To Hold Up the Sky (Percico/Pernico)

Chapter 8: Everyone's an Eavesdropper

NOTE: OMG THAT MEDIA PICTURE! Maybe I'll have Jason do that... :)

"Whoa there, buddy, no need to act so rash!" Percy said, laughing with his hands up like he hadn't been eavesdropping on Nico and Jason's conversation.

Jason didn't take the bait. "Cut it out, Percy, I know you were eavesdropping on us. How much did you hear?"

"Um..." Percy stalled for time.

The son of Poseidon felt the sword tip dig deeper into his skin, threatening to cut it. Feeling a little panic from his friend's harsh actions, he decided to tell the truth. "I don't know how much, but I heard a good part of it."

Jason sighed, dropping the sword. "Great. Just great. So, you know now?"

Percy looked at him like he was nuts. "What? Of course not! I have not even a clue about what you guys were talking about!"

The son of Jupiter raised an eyebrow at him. "You don't?"

"I don't, ok?" Percy replied, exasperated.

Jason shook his head and smiled. "Thank the gods for his seaweed brain." he muttered to himself.

"I heard that!" Percy retorted, huffing and crossing his arms.

Jason chuckled. "Yea, well its true. If Clarisse can figure it out, anyone else can."

Percy became confused. "What does Clarisse have to do with this?"

"Nothing!" Jason replied quickly.

"... Ok?" Percy said, eyebrows furrowing.

"Well, I've gotta go. Piper's taking me on a date. Bye!" With his sword now turned back into a coin, Jason took off into the air and headed towards camp boundaries where he was probably meeting his girlfriend.

Percy watched him go with his mouth slightly open with complete and utter confusion. Once Jason was out of sight, Percy decided to head back to his cabin through the back again, not wanting to be caught by Annabeth. But what both Jason and Percy didn't know was that there was another eavesdropper. When Percy was safely out of sight, the air rippled, revealing a particular blonde teenager with stormy grey eyes holding a Yankee's baseball cap in her hand.

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Not wanting to see anyone, Nico decided to shadow travel to his cabin. When he was just outside the Zeus cabin, he walked over to a tree with very prominent shadows. But just as he was about to melt into it, he felt a roughly gloved hand grab his arm.

"Wait."

He whirled around to see Katie Gardener standing there, gardening gloves still on her fingers. Dirt was smeared on her baggy jean pants and her shoes were dyed green from grass stains. Her wheat-colored dirty blonde hair was pulled back in a messy ponytail, stray tufts of plants and weeds sticking out. Her warm earthy brown eyes looked pleadingly at the son of Hades, pulling into a complete puppy-eyes mode. And of course, Nico couldn't resist it.

"Yes?" Nico asked, willing to hear what she's going to say.

Katie played with her fingers, looking very nervous. "Well, I kinda overheard what you and Jason were talking about."

Nico's eyes widened. "Oh . . ."

"And I wanted to say that I'm ok with that." Katie said.

"Ok . . . So is that all you have to tell me?" Nico asked, slightly relieved that she didn't think he was an abomination.

Her eyes widened. "Oh no! Not at all. I wanted to warn you that I'm not the only one who overheard."

Nico sighed. "Who?"

"Well . . . Percy was-"

"WHAT?" Nico burst, looking terrified. If Percy knew, he was utterly screwed. "How?"

"He was hiding in a bush by the window." Katie replied.

Nico sighed again, pushing his raven black hair back with his hand with stress. "Of course he did. And how about you?"

"I overgrew the bush on the other side and hid in it." Katie said, not sounding embarrassed at the slightest.

"Okay . . . well anyone else?" Nico asked, tone irritated.

This time, Katie blushed. "Well . . . uh . . ."

"Just spit it out!" Nico said harshly. "Who?"

"Annabeth." Katie said, looking slightly down at the ground. "She had her cap of invisibility on."

"Is that it? Or should I assume that everyone else was eavesdropping too?" Nico said, very annoyed. At this rate, everyone's an eavesdropper.

Katie laughed. "No, thats it. I promise." She turned around, bringing a close to the conversation. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow bright and early."

"Wait, you're coming on the quest?" Nico asked, surprised that the daughter of Demeter was going to go.Demeter children never go on quests.

"Yep." Katie replied. And with that she walked off, taking off her gloves as she headed back to her cabin.

After she left, Nico leaned against the trunk and put his head in his hands. 'Great, just great. Not only does Percy know, but the one and only wise girl does too.' He sighed for the third time in five minutes, looking at the sky and thinking, 'Why me? Just why?' The son of Hades wished for the millionth time that he wasn't gay.

'What would it be like to fall in love with a girl?' Nico wondered. He looked at the dining pavilion, which was currently serving dinner. Deciding to observe, he shadow-traveled on top of his cabin, his favorite blanket and comfy chair awaiting him. He plopped onto the waterproof chair, sinking into its depths with a huff of pleasure. Then pulling out a baggy of Pomegranate seeds, he started munching on them as he watched everyone below. People were talking and laughing, faces bright with happiness. Couples kept sneaking glances at each other, clearly dying to sit with one another. When dinner was done, they faced to their partner's side and walked hand in hand to the campfire.

But Nico could tell some of them were faking, for their smiles didn't reach their eyes. With the sky crushing the world, he could tell that many of them were deeply worried about their families outside of camp. The sky pressing against the boundaries seemed to cast a shadow on the camp, threatening to wake the campers from their happiness.

Suddenly, Nico didn't care that he wasn't normal. He didn't care that his life is probably now ruined even more than it already is. Not dwelling on his aching heart, Nico came to realize that he didn't matter. They do. Why? Because they have a chance at happiness and he wanted people to be happy if he couldn't. Feeling like his mind suddenly matured years beyond himself, Nico realzied that maybe he could prevent people from going through what he did, having no family. After all, maybe their happiness will bring some to his own.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hey everyone, I finished the chapter! So I wanted to say that next chapter is going to be VERY important and will get your gears going in your minds. Its going to be in an unknown POV in third person, so pay attention carefully to the details:)

QUESTION: Should I write in people's POV in first person during the quest, or keep it in third person? I haven't written in first person in a long time, so this will be interesting if you guys want to me write it in first person.