Elysium, a Percy Jackson Fanfiction

Chaper 4

I don't own any of the characters, or any of the songs that will start to appear.

Also, bonus points to whoever names the real name, artist, and album of the song in this story! NO CHEATING!

Chapter 4: Garage Band

Jason POV

When Jason walked into his garage to meet Percy and who he assumed was Nico, he had no idea what to expect. He definitely hadn't expected them to start off without him. Or for Percy to be singing. Which is exactly what he found.

Percy and Nico were playing their guitars, to the tune of some song Jason had never heard before. Neither of them seemed to realize he was there, so Jason waited, listening to the melody of the song. Then Percy started singing.

I need an easy friend

I do, With an ear to lend

I do, Think you fit this shoe

I do, But do you have a clue?

I'll take advantage while

You hang me out to dry

But, I can't see you every night

Free

Jason could only marvel at all the talent Percy had. He could sing, not like those pop and rap singers who sang fast and high-pitched, but instead his voice was deep, and full of emotion. It seemed to fit perfectly with the music Percy played.

When he finished the second stanza, Percy stopped playing , and turned to Nico. "That's all I've got" He said, before acknowledging Jason's presence with a nod of his head.

For the first time, Jason truly felt nervous. This was it, the moment he had thought about for hours.

"Nico, this is Jason. He's gonna be our drummer, so now you can get off my case" Percy said, gesturing to him. "Jason, this is Nico, my...roommate" Nico stuck out his hand, and offered it to Jason, who shook it.

"Should we get started?" Jason asked, and Percy and Nico just nodded. As Jason sat down behind the set of drummers that were up against one of the garage walls, he couldn't help but think about Percy's visible hesitation before he said roommate.

After three hours of almost non-stop music, Jason thought he was going to go deaf. After listening to Percy play at school, Jason hadn't realized that Percy was very good at playing very loud. It was like something had been set free inside him, and he was pouring it all into his music.

They had been working on three songs, two of which were almost complete. They just needed words. Which happened to be Percy's job. And he was stonewalled. He had been staring off into space, muttering to himself, when Nico looked down at his watch.

"Perce" He said, trying in vain to get Percy's attention. "Percy!" Still nothing. "Damn it. JACKSON!" Finally, Percy shook himself out of his musing, and looked at Nico, slightly annoyed.

"What?"

"Dude, it's seven. We should get going" Nico said

"Really?" Percy asked, already closing up his guitar case.

"Yeah"

"You guys are leaving already?" Jason asked, a little disappointed. He had enjoyed playing music with Percy and Nico. The three of them seemed to work well together.

"Yep." Percy said, with a smile "But don't worry. We'll be back tomorrow. If you'll have us"

"Of course man!" Jason said, returning Percy's smile as he got up from his seat behind the drummers. "This was awesome!" he said, as the three of them started walking towards the door. When they got out into the house, and were turning to leave, when Thalia stuck her head into the hall.

"Are you guys leaving?" She asked. Percy and Nico just nodded. "So, you're not staying for dinner?"

Dinner? Jason thought, shocked Thalia doesn't cook. Jason shot his sister a look, saying: Since when do you cook?, and Thalia mouthed something like Since always. Now shut up, before looking over to make sure Percy and Nico hadn't noticed. They hadn't.

Percy stood with his head in his hands, half looking at Nico, grinning and shaking his head. Nico looked up at Percy, with an expression on his face like the one you would find on a small child begging Can we? Can we, can we, can we?" With Nico's long dark hair, and black clothing, it was a pretty funny sight, actually. And obviously, Percy thought so too, as he was attempting to not start laughing.

"Fine" Percy said, sighing and shaking his head. "But you, Di'Angelo, owe me big time". At this, Nico grinned. Jason laughed, and turned to lead the two of them to the kitchen.

It turned out Thalia had just stuck some frozen pizza in the oven. Jason was fine with this. Frozen pizza wasn't that unusual when Thalia was cooking. But Percy and Nico were practically drooling at the smell alone. It was like they'd never had anything from an oven. Then Jason remembered how Percy was tormented just for being poor. Still. Jason reasoned to himself It's not like he could be that poor that he doesn't have an oven.

Dinner passed quickly. The four of them making small talk, while Percy and Nico managed to avoid most of the questions about their lives with vague responses. Their unwillingness to talk seemed odd to Jason, and it looked like it seemed that way to Thalia too.

They sat in silence for a moment, until Percy stood up. "We really should get going. Thank you so much for the food". He tapped Nico on the shoulder, and the two of them went to grab their instruments.

"Wait," Thalia said, as she fished around in her pockets. Finally she pulled out a crumpled up twenty. "It's late. Call a cab or take the bus"

"Um... I can't take that from you" Percy said, sheepishly, and more than a little nervously.

"You can. And you will" She ordered. Percy looked like he was going to protest, but instead just nodded, and gingerly reached out and took the bill.

"Thanks for everything" Percy said, still holding the bill like it was a grenade. "See you tomorrow?"

"Definetly"Jason said. And with that, Percy and Nico grabbed their instruments and vanished.

Another three hours later, Jason wandered the house aimlessly after Thalia had gone to sleep. He had loved making music with Percy and Nico, and was thinking about if they started performing. As he walked past the front door, his head was so full of dreams that he almost didn't notice the front door was still unlocked. Strange, Jason thought, before grabbing the keys and heading back to the door. When he got close, he stopped in his tracks.

There, wedged between the door and its frame, was a folded up, wrinkled twenty-dollar bill.