Chapter Six—The Suitors

By the time he arrived back to the Great House, it was time for dinner. This wasn't like the previous feasts though. Although it would still be a full, sumptuous meal, this time, instead of having dinner with the royal family, the meal would only be between the remaining suitors. Nico really wanted to skip it. Socialising… that was undesirable beyond compare. Having to talk to his romantic competitors was going to be… unpleasant. And yet, after ensuring that the gift was safely in his room, he went anyway. After all, this was probably going to be his only chance to size up his competition before they went into rotation dates with the Prince. The more charismatic a suitor was, the greater the chance he would stand in Nico's way. That was unacceptable.

Don't get him wrong. He wasn't planning to kill them off or anything—just maybe a few prayers to the gods. For them to get sent away. That's all.

All because his Nome worshipped the God of Death didn't mean he wanted to murder people.

He walked into the dining room designated for the suitors, scanning the room carefully. He recognised the faces of a few of them, though their names wouldn't come to mind. Sitting himself between two blonds, he almost slammed his face down to the table in boredom. And he would have done so too if he hadn't felt the need to keep up a dignified front.

Surprisingly, Nico wasn't the last one to arrive so his agony was unfortunately prolonged, what with the unspoken rule that a feast could not begin until all guests have arrived. It was terrible. Seriously, the nerve of some people.

Anyway, once all the suitors finally arrived, the dinner started. But honestly, Nico's evening didn't improve. Everyone was talking around him while he stayed silent and just ate. He really couldn't wait for this to be over. In fact, Nico started to daydream about tomorrow's Gift Presentation Ceremony, all thoughts of sizing up the competition forgotten. About how he'd stun and amaze the Prince. Surely, the Prince would love his gift. Love it so much that after the Ceremony, everyone else would be sent home, as the Prince would already know whom to choose.

"Um… hello? Are you okay?" One of the blonds next to him asked. Those words pulled Nico out of his daydream, much to his annoyance.

"What?" Nico replied, sending the person a death glare. "What exactly do you want?"

Looking at the blond, Nico could also see that he had blue eyes. The mark of the elite. The mark of the gods. So out of place in Egypt, really. Nico could actually feel a tinge of envy inside him. Not that he actually wanted to have those outstanding traits—it looked pretty unnatural to him—especially since it would be almost impossible to hide and would draw a lot of unwanted attention. But in this race for the Prince's hand, it would definitely be an added benefit. The Pharaoh would probably look out for someone like that. The royalty all had those abnormal bright eyes. Even his beautiful Prince. What if the gods chose someone similar for the Prince?

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," The person said while putting his hands up into a 'surrender' position. "You're a grumpy little fella, aren't you? A bit mood swingy too… Tutu not treating you well?"

"I'm fine. Why did you even bother talking to me in the first place?" Nico spat.

The person shrugged. "Well, if you really must know, you were smiling in a very weird way. It just seemed like something that you needed to be snapped out from, I guess. Plus, you're the only one not talking. Just thought we could strike up a conversation, you know? Make friends?

"Oh and my name's Jason, if you want to know. Just putting it out there."

Nico furrowed his eyebrows, feeling confused. The fact that he did not introduce himself by his title, or his father's name, was weird, to say the least. Even Nico, who didn't much care for his title, always announced his title first. Quite informal. Nico had no idea why but it made it easier to trust this 'Jason'.

Nico sighed. "I'm Nico. And to be honest, I wasn't talking because I didn't want to. But if I must…"

Jason shook his head in amusement. "Wow, you're a downer. Don't really know how you're the Princess' favourite… Still better than that arrogant fool though." Jason gestured to the pale blond on Nico's other side. "Man, he wouldn't stop bragging."

Nico only heard up to 'Princess' favourite' before his brain tuned out. He was about to ask Jason about that off-handed statement but was interrupted.

"I can hear you, son of Zeus," the aforementioned blond said, in an almost bored tone. "It's really immature to bad mouth someone behind their back. And it's not bragging when it's true."

"Oh sorry Octavian," Jason mocked, causing Octavian to scowl at the use of his first name, stripped of his title and all. "Didn't mean to offend you. Wait, except I do. And I wasn't bad mouthing you behind your back. I absolutely meant for you to hear it."

"Why am I even talking to you?" Octavian said, exasperated. "My words are clearly wasted on you."

"Your words are wasted on me? Really? Well—"

Nico went back to eating his meal. He had a feeling that he wouldn't be able to ask his question for a while.

Though he couldn't stop hearing those words in his head…

Could they actually be true?

Percy felt exhausted. So tired, in fact, that he skipped dinner and went straight to bed.

However, once Percy lied back and closed his eyes, he was immediately transported back into his weird interconnected dream. He was right back where he was the last time, staring out into the battlefield full of foreign soldiers. Fear pierced his heart once again. It didn't matter that he knew it was a dream. Dreams weren't just dreams, after all. Every dream held a bit of truth in them. Especially if it ran like a storyline. If he didn't know any better, Percy might have guessed that some god or goddess was trying to communicate with him…

"You finally figured it out." A voice came from behind Percy, startling him. He turned, only to see a woman, whose stomach seemed to be enlarged. Almost…swollen. Pregnant. This was definitely not normal.

Percy pointed to himself, feeling unsure as he said, "Are you talking to me?"

The woman nodded.

"You can hear me?" Percy asked in disbelief. He had thought that no one could interact with him in this dream.

The woman nodded once again. Only this time she disappeared right after, before appearing right next to Percy, hand on his shoulder.

"Of course I can hear you. After all, I'm the reason why you're here."