Oops, and like a blink it's been 6 years since I've updated give or take! Please don't hate me... Let's just focus on this update instead xD Chapter 6 is finally here! I've been sitting on most of this chapter for a WHILE but finally got the drive to finish it and post it, thanks to Uncle Rick announcing the PJO adaptation for Disney+! Who else is excited?! I'm hopefully going to be doing more writing during this weird time, in hopes to improve my own skill/sanity as well as bring joy to everyone else stuck in their homes in the midst of this pandemic! Please bear with me as I am determined to finally finish this story fully, as well as several others I've been working on for almost a decade now!

Il fuoco del vero amore

6

Aphrodite and Hecate observed the scene within the Hotel Esmeralda from Olympus, giggling and fanning themselves whilst drinking goblets of nectar. It was truly something, seeing such powerful demigods interact in explosive manners within the bedroom; Aphrodite was coursing on a euphoric high she hadn't felt in many decades. However, amidst the waves of lust she was experiencing, a flash of something caused her to gasp and drop her goblet. Hecate's misty eyes turned sharply towards her.

"What do you sense? Is it-" the goddess of magic began. Aphrodite's chest heaved, a smile spreading softly across her face.

"The boy is starting to sense his true intent. He had a flash of it, just now. This is good. As much as it pains me to break this up just as it's getting fun, I think we ought to... ah, give the boy a breather. No direct meddling, of course." Aphrodite waved her hand and the goblet reappeared in her hand, filled with nectar that she sipped delicately.

Hecate pouted, but nodded her head and also drank.

x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x

The lustful haze that enveloped Nico just as heavily as the two stronger demigods suckling on his neck and tugging at his clothes came to an abrupt halt as the door to the hotel room burst open and the old satyr from the front desk ambled in carrying a tray laden with teacups, a kettle, and some cookies. He seemed completely unperturbed by the pile of horny teenaged males on the bed, and that was enough for Nico to realize how wrong this situation was.

"Get... OFF!" he growled, and he threw the two older boys off him using a force he didn't know he possessed; shadows seeped off his smaller body and lashed out at the two demigods, throwing them across the room. Nico's head began to throb due to the effort he had just exerted, and he grit his teeth.

"Tea time!" the old Parisian satyr chirped at them, setting three steaming cups of what smelled like Earl Grey out for them. Before Nico could process what was happening, Percy and Jason were casually getting up from the floor as if they hadn't just been tossed across the room like ragdolls and smiling at the satyr in gratitude.

"Hey, thanks!" Percy grinned, taking his teacup and sipping it loudly. Jason bit down into a cookie and nodded in agreement. Nico didn't know what to think; not but a minute ago he was being attacked by both Percy and Jason (their lips, to be more precise) and his skin bore the marks of such. Now they were enjoying early afternoon tea as if nothing had happened? The satyr chortled and waved a hand dismissively.

"Enjoy yourselves!" he called, turning to give Nico a pointed look. "Your carriage will be here soon, oui?"

"Carriage?" Nico spluttered, taken aback. Jason swallowed his cookie, brow furrowed.

"Are we going somewhere?" the son of Jupiter asked, looking on guard. Nico surveyed him: this Jason was normal. The Jason of a minute ago was... well, Nico suspected that only Piper had come close to encountering him.

"Do not delay! Vite, vite!" he tutted at them, clopping out of sight and leaving the door open behind him. Nico, though bewildered and deeply disturbed by the situation he had just been in, somewhat appreciated the open door in this instance.

"It's odd that we haven't come across any monsters yet, we've been here half a day already..." Percy mused, draining the rest of his tea. He was acting perfectly normal, not in any way as if he'd just been running his tongue along Nico's collarbone and rubbing up all over Jason. Nico's eye twitched.

"Yeah, that's not the only thing odd about this quest..." he growled under his breath. Desperately trying to keep his cool, Nico felt that any moment now he'd explode. What in Hades was going on with Percy and Jason? He swallowed thickly, burying an anguished cry of anxiety and frustration that threatened to burst from his lips. Clutching his sword tightly, he stormed out of the hotel room and down the stairs, past the old satyr (who was snickering behind a French magazine), throwing the front door open, his eyes landing immediately on a...

"You have got to be kidding me."

x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x

Leo Valdez was unable to sit still on most occasions, but right now it was utterly hopeless for him to contain his twitchy limbs as he and the two girls sped along in a taxi from the Charles du Gaulle airport into the center of Paris. If he weren't so worried about the outcome of this quest, he'd have loved to take in the Parisian scenery despite feeling wary being back in the old world again. He was sure Annabeth would have loved to admire the architecture, and Piper's French skills could have been improved and used to their advantage to go on some pretty spectacular adventures. Yet alas, Leo sat in the cab bouncing both legs nervously and attempting to keep his fire in check.

"The last time I was here, Percy and I were celebrating our one month anniversary," Annabeth spoke softly, startling Leo. He looked over at her pained face, grey eyes determined yet sad. "We had such a nice day... I can't let something like this take our relationship away, after everything..." she trailed off, and Leo grimaced.

"You deserve happiness, Annabeth. You too, Piper. We'll fix this... I'll fix this."

The girls smiled at him, and they continued the cab journey in silence. Annabeth had asked Piper to tell the driver to let them out near the Louvre, and he had complied quite happily. They filed out of the cab and Leo gazed up open-mouthed at the museum. It was an extremely impressive bit of construction, and of course the Pyramid sculpture sitting in the main square was breathtaking. He could practically feel Annabeth vibrating with excitement, despite the circumstances. Tourists milled around, ambling across the grounds into the buildings with a lazy pace that seemed trance-like.

"Okay, now what? How do we find our boys?" Leo quipped, nervously fidgeting with a gadget from his tool belt. He turned towards Piper, and her face was one of stony disapproval as she stared at something across the way.

"Something tells me that won't be too much of a chore," she deadpanned, and Annabeth and Leo followed her gaze to come across a sight that caused a collective gasp of shock to hitch in their throats.

A gilded carriage of white, gleaming wood with gold filigree designs curling along as accents gleamed as it drew up to the museum. Two horses pulled it, white bodied with golden manes and tails. Three occupants sat within, the smallest of the three sandwiched in the middle. Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon, sat leaning back with his dark hair ruffled as if by an ocean breeze, sea-green eyes sparkling so brightly Leo could see them from afar. Jason Grace, son of Jupiter, was draped regally and holding himself like a king; his golden hair flawless and electric blue eyes sharply trained on the third occupant of the carriage. It was here, upon seeing Nico di Angelo, that Leo's heart stuttered and quite nearly stopped completely.

The son of Hades, though appearing disgruntled, seemed to draw everything into him like moths to a flame. His brown eyes, hooded, with dark bruises circling underneath, were intently mulling over a thousand things at once. His black hair was ruffling in the light wind, just enough to reveal a little more of his pale, marble skin. He held himself in a withdrawn, yet powerful stance between his two companions, both of whose arms were casually draped around him. The three of them were kings among men, the sons of the Big Three, united in a sea of clashing power that crackled and hummed into the air and sent a tingle through Leo's spine even from afar.

Although he couldn't hear them, he saw Percy's lips move and Nico scowl, turning away from him. Even from afar, Leo's eyes narrowed as he caught sight of the love bites peppering Nico's beautiful white skin along his neck. White hot jealousy and anger erupted in his gut, and he felt a wave of anguish ripple through him too for good measure.

"Um, Leo, you're on fire." Annabeth's voice cut through his rage, and he barely registered that the curled fists by his side were aflame.

"Piper, I hate your mom."

Piper seemed to agree with him as she let out a strangled cry of frustration and simply grabbed him by one of his suspenders and dragged him along with Annabeth out of sight, in order to scout out their quarry without being spotted. They watched from behind a large group of German tourists as Nico hopped out of the carriage and went at a brisk pace towards the entrance of the museum, not waiting for the other two. Leo took savage pleasure in watching him leave them behind without sparing them a glance.

"Where do you think they're going?" Annabeth mused, looking over at Piper expectantly. The other girl seemed taken aback, but tilted her head to the side as if pondering something.

"I feel a lot of love magic coming from within the building," she began, closing her eyes and furrowing her brow in concentration. "It feels like my mom's presence, somehow. She's not allowed to meddle too directly in quests, but maybe..." Piper trailed off, opening her eyes and staring at Annabeth. "Are there any important pieces of art having to do with love here?"

"Well, there's the Venus de Milo, and the Wedding at Cana, the Venus and Cupid with a Satyr, and the Mona Lisa..." she began to list off, and Piper scowled.

"Da Vinci painted the Mona Lisa, and he was a son of Apollo. It may be a long shot, but..."

Leo felt the pieces of the puzzle start to connect, like gears clicking into place, and he cut them off.

"That carriage driver. Look familiar to you?" He pointed over towards the gilded carriage, which was clopping by where they were hiding now. The driver took off his top hat, which had been obscuring his golden locks until now. Leo glared in the direction of Lord Apollo himself, who winked in their direction before rounding the corner and disappearing.

x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x

Nico glared up at the most famous painting in the world. She smiled her mysterious smile back at him. Squinting at the Mona Lisa, the son of Hades had to admit she was extremely lifelike, and half expected her to blink or scratch her nose or something. He had come straight towards this particular piece, not bothering to wait for Jason or Percy to catch up with him; he was aware of da Vinci's status as a demigod, and hoped to find some sort of clue.

The hall was surprisingly empty for such a popular painting, which in Nico's opinion was both good and bad. The few mortals milling about in front of it were engrossed in their own devices, and apart from that the only others were two security guards sitting on either end of the rope blocking off the painting, which itself was protected by what seemed to be case of bulletproof glass.

"Found ya, Nico!" Percy's voice called out, and Nico glanced to the side and saw the green-eyed male jogging towards him, Jason not too far behind. "Got any clues from this? What's up with the Mona Lisa anyway?"

"You do realize who our driver was, right?" Nico narrowed his eyes at the other two boys. They looked confused, and genuinely so, which only served to infuriate Nico further. "Apollo! He came back to mess around in the quest 'indirectly' again!" Nico exclaimed, making air quotes as he spoke.

"He drove us to the Louvre in a carriage so we could... do what? Look at art?" Percy was puzzled, and for the first time that afternoon Nico got the feeling that he was being himself.

"Not just any art. Apollo himself was a clue, since da Vinci was his son. He painted this," Nico gestured towards the Mona Lisa, who winked at them. Wait a minute.

Nico surged forward to stare more closely at the painting, but the guards on either side of the velvet rope seemed to snap up as soon as he got too close. Nico froze as their jerky movements caused them to shimmer a bit, and the Mist around them cleared: they were mechanical, made of celestial bronze. In his peripheral vision, he could see Percy and Jason already in a battle stance, weapons materializing. The Mona Lisa opened her mouth and began to say something, but it was muffled by the bulletproof glass covering the painting.

"She's trying to tell us something, we need to get the glass off of her," Nico muttered, but the bronze guards seemed to have other plans. They surged forward and Nico barely had time to dodge their blows; as he spun out of the way, their sharp metal fists collided against Percy's sword with a CLANG.

"Jason, you take the other one! If we lead them away from here, Nico can get the painting!" he shouted, looking astonishingly handsome locked in battle against the automaton. Nico gulped, shaking his head free of these thoughts... what was the matter with him, they were in the middle of a battle! Turning to Jason, he could already see the blonde beginning to lure the other guard away from Nico with a determined expression on his face.

"Nico, you got this!" he called out, and despite all the weird shit going on between the three of them, Nico felt that these interactions were genuine. Gritting his teeth, he rushed over to the velvet rope and hopped over it.

Well that's it for now! I might have more to post here in the next few days, as I really want to finish this story while the inspiration is so good! :) Please leave me a review letting me know what you think might happen next~