This ship was requested by Cynthia107234 and Foosbal342.
Warning: Swearing and a few sexual comments.
Percy had always seemed rather lucky when it came to getting out of trouble.
And in trouble.
But no matter how hard getting out of trouble always was for him, he never let it stop him.
Well, someone never let it stop him.
Percy just didn't know who. It was like there was something else - another being perhaps - looking over him.
Percy was still trying to work out whether the being liked him or not.
On the one hand, they helped him get out of any serious trouble.
Eventually.
But on the other hand, they didn't seem to want to see him happy.
Or just romantically involved.
There was Luke, his first crush who ended up betraying him. Annabeth, who hated him at first and was only just beginning to see him as an actual friend instead of an ally. Nico, who he thought hated his guts but was just trying to deal with his whirlwind of a mind on his own. Rachel, who he only thought of as cool to begin with. Not to mention, Calypso, his biggest What If who he'd hoped could take away the pain. And lastly, Jason. Jason who never knew of his crush and hopefully never would. Percy knew he wouldn't be able to handle him finding out.
There was always something there to stop him, to get in the way of his love life.
He'd asked Aphrodite about it a few months ago. Like he knew she said she'd make his love life interesting but this was just too much.
Except, it wasn't her doing. Of course, she helped try to push him and his loves closer but something always got in the way.
Something much more powerful than the goddess of love.
Percy whimpered, rolling over in his sleep and burying his head into his pillow.
His body was restless, always moving. Currently, he was laying upside down with an arm off the mattress, one of his legs bent at the knee so his foot could rest on the mattress.
His face was also buried in his pillow so the position he was in shouldn't be possible.
But somehow, Percy had found a way.
Percy whined, kneeling up before flopping down onto the other side of his mattress.
He now lay on his back, swinging his arms as if he held a sword.
He did not.
A couple months ago, Percy had saved a fish he was unable to part with. He had gotten a whole wall in his cabin transformed into a fish tank.
For a fish about two inches long.
Martin - Percy loved that his new fish, coincidentally, shared the name of his favourite movie 'actor' - side eyed Percy, looking freaked out.
(No one had the heart to tell him his name was actually Marlin.)
As freaked out as a fish could look.
Which was very, apparently.
Martin sighed - because fish can sigh now - before swimming off, beginning his nightly laps around the tank.
Percy taught him too much.
Percy drifted in and out of the same dream throughout the night, always involving a man cast in shadows.
They weren't ordinary shadows, however.
Percy was sure he was staring out into the depths of space, the darkest parts.
Percy awoke to Martin's taunts, his body feeling stiff.
After a couple minutes laying in bed awake, trying to chase away sleep, Percy stood. He had to stretch his limbs briefly, ignoring Martin's sniggers at the way he looked.
His hair was all over the place, the leg of his sweats pulled up to mid-calf. His t-shirt was folded at his chest, bunched up enough for a sliver of his torso to be seen.
In short, he looked a mess.
Martin chuckled once more before merrily swimming off. Thank gods, Percy didn't have to listen to his annoying laugh anymore-
And he was still laughing.
Great. Great.
Great.
Honestly, he thought, fuck off Martin.
Percy changed quickly, annoyed that they still couldn't get his bathroom door open.
He hated listening to Martin's 'jokey' sneers about how small his dick was so early in the morning.
Oh piss off Martin, he thought. You don't even have a dick.
Martin heard that thought, though he knew Percy hadn't meant for him to.
He decided not to tell Percy that he did infact have a dick.
Let Percy think he one-upped him this time.
Ah, silly, silly little demigod, thinking he can one-up Martin of all fish.
In your dreams little demigod. Ah, get it, 'cause he has a little penis. Good one Martin.
Percy headed to the dining Pavilion drowsily, only just functioning.
Percy did a doubletake as he walked past a kid who looked a bit like Martin.
Ughh, fucking Martin.
Upon a second look, the kid looked nothing like Martin. Percy was just half asleep still.
When Percy got to the Pavilion, he took a seat at the Hades table. He couldn't be bothered to walk all the way to the Poseidon table. It was simply too far.
As soon as he sat down, he crossed his arms on the table, resting his head atop them, completely ignoring the table's only occupant.
"Hello to you too."
"Fuck off Martin." He mumbled sleepily.
Nico nodded, as if this was just an ordinary occurence.
After finishing his breakfast, Will got up, making his way over to the Hades table. He was delighted to find out that Nico had eaten all of his breakfast.
"Hey Neeks-"
"Fuck off Martin."
Will stopped, looking confused. He nodded slowly before backing away, heading back over to his table for now.
He just put it down to Nico having one of those days again.
"Ew, that was Martin? Gods, that guy has problems."
Nico nodded seriously, before getting up to head back to his cabin.
"Tell me about it."
Percy didn't even realise he'd fallen asleep until he was being shaken awake lightly.
"What- ew Martin don't touch me!"
Oddly, Will looked a bit like he was going to cry at Percy's words.
"Erm, okay. Sorry. I just thought you might appreciate being woken up as breakfast ended two hours ago."
Percy blinked a couple times, before realising the person he'd shouted at wasn't Martin, it was Will.
"Oh gods, sorry Will. Thank you for waking me."
Will just nodded, looking a lot more put together than he had when Percy first woke up and shouted at him.
"Right, I gotta go. Need to get back to the infirmary."
Percy nodded, standing up to once again stretch out his stiff limbs.
On the way back to his cabin, he tried to think back to what his dream was about.
He remembered a man. Tall, dark-skinned, intimidating.
Way better looking than Martin.
Ew, Martin.
The man had been wrapped in shadows, darker than he'd ever seen in relation to Nico or Hades. Or any being of the underworld really.
Percy stood outside the door to his cabin, just picturing the headache he was about to get.
He took a deep breath before slowly opening the door, immediately swinging it shut after the sound of obnoxious fish cackles reached his ears.
It took a few minutes of convincing before he actually entered the cabin.
"Eyyy, Tiny Dick, you're back! Were you trying to find the rest of your dick? If so, that was quick!"
"Hello Martin."
"Bit more enthusiasm than that please."
Percy huffed a laugh, one of those fake ones that everyone knew was fake. He even added in a face-scrunched smile for extra affect.
"Oh hi Martin! How lovely it is to see you again."
Martin rolled his eyes before turning his back towards Percy, swimming away slowly.
Like slowly as in slow motion slow.
He should try out for some underwater drama club or something, Percy thought.
Martin was almost as bad as Zeus when it came to drama. The only difference was that Martin was actually good at it.
Martin pouted at his friend's lack of real enthusiasm, as much as a fish could.
So quite a lot in Martin's case.
"Right, there was no need to be so rude about it. If you must know, I missed you."
Percy couldn't help it, he scoffed.
"Missed you too Martin."
Percy couldn't see it, but in his own way, Martin smiled.
And neither could tell, but deep down, they both meant it.
After about half an hour of relaxed, on-and-off conversation, Percy left to head out to the lake.
He thought back to the man of his dreams- literally.
Not only was he the typical 'tall, dark and handsome' but he also seemed to radiate something. Something Percy couldn't quite place.
Percy's time in the lake went pretty well. He only had to swim for half an hour to stop a fighting seahorse couple. Yeah, pretty well.
And he's even got a bruise forming on his forehead. A very special bruise to help him remember this day.
How lovely. It was just what he'd always wanted.
Just as he was swimming to the surface, Percy was sure he saw a figure.
They were tall, a purple cloak so dark it looked almost black wrapped around their shoulders.
Now, there would have been nothing wrong with this. Just a person out by the lake.
But in the couple seconds it took for Percy to swim to the surface, the figure had disappeared.
Which didn't make sense because it was still light out and the only surroundings were trees.
And with a cloak so dark, it would have been impossible for Percy to miss them.
The figure, if only slightly, seemed familiar to Percy.
He remembered that one time, with the cyclops when he was little. How no one believed him until a teacher saw for themself that the man only had one eye.
In the end, the cyclops had left after being threatened with a call to the police.
Which is why it confused Percy so much that even after that, they refused to believe that there was a second man out on the playground, this time not a cyclops. Instead of a trench coat and hat, the man had worn a cloak. Dark blue, almost black, blowing slightly in the wind.
Honestly, Percy had thought he looked cool so after a few tries to get the teachers' attention he just dropped it.
Thinking back on it, that's probably not what he should have done in such a situation.
Shrugging, Percy made his way back to his cabin, completely dry.
As he entered his cabin, he was bombarded instantly with questions of his whereabouts.
Not.
"Ha! Tiny Dick has a bruise on his face. Is that a split lip?" Martin paused, before continuing mischievously, his voice low. "Did you suck too hard?"
Percy choked. On air.
He made his way over to his bed, blushing and spluttering on his way.
He went to kick his shoes off, only to think better of it and just flop straight down onto his bed.
Once he'd regained himself a little, Percy finally responded properly.
"No, I did not 'suck too hard' thank you very much. I actually got this split lip very heroically."
"What, by going first? How very honourable of you."
"Going- the fuck they teaching you down in the ocean?"
"Wouldn't you like to know Tiny Dick."
"Well of course I do. That's why I fucking asked."
"Shhh, calm down Tiny Dick. You're only small."
"Says the two inch fish."
"Well no shit Tiny Dick. Who else is gonna say it? The 6ft tall duck egg?"
"Why is that the first thing your mind goes to?"
"'M 'ungry innit."
"Woah, I get that you've been places but you just sounded really fucking British."
Martin stopped swimming. He turned to Percy, dumbfounded.
"Er, maybe because I'm British?"
"You're British?"
"No, I'm a duck."
"Gods, what's with you and ducks?"
"Look, Tiny Dick, I love you but either get me a duck or piss off."
"Oh wow, I'm so scared of the two inch fish."
Martin cackled suddenly, already laughing at his own joke.
"Does saying that make you feel better about yourself? Reminding me that I'm a two inch fish?"
Percy blushed lightly, shaking his head.
"No."
It did. It really, really did.
"Whatever you say Tiny Dick."
Percy rolled his eyes, muttering something under his breath at the same time the conch horn blew.
Percy got up quickly, practically running for the door.
Just as the door slammed shut, Percy heard Martin shout out to him.
"Bye Tiny Dick! Have fun. Don't suck too hard this time."
Percy's face felt hot.
As he walked away, he thought he heard a chuckle come from behind him.
He turned around, only to find no one there. And it definitely hadn't been Martin's voice.
Martin's voice was weird, like the mix of some eighty-year-old man and nails on a chalk board.
He heard another chuckle.
Again, no one was there.
Percy made his way to the dining Pavilion, bewildered.
Martin started humming a little song.
It was about ducks.
Once he got to the dining Pavilion, Percy made his way towards the Poseidon table, smiling in thanks towards Will for waking him up earlier when no one else even tried.
Will smiled back.
Percy got his food and made his sacrifices before returning to his table.
Oddly, he felt like he needed to go and sacrifice more food.
To who, he didn't know.
After dinner, Percy made his way back to his cabin.
He was unsure whether to feel relieved, annoyed, or sad.
Because Martin was asleep already, snoring away loudly.
Percy sighed, more sad than anything.
As much as they acted out towards each other, they were best friends.
Sometimes, Percy wasn't so sure that Martin knew that.
He made his way over to the tank quietly, unwilling to wake Martin. He placed a hand on the glass gently, wanting nothing more than for Martin to hold his fin against it like he did that one time.
Percy blinked surprised as staring back at him through the glass was a man, the same one from Percy's dreams.
The man's hand was in line with Percy's, though much larger.
Percy looked up from their hands, straight into the man's eyes.
He hadn't been able to see them before, but they were absolutely mesmerising.
Not only were the pupils of his eyes black, but so where the rest of them, sclera included.
At least Percy was sure they were called the sclera. That's what Annabeth had said when he asked, so.
Dotted around the man's eyeballs were white... Percy wanted to say sparkles.
They were bright like the stars, creating mini galaxies in his eyes.
Percy tilted his head to the side slightly, his eyes quickly darting down to their hands before he stared back into the man's eyes.
The corner of the man's lips tilted up, not quite a smile but seeming pretty rare coming from him.
Percy smiled back, subconsciously moving his face closer towards the glass, still staring into the man's eyes.
The man chuckled deeply, his eyes sparkling.
Weirdly, Percy liked the sound.
Something in the awkward, low tone he laughed in told Percy it wasn't common to get a positive reaction out of the man.
Percy leaned in a little closer, completely mesmerised, to the point where he didn't even seem to care that his face was beginning to squish against the glass.
"Woah there Tiny Dick. What the fuck are you doing?"
Percy jolted, blinking confused as he moved his face away from the glass.
He stared at Martin, at his weirded out expression.
Where did the man go?
Percy let his hand fall from the glass, staring down at it blankly.
"Percy? You okay?"
Percy nodded, willing the building tears in his eyes to go away.
It worked, as usual.
"Right, I'm gonna go sleep. Sorry for waking you."
With his back to Martin, Percy couldn't see how Martin's eyes grew sad.
"I don't mind." He mumbled.
But Percy didn't hear, already asleep inside his bed.
"Goodnight Perce."
That night, Percy dreamt of the man again.
This time, the man's face wasn't hidden behind a hood, obscured from Percy's vision.
Percy was actually pretty content just watching the man, whether it be him staring out of a window blankly or commanding an army.
Just as Percy started to slowly drift awake, he heard a voice call out to him.
"Perseus."
The voice was deep, velvety even. It sent a pleasant shiver down Percy's spine.
When Percy woke up, he was disappointed to find the man gone. Then he realised he'd been dreaming. He only ever saw the man in his dreams.
He looked over towards Martin's tank.
Except for last night.
Percy caught sight of Martin, so small in such a big space. He was sleeping soundly, the occasion snore escaping him.
Quietly, so as not to wake Martin, Percy got ready for the day before heading out to the lake.
Breakfast wasn't for another hour, and as much as he'd like to, Percy knew he couldn't go back to sleep.
This time, his time in the water was pretty relaxing. There were no creatures for him to save or fights to stop.
So he just lay on the lake bottom, staring up at the sky through the water.
When he caught sight of a large, slightly distorted figure, he was already swimming towards the surface.
The figure was just turning away when Percy finally surfaced the water.
"Wait!"
They stopped, staring out into the trees instead of turning back to face Percy.
Percy took a cautious step, his right arm slowly reaching out to the man he now recognised.
"Perseus."
Percy gulped, immediately stepping away and letting his arm drop.
His gaze dropped to the ground.
"Sorry."
They stood in silence for about a minute before Percy finally spoke, albeit shyly.
"Can you at least tell me who you are? It's just, your the man of my dreams and- wait, not like that."
The man let an involuntary chuckle slip past his lips, causing Percy's attention to snap back to him quickly.
"You laughed." He breathed.
The man didn't say anything.
Eventually, he nodded, just a quick jerk of the head.
"You don't, you don't do that often, do you?"
The man took a little longer to respond this time.
Finally, a small, jerky shake of the head.
"Why not?"
The man pursed his lips, his eyes closed. But with his back to Percy, Percy couldn't see this.
"Because nobody wants to laugh with The Creator."
And then the man was gone, only a dark, smoky whirlwind left behind.
"The- The Creator?"
On his way back to camp, he bumped into Nico, who looked like he'd just walked straight out of a tree.
Nico's face was serious as he looked him dead in the eyes.
"You tell no one."
Percy nodded, slightly dazed. He was still thinking over what the man had said.
The very corner of Nico's mouth twitched before he turned towards the direction of camp.
"Come on, you can sit at the Hades table again."
He spoke so quietly Percy almost didn't hear him.
Once it registered inside his head, Percy ran to catch up with Nico and his surprisingly fasts strides.
During breakfast, Percy decided Nico was probably the best person to share his queries with.
He waited until the dining Pavilion was near empty before he finally approached the topic.
"Nico, can I ask you something?"
Nico's eyes narrowed as he nodded, his attention on Percy.
"The Creator, w-who's The Creator?"
Nico's eyes widened before he turned to look around them quickly.
The Creator wasn't something taught to most campers. Only the odd few, such as Athena campers and Nico - as well as a couple others - knew about it.
With his position in camp and all he'd done, Percy should probably know. But with his slight lack of interest it was probably just that no one saw the point.
Though, currently, Percy looked very interested in the topic, his eyes sparkling that way they always did when something intrigued him.
Nico guessed it was probably more no one could be bothered to explain it to him, just because it might take a little extra effort on their part for him to understand.
"They're... the void, Percy. It's in they're name, The Creator."
Now, thanks to being a son of Hades, Nico knew the most about The Creator, more than the Athena campers did.
More than Annabeth, hilariously. Well, it was hilarious to Nico. Annabeth didn't like thinking people knew more than her, didn't like not knowing something someone else did. Or just not knowing something in general.
But, realistically, Nico had as much knowledge as Annabeth, if not more.
Nico took another quick look around them before deciding there was indeed no one else around them.
"Chaos. They're name is Chaos, or The Creator as you seem to know them as."
As he said it, the space around them grew darker.
Nico stiffened, eyeing Percy cautiously. He seemed to be waiting for something.
The bolt of black lightning that flashed through the sky seemed to be it.
"As you seem to know him as."
Percy nodded, bewildered. The link between the lightning flash and change of pronouns confused him slightly, but he assumed Nico would explain further.
"The void, Percy, is simply that. A void. Chaos is... old. He was the first being. But to begin with, Chaos didn't take a physical form. Consequently, Chaos didn't have a gender. But, as The Creator, they eventually, created, you could say, themself a physical form. A physical from, not a human form. That wasn't until much later. They're physical form, Percy, was a 'female', the first being. They're human form, if you hadn't guessed it, turned out to be 'male', the second being, technically. So you see, Chaos, they, she, he, is everything, nothing."
Percy nodded. They sat in silence for a few minutes to let Percy take in the information.
Nico went over what he'd said in his head, hoping for it to make sense. It was the simplest version, it had too.
Explaining it to Percy in such a way also helped Nico to understand further. To understand what he'd been unsure about before.
Percy took a deep breath, nodding once more.
"Okay."
They finished the last of their breakfast in silence. Not awkwardly, it was more of a content silence than anything.
"Thank you Nico."
Nico nodded, his eyes slightly cracked, revealing a small amount of friendship and care.
His voice, when he spoke, was evidently less monotonous than usual.
"Percy, just, be careful, yeah?"
Percy nodded, smiling at Nico warmly before heading off back to his cabin.
Nico stayed seated, staring up at the sky wearily.
His eyes darted to the side before he got up, making his way back into the woods.
His eyes stayed on the ground, watching, just as they had done with the sky.
Percy was in a daze the whole way back to the Poseidon cabin.
His heart was beating weirdly. Like it was going fast and slow at the same time. Like it was loud but quiet.
He'd met The Creator, to put it simply.
The fucking Creator.
Holy shit.
How many people could say they'd ever met the... void, in their lifetime? Or at all?
But why, why Percy. Why does Percy get to be the one to meet Chaos.
Even just saying the name in his head felt weird. Chaos. Oh fuck.
Percy thinks he might faint. Right here, right now. In the middle of camp.
The only thing stopping him was Martin's annoying cackles.
If he fainted, he knew Martin would never let him live it down.
Percy stopped to take a deep breath, his eyes closed.
Once his heartbeat had calmed slightly- barely at all - Percy continued on his way, though much slower this time.
When he stepped inside his cabin, he felt like screaming.
The entirety of Martin's tank was an inky black, wrapped tightly in a sheet of dark smoke.
"Perseus."
Percy jumped, turning towards the voice, his hand clasped around Riptide in his pocket.
There stood, apparently, Chaos, looking completely fine with the monstrosity happening to his fish.
Shakily, Percy took Riptide out of his pocket. He exhaled deeply before flicking off the cap.
He now held Riptide tightly in both hands, his eyes never moving from the man in front of him.
The man, Chaos, simply raised an eyebrow, staring back at Percy just as intensely.
Percy had to repress a shudder, wanting nothing more than to break the eye contact they'd somehow started.
Instead, he took a step closer to him.
He could take The Creator, right?
Nope, he thought.
Percy charged.
Chaos raised his eyebrows, looking fairly impressed.
And then Percy was hovering in mid-air, unable to move his body.
He stared at Chaos angrily, blinking back tears.
"L-let me go."
"Perseus, calm yourself."
Percy shook his head angrily, feeling like crying.
"No! No, look what you did!"
And then Percy was sobbing, still stuck in mid-air, immobile.
Chaos turned, surprised, to stare over at Martin's tank. At Martin, laying still within the inky darkness.
"Oh, the fish. He is fine."
Percy's jaw dropped, staring at Chaos in distressed confusion.
"F-fine? He looks dead."
"I can assure you, he is not dead. Simply asleep. I would just rather talk to you alone, than with such a... crude, being."
Percy's nose was slightly scrunched, his eyebrows lightly furrowed. A single tear was making its way down his cheek.
In an attempt to blink back the rest of his tears, Percy let another one fall.
Chaos looked taken aback, rushing forward a few steps before suddenly stopping.
"Perseus, you are alright?"
Another tear fell.
Percy shook his head.
Chaos looked towards Martin's tank, his head tilted to one side.
Slowly, the dark smoke began to fade away, the inky darkness disappearing along with it.
Percy was carefully lowered to the ground. As soon as his feet touched the floor, he was off running.
He skidded to a stop in front of the tank, his hand coming up to rest gently on the glass.
He laughed wetly as a lazy fin flopped against the glass, in the middle of where his hand was.
"Tiny Dick." Martin whispered.
Percy rolled his eyes, huffing a laugh.
"It's good to see you too Martin."
Martin laughed heartily, flicking his eyes over to Chaos briefly.
He looked back up at Percy, disturbed.
"Who's the wizard?"
Percy laughed, missing the way Chaos' eyes narrowed as he stared at Martin.
"Oh, you know, only the creator of the universe."
Martin snorted, looking over at Chaos.
"That guy?"
Percy nodded.
"I know."
Chaos looked fairly displeased, frowning.
Martin looked back up at Percy suspiciously.
"Is he the one you sucked too hard?"
Percy spluttered, blushing delicately.
"N-no. I didn't suck anyone too hard, thank you."
Chaos pursed his lips, looking both disappointed and disgusted.
"Right Tiny Dick, right. And I'm not a duck."
"But you're-"
"Perseus, just let the... duck, think what he wants."
Percy went to protest, only to pause when he saw the warning look Chaos was giving him.
"Fine."
"Ooh," Martin chuckled, drawing out the oo sound. "Someone's got someone else held tightly on a leash."
Chaos glared at Martin distastefully.
"You'll be the one on a leash in a minute if you don't be quiet. I'm sure my pets would love to hold that leash."
Martin pulled a face.
"Erm, no thank you. You look like the type to have some weird ass pets."
Chaos sneered at Martin, going unnoticed by Percy.
Luckily.
Martin rolled his eyes, knowing not to question how he could even hear him in the first place.
Percy's sob brought all eyes on him, guilty and pained.
It was evident he was trying to stop crying, wiping at his eyes repeatedly, roughly.
"I-I thought you were g-gone."
Chaos cringed, feeling oddly guilty.
He'd never felt guilty before so this was new.
"Hey, Percy, it's okay. I'm here, I'm fine."
Percy nodded, wiping away the tears on his cheek.
After about ten minutes of Martin doing his best to cheer Percy up - with Chaos watching awkwardly from the sidelines - Chaos asked if he could speak to Percy outside for a moment.
Outside, Percy stood there, still giggling slightly at Martin's last joke.
"Perseus, if you would stop laughing please."
Percy stopped laughing.
"Thank you. Now, I have never taken a consort so bare with me please."
Percy went to speak, closing his mouth when Chaos continued.
"Now, if it's not too 'old fashioned', I would like your permission to court you."
Percy's eyebrows shot up.
"You- me- court- really?"
Maybe he heard wrong.
Maybe he said cut. Yeah, cut. That made a lot more sense.
"I would like to court you. I have been watching you for a long time, to see if you could do what you were prophesised to do. And you did. I am impressed, you could say. So I wish to have you as my consort."
Percy looked a bit freaked out, yet sympathetic at the same time.
"Look, you seem great, really, but- for starters, I thought you killed my fish."
Chaos looked confused.
"But I didn't."
Not wanting to cause an argument, Percy moved on quickly.
"Besides, courting isn't really-"
"I don't understand. I'm not allowed to court you because you thought I killed your fish?"
Percy had to stop himself from saying 'exactly'.
"It's not just-" Percy paused. Could he really reject the creator of the fucking universe? He didn't think you were allowed to do that.
"Fine, you can court me, I guess. But you'll have to earn Martin's favour too."
The corner of Chaos' lips curled just at the mention of his name.
"I'm serious. If he likes you, then I'll like you."
Chaos went to speak, only to grimace instead.
"Fine. I will... earn the fish's favour."
"Martin." Percy corrected. "You will earn Martin's favour."
"Yes, that. I will earn..." Cue another grimace. "Martin's favour."
Percy smiled.
"Thank you."