(A/N) I'm not even going to bother to make up an excuse anymore.
Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN PJO
Jason was fuming, and he was pretty sure Nico and Will's moods were mirroring his at this point. The demons and the Hunters of Artemis had kicked them out of the meeting tent to discuss "important matters" that no doubt had to do with their plan to storm demon headquarters and kill Lilith. They were a part of this operation, too! Heck, they'd started this operation, and he was feeling very betrayed at the moment. Of course, it was expected that the demons take control since they were the ones who were going to do the killing, but the Hunters felt like they had some special privilege because they hunted with Orion for a few millennia. Well, those days were over. It was supposed to be their turn, and it's not like Jason didn't love sitting back and having all the work done for him, it's just that he wasn't used to it after a long expanse of time where he was the one who was issuing orders, not receiving them. Sure, it taught him a bit of humility, but he didn't appreciate the mutiny and takeover of his ship.
Will and Nico were speaking quietly to each other in hushed tones, and Jason's heart ached when he thought of his girlfriend back home. Both camps had been informed of the fact that the Hunters of Artemis were now getting involved, and as usual the gods stayed silent, but Piper was probably incredibly worried. She'd probably go to Annabeth, one of her best girl-friends aside from Hazel, and speak of her woes, and Jason couldn't even Iris message her and tell her he was okay; the demons had informed them that their kind could pick up on traces of organic magic, which was magic created by a living being and not magic infused into objects and stuff, and their cover would be blown if they decided to use even the slightest bit of their mojo for stuff. So now the demigods were powerless, too. What a fan-fucking-tastic situation.
They'd settled in a heavily wooded area, the boughs of the trees so clustered together that the tents barely fit in between them, and the demigods had been rebellious enough to refuse to sleep in tents, considering the mild temperature and the clear weather. Thalia had rolled her eyes, and Jason knew that they were like children throwing a temper tantrum because a dangerous object had been taken out of their hands, but he didn't care. As far as he knew, this operation was still theirs and the Hunters were just supposed to be along for the ride. The demons could lead a little, of course, but they couldn't suddenly decide that this was a dictatorship. Seriously, they decided everything and the Hunters willingly went along with it! They decided when to set off, when to stop and set up camp, and where everything had to go. Considering they were demons and didn't need rest like mortals did, and neither did Hunters, the journey was grueling for the three haggard demigods, who were constantly being chided to keep up as they trekked for miles at a time on only four hours of sleep.
The shadows under Nico's eyes were more pronounced than usual, starting to act more grouchy and reserved like the boy he'd been before Will had arrived; moody, snappish, and unapproachable. Jason had heard the hero's tales more than once, and it never ceased to amaze him that such an insecure son of Hades could accomplish so much. The only problem was that he drew from Will; Will was his backbone and his everything, and Nico reflected the son of Apollo almost identically. At the moment, Will was starting to look a lot less like All-American Sunshine Boy and more like Feed Me Coffee Now or I'll Collapse College Student. His eyes were constantly drooping, and he nodded off on Nico's shoulder more often than not. It was great that they traveled mostly by day, where his father's power made him stronger, but even the sun power from Apollo couldn't keep poor Will from being dead on his feet. Nico could withstand the strain, having gone through periods like this where he wouldn't sleep for a week on end, but Will was less prepared, since he insisted on eight hours of sleep every night like a normal doctor would.
Jason found that he should probably catch some shut-eye before the meeting, which could last ten minutes or five hours, disbanded. It'd get him through the journey ahead, though the demons have been very vague on the exact location of the headquarters. Was it so nobody could find it again and attempt to kill the demons that they planned to let survive? Jason had no idea. Demons were so secretive, and that's why the son of Zeus trusted them just about as much as he trusted a frothing raccoon with a sign that said "pet me". He snuggled deeper into his sleeping bag, which, to his disgust, had been provided by the Hunters. Jason had assumed they'd be staying at hotels, but no. They had to hike for miles until they had callouses on their feet and their legs might as well be made out of Jell-O.
Nico had suggested calling upon Blackjack to take them there, and Jason felt that he could use a good ride on his old pal Tempest, but the demons had adamantly refused. Pegasi were like French fried to demons; they polished off their hamburger (which just so happened to consist of human) perfectly and were best served fresh. Tempest had organic magic, so he was off the list as well, so all that was left was dealing with the walking. Jason had incredible doubt that the headquarters didn't have a road going to it, and he would flip his shit if he found out that they could've driven there in ten hours instead of ten days. He didn't know how much time had passed, but he knew it was enough time to get his friends back at the camps worried. He missed Piper so much…
The son of Zeus was just on the cusp of sleep when someone shook his shoulder, dissipating the fog of sleep that'd just settled over his mind.
"What?!" he snapped without opening his eyes, turning away from the perpetrator who was trying to pry him away from his much-needed sleep. They may be immortals, but he was still part human and therefore needed his four hours. If he was disturbed, he'd fucking stab a bitch, but there were no knives in his vicinity to stab them with, which he noted was a huge issue. If he'd instead been awoken by Lilith tearing into his abdomen and eating his small intestine, then he'd be less than prepared to ward her off. Not like he could kill her or anything.
"This is a matter of great importance," Orion's voice urged, and Jason cracked open one eye to see the demon's golden eyes staring back at him, like sunlight filtering through fine whiskey. They were quite beautiful when his pupils weren't slit like a snake's. "Your and the other demigods' presence has been requested."
"I don't want to get up," Jason grunted. "I'm exhausted."
"And we understand," Orion assured, grinning. "We know that you mortals have limits, and that's why we're taking breaks." He seemed satisfied, proud, even, of his work in analyzing those who only have a set lifespan. Despite the obvious amusement that was supposed to go along with the demon's 'Did you see that did I do well wasn't it awesome I'm so smart look I know stuff about humans' expression, Jason, couldn't summon the energy to be anything but pissy at him.
"I get four hours of sleep every night, buddy," the son of Zeus snarled through clenched teeth, his eyes narrowing. "I can barely manage to stand every morning, much less hike a bazillion miles. To put it into perspective, I'm supposed to be getting eight hours of sleep. I get half that." Orion seemed astonished, as if he wasn't aware of the fact that the demigods had been incredibly bone-tired for most of the expedition, and that they would be weary for whatever long-distance travel was to come. He either was completely oblivious to the mortals' suffering or had ignored it altogether. Judging from the shocked look on the demon's face, Jason was leaning towards the former.
"Perhaps we can help you with this predicament," the demon suggested, tilting his head to the side in a way that could only be classified as a confused kitten. Or panther, depending on whether you saw the predatory glint in his eyes. "I'm pretty sure Perseus and Alpheus would show sympathy if I told you of the predicament."
"So we'll get to sleep more?" Jason asked eagerly, glancing back at Will and Nico, who were snoring softly, spooning in the jumbo sleeping bag as they seized the opportunity for rest. For the record, Jason knew it; Nico was the little spoon.
"Of course not, that's preposterous!" Orion guffawed as if Jason had just told the funniest joke ever. The demigod's heart sank, and the demon struggled to explain as he saw the son of Zeus' hopeful expression fall and turn bitter, "We're already low on time. It's the only thing we don't have. If we start slacking now we won't be able to make it to the headquarters in time."
"It's not like all the humans are gonna disappear overnight, Orion, we can go slow," Jason pleaded, his eyelids feeling as if they were made of lead as he forced them to open. His mind was a haze, and he was seeing double as he struggled to stay out of sleep's clutches. It was difficult, considering his body screamed for him to run over and give sleep a huge bear hug, but he needed to try and sway Orion's opinion. They needed to slow down or else the demigods wouldn't have enough strength to fight later, and that was a problem.
"Yes, but the longer we wait, the more families that die," Orion replied, his brow furrowing with worry. "The more children that are slaughtered at the hands of my brothers and sisters. The more men and women slain like cattle."
"You do have a point," Jason groaned, and he knew that he couldn't argue with the demon's logic. Demons were incredibly intelligent creatures, almost as intelligent as they were secretive (which was saying a lot), and they'd probably considered all the strategies from every possible angle already, seeing through the eyes of their enemies because they knew them so well. Jason hated to say it, but without them they'd be dead ten times over, and the son of Zeus hated being indebted to creatures like these.
"You should get some rest," Orion commanded. "You need it. The meetings will have to continue without you three, and we'll fill you in tomorrow on the game plan. I'll also try and convince Perseus and Alpheus to help me help you."
"How?" Jason asked, but now that he'd been given permission to sleep he was already slipping under. He couldn't've resisted it if he tried, and as he submerged into the blissful darkness he completely forgot that his question, which had been very important, had gone unanswered.
-Ω-
Jason was, again, rudely awakened by someone, and once again he wished that he had his Imperial Gold sword nearby to stab them. Alas, he'd left it by his backpack so he didn't accidentally shish-kebab himself while he was sleeping. He somehow felt even more tired than he had when he'd drifted off, and he wanted to sob with all the hours of precious rest he was losing. He groaned and sat up, wiping the sleep from his eyes and blinking blearily. He saw the normal commotion of the camp in the morning as things were packed up and supplies were counted, and the aroma of bacon made his stomach let out a persistent growl. It'd have to wait, though, because right now he was faced with Perseus, and he did not look very happy.
"Get up," he grouched, and the demon might as well be the one who was suffering from sleep-deprivation. He looked irritated but not livid, which was a good sign, and most of that irritation didn't seem to be directed at Jason. "We gotta go, and I have to help you since your mortal ass has to sleep and whatnot." He extended his hand, though he didn't seem too thrilled about it.
"You have to sleep," Jason pointed out as he took the outstretched hand and allowed Perseus to haul him up with astounding strength. "At least…sometimes."
"Yes. 'Sometimes' being the key word in that sentence," the demon replied and motioned for the demigod to follow. He saw that Nico and Will's sleeping bag was gone, having been packed, and he wondered if they'd been woken up earlier because they'd fallen asleep earlier. That certainly wasn't a good situation for them, but Jason really was too tired to dwell on it. To keep from nodding off mid-step, he concentrated on the nature around them, which was actually quite beautiful. Even though the forest was dead quiet, all the birds either gone or petrified into silence, the branches danced lazily in the slight, gentle breeze, causing the leaves to rustle soothingly. The dried leaves and twigs crackling underfoot kept Jason alert as he tried to keep himself from face-planting into the ground and falling asleep forever.
Jason grabbed breakfast from the dining tent, which was always the last tent to be packed up, and made off with an apple, a granola bar, and a slice of bread, all of which he gobbled down as if he hadn't seen food in days. Perseus gave him a look that clearly stated that he was disgusted at how much food Jason had managed to eat in such a short time frame, but he couldn't comment because he ate humans. There'd been no coffee to serve, considering most of the immortal huntresses were forever young and hadn't acquired the taste for the caffeinated drink yet. They never would, considering their predicament, and Jason felt at a loss, desperately needing his coffee and not receiving it.
"So, I understand that you're tired," Perseus began as he led him farther away from the camp. Jason felt like he should be suspicious, vaguely remembering the meeting he had with Orion last night, but it didn't really matter to his exhaustion-fogged brain.
"Understatement," Jason scoffed, guzzling the bottle of water he'd snagged as well and tossing the empty container into the recycling bin the Hunters carried around with them (Since their patron goddess was the goddess of nature and animals, they were almost as severe environmentalists as they were feminists).
"So that piece of shit Orion politely asked me with an underlying threat that he'd rip out my heart and feed it to me if I denied," Perseus scowled at the memory, "to let you ride on my back for the next few legs of the trip. We have a long road ahead, so it's only fair that you three rest up for the final battle."
"Ride on your back?" Jason asked incredulously. "Are you giving me a piggy-back ride or something? Carrying me bridal style?"
"No," Perseus replied seriously. "You're going to ride on my back."
"Dude, you stand on two legs."
"But my true form doesn't."
Jason nearly threw up his breakfast as he looked to the demon sharply, very much awake now (who was he kidding, he was still fucking tired), "Your true form? Won't my eyeballs, I dunno, burn out of my sockets if I lay eyes on you?"
"Only during the transition," Perseus replied as he rubbed the back of his head almost…sheepishly. "It's not really my 'true form'. It's just the form I'd take on if I didn't manifest as a human."
"And you can switch between these forms any time you want?" Jason spluttered. "Is that what we saw in the security footages when you murdered that Roman piolet?" The demon flinched a bit but shook his head.
"No, that was just some clever Mist manipulation and cinematography. Trust me, if we reveled our true forms on that tape for real you guys wouldn't've sought Alfie and I out," Perseus looked to the, ground, wringing his hands and shuffling a bit. "We're kind of ugly."
"Don't worry, I've probably seen worse," Jason assured him, but he sounded like he was trying to convince himself. Demons were the epiphany of sin and corruptness, born and raised in the darkness where they hunted. Would their true forms be more gruesome than anything Jason had ever seen? How was he sure that it wouldn't, indeed, burn Jason's eyeballs out?
"So, can I nap on your back?" he asked, and suddenly this whole true form thing seemed like a really good idea. As long as Perseus wasn't covered in spikes, Jason could probably fall asleep. Heck, he managed to fall asleep on a giant metal dragon during his first quest with Piper and Leo. He was pretty sure he could handle whatever this demon was going to throw at him.
"Sure," Percy replied with a nonchalant shrug, but his eyes gleamed with something that Jason couldn't identify. "But…" he hesitated as he found a decent-sized space amongst the trees, the sunlight making his mussed black hair gleam like oil, "…promise not to laugh. I'm hideous."
"Hey, man, I won't judge," Jason replied, turning away from the demon so he could have a little privacy with his transformation. It could've also been because Jason liked his eyesight, no matter how dismal, and wished to keep it. He couldn't keep it if his eyeballs were set on fire. If gazing upon Perseus' true, true form was anything like staring at Hera's, it wasn't going to be pretty, and his heart fluttered in his chest to remind him that yes, he was mortal, and he was going to be standing near something that mortals weren't supposed to be around. The story of his fucking life. A bright light emanated from behind the demigod, and he heard the gruesome and painful sound of bones snapping and rearranging themselves, of limbs shifting and muscles tearing and growing. Jason would never admit that he winced once or twice during the process when he heard a particularly loud crack or a notable ripping sound. Gods apparently had an easier time switching over, and it seemed like forever when the glow began to fade until it dissipated into nothing.
"You done?" Jason asked, looking over his shoulder with his eyes screwed tightly shut. Just because the bright light was gone didn't mean that Perseus wasn't done shifting, and the demigod heard the leaves cracking as the demon shifted nervously.
"Yeah," he said quietly, and for the first time he sounded shy. Vulnerable. Jason wondered how many people Perseus had shown his true form. He could probably count it on one hand. "Please don't laugh."
"I told you I wasn't going to laugh," Jason replied and allowed himself to look, despite the fact that the blood was roaring in his ears and his heart was pounding in his chest.
To say his jaw dropped to the floor would be an understatement.
"I know, I know. I'm one fugly son of a bitch," Perseus sighed, sounding defeated.
"No, no, no…" Jason whispered as his mouth and throat went as dry as a desert. His legs moved of their own volition as he slowly approached Perseus. Only…not. "You're beautiful."
Needless to say, Jason hadn't expected this one bit. He'd figured there'd be spines, drool, pulsing sacs of venom and mucus, slime, darkness, dreariness, coarse hair, huge teeth, claws, and basically what someone would assume a being of chaos would look like. That wasn't the case. The creature in front of him was gorgeous, and Jason had to admit that he was jealous that something could look so inhuman and still be more attractive than every male model combined.
Its body was lean but muscular, shaped vaguely like a panther's, and Jason could see the power packed into the corded muscles that were currently taught in Perseus' shy wariness. His tail was long and whip like, at least eight feet long and curling in the demon's nervousness, and it had a wispy plume at the end like a lion's, only much longer. It rippled even though the wind had stopped. Jason reached out his hand and Perseus hesitantly placed his tail into Jason's open palm, and the demigod gawked as a vague sensation ghosted over his palms, like the plume was an opaque wisp of mist. Perseus chuckled, a sound like a cat purring, and Jason couldn't help but grin as the demon sat back on his haunches, drawing his tail away only to flick Jason in the head with it.
"Stop that," Jason ordered, but his voice was filled with amusement as Perseus continued to harass him, flicking him over and over and drawing his tail back with lightning speed before Jason could catch it. The demigod noted that his feet were mismatched, with his front legs ending in cloven hooves and its back legs ending in paws the size of dinner plates, with long, obsidian black claws to match. Jason tried not to feel intimidated but failed miserably. He finally managed to catch Perseus' tail, and the demon let out a snort as the demigod felt the fine layer of fur that covered the thin, whip-like appendage. It was short and sleek, colored a stunning Aegean blue, and was soft to the touch. Jason really needed to get a mattress stuffed with this, though he knew it was too weird to ask. He was studying the tail when something else hit him, and he released it in his astonishment, looking up to see two sets of huge, bat-like wings, whose flesh was colored similarly to the fur. The pair that was farther down Perseus' back was about half the size of the man ones, which were so huge that they could make a Hunter of Artemis tent no problem individually.
"You really like hitting me, don't you?"
"It's high on my list of things I enjoy," Perseus mused, his voice sounding like three tones harmonizing. That made sense, considering he had three heads. Jason felt footed to the spot as glowing sea green eyes bored into him critically, two minor ones flanking the main head. On its right shoulder was a zebra head, who boasted six eyes, three on each side, and whose stripes were the color of the fur on the body. On the left shoulder, Jason realized belatedly, was a dragon head. It was sleeker than your average bulky dragon, its face more snakelike than anything else, and its scales glittered in the sunlight. Horns wreathed in his head in an elegant crown, and a forked tongue flicked in and out. Jason was probably rambling, but the main head was gorgeous. It was a panther head, with curved ram horns curling around its temples and spiral antelope horns sprouting from its forehead.
"So, you going to get on or what?" Perseus asked, and only the lips of the panther moved, though the two other heads moved around and blinked like they were their own individuals. "We don't have all day."
"O-okay," Jason stammered and staggered over as Perseus bowed, allowing him to clamber onto his enormous back. There were no handles or anything, and he was slotted in between his two sets of wings, so he just lay down and hugged the demon for dear life as he rose to his feet. The fur, understandably, was very comfortable, and Jason wanted to pass out to the rhythmic beating of the demon's…hearts?
"Dude, how many hearts do you have?"
"Four," Perseus replied as he padded through the trees, his footsteps silent as they rejoined the Hunters of Artemis, all who gawked at the sight of him. "For a body like this, one heart wouldn't be able to sustain me." The Hunters set a fast pace as they darted through the trees, and Jason felt the flexing, pulling, stretching, and bunching of Perseus' muscles as he folded his wings to his sides and bounded after them. "Now that we don't have to wait for you three, we can be as fast as we want and go for days at a time."
"That doesn't sound fun," Jason grunted through a mouthful of fur as he found a handhold on the demon's scruff. His grip was white-knuckled, but if the demon was in pain he didn't voice it. "Besides, couldn't you just fly and get there faster?"
"I hate flying," Perseus replied with distain, and Jason was starting to fall asleep to the rhythmic, sleek movements of the demon's body. "I always considered it as Zeus' realm. Not in the millennia I've lived have I never set foot on a plane or have used my wings in a situation other than a dire emergency."
"They must be a nuisance, then," Jason mused, and Perseus grunted in affirmation. They lapsed into a comfortable silence, and the demigod raised his head to try and spot Alpheus and Orion. Jason supposed that Alpheus would look exactly like Perseus, since they were twins and all, but Orion was a whole different ballpark. He could look like anything. It was difficult to find them, considering they didn't make any noise and that Perseus' movements, no matter how smooth, made Jason a bit sick with all the constant rocking. He decided to close his eyes for a while, and no sooner did he do that did he lull to sleep.
-Ω-
Nico wasn't having a fun time. For one thing, the demons wouldn't tell him the location of the headquarters and therefore he couldn't just shadow-travel everyone there. Didn't Perseus have a hellhound at his disposal? So they can split the passengers half and half and Nico didn't have to wear himself out. He clung to Orion's long russet fur as they sped through the woods, and he had to admire the demon's beauty. He caught a glimpse of Jason and Perseus earlier, and Orion looked almost identical in body structure, with two sets of bat wings, front hooves and back paws, etcetera. Orion, however, had the main head of a lion, and two side heads of a bear and a goat, with a more dragon-like tail than Perseus'. His eyes glowed gold. As far as Nico knew, Perseus and Alpheus were identical.
He'd slept earlier, and had woken up natural for the first time in what felt like years. He was refreshed alert, and a pick peckish, but he could easily ignore that in favor of watching the Hunters leap and bound through the trees. They were keeping excellent pace with the demons, who were five times larger than they were, and Nico felt a bit jealous of their stamina, speed, and agility. He was getting bore, though; riding a demon's true form got old really fast, even though that particular demon was incredibly sexy even when he had three heads and bat wings.
"So…" he began. "How've you been?"
"Fine, I suppose," Orion replied in his liquid sex voice. It was steady and rich, like a mix of Morgan Freeman and Misha Collins' Castiel voice, which Nico found hard not to drool over. He had a boyfriend, dammit, and he didn't need this embodiment of sin wooing him. Besides, as far as Nico knew, Orion didn't really have the hots for anyone, much less show interest. All the cryptic stuff the demons had revealed about "mates" was hard to piece together, but Nico supposed that mating was either getting married or fucking, and considering what demons were, he was leaning towards the latter.
"Aren't you tired?"
"This has taken a mere morsel of my energy," Orion replied matter-of-factly.
"You've been running for at least eight hours, maybe seven," Nico replied, a bit incredulous. "How are you not tired?"
"It's an adaptation," Orion told him. "Just like how Perseus' short fur is an adaptation."
"What do you mean?" the son of Hades questioned. "What about Alpheus? Doesn't he have short fur?"
"No, even though they're twins. Perseus has lived longer on Earth than any demon, so long that he's actually evolved to have shorter fur, considering…" Orion trailed off, and Nico wasn't going to let him go that easily.
"Considering what?"
"Well, even in the Antarctic, temperatures to not even begin to touch upon the temperatures in Hell. It's a frozen wasteland, as my brothers and sisters have described. The eldest. The ones who were born in Hell and clambered to the surface before the Titans were even a twinkle in Ouranos and Gaea's eyes."
"So you're saying you're adapted for Hell?" Nico asked.
"Indeed," Orion replied. "Alpheus' fur is the closest to normal. My fur has receded over the years in the Isles of the Blest."
"And how long is Alpheus' fur?"
"Very," Orion replied, once again being cryptic.
"He's not a fuzzball, is he? Like an angora rabbit?"
Orion chuckled, "No. Think more like a polar bear."
"Oh…well isn't he boiling, then?"
"He and your boyfriend alike," the demon snorted. "He was the most reluctant to change into his true form, and I suppose he had a good argument. You're like a furnace on my back."
"Well…sorry," Nico replied timidly, hoping he wasn't making Orion too uncomfortable.
"It's quite pleasant, actually."
"Oh. Okay."
"You should get some more sleep," the demon requested. "We should reach the headquarters by sundown, and eight hours isn't going to compensate for the hours you lost."
"You're probably right," Nico grunted, feeling exhausted all of a sudden. It was like the demon could sense his emotions and feelings before they even occurred. He'd have to ask Orion about that later, and with that in mind he drifted back to sleep.
(A/N) If you want, you can draw what you think the true forms look like :) Not sure how you can contact me about it but I'll be sure to give you a shout out.