Chapter Text
Νικο
To be perfectly honest, he’d been procrastinating coming here. And part of him had silently hoped that he’d find the place completely empty this time around.
But regardless of how deserted the Holy Cross cemetery was this time of day, there he was. Standing in front of a grave, head tilted downwards, the surrounding lights casting him in stark contrast.
And here Nico was, watching from the shadow, fiddling with his ring. It takes him longer than he cares to admit to finally leave his hiding spot and approach him.
The boy sighs loudly.
“Got lost again fantasmin?” he asks
He had introduced himself, last time Nico had come here, after admitting to having seen him summoning spirits. Something short and star related, Nico thought.
“You said you visited frequently” he explains.
The boy, Leo, Nico remembers suddenly. Shifts to face him.
“I did” he says evenly
Nico shifts, nervous, eyes searching for danger.
“I could use your help again” he tries.
Leo’s eyes glisten yellow, and for that moment it’s easy to see him, copper skin and curly dark brown hair, and elfish features; godly blood pulling into view. Then he goes back to normal, and the world returns to dim lighting.
“Tell me on the way,” he offers, “don’t wanna be caught by the cops”
Nico nods quickly, and follows when Leo starts walking out of the cemetery, and away from the city.
Leo does a motion with his left hand, and Nico starts talking. Like the last time, he frames the information delicately, acutely aware of how little Leo knows despite his nature.
He’ll believe Nico about ghosts, and on some level about his powers. Nico could probably convince him of monsters and gods with enough time, but that’s rarely something they can spare-
Eventually they come to a stop on the side of a highway, just before it dips into a tunnel.
“Wait, isn’t that the guy that blew up the Gateway Bridge?” Leo asks amused.
Nico considers it, rummaging his memories of what happened during their fight against Kronos, and everything he’s heard about Percy’s quests.
“Probably” he guesses.
Leo nods with a hum and looks into the distance.
“It might be a long shot, but there was a report on this one store on San Francisco,” he offers, “sprinkle system blew up or something” he adds with a hand wave.
And well, that does sound like Percy, never mind that it’s the closest thing to a hint he’s had so far.
“It’s worth a look” he says-
Leo doesn’t comment, simply makes a ‘wait’ motion and takes a step back, returning with a stick. It becomes aflame in Leo’s hands, and Nico finds himself leaning closer.
It’s just as mesmerizing as he remembers it, watching Leo using his fire, and Nico had never realized just how cold he ran before that first encounter. The fire dies down, and Leo hands him the remaining charcoal.
“You kinda glow in the dark” he explains.
Nico shoves the piece of charcoal into the pocket of his aviator, looking away.
“Thanks” he says.
Leo gives him a smile, the first and only of the night, and steps away once more.
“This is where we part ways fantasmin” he says.
Nico shifts but doesn’t protest. Part of him wants to, Leo’s smoke heavy scent repels most monsters, and it’s harder, now, to remember why he’d hesitated so much in seeing him.
But Leo makes a little shimmy of sorts and run-walks towards the tunnel, disappearing before Nico can do something stupid, like actually voicing his thoughts. Instead, he lets out a slow breath, and picks the nearest shadow, jumping into it with San Francisco in his mind; or rather, one place in particular in there.
Λεο
Waking up with a start was nothing new, but the feeling of misplacement that fills his throat is. And it makes no sense, because he’s been at the Wilderness Scholl for what feels like years.
He also finds himself staring at particularly dark shadows, like something’s gonna come out of them, but a little paranoia is expected given how long he spent running.
There’s a strong shake as the buss he’s riding on hits something. And causes Jason to wake up with a groan behind him, which is about when things start getting really fucking weird.
Jason seems to share Leo’s feeling that this is the wrong scene, but worse, because where Leo has foggy memories that could explain how he ended up in this chair, on a bus ride, Jason remembers nothing.
Piper tries her best to help him, and Leo throws in a few comments of what his mind provides, but then Jason makes direct eye contact with him, and Leo knows.
Knows that the guy sitting behind him has no idea who Leo is, and that Leo himself, has no idea who Jason is either.
His head pounds like it’s been crushed, and he panics under this stranger’s lightning blue eyes.
“Do I have something on my face?” he asks.
Before blonde guy can respond Coach Hedge calls for attention. Leo’s headache recedes as a new memory comes, and he learns they’re headed to the Grand Canyon.
He also knows that Jason had been like, excited about it just the other day, which is a fact he shoves to the back of his mind. Where thoughts insist that this guy who looks like Captain America, and the pretty girl sitting at his side are Leo’s best friends.
Which is wild, because when Leo thinks about friends his eyes slide towards the nearest shadow, and he gets a feeling that’s like cold but in the past. Nothing to do with the two people he’s looking at.
Piper seems the only unaffected by the whole situation, worrying over Jason’s apparent amnesia as they reach their destination, and get off the bus. That is until the big guy with the clear narcissistic complex takes her away, and then it’s just Jason and Leo.
“So, is there something you do remember?” he asks.
Jason blinks at him.
“You, believe me?” he says doubtfully.
Leo shrugs.
“I’m also having trouble with memories, but unlike you it’s more like my brain’s all mixed” he explains.
This seems to be a good idea, because Jason relaxes his posture significantly, and he seems to think about it.
“It’s mostly how I’m not supposed to be here, and a feeling of danger” Jason says.
Leo nods, now that he pays attention he feels it too, like the air’s charged.
“We’ll have to keep our eyes peeled then, but for now, it’d better if we don’t tell anyone, just roll with the punches” he says.
Jason seems to consider him for a moment, before he nods in a way that reminds Leo of soldiers in movies. And they follow the group, and keep quiet even as some girls try getting a rise out of Piper, mostly because Leo remembers something about her hating having her battles fought by others, and stopping Jason before he makes a fool of himself.
And maybe the guy feels like he does exercise on the regular, but Leo will save his comments on that for himself. Though Jason’s too much of a goody two shoes for Leo’s tastes, if he’s completely honest.
He finds some things to fiddle with as he plans their next move, it’ll probably be a good idea to stick with Jason, since they’ve probably been affected by the same thing. Leo’s mind insists on including Piper to the group, but he isn’t sure how much of that is honest; does he even know Piper at all.
A storm forms overhead, literally singling the area where they are out, which is super weird and has Jason tensing back up. Everything goes to shit after that.