Perfect Little Blue Boy (Percy Jackson)

Chapter Fifty Three

Percy

Given a few weeks, I was back at school. I had more than skin and bones, and could walk normally. Just in time for... To find out that Zeus was... He was resigning.

Zeus, Hades, and my dad all were. Well, all of them gods were.

About 20 demigods were all at Goode. They were called in.

We were all at lunch together. Me and my siblings. Clarisse. Nico. Silena. Beckendorf. Thalia. Luke. The Stolls. Annabeth. Will. Katie. Pollux. I could go on. It was the council plus Grover, basically.

Why, nobody knows. They were told to come here today. By the gods.

And then our mortal families showed up during lunch. Which wasn't... I mean, even Gabe showed up. Annabeth's family made the time. Hell, Thalia's mom and Nico's mom and Bianca showed up.

Bianca scared the shit out of all of us. Because Nico was on the end, I was next to him, and then Grover, Thalia, Annabeth, Will, and Clarisse. On the one side.

"My go—" we all remarked, turning around to see who it was. And we all froze when we saw the daughter of Hades.

"Bianca!"

We all jumped up to give her a hug and it was... It was really nice. I haven't seen Nico happier than this, I don't think. Even when Bianca was around... He was just so at peace with the world now.

Bianca had like a normal reaction to everyone else. Even her brother.

But she saw me and...

"Oh my gods!" Bianca exclaimed when she realized who I was. "Jackson! You're not dead!"

"We tried, Bianca." Annabeth joked. "Take that seriously and you're dead, Seaweed Brain."

"Um, excuse you," I remarked, joking back to her. "Wise Girl, Nico would kill me before you'd ever know. He'd bring me back and kill me and then bring me back again."

Everyone looked at Nico.

"I mean..." Nico wagered. "Yeah..."

Grover

Percy, Nico, and Annabeth were the first ones dragged away by the gods. It was just into the hall, though.

"Okay, I didn't want to make it awkward." Bianca explained to me. "Percy and Annabeth are together, right?"

Everyone kind of snickered.

"What?" She asked, confused. "They've been head over heels since... Well, I was around."

"No," I corrected her. "Annabeth was head over heels for Percy. Percy acted like he had a crush to not like destroy his image at camp. They did go out. For a while. It went... Annabeth cheated and Percy was waiting for her to say it's over. So... It's been... Silena, how long have you guys been back?"

"3 months," Silena told me. "Why?"

"It's been almost a year since they were together." I estimated it for her just because I wasn't sure if it's been 10 months or longer. But whatever. "He's happier now, either way. Now that he's with someone that he can actually talk to about stuff. It's great. He doesn't want to kill himself every other week. Improvement. I'm telling you."

Bianca

Didn't know Percy was suicidal, but okay then. He's not anymore. And then I...

"He dated Annabeth to save his image?" I questioned. "Why not just date a girl he likes? Who would really care?"

Everyone shared a really awkward look. The look of 'who's going to say it?'

Clarisse told me.

"That's the point." The daughter of Ares told me. "Percy's gay."

And I sat down, thinking about that.

I don't... I don't know what to think about it. Like, I don't care that he's gay. I've had plenty of girl and guy crushes in my day. I mean, have you seen Thalia?

Sorry, you didn't need to know that.

Bisexuality, dude. It's a magical thing. How my mom feels about it? I'm terrified to ask.

"Please don't freak out on him." Thalia insisted. "That would ruin him. It doesn't make sense, I know. But what you think could like make or break him in that sense."

"I don't know why I would, but okay." I remarked. "I just really didn't expect that. And why... Why does it matter what I think?"

Will Solace was taken by the gods into the hall.

Again, everyone shared this weird look.

"It's just..." Grover tried to be smooth about it. And failed. "With who he's dating and um... Yeah?"

"Okay," I clarified. "Let me rephrase. Who is Percy dating?"

It was silent, and Thalia spoke up.

"Your lil bro."

And I was left dumbfounded. Because the thought of... I never thought of Nico like that. Because Mom stressed it into Nico. Girls. He dates girls. He likes girls. He will have a kid with a girl. He will have a family with a girl. Guys were out of the questions. Girl were out of the question for me.

It was WWII. The Holocaust. Gays were treated just like Jews were. So for Nico to be... Even for him to be bi...

Why didn't he ever tell me? What the fuck?

I'm pretty sure he knows I'm bi. I mean, unless he didn't really think about it until after I died, then... Then I can't be mad. But still. What the fuck, Nico?

As more people were taken to the hall, some started to come back. Some.looked more radiant than ever. Annabeth did. Will. Charles and Silena. A few others. Percy and Nico didn't, though. They seemed about the same.

"You guys didn't take it?" Annabeth asked them, sounding a little disappointed.

"I've turned it down before." Percy remarked as he sat down once again. "I will turn it down again."

"Turn what down?" Grover questioned.

"They're asking everyone about becoming immortal," Nico explained. "Taking our parents spots. They wanted Percy to take over as head of Olympus."

"They tried," Percy remarked. "They seemed desperate. But I'm not about that. You're already part god, so I suppose it doesn't really matter for you."

"Well you are, too." Grover reasoned, and motioned at Annabeth. "All three of us are. It went to all three of us. It's just that I'm a satyr and shit that more of it went to me. Why do you think you haven't died yet?"

"Because Nico picked my lock, Hades called 911, and my dad is still paying the hospital bill." Percy remarked in a sassy wah. Which... I can imagine him and Nico just going back and forth with the sass. I have to witness that one day. Because I guess they don't hate each other. Last I heard they did. But whatever.

"What did your Mom do?" Annabeth questioned what everyone was thinking at the moment. "Because I mean, she's your mom."

"Chewed out my dad," Percy filled that little part in. "My mom can figure out a code to a safe. But she can't pick a lock. It's weird."

Everyone kind of looked at each other for a minute. Unsure of what to think about that.

"Have I ever told you," Thalia was sincere. "That your family is really weird?"

Percy shrugged.

With that conversation set aside, I looked at my little brother.

"So," I remarked to him. "Why'd you never tell me?"