Hands behind his head, Jason was strolling alongside Nico at the Central Park near their residence. Kicking a pebble on the gravelled pavement, his eyes stared the other Spirit's slightly crestfallen face.
'You okay there, bud?'
'I guess so.'
The awkward tension continued to thrive between them. Well, apart from constantly waging wars against Nico when it came to the battles of having Percy for himself, he made up for a pretty great friend. And friends undeniably need each other. Jason figured out that he has to at least cope with Nico's problems together.
'How do you feel right now, then?'
Nico hesitated, and then started to speak something of what Jason guessed as a confession.
'I'm scared. I'm scared of hurting Percy. Of losing him. You get what I mean?' Jason nodded. 'We both love him, right?' Nico asked, looking straight at Jason's eyes. He nodded again. There was nothing against that; they both loved the devoted boy to the core of his existence.
'So, like what you've seen this morning, I was kinda agitated when I saw Percy drawing blood on his finger. It was like this guilt was eating me alive. I'm just… ugh,' Nico groaned in apprehension, his hands pulling out at his black hair in frustration. He felt like an idiot, trying to seek his beloved's attention and ended up hurting him instead. He felt so useless. Especially when his powers made their appearance all of a sudden, all against his will.
He felt wrecked.
Thus he was startled when Jason gripped his shoulders firmly, his softened gaze swept across Nico's face and smiled in a reassuring way. 'Hey.' His tensed muscles gradually relaxed. 'Don't forget to breathe, dude,' Jason stifled the giggle making its way to his throat as Nico's face contorted with realisation and heaved out a sigh, fumbling his shabby sweater with his hands.
Draping the other Spirit's shoulders with his left arm, he led Nico to a bench. Sitting down at the same time, Jason sighed, 'That's more than a reason to protect him.' And Nico believed that the sentence was one of the truest arguments Jason could come up with.
'We owe him our lives, after all.'
Date a Nico
Annabeth Chase was doing fitness jogging with her best friend Piper McLean at the Central Park, appreciating the slightly breezy morning, which oddly enough, seemed to be losing its glory, dressing itself in gloom and dreariness.
That was kinda unfair, considering tomorrow is Valentine's Day. This sudden revelation prompted her into asking, 'Hey, Pipes? Found a date yet for tomorrow?' The said girl brushed away her brown choppy fringe out of her face, and panted, 'Nope.'
Annabeth nodded, choking up a little bit too much refreshing air as she said, 'Me neither.'
'So, you're waiting for Percy to ask you out, huh?'
'Well, a girl can dream.'
Piper shook her head, smiling at her friend drowning herself in ecstasy. Annabeth had been intensely falling head over heels with that Jackson guy ever since she had known her.
A girl can dream, huh?
She would not want to argue against that one. Percy has not even returned the slightest bit of a feeling to Annabeth, so the whole crush was entirely one-sided. That was why when she saw Annabeth's face lit up at the sight of the sea-green eyed boy smiling dazzlingly at her random courtesy, swooned when Percy waved her in greeting in the hallway, or being not quite herself in his mere presence; Piper could not help but feeling sorry for her friend's futile approaches.
So she let Annabeth dream on.
'Hey, it's kinda weird that our Beauty Queen hasn't found her Valentine yet,' the blonde piped up smirking, catching Piper off guard.
'Actually, most of the guys who asked me out are all shitheads, assholes and of the similar species. I never met a guy who truly accepts me by who I am, not just by my looks or my three sizes. Ugh, guys are jerks and –,' Piper stopped dead on her words. Annabeth glanced at her quizzically before lifting her glance towards the view her friend has been staring at.
Oh, sitting on a bench underneath a lowly stooped oak were Jason Grace and another black-haired guy she could not recognized, but somehow she felt like she had met him anywhere before. Like a déjà vu.
'Look at that hot jock. Meow…' Piper the heartbreaker of boys incredulously mewled like a cat in heat very much dreamily, gaping at the sight of the boy. Annabeth could not believe her eyes as her friend distinctively lowered her guard just for that particular guy. She did the otherwise, though.
Because Jason Grace was the top in her list of suspicious fiends you should be aware of all the time.
The reasons were realistically logical enough. Firstly, the blonde boy was Percy's desk mate for several classes in her timetable. One could say that there was nothing wrong on that particular matter, but when that guy gets so touchy-feely with her crush, Annabeth would deliberately always felt the pang of jealousy in her guts. Those quick pecks on the cheeks and forehead were downright suspicious, and those unnecessary touch, like how he would always wrapped his arms around Percy during reading sessions in the library, made her felt like killing someone.
Secondly, how he changed personality immediately in the presence of Percy, from a calm neat-freak, well-composed and matured kind of man to a totally different creature desperately anxious for attention and busying himself adoring the raven-haired boy. This extremely made Annabeth wanted to puke. Twice. Every time. Of course; from envy. Two-faced bitches must all be avoided at all costs. She concluded this in her study of hypocrisy in human beings. Yes, people said she's been overreacting (Jason's not that bad) but who the damn cares?
Relatively the third reason was the main pillar for the foundation of her mistrust for Jason. The evident and palpable fact that he resembled a being Annabeth resented. A creature worth annihilation. His resemblance with a Spirit whose data stashed in the records of DEM 'most wanted' was endearingly alarming.
Spirits. The disaster killing the world.
When Annabeth met Jason Grace in their school library for the first time, the resemblance of the boy to the Spirit codenamed Thunder in DEM's files was breathtaking. When that happened, she was surprised that no alarm was sounded, not a soul running to the government-prepared shelters for direct evacuations. No spacequakes. Just an ordinary student who, bizarrely enough, was fawning over Percy that time, like he could not get enough of him.
After school, she immediately made her way with her friend Reyna Avila Ramirez-Arellano to the main headquarters of DEM Industries, a huge building located just northern of New York City, getting there with a cab.
Well, she has been working at DEM for more than two years. In secrecy, of course. Joining the sorcery service along with Reyna, Piper and her half-brother Malcolm.
Deus Ex Machina. The world-leading company dedicated to the industrial efforts of developing technology in warfare. One of the first industrial companies to discover how science and magic can fuse together to make the most lethal weaponry, the wonder core of modern armaments called Realizers; equipping military movement around the world.
The reason was only one; exterminating Spirits, fiends from the alternate dimension and harbingers of destruction and imbalance.
Alerting her superiors of her suspicions earned her praise for being an 'attentive and wise' Wizard, allegedly supporting the company to further realise the ambition of a Spirit-free world. She went home smiling.
'I got you this time, Thunder.' She was sure he was already within her grasp.
A few days later, she was in for bad news. Investigators from DEM have confirmed that Jason Grace is just a mere civilian of New York City. There was nothing worth suspicion of his background or his family tree whatsoever. That day, one of the laboratory windows was shattered when she throw a brick she found just to show how frustrated she was.
She would not simply let her guard down after the revelation. Jason Grace resembled Thunder too much that if they got rid of his glasses and clad him in the Spirit's astral raiment, there would be no different at all. The DEM Wizards would blast him into pieces right then.
Alas, that was not meant to be.
'Hello, Annabeth Chase,' Jason greeted her coolly, snapping her out of her train of thoughts. The calming tone annoyed the hell out of her. 'Grace,' was her response, cold and emotionless.
Piper went into seduction mode level one. 'Hello, there! I'm Piper and I'm so lonely for tomorrow,' she hinted a direct proposal complete with the bonus set of eyelashes-battings and hips-swaying. Her doe-like kaleidoscopic eyes were glazed with desire as she leaned down and arched her back that would give any man 'shiver me timbers', her hands twirling a strand of choppy brown hair that tousled past her shoulders, so sophisticatedly beautiful.
'Not interested.'
The direct refusal was accompanied with a polite smile playing on Jason's lips, his fingers twiddling with his glasses apologetically. And thus that was how Piper McLean, beauty queen, cheerleader captain, and ace Wizard of DEM's frontline fighters experienced her first ever rejection by a boy she had finally took interest in. It was simple in its own brutality.
Annabeth decided to ignore her gaping friend, whose face displayed a tinge of red, getting ready for seduction mode level two. She transferred her attention to the other boy, who was silently judging her with those dark eyes, filled with what seemed to be contempt.
Strange. It was as if the gloom that tainted the dark morning was encircling around the mysterious boy. She was sure she had met him somewhere.
Date a Nico
'So Percy, got that note Nico gave you?' asked Rachel right after Percy put on the miniature intercom in his earlobe.
'I knew it was you.'
'Duh. I don't have a date with you. I'll be here at the bookshop with Jason, having a date of my own. Woohoo!' he could hear the commander dancing exaggeratedly by the muffled rustling sounds in the intercom. Not a romantic date of course. Just another excuse to keep the other Spirit out of the way from Percy's date. 'I'm keeping a hottie. I'm keeping your hottie,' Rachel sang with her voice unnaturally out of pitch. He could only smile. Somehow he knew that Jason will blow Rachel's purse dry with his passion for books. 'All right then, I'm going to the rendezvous site now.'
'Oh, I love this part.' Rachel cleared her throat and Percy could hear her nodded. 'The operation will commence momentarily. All personnel, kindly self-report for duty at the main control room,' from the intercom, Percy heard one of Olympus airship crew, Frank Zhang, announced. A girl he distinctively knew from her kind voice, Hazel Levesque, started the countdown. 'Operation Date a Nico will commence on the count of ten, nine, eight, seven…'
While the countdown proceeded, Percy strolled towards the park where he would be meeting with Nico. He tugged at the sleeve of the baby-breath blue sweatshirt Rachel has made him wear, along with the dark blue jeans and a pastel grey beanie. The countdown ended, '… three, two, one.'
Rachel's voice was full of flourish and excitement. 'Now, let the date begins!'
As he waited at the piazza, Percy decided to kill the time by treating himself with a blueberry crepe at one of the food stands. Naturally, blueberry tasted delicious and he has a hard time eating something so scrumptious with table manners. Heck, he's not even sitting by the table, but rather on a bench right now.
He was so engrossed by the heavenly taste of the crepe that he did not notice a figure taking their seat beside him. 'Hey, starting the date without me?' a familiar voice regarded him. Momentarily surprised, he turned his head around just a tad and his eyes settled for the grinning face of Nico, who has slotted a blue rose between his lips.
'For my prince.'
Accepting the blue rose from his date, Percy could not help but wonder at the beauty of the artistic piece, seemingly sculpted from glass, shimmering from how the sunlight of the clear morn caught inside the crystalline petals, unleashing a mysterious yet alluring approach from his beloved Spirit.
'Nico, I –,' his words were halted when the said Spirit gently placed his finger onto the boy's lips, silencing him. 'You're always making a mess when you eat,' Nico chuckled as he wiped off a smudge of cream from the corner of Percy's mouth before licking it away. 'Yum.' The boy felt his cheeks burnt at the sudden touch.
The Spirit offered his hand, which Percy accepted with a smile. The Spirit's raised the boy's hand to his lips, and the kiss resulted was soft and tender, making him blush even more.
'Shall we?'
'I – I guess so.'
As they walked, Percy clung tightly to Nico's hand.
Date a Nico
Rachel sat on one of the couches in the bookshop, a tablet on her lap displaying the image for the surveillance camera following on the progress of Percy's Valentine date. 'Show me Nico's stats.' The crew members were supervising the operation aboard Olympus, 15000 feet in the air above the city, along with all the necessary equipments and state-of-the-art technology as to gain the upper hand in case anything happens. Not that anything would go wrong today. 'Yes, Commander.'
All perimeters based on the Spirit's moods are in balanced. It seemed that everything was turning out fine. 'We're going to crush this petty problem once and for all, people.'
'Rachel, look at this book on avia– What are you doing?' asked Jason, raising one of his eyebrows in curiosity as the girl fidgeted in her seat, her fingers swiping on the screen to open a new tab in the browser. Smiling feebly, she managed, 'Just researching some Greek mythology on oracles and all those craps for the history project.'
The Spirit grinned and took a seat beside the commander, flipped open the book and started to read in silence. Rachel took the chance to position herself facing away from the blonde as to ensure that he would not be seeing the activities undergoing right under his nose. What a close call.
'Hey, Rach – whoa!' A voice yelled before groaning in pain when Rachel hit a certain figure crouching behind her with the tablet. The brute force of it will certainly cause bruises. Leaning down, her gaze met with a very disgruntled Annabeth, now sprawled on the floor. 'What was that for?'
'Hey, Annie! So sorry but you surprised me,' the red-haired girl apologized for her paranoia, standing up and offering her hand to Annabeth. The blonde girl took it gratefully and heaved herself upwards.
'So, a date with Grace, huh?' her voice was cold as she glared at the oblivious boy-presumed-to-be-a-Spirit, his concentration ever unwavering. 'What? No, just keeping Jason's company while we shop for bestsellers.' And burning my pocket money off, Rachel kept that thought silent in her mind. 'Where's your date, Annie?'
'I'm alone, like any other year. I wonder if the goddess of love has cursed me or something, it's always the same every Valentine,' Annabeth sighed. 'Hey, can I hang out with you? Just gonna look out for books on modern architecture.'
'Sure, babe. You can find them at that corner.'
A sealed Spirit and a highly-trained Wizard in the same area seemed not to be a good idea, and she was stuck between those two mortal enemies who were always seeking a chance to slit each other's throats. Sighing, she moved to another couch and continue her surveillance in peace, much to the other two's chagrin. The day could never have been any better.
Date a Nico
'How do you like our date, Percy?' asked Nico, his eyes bore through the said boy, who was sipping his blue caramel latte. 'I'm having fun, man,' he grinned, earning himself a loving look from the Spirit.
Even without the help of Ratatoskr's crew, the date was going along fine. The couple was having fun, visiting the aquarium, wasting time at the arcade, and hitching a ride around the beautiful gardens of the city. Right now, they were having lunch in a Cherry Blossom Café, which served the most delectable desserts Percy had ever tasted.
'Here's your extra-large fruity sundae delight, sirs.'
'I'm going to kill myself eating this,' the raven-haired boy marveled at the gigantic cup in wonder. 'That's it. We're sharing.' Nico chuckled at the sight of Percy's widened sea-green eyes, his face forming an adorable pout as he considered whether to devour the piece of Elysium right then.
'Open wide, ah,' the boy mused as the spoon he was holding pretended to be a soaring airplane, landing softly into the Spirit's mouth, who clamped it down along with Percy's finger. 'Hey!'
'Nothing. I just felt like biting you.'
Percy hit him on the shoulder, his cheeks turning a shade of pink as he watched Nico laughed. Deep down inside, his heart swelled with warmth at the pleasant sight. He rarely sees the Spirit muster even a tiny smile before when he was first sealed. Upon manifestation on Earth, the Wizards of DEM had assaulted him right after the spacequake he has unknowingly caused.
As Nico shoveled the gravelly ice-cream with the spoon he shared with Percy, the boy committed the image of the Spirit earnestly smiling into his long-termed memory. Early when he had first encountered Nico, the Spirit's skin was death-like pale, a dark hood covering the grim face, the brooding black eyes observing him with mistrust and disdain.
Here, under the shimmering light of the sun peeking behind the nebulous clouds, Nico's skin was flushed with colour, his dark hair, cut short at the back, combed neatly with a few strands straying away on his forehead, looking very much like a handsome Italian. Even the way he sat on the love seat they were sharing hinted the regal demeanor of a royal, his style out-of-the world. The dark hoodie he was wearing accentuated his wiry yet sturdy built, along with the skinny jeans and grey sneakers that gave off a strange air of an emo, yet attractive all the same.
'Earth to Percy, Earth to Percy,' a calm voice snapped Percy back into focus, noticing the dancing spoon in front of his eyes. Nico has an amused smile gracing his thin lips, his fingers still waggling the spoon in front of the boy's gaping face, resisting the urge to pinch those soft cheeks.
'Sorry, just got a little bit distracted.'
'Yeah, right. What's distracting you?'
Percy blushed, and Nico realised how the sudden change in colour sent his heart racing almost out of his chest. How can he help it? The boy was a beauty amongst humanity, in both appearance and that carefree mannerism in his recklessness.
Nico allowed himself to drown in amazement. Those eyes tinted with swirling hues of sea green captured Nico's very heart, once clouded in darkness, how the pupil of the left one was pearly white, a tiny island inside the transient colour of green and blue, invaded through his soul. The crooked grin formed on those sweet-looking pink lips and the mess of hair underneath that grey beanie, added up to the things most significant in all of his existence. And that smudge of cream on his nose as he shoved the sundae down his throat. That was just plain adorable.
Percy is perfect in Nico's eyes, and letting him be hurt in any possible way, even the slightest bit, was unforgivable.
'Um, Percy?' his voice wavered a little bit as Nico acquired for the boy's attention. 'Yeah?'
The Spirit started to fumble with the hem of his hoodie, his mouth twitching downwards. Percy guessed that it was not a good sign.
'Happiness level is decreasing. He's starting to feel frustrated, dude. Ease out the tension,' Rachel evaluated the situation through the intercom. 'Roger that.'
Shuffling his body to the left until his side met Nico's; Percy sluggishly leaned against the Spirit, resting his head upon his date's shoulder. He could feel Nico's tensed body relaxed if only a bit. 'This is more like it. Is there anything wrong?'
Twiddling his fingers amongst Percy's soft curls, Nico began, with his voice equally grim, 'I'm sorry for the other day, for hurting you. Jealousy took the best of me. I – I felt so…' His voice trailed off as those oceanic green eyes suddenly gazed through his soul, demanding for silence.
'Nico, look at me.' He raised his head off the Spirit's shoulder and sat upright. Nico slowly brought his head to face his beloved. 'How can I assure you that I'm okay?' Percy posed the unanswered question as Nico shrugged it off; his face looking very much disappointed with his very self.
'I said, look at me, Nico,' he demanded softly, his fingers idly supporting the Spirit's chin from falling down. 'It doesn't matter how many times I was hurt back then. Hell, it's only a small cut! Accidents happen, don't make it such a big deal, man.' Suddenly everything turned from romantic to serious, but Percy had to get his point across.
'So,' he jabbed a finger on Nico's chest. 'Don't ever think you're useless and all the usual shit, okay?' The tone of his voice softened when he whispered the promise he would always declare to every other Spirit he encountered.
'Because even if the whole world rejects you, I will just accept you even more. For you, a thousand times over.'
The smile he saw was probably purer than any gold in mines all over the world.
'Great job, Juliet! Your Romeo's stats reached more than eighty percent. This operation is a success. Good job, people!' squealed the commander from the other side of the intercom, along with the wolf-whistles and cheers from the crews on Olympus. Percy grimaced at the dumb name-calling. 'Uh, Jason, I'm talking to myself, ignore me and get your butt across to Annie – sorry Perce, Sparky's getting suspicious.'
Percy heeded no words from Rachel. Right now, it appeared to him that a moment like this; cuddling up to his Spirit, feeling their heart beat with a single unified rhythm, felt more eminently important than everything else in the world.
Of course, Rachel has to be the party-pooper. 'What's the sitch, Frank? Oh, what the fu –.' One of the crew pressed on something that sounded gravely dangerous. 'Foreign signals intercepting the radar, Commander.' Percy felt himself raised his head in alarmed, surprising Nico.
'Secure your guard, Percy. DEM readings just a few meters from your location.'
Absolute crap.
Date a Nico
'So, I guess we Wizards are just too hot to have dates on Valentine or we're just plain gross in the eyes of the society.'
'You do realise you're talking to your captain, Malcolm Pain-in-the-Ass.'
'What? Heck, we slaughter living things for a living.'
'I don't think those monsters are even considered as living things. And at least we work for the government.'
Malcolm chuckled at Reyna's snide reference on those volatile Spirits. Somehow the combination of his higher-up's steel-hard demeanor and displeasured bitching would always bring him to stitches. His half-sister was nowhere to be seen, probably running off moping with Piper on their bad luck of having no dates.
He would rather hang out with his captain than with Annabeth right now, seemingly that they share the same crush they have been drooling over ever since he could remember.
'Hey, is that Percy Jackson?' Reyna inquired, her brown eyes staring through his soul as the girl pointed her thumb to a certain figure at one of the love seats on the Cherry Blossom Café's outdoor booths. Not exactly, but rather two figures intertwining with each other.
'Oh man, I thought he's into blondes!' groaned Malcolm in displeasure at the sight of the couple cuddling each other in their arms, their gaze locked together, deeply in pleasure and contentment. 'I'm not gay for nothing, for the love of Athena!'
'Stop your complaint, that's just a side note,' said Reyna to a pouty Malcolm. She was peering to his crush's date like a lone wolf stalking its prey. 'Let's get over there.'
Percy seemed to have noticed them from afar, his expression unreadable, yet sending out cautious vibes all over. 'Hey, Reyna and Mal! I didn't expect you guys to be here,' he greeted with that adorable mischievous grin of his. The black-haired boy besides him was deathly silent, his dark eyes judging their presence with suspicion.
Realisation nearly knocked him senseless when Reyna had her face contorted with recognition. That boy. Malcolm was still somewhat unsure, but from the lower part of his face, the boy looked no different from the hooded Spirit he had fought against a few weeks prior.
Spectre.
After a few worthless chit-chats with the couple (well, only with Percy, actually), Reyna nodded her head goodbye and turned to leave, Malcolm in tow. He waved goodbye to his crush, smiling feebly as the boy waved back. Percy's date gave a ghost of nod, seemingly only for courtesy and nothing more.
Walking astride Reyna once more, Malcolm noticed the girl frowning as her fingers tapped the screen of her phone furiously. She halted, assessing the surrounding before beckoning the blonde to sit with her on one of the love seats a few meters away from the couple.
Malcolm finally figured out the gist of the contraption his captain was working with. 'Reyna, seriously?' His surprised tone earned a death glare from the said brunette. 'Shut up, Mal. I know what I'm doing. I'm gonna shoot this just a little bit on his shoulder or any other body parts that won't harm his life, just a little bit pain enough to trigger something to prove he's a fucking Spirit. If he's a normal civilian, well, I can handle a month's suspension off-duty.'
'You're fucking out of your mind.'
Raising her phone with a weird assemble of the Realizer-armed gadget attached in position, she took her aim. The shot of the laser-like projectile went true, hitting the target. There was a yelp and the thud indicating a person falling to the floor. However, the name uttered seemingly was not predicted on the list.
'Percy!'
When the spacequake alarm blared deafeningly throughout the city, Malcolm saw the demented smile on Reyna's lips. 'We have a Spirit to kill.'
Author's Notes: Pardon my plot if it didn't meet your expectations. I can't write humour to save my life. *cries
Anyways, please note that all characters are protagonists in their own twisted ways, as people would do unexpected things to achieve prosperity of this world.
I'm rambling nonsensical crap.
Reviews are more than welcomed and appreciated. A deep thanks and appreciation for the ones sweet enough to follow and gifted favourites for this humble fic of mine. Love you!
Sincerely, Hecate.