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It’s been about two weeks of being on his own in the streets with no memory of anything. Well except his name since monsters kept yelling it at him. Some things have come back to him too. Like little glimpses. Crumbs of his memory on the peripheral of his mind. If he tried to look at them too directly they would disappear.
So far, he knew his name, Perseus Jackson. Though that felt too formal, so he went by Percy. Though no one asked. He knew he had a mom, and that she was probably worried about him being gone. He wasn’t really sure about the dad part. He guessed he was a deadbeat. He had a friend named Grover.
And then there was Annabeth. His… sister? Friend? He wasn’t sure. She was blonde, so she didn’t really resemble him. He knew what he looked like from grimy mirrors in gas station bathrooms. He just remembers them going back and forth fighting, but in like a mostly friendly way. Like how one minute they could be arguing, ready to tear each other apart, and then the next minute they were going out to eat. Whatever she was to him, he knew she would be looking for him, and pissed that he was gone.
The problem is, he didn’t know where to find them. Right now he knew that he was in California, but something in him told him he wasn’t from here. It was too bright and sunny, and the people had this fake niceness to them. They saw he looked basically homeless, which he was right now. They would give him pitiful looks that said “aww that sucks,” but offer no help whatsoever.
The last thing he knew was that he was a demigod. That, or he was insane. Something that was equally if not more probable. The realization came rushing back to him when a Trader Joe’s employee flashed their fangs at him when he tried to take a sample and they literally chased him out of the store saying they wanted to sample him. Next thing he knew he grabbed the pen out of his pocket and uncapped a sword. And he knew how to use it too.
So he was a demigod. That was probably why he didn’t know the dad part… but he could also bend water. He learned that one when he got attacked by a sea monster at the beach. Oh, and the mortals can’t see any of this. If they do, they have some wild explanation to write it off, which almost always blames it on him and not the monstrous serial killers that were trying to eat him. Life was so unfair.
This was his routine. Scrounging for food and begging for money, washing up in the sinks of gas station bathrooms, sitting at the beach for some peace, finding some secluded alleyway to sleep in, before being chased out by monsters. He had no phone or way of searching or contacting his lost family, and he didn’t trust going to the cops and risking arrest or being sent to the looney bin. So he just wandered.
Something in his mind told him to just keep going. It was both insanely lonely and yet strangely peaceful? Like he had no obligations or deadlines. No one to answer to. He just lived day in and day out eating, chilling, sleeping, and fighting for his life. But at least he didn’t have deadlines. And he didn’t have to take care of anyone. Well, until today.
He had just gotten some cheap lunch at McDonalds and was going back to his alley to chill for the night. The sun was going down and he didn’t want to be out in the open. There were monsters, but also people to look out for. He sat down behind some trash cans and pulled out his burger ready to chow down when he heard some rustling.
Setting down his food he pulled out his pen. The sword transformed and he pointed it at the trash pile. “Can’t I have ONE day without you motherfu- Oh”
Out of the dark he could see copper brown eyes staring back at him. “Meow.” it said as if Percy was the one intruding in on it’s alleyway. The cat jumped out of the trash, keeping his dark eyes fixed on Percy. Its coat was pure black. No wonder Percy didn’t see him, the thing practically melted into the shadow, reminding him of someone.
From what Percy could tell, it wasn’t a monster, unless they were parading around as tiny cats now. If that was the case, Percy was going to feel really dumb about this. He reached into his bag and grabbed a fry to offer to the little guy. He crouched down and extended his hand, trying to appear as friendly and non-threatening as possible.
Unlike everyone else, the cat kept eye contact and didn’t bolt at the sight of Percy’s mangey appearance, but he guessed the cat couldn’t judge. They were in the same boat, but at least cats could groom themselves.
His little head peeked out from behind the trash can before inching towards Percy. Instead of taking the fry, he bypassed it and nuzzled Percy’s hand instead, making the demigod's heart explode. Percy felt like he could cry even though he knew that that would be stupid. “You know that this is the nicest someone’s been nice to me in weeks?” he said quietly. He felt stupid as his voice cracked when he spoke.
The little guy actually responded with a meow. In fact he didn’t seem feral at all. The poor thing must have been dumped because he just kept purring and meowing as he rubbed against Percy’s legs.
Percy scratched under its chin earning him some purrs. “You must have been someone’s pet,” he said.
The cat responded with another loud “Meow.” He was such a talker, Percy thought.
“Here do you want some water?” The demigod got up and went to pick up the little guy, but the cat’s disposition changed at the shock of suddenly being grabbed. He twisted his little body and clawed at Percy’s arm making the demigod drop him, and the cat darted behind the trash once again. “OW! Fuck, Nico!” he hissed.
More flashes of memories came to mind. A face he couldn’t see. Nico.
The little shit was back peeking at him from the shadows. Acting as if Percy was the one that attacked him. “You are such a Nico.” He offered up the fry again and this time the cat came back to give it a taste. “Such a brat.”
The cat that he now named Nico rubbed his head against Percy’s arm as if to apologize.
“Ok fine. Boundaries I guess. I’m sorry for grabbing you.” Percy settled on just petting him for now, which Nico allowed, nuzzling his head into his hand.
~~~~~~
Whether or not it was selfish to keep Nico or not, Percy took the cat everywhere with him. After their initial scuffle, they reached a mutual understanding. They trusted each other at arm's length. Percy would feed him, and Nico would keep him company. When Percy would sleep for the night, Nico would curl up next to him, and at the crack of dawn he would meow and pester Percy until the demigod got him breakfast. Wherever Percy went Nico followed close behind.
It was actually kinda cute, and Percy was glad that he didn’t have to leash Nico up to be with him. The cat didn’t really like the beach though. Cats and water didn’t mix obviously. But he liked watching Percy swim, doing his business in the sand, thinking he could catch a seagull, and he even caught a tiny crab for Percy. So that was something. They had fun together.
It turned out that cats were kinda good protectors too. Percy didn’t know how monsters could smell demigods, but it turns out cats could smell monsters. Nico would give little warning hisses at sketchy “humans” and Percy would take that as his cue to leave. And when things escalated and Percy had to pull out his sword, Nico would give the monsters little scratches to help “finish the job.”
Percy loved this cat. But still, who was Nico? Not the cat, but the boy he reminded him of. If he thought too hard about it, it would give him a headache, but still. Who was that boy? Meeting this cat had sparked memories for him. Memories he was desperate to get back. Something about dark hair? Nico the cat had dark fur. His eyes were wrong, but if Percy focused too hard on it, the face went away.
His memory came to him when he was scratched. Did that mean he and Nico had a bad relationship? Or is it just the rush of adrenaline sparking his memory? Percy couldn’t have had a bad relationship with person Nico, because he loves cat Nico too much. Even when he's dramatic, he's still a loving creature.
The whole thing was so frustrating. Percy had to force himself to not think about it because the more memories he tried to uncover, the more his mind got confused and he kept pulling up blanks. He decided to just focus on Nico the cat as his cat, and not the memory of some boy that he used to know.
After a while of trying, Nico even let Percy pick him up. Which was good because they needed to run.
Two gorgons were chasing them –well, just Percy. It was no big deal, he killed them before, but the problem was they kept coming back. That has never happened to him before. He thought when monsters died, they died. But no. The gorgons showed up a week later in a Goodwill. Then days later in a Walmart. Now they were back again after an hour. “Can’t get rid of us that easily deary!” they cried.
Even Nico seemed shocked. His fur was so puffed up he looked like he licked an electrical socket. Why can’t they just ever catch a break?
“We are gonna rip you apart until we find that mortal spot!”
After running through alleys, trying to lose them in traffic, and dipping through random people’s yards, Percy managed to temporarily lose them by falling down a hill. Literally.
He was gonna run down it, but it was so steep that he lost his footing and tumbled into a roll. The best he could do was clutch onto Nico to shield him from any harm, which resulted in Nico accidentally sticking his claws into his chest.
His descent was stopped when he crashed against a chain link fence blocking off a six lane highway.
“Ah yes, the mighty hero of Olympus!” A dry amused voice said. Percy looked up and was greeted by the face of some old hippie lady wearing a shapeless tie-dye jumpsuit, sandals, lots of jewelry, and a matching tie-dye headband that pulled back her long gray hair that fell down to her back. She looked homeless, but her weathered face and old eyes told Percy there was something powerful about her.
Nico gave her a sniff which was a good sign. At least she wasn’t a monster. “Who are you?” Percy asked.
The woman quirked a smile, “Call me June.”
Just then a screech could be heard at the top of the hill. Great. The gorgons found him again.
June didn’t seem phased. Typical of mortals. But then she said, “You can escape them.”
That surprised him. “You can see them too?”
She just put up her hand “That doesn’t matter right now, you see that tunnel?” She pointed past the highway at what looked like a maintenance tunnel, except it was guarded by two soldiers covered in ancient Roman armor. Wait what? “Get to that tunnel over there. It leads to a camp. They’ll help you. They’re demigods too. Just.. not like you.”
Percy had to tamp down the rising panic in his stomach. Something about those demigods at the gate didn’t feel right. Sure, he had a weapon too, but why were they so… war-like? And what did June mean when she said they weren’t like him? Were they gonna kill him? The gorgons were closing in. Did he really wanna risk joining some camp? What if this was some type of demigod cult, and they made him drink kool-aid? He looked at the frail older woman. “And what about you?”
She laughed. “Oh I was hoping you would be a dear and carry me with you.”
You’ve got to be kidding. Percy wasn’t sure if he could do it. He had his bag and Nico. But as he heard the gorgons closing in and looked into the older woman’s eyes, he knew he just couldn’t leave her there.
It was then that she noticed the cat as if he just appeared. “Oh my goodness!” Nico just stood there, where he’s been this entire time. “What is that? Why do you have that?”
Percy could laugh, “He’s my friend, and your co-passenger.”
“Honey, it's a cat. Just leave it. You’re crossing will be much easier if you just leave it.” She said this as if she was doing him a favor.
This made Percy mad, but he tried to keep his cool and not smack the old hag, “And you’re just some old lady. If I don’t carry Nico, I’m sure as hell not gonna carry you.”
Her eyes glinted at him. “You named him Nico?” she seemed curiously confused as if that was the biggest thing going on right now.
Percy’s heart was racing, he needed to leave. He was ready to grab Nico and climb over the fence without this old lady, but surprisingly she scooped Nico up without a problem. Even more surprisingly, Nico let her do this. Fine, Percy thought. If she’s cool with Nico, she’s cool with me, he thought.
~~~~~~
Making it to this Camp Jupiter was weird. June was apparently Juno. Which, ok. She's a goddess. It was a test, but also, did she really need him to swim her across the river too? Because between a goddess and a cat, they both were a little much. Nico, again, because he’s a cat, didn’t like the water, so even though Percy tried his best to hold him above it, he got splashed a little and it freaked the poor thing out. Percy ended the journey with more claw marks than gorgon marks but it was whatever. Nico shook it off like nothing happened. And Percy couldn’t help but smile.
The other campers seemed less weirded out about the cat than the fact that Percy used Greek terms instead of Roman, which duh, Percy thought. Who thinks Jupiter before Zeus? Those are just their original names.
Oddly enough, it was the Praetor, Reyna, that gave him the most shit about bringing a cat to camp. Even as Nico nuzzled her legs, she told him to give it to her so she could give it to a family in the city, which was nice, but Nico was Percy’s cat. They’ve been through too much together for him to give him up. Maybe he was being selfish and Nico would be better off without him, but he didn’t care. Nico was the one thing he had.
He should have listened to Reyna.
~~~~~~
Everything about this camp was strange. When June-Juno spoke about a camp, he first thought it was a summer camp, which felt good. It felt familiar to him. This was nothing like a summer camp. It was like he joined the fucking US marines.
There were talks of killing, training, war games, sacrifices, gods, and prophecies. Sure Percy knew he was a demigod, but this felt a little overboard. Maybe it was the Latin, but this camp was giving him major satanic cult vibes, except that they just switched out Satan for Roman gods.
Percy should have never come.
They sent him to the Augury, which Percy thought nothing of it. Well, he thought a lot of it, but not more than he thought about this weird ass camp as a whole. Then there was Octavian. With his creepy smile and just the way he held himself. Percy looked at him and saw a sociopath. Apparently he was an important person at this place because he could ‘read the future’ and ‘speak to the gods.’ Percy has seen a lot of things, but he was pretty sure this guy was a lying load of shit.
And then he took Nico.
The guards had to hold Percy back, he was screaming and fighting them so hard. He didn’t care. Tears were streaming down his face. Please no, he thought. “NO! Please!” He screamed. But after weeks of fighting, he was too weak. The guards managed to hold him back despite his best efforts.
His emotions caused the temple to flood with water, but it didn’t matter. Octavian just rolled his eyes. And Nico was gone. Percy was in the legion now. And Nico was gone.
~~~~~~
Things went by in a blur for Percy after that. The weirdness was numbed over by his sadness. He didn’t care anymore. They got him bathed in the bath houses even though he didn’t want to. The fifth cohort reluctantly took him in. He found out he was a son of Poseidon. Or Neptune, he guessed. Whatever.
He was sent off to sword fighting classes where he was told everything he did was wrong even though he’s pretty sure he was kicking these kid’s asses. Latin class made his brain hurt. Another memory came back. He had dyslexia. So useful. Thanks Juno.
Hazel, his fellow soldier, who was like 11, an actual child, who they assigned to be in charge of him, a 16 year old, tried to cheer him up in any way she could. Her and Frank, another child, were basically his friends now. They were cool though. They tried to cheer him up by trying to ask him about his cat. He couldn’t even tell them his name, he was so upset. The conversations pretty much always devolved into shit talking about Octavian. They also think he’s a sociopath, but Percy didn’t need any more convincing.
Anyways, they were nice, Frank and Hazel. He kinda felt like their camp counselor because he was so much older than them, even though they were the ones teaching him. He still contradicted them at every turn, though.
Hercules, Heracles. Same thing. ‘And weren’t these gods basically stolen from the Greeks?’ he would ask. And then they would fluster and be like ‘No, no. Well… yes, but the Romans perfected them, so we worship them at their peak.’ That kinda bothered Percy, but he couldn’t say why.
After a few days of getting settled, Frank was told to give Percy the grand tour of the camp outside of the training grounds. They started with the city, walking past the shops, the coliseum, the senate house, they even had schools like elementary, highschool, and college. It was all so beautiful. But something in Percy’s stomach tightened. ‘Why couldn’t he have this?’ he thought. But that was stupid. He did have this. He was here wasn’t he.
Their next stop was Temple Hill where Frank showed Percy all the grand temples and Neptune’s sad little shack. “It’s not that bad.” Frank said. It was pretty bad, Percy thought. He looked at all the other temples and saw at least some thought was put into them. There was another sad one on the side of the hill, but even that one was covered in precious jewels. “Oh that one’s Pluto's,” Frank said. "That’s Hazels’ dad’s temple."
Percy just nodded. “God of the dead.”
“And wealth,” Frank said. At Percy’s non-reaction Frank added, “It’s not so bad.” Percy didn’t say it was bad, but Frank continued. “I think Hazel might be here, she hangs out here with her brother whenever he visits. Come on.”
And so Percy was dragged into the temple. He didn’t want to do this. He was about to tell Frank he was gonna go back to the barracks and take a nap, but that is when he saw him. Hazel turned around and next to her was a boy.
Percy knew him. Silky, black hair, dark eyes, pale skin, dressed in all black. He practically melted into the shadows of the temple. Their eyes met and for a split second, Percy saw shock and recognition in the other boy’s eyes. He knew him.
Hazel was the first to speak. “Oh Percy, this is Nico. I was just telling him about your cat!”
That hit Percy like a ton of bricks. Nico. This is Nico. He was his Nico. He had to be.
But Nico quickly changed his face back to complete obliviousness. “Hi, nice to meet you,” he said as he held out his hand.
Percy had no idea what he was playing at, but he shook his hand. It was pleasantly soft and cold. “I-I know you.” He meant to say it as a fact, but he was so nervous, it came out more as a question.
Nico raised an eyebrow, “Do you?”
That little shit.
Hazel filled in the awkward tension by explaining away. “Nico travels everywhere so you might have walked past him once. He and I are half siblings. He is pretty cool, he can control the dead. I can’t do that. Nico, Percy can control water…”
All the while Percy just stood there openly eyeing Nico down. The son of Pluto didn’t seem to mind, but Hazel and Frank were visibly uncomfortable by his intense interest in Nico.
He was barely listening until Hazel said “So I was asking Nico if he could do something like a séance for your cat.”
That got Percy’s attention. His eyes softened as he looked at Nico hopefully. “Y-You can do that?” he asked. He hated how his voice faltered.
Nico just nodded politely. “Yeah, animals have souls like we do, just not as complicated to be judged morally. What’s your cat’s name?”
Oh god that made Percy panic. What should he do? Lie? He can’t tell the boy that he has been having flashbacks of that he named his cat after him. That would be so weird. “Um, does it matter?” he asked like a dumbass.
Nico just looked at him funny. “Um- no? Not really…”
“Ok, well then his name is Gary.” Percy blurted out. Then after a moment, corrected himself. “was Gary,” he said quietly.
Nico nodded sympathetically. He looked like he actually felt bad for Percy. “Gary is still Gary. Just dead.” Then as if he realized how weird that must have sounded he corrected himself. “Well the only difference between living and being dead is that the dead don’t have a body. So in a way he’s still living just… on the other side.”
Percy couldn’t help but crack a smile “Gary is living like Larry.”
It was so stupid, but Nico smiled back at him, a nice bright smile. Gods, they were both so stupid. Nico went back into the temple to grab some things off of the offering table. Various types of fruit and he began arranging them on the floor. “I can actually summon him now if you’re ready?”
Frank nervously stepped back but Percy and Hazel stepped forward out of curiosity. “Yeah, I’m ready.” Percy said. Nico might just be distracting Percy from their obvious connection, but it was working. He missed his baby.
It was clear that Nico never really showed off his ghost powers to others. Hazel looked like she was trying to mentally take notes on how to do this, “If it is so easy, how come you can’t just summon people?”
That brought doubt to Percy. ‘Would his cat even come?’
Nico sighed. “People are more complicated and do what they want. They also go through judgment. Animal spirits are free. They do not live a morally right or wrong life, they just live. So most get reincarnated as other nature spirits, but some domesticated animals feel connected to humans.”
Percy was paying attention, but he couldn’t help but notice how much Nico talked with his hands.
“Dogs have been known to go with their owners to Elysium, cats have been seen watching people in the Fields of Punishment.” Percy couldn't help but laugh at that. “And sometimes they stick around in the upper world, as a kind of guardian spirit.” He hesitated. Looking at Percy as if waiting for him to understand. “I’m a son of –Pluto. I see spirits everywhere I go. And I think Gary has chosen to follow you around to protect you.”
Percy’s heart clenched. “How is he supposed to protect me?”
“She is like a guardian, she wards away bad spirits. It’s common in many cultures. In ancient Egypt, cats were worshiped as protectors. Gary just wants to be with you.”
Percy quirked a brow, “She?”
Nico blinked for a moment. “Oh yeah. I mean sex doesn't really matter when it comes to the spirit and the soul after it leaves the body, but Gary was a girl.”
Ok so cat Nico was actually a girl. Whoops.
Nico smiled and Percy smiled back. “Oh," Percy said, "I think I just kinda guessed. I never really checked haha.” he brushed a hand through his hair awkwardly.
Nico just joined in on his awkward laugh. “Well you had a fifty fifty shot and you guessed wrong haha, but Gary doesn’t seem to mind.”
Nico went back to preparing the ritual. Percy wanted to ask more about what he was specifically doing, but Nico was already chanting in Greek, which, weirdly, Percy understood more than Latin.
It all felt… familiar. Like he's seen this before. Then of course, as soon as he tried to focus on the memories, a shooting pain shot through his head. This time was worse than before. It was a blinding white pain just behind his eyes that made him clutch his head. He probably didn't hide his pain so well because the next thing he realized when the pain subsided was Nico di Angelo touching his shoulder and looking at him with worry.
"Are you okay? What's wrong?" he asked.
Percy felt his skin tingle where Nico was touching him. "Um, yeah. It was just a little… migraine attack. I get them a lot."
Nico didn't look any less worried, but he removed his hand from Percy’s shoulder and turned back to the circle.
"Wait did I interrupt your séance? Did it fail? Can we try again?"
Nico turned his head back to look at Percy, before smiling and pointing to his side, "No. Say hi to Gary.”
Percy turned and standing next to him on the floor was the glowy spirit of Nico, looking as perfect as he/she was before. It made his heart squeeze in his chest.
Nico stepped to his side. “You can pet her if you want. The ritual makes her corporeal for a time being.”
Percy couldn’t believe it. He felt tears well up in his eyes. If he was in front of anyone else, he might have felt stupid, but he didn’t care. He kneeled down in front of cat Nico and she practically jumped into his lap, nuzzling her head against his chin. Percy couldn’t help himself, he let out a sob as he scratched under her chin, “I love you too Nico.”
He cringed at himself realizing what he just said. He didn’t even chance turning around to look at Nico’s reaction. More memories were coming to the forefront of his mind making his head hurt even more. Fighting together, searching for him, eating cake together. He fought to protect Nico. Human Nico. This Nico. The feelings resurfaced as he came to the realization. He loved Nico. Both his Nicos.
The ambassador of Pluto was his Nico. Did he lose his memories like Percy did? Percy finally turned to look at the brunette’s face. His doe eyes were wide and his mouth was open. “Um what did you say?” he asked. There was a faint blush on his cheeks.
Percy just cuddled cat Nico closer to his chest as he stood up. “His-her name is actually Nico. I named her that because she reminded me of someone cute and rambunctious like her.” He stepped closer to Nico looking down at the smaller demigod. He was less intimidating now. The son of Hades’ guard was down and he seemed to be having a hard time finding his words. His blush got more intense as Percy’s green eyes never looked away from him.
Percy wanted so much more from this moment, but Frank and Hazel were right there watching them in confusion. Finally Nico stepped back and found his words. “Well she should stick around corporeally for another hour or so. Giving her offerings like food will help the connection last longer. But she does seem attached to you, so even when she fades, have some comfort that she is still around protecting you as best she can.”
Percy nodded. “Like a guardian angel.”
Nico nodded back. “Yes, something like that.”
Percy couldn’t take his eyes off the boy in front of him. Di Angelo. His angel.
Nico broke the eye contact and went back to Hazel. “Come on, it's time for dinner. Can’t be late again.”
The son of Pluto practically dragged Hazel with him down the hill, leaving Frank to walk the son of Neptune back. Cat Nico was practically a loaf in his arms. It was so surreal how he could feel her silky black fur and the weight of her as he pet her. He hoped the Romans served some fries at dinner that he could sneak her.
Frank kept glancing at him with a weird look on his face. “So… do you know Hazel’s brother?”
Percy stared at the two siblings walking ahead of them. Nico chanced a glance back at him. Yes they definitely knew each other.