A Tale of Gods and Magic

Percy: A Very Glittery Night

Percy walked out of the room, head buzzing from Annabeth’s kiss and his recent encounter with his dad. But the tension wasn’t over yet. Before he could get to his room across the hall, he bumped into Nico. It looked like he’d been loitering outside Annabeth’s room.

Things had been weird between him and Nico since his confession. He felt really bad for Nico. Losing Bianca, and then this…

“Oh, um… sorry.” Nico was about to melt into the shadows, but Percy grabbed his elbow.

“Nico, wait!” said Percy.

Nico came back into the light. He awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck

“Did you want to ask me something?” said Percy.

“I didn’t want to interrupt you and Annabeth,” said Nico, his voice tinged with shadows. “And don’t touch me,” Nico amended.

Percy squinted at him. Nico’s unruly black hair looked messier than usual, and his aviator jacket had a small stain on the front.

“Nico, I… “ Percy didn’t know what to say. What did you say to the boy hounded by darkness who would always be an outsider? Percy looked back at Annabeth’s door, pleading for a wise response from her mother to pop into his head.

When he looked back at Nico, he was already gone. All that was left was a chill in the air.

Percy frowned and walked the final steps to his room. It was very different from Annabeth’s. It was small with a fuzzy blue rug and a river around the sides. His bed was against the back wall behind the river. It had a quilted coverlet and next to the bed was a nightstand with Riptide, a jar of blue jelly beans and a vase filled with water, seaweed growing from the bottom. On the wall behind him was a collage of photos from camp. There was a picture of Annabeth making a winky face at the camera, of Tyson playing tag with a nymph, of Grover stuffing a tin can into his mouth. Percy stared at them, reliving the memories, and some of his stress melted away. Nico will be fine, he told himself. I’ll be fine, he thought.

He flicked off the light switch, images of his dad and Nico’s stricken face dancing across his eyelids.

Hours later, Percy awoke to the sound of Leo’s voice. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

“... Will Solace joining us!” finished Leo. “He’ll be in the room across from Nico, my fine ladies and gentlemen.” The speaker flickered off after a quick round of Hot Cross Buns on an instrument that sounded like a cross between a flute and a sick guitar. The sound of Jason saying “it’s three a.m.” filtered through the room.

Percy’ muddled mind imagined Will dancing a jig next to Nico, whose face was sparkling with blue glitter. He fell back into sleep.