~*~*~
Nico was resting his forehead on the end of his pen as he listened to the professor talk about pre-World War II America. He'd already been reprimanded twice for enhancing the knowledge of his professor, who didn't know Nico had lived through those times, so he had just decided to tune out. His mind of course wandered to Percy. He hadn't seen his boyfriend in months. Always busy chasing this half-blood down, or on that adventure with Annabeth and Grover. Nico understood that Percy was more accepting of his family lineage than he was, and didn't expect him to come to college with him, but sometimes he wondered why they were even together at all. When the younger man wasn't studying, he was in the Underworld doing his father's bidding, so even when Percy had the time to be with him Nico couldn't reciprocate. Still... he loved the fish for brains warrior and kept telling himself that eventually things would calm down and they could be together for an extended period of time. He heard the sound of books closing and focused back on reality. Students were leaving the classroom as others filtered in. It was the last class of his day, so he leisurely left it to the other, more eager listeners.
He walked to one of his hiding spaces to shadow travel back to his home in the Underworld. Home, he scoffed. Every day the vast Underworld was feeling smaller and smaller and Nico was itching to get out. He knew he'd always have to come back for this or that his father needed doing; he was really the only outside player Hades had, but he also wanted to establish himself as his own man, with his own things to be done and his own home and just... his own something. Even his boyfriend didn't seem to be exclusively his. Percy was always with those other two, or at camp, or doing something that he knew Nico couldn't be a part of. Nico sighed. He felt like a selfish child with the way he was bitching about a perfectly lovely life, but he had the right to feelings and he was going to feel them. Sometimes it felt like he didn't even miss Percy, and that scared him most of all. It made him nauseous to think about it further, so he put on his trusty giant headphones and used some guy's screaming and hard hitting breakdowns to fill his mind as he dissipated into the shadows.
A few weeks later, the last day of the semester, to be exact, Nico was taking his aggression out on the snow. He was stomping his way to class, purposely leaving the sidewalk to destroy the delicate frosted crust that had formed on top of the white powdery snow. Destroying something somehow made him feel better, though he wasn't sure why he was in a bad mood in the first place. He was about to stomp on a nice little mound of snow someone had made the day before when a tanned, furry boot took the pleasure away from him. He looked up just in time to see a blonde freshman girl skitting away to join her friends, laughing as if she had done something oh so scandalous. Nico resisted the urge to envelop her in a column of flames and turned his music up, continuing to stomp his way to class, though it was now less satisfying.
This particular class always helped him feel better. It was an earth science class. While most of the other students were bored stiff, Nico loved learning about everything his father had an influence over. In a way, it helped him understand himself better as well. Sure, the professor wasn't his favorite guy, but he could get over that. All he needed to do was pass this class, and he was one step further to doing what he wanted. A few hours later he found himself in his dreaded history class. In his opinion, the fact that he had passed his GED's history section should have meant that he didn't need to go over it again, but college was rigged that way, he'd discovered. Instead of his typcial leisurely stroll out of class, he was gone as soon as the professor had said that class was over. He wasn't sure what he was going to do to fix his bad mood, but he knew that staying there wasn't it. He was practically running to his secret spot, taking minor delight in ruining the pristine sheet of snow with his boots, when he suddenly paused. Had he heard his name? He turned around, wondering if he had left his book in his haste to leave. He wasn't expecting to see Percy running toward him and stood frozen, unsure of what to do. As his boyfriend approached he felt a strange kind of panic inside. He told himself that it was excitement at seeing his lover after so long.
"Nico... hi." Percy said, somewhat breathless, "Why did you pick a school at such a high altitude?" he gasped.
Nico's heart twitched at Percy's vulnerable look and reached out to rub the taller man's back. Physical contact felt strange after so long, but so familiar, too. "Less monsters up here." he finally answered. By then Percy had recovered and smiled a little before moving in to kiss his boyfriend. Nico felt that panic again, but let it happen. Kissing was nice. He told himself not to get too cozy; Percy would be gone all too soon, but for the first time in a while, he felt so warm. He kissed Percy again, reaching up to hold his face there for a moment. Percy took the hint and they slowly made out for a few minutes.
"What are you doing here?" the younger man finally asked.
"I came to see my Nico, duh." Percy said, grabbing the other's hands.
Black eyes looked up into green ones, "How long?"
"As long as I can."
Nico looked away. He didn't like that answer, but knew Percy was doing the best that he could. "Did you know that today is the last day of my classes for a while?"
"No. I was going to try to get you to skip a day or two."
"No way. I'm a genius and would like to stay that way." and he didn't want Percy to think that he could just drop everything whenever his lover felt like it, but he wasn't going to say that.
Percy smiled, "Well I love my genius boyfriend, so I'm willing to wait until you're finished with class today before I smother you."
Nico's stomach turned for some strange reason, but he ignored it, "I just had my last class." Percy smiled and gave him a look that said, 'Really?' so Nico grabbed his hand, "Come get some soup with me." His boyfriend wasn't one to argue with Nico's random requests, so he followed him through the snow, ignoring the fact that his sneakers were soaked and his feet were freezing. He could fix that once he was inside. They walked several blocks without saying anything. Percy was getting a strange vibe from Nico, but then he was typically a stand-offish person. Not so much to Percy, though. Had he done something wrong? Still... Nico had kissed him in that needing way that he always did, so he can't be in too much trouble, right? Before he could think further they had arrived in a smallish little place, and he was glad to be warm again.
They sat down on two spinning seats at the counter. The place was decorated like an old soda shop, so Percy was wondering why they had gone there for soup. A man with golden hair maybe in his late thirties appeared from the back, looking tired until he spotted the two men.
"Hello Nico. Creamy potato, or brocolli cheese?" The man asked.
"Creamy potato for me aaaand..." he looked at Percy, "Do you like sourdough bread?"
"It's okay I guess." Percy answered, wondering what bread had to do with soup.
"Potato or brocolli?"
"Um... potato?"
The man nodded and wrote it down, then looked at them again, "Anything to drink this time around?"
"I don't know why, but I really want chocolate milk." Nico said, then turned to Percy again.
"Um... soda?"
"What kind, sweetie?"
"Bah, I don't know." Percy said. He had never been good at ordering. Something about the pressure of deciding.
"I'll surprise you." the man said and then turned to leave.
"Come here often?" Percy asked.
"Yeah. Even though it's 50's themed, it still kind of reminds me of 'home' you know? Besides, Derek's malts are the bomb."
Percy laughed, "Man I missed you and your attempts at using today's lingo." he said and kissed Nico's cheek.
Nico gave his little half smile, "I missed you doting on my epic awesomeness." Shit, he could feel himself getting attached to Percy again. He really had missed him.
"Ah I love it." Percy wrapped his arm around Nico's waist. He almost took it away when the man called Derek came back in, but Nico leaned into him, letting him know that it was okay. Derek set down the drinks first and Percy saw that his soda was blue. How had Derek known that? Then a bread bowl filled with blue soup was placed in front of him.
"No way." he said and looked at Nico for answers.
"Derek is a son of Hestia." Nico said.
"That and Nico talks about you a lot." Derek said, leaning on the counter.
"Derek's dating a son of Apollo." Nico said as he unwrapped his straw.
The man rolled his eyes, "I fell for his dancing, what can I say?" he stood straight again and Nico handed him some money in drachma form.
"Is this place demigod exclusive or something?" Percy asked, stirring his blue soup.
"Occasionally mortals manage to stumble in, but only on accident, and I'm happy to serve them, but I do try to serve a certain clientele." Derek said, handing Nico his change. "I'll be in the back so that you two can catch up. It sounds like Nico hasn't seen you in a while." he winked and then left the two men alone.
Nico ate some of his soup and licked his spoon, "I do love me some soup." he said. Percy tried some as well. He wasn't usually a soup kind of guy, but this was good and it helped warm him up.
"Derek's been known to add a special ingredient when I need it." Nico said, eating some more.
"You make ambrosia sound like a drug."
"Well, it kind of is when you think about it."
"I guess."
They continued eating their soup for a while, and Nico kept wanting to hold Percy's hand, but he couldn't let himself do that, so he satisfied himself with leaning his thigh against the other man's. The door opened and the blonde freshman walked in.
"Daughter of Aphrodite." Nico muttered, "She's always bugging me."
"She probably likes you." Percy teased.
"Of course she does. Too bad she can't accept the fact that I like penis."
Percy laughed, "Maybe she has one."
"I highly doubt she's a hermaphrodite." Nico said, then the two men looked at each other and laughed as they realized the joke in 'hermAPHRODITE'. As they ate, a few more students came in. Nico was able to tell Percy which gods most of them belonged to, and also pointed out the oblivious humans. Percy found it strange to eat your soup bowl, but he wasn't one to waste food, so he followed Nico's example and tore it to pieces. He couldn't eat it all, though.
"That's fine. Derek has a pet in the back that will take care of it." Nico said.
"Do you and Derek hang out a lot or something?"
"No. This is just my choice dinner location, and we have good conversation when it's not busy. Why, jealous?"
"Maybe." Percy blushed.
Nico kissed his cheek and stood up, "Where to now?"
Percy thought for a moment, "You're on vacation, right?"
"Yup. Three weeks of light study and heavy petting."
"Would you be opposed to checking out Atlantis with me?"
"Won't I drown?"
Percy snickered, "Of course not."
"O-Okay." Nico was a little bit nervous. Percy hadn't exactly been welcome in the Underworld when he visted, and the thought of the unknown, plus being under a jillion pounds of water had him biting his lip.
"You'll be okay." Percy kissed Nico's forehead, "I promise."
"Let me get packed real quick." Nico started to walk over to the restroom. For a moment Percy wondered why he kept his stuff in a bathroom, then he realized that Nico was going in there to shadow travel, just in case a mortal was in the soda shop.
"Want to come with?" Nico asked.
"Duh." Sure, Percy wasn't a big fan of shadow traveling, but he wanted to be with Nico as much as possible.
x.x.x.x.x
"Nico? Nico! Wake up!"
Black eyes opened and he focused on the strange fish floating above him. The thought had him feeling faint again. How embarassing. He had arrived in Atlantis, only to have a claustrophobic panic attack and pass out. Now everyone probably thought he was some kind of pansy. He forced himself to sit up and look tough, even though his head was still swimming, for lack of a better word. Poseidon was looking at him warily, Percy had concern in his eyes, and Tyson had curiosity blinking in his one eye.
"You ok?" Percy asked.
"Of course." Nico said, shaking off the last of his nausea. He looked around. He was in a very ornate hallway on a blue striped fainting couch.
"I've got to go, son. You two don't go getting into trouble, okay?" Poseidon said, speaking to Percy, but watching Nico. "Come along, Tyson."
When the two were alone again Percy sat next to his boyfriend, "You scared the shit out of me, Nico." he said quietly.
"Sorry. I didn't even know that I could get that freaked out."
"Well just try and relax." Percy rested his head on Nico's for a moment, "Want me to carry you to my room?"
"No! I've made a big enough fool of myself already."
"Come on, they don't think you're weak. Don't be like that."
Nico stood up, "I appreciate what you're trying to do, but it's my pride, not yours."
"Okay." Percy stood up and picked up Nico's duffle bag, "Follow me."
They went down the hallway and Nico watched the ceiling, which was transparent and showed all of the strange creatures swimming around at the bottom of the sea. Percy opened a doorway at the end of the hallway and they stepped inside. It was smaller than Nico would have imagined, but it was round, which was kind of cool. A large bed with a plush blue comforter was directly in front of them. After Nico's little fainting spell, the bed looked incredibly inviting. No, he wanted to look strong, and taking a nap was not the way to do it.
"Your bedroom's boss, but can I get the tour?" Nico asked. It felt strange to be in Percy's room under the sea. He felt like he didn't belong in there.
"As long as you promise not to use the word 'boss' in that way again."
"You never let me have fun with my vocabulary." Nico pouted.
Percy kissed his forehead, "Yes I do. I just don't want you sounding silly with some of your terminology."
"Whatevs." Nico rolled his eyes.
Percy really really wanted to ban that word as well, but he decided to let Nico have that one... for now. He led the smaller man out of the room and down the hall, pointing out pieces of art or a cool fish as it swam by. Nico still looked more pale than usual, but seemed to be perking up... well as much as his brooding lover ever did.
A few hours later they were returning to Percy's room. The younger man looked around.
"Where's your shower?"
Percy pointed to a door at his right. He made to follow Nico, but the smaller man shook his head.
"Come on, Nico. Don't let those people make you feel bad."
As they had toured the city, the locals had given the couple glares and a few had even closed the doors to their shops right in the men's faces. It seemed the people of the sea didn't like having a son of Hades in their prescence. One woman had asked Nico why he wanted to bring death to their world.
"It's not just them..." Nico whispered. He didn't want to sound like he was whining to Percy, so he stopped his sentence, "I'll feel better after a shower, k?"
"I want to come with you." Percy said, giving Nico a pleading green eyed stare.
That was the first and last thing that Nico wanted. He needed Percy, but just couldn't let himself enjoy his company too much. It would make parting just too painful. He had to remain distant.
"Sorry. I just need to think."
Percy pouted, "Fine."
Nico walked into the bathroom and removed his shirt before throwing it at Percy and closing the door. Percy listened to the water turn on and sat impatiently on his bed. He could tell that Nico was holding himself back and he wanted to know why. Maybe he didn't like him anymore. No, Percy could tell in little ways that Nico still cared about him. Still... maybe he had fallen in love with someone else. With Derrick? No, that wasn't it, either. Percy chewed his lip in frustration. Frustration. Maybe Nico just needed something to loosen him up.
Percy walked over to the closed door of the bathroom and leaned against it. He concentrated on the water in the shower. He could feel the droplets falling onto Nico's skin. He used his power to move the water falling to the bottom of the bathtub up Nico's legs, carressing his skin. He heard Nico gasp through the door and smiled. He then concentrated again and had the water continue up Nico's legs and over his chest and arms. He heard splashes and then Nico say quietly.
"Percy, please stop."
Nico was pushing the offending water off of his skin, actually dreading it coming up any higher on his legs. He felt relieved when Percy obeyed him, the water lifelessly splashing to the bottom of the tub.
Percy slid down the wall next to the door. The tone of Nico's voice made him feel terrible. It made him feel like he had tried to violate Nico, and he wasn't that kind of guy. What was up with his boyfriend, anyway? It was really starting to worry the warrior. A few moments later the door opened and Nico stepped out in only boxers and a towel around his shoulders.
"I forgot pajamas." Nico said in that same quiet tone of voice, like a slapped child who was afraid to get into more trouble.
Percy stood up and went over to his dresser. He pulled out a cerulean shirt that was too big for himself and handed it to Nico. The smaller man put it on and threw the towel into the bathroom before facing Percy. He suddenly couldn't resist and hugged his lover. Percy was confused at Nico's behavior, but hugged him back in earnest.
"I'm tired." Nico said, wanting this trange situation to be over. Maybe he'd feel normal tomorrow.
"You can go to bed." Percy said, gently leading Nico over to the bed. He pulled back the covers and Nico laid down. Percy turned off the light and then walked over to the other side of the bed and stripped down to his boxers before getting into bed beside the smaller body. He thought that Nico was already asleep, but as soon as he had settled comfortably the colder body curled up away from him.
"I love you, Percy." Nico said, barely audible, before his body went slack.
"I love you, too." Percy replied, though he had a feeling that Nico hadn't heard him.
x.x.x.x
"It's so weird seeing you in color." Percy said the next morning, "I kind of like it."
"It's just so... bright." Nico lifted the cerulean night shirt to remove it.
"Could I convince you to maybe wear navy someday?"
Nico gave his little half smile, "Maybe on your birthday." he said and then pulled on a black and white graphic tee. Percy took the half smile as a victory and then let himself fawn over how cute Nico looked today. But then, he thought his boyfriend looked cute all the time. Nico was still his distant self, remaining generally quiet and nearly shying away from the older boy's affections. Percy decided that if Nico was still acting that way by dinner, he would have to ask about it. His stomach turned at the idea of confrontation.
They shared a small breakfast in the palace before leaving it to explore the city some more. A few of the residents had something to say about the couple, but otherwise kept to themselves.
"This is so... normal." Nico said, watching everyone as they passed by. "I was expecting something more... mermaidy."
"It's that way if you go outside a certain area. This way we get to relax and do mortal things without having to go to the surface."
"Cool."
"So Nico, I-"
"What is *that*?" Nico asked just as a large shadow passed over them. Percy looked over to see what looked like a giant serpent swimming around the perimeter of their "bubble" enclosure.
"That's a leviathan. Don't worry; he just gets attracted to the light of our city sometimes, but he usually figures out that we're not food and leaves pretty soon."
"Hmm..." Nico said, not convinced of his safety.
"Anyway, I was going to ask you about something." Percy said, looking back over at his lover.
The younger man gave him a nervous look, "Yes?"
"Since I came and got you I've felt like sometimes you don't like me anymore."
Nico leaned against the rubbery surface of whatever force was keeping the water away, "Of course I like you, Percy. I love you, actually."
"Then why do I feel like you'd rather I left you alone?"
"It's nothing."
"No." Percy said firmly, "Fuck that. You're going to tell me what your problem is." his voice softened, "You can tell me, Nico, even if it'll break my heart."
Nico looked at him. He'd never thought about his behavior really hurting Percy; that his lover might think he'd found someone else. He sighed and stood up straight, looking at Percy.
"The thing is that I'm selfish."
Percy laughed, "What?"
Nico was about to elaborate when the wall vibrated. They both looked at each other and then at the bubble. Suddenly they heard screaming and crashes. Now in warrior mode, they would talk later. They both took off running toward the screaming and Nico stopped in his tracks as he watched the leviathan slithering through the bubble wall. It was crushing the buildings in its way, and Nico watched as people ran away, vacating the various shops just before they were demolished.
Percy was watching the carnage as well, but he continued running toward the creature, Riptide in hand. In a leap of faith he lunged forward and stabbed the leviathan. The serpent screamed in pain and rounded on Percy, snapping its jaws at the warrior. Percy managed the climb up the body and stabbed the creature in the back of the head, and it stilled for a moment. The son of Poseidon was waiting for it to turn into gold dust when the serpent undulated, tossing Percy to the ground. Percy watched helplessly as the serpent's tail swung closer and closer to his face.
Quiet. It was too quiet for Percy to feel comfortable. Of course his broken humerus wasn't helping. He managed to sit up and saw red. Blood was everywhere. Shit. Where was Nico? He awkwardly rolled onto his feet, grimacing with the pain in his arm. He ran through the thick puddle of blood in front of him, seeing bodies everywhere, but not Nico's. Even the leviathan's body was lying there, smoking slightly. Strange. Why hadn't it turned into gold dust? He got around the huge dead serpent and saw Nico, on his knees and looking shocked.
"Nico! Are you okay?" he shouted, running to the younger man. Black eyes turned to him.
"I'm sorry." Nico whispered before passing out. It was suddenly as if someone had pressed a play button. Noise filled the air as the laying bodies stood up, crying and wondering what had happened. A man nearby spit on the body of the leviathan and then looked over to Percy, who was holding a fainted Nico in his good arm.
"We all knew that boy was no good." he said before turning and leaving to help the other victims. Percy glared at his back and then nudged Nico. In a half-conscious state Nico leaned against his boyfriend and they made their way back into the castle. Percy set Nico down as delicately as he could with one arm and then made his way over to a fountain which was spouting sea water. He used the water to heal himself and then dragged the smaller body closer to the fountain before splashing some water on Nico's face.
"Is everyone okay?" were the first words out of Nico's mouth.
"I'm not sure. It looked pretty bad." Percy answered.
Nico rubbed his face, "I just didn't know what else to do. I figured they would be safer if they were all asleep."
Poseidon entered the room with a very upset Tyson. Percy quickly stood up, "Father, it wasn't Nico's fault-" Poseidon raised a hand to silence his son.
"I know this."
Tyson sniffled, "I just wanted to pet him."
Tyson had let the leviathan in. Percy's stomach dropped as he realized that everyone would think it was Nico anyway.
"I'm going to try and explain things to our people, but you have to understand something, son." he looked between Percy and Nico, "They're going to blame what makes sense to them, no matter what."
Percy nodded, even though he wanted to yell at his father to make sure everyone knew that Nico had tried to save them all. Poseidon left with Tyson and Percy knelt near Nico.
"Come on, I'll take you to my room."
"I can walk." Nico said stubbornly, but when he got to his feet he swayed and let himself lean on Percy. They got to Percy's room and Percy laid the smaller body down on the bed before fetching a glass of water.
"I'm not meant for any of this, Percy."
Percy's heart hurt for how broken Nico sounded. He had just saved a city from destruction and he was feeling guilty!
"They know the truth, Nico. They'll admit it eventually."
"It doesn't matter. I'm still the bad guy."
"No you're not."
Nico kicked his shoes off, "Whatever."
Percy sat next to his boyfriend and nuzzled the younger man's neck before kissing him on the side of his face. Nico moved away.
"I wish you wouldn't do that." Nico said quietly. Percy's instinct was to laugh it off and tell Nico that he liked it, but he knew something was really wrong.
"Why?" he asked quietly.
Black eyes looked into his, "The closer I let myself get to you again, the harder it is to let you leave." Nico's skin began to flush as he felt exposed and silly talking about it, "I just can't anymore, Percy."
Green eyes looked away as the warrior silently comprehended what was being said. Was Nico breaking up with him? Percy felt panic in his chest at the thought, then his stubborn streak kicked in. No, fuck that. He was *not* going to lose Nico. At least not without a really good fight.
"Can't what?" he asked, trying to sound as level as possible. Maybe he didn't need to panic.
Nico gestured around the room, "All of this." he sighed, "I just don't want to be a part of it."
Hmm, kind of vague. "Part of what?"
"I'm just ... tired, I guess." Nico's voice started to rise as he spilled the secrets he'd been harboring for months, "I'm tired of quests and fighting monsters and the talk and just... fuck. Everything."
Percy felt the stab of hurt and couldn't hide it, "Everything?"
Hearing Percy's hurt broke the dam and Nico felt hot tears falling down his cheeks, "I love you, Percy. That's the problem. I love you so fucking much, but I only get to see you every few weeks. I've tried to be a part of what you're a part of, but I'm just pushed out. I get so scared that one day you won't come back and then I'll hate myself for not being there for you and I just-" he paused as a wave of emotion choked him, "I can't deal with it anymore."
The other man didn't reply. He, too, was crying. He hated what Nico had said. He hated that part of it was his fault. Annabeth and Grover had never really treated Nico very well, but Percy hadn't realized that their behavior actually hurt his boyfriend. He was just too damn quiet about things like that. He didn't want to lose Nico just because he had felt left out. But then, it wasn't just that. He knew Nico's powers exhausted him, and he almost always had to use them when fighting monsters. He pulled Nico against him as they continued sobbing and he attempted to control himself.
"We'll be okay, Nico. We'll find a way." Percy said desperately.
Nico looked up at him, "I don't want to lose you." he moved up to kiss Percy. He kissed him like he was thirsty and his boyfriend was water. He didn't know how they would make it work, but the way Percy said it made Nico believe it was possible.
"Son."
The two parted and looked at Poseidon. He gave no reaction to having walked in on the two of them, but just gave Percy a hard stare, "You need to come with me."
"Nico too?"
Poseidon shook his head, "You."
Nico got up and wiped his face, trying to appear normal, "It's okay. I need to go, anyway." he looked at Percy, "And just so you know, it's okay that you forgot about our plans. I didn't really want them anyway." With that Nico disappeared into the shadows and Percy was left staring into the space where his boyfriend had been.
"Son, we need to go. Everyone is waiting for you."
Percy looked over to his father and got up, feeling kind of shellshocked. What had just happened? What was Nico talking about at the end? He couldn't fathom what "them" referred to. Maybe he was as bad as Nico had made him out to be. He followed his father, who remained silent on the matter, until they came to the front of the castle. A crowd was waiting for them. Percy listened to Poseidon tell everyone what had happened, and Tyson sobbed as he begged for their forgiveness. He knew it was important stuff and that he should care, but all he cared about was Nico. All he ever cared about was Nico. He was worried about where he had gone, and the fact that they hadn't confirmed nor denied the end of their relationship. He understood where Nico was coming from. Sometimes he hated feeling like he didn't have a choice over his own life, but he had made it work. Maybe he should have tried harder somewhere. Should he have tried to make Nico not go to school so they would be together more often? No, that was stupid. Should he have given up his responsibilities at camp and gone to school with Nico? No, he wouldn't have felt right about that. He kicked the ground in frustration. What was he going to do now that the damage was already done?
"Percy."
He looked up to see his father giving him a stern look. It was his turn to placate the crowd. He defended Nico, and as he did he realized that he always would be, no matter if they were together or not. It seemed like he was the only one who realized how good and kind he was. He could tell that the people still didn't agree with him, but they seemed to be trying to accept Percy's words out of respect. They could always talk shit on the two of them later. When the crowd had dissipated Percy made a mad dash to the hippokampoi stables, vaguely hearing Poseidon call his name. He had to find Nico, and he had to find him now.
wwwww
Oh no, trouble in paradise! I know Nico seems kind of... weak just now, but no worries. He kicks ass in the ending. This is prolly just a 2 chapter deal, but we'll see. Thanks for reviews and I love youuuu.