Hello everyone! And so here's the next chapter to Be Mine! I hope you enjoy it! Sorry that it's so short, but I hope you won't mind, I promise I'll try to make the next chapter longer!
Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson and The Olympians nor Corpse Bride
"A new arrival!" A voice spoke, but Percy didn't recognize it.
Percy slowly opened his eyes, adjusting to what was before him.
"He must've fainted," the same corpse that had abducted him said as he reached for Percy, "are you alright?" He asked, his arm coming under Percy's head, holding it up.
"What?" Percy's words slurred a little, his head was pounding a bit, "what happened?"
"By Jove man, looks like we've got ourselves a breather," the same skeleton from before announced as he looked Percy over, soon enough he was shoved to the side and Percy saw a woman with blue skin and patches of stringy hair look him over.
"Does he have a dead brother? He's delicious!"
"Claudia please," the corpse from the woods shoved her away.
"He's still soft..." another corpse said, this one had a slit throat and she had a feather still in her hair, which was braided, she continued to poke Percy, "what kind of junk are you feeding him Nico? I want some!"
Percy backed away, somewhat whimpering, from him and looked around him. It looked to be a bar where he woke up.
"Hi, I'm Will, the chef around here," a man with a few pieces of skin and blonde hair still on him came up to Percy.
"Hey, I'm Travis-" said a boy.
"And I'm Connor," interrupted another boy.
"We were poisoned!" Finished Travis.
"I'm Piper, nice to meet you!" Said the girl with the slit throat who had poked Percy upon him waking up.
"A toast then!" Another skeleton shouted, she had a sword stuck right in the middle of her chest, her long black hair braided in a single braid, she held a cup of what Percy assumed was beer in her left had and then drank it, gulping it down quickly. Her companion that was also drinking with her, took the sword out of her chest as soon as she began to gulp her beer and Percy saw the liquid come rushing out of the hole in her body, her companion filling up his own cup from it. Percy then saw her companion chug the beer too but he had a huge gaping hole in the middle of his chest and Percy saw the liquid rushing down in a stream. "To the newlyweds!" She shouted once more.
"Newlyweds?" Percy asked, confused, rubbing his head to make sure he hadn't hit it that hard, if he had hit his head at all.
"Oh, in the woods," the same corpse that had abducted Percy before leaned against him, and twirled around Percy, explaining to him what had happened, "you said your vows so perfectly." He showed off the gold band on his left hand to Percy, who looked down at it in surprise.
"I did?" Percy asked him, "I did," Percy repeated once more, realization striking him, he turned around and began to hit his head against the bar table, "wake up! wake up! wake up!"
"Bonjour!"
Percy looked to his left to see someone coming out of the small crowd forming around him and the corpse.
"Coming through! Coming through!" Someone yelled and Percy was met with the sight of a decapitated head, who used his veins as little legs to "walk" on. Percy thought he had gone insane for a moment there.
"My name is Mitchell, I am the head waiter, haha," he laughed a little bit as he introduced himself.
Percy gasped, his mind couldn't seem to handle it all. He backed slowly away from the head as it continued on, not noticing the strange look Percy was giving him.
"I will be creating your wedding feast!" He said proudly.
At that moment, the corpse's eyeball popped out his head and a green maggot came out, having heard the head say wedding feast, the maggot looked at Percy and Percy looked at it with surprise, "wedding feast! I'm salivating!" The maggot said.
Percy gasped at the talking maggot, he knew he really was going insane!
The corpse covered his eye, pushing the maggot back inside, "oops! Maggots! Ha, ha, ha," the corpse's trilling laugh soon followed, before he bent to pick up his eyeball and popped it back in his head.
Percy backed away from him and in doing so, bumped into more skeletons surrounding them.
"Keep away!" Percy yelled, panic once more gripping him, he didn't where he was or how he got there or how he was going to get out. He looked around him and saw the other skeletons just looking at him as if he was the crazy one. He looked over the woman who had a sword in her chest and tried to take it out of her body to use against the skeletons but when he tried to pull it out, he found it was stuck and instead of just having the sword with him, Percy got the body with the sword too.
"Stay back!" He shouted once more, "Uhh! I've got a- I've got a...skeleton woman! And I'm not afraid to use her! I want some questions. Now!"
"Answers," the skeleton woman Percy was holding told him, "I think you mean "answers", and my name is Reyna," she said.
"Right! Thank you yes, answers. I need answers. What's going on here?" Percy asked, "where am I? Who are you?" Percy directed his last question to the corpse that had taken him.
"Well...that's kind of a long story," he replied, looking a bit sheepish, "my name is Nico..."
"A really good story at that," said a man with blonde hair and one blue eye. There was a bullet going through his right eye, "the name's Jason," he said as he walked over to a cracked and old piano, "it's a tragic tale of romance, passion, and a murder most foul."
"You better listen, this is going to be good," Reyna elbowed Percy, who was still holding onto her sword, and of course her. Percy noticed and immediately let go of her, sending her crashing down on the floor.
"So we've got a new arrival eh? Well that's refreshing, although something seems a bit off..." Jason said before touching the keys of the piano, "hit it boys."
Jason
Hey! Give me a listen, you corpses of cheer. 'Least those of you, who still got an ear. I'll tell you a story, make a skeleton cry. Of our own jubiliciously lovely corpse bride.
Bone Boys (Travis, Connor and Will)
Die, die we all pass away
We don't wear a frown cause it's really okay
You might try'n'hide
And you might try'n'pray
But we all end up the remains of the day
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeahhh
Jason
Well our boy was a beauty known for miles around
'Till a mysterious stranger came into town
He was plenty good-lookin', but down on his cash
And our poor little baby, he fell hard and fast
When his daddy said no, he just couldn't cope
So our lovers came up with a plan to elope
Bone Boys
Die, die we all pass away
We don't wear a frown cause it's really okay
You might try'n'hide
And you might try'n'pray
But we all end up the remains of the day
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeahhh
Jason
So they conjured up a plan to meet late at night
They did not tell a soul, kept the whole thing tight
Now his mother's wedding dress fit like a glove
You don't need much when you're really in love
Except for a few things, or so I'm told
Like family jewels and a satchel of gold
Then next to the graveyard by the old oak tree
On a dark foggy night at a quarter to three
Nico was ready to go, but where was he...?
Bone Boys
And then?
Jason
He waited
Bone Boys
And then?
Jason
There in the shadows, was it a man?
Bone Boys
And then?
Jason
His little heart beat so loud
Bone Boys
And then?
Jason
And then baby, everything went black
Now when he opened his eyes he was dead as dust
His jewels were missin' and his heart was bust
So he made a vow lyin' under that tree
That he'd wait for his true love to come set him free
Always waiting for someone to ask for his hand
When out of the blue, comes this groovy young man
Who vows forever to be by his side
And that's the story of our Corpse Bride.
The song finished and the people went wild, clapping their bony hands together. Nico led Percy out of the crowded pub and into the streets. Percy saw that there were more people in this place he was in. He saw an old hunched back skeleton woman, he saw three coffins lined up next to each other. Bats were perched under lamp posts and ravens and crows flew all around.
The sky was black, without any moon or stars. Some of the buildings looked dilapidated, with huge cobwebs hanging down like decoration. Percy saw skeleton people greeting each other as they passed each other.
Percy was too busy looking around that he didn't notice when he bumped into someone. The man was wearing an old gray suit with a gray top hat.
"Sorry," Percy and the man said at the same time, moving to the right. Then moving to the left as if in unison trying to go past each other.
"Sorry," the man said as he split himself in half and moved past Percy.
Percy looked after the man, astounded by what had just happened.
"What is this place?" Percy asked Nico, finally getting a grip on the situation he was in.
"It's the underworld silly," Nico laughed easily.
"Where? Wait-"
"Come along now, I'll show you where we'll be staying soon enough."
With that, both men walked through the streets. All the while Percy was trying to fit the pieces together in his head.
Up in the world of the living, Mayhew coughed once more before lighting up his pipe in the brisk night. He stood by the awaiting carriage parked outside the chase's household.
Annabeth looked out the window standing next to Sally who was also looking out the window for any sign of her son. Annabeth had felt bad for Percy at the rehearsal and wondered if he would come back at all tonight.
"Annabeth," Athena called her daughter, "come away from the window."
Annabeth let out a heavy sigh before listening to her mother and going to sit next to her on the couch.
"I'm sure he'll be back soon enough," Sally said, though only Poseidon and Annabeth seemed to have listened and she mostly said to herself to keep her calm, "he doesn't do too well in the dark."
"Sally dear, come have some tea," her husband called, he knew she was feeling anxious.
Soon enough, a knock was heard outside the east wing where they all sat near the fireplace.
"Enter!" Frederick called and then Lord Kronos appeared through the doorway.
"Ah! Lord Kronos," Athena greeted, "I trust the room is to your liking."
"Thank you, you are a most gracious hostess," Kronos said as he moved to stand in the center, "which is why it pains me to be the bearer of...such bad news." He snapped his fingers and soon enough the town crier makes his way into the room, his bell clinking a bit at the movement. Kronos looked over at the town crier, "would you care to repeat tonight's headline for us?"
"Hear ye! Hear ye!" Frank's booming voice rang sharply throughout the quiet room, disrupting the silence as he started his announcement, "Percy Jackson seen this night on the bridge in the arms of a mystery woman! The dark haired temptress and Master Jackson slipped away into the night!" He repeated the headline and then, in a much quieter voice, "and now the weather. Scattered showers-"
"Enough!" Kronos interrupted, "that will be all."
Frank turned around and left promptly.
"Mystery woman?" Sally questioned, "but Percy isn't even like that and he didn't even like any of the women we tried to set him up with."
"Or so you thought," Kronos began, he then started to make his way out of the room, standing by the doors he looked back at the five people remaining, "do call for me if you need my assistance..." he looked over at Annabeth then, "in any way." He then closed the doors to the east wing room and left them all stunned.
Athena looked over at her husband, "good heavens Frederick, what should we do?"
"Fetch me musket," Frederick said, with a determined voice.
"Poseidon," Sally's voice gripped with fear at what Frederick was thinking about to doing to their son, "do something, anything."
"The town crier probably had a slow news day," Poseidon tried to calm them all down, "you know how it is, sometimes you just need something cry about," Poseidon joked, taking Frederick's musket out of his hand and settling it down somewhere else.
"Regardless," Frederick began, "we are one groom short for the wedding tomorrow," he said and then more to himself, "not to mention the financial implications..."
"A most scandalous embarrassment for us all," Athena agreed with her husband.
"Give us a chance to find him, please," Sally begged them, she didn't want Frederick to go out hunting for her son, wedding be damned, "give us until dawn."
Annabeth feared for Percy, and then felt somewhat hurt at the news, she knew Percy wasn't at all a cheater but then why was he with another woman?
"Very well," Athena relented, "until dawn."
"If you ask me," the maggot Leo, began to speak to Nico in his head as he and Percy made their way through the underworld city, "your boyfriend seems kind of jumpy."
"He's not my boyfriend," Nico whispered, trying to make sure Percy didn't hear him and think Nico was talking to himself, but he looked over and saw Percy looking at their surroundings, "he's my husband."
Percy meanwhile was lost to his thoughts, as they walked on.
Since Percy was in the underworld, did that mean he was dead? What was going on in the Town? Did anyone realize he was missing? How long had Percy been gone? How was he ever going to get back?
Percy looked forward and from his peripheral noticed Nico was by his side, stealing glances at Percy and then laughing softly. Percy couldn't help but think that Nico was a bit attractive in a strange way. Percy had never been interested in anyone before, but he did think that some men and women were beautiful in their own way. Percy didn't consider himself straight or anything of the like. He didn't label himself. He also couldn't deny that Nico, when Percy actually took the chance to look at him, was very good looking.
He was extremely pale, which is reasonable considering Nico was dead. Nico had black hair so dark it resembled the sky above them, that curled at the ends making it seem shaggy, messy, ruffled and absolutely adorable. He had dark brown eyes that if Percy looked too deep in them, he swore he would drown. And finally there was the fact of Nico's small, blue, thin lips. Percy found Nico to be fascinating.
And although Percy was still scared, that didn't mean he was scared of Nico. After all, it was explained through song that Nico had made a vow and Percy had ended up marrying him. I mean who practices in a graveyard their marriage vows? Percy just hoped he could figure something out and soon.
"So, I've got you a marriage present, since we're married now," Nico smiled warmly at Percy.
"Oh? Thank you, but that wasn't necessary," Percy followed Nico towards these steps and started to go up.
"Don't be silly, I wanted to give you something."
They made their way to the top and when Percy looked around, he found that it was a balcony that overlooked the entire town they were in.
"Wow," Percy breathed out, astonished by the view, it was beautiful.
"Its a beautiful view right?" Nico came up beside Percy, "kinda takes your breath away, well it would if I had any, heh, heh."
"Isn't it romantic?" Nico asked as he moved away from the view.
Nico chuckled slightly as he moved to sit down on a bench that was there. Percy looked his way and Nico patted the seat next to him gently, signaling Percy to sit next to him.
Once Percy was situated, Nico handed Percy a box that was wrapped in black wrapping paper and white bow tie on top. Percy shook the box gently, trying to figure out what Nico had given him. He heard a sound, but couldn't identify what it was. Percy settled to opening up the present instead.
When he did, Percy took out a collar and Percy had no idea what to do with it. He looked inside the box again and saw that there were piles of bones. But as Percy fingered the collar some more, he notice a name tag was on it. Percy flipped it over and saw the name Mrs. O'Leary engraved on it.
"M-Mrs. O'Leary?" Percy said in disbelief. Nico only chuckled as the piles of bones inside the box began to shake.
They flew to the ground where they rearranged themselves to form the body of a small dog. Soon the small dog gave a yip, barking at Percy who was shocked, until he started to laugh.
"Mrs. O'Leary!" Percy called to the dog, as it came closer and he put the collar on.
"It took a bit to find her," Nico mused, "but when I did, I knew you'd like it."
"Thank you, so much. Mrs. O'Leary was the best dog out there, though I didn't have her for very long. Then one day well..." Percy trailed off.
"But she was very obedient, look: Mrs. O'Leary, sit." Percy commanded, and so the dog did his bidding, sitting when told.
"Good girl, now roll over," Percy gave another command, which the dog also did.
"Okay, now play dead..." at that, Mrs. O'Leary whined sadly and Percy realized that she already was, "right sorry."
Soon enough she jumped up on Percy's lap and yelped some more before turning to Nico who rubbed at her chin, "oh what a cutie!" Nico said as Mrs. O'Leary wagged her tail.
"You should have seen her with fur," Percy agreed rubbing Mrs. O'Leary's back.
Nico laughed some more as he rubbed Mrs. O'Leary before hugging her near his chest, and Percy glanced his way. Maybe Nico wasn't too bad, sadly though, Percy needed to go back to the living. He was supposed to be married.
"Okay, now, we're going home," Nico said as he got up off the bench and started to descend the stairs with Percy and Mrs. O'Leary following.
They reached a small building which housed apartments. Nico opened the door and told Percy that his place was on the first floor.
While walking, Percy came up with the idea to tell Nico that, since they were married now, he needed to meet his parents then, Nico would let Percy go back to the living and Percy could tell people he had been abducted.
Although, he did feel slightly bad about lying to Nico who had been so nice to him. But he had to go back home, he had a wedding to attend, his very own.
Nico closed the door and led Percy to the bedroom. It was a small bedroom but large enough for two people. Percy looked around and he heard Nico laugh nervously.
"So, you and I...will sleep here. Until of course we get a bigger house..." Nico told Percy, who looked down at the queen sized bed.
Suddenly, Percy's cheeks filled with color at the thought of sharing a bed with Nico. It wasn't meant to be anything, but Percy couldn't help it as his heart beat just a bit fast, for an unknown reason.
Nico laid down and patted the spot next to him, which Percy found himself filling and very slowly, the drifted off to sleep.
"Hear ye. hear ye. Percy Jackson has slipped away with another woman! Been gone for one day now! Chases' call off the wedding! Annabeth Chase to now marry Luke Castellan!" Frank called out through town.
Kronos sneered in defeat as he saw Annabeth Chase come out of the church wearing a white wedding gown, with her new husband Luke Castellan. Her parents looked on, relief flooding onto their faces as they were no longer bankrupt.
The night Percy disappeared, his parents did everything they could to try and find him while Kronos tried convinced Annabeth's parents to marry her off to him but it backfired as the little brat somehow convinced her parents to marry off to Luke instead once she heard of her parent's plan to marry her off to him. It worked just fine for the Chase's when Percy's parents came back with no luck on finding Percy, the Chase's thought that he had run off. So they ended the marriage and Luke and Annabeth were married today.
Kronos had come here to marry her but it seemed like his plan backfired and now he was at a loss. Until it hit him. The Jackson's had money and they wanted to marry their son off. Kronos thought this back up couldn't have come at a better time than now.
While Sally and Poseidon went back to their home, disappointed with the marriage being called off, Kronos walked over. He thought of proposing marriage to Percy, and win his parents over with his 'charm'. And since the whole town now knew of his mistress what family would marry their daughter off to the Jackson's now.
As Kronos walked the Town's streets, he heard the Town Crier ringing his bell.
"Hear ye, hear ye! Percy Jackson been gone for one day since slip with mistress"
Kronos rang the doorbell to the Jackson household and a maid answered. Once Sally and Poseidon were situated, Kronos proposed to have people look for Percy, while also asking for Percy's hand in marriage, to which, they agreed to quickly.
So far, his little plan was working. All he needed now, was to find Percy Jackson and marry him.
And so that's a wrap! Sorry for any spelling mistakes and grammatical errors! I hope you enjoyed reading this!