I couldn't wait to write this chapter and now, here it is. Shout out to all the readers who make my writing worth it.
PERCY:
It was a few hours after dawn, when Nico woke up.
Jason was still asleep in the awkward position he had fallen to the ground in, snoring softly.
Percy had been singing to himself when he saw Nico sit up gingerly. He stopped abruptly and hesitated to go help him.
In the end he pulled Nico up and straightened him. Nico groaned and felt his left abdomen which had only a scar now.
"Uh, can you pass me my satchel?", he asked Percy, dusting his jacket. He was wrapped up in the old Aviator's jacket, shirtless. The jacket that had been too big for him earlier but now he was slowly filling into it.
Percy picked the satchel up and handed it to Nico who pulled out a black Guns N Roses tshirt and slipped into it. He sat down and winced slightly.
"You going to wake Blondie up?", Nico asked gesturing towards Jason.
"Yeah", Percy said but he made no effort to move.
"Nico, about the kiss-", Percy started but Nico cut him short.
"Percy", Nico said it so pleadingly that Percy couldn't help but want to hear what he wanted to say, "It was a rash act. I was scared. I thought I was going to die and did something impulsive. I hate that I troubled you with it while you had more pressing problems, like saving the world."
Percy looked at Nico. He was fourteen years old but he'd aged beyond his years over the time he'd known him. What had happened when he thought he was going to die, Percy thought, was the childish part of him. Or so he hoped.
Nico looked over at him apologetically.
"Come here", Percy asked, spreading his arms.
"Uh, sure, let me sprout a pair of wings", Nico said sarcastically, rubbing his left side.
Percy grinned and crawled to Nico and hugged the younger boy who sat stiffly, a complaint stuck in his throat.
"Now- wake him- up", said Nico as Percy squeezed the air out of him.
Percy got up and clicked his fingers. A blob of sea water came floating out of the sea and hung over Jason's head. He waved his hand and the water fell on Jason, splashing him into consciousness.
Jason woke up, waving his gladius clumsily, trying to zero in on a threat.
"Yeah, you would've killed them all", Percy replied rolling his eyes.
Soon, they had packed the little belongings they had and had already started making way towards the town when the Sun rose over their heads.
They were finding the city of Preveza so they could take a train to the closest place to Pyrgos they could.
Percy led the way, talking to tree nymphs occasionally to find the right path. Nico and Jason followed him, lagging a little.
"So what did you guys do, before he woke me up?", Percy heard Jason ask Nico. He could almost hear the smirk in his voice.
"Shh, he'll hear you", Nico hissed but not low enough.
Percy could still clearly hear both of them. He rolled his eyes.
Jason laughed softly, "That guy is half deaf, okay? And even if he does hear us, he won't understand anything. His processor is so damn slow, we would destroy Gaia and be on our way back home before he understands"
Nico laughed and stifled it midway.
Percy almost turned around and smacked the son of Jupiter upside the head.
But that would mean them knowing that he had been eavesdropping and they'll be more careful next time and Percy wouldn't know what would be going on with them.
Also, Nico would get embarrassed.
"Well, nothing. I just explained some stuff and it's all okay", Nico replied casually.
Percy smiled.
"...And?", Jason pushed.
"He hugged me", Nico almost squeaked and Percy almost laughed.
Was this how teenagers his age dealt with small crushes and stuff? Percy had never really done stuff like that. But he had little experiences of his own with these kinds of drama. Rachel, Luke, Calypso, Reyna. Percy wondered if one day he would look back and laugh about the fact that Nico was also in the list of people who came between Percy and Annabeth.
Jason laughed again and Percy realized he had never seen Jason this carefree. He wondered if anybody ever had. He had been a roman praetor, son of Zeus. He had to be disciplined. Right now, he was just a regular sixteen year old guy teasing his friend.
Then he wondered when Nico and Jason had become friends.
He felt a little disturbed at that thought. Percy had spent years trying to make the son of Hades comfortable. It had only take a few weeks for Jason to befriend him.
"Okay, watch this", Jason told Nico and before Percy could help himself, he turned to look at whatever Jason was showing Nico.
That had probably been a good thing because just then Percy walked into something solid and fell right back on the mossy floor. If he would've been facing the way he was walking, he would've ended up with a flat face.
But when he turned to see, apparently he had walked into not so thin air. There was nothing he could've banged into.
Nico snorted and then stopped, "Uh, Percy?"
Jason waved his hand. "He's fine. Get up, fishface. That was for giving me an uncalled for salt bath this morning", he pulled Percy to his feet while he rubbed the side of his head. Jason had created a hard vertical column of air.
"Well, at least you don't smell anymore", Percy sniffed, exaggeratedly.
"Nothing like a little embarrassment to bring people together", Nico said dramatically.
"You'd think embarrassing Kronos twice by destroying him would bring our parents together", Percy pointed out.
"Come on, Ladies", Jason replied, shoving them ahead. "We've got a train to catch"
"Why can't we take a train?", Jason grumbled.
"Because we've got the Ambracian Gulf to cross", Percy pointed out happily. The sea lifted his spirits always.
"Then we hire a car at Vonitsa and the take a train from Amfilochia and then again change trains at Fyteies and then at Angelokastro-", Nico went on saying the names of the Greek town in a funny accent but Percy interrupted.
"Can't we just ask Annabeth to meet us somewhere closer?", he half whined. He was missing her more by each minute.
"Yeah, Jackson, I miss Piper too", Jason replied, as if reading his mind, "But we've got to do what we've got to do."
Percy hated how casual Jason was with his relationship with Piper. He could barely breathe without Annabeth. She had been part of every big adventure he ever had. They had been through Tartarus together. Maybe Reyna was right. Maybe he couldn't find his way out of a paper bag without Annabeth.
Percy looked at the little boat they had hired and in which they were currently making their way through the Ambracian Bay. It was a lot like the boat Hazel, Frank and he had taken on their quest. This boat was called The Annie.
The bay was narrow and by the speed Percy was moving them in, it wouldn't take them more than a couple of hours to land on shore. Plan was to shadow travel (Jason and Percy were totally against it but Nico insisted and it was hard to not let Nico get his way) to Vonitsa and then hire a car and drive till sundown.(After Nico had assured than that he could conceal them in shadows from Gaia so they could safely travel by ground. They had little choice anyway)
Nobody said anything throughout the boat ride. The silence was eerie after all the joking in the morning. Jason was probably feeling awkward at taking the sea route. He'd rather fly over the bay like Superman, he'd said himself. Percy was finding it increasingly difficult to understand the new Jason.
And Nico seemed very fascinated by the sea. He stared into it like he couldn't quite grasp the concept of the ocean.
Percy got them to the other side of the bay in less than four hours. He thought he deserved some appreciation for that but as soon as they touched the ground, Jason and Nico whined about getting food. That just made Percy crankier.
They walked into the first restaurant they saw, which was coincidentally, or not, a McDonald's. What a McDonald's was doing here, Percy had no idea.
Nico's eyes twinkled at catching sight of the McDonald's. He walked briskly to the door and looked back at them, gesturing them to follow. Jason shrugged and followed him inside with Percy just a few steps behind.
The restaurant was empty. Except for two of the staff members, one girl and one guy. The girl smiled at them and motioned the guy to take their order.
The guy turned to smile at them, and for a second he looked like Tyson. With one eye.
Percy froze. "Tyson?", he asked uncertainly.
Nico and Jason gave him an odd look, as if he should've been wearing an orange straightjacket.
"Percy, are you okay?", Jason asked him.
"Are you a Cyclops?", Percy asked the guy at the counter.
Nico stepped on Percy's foot but the boy hardly weighed anything so he just ignored him.
The guy at the counter looked at him as if he didn't understand.
"I don't know what you mean, sir. My name is Abraxus. I don't understand what you're saying. If you want I can call my partner, Aurora", he said in Greek.
Nico replied calmly in Greek, "No, it's okay, we're fluent in Greek. My friend just though you looked like someone he knew"
Jason looked from Percy to Nico to Abraxus and to Percy again. "You know my Greek isn't that great", he complained.
After ten minutes, they were seated on a table in one of the corners, overlooking the ocean, hogging on burgers. Nico had a happy meal and the sight stirred something in Percy. Gosh, this kid loves his happy meals, he thought smiling.
Jason had finished his meal but Percy had only started his fourth burger. "I'm going to go clean up and change", he told them.
"You don't have clothes", Percy reminded him, his mouth full of food.
"I'm going to wash them. And then dry them.", Jason told him but when Percy looked at him uncomprehending, he added, "Perks of being the son of Jupiter", and walked off towards the washrooms.
"I prefer when he's being the golden boy and stuff", Percy muttered but Nico was too busy with his happy meal. He took out the toy which was some cartoon character in a blue hoodie and brown skin tight pants. The figurine's hair was white but it was clear it was a young boy. He had a brown staff in his hand. Nico slipped the toy in his pocket.
Percy finished his burger and got up. "We should go freshen up too", he told Nico.
Nico turned pink. "Uh, you go change and after you both are back I'll go", he said hurriedly.
Percy shrugged and went into the washroom. Jason stood shirtless, drying his purple tshirt with hot air that was blasting from his palm. He turned as Percy entered.
Percy washed his face and took his shirt off and washed it too. But all this while, something was nagging at his brain. Something he should've remembered. About seven years of this demigod crap and he still forgot important stuff. He felt like he was forgetting vital information. He handed his shirt to Jason to dry off.
Just then a big crash was heard and then a rumble that shook the ground. They rushed outside the washroom to the restaurant.
Table and chairs were fallen, broken.
Sunlight streamed from the dealing but that was strange because there was roof. Or there had been a roof.
In the midst of the rubble, stood Nico clutching his sword, face to faces with a hydra.
I'm hoping somebody realized that it was a Jack Frost figurine Nico got. Just a random Rise Of The Guardians reference :D
Thank you for reading! I'll update ASAP.