Nico in a frightening manner. And Nico just knew, this was how he was going out. This was how he was going to die. And he made his peace with that. The entire kingdom watched him.

"You have caught my... attention", roared Poseidon, looming threateningly.

"What did you do?", asked Drew, turning toward Nico.

"Who are you to question a god?", interrupted Poseidon irritated. "I am King Poseidon. I do not have to justify myself to you, mortal. This kingdom, if it wants to stay in my favor and under my protection, will hand me over its prince without arguments."

"No! We can't-", started Bianca angrily.

"Bianca. Silence", ordered King Plutonius firmly, grasping her arm.

"Father!", hissed Bianca in utter disbelief. "W—We can't give Nico up like that!"

Queen Maria took a shaky breath as she pulled Nico into a tight hug, kissing his forehead. "My boy, please... please don't make this worse. Please. Don't do anything to anger him."

Nico frowned confused. Anger him? He was literally going to be drowned at the hands of Lord Poseidon, what would angering him more even look like or lead to? Drew gasped next to him.

"Y—You... What does this mean?", asked the princess, angry and confused.

"It means", roared Poseidon impatiently. "That this kingdom will have to learn to live without its prince and that you, Princess of Venia, and your people will travel safely back to your kingdom, for that is the will of the gods. And you will stay there, where you belong. Now give me the prince."

"I love you, my boy", whispered the queen, kissing his forehead. "I'm sorry."

"No, mother. I... I'm sorry", replied Nico, hugging her and his sisters tightly. "I broke Lord Perseus' heart. I was a fool to think there would be no repercussions."

Poseidon bent down and grasped him by the back of the toga and under the frightful screams and screeching of the people around – Drew the loudest screeching and Bianca the loudest screaming. Nico's heart was racing as Poseidon walked toward the ocean, rain still hitting them hard. The last thing Nico saw before being dragged down into the depth of the sea were the terrified and sad faces of his family and friends. He closed his eyes as he braced himself for the sensation of death.

"Oh, stop it with the brave face. Couldn't you have at least acted a little more frightened so I could have more fun? You being a self-sacrificing hero takes all the fun out of it", huffed Poseidon.

Nico frowned confused. Why did he hear the god? Why did the god complain like that? Why could Nico breath? Blinking slowly, he opened his eyes. But the sea-water didn't burn in his eyes.

"W—What is happening? Why am I not drowning?", asked Nico confused.

"Drowning you would completely defy the purpose of kidnapping you", grunted Poseidon with a frown, the god having shrunk down to normal human size by now.

"...Did you kidnap me to torture me?", asked Nico, only a little fear slipping into his voice. "I swear, I did not mean to hurt Percy! I love him! I... I love him... I should have told him that."

"Good. Good, that is a relief to hear, because otherwise I would have been forced to do the torturing", nodded Poseidon pleased. "I do have a cell prepared for that case and there would be an eternal loop of drowning, being resurrected and drowning again if you didn't. But that was more the Plan B. The Plan A is a different one for you, prince."

"I'm afraid to ask", muttered Nico nervously.

"To the human world, you are now dead. Gone with the gods, heh", chuckled Poseidon. "You will come to the palace with me and you will fix my son's broken heart."

"W—What?", stuttered Nico in disbelief, staring at Poseidon.

"He has been miserable. I will not stand for my son to be miserable", growled Poseidon displeased. "And, believe me, if you did not mean so much to my boy, I would have just flooded your entire little island kingdom and drowned everyone. But that will only make my son more miserable and he will hate me for it. If I bring my boy the prince he wants, then Percy will be happy and Percy will be happy with me. You see, our relationship has been a bit rocky in recent years. You are a... present to mend things. You will make my son happy. The reason my son didn't come after you is because he didn't want to cause trouble for your kingdom. Quite frankly, I couldn't care less about that but apparently it matters to Percy, so there is that. If the Venians threaten war, I'll flood them. After all I did make myself pretty clear up there. I mean, I did, right?"

"Y—Yes, you did", nodded Nico nervously, but also rather confused.

"Good. Do you understand what you have to do?", asked Poseidon.

"...No", admitted Nico overwhelmed.

"Make my son smile again", ordered Poseidon seriously. "My son has the brightest smile in my entire ocean and he hasn't smiled in three weeks. I spent years bemoaning the shenanigans he has been getting into, but... seeing him unhappy and subdued is so much worse."

Nico's head snapped over to stare at the god in utter disbelief. The thought of Percy unhappy and subdued was an awful thought, the idea that Poseidon had literally just abducted him so Nico could 'fix Percy' was utterly mind-blowing and also confusing. And the mind-blowing just didn't stop, because they approached a beautiful palace under the sea, mighty and shining from within. Fishes and merpeople were swimming around, whispering curiously as they saw Nico. Poseidon headed toward his destination with determination behind every push.

"If you upset him further, I still do have the cell", warned Poseidon firmly.

They reached a door and Poseidon knocked. Nico was too dazed to even talk. A flat 'Yes?' was called out and Poseidon opened the door to enter the room, dragging Nico behind him.

"Percy, my boy", called Poseidon out. "How are you today?"

"I'm fine, dad", sighed Percy, staring out of the window longingly.

"In... case you aren't, I brought you a present to cheer you up", offered Poseidon softly.

"Da—ad", sighed Percy frustrated. "I'm really tired of people trying to cheer me up. Ares tried cheering me up the other day. He suggested he could start a little war between the two kingdoms and I could swoop in, kill the princess who's in my way and then abduct the prince as my spoils of war. That is just really not my style. War isn't my style. I try not to use force."

"Oh, you won't have to", assured Poseidon, giving Nico a push.

Nico stumbled over his tails. Oh. Blinking slowly, he looked down his own body and realized that the reason he could breath and understand Poseidon still even though they were under water was because the god had turned him into a merboy. Nico needed a drink. A strong one.

"P—Percy, please. I... I need something sane that makes sense right now, please be that."

Percy whirled around and stared at Nico with wide, surprised eyes. "N—Nico? W—What? Father, what did you do?! Why does no one respect my choices?! I didn't want to get involved, I didn't want to endanger his kingdom! Dad, how could you?!"

"Hey", huffed Poseidon offended. "I was totally smooth, okay? I went there, I kidnapped their prince and made them believe I drowned him and then I threatened that other kingdom to go back home and if they return, I'll flood them. There won't be war, the kingdom will continue on in peace but you get to live happily ever after with you human pet."

"...D—Dad", whispered Percy confused and surprised.

Poseidon swam up to his son and pulled him into a hug, kissing the top of his head. "I know I'm strict with you, Percy, but I love you. I want you to be happy. If having this boy makes you happy, I want you to have him. Please stop being sad, my boy."

Percy blinked repeatedly, trying to fight off the tears. Poseidon smiled at him before he left the room. Taking a shaky breath, Percy turned to look at Nico again. His eyebrows disappeared in his hairline as he took in the gorgeous appearance of Nico as a merman.

"I am so sorry for my father?", offered Percy mortified. "I... I don't know what to say."

"You and me both", grunted Nico with an amused huff. "Your... Your father – the king of the ocean – just showed up at my wedding and abducted me to offer me to you as a present. I think I need some time to digest this. He... said you're miserable and that I ought to fix you."

"Tha—at's dad for you", sighed Percy, rubbing his face. "I'm so sorry. I-"

"No", interrupted Nico firmly, grasping Percy's hands to hold them, startling Percy with that moment of realization as they touched for the first time in three weeks. "Do not apologize. I... I've been just as miserable. I've never been that miserable before. All I could think about was you, Percy. I missed you so much. Missing you made me realize how much I already fell in love with you. I... I love you, Percy. I should have never let you go. I should have... I don't know what I should have done, but something, anything. I couldn't stop thinking about you."

"So... you're not mad my dad abducted you?", asked Percy, slowly leaning in.

"Well, I mean, when he appeared, I thought he was going to smite me, so... the abduction? Definitely better", drawled Nico amused, also leaning in. "Can we... kiss? Is that..."

"Exactly why you're here", hummed Percy and kissed Nico.

He smiled into the kiss, a warm and genuine smile, for the first time in weeks. And Nico smiled just as much, arms sneaking around Percy's waist to pull him closer, both melting int othe kiss.

/break\

Hades and Persephone didn't manage to sneak away from Demetria until late in the night, when they requested some 'alone-time to mourn'. They both had giant headaches. This was going to be their demise. Once Poseidon tried to drown Nico, Nico's godhood would be revealed simply by self-preservation. Even suppressed magic didn't stay suppressed when it would endanger the host.

Poseidon would know of Nico's godhood, who knew what he would do with that. Hades and Persephone needed to get to the underwater palace, but first they needed to talk this through together. The Venian royals had left immediately, intimidated by Lord Poseidon. Which, okay, one good thing. There was no way the king would dare declare war after that threat.

"Hello, big brother. I think we need to talk."

Hades blinked as he spotted Poseidon sprawled out on Hades' throne in the underworld palace. Persephone grasped her husband's hand and Hades squeezed right back. Poseidon stared at them utterly unimpressed. This was not going to end well.

"You saw us", sighed Hades as he approached his younger brother.

"Indeed", hummed Poseidon. "I was confused, at first. Then I saw the godly glow around the prince and the two girls with you. You're... hiding your children in the mortal world."

"We... are", sighed Persephone. "It started out as a hobby, of sorts. The kingdom, but then... When I fell pregnant, we... decided to hide our children. For safety reasons. My father can be... dangerous when angered and sometimes it's hard to tell who's angering him with what."

"Do they know?", inquired Poseidon with a frown. "That they are gods?"

"Not yet. But... now that you abducted Nico, we'll tell our daughters", replied Persephone. "Because right now they're grieving the loss of their brother. If we tell them, they will at least know their brother is safe where he is. But... What did you do with our son, uncle? Is he... alright?"

"Oh, he's more than alright", snorted Poseidon. "The last time I saw him, he was making out with my son behind the corals. I did not abduct him to harm him, I abducted him so he would fix my son's broken heart. And he's been doing a tremendous job of it in the past few hours."

Sighing, Hades rubbed his forehead. "We will take care of our daughters and we will visit Nico as soon as possible. Could you perhaps tell Percy to tell Nico the truth? Maybe it will soften the blow."

"I will", grunted Poseidon with calculating eyes. "Though I have to admit, the brat being your son is infinitely better than him being an entitled mortal prince."

Hades snorted and shook his head, watching his brother disappear.

/break\

"So, I'm a god. Okay. Sure", grunted Nico thoughtfully, watching a hoard of seahorses.

"Yo—ou're taking that better than I anticipated", hummed Percy where he was curled together on top of Nico's chest, his light-blue tail teasingly running its fins along Nico's pitch-black tails.

"My love, in the past month, I came to realize I only loved men, I found acceptance in my family, I fell in love with a beautiful young man, I learned that beautiful young man is actually a god – that was where I had my biggest freak-out so far – and then I was kidnapped by the king of the ocean", stated Nico casually. "And turned into a merman. So... somehow... Yeah, I'm fine."

"I love you", laughed Percy and leaned up to kiss Nico. "Oh, your parents are actually Hades and Persephone, you know. King and queen of the underworld."

"...That makes so much sense", whispered Nico surprised. "Mom's garden always prospers, regardless of the weather. She's so vague about her past. We've never been to grandmother Cerelia's kingdom – oh... grandmother is actually Lady Demeter then, isn't she? And the giant temple dedicated to Lord Hades, no other realm does that kind of thing. Wow. I... Anything else?"

"Mh... nope. That's it when it comes to odd news", chuckled Percy, kissing him again.

"Okay. Sure. Good to know. Very.. good to know", grunted Nico.

/break\

His sisters took the truth only slightly worse. They freaked out and even as Hades and Persephone explained it all and assured them that Nico was safe, they still continued with a mild panic. The kingdom all the while continued mourning its prince. After a few days of repeatedly answering their daughters' questions in calm, soothing voices, Hades and Persephone suggested for them to visit Nico together, shielded with Hades' and Persephone's powers. Because they put much emphasis on the fact that Bianca and Hazel could not use their powers if they wanted to keep their mortal lives. Once the truth got out, the whole family would have to relocate to the underworld.

"Oh, brother, you're alive!", exclaimed Bianca as she pulled him into a bone-crushing hug.

"Y—You're here", whispered a startled Nico as he was sandwiched between his sisters.

"Yes, mother and father thought we should... see for ourselves", whispered Hazel.

"So... you told them too, huh?", grunted Percy where he stood with Hades and Persephone.

"They thought Nico was dead. They deserve to hug their brother and know the truth", sighed Persephone concerned. "I'm still worried about how they'll take it in the long-run, but..."

"Let me talk to them", hummed Percy and swam up to the other teenagers.

"Percy! Who is also a god", grunted Hazel, seizing him up.

"So... How's being a god working out for you guys?", asked Percy with a small smile.

"Just great", grunted Bianca with a deadpan. "Our parents aren't who they said they are. We aren't who we thought we are. Our brother, though not dead, is now a... merman... Just great."

"They didn't lie to hurt you, they lied to protect you", said Percy softly.

"Su—ure", snorted Hazel, still clinging onto Nico for dear life.

"Hazel", started Percy, voice firm but gentle. "They did it to protect you, to offer you the unique chance to experience a human life. You have all of eternity to learn how to be a god and to lead a godly life, but never again will you be able to feel... human. Not even when you run away and try to pretend to be one. It will never feel real. You had the chance to be fully human, to have normal childhoods. You don't know what it's like to grow up, being taught how to fight by the always critical Ares, to learn strategy from Athena and never be good enough, to endure summer vacations with aunt Hera and uncle Zeus. Being a god is... exhausting and it is so much harder than your royal lives have been so far. You can be bitter with them, but sooner or later, once you've experienced the godly world to its full extend, you're going to realize how much you'll miss the human world."

"I don't know about that", muttered Hazel with a slight glower.

/break\

"I know the loss of your brother weights hard on you, love, but please talk to us."

Hazel blinked dazed and turned toward her two lovers. Frank and Leo were laying on her bed, watching her with concerned eyes. Sighing, she got up and walked over to them. It had been two weeks since Nico's 'death'. Since she learned that she was actually a goddess.

"I'm... fine", whispered Hazel softly.

"You're not. Of course you're not", huffed Leo and sat up to pull her into a kiss. "But we're here to help you get better, okay? You just... have to talk to us."

"I just miss him, I guess", sighed Hazel, that not being far from the truth.

She knew that while they were still able to hide their truth from the rest of the godly world, Bianca and Hazel would have to stay away from Nico. But it was not forever and they knew Nico was happy where he was, with Percy. It still hurt. Everything hurt. She buried herself in her lovers' embrace, soaking up their warmth and comfort. If she had been raised a goddess, she would have never met Frank and Leo. But... she was a goddess and thus, she would eventually lose them. Her grip on them tightened and she hid her face in Frank's neck. Why did the truth always have to hurt?

/break\

"Didn't expect to see you back here, kiddo", stated Luke amused.

"I brought flowers for Nico's grave", hummed Percy softly where he was crouched down.

"How is he?", asked Luke curiously when he approached the god. "Oh, don't look at me like that, Perce. You wouldn't have allowed for your father to kill Nico. You stole Nico."

"He's... fine", admitted Percy. "But you can't tell anyone!"

"Not going to", chuckled Luke amused. ""Kiddo, you saved yourself and Nico from heartbreak and you managed to prevent a war. Venia is finally standing down. They are too intimidated to even think about attacking. Things haven't been that peaceful between our kingdoms in... ever. It all worked out in the end, I suppose. Lucky little god, you are."

"So lucky", grunted Percy with a small smile, turning to fully face Luke. "Thank you."

"No need to thank me. I keep secrets, it's what I do", hummed Luke.

"No. For taking me in without asking question. You were suspicious from the start, you knew I wasn't just an orphaned, poor kid, but you gave me kindness", chuckled Percy, a crooked grin on his lips. "I swear to you on the River Styx that I will never forget that kindness and I'll repay you."

"Repay me?", asked Luke amused, one eyebrow raised. "How?"

"I found out my realm, you know. After all those years", grinned Percy impishly. "Lost travelers. Those yearning for their own paths. May it be at sea or on land. So if you ever lose your path, I will be there and help you, Lucas. And that's a godly promise and I won't break it."

"Thanks, I guess", hummed Luke curiously, tilting his head. "But my path is pretty even."

"Maybe", hummed Percy cryptically. "Let's see what the future brings. Be good to the others. Watch over them, especially Leo. He really needs the love. I'll... never forget you guys."

Author's note: THERE YOU GO. No cliffhanger. Happiness. Nicercy reunited. All happy? Yes? Good. ;P

Next chapter is... hard to describe without spoilers. *tilts head with a frown* I mean. There'll be Bianca and Hazel in it. And you'll learn what happens to the kingdom. Oh, also smut!