AN: From the people that brought you some weird stuff, here's some more weird stuff.

Thanks for reading/reviewing/favouriting/following. And sticking with me. Yeah. It'll go somewhere. Eventually.

Enjoy!

Nico's reaction to seeing Percy bound and vulnerable was immediate and physical.

A tsunami of fear nearly knocked him from his feet. Was Percy hurt? Was he scared? What had happened to him? He sprinted to Percy's side, putting a hand to his face.

"Percy?" he called.

Percy groaned, which Nico assumed meant he was coming to. He grabbed at the chains that bound Percy to the bed, and searched for a lock.

"Aren't you going to thank me?" Zagreus asked, with more confusion than anger.

Nico gave him a good glare, "You can't just… what do you think you're doing?"

The god frowned at him, "Giving you a gift," he said, "I don't know why you'd want him, personally I find him spectacularly annoying, and I'd be quite happy to kill him, but I know you want him, so I'm giving him to you."

"You can't just give me a person!" Nico cried.

"I can do as I please, Nico," Zagreus explained with a smile, "I told you, I will be the ruler of everything, soon."

"You can't… Percy isn't a thing, Zagreus!"

"Yes he is," said Zagreus, with a frown of confusion, "he's a very annoying, talking thing."

"No, he's a person!" Nico protested.

Zagreus shrugged, "And now he's your person. Considering he's all you've ever wanted, I would have expected a bit more gratitude."

"I want him to want me!" Nico shouted, "I don't want to rape him!"

Zagreus pursed his lips, "Jason said people do as you say when they fear you."

Now Nico was completely lost. "What?"

"Make him fear you, and he will do as you ask."

Nico gaped in confusion, "But… I don't want him to fear me…"

"Wha's… wha's… Nico?" Percy was stirring. Which made Nico panic anew at the thought of Percy blaming him. It didn't matter that he had no hope for Percy ever actually loving him back, he just couldn't handle more of that hatred.

Zagreus let out a sound of annoyance and made a hand movement as though he was throwing something at Percy. The invisible thing landed on Percy's face, creating a gag that covered his whole mouth. Still sleepy and confused, Percy only moaned around it.

"Let him go!" Nico shouted at Zagreus, who simply folded his arms, sulkily.

"He's my prisoner. If you don't want him, I can always put him in the dungeons."

"Zagreus…"

"Or I could send his head to his father as a message."

"No!" Nico cried, using his whole body to shelter Percy now.

"You're a fool, Nico," snapped Zagreus, "he'll never fear you if he knows you won't kill him."

"I don't want him to fear me, I want him to love me!"

The words hung in the air. Percy had stopped stirring, and Nico suspected that was because he was fully awake. But the idea of it mattering that Percy knew his big secret was almost laughable now.

But Zagreus just stared. "Why?" he asked.

Nico didn't really know what to say. He didn't know what Zagreus was asking. Why he wanted Percy to love him should be as obvious as why didn't he want to rape Percy.

"Look," he tried, "Please, unchain him."

Zagreus frowned. "No," he said, "He's a prisoner. He tried to take me back to captivity, he's been nothing but rude and arrogant since I met him. He stays in chains."

"He thought he was doing the right thing," Nico tried.

"Then he will learn the difference by staying chained," said Zagreus, coldly. "Come, you will both witness my power. You will both see what is coming."

He clicked his fingers and the chains holding Percy slithered to the ground, pulling Percy along with them. Nico tried to catch him, to stop him being hurt, but he landed with a thud anyway. Maybe Zagreus had decided to take his anger out on Percy, who was forced to crawl along the floor following the god. Nico followed behind, not knowing what else to do.

Zagreus led them to some sort of great hall. It was decorated in a way that made Nico's mouth drop even through his fear. He didn't miss the sheer opulence, nor the figure at the centre kneeling on the floor.

"Jason," Nico gasped. The blond boy looked bent and broken, and Nico couldn't imagine what Zagreus was thinking.

Percy went from resisting to downright fighting. He battled the chains that held him and continued to drag him across the floor. After only a moment, Nico dashed to Jason's side.

Jason looked up at him in confusion. "Nico? What are you doing here?"

Nico ignored the question. He wasn't chained to the floor, his safety was not in such immediate doubt. "Are you alright, did he hurt you?"

Jason shook his head. "I'm fine," he said

"Of course he's fine," snapped Zagreus, "I do not harm my property."

Jason looked back at the floor. "I'm no one's property," he said quietly.

"Yes you are!" snapped Zagreus, "And this one is my prisoner," with a foot, he shoved Percy over onto his side, "so I give him to my brother!"

Nico shook his head. "Please don't hurt him."

"He's yours!" shouted Zagreus. "Take his chains!"

Nico stood carefully, and held out his hands. Zagreus let out a sound of relief, and shoved the chains forward. Nico took them, then carefully turned to Percy and dropped them, and resumed his attempt to free him.

Zagreus roared with fury. He waved an arm, and all three of the demigods were thrown against a wall, and held there, spread eagled with chains. "No!" he roared. "No! I give you a gift, and you throw it in my face? I offer you the world and you tell me I'm wrong! None of you deserve a thing. But I need a partner. So, I give you a choice. The first to ask for it, will be my partner. You can rule at my side, forever. You will have everything you could possibly desire, the power of a god, followers kneeling at your feet. The other two will be our slaves for the rest of your miserable lives! You will grovel at our feet, and do as you are told or face the consequences. You will live in fear and misery!"

The three demigods watched him in silence. Nico heard Percy splutter as his gag disappeared.

"Jason," said Zagreus, "We could be together forever. You could be my lover, my consort, my equal. I need you at my side!"

Jason shook his head and looked away. Nico saw the tears in his eyes, and wondered what the story was there.

"Nico!" Zagreus cried, "My brother. When you are immortal, Percy will be your plaything. You want revenge, don't you? For all those years he spent with that girl? For every time he gave you hope and then tore it away? For every moment you were alone when he was with friends and family and in love?"

"No," Nico replied, with certainty, "I can't blame Percy for loving Annabeth."

"But for not quite choosing?" said Zagreus, "he kissed you, and he thinks about you. You would never need to rape him, because he wants you. When you're immortal, he will fall in line as he should."

"No," Nico repeated, not daring to look at Percy as he spoke, "If he wants me I'll be happy, if he doesn't I'll be sad, but that's the way it's supposed to be."

With a curled lip, Zagreus turned to the last young man against the wall.

"How about you, Jackson?" sneered Zagreus, "I have so much hatred for you that without this offer you will wish you'd never been born!"

Percy coughed. "I turned down immortality once already. And eternity at your side doesn't exactly sound like a bonus," he said. "And I could never own a slave."

Zagreus glared at him. "No comment on your relationship with Nico?" he said, "No denial that you kissed him?"

Percy didn't reply. He looked at the floor and Nico could tell he was ashamed.

Zagreus simply sneered some more, "Well, let's see if this helps you make up your minds."

He snapped his fingers and Annabeth appeared, holding a huge sketch in her hands and looking tired but healthy.

"Oh!" she gasped, presumably because she'd been busy doing something else before she appeared here. "Er… what's going on?"

"Here's an extra bonus," said Zagreus, "The first to volunteer as my partner gets the girl. To do with as they please."

"Don't you touch her!" Percy screamed, "don't you lay a finger on her!"

Zagreus turned to Nico, "See, Nico? It is hopeless unless you choose my side. But there's another fun little secret here, isn't there?"

Annabeth was staring at Percy who was still chained and naked. There were few who could be impressive in anger in such a condition, but somehow Percy had managed it, though it did him no good.

Zagreus sneered at them all, "My dear sister in law, great aunt, whatever she is, the beautiful Aphrodite is a wonderfully manipulative creature. I know, she's an Olympian, she's supposed to be one of the good guys, isn't she? Goddess of love and beauty. Nothing there to fear, nothing there to hate. She sees a twelve year old girl with blond hair and a twelve year old boy with black hair, on a quest, running around the country putting their lives in danger, unlikely to live past thirteen, and rather than thinking 'poor dears, I'd better give them some help,' she thinks, 'Oo, they would look cute on a wedding cake.' And 'what a nice story they could be.' So she stops to talk to them, makes the right suggestions, uses her special, manipulative ways, and boom, they're 'in love'"

He looked between Percy and Annabeth, smirking wildly, "Maybe she wanted to get at Athena, who is such a sneering, patronising goddess after all, but probably she was just bored. So she makes a love stpry to please her aesthetics, but forgets there's someone else who might love one of them. Ignores the possibility that one of them might meet someone they could genuinely love."

Nico's heart skipped a beat. Could that be true? Could Percy's love for Annabeth be just the spell of a goddess?

"Has that taken down her price, Percy?" sneered Zagreus, "has that made Nico more appealing? They could both be yours, you know. Neither could complain of the other because they'd both belong to you!"

Still no one spoke. Annabeth looked confused, but remained uncharacteristically quiet.

"I don't want to kill her," snapped Zagreus, "she's been designing me a very beautiful home, but I will if I have to!"

"You don't have to!"

The words came from Jason. He was watching Zagreus with an expression of disappointment. "You don't have to do any of it! You told me, Zeus welcomed you with open arms, why would you want to destroy him?"

"I don't want to destroy him!" Zagreus cried, "I just know I should be the one ruling!"

"Why?" said Percy, "Were you elected?"

"Ha!" snapped Zagreus, "This isn't about some human nonsense! This is forever! This is eternity! I am above all other gods! It is my fate to rule!"

"If it's fate then doesn't that mean that the Fates rule?" asked Percy.

"No…" said Zagreus, "I am meant to rule! I would be fair in a way Zeus has never imagined! I would be good and strong!"

"By creating slaves and killing innocent creatures?" Percy countered.

"Slaves are natural!" shouted Zagreus, "The weak find protection with a stronger being and in return they give their bodies and their labor."

Everyone shook their head, but they barely dared to reply.

Zagreus roared with anger. "Fine!" he cried, "I'm a protogenesis! I do not need a human partner! I will rule alone."

He spun on his heel and disappeared.

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