[Friend of a Friend] PJO x Marvel

[5. The Mystery of the Jacksons]

"Do you think there's some kind of God that could just magically fix me?"

"Percy, I don't think any God can fix anything. We've been the ones fixing things this whole time."

"Right..." Percy sighed and stared at Nico, who just blankly stared back. "Well, has anything helped you?"

"Will has, yeah. But I don't think talking to Will is gonna help you. I still get the nightmares, just not as often as before." Nico itched behind his ear and sat up, they were in a random cafe in town. Percy liked hanging out at cafes, it made him feel a little less claustrophobic. "Have you tried talking to Annabeth?"

"Not really, we went through everything together. We can't help each other no matter how much we want to. She's been able to deal with everything way better than I have anyways. I don't know how, but I need to figure out what helps me."

  Nico took a sip of his coffee, he'd kept his hands around the cup to keep them warm.

  "I'm still not coming back to camp, my decision hasn't changed."

  Nico frowned, "I figured as much. I understand why, but it doesn't mean I like your choice. We need you, all of us."

The water in Percy's glass began swirling around, a mini whirlpool being created. Nico stared at it and sighed.

"O'Leary misses you, y'know."

"Don't guilt trip me," Percy chuckled. "I wanna go back, but Annebeth and I have been planning this all for years. Just moving to New Rome and living a peaceful life? It's all we could want right now."

"Yeah, it's what you deserve. I'm just being selfish here, Will is never gonna leave camp until the day he dies, so that means I'm stuck there too." Nico frowned, "Where's Annabeth now? I haven't seen her in a while."

"She's staying with her dad so she can finish up school. We IM every so often, but she's been super busy." Percy smiled, just thinking about Annabeth made him happy. "Gods, I've been super busy too. My mom made me get a tutor."

Nico practically spit out his coffee, he wiped his lips and laughed, "You're that hopeless?!"

"Shh, I'm trying my best! You haven't even gone to school since the 1930's!"

"Eh, school was easy back then anyways. Not as much to know, a few less wars and scientific discoveries to study." Nico set down his empty cup and looked around the room, "I should get going before I get an IM from Will about where I am. Probably should take a visit to the Underworld too, just to get some brownie points from Hades."

"Yeah, good idea. Tell everyone I said hi?"

"Sure thing, see ya."

And so, Percy was alone again. He'd have to go to school tomorrow, something that filled him with dread.

—————

"Do you think other mythologies exist?"

"Other mythologies?" Ned repeated, his eyebrows were furrowed.

"You know how Norse Mythology is proven to be real because of Thor? I was just wondering if the other ones were real. It's been on my mind for days."

"Oh, probably. I don't see why not, I mean there's so much history behind them so... yeah?" Ned shrugged and tapped his pencil against his desk. "I hope Roman mythology is real, could you imagine them learning they have entire planets named after them? Maybe that's where they are! Living on their planets! I know Asguard is like a whole other realm or something, so maybe they're just chilling up on their planets."