.・゜゜・——— I AM NOT A WOMAN I'M A GOD !
KILLING A DEAD MAN
THE WORST THING YOU COULD DO when you are anxious is sit beside someone who is somehow even more anxious than you are. That was the current situation as Percy spent another slow and painful minute in the River Styx. Nico was pacing back and forth, muttering words of manifestation so intense she was surprised he wasn't cradling a crystal in his arms.
Regina took a different anxious approach and cursed Percy in her head. He was such an idiot, doing something like this. Risking his life when they both knew the end result wasn't going to be in his favour either way. He was irritatingly selfless. Something Regina couldn't understand. If she was in his position, it would be every demigod for themselves. But she was not the child of the prophecy, and this was not her battle to lead.
"You know that you're part of that prophecy, right?" She heard Nico say from behind her, gnawing at what was left of his fingernails. The black nail paint had been scraped off, and his fingers were close to bleeding. He then watched quickly as Mrs O'Leary began to chase her own tail.
Regina shook her head as she leaned forward on the rock she was sitting on, her elbows on her knees and her hands clasped together. "We can't be sure."
"Of course we can," Nico said, making Regina roll her eyes at his contradicting tone. "We both know why Achilles was looking at you the way he was. Why he was looking at the both of you."
"Because he thought we were a couple of good looking demigods?" Regina offered, tapping her fingers against her sword. "Takes one to know one."
Nico scoffed, sitting on the black sand beside her, leaning his back against the rock. He was still tired, and she could see it as he almost smiled at the relief of relaxation he got as he sat. "Because he said you were Percy's companion. Do you know who Achilles's companion was?"
She wasn't completely up to date with her Greek Mythology tales, but she could vaguely remember a companion that stood by Achilles that started with a P. "I don't know, Pinocchio?"
Nico could punch her right about now. He rubbed his forehead with the bottom of his palm. "No, Patroclus. He was his companion."
"Okay?" She said, a shrug of her shoulders. "I'm sure many other Greek heroes had companions too. I don't see what Achilles has to do with any of this apart from the Styx."
Nico rubbed his knees and dusted off the black sand from his hands. "Well, there were rumours, big rumours that Achilles and Patroclus loved each other. Like, not how you and Thomas love each other, but how you and Percy love each other."
Regina's lips thinned as she gritted her teeth, tension feathering her jaw. "Nico, you can be a fucking idiot sometimes, you know that?"
Nico was taken aback at her harsh words, his shoulders hunching in a ball as his eyes returned to his shoes. "I didn't mean to offend you. I was just telling you—"
"Well stop rubbing your nose in shit that doesn't concern you, alright?" She snapped, kicking the sand as she stood up and walked away from the boy who was only trying to help. "You know nothing about me, and you know nothing about what you think you do."
Nico didn't reply and instead leaned his forehead against the rock, his knees hugging his chest and his hair back in his face again. He looked small and defenceless, and it took Regina a hard time to try and not feel bad about what she said.
Then suddenly a gasp broke the tension, and the two demigods whirled their heads to face the river. She saw Percy's hands reach up, and quickly she ran towards him, grabbing his hand and pulling him up to the black sand, her eyes widening at the burn marks on his body and face.
"Are you okay?" Nico stammered, even more nervous that he had been before. "Your skin. Oh, Gods. You're hurt!"
Regina was very much concerned as well. It looked like his skin was trying to disintegrate. It looked like he was being burned alive in there. She looked down at Percy, who was coughing up water. "Percy, you gotta drink some nectar. It'll help you."
"You need to as well," Percy replied, so sure that she needed some sort of healing.
Regina's eyebrow raised in question. "What?"
"I don't know what you were thinking jumping in the river too, but —" he stuttered, then a wave of realisation hit his face like a truck and he began to look slightly flustered and embarrassed that he had even said anything.
"I never went in the water." Regina muttered, looking at him like he was a ghost. "You might have been hallucinating."
"Right. Hallucinating." Percy stammered, gulping so loudly that she was sure the whole town could hear it. "Err, yeah. The nectar sounds like a good plan."
While Mrs O'Leary sniffed and nuzzled into him, Regina unscrewed her small bottle of Nectar that Nico gave to her before they traveled. She raised the bottle to Percy's lips, and as soon as he drank it, his whole body turned from a radioactive red to his normal pale white, bruises healing and scars fading. There was colour in his face again, and she relaxed. This was the Percy she liked to looked at.
"Do you feel stronger?" Nico asked as he finally stopped chewing on his nails, sorry, fingers. It seemed like it took him a while to conjure a sensible question out of all the ones he was thinking of.
But before Percy could even answer, a chilling and thunderous voice came from behind them, screaming one single world. "THERE!"
All three of them turned around, and Regina's eyes widened at what she saw marching towards them. It was an army of the dead. Their skeletons marched and wore Greek armour that should have been too heavy for them. Leading them, was the Lord of the Dead himself. He was a very tall, dark haired man with a beard that was so well groomed she was convinced he spent hours in the morning styling it. His eyes were obsidian black, with eyelashes so dark she mistook them for eyeliner. The dark purple bags underneath his eyes showed a very big genetic similarity. He rode towards them on a black and gold chariot pulled by the most badass horses Regina had ever seen. They were simmering black, surrounded by fire and black smoke. They could have been mistaken for shadows.
"You will not escape me this time, Percy Jackson!" His voice boomed, sending chills down Regina's spine. And not the good kind. So she drew Bloodthirst, it's black carved handle burning greatly in her palms. Hades barked an order at his army. "Destroy him!"
Nico tried to stop him using the power of a son's voice, but it was no use. The army of the dead lowered their weapons and advanced on them, terrifyingly faster than Regina thought skeletons would be. Mrs O'Leary began to bark in either fear or excitement.
She slashed at the air with Bloodthirst, it's red tones darkening the light around them. As she was about to charge at the army, Percy's arm stopped her, holding her back as he looked at the army with sheer determination infused with hate.
"No, this isn't your fight." Percy told her, taking a few seconds to glance into her eyes. Somehow they were greener. "At least, not yet."
Regina reluctantly stood down, even when her bloodlust tried to surge her forward. The thrill she would obtain killing a dead man. But she joined Nico, who's eyebrows were knitted together.
Percy yelled, and with his yell, the black water of the River Styx exploded. It rose up in a tidal wave, a bubble of air protecting only Regina, Nico and Mrs O'Leary. The tidal wave smashed into the front leaders of the army, causing their bones to disintegrate at the touch, leaving just their helmets, spears and shields to rustle onto the sand beneath them. Then Percy reminded Regina of who he was.
He did something stupid.
Without a second beat, the black haired boy charged towards the oncoming army, void of any defence he should have had. He was helmet-less, shieldless and all that he brought with him was his beloved sword. It was one sword against a mass of warriors with no skin to pierce and no organs to destroy. The odds of him staying alive were zero, yet every weapon hurled towards him bounced off of his skin like they were nothing but foam nerf gun bullets.
He was quite literally invincible, and Regina couldn't help but stare at him with her mouth agape and her eyes wide in pride and adoration. Bullets hit him — he stayed alive. Swords slashed at him — he simply slashed back. Not a single thing touched him. He was winning, and he was winning by a mile.
He fought them like it was as simple as addition. It was like him and his sword were one. Slashing, hacking and jabbing. He flipped over shoulders, rolled under skeletons and slashed a few heads here and there.
Regina began to wonder why none of the army were coming towards them. The first reason she came up with was that none of them even got the chance; Percy had got to them first. And it wasn't Nico or Regina that Hades wanted, it was the child of the prophecy. The longer Percy is kept away from the prophecy, the more chance Nico will be to being the child of the prophecy instead. With that, everything worked in Hades' favour. He could get revenge on his family for exiling him from their lives. Regina prayed that Percy knew what he was doing when he broke the enemy line and made his way to Hades' chariot.
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REGINA DIDN'T KNOW WHAT THE punishment was for attacking and tackling a Greek God to the ground was, but she was sure it was something along the lines of death.
Percy was sealing his fatal fate when he decided to slam into Hades and rugby tackle him out of his chariot and onto the black sand. As cool as it was, she wasn't so sure he was going to live to tell the tale.
It became even worse when he jammed his knee against Hades' chest, holding the collar of his royal robes in one fist, and lowering the tip of his sword against The Lord of the Dead's face in the other. For some reason, Regina was blushing. She had never been so attracted to someone in all her life.
Percy looked back as to figure out why no one was defending Hades, but all he saw when he looked was Nico and Regina standing far by the river. There was no army to defend Hades; he'd destroyed them all.
There was no way you could kill a God. They were immortal, and even if they got hurt, they would come back like it was a scratch. They weren't like monsters. They wouldn't disintegrate by a demigod's hand. Regina wondered what Percy's next move would be, and when she glanced at Nico beside her, she knew he was thinking the same thing.
Hades swallowed, his eyes glancing back and forth at Percy and at his sword pointing right at his face. No one, however, could deny that a sword jammed in a face wouldn't hurt. "Now, Jackson, listen here ... "
But Percy was done listening, it seemed. "Just because I'm a nice person, I'll let you go. But first, tell me about that trap!"
Hades refused to be humiliated by a fifteen year old, so naturally he melted away into nothing, leaving Percy fisting his hand around robe and pointing his sword at the air. He grunted in anger, kicking his feet on the ground and cursing words even Regina wouldn't use.
He walked toward them and she could tell he was tired. She allowed him to rest on her shoulder as she hooked his arm over her shoulders, allowing him to feel more of a lightness so he could catch his breath and regain his energy. His hair bristled her cheek and his head nestled between her neck, and she found herself longing for his touch to stay with her forever.
Nico was stunned. "You just ... with a sword ... you just — "
"I think the river thing worked," Percy murmured, and she could feel his smile against her shoulder.
"Oh gee," Nico scoffed, shaking his head at the tired boy in front of him. "You think?"
After some small thought, Percy spoke again, his head nuzzling further against Regina's neck that she hoped he couldn't feel how much she was blushing. "Nico, go back to your father. Tell him he owes me for letting him go. Find out what's going to happen to Mount Olympus and convince him to help.
Nico just stared at Percy. "I — I can't. He'll hate me now. I mean ... even more."
Percy seemed to gain enough of his energy now, and his head rose from Regina's shoulder, and she felt a small bit of sadness that her shoulder felt so empty now. He walked to Nico, looking at him. "You have to. You owe me, too."
The tips of Nico's ears turned red. "Percy, I told you I was sorry. Please ... let me come with you. I want to fight."
Percy just exhaled. "You'll be more help down here."
Regina assumed it was the argument or fight that they had prior to Percy being locked up. Nico must have done something to lose Percy's trust, as the younger boy muttered very sadly, "you mean you don't trust me anymore."
The clocks in Percy's brain were turning then stopping, turning then stopping. He was too shocked about what he did back there that his face showed he didn't know what to think. "Just go back to your father. You're the only person who might be able to get him to listen."
Nico just nodded, telling them that the thought was slightly depressing, nevertheless, he'd try his very best. He still had to interrogate his father for information that he was hiding about Nico's own mother. Regina felt ashamed that she never even asked him about it.
He glanced at them one last time, and turned to leave. But she couldn't let him go knowing that she had been unkind to him. He was the only person she wanted to refrain from being mean to. "Hey, Nico."
He turned around almost joyfully. Hopefully he didn't think she was going to convince Percy to let him fight. "Yes?"
Regina sighed, placing her hands on her shoulders and getting slightly freaked at his very alarming growth spurt rate. "I'm sorry about being so harsh to you. I don't want you to look at me like you have to be afraid, or that you have to keep things from me. I wanna be the person you can turn to when you need help, or when you just need someone to rant to. Okay? Just, don't think that I hate you, please."
Nico's smile lit up her own. "Of course I don't hate you. Besides, I need you to fight my battles when I can't be bothered."
Regina just chuckled, and gently wrapped her arms around the boy, who wrapped his around her very hesitantly, as if he hadn't got a hug from someone but himself for a long time. "Yeah, that's what I'm here for."
Nico just nodded, squeezed her tighter, then let go. "So where are you guys gonna be heading?"
Percy looked at him and acted like he was the main character of a film, saying something cool and mysterious. "To get this was started. It's time I found Luke."
Regina just shook her head at him. "Weirdo."
𝖆/𝖓
Their dynamic >>>>
I LOVE writing Regina/Percy/Nico interactions it is my favourite thing ever. Regina and Nico sibling supremacy. He needed that hug.
Also Regina is so relatable, talking about how much she finds Percy annoying and dumb yet blushing every time he even looks at her. Me af.
Also, yes Hades is hot. Yes I am a Hades apologist.