Archive of Our Own ^beta

For possibly the first time in his life, Percy Jackson was having a rather uneventful summer. The stars seemed to have aligned in such a way that favored him which was...well, a first. 

The five children of the Big Three had been not at all subtly nudged to -- in Will Solace’s words -- ‘take a fucking break’. The healer had seemed rather displeased that he couldn’t simply whisk his boyfriend away on an extended vacation seeing as he was a more than slightly vital commodity at Camp. Thus, he’d settled for the second best option: throwing the Son of Hades at Percy and Jason and telling them “take yourselves on a vacation. Gods know you need it.”

Not to say that he was wrong. Percy acquiesced that he did, in-fact, need a vacation. It’d been a year since the Second Giant War, and it’d be a lie to say he wasn’t traumatized. Long nights spent staring at the ceiling, refusing to sleep with haunted eyes, could attest to that. With Annabeth busy at college (something Percy was incredibly proud of; he’d decided to take a gap year before trying to actually get into academia. He hadn’t really put much thought into it before, having not expected to make it to 18 (or even 16), and as such figured he needed some time to reassess his ideas of the future) he’d spent a lot of time with Nico, trying to work through the PTSD of having gone through Tartarus. It’d been….harrowing to realize that his girlfriend’s experience had had a vastly different impact on her than it had on him. It had thrown him for the loop, to be completely honest. They both had nightmares and flashbacks, but their triggers were very different. She had been… scared of him, and that wasn’t something that Percy could forget easily.

The camp therapist had explained gently to him that trauma affects everyone differently, but it still rubbed his brain raw.

On the other hand, Nico seemed to have developed a much deeper understanding of brains than Percy has anticipated. When asked about it, he’d simply responded, “Sometimes ghosts like to talk. They’ve been through a lot, and sometimes they just want someone to listen to them.”

That had garnered a smile from Percy and a ruffling of the other teen’s hair with a “awww look at you Neeks! All grown up and being there for people!”

The response to that had been pushing the Son of Poseidon off of him with an upwards tilt of the lips that he’d 100% deny.

But, back to the vacation. When Percy Iris-Messaged Annabeth, she’d encouraged him firmly.

“Go. Take a vacation Seaweed-brain. You need it.”

“But, Annabeth, what if camp needs something? It feels...wrong, leaving in the summer without a quest.”

She nodded, and Percy smiled at how the rainbow of the message fell upon her cheekbones. “I know. It was a difficult time deciding whether or not to take summer classes here even.”

“Well, you’re in New Rome at least.”

She sighed. “Yes, but it’s not the same as Camp. Camp is home, it feels, as you said, wrong to leave it undefended.” she shook her shoulders in a slight shimmy -- a stim (a word he’d learned about ADHD! Why had he never learnt these things before?) which she’d developed sometime around turning 15 and one he found absolutely adorable -- before continuing. “Well, Camp isn’t undefended...but it feels weird to leave.”

“See Wise Girl?” he snapped finger guns at her, a little dorkily, “You get me.”

“Well that's good, seeing as I am dating you.” she grinned a little, “But seriously Percy, you should take the vacation. Maybe grab Hazel and Thalia as well? Make it a kids of the Big Three thing. You guys could even go somewhere like Japan or China. While I’m fairly certain there are plenty of things over there, I doubt they’d bother a bunch of Greek and Roman demigods.”

Percy nodded, fiddling with Riptide in his pocket. “You have a point.”

Annabeth smiled, “I know I do.”

And that was that! Percy got permission from his mom (who was overjoyed at the prospect of her son actually having an anticlimactic summer), and, they by some miracle managed to peel Thalia away from the hunters.

“Lady Artemis told me to enjoy? Said she was on good terms with somebody over in China which is just as worrying as it is reassuring,” The Huntress explained, “She’ll be leading the girls, and one of them will fill in for me, soooo.” 

Acquiring Hazel was even easier. The girl was always happy to spend time with her brother and cousins. When asked about how Frank was doing, she had smiled. “Good actually! I think people are accepting him more after everything, which is quite reassuring. He’d love to come along actually, but Reyna needs him right now. Besides, he’s thinking about applying to colleges. I’m not looking forward to that next year...I’ll probably just go here in New Rome though”

Percy nodded. He knew that his friend had always wanted to visit the place of his heritage. “Well, if this doesn’t go horribly, maybe we can make it a thing.”

And thus, the Trip to China began.

The first problem they encountered was how the heck to actually get to said country. With one of them afraid of heights, two of them children of Hades/Pluto, and one of them the son of Poseidon, flying certainly didn’t sound appealing. With 5 people, none of them were willing to let Nico Shadow Travel them all -- despite said teen’s protests. And, ultimately, a cruise would take too much time and probably wouldn’t be the safest.

In the end, the dilemma was solved by a child of Hecate, who took a look at their plight and downright laughed. Turns out, they had made a portal spell that would safely deposit them at their location.

And so, as soon as hotel reservations were solidified, temporary debit cards were set up (turns out being kids of the eldest gods actually had some perks sometimes, who knew?), phones were handed out (thank you Leo), translation charms were acquired, masks for air filtration were bought, and everything was in place, the five demigods stepped through the portal and found themselves in China.

Beijing was an incredibly interesting city as it turns out, and Percy found himself snapping photos of the buildings constantly to show to Annabeth. 

Nico ended up attending a seminar on Chinese Traditional Medicine (which was far more intriguing than he’d expected! He even took notes! Pages of a notebook became filled with scrawled Greek and scribbled drawings -- all for his boyfriend.)

Jason made it his mission to go to the top of every single skyscraper in the area (to the derision of literally every other member of the party), but he also brought up the idea of going to history museums.

And so, their vacation included a tour of the city’s museums. 

The first time they stepped into one, Hazel’s eyes widened in delight. The 16 year old scampered over to one of the displays. “They’re gorgeous !” she exclaimed, staring at a set of jewelry centuries old, “I can feel them, but they’re just..thrumming! There’s no chance of me..” she lowered her voice so none of the other patrons of the museum could hear her, “no chance of me cursing them.”

This garnered a smile from all of them.

Thalia found herself entranced by the wide collection of weapons as well as the fairly gay art on the walls.

“Ah yes, a classic ‘two women in an intimate pose but obviously they’re straight as history doesn’t apparently have lesbians’” she whispered to Percy (who was next to her). The boy almost cracked up, but managed to stop himself. He looked up, eyes filled with mirth. 

The painting was titled ‘Dark Waters and the Wind’ and detailed two women at the end of a duel or a spar, one of them lifting the other’s chin intimately with her fan (presumably her weapon).

“It’s a nice painting.” he decided, after some thought. It was nice, really, being in a group of entirely queer people. About half a year after the whole ‘not your type’ debacle, Percy had realized that the reason he’d been so affronted was because...well..he was extremely bisexual. Upon telling this to Annabeth, she’d looked him firmly in the eye, told him she was as well, and that she’d known he was bi since he was 15. Apparently it was his admiration of Beckendorf that had set off her gaydar.

It was enlightening to say the least, but also a bit hilarious. It had also been what set off a string of coming outs, and the realization that not a single child of the Big Three was straight. Jason was Pansexual, Thalia very proudly bi and poly, Hazel demipansexual, and Nico very much solely gay.

Now, this apparently came as a surprise to absolutely no-one. But it did garner a rather awkward conversation with Chiron, who talked about how Ancient Greek society was pretty much the opposite of straight. While said lecture was..interesting...it was still more than Percy had ever wanted to know. 

But being a part of the queer community was something more enjoyable than the son of Poseidon could have possibly predicted, which became rather obvious as the five of them crowded around the painting, pointing out its obvious queerness and enjoying the artwork.

After the museum, the party ventured out to a delicious looking street food stall. They settled down on the side of the street atop tall rickety stools, munching on glistening sticks of tanghulu and warm baozi filled with various fillings. Lotus buns and red bean buns as well as ones filled with duck in sticky sweet sauces and tofu with hoisin sauce. The flavors melded together beautifully, and Percy even acquired a cup of Butterfly Pea Flower Boba Latte,  which he discovered to be a wonderfully blue and sensory experience.

The tanghulu was sweet and crunchy and soft on the inside, and the baozi soft and flavorful. For 5 teens with ADHD, it was perfect .

As they enjoyed their meals, their attention was grabbed by a soft, yet clear sound. It was almost like bells, but not quite.

“Silver.” Hazel whispered, answering Percy’s unspoken question.

Across the street, a couple came into view, setting the party on edge. They were both dressed in traditional clothing -- Percy recalled that it was called Hanfu, unless he was mistaken. It was highly possible that his brain had taken the word and applied it to something else out of context. The shorter person was dressed in white, with a bandage wrapping around their arm and a straw hat on their back. Upon further inspection (despite the distance) it was possible to ascertain that the hems of their clothes had delicate embroidery of butterflies. Their companion (who was taller, Percy noticed, and almost definitely taller than himself) was dressed in red and, the cloth an obviously rich maple color. Silver chains hung off their boots, and a rather elaborate necklace with silver butterfly detailing hung around their neck. Their hair was braided long over their shoulder and secured by a coral ornament.

“Hmm.” Nico hummed under his breath as he observed the couple.

“Yeah?” Jason nudged the teen, “what is it?”

“They feel oddly familiar, but I'm fairly certain I’ve never met them before.”

Hazel nodded, worming an arm through Nico’s. “Same here. It’s odd. I certainly haven’t met them this time around, and not before either.”

Thalia seemed to think for a moment. “Maybe while you were…” she trailed off, an awkward look in her eyes.

The younger girl laughed a little, “It's okay! You can say dead. But, I'm not sure. If that were the case, they shouldn’t feel familiar to Nico.”

It was at that instant that the odd pair started to speak, and the quintet fell quiet.

“Gege, why did you want to come out here?” the one in red said with a pout, arms crossed over their head.

The one in white let out a soft breath, indulgent, “San Lang, it’s always nice to get out and have a breath of fresh air! Besides, I wanted to pick up some fruit for us, and the markets around here always have so many options!”

“But Gege...I thought you wanted to spend time together~ and neither of us have anything we need to do today~”

The one in white smiled at their companion. “Hmm? Are we not spending time together?”

“That is true…”

They brushed a piece of hair out of the taller’s face. “Ah, don’t sulk San Lang, this gege will always pay you plenty of attention.” Their eyes went coy. “Unless you want to pay me the attention, that is.”

The one in red’s eyes widened and then they seemed to melt a little, “Dianxia, I always want to pay attention to you.”

Percy (who was still listening) blushed a little and exchanged an awkward look with Nico. It was obvious that the two strangers were together, and he vaguely worried about possibly hearing more about said relationship than he wished to.

The five watched the two as they walked leisurely around the street. 

“But seriously Gege, why here?”

“Hmm?” the one in white questioned lightly. “Ah, I simply thought the atmosphere was nice.”

“Gege.” the taller gave him a flat look, “literally, the atmosphere in the city is awful.”

The other downright giggled. “Not what I meant, sweetheart.”

And thus, the five were all of a sudden witness to the tall, regal looking being completely stall out.

The one in white laughed, bringing a hand to their mouth. 

“Dianxia!” the one in red -- San Lang? -- exclaimed.

“Yes?”

“I.. nevermind.. This one is…” 

Resting their chin on a shoulder, the one in white leaned on San Lang. “My poor San Lang, you’re adorable.”

“Gege, I’m warning you.” there was no anger in their voice, although there did seem to be a pleading note or two.

“Can I not compliment my husband?”

That shot a very warm note through the five demigods sitting on the side of the street. This couple was obviously not straight, and probably not mortal either! Yet they were simply...strolling across the street. Living. It was… extraordinary. 

“Gege, please .”

“Alright, alright. I’ll stop for now.”

San Lang seemed to regain his train of thought, as he straightened up slightly. “Gege, did you come here because of the godlings?”

The question was mild, unthreatening, yet it yet again set the quintet on edge. Nothing good ever came of questions like that.

The one in white sighed. “Ah. I almost thought you didn’t notice, how silly of me. My San Lang is very observant.”

The two sat down on stools on the opposite side of the street, very carefully angling their seats so as to not be observing said ‘godlings’.

“Are they bothering you, Dianxia? Do you need me to deal with them?”

A dangerous question.

“No no! They’re not bothering me at all. Or anyone honestly. You can ask Ling Wen if you want, but truthfully I was just intrigued.”

“Gege, the last time I asked Ling Wen something, she almost made a hole in her palace.”

“San Lang, you did ask her through my private communication array, of course she was shocked!” the one in white responded, humor and fondness clear on their face.

“She deserved it. Interrupting Dianxia while he was sleeping. Rude of her.”

The shorter shrugged. “There was an emergency. It was important.”

“Dianxia’s health is more important.” the tilt of San Lang’s head managed to tell Percy that this was a conversation they had often.

“San Lang, I quite literally cannot die.”

“...”

Silence for a second, the only sounds being the ambient music of the street, peddlers and customers and traffic.

“That doesn’t make it any easier for you to be overworked or in pain.”

A beat passed, then their heads leaned together in what was probably a kiss. Jason leveled a hand over Hazel’s eyes, ignoring her indignant squeak that she was 16 and kisses weren’t anything she hadn’t seen before.

They parted, and the one in white brought their husband’s head down to lean against their neck “In all honesty though, San Lang, I was simply intrigued. It’s not often we see any Greek or Roman godlings over here.”

“Mmm.” 

“You recognize some of them?”

“Mmhm. “

Percy saw Hazel and Nico stiffen up. Judging from their words earlier, they were probably the ones being talked about.

“Which ones? If I may know.”

The one in red stretched out a hand to his spouse, who took it. A flare of color passed between their fingers. “Can you sense them?”

“Oh!” their hair bounced slightly in the wind, “ah yes. San Lang~ you were interested too! Silly.” 

“Mm. Didn’t want to spoil Gege’s day if it wasn’t about them.”

“And this Gege appreciates that greatly. Tell him about them?”

“Of course.” he leaned his head back on his spouse’s shoulder. “The boy? He was stuck with the Lotus Eaters for a time.”

A shudder. “Oh poor child, that’s not fun at all.”

“No.” 

“Does he remember his time there?” 

“Uncertain. Although I could find out, if Gege wishes.”

“No need. Continue?” a kiss to the side of their husband’s head.

“Mm. All of them were involved in the debacle that went down last year.”

“Ah, that,” a heavy sigh, “Mu Qing, Feng Xin, and I were monitoring that in case it went bad. We couldn’t intervene, it wasn’t our place, but...just in case. I had them training idioms for days. ”

That startled a laugh out of San Lang. “if you ever need me to put them in their place…”

“Shhh San Lang, they’re better than they were centuries ago, and you know that.”

“Unfortunately.”

“You let them come for family dinner.”

“Grudgingly.”

“He Xuan said you let them help feed the fish.”

“ Dianxia, please .”

“Okay! Tell me more about the godlings?”

(Said godlings had been listening with rather invested interest. It wasn’t often you come across non-mortals who didn’t want to at least partially murder you.)

“Of course. The boy who I recognized? Some refer to him as a ghost king.”

“Mm?”

“Obviously he’s not a Calamity. Or a ghost, even.”

“How did he get the title then?” the one in white asked. Nico listened closely. In all honesty, he wasn’t 100% sure why it had caught.

“Well, his father is Hades, and the domain that his Qi matched best with was that of the dead as opposed to riches.”

“The girl?”

“Yes. but continuing, since he can control many low level ghosts and also has the respect of those under his father’s domain, the name stuck.”

“Understandable. It's not hard to gain, or lose, a title.”

“Taizi Dianxia….”

“Exactly. Although that one has stuck over the years.” a slightly bitter laugh escaped the one in white’s lips.

“Now, the boy is intriguing. I’m interested in seeing the path he and his lover take.”

This turn of phrase had poor Nico’s ears turn bright red, something punctuated by Thalia rather unsubtly poking them.

“And the girl?”

“Ah, you’ve met her, Gege.”

“Ah? Me?”

“Mm. You remember the little topaz ghost fire? The one who didn’t belong with us and we had to send back home?”

“Ah yes! She’d died before her time…”

“Yes, and I’m well aware that you’d have adopted her if she hadn’t had a place she was needed.”

A pause.

“San Lang !”

“Am I wrong, Gege?”

“...no…”

Meanwhile, Hazel was having a bit of an existential crisis. So she had recognized them! It was odd to learn she hadn’t been in the fields of Asphodel the whole time, that she’d ended up somewhere else in the world for a time and not remembered it, but for some reason it was oddly reassuring.

After a slight pause, San Lang continued. “She’s doing well. She would’ve as a ghost as well. If Gege had adopted her, she’d surely be powerful.”

“Hmm. Especially with Crimson Rain Sought Flower as her father.”

“The others you may have heard of as well. The son of Jupiter, Daughter of Zeus, Son of Posiden.”

A nod of the head. “Yes, they’re rather well known.” the one in white glanced in their direction and all five busied themselves with eating their snacks. “Ah… they’re tired aren’t they.”

“They went through war. Twice.”

“Too young.”

“I was about their age.”

“Yes, and San Lang that was far too young! You should’ve never had to!”

San Lang grasped the other’s hands firmly but gently. “Perhaps. But it was my greatest honor to die for you on the battlefield.”

The one in white shook his head. “This time you stay with me.”

“Mm. Of course. This one shall never leave you, Dianxia.” They both stood, hands still intertwined. “Shall we head back to Paradise Manor, Gege?”

“After I pick out my fruit! San Lang, I got distracted!!”

A light chuckle. “This one will buy his husband whatever fruit he wants.”

“You spoil me.”

“Dianxia deserves to be spoiled.”

“San Lang deserves to be spoiled.” the shorter man booped his husband’s nose. “Lets go.”

The two turned and meandered across the street, before pausing in front of the five demigods -- demigods who looked up in shock.

“Hello godlings,” the man in white said gently, “My husband would like to gift you something, if you’d allow it.”

“Uh, certainly!” Thalia straightened up, Lieutenant persona firmly in place. “We would be honored.”

San Lang moved next to his husband. “Outstretch your hand, Lieutenant.”

She did so, at this point unsurprised at the man’s knowledge.

He took it, fingertips brushing across her palm. An odd fluttering sensation traveled up her arms from the point of contact. Energy? A blessing? She was unsure but it didn’t seem malicious.

He then turned to Hazel, then Jason, then Percy, and lastly Nico, repeating the process.

Afterwards, he resumed his place by his husband’s side. “For luck.”

The man in white smiled gently, and it was the warmest smile that Percy had ever seen, except perhaps his mother’s. “Enjoy your vacation. Do not worry, no one will bother you.”

“T-thank you...my Lords?” Hazel looked up at them, trying to express her gratitude.

The others followed suit in thanks, and, as the strangers walked away, a sense of peace was left over the five children of the eldest gods.

They had a full summer left to enjoy, and for once, despite the foreign setting, they felt truly safe.