8EXTENDED AUTHOR'S NOTE:
While this story could for all intents and purposes be considered canon compliant at least until the Fall 2014 release date of The Blood of Olympus, please read the following author's note for additional information regarding how this story is affected by the release of The House of Hades.
For those of you who haven't read The House of Hades yet, spoilers below.
As many of you know, in the book it is revealed that Nico has strong romantic feelings for Percy.
While this fic will accept and acknowledge this, the endgame pairing will still be Nico/Rachel (although it will be a slow burn romance).
This fic was thought about (and in the process of being written) months before The House of Hades was released due to me being a Nico/Rachel shipper long before The Heroes of Olympus series was published. But once HoH was released, I had to rework the fic to fit in the new information about Nico (and am still slowly in the process of doing).
Just to clarify, the following story is not an attempt to "erase someone's queerness" or use "bi identity" to make someone less "queer." Whatever Nico's sexuality turns out to be, I'm 100% behind it. But as I am not Rick Riordan, I do not feel comfortable decisively stating what Nico's sexuality is, especially since as of the posting of this first chapter, Riordan has not explicitly commented on it either, nor has he mentioned clarifying it in a later book.
If the day comes where Riordan comes out and explicitly says something regarding Nico's sexuality, whether it be in an interview or in future books tied to the Percy Jackson series, I will update the description of this fic accordingly.
So before you begin reading this fic, take time to determine whether or not you can accept the upcoming contents of the story. If not, please click the back button and do not click this story again. And any negative comments regarding Nico or Nico/Rachel are not appreciated, as you have been warned of the story's contents prior to reading.
AGAIN, YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.
* Note: This story takes place some years after The House of Hades and post The Blood of Olympus, with the assumption that the 7 heroes were able to beat Gaea and save the world with all of them surviving. Also, it assumes that Nico never told anyone else (besides Jason) about his feelings for Percy and is still struggling to deal with them.
Disclaimer: I do not own anything. All copyrights go to Rick Riordan.
Chapter 1:
A wise woman once said that the New York Public Library is "the classic New York landmark that houses all the great love stories." While there is no way to actually prove this, the sentiment is something felt by many New Yorkers.
One of those who believed this was Annabeth Chase. While the seemingly tomboyish, no-nonsense young woman did not seem to be one who indulged in love stories, she did have a soft spot for romance.
Especially when it's tied to some of the most beautiful architecture in the whole of New York. Or her long term boyfriend Percy Jackson.
Thus, when it came time to plan her birthday party, he surprised her by booking the area above the library to host her birthday party.
To say the least, Annabeth was thrilled.
Percy spared no expense, as he wanted this to be a birthday to remember, as over the years both his and Annabeth's birthdays had either landed when they were in the midst of a quest or they were battling against nefarious creatures wanting to kill them because they were demigods (or in Percy's case, a child of the "Big Three.")
Thankfully, after the "Seven Heroes of Olympus" defeated Gaea and essentially saved the world, the amount of mythical riff-raff settled down, to the point where demigods lived pretty much ordinary lives with the occasionally scuffle every now and then.
Having a successful birthday party was just a reminder of how much the past few years had changed.
Before this, it would have been unthinkable for both Roman and Greek demigods to be celebrating together, let alone stand to be in the same room.
Piper McLean and Jason Grace, the physical embodiment of Roman and Greek co-habilitation ideal, were off in their own corner of the party. Piper was leaning casually against one of the pillars, waiting for Jason to get back from the bar with their drinks. She needed some alone time from the rest of the party. She had forgotten what it was like to be "one of the blessed," at least in terms of being surrounded by others of Godly backgrounds.
She fidgeted uncomfortably in her dress, a deep scarlet evening gown that her mother, the Goddess Aphrodite, had gotten for her during a "surprise" trip to Milan (i.e. her mother had no doubt heard about Annabeth's party, and couldn't bear to see one of her favorite children coming to arguably the most important demigod party looking anything less than perfection.)
She was struck out of her musings when Jason appeared in front of her, holding a flute of champagne out to her.
"You okay?' he said, as if unconsciously noticing her uncomfortableness with being so made up.
Piper gave him a quick kiss as she accepted her champagne. "I'm fine…just still not used to being…well you know."
Jason gave her a warm smile in return. He knew what it was like to be "blessed by the Gods." Being the son of Jupiter, one of the "Big Three" was no easy task. Add being a Roman and dating arguably one of the most powerful non "Big Three" demigods and a Greek one to boot made it much more complicated.
Even a blessing of the Gods couldn't stop people (mostly other demigods) from likening their romance to that of Romeo and Juliet (the whole star-crossed lovers thing).
A comparison which both Jason and Piper detested, since Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy.
They were both lucky that the people of the hour were Annabeth and Percy, who arguably had the most "romantic" love story in demigod history. Surviving being the children of feuding Gods (Poseidon and Athena), two wars and Tartarus (among other things) with their love coming out stronger is no mean feat.
In fact, to many, Percy and Annabeth's love story was considered legendary.
"So this is a great party, right? Percy really went all out. I guess he wanted to make up for all the shitty birthdays Annabeth has had over the years." Jason said, looking around the room in awe.
Piper took a sip of her drink. "I think it's a lot more then just trying to make up for the demigod drama."
Jason paused and looked at her critically.
"What do you know?"
Piper gave him a slight smirk.
"Honey, I'm a daughter of the Goddess of Love. I can sense when things like this happen. Percy's planning on popping the big question tonight. It's actually quite romantic. And that's coming from me."
Piper expected Jason to smile along with her, glad at their friend's upcoming happiness (because let's face it, there was no way Annabeth was going to say no to Percy), Jason instead paled, and made some excuse about going to restroom real quick.
Jason left before Piper could even respond. She sighed and shook her head. Her boyfriend could be so odd at times.
"Well…that was strange," she muttered to herself as took a sip from her champagne flute, content with waiting until Jason came back.
Jason, knowing that Piper could no longer see him, quickly walked past the bathrooms and headed to where the bulk of dinner tables had been set up.
Scanning the surrounding area, he did not find what he was looking for, and sighed in frustration. Scanning the place again, he eyes honed in on the next best thing.
Hazel was sitting with her new husband Frank Zhang, her shimmering gold gown making her stand out amongst the crowd. Frank was whispering something to her in French, when Jason approached their table.
"Hey guys, have either of you seen Nico around? I kinda need to talk to him about something important."
Hazel shook her hand. "Sorry, but you just missed him. I think he said he was heading to the bar."
"Thanks guys." Jason said as he began to quickly walk toward the direction of the bar, mentally cursing the fact it was all the way on the opposite side of the room. He just hoped he could get to Nico in time to prepare him for what was likely to happen tonight.
Unfortunately, it seemed that Tyche, the Goddess of Luck was not on his side, as halfway to the bar, he heard Percy's voice ring out from the front of the room.
"Everybody, could you please quiet down for a moment? I'd like to make an announcement!" Percy said, tapping his champagne glass lightly with a fork in front of the microphone to get everyone's attention.
After the noise in the room fell to a quiet din, Percy stepped back up to the microphone, an arm around Annabeth's waist.
"I just wanted to thank you all for taking time out of your busy schedules to come and celebrate Annabeth's birthday!" he said, a smile on his face.
The crowd gave a light applause as Percy continued.
"Now, I was asked by my lovely girlfriend not to include her age on the invitations…" to which the crowd laughed, even as Annabeth gave Percy a punch in the side, slight embarrassment evident on her features.
"I just knew I wanted her birthday to be special. Not just because it's the first real birthday we've had since before we became "claimed" as demigods. I actually wanted to make today special for an alternative reason."
Annabeth looked at Percy inquisitively as he removed his hand from her waist, and gasped as Percy turned to face her, bending down on one knee.
The crowd fell silent, knowing exactly what was coming.
"Wise girl, you have been a constant in my life since I was twelve years old. You frustrated me, kicked my ass, and made me question my sanity numerous times, but it was your strength and conviction, and most of all, your belief in me that made me fall in love with you. And I've stayed in love with you ever since, even when the threat of two wars and Tartarus aimed to beat us down, we came out even stronger. So I ask you…"
Percy reached into his pocket and pulled out a ring-sized box and opened it. He pulled out a silver banded ring. The stone was a pearl, placed in a setting of bronzed coral.
"Annabeth Chase, will you marry me?"
Annabeth didn't even hesitate as she hauled Percy up by the lapels of his dress shirt and kissed him deeply, not even embarrassed at getting some of her tears on his face.
As they broke apart, she whispered to him.
"As if I would ever say no, Seaweed Brain."
Percy let out a whoop of excitement and grabbed Annabeth in a hug before turning back to the microphone.
"She said yes!"
The crowd all clapped and cheered in celebration, but Jason frantically looked around until he saw Nico, frozen at the bar.
Nico had gone pale, to the point where it looked like he had no blood circulating at all (a feat for being the son of Hades, thus being naturally more pale than normal). Nico began to shake, the glass of champagne in his hand rattling in his attempt to keep his emotions in check.
Then Nico's eyes met Jason's.
Unable to keep himself calm, Nico quickly shadow travelled out of the room before anyone could notice he had left, his glass falling to the floor with a splash.
Jason began to move toward the exit in an attempt to find Nico, when Piper's soft hand grabbed him by the wrist.
"What took you so long? Long line?"
Jason, having momentarily forgotten his original excuse, took a few seconds to response.
"Uh…yeah. I was just going to look for you when you found me. What a coincidence, huh?"
Piper narrowed her eyes at Jason, as if trying to suss out a lie. Not sensing anything amiss, Piper gave him a small smile.
"Guess so. Now how about we go congratulate the happy couple. Hopefully this takes the attention away from us for the next year at least."
And what could Jason do but nod?
Nico, meanwhile, had somehow found himself outside on the terrace. Thankfully, it was deserted, no doubt because everyone was inside congratulating the happy couple.
The thought of it made him physically ill. He attempted to stop his shaking but realized that he was hyperventilating. Sitting on a nearby bench, he placed his head into his hands, attempting to control his breathing, get himself back in control.
It had been some years, but Nico was still struggling with his attraction to Percy. After Cupid forced him to admit his feelings, Nico at least got to the point where he was able to acknowledge his feelings toward the other male. However, dealing with what that meant was a whole other different story.
He had never held an attraction to anyone else before Percy. That alone scared him.
Was did it mean for the rest of his life? He was already an outcast with the demigods (unsurprisingly being the son of Hades was not exactly something to be proud of), did he really want to become an outcast with the rest of the world too?
He still hadn't told anyone about his feelings toward Percy (he still maintains that Jason didn't count). Thus, he was forced to try to work out his feelings on his own.
But the more he stayed in New York and Camp Half-Blood, the more he was surrounded by Percy and Annabeth and their "epic love." It was just another knife in his heart, and did not enable him to sort out his feelings, as he spent most of the time hating himself or unfairly hating Annabeth.
Sometimes, he even hated Percy.
Realizing that his original plan wasn't working, Nico had done the next best thing; he packed his bags and travelled the world, taking on godly assignments that no one else wanted to do.
He had hoped the time he spent away from Percy, from Annabeth, from his old life would enable him to move on from his crush, to sort himself out. But instead, all leaving did was put everything on the back burner.
Seeing Percy again had brought all those feelings back to the surface.
As he sat by himself contemplating how much his life sucked, he was startled out of his thoughts when a female voice came from behind him.
"Here, this will help."
Nico turned around came face to face with a slightly familiar red-headed woman in a maroon colored dress and celestial bronze bangles adorning her wrists. She held out one of the glasses of clear liquid in her hands to him.
Nico, giving up trying to place her, shrugged and took the glass.
"What is this, vodka?" he said after taking a sip of the drink.
The girl shrugged. "Man's gift to gods." She said as she took a sip of her own.
"…So, why are you out here and not inside congratulating the happy couple?" Nico asked, unable to keep a little bit of bitterness out of his voice.
The girl gave him a look, raising her eyebrow as if she picked up on his tone, but chose to ignore it.
She shrugged. "Let's just say it would be very faux paus if I congratulated Percy and Annabeth before the rest of the demigods. In fact, I was even "lucky" enough to get an invitation in the first place, something a few of the nastier demigods had no problem reminding me of."
Nico definitely noticed the bitterness in her words. Taking a sip of his drink, he asked.
"Are you one of those children of a minor god?"
The girl scoffed, flicking her long red hair over her shoulder.
"I wish. But I'm actually a little hurt you don't remember me. When you were younger, all you could talk about when you saw me was how amazing my hairbrush throwing skills were."
Nico looked at her, confused for a moment, before everything clicked.
"Rachel?"
Rachel Dare gave him a sad smile and held up her glass in a mock toast.
"Long time no see Nico."
Nico just looked at her flabbergasted. He couldn't believe that the vibrant, full of life, girl that he vaguely remembered from his youth was the same, worn looking, slightly bitter woman who stood before him.
"What…happened to you? Are you still the Oracle?"
Rachel leveled him a stare, that if he were not a son of Hades, would cause a man to stumble by how much pain and anger he could see in her eyes.
"No. Turns out that the Oracle gets weaker when her host gets to a certain age. So she was…transferred to a younger host. Last I heard, the new Oracle is a twelve year old girl who enjoys One Direction and Justin Bieber."
Nico paused a moment to process this. He knew (based on the second hand information Percy or Annabeth had dropped) that Rachel had not exactly come from a perfect family, no matter how much money she had. She had seen the Oracle position as her way to make a difference in the world, to be a part of something.
To have that all taken away from her, she must be crushed.
Nico attempted to broach the subject as delicately as he could.
"So…you're mortal, now?"
Rachel snorted. "You don't need to tiptoe around me Nico. Yes, I'm mortal, and the only reason I am allowed to godly events and not locked in a psych ward somewhere is that…someone owes me."
The laurel trees surrounding the terrace rustled, almost in warning, but Rachel just rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to Nico.
"Now, enough about me. Why are you out here, hiding away from the rest of the world?"
Nico's expression immediately shut down and he looked at the ground, a scowl on his face.
"I don't want to talk about it."
Rachel sighed as she took a sip of her drink, and leaned against the bannister.
"Of course you don't. And isn't that why you ran away from New York in the first place?"
Nico winced. He had forgotten how observant she was on picking up the subtleties of human interaction. He didn't think anyone picked up on the real reason why he left. Perhaps it was some leftover power from her days of being the Oracle. In any case, it seemed time had made Rachel much more blunt.
"That's harsh."
Rachel shrugged. "It's a harsh world…so why not talk to someone? Someone who won't judge you for being…well you."
Nico sighed, taking a sip of his drink to fill in the now uncomfortable silence.
"Look, the offer's nice and all…but I'm dealing with it on my own now."
Rachel looked at his worn-looking appearance and his red-rimmed eyes.
"And I can see it's working out great for you."
Nico is about to retort back when Leo Valdez and Calypso come from around the corner, wrapped in each other's arms.
Leo is in the middle of whispering something in Calypso's ear, causing her to giggle. She turns to say something to Leo, but sees Nico and Rachel staring right at them. Embarrassed at being caught, she softly coughs to get Leo's attention, who was in the middle of attempting to place kisses on her neck.
He looks up and notices Nico and Rachel. "Um…hi." Leo said awkwardly. He looks between Rachel and Nico, and takes in Nico's disshelved appearance and the fact they were standing close together.
Leo wags his eyebrow. "I'm not interrupting anything, am I? Cause we can find somewhere else to go if you guys are busy."
Calypso slaps Leo on the shoulder, shushing him before he could embarrass all of them further.
"I was actually on my way out. Just saying goodbye to Nico." Rachel said, moving away from the bannister. She reaches and gives Nico a hug, causing him to freeze up. It had been so long since he had been hugged (or voluntarily been on the receiving end of physical contact) that he had no idea how to act or what to do.
After a moment, his arms wrapped around her in an slightly awkward embrace.
She leaned her head close to his ear and whispered, "I meant what I said. If you ever want to talk, you know how to contact me."
She gives him a small peck on the cheek and breaks the hug. She turns and gives a small smile to Leo and Calypso before walking away from the terrace and back into the building.
Leo looks at Nico, a questioning look on his face. "What was that all about?"
Nico, still staring at where Rachel exited, is shaken out of his thoughts by Leo's voice.
"…nothing." Nico said, before walking the same direction Rachel went, leaving Leo and Calypso alone on the terrace.
He needed more alcohol.
Nico awoke the next morning to sound of loud knocking. He groaned as he sat up, belatedly realizing he had somehow made his way back to his apartment in Brooklyn, took off his clothes (leaving his black boxer briefs on, of course), and crashing haphazardly into his bed.
He knew he shouldn't have drank that much. His hangover was killing him, and the incessant knocking on his front door wasn't making things easier. He cocooned his pillow around his head, hoping to muffle the sound of the door while hoping his inaction would cause whoever was knocking to go away.
He should have known that that would have been too easy.
"Nico? Open up!" Jason said from the other side of the door, pounding his fist on it a few more times. "I know you're in there."
Jason was getting ready to bang on the door again when a sour-looking Nico opened the door.
"Could you seriously shut the fuck up? I feel like there's a bulldozer in my head right now." Nico said.
Jason made a pained sigh and covered his eyes. "Dude, put some clothes on. My mind is getting scarred right now."
Nico gives him a look of confusion before looking down at himself. He blushed when he realized that he unknowingly opened the door wearing only his boxer briefs. He cursed and quickly ran back into his apartment, slamming the door behind him.
Jason uncovers his eyes and patiently stood in front of the door for a few moments, before a disshelved (but fully dressed) Nico reopens the door, looking a bit embarrassed.
"Sorry about that…it was a rough night." Nico said, opening the door to let Jason in, closing the door behind him.
Jason turned around and gave Nico a glance over, taking note of his torn-up appearance and red eyes.
"I'm guessing you didn't take the news of Percy and Annabeth's upcoming nuptials quite so well?" Jason said.
Nico glared at him. "What the hell do you think?"
Jason sighed and took a seat next to Nico.
"You're going to have to deal with it. One way or the other. It's destroying you, man."
"You sound like Rachel." Nico muttered.
Jason gave him a look. "And you know this how?"
"…we talked." Nico finally said after a moment of silence.
Jason just looked at him, as if waiting for Nico to spill more details.
"What?" Nico said, annoyance seeping into his tone.
Jason shrugged. "Nothing…it's just, out of all people, Rachel Dare was not one I could see bonding with a demigod. Not after…"
He suddenly clammed up. Nico, an expert on reading body language, picked up on it.
"Not after what? It is something about her not being the Oracle anymore?"
Jason shook his head. "Not my story to tell. I really don't even know the full details anyway, but…you should talk to her."
Nico scoffed. "Why? So she can make fun of me? The sexually confused demigod who's harbored a gay crush on one straight boy since he was a teenager? No thanks."
"She may have more in common with your situation than you may think." Jason said, before looking at the clock and realizing what time it was. "And now I'm late. Sorry I can't stay, but Piper made plans and I just wanted to check on you. See how you were holding up. I'll stop by later, yeah?"
"Yeah. Yeah." Nico sighed as Jason nodded and got up to leave. "And Jason?"
Jason turned around, a questioning look on his face. "Yeah?"
"About the Rachel thing…I'll think about it." Nico said, looking as if it pained him to even utter those words.
Jason smiled him widely. "That's all I ask. Have a good day, Nico. Hope you sleep that hangover off." He said, before turning back around and exiting the apartment, door slamming behind him.
Nico sighed as he slumped back into his chair, his head in his hands.
It was going to be a long fucking day.