#do you think thalia found out how close nico and reyna were and started watching her more closely

[thelilylav]

We only see each other at funerals

(On Jason, Thalia, Nico, Bianca, and their parallels/connections)

The Titan's Curse (Rick Riordan), @/anxiousmaya_, Right Now (Gracie Abrams), The Battle of the Labyrinth (Rick Riordan), Joan of Arc (Mary Gordon), The Lost Hero (Rick Riordan), Episodes Toward and Elegy for Halley's Comet (Lindsey Drager), Jason Grace (Riordan Wiki), The Gods Show Up (Michael Kinnucan), The House of Hades (Rick Riordan), What the Living Do (Marie Howe), The House of Hades (Rick Riordan), Planet of Love (Richard Siken), The Blood of Olympus (Rick Riordan), Tangerine (Nolune), The Blood of Olympus (Rick Riordan), The Blood of Olympus (Rick Riordan), I Bet On Losing Dogs (Mitski), The Burning Maze (Rick Riordan), @/abhorarchive (Twitter), The Burning Maze (Rick Riordan), Seventeen (MARINA), The Burning Maze (Rick Riordan), @/rollercoasterwords, The Tyrant's Tomb (Rick Riordan), @/the-overanalyst, Where Things Come Back (John Corey Whaley), Grit (Silas Denver Martin), Softcore (The Neighbourhood), The Tower of Nero (Rick Riordan), Frost (Mitski), @/moonbends, I'm Your Man (Mitski), Sun Bleached Flies (Ethel Cain), The Tower of Nero (Rick Riordan), Three (Sleeping At Last), My Art

[freddie-77-ao3]

Golden Eyed Girl (good is... hard to come by)

Summary:

Annabeth Chase takes one look at Hazel Levesque and wants to throw up. Here's this skinny little daughter of Pluto is, looking like a ten year old rather than the thirteen year old she had heard about, and-- She looks nothing like Luke Castellan, nothing, but-- She looks almost like Kronos. And maybe, just maybe, while the Crooked One was swept into the pit by her blade... maybe it found somewhere to HIDE. She is suspicious. And Percy knows what she's thinking, but he's the only one.

After Annabeth flips Percy, and flings herself into his arms, after she walks the city with Reyna, after Leo fires on New Rome (on all the dreams every demigod at Camp had– a safe place, another home, a they-maybe-won’t-die-as-children-anymore ) the seven gather in the Argo’s dining room.

Jason and Piper sit half entwined, and Leo’s next to them, rummaging in his toolbelt with shifty eyes, and Percy’s still resting his chin on her shoulder. She missed him. Ripped herself half in two to get to him. She’d thought that after Luke– Kronos– they would be safe , or, well, as safe as demigods could be. She’d thought that Percy wasn’t going to die at 16 anymore, that she had someone who wouldn’t leave her like everyone always did. 

But Hera– she’d stolen Percy. Just like Hades had stolen Thalia, and rage had stolen Luke, and Helen had stolen her father even though they’d made up, she had been alone once more.

Percy was a part of her, and without him– without him, Annabeth had felt like the scared yet fearless, overly proud twelve year old she had been before him. Except without Luke this time.

Luke . Luke and his blue eyes until they were gold, gold and burning into her and Kronos was dead now but his eyes weren’t because they still haunted her sometimes when she closed her eyes.

She hadn’t told Percy that, but he’d known anyway. Probably because he felt the same. 

Finally, Frank and Hazel, the two Romans who Percy had already clearly bonded with (he always made friends so easily compared to Annabeth) entered the room. Hazel was looking down as Frank pulled her into the seat. 

They started talking, Annabeth leading as usual– already, Jason and Percy had started that stupid Big Three pissing match– (thank the gods Hazel hadn’t involved herself, still looking down– but then, Nico had never been as into the rivalry as Thalia and Percy had. Although, part of that might have been the grief masking every emotion he’d ever goddamn shown).

By the time they finish talking, Annabeth had all but forgotten about Hazel and her lack of eye contact. That is, until, as they leave, Hazel looks up, and her eyes are gold–

All Annabeth can think about is Luke and Kronos, and Beckendorf, Silena, Mark– every single goddamn dead person she watched go up in flames. So as she draws her knife ( Luke’s knife ) and starts to lunge ( hand it to him ) is that Kronos was dead so why does Hazel have His eyes– unless. Unless on the way to The Pit, on the way to Tartarus, what if– She’d already been informed Hazel had previously been dead. So what if– what if–

While Kronos was swept down through the Celestial magic of the Bronze– what if he had found somewhere to��hide ? Somewhere to strike and–

What if Hazel was that spirit. 

And she has only just gotten Percy back so she lunges , striking to maim or kill because she doesn’t care anymore this nightmare just has to be OVER –

And Frank intercepts her, grabs her arms–

She flips him, shakes him off, and sprints . Percy follows.

They end up in the stables. She starts to cry. 

“-Beth. Hey, Beth. What’s wrong?”

“Her eyes ” she manages to croak out, “her eyes , Percy, why are her eyes like–”

Percy nods, and sits down, gesturing for her to follow. “I– I know. I didn’t at first, when my memories were still gone, but… Luke. I know, Wise Girl, I know.”

“But– are you sure? I just– I just got you back, Seaweed Brain– how do– how do you know she’s safe ? How do you know that He’s dead ?”

“We both watched him… him die, Wise Girl. That has to be enough.”

It should have been. Hazel seemed sweet. Looked more like a ten year old than the twelve year old Percy had told her about, but—

One look at those eyes, and Annabeth had wanted to puke. Here was this skinny little daughter of Pluto is, looking like a ten year old rather than the thirteen year old she had heard about, and– 

She looks nothing like Luke Castellan, nothing, but--

She looks almost like Kronos. And maybe, just maybe, while the Crooked One was swept into the pit by her blade... maybe it found somewhere to HIDE.

She tells Percy that. He nods, looking sad.

“You know that’s impossible. You said it yourself. He’s in so many pieces, He’s– He’s never coming back. Never going to hurt us again.”

They both know it’s a lie. They both know that every birthday a person isn’t around for, every reunion, every anniversary of a battle or a skrimish, their eyes will skip over the spots that their dead should be. Where children should be. Luke, Silena, Beckendorf, Mark, Abigail, Michael, Lee, Castor–

Where who Pollux should have been was. Who they all should have been. But she picks her head up, leaves the stables holding Percy’s hand, and apologizes to Hazel and Frank. 

If she later cries herself to sleep in the stables with Percy, well, that’s no ones business but her own. 

She will never stop fearing those golden eyes. Might never be able to look Hazel in the eye.

But she and Percy are alive, and somewhat safe, and for tonight, in the dark, she can pretend. 

[alien-rainbow]

By Your Side Until My Death(9/?)

Chapter 9: The World We Made

Available on AO3

Princess Artemis, the eldest daughter of the kingdom of Olympus is to be married to her childhood nightmare. In a land where anything remotely magical is banned, Zoë fears for her and Ladon's life but knows that she could never leave the princess's side if she tried. Magical beings, a forbidden romance, family secrets, and safety for magic all wait beyond the kingdom's borders.

- 3rd person, will be completed eventually, teen, not completed, Zartemis

READ PLEASE. Okay, so there was a lot of background going on in this chapter.

Cohorts: These are like the cabins, there are 20 of them for the 20 cabins in the PJO series, I decided to use greek names and move some people around if they are Romans. The only time I used Roman names is if the greek counterpart was part of the royal family.

Praetors: Two people who are elected from any of the twenty cabins and are (presidential system) like the president.

Centurions: These are like the vice presidents, but there are a lot of them. They can make decisions but need the approval of both of the Praetors but if 75% of the Centurions want an action to be taken, they can go forward without Praetor's approval. But Chiron can put a stop to anything he believes is really bad but for the most part, he just guides and observes.

Normal People are just called campers and each Cohort has a cabin that corresponds with gods and their skills. If you want the full list of Cohorts/Cabins and their god/skills, look at the endnotes (There is more explanation in the chapter too)

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

Annabeth with the help of Will and commentary from Nico gave the girls a quick tour of the camp. The first stop was the big house where the leaders met to talk. The leaders consisted of one immortal, a centaur named Chiron, and a group of twenty centurions that represented the twenty different cohorts, and two elected praetors from any of the twenty centurions. The centurions were divided based on skill and dominant traits, and in some cases who you were born to.

Percy for example was one of the only members in cohort three, the cohort of water. People that lived in the cabin were closely related to Poseidon, the immortal of seas, or water nymphs, or were incredibly good when it came to any water activity.

Annabeth was a mortal who was incredibly good at changing any form of magic and was in Cohort 6, where the children of Minerva usually went. They were known for Strategic thinking and Leadership, Annabeth was the centurion. Nico is a child of Hades, the immortal Death, The Underground, and Darkness, and is the centurion of Cohort 13. His younger sister Hazle was the only other occupant of Cohort 13.

Will pointed to a solid gold cabin, which seemed to either reflect the sun or was glowing itself. Cohort 7 was for children born to Helios, the immortal of Day. Healing was another large part of Will's Cohort. Will told them that he was a few generations removed but was a descendent of Helios.

"So you have solar powers?" Athena asked after Will finished talking about his Cohort.

"I'm honestly a better healer but I can heal and control light," Will said smiling bright enough to rival the sun itself.

"He also glows," Nico said smirking at the puppy-eyed glare Will sent his way.

"That's not important," Will shoot back at the smaller boy.

"He's the best medic we have," Annabeth said trying to get the conversation back on topic. The two continued to quietly bicker but there was no real heat.

"So how long has Jason been here for?" Thalia asked out of the blue looking away from the two boys over to Annabeth.

"He's been here since he was a toddler, why?" Annabeth asked confused.

"His surname isn't by any chance Grace?" Thalia asked quickly. Nico stopped his conversation and turned to look intensely at Thalia. Artemis, just like Annabeth was confused by the woman's question. She knew that Thalia had a little brother who was said to have died in a wolf attack but besides that had no family that she cared about.

"Why do you want to know?" Nico said before Annabeth could answer.

"I don't see why you need to know?" Thalia said narrowing her eyes at the shorter boy. Before another fight could be started Annabeth jumped in to supply Thalia with her answer.

"Yes, his full name is Jason Grace," Annabeth said still looking confused but trying to stop an oncoming storm.

"Where is he now? Can I see him?" Thalia's voice was shrill and urgent.

"Probably at the arena sparring with Percy, and I guess so?" Will offered to take them while Nico stated that he would be coming with them. Reyna opted to go with Thalia saying that they would meet up later that night. With that, the four hurried off towards the arena.

"What was that about?" Annabeth asked after the group had disappeared from sight.

"I don't know..." Artemis said turning to Zoë who shrugged. Annabeth then continued on with the tour as if nothing had happened. She showed them the climbing wall which was cover in lava. The amphitheater where the campers met at night for a sing-along, campfire, and a variety of other things. The stables held more Asseros' and a few unmagical horses, and pegasi. They then walked past the cabins, each held one Cohort and a number of campers. They ended their trip by walking past the armory then heading to the arena.

They entered the opened roofed area to see Thalia and Jason stabbing at each other. Nico, Will, Percy, and the feather girl sat on the sides watching them spare. Thalia had her long golden spear out, her shield sat on one of the benches next to her brown leather bag. Jason on the other hand was fighting her with a golden gladius.

The three walked over to the group that was already sitting to watch the two dance around each other.

"What did we miss?" Artemis asked sitting down next to Reyna who turned to her with a sarcastic smile.

"Nothing much, except that Jason is Thalia's presumed dead little brother. And they are both the children of Jupiter, the immortal of the sky. But besides that, not much." Artemis and Zoë both gave out shocked reactions before turning to watch the two reunited siblings spar.

The match ended with Thalia disarming her brother and a golden spear pointed at his chest.

"I win," Thalia said grinning at her brother.

"My turn!" Percy yelled grabbing a bronze sword running up to the spot where Thalia had just stood.

"Water first," Jason said grabbing a cantine and drinking the water that poured from it. He then walked over to the blond positioning himself lower to the ground getting ready to go again.

"Bro... what if we had a homoerotic sword fight..." Percy said smiling like an idiot before striking, they exchanged a few blows before backing away giving the other time to think. "jk, jk," Percy said referring back to his earlier comment. The two exchanged a few more swings before Percy spook once again, "...Unless?" The ravenett struck once more causing Jason to get knocked to the floor.

"I am literally the straightest person here," Nico said shaking his head at the Percys comment.

"What do you mean by that?" Artemis asked. The elder princess was confused at their language, straight? homoerotic? And why no one else found it strange that the two boys were acting playfully romantic towards each other.

"By what?" Nico asked looking at her instead of the stone floor.  

"Straight?" Artemis asked her cheeks burning as the others looked at her like this was a ridiculous question.

"Straight is another word for someone who likes the opposite gender," Annabeth explained.

"Are you implying that males can love other males? And females other females?" Athena asked astonished at the information.

"While yea, there's nothing wrong with loving who you want to love," Will said softly. "I mean Nico's my boyfriend," He said smiling and gesturing to the boy next to him. A blush covered the pale boy's cheeks as he mumbled something about 'Significant annoyance.'

"Really?" Zoë and Reyna said simultaneously.

"Yea, and don't let anyone ever tell you differently," Nico said his eyes darkening "Because they are  wrong."

Artemis felt a weight lift from her that she never knew she was carrying. She had never been interested in being intimate with any male. The thought of marrying any man and having his children make Artemis sick. The news that this wasn't a bad thing, that she could love a  female, a girl!  It made her happier than she could say. Zoë, Reyna, and Thalia wore a similar expression. Athena just looked thoughtful and happily surprised.

Artemis turned to look at Zoë and smiled at the older girl, for some reason her aunt's words from the day before came back to her,  "So who is it? I also know the face of heartbreak, whether you know it or not. " Artemis remembered telling her aunt that she loved no one, only for her aunt to ask her if she was sure. Then before her aunt could say who she believed her heart belonged to, Hermes had interrupted. Artemis wished now more than anything that she had gotten to hear her aunt's last words before they fleed.

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

WHAT COHORT##BY BIRTH##TRAITS AND/OR POWERS##CENTURIONS##OTHER STUFF

Cohort 1: (Jupiter) Sky and Justice [Jason] Cohort 2: (Juno) Family and Unity [OC] Cohort 3: (Posiden) Sea and Freespirt [Percy] Cohort 4: (Demeter) Earth and Stability [Katie] Cohort 5: (Mars) War and Physical strength [Clarisse] Cohort 6: (Minerva) Strategic thinking and Leadership [Annabeth] Cohort 7: (Helios) Day and Healing [Will] {Apollo is his name in both Romand and Greek, I did what I could} Cohort 8: (Diana) Moon and Independence [Bianca] Cohort 9: (Vulcan) Medal and Inventions [Leo] Cohort 10: (Venus) Munlipltiveness and Indisisviness [Piper] Cohort 11: (Mercury) Trickery and Stealth [Connor] Cohort 12: (Bacchus) Madness and Facetious [Pollux] Cohort 13: (Hades) Death, The Underground and Night [Nico] Cohort 14: (Iris) Messenger and Color [Butch] Cohort 15: (Hypnos) Dreams and Self-preservation [Clovis] Cohort 16: (Nemesis) Balance and Vengeance [OC] Cohort 17: (Nike) Pride and Victory [Holly and Laurel] {They refused to pick one} Cohort 18: (Hebe) Forgiveness and Childress [Paolo] Cohort 19: (Tyche) Good Luck and Balance [Chiara] Cohort 20: (Hecate) Magic and thoughtful [Lou Ellen]

Praetors: Frank and Hazle

[chameleonwritess]

Forever Starts Today (Epilogue)

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

Nico has spent so much of his life fixating on his past. Now that Will's been in his life for so long, it's finally time for Nico to start focussing on his future.

He knows exactly how to start.

Word Count: 4383

Read the whole series on AO3

Nico smiled fondly as Percy clumsily dipped Annabeth in the middle of the floor. She attempted to scold him but couldn’t contain her laughter enough to do so properly. Nico had never seen her look as radiant as she did in her white dress trimmed with silver, her embroidered wedding train flowing out around the dancing couple from where it was attached into her curled up-do.

She wasn’t the only one looking radiant- Percy was dressed in a deep blue suit with a turquoise tie and grey flowers attached to his lapel. His hair was looking surprisingly tame, too, and Nico knew Sally Jackson was to thank for that. He looked ridiculously handsome and the bright smile added to his features just completed the look. Nico grinned at the sight. Two of his best friends had just gotten married and not a single monster had attacked the wedding. It was perfect.

“You’re looking uncharacteristically happy,” a familiar, snarky voice spoke besides Nico. He turned his head to the side and rolled his eyes at Reyna. She was dressed in deep plum robes and carried a champagne flute in her hand with an air of grace.

“They’ve both been through so much. I’m allowed to be happy that they’re happy- they deserve this,” Nico pointed out.

“Wise words, di Angelo. Who turned you into Socrates?” Reyna responded with a smirk. Nico elbowed her gently.

“Don’t bully me, I’m trying to be a better person,” he complained. Reyna let out a laugh at that.

“You were fine as the grumpy little emo we met you as,” she pointed out, ruffling his hair.

“Oi,” Nico batted her hand away, “don’t touch the hair- Will spent half an hour getting it into a ponytail.”

“Oh, he likes a man in a bun, does he?” Reyna raised an eyebrow. Nico flushed bright red and tried hard to keep in his laughter.

“Stop it, he’s only over there, he’ll hear you!” he complained, snorting a little through his nose.

Reyna let out a laugh too and finally settled into a stool next to Nico. Her eyes scanned the hall, taking in the appearance of all their remaining friends. The years hadn’t gone by without losses- one of the most significant being one of Nico and Reyna’s best friends, Jason Grace. His sister was here today with a few other Hunters that Percy and Annabeth knew well from their years of cooperation with them.

Nico tried not to think about their losses too much. He knew if he dwelled on the dead more than the living, he’d find himself right back in the mental state he was in when he lost Bianca. That was a place he never wanted to go back to.

“Piper’s doing well,” Reyna pointed out. It was true, Nico noted, as he glanced across the room and saw that other couples had started to spill onto the dance floor now Percy and Annabeth’s first dance was over. Piper had invited the daughter of Demeter she was currently seeing onto the dance floor and the two girls were twirling around and smiling. It was good to see the dark bags that had resided under her eyes over the past few years were finally dissipating.

“You are, too,” Nico reminded Reyna. Piper and Reyna both had a very long history with Jason and Reyna had seemed to everyone as if she’d recovered quite quickly from his loss. Nico knew her better, though. He knew she was still hurting a lot even if she didn’t want her legion to see it.

Reyna shrugged.

“All wars have losses. They’re never losses we’re prepared to make but we have no choice but to move forwards from the consequences,” she commented.

“Who’s Socrates, now?” Nico teased. Reyna rolled her eyes and smiled, taking a drink of champagne.

“Enough about that,” she batted the topic aside, “weren’t you going to put your big plan into action tonight?”

Nico sighed.

“I was but then I found out the wedding date and didn’t want to encroach. I’m not sure I’ll have the confidence, anyway,” he shrugged. Reyna raised a pointed eyebrow at him.

“These are all just excuses because you’re nervous. Percy and Annabeth won’t think it’s any such thing. You said yourself- tonight would be perfect, right? I say you still go for it,” she encouraged.

“I mean, I do have it on me but what if he-“ Nico started to voice his concerns when a flash of blond appeared in his field of vision. It appeared Nico’s boyfriend had finished his conversation with Hazel and Frank.

“Care to dance, dashing fellow,” Will Solace announced, bowing in front of Nico’s chair and offering his hand out. Nico took a moment to take his appearance in. Will had gone for an unusual choice of wedding attire, selecting a brown waistcoat with matching fitted pants over a baby blue shirt with a royal blue bowtie tightened snugly around his neck to match Nico’s tie that he’d been forced to wear for the event. His impish smile added to the outfit, making him look cuter than ever.

Nico snorted out a laugh and grabbed Will’s hand, hopping down from his stool.

“I suppose I could be tempted, on one condition,” Nico shrugged his shoulders.

“And what condition may that be?” Will asked, flashing Nico a grin.

Nico smirked back and gripped Will’s hand a bit tighter. In one swift movement, Nico slipped off his stool and put his arm around Will’s back, pressing his palm into the small of Will’s back and pulling him close against his chest.

“I get to lead,” Nico smirked, looking directly up into Will’s blue eyes.

“Sure,” Will responded breathlessly, his cheeks flushed red. Nico internally fist-pumped. His one mission in life was to make Will blush as much as possible and he was surprisingly very good at it as of late.

“Honestly,” Nico heard Reyna mutter behind him as he dragged Will onto the dance floor. As the two began dancing, Nico wondered if maybe Reyna had been right and he should go ahead with his previous plans for tonight. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to, at all, it was just that he was… scared.

Nico pushed all thoughts of what he may or may not do that evening out of his head as Will leant down and whispered into Nico’s ear,

“Bets that Percy stands on Annabeth’s feet at least three times?”

Nico chuckled lowly underneath his breath as he spun Will around.

“Pretty sure I already saw him step on her toes four times. I reckon it will be eight times before she drags him off the dance floor,” he decided.

Will threw his head back a bit and laughed, capturing Nico’s full attention. Nico smiled at his boyfriend. He didn’t need to think about anything else with Will at his side.

Nico had sucked up all the courage he could muster and was going to do it. Reyna had given him the push he needed and he’d already texted Will to meet him at the top of Halfblood hill, just within the borders.

Whilst the new phones Leo had designed for them all were seemingly monster-proof, Nico still didn’t want to run any risks at all. Not tonight.

Now, here he was, pacing beside Thalia’s tree, half expecting the Lieutenant herself to appear and tell him to stop disturbing the soil above its roots.

No one did descend from the clouds, though, and Nico was left alone, waiting for Will. His boyfriend wasn’t late by any means- Nico didn’t think Will even could be late considering his promptness to every date the two had been on for the past six years- it was just that Nico was exceptionally early. His nerves had carried him to their meeting destination half an hour before the scheduled time.

Nico huffed out a laugh as he tried to dry the sweat on his hands using his jeans. He’d been dating Will for six whole years. It didn’t seem that long, really, although Nico also felt like someone could tell him he’d spent eternity with Will Solace and he wouldn’t argue. Still, six years was a long time for demigods when wars were seemingly around every corner.

The last few years had been relatively peaceful in comparison to the first few Nico spent outside the Lotus Casino. Nico was glad. He didn’t think he could cope with any more losses right now. He was still carrying the weight of all his other lost loved ones close to his chest, as were many of his other friends.

Will would be here soon, Nico noted, checking his watch for the twelfth time in the past ten minutes. He usually arrived at least ten minutes early so any second now, Nico would spot him walking up the hill.

Now that both of them had left Camp Halfblood, they lived in an apartment near Percy and Annabeth, near enough to both the mortal college Nico was attending and the hospital Will was interning at. Nico really didn’t understand how Will was still only an intern considering he’d had more medical experience than most doctors in the world and he was only twenty-one.

Nico still wasn’t entirely sure what he wanted to do with his life. Right now, he was very happy taking his degree in psychology. Nico had never imagined that he’d find himself attending school, never mind going on to college, but he’d found himself to actually enjoy the learning environment. Will was very proud of him too, not that that impacted his enjoyment of it in the slightest.

“Neeks, what’s got you looking so worried?” A soft voice startled Nico out of his thoughts as a hand encircled his wrist, gently. Nico stopped his pacing to come face to face with Will who had also changed out of his wedding attire, now sporting a light blue hoodie with a basketball shirt underneath. Nico nearly laughed out loud. Will didn’t even like basketball- especially with the number of arms he’d had to sew back on after particularly aggressive games at Camp Halfblood.

“I’m fine, don’t worry about it. Just- anxious to show you this, I suppose,” Nico wormed his way around the truth. Will considered him with analytical eyes as if he was a particularly complex branch of the nervous system in one of Will’s many anatomy books.

“Alright, I’ll believe you for now but you’d better not be lying, di Angelo,” he conceded, taking a hold of the sides of Nico’s corduroy jacket to tug him in a bit closer.

“Why would I lie to you?” Nico mumbled. Will smiled, clearly pleased with his response, and placed a gentle kiss on his lips.

“Aren’t you boiling in that jacket?” Will asked when he pulled away. Nico went red in the cheeks. He honestly was way too warm in the thick jacket intended for Winter. Despite the Spring breeze, it was just too heavy, but Nico had once been gifted the jacket by Will and he wasn’t about to take it off for tonight.

“A little, but it’s night and I run cold so I wanted to be prepared,” Nico argued. Will laughed and stroked the sunshine embroidered on the pocket that he’d sewn on himself.

“You, sir, are the biggest dork I know,” Will accused, “but-“ he continued when Nico tried to interject, “it just makes me love you even more.”

Will placed on arm over Nico’s shoulder and kissed the top of his head as Nico began to lead them higher up the hill for the perfect viewpoint.

“Now who’s the dork,” Nico grumbled, glancing up at Will with way more adoration in his eyes than he’d intended.

The two walked in silence for a little bit, Nico analysing the sky until he finally decided on the perfect spot.

“Ok,” Nico announced, “here’s good.”

“Nico, I hate to break it to you, but we’re still in the middle of the hill,” Will pointed out, looking around him as if he expected to find some big surprise.

“You’re so impatient,” Nico complained, tugging Will’s hand to get him to sit down on the ground next to him, “do you trust me?”

Will’s eyes found his, softening under the gaze.

“Of course I do, death boy,” he promised. Nico smiled and nodded, checking his watch again. Once upon a time, he would have complained at the nickname, but he’d grown to love with over the years. Not that any of the others would find out- they still found a sword at their necks if they attempted to call him ‘Neeks’ or made a jab at his heritage. Will was just… Will. He got away with everything when it came to Nico.

“We have about ten minutes. Tell me about your day whilst we wait,” Nico insisted.

“Nico, you were with me for most of it,” Will snorted with laughter. Nico rolled his eyes.

“I know that, duh, but who did you catch up with at the wedding? How was your trip to the hospital before you came here?” Nico asked. Will sprawled himself out across Nico’s lap, gazing up at him cheekily.

“Aw, you care about me that much?” Will teased.

“No, I just want the gossip,” Nico shrugged. Will gasped in mock horror and Nico huffed a laugh, brushing stray hairs away from Will’s eyes as his boyfriend finally launched into the stories he’d been after.

“So I talked to Piper at the wedding first, when you went over to talk to Percy and Annabeth. I asked how she was doing with Carys and the two are doing well. Piper’s thinking of asking her to be her girlfriend soon which is cute. Apparently, Carys memorised her coffee order after only two dates and she brings her flowers every date,” Will started.

“That is cute,” Nico noted, “pretty sure you don’t even know my coffee order.”

“You don’t like coffee, you nerd. You get a small hot chocolate with almond milk in every café we go in,” Will proved, his face breaking into a grin.

“Wow,” Nico said satirically, “a man after my own heart.”

Will lightly hit his stomach in complaint before continuing his story.

“So after that, Carys came up and I said hi and made small talk but decided to leave the two alone so they could get to the good stuff,” Will said, causing Nico to snort at his phrasing, “so I went to talk to your sister and Frank, ask them how they were doing and stuff.”

“You were talking to them for way longer than that. What are you hiding?” Nico noticed. Will pouted.

“When did you get so good at reading me?” he complained.

“Somewhere between Apollo arriving at camp and that time you tried to convince me Lou Ellen and Cecil still weren’t dating despite the fact I’d seen them making out in front of the Hecate cabin,” Nico noted.

“Fine, Hazel did tell me something but she made me swear not to tell you, so I won’t,” Will conceded with a sigh.

“What? That’s so unfair, she usually tells me everything,” Nico huffed. Will shrugged.

“She wants it to be a surprise,” he pointed out. Nico wracked his brains to think of a way to prise the information out of Will when he had a perfect idea.

“Okay, you won’t tell me? I’ll tickle it out of you,” Nico decided and before Will could even jump up in protest, Nico had flipped himself onto all fours above Will and his hands were already tracing lightly up and down his abdomen.

“W-wait, Nico! N-no hahaha don’t p-please don’t,” Will stammered, wriggling around under Nico’s dancing fingertips. Nico grinned down at his boyfriend as he became a blushing, writhing mess. Watching Will come undone beneath his fingertips was something that always made Nico’s day, even if it was just tickling this time.

“Tell me, then, Solace,” Nico demanded.

“Nicoooo,” Will complained, breathing heavily as he attempted and failed to grab Nico’s hands and still them.

“Fine, fine! I’ll tell you, but you have to pretend you don’t know when she tells you herself,” Will spluttered, gasping for breath as Nico’s hands finally stilled.

Nico pulled Will back up to a sitting position but remained firmly in his lap, looking expectantly into Will’s eyes. He still couldn’t believe Hazel had told Will something before she’d told him. Will was practically already a part of the family.

“She’s pregnant,” Will whispered as if there were people around to overhear, “and Frank is going to ask her to marry him once the baby is born.”

“No way!” Nico yelled, jumping to his feet angrily, “I’m going to be an uncle and my own sister didn’t bother to tell me?”

Will laughed at Nico’s antics before the smaller boy dived back down and grabbed Will’s face, planting a hurried but intense kiss on his mouth.

“Thanks for telling me. I’m going to hold this against her forever when she tells me and you dramatically announce that you already knew. Then I’m going to look so betrayed and declare that she’s no sister of mine anymore.”

“You are so overdramatic. I can’t believe how grumpy and quiet you used to be,” Will laughed, pulling Nico back into his side. Nico finally sighed and settled in. He was still struggling to comprehend the information. He was going to be an Uncle and his sister had wanted to keep it secret from him.

“There’s more,” Will added. Nico looked at him a little frenzied.

“What could possibly top that news?” he asked.

“Hades has invited all four of us to the Underworld to celebrate the birth of his grandson,” Will sighed. Nico’s heart sped up a little in panic. Will and the Underworld was not a good combination, as Nico recently discovered.

The first time Will went to the Underworld was the Spring after Hades had invited him. Nico had figured it was safest to take him when Persephone wasn’t around. Nico wished he’d remained as cautious.

Will usually visited the Underworld every Spring. Hades was gradually attempting to infiltrate more and more of Nico’s life and, as he constantly reiterated, apparently Nico’s love life was integral. However, after Will officially finished his course and was allowed to intern at the hospital that Autumn=, Hades invited the pair down for a meal.

It turns out, Persephone does not like children of Apollo and children of Apollo are surprisingly adept at killing plants. Nico really hadn’t been expecting an invite back ever again.

“Are we going?” Nico asked, uncertainly. Will raised an eyebrow.

“I have no problem if she doesn’t mind,” he shrugged.

“Will, every time I go down there she asks me if I’ve broken up with you yet. She’s even actively sought me out whilst out of the Underworld to tell me to get rid of you,” Nico smirked.

“Really?” Will asked and his eyes looked surprisingly bright. It was almost as if he was proud of finally having found an immortal enemy.

“Yes. She still hates you,” Nico assured him. He pretended not to notice the small fist pump Will did out of respect for his boyfriend’s reputation.

“We could always just suggest we have the meal in the summer months, anyway, even if the baby’s born when Persephone’s there,” Will shrugged. Nico raised an eyebrow.

“That seems a bit illogical. It would just be a meal for the sake of a meal,” he pointed out. Will shrugged.

“Hades has a surprisingly good chef. I don’t mind.”

Nico shook his head in exasperation when suddenly, a bright light caught his attention.

“Will, it’s starting,” he gasped excitedly.

“What’s starting?” Will queried. Nico grinned at him.

“There’s a meteor shower tonight. I brought you here so we could watch it,” he explained. Will gasped up at the sky as another light shot across it and then turned to smile at Nico.

“You’re such a sap,” he pointed out, “but thank you. This is a nice surprise.”

Nico curled up against Will’s side with his head on his shoulder as Will rested his own head on Nico’s, gazing up at the sky as he curled his arm around Nico’s back. It strangely reminded Nico of the position they’d been in the very first time they sat together to watch the sky. It had been a campfire night and Will had invited Nico. Nico had been so tired he hadn’t even registered what he’d been doing when he curled up against Will. Knowing what he knew now, he supposed Will hadn’t minded.

The two watched the meteors flash across the sky in silence for a while before Will spoke up.

“I can sense that there’s a reason you brought me to the meteor shower. Like, I feel as though I’ve forgotten an inside joke or something,” he muttered. Nico shifted slightly to turn and face him.

“Well, it was a long time ago, now, but when we first went to the campfire together during the summer we got together, I was so sleepy I traced your freckles and tried to tell you that they looked like a myriad of stars,” Nico smiled, bringing his finger up to once again trace Will’s freckles, “now the stars remind me of you so I wanted to bring you to see this.”

Will’s eyes melted as he gazed back at Nico.

“Every time I think you can’t get any more romantic, you go and pull off something like this. How am I supposed to top this?” he sighed, moving to cup Nico’s face. Nico felt his heart rate increase tenfold. Will had given him a perfect opening. The meteor shower was still raining above them in the stars. Now was the time.

The small, black box in his jacket pocket felt as if it was burning a hole through the fabric.

“Well,” Nico started, noting how short his breath was, “you could say yes.”

“What?” Will asked in confusion, his eyes going wide as he watched Nico get to his feet. Nico pulled the box out of his pocket and knelt down onto one knee, opening the box to present the ring he’d spent hours pondering over with Piper, Reyna and Annabeth. There was no backing down, now.

“William Solace,” he started, glancing at Will tentatively and noticing that he already had tears forming in his eyes, “when I first met you, I thought you were an idiot. Not because you were stupid, but because, for some strange reason, you wanted to be friends with me. You were persistent, infuriating and I thought I’d manage to scare you away within a day. I’d clearly underestimated just how persistent and infuriating you were because you stuck around. You always have stuck around. I was in such a dark place when you first met me and you stuck around to help pull me out. Whenever I doubted myself, you stuck around and assured me that I was safe, that I was enough and that I was loved. When someone sticks around that much, it’s hard not to fall in love with them, and falling in love with you was one of the easiest things I’ve ever done in my life. I fall more in love with you every day and-“ Nico paused to sniff. He was crying. “-and I want that to continue for the rest of my life. I want to be with you for the rest of my life. I want to wake up every morning with you by my side so I can tell you how incredible you are, how kind you are, how impressive you are and how amazing your mom’s pancakes are. I promise that’s not the only reason why I’m asking this, but Will, will you marry me?”

Nico wiped his eyes with his free hand the second he finished only to see Will in a similar state, tears pouring freely down his cheeks.

“Nico,” he sighed, “do you even have to ask? Yes, yes, yes, a thousand times yes I will marry you and I am so mad that you beat me to it but I suppose I can forgive you because of the speech you just gave.”

“I’ve had it memorised for a month,” Nico laughed through his tears. Will’s laughter soon joined his own and before he could even move to stand up or sit down, Will had leapt on top of him and was kissing him. It was salty and messy and their lips were hardly touching because of how much they were both laughing, but Nico didn’t think they’d ever shared a more perfect kiss.

“You are so incredible, Nico di Angelo. I love you so much,” Will announced when the two finally finished laughing. Nico pushed them up into a sitting position rather than being sprawled out on the grass.

“I love you too,” he added. Will glanced down at the ring still stored in the little box Nico had been clutching so tightly.

“This is beautiful. I hope you like the one I bought for you,” Will sighed as Nico took his hand and gently slid the ring onto his finger.

“You already bought me one?” Nico asked. Will rolled his eyes as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“Obviously!” he said, “you’re not the only one that wanted to get married, y’know.”

“I’m glad,” Nico smiled, resting his head against Will’s. Will cupped his cheek and pressed their lips together once again, his lips curving up against Nico’s in a smile.

This time, Nico kissed him back properly rather than laughing, wrapping his arms around his boyfriend- no, fiancé-’s neck to pull him closer. Will wrapped his arms around Nico’s waist, his thumbs sliding underneath Nico’s shirt so that he could slide a hand up onto Nico’s bare back.

Nico could feel the cold metal of Will’s new ring on his finger against his skin. He pressed further into the kiss, holding Will as tightly as he could. Right there, Nico wasn’t afraid of the future at all. He was going to marry Will. For a son of Hades, Nico’s life was pretty incredible.

He wouldn’t change one bit of it for the world.

[jasiper]

war is hard. it’s even harder for demigods. it’s hard when the whole world is on the brink of destruction and the fate of humanity is in the hands of teenagers. but even after the victory, there is still fear, fear that will never go away because war always leaves scars.

percy is afraid of losing control. after nearly drowning akhyls in tartarus, and seeing annabeth truly fear him, he’s scared. the gods have told him time and time again that he is a danger, that he can be the reason the world falls. he was such a risk even as a kid that the gods put his life to a vote. he knows that he has proven everyone wrong by saving the world time and time again, but he still is scared. the older he gets, the more he has to lose, which means he has so much more to lose control over. his hands shake and he has nightmares where he loses control and kills people. when he dreams that he accidentally kills annabeth, he can’t sleep for two days straight. he’s scared to be around his family, to be at camp, to hold his baby sister, to be alone with annabeth. he’s scared of himself. he tries to keep his emotions under control because if he were ever to explode, things would go to hell.

annabeth is afraid of being alone. it happened when she was merely seven years old— she felt unloved by her own family, so she ran away. she thought she got it right when she made a new family, but it was ripped apart when thalia died and again when luke betrayed her. she’s alone when she’s fourteen and she’s trapped under the sky, tricked by the person she used to call her family. it happens again when percy disappears. one day he was there, the next he was gone. when she finds him, she vows to herself that he was never leaving her. never again. and in tartarus, with the curse from polyphemus that leaves her blind, thinking that percy had left again, she is awoken to find her boyfriend on the brink of death. even though they make it through hell and they survive the war, annabeth still wakes up sometimes with a feeling in her chest that she is completely and utterly alone.

jason is afraid of dying. sure, most people are, but he keeps having encounters that are too close for comfort. he died once when he saw juno in her divine form; charon asked him for a coin and then he was back in piper’s arms. then he’s drowning, and he hears piper whisper i love you as he’s inhaling water, and he thinks he’s going to die again, but suddenly piper is hugging him and percy is crouched beside them. and then michael varus stabs him, and he’s yanked back and forth between life and death, greek and roman. it takes him so long to recover from that. leo dies right before his eyes, and for a while he’s not sure which is worse— someone else dying for him or dying himself. even the news that leo is alive doesn’t help the tremors and the nightmares. he gets the news that either he or piper will die, and then when caligula stabs him and he’s back in front of charon, who’s asking him for a coin, jason realizes that death is a whole lot scarier than he could ever anticipate because he wasn’t ready to die.

piper is afraid of falling. physically and figuratively. she almost fell to her death at the grand canyon, and she had spent her time falling thinking about how much she messed up her life. she only gets a shot at redemption when jason saves her. and then as the months go on, she’s afraid to fall in love. how could she trust her relationship when it was fabricated by the mist? she takes a chance, lets herself fall, and she tries. she really tries. it’s so much easier to fight a war when there’s someone to support you, to validate you. but when she’s falling out of the sky and she’s screaming leo’s name and everything explodes in golden light and she wakes up to find out that her best friend is gone, she realizes that she needs to stay on solid ground. she can hardly board the plane back to california because she is so afraid she is going to fall. leo’s disappearance makes her question everything, and she realizes that she doesn’t know herself. she breaks up with jason, and for the first time in a long time, she feels like her life is becoming stable again. but when she sees jason’s dead body and this time there is no bringing him back, she’s falling all over again— falling apart.

leo is afraid of missing out. he felt like he was missing out on the whole romance thing for months; first his best friends start dating, which is cool, because they love each other, but then he’s on his way to europe surrounded by happy couples and feels ridiculously alone. he tries to tell himself that he doesn’t need anyone to make him feel whole, but the universe and the gods and everyone else seem to tell him that without a significant other, he’s worthless. and then when he died, he is focused only on ogygia and calypso. he didn’t realize it at the time, that’s when he starts missing out. when he returns, the world is in danger again. he’s too busy trying to help apollo get his god status back and be a good boyfriend to see his best friends, and he doesn’t even know they broke up until piper’s collapsing in his arms, sobbing about how jason’s gone. leo didn’t even get to say goodbye to one of his best friends. he missed out on his last opportunity to see jason and he didn’t even realize it. he begins to overthink how he prioritized things, and he’s haunted by the fact that he was so desperate to find love that he missed out on months of his life.

hazel is afraid of manipulation. before she died, her mother manipulated her into creating a body for a giant, and because it was her mother, she couldn’t say no. this was her family. everyone else hated her, and she was called a witch, so she couldn’t let her mom down. she gave life to a giant, and although she managed to stop him from rising to keep gaea asleep for another seventy years, she lost her life in the process. when hecate introduces her to her ability to control the mist, she doesn’t even realize it’s manipulation until after she arrives back at camp jupiter. she can make people see things that weren’t there just for her own benefit. she can make people do what she wanted them to just because she has the ability to. she’s reminded of the boat and holding onto her mother as she was crushed to death and she vows to never manipulate people the way her mother manipulated her.

frank is afraid of never growing up. from the time he was a baby, juno foreshadowed that he was too powerful to live a long life. while demigods were constantly dying at young ages, he thinks that he could be the exception. he saw people raising their children in new rome, and he had hope for the future. his stick could burn up at any moment, but he thought if he could survive the war, he could handle anything. even while freeing thanatos, he knows he’s going to live to make it back to new rome. leo definitely made him lose hope, but he’s presented with the fireproof material and gods, he could actually survive this thing. but then leo dies and octavian is dead too and frank realizes that even with his fireproof material, he is never truly safe. all he wants is to grow up and retire from the legion and go to college and have children and die peacefully, but now he has nightmares of watching his stick burn up in his own hands, and he’s terrified.

nico is afraid of the darkness. it used to be his friend—  it welcomed him when bianca died, and it kept him hidden from percy. the darkness hid his shame, hid the self-hatred. if he could melt into the shadows, nobody would know that he loved the person he should have hated. after the titan war, he’s trying to rebuild his life but it’s hard. he may have the support of his father but he still feels like an outsider. he discovers hazel and he grows to love her, but the darkness still makes him feel more safe than any camp can. but then he’s in tartarus and he’s being told that he’s perfect because he’s suffered so much, and all of the pain is thrown back in his face. he’s still recovering from hell when the athena parthenos becomes his responsibility, and he can feel his literal soul being stripped away from his body, and he can feel the very thing that he trusted so much tearing him apart. he’s about to fade away and he’s yanked back to life, and even when they arrive back at camp he’s told that he’s still on brink of being claimed by the darkness. his boyfriend may be the very opposite of the dark, but he still dreams of entering the shadows and never coming back.

reyna is afraid of losing her home. it happened in puerto rico, when she accidentally vaporized her father’s mania. although it had been an abusive household, it was the only thing she ever knew. and then she found a safe haven with hylla at circe’s spa. she lived there, free from war and from abuse until blackbeard was released. her second home was destroyed, and she had to fight to escape. her sister, her only family, went her own way, leaving reyna to find refuge at camp jupiter. she makes friends and the legion becomes her family, and she’s praetor and life is great until jason disappears. new rome is on the brink of destruction constantly, and reyna finds herself unable to stop the threats. she has worked so hard to create a family for herself, and after nearly losing everything, she finds that she has two homes—  camp jupiter and camp half-blood. yet she notices how she’s still extra weary, making sure there are extra guards and that no one loses their edge, because if reyna loses this home, she’ll have nothing left.

[everykindofnerd13]

So basically, they’re not demigods, they’re just magical creatures, and they did go through the two wars, but this is EXTREMELY different from canon, so just, take what you will from it. Two camps, not different gods, shifters, vampires, demons, met people, all that Jazz. Luke isn’t evil! Yay! I just really wanted Annabeth to have a good role model camp buddy so yee.

Nico glared at all the happy couples surrounding him. Most of them he didn’t know, then the only two left were his best friend Jason, and his girlfriend Reyna and the other couple was the one Nico wanted to see the least.

Perseus Jackson. And his very long-time girlfriend Annabeth Chase. It wasn’t like Nico resented Annabeth for anything, how could he blame her for falling in love with him, if Nico couldn’t see anything wrong with him. That didn’t change the fact that Nico was in love with Percy Jackson, but there was no doubt that Percy was not at all interested in Nico. After all, He still saw Nico as the ten year old Italian kid he saved. Nico couldn’t blame him for it either. When they’d met Nico had been immature, nerdy, and very childish. But what do you expect from a ten year old?

He glared at the happy golden couple of the two camps. After Piper and Jason has worked things out after the war and figured out they weren’t right for eachother, Nico found himself hoping maybe Annabeth and Percy would come to the same conclusion. But alas, it had been three years since the Giant War’s end and still here Nico stood, alone and Percy-less.

He’d tried to date other people, tried to get over Percy with new relationships. But that felt too selfish for him. The first boyfriend he’d taken was Will Solace and that probably felt the worse. Because Will was an incredible person, and he deserved someone who loved him, not someone trying to get over someone else. It was cruel to stay with him. So Nico had explained to Will what was going on in his head and broken up with him, and to his surprise, Will had only pulled him into a hug and said that he understood, that it was okay to hurt for someone.

The next boyfriend Nico took was Ethan Nakamura. Nico had managed to convince himself he was over Percy at that point and he had grown far too close to Will to even think of asking him out again, it’d be too similar to asking out Hazel. So, Nico had pursued the attractive Asian from Camp Jupiter, but after about a month, Nico realised that just wasn’t right either, because he was comparing Ethan to Percy every chance he got. After also explains to Ethan what had happened, and getting a surprising similar response to Will’s Nico resigned to eternal loneliness. Loneliness and Pain. For all of Eternity, because he had made the awful mistake of accepting immortality, and not checked to see if any of the others offered had been as well.

Percy had accepted immortality, alongside Annabeth, Piper, Jason, Reyna, Clarisse, Chris, Will, Jake, Hazel, Frank, Leo, Luke, Octavian, Bianca, Thalia. Basically everyone who fought alongside Nico in their war had been gifted and accepted immortality. So now, Nico was stuck with Percy Jackson for eternity, having to watch him be hopelessly in love with Annabeth.

Which Nico couldn’t blame Percy for either. Sure Annabeth has a few flaws but she was beautiful. Sun-kissed skin, bright blonde hair and intense grey eyes. She was built like a goddess, and she was confident. They’d been through literal hell and back together, but Nico couldn’t help but be jealous. A tiny selfish part of him wished that they’d just fall apart unexpectedly. But that would be selfish, exactly what his mother had worked hard to teach him was wrong all those years ago.

“Nick, you good?” Jason asked from beside him, swishing around the alcoholic drink that Reyna kept preventing Nico from drinking, he was only 19.

“Yeah, yeah sorry, I-Uh...” Nico blanched, he didn’t have a reason for his abnormal activity, “I spaced out...” he mumbled and looked at the very non-alcoholic coke he was holding, and swished it around too. Jason furrowed his brows but didn’t question it and just went back to his conversation with Reyna.

For another 15 minutes Nico sat there next to his friends while they talked before Percy and Annabeth approached. And, despite not being dressed up at all, Nico thought Percy looked absolutely gorgeous. His hair was tousled, probably from sleep, considering the man never bothered to fix it, and he was wearing a pair of jeans that hugged Percy’s athletic thighs in just the right way, and his chest was adorned with a white button down shirt that has the top three buttons open to reveal his chest. Nico held his breath, he didn’t want to talk for fear of accidentally saying something he didn’t want to.

“Hey guys!” Percy greeted as they approached, one hand laid around Annabeth’s waist. Nico only waves silently while Jason immediately struck up a conversation with the water nymph. Nico kept his eyes on his cup. He only stayed a few minutes longer before pulling Reyna down to whisper in her ear.

“Hey, I’m not feeling good, I think I’m gonna head home.” He then let go and she looked at him with a knowing and sympathetic look. Currently, basically the only people who didn’t know that Nico was hopelessly in love with Percy and had been since he was ten were Percy himself and Annabeth, not that they should or would ever find out. He nodded at her before taking a step back, just out of the light and disappearing into the shadows. Just before he lost sigh of the group he saw Percy laugh then down to kiss Annabeth, Nico felt himself almost get sick. Not because those two kissing was gross, he wasn’t a child anymore, but because watching the person you’ve been in love with for as long as you’ve been aging kids another person can take a real toll on your heart, and in repspomse your stomach.

“Nico?” Will asked when he saw his best friend appear in the corner of the living room. Nico was dazed for only a moment before he took off and ran toward his bedroom. Will looked after him concerned before leaning up to peck Jake on the lips then running after his roommate.

Will had rejected the party invitation in favor of spending a date night with Jake, and while he didn’t regret it, maybe it would have been better to just bring Jake to the party judging by the sound of vomiting coming from Nico’s personal bathroom. Will burst through the door and started rubbing Nico’s back and humming, grabbing a few pins from the sink counter and holding back Nico’s hair with them. When Nico finally stopped throwing up what looked like only water and maybe a little soda, he rested his arms on the toilet and sat his face on rope before beginning to sob.

Will’s eyes widened comically in panic as he began to whisper encouragements to Nico. He didn’t think that Nico would have done anything too stupid and Reyna didn’t ever let him drink, so Will was just searching for a reason for Nico to be so upset. Jake came to the bathroom door after a while and stood in the doorway looking also worried. Will folded his three middle fingers into his palm and held his hand to his ear, silently asking for his phone. Jake nodded and left the doorway to retrieve it while Will turned to look at Nico.

“Neeks?” He asked pitifully. Nico took a deep breath and looked at Will with blood shot eyes and an obviously tear stricken face. His answer was accompanied by a hoarse rasp form the vocal stress of vomiting.

“Will...” he muttered before beginning to cry again. Will shook his head sadly and pulled Nico into his arms. Cooing softly to soothe his bestfriend. When Jake returned Will took his phone and opened Notes, quickly typing in the names of Nico’s closest friendship circle. Then he handed the phone back, pointed at it and did the phone gesture again. Name nodded and took off to go call everyone on the list.

“Nico, please tell me what’s wrong. I can’t help you if you don’t.” He tried. Nick cried and looked up at him, a completely heartbroken look that Will was far too familiar with playing on his features. And he immediately knew what it was. Will wrapped his arms around Nico again, rubbing his back and running his fingers through his hair.

“Why is it so unfair Will...” Nico cried into his bestfriend’s chest and Will only held him tighter.

“Why don’t I get a happy ending like all of you...” he was genuinely sobbing now, holding onto the sides of Will’s jacket in a death grip. It was something Will had associated with these kind of things by now. It was how Nico grounded himself so that he wouldn’t spiral in self doubt.

“Nico...” Will muttered and kisses the top of Nico’s head, “You will get your happy ending, you just have to be patient.” Nick shook his head rapidly and shoved Will away.

“No! No! You say that everytime and somehow, it only hurts more the more I see him! I can’t let go and I don’t know why but I don’t think I even want to! It’s impossible! The only way I’d ever get over Percy Jackson is if I forgot him all together!” During his little rampage, the people on Will’a list arrived. Bianca, Hazel, Frank, Ethan, Alabaster, Lou, Cecil, Jason, and Reyna.

“That could be arranged, Alabaster announced, and everyone turned to him.

“What? I’m a mage right? And Nico is a demon, we both have psychic powers meaning I can make him feel forget anything, even Percy’s whole existence.” Nico looked up hopefully but he was quickly shut down by Will’s voice.

“Absolutely not.” He exclaimed. He stood up, letting go of Nico and poked Alabaster in the chest.

“I know how all that stupid memory magic works and it’s not safe! He may not remember Percy but he’d see him again and that would hurt his head, he’d get a mind numbing headache every time he caught sight of the guy!” Will exclaimed, backing Alabaster into Nico’s bedroom.

“So I’ll move away.” Nico reasoned and everyone turned to look at him.

“What?” Will asked and Nico shrugged.

“I stay here because I love you guys, not... well, I don’t technically need you guys, even though you’re really helpful.” Nico explained then he looked up at the mixture of shocked and hurt faces on his friends and sister’s faces, “Will! You’d get to live alone with Jake! You wouldn’t have to deal with me anymore! And it’s not like I’d forget about you guys I could still come and visit you.” Ethan, Will, and Nico’s sisters all glared.

“If you make one more suggest like that Niccoló, I will not hesitate to lock you in this room surrounded by white leds and with no windows for the rest of your eternal life.

“That sounds better than having to hurt like this everytime I go out.” Nico explained and fell back on his bed.

“Don’t say stuff like that!” Hazel shouted and slapped Nico’s arm, “You act like you’re completely oblivious to everything everyone feels except for Percy! Don’t you see that we all love you! Why can’t you understand that you disappearing would hurt us a whole lot more than it would help you!?” Hazel was crying now and Nico frowned deeply before pulling her down into a hug on his bed, which everyone slowly joined.

“I’m sorry,” Nico apologized, “that I said those things. I know that you guys love me, and I love you too, but I’m just... I’m so tired of hurting...”he said and began to cry. Hazel hugged him tighter and so did Bianca.

“What do we do?” Jason asked and Will sighed in defeat, the first to speak up was Ethan.

“We could always try love-cursing Percy.” He suggested earning a glare from Nico.

“Absolutely not, those things are evil. I’m not gonna force myself on Percy if he’s not interested in me.” Which caused Ethan to sigh before Bianca spoke up.

“We plan better. We keep them away from eachother, if Percy is going somewhere, we plan something different, we work our schedules around it.”

“No, I will work my schedule around him, you guys will do whatever the hell you want.” Nico protested and glared at his friends. They all conceded then headed back out to the living room to watch movies all together. Lou invited Cecil over, and Hazel and Bianca also invited their significant others and they all fell asleep in cuddle piles about Nico, Will, and Jake’s living room.

——————————————————————————

It wasn’t for another four months that Nico saw Percy again. He had been sitting in his room drawing at his desk when there was a sudden knock at the door. Nico groaned and stood up to open it. He felt his heart practically drop into his stomach at the sight of the water nymph on his doorstep. He swallowed the lump welling in his throat.

“H-hey Percy...” he greeted him faintly and was met by a glare that Nico never wanted to catch again. He blinked back tears as he leaned against the door.

“Can I Uh, can I get you something? Will and Jake are out right now if you need me to take a message I will.” Nico said, still no response from Percy.

“I know that Will and Jake are our. I made sure of it before I came over. I can to talk to you.” Percy’s voice was sharp, cutting, painfully aimed at Nico.

“Uh, yeah, yeah sure.” Nico steppes out of the way, letting the older, attractive nymph into his home.

“So... um,” Nico didn’t know why to say he didn’t want to say anything. Percy had just shown up on his doorstep, looking angry after Nico had been avoiding him for two months so Nico didn’t see any reason he should be over here so angry. Until it hit him. Maybe Percy knew, maybe Percy knew that Nico was in love with him, and he was disgusted, and he was here to tell Nico to never come near him again. Nico swallowed and again and took a shaky breath.

“What’s wrong with you?” Percy asked vindictively and Nico looked up in shock, even though he’d been readying himself for the pain.

“What?” He asked meekly and Percy rolled his eyes.

“Don’t try to be cute here Di Angelo, I know you’ve been avoiding me and I wanna know why. Why are you avoiding me, refusing to go anywhere I go, rejecting my attempts to hang out with you as much possible, I’m not stupid Nico.” Percy explained and Nico glared at him.

“I’m perfectly aware that you aren’t stupid Perseus.” He argued and Percy glared angrily.

“Then what is it? What did I do to make you hate me?” He asked, words so sharp they felt genuinely painful to Nico.

“I don’t hate you Percy.” Nico whispered, standing behind the couch while Percy sat in the arm chair.

“Then...” Percy’svoice broke and Nico looked up to find tears in his eyes, “Why are you not talking to me?” He asked and Nico sighed. This was it. This was how he was gonna get left behind by Percy Jackson.

“Because I’m in love with you! It’s not good for you or for me for us to spend times together! You’re in a relationship Percy! And I’m just a kid! You’ve always thought of me as Bianca’s little brother and I know that! But I’ve always thought of you as the greatest thing in the world! Okay! So why would you want to be around a kid you’ve known for 9 years that has had a crush on you since then when you’re in a happy relationship! That’s uncomfortable Percy!” Nico shouted and Percy looked on in shock, suddenly Nico broke down sobbing, falling to the floor, nowhere near enough focus to try to shadow travel.

“Oh Nico...” Percy whispered as he approached and wrapped his arms around Nico who flinched before leaning into the nymph’s touch, “I don’t feel uncomfortable around you, I can’t imagine feeling like you’re a home wrecker. And I don’t think think of you as a little kid any more either. Nico, you fought in two wars, you were only ten during the first one. You were 14 by the end of it. You’re not a kid, you may have been a kid at one point, I can see that that you’ve grown up, okay?” Nico was still crying into Percy’s chest. So he felt it when Percy took a labored breath.

“I’m not in a happy relationship. I haven’t been in a relationship for about three months now and I haven’t been happy with Annabeth in almost a year. Though I think we both realised the pain when we left Tartarus. Annabeth and I love eachother, but there was never anything more than platonic love between us. I would walk to the ends of the earth for her, but I wouldn’t marry her. We weren’t a match, depite what everyone thought. I think they just wanted the fairytale ending. It always seemed like everyone was pushing us together. Our parents, the rest of the counsel, Gaea even seemed convinced that we were meant to be. Which wasn’t true... I was a kid Nico, I didn’t have the capacity to fight against it when everyone seemed to be pushing myself and someone I loved into a relationship. And I think I liked Annabeth for real at first. I think a lot of things I know. But it’s true, I think that when I was just twelve years old and there was this California girl Barbie taking care of me my first night of camp. She was strong and independent, and she just seemed so amazing to me, which she is. And I think I was definitely in love at first, but now, I’m 22 and even when we’re 16 and we crawled out of Tartarus together, I think I knew that we were drifting. Which is insane, because that means we were so pressured in our relationship that we stayed together for 6 years... she didn’t deserve that, and if I’m honest, neither did I, so we broke it off a few weeks ago. We still live together, in separate rooms. I don’t know if I’d function right without her. But I love Annabeth, and we jut weren’t meant to be.”

Nico was completely shocked by all of Percy’s ranting, forced to look on in awe as Percy talked about how he wasn’t in love Annabeth and he had been pressured into an unhappy relationship.

“Who have you told?” Nico asked and Percy flusher.

“Uh, only you, we decided we’d tell you all together, but since you were... avoiding me we never got the chance...” Percy explained and Nico huffed angrily.

“Really Perce? Six years of me being in pain while you and Annabeth weren’t actually happy? Really?” Percy chuckled weakly and rubbed Nico’s back.

“In my defense, you didn’t exactly act like you liked me.” Nico glared and Percy smiled sheepishly.

“Did we not already go over the fact that I didn’t want to be a home wrecker?” Percy laughed again and Nico’s heart swelled. He hadn’t heard that laugh caused by him in at least three years now.

“Well, then we better get up so you can tell the others huh?” Nico suggested while standing up. Percy however, stayed on the ground looking at Nico in pure disbelief.

“What?” He asked and Nico raised an eyebrow.

“We need to go back to your place so that you can invite everyone over and tell them that you and Annabeth broke up.” Nico said exasperatedly and held out his hand. Percy took it, but instead of pulling himself up, he pulled Nico down, into his lap.

“Dammit Di Angelo, what do I have to say for you to understand that I like you too!” Nico blinked dumbfoundedly for a moment before they widened and he pushed away from Percy landing on the floor.

“Perseus Jackson. Do not toy with my heart like that. Don’t. I can’t take it. I’ve been considering drastic things for weeks. You can’t say things like that.” Nico brought his arm up to his eyes and wiped away his tears. Percy looked just as surprised at Nico’s reaction as he stood up and backed Nico up against the couch so he could look into the Demon’s eyes.

“I mean it Nico. I like you too. I know it might be hard to believe, but I thought you weren’t into me, I thought you disliked me for a lot longer than I thought you hated me.” Nico blinked again and rubbed his eyes.

“Percy...” Nico muttered and tried to push Percy away, to no avail, the taller, larger male held his ground.

“Nico, I came out to you as Pansexual four years ago. Even before I told Annabeth. You know that I’m gay, why can’t you believe I like you?” Nico huffed and sighed and took a deep breath.

“Because I’m not worth it Percy. I could understand why you fell in love with her. Beautiful, intelligent, independent. She’s also your age, she helped you in our first quest. She was your first kiss. You went through Tartarus forever for gods’ sake!” Nico exclaimed while Percy stared at him, never breaking his gaze, “I’m not attractive, I’m short and pale and skinny, I’m not very independent, I’m honestly surprised everyone was willing to deal with me this long. I am three years younger than eachother and when we first met I got excited because yoh had the same name as a character on one of my mytho-magic cards. You were thrown into a situation where you had to deal with me because if you didn’t you would have looked like a monster for leaving these two vulnerable and confused children alone. Percy, I’m not... you’re wrong about your feelings. Why couldn’t you have fallen in love with Jason, or Luke! They’re both good, strong, tall, sensible, stable men! And I’m... me...” Percy rested his hands on Nico’s cheeks and rubbed his cheekbones with his thumbs.

“Nico, I love you because you are strong. You were only ten years old when your mother was killed in an act of jealousy and you were sent to live somewhere that would stop you’re aging almost all together. Then suddenly you’re brought out by people you don’t know, you nearly lose your sister, some of your greatest friends are potentially lost, and... apparently your crush, but then you find out you have another sister, you’re thrown into two wars before you were even in Highschool. Nico, you are so impressive, plus you’re cute. You’re hair is so long and shaggy and adorable and you’re small stature is super cute too.” Nick couldn’t help it, after Percy finished he leaned up and kissed Percy, after a moment of shock, Percy kissed back. After a few seconds, they both pulled away with dazed looks in their eyes.

“Oh my god! I’m sorry! I shouldn’t have done that!” Nico shouted as he covered his mouth.

“I kissed back didn’t I?” Percy protested and Nico nodded and Percy did as well.

“Exactly. I kissed you back because I like you.” Nico nodded and leaned up again, Percy quickly caught his lips in another kiss. When they pulled away Nico smiled then averted his eyes to the ground and frowned.

“So um, does this make us boyfriends or are you bullying me by admitting you like me and are now gonna say you can’t be in a relationship right now for the completely valid reason that you got out of a really long relationship just three months ago?” Percy laughed and pecked Nico’s nose.

“You’re cute when you ramble, and uh, if you want us to be boyfriends, we’re boyfriends, if you want to give me time and space then we’re friends who kiss, cause I’m not giving that up, damn, for a tiny gay Italian demon, you are soft all over.” Percy said as he pinched Nico’s cheek. Nico swatted the hand away before grabbing it and intertwining their fingers then kissing him again.

“Okay, but we can’t tell the others until at least three months from now so that they don’t think I’m a home wrecker...” Percy laughed and shook his head.

“How about, a month from now so that they don’t think you stopped avoiding me to date me? But they’ll know that Annie and I broke up three months ago. Hm?” Nico nodded and kissed Percy’s nose again. Percy laughed again pulled away from his smaller boyfriend.

“You’re so cute...” he muttered as he traced Nico’s cheek. One thing Percy may never understand is Nico’s facial structure. He’s truly beautiful. He still has the chubby cheeks of a child but his jawline and cheekbones could cut a steak. He’s just a beautiful sight. Probably due to his father’s incubus roots.

��Mmm, I could say the same about you.” Nico pointed out and poked Percy’s cheek. Percy smiled and turned toward the door as it opened.

Will’s eyes widened when he looked up and found a tear stricken but smiling Nico and an equally happy Nico. Will raised an eyebrow and stepped inside, setting down the groceries as he shut the door then approached his two friends, Nico was fidgeting sheepishly, but he looked considerably less gaunt than the last few months. Will was seriously considering forcing the two into a room to figure stuff out soon. But it seemed he didn’t need to.

“Hello boys...” He greeted them and approached with his arms crossed. He eyed Percy wearily and approached Nico, then grabbed his face and pulled it close to check for any marks or bruisers forming. He hummed and backed away once he knew Nico was fine then turned back to his grocery bags.

“Percy, you’re a big strong man and mine is gone, will you kindly go grab the ice bags for me?” Percy nodded dutifully and stepped outside while Nico approached to help Will start putting their groceries away.

“Nico.”he said pointedly and Nico sighed glaring at his friend.

“Really?” Nico asked and Will shrugged.

“In my defense you’ve been sulking around the house for four months now getting sadder by the day because you didn’t get to see Percy and also because you didn’t want to see Percy. Now he’s at our house, you’ve been crying and you’re both smiling.” Nico rolled his eyes and shook his head.

“He wanted to know why I’ve been avoiding him, I got too upset and it just kinda came out, he’s accepted it, and...” they turned to the door as Percy approached. He was huffing and the few blue scars on his cheek bones and forearms were glowing, meaning he was using his power. He wasn’t carrying a bag of ice and instead a block of ice that he’d apparently frozen in his hands. He stopped in his tracks as the house’s tenants looked at him confused.

“Uh, the bag broke... so I just kinda, willed only the water to lift, I promise nothing bad, it could be cleaner now than when you bought it honestly.” Will laughed opened the freezer. Slowly, cube by cube, Percy broke the large block apart and put it in the ice box.

“Thank you Percy, now, what were you two talking about before I came in. Nico Wilkes himself not to blush as he looked at Percy.

“Uh, wel, the reason Nico’s been avoiding me, which apparently only Annabeth and I were unaware of. And then we were talking about how I need you all to come to my house tonight for a special announcement. Will nodded and side-eyed Nico cautiously, checking for discomfort. Nick shook his head casually and waved a hand at him while Percy looked on in confusion.

“Can you two talk in motions?” He asked and Will turned back to Percy.

“It’s a skill obtained by most of our friend group. We generally use it around you or while someone is having a problem, anxiety attack, panic attack, PTSD episode, etc.” Will explained and Percy’s face screwed up.

“Good to know I’m on the same list as medical emergencies...” he muttered and Nico shook his head rapidly but before Nick could say anything Will was speaking up.

“Well, if Nico wasn’t a scaredy-cat who likes to convince himself that people will reject him for little things like,” Will was cut off by Nico.

“Like admitting to being in love with you for almost 10 years.” Nico scowled angrily at Will then pushed past his friend and grabbed Percy’s sleeve. He marched them both to his bedroom and collapsed on his bed rubbing angrily at his eyes. He was just so full of pent up aggravation that was suddenly running rampant.

“Woah! Neeks hey! Are you okay? I thought we already established, I don’t mind that you didn’t tell me, I know why you didn’t, it’s fine, I like you alright? I wanna try this.” Nico nodded and pulled Percy into a hug. The nymph landed on top of him with an “oof” then rolled them over so that Percy could tuck his head above Nico’s and entwine their legs.

“We have to tell Will, Percy...” Nico muttered and Percy nodded then kissed the top of Nico’s head.

“I understand. It’d be pretty hard to explain why you’re happy around me all of a sudden...” Percy trailer off and Nico wrapped his arms around his new lover.

“Percy... I’m sorry...” he muttered and buried his face in Percy’s chest, “I know that avoiding you was the last thing I should have done, but it was the last thing I did...” he muttered and Percy looked down at him pitifully.

“Nico... as much as I hated it, I can understand why you did it. Being around me while I was with Annabeth hurt after years of yearning. I can understand why, but can I ask you what you meant when you said you’d considered something drastic?” Nico groaned and hugged Percy tighter, like if he let go maybe Percy would disappear.

“I was so stupid Percy... I started to convince myself the only way to stop hurting was to forget. The night I decided that avoiding you was my best choice, I almost had Ethan make me forget you...” Nick explained and Percy’s eyes widened. He looked down at Nico, sadness in his eyes.

“I’m glad you didn’t...” Percy muttered.

“So am I...” Nico answered and slowly started to fall asleep in Percy’s arms.

[jasonsscar]

I know you like the idea of Jason reincarnating, but for a one shot idea maybe a reunion with Jason and some of the other 7 in Elysium. Only if you want to if course

I’m all for any idea in all honesty. So here is an Elysium story that is short but hopefully enjoyable??? 

(Also, thanks guys for 100 followers!)

Death is inevitable.

Those were words all demigods found themselves having to live with. Heroes died in battles constantly, it wasn’t a secret. Sometimes they win battles and do so for years to come and other times that doesn’t happen for heroes. Plain and simple logic.

Jason Grace knew death was coming. He’d heard it himself, that five letter word that had been haunting him for months on end until, finally, he had to fall. It didn’t matter to him if he died now or later, Romans were raised to believe that dying in battle was an honor. It was an honor for Jason because his death meant that he saved someone else from never seeing their family or friends again.

The blonde sixteen year old hoped he wouldn’t be forgotten by his friends. He hoped wherever Apollo and Meg were on their journey to save all five Oracle’s, that they were safe. He hoped Apollo would remember to keep his promise and to remember what it felt like to be human. He hoped Piper would find her true self back in Oklahoma. He hoped Percy and Annabeth would be safe and happy back in New York. He hoped Frank lived to see a stronger version of himself. He hoped Hazel continued to live the best life she should’ve received in the first place. He hoped wherever Leo was, he was happy and stayed alive. He hoped Reyna would someday find love. He hoped Nico never had to hide his true self from others ever again. He hoped that the two camps never had to go to war ever again.

Most of all, he hoped Thalia would forgive him for not saying one final goodbye.

That, he knew, was too much to hope for.

As Judgement stood before him it, they allowed his life to flash before his eyes. Jason watched himself as a child, memories that he could never recall now, playing with his older sister Thalia as she tossed him around in the backyard of the mansion they lived in. The two of them laughing as the young girl just tried to enjoy the little moments she had left with her baby brother.

Jason watched while his mother bargained with Hero and he was taken away from the home he should’ve belonged in. He saw the memory of himself being dropped down with Lupa and being raised to become strong and show no signs of weakness. He saw himself arriving on the grounds of Camp Jupiter and being claimed by the Lord of the Sky and being feared by those around him. The moments that he had with Reyna on their quests were ones that he was able to vividly remember, with the friend he had grown to love like a sister. His fight with Krios was something that he could never forget; he remembered thinking how if he died then and there he hoped Reyna could defeat him and hold the glory high on her shoulders. He didn’t though, and instead four months later he found himself dropped in the middle of Nevada, holding hands with a girl he didn’t know and talking nonsense with a boy who claimed was his best friend. He watched his arrival to Camp Half-Blood and meeting a different cultural group he would have never anticipated to work with. He watched as he received a prophecy to free Hera and he travelled on a quest with his two new best friends Piper and Leo; the Prophecy of Seven unfolding before them and the battle with Gaea, something he had been anticipating for months, lasting only a few minutes. It was a good laugh in Jason’s opinion.

Then came his final moments, as he fought desperately against the Roman emperor Caligula as arrows were impaling him in his arms and legs until finally one went through his heart, the last thing he remembered doing was screaming to Apollo to remember his promise and giving Tempest one last order to take his friends to safety before he fell to the floor, dead.

Jason blinked a couple times, unsure whether he should cry or be relieved that the vision was over. He slowly brought his gaze upward where he saw the three judges of Judgement sitting and conversing quietly. He was able to recognize all three judges, thanks to Nico who seemed to know how the Underworld worked on the daily. The judges for this particular session he had Minos, Rhadamanthus and Aeacus. The most famous judges to ever sit on the Judgement Panel were now judging Jason and his incoming fate.

Jason had no idea how long he’d been standing there, waiting to see what they would tell him. He had nowhere to sit, so the boy just shifted into a different standing position every few minutes until finally the verdict was said.

“Elysium.”

Doors that sat behind the judges held the different locations. Jason could hear the screaming from the Fields of Punishment and the silence from the Field of Asphodel. The door for Elysium opened and Jason took a step forward seeing something more beautiful than he would have ever dreamed to see. The fields of grass and small children and adults alike, running around and having fun. The son of Jupiter stepped through the door and it closed behind him and Jason for the first time in a long time smiled, because now he was at peace and nothing would bother him again.

Jason wasn’t sure how many years had passed when the first person he recognized from his friends arrived in Elysium.

It was Percy first.

Jason had been talking to a couple who used to go to Camp Half-Blood; they were eighteen when they died in the Battle of Manhattan. Charles Beckendorf was apparently a good friend of Percy and Annabeth’s. Jason seemed to have a distant memories of Leo talking about him. He was a popular figure at Camp Half-Blood before his untimely death. He was a son of Hephaestus and was dating a daughter of Aphrodite, Silena Beauregard, another popular figure at Camp Half-Blood.

The son of Jupiter saw the door open at the entrance and the blonde boy inclined his head over and he smiled, a common facial feature that Jason was able to show more often after he had been assigned to Elysium.

The blonde slid down the roof of the house he was sitting on, landing on his own two feet to see who the new arrival was. It wasn’t everyday someone new got accepted into Elysium; when he saw the person walk through the door his smile got wider as Perseus Jackson walked through looking confused and unsure of where exactly he was.

Jason shouted his name once and Percy whipped his head over to see Jason Grace in the flesh looking alive and exactly the way he remembered he looked when he’d left him back almost a good twenty years ago. The son of Jupiter jogged over to his friend.

“J-Jason?” Percy stuttered out, his sea green eyes wide as he looked at his blonde friend in surprise.

Jason stood before Percy, the son of Poseidon had reached the same height as Jason by then, and smiled. “Hey, Jackson,” the eternal sixteen year old greeted. “How’s life been treating you?”

Percy looked down at himself in confusion, he was wearing an old Camp-Half Blood t-shirt, the lettering slowly fading from the amount of times it had been washed. Percy said, “I’m dead.”

The two started catching up, Percy telling Jason about the past twenty years that he had missed. Naturally, he and Annabeth had gotten married and had a little boy and girl. They lived at New Rome but a new prophecy had been declared and the camp had been infiltrated. Percy had defended the camp to his last breath, taking a gorgon to save Annabeth and their children. Percy was ridden with guilt though, for leaving his children without a father though. For leaving Annabeth alone.

Jason tried to comfort him as best as he could, but Jason knew what he felt. It was similar to the same guilt he felt when he had died as well.

It wasn’t long after Percy that Frank had entered Elysium. Another war was happening back in the world of the living. The camps weren’t getting along again, Jason wasn’t sure what that meant. People started dying and being sent to the Fields of Asphodel. Frank had wrapped Jason in a bear hug then hit him, for leaving him to run the camp blindly with no help. Jason had laughed and apologized but it was a good hearted conversation.

Not long after that, Annabeth entered Elysium, searching vigorously for Percy and even shoving Jason aside. The daughter of Athena wrapped her arms around the love her life and pressed kisses on his face, saying how much she missed him and loved him and if he ever died again she would never forgive him. It didn’t take long for Annabeth to see Jason finally and punch him, for being a hero and dying as one. She hugged him though, because that was their friendship. She may not have known him long or all that well, but they were friends and that was what mattered.

Years must’ve passed before Leo Valdez entered Elysium, greeting everyone with a wink. He froze seeing Jason and turning pale on the spot in surprise of not seeing his best friend after nearly forty years of not seeing him. Jason grinned at him and held out his arms and Leo ran up to him and hugged him, wrapping his legs around the blonde boy’s waist.

“Jason, you piece of shi-!”

Jason laughed. “There’s kids here!”

“You were dead!” Leo yelled, still hugging him tight.

“Well now you’re dead!”

Hazel entered Elysium a couple years later along with Reyna. The war with the camps had came to an end and now both of them were separated but Hazel and Reyna didn’t seem to mind, having finally arrived at a place where peace would overtake them. Hazel had greeted all of her friends with a kiss on the cheek, speaking of how she missed each of them. Jason just hoped she lived the best life she could.

Jason didn’t get to see Piper until almost another ten years later.

The doors had opened again and Piper McLean entered through, her head high and looking as beautiful as he remembered her. The memories of his last moments on Earth and declaring to himself and that he would save her. It was worth it, she had lived the longest out of all of them.

Annabeth had hugged her first, crying and saying how much she missed Piper. Then Hazel, Leo, Percy, Frank and last Jason and that hug lasted the longest. It held no romantic intentions it was a hug that meant so much more.

“Thank you for saving us,” Piper had mumbled as she let her friend go with a bright smile. Jason smiled and nodded his head.

Maybe dying a hero wasn’t so bad after all.

[solange-lol]

could you possibly write some sort of high school au solangelo??

school! aus! are! my! guilty! pleasure!

my apologies, this is kind of long, I got excited. 

read on ao3

Will Solace hated Nico di Angelo with a burning passion.

Okay, that was a bit dramatic. But he didn’t like Nico. All through middle school you expect the whole “guys stick together,” thing, and for the most part Will did have a lot of friends by his side. He was pretty popular, laid back. Not on any sports teams, but everyone still liked him. 

Well, everyone but Nico, who teased him consonantly and pulled every prank imaginable on him. There was no reason behind it, maybe just for the sole reason that everyone liked Will whilst Nico had his sister Hazel, and that was all. 

Of course, Will never thought of this teasing to be anything besides a constant threat against him

₪₪₪

When they got into high school, Nico finally seemed to hold an unspoken truce to Will. Maybe because Will had sort of lost all his friends from middle school and only hung out with the kids who ate lunch in the band room.  

By their second year, Will couldn’t recall the last time Nico di Angelo had even spoken to him. Either he gave up, or he was too busy paying attention to the infamous Percy Jackson, a junior who played Fullback on their schools football team along with Jason Grace who played Quarterback and who had grown closer to Nico over the years, meaning that the three of them spent a lot of time together, as well as their girlfriends Annabeth Chase and Piper McClean, not to mention Hazel who still sat as his lunch table along with her boyfriend, Frank Zhang (who was also on the football team and played wide receiver.) All in all, Nico had found himself a small friend group. 

When Will first heard the rumors about Nico liking Percy, he wasn’t sure what to think. At first, he didn’t know if he should believe it. They started out high school with “gay” still being an insult, but as the months passed, Will started to see more and more LGBT couples, including Jason’s older sister Thalia, who was in Percy’s grade, and Reyna Ramírez-Arellano, also a junior. (not to mention Will deciding he was bi.) After a while, it all made sense to be true. Nico basically looked up to Percy, always tried to engage in conversation with him, and laughed at all his jokes, which 90% of the time weren’t even funny. 

A few weeks later, word got around that “Nico finally got the guts to tell Percy how he felt, Percy politely rejected him, now Nico refuses to talk to him” which was the first time Will ever felt bad for him. 

₪₪₪

After all the “Percy rejecting Nico” drama, everyone had the unspoken agreement that Nico was gay, and by the middle of their sophomore year, everyone mostly forgot about it, including Will. 

So when Nico and Will were paired up for a History project, Will thought nothing of it besides anxiety that this is where Nico will remember he existed and start teasing him again.

To his surprise, however, Nico seemed to act like nothing ever happened in their past years, and worked with Will quite well. They talked a lot during the week they had, and afterwords they continued to talk to the point where they were maybe kind of friends?

They didn’t eat lunch together, Will still sitting in the band room while Nico sat awkwardly in the cafeteria with his friends (and as far away to Percy as he could get) but they exchanged “hellos” in the hall, and talked a bit together before the classes they took together would start. Will was surprised by how much they actually had in common when it came to interests.

And by winter break, Will had developed a kind-of-sort-of-crush on Nico di Angelo. 

“Just ask him out!” his cousin Kayla told him while they sat on the couch watching their younger cousins unwrapping presents on Christmas morning after Nico had sent Will a half-faced snapchat saying “merry xmas solace” making Will’s heart melt. When it came to relationships, Kayla was always there for Will. 

“Thats what Lou Ellen said, but I can’t just go up to him and ask him out!” 

“Why not?” was her response. “You can handle rejection!”

“Not from him!” he hissed.

“William Solace, theres nothing to be afraid of, because he obviously likes you!” Kayla said indignantly.  

Will huffed, “We’ll see.” 

₪₪₪

To Will’s surprise, a note fell out of his locker a couple mornings later when he opened it to get his textbook for Math.

skip lunch. meet me in gender neutral bathroom on the second floor across from the library. -nico 

Will smiled. He wasn’t sure what he was expecting, but it was a harmless note.

Like the note said, Will showed up outside the bathroom on the second floor, where Nico was standing against the wall, with his usual black shirt, tattered black jeans, and black converse. 

Upon arrival, Nico barley looked up before grabbing Will’s hand and dragging him into the bathroom and locking the door behind him. 

“What a-” Will started before Nico turned around, trapping him against the bathroom tiles, fierce determination in his eyes, and suddenly bad feeling were flooding into Will’s stomach, making his heart beat fast and his eyes widen.

It’s a trap, it’s all been a trap, this is where he beats me up, forget friendship, forget crushes, it was all a trap

But Will didn’t have any time to put his thoughts into actions before Nico stood up on his tiptoes, leaned in, and-

kissed him

Nico was kissing him.

He didn’t think, he didn’t notice any feeling except for the soaring feeling of his heart as Nico di Angelo kissed him.

As soon as he could process what was happening, he responded  to the kiss, hands lifting from his sides to wrap around Nico’s waist, pulling him closer. Nico’s hands dropped from the walls onto Will’s shoulders, then sliding his hands up so his palms cupped Will’s face, his fingers closing around the back of his neck. 

It felt like days when they finally released each other, smiling with flustered cheeks and messy hair. 

Needless to say, Nico showed up to his Biology class in the same state, mumbling an excuse as he slid in the seat next to Piper, who gave him a knowing wink.

₪₪₪

(junior year)

Nico was at a party.

He hated high school parties. He wasn’t big on socialization, despite being friends with 3 of the best football players in the school. His friend group had grown since last year. Sometimes he sat in the cafeteria with Jason and Piper and Hazel and all the others, but most of the time he sat in the band room with the theater kids, and now had a solid group there too. Lou Ellen and Cecil, Leo and Calypso, and of course Will.

Will. That was the only reason he showed up to the freaking thing. He would’ve preferred to spend a nice quiet night together watching a movie or something at Will’s house. But Jason asked Nico to come while Will was standing next to him and Will decided they were going. And Nico didn’t argue because frankly, he wasn’t paying attention to the conversation.

But now he as at this party with a bunch of drunk juniors and seniors in Jason’s house and he didn’t know where Will had gone or where anyone was frankly, and so he stood in the back with a Diet Coke, hoping no one would try and approach him.

Unfortunately, that didn’t go very well because he suddenly found himself in a conversation with Percy Jackson, his first crush that had rejected him, which Nico wasn’t as crushed as he could be, considering he knew how much Annabeth and Percy liked each other. 

And now here was Percy, chatting away with Nico instead of making out with Annabeth somewhere else, just like Nico’s awkward sophomore year didn’t happen.

Sophomore year. He had a crush on Will Solace ever since 6th grade, but by the time they got to high school, Nico undoubtedly decided that Will didn’t like him. This was also when he mt Jason, who then led to Percy. All through freshman and sophomore year all he thought about was Percy. It was unrealistic, yes, but isn’t everyone’s first second crush?

And then, yes, he got rejected by Percy which basically outed him to the entire school which would have made him probably transfer in any other situation, but instead he took it as an opportunity to get closer to Will, and eventually kiss him, who thank god liked him back, and by the end of the month they were dating. 

And now here he was, not really paying attention to this drunk Percy while scanning the room for Will. Just as he finally spotted the blonde head, Percy put his arm around Nico’s shoulder. Nico caught Will’s eye at this exact moment, and what happened next was not his fault. 

Will practically ran over to the two, grabbing Nico’s arm. 

“Sorry Percy but we have to go,” Will said quickly before dragging Nico out of the house. 

Nico was relieved to feel the cool night air on his skin, to get away from that loud party which would no doubt be caught soon. 

“Do you still like Percy?” Will asked suddenly.

Nico turned. “What do you mean?”

“I mean do you still like Percy?”

“No, idiot, of course I don’t like Percy.”

“Okay, good.”

“Why do you ask?”

Will sighed, avoiding eye contact “I haven’t seen you two talk in forever, and just the way he stood next to you, with his arm around you? I don’t know, I guess I just panicked. Thought that you still liked him… more than me.”

“Will?” Nico said. Will raised his head, squinting one eye to look at Nico. 

“I liked you first, before Percy. I used Percy as a distraction, because I thought you would never like me, but I’ve liked you ever since 6th grade.”

“Really? I thought you hated me in middle school? The constant teasing?”

“Thats called flirting, sunshine.” 

Will smiled, now looking at his palms and shaking his head, “All this time I could have spent with you and I thought you hated me”

“Hey, it’s alright,” Nico said, taking Will’s hand with one and putting the other on his cheek. “I have you now, and thats all I need. That past doesn’t matter. What matters is.., I love you., Will Solace”

Will’s eyes widened, and for a second Nico cursed at himself for going too quickly. But then, Will pulled him into a kiss, and Nico knew everything was alright.

“I love you too, Nico di Angelo,” he said when they pulled apart, smiling down at him as brown eyes met with blue. A small smile crossed Nico’s face too. This was all he needed. 

So I may or may not have been thinking about that freaking RIverdale thing with the “i love you’s” and Jughead and Betty while writing the ending iudbhskja

Anyway, I actually had a dream that I was Nico di Angelo and I went to a party and fell asleep on a couch cuddling Will Solace which is like the best dream ever but of course I was going to actually do that but I didnt add the party because why not

I have more ideas but I didn’t want to add them all because this was already super long so that can be saved for another fic :))

If you do want me to write another school!au oneshot then I will because like I said I absolutely love school au’s and I have more ideas !!

If not… well I’m sorry you didn’t like it but I’ll probably write some more anyway ;) 

[fangirl-overload13]

The truth in your eyes

Ch. 1  Ch. 2  Ch. 3  Ch. 4

Chapter 5 Getting to know you

Will ended up spending more time than he had originally planned at the temple. He had really just come to vent to Thalia but now he felt himself wanting to spend more time with Lady Maria.

She didn’t talk much but what she did say was pretty insightful and understanding and even though she was in a worse position than Will himself was, she still tried to console him about the forced marriage arrangement.

“I know it’s kind of stupid of me to just sit here complaining about it but I always thought that I’d at least have a say in the matter, but if I can’t make my mind up soon enough I won’t even have that much. I have never even put much thought into this whole marriage thing until now; I thought I still had time.” Will said as he hugged his knees to his chest.

“Time is hardly ever on our side and we rarely get the luxury of choice in life. It’s best to take what you’re given and try to work with it as best you can even if it’s less than ideal.” Lady Maria said in a low tone as if reflecting on past experience.

Will watched as she pulled at the grass by the edge of the blanket absently. She seemed so far away and Will wondered if it wold be better if he found a way to keep her here and now so that she wouldn’t have to think about whatever hardship it was that sent her dark eyes staring through the world around her rather than at it.

Reyna and Thalia were sitting a little apart from the two of them now; Reyna had gotten up earlier to go tend to their horse and returned to talk quietly with Thalia.

Will didn’t want to leave Lady Maria on her own so he had moved a little closer and from there they had started talking. After a while it felt so comfortable that Will could hardly believe that this was someone that he had only just met.

“Aren’t you going to ask why I’m here or what happened?” Lady Maria asked after a couple moments of silence and Will blinked a couple of times when he turned to her.

“Huh? Um well I mean sure I’m curious but I know it’s really none of my business and I won’t try to make you tell me anything. I know I’m sitting here telling you my story but you needn’t feel obligated to do the same.” Will smiled reassuringly at her and saw her duck her head slightly and couldn’t help thinking how cute it was.

His cheeks heated a bit at the thought but he pushed it down as best he could as he tried to focus on their conversation instead.

“So, how do you like the temple? I’ve been coming here for a while now to talk with Thalia and have met a lot of the residents here so I know that it can be a bit difficult to adjust to a new life. Well at least so I hear.” He hoped he didn’t sound insensitive or anything, of course he didn’t know firsthand what it was like but like he said he had heard many stores.

“You have no idea.” Lady Maria said with a tone and expression that said that there was a war of emotions going through her mind right then, Will just wished there was something he could do to quell it.

“I’m sure you’re used to something far different from this huh?” Will asked but then wanted to kick himself for bringing it up, why was he being such an idiot?! “Sorry, sorry I keep bringing up things that I should just leave alone. Again you don’t have to answer.” Will tried to amend his mistake but his face still burned from his embarrassment.

Lady Marie looked at him and her eyes seemed to soften a bit which helped Will relax slightly, she shook her head and glanced back down at the dress she was wearing.

“It’s alright, I understand. You’re right though it is different from what I’m used to, from just recently or before.” she didn’t elaborate but he decided not to ask any more questions related to her past for now, he really didn’t want to do anything to upset her.

They sat there quietly for a while longer before Thalia and Reyna came over and started gathering thigs up.

“We should get going, it’ll be evening soon and we don’t want to risk anything once the sun begins to set.” Thalia said as she finished packing up the picnic supplies.

Reyna helped Lady Maria to her feet and Will was getting ready to say his goodbyes and head over to his horse when they heard someone approaching.

Everyone stilled, Will reached for a knife at his side, Reyna’s hand made its way to her sword, and Thalia was reaching for her bow but they all paused when they saw that it was a Hunter making her way towards them.

She reined in as she reached them and saluted Thalia before dismounting and lowering herself onto one knee in front of them.

“I bring word of suspicious men lurking around the forest, they have been dealt with but it is unclear as to how many there were total.”

Will glanced over at Lady Maria and noticed Reyna’s tense stance as she minutely moved closer to her Lady. Will had a bad feeling he knew what was happening.

“Similar to the ones we previously encountered?” Thalia asked, there was a hard note to her voice and Will understood right away what it meant. Those that had attacked Lady Maria and Reyna before they met the Hunters must have more in their numbers and have sent scouts out to locate the missing men that had attacked the two of them before.

Thalia was a great commander of the Hunters, and the Hunters were formidable for sure but their numbers were still small and they had all of the other residents of the temple to look out for too, most of which were civilians and children. Will felt his pulse quicken as he understood what he needed to do.

“Thalia it’s okay, we’ll leave so you don’t have to worry about us.” Reyna said, she held such conviction as she spoke Will couldn’t help but admire her strength of character, here they were having to go on the run once again and she was trying to reassure the ones giving them aid that things would be alright, meanwhile a quiet intensity burned within Lady Maria’s eyes like a fierce determination not to get anyone else involved and a hint of regret for having already brought others into it.

“Don’t be crazy, where would you go? At least at the temple we could defend you.” Thalia said as she turned to Reyna.

“Yes but for how long? I know what we are dealing with and their numbers are more than we could possibly know, there’s no telling how many innocent people would be hurt just because they were nearby.” Reyna said and Thalia was ready to retort but Will spoke up first.

“You can come to my palace, you’ll be safer there. The soldiers and royal guards can protect you!” All eyes turned to him and he hoped he could show even just a glimmer of the surety he had felt before he had their attention, he didn’t know why but he felt this was the best option and he needed to convince them of it.

…

The dark look that crosses Nico’s face was hard to read, he couldn’t help remembering the night of the attack that ruined his life and how the guards weren’t enough back then. If not for Reyna he didn’t know what would have become of him, but here he was pretending to be someone else and here was Will, Prince Will, trying to assure him that he could keep them safe in his palace.

“Please say you’ll come, I’ll make sure that you’ll be safe there.” Will insisted.

Nico could tell that he’s being completely earnest but he’s already brought danger to the doorstep of the temple, how could he lead the enemy to yet another palace for them to raze to the ground? He looked to Reyna asking silently what they should do. She let out a long breath and turned to Will.

“Alright, but only because I cannot protect my Lady on my own and I know that neither of us want to see any harm come to the inhabitants of the temple because of our folly.” She turned to Thalia next. “Thank you for everything you have done for us but it was foolish of us to think that we could stay even this long so close to where we were attacked. We appreciate everything you have done for us but the best way for us to repay you is by leaving and keeping our distance.”

Thalia let out a sign and nodded.

“You’re right, the Hunters will keep a vigilant eye out for more enemies but you should be careful on your way.” She turned and was about to head off with the Hunter that had brought them the information when Will called out to her.

“Thalia! I’ll be sure to send you reinforcements when I get back to the palace. I’m sure Clarisse will have some volunteers ready to assist you in no time.”

Thalia nodded her thanks and with that she headed back to the temple leaving Nico and Reyna with Will and the two remaining horses.

Nico still felt his stomach tightening into knots at the thought of their pursuers being so close, they had barely recovered from the last attack and now look at the situation they were in! He was pulled from his thoughts by Will speaking softly to him.

“Hey, it’s going to be alright. I promise I won’t let anything happen to you and that you will be safe at my palace.”

Nico could see how sincere he was as he looked into those sky-blue eyes that spoke as honestly as his words did. He meant every word and somehow Nico could feel himself relaxing slightly.

“Alright.” he said quietly and he let Reyna help him into the saddle on Scipio while Will mounted his own horse and led the way back to his home. Nico hoped that this wasn’t a huge mistake.

Next