AN: Once again, many apologies - have been very neglectful. Had some massive things going on in real life, which have been getting in the way.
The biggest issue I'm having with this fic is that I see it going in a certain direction, but the co-creator, the one who told me the myth of Zagreus within the Greek mythology, is desperate that I don't go there. Which could potentially make the ending rather... lacklustre and unsatisfying. For this reason, I promise never to co-write anything again. But I will do my best to come up with an ending worthy of your lovely comments. Once again, thanks for supporting, reading, following, favouriting and, most particularly, reviewing. I'm still working on it!
By the way, my copy of BoO arrived today. Am carefully not reading it until this is done. In case... well, you can imagine. PLEASE AVOID SPOILERS!
Enjoy.
Percy was the first to speak, still confused but mostly worried. "Annabeth, are you alright? Has he hurt you?"
Annabeth shook her head. "I'm fine. Why are you naked?" she asked.
Percy looked down, and noticed for the first time that he wasn't wearing any clothes.
"Shit! Why am I naked?" he shouted. He tried to hide his body, but of course his hands were chained away from him, and that was impossible. Neither of the other guys were naked. Why the hell was he?
Nico blushed but didn't answer. "Can you find a way out of these chains, Annabeth?" he asked instead. "Is there a key or something?"
Annabeth shook her head, "I don't… I don't think he's chained anyone up before..." She looked around herself, as though hoping to find the key just laying about.
"What were you thinking, Annabeth?" Percy suddenly shouted, suddenly overwhelmed by fury at everything, at her, at Nico, and Zagreus, at Athena, "You've been helping him build a house? Are you crazy?"
With a casual scratch to her head, Annabeth said, "Well… he… he hadn't chained my fiancée naked to a wall at the time…"
Percy stared at her. Had she actually gone mad since they'd last seen each other? "He kidnapped you and is trying to take over the world!"
"Well, I suppose, if you look at it like that," she said, "but have you actually talked to him?"
"What?" cried Percy, "He's trying to take over the world!"
"Well, yes, he is, but he's very…"
Percy gaped, "Very what?"
Annabeth sighed. "Look, this is a strange conversation to have while you're chained up and naked."
"Yeah, and then you built a house for the guy who did it!"
"Look," snapped Annabeth, "he did kidnap me from the apartment, right? But then he explained…"
"Explained why he kidnapped you?" Percy looked at the other two guys, looking for someone to agree this was crazy, but both had clearly chosen to stay out of it. Nico seemed to refuse to even look in his direction.
"My Mom gave me his sword to look after," said Annabeth, "his sword, Percy! I'm a human, how was I supposed to keep a sword away from a God?"
"You defeated the giants and the titans!" Percy cried.
"No, we did! With the help of a lot of gods," Annabeth corrected, "she never believed I could actually do anything to survive against Zagreus! She was sacrificing me so she could deny responsibility!"
Percy was torn between defending Athena and the truthful way he felt about her. "OK," he said, "so our parents are crap, but Zagreus is worse!"
"Is he?" asked Annabeth, in the tone of an annoying teacher, "Why?"
"Annabeth, he chained me naked to a wall!"
"Yeah, and my Mom, and Jason's Dad, and, well, most of the Olympians have actually tried to kill you."
She had a point there, but that didn't make Percy any less chained to a wall!
"Can you just find some keys, please?" he stropped.
Annabeth looked at him and rolled her eyes. "Fine, I'll go ask him…"
"Annabeth!" Percy protested in shock.
"Look, you've got to stop and listen to him!" she told him more, as firmly as any of Percy's teachers would have, "Because he's telling the truth. He's broken Aphrodite's spell, Percy."
"What? Aphrodite never put a spell…"
"Think about it Percy," she snapped, "What do you feel about me? Really?"
He frowned at her. "I love you," he said. He'd known that for longer than he cared to admit.
"Really?" she repeated, arms folded, looking more like the first Annabeth he'd met, proud verging on arrogant and very condescending.
"Of course," he said, and tried very hard not to look at Nico. He could tell his face had dropped to the floor, and Percy hated himself for it.
Annabeth just shook her head at him and strolled off. Percy wondered if she just hadn't noticed the bit where Zagreus had offered her as a slave.
"That was weird!" he said.
"Yeah," said Nico.
"He isn't a bad person."
That was Jason. They both turned to him, frowning, until Jason clarified, "He just… doesn't understand … you know… people."
"Doesn't understand people," Percy repeated, sneering, "He's a psycho."
"He's not!" Jason cried. "I don't… he's…."
And Jason stopped, mid sentence, confused.
"Is everyone going crazy?" snapped Percy.
"I'm just… I think he means well…"
"OK, I might be the only one naked, but I'm not the only one chained to a wall!" snapped Percy.
Nico chanced a glance at him, and Percy got the feeling he was the only person who completely hated Zagreus.
"Yep, you're all going crazy!"
"Percy, will you listen to yourself?" snapped Nico, angrily.
Percy stared at him. Nico was staring at the floor again, like he couldn't bare look at Percy, which Percy kind of understood. He was pretty sure he wouldn't know where to look if Nico was naked.
"What, are you going to defend him, now?" Percy snapped, "And just to get back at me?"
"Hardly," Nico snapped back. "He swore he would be a good leader."
Percy rolled his eyes, "Yeah, and Kronos told me the same!"
"No, he promised to return humans to the stone age," Nico corrected, "Zagreus swears he'd be fair."
"Fair for who?" Percy demanded, not really believing his ears.
"Well, there's not much we can do about it right now, is there?" Nico grumbled, "So stop trying to make us all feel worse."
Percy sneered at him. He couldn't really believe it had come to this. Zagreus had proven his strength over Percy time and again, but Percy was not the type to give up. No one was going to destroy Western Civilization on his watch. He would find a way to beat Zagreus, whatever it cost him.
...xxx…
To Nico it felt like hours later when they were finally released from their chains. By that point, no one had the energy to run, and they followed dutifully as someone led them to the rooms they'd woken up in. For some reason, Nico and Percy were shoved into the same one, and as Percy clambered around searching for clothes, Nico sat with his back to him and tried to figure out what to do. It wasn't helped by Percy's sudden appearance beside him dressed in Nico's t shirt and a pair of jogging bottoms. Both of which were slightly too small for him.
"What just happened?" Percy asked.
Nico sighed. "The short or the long version?"
"Why was I naked?" Percy asked. Again. He'd seemed a bit obsessed with that point, which Nico thought was probably reasonable.
"I think he just… doesn't like you?" said Nico
"Well, that's a pretty sexually aggressive form of dislike," said Percy, sulkily.
"Yeah," Nico replied, still avoiding his gaze, in case Percy linked that to Nico.
"People don't usually hold me hostage for long," said Percy, "is it always like this?"
Nico frowned at the hint that he was someone people took hostage regularly,"Er, when I was trapped inside a brass jar with no air, you mean?"
"Maybe. Were you ever captured any other time?"
"Not for any significant length of time, no," said Nico, coldly.
"Oh," Percy replied, "Good."
Nico laughed. It was a strange one, it just felt necessary to find some laughter right now.
"So… what do we do?" he asked. What should they do about Zagreus caved away to what could they do about Zagreus.
"I don't know," replied Percy. "I don't know anything about him. How do you kill a god?"
Nico shifted, "I don't think… I don't want to kill him, Percy," he admitted.
Percy couldn't have looked more angry if he'd just announced that he was about to smack a puppy.
"You don't want to?!" he shouted, "Nico, he's trying to take over the world!"
"He's trying to take over Olympus," Nico corrected, "Do you think that Zeus is really better than him?"
"He…" Percy started, then stopped.
"What?" Nico asked.
"He kidnapped Annabeth, he kidnapped Jason…"
"I don't know what's going on with Jason," said Nico, "but Annabeth hardly seems worried."
"No," said Percy, thoughtfully.
Nico watched him. Zagreus had made a huge claim about Percy and Annabeth that left Nico reeling. And hopeful. Desperately hopeful in a wretched way. He didn't dare believe that the love between Percy and Ananbeth wasn't real. But he wanted Zagreus' claim to be true so much.
"Ok, so Zeus isn't perfect," said Percy, "and most of the gods have tried to kill me at least once, but my Dad hasn't. My Dad's different! I can't let Zagreus hurt my dad!"
"Your dad's a god, Percy," said Nico. "Don't you think he should be the one to protect himself against another god?"
Percy clearly didn't like that, "What, so it's your great suggestion that we just hang around here and wait for the gods to sort it out?"
Nico frowned. He hadn't meant to say that, but. "Maybe," he said.
"Oh my gods, Nico!" Percy cried.
Nico shifted uncomfortably, "He might not even want to hurt our dads!"
"He kidnapped us all!" Percy shouted.
"Yeah, well we tried to stop him, didn't we?" Nico cried, "We're his enemies and he took us prisoner in comfortable rooms. He didn't sacrifice us or set us fighting impossible monsters for entertainment, or…"
"He tried to give me to you as a sex slave!"
Nico swore. He was kind of hoping that somehow Percy hadn't noticed that. "He just… doesn't understand," Nico protested, "He thinks that I would want that. He's trying to make me happy!"
Percy didn't give, "You mean he thinks people are things!"
"Maybe," Nico replied, uncertainly, "but are you telling me the Olympians are better?"
Percy let out a great breath and dropped back down onto the bed. "No," he admitted.
"Well, then," said Nico. "Maybe we should just… wait and see."
"And what if he kills everybody capable of opposing him?" snapped Percy.
Nico shook his head. "What could you do if he tried?"
Percy scowled at him again. "So it's me now?" he sneered, "Not even us! You've just given up?"
"No," said Nico, "I'm just being realistic."
"Gods, I hate you sometimes!" Percy snapped.
"Yeah, well," said Nico. "The feeling's mutual."
"Oh, go fuck yourself!" Percy snapped.
Nico blinked in surprise.
Percy didn't seem to notice. He was too busy glaring furiously at Nico.
"You've just given up! He wanted you to rape me!"
Nico spluttered. "And I didn't… I'd never…"
"You go around acting like he's your brother! Do you know who my brothers are? Mass murderers and criminals and psychos! You don't make friends with them!"
Nico decided now wasn't the time to mention Tyson. Which gave the chance for Percy to continue his rant.
"And you play up this whole lost and damaged little boy thing. So, yeah, shit happened to you! It happened to all of us!"
"And you're better, are you?" Nico shouted, angry, "Because some prophecies were about you? Because you've got this hero complex?"
"No, but at least I know which side I'm on!"
"You're on the side of some megalomaniacs!" Nico snapped, "They've been playing with your life since before you were born, and you think you owe them loyalty?"
"I owe people loyalty!" Percy shouted.
"Yeah, like Annabeth?" Nico returned.
Percy flushed a dangerous shade of purple.
"Yeah," Nico sneered, "Annabeth, the one you're supposed to marry, except, somehow it's me you keep kissing!"
Percy's nostrils flared, "You kissed…"
"No, you kissed me!" Nico snapped, "And you know why? Because Annabeth was a lie too! Another game sent by some thoughtless gods who thought it was fun!"
That made Percy's skin grow darker, "I don't… I … Zagreus was lying!"
"You think so?" Nico demanded, suddenly realising he was only centimetres away now. "I saw the way Annabeth looked at you just now. It was not the way she looked at you before. She doesn't love you, and you don't love her!"
Percy blinked, and Nico thought he saw a tear in his eye.
"I'm sorry," Nico said, quickly. "I know, that was harsh, but it's true and you know it."
Percy shook his head. "It can't be!" he protested, "I was so… sure!"
"No, you weren't, Percy," said Nico. "If you were you'd never have done what we did."
Percy twisted his hands. "I…"
"I think we should stop talking for a while," said Nico. "I don't want us to argue."
"Nico…"
"Think about a way out. We'll both just… plan," Nico interrupted, "Just for now."
Percy took a moment to nod. He looked lost, and Nico wanted to hug him. But he didn't want to be a rebound – he couldn't stand it if he let Percy in again, only for Percy to go off with someone else. Not even Annabeth. He had to keep him at arm's length. Or he'd be broken again.
He wasn't sure he would be able to resist for long.
AN: Poor little Nico.