Nicercy || PJatO || Pipabeth || The Dream of a Normal Life || Jayna || PJatO || Frazeleo

Title: The Dream of a Normal Life – Attending the Athena University of Applied Science

Fandom: Percy Jackson and the Olympians / Heroes of Olympus; right after Mark of Athena

PJatO Disclaimer: All rights reserved to Rick Riordan for he created the awesomeness that is Nico di Angelo. And everything else related to Percy Jackson and the Olympians / Heroes of Olympus. Aside from the Gods, of course. They are all copyright by the old Greeks. This fanfiction on the other hand is entirely mine. No money is made with this, though reviews are more than welcomed.

Warnings: shounen-ai, hetero, threesome, shoujo-ai, fluff, memory loss/fake memories, explicit intercourse, anal, masturbation, toys, D/s, bondage, cheating (sort of)

Main Pairing: most main being Nico/Percy, with a-bit-more-than-average Frank/Hazel/Leo, Piper/Annabeth and Jason/Reyna

Side Pairings: Percy/Annabeth (to-be-past), Jason/Piper (to-be-past), Frank/Hazel (established), Thalia/Bianca, Tyson/Ella, Chris/Clarisse, Charles/Silena, Grover/Juniper, Ethan/Alabaster, Jake/Will, Malcolm/Katie, Lou/Miranda, Shane/Lacy, Gleeson/Mellie, Luke/Leo (onesided), Octavian/Percy (onesided)

Percy Jackson Characters: Perseus Jackson, Nico di Angelo, Leo Valdez, Hazel Levesque, Frank Zhang, Annabeth Chase, Piper McLean, Reyna Anderson, Jason Grace, Gaia

Percy, Frank & Reyna's Sports Major: Hylla Anderson, Kinzie Cohen, Bianca di Angelo, Zoe Nightshade, Phoebe Burge, Thalia Grace, Clarisse la Rue,

Nico's Medical Major: Will Solace, Kayla Hein, Austin Barton, Mitchell Logan, Lacy Hunnigan

Leo & Hazel's Arts and Crafts Major: Alabaster C. Torrington, Lou Ellen, Silena Beauregard, Tyson Jackson, Charles Beckendorf, Jake Mason, Nyssa Black, Shane McNabb, Miranda Gardner

Annabeth's Literature Major: Malcolm Cage, Octavian Simmons, Rachel Elizabeth Dare, Ella Dare

Piper's Law Enforcement Major: Drew Tanaka, Travis Stoll, Connor Stoll, Juniper Underwood

Jason's Management Major: Luke Castellan, Ethan Nakamura, Chris Rodriguez, Katie Gardner

Faculty Staff: Sally Jackson, Paul Blofis, Howard Claymore, Mellie Hedge, Gleeson Hedge, Lupa Brunner, Chiron Brunner, Grover Underwood

Animals & Pets: Blackjack, Arion, Scipio, Tempest, Mrs. O'Leary, Argentum, Aurum

Summary: Gaia had once before send Hazel a vision of how her life could have been and gave her the decision to stay in the dream, have a life at Sammy's side.

Now she has managed to capture the Seven of the Great Prophecy, together with Reyna and Nico, and send them into a shared dream. A dream of a normal life, where they just start college, have to fight with social stands, love, rivalry and tests instead of monsters and prophecies. The problem is, Gaia has robbed them of their memories, making them believe that this dream is reality. That the nine of them are roommates and that most of them have never even met each other. Now they have to handle disturbing nightmares of monsters, strange flashbacks that make them remember faces they should have never seen before and an eerie feeling. Even though Gaia may have left them with their memories of their relationships (Percabeth, Jasper, Frazel), now that they have lost their memories of the adventures and forces that had caused them to be, they start seeing each other in a different light. So on top of the harsh life of students and reality slowly seeping into their dream-world, they start having feelings for their roommates and some start questioning why they have ever started dating each other to begin with (ending Percabeth and Jasper emotionally within the first chapter, because I really can't write that), leading to very much jealousy, some cheating and possibly curse-dream breaking new love-bonds.

This is going to be something different. It has elements I already used and love to use - like that normal life setting from "Welcome to Olympus High" and the twist of what happens post Mark of Athena like in "All the Percybilities" - but I intend to form something new and fresh out of it. From past experience of demanding sidepairings, I also thought it fit to put Pipabeth, Frazeleo and Jayna up into the main pairing list right from the start.

The Dream of a Normal Life

Attending the Athena University of Applied Science

Chapter 1: Swallowed and Spit Out

The last thing he saw, before they fell deeper and deeper into the darkness of Tartarus itself, was Nico's face. The son of Hades looked torn between emotions – angry, guilty, sad, regretful. As though he was just losing the most important thing in his life.

"Y—You should have let go, Percy!", whispered Annabeth into his ear.

She was clinging desperately to him as they were falling deeper and deeper into the pitch-black pit. He shook his head, holding her close, not wanting to lose her now, because then they would be truly separated, both on their own in the darkest pit of the world.

"Never", replied Percy in a hushed voice, pressing her closer to himself. "You're the sister I never had and I will be damned if I let you face this alone, Annie."

Even though he couldn't see her in the dark, he still knew that she was smiling at him. It was a secret, their secret. That their relationship was fake. It hadn't always been, at first they had been misguided by the pushing campers into believing that they were meant to be. But after only a short while, they realized that they weren't meant to be. They shared no common interests, or at least not those that mattered. Their deepest, dearest passions were things the other could not understand and no relationship could work if one always spaced out whenever the other talked. But with the pressure of camp, with being their leaders and their heroes, they had not yet dared to tell anyone. Pretending was easier than facing their disappointment and having to explain themselves. Because they did love each other, just not in the way everyone wanted them to. They were like siblings, had always been. Ever since he had first woken up to her taunting words, they had fallen into a back and forth of teasing, she teasing him more than he did with her because she was the 'big sister', as Annabeth had stated and thus had more rights than he did. Never argue with a wise girl.

"W—What if... if something happens to them?!", exclaimed Annabeth worried. "Now that they're on their own... I... What if they start fighting and everything fails? You know the distrust between Nico and Jason and how much Frank and Hazel edge on with Leo, what if-"

"They'll pull through", reassured Percy, closing his eyes tightly and praying that he was right. "They will, because Nico promised to watch over them, to lead them. They have him, they'll manage, I know it. Nico won't fail to find us and rescue us."

"Your trust in him is disturbing", muttered Annabeth skeptically, her nails digging into his shoulders. "I just hope you're right... if... if something happens to Piper... and the others..."

"Don't worry, my dear little demigods", hissed a voice that seemed to echo from everywhere as though the pit surrounding them was talking. "You will soon be reunited again with them. Without you, they will fail and I will capture them. But until then, you two will sleep. Now sleep."

Percy tried to fight it, he didn't want to sleep, but somehow the lulling voice, the endless darkness and the feeling of falling deeper and deeper made him drowsy. He could feel Annabeth's grip on him loosening a little, as though she was slowly drifting off too. The last thing he could think before sleep took over was that he prayed for Nico to lead the others to victory and to find him, to find them, and rescue them from Gaia's grasp. As it happened when on the verge of sleep, his thoughts got mushy and weird and the last image that passed his mind was how he was falling asleep like Sleeping Beauty and how he hoped Nico would come to his rescue like Prince Charming. The thought made him snort a little ridiculed, but it also send a slightly tingly and happy feeling through his body, because he knew he could count on Nico. Nico had always been there, would always be there, whenever Percy needed him the most.

"Sleep now, my precious little puppets", whispered Gaia as she caught the two in giant hands of earth from the pit around, cradling them close until the hands pressed against the walls and merged again, leaving the demigods in a cocoon of earth. "Sleep so I can bleed your power out."

/break\

Nico was trying to stand brave and walk with his chin upright as the Argo II landed near Athens. He could feel the metaphorical daggers Jason was throwing at his back, the blonde was still not trusting him. And it didn't help that Piper seemed awfully upset with him too ever since... since they had lost Percy and Annabeth. She was probably the one blaming him second most, right after himself, for what had happened. For not being able to hold onto them, to rescue them. And even though Nico was well-aware that Piper tried not to blame him, deep down she did.

"We'll rescue them. We need to", whispered his sister next to him, grabbing his hand reassuringly.

On her other side was Frank, looking gruff and angry, a look most of them had adapted ever since losing the heart and the brain of their mission. Ever since losing Percy and Annabeth. Looking over his shoulder, Nico could see Leo walking next to Jason and Piper. The Latino was awfully silent these days, probably also blaming himself, thinking what ifs about coming to their rescue with the Argo II faster. And that everybody was so on edge was not helping matters any either. Frank spend an awful lot of time snapping at Leo as though the son of Hephaestus himself was offending him with his mere existence. Even Hazel said that this was worse than before.

"You're here", sighed a relieved voice from the shadows.

The six of them turned to see Reyna. They had contacted her via IM a few days ago, hoping to reason with her. Just to realize that there was no need to reason with her for she was the only Roman still on their side. She had agreed to meet up with them to discuss how they could rescue Annabeth and Percy and how she could help by delaying and misleading the Romans for a little while longer. Octavian was on a war path and Reyna was the only thing standing between him and the destruction of the Argo II and the death of the six. Something Nico could not allow, because they were the only ones who could rescue Percy. And Annabeth too. And Nico had promised Percy that he would lead them to the doors, that he would protect the others in Percy's name. He wouldn't fail the son of Poseidon, never again would he fail the Sea Prince.

"I'm glad you could make it", nodded Nico shortly.

The daughter of Bellona send him a small smile, one that didn't reach her eyes and looked more tired and worn out than happy. But before she could even open her mouth to answer, it seemed that the earth itself started to swallow them. Nico cursed beneath his breath. They all hadn't slept in days, getting out of Rome had been a hardship with the mountain giants constantly attacking them. Their guard was down, they were all nearly too exhausted to even stand.

"No!", growled the son of Hades angered.

Not now and certainly not like this. It was too humiliating, being swallowed alive like that, without even having the chance to put a fight up. He couldn't fail Percy like that, he just couldn't.

"Don't worry, little demigod", whispered Gaia wickedly. "You will soon be reunited with them again. They will not know who you are and you will not know who they are, but you will see them again. Now sleep, my dear children. Sleep and you will see your friends again."

Nico tried to fight, to free himself from the earth's grasp. He could hear the others struggling behind him, cursing loudly and screaming. But the more he fought, the more his strength seemed to leave him. He was so tired and exhausted, all he wanted was to sleep. And to see Percy again. Couldn't he just have that? Some rest and the Sea Prince back. That sounded good.

"Sleep and I will bleed out all your energy and use it, I will awaken again and you will sleep for me instead", whispered Gaia with a wicked little laugh. "Such good, good children."

Nico tried to open his eyes. No, he couldn't sleep. He needed to do as he had promised Percy. And had Gaia just said that they wouldn't remember Percy and Annabeth and vice versa? Not again, he couldn't face Percy again without the Sea Prince remembering him. Never again.

/break\

"Percy!", screamed Nico, his voice raw as he sat up in his bed.

His heart was racing a mile an hour, his palms sweaty and his breath ragged. Shaking his head, trying to shake the nightmare off, he climbed out of his bed, pushing the black velvet sheets off. It was too hot for them away and he hated the cocooned feeling they gave him. Glaring at the sheets as though they had personally offended him, he walked over to the window, staring out at the night.

The darkness calmed him somehow, something he had never understood really. Others feared the darkness, yet to him it was somehow reassuring. The only thing odd was the view. Not odd, really. It was just the far-away looking skyline of Miami as he was living in a mansion a little off, a little away from the loud and noisy city. Still, it always startled him how close the city looked and how bright. Sometimes it made him feel like he wasn't from this world.

Shaking his head, he rested his forehead against the cool window. He was going crazy, Bianca was right. Living all alone in this big house was doing things to his mind. Like these nightmares. He didn't remember them, only blurry shapes and shadows and sometimes a name, always the same name. Percy. The way it ringed in his mind, it sounded important. But he didn't know anyone named Percy. He didn't know many people to begin with. Frowning at the skyline of Miami, he made a decision. He couldn't keep going crazy like that, he needed company.

The new semester would be starting soon and there were certainly still enough students out there who had not yet found a place to stay. Their little town close Miami was overly crowded with students, especially when the autumn semester started every year. Maybe if he'd put something into the papers, he would find some roommates to make this house less big and lonely and take his mind off of those crazy nightmares. Bianca would approve of this. Besides, it was going to be his first semester at Athena University, the start of a new life, as Bianca liked to say. AU offered him a whole new life and the chance of meeting new people.

Nodding determined, he turned back to his bed. Tomorrow, he would call the newspaper.

/break\

"Leo! Get your stuff together!", called a pretty native American a little irritated. "We need to leave."

"Right, right", nodded a small and cute Latino. "I know. But... where to? I mean, sure they accepted us at the university, but... we still need a place to stay. I'm not sleeping under the bridge."

The two roommates glared at each other for a little while, at least until their third roommate joined them. The blonde boy was looking sleepy and acting more mechanical as he leaned down to kiss his girlfriend, in his sleepy mind not even noticing how cunningly she dodged the kiss.

"I've been going through the Terrapolis Daily and there is one ad that sounds kind of promising", replied the girl, pointing at the newspaper. "Some guy, living in a 'spacious house on a hill overseeing Terrapolis' has rooms to rent to students, he's attending AU too so he wants to offer his help to fellow students who haven't found anything yet. Says the house even has a pool and a big property. He still has room for up to eight people. And it's not expensive."

"Sounds fishy, Piper", grunted the blonde with one raised eyebrow. "If it's really that spacious and has a pool and all, why should it be cheap? I don't trust this thing. What do you think, Leo?"

"Calling won't hurt", huffed Leo and snatched the newspaper away. "We need a place to life. Because the way between New York and Terrapolis is just too freaking long. Let's try."

"Yes", agreed Piper with a grin. "I mean, we'll fly there today anyway. We can at least look at the place. If the owner is some creepy pedophile who just wants pretty young boys and girls around him, we can still ditch it and stay in a hotel for a while."

/break\

The young woman frowned slightly as she pushed her long, black hair behind her ears. Her two dogs next to her yelped and whined curiously as though they were trying to tell her something. But her focus was on the newspaper in her hand. She had only arrived in Terrapolis this morning and she knew that it would be impossible to find a place to stay that late, but her acceptance letter from the Athena University had arrived late, giving her no chance to look for a place earlier.

Lifting her eyes off the newspaper, she looked up at the house in front of her. It was the right address alright. But that wasn't just a spacious house, it looked a little like a mansion. And the hill was practically overseeing the university's property, which made the 'close to campus' sort of ridiculous. Any closer and the house would be located on the school's property. Something had to be wrong with this place. It's owner was probably an old creep or something.

"Argentum, Aurum, calm down now!", glared the girl as her dogs pulled her to the house.

The two dobermans looked at her innocently and she rolled her eyes. Okay, time to check that house, maybe she was just being overly cautious again. Ringing the doorbell, she was surprised at who opened. That was not an old creep. The handsome Italian raised one eyebrow questioningly at her, water running down his well-built torso. Judging by the swimming shorts he was wearing and the towel drapped over his shoulder, the part about the pool seemed to be true.

"Hello, I'm Reyna Anderson. I'm here for the... rooms?", asked Reyna slowly. "Oh, and very important, I hope dogs won't be a problem, because I really can't move without them."

The boy, about her age if she had to guess, took a look at the dogs and shook his head before kneeling down. "Dogs aren't a problem. I like them. Name's Nico, Nico di Angelo. How about you guys come in and I show you the rooms? You're the first, so you got a free pick."

Argentum and Aurum climbed up onto Nico's knees and started to sniff his face as he patted their heads. Her dogs liked him already so he probably wasn't a serial killer. Probably.

/break\

Annabeth frowned as she sipped her coffee, staring over the shoulder of her boyfriend. Percy was, once again, absentmindedly doodling stuff. He wasn't very artistic, but it could be recognized as what it was. And that was probably what hat her so worried. He kept repeatedly drawing the same nonsense. A skull with burning red eyes, sometimes with two tridents crossed behind it. Was he joining a satanistic cult or something? It worried her.

"Percy", started the blonde slowly. "I know you've been avoiding this topic, but we need to find a place to stay. We barely even agreed on a college to attend. I doubt we'll find a place to live..."

"It's because you're all academics and architecture and I just want something where I can have different sports and a place that is homey, I don't care what influences it had", huffed the boy, looking up from his doodling. "Besides, I told you we can always stay with my mom for a little while longer. She said it's fine."

Right, Sally Jackson, the reason they had moved to Terrapolis to begin with. Percy had been at the same boarding school as Annabeth and they had been together since they were sixteen now. Three years, yet sometimes, or most of the time if she was being honest with herself, she felt more like his mom or his big sister, having to take care of him and think things through for him. Like with college, if she would have left that up to him, he would still be sitting in high school, not knowing where to go or what to do. She had barely and with much bribing got him to tell her that he wanted to do something with sport, he was an athlete. Swordplay, riding, swimming, he loved it all. He could rant about it for hours and hours without a break, to the point where Annabeth just zoomed out and nodded occasionally. Not that he didn't do the same to her, after all. He always got that blank look on his face that told her she was talking in too complicated words again. But it was fine, they both had the stuff they loved and did that. Annabeth frowned confused. No, that was not fine. If they loved each other, shouldn't they show interest in what the other loved? Shaking her head, she tried to concentrate on something else. Everything would get better once they'd go to college. They would be attending the same college, because gladly enough the Athena University in Terrapolis, the place Percy's mother had moved to a year or so ago, had to offer a broad variety of majors. She had already chosen literature class and for Percy it was the big assortment of sports that got him to agree. They would attend college together, a new start. Not having to be the golden couple of high school anymore, without all the expectations and everything, it lifted a great weight off her shoulders just thinking how that may feel. AU would mean a completely different life for her.

"I know, but I don't want to sponge off your mom forever", sighed Annabeth, pushing her hair back and leaning down to kiss his forehead. "We need our own place. I'll check the newspaper, you... keep doing whatever it is you're drawing there..."

Another of these things that made her feel out of place when she was with Percy. For a few days now, she had not kissed him on the mouth once. But she remembered, it had never been like that before. She remembered clearly that they were a happy couple and very much in love. Since waking up a week ago, it had started feeling off though. Shaking her head, she grabbed the newspaper.

/break\

Golden eyes stared a little lost into the distance as she shifted her backpack. Something about this town didn't feel right, as though it wasn't even supposed to exist. Her stomach curled together in itself as she kept walking, with her boyfriend next to her.

Her half-brother had called her earlier and asked if she had finally signed up for a college. He was annoying, noisy and never minding his own business, but he was a big brother, so she supposed that was part of the deal. He had practically ordered her to come here, had said he'd have enough room for them – because she and her boyfriend were a package-deal – and that they would find something at Athena University. They just needed to get their act together and start somewhere.

"And you really think it's a good idea to move in with Nico?", frowned Frank, grabbing her hand.

"Do you have any other idea?", huffed Hazel with one raised eyebrow. "He is right. We need to get our priorities sorted and start at some point. Besides, AU offers many different sport activities. Archery, you love archery. And living with Nico won't be that bad."

"Aside from the fact that he's always glaring at me", muttered the Canadian with a slight pout. "You don't think he'll ever allow me to sleep in the same room as you, do you?"

"Oh please, he's not going to mix us up with others", laughed Hazel ridiculed before frowning. "Or do you...? I mean, no. He's not that overly protective. Right?"

"Right", snorted Frank. "You're not the one he threatened with ripping balls off and playing ping-pong with them and... urgh, no. I really think that's a stupid idea."

"You're just grumpy because you've been having a nightmare again", frowned Hazel worried, rubbing her thumb over the back of his hand. "Was it about a fire again?"

"It was about... I don't know...", frowned Frank, looking as though he was trying very hard to remember something that his brain just wouldn't supply. "About an imp, I think? It was a cute imp though. But yeah, there was fire... all around him... it... frightened me, I think I tried to pull the imp out of the fire, but the fire kept following him like it tried to take something else away from me..."

"But what would you want with an imp?", grunted Hazel a little confused, tilting her head.

"I don't know", shrugged the Canadian a little upset. "Like I said, it was a cute imp. Maybe I wanted to keep him as a pet or something...? I don't know what you're supposed to do with imps!"