#/ just once persephone can you be normal to a demigod

[missallanea-archive]

"Tell me, child... are all of your brothers and sisters as..." Her words trail off a moment, amusement playing across the Goddess' face as she thinks over how to best phrase her question. "...exuberant as the ones I have met? You seem perhaps a more... reserved soul."

@solitudesandsymphonies for RENATA MITCHELL || sc

[thek1ngtalks]

Meeting...

Percy Jackson

Youre a bit of an oddball in camp. You were 15 when you were found, completely by accident. A saytr protecting another kid ran into you and that's the only reason he noticed you were a demigod.

You're,,, painfully normal, actually. Which, in a world of demigods and monsters, is in itself weird.

Being normal isn't a bad thing though. It's kept you and your parent safe, which is why they didn't put you on an immediate evac out to camp.

Sadly, your no monster streak was ruined as a frizzy red headed girl and a boy who looked like he tried to skate as a job while graffiting walls on the weekend broke into the band room you were trying to practice in

Great way to start off your highschool years, I assure you.

The redhead gives you a once over but deems you unimportant and starts trying to wedge herself between the wall and a bass drum.

The skater glanced between you and the red head before reluctantly joining her, hiding behind a bunch of bongos. They start whispering to each other, though it fails since you're pretty sure the red head's never whispered before

Your face pinches as you listen to them talk and like any normal person, you assume they're both crazy. Greek myths, what a joke.

Then, as the skater boy is about to reveal whatever big secret he's keeping, two cheerleaders step into the room. You vaguely remember them welcoming you in, although they called you a fish and stared at you funny.

Blah blah, they attack you, the skater boy– who the evil vampire ladies conveniently tell you the name of, Percy saves you both and then the school is on fire. Whoops?

Anyways, Percy brings you with him to camp, very shortly shows you around before things start getting crazy. Some centaur dude is on trial, Percy leaves for a quest and is dead for a little before he crashes his own funeral, overall a weird couple weeks.

After hiding in the Apollo cabin during the fight, handing things to the healers as they work, things seem to settle for a little.

He does come to see you to apologize for not being a very good guide and offers to show you a more detailed, and far more fun, intro to camp

That's when you start getting to know Percy more. His quirks, his skills, even his odd love of blue food.

He seems to seek you out often, answering only once that it's because you make everything so average.

You realize that with Percy's luck, everything is in extremes. When you're around though, he gets a break. If you can give him even a few minutes of peace, you don't really mind him calling you average (okay you still kinda do)

When you both inevitably start dating, no one's surprised. A few seemed disappointed they lost the apparent bet on Percy's love life, but no one was shocked considering how much Percy doted on you when you were around.

He also called you his good luck charm more than a few times, especially when you weren't around

Nico Di Angelo

You were a young mortal, emphasis on were. You had been a follower of the Chthonic Gods and with a life devoted to them, you got a bit of a cushy death.

You became a servant to Persephone, who had only needed a few extra hands temporarily and didn't care to dismiss you when things calmed down again. Obviously you don't remember much of your life but you were living a good death, so you weren't upset.

You had become an almost right-hand to her majesty, still a strong devote to her husband gave you a bit of a leg up in that regard.

And as her right-hand, she often gave you tasks she knew you could handle, you just weren't expecting to have to take care of a dandelion.

It definitely isn't one of the harder tasks she's had you do but it is more confusing. She had expressed that if one petal were to fall from it, Hades himself would send you to Tartarus, which is definitely NOT on your To Do List, so you've wisely took them to heart

You made sure to take it with you everywhere, taking care to keep the soil moist and talking to it often. You're not sure if it's helping but not a single petal has fallen yet, so you're positive that you're doing something right.

It's only after two weeks of this schedule that Persephone calls you to her room and tells you to bring the plant. Of course you listen

You're more than a little embarrassed when she turned the dandelion back into a broody teen, one who refuses to look back at you as he begins arguing with Persephone

Persephone dismisses you and the brooding boy takes that as his cue to leave with you, still avoiding your face

He thanks you for taking such good care of him and offers his name —Nico— but nothing else before he shadowtravels away

Over the next few weeks you find small trinkets from the overworld left in your room, in the spot you had left Nico's dandelion form.

After a month of this, you are walking with Persephone as she heads to her garden and are faced with 3 demigods

Your eyes meet Nico's and he seems embarrassed again before he begins arguing with Persephone again

You are ordered to help them navigate the underworld in search for Hades's newest symbol of power and Nico actually starts looking at you, talking to you, and being normal

He's quite nice and he doesn't seem to hold anything against you, which is nice. You get along a lot better when he can actually respond and after retrieving the sword, you ask Nico to drop his gifts off in person so that you can actually see him more.

It's barely a few years later when Nico leads you out of the Underworld in the midst of Thanatos being missing, apparently having already gotten Persephone's permission but oddly tight-lipped about how (he coughs up petals for a week)

As a human you begin aging again with small parts of your past coming back. Nico is delighted when you remember your name and makes sure to say it to you at least once a day in case you ever forget it again.

You follow him wherever he goes, even to Tartarus, and all of his friends are surprised when you announce your dating, only because they thought you already were

Nico has apparently been horribly obvious in his adoration of you and you're much the same

{《☆》}

[I was supposed to write a platonic soulmate shortfic with like 10 characters and accidentally wrote this instead. Congrats, I guess. (I'm still gonna write the other one, you can't stop me)]

[L0v3, k1ng]

[darkcrowprincess]

Percy Jackson/Heroes of Olympus thoughts

The only things I liked about Rick Riordan books(though to be fair I stopped reading once we got to the Roman versions part, lost interest):

Artemis and her bad ass team of immortal huntresses

Luke Castellan( Luke and his mom deserved so much fucking better than what they got. And honestly I would have chosen his side of the war. The gods suck! But I wouldn't have listened to Kronos either)

Zoë Nightshade(Her death hurt so much!)

Nico and Bianca Di Abngelo(but I hate what they mean for Hades and Persephone's relationship. No way in HELL would Hades cheat!)

Rachel Elizabeth Dare( so ship her with Percy. Hate how she ended up in the books and I over all hate book Annabeth). She was so badass! She threw a hairbrush at Luke/Kronos and lived! A normal human running with demigods and was an artist!!! Loved her. I hate hate! What they did to her in the books.

Hades! I love love Hades in the books. His whole story with Nico and Bianca made me so sad. But at the same time HE WOULD NEVER CHEAT ON PERSEPHONE FOR ANYTHING!!!

Hestia, she was so adorable and cool! I loved her!

Calypso(again I stopped reading after the first Roman gods version book. I lost interest so this is all my knowledge of her and ships) her whole storyline with Percy and her island made so fucking sad. And I wanted Percy to stay with her so bad! I know he wouldn't but god the pain!

Thalia Grace(you can just tell that Titans Curse and The Battle of the Labyrinth were my favorite books out of the whole series) she's badass and than becomes a badass Huntress of Artemis.

Daedalus(I had a weird crush on him in the book. Not gonna lie) his over all story was my favorite of The Battle of the Labyrinth. So tragic and sad. I just really love his character.

Percy Jackson. He was a loveable idiot. Gave me so many Ariel vibes. Hated him with Annabeth soooo much. Would ship him with basically anyone else! Anyone! But while reading the books I hard core shipped him with Rachel very badly.

And those were the only things I liked about the books. Over all the books quickly made me lose interest. Especially when the Roman god versions came in. Plus too many characters I didn't care about to keep track of. The gods besides the ones I listed all fucking sucked. What happened to the kids and teens were so unfair and the way the mythology is written is so messed up at times.

(Don't like don't read. Post hate and I'll block you)

[a-french-coconut]

Travis Stoll (Part 10)

There's always some kind of unease when everything is going to a little too well.

Travis deems Tyche has been feeling really generous for this quest.

Way too much for his taste. Little quests like this don't capture the gods' attention for very long.

The occasional thought about oh his brother is dying and he's trying to save him, that's so sweet ! and then moving away very quickly to a much more interesting topic is the standard for gods in Travis' book.

As soon as he gets out of the palace, he feels like someone is watching him.

Maybe he's just paranoid.

Maybe it's just some friendly ghost who wants to have a chat with him, ask him about the living realm !

But as true and honourable demigod, Travis is realistic.

He hasn't crossed any monsters yet.

He managed to get the flower for a very reasonable price despite his entire body flaring in pain every time he walks.

Something is going to get fucked up.

He's going to loose the flower.

A demonic soul will try to eat him and the flower.

He'll get lost.

When he gets to the surface, no cab will take him.

Or maybe Connor is already dead.

Think positive Travis.

He takes the same way he got in with Will, the tunnel plunged in darkness.

He can hardly see anything, rocks appearing from nowhere make him almost fall a thousand times and the only thing keeping him from screaming every insults he knows is the idea of those Keres following him.

He knows that they are somewhere behind him, watching him from the shadows.

He's constantly on his guard, listening carefully to hear them move or breathe.

Every little sound, a rock falling, some little creature passing right next to him make him jump, reaching for his sword.

He's certain they're torturing him, waiting for him to relax to finally attack him and tear him to pieces.

Typical monster behaviour.

He just needs to get to the surface, from there it will all be fine.

Naturally, as soon as he thinks that, pain flares up from his shoulder, something clawing at him in the dark.

He throws his sword in a wild arc, the movement making him wince since the damned monster injured his left shoulder and Travis just happens to be left-handed.

A terrible screech echoes in the tunnel before everything turn silent once again.

He takes a defensive stance, eyes scanning the shadows surrounding him.

Nothing but darkness meets his gaze.

Wait, no.

There's something in front of him, a form he can't quite figure out.

Carefully, never averting his eyes from the dark mass, he reaches with his free hand a small vial in his backpack.

He shakes it strongly, count ten seconds then hurled it in front of him.

When the bottle fo greek fire explodes, making a big explosion of green and revealing the thing to Travis, he regrets doing that.

In front of him are three of the most disgusting creatures he ever met.

Three women, all with grey skin and talons looking at him with shining black eyes.

He can't decide what is worse, the blood coating their mouth or the putrid smell coming from it.

The Keres, eaters of the dead, are monsters Travis would have not regret not meeting.

He adjusts his grip on his sword, black blood dripping from the blade.

The one on the left is looking at him more furiously than the other two so she must be the one who got hit.

Or maybe she's just the most hungriest of the trio and she figures Travis would make a fine snack.

"You're not allowed to kill me, ladies."

The Keres, Persephone explained to him, can only eat on the dead. They cannot kill a mortal in the order to feast.

The one on the middle, the leader he assumes, smiles, showing sharp teeth drenched in blood.

"In normal circumstances, you would be right demigod. But we are famished, nobody fights in the name of the gods now, and require to eat. You are trying to prevent us from that."

"I'm trying to save my brother."

"We care not about who he is to you, boy. All we see is food, fresh and delicious food."

"Then it seems we are in an impasse", he says slightly while looking for another thing in his backpack, "I will not let you kill me and you don't want to die. Find yourself another poor guy to eat."

"I see demigods have not lost their arrogance," she hisses, "you think you can beat us ? We are thousands years old and more importantly, you're alone."

"Mmmh," where is it ? he thinks, still searching, Aha ! his hand closing against the object, "I think I can win against three grannies."

The leader screeches and lunges for him, her talons gleaming in the obscurity. He throw himself to the ground to dodge her then crawls toward the other two.

They both froze for a second, confused about why their prey was coming towards them, giving him the time to pull the grenade he stole from Clarisse a long time ago.

Ten

He scrambles on his feet, looking around for covering.

Seven

An alcove in the rock, three meters away.

Six

He runs for it, wobbling more than truly running but he is going to make it.

Four

He's almost there, just two more steps.

He feels one the Keres behind him.

Three

He turns around and gives her a solid kick in the stomach, sending her tumbling back to where the grenade is going to explode.

Two

He watches with horror the satchel’s shoulder strap break, the monster taking it with her.

One

Survival instincts take over, his legs guiding in the alcove.

Zero

Fire erupts, swallowing the screaming Keres and with them, the satchel with the flower.

Don't kill me please 🥺, we don't need another death. Connor's one is already going to be painful 😔.

Part 11 posted !

[chrysanthemumgames]

I just read chapter 8 and wow, it was so amazing! I don't even know if I prefer the aftermath of the chapter 7 fight + the ending with the fruit and all, or if I prefer the whole Orpheus and Eurydice thing!

Eurydice literally tackling Orpheus out of the Underworld had to be one of the biggest "she did WHAT" moments of all times for me, but it was so great! Especially with it allowing a good ending too! Or well, at least as good as it could have been given the circumstances. Not to mention, I quite admire you for making something inherently "funny" still being more shocking and suprising than anything else thanks to how you described it. It could have easily turned into a comedic scene considering what happened, but somehow you avoided the pitfall. I also really liked the small detail to allow the MC to stim out of stress during the whole ordeal. It's these little details and how much freedom we get over them that truly make your game special - well, among other things.

Back to the fruit scene though... It's interesting - I was somehow both surprised and unsurprised that it was such a "mundane" thing. It's a bit hard to describe, but on one hand I thought that maybe eating the fruit would be something dramatic, and on the other hand it also felt like people in the Underworld would just treat that as something "normal" to do. Well, I'm assuming if the MC keeps the fruit for now but doesn't eat it yet it may turn to be more dramatic later heh - but that wouldn't really make sense for my specific MC. I really love the fact we can decide to share the fruit though! Again, such a nice thought.

That aside, I have a two questions if you don't mind!

First one is about the magic sharing thing (sorry if it was asked before and I somehow missed it!). Will we be able to determine how our MC feels about their "partner's" magic? I don't mean how they feel about the fact the magic is shared in itself - we can already determine that - but really how they feel about their partner's specific magic. Hades saying he finds the MC's magic rather pleasant was so sweet, and I'm curious if we'll be able to determine how the MC feels in return, basically.

Second one is about Orpheus and Eurydice. In my ending to the story, they will be staying half of the year in the Underworld and half in the mortal realm (I love the parallels with the original Persephone deal here too!) - for any good ending where it's relevant (I'm assuming there are variants), will we be able to talk with them a bit more in future chapters, once they've calmed down and all? Especially since it would be interesting for the MC to discuss being a demigod with Orpheus I think - all the more since he was raised as a mortal and the MC as a god. During the whole trial thing, my MC talked with Eurydice because it's what made sense - they were sort-of-friends at that point, and it made sense that she would be the person my MC would seek there and the one easier to "influence" out of the two to help them succeed, but that means he didn't have the opportunity to interact with Orpheus, sadly.

Thank you and have a great day!

Heya! Thanks as always for the reading and the feedback. :) As to your questions:

I don't have the next book planned down to the individual choices or anything, but I'm pretty sure that one will come up, yes.

Sort of the same answer, really. I do think I'll be looking for opportunities for the PC to talk to other demigods (besides Pyri), and an Orpheus who is around some of the time is definitely an option there. So I suspect there will be, depending on where they are and what they're up to, further opportunities to interact with those two!

[aliteratewolf]

The Song of Achilles

The Song of Achilles

Author: Madeline Miller

Rating: 4.5

Okay, I know this book has been out for a *while* (12 years now) and everyone and their mother has reviewed it. So do I think I’m going to say anything groundbreaking in this review? Probably not. But these reviews, especially the earlier ones, are more for my benefit than anything. 

The Song of Achilles is an adaptation of the Achilles and Patroclus myth, and one of the early Greek Mythology retellings. Greek retellings have ballooned in popularity, partially due to the fact that the Percy Jackson generation is growing up. The sheer amount of Hades and Persephone retellings ALONE is overwhelming, and a lot of people want to put their own spin on it. Weather we want a more feminist telling, modernized, or one where the ending isn’t as sad as the original myth, there’s something about these stories that we as a collective can’t seem to get enough of.

Madeline Miller stepped into this scene early, was one of the trend setters. As such, she didn’t have to do anything too crazy in order to capture her audience. (I once read a book that was the story of the Labyrinth as a reality show… It was interesting) Because of this, she doesn’t deviate too far from the myth. There are a couple changes or maybe just things the main character isn’t aware of, but overall she is fairly close to the original story. The main difference is we’re getting is the point of view.

If you’re not sure what the Achilles and Patroclus myth is, I’ll give you a quick rundown:

Achilles is a hero of Greece and one of the heroes of the Trojan War albeit somewhat unwillingly. He’s a demigod child of Thetis and Peleus, a nymph and King of Phthia respectively. When he was born a prophecy was received by Thetis that he would be greater than his father, and would either live a long but boring life, or the short life of a Hero. To give him a better chance of surviving war/battle, she dips him in the river Styx like a dipped ice cream cone to try and make him immortal. The only part that wasn���t submerged was the heel she was holding him by. (where we get Achilles’ Heel)

Patroclus was his “roommate” and later in life one of his greatest confidants. Patroclus travels with him to the Trojan War despite the fact that he isn’t a warrior, and is killed by Hector while pretending to be Achilles. Later after Achilles dies by Paris’s hand, the two are buried together.

It’s pretty gay.

Now we could go into the historical context and how there weren’t culturally words like homosexual and heterosexual and how it was considered normal for men to have relationships with men up until they got married…but I don’t have the credentials for that.

The Song of Achilles, despite the name is told through the point of view of Patroclus, the friend/confidant/possible lover (definitely lover in this book) that gets largely ignored in most tellings of the Trojan War up until the part where he is killed by Hector, which puts Achilles into a blind rage until his own death. Patroclus tells the story of watching someone choose to become a hero, knowing that means he will die young.

Now, it’s been a while since I read the Illiad (glossed over it in high school) but in Miller’s telling, Achilles is aware of the fact that he lives as long as Hector does. This coupled with the fact that he also knows no one else can take Hector on, he avoids facing the Trojan for over a decade, trying to have a blissful moment with Patroclus. And Patroclus is *also* aware of this, and doesn’t say anything about it for close to ten years. He also wants to have as long as possible with Achilles and they’re willing to prolong an entire war just to have those moments. It’s only when the war starts to turn south and Greece starts loosing that Patroclus tries to appeal to Achilles to end the war.

This book is about heartbreak, sacrifice, fate and hubris; the usual players in Greek myths. Achilles thinks he’s better than everyone, even the king’s he’s fighting for, because his whole life he’s been told he was better than everyone. Even Patroclus holds Achilles up on a pedestal, and he sees the most of Achilles’ humanity.

Greek myths don’t usually have a happy ending, at least not in the conventional way. Technically the ‘happy ending’ is that we are still telling their stories centuries later, and that they get to live on through our words. But on paper things don’t always come up roses, and I think that’s what keeps drawing us into these stories. Maybe it gives us that sense of heartbreak without having to be directly involved. It’s an itch in us to feel sorrow, like when you watch a YouTube video specifically just to cry. (Big Bird sings at Jim Henson’s Memorial, you’ll ball I promise) Or maybe we’re hoping that this time it will work, that everything will end okay. 

Or maybe, like I said earlier, we’re all Percy Jackson kids grown up thirsting for more of those stories. 

Madeline Miller has also done her take on Circe, and is teasing us with her own take on the Persephone tale. The second doesn’t have a pub date yet as far as I can tell, but when it comes out I’ll bet people will flock to it.

[skzsauce01]

Strawberries Don’t Have Thorns

Synopsis: A trip to the strawberry field to find your hyperactive skeleton dog leads to more than you expect. Or, an introspective afternoon of strawberry picking with Jisung.

Warning: mentions of swords and sword fighting

Word Count: 2.4k

Pairing: son of Demeter!Jisung x child of Hades!reader

Camp Half-Blood AU Masterlist

The day you arrived at Camp Half-Blood and subsequently the day you were claimed by Hades was the most confusing day of your life, which was saying a lot since you discovered you could summon skeleton animals when you were six. For so many years, ostracized by kids your age for being weird, you only had reanimated skeletons for friends. But here at this strange new place with other “demigods” like you, people were suddenly nice, even the pretty girls and the scary-looking boys. Someone named Mark helped you into Cabin 11, where you would be staying until you were claimed by your godly parent, and gave you a tour of the camp. For a few hours, you forgot about your old friends and wandered behind him as you took in the sights of your new summer home.

Then at the campfire sing along that night, a symbol of a three-headed dog appeared over your head, and the welcoming niceties were interspersed with some apprehension. A hush fell over, and you had the unwanted and undivided attention of the entire camp. The camp activities director Chiron formally introduced you as a child of the king of the Underworld, the god of death and riches. Everyone bowed—bowed! Even Mark, who had been treating you like a younger sibling, lowered himself to the floor. Fully embarrassed, you awkwardly stood in place and stared at the campfire until you saw white. Afterwards, someone named Chan came up to you and said he was also a kid of one of the Big Three, Poseidon. He was one of the handful who acted normal, no uneasiness or mild deference. Years later, he explained that you radiated even more fear and death than usual immediately after you had been claimed.

You moved into lonely Cabin 13 with your paltry items and tried to sleep, but your sleep was fraught with bewildering dreams of Hades and Cerberus and hellhounds. Hades—you don’t think you can ever bring yourself to call him Dad—promised that you were safe at Camp Half-Blood now and that he left you some presents to help you settle in. When you woke up, there was a black sword on the jewel-studded shrine and a large skeletal dog lying beside your bed. Not a dead hellhound, you noted, but just a really, really big dog who apparently liked gnawing on gems. She barked at you and wagged her tail and dropped the red gem in front of you to throw. So you named her Ruby.

Four years later, the situation is better. No one bows to you anymore, and if they do, it’s usually because they’re a new camper who thinks that being the child of a king means something in Camp Half-Blood. Over the summers, you learn how to fight with the Stygian Iron sword you received from Hades and how to talk to people without scaring them off. Now you have three friends in the form of Chan, Jeongin from Dionysus’ Cabin, and Jisung from Demeter’s Cabin, one enemy by the name of Persephone, and one hyperactive pet who loves anything red. Apparently, dead dogs aren’t colorblind.

Under the afternoon sun, you traipse through the strawberry field looking for Ruby, who didn’t come running back to you when you called for her. The only reason why Jisung and Jeongin are friends with you is because of Ruby’s tendencies to hide in the field. Jisung tripped over her once and scattered her bones around, which made her very sad.

The satyrs, who are familiar with you, continue playing on their reed pipes as you whistle for your dog. You don’t see any members from Dionysus’ Cabin, but a few members of Demeter’s Cabin tending to the strawberries point you in the right direction. Jeongyeon, head counselor of Cabin 4, kindly asks that you hurry since Ruby dug up a whole row of berries last time. The memory flusters you. Mr. D made you replant them all by hand, no Ruby and no powers whatsoever. You swear he made the temperature hotter that day as additional punishment.

You take off running, shouting Ruby’s name whenever you have enough breath. You try to summon her, pulling her from where she is and through the ground until she reaches you, but since she was a gift from Hades, she has a life of her own. Down the sixteenth row, you spot Jisung waving a stick at Ruby and neglecting his gardening duties. When she notices you, she tries to hide behind Jisung.

“She just wanted to play,” he explains before you can say anything. He pats her skull and feeds her a freshly-picked strawberry, which stains her already red teeth with more red juice. “Good girl.”

You sigh. Maybe you should conjure some friends for her. Sword fighting training takes up a lot of your day since not a lot of people want to spar against a weapon that can consume their souls.

“I’ll let you get back to work,” you say. “Let’s go, girl. I gotta give you a scrubbing now.”

“No, stay,” Jisung blurts out. He holds out a plastic bucket with the words “Delphi Strawberry Service” stamped across in red. “You don’t have anything else to do, right? You can help me pick strawberries. I’m a little behind anyway since Ruby kept distracting me,” he teases. He tosses the stick far away, and Ruby starts chasing, leaving you and him alone on this isolated patch of strawberry field. “C’mon.”

“I’ve never picked strawberries before. How do you do it?”

Unsure if you’re being serious or not, he kneels to the ground, pulls a strawberry from its stem, and drops it in the bucket. He hands the bucket to you. “Ta-da. That’s it, you just… pick them. How have you not done this before?”

You squat beside him and start scanning the plants for any bright red ones. They’re like rubies, only edible. “Plants don’t like me.”

“I thought it was people.”

“Yeah, but I’m sure plants feel the same way.” You can’t actually kill anything with your powers alone, but you’ve always had a sneaking suspicion that anything alive usually avoids you in fear that you can. “I tried to grow some asphodel to make my cabin look nicer and ended up killing them all. Too much water, I think.”

Jisung nods and puts his ear to the nearest plant. After a moment, he reports, “You’re right. They do hate you.” When you look at him with concern, he groans. “I’m kidding. Besides, even if they did, I’m right here. I can kill them just as easily.”

You almost put your hand over his mouth. “Don’t threaten them!”

“I can also revive them. I worry about you sometimes.”

Ruby comes hurtling back with her prize, leaping over the many rows with ease. She drops it in front of you, so you must have been forgiven for abandoning her earlier. When you throw the stick, she happily bounds after it. Meanwhile, Jisung has collected more strawberries, all with his bare hands, you observe.

“Doesn’t it hurt?” you ask as you closely inspect the stems, trying not to pitch forward onto them. That would be embarrassing, not to mention painful.  “Or are you used to the thorns by now?”

Silence. Did you do something wrong? When your dog comes back, you don’t immediately throw the stick again but have her wait with you for Jisung’s answer.

“Gods, you really don’t know anything about plants. Cabin 4 needs to start a plant school or something,” he chuckles, and then it grows into a full blown laugh. “Strawberries don’t have thorns.”

Heat creeps up your cheeks and down your neck. The roses crawling up Cabin 4’s had thorns, so you assumed that the important plants had them. You wore thick gloves while replanting too and were also more focused on getting shoveling the soil than on the strawberries themselves.  “Well, maybe they should. Plants have thorns to protect themselves, and since strawberries get eaten, it makes sense that they would.”

“Those are called brambles, and they do not include strawberries. Strawberries won’t hurt you.” To prove his point even further, he pulls a ripe one off the stem and pops it into his mouth. “Safe and delicious.”

“Mr. D’s gonna be mad that you’re ‘interfering with camp profits,’” you tease.

“We’ve always interfered with camp profits,” he smiles. “No one else grows them like we do. C’mon, you haven’t even picked one yet.”

You cautiously pluck a strawberry, and finding yourself uninjured, continue gathering more for the buckets. It turns out Jisung has seven with him, and they all need to be filled before sundown when the delivery truck leaves to make deliveries to restaurants in the city. In the meantime, you also play fetch with Ruby until she gets too uninterested and decides to wander around the fields. Jisung keeps her in check by making plant tendrils wrap around her legs when she starts going off too far. Occasionally, he lures her back with a trail of ripe strawberries dangling in front of her.

“If I get a friend for her, do you think that will be better or worse?” you muse as you watch her beg one of Jisung’s sisters, Chaeryeong, for food. Ruby can’t actually eat anything, so she chews until they turn into mush, but her mannerisms remain the same.

“Does your dad just have skeletons lying around? Actually, don’t answer that. He probably does, so yeah, friend for Ruby. She’s lonely when you’re away.”

Jisung forgets that you have control over bones sometimes because Ruby acts like a real dog. While he searches through the strawberries, you place your hand on the ground instead to see if there are any good-sized animals buried beneath. You pass over a couple of humans and land on a deer. Only small antlers, so no one will be gored too badly in case it gets too wild with Ruby.

The earth faintly trembles and cracks open, revealing a spry, young skeleton deer leaping out. It stands proudly in front of you and bows its head, waiting for orders. Meanwhile, Jisung gapes at its bent hind legs and spindly bones.

“Play with Ruby and don’t get into trouble. Don’t ruin the plants,” you say, and the deer lifts its head and starts in Ruby’s direction.

Moments later, Jisung finds his voice again. “Well, that was cool. No dogs in the ground though?”

“I don’t know, I didn’t look that hard. It was either humans or deer, and I thought it would be less creepy to have a deer running around.”

“Human skeletons would be creepy,” he nods sagely. “Wait, so the field has been fertilized with dead people?”

“And dead animals too, but they all died a long time ago. There’s only old bones here.” You wipe your palm of dirt and join him in strawberry picking again. He has stopped and is staring contemplatively in the distance, so you nudge him. “It’s not haunted, if that’s what you’re worried about. All of the souls have moved on already.”

“No, I was just thinking that it’s nice that I’ll always be on Earth. Your dad will have my soul eventually, but at least my bones will be here, with Mom. I mean, I already knew that, but you just reminded me about it again.”

You swallow thickly. “That’s a really sweet way to think about dying.”

He smiles. “It’s part of the harvest cycle. I see it every year, so death doesn’t scare me.”

If only everyone else saw it like he did. You go back to picking strawberries, letting the silence take over the conversation. Death is always a mood-killer, and so are you.

When all seven buckets are heavy with ripe strawberries, you whistle for Ruby and the deer to come help carry them to the delivery truck waiting outside the camp borders. You hadn’t been keeping an eye on them, counting on the deer to follow your instructions thoroughly, so you are pleasantly surprised to find that both of them have been decorated with flowers and vines. While the deer looks indifferent to it, Ruby adores it so much that she’s chewed everything she can reach on her bones.

“Probably Chaeryeong’s idea,” Jisung says as he walks beside you. Your animals are trotting ahead, following the trail of Demeter’s children. “She’s the one who decorates the cabin the most.”

“I like it. They look friendly now.”

To your confusion, he laughs. “Have you seen Ruby? She always looks friendly, wagging her tail and trying to get people to pet her. Everyone loves her. Except for maybe Mr. D, but he doesn’t count since he hates everything.”

You let yourself smile. “She doesn’t like him either. I doubt she cares.”

When you both reach the truck, Jisung takes the buckets from you and loads them into the back while you handle the ones from the animals. Jeongyeon and Chaeryeong are tallying the numbers, so when you pass by them, you awkwardly thank them for putting flowers on Ruby and the deer. They exchange glances with each other, and your stomach twists into knots. You shouldn’t have said anything.

“Can I play with her next time?” Chaeryeong blurts out. Her face goes pink as she promises to take good care of Ruby, that she’ll even give her a bath afterwards.

“Yeah,” you say after a moment of shock. “I’ll drop her off at your cabin in the afternoon tomorrow, and I’ll take her back after dinner. Or if that’s too late, then you can—”

“No, that’s perfect! Thank you!”

She gives you a quick hug before returning back to work, and Jisung suppresses a chuckle at your surprised face. He follows you and Ruby, still in full floral regalia, to the nearby pegasus stables where he insists on helping you scrub her stained skull. You’ve sent the deer away already, so Ruby tries to munch on its forgotten plants while you hold her squirming bones in place as Jisung pours soap on her.

“How did you like strawberry picking?” he asks. “Fun?”

“Better than I expected. Ruby was a good girl”—she happily barks when she hears your praise—“and I didn’t get pricked, so yeah, I guess it was fun.”

“I hope you know, I’m telling all of Cabin 4 how you thought strawberries had thorns. If Chaeryeong gives you a lesson on strawberries tomorrow, don’t be surprised. They’re never gonna let you live it down. I’m never gonna let you live it down.”

“It’s alright,” you slowly say, and it truly is alright. You pry open Ruby’s mouth and let Jisung brush out the strawberry mush stuck between her teeth. There are a few flower petals as well. “You’ll make sure I never forget.”

[depressedacadamia]

Whataburger

Summary:  Leo and Will sometimes feel somesick which leads them into a whole load of trouble...

A/N:  Okay so first off what is 'whataburger'? Apparently its a just a burger place in Texas?? I didnt do too much research since I kinda rushed this fic (since I may or may not have 4 other ones that I need to write...). Either way, its day 3 of Will's bday week so thank you to @solangeloweek and there are 2 days left but I may turn it into a 7 day week birthday because why not? I hope you enjoy and please comment! <3 from Persephone

Read on A03       Masterlist

“Dya have it?” Will whispered as he grabbed Leo by the elbow and dragged him to a secluded corner, away from the presence of everyone else. These interactions had been happening quite recently and were always private.

“Yes, yes I have it. Are you sure no one saw?” Leo murmured back. Will nodded and the two quickly scuttered away towards the abandoned side of the lake, closest to the forest.

Nico had an unsettling feeling. 

He had had this feeling for what seemed like ages but in reality, it had only started up until very recently when he noticed Will was finding more and more reasons to ditch his friends. Will had never ditched one of their dates -unless there was an emergency at the infirmary that required the Head healer- but Nico had noticed his greater withdrawal when around large groups of people.

And at first, not much was thought about it. But as Nico began to dwell more and more, he noticed that every time Will withdrew, so did Leo and he was almost positive that he had seen them sneaking about once or twice around the camp together.

But Will wouldn't be up to anything like that, would he? Afterall, Will was a loyal boyfriend- right?

“Oh my god,” Will practically moaned as he took another bite in his burger.

“Calm down, it’s food, not sex,” Leo pointed out, munching on his fries.

“You're right for once but this time you got my order right and they’re still warm!” Will said in delight.

Leo nodded. “You’re welcome.”

The two boys ate in silence, gobbling down their burgers which gave them the greatest sense of nostalgia. For those who really don’t understand what’s going on, it was often that these two- the demigods in question being Leo and Will- would feel a sort of longing for their home: Texas.

They were both from there and they had to get up and move their lives suddenly- so suddenly that they had barely had any time to depart from their home. Despite it being inappropriately warm there, they did miss the home they grew up in.

And so one time when they both felt a very deep sense of longing, they banded together and boarded Festus- flying to Texas and back. Indeed, it was an overly ridiculous thing to do and they realised at once that it wouldn’t be as simple to do this every time they felt homesick.

So instead they decided on this. Whenever they felt homesick, Leo would fly to Texas and order them burgers from Whataburger. He then would fly back as fast as possible and they would both take immense delight in enjoying the nostalgic meal together.

Of course- Will couldn’t tell Nico what was going on. It would ultimaetely seem stupid and there was a possibility that Nico could get jealous- especially since they weren’t out about their relantionship yet.

So they agreed that no one could ever find out about their agreement.

“I got extras by the way- if you want them,” Leo passed Will the bag with extra food and Will happily picked out the fries.

“Do you want my pickles?” Will asked as he opened the burger and removed them. Leo, who could never say no to pickles, nodded and happily accepted them. This sort of routine and intimacy between the two became normal for them.

“I still don’t get how you can dip your fries in ketchup. Barbecue is the best sauce there is!” Leo cried as he stole a couple of Will’s fries, dipping them in barbeque sauce before eating them.

“Nu-uh, ketchup is way better than barbecue. It’s just so much more…” Will waited for the word to hit him as he took another bite. “Original.”

“Woah…” A surprised voice came out from behind them. Both of the boys shot towards the surprised voice, their faces frozen with panic. A younger camper- luckily- had stumbled upon them.

“Oh, thank the gods,” Will breathed outwards, in a calmer manner than before.

The kid quickly turned on their foot and ran back towards the camp. Leo and Will- not being disrupted anymore- continued their meal. Little to their knowledge, the kid would do much more damage than one could ever imagine a child could do.

Will and Leo walked back to the main part of camp, unaware of what would meet them. They had taken their time with their picnic and by the time they had returned, people were gathering by the bonfire.

“Ooooooooooooh, look who’s here guys!”

“Why didn't you say you guys were dating!” A voice called out.

“Although honestly, I really thought it was you and Nico.” Another voice mentioned.

And as Leo and Will were surrounded by misinformed campers, Will could have sworn he saw Nico mortified. Their eyes caught and as quickly as he had appeared in Will’s life, Nico slipped into the shadows.

[silky-john]

HEADCANON:

A smaller one this time, cause bebby needs sleep guys (I'll probably just play Radical Red instead of sleeping though lolllllll)

Anyway, I HC that Nico does a lot of quests, way more than the number any of the seven have done.

A good number are normally requests from his father, Demeter, and Persephone, stuff like helping the cthonic gods, or helping Triptolemus and his pursuits (Trip and Nico got past the corn thing. They binge Carmen San Diego after work and discuss stuff), or looking for a rare-ass flower to add to the underworld garden with all relevant sources as very dangerous creatures.

Some are from Chiron, I wrote a piece about one of those, you can ask for the link of you're interested. He doesn't really like the Chiron ones, because it's usually a quest that's too complex for even the seasoned camper's kit, or is an odd quest that relies on the aspects of his powers that Nico isn't completely comfortable with.

The last category is quests that Nico takes up out of the goodness of his own heart (which he insists to anyone who so much as suggests that said goodness exists is "cold and dead").

Nico has made himself a reputation as a helpful individual, and many minor gods reach out to him, basically. It's gotten to the point that the combination of the Persephone/Hades quests + his general reputation as helpful has made him actively interact with MANY other pantheons. He and Walt are good friends, and he helps Anubis get a grasp on powers over death and the limits of the human body.

Whenever he helps the minor gods, they impart blessings on him without his knowledge (boons for my Hades fans out there. Yes, I think Zag and Nico are very similar. Yes, I think they'd be very good friends. Hades (from Hades) would probably tell Zagreus to be "more like that Pluto-Boy" (yes, Hades knows Nico is a son of Hades, but he says Pluto for the distinction)).

The blessings definitely boost Nico's status from most powerful demigod to something closer to a minor god who can die. Zeus isn't comfortable with this. This is sorta like the plot to The Second Life on ao3. Go read that, real good jasercico with Apollico on the side.

Jason uses Nico's acquaintance with minor gods to get help knowing who to build shrines to.

The reason Chiron sends Nico on the most dangerous quests alone (at Nico's request). Nico catches on to how strange it is that he's the only exception the biggest camp rule: absolutely no questing alone. Confronting Chiron about it finally makes him aware of the many blessings he's been given. He becomes more powerful for it, being able to incorporate small aspects of other gods powers to his own. Zeus doesn't like it.

Cupid definitely asks Nico to be his champion. Nico declines.

He also does quests in record time and is a better "quest library/advisor" than Annabeth, simply for the fact that he has more experience than her or anyone else and has interacted with more of the mythos than anyone else. Athena considered offering him a mantle as one of her champions... but she decided not to ask.

And uhhhh.... yeah. That's it for the actual HC. Shitpost time.

Perspehone: Nico, could you get me something?

Nico: what?

Persephone: Lively daylight, the sister-flower to deadly nightshade

Nico: lemme guess, I'll have to go to Eos for this *groans*

Eos: don't start complaining yet, there's sphinges involved

(Sphinges is the plural of sphinx)

(Demeter, Hades, and Persephone are discussing Nico like a good and healthy parental unit. This is definitely not gossip or gloating).

Hades [proudly]: Nico has been looking really healthy lately. I believe all the travelling's helping.

Demeter [conspirationally]: the farm has helped him put on weight and muscle. You should see the way the Ares boys eye him up and the fantasies the Aphrodite and Hermes kids cook up when they get together. And for what? The boy doesn't look in mirrors

Persephone [feeling a bit left out]: he can make a mean cup of tea

Hades and Demeter [simultaneously]: *exchange look* *twin doting faces at persephone*

Iris: I just need someone who won't get trapped and turned into a guinea pig to deliver these for me... you've cross-dressed before, right?

Nico: once. It was literally just once because I was helping Butch–

Iris: yes, yes, so about the cupcakes...

(Butch was fitting skirts for purposes unknown to the shitposter. Something something Jake Mason something something I ship it).

Chiron: I hope this email finds you we–

Nico: I don't like it when the first thing people do is lie to me :/

Chiron [embarrassed]: *clears throat* it's leukrokottai and a single succubus

Nico: cool *face-plants into nearest shadow*

Sadie [puts down burger]: and the goddess in my mind was extremely manipulative and her plans almost fell apart

Isis: *indignant spluttering*

Nico [sipping choccy milk]: yep. Sounds a lot like a certain goat skin gal I know, except she prefers cows to birds

Hera: boy, I will smack you into next century

Hades, Demeter, Persephone [in sync]: *glare meaningfully*

Hera [teeth gritted]: and by that I'll ask Hebe if she can get you to see the next 100 years without being trample by cows

Cupid: so yeah, could you be my champion?

Nico: we've moved the incident, but not that far past it. No.

Hades: *smug*

Athena: I was gonna ask, but I like to avoid embarrassment and the answer no.

And that's it. I wasn't planning to do the shitpost part since I actually want to write something for this idea? So yeah, deuces.

These tags are wild, wild, wild. I didn't need to tag like that LOLLLL. Anyway.

[antiloreolympus]

6 Anti LO Asks

1. wasnt there a myth where ares dates demeter? (sometims erinyes instead) and they have a CHILD together? i know RS doesn't really research so it wont come up, but ... how awkward would that family reunion be? "hello, barely-legal version of the teenage girl i tried to mack on, i knocked up your mother"?

2. (Bit of a rant so be warned) I wish that RS had characterized everyone better, I mean I still can’t get over how Apollo was characterized (I got into LO before I fully delved into mythology and once I read on how Apollo really was I didn’t know how to feel about the story). It would’ve been so amazing if she portrayed them differently than they were in the myths in a way that made sense, like Aphrodite given a fully developed personality outside of being a bitch with a pretty face (she was a very loving mother in the myths and very much loved Ares, who adored her as well). And let’s be honest, persephone being a “cinnamon roll that can secretly kill you” trope is kind of getting boring, RS could have had some more fun with her character by portraying her much differently. Another trope that’s getting old is Demeter being an overprotective, controlling mess of a mother towards persephone which sucks once you really think about it (I mean the poor woman lost her daughter in an instant and didn’t know what was going on until she had to go to Helios to find out, she deserves a better portrayal than what RS gave her). Heck my favorite portrayal of Demeter that feels accurate to how she is mother-wise in the myths is from Mythic the Musical (“Mother’s Do What Mother’s Have to Do”). Also don’t get me started on how dirty she did Thetis (I love her design but my god was she done wrong personality and even role wise). I remember when I first started reading this and read through the majority of the comic and I genuinely loved it, not thinking about how weird it was until I read through this blog and it kind of just hit me. Hades is a creep in LO and he could’ve just not been written that way, she didn’t have to write Persephone as a literal 19 year old (even 119 is young for gods but at least that would’ve been a more comfortable number) the baby shower gift thing was gross once I thought about it again. If I had to put my main frustrations with this series I would put these as the main problems: Gods/Goddesses being done dirty in terms of personality and role in the story, Hades being a high key creep, I heard that Chiron is being portrayed as female which defeats one of the purposes of his character (he’s a genuinely kind man which is rare to find in Greek Mythology, he’s awesome), not utilizing other Greek mythological figures to help move the story along or even help persephone (for example, Ganymede who’s story starts off very much like hers or even other figures who were SA by gods), and Persephone not only being a self insert but a major Mary Sue which is a massive yikes when it comes to a serious storyline. Oh and her “erasing” the incest factor of Greek Mythology is hysterical because even with how she changes it up, Hades and Persephone are STILL technically related because Demeter is Hera’s sister, who is married to Zeus (Hades’ brother) still making Hades her uncle by marriage smh. Demeter considers Persephone her daughter so that doesn’t erase the incest completely. At least Percy Jackson made it clear that it was a thing, and they handled it very easily: they’re divine beings that don’t have blood and they’re not mortals, despite that Percy and the other demigods express obvious disgust at the topic. Done and done. At the end of the day I’m still not sure how I feel about LO and maybe I’ll continue reading it for the hell of it or just give it up since from what I’ve heard, the story has gone off the rails

3. i like how just off that timeline, we're supposed to feel like "aw look both hades and persephone had traumatic childhoods and important life changes at 19!" instead of being like yooooo this seven year beat the shit out of his dad and took him out? why would i care about hades' teen angst and then late 20s man pain whi lusts after a 9 year old when a goddamn second grader can kick ass? also yeah depending on this timeline theyre all pedos and zeus is actually a vicim 🤷🏼‍♀️

4. Okay, I could be misremembering things but, didn't Hera have a file on Persephone (which listed her under the TGOEM program) that she made for "possible suitors" purposes? And she included Hermes and Ares and Hades?

Again, I could be misremembering this but doesnt the TGOEM require the goddesses to, not be in relationships? Romantic or otherwise? And if thats the case, then why the f*ck was Hera making a "compatibility chart" of possible husbands for Persephone?

Was it because she noticed that Persephone and Hades had a thing for each other? Even though she was potentially still having an affair with Hades at the time And knowing he was having an off and on again relationship with Minthe?

Also isnt Persephone in college on the TGOEM scholarship? So wouldn't Hera want to like, talk to Athena + Hestia about that? And be like "Hey so I know Kore is in your program, but.... I want her to marry Hades" And I know Hera is technically Queen of the gods but wouldn't she still check with them?

Also, I had a seperate thought. So I know Hades says something like "I thought we agreed not to (see each other) back in the 80's" - now it feels like because Hera is/was having an off-and-on againa affair with her brother in law that her putting Hades and Persephone together and setting them up as a couple is an excuse for her to cover up her affair.

(Like if Zeus ever got wind of Hera's affair with Hades and he was upset she could just try to side sweep it by being like "oh, no thats not what was happening. I was really checking to see if Hades is a good match for Persephone and he is!" So she doesnt get in trouble for having an affair).

5. okay, legitimate question: if artemis having a ton of uber-devoted female followers is enough to make her a lesbian ... why is ares not gay? because like ... not only were soldiers/male athletes famously homosexual, a lot of them basically ritually gave themselves to ares. it's heavily implied that this means that they considered themselves spiritually his eromenos'. the whole practice's bad implics aside ... ares should be SUPER gay? oiled up gym-rats wrestling nude levels of gay.

6. Okay so normally I don't care and or don't want to know, but - in this case I am a bit curious - is Persephone just RS's self insert character / Mary sue? Because if she is then that means that all the other male characters simping over Persephone (Hades, Hermes, Ares, Apollo, etc) gets a lot more concerning.

[reynahermione]

HI... I love your Apollo x reader so bad I'm crying aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa. Can you make another Apollo X Reader where reader is like going on a quest w Percy and reader got wounded and Apollo who have a crush on reader but pretends that he doesn't have a crush on reader get super worried and like confessed to reader uwu. I'm sorry if it's confusing, anyway LOVE YOU

HI! Thank you so much for reading and requesting this, I really hope you love it!

pairings: Apollo X Reader | Percy Jackson X Reader (platonic)

warnings: near-death experience 

You were having a wonderful day. The sky was clear, not a cloud in sight, there was a nice slight breeze flying by, the strawberries were growing nicely, everyone seems to be in a great mood, nothing could ruin your day. Or so you thought. When you arrived at your cabin, you spotted your best friend since middle school, Percy Jackson. You both arrived together at camp all those years ago and have been by each other’s side since. But from the smile on his face, you knew he was about to ask for something. 

“Wanna go on a quest?” He smiled as you stopped by the steps of your cabin. 

You crossed your arms over your chest, “Wow. Hey Y/n, how are you today? Oh! Hey, Percy! I was having such a great day, thanks for asking.” 

He dramatically rolled his eyes, “Hey Y/n, I’m so happy you had a great day. Wanna go on a quest with me?” 

“Sure, what are we doing?” You asked going up the steps of your cabin, heading to the door. 

“Hermes is down so Demeter wants us to give Persephone something.” He held up a small wrapped package.

That doesn’t sound very hard. This quest could very possibly only be a day or two long. 

“Alright. Give me a minute to pack.” 

You entered your cabin and went straight to your bunk. Grabbing your bag from the trunk by your bed, you quickly started to shove in your quest essentials: your extra toothbrush, toothpaste, clothes, deodorant, drachmas, money, and your emergency dagger that y/g/p gave to you on your sixteenth birthday. After you close your bag, you put it on just as the door was opened. You turned to see your little sister, Ginger, walking in, with a bright red face and goofy smile.

You smiled at her, “What’s with the smile Ginger?” 

She giggled as she rushed over to hug you. You bent down and caught her in your arms, picking her up and tightly hugging her. 

“Apollo is outside and he says I look radiate.” She giggled. 

Apollo is outside? Well, that’s not really shocking. Ever since his punishment ended he has been visiting Camp more often and hanging out with his children. You would be a liar if you said you hadn’t fallen for the sun god. How could you not? During his time as a mortal, you realized your crush on him. He had unquestionably grown as a person and it made your heart flutter whenever you two would hang out together. Part of you selfishly wanted him to remain mortal so the two of you could be together, but you accept the fact that he probably only saw you as a close friend. Apollo has been hanging around some of the other campers lately and has become a bit distant.

Placing Ginger down, you ruffled her curly brown hair, “He’s a bit too old for you Gin, like a couple of centuries too old. I don’t think y/g/n is gonna approve of that.” She playfully rolled her eyes, unraveling herself from your hold. 

“He’s talking to Percy outside. He told me to tell you to hurry up.” She skipped away further into the cabin. 

Walking to the door, you stop about a foot away from it and fixed your clothes, and smoothed your hair out with your hands. You hoped that Aphrodite would give you a quick blessing before opening the door and stepping out, seeing Percy and Apollo speaking to each other on the steps of your cabin. 

“Morning Apollo!” You smiled as they both turned to look at you. 

“Morning Flower! Are you going somewhere?” He asked motioning to your bag. 

You nodded, “Yup, I’m going with Percy to giving something to Persephone.” 

He gave Percy a look, it almost looked judgemental to you. Why would he give Percy that type of look? 

“Did you ask her to go with you?” He questioned Percy, in an off-putting tone.

“Uh-yeah. Persephone likes y/n. I figured bringing y/n along would make Persephone happy.” Percy shrugged. 

“Why would you care if he asked me?” You defensively asked, crossing your arms over your chest. 

He looked at you again, opening and closing his mouth, trying to formulate an excuse.

“I-I-I didn’t-I didn’t mean it like that!” 

“Yeah whatever,” you scoffed, “come on Perc. Let’s get this over with.” 

You grabbed Percy by his arm and dragged him away from the bumbling God who was yelling out apologies. How dare he even ask something like that? You helped save Olympus for crying out loud! If saving Olympus wasn’t good enough for him, you were going to show just how well you could handle yourself on a quest. Here you were thinking that he had changed into a better person/god.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The train cart was quiet as it went to its destination, Washington D.C. Why Persephone was there was beyond you, but you couldn’t wait to see your old friend. Percy sat in the seat across from you, staring out the window. He had been quiet since you left the camp. You assumed he was letting you cool down.

“He didn’t mean it that way, ya know.” 

You looked at your best friend. He was still staring out of the window, arms loosely folded across his chest. 

“But why would he even ask that? Like-I helped save Olympus for crying out loud. Does he not think I can handle doing a quest?” 

Percy chuckled as he shook his head, a smile on his face, “You’re so blind.”

You scoffed, “Blind about what? He’s an asshole.” 

“Y/n, he has a crush on you.” 

You stared at Percy in shock. He what? Apollo has a crush on you?

“Apollo has had a crush on you since his punishment. You never noticed how he would literally agree with everything you would say, laugh a little too hard at your non-funny jokes, and wanted to hang out with you every second of the day?” 

You had to think about that. Honestly, you didn’t see it as him wanting to be closer to you because he liked you. It just felt as if he just wanted to be around someone he was familiar with. Him having a crush on you was the last thing you expected. 

“Look, he told me to give this to you when you’re in a better mood. Apollo can be an idiot, but I can tell that he wants to make things better with you.” 

Percy handed you a folded up piece of paper. You slowly took the piece of paper and looked at it. Your name had been written on the top in elegant cursive writing. Glancing up at Percy, you see him leaned back on his seat, eyes closed, getting comfortable in the seat to take a quick nap. Looking back down at the folded note, you open it up and see many attempts at haikus filling the page. Many of them were crossed out, and some were unfinished with self ridiculing comments written around them. Why would he send you a page filled with unfinished haikus? You turned the page and saw that he had another unfinished haiku written, but this one was different. It had arrows pointing towards it and little hearts and stars surrounding it. 

‘Little Flower

My little flower

Blooms under the starry night sky

And that’s all I have…’

Your face felt hot as you reread the title and unfinished haiku. As far as you knew, you were the only person that Apollo called ‘flower’ and he had never called you his little flower. Maybe he did have a crush on you.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The beginning half of the quest had gone well. It took you a minute to regain yourself from the discovery, but you had to put it aside to focus on the quest. You swore to yourself that you would speak to Apollo as soon as you got to Camp again. 

After delivering the package to Persephone, she asked for you both to take her young demigod son Timothy with you to Camp. Taking Timothy with you, both of you heightened your awareness. The most powerful son of Poseidon, the child of y/g/p, and the young son of Persephone was a bright neon sign calling out to monsters to come eat them. That’s how you got into this situation, running away from five echidnas and two harpies who were hot on your trail. You held little Timothy in your arms as you ran through the woods, ducking and jumping over tree branches, heading to Camp. Percy ran beside you, trying his best to block any attacks from hitting you or Timothy. Once you saw the border guards, you began to scream at them for help.

“Help!” The two closest guards jumped at the sound of your panicked voice and immediately ran over to help out. 

“You’re mine child of y/g/p!” 

Before you could cross the border, a searing pain came from near your left collar bone area and you watch as a spear came out through your body-your blood coating the tip of the spear. Timothy screamed in horror as you fell forward, your eyes rolling to the back of your head as you fell unconscious. His tiny hands clutched your shirt as his screams drew the attention of other guards and campers passing by. One such camper being Will Solace, son of Apollo. Running up the hill, he stops when he sees the scene before him. You laid unresponsive on top of a small child who was screaming for help and a bloody spear stuck out through your body. He felt his blood turn cold as he prayed to every god and fates that you weren’t dead. He bolted to your side and carefully took Timothy out from under you, handing him off to another camper that came to help. 

“Stay with me y/n.” He tried his best to put pressure on your wound but it wasn’t much help. He was going to need the big guns. His dad.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Nothing felt different. You slowly woke up without an ounce of pain rushing through your body. Your throat didn’t feel dry, your collar bone area didn’t hurt, and your head didn’t hurt either. Everything felt normal. Well, except for a strange presence laying between your legs. Carefully lifting your head, you look down at your legs and see a little body cuddled in between your legs. It was Timothy. He had a tight grip on the blanket covering you.

“You swore you would keep them safe Percy!” 

You slowly turned your head to the loud voice and tried to focus your eyes on the two people standing by the door. It took a moment before your eyes adjusted and you saw Apollo and Percy. 

“I tried! We can’t help it that monsters want to kill us Apollo, I let y/n run while I took them on. I thought they were safe.” Percy’s voice cracked as he defended himself. 

“Well, they’re clearly not,” Apollo turned to point at you but he froze when he saw you staring right at him. “Y/n!” 

He dried his tears and ran to your side, dropping down next to your cot. The god had more tears in his eyes, his once golden skin and breathtaking blue eyes were blotchy and dull. He gently grabbed hold of your hand closest to him while you laid your head back on the pillow. 

“Do you like me?”

 Of course, that is the first thing you ask after almost dying. 

Apollo let out a laugh as he brought your hand up to his lips and placed a gentle kiss on the top of your hand. Tears ran down his blotchy red cheeks as he lovingly stared down at you.

“You’re seriously asking me that?” He asked. 

“I need a solid answer-,” 

Apollo kissed you. You were momentarily shocked but quickly reacted by kissing him back. You could’ve never dreamt of a kiss like this. Albeit a gentle kiss, you felt all of the passion and love he was putting into it. His kiss had you forgetting about the world around you and made you feel like you were his world, because to Apollo, you were just that. His world. His everything. The person he wanted to change for and give them the world. 

When he heard Will’s prayers, he felt as though his entire world crumbled. He rushed down to the infirmary and did everything in his power to heal you. He couldn’t lose another love, especially if he could stop it. Blocking off anyone from going near you (except for Timothy. Apollo could bare to say no to his little puppy dog eyes), he acted as your bodyguard, monitoring you, feeding you nectar, telling you about his day, singing random hymns and jingles. He wasn’t going to lose you. Not before he even had you. 

The kiss was short, but it gave you your answer. Apollo was head over heels in love with you and you felt the same way about him. Looking at the god, you saw a new set of fresh tears forming and him smiling down at you. You smiled back at him while reaching over and drying his eyes with the hand he had been holding. 

“Can I tell you something?” 

He frantically nodded his head while drying his face again with his hands, “You can tell me anything you want my little flower.”

You smiled, “The second line of your haiku had eight syllables.”

For a moment, you both stared at each other before erupting into loud laughter, only stopping when a tiny groan came from the sleeping toddler laying between your legs. You looked at Apollo, admiring him as he did the same to you. His little flower. 

“Can I read you the updated version?” He asked, pulling something out of his pocket. 

You excitedly nodded. He opened the folded piece and cleared his throat as his eyes scanned the paper, 

“My little flower

Blooms under the starry sky

Calling me, her love.”

[themountainsays]

I only know that Isabela would be the lost daughter of Aphrodite and Demeter, Luisa would be let's say that Hephaestus daughter because it's like I didn't want to put Ares knowing how she is and Mirabel is kinda hard to know but let's say that maybe Hades and Perséfone but more like her mother?

I'm sure Aphrodite would manage to find many beautiful ways to pleasure a lady, but if she has a child with Demeter, then wouldn't that just be a full god? Where's the demigod in that? And Luisa as a child of Ares is interesting because she isn't living up to the expectation of being a rough and aggressive warrior. She's a softie. If Isabela IS a child of aphrodite then I can see her dragging her into the aphrodite cabin and like braiding her hair and shit because it's a nicer and softer place than the ares cabin. And I insist, I don't think Ares would recognize her at all. We would know, and I'm sure she may suspect, but he never proudly says "yeah, unicorn tiktok dance girl is mine", which is why she never gets to go to his cabin :)

And Mirabel... idk the whole thing with Hades and Persephone is that they don't really have demigods? Hades had Nico Bianca and Hazel but that was in like the 30s, before he had to vow not to have children with mortals again, and he was the only one who kept his oath. Does persephone even have kids in the books? Plus... idk it seems like a bit too big for Mirabel, being a child of one of the big three. I'm more willing to see her as a mortal who can see through the mist, a child of Hermes or some other minor god. I just can't see the connection between the thematic gods of the underworld and sweetie ray of sunshine Mirabel who just wants to drag her entire family into the therapist's office and maybe bang a few of them.

If I had to pick a godly parent for Mirabel, I'm willing to suggest Hestia, the goddess of family, hearth and home. This is how the PJO wiki describes her btw:

Hestia is the only deity to have an amiable relationship with every other Olympian, even the vain Apollo (who once proposed to her), the conceited Aphrodite, the violent Ares, and the grim Hades. She is empathetic to all her siblings and their children, consoling, cheering and supporting every single god and goddess in Olympus. Due to these actions, everyone in her family watches out for her when they can and it is acknowledged that their protection ensures that she isn't one to be trifled with, for her family willingly protects her and issues severe punishment on her behalf on those who offend her.

The problem is that she doesn't have a cabin at the camp because "it isn't her style", and apparently she's "a virgin" much like Artemis and Athena, though we know Athena still has children... somehow... they're described as being born from her imagination? Anyway, I can't remember if Hestia was like Hera Persephone and Artemis in the sense that she didn't have children with mortals, or if she's like Athena and just spontaneously generates kids every now and then. From what I'm reading, it doesn't seem like that's the case. Though being so motherly, I can imagine a Mirabel who is mortal but can see through the mist being somewhat "adopted" and allowed to stay because she was nowhere else to go, and kinda just given a stick to poke at the fire and take care of it. Especially if she shares a mortal parent with at least one of her sisters.

idk see this is why I said it's both fitting and unfitting. There are so many rules and you always have to bend over backwards. In one hand, the idea of multiple magical family members of roughly the same age who are cousins and siblings living together and maybe falling in love in an enviroment where that is normal and expected sounds perfect, but there's so much lore and you always end up running into a wall or a sign that says "no, you can't do that" or "no, that's not how the universe works" or it ends up being so convoluted that it becomes annoying. idk

[notfeelingthyaster]

Imagine (based on the incomplete fanfic Son of the Underworld) (Son of Hades! Percy AU) (5/5) or (5/10)

Hey so, this is the last part of PJO - I follow into HOO, so before you read this, check on the masterpost - and read the warnings before proceeding :)) Good reading!

Annabeth comes to him, at the end of his fifteenth birthday party, and shows her Daedalus laptop. There's a document open in it, and it's labeled Achilles' Curse.

Percy doesn't read it - he hates reading, in any way or form or language - but she does, out loud.

"I'll think about it"

They have a year. Most of them, even those who aren't year-rounders, are going back to camp, to draw battle plans and stock on the armory.

He feels kinda selfish - for a whole five seconds before he remembers he'll probably die next summer, so he just shrugs it off - Percy deserves this year.

They all leave to go back to camp. Nico seems conflicted over something - but Perseus doesn't question it, there's enough bad blood between them.

Paola is really cool - and Sally really loves her. It's kind of bizarre at first, to see his Mom dating his teacher - and of a subject he hates - but Paola is calm and well-tempered and she laughs at his stupid ass jokes.

He visits Persephone afterward - and it really feels like he has three moms to fulfill his lack of a father - well, he is absolutely grateful for the women in his life.

Percy isn't truly in good terms with his father. The man doesn't really seem to care much for him as a person - he is much more of a trophy son.

Perseus loathes being a trophy son, but at least he has someone to help with his powers - not something a lot of half-bloods can claim.

So he goes back to school with Rachel, and they pretend everything is normal. He tells her about his quests - all three of them. He thinks she understands him better now.

He opens up to her. Tells her about Annabeth - the adrenaline-fueled kiss - and Rachel stops talking with him for a week.

She apologizes when she comes back. She needed to figure some things up - firstly, the redhead tells him she is probably asexual - and maybe aromantic too, but she is not certain because the internet wasn't really clear about that.

Then Rachel confesses that she is not jealous of him in a romantic way - she is envious of his friendship with Annabeth. Percy is her first genuine friend that really appreciates her.

This is the first grudge Perseus lets go for real before it even takes place - Rachel didn't leave him because of teenage drama, she ignored him out of confusion. Everyone is allowed space - he knows this better than anyone.

They don't kiss anymore. Not because Rachel doesn't like it - no, she is all for it - but because Percy is starting to think kisses should mean something - he is saving them.

They kiss once - when Rachel father calls for the first time this year - not to ask about her, but to tell Rachel he found this amazing all-girls school. To Percy, kisses mean comfort.

They cuddle a lot, though. These past few years of fear have made Percy very touch-starved.

It's sophomore year - and Percy is in five AP classes: Macroeconomics&Microeconomics, Statistics, Calculus AB, Physics 1, and Comparative Government and Politics.

He is planning on taking both AP Computer Science classes, Psychology, Physics 2, and Calculus BC next year; leaving only Electricity&Magnetism, Mechanics, Chemistry, and World History for his senior year.

If he lives, he is working on a tight schedule here. He doesn't know what he wants yet - and if he is in constant danger, it's already pretty lucky he can do high school - but probably something with Math.

Rachel says fourteen AP courses are ambitious - that he'll burn out. But math comes to him easily enough - it's in his blood.

She is also overworking: She is taking AP Environmental Studies, Art History, Drawing, 2-D Art and Design, and English Literature and Composition.

They complete each other. Rachel is planning on taking as many Art, History, and English courses as she can - he is taking as many Physics, Math, and Science as he can handle.

(She is also going to take on Japanese studies for some reason - probably for her GPA, but Perseus just teases her that she is getting too invested in anime)

Perseus doesn't care about languages anymore - the only languages that matter to him are C++ and JavaScript now.

They study together, they take naps together, they climb to the roof together, they flee school to visit Sally together - he is the Pinky to her Brain, the Scooby to her Shaggy, the Lois Lane to her Superman, the Robin to her Batman.

They look like troublemakers - They are honor roll students, but she is always with ripped pants dirty with paint, and he is always full of flowers everywhere, even in his muddy converses - a cliche to kill all cliches.

They're both nerds - he is the classic one, all polo shirts now, the first chair for every number-related class - and she is the artsy one - there's a brush behind her ear and her hair is so messy that half the time it covers her face.

Paola gifts him a pair of cheap frames without lenses once - saying it adds to the aesthetic - he totally uses them.

Persephone just makes him flower-crowns, and giggles when he matches them with his polo shirts.

When winter comes, he goes back to his hoodies and sweaters and gloves - to find out he doesn't miss them a lot.

Rachel introduces him to polaroids - and they look eerily pretty in the winter, her hair looking like blood spilling over the snow - and he loves it.

If he survives - he can feel Rachel slapping him - when he survives, his college credits will be remarkable. The idea of doing SATs makes him want to cry - reading always does - but he'll get somewhere good - he knows it. Perhaps Stanford. Or NYU. Or the dream of his life, MIT.

He is living his life to the fullest - he starts reading comic books, he gets really (really) into Tony Stark once Iron Man 1 comes out (even if he has to kill at least three monsters just to go to the movies), he plants trees and Rachel starts teaching him how to play her ukulele - but half his mind is still on the upcoming war.

Christmas vacation comes - and he goes to visit Camp Half-Blood, before heading back to his mom. It's quite memorable, if only by the fact that Nico Di Angelo freaking betrays him.

He tells Percy to come to the Winter Solstice with him. Most of the campers are not going - the war effort is in an all-time high - but Percy has never gone before. Hades will be there - it'll be great!

Perseus should absolutely be less surprised with the outcome - seeing that Nico is inviting him in Cabin 1, post-dinner, and they don't even stop to talk to Chiron about it.

But Percy goes. Because Percy wants to make amends.

There's no time to really talk to anyone. They travel in Blackjack for the Empire State Building - and it's fine.

They go up to Olympus, Nico shows him everything in the god's land, the temples are a work of art, if not kind of old, and the meeting is kind of okay, even if the gods are squabbling children.

Then the gods leave, and Perseus thinks they're leaving too.

"My father needs a word with you"

Perseus feels the betrayal claw on him. There are no shadows in the white hall, there's no way for him to escape. Nico looks apologetic - Percy wants to clock him in the face.

"He promised to tell me more about my mother" Nico pleads "He will tell me more about where I've come from. Please, Percy."

Nico is cute. He is, for a soon-to-be fourteen-year-old. But his pretty face and exquisite white eyes don't make him any less of a freaking liar. All his handsome male straight friends betray him - it's a worrying pattern now.

He muses for a second that they also all have a crush on Annabeth - gods, the blonde attract the worst types.

It's double-crossing - Percy ends up in an all-white cell that burns his retinas without any weapons because Zeus wants praise in the middle of this freaking war - doesn't matter if a hundred demigods die, if he only has the glory.

Nico ends up with barely any information - Zeus didn't promise anything. The god of the skies is a lying-ass motherfucker - literally.

And Zeus justifies it - He says Perseus is a criminal because he awakened Typhon. So Hephaestus issues a quest so he can save a hundred demigods, he destroys a powerful titan weapon of doom, and he is the villain? Sure, Jan.

Perseus writes this grudge in his heart - that's where trust will take you. To a cell. Betrayed by a "friend". Again.

He flinches when Nico comes into his cell, pins him to the wall and promptly begins to try and strangle him. He wants to melt in the boy's shadow - to go and never give him a chance to explain - but he looks so guilty Percy waits for his repentance.

The son of Zeus saves him, but Perseus is still pissed off. The god of thunder has threatened to kill him off at least two times now, what is to say he wouldn't have killed off Percy for the sake of glory?

He half hopes Zeus had killed him off. The war is close, too close - Nico wouldn't be the Prophecy's child. There would be no child. Olympus would fall - and Percy would have seen it all from his very comfortable couch in Elysium.

He wants Kronos gone - but he kind of wants Olympus to fall with the Titan.

Nico flies him down to the Earth - the elevator is monitored. Zeus has left, like many others - not to bother with the war effort against his main enemy, but to go to the human world mess with people.

Some gods are doing something - He has heard from Annabeth that Artemis is leading the widest hunt ever, with her brother by her side; Hermes (with Hephaestus help) is delivering Celestial Bronze, other metals, old schematics and a whole lot of fuel to Camp Half-Blood every few weeks; Poseidon is fighting his own war, in the ocean; Dionysus is at Camp - and this time, he is really helpful with the battle formations; Demeter is on the Underworld - Chiron seems to think his father is preparing for war, but Percy sorely doubts it.

Percy is taking some people with him to Sally's Christmas dinner. Just Annabeth, Clarisse, Rachel, Connor, Travis, and Charles - people who don't have a present family to celebrate it with.

Grover is coordinating the dryads up in San Francisco with his second cousin, Gleeson Hedge - they are the first to fall if anything goes wrong in Mt. Othrys.

"I think you should stay." He tells Nico.

"You don't trust me anymore." It's not actually a question.

Percy doesn't trust the boy. Not at all - it's the third time he does something shady to achieve his ends based on emotional turmoil. But he is a good person - it's just his father's cursed temper and his grief.

"It's not that. You're needed for the war effort."

Both of them know it's a lie. Percy doesn't care - he deserves to be bitter a little longer.

Percy goes back home. Christmas is amazing - even if Rachel asks him where Nico is because he is talking about making amends with the boy for a while now.

He goes visit Persephone - but she is occupied, so he wanders through the Underworld after Bianca di Angelo - someone he, for some reason, never been able to reach. It's a pointless endeavor by now.

He finds her. Or else, he finds a shadow of her - she is blocked from his view. Bianca doesn't talk to him - they weren't close - but she guides him to a girl.

Her name is Hazel Levesque.

She seems lost - like most ghosts - but something in Percy calls for her. It's the color of her skin and the sparkle in her golden eyes - Hazel remembers him of himself.

He promises to visit more - even though he doesn't think she'll remember it - and leaves to go back to the surface - he will finish the sophomore year.

And Percy does. After a very distressing break, he is doing his best. His grades drop a little in English because he can barely focus - half his mind is on the war and Nico's betrayal and Hazel Levesque's golden eyes.

Miraculously, his GPA doesn't fall - he still is taking a ridiculous amount of AP classes, and barely has time to breathe - dark circles grow under his eyes, and he looks like a mess - but now he is a Junior.

That's why, as soon as the year ends, Rachel takes him on a road trip with Connor. They go all the way to Boston, then Portland, Quebec, Montreal, Ottawa, Syracuse, Baltimore, and Filadelfia, before going back to NY.

They are stopped five times by the police - because Percy is black, and it's Rachel driving the Camaro, because she has a learner's permit and Connor is, somehow, an approved license holder.

They are on a pier, enjoying the view of the beach. They did the last week alone because Connor wanted to go check on one of his cousins - at least, that's what he said, with an over-exaggerated wink that both Percy and Rachel ignored for the sake of their sanity.

She tells him about Clarion Ladies Academy - but that her father is at least mildly happy with her GPA this year, even if he disapproves of her Art focused AP classes. Percy thinks Mr. Dare would love him, with his APs on Economics and Politics, if only he was rich. And white.

This time, when Charles Beckendorf arrives in a Pegasus to tell him it's time, Rachel doesn't kiss him - she justs hugs him and makes him promise to call her.

Perseus doesn't go to the Andromeda Ship - he is needed in Camp. He is useless on the water - but they do need him to improve battle strategy.

Charles Beckendorf is dead. Thalia is the one to tell them - she was in her father's palace helping with a monster under her Lady's orders - he went on the mission alone.

Percy talks briefly with Beckendorf's ghost - is his worst developed power, and he can barely hold the "seance" for more than a few minutes. He does it with only Nico di Angelo for witness - the others are the way to close to the situation.

There's a spy passing information to Luke.

They look at him. Doesn't matter how much he does, he is always the first suspect - he is a son of Hades. He was friends with a lot of people on the other side. He was gone for a year and a half, who knows where.

Perseus wants to say that he has helped to save their asses four times now - that without him in the Labyrinth, they would all be dead right now - and that Charles was basically his older brother.

Then he points out he wasn't even here - he had no idea of any plans of anything - and he told him about the spy, so he is not the freaking spy, go point fingers at each other instead of him.

When they start yelling, he stops them - this is not the time, he was just angry at their accusations. They have to burn Charles shroud. Silena is inconsolable - Percy is not very far from it, but he is not a public crier. The last time he cried in public, Luke was dead on a cliff.

Percy speeds up the line for Elysium to Beckendorf - his brother deserves it.

They read the prophecy together - Perseus already read it last summer, he doesn't even care anymore. They look at him anxiously - no one has forgotten that he abhors most of the gods.

Clarisse and Michael Yew fight, but Lee Fletcher - with a mechanical arm built by Beckendorf himself, still re-learning how to shoot arrows and forever incapable of playing the guitar again (but the keyboard is not ruled out yet) - stops them: They can share the chariot. The war is more important - is not the time for petty fights.

Chiron shows them Typhon - and Perseus has a sliver of hope that they can destroy Kronos and be free of the gods at the same time - It's a horrible hope, because he loves Persephone and some of them are even okay sometimes, but he really wants Zeus to go to Tartarus for at least a century, so Perseus doesn't meet him again in this life.

But he also wants the gods to win, because there's a lot of dead people - innocents, people who have nothing to do with this war.

He dreams of Rachel. Rachel is painting Luke - and Percy wakes up crying, for the boy the gods took away.

Annabeth takes him aside and reminds him of Achilles' Curse. He is off to May Castellan's house - the last place Luke has been - for it's his best and only chance, its what Annie thinks. And she is scarcely wrong.

Perseus hates the gods. They wrecked a family - and for what? May Castellan - forever waiting for a son that will never come back, haunted by visions of his future, plates of burned cookies everywhere.

Perseus doesn't pity her - he rages against the gods, who brought madness upon this woman and then left her to it. Where was Apollo, the god of health? Dionysus, who is supposed to control mental health? Artemis, whose job is to protect women?

Hestia is kind - but she is still a goddess. She could've prevented this - but she hides in her hearth and abstains - and that's enabling. Hestia enables the other gods to do as they please, even when she is the oldest. She says they ignore her - oh well, she ignores them right back! He has no time for the laments of another all-powerful being.

So he goes to his mother and asks for her blessing. Then, just to be sure, he asks Persephone's too.

He thinks about his anchor - where does he want it to be in his body. He doesn't want somewhere in his back - where he can't see it - or in his gut - where anyone can stick a sword. He settles for the bottom of his back - where he can at least touch it and it's well protected by armor - and dives.

Perseus hates water - and he has an uncanny fear of drowning. He feels pain - everywhere, horrible pain.

His vision now doesn't have Annabeth's face - the blonde is his link to the demigod world, Persephone is his link to the Underworld and his mom is his link to childhood - but the person who grounds him is Rachel.

He is stronger. He feel his powers at his fingertips - Perseus feels the Underworld as a whole, and it's overwhelming.

Green flames explode from his hands. Flowers made of shadows curve around his ankles - he has been training since he was 12, but now his body can sustain all of his power. This is all his.

He goes meet with his father - Perseus manipulates him. He tells Hades he'll be the hero, but the god himself can be praised for more than being his father. That he should join the battle against Typhon - That's his chance of proving himself. Also, there's less paperwork for him if there are fewer dead people.

His father is amused with his blatant bribing, but he thinks about it, Percy can tell. In a way or another, he excuses himself and goes back to the surface where he is needed.

Persephone stalls him. She asks him to stay, just for this night. He can go back in the morning - he sleeps, and dreams of Rachel again, drawing in the sand. In greek.

He is scared for her - she is having demigod dreams, but she is mortal. Something is wrong.

Typhon is getting worse - and Kronos draws closer to NYC. It's time - he calls for Blackjack and leaves - Mrs. O'Leary, who has become more or less of a mother to his own hellhound, follows. Persephone promises to convince Hades.

They have about sixty campers able to fight heading for the Empire State Building, and five healers. The ones too young to lift a sword or string a bow stayed back at Camp with Argus - fifteen children between 5 and 9 years old.

Percy knows he looks different - he looks just like his father. He has gained a godly aura - he has no scars anymore, no imperfections. Perseus looms over all of them - he went from 5'7'' to 6'2'' - it's a weird view, from up there. It's still strange when they look at him with a mix of fear and admiration.

Perseus Jackson is officially their leader. He hates Olympus - but he will give his life to defend every single one of his demigods.

The vision Hestia shows him just makes him want to tear this throne room with his bare hands - Luke was a kid. He was a kid - and the gods corrupted him. Thalia was a kid - and the gods took her life, twice. Annabeth is still a kid - they all are - and she is here planning battle strategies.

Annabeth missed an extra year of formal education - while Percy is a Junior, Annabeth barely qualifies for a Freshman - because the gods took this from her too.

Percy rages. The ground of Olympus trembles beneath him - he wants to kill something.

Then Hermes appears - like this whole war is not his fault in the first place, the literal bastard - just to relay a message from Athena that gives them a plan that Annabeth was already putting into works and tells Percy to stay away from Annabeth.

Like she cares. Like Athena has ever, ever, done anything for Annabeth.

Perseus can't punch Athena, so he punches the messager (also, because he freaking guilt trips both of them about Luke). He has nothing to lose - he is going to die by the end of the day anyway, and they need him too much.

He has punched a god before - Ares, in a desert in the middle of Los Angeles - but this time, it's satisfactory. He feels good after it.

Hermes seems strangely resigned - He feels guilty about Luke too, but Perseus doesn't think it's enough. It'll never be enough, not while the gods leave their children to rot in a cabin of rejects and May Castellan bakes cookies for a son that will never come back.

Hermes leaves, ashamed. It's only fair, Perseus thinks. They all should be ashamed.

They see the city asleep - the prophecy is in the works.

Perseus executes their strategy - every cabin is covering a tunnel, with the exception of Dionysus, because Pollux is with the Demeter kids, and the Hecate kids stay behind to use spells to overlook the city. Lincoln Tunnel is getting covered by Ares - who, this time around, is actively participating.

The undetermined who didn't desert are with Hermes - and the minor god's children are divided by specialty - most Hypnos and Morpheus children follow him directly, but the two sons of Iris go with the Apollo Cabin.

Annabeth executes Plan 23, automatons, mounting on Mrs. O'Leary (who has strict orders to take Annabeth anywhere she wants without stopping to play around) - she doesn't need his help with this, and Percy has a tunnel to defend.

That left the rivers uncovered - until Thalia appears, with magical sand money, and made the rivers cooperate.

The hunters join the Aphrodite kids - who are half a dozen children between 11 and 19 - the oldest being Silena Beauregard, who uses a crossbow that looks exactly like her immortal half-brother's one.

His bridge is completely covered on skeletons - but no monster comes, even if he hears explosions. He leaves an English Lieutenant from the Battle of Yorktown in command of the bridge - with Tyene, the oldest daughter of Morpheus, to be in alert and don't let Clovis sleep through the battle. Because he did it before - and while it is funny, it can't happen right now.

Perseus mounts Blackjack - and go see where the noise is coming from. It's the Williamsburg Bridge - where are most of Apollo's Cabin.

They fight - and Percy almost cries when he sees Luke, who is not Luke anymore. Luke, who is a puppet controlled by Kronos.

Perseus kills the Minotaur and the weight of his stone spikes collapse the bridge - and Michael Yew dies. This time around, the bridge falls silently into shadows, and he doesn't bother about searching for the corpse - he saw the boy falling, and his screams will haunt all of them, forever.

This time around, Annabeth is not there to protect him - Ethan also doesn't try to kill him. The Son of Nemesis doesn't leave Kronos side for a second - but there's regret in his eyes.

After the bloodlust is gone, Perseus collapses - Will has to bride carry him back. Overuse of his powers - he summoned skeletons and produced shadows, melted enemy swords (with the bonus of incapacitating them without killing), and sprouted stone spikes everywhere - there's even a vine or ten that he used to hold his friends from falling.

Perseus doesn't sleep quickly enough to not hear the yell of anguish that comes from Lee Fletcher - the pain of losing a brother and not being able to fight beside him.

But he does sleep - and he dreams. He dreams of Hades killing Maria Di Angelo, not Hera, like Zeus told Nico. He dreams of Zeus cursing the Oracle - and he seethes, because he also sees what happened to May Castellan.

He keeps getting angrier and angrier at the gods - it's building inside of him. But his friends are still here, still fragile. He can't let them suffer more.

Perseus wakes up, checks on everyone - most everyone is either injured and/or exhausted, but he checks on every camper. He knows all of their names, their ages, their cabins. - and promises to sit up to talk with Thalia and Nico - war makes him prone to peace - and promptly goes back to sleep.

He dreams of Rachel. He wants to scream for her not to come: but she'll anyway.

Perseus dreams of a boy. He is his age - maybe a little younger. His hair is blonde and his skin is whiter - but Percy glances at his eyes, and there are waves in them.

There's a girl by his side - she is familiar to Percy, somehow. They're climbing a mountain.

The dream ends and Percy can't make heads or tails of it. He asks Thalia if she has a brother, but she says that she doesn't, looking wistful.

Prometheus is tempting - but he knows there's no Luke anymore, there's only Kronos. And the gods are horrible, vile and immature - but they never killed any of Percy's friends. Some of them died for the gods - but never by their hands, so for now, Perseus would toe the line.

He does want to punch Hermes again. He takes the Pythos - if everything goes wrong, he will not hesitate in going down for the sake of his friends - but there have been six deaths, and it's enough.

"Was it worth it?" He asks Ethan.

"Alabaster is alive" And it's all the answer Percy needs.

He dreams of Ethan and Alabaster. Alabaster is alive, yes, but he is missing half a leg - courtesy of Clarisse herself. Luke - Kronos - is indifferent, and Ethan curses the daughter of Ares - "The sword that took from us will take from you"

He contains Hyperion with his shadows. Then he helps Grover (who was half asleep, because of Morpheus) to make the Titan into a tree. It's a pomegranate tree - then he sets hellish fire to it and sacrifices it to Hades and Persephone.

A pig is in the sky - this time around, Annabeth and her frightening army of automatons kill it with Nico's help.

Perseus laughs - because Annabeth has about two hundred automatons under her command, Martin Luther King and Alexander Hamilton leading the charge with a giant bull being ridden by the Mad Hatter behind them.

It's weird to see historic figures Percy admires - like Jane Bolin, Sylvia Mendez, or Abraham Lincoln - fighting alongside people he downright despises - Thomas Jefferson and the goatfucker, herpes-ridden, Colombus. His Comparative Government teacher would have a field day.

Annabeth and Nico's pair up is amazing - They fight alongside like they have been doing it all life.

Nico is a force of nature, flying and commanding the winds to do his bidding - His eyes shine in the midst of the stormy clouds. His specialty is weather manipulation - he hasn't had much success with direct energy or electric discharges.

Annabeth has her mother's tenacity for war - and her clever mind for strategies. It's clear in her eyes - she is racking the weaker points of the Clazmonian Sow in her mind and destroying it. The automatons hold the pig in place - and she makes bacon of it.

Hercules couldn't do it. Nico and Annabeth can, because they have the power and the mind.

Perseus is still fighting off monsters - but they're too widespread, so they retreat to the doors of the Empire State Building.

Percy does a mental tally: of sixty-two campers, six are confirmed dead, twenty are injured and nine are out of commission on exhaustion. There should be 27 orange shirts here - but there's only twenty.

Percy wonders if the seven missing are injured, or dead, or under a pile of rubble somewhere with no one to help them. Is there someone being slowly eaten by monsters? Is there someone alone and injured and abandoned? He doesn't know.

He prays that those seven deserted them - at least that means they probably are alive and well.

Perseus looks at Phoebe's grief-stricken face, and he knows it's not probable - she had almost three dozen hunters with her, and now there's barely fifteen still fighting, Thalia nowhere to be seen.

They prepare for their last standing - Percy keeps conjuring skeletons, but they're no match for the sheer strength of the hyperborean giants. Nico is shoulder to shoulder with the Stoll brothers against a group of telkhines - Clarisse is bringing down a whole giant by herself.

After the Party Ponies save them - Chiron leads the charge against his own father, and Perseus is so proud of his mentor he can't even put in words how much - he goes to sleep. Fighting gets him tired quickly, and they'll come back.

He dreams of Dionysus. Perseus is not fond of any god who is not Persephone, but Dionysus is mostly okay sometimes. He seems to care about his children.

Perseus couldn't care less about the Western Civilization - but he'll care for Pollux. It's one of his demigods, after all, and Underworld people are possessive of theirs (i.e. Hades and Persephone).

He dreams of Thalia, in her father's palace, begging Poseidon to leave the underwater war and help with the invasion - His wife is none too happy with the presence of his immortal bastard daughter.

He wakes up to Rachel's helicopter falling - how is Rachel even awake, is a mistery.

The improbable pair Nico and Annabeth strike again: The girl knows how to fly helicopters, and the boy can fly himself. They save the redhead and the pilot - everything is fine.

"You're not the hero"

"Why did you risk yourself to tell me something I already know?"

Rachel doesn't explain - she can't. But she has a vision that says that he is not the hero. The hero of what? Perseus has no idea. But there's no way any of his cousins is dying for this stupid prophecy.

Suddenly, there's a drakon there. Rachel has another prophecy - Perseus fears she will walk the path that led May Castellan to destruction - that only a child of Ares will be able to kill it.

Bad news: All children of Ares are otherwise out of battle.

Clarisse is resting after a nasty concussion - and her brothers and Apollo's children are fighting yet again because Lee Fletcher is in no condition to stop them and Michael Yew is dead. Ares' side refuses to fight without the chariot - which Cabin 7 has hidden somewhere.

The best they can do is fend the drakon off until a miracle occurs. And it does: Clarisse, in full armor, manages to lead her brothers into battle.

Clarisse is dead. Something shatters inside of Perseus - and he leaves the drakon for the Ares' children to solve - he can't kill it anyway - and starts to vaporize the army behind it.

He is so caught up in bloodlust, that he almost misses Clarisse slaying a dragon. Clarisse, who has no armor. Clarisse, who is alive.

Ethan's curse rang true - Clarisse's weapon took something from her.

Silena is a traitor. She is also dead - which makes her a martyr, and probably going to reunite with her boyfriend in Elysium.

He remembers how easy is to fall for Luke's charm - he was - is - still in love with the guy. Percy thought the son of Hermes could do no wrong - and he wonders how much of his rage against the gods sprout from his influence.

Something evil inside of Perseus's mind tells him she deserved it. It tells Perseus that better her than Clarisse - but he shuts it down, and concentrates on his shining red friends.

He hates Ares. But he might just have an okay side if he can produce such a magnificent daughter.

Silena is the Patroclus to Clarisse's Achilles, and the Drakon is Hector - and the daughter of Ares is sure to parade its dead body.

It's the first time they feel like they are winning. It doesn't last - but as he hugs Clarisse tightly, he thinks he might cry of relief.

Clarisse looks tough - but she is a wonderful human being. She loves Silena with her whole heart - even more than she loves Chris, her best friend. Silena might've been in love with Charles - but she and Clarisse? They are soulmates.

The damned Pythos is following Perseus - and he is done with it. He knows where hope will survive best. Rachel wants him to give it to Hestia - but he owns the fire goddess nothing.

She has never interfered, not once, to help the dozens of demigods with no family that is abandoned in Cabin 11, and he won't forgive her for it.

He sacrifices hope to Persephone because that's what spring is. Spring is the hope of a new life. Maybe, Perseus thinks, it'll convince his father to come.

They go down to make their final stand against the forces of Kronos. There's not a lot of them - but they're not getting through those doors.

Well, his father doesn't come. But Poseidon does, with his whole army, Tyson and Thalia behind him, and the scales seem to turn.

And then Kronos cuts the barrier. Perseus can see his Mom (why is his Mom here with a handgun?!) and Poseidon fighting against the monsters under the eyes of extremely confused mortals.

Some are trying to break the barrier - but it's futile. Kronos has corraled them like sheep for the slaughter.

It's just him, Grover, Annabeth and Nico, fighting against Kronos vanguard - which is big, but not as strong as they are.

Kronos passes him without resistance - Ethan follows, but there's anger in his eyes - not for Percy, but for the monster he is leashed to. Alabaster is not there.

As soon as Kronos powers stop working on them, the four follow the titan - and some things never change, no matter the universe.

This time, it's Nico who falls because of Hera - it's her curse over all of her husband's bastards.

Ethan takes one look at Perseus, and they don't even need to fight. They have been friends for longer than they have been enemies - and they both loathe the gods, but Kronos is as much of an all-powerful controller being as any of the Olympians.

They battle against Kronos - Perseus has only his ax against his scyther - a true Underworld fight.

Ethan dies. And Perseus bloodlust consumes him - it clouds his eyes and he can only keep fighting.

"If... if we've had cabins... and they had thrones"

It's true, and more than ever, Perseus wishes Kronos wasn't such a bastard. He wouldn't bother killing the gods - but the titan is a way worse option.

"LUKE, PLEASE" It's Annabeth. He doesn't have her faith - she didn't saw his transformation. But he tries anyway because he loves Luke just as much as he hates Kronos.

"Luke, remember our summer" But his words are caught up in his throat when the titan throws him against the wall.

But the amalgamation of his friend and an all-powerful being looks confused, so props for his genius best friend.

Kronos shows them a rainbow message of Typhon - and that's where Perseus it's pretty sure he starts liking his father.

Because the Lord of the Dead opens up the earth and gets out in a black chariot guided by skeletal horses like a king. By his right side, is Persephone, in armor battle as a queen should be. By his left, is Demeter, who looks every single bit like the matron she is supposed to be.

Behind him, a hundred thousand dead roars. Charon is mounting Cerberus - and literal hell is unleashed upon the Father of Monsters.

The gods strike down Typhon, sending him back to be locked away - this time, in the depths of Tartarus instead of Mount Etna.

Kronos gets mad. Utterly, undoubtedly mad. He talks about burning Luke's body. Then he hurts Annabeth and breaks two promises in one fell swoop.

"Luke.... remember family" It's what Annabeth utters, but Perseus, already certain of their own demise, is crying now.

"That summer Luke, you promised to never hurt her again. You remember it? YOU PROMISED LUKE!!"

Annabeth's promise was already broken - he had hurt her, all those years ago, in Mt. Othrys. But the promise he made to Percy - that he would never hurt her again - is new and broken, in the river Styx no less.

Luke regains his own body, for a minute, and Perseus runs to him like a man in a desert with no water.

"Please, please tell me there's a way to undo this, Luke, please, please"

"There isn't one, Percy" And it's the first time he hears Luke call him Percy, Percy and not Perseus, in his own voice, in two years. Percy cries.

"We... we don't have much time, hellebore. Give me Annabeth's dagger. Before he... before he takes back"

Luke calls him hellebore and it makes him start crying all over again. He gives him the dagger - and Luke kills himself, taking Kronos out with him.

Luke doesn't need to ask if Percy has ever loved him - Percy kept loving Luke, one-sided as it was, even when Kronos was there.

He still crying over Luke's body when the gods arrive. Luke is dead. Ethan is dead. Silena is dead. Michael Yew is dead. Charles is dead.

He lost three of his best friends in two days. Ethan is dead. Luke is dead. Luke is dead.

Perseus can't stop crying. They take Luke's body away - but he can't stop. Annabeth explains what happened to the gods - most of it, anyway. Apollo says he is in shock - his father says he is a hero.

Perseus doesn't feel like a hero. Was this all worth it? Was it worth it the pain and the death and the suffering?

Persephone touches him - and he has no tears to cry anymore. She can't hug him here, but she'll do so later.

He stares at the walls, listening to his friends being awarded - compensated by their siblings and friends' deaths - with a blank stare. Perseus wants his mom.

They call for him. He raised his head but doesn't bother getting up. He just saved their asses - for the fifth time in a roll. He deserves to grieve.

They offer him immortality. A place between the gods.

He laughs. Zeus looks murderous, but he can't stop laughing.

"My apologies, but I have to refuse," he says. But in his mind, he is thinking about how could they even think he might want to sit between them and be an all-powerful being, be another god ignoring his children and messing with mortal lives while thousands die for him.

"Promise me, on the river Styx, that you'll give me the wish that I want."

They promise him, that if it's within their capabilities, they shall grant him his wish.

"I wish for every child at the age of twelve to be claimed. I wish for cabins in Camp Half-Blood, for every single minor god, and my own father. I wish for Calypso to be free, and to the demigods from the opposite side of this war to be given amnesty. It's not their fault. It's not any of our faults."

"You dare to-" Zeus begins, but Percy is really tired of Zeus.

"We fought your war, we won your battles. We, the unclaimed and rejected stowaways of Cabin 11. We, the children of minor and Underworld gods. We deserve respect. Just like my father deserves a throne, just like the minor gods deserve justice."

"Don't you fear us?" Athena asks, something weird shining in her eyes.

"I thought I would be dead today. At least if I die now, I'm dying for something I believe in."

It stays unsaid that he doesn't believe in them. The other demigods look at him worried - but he is not afraid of the gods.

They grant his wish. Some of them aren't happy with it, but they have to do it. He meets Calypso at the front gates of Olympus - and her smile can brighten the pits of Tartarus. He sees Alabaster talking with Lou Ellen - they are both crying.

He thinks it's the end - it's not. Thalia tells him Rachel left for Camp in her Pegasus - and his father has lift the curse, the Prophecy is gone, but he fears for his best friend.

Perseus is too tired for shadow travel - he does it anyway. He flickers, but anyway, he is too late.

It works. Rachel - his best friend - is the new Oracle. Someone jokes they can't be together anymore and Rachel lifts an eyebrow.

"We never were. Didn't you see the last few hours?" Well, he did out himself. Mostly - they might say it's just friendship, and he will hate the way they twist it. Luke wasn't a villain, and Perseus isn't a pure hero with a heart of gold.

Perseus is healing from lost love - and Annabeth is too. His crush on her was only a crush, he thinks - She is his best friend first and foremost. They cry together at the bonfire that burns away the shrouds of 43 demigods - from both sides - and 16 hunters of Artemis. Their souls all rest in Elysium now.

Alabaster comes back to Camp and helps his siblings to build the new Cabin for Hecate, full of spelled blocks and magic chimneys. Clovis and Tyene have their hands full with their own cabins - it doesn't help they keep getting sidetracked with naps.

Somehow, Nico, Thalia, and his bond over helping construct Cabin 13 - They are both way too invested in the goth vibe, mostly because Cabin 1 looks like a temple, and Cabin 3 looks like a beach cabin. And both of them are so over it.

Perseus doesn't want a goth cabin - he is fighting against the aesthetic for years - but sometimes, there are no arguments. His Cabin is made of black marble, and there are skulls everywhere, with torches shining with green fire. Outside, at least. Inside, it looks like Persephone's garden, with input from the queen herself. It's ready just shy of the end of summer vacation.

Rachel tells the next Great Prophecy. Perseus isn't such a positive person to think it won't affect him - he hopes at least it'll wait until he is done with High School.

That night, he dreams of the blonde boy again - it's his first night without nightmares since the battle. He has a scar in his lip, and his green eyes pierce Percy's soul. Perseus wonders if they'll ever meet, wonders if this boy is one of the Seven of the Prophecy.

But alas, Perseus lets it go. The summer is over - he is sixteen, somehow. He is alive and going to go back to his mortal life and his junior year, and grief. Not everything is fine - but eventually, it will be.

It's not the end. Not yet.

[btsslowburnfic]

Chthonic Love Ch. 14

Series Summary: A Greek Mythology AU featuring Yoongi/Suga as Hades and reader as Persephone. Olympian ruler Namjoon has delivered you, Persephone, as a gift for his brother, lord of Death, Yoongi

Previous Chapter here

The next day inevitably came. Yoongi walked to the Enchanted door on the far end of the castle. He was ready to begin his defense assessment with Penthos and get this part of the day over with. He rubbed his eyes and yawned, he had barely slept the night before, wondering what he should do on his date with Persephone. He had been so shocked by the confession, he had immediately suggested a date. A date in the Underworld. He had never been on a date. He wondered if you had. He hummed lightly to himself as he approached the Enchanted doorway. He placed his hand on the sigils, and opened it. He pulled out his pocket watch, more a habit than anything. Penthos should be here any minute. 

Yoongi heard clacking down the stairs and saw the demigod enter the antechamber. “Alright, let’s begin. Walk me through your investigation and let’s work from there.” Yoongi said, turning to head down the earthen staircase.

“Yes m’lord.” Penthos said, quickly walking past Yoongi to walk down the stairs first. Yoongi dutifully lit the torches along the walls. The two men heard scraping sounds, which Yoongi assumed were Arachne’s children skittering away from the lights. They reached the bottom of the stairway, the air musty and damp. 

“Go head to the Golems. I need to speak with Arachne.” Yoongi commanded. Penthos hesitated for a moment. “Privately.” Yoongi added. The servant turned and headed towards the Western chamber.  Yoongi stepped further into the cavern, Arachne’s hearing was better than even his, she should be here soon. He hummed lowly to himself once more. Would the sunken pools be better or the forest? He wondered, thinking about the few suitable locations to take you to.

“My Lord.” He heard Arachne’s strained voice as she entered the space. She bowed down upon her pincers. 

“Arachne.” Yoongi greeted, waving at her to rise. “Penthos tells me you and your children have been hard at work protecting us. Well done.”

“Thank you Lord Yoongi. It’s the least we could do since you give us a home. But you know we hear things. We hear things down here. And we see things. So many eyes. So many ears. So. Many. Things.” Arachne clicked her eight legs against the floor. 

“Oh?” Yoongi indicated he had heard her. This was unsettling even for Arachne.

“We hear things in the Northern Passage. What once was silent is no longer.”

“The northern passage? Hmm…” Yoongi tried to not show his fear. To the North were the mountains. There shouldn’t be any sounds. But he hadn’t checked on Tartarus in a long time, nor had he traveled to the other side of the mountain in centuries. “I will be checking it here shortly. When I depart can you please set some webbing and traps along there?” 

“Oh yessssss…..We live to serve. If we catch anything may we eat it?” Drool began to pool within her maw.

Yoongi sighed. “If it seems human, God, or demigod you must keep it for me. Otherwise, consider it yours.”

“Yess yesssssss.” 

“Arachne?” Yoongi spoke quieter now.

“Yes?” She matched his volume.

“If anyone else comes down here other than me, unescorted by me. Stop them. And I mean anyone. Do you understand?”

“Yes m’lord.”

“Excellent. Now, onto more pleasant items.” He returned his volume back to normal.  “Lady Persephone would like to thank you personally for her clothing. I know you generally don’t like company. However, I thought I would ask.”

“The lady would like to speak to meeeee?” Her scratchy voice peaked in surprise.

A small smile formed on Yoongi’s lips. “She would.”

“Oh I don’t know. There’s so much cleaning to do for a lady. The floor is all dirt and I have so many eyes and my children are so loud.” She clicked her pincers together in worry.

“Well it’s your decision Arachne but I am sure she wouldn’t mind. Give it some thought and let me know. Also if you have some time, some new clothing for both of us, more suitable for traveling. Use your creativity.”

“Yes m’lord. Thank you. We live to serve.” She bowed once again.

“Take care Arachne, “ Yoongi said, wandering through the antechamber and to the Western passage where Penthos was waiting. The demigod was standing up on a platform, raised above rows upon rows of golems. Yoongi climbed the ladder to join him. He raised his hands, causing the golems to rise from their slumped figures into upright warriors. Four of the figures remained slumped. “I see. Yes, Hephaestus should be summoned.”

Penthos looked at Yoongi, “May I ask my Lord, if we are expecting trouble?”

Yoongi bent over, placing his large hands on the railing. He puffed out his cheeks in thought for a moment. A few weeks ago he wouldn’t have hesitated to tell Penthos anything. But lately, he had grown weary due to Penthos’ treatment of Persephone. “My brother has grown too comfortable with allowing himself access to my realm whenever he feels like it. Additionally, I eventually expect a visit from Hoseok. While I don’t anticipate any aggression, it would be best to remind people of their place.” Yoongi looked up and over at Penthos.  “I rule the Underworld. I decide who enters and when.”

“Of course, my lord.” 

Another movement of Yoongi's hands and the golems returned to their stationary positions. The two men exited the platform. “Penthos. You should prepare for trouble. Arachne says she has heard movement in the Northern Passage.”

“I found cracks there earlier this week. I reinforced them with Obsidian. What do you think it is?”

“I do not know. I cannot travel to the other side of the mountain without leaving the reapings.  Be quiet.” The two men slowed down as they approached the darkened corridor. They continued to get closer. Penthos indicated to Yoongi several cracks running throughout that he had patched up with Obsidian. The damage was much more than Yoongi had anticipated. The two men finally arrived at the terminus and Yooongi slowly filled the space with blue light. 

“M’Lord I just repaired this yesterday.” Penthos said, his voice filled with a rare tinge of feeling. The feeling was fear.

Large holes and fissures were forming along the wall. Yoongi pressed a hand up to them. Feeling nothing, he stepped back. 

“Patch these up again. Arachne will also be laying out traps. I need to think about what else to do.” Yoongi ordered and turned to leave. “Do not disturb me.”

Penthos had already begun repairing the cracks with Obsidian, “Of course m’lord.”

----------

Yoongi paced angrily in his office. He had not been expecting that. Usually Penthos tended on the dramatic side so he had expected a few natural cracks within the stone. This was bad. He stopped for a minute and looked out over the Sea. Surely the Titans remained locked up. He did not wish to go to war again. The freedom of the Gods had been hard-fought and bloody. It wasn’t something he would wish upon anybody. He picked at his cuticles and thought about what to do next.

He heard a knock at the door and sighed in irritation. He had asked not to be disturbed. He walked over and opened it a crack, ready to lay into whoever it was. He was surprised to see you standing there. “HI Yoongi.” You said shyly. The two of you hadn't agreed upon a time for today so you had hoped to catch him before the afternoon reaping. “Did I miss the second reaping?”

Yoongi took a few seconds to recalculate, not wanting to take his anger out on you. He took out his pocket watch. It was almost time for the second reaping. Shit. And he had said he would take you on a date. Shit. The defense breaches had totally caught him off guard. “Persephone. Come in.” He opened the door all the way and walked back over to the window. “I should be getting ready for the second reaping, it’s a good thing you reminded me.Charon would be quite cross if we missed too many in a row. How are your hands today? " He looked over at you. 

You raised an eyebrow. What on Earth would cause Yoongi to forget about a reaping? Lethe had changed your bandaging this morning to a looser wrap." they're getting better. Thank you. Is everything ok?”

Yoongi tapped his fingers against the window ledge. He didn’t want to worry you. But he also didn’t want to keep anything from you. He took a deep breath. “There’s been some problems with the walls in the area underneath the castle. The foundation is cracking. Arachne is hearing things on the other side of the wall. We don’t know if it’s natural or an offensive measure being taken against us. I don’t know. I haven’t had to actively defend in so long.” Yoongi let it all spill out. “I have no way of checking on Tartarus. I can’t leave here to check because of the reapings. Penthos is repairing the cracks and Arachne is laying more traps but I have no idea what else to do.”

You listened while trying to think of ways you could help.  “Well, I can go and check for life signs to see if there’s anything on the other side of the wall. Would that be helpful?”

Yoongi looked over at you, surprised. “You can do that?”

“Yes. I can detect life signatures. I can also usually at least discern between animals, humans, and Gods. Demigods throw me off though.” 

Yoongi nodded. “Ok. That would be a good start."

“Do you trust any other Gods who could go check on Tartarus? I know Namjoon isn’t high on the list but maybe Jungkook or Apollo could go? Or you could ask the fates. But their interpretation of things is always questionable…” You listed out various suggestions.

“Sorry, but in case you didn’t notice, there’s not a lot of allies in the realm of the Underworld. Jungkook would never fly down here. He’s terrified of me.” Yoongi shrugged his shoulders. “And I don’t want to bargain with the fates. They always take more than they give. Their prophecies are so vague they are useless. But I appreciate the suggestions.” Yoongi sighed. “I have to write a letter to Hephaestus and then we can leave. I’m sorry. I meant to plan out a real date for later today, but then I got so caught up in this.” He gestured to the realm out the window.

“Hey, it’s ok. I would expect the defense of a realm to be more important. We can’t exactly enjoy a date if Titans are getting ready to bust through a mountain right?” You attempted to lighten the mood.

Yoongi gave you a small smile and headed over to his desk to begin writing. You walked over to the bookcase and perused the titles. Most appeared to be private notebooks. 

"Alright, let's head out and give this to Charon." Yoongi stood up from his desk. 

You stepped back from the bookcase and looked over. He looked exhausted. He sealed the letter and walked over to you, “Shall we?”

The two of you exited the castle and walked across the desert. Your arms wrapped around Yoongi's since your hands were still bandaged. You walked over to the Sea while Yoongi summoned the ships. You kicked at the rippling water and then stuck your hand in, feeling for any life. You waited to see if any signatures returned. You felt a few. Animal. Strange animals, but animals nonetheless. As predicted, and thankfully, there were no Gods or humans detected. 

Yoongi had already started walking over to the channel, paralleling the movement of the ships. You wandered back that way, catching up to him. “You trying to ditch me?” You asked, playfully pushing against him.

He let out a low laugh, “Never. I need to make sure Charon gets this letter. Hephaestus is one of the few Gods who will come down here and we need repairs done.” He pulled the letter out and waved to Holly to open the gates. As he followed the ships into the cave you stayed with Holly.

“Hello pretty.” You said, petting one of the three heads. “Such a good doggy. Yes.” You scratched and petted him for several minutes while waiting for Yoongi.  It was taking longer than normal today, you thought. You hoped everything was ok. The news about the caves was troubling. You were too young to remember the Titan wars and had taken peace for granted.  You left a surprise for Yoongi and then headed back to the beach. 

Yoongi exited the caves a few minutes later. He had received a letter from Taehyung, given a letter for Hephaestus, and had to deal with Charon complaining that he technically wasn’t a courier. Yoongi rolled his eyes and walked over to Holly. “You’re a good boy Min Holly. Wait a minute. Down boy.”  Yoongi commanded the giant white animal. Holly gently rested next to the gate. Yoongi got closer and saw that three flower crowns had been placed on Holly’s heads. “Aish...what? Holly. You’re only supposed to listen to me.” He whined as he pet one of ears. One of Holly’s heads gave a perplexed look. “No boy, it’s fine it’s fine. But no one else. Ok? Only me and Persephone.” He found himself smiling. Now where did you go? He wondered. 

You sat on the beach watching the strange black water ebb and flow. You had been here just over a week now and found yourself beginning to understand how time worked here and also finding it difficult to imagine ever leaving here. “Hey, you think you can just decorate my dog?” You heard Yoongi yelled with a smile on his face as he walked toward you. 

You laughed. “It’s not a dog, it’s a Cerberus, remember?” You teased.

“Very funny. You’re right. And you’re lucky he didn’t bite you.” 

“Yeah right. Holly loves me.”

Yoongi blushed, “You’re probably right about that too.”

“Well. This was supposed to be our date time, right?” You asked.

“It was.” He lamented.

“Where were you going to take me? What secrets does the Underworld still hold?” You gestured to the space next to you.

“I was still deciding between the pools or the forest.” He said as he sat down on the black sand.

“You really didn’t name anything else did you?” You asked, looking over at him.

“Nope. You can name them after you visit them. You’ll do a better job.” Yoongi kept looking out at the sea, afraid that if he looked at you he would start blushing and wouldn’t be able to stop. He was glad he found it so easy to talk to you.

"oh yeah? You just going to let me name everything here?" You flirted, looking over at him. You saw him. Smirk but he didn't respond.  “Hmmm...well I suppose after we see if anything is trying to kill us, we can visit the forest first. But, the Stygian Sea is always a good date.” You smiled and put your bandaged hand gently on top of his.

He shook his hair out of his face and looked over. “This is a date?” 

You laughed. “Yep. This is it. I’m making it official. This is our first date.” 

Yoongi looked away blushing. “I’ve never been on a date before.”

“Whaaaat?” You let out before you could stop yourself.  “Really? I mean, you’re just so handsome I find it hard to believe.”

He fidgeted. “Psh, well. I don’t know if I agree with you, but it’s not exactly easy to meet people in the Underworld. And before that we were at war.” He added, slightly embarrassed. “You’ve been on a lot of dates then, I suppose?”

“Oh, not really. I’ve been set up on a few dates through Jimin, you know being the whole God of Love he felt it was his job.” You rolled your eyes.  “But never because I necessarily wanted to; just to be polite.”  You squeezed his hand tighter. “You’re the only person I chose.”

Yoongi sat there for a minute, feeling like his cheeks were a million degrees. He had gone from happy to embarrassed to jealous to excited in a matter of about ten seconds and he was still replaying your words in his head. You’re the only person I chose. You’re the only person I chose. 

“You’re the only person I would choose too.” He added quietly. “Not just because you’re like the only woman here.”

You laughed.”Oh gods, I didn’t even think of it like that but now that you mention it...”

“No. No that’s not how I meant it!” He became flustered.

“I know. I know. I’m just teasing you. Really.” You smiled and leaned over, kissing him on the cheek. “It was a very sweet thought, I’m sorry I ruined it by teasing you.” 

Yoongi sat very still, afraid that if he moved he would find out this whole moment had been a dream. 

You pouted for a second at the lack of response. Maybe he didn't like it and you shouldn't have kissed him "Well. I hope you forgive me. When do you want me to go check the mountains for life signs?” He turned towards you, his brown eyes full of an emotion you hadn’t seen before. 

“Tonight if you don’t mind. I don’t think I can sleep soundly knowing there’s a chance something could happen to you under my protection.”

“Alright,” you said. It was your turn to blush. You had been on dates before, but nothing like this. Most were polite picnics in the forest where you started by telling them that you didn’t even want to be there, but were more than happy to hang out for a few hours. Most of the guys had been good sports, understanding that you weren't thrilled about being on a blind date. 

Yoongi turned his face back to the sea. He didn’t know what he should do next. He knew what he wanted to do, but he didn’t want to seem improper or scare you away.  “I got a letter back from Taehyung. He’ll be coming in two days.” Yoongi said solemnly.

“Alright,” You let out a breath. Things had suddenly seemed to turn more serious between the two of you. “So...I feel like I know the answer. But, you can’t ever leave here can you?”

Yoongi looked over, surprised by the question. “No. I can’t.” He suddenly felt sad, like it was the wrong answer even though it was the truth. Silence stretched between the two of you,but inside Yoongi's heart and mind were racing. "Is that a problem for you?" he asked so quietly you weren't sure if you heard him at first. 

"No." You responded quickly. "I was just curious. That's all." 

"Oh. Ok." he responded but still sounded sad to you. You scooted closer to him and rested your head against his shoulder. You felt him stiffen at first and then slowly relax against you. You tried to not notice him figuring out what to do with his arm. You giggled at his awkwardness.  “What?” He asked.

“You’re cute.” You responded and pulled his arm so it wrapped around your waist. “There. Much more comfortable. If we were on Earth the sun would be setting right now.” 

Yoongi settled into his new position, his fingers gently pressed against your side. “Do you miss it?”

“What? the sun setting?”

“No. Earth.”

You felt like you knew the reason he was asking. It was the same reason you had asked him he could leave. Neither of you wanted to say it. You shrugged your shoulders. “I miss the plants and animals. It’s strange being in a place devoid of so much of it. But, there are animals here. Just not right here. And there are plants here. At least in the castle. And maybe other places."

"If you weren't trapped here, when would you go back?" he forced himself to ask the question. 

You tilted your head up towards his, trying to see his face. You couldn't. You sighed, "I don't know. I like it here."  You felt a low rumble in his chest as he let out a small laugh. 

"That's not an answer."

'It's the truth though." You snuggled into his shoulder some more. 

“Well, I'm glad you like it here.” He responded and gently pulled you closer. NEXT CHAPTER

[lifeofroos]

Part 24. 

In short: Nico gets therapy from Dionysus. In this chapter, they talk about Nico’s feelings towards his contact with Hades. The rest can be found on AO3, FanFiction.net and Tumblr tags like Nico di Angelo, writing, trials of apollo etc.! 

This Might be Crazy: Chapter 24: Mogu Mogu Jelly Tea

‘How do you feel about the time you spend with Hades?’ While he said it, Dionysus pushed a small bottle my way. Mogu Mogu jelly tea, it read on the front. I had never heard of it, but was curious to find out how it tasted.

‘You’ve been talking to Hades!?’ Mary paused putting on mascara to give me a surprised look.

I looked at Dionysus, and then to Mary. ‘To first give an answer to Mary: Yes, I have been talking to Hades. I want to have an actual father-son relationship with him.’ 

‘Oh.’ You could see in her face that she had another question. I stayed quiet, while she put her mascara away. 

She closed her hand mirror and walked over to our table. ‘Hm. Well, as he already asked actually,’ she said while waving in Dionysus’ direction, ‘how do you feel about that?’ She made eye contact with Dionysus for a few seconds.

I thought for a a bit, before turning to Mary. ‘There is gradual improvement. He has been trying and learning.’ I shrugged and looked at Dionysus for a second. ‘But I sort of feel like I have to give counseling to him instead of the other way around. Like, I keep saying that it’llbe okay and that he does not need to feel anxious and that we can work it out. I don’t think that is his fault, because it is all a first time for him, but…’ I shrugged.

Dionysus opened his mouth to say something, but Mary was quicker: ‘You sometimes feel like your parent is the kid and you need to tell them stuff about the world instead of the other way around, even though you should not be responsible for the way he acts and should not constantly have to reassure him.’  I looked at her. 

‘I mean, yes.’ 

Mary sighed and put a hand on her small baby bump.

‘Well, eh… what is your experience with Aphrodite?’ I asked. I was genuinely curious. ‘Maybe it helps to compare?’ I shot Dionysus a glance. He did not seem to fully agree with that, but he allowed us to go on. 

Mary stared at the wall. ‘Well… I met her thrice. The first time was pretty regular. You know, your godly parent comes to you to tell you that you need to make them proud, you know it.’ She rolled her eyes. ‘But the second time, it was because I just had my heart broken by some boy I had been dating for a few years.’ She looked at the table. ‘I was pretty broken up about it, but all she said was that I should just forget it. That this was meant to happen and next time I should just break his heart before he could break mine. She said it as if… as if it was that easy. Just say that you are over it and suddenly you are over it. And then make someone hurt the same way you are next time.’ She stroked her bump. ‘I… I explained to her that that was not how it worked, in a way that might not have been the most graceful way to bring it, if you know what I mean. I think… my mother seemed too stunned to understand what I said. She said ‘alright’ and left.’ Mary stopped moving her hand around. ‘I think she has heard it time and time again, but it just does not get through to her. Oh, and the third time was when she heard I was pregnant. She gave me some baby stuff.’ She shrugged. ‘That was handy, I guess.’

She shot a glance at Dionysus, who was looking at the street outside. 

I opened my bottle of Mogu Mogu and took a sip. ‘For Aphrodite, that might be true. But while I agree with the part where they sometimes seem stunned about something normal, I don’t think Hades has heard the things I am telling him hundreds of times before.’ I shrugged and pushed my bottle around. ‘He does not have many children and he certainly does not have many children that actually came to the Underworld before their death. This experience is new for him. He… while it still bothers me, I think I understand why he acts this way. And he seems open to change at least.’

 I looked at Dionysus, who took a deep breath. For a moment, it was as if everything the gods had ever done flashed before his eyes. ‘Nico, your feelings are totally justified. It is not nice to feel like you are the one to coach your father instead of the other way around. And you don’t have to defend him.’ He sighed ‘And about the gods’ behaviour… all I can say is that the gods have always behaved like that.’ He stared at an undefined point. For a second, I looked at Mary. Silently, we agreed to let him come up with more to say by himself, without pushing him.

We made some small talk about the baby, or I tried to (I really did not know anything about babies, but I did learn how crazy expensive it was), but Dionysus did not join in. He was staring off into space. 

‘The gods do need some things spelled out to them because they don’t get it,’ he muttered after some time. ‘But there are also things we do because it’s just… it’s better. Not… not always for the child, but in the long run. Some gods never interact with their children, because they think it is better if the kid can just come to terms with the fact that their parent will never be there. Others will truly try to raise them, mostly the… smaller gods, so to speak. And we’ve got everything in between. Usually… what the god thinks is best is what will happen.’ He stared at the floor. ‘I did not understand that either when I was a demigod, Hestia had to… sort of explain it to me. And even she had difficulty with it.’ 

I took a sip of sweet tea. ‘It is difficult for all of you too? To let go of your children?’

Mary shrugged. ‘Perhaps, but you also seem to say that most gods will interpret better in the long run as better for their own souls.’

His expression darkened after Mary’s words. ‘Hm.’ He swiftly shook his head around, after which he seemed more present in the moment. ‘Anyway, the important thing is that Hades is now willing to be there for Nico. In a way I would agree that he is acting like a child, but he is willing to change century old behaviour for you. But that also does not excuse him from acting like a child. If you understand what I mean. And you do not have to cater to him. If he goes that way, you say you are tired and you come back to camp.’

‘I… yes.’ It was enough for now. Dionysus nodded sternly.

Mary stared at the table. I did not know whether she did not want to comply with what he was saying or if she begrudgingly accepted it. 

I took a few sips of Mogu Mogu. The bottle was almost empty, as a sign that it almost done for now. Yet, Dionysus had one more thing to say: ‘Nico, do you want to go on with it? Aside from my opinion, or your fathers’ behaviour?’

‘Yes. For now at least, I am sure that I want to go on with it.’ 

‘Good. But make sure that you don’t go over your own boundaries.’ 

I nodded. Then I took the last sips of Mogu Mogu, signaling that therapy was over. 

Before we left, Dionysus asked Mary some things about the baby. Although she had already told me some of it before, she seemed more than happy to say it all again. After that, we waved her goodbye and went home. 

When we came back to camp half-blood, I grabbed Dionysus’ hand. ‘Wait. I… I think you try to take more care of the demigods as well, even though…’ I shrugged.

‘That’s different, Nico. I should be way better than I am now. I was a demigod once, after all. Hades just tries, even though he has known nothing except for godhood.’

I shook my head. ‘I don’t think it is different.’ 

He paused, before saying: ‘Go to your cabin, Nico.’ 

I nodded, before turning around and running off. But I must confess I did not go to the Hades cabin before collecting Will from the Apollo cabin. 

A/N: After I was done writing I figured out that Mogu Mogu is a Dutch concept and it has only been introduced in the Netherlands. But Dionysus is magic y’all he can just magic that stuff and give it to Nico. 

I wanted to show more of Mary, because I have something with her planned in a few chapters, but for that she needed to be more of a character first. 

This chapter seems kinda edgy I don’t know. To be upfront: I am thinking of taking a small posting break to sort out my story, because the last chapters feel weird to me. But knowing myself I probably won’t do it.

Also I am thinking about doing a look-into-dionysus-character-as-of-now bonus chapter in the future.

I must sincerely apologize for how long the chapter about Maria di Angelo is taking. I a, going go look further into it, but for now the planning is: first Apollo will become a god again, then Nico will do more with Hades and meet Persephone, and that will trigger him to talk about his mother. There will be a few interlude chapters, to make the story lighter. I hope that’s okay.

[chameleonwritess]

Not-So-Secretly in Love

Myriad of Stars

Not-So-Secretly in Love

Feels Like Home (Ch1 | Ch2 | Ch3)

Forever Starts Today (Epilogue)

Extras:

Infirmary Duties

Fandom: Percy Jackson

Pairing: Nico di Angelo/Will Solace

Now that everything is out in the open between Will and Nico, they're ready to try being in a relationship. However, with the worries of his past still haunting him, Nico isn't quite sure he's ready to announce it to everyone. Unfortunately for them both, their friends at Camp aren't that stupid and Nico and Will really aren't very subtle.

Word count: 16678

“So,” Will Solace said, lounging his long, tan legs out in front of him on the grass behind the Hades cabin, “you like me, huh?”

Nico rolled his eyes at Will’s childish smirk.

“If you’re going to be obnoxious about it, I changed my mind,” he teased.

“Nicooo,” Will complained, leaning into the Son of Hades’ side, dramatically. Nico allowed his eyes to trail up Will’s tall, slender frame to meet his own sparkling blue ones. He was always too beautiful for his own good. It ought to be illegal.

“You’re annoying,” Nico stated after a moment’s silence.

“You’re adorable,” Will responded in a flirtatious tone. Nico made a disgruntled noise as his face turned red. Ever since the two had admitted their feelings to one another in the infirmary the previous night, Will was even more brazenly flirting with Nico and the shorter boy was fairly certain it was going to be the death of him.

“You’re way too good at making me blush,” Nico added hotly, turning away from Will’s face. In retaliation, Will just brought his own closer.

“It’s cute when you go red, though,” he murmured quietly. Nico’s face grew even hotter and he pushed Will away by his cheek.

“Stop it!” he complained, despite not really minding. Will laughed and hugged the other boy.

“I’m sorry,” he apologised, “I just really love this.

Nico turned his body around in Will’s grasp to glance up at the blond.

“Me too,” he admitted, smiling more fondly than he’d ever allowed himself to towards any other person. Will had always been different, right from the start.

“However,” Nico continued, “I brought you here to force you to take care of your health so eat some lunch,” he instructed. Will rolled his eyes and released Nico.

“I thought I was the doctor,” he grumbled but reluctantly picked up a sandwich Nico had stolen from the Mess Hall, anyway.

Nico sighed softly to himself and watched Will eat. Yesterday evening, he’d been released from the Infirmary with strict instructions to be more careful with his shoulder, avoid Underworld magic, which Nico was making a conscious effort to start doing anyway, and drop by to see Will at least once a day.

That was what you got when you nearly died and confessed your feelings to the son of Apollo just in case you actually did die, apparently. Nico had clearly forgotten how insufferable Will could be when he’d done that.

As he watched Will sit up and offer Nico a strawberry with a coy smile, though, Nico didn’t exactly regret it. Sure, Will was insufferable, but Nico had already known that. It hadn’t exactly stop him from falling in love with the blond.

“Thanks,” Nico smiled, taking the strawberry from Will.

“If I’m eating, you have to as well, Death Boy,” he explained. Nico rolled his eyes.

“I wasn’t the one neglecting my health,” he said. The only reason Nico had even managed to drag Will out of the infirmary in the first place was because he’d threatened to shadow travel them both out if Will didn’t get there by himself. Unsurprisingly, Will had shown up to Nico’s last minute picnic.

“Oh, really?” Will raised an accusatory eyebrow, “how many times have you been in the infirmary lately, di Angelo?”

“Less than you,” Nico retorted.

“I work there!” Will scoffed.

“A likely excuse, sunshine,” Nico huffed a laugh. Will’s face went red at the nickname and Nico felt a small sense of triumph. Will didn’t blush nearly as often as he did, so whenever Nico managed to make him go red, it always felt like a victory.

“Just eat, Death Breath,” Will rolled his eyes.

“You are not allowed to call me that,” Nico complained through a mouthful of strawberry.

“Can I call you the boyfriend from hell?” Will suggested instead. Nico nearly choked on a strawberry seed.

“No,” he objected.

“Aw, I thought that one was good,” Will pouted. Nico gave an exasperated sigh and nudged his side gently to show Will he wasn’t actually annoyed.

“All your jokes are bad,” Nico shrugged.

“We are, though, right?” Will asked.

“What, bad?”

“No, boyfriends. I realise now we never really said what we were. We just kind of-“ Will trailed off and Nico’s own mind supplied the answer. Kissed. Will was right, though. They’d never gotten around to discussing if that meant they were now a thing.

“If you want to be,” Nico replied with a shrug. Will sighed and Nico turned to face him, worried Will didn’t actually want to be boyfriends.

“But do you want to be?” he asked. Oh, Nico realised, that’s what the sigh had been for. Nico’s eyes connected with Will’s and he couldn’t prevent a smile from tugging at the corners of his mouth.

“Yeah,” Nico replied, “I really do.”

“Good,” Will breathed out. His face was really close to Nico’s- something he did far more frequently than was healthy for Nico’s heartbeat. It also made Nico have to try very hard to resist kissing him.

That’s when the thought suddenly hit Nico that he didn’t actually have to resist- Will liked him back. He was allowed to kiss him.

So he did.

The second Nico pressed his lips against Will’s, though, a pair of strong arms wrapped around his back and pulled him closer. Nico obliged, turning his body over Will’s legs so that he was practically sitting on the other’s lap.

Normally, he would have jumped back at even the thought, but when Will kissed him, all reasoning flew out of Nico’s head. Will slid a hand into Nico’s hair, tangling it in his dark tendrils and tugging gently to open Nico’s mouth slightly more.

Nico ran his own hands up Will’s side- something he never would normally have the courage to do- and pulled himself even closer to Will, heavily fighting off the noise of contentment that was rising in his throat.

All of a sudden, Will’s tongue grazed Nico’s lower lip and he jumped back in shock.

“Sorry,” Will spluttered, “I didn’t mean to go too far-“

“No, no, it’s fine,” Nico apologised, running a hand through his hair as his face flushed red. In all honesty, it hadn’t felt bad at all. In fact, it was quite the opposite, but Nico just hadn’t been expecting Will to do that, “I just wasn’t anticipating it. I’ve never, y’know, done this before and it panicked me for a second. You didn’t do anything wrong or-“

Will placed a gentle hand on Nico’s good arm, stopping his rambling which Nico was glad for.

“You say that like I’ve ever done this before,” Will laughed. Nico was surprised. He’d actually expected Will to have had boyfriends before him. He was ridiculously handsome, very talented, and the happiest, friendliest, easiest to get along with person Nico had ever met. He also very much seemed like he knew what he was doing.

“But,” Will continued, “we can take things however slow or fast you want to. Communication is key.”

Will added a wink at the end and Nico rolled his eyes from where he was still sat on his lap.

“Everyone says that about relationships,” Nico pointed out.

“Well, yeah,” Will smirked, “it’s because it’s true. As long as we talk about things we’ll be okay, right? Otherwise, we won’t know if the other’s happy and comfortable or if something’s bothering them.”

Nico considered Will for a moment. He always shone like the sun and if Nico wasn’t constantly captivated by his face, he would have looked away in fear of going blind. If there was anyone Nico felt like he didn’t have to hide anything from, it was Will.

Will, who was one of the only people that made Nico truly happy, was the only person to properly make Nico laugh, made Nico feel at home in Camp Halfblood in a way no one else ever had and to top it all, was Nico’s boyfriend.

Nico suddenly grew curious about something and decided to ask.

“How come you ended up liking me? I’ve never exactly been particularly friendly towards you and most people stay away from me. You never have,” Nico said.

Will closed his eyes and smiled for a second before reopening them.

“You probably won’t believe me when I tell you,” he said. Nico raised an eyebrow.

“Try me,” he challenged.

“My crush started during the Battle of Manhattan,” Will said and Nico almost choked.

“What?” he spluttered. That had been over a year ago.

“Told you,” Will smirked before continuing, “but when I saw you storm towards the Empire States Building, flanked by Hades, Demeter, Persephone and an army of skeletons, my heart skipped a beat and I thought to myself ‘that’s a true demigod, right there’. Sure, Percy’s impressive and probably the best demigod of our generation- I’m pretty sure we’ve all had a crush on him at one point, too- but it was you that took my breath away that day. You looked so fearless and courageous.”

Nico was speechless. Never had he expected anyone, least of all someone as amazing as Will, to pay attention to him and like him.

“So, on the hill when you said there were people at camp who’d like to be friends with me- you meant you?” Nico teased, still not really believing his ears.

“Well, I was kind of thinking a bit more than ‘friends’, but yeah. I wasn’t about to do anything, though. I had no idea you might not be straight. Especially because everyone was convinced you’d had a crush on Annabeth,” Will reminded.

“Yeah, it wasn’t Annabeth that I had the crush on,” Nico huffed a laugh, surprised about how easy it felt to say. It had always brought pains to his chest and caused difficulty breathing whenever he talked about his crush on Percy, but with Will, everything seemed so open- so easy to talk about.

“My previous statement about Percy still stands,” Will smirked, “but you don’t know how glad I was to see you on the hill that night. You disappeared from Camp for so long and I was so sure you might have died. I told myself if you ever did return, I wasn’t going to have lived my life never even speaking to you. I promised myself I’d actually talk to you.”

“So you called me Death Boy, banned me from Shadow travelling and nearly got us both killed by arguing with me in the middle of a battle,” Nico pointed out wryly. Will pushed him gently in the chest.

“Hey!” he pouted, “my flirting was a little rusty, okay? Besides, it worked out for me in the end,” he added with a wink. Nico smirked down at Will.

“I’m glad you were infuriating. I don’t think I could have fallen for you if you were overly nice and kind towards me. I hate myself too much for that,” Nico considered.

“Nico!” Will protested, wrapping his arms around him and pulling him back into his chest. Nico huffed a laugh out as he rested his head on Will’s shoulder.

“I’m serious, though. You arguing with me was one of the first times anyone had ever treated me as an equal, aware of my heritage and yet not afraid of me at all. It really did feel good. I tried to convince myself I didn’t have a crush on you until I couldn’t physically deny it anymore but it pretty much developed right there on the hill,” Nico explained.

“Aww, you have a crush on me,” Will teased.

“You’re literally my boyfriend,” Nico deadpanned. Will’s eyes lit up when Nico said the word and he couldn’t help but feel pleased at making Will happy.

“Still, bit embarrassing for you,” Will joked. Nico pushed his shoulders in jest.

“You’re the worst,” he complained.

“But you still like me,” Will reminded.

“Not for long if you continue like that,”  Nico warned. Will suddenly cupped Nico’s face and brought his own close to it.

‘What if I do this,” he asked in a low, seductive voice.

Nico’s heart stammered in his chest and all air escaped his lungs. It was unfair how flustered Will could make him in seconds.

“Shut up, Solace,” Nico muttered against Will’s lips before the son of Apollo was kissing him again.

Nico wasn’t sure he’d ever get over the feeling of kissing Will. It sent his heart racing and caused butterflies to erupt in his stomach along with leaving him panting for breath afterward.

Will was also an excellent kisser and Nico was genuinely curious as to whether he’d taken a course in kissing to make people’s knees weak because he definitely should have received an A+ in it. His lips were soft under Nico’s slightly chapped ones and he tasted of sunshine and summer fruits.

Nico would gladly kiss Will all day long if he could, but, alas, they both needed oxygen, unfortunately. Will pulled back and Nico gasped for air.

“I love being able to do that,” Will declared cheerily.

“That makes two of us,” Nico grumbled, his words not quite matching his demeanour.

“I do have to get back to the infirmary, though,” Will pointed out. Nico made an effort to not outwardly show his immense disappointment at not being able to spend more time with Will.

“I can drop by your cabin after dinner if you want,” Will continued. Nico lit up at the offer originally before small doubts started to infiltrate his mind.

“Won’t your siblings suspect something?” he worried. Will’s face contorted into a more sour expression.

“I don’t know. Maybe,” Will shrugged, “I’m guessing you don’t want people to know, then?”

Nico flushed red with guilt. Will seemed disappointed and he supposed he should have guessed before that the son of Apollo would be happy to be out to the entire camp.

“Sorry,” Nico apologised, “I’m not sure I can do it.”

“Hey, Nico, don’t apologise,” Will immediately said, “I understand; it’s completely fine. Just because I’m comfortable to be out doesn’t mean I’m going to force you to be. I didn’t have a bad run-in with Eros, after all.”

“How do you know about that?” Nico raised an eyebrow. Will flushed red.

“Jason… told me,” he admitted. Nico jumped to his feet.

“When? I’m going to murder him!” he declared. Will stood up beside him and placed his hands on Nico’s arms, instantly calming him down.

“It was when you had the dream. I told you Jason had warned me, didn’t I?” Will checked.

“You didn’t say he’d told you that too!” Nico spluttered, “so you already knew I was gay?”

Will rubbed the back of his neck nervously, “sort of? It was more of an educated guess and wishful thinking. Jason didn’t tell me what happened- he just said you had a run in with him! Since then I just kind of put two and two together. You also mentioned Eros the night I came out to you.”

“Oh,” Nico realised, feeling a lot less angry now, “Grace lives another day, then.”

“You’re not mad at me, right?” Will checked.

Nico snorted, “I don’t think I can get mad at you.”

Will smirked.

“Aww that’s cute.”

“No, it’s not.”

“Yes it is- you’re cute.”

“I’m the son of Hades. I have a reputation to uphold.”

“Sure you do, Neeks.”

“Stop making me blush!”

Nico and Will argued all the way back to the infirmary where Nico left Will, promising they’d meet up again sometime tomorrow, hidden in or behind the Hades cabin where no one would see them. Supposedly.

Nico hadn’t quite expected their relationship to become the worst kept secret in all of Camp.

Piper was the first to find out, to no one’s surprise. It all started after she was sat by the lake with Annabeth, enjoying their weekly catch up on everything going on in camp.

“So that’s why Malcolm’s been banned from using the soap in the Athena cabin,” Annabeth finished her story with a sigh as Piper continued to giggle under her breath, “any news on your end?”

“Well, the bets changed a bit this week,” Piper smirked. Annabeth raised her sharp eyebrow and leaned forward with a wry smile.

“Oh, do tell,” she begged. It was pretty common knowledge that within the Aphrodite cabin, they often cast bets on who in Camp was going to get with who, how and when.

“The bet on Nico and Will changed,” Piper began, “there’s two of us betting they’re already together and are keeping it a secret.”

Annabeth snorted out a laugh, “No way!”

Piper raised an eyebrow curiously.

“What makes you so sure?”

“Do you really think Nico would just admit his feelings to Will? He’s still really anxious about that topic and he’s been through a lot regarding it. I know the two are close but it’s definitely still mutual pining,” Annabeth explained.

Piper wasn’t completely convinced. Whilst she didn’t often pride herself in her heritage, being the daughter of Aphrodite had given her a strange capacity for noticing love. It was pretty obvious to just about everyone that there was something going on between Nico and Will, but as of the other day, something had shifted about their relationship.

It wasn’t overly noticeable but somehow they seemed less awkward around each other, slightly happier, and Will’s flirting was growing increasingly more obvious.

“Believe what you want. I’m pretty convinced something’s happened. You don’t think it’s possible that Will eventually just flirted a bit too far and got Nico to accidentally confess? You know how flustered he gets as soon as Will’s even close by,” Piper reasoned with a shrug of her shoulders.

“We’ll have to agree to disagree,” Annabeth observed. Piper smirked, her competitive streak rising within her.

“Oh, I don’t think so,” she commented, “I’m going to prove you wrong.”

***

The following evening at dinner, Piper noted that Percy was sat at the Athena table rather than his own, leaving a gap across from Jason and Nico. Deciding she had nothing better to do other than annoy the children of the Big Three, Piper sauntered across the Mess Hall and slid into Percy’s usual spot.

“Hey, Pipes, what are you doing here?” Jason asked.

“Nothing,” Piper responded in a chipper tone.

“A likely story,” Nico huffed as he chewed a piece of fried chicken. Piper’s eyes gleamed as she turned her attention to the son of Hades. If he was going to be impertinent with her, she was not going to let him off the hook easily.

“Alright, maybe I am doing something,” she decided, “it’s question time, di Angelo.”

“Gods, no,” Nico muttered but Piper had already shot her hand out to grab Nico’s arm and prevent him from either Shadow travelling or running away. Nico twitched slightly at her touch but soon relaxed. Piper tried not to relent on her revenge at the notion, remembering how Nico was still getting used to casual touches- she needed answers, after all.

“You and Will. Have you made a move yet?” she asked, grinning at the mortified expression that crossed Nico’s face as he spluttered, attempting to form words.

“You- what- I- why would I do that? What makes you think I like him?” Nico said with his cheeks growing gradually redder. Piper leaned back and folded her arms as if she had just proved her point.

“Aphrodite senses,” she explained with a shrug.

“They’re wrong. I don’t like him. I can’t believe you’d even suggest such a thing. Frankly, I’m-“ Nico was cut off from his flustered rambling by a cheerful voice from behind him.

“Don’t like who?” Will Solace asked, perching his chin on Nico’s shoulder. Piper smirked to herself as she watched the scene unfold. She was certain Annabeth was wrong.

“You, you dork,” Nico complained, pushing Will’s face off his shoulder.

“Aw, Neeks, you’re so mean,” Will pouted, wrapping his arms around Nico’s waist.

“Get off me,” Nico growled, although Piper noted that he made no signs of discomfort and didn’t even attempt to escape Will’s clutches.

“I need to go back to the infirmary to clean some stuff up but if you’re really nice I’ll walk you back to your cabin, first,” Will said. Nico jumped to his feet more eagerly than Piper had even been expecting.

“Anything to get rid of you,” he muttered and the two walked off, bickering quietly with their hands bumping occasionally. Piper watched them go with a knowing smile before an idea hit her and she jumped to her feet.

“Pipes, what on earth are you doing?” Jason asked, grabbing her hand. She glanced at her boyfriend- her poor, ignorant, naïve boyfriend- and smiled softly.

“Proving Annabeth wrong. You’ll find out later,” Piper explained, squeezing Jason’s hand and planting a kiss on his cheek before waltzing away in pursuit of the two boys.

It wasn’t difficult for her to follow unnoticed what with the path of trees that lined the way towards the Hades cabin. Piper made sure she stayed far enough back that Will and Nico wouldn’t hear her footsteps but close enough that she could still listen in to their conversation.

“You can’t just wrap your arms around me like that,” Nico was saying, his voice still lowered compared to usual, causing Piper to have to strain to listen in.

“Why not?” Will asked, “I still have to carry out my three touches a day, y’know.”

Piper could imagine Nico rolling his eyes in the second it took him to reply.

“More like thirty,” he said. He didn’t particularly seem like he was complaining too much, though.

“You don’t mind,” Will teased.

“You’re annoying,” Nico stated, bumping his hip into Will’s lightly. Will didn’t reply, bumping Nico back, instead. They continued to push each other back and forth until they reached the Hades cabin, laughing hysterically.

Piper took her spot behind a particularly large tree and watched in shock. She was pretty sure she had never seen Nico laugh that much ever before, if at all. It was a strange and yet sort of pleasant sound to hear. Piper felt a sort of protectiveness wash over her as it dawned on her how much she had come to care for the son of Hades. He was almost like a little brother to her.

Piper edged forward around the tree to get a better view. After all, whilst she was still pretty certain she was right, she hadn’t had full confirmation. Nico was always more relaxed around Will anyway and the two were good friends. They hadn’t done anything to convince the likes of Annabeth quite yet.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, then,” Will said when they arrived at the entrance to Nico’s cabin. Nico opened the door behind him and stepped into the doorway. Will didn’t hesitate to take a step after him, his back facing Piper. Nico didn’t continue into his cabin, though, instead, waiting there.

“You’d better be at breakfast, Solace, or I’ll raise skeletons in your infirmary,” Nico warned, a small smile gracing his face as he gazed at Will. Piper recognised that look. It was an unguarded look of admiration- one she occasionally saw Annabeth give Percy when she thought no one was looking; one she’d occasionally give Jason, herself, whenever he did anything particularly dumb and endearing. It wasn’t just a look of admiration- it was a look of love- and Piper felt guilty for witnessing it.

Still, as a daughter of Aphrodite, she couldn't help but keep her eyes glued to the scene.

“You’ll do no such thing, di Angelo,” Will responded, his voice breathier than normal as he took a step closer to Nico. Piper didn’t see how Annabeth could possibly interpret this interaction as anything other than proof that the two were together.

“Guess you’ll just have to be there, then,” Nico said softly before the two leaned into one another at the same time and their lips met with a sort of controlled urgency.

Piper spun around and pressed her back to the tree, not wanting to have to observe two of her friends kissing in a way that told her it was definitely not their first kiss. She was nosey, but she wasn’t that intrusive.

Piper wondered if she’d be able to sneak away unnoticed right then, but without Nico and Will’s voices covering the sound of her footsteps, she wasn’t so sure she’d manage.

Just then, she heard a sound rise in either Nico or Will’s throat that she definitely did not want to hear. Piper was severely wishing her competitiveness hadn’t got the better of her- she felt so awkward overhearing her two friends.

“Goodnight, Will,” Nico’s voice finally spoke again, notifying Piper that, to her relief, the kiss had ended. Both of them were panting for breath.

“See you in the morning, Death Boy,” Will’s voice replied and Piper risked peeping her head out from behind the tree again just in time to see Will ruffle Nico’s hair, give his hand a squeeze and step away from his cabin door, both of them sporting grins wider than Piper had ever seen them show before.

Will was obviously making his way back to the Big House to pack up in the infirmary as he’d said he would earlier so Piper stayed still behind the tree, waiting for him to leave.

What she hadn’t expected was for a strangled voice to say her name.

“Piper?” Will Solace choked. Her cheeks turned red and she slowly turned to face him. How was she supposed to bluff her way out of this one?

“Hey Will, what are you doing over this side of the camp?” she asked. He looked at her sternly and despite knowing the son of Apollo was always fairly relaxed and unaggressive, she didn’t doubt that he would happily punch her right now. She had never seen him look so angry.

“You knew I was walking Nico back to his cabin,” he said, “you were there at the table. Why did you follow us?”

“I suppose I can’t Charmspeak my way out of this one,” Piper sighed, turning to Will and deciding to be honest with him, “I didn’t intend to spy on you. I was just trying to prove Annabeth wrong. She thought you and Nico weren’t together yet. I thought you were. I didn’t mean to invade your privacy like that and I wanted to leave but I didn’t want you to know I was here. Guess that fell through anyway.”

Will placed a hand to his forehead and sighed.

“Look, Piper, you know I don’t mind everyone at camp knowing I’m gay but it’s not the same for Nico. He doesn’t want people to know so please don’t tell anyone about us. Not even Jason. He’d never be able to keep it a secret,” he begged. Piper nodded.

“Will, you don’t need to worry. I know how Nico feels about all of this and I would never out him like that. I really am sorry for finding out, though,” she apologised again. Will shrugged and his smile finally returned which Piper was very relieved to see.

“Well, you said yourself that you’d already figured it out,” he pointed out, “guess we’re not as subtle as we thought. As for Annabeth, if you figured it out so quickly, it’s only a matter of time before she does too and I’m fairly certain she already knows Nico’s sexuality-“

“She does,” Piper provided.

“So I suppose you can tell her you were right as long as she absolutely doesn’t tell Percy,” Will finished. Piper smirked to herself.

“She could tell Percy seven times and he still wouldn’t get it. I’m not entirely convinced he’s understood that he’s not Nico’s ‘type’,” she joked. Will let out a small huff of a laugh.

“I do have to get to the infirmary, though, so I’ll see you later. Thanks for agreeing not to tell anyone,” he said. Piper nodded.

“I’m so sorry, Will,” she added yet again as the son of Apollo wandered off back to his cabin. Piper released a breath she didn’t realise she’d been holding. If Nico ever found out Piper had witnessed that, she suspected he’d be far less forgiving than Will.

Honestly, Piper wouldn’t be surprised if she found herself meeting his father a bit sooner than she’d like to if he ever heard about it. On second thoughts, she really should have mentioned to Will not to tell Nico about their encounter.

Jason came next which, again, was no great surprise due to his closeness to Nico. Earlier that week, Nico had introduced Jason to a Pokémon game and despite Jason’s initial scepticism of the anime style game, he had thoroughly enjoyed it.

In fact, he’d enjoyed it so much that whenever he wasn’t helping with his exhausting project of making monuments to all the minor gods and goddesses thanks to Kymopoleia, he was sat with Percy and attempting to finish the game.

“Dude, you’ve made it to the final level!” Percy gasped as he leaned over Jason’s shoulder, observing his gameplay avidly.

“Bro, I might actually become the Pokémon King? Champion? What was it Nico called it?” Jason struggled to remember as he put down Nico’s DS for a moment.

Supposedly, the DS didn’t attract monsters due to the fact that it didn’t have to connect to the internet. Nico had apparently kept it with him ever since he was trapped inside the Lotus Casino. Jason was both impressed and confused as to how he had managed to maintain it for so long.

“It’s a Pokémon Master, you dorks,” Jason’s girlfriend’s voice rose from the door of the Zeus cabin.

“Oh, hey, Pipes!” Percy grinned and waved. Piper sauntered into the cabin and sat at Jason’s other side.

“You can’t call us dorks- you were the one that knew the name,” Jason pointed out as he wrapped an arm over Piper’s shoulder. She leaned further into his chest and Jason felt a warm flush across his cheeks.

“Yeah, well I had a fairly normal mortal upbringing. I have general knowledge,” she shrugged. Jason felt the movement of her shoulders against his chest.

“I know stuff too,” Percy added with a pout, leaning against Jason’s other side, clearly feeling left out of the ‘snuggling with Jason’ party that was apparently happening, now.

“Besides,” Piper continued, ignoring Percy with a sly grin, “I’m not the one permanently attached to a DS when it’s nearly curfew. It’s like you want to be eaten by a harpy, Percy. And in the Zeus cabin too? Camp really couldn’t cope with an angry Annabeth if you died.”

“Shut up, I didn’t realise it was that late,” Percy huffed, “and I don’t have a death wish.”

Jason deliberately didn’t comment on the matter. He had always been wary about mentioning death and suicide around Percy ever since the incident with the poison at the bottom of the ocean. Jason knew his best friend sometimes struggled to live with himself after the things he’d had to do in Tartarus. He completely disagreed with Percy that it made him weaker, though. If anything, Jason thought it made him ten times stronger, that he had had the power to not kill Akhlys and to still feel guilty about it afterward.

In Jason’s opinion, Percy Jackson was the strongest demigod there would ever be.

He was also an absolute child, though.

“Get to your own cabin, then!” Piper teased, sticking her tongue out.

“You don’t get Jason all to yourself,” Percy protested hotly, grabbing Jason’s arm. Piper grabbed the other one in retaliation.

“He’s my boyfriend!” she said

“No, he’s mine!” Percy insisted.

“Mine!”

“Mine!”

“Guys!” Jason yelled, stopping their bickering. The two paused and looked at him expectantly, hoping he’d end their feud.

“I just wanna be the Pokémon Master,” Jason muttered quietly.

“JASON!” Percy and Piper spluttered, jumping to their feet and continuing to glare at each other.

“The first one to get eaten by a harpy isn’t Jason’s boyfriend,” Percy challenged.

“You’re on, Jackson,” Piper laughed and the two sprinted out of the Zeus cabin to return to their own before curfew.

Jason rolled his eyes and slumped back on his bed, picking up the DS with a slight laugh. He just had to beat Lance and hopefully, he’d finish the game. He couldn’t wait to tell Nico it had only taken him a week.

Unfortunately, he was not left alone to his game in peace as a knock came from his cabin door, not that shortly afterward. Jason glanced up and noticed that Piper was stood there again, slightly out of breath but grinning, all the same, leaning against his doorframe.

Unable to help a grin sliding onto his own face at the sight, Jason put the DS down and made his way over to her.

“Neither of us have been eaten yet so I suppose I’m still in the running,” Piper stated with a giggle. Jason rolled his eyes at his girlfriend and tucked a strand of hair that had fallen into her face behind her ear. Her eyes were sparkling all the colours of the rainbow as they always did. She looked beautiful.

“It’s about two minutes till curfew and you know two campers of opposite sex can’t be in a cabin alone together,” Jason reminded her. Piper shrugged, unbothered by this.

“I’m not technically in your cabin,” she pointed out.

“Which means you definitely will be eaten by a harpy. Are you really going to let Percy win and be my boyfriend that easily?” Jason teased.

“I’m only here to say goodnight, you moron,” Piper laughed, “now are you going to kiss me or not?”

Jason didn’t need to be told twice. He stepped forward, cupping Piper’s cheek with his hand, and kissed her. Piper stood up on her tiptoes as she wrapped her arms around Jason’s neck, kissing back as passionately as she always did.

Jason let his hand rest at her waist, pulling her in slightly closer before Piper drew away for breath and rested her forehead on his, still grinning.

“See you tomorrow, Pikachu,” she said softly before removing her arms and skipping back over to the Aphrodite cabin, laughing to herself at what Jason assumed she thought was a clever nickname she’d come up with. Jason tried to stop himself from watching her go but he couldn’t help it. Piper was already in her pyjamas too which didn’t help matters. At least the harpies hadn’t eaten her.

Jason strolled back over to his bed, in a much better mood than he’d been in previously, and picked up his DS, ready to select his Pokémon for the final battle.

Jason found himself two hours later still awake on the DS, draped upside down off his bed, finally having become the Pokémon Master.

“I did it,” he declared to himself quietly before falling asleep.

***

Despite his late night last night, Jason still woke up at seven AM as always. As soon as his eyes snapped open, he quickly remembered that he absolutely had to rub it in Nico’s face that he’d become the Pokémon Master so soon.

Jason quickly washed himself, pulled on a fresh orange Camp Halfblood t-shirt and grabbed the DS. He left his cabin at a jog, eager to wake Nico up and inform him of the news. There were only a few demigods already up and around camp. Mainly the Apollo kids due to their father waking them up at dawn every day, although Jason spotted a few Demeter kids around too.

To his surprise, he couldn’t see Will anywhere. He usually passed the son of Apollo on his morning jog but suspected maybe he’d already had to go back to work in the infirmary. Jason didn’t envy the Head Counsellor of the Apollo cabin for having such a tiresome task.

Jason continued on his way to the Hades cabin at the far end of camp and arrived at the door. The curtains were still drawn, not that Jason was surprised; Nico rarely got out of bed before nine at the earliest.

Still, he was proud of his achievement and figured he could cope with a glare and death threats from the son of Hades if only for the opportunity to brag. Not bothering to knock, knowing that there’d be no response anyway, Jason gently pushed open the door to the Hades cabin.

The sight that greeted him was certainly not one he’d been expecting.

Nico was curled up in his bed wearing ridiculous pyjamas with a Ghastly on them- Jason figured that Nico hadn’t only had a Mythomagic obsession back in the Lotus Casino- but that wasn’t the shocking part.

Instead of the covers being draped over Nico, they had been pushed aside and in their place, Will Solace was sprawled over Nico’s body, hugging the smaller boy into his bare chest.

Jason stood and gaped at the scene in shock. Nico and Will were in bed together. Clearly they’d intended to, due to the fact they were both dressed for sleeping. What did that mean, though? Jason knew Nico had a thing for Will and it was pretty obvious Will liked him back but he hadn’t thought the two were together. In fact, Jason was slightly offended that Nico hadn’t told him. If they were together, that was.

Instead of risking being spotted if either of the two woke up, Jason darted out of the Hades cabin and closed the door gently behind him, his eyes still wide in shock. Deciding he had to find out if anyone else knew, he immediately thought to seek out Piper. Being the daughter of Aphrodite and also being the only other person Jason knew for certain was aware of Nico’s crush on Will, Jason thought she was most likely to know. Plus he kind of wanted to see her. He felt himself feeling slightly jealous that Will and Nico could be alone in a cabin together due to being the same gender but quickly pushed the thought aside- he has it easy compared to them.

First, he needed to have a morning jog and try to erase the image of Nico snuggled up against Will in Pokémon pyjamas from his mind if he ever intended to have a conversation with the son of Hades again without breaking into laughter.

It was at breakfast a couple of hours later that Jason finally managed to catch Piper.

“Hey, Pipes, can you take a walk with me for a second?” Jason asked in her ear after he’d arrived at the Aphrodite table. Piper raised an eyebrow but smiled nonetheless.

“Sure. Save a croissant for me, Lacy,” she added, looking pointedly at her sister. Lacy smiled and nodded as Piper stood up and laced her hand with Jason’s.

“So,” she started as they wandered away from the Mess Hall, “neither Percy or I got eaten by a harpy.”

Jason laughed, “you don’t have to worry, I’m still your boyfriend.”

Piper looked relieved at this and Jason was worried she’d actually considered that Percy was being serious for a second last night. Jason didn’t want to know how she’d thought Annabeth would have reacted to that. Probably with at least another judo flip and most likely a Drakon Bone sword at his neck.

“Talking about boyfriends, though,” Jason continued, “you wouldn’t happen to know anything about Nico and Will, would you?”

Jason felt Piper’s hand tense in his and immediately realised she did.

“Wh-what? Other than that they both have a very obvious crush on each other?” Piper lied. Jason looked at her pointedly.

“Well, I walked into the Hades cabin this morning and found the two of them cuddled up together in bed. I figured if anyone knew if they were together or not, you would,” Jason explained.

“Oh,” Piper stated, “yeah, that’s a pretty obvious sign that they’re together.”

Jason looked at her again.

“You already knew,” he accused.

“Whaaaat?” Piper drew her word out, “me? No way.”

“You did,” Jason scoffed, releasing her hand all of a sudden to grab her waist and tickle her. He knew this was the only way he’d get an answer out of her.

“Haha, Jason, no, please stop, AH!” Piper let out squeaks as she giggled. Jason didn’t surrender. “Fine, fine! Yes, I knew they were together.”

Jason finally released her waist and draped an arm across her shoulder as she caught her breath again.

“You’re the meanest boyfriend ever,” Piper said.

“I bet Percy wouldn’t say that,” Jason considered, a sly smile gracing his lips.

“Jason!” Piper complained, elbowing him lightly in the ribs. He laughed.

“Sorry,” Jason apologised, despite not really feeling sorry, “how did you find out, though?”

“Oh, I followed them to prove Annabeth wrong. Saw a bit more than I wanted to. Then Will confirmed it for me and told me not to tell anyone. So don’t you dare breathe a word of this to anyone, you hear me, Grace?” Piper explained. Jason held his hands up in mock defense.

“Don’t worry, Pipes, I won’t. I know Nico wouldn’t want people knowing,” he assured. Piper nodded happily and intertwined her hand with Jason’s again.

“Wait,” Jason suddenly realised, “Will told you?”

“Yup,” Piper sang.

“You didn’t charmspeak it out of him, did you?” Jason asked warily.

“Didn’t need to,” she said smugly. Jason pouted and Piper laughed at him.

“The two of them never tell me anything like that,” he complained. Honestly, Jason wasn’t too bothered, though. He knew why Nico had reservations about telling people and he’d seemed so happy over the past few weeks that Jason would never want to ruin that for him.

If being with Will made Nico happy, it didn’t matter whether everyone knew or not. It mattered that Nico had found happiness, despite what Eros had told him. Jason was so happy for him.

Lou Ellen couldn’t help but find herself a little annoyed at Will. Over the last couple of weeks, he’d been spending gradually less and less time with her and Cecil and gradually more and more time with Nico di Angelo.

Lou wasn’t entirely sure she knew what Will saw in Nico. Her and Cecil had found out about Will’s crush a good few months ago but the two constantly teased him that it was completely hopeless. Nico was barely ever even at Camp. It was practically impossible that the son of Hades would ever actually notice Will, never mind like him back.

Alas, Lou and Cecil clearly didn’t possess the prophetic skill of Apollo as only a few weeks ago, Nico had arrived at camp during the battle against Gaia on top of the hill with the three of them and had spent the entire time arguing with Will like they were an old married couple.

Lou had to give Will some credit. The whole ‘concerned doctor’ approach had clearly worked quite well and the hand holding was definitely something she didn’t think he’d have had the guts to do. In fact, Lou was pretty sure Nico had barely even acknowledged her and Cecil’s existence, far too preoccupied with Will.

Since then, Will had been spending all his spare time when he wasn’t on infirmary duty with Nico. Or at least, that’s what it seemed like to Lou. Despite this, he still hadn’t seemed to believe her and Cecil when she repeatedly told him that Nico definitely liked him back. Lou had never even seen him smile around anyone else, except perhaps Jason Grace, never mind laugh and seem to genuinely enjoy the presence of like he did with Will.

It wasn’t just Will’s absence that had been bothering Lou, though. With Will absent from their little trio, it left her alone with Cecil. A lot. Whilst that may have seemed like a good thing at first, she was never going to be able to pretend she didn’t like the son of Hermes if she was subjected to his flirting all day without a buffer there to disguise her stuttering or blushing.

The last thing she could have was Cecil knowing she actually liked him back. It would just be embarrassing. He was an immature, insensitive, clumsy idiot. She was sophisticated, mature and definitely hadn’t just walked into the door of the infirmary whilst lost in thought.

Lou glanced around her, checking that no one had seen, before using the magic she’d inherited from her mother to open the infirmary door rather than her hand. She wanted it to look like it was on purpose just in case there was some new demigod-compatible CCTV she wasn't aware of.

Lou stepped inside the infirmary and glanced around. She had decided to hunt Will out at work because she knew as soon as he was finished, he’d be running off to go chat to Nico. She definitely wasn’t jealous. So what if her best friend wanted to abandon her to run off with his crush, leaving her with her crush? She’d give him a taste of his own medicine but apparently, Will enjoyed suffering by spending time with his crush.

Lou huffed to herself. For someone all about healing others of their pain, Will sure did seem like a masochist.

Once she was inside the infirmary wing, Lou began to wander around, searching for Will. She couldn’t find him anywhere, though. Instead, she did find Austin, one of Will’s brothers.

“Hey, Austin,” she greeted, “is Will in the infirmary today?”

“Oh, yeah, he was just over there a few seconds ago,” Austin pointed over his shoulder before turning to look where he’d indicated and noticing that Will was not in fact ‘over there’.

“Yeah, he’s not there,” Lou pointed out helpfully. Austin’s cheerful demeanour didn’t drop and he chuckled lightly instead.

“I don’t know, then. He just sent Nico into the back to get some bandages. Maybe he’s gone to hurry him up. Who knows what those two are up to back there,” he commented. Lou found herself laughing a bit at that, despite the annoyance that had arisen as soon as Austin mentioned that Nico was here too. Did Will spend every waking moment with that boy?

“You guys have noticed their hopeless pining too, then?” Lou asked. Austin nodded.

“Don’t tell anyone else, but some nights Will doesn’t sleep in the Apollo cabin. I have no idea if he’s just wandering around camp or training or whatever, but we all have suspicions that he’s in the Hades cabin if you get what I mean,” he said quietly. Lou’s eyes widened in shock. They weren’t even together yet, were they? There was no way Nico would just let Will sleep over anyway, was there? And Will would have told her and Cecil if they were together, surely.

“That boy is definitely getting an interrogation,” Lou stated before marching off away from Austin to find where they kept the bandages.

Lou Ellen didn’t even dislike Nico. In fact, she was growing to find his grumpy mannerisms and dry sense of humour sort of endearing and even if he was hot, she still didn’t really understand Will’s obsession with him. She just wished Will would either ask him out at last or at least drag him to join their little group. Then she wouldn’t be left alone with Cecil.

Lou made her way through the back of the infirmary until she heard a laugh she distinctly recognised as Will’s. She turned the corner and finally spotted both Nico and Will in a supply closet, stood next to a shelf of bandages.

“You knew those bandages were on the top shelf,” Nico was saying to Will, accusingly. Will chuckled and leaned closer to Nico. Lou was very surprised at his boldness. He wasn’t usually that forward.

“You have no proof of that,” he commented.

“You’re an idiot,” Nico commented.

“You’re short,” Will shot back. Nico folded his arms and looked up at Will.

“Just get the bandages, Will,” he said with a roll of his eyes. Lou resisted the urge to laugh. It was quite funny that Will had deliberately sent Nico to get bandages he knew he couldn’t reach.

Will put his arm up over Nico’s head and wrapped his hand around the bandage, leaving his arm there so he could look down at Nico. Lou really was impressed with his flirting for once.

“Good job I have long legs and can actually reach them,” he teased.

“I’m going to break your long legs if you don’t shut up,” Nico huffed, lowering his folded arms and to Lou’s complete surprise, grabbing onto Will’s waist.

“Make me,” she heard Will mutter and only had a fraction of a second to turn away as she saw the two lean together and connect their lips.

That explained a lot, actually. Of course, they were already together. Nico would never have been stood that close to Will in the first place if they weren’t. He also wouldn’t have even been in the infirmary. Will also wouldn’t have been spending literally all his time with Nico instead of just most of it.

Still, apparently the Apollo cabin didn’t know or Austin would have mentioned it. Lou grinned to herself as she left the infirmary. That meant she was one of the first to find out.

As soon as she exited the building, Lou set off at a sprint to go to her and Cecil’s favourite spot in the woods. He wasn’t going to believe it when she told him the news.

As Lou’s eyes spotted Cecil sat on the floor of the woods, using a stick to no doubt sketch out another dangerous trick he could pull, she ignored the pounding in her chest and decided she had a better idea. She was going to stay completely quiet about Will and Nico and wait to see how long it would take for him to figure it out himself.

With another grin, she approached him. He was going to be so mad when he finally realised she’d known all along.

“Hey, Cecil, what you up to?” she asked. His eyes shot up and he smiled at Lou.

“Not much, just looking at a pretty cute girl,” Cecil said with a wink. Lou Ellen rolled her eyes as she sat down next to him, hoping he didn’t see the blush spreading across her face.

“You’re a moron,” she commented, nudging him with her knee. Cecil grinned and draped an arm across her shoulder.

“Yeah, but you still love me,” he said.

“Keep dreaming,” Lou laughed, leaning into him slightly.

Alright, maybe it wasn’t such a terrible thing that being with Nico meant Will left her and Cecil alone.

Chiron always tried his best to very much remain unaware of any sort of relationships between campers. He never even checked up on the ‘no two campers alone in a cabin together’ rule, instead, hoping the Head Counsellors of each cabin would keep on top of it. Somewhere along the line, the rule had twisted into ‘no two campers of opposite gender’ which sort of puzzled Chiron. They were Greek, after all.

Still, Chiron very much liked to stay oblivious to relationships. Unless it was a pair as notorious as Percy and Annabeth of course, although he doubted any god or mortal could have been oblivious to the spark between those two from the second Percy Jackson arrived at camp at the age of twelve.

Just because he liked to stay unaware of the goings on didn’t necessarily mean that he was blind to them. Or wasn’t at least slightly intrigued. After all, he wanted the demigods to be happy. Being the child of a god wasn’t easy and if they could find happiness in a person at camp, Chiron was all for supporting that.

His intrigue with a certain couple arose when Will Solace approached him one night after dinner.

“Hi, Chiron,” he greeted cheerfully. Chiron could already tell he had a favour to ask.

“Hello, my boy, how are you doing?” he asked.

“I’m pretty good. The infirmary’s mainly quiet at the moment- only minor injuries,” Will commented. Chiron smiled and nodded.

“That is good to hear, indeed. I’m glad you’re not overworking yourself.”

“Yeah. Is it alright if I ask a favour?” Will asked nervously, rubbing the back of his neck. Ah, there it was.

“Go ahead,” Chiron encouraged, intrigued as to what the Son of Apollo wanted. He usually did everything cheerily without a word of complaint so it was unusual.

“I was wondering if I could, er, swap duties with Jason Grace next week. He’s on strawberry picking with Nico but Nico’s shoulder is still injured and I need to make sure he doesn’t overexert himself. As his Doctor, of course,” Will stuttered his explanation out. Chiron shrugged. It was true that Nico di Angelo did have a terrible habit of being careless about his injuries and worsening them. He supposed he could see Will’s concern.

Still, Jason could surely watch Nico just as well as Will could, even if Will was a healer.

“I’ve already asked Jason and Nico. They both said it’s okay,” Will added quickly, obviously worried that Chiron wasn’t going to agree. Chiron smiled slightly and nodded.

“I don’t see a reason for you not to and as long as all other parties are alright with it, it’s fine by me,” he agreed. A grin spread across Will’s face that Chiron had not been expecting.

“Thank you,” the son of Apollo beamed, racing back to where Chiron noticed Nico had been waiting, hidden half in a shadow in his typical black attire. Will happily draped an arm over Nico’s shoulder as the two walked off. Nico pushed it off in complaint but Chiron could tell there was no malice behind his intent and he stayed very close to Will’s side.

Chiron shook his head and turned away, smiling ever so slightly. He didn’t even want to know.

***

That was what he had convinced himself when, a week later, Nico di Angelo approached him after breakfast.

“Can I help you, Nico, my boy?” Chiron asked after Nico had stood next to him for a few seconds silently.

“Y-yeah,” Nico stammered, “I was- er- I’m on pegasi stable duties this afternoon but according to Percy they get spooked by me.”

Chiron considered him for a moment. He had a feeling he knew what question was coming next.

“Would it be okay if Will joined me? He’s usually pretty good at calming them down and he’s my doctor,” Nico asked quickly as if it hurt to say the words. Chiron sighed.

“Of course, it’s not a problem. As long as Will agrees,” he said. Nico nodded.

“He does. Thank you.”

Nico walked away, holding himself more upright than usual. Chiron shook his head. The campers clearly thought he was a lot more oblivious than he actually was.

That afternoon, Chiron did happen to find himself passing by the pegasi stables. He wasn’t spying on the campers- he would never do such a thing- although he had to admit he was rather curious about why Will and Nico kept aligning their camp duties.

As he approached the stables, though, he hadn’t expected to hear the sound of music floating through the door, accompanied by soft muttering and laughing.

Chiron approached the door as inconspicuously as possible and peered in. Inside the stables, Nico and Will were not, in fact, cleaning pegasi faeces but were stood in ballroom hold, laughing and dancing around the stables whilst an old iPod sat on the floor, playing music that most definitely didn’t suit ballroom dancing.

Despite the questionable song choice, both boys seemed content enough as they tripped over a shovel and nearly fell over, still laughing.

“You’re such a dork,” Nico complained, using his hand on Will’s shoulder to steady his balance again.

“Oh, shut up, you love it,” Will countered, using the hand he was holding Nico’s with, to spin the smaller boy around underneath it, catching him by the waist again and still laughing.

“Well at least cleaning out the stables isn’t so boring anymore,” Nico shrugged, snickering as he spoke whilst Will attempted to dramatically waltz them around, despite the music being in simple quadruple time.

“Exactly my point, di Angelo, now move those feet and dance with me,” Will insisted. Nico snorted out a laugh and did so, grinning up at Will.

Chiron smiled at the scene, relieved that the two boys hadn’t spotted him as he slowly trotted away.

Seeing Nico dance with Will was quite possibly the happiest Chiron had ever seen the son of Hades. After everything Nico had been through, it warmed his heart to see him return, if only for a brief moment, to that smiling, curious boy he had been when he first arrived at camp before Bianca’s death.

Chiron knew Nico would never be completely the same again- he’d been through far too much for that- but if Will Solace could make that smile return to Nico’s face as easily as he did, Chiron wasn’t going to make a word of complaint if the two ever asked to swap duties again in the future.

Not that they would need to. Chiron was in charge of timetabling the activities, after all.

Cecil and the Hermes cabin were better secret keepers than anyone ever would have thought they could be. Still, in Cecil’s opinion, it would have been a lot better for him if he’d never found out in the first place.

The thing about being part of the Hermes cabin was that if a prank was going to be pulled, it was going to be pulled properly.

“Guys, we’re out of prank ideas. Cecil, are you sure Lou Ellen won’t get us any pig balls to use?” Connor asked during one of their biweekly sibling gathering.

“Do you want me to get murdered? She definitely won’t lend me any. Also, I’m pretty sure she used all her remaining ones on Jackson and Grace,” Cecil explained. Julia rolled her eyes.

“Why is it only ever Jackson and Grace that get to have all the fun?” she complained.

“Clarisse made me promise we wouldn’t pull anything on the Ares cabin,” Chris chipped in unhelpfully.

“Dude,” Connor said, “do you think we have a death wish? We’d never pull anything on the Ares cabin.”

“However that doesn’t mean to say we won’t pull anyone from the Ares cabin,” Alice added with a wink at Chris. He rolled his eyes and folded his arms.

“Wait, I’ve had an idea,” Cecil grinned. The talk of romance had sparked a match in his brain, “where in Camp can we set up some sort of camera and catch couples sneaking away to make out?”

“Bro, that’s evil!” Connor gasped. Cecil shrugged and wiggled his eyebrows.

“I think it’s a great idea,” Julia commented. Alice nodded in agreement.

“Yeah, I wanna catch Billie and Valentina. I swear they go behind the Big House way too frequently,” she added.

“I didn’t even know they were dating,” Cecil commented.

“Clearly you haven’t hung around Billie. All she ever talks about is ‘Valentina this, Valentina that. Gods, it’s so annoying,” Julia rolled her eyes.

“Yeah, we stopped hanging out with her,” Alice shrugged.

“Why do you two hate love so much?” Chris questioned. Julia and Alice merely smiled unapologetically. If Cecil didn’t know how much the two loved him as their wise, older brother, he would definitely be terrified of them. Ok, he was still a bit terrified of them.

“Think you can set up the equipment for it, Cecil?” Connor asked, “you’re the best tinkerer.”

Cecil finger-gunned at his older brother, “You can count on me, Head Counsellor.”

“We want a recorded feed that plays back to the cabin, just in case some of us aren’t around and miss out,” Alice ordered. Cecil nodded.

“And you’d better position the camera behind the Big House. That’s the most discreet place in camp I think,” Julia noted.

“Yeah, Chris, have you and Clarisse ever gone round there?” Connor asked. Chris’s spluttering was answer enough to their question.

“Alright,” Cecil grinned, jumping to his feet, “behind the Big House it is.”

He ran to one of his drawers and immediately rummaged through his equipment, finding some wires and a camera. Cecil’s fingers set to work before his brain could even catch up and before he knew it, he’d wired the camera up to connect to the small TV screen that Travis had sneaked into the cabin before he left for college only last week.

Cecil couldn’t help but think it was very strange to not have his older brother at Camp for the last week of the Summer, especially when Connor was still around. Still, he was proud of Travis for going to college to pass some exams. Cecil still had a couple of years left before he had to decide what to do which he was relieved about. School had never particularly been his thing and he really didn’t fancy the idea of returning to it.

***

By the following day, Cecil had set up a live stream of the back of the Big House that played on the TV in the Hermes cabin. He was quite impressed with his handiwork and apparently so were his siblings as they all congratulated him and patted him on the back.

“This is going to be hilarious,” Julia grinned as her and Alice high-fived.

“I genuinely fear for your future,” Connor stated with a despairing shake of his head.

“C’mon, we’re going to miss lunch if we keep staring at the screen. Everyone’s at the dining pavilion now, anyway,” Chris reminded them. Cecil nodded and his stomach rumbled in agreement.

“Yeah, I’m starving and I haven’t even used a single pick up line on Lou today,” he said.

“Dude, you are hopeless,” Connor said with a roll of his eyes.

“Ooo, I have one,” Alice piped up enthusiastically as she and Julia flanked Cecil on their way to lunch, “you have to tell her ‘I heard you have magic hands because I’ve got a wand you might want to play with’.”

“Alice!” Cecil spluttered, feeling his cheeks go red.

“Alice, you’re like twelve, where did you even hear that?” Connor scolded.

“I’m thirteen,” Alice huffed indignantly.

“We made it up last night,” Julia added helpfully.

“Julia, you are twelve,” Chris pointed out. The two girls shrugged unapologetically.

As Cecil spotted Lou Ellen alone at the Hecate table, using the Mist to hold her sandwich suspended in the air as she read a book in Ancient Greek, he felt a sly grin edge its way onto his face. Maybe he’d try the pick-up line after all. The worst thing that could happen would be that he got turned into a pig.

Halfway through lunch, after Cecil’s eye was finally starting to stop pounding with pain (apparently the worst Lou Ellen could actually do was give him a black eye), Julia leaned into the Hermes table and beckoned them all to listen in to her.

“Billie just stood up and left the Demeter table. Valentina left the Aphrodite table about two minutes ago. They both headed in the direction of the Big House,” she said.

Alice’s eyes sparkled with mischief.

“Oh, Billie’s going to kill us for this. Let’s go,” she said.

With that, the two girls shot to their feet and sprinted back to the cabin.

“I don’t know about you two, but I kind of want to see if our prank worked,” Cecil grinned.

“Man, it’s gonna be a bit weird if we do catch any of our friends making out,” Connor sighed, shaking his head but he stood up all the same.

“Blackmail material, bro, blackmail material,” Cecil reminded him before he too sprinted across camp to return to their cabin.

“We were right, Cecil, come look at this,” Julia giggled with glee as soon as Cecil stepped inside the cabin.

“Ohoho, this is actually pretty funny,” Cecil laughed as he caught a glimpse of the screen. The footage wasn’t brilliant so all he could really make out were the outlines of the two girls and Billie’s bright blue hair. Still, it was unmistakable that the two were indeed kissing, clearly unaware of the fact they had company.

“Does the footage have sound?” Alice asked.

“Should do. Why exactly do you want to hear it, though?” Cecil asked with a raised eyebrow.

“A bi girl’s gotta be curious,” Alice shrugged, reaching towards the volume dial and twisting the volume up.

“Alice!” Chris spluttered. He and Connor had arrived shortly after Cecil had.

“Ok, I cannot watch that with the volume on,” Connor stated, shaking his head with a chuckle and going to sit on his bed as the others continued to watch.

Billie and Valentina weren’t the only couple the Hermes cabin caught, though. Piper and Jason were next and all of them watched intently. If Percy and Annabeth weren’t around, those two definitely would have been the power couple at Camp and hey, it was always good to pick up tips, especially if Cecil did ever manage to get Lou to like him back.

Chiara Benvenuti and Damien White were the next couple to be caught by the camera. Cecil hadn’t even known the two were together, but apparently neither did they as Chiara punched him in the shoulder and called him a jerk after they’d finished kissing before storming off. Damien had just stood, leaning against the wall and chuckling to himself, clearly pleased.

Cecil was alone when he caught the next couple. And it wasn’t from the safety of inside the Hermes cabin.

There’d been an interference with the camera so Cecil had gone out to fix it whilst the others went about with their various daily activities. He was humming to himself as he rounded the corner to the Big House. The camera was located on the side of the building, peering around the edge, so he didn’t have to actually step behind the Big House in order to fix it.

Just after Cecil had finished tweaking the wires, though, he heard the sound of the back door that led onto the infirmary burst open and slam shut.

Curiosity got the best of Cecil and he peeked his head around the corner, catching a glimpse of blond hair he immediately recognised as one of his best friends, Will Solace’s.

Just as Cecil opened his mouth to greet his friend, he noticed that another person had stepped out of the building and pushed Will against the wall. To Cecil’s surprise, it was Nico.

“Shut up with your medical talk and kiss me, Solace,” Nico demanded.

“If you insist,” Will responded with a cheeky smirk and before Cecil knew what was going on, Nico planted his lips against Will’s fervently, almost causing Will to smack his head against the brick wall had Nico not already put his hand behind the taller boy’s head to cushion it.

Will wrapped his arm around Nico’s waist and pulled the son of Hades closer to him, kissing him back deeply before Cecil’s senses finally kicked back in.

He’d just fixed the camera, too.

Cecil ran back to the Hermes cabin faster than he’d ever run before. Whilst he loved to tease Will about his crush on Nico, he knew that the two would not be happy with anyone finding out about them. Will was his close friend and would have already told him that he and Nico were a thing had it been information that was okay to be shared with the public.

Cecil arrived at the cabin and realised with a great sigh of relief that no one else was there. He immediately grabbed the TV and paused the recording, clicking through the settings to find a way to delete the footage.

“Cecil, what are you- gods of Olympus, is that Nico and Will?” Julia’s voice gasped out from behind Cecil.

Panic rose in Cecil’s stomach and he clutched the TV screen against his chest. Julia and Alice were stood over his shoulder and Chris and Connor had just entered the cabin.

“What?” Connor spluttered, “Nico and Will?”

“No, I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Cecil shouted, wishing he had the ability to be a bit more subtle.

“Dude, we saw the screen. What’s so bad about that?” Chris asked. Cecil sighed and put the TV back, turning the screen off completely.

“Alright, so you know how Will’s one of my best friends?” he started. His siblings sat around him in a circle.

“Yeah, of course, we know,” Connor rolled his eyes.

“Right. Well, he hadn’t told me anything about him and Nico and he usually tells me everything about that kind of stuff. I’ve known about his crush for ages and ever since Nico returned to camp, he’s all I’ve heard about from Will,” Cecil started as the Hermes cabin listened in intently, “so I’m guessing there’s a reason no one knows about them. Lou hasn’t told me so obviously she doesn’t know and I’ve not heard Percy, Annabeth, Jason or Piper mention anything and they know pretty much everything that goes on around here.”

“Alright,” Connor considered, “but why don’t they want to tell anyone? Will’s never really been discreet about his sexuality. I was kind of hoping I had a chance myself,” he added with a wink. Cecil rolled his eyes.

“You don’t even like him like that,” he pointed out, “besides, I think it probably has more to do with Nico. I mean, if I hadn’t seen him hanging out with Will I wouldn’t have had any clue he wasn’t straight.”

“True, I thought he had a crush on Annabeth,” Chris chipped in.

“Ooo does that mean he had a crush on Percy?” Alice gasped.

“Who hasn’t?” Connor mused, gazing off dreamily into the distance. Cecil kneed him in the side.

“Stop lusting after every guy in Camp, Connor,” he complained at his brother, “all I’m saying is that if this was public information, we definitely would have known by now. I think we should keep this a secret. It’s never right to out someone that isn’t ready to tell.”

“Well I agree wholeheartedly,” Julia nodded.

“I’m terrible at keeping secrets but just make sure you punch me if I start to say anything,” Alice made them promise.

“My lips are sealed,” Chris guaranteed.

“The first time the Hermes cabin has ever managed to keep a secret. Let’s do it,” Connor agreed. Cecil breathed a sigh of relief.

“Thanks, guys,” he said. Cecil wasn’t sure he’d ever felt so much pressure to hide something in his life. Still, if it protected his best friend and his best friend’s boyfriend, it was worth it. Even if Cecil could never look at Will and Nico in quite the same way again.

Nico was overall quite proud of how discreet he and Will had managed to be. Admittedly, it was difficult to remember how they used to act around their friends before they had started dating, but no one had mentioned anything past their normal teases at Nico about his crush on the blond.

Nico was finding it easier and easier to just roll his eyes and admit to them that yeah, maybe he did have a thing for Will. The evil grin that crossed Piper’s face as he said so had him severely regretting his decision to open up to them more, though.

Nico wasn’t sure what it was about Will, but spending so much time around him made him feel like maybe the world wasn’t so bad after all- he did actually have people that cared about him.

Plus, when Will spent the night by his side, Nico barely ever had nightmares. He was beginning to forget what the itchy, constricting feeling of being in Tartarus felt like. He was beginning to focus on all the good memories he’d made with Bianca when she was alive rather than the memories of her leaving him alone to join the Hunters of Artemis and the news Percy brought back about her death.

He was beginning to notice that it wasn’t just him that had suffered over the past few years. Nico had spent so long wrapped up in his own insecurities and suffering that he often forgot just how much his friends had been through, too.

Percy and Annabeth had trekked through Tartarus. Percy had nearly drowned the goddess of poison in her own creation. They’d both faced Tartarus himself and nearly hadn’t lived to see the end of it. They’d both held the weight of the literal world on their shoulders; had faced almost every single monster to ever exist in Greek mythology; seen their friend and mentor become one with the Titan King; had saved Nico despite everything he’d done to them; lost so many friends and still faced every day with a smile and courage.

Jason and Piper had lost their best friend, Leo, during the final battle against Gaia and had to live with the knowledge that the prophecy wouldn’t have allowed both Jason and Leo to live; they’d battled giants and nearly been killed several times. They both joked around and encouraged younger campers to believe being a demigod was nothing to be worried about and that Camp was a safe place for them as if their own struggles meant nothing to them.

And then there was Will. Will had never been on a quest and always told Nico he felt kind of useless as a demigod. Nico didn’t think there was anything further from the truth. Nico had seen Will by the Empire State building that day, running around through the cross fire of Titans, gods and demigods fighting to heal the injured, putting his own life at risk again and again purely just to help someone else, as if his own life meant less than the other demigods, just because he wasn’t the one with the sword in his hand. He’d lost his two older brothers, Lee and Michael, who had taught him everything he knew about healing and archery. Nico knew what it felt like to lose a sibling but Will had lost two and hadn’t done nearly as much damage as Nico did with the rage he felt from losing Bianca.

Sure, Percy Jackson may have been the strongest, most powerful demigod alive, but Will Solace was, in Nico’s opinion, the most impressive. How Will didn’t see it himself was beyond Nico.

“I don’t know why I keep beating myself up but sometimes I feel so useless,” Will had said one afternoon as he and Nico sat by the canoe lake for some peace and quiet, “I’m always stuck in the infirmary, just hoping I can do enough to stop anyone from dying but my healing power has limits. What if one day I’m not quick enough or strong enough? What if I’m responsible for someone’s death.”

“Will, no one would ever blame you,” Nico started, placing his hand over Will’s in what he hoped was comforting. He’d never been very good at supporting others but then again, he’d never wanted to support someone in the same way he wanted to support Will.

“I would,” Will declared, “Most demigods have nightmares about monsters but all mine are ever about is when I’m not fast enough or skilled enough just one time. I mess up and someone loses their life because I couldn’t do the one thing I was supposed to be good at.”

“Hey, that’s not how it would be at all. You’ve never messed up yet. You’ve always done as much as you can and the fact that you would even worry about that shows how good of a person you really are. Will, you spend pretty much every day in the infirmary, helping any camper that needs it. I watch you putting yourself out of your way constantly just to help others. No matter what happens to anyone in the future, I can assure that you did everything you physically could to help them and it was enough- it always is,” Nico paused for a moment to make sure Will was looking at him.

“Remember the chat we had about Octavian?” Nico asked. Will nodded. “We can’t prevent every death. Not even the best demigod at healing this Camp’s ever known can, so they need to stop putting themselves down.”  

Will let out a small laugh as he wiped a tear from his eyes.

“Who might that be?” he asked. Nico gave him a lopsided smile before lunging forward to hug him.

“You, of course, you dork. You’re so important to us all. I wish you’d see that for yourself,” Nico said. Will hugged Nico back tightly, burying his face in the crook of Nico’s neck. Nico could feel the dampness around his eyes. He’d never felt such a need to dry someone else’s tears before.

“Thank you, Nico. I really needed to hear that,” Will smiled.

“Yeah?” Nico asked, surprised he’d actually managed to find the right words for once, “good. I’m glad you did hear it.”

Nico let Will finish crying into his shoulder as he hugged him tightly. Right there, Nico realised that for the first time, he didn’t mind if anyone walked by and saw them. He didn’t mind if people found out about him and Will.

People had always viewed Nico as dark, brooding and selfish. He wanted them to see that Will Solace, the incredible miracle he was, had changed all that completely. Nico wanted everyone at Camp to realise just how incredible the son of Apollo really was.

Despite Nico’s revelation that day, he hadn’t quite expected it to go down as it did. Nico hadn’t yet told Will that he’d decided he wanted Camp to know about their relationship- he’d been too preoccupied reassuring Will and now that Will was feeling better again, he was too distracted by the blond’s dazzling smile to remember about it.

Luckily, Nico didn’t really need to discuss it with Will because Percy Jackson, the oblivious imbecile that he was, saved him the job.

It was an open mic campfire that night and Nico was sat with Will, Jason, Piper, Annabeth, and Percy. The six of them had become quite a usual group of friends over the past few weeks, even if they didn’t know about Nico and Will yet. Nico was very shocked that even Annabeth hadn’t called him out on it, for someone who was so perceptive.

Nico may have been subtle but Will was not and whilst Nico could usually pass it as a joke, he was surprised Annabeth hadn’t seen through their charade yet.

“Percy, just because it’s an open mic night doesn’t mean you can do whatever you want,” Annabeth scolded her boyfriend, face-palming at Percy’s ridiculous suggestion.

“I mean, it kind of does,” Will pointed out, “you can’t claim Cecil’s rap about Lou Ellen’s butt was any more sophisticated than Percy’s idea.”

Nico snorted a laugh. It had been ridiculously amusing to see Cecil rap at Lou Ellen, even if the daughter of Hecate hadn’t thought so due to the fact that Cecil was now sporting a very green looking arm Nico suspected had something to do with her magic.

Still, Percy’s idea was pretty ridiculous.

“Hey, Percy, if you do it, I’ll let you be Jason’s boyfriend for an entire week,” Piper chipped in. Nico wasn’t entirely sure how a battle had begun between Piper and Percy over who was Jason’s significant other, but an all-out competition had arisen between the two for a week or so.

Despite Annabeth scolding Percy about it at first, she now actively joined in with encouragement although Nico suspected it was purely to watch Percy embarrass himself.

“Sorry, Wise Girl, that’s an offer I just can’t turn down,” Percy grinned, kissing Annabeth’s cheek.

“Why do I never get a say in this?” Jason asked quietly. Piper and Percy ignored him.

“Does anyone have a recorder that doesn’t attract monsters?” Piper asked, “because I want to remember this forever.”

Unfortunately, no one did have a camera but Nico suspected it would still be a pretty memorable moment.

Percy jumped to his feet and approached the front of the campfire, clearing his throat to gain everyone’s attention.

“Good evening, fellow campers,” he greeted, “I, the great Son of Poseidon, am here to deliver a spectacular performance to you. At your request, I will be imitating sea creatures and speaking to you in their language. Who has a suggestion?”

Nico allowed himself to laugh along with the rest of the campers as several campers, including Piper, shot their hands up.

“My dear friend, Piper, what is your suggestion?” Percy pointed at her.

“A blobfish!” she shouted out. Percy’s face immediately contorted into his idea of a blobfish’s weird pout and he opened his mouth.

Instead of words, a weird gurgling sound escaped, causing the entire camp to crack up in laughter.

“In case you couldn’t translate that,” Percy said when he’d finished his impersonation, “I said ‘Piper sucks’.”

Piper stuck her tongue out in response as Percy chose another camper for a suggestion.

After imitating a pufferfish, stingray, humpback whale, axolotl, hippocampus, narwhal and most impressively a hammerhead shark, Nico and Will were leaning against each other in stitches. No one could tell a word of what Percy was saying but the weird shrieks and gurgles that sounded so foreign out of the water were at the very least extremely embarrassing for Percy.

“Can you do impressions of ghosts, ghouls, and skeletons?” Will asked in Nico’s ear, cheekily. Nico rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, it’s called being deadly silent or screaming at the top of my lungs. I can easily give you a sample of both if you really want,” he said dryly. Will chuckled, a noise that still never failed to cause Nico’s heart to skip a beat.

“Why are you always so mean to me?” Will pretended to complain. Nico smirked and turned his head in to face him as he laced his hand through Will’s.

“Not my fault you’re a masochist,” he shrugged. Will gasped.

“That is not true!” he denied. Nico laughed quietly.

“Sure it isn’t,” he smirked.

“Nico! Will!” a loud voice shouted from the front. Nico turned to face Percy and noticed that his eyes were trained right on them. They’d been holding hands and leaning into each other very closely. Ah.

Will immediately tugged his hand out of Nico’s and looked at him worriedly. Nico didn’t have time to look back and assure Will that he was okay because Percy was continuing.

“You two are actually dating? And you didn’t tell me? Nico, man, I already knew you had a crush on him, you could have just told me!” he spluttered before apparently realising that he was still stood in front of the whole camp and slapping a hand over his mouth. Every eye was now trained on Nico and Will.

Despite Nico telling himself that he was fine for Camp to know, his heart rate started to pick up speed as he felt the panic rise up inside him. He hadn’t quite expected his coming out to be quite like this.

“Perseus Jackson,” Annabeth hissed under her breath.

“Nico, I’m-“ Percy began to say before Nico mustered all his courage up and spoke out.

“No, it’s okay. We should have told you sooner,” he said, feeling as if a huge weight had been lifted off his chest as he did. The warmth of Will’s hand that had returned to his helping, too.

To Nico’s surprise, though, as he glanced around at their friends, they didn’t seem surprised.

“Wait,” Percy said, “did you guys already know?”

“Erm, sort of,” Piper admitted.

“Yeah, it was fairly easy to figure out,” Annabeth added.

“I accidentally found out,” Jason apologised.

“Me too,” Lou Ellen shouted from where she was sitting a few feet away from Will and Nico.

“We knew as well but we didn’t wanna say anything,” Connor Stoll said.

“By we-“ Will started to ask but Cecil interrupted.

“The whole Hermes cabin.”

“The Apollo cabin figured it out pretty quickly, too,” Kayla Knowles shouted out, glaring at Will.

“Yeah, I realise now I might not have been very subtle about where I was some nights,” Will whispered in Nico’s ear.

“Oh,” Nico muttered. He didn’t know how to feel about it. Pretty much all of Camp had already known that he and Will were together. For one, it made him feel pretty ridiculous. He thought they’d been sneaking around so well but apparently they’d been caught several times without him knowing.

However, if everyone already knew, they clearly had no problem with it. No one had treated him any differently. They had all accepted him for who he was without Nico even realising.

“I hope it isn’t too weird to hear,” Chiron spoke up, “but I was also aware. I do feel the need to say that if the reasons for your secrecy were what I suspect, you have no need to worry about that here at Camp Halfblood.”

If Nico hadn’t felt weirded out before, he certainly did now. Even Chiron had figured it out. He felt like an idiot.

Strangely, it wasn’t a completely bad feeling.

“Jackson,” Nico called out to Percy, “don’t be surprised if you find skeletons in your bed tomorrow morning.”

“You will not be raising the dead on my watch,” Will hissed indignantly as Percy laughed off the skeleton comment and continued on with his impressions. Just like that, the campfire events had continued. No questions asked, no judging glares, no snide comments. Nico had been accepted.

Feeling the great sense of relief that flooded over him, Nico leaned against Will’s side and the son of Apollo wrapped an arm over his shoulders.

“Are you okay with this?” Will asked in Nico’s ear. Nico nodded his head and hoped Will could sense his movement.

“Yeah,” he commented, “I actually am.”

The following day when Nico arrived at breakfast, Will immediately caught his eye. Nico gave an understanding nod in return and made his way over to him.

“Want to eat behind my cabin?” Nico offered. Will nodded.

“Thought you might want to talk. Y’know, about yesterday,” he suggested.

“Yeah, good idea,” Nico agreed and the two made their way to their usual spot. When they arrived, Nico couldn’t help but glance around him. This was the place the two of them had spent most time alone since they’d gotten together and he was thinking now that it maybe wasn’t such a secret location considering everyone had apparently already known about them.

“So,” Will started. He’d had a sort of worried look on his face ever since last night, not the usual relaxed and open one Nico was used to. “I know I asked you last night, but are you really okay with everyone knowing? I don’t want you to feel like you don’t have a choice but to be fine with it and I’m not above attempting to fight Percy if it has bothered you.”

Nico allowed a chuckle to escape from his mouth as he leaned against Will. Over the past month or so, he’d completely forgotten what being touch starved even felt like. He casually touched Will all the time and even Jason, Piper, Annabeth, Percy, Cecil and Lou Ellen were starting to be a bit more free with their touches around him.

It wasn’t something Nico had ever thought he’d find himself enjoying.

“I was being honest when I said I was okay with it. I’d actually meant to mention it to you a few days ago that I wanted to tell people but I kept forgetting to bring it up,” Nico shrugged.

“Nico, what have I said about communication?” Will complained with a pout, wrapping an arm around him anyway.

“I forgot!” Nico grumbled in response. Will shook his head and laughed.

“You really wanted to tell people about us, though?” Will asked.

“Well, yeah,” Nico stated as if it had been obvious, “I’ve changed quite a lot lately thanks to you and I want people to know why. I want them to be able to see how much I love you.”

Nico heard Will’s breath catch in his throat and he turned to look at the son of Apollo. Only a few months ago, Nico never would have imagined he could have said those words to someone but he was surprised at how true they were.

Nico had realised just how much he cared about Will after the night in the infirmary during which he confessed to him. His consideration of how fragile life was and how short it often was when you were a demigod might have been a catalyst to that realisation, but it was a realisation Nico had still had, all the same.

“Really?” Will finally said, “you love me?”

“You’re pretty dense,” Nico rolled his eyes, “of course I do. I’m pretty sure I told you so back in the Infirmary the day I confessed.”

“I’m not sure I even noticed,” Will admitted sheepishly, “I think I was a bit too distracted from the second you said ‘I like you’ to pay attention to anything else you said.”

“I try and give you a deep, meaningful confession and this is the thanks I get?” Nico complained dryly, a small smirk creeping onto his face.

“You weren’t exactly complaining,” Will pointed out. Nico conceded. Will had kissed him, after all, and that had been a pretty incredible experience.

“I love you too, y’know,” Will continued, “just in case there was any doubt.”

Nico smiled up at Will, wondering how he always managed to shine as brightly as the sun. He never quite knew if it was an Apollo thing or a Will thing. Or maybe it was just a Nico thing.

As Nico leaned up to press his mouth to Will’s, though, he realised it didn’t really matter to him which one it was. All that mattered was that Will was with him right then, and would be for what Nico hoped was a long time.

Will wrapped his other arm around Nico as he kissed back, sliding a hand up into his dark hair to pull Nico’s mouth open further.

Nico slipped his own hand under the back of Will’s t-shirt and tugged the taller boy closer to him, loving the feeling of having Will so close to him. Will hummed as Nico’s hand touched his bare skin and Nico chased after the noise with his own mouth, breaking for a gasp of air before connecting their lips again.

Nico pushed Will backward so that he fell down on his back, allowing Nico to straddle him as he traced Will’s lip with his tongue.

“Nico,” Will murmured against his lips, causing a satisfied noise to rise in Nico’s throat as his tongue found its way into Will’s mouth. He could kiss Will forever and still never get enough of the feeling.

Feeling decidedly bolder than usual thanks to their conversation, Nico detached his lips from Will’s mouth and trailed them down the tan column of Will’s neck, applying slightly more pressure with his lips when he reached a particular freckle he’d been wanting to kiss for a long time. Will let out a small whimper in response before sitting up abruptly, grabbing the sides of Nico’s face and pressing their lips together feverishly.

Nico draped his arms over Will’s neck before the two finally parted for breath. Nico’s heart was pumping dangerously quickly in his chest and he could tell his face was flushed too.

Luckily, Will’s face was also far redder than usual and his already messy hair was a dishevelled disgrace. Unable to help himself, Nico reached up an arm previously draped over Will’s shoulder and ruffled his blond curls even more, grinning ever so slightly.

If possible, Will’s face went even redder. Nico felt a sense of pride. Will was usually the one to initiate and leave Nico a blushing, stuttering mess. It felt good to be the one to leave Will speechless for once.

“Was that okay?” Nico asked, slightly more tentatively than he’d intended to.

“Are you kidding?” Will breathed, “it was more than okay.”

Nico chuckled as he slowly disentangled himself from Will.

“I was thinking, now that all of Camp Halfblood know, would you be alright if I Iris messaged Hazel and Camp Jupiter? I think my sister would rather hear the news from me than anyone else,” Nico considered.

“Of course. Do you want me to message them with you?” Will offered. Nico shook his head. He knew that Will hardly knew anyone from Camp Jupiter. He’d met Hazel, Frank, and Reyna of course but he didn’t know them quite the same way Nico did.

Plus, Nico was pretty sure he’d never manage to tell his sister if Will was there with him. He’d be far too embarrassed.

“It’s alright, I’ll do it myself. Don’t you have an infirmary you need to get back to?” Nico said with a smirk. Will rolled his eyes.

“Don’t remind me,” he groaned, “you’ll come and visit later, right?”

“Of course. Unless Percy drags me on the lava wall,” Nico promised. Will laughed as he got to his feet, extending a hand to help Nico up too which he gratefully took.

“Excuses, excuses,” Will sang. Nico nudged him in the side with his elbow.

“Shut up, Solace,” he complained as they made their way back up the slope.

“Catch you later, then, Neeks,” Will said, grabbing Nico’s arm gently and bending down to kiss him gently on the lips before he made his way up to the infirmary, leaving Nico to return to the Hades cabin.

Nico could never help but smile to himself whenever he’d just departed from Will. He always left Nico feeling strangely giddy.

Nico stepped over to the small water fountain in his cabin, specifically with the purpose of sending Iris messages. He picked up a drachma and threw it into the rainbow the mist had created.

“Oh, Iris, goddess of the rainbow, show me Hazel Levesque at Camp Jupiter,” Nico recited.  The rainbow shimmered and was soon replaced with the image of the Dining Hall at Camp Jupiter where Nico could see his sister sat with the two Praetors; Reyna and Frank.

It didn’t take long for Hazel to notice the image that had formed in front of her.

“Nico!” she beamed, “you haven’t messaged in ages! How are you?”

Nico shrugged and smiled, glad to see his sister yet feeling slightly nervous about what he had to say- especially considering Frank and Reyna were there. Would Camp Jupiter be as accepting as Camp Halfblood had been?

The words Reyna had spoken to the Camps at the end of the battle against Gaia resonated in Nico’s mind. They had two homes, not one. Camp Jupiter was home to him too and this was his sister and his friends. He could do this.

“I’m pretty good, actually,” Nico said, “how are all of you?”

“We’re doing excellently,” Frank added with a big, goofy smile. Even as Praetor, Frank still radiated a warm, childish energy and if Nico hadn’t seen the son of Mars in battle, he never would have considered him a threat. Still, his welcoming demeanour made him an excellent Praetor when stood next to the stern and fierce Reyna.

“The battle at your Camp has sparked a new spirit within the demigods here. Everyone feels very encouraged. I think we’d definitely enjoy a visit from you some time soon, though. We miss you, Nico,” Reyna added with yet another smile. Nico still wasn’t used to being greeted so happily by people so their warm welcomes almost took him by surprise.

“I’ll definitely pay you a visit once Camp Halfblood quietens off for the school year,” Nico promised, “there’s not much of the summer holiday left now, after all.”

“Jason and Piper are coming over to study in New Rome, right? I’ve really missed everyone,” Hazel asked with a small pout. Nico chuckled at his little sister.

“That’s the plan. I’ll be glad to hand them over to you- the two of them have caused me nothing but grief all summer,” Nico rolled his eyes. Reyna raised an eyebrow at this and Nico didn’t like the knowing smirk that crossed her face.

“I did catch wind of something from Piper and Annabeth regarding you, actually,” she commented, “I hear there’s a certain son of Apollo you’ve been spending an awful lot of time with?”

Nico huffed an Italian curse out under his breath.

“Those two aren’t going to make it to the end of summer at this rate,” he complained, “but I did actually call you to- erm- tell you about something. I wanted you to hear it from me rather than someone here at Camp Halfblood.”

Hazel’s golden eyes sparkled.

“Oh is this the boy who made you stay in the infirmary for three days? Will?” she asked. Nico’s heart skipped a beat at the mention of his name and he wondered if they could see the dusting of red over his cheeks through the Iris message.

Nico fidgeted with his hands. Reyna clearly already had some idea and didn’t seem appalled by it. Hazel was his sister and already seemed so happy at the brief mention of Will. Frank was one of the kindest hearted guys Nico knew. He could do this. He could tell them.

“Yeah it’s about Will,” Nico said before taking a deep breath in and spluttering, “he’s my boyfriend!”

Hazel squealed and grinned even wider.

“Nico, that’s amazing you absolutely have to bring him over when you visit!” she gasped.

“I’m really happy for you, man, that’s so sweet,” Frank smiled.

Reyna chuckled and winked, “Annabeth and Piper didn’t tell me you’d actually made a move. I’m impressed, Nico.”

Nico released his breath in relief. It was gradually getting easier to tell people as everyone he cared about grew more and more accepting.

“Thanks, guys,” he smiled.

“He’d better be treating you right and making sure you eat properly,” Hazel demanded. Nico laughed.

“Will’s a doctor. All I ever hear about is how I need to look after my health more,” he explained, “he banned me from Shadow Travel and Underworld magic for the rest of the summer and forced Chiron to swap all my Camp duties so I wasn’t using my injured shoulder.”

“Good,” Reyna nodded, “but if I catch a single word that he’s wronged you in any way at all, he can expect an entire Roman demigod army marching straight for his Cabin.”

“Woah, Reyna, you don’t need to worry. Plus I think you might have to race Jason to the first punch,” Nico pointed out. According to Will, Jason had actually threatened Will about not hurting him the night Nico had fallen asleep by the campfire and Will had carried him back to his cabin before they were even together.

“I hope he makes you happy, Nico,” Frank said, “you deserve it after everything you’ve been through.”

Nico looked up at the image of his friends and sister smiling at him despite being halfway across the country, supporting him in a way he’d never had support before. He tried to ignore the tears pricking at his eyes as he smiled back.

“He does,” Nico promised, “I’m happier than I’ve ever been.”

Nico was, thanks to Will. Their relationship may well have been the worst kept secret Nico had ever known of, but he was so happy. Reyna had been more correct than Nico had even thought.

He didn’t have a home at just Camp Halfblood; he had a home at both camps.

And they felt like a family.