PERCY:
He watched Nico climb to the yardarm and quickly turned when Nico caught his eye.
Nico seemed different somehow. More at easy. As if he had come to some kind of an understanding somehow.
Percy planned on talking to him and hoped he wouldn't push him away again. He had this urge to protect everybody lately from the unfairness of this all.
He had always wanted to be a normal teenager. Guess the emotional unbalance was catching up with him.
It was nice to see that Nico was able to have a conversation with someone without getting angry even though it was weird that he would choose Jason.
Jason walked upto Percy.
"I'll go clean out Coach Hedge's room", he told him. When Percy looked at him uncomprehending, he added, "For Nico to stay"
"Oh", Percy replied, "Oh, yeah. Okay"
Jason patted him in the back and left.
Great, now a kid was treating him like he was an idiot.
Percy stood there for a while, facing towards the ocean, feeling the spray of water on his face and bare chest.
Somebody cleared his throat and Percy turned, almost jumping.
Nico stood there with his hands in the pocket of his aviator's jacket. He was slightly red, probably all the fighting and Leo's fire had slightly singed him.
"There's something I need to show you", he said.
Percy nodded. Then he added, "Uh, Nico you look kinda red. Are you sure you aren't burnt? Are you hot?"
Nico turned pale and scowled slightly. "I'm fine", he replied tightly.
There it was again. Nico's walls went up as soon as Percy talked to him. He wondered for the millionth time why Nico still hated him so much.
Motioning Percy to follow him, he walked to the kitchen.
As soon as Percy reached the kitchen, Nico stopped him.
"Close your eyes", he ordered.
Still confused, Percy closed his eyes.
He heard Nico open the kitchen door.
"Walk straight", Nico guided.
And obviously, Percy walked into the kitchen counter.
"Oww", he complained and was about to open his eyes when Nico shouted, "No, keep them closed!"
"Nico, I will end up banging into everything and manage to make stuff fall", Percy replied irritatedly.
There was silence. He wondered if he had said something wrong.
"Okay, open your eyes", he heard Nico say but this time the voice was very close. He could almost feel the coldness off the son of Hades.
He opened his eyes and saw Nico standing right in front of him, holding a plastic container.
Which contained blue cookies.
At first Percy just stared at them with eyes wide.
Those couldn't be what he thought they were.
"Did you make those", he asked stupidly.
Nico rolled his eyes and blew the strands of hair out of his eyes.
"No, silly, your mom made them", Nico replied and Percy couldn't tell if he was sarcastic.
He took the container from him, and slowly opened it. The familiar smell of his mother's cookies wafted out and he knew even before picking up one, that his mother had made them.
His eyes stung but he blinked hard.
He picked one up and the familiar homely taste of the cookies burst on his tongue and he almost choked.
Nico was looking at him intently but Percy didn't know what to say. What could he say anyway? Thank you? Ask him how he got the cookies? Offer him a cookie?
Anything he could say would be irrelevant and pointless.
"I went to see your mother", Nico answered even though Percy had said nothing.
He wanted to ask him how she was. He wanted to ask him if he had explained things to him. He wanted to ask him if he had met Paul. He wanted to ask him what his mother had said.
He wanted to ask him so many things that all the words clogged his throat.
"She's as okay as she can be without her son", Nico replied and the last three words got slightly caught in his throat.
It did occur to Percy that Nico had no family except Hazel and his immortal father who wasn't really a nominee for the best father award.
Percy nodded again and Nico left the kitchen.
He stood there with a container full of blue cookies.
He went back to his room and saw Annabeth curled up on the bed. She looked so peaceful, and even more beautiful in her sleep that Percy couldn't help but kiss her on her cheek. She smelled of tropical flowers and her curly blond hair shone like gold and covered half her face.
Percy smiled and went to clean up.
He took a shower and wore a Camp Halfblood tshirt and pyjamas. Then he crawled into the bed beside Annabeth and put an arm around her as she turned to face him in her sleep.
His eyelids slowly got heavy and shut down and he drifted to a deep sleep.
Then the dreams pulled him into a different world.
He stood in a huge old Greek room with twelve thrones. The walls had pictures depicting various important moments of ancient Greece. It was obviously Olympus but with a chill he realized it was the original mount Olympus.
In the center of the room was a huge bronze cauldron. Beside the cauldron stood, unmistakably, Zeus. He did look way younger than he was now. He would've passed for a 25 year old. He wore a white chiton and a heavy golden crown on his head. He waved his hand over the cauldron and it shimmered. The dark blue liquid in the cauldron boiled
Percy was about to peek inside the cauldron to get a closer look when Zeus thundered, "Hermes!"
Hermes flew into the room with a large plate, the size of a table top. Hermes looked younger and more handsome than he did now. "Father", he said, bowing. Then he emptied the platter in the cauldron.
Percy nearly threw up when he saw what the platter contained.
It had chopped up parts of a human being, a young boy.
The rest of the Olympians slowly filled into the room and Percy noticed an old lady in a long white bed sheet walk in.
Okay, maybe it wasn't a bed sheet but it was weird dress in multiple folds.
She had wispy silver hair and her face was like leather. She moved slowly, her bony hands folded in front of her.
Percy's spine tingled and something told him that this lady was one of the Fates.
She walked to the cauldron and spoke in a language older than Greek which Percy did not understand. But her voice was more like hissing.
A satyr walked into the room. His horns were very long and curly and they looked like they were made of the most beautiful polished wood even though Percy had no idea about wood. His beard and fur on the goat legs were golden, the colour of corn. His eyes twinkled like dewdrops under the beautiful moonlight on a spring dawn before the moon went down and sun fully came up.
"Pan", Percy whispered and recalled the older version of the Lord they had met while exploring the labyrinth.
Pan walked around the cauldron and waves of magic rolled off him and into the cauldron. He danced extremely gracefully, a dance of joy, which Percy had no idea how he did it in those hooves.
Just then the surface of the cauldron broke and a young boy was lifted into the air.
The boy was stark naked. His eyes closed, he was levitating in midair.
He was beautiful, Percy could tell. His face cut, his body structure were like that of a god. Entrancing. His skin glowed a milky white and his blond hair fell in waves. He was muscular and well built.
The only problem was his missing shoulder.
A woman with lustrous black hair and warm brown eyes filled with grief, stepped forward. Her long white dress shifted in earthly colours and her hair was braided with grass.
Percy recalled the unfortunate events that led to him first meeting this woman. But now she looked so depressed, he almost felt sorry for her.
Demeter raised her hands and closed her eyes. She twirled her fingers and the boy's missing shoulder grew back, though in a more purer white colour.
Percy somehow knew it was ivory.
Another woman walked into the room.
And before she entered, Percy knew she was different from all the gods.
She walked in gracefully and even without looking at her Percy knew she was a woman of great power. Even in his dream her power staggered him.
Her long black hair was braided with silver and gold. She had a circlet around her head and a gem that rested between her eye brows. The gem changed colour each second. Her eyes, like the gem, changed colour, but not the way Aphrodite's eyes did to suit your eye colour preferences. Her eyes changed colour with light.
Her face was regal and soft. But her arms were muscular, like those of a warrior. A dagger with a blade of something older and way more powerful than celestial bronze or imperial gold, hung at her waist.
The gods seemed to bow their heads in respect and Percy found himself doing the same out of subconscious compulsion, though he knew not why. And nobody could see him anyway, but he bowed his head.
She waved her hand casually and the boy was dressed in a white chiton embroidered with golden.
She went closer and held the boy's face in her hands.
Pan continued to dance around the cauldron, now including the woman on his circle.
She brought her face close to the boy's and whispered, "Live again, Pelops"
Even though she whispered, Percy could tell her voice was rich and it tugged at the very core of his being.
The boy's eyes snapped open. They were a beautiful blue, sparkling royal blue, speckled with turquoise.
"Thank you, mother", Zeus said and bowed to the woman and that's when it hit Percy.
This woman was Rhea, the mother of the gods and the queen of the titans. Percy's grandmother.
"Lead them to the feast, son", she said to Zeus warmly. She turned to smile at two other Olympians who Percy hadn't noticed before.
One of them was tall and muscular and was dressed in his armour. His long hair was held together by a brooch and his face was scarred, his jaw line prominent. He looked angry and disturbed and momentarily he reminded Percy of Nico.
Rhea took his hand and said in ancient Greek, "You are here with me today, my eldest. Please do not distance yourself"
Oh. Now Percy knew why this guy reminded him of Nico.
She led him out of the room as the other Olympians filed out but before leaving she turned to smile towards the other guy who had been standing beside Hades.
When Percy looked at the other guy, he nearly collapsed. If it was possible to collapse in a dream.
The guy was Percy.
Okay, not Percy, but a thousand times better version of Percy.
His face looked better chiselled, his arms and legs were perfectly tanned and toned. He was slightly taller. His black curly hair was more shiny and prettier. He stood more confidently and smiled casually but genuinely. He wore a white chiton but it didn't matter. He would've looked good even in a potato sack. His sea green eyes twinkled with love.
All the Olympians had left the room except the better version of Percy and the cauldron boy, Pelops.
Pelops struggled to move. It was like he was trying to move underwater, from the looks of it.
Better-version-of-Percy supported Pelops and helped him balance himself.
"Welcome to the world, again, Pelops", Better-version-of-Percy said, his voice deep and rich. "We're glad you're whole again"
Pelops straightened himself and brushed the blond hair out of his enchanting blue eyes.
"Thank you, Lord", Pelops replied. His voice did justice to his face, "But if it's not too rude, may I ask who you are?"
Better-version-of-Percy laughed, his eyes twinkling with mischief. Then smiled coyly, "I'm Poseidon"