A/N: That's right, another Percy chapter. Probably the last one, so don't worry. It's just irritating to write quotes and stuff. Again, if this is against the rules, warn me. I will delete some of the sentences, only using the parts Percy will comment on. Thank you for understanding.
Please excuse Percy—I know he's annoying—totally oblivious. But remember, he's such a Seaweed Brain. Oh, and I know the reaction wasn't what you were looking for . . . sorry?
To Libb23: I'm glad you've mentioned that. Yes, however, that's a part of the story. Just wait and see.
III: PERCY
If You Only Knew
Jason pulled Nico to one side as another gust of wind toppled a column that would have crushed him flat.
'Is this guy Love or Death?' Jason growled.
"Exactly what I was thinking, bro." Percy chuckled. Sometimes he and the son of Jupiter were alike in some ways. Shockingly. Wait, was that a pun?
Ask your friends, Cupid said. Frank, Hazel and Percy met my counterpart, Thanatos. We are not so different. Except Death is sometimes kinder.
"Yes! They finally mentioned my name!" Percy wanted to pump his fist, but maybe that was too much enthusiasm. He wondered why he didn't read books back then. They were so fun! He just wanted to spend hours reading this story in particular.
Well, nearly dying and saving the world prevents you from relaxing, Percy reflected, biting his lip. When could he ever rest? Or will people need to depend on him solely? Gods, he had his parents—Paul and Sally . . .
Friends, which was pretty much everyone in Camp Half-Blood. Even Clarisse.
And . . . Nico.
Who was he considered? Percy wanted to protect the son of Hades, but the younger demigod pushed him away . . .
Percy returned to the book.
'We just want the scepter!' Nico shouted. 'We're trying to stop Gaea. Are you on the god's side or not?'
A second arrow hit the ground between Nico's feet and glowed white-hot. Nico stumbled back as the arrow burst into a geyser of flame.
Love is on every side, Cupid said. And no one's side. Don't ask what Love can do for you.
'Great,' Jason said. 'Now he's sprouting greeting card messages.'
Movement behind him: Jason spun, slicing his sword through the air. His blade bit into something solid. He heard a grunt and he swung again, but the invisible god was gone. On the paving stones, a trail of golden ichor shimmered—the blood of the gods.
Very good, Jason, Cupid said. At least you can sense my presence. Even a glancing hit at true love is more than most heroes manage.
'So now I get the scepter?' Jason asked.
Cupid laughed. Unfortunately, you could not wield it. Only a child of the Underworld can summon the dead legions. And only an officer of Rome can lead them.
'But . . . ' Jason wavered. He was an officer. He was praetor.
Then he remembered all his second thoughts about where he belonged. In New Rome, he'd offered to give up his position to Percy Jackson. Did that make him unworthy to lead a legion of Roman ghosts?
He decided to face that problem when the time came.
'Just leave that to us,' he said. 'Nico can summon—'
The third arrow zipped by Jason's shoulder. He couldn't stop it in time. Nico gasped as it sunk into his sword arm.
'Nico!'
The son of Hades stumbled. The arrow dissolved, leaving no blood and no visible wound, but Nico's face was tight with rage and pain.
'Enough games!' Nico shouted. 'Show yourself!'
It is a costly thing, Cupid said, looking on the true face of Love.
Another column toppled. Jason scrambled out of its way.
My wife Psyche learned that lesson, Cupid said. She was brought here eons ago, when this was the site of my palace. We met only in the dark. She was warned never to look upon me, and yet she could not stand the mystery. She feared I was a monster. One night, she lit a candle, and beheld my face as I slept.
'Were you that ugly?" Jason thought he had zeroed in on Cupid's voice—at the edge of the amphitheater about twenty yards away—but he wanted to make sure.
Percy rolled his eyes. Who cared about Jason? For once, shut up and just focus back to Nico! He turned to page, skipping to a part that caught his eye.
'Stop it!' Nico yelled. 'It's me you want. Leave him alone!'
Jason's ears rang. He was dizzy from getting smacked around. His mouth tasted like limestone dust. He didn't understand why Nico would think of himself as the main target, but Cupid seemed to agree.
"Of course; it's not all about you, Jason," Percy snorted out loud.
Poor Nico di Angelo. The god's voice was tinged with disappointment. Do you know what you want, much less what I want? My beloved Psyche risked everything in the name of Love. It was the only way to atone for her lack of faith. And you—what have you risked in my name?
"I've been to Tartarus and back," Nico snarled. "You don't scare me."
I scare you very, very much. Face me. Be honest.
Jason pulled himself up.
Around Nico, the ground shifted. The grass withered, and the stones cracked as if something was moving in the earth beneath, trying to push its way through.
'Give us Diocletin's scepter,' Nico said. 'We don't have time for games.'
Games? Cupid struck, slapping Nico sideways into a granite pedestal. Love is no game! It is no flowery softness! It is hard work—a quest that never ends. It demands everything from you—especially truth. Only then does it yield rewards.
"Skip one paragraph," Percy muttered.
'Nico,' he called, 'what does this guy want from you?'
Tell him, Nico di Angelo, Cupid said. Tell him you are a coward, afraid of yourself and your feelings. Tell him the real reason you ran from Camp Half-Blood, and why you are so alone.
Nico let loose a guttural scream. The ground at his feet split open and skeletons crawled forth—dead Romans with missing hands and caved-in skulls, cracked ribs, and jaws unhinged. Some were dressed in the remnants of togas. Others had glinting pieces of armor hanging off their chests.
Will you hide among the dead, as you always do? Cupid taunted.
Percy clenched his hands that were already forming into fists. He knew that Nico was frightened with whatever he had to face.
Waves of darkness rolled off the son of Hades. When the hit Jason, he almost lost consciousness—overwhelmed by hatred and fear and shame. . .
Images flashed though his mind. He saw Nico and his sister on a snowy cliff in Maine, Percy Jackson protecting them from a manticore. Percy's sword gleamed in the dark. He'd been the first demigod Nico had ever seen in action.
Later, at Camp Half-Blood, Percy took Nico by the arm, promising to keep his sister Bianca safe. Nico believed him. Nico looked into his sea-green eyes and thought, How can he possibly fail? This is a real hero. He was Nico's favorite game, Mythomagic, brought to life.
"I've failed you," Percy whispered out loud. He blinked the tears that already formed in his eyes. Had he lost his connection with Nico? Was he the problem why the Italian became inflicted with so much pain and hatred for his life?
Jason saw the moment when Percy returned and told Nico that Bianca was dead. Nico had screamed and called him a liar. He'd felt betrayed, but still. . .when the skeleton warriors attacked, he couldn't let them harm Percy. Nico had called on the earth to swallow them up, and then he'd run away—terrified of his own powers, and his own emotions.
Jason saw a dozen more scenes like this from Nico's point of view . . . And they left him stunned, unable to move or speak.
Meanwhile, Nico's Roman skeletons surged forward and grappled with something invisible. The god struggled, flinging the dead aside, breaking off ribs and skulls, but the skeletons kept coming, pinning the god's arms.
Interesting! Cupid said. Do you have the strength, after all?
'I left Camp Half-Blood because of love,' Nico said. 'Annabeth . . . she —'
Still hiding, Cupid said, smashing another skeleton to pieces. You do not have the strength.
'Nico,' Jason managed to say, 'it's okay. I get it.'
Nico glanced over, pain and misery washing across his face.
'No, you don't,' he said. 'There's no way you can understand.'
And so you run away again, Cupid chided. From your friends, from yourself.'
'I don't have friends!' Nico yelled. 'I left Camp Half-Blood because I don't belong! It'll never belong!'
The skeletons had Cupid pinned now, but the invisible god laughed so cruelly that Jason wanted to summon another bolt of lightning. Unfortunately, he doubted he had the strength.
Nico's voice was like broken glass. 'I—I wasn't in love with Annabeth.'
'You were jealous of her,' Jason said. 'That's why you didn't want to be around her. Especially why you didn't want to be around . . . him. It makes total sense.'
Percy's eyes quickly re-read. Nico was jealous of Annabeth? But . . . what does that exactly mean?
All the fight and denial seemed to go out of Nico at once. The darkness subsided. The Roman dead collapsed into bones and crumbled to dust.
'I hated myself,' Nico said. 'I hated Percy Jackson.'
Percy blinked at the words. He reviewed everything he could possibly have to make Nico's anger turn out at him. Percy swallowed hard. He deserved Nico's anger. Scanning down, he read farther.
'I had a crush on Percy,' Nico spat. 'That's the truth. That's the big secret.'
He glared at Cupid. 'Happy now?'
For the first time, Cupid's eyes seemed sympathetic. 'Oh, I wouldn't say Love always makes you happy." His voice sounded smaller, much more human. 'Sometimes it makes you incredibly say. But at least you've faced it now. That's the only way to conquer me.'
Cupid dissolved into the wind.
Percy's eyes bulged at the following words. What—? How—? When—?
Slowly, pieces began to form. You were jealous of her, Jason had commented.
But then if Nico had a crush on me, Percy wondered, why does he hate me?
On the ground where he'd stood lay an ivory staff three feet long, topped with a dark globe of polished marble about the size of a baseball, nestled on the backs of three gold Roman eagles. The scepter of Diocletian.
Nico knelt and picked it up. He regarded Jason, as if waiting for an attack. 'If the others found out —"
'If the others found out,' Jason said, 'you'd have that many more people to back you up, and unleash the fury of the gods on anybody who gives you trouble.'
Nico scowled. Jason still felt resentment and anger rippling off him.
'But it's your call,' Jason added. 'Your decision to share or not. I can only tell you —"
"I don't feel that way anymore,' Nico muttered. 'I mean...I gave up on Percy. I was young and impressionable, and I—I don't . . . '
His voice cracked, and Jason could tell the guy was about to get teary-eyed. Whether Nico had really given up on Percy or not, Jason couldn't imagine what it had been like for Nico all those years, keeping a secret hat would've been unthinkable to share in the 1940's, denying who he was, feeling completely alone - even more isolated than other demigods.
'Nico,' he said gently, 'I've seen a lot of brave things. But what you just did? That was maybe the bravest.'
Nico looked up uncertainly. 'We should get back to the ship.'
'Yeah. I can fly us —'
'No,' Nico announced. 'This time we're shadow-travelling. I've had enough of the winds for a while.'
Percy dropped the book on his bed, staring up at the ceiling. He had to do something. Gods, Nico went through every painful, hurting, and . . . every damn other bad feeling.
Rubbing his neck, he squeezed his eyes shut. How was he so . . . stupid? So oblivious?
That must explain why Nico kept far away. He was afraid of rejection, in more ways than one.
The son of Poseidon formed a plan, as he dropped the book on his bed. He was going to talk to Nico. Right now.
The House of Hades: pages 285—293
