★ 。＼｜／。★

𝗕𝗘𝗟𝗟𝗘

𝖇𝖔𝖓𝖚𝖘:
BELLE AND PERCY IN
THE SHIP OF THE DEAD &
THE TOWER OF NERO

★ 。／｜＼。★

*not a long one this time but it's the last bonus brb I'm literally gonna cry*

BELLE ADAIR HAD experienced some pretty strange things in her life. Demigods always did. Some examples include Percy Jackson winning a game of rock, paper, scissors with a finger gun, seeing the Party Ponies completely demolish the Titan army with root beer and pranks, and realizing her and her boyfriend shared a relative in the form of a horse. But what she was experiencing right now was nothing compared to those.

Magnus Chase, cousin of Annabeth, was going on a quest soon on the ocean and had asked none other than Percy — son of Poseidon and all — to train him in not dying if he fell into the ocean. That was normal. Magnus himself was a Demigod too, but on the Norse side, being a son of Frey. Okay, cool. But here's the twist — Magnus was immortal. Not in a Godly way, he could still die, but he was able to survive as long as he was in the boundaries of Hotel Valhalla. They had only needed to bring him there once when Magnus had broken every bone in his body.

Despite that, it was a lovely day. They stayed on the USS Constitution in Boston Harbor. Belle sat up on the deck with Annabeth and Magnus' friend (friend? more than friend? Belle didn't know) Alex Fierro. Alex was extremely good company and he (his respective gender for the day — yes, Alex was gender fluid, got a problem?) was incredibly funny. Him, Belle, and Annabeth all took turns sharing stupid stories of Percy and Magnus while sitting under the sun, enjoying the sea breeze.

Percy and Magnus himself stood by the yardarm of the ship. It seemed like Percy was explaining why Magnus had to learn how to not die while falling into the water while Magnus listened with an absolutely terrified expression. However, Belle's focus was on her boyfriend instead — hey, don't blame her, she's allowed to admire. The wind was rippling little waves in his black hair, and even though he was only wearing an orange Camp Half-Blood t-shirt, a pair of jeans, and some battered white leather Reeboks, he looked good.

Magnus then glanced down at the three of them, as did Percy. Belle gave them both a little wave.

"You got this, Magnus!" Annabeth exclaimed.

Belle nodded in agreement while Alex gave them two thumbs up.

Percy then jumped from the yardarm, falling towards the water below in a perfect spread-eagle form. At the last moment — just like he was instructing Magnus to do — he straightened up with his heels downward and hit the water, disappearing with hardly a ripple. Percy surfaced a moment later with his palms raised, staring up at Magnus expectantly. Belle rolled her eyes playfully, but clapped along with Annabeth and Alex. Her boyfriend could be such a show-off sometimes.

"Okay, Magnus!" Alex called up to him. "Your turn! Be a man!"

"You got this, cuz!" Annabeth added.

Magnus looked at the dark surface of the water before jumping. He spread his arms just like Percy demonstrated, looking pretty confident and calm. However, things got weird. Oh, get this — a sword appeared out of thin air. Belle blinked in surprise as she watched Magnus and sword have a conversation (uh, what?) as he flailed and landed in the cold water. Percy came back on board, pulling Belle closer to him by wrapping an arm around her shoulder as they all stared at the water in confusion.

Suddenly, Magnus was lurched upwards and landed on the deck next to them. He gasped for air and shivered from the cold water as he clenched onto his sword. Belle studied his sword for a second. It was made of a double-edged blade that had some runes glowing on it. The hilt was a simple leather grip, but this sword was a lot larger than Belle's own one, Sunflower.

"Woah," Percy began, taking a step back — forcing Belle to come along with him. "That was different. You okay, Magnus?"

Magnus coughed. "Fine."

Percy eyed the glowing runes on Magnus' sword. "Where'd the sword come from?"

"Hi, I'm Jack!" the sword responded.

Annabeth stifled a yelp. "It talks?"

Belle shook her head, sighing to herself. "When you thought you've seen everything . . ."

"It?" Jack the sword demanded. "Hey, lady, some respect. I'm Sumarbrander! The Sword of Summer! The weapon of Frey! I've been around for thousands of years! Also, I'm a dude!"

Annabeth frowned. "Magnus, when you told me about your magic sword, did you perhaps fail to mention that it — that he can speak?"

"Did I?" Magnus replied.

He definitely did. Magnus had told them all about the magic sword, but he hadn't been around — whenever him and Percy sparred, Magnus had been using practice blades from Hotel Valhalla.

"Be polite, Magnus," Alex told him. "Introduce your friends to your sword."

"Uh, right," Magnus voiced. "Jack, this is Percy, Belle, and Annabeth. They're Demigods — the Greek kind."

"Hmm," Jack hummed in response, not sounding very impressed. "I met Hercules once."

"Who hasn't?" Annabeth muttered.

"Fair point. But I suppose if you're friends of Magnus' . . ." He suddenly went completely still, his runes fading. Jack then leaped out of Magnus' hand and flew straight towards Annabeth, his blade twitching as if he was sniffing the air. "Where are they? Where are you hiding the babes?"

Annabeth backed away towards the rail. "Woah, there, sword. Personal space!"

"Jack, behave," Alex scolded. "What are you doing?"

"They're around here somewhere," Jack insisted. He flew over to Percy and Belle, Belle's eyes widening slightly. "Aha! What's in your pocket, sea boy? And around your belt loops, plant girl?"

Percy looked a bit nervous at the magical sword hovering at his waistline. "Excuse me?"

Alex lowered his Ray-Bans. "Okay, now I'm curious. What do you have in your pocket, Percy? Or around your belt loops, Belle? Inquiring swords want to know."

Belle unclipped her keychain from her belt loops and held it up, gesturing to both that and Percy's ballpoint pen that he had retrieved from his pocket. "Are you talking about these?"

"BAM!" Jack exclaimed. "Who are these visions of loveliness?"

"Jack," Magnus interrupted. "It's a pen and a keychain."

"No, it's not! Show me! Show me!"

Percy shared a look with Belle before shrugging, dropping his arm from around her. "Uh . . . sure."

He uncapped the pen. Immediately, it transformed into Riptide, his three-foot-long leaf-shaped blade of Celestial Bronze with a simple brown handle. Meanwhile, Belle flipped her keychain, and Sunflower instantly appeared. It looked identical to Percy's besides the hilt, which was green and had a gold engraving of the word ηλιοτρόπιο, which meant sunflower in Greek — a sword gifted to her by Demeter herself.

Jack turned his point towards Magnus, his runes flashing in a burgundy color. "See, Magnus? I told you it wasn't stupid to carry a sword disguised as a pen!"

"Jack, I never said that!" Magnus protested. "You did."

Percy raised an eyebrow at the interaction. "What are you two talking about?"

"Nothing. So I guess this is the famous Riptide and Sunflower? Annabeth told me about them."

Jack sighed dreamily. "Look at those girls."

Annabeth frowned yet again. "Percy and Belle's swords are girls?"

Jack laughed. "Well, duh."

Belle tilted her head at her sword. "You know what? I weirdly get it."

"I don't know," Percy admitted. "Are you sure—?"

"Percy," Alex cut in. "Respect the gender."

"Okay, fine. It's just kinda strange that I never knew."

Belle shrugged, a small smirk on her face. "However, you didn't even know the pen could actually be used as a pen until last year."

"That's so low, Beauty," Percy responded.

"Anyway!" Jack interjected. "The important thing is Riptide and Sunflower are here now, they're beautiful, and they've met me! Maybe the three of us can . . . you know . . . have some private time to talk about, er, sword stuff?"

"Wait, hold up," Percy stated. "If Sunflower and Riptide make Belle and I soulmates . . . does that mean our swords are soulmates too?"

Belle blinked in surprise at him. "You knew?"

His cheeks flushed a light shade of red. "Yeah, Poseidon told me back at the Acropolis. Didn't mention it to you because I didn't want to scare you away in case you didn't know, but apparently you did."

"Scare me away?" Belle repeated, a small smile appearing on her face. "Never."

Jack cleared his throat, interrupting the two. "Uh, hello? Private time."

Alex smirked. "That sounds like a wonderful idea. How about we let the swords get to know each other while the rest of us have lunch? Magnus, do you think you can handle eating falafel without choking?"

They settled down on the aft spar deck to eat their picnic lunch, which consisted of chickpea patties, pita bread, chilled yogurt and cucumber slices, and lamb kebabs. The sunlight and warm breeze felt good as they ate. Sailboats traced their way across the harbor while airplanes cut across the blue sky, going to wherever their next destination was.

Meanwhile, Riptide, Sunflower, and Jack were propped up nearby in a coil of rope, their hilts leaning against the gunnery rail. Sunflower and Riptide kept acting like typical inanimate objects, but Jack kept inching closer to either of them — since he was in the middle, naturally — while chatting them up, his blade glowing the same dark bronze as them. Belle watched in amusement as Jack joked, flattered, and name-dropped Gods, such as You know, Thor and Odin and I were at this tavern one time . . . She couldn't tell if her own sword or if Percy's were impressed. They were only normal swords, after all.

Percy wadded up his falafel wrapper, making Belle blink — he ate so fast, and she never could tell where it all went. "So, when do you guys sail out?"

Alex raised an eyebrow at Magnus, like he was agreeing with Percy's question. Magnus shifted uncomfortably under his gaze, clearly wanting to avoid the topic.

"Soon," Magnus answered. "We don't exactly know where we're headed, or how long it'll take to get there—"

"Story of my life," Percy agreed.

"—but we have to find Loki's big nasty ship of death before it sails at Midsummer. It's docked somewhere along the border between Niflheim and Jotunheim. We're estimating it'll take a couple of weeks to sail that distance."

Belle could tell — even underneath his dark lenses — that Alex was worried. She understood. Belle hadn't been on a quest since the one to Greece, thank the Gods, but being nervous about one was normal. She tucked her feet underneath her, the light-washed jeans she was wearing moving with her and her brown hair that had the front pieces pinned back rustling in the breeze. Her top was a green cropped one that had a white collar and some white butterfly designs — the very same one she had wanted to give Meg a couple months ago before Percy reminded her it was her favorite shirt. She wondered how Meg was doing. Apollo had let her know that she was back with him now, but still . . . that girl was her sister.

"Well, that's the thing about heroes," Belle began. "We're never ready and honestly just hope for the best."

Percy nodded in agreement. "Yep. Usually it works out. We haven't died yet."

"Yet you keep trying to," Belle countered playfully.

She elbowed his side, but Percy merely responded by putting his arm back around her waist and pulling her in closer. Belle sighed a little in content, nestling comfortably into his side. Butterflies erupted in her stomach at the way Percy kissed the top of her head, even if they had been dating for over two years.

It was strange having a chance at a normal life. Belle, Percy, and Annabeth had already graduated from high school, which was the most dangerous time for Demigods. In the fall, all of them were going off to college in New Rome at Camp Jupiter, just like Percy had originally brought up over a year ago on those glass doors on the Argo II. Belle and Percy were finally reaching their goal . . . unless, of course, Magnus and his friends failed on their mission. She honestly should've known better. Demigods always had bad luck, and it was just the icing on the cake that there were threats from other Gods. Hopefully everything turned out okay.

"What about you guys?" Magnus asked. "Straight back to New York today?"

"Yeah," Percy replied. "Belle and I gotta babysit tonight. I'm psyched!"

A wide smile spread across Belle's lips. She absolutely adored Estelle. Estelle was the cutest little girl ever. It, of course, helped that Estelle loved her and Annabeth.

"That's right," Magnus remembered. "Your new baby sister. Congratulations, man. What's her name?"

Percy seemed to light up even more, making Belle's heart race faster. "Estelle. It was my grandmother's name. Um, on my mom's side, obviously. Not Poseidon's."

"I approve," Alex said. "Old-fashioned and elegant. Estelle Jackson."

"Well, Estelle Blofis," Percy corrected. "My stepdad is Paul Blofis. Not much I can do about that surname, but my little sis is awesome. Five fingers. Five toes. Two eyes. She drools a lot."

"Just like her brother," Annabeth voiced.

Belle laughed a little. Apparently, the first thing Annabeth had ever said to Percy was You drool when you sleep. Belle really didn't put it past Annabeth to say that, and definitely didn't put it past Percy to drool in his sleep.

Alex threw a piece of pita at a sulking Magnus. "Hey. Stop looking so glum."

"Sorry," Magnus apologized. "I'm looking forward to meeting Estelle someday, when we get back from our quest. And I appreciate you guys coming up to Boston. Really."

Percy glanced over to Jack, who was still chatting up Sunflower and Riptide. "Sorry I couldn't be more help. The sea is—" he shrugged "—kinda unpredictable."

Alex stretched out his legs. "At least Magnus fell a lot better the second time. If worse comes to worst, I can always turn into a dolphin and save his sorry butt."

The corner of Percy's mouth twitched, making him smirk a little. "You can turn into a dolphin?"

"I'm a child of Loki. Want to see?"

"No, I believe you." Percy gazed longingly into the distance. "I've got a friend named Frank who's a shape-shifter. He does dolphins. Also giant goldfish."

"Aw, I miss Frank," Belle commented. "I'm excited to see him soon."

"We'll make do," Magnus stated. "We've got a good team."

"That's important," Percy agreed. "Probably more important than having sea skills . . ."

He suddenly straightened up and knit his eyebrows together. Belle raised her own eyebrow and unfolded herself from his side.

"You're doing that look thing again," Belle revealed. "What are you thinking about, Perce?"

"Something my dad told me . . ." Percy trailed off.

He suddenly stood up and walked over to Jack, Sunflower, and Riptide. Percy picked up Riptide, completely interrupting how Jack was trying to talk to her.

"Hey, man," Jack complained. "We were just starting to hit it off."

"Sorry, Jack." Percy pulled his pen cap from his pocket and touched it to the tip of his sword. With a faint shink, Riptide shrank back into his normal ballpoint pen. He then picked up Sunflower and flipped it, catching the keychain in his hand once is appeared. "Poseidon and I had this conversation about weapons one time. He told me that all sea Gods have one thing in common: they're really vain and possessive when it comes to their magic items."

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "That sounds like every God we've met."

"True. But sea Gods even more so. Triton sleeps with his conch-shell trumpet. Galatea spends most of her time polishing her magic sea-horse saddle. And my dad is super-paranoid about losing his trident."

"You're saying I'll have to use their own stuff against them," Magnus guessed.

"Right," Percy confirmed. "Also, what you said about having a good team — sometimes being the son of a sea God hasn't been enough to save me, even underwater. One time, my friend Jason and I got pulled to the bottom of the Mediterranean by this storm Goddess, Kymopoleia? I was useless. Jason saved my butt by offering to make trading cards and action figures of her."

Alex nearly choked on his falafel. "What?"

"The point is, Jason knew nothing about the ocean. He saved me anyway. It was kind of embarrassing."

Belle smiled teasingly at him. "I can only imagine. Neither of you have actually disclosed all of the details of that day."

Percy's ears turned the same color pink as Alex's jeans in embarrassment. "Anyway, maybe we've been looking at this all wrong. I've been trying to teach you sea skills. But the most important thing is to use whatever you've got on hand — your team, your wits, the enemy's own magical stuff."

"And there's no way to plan for that," Magnus stated.

"Exactly! My work here is done!"

Annabeth frowned at him. "Percy, you're saying the best plan is no plan. As a child of Athena, I can't really endorse that."

"Yeah," Alex agreed. "And, personally, I still like my plan of turning into a sea mammal."

Percy raised his hands in surrender. "All I'm saying is the most powerful Demigods of our generation are sitting right here, and it isn't me." He nodded to Annabeth. "Wise Girl can't shape-shift or breathe underwater or talk to Pegasi. She can't fly, and she isn't super strong." He then nodded to Belle. "And Beauty maybe has some wicked plant powers and is good with her sword, but her and Annabeth are one of the same. They're crazy smart and good at improvising, especially when they're fighting together. Doesn't matter whether they're on land, in water, in the air, or in Belle's case, Tartarus."

"Mind you that it was actually everything Annabeth taught me that got us out of Tartarus," Belle announced.

"Magnus, you were training with me all weekend," Percy continued, dismissing Belle's comment for now. "I think you should've been training with Annabeth and Belle instead."

Annabeth was silent for a moment. "Okay, that was sweet."

"You think that about us?" Belle questioned, her heart warming.

Percy nodded. "One hundred percent."

She smiled at him before leaning over and pressing a couple kisses to his cheek.

"Not bad, Seaweed Brain," Alex admitted.

"Don't you start with that nickname, too," Percy muttered.

"What about Aqua Boy?"

"Definitely not."

Suddenly, the deep rumbling sound of warehouse doors rolling open came from the wharf. Voices began to echo off the sides of buildings as well.

"That's our cue to leave," Magnus revealed. "This ship just got back from dry dock. They're reopening it to the public tonight in a big ceremony."

"Yeah," Alex responded. "The Glamour won't obscure our presence once the whole crew is aboard."

Percy raised an eyebrow in question. "Glamour? You mean like your outfit?"

Alex snorted in amusement. "No. Glamour as in illusion magic. It's the force that clouds the vision of regular mortals."

"Huh. We call that the Mist."

Annabeth rapped her knuckles against Percy's head. "Whatever we call it, we'd better hurry. Help me clean up."

All of them cleaned up their trash from lunch. The first sailors were arriving just as they reached the bottom of the gangplank. Jack floated ahead of their group, glowing different colors and singing Walk Like a Man in the most terrible falsetto Belle had ever heard — which was saying a lot, because she had heard Leo Valdez sing falsetto. Meanwhile, Alex was changing form from a cheetah to a wolf to a flamingo. The sailors merely gave them blank looks and kept their distance. Nobody challeneged them.

Once they were clear of the docks, Belle saw Jack turn into a runestone pendant. It fell into Magnus' hand, who then reattached it to the chain around his neck. That was pretty cool.

Percy looked back to Magnus as they walked down Constitution Road. "What was that back there — the shape-shifting, the singing sword? Were you trying to get caught?"

"Nah," Magnus replied. "If you flaunt the weird magical stuff, it confuses mortals even more. It kind of short-circuits mortal brains, makes them avoid you."

Annabeth shook her head. "Huh. All these years sneaking around, and we could've just been ourselves?"

Alex strolled alongside, back in human form although he still had a few flamingo feathers stuck in his hair. "You should always do that. And you have to flaunt the weird, my friends."

"Great quote," Belle told him.

"Thanks, Princess Belle."

This time, the nickname didn't bother her. Belle had kind of learned to accept it. Travis and Connor Stoll and Leo definitely weren't going to stop calling her that anytime soon. Besides, she thinks she had proved herself enough to show people that she just wasn't only like a princess.

They stopped at the corner, where Percy's Toyota Prius was parked a meter. Belle gave both Magnus and Alex a hug. There was nothing quite like the bonds that formed after training for a quest all weekend.

Annabeth then took Magnus by his shoulders, her gray eyes tight with concern. "Take care of yourself, Magnus. You will come back safely. That's an order."

"Better listen to her," Belle responded.

"Yes, ma'am," Magnus promised. "We Chases have to stick together."

"Speaking of that . . ." Annabeth trailed off.

She had a conversation with Magnus that Belle couldn't quite hear. Once they were finished, they said their final goodbyes and the three Greek Demigods walked back to the Prius. Belle got in the passenger seat — after that whole car experience with Meg and Apollo, she still didn't like Percy driving, but it's fine — and buckled her seatbelt as Annabeth got in the back.

Percy began to drive off. He put on the radio, a Led Zeppelin song instantly blasting from the speakers. Percy began to sing along with it in his horrible singing voice. Belle laughed at both him and the protests from Annabeth in the back seat.

And maybe, just maybe, Belle began to realize that things would turn out all right.

⭒ ☆ ━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ☆ ⭒

SAYING GOODBYE TO Katie, Connor, and Travis was hard. But saying hello to New Rome was easy.

After a very eventful cross-country road trip in the Prius, Belle, Percy, Annabeth, and Grover finally made it to Camp Jupiter. They went about two months early to adjust to their environment before starting the fall semester of their freshman year in college.

Apollo was here in Belle and Annabeth's dorm — back in his Godly form, apparently completing all of his trials. He had already explained to Belle that Meg was in Southern California at her dad's old mansion, growing way more plants and housing Dryads. Belle's heart swelled with pride at that. Apollo then asked what their plans were for college.

"Architecture," Annabeth answered, her gray eyes bright and saying the word architecture like it would solve the world's problems. "I'm going to focus on environmental design at UC Berkeley while dual-enrolling at New Rome University. By year three, I figure—"

"Woah, there, Wise Girl," Percy interrupted. "First you and Belle have to help me get through freshman English. And math. And history."

Annabeth's smile seemed to light up the empty dorm room. "Yeah, Seaweed Brain, I know. You, B, and I will take the basics together. But you will do your own homework."

"Man," Percy complained before glancing down at his girlfriend. "Homework."

Belle raised an eyebrow at him. "Hey, don't look at me, either. You're on your own. I'm your girlfriend, not your tutor."

"What about you, Belle?" Apollo asked her.

She grinned brightly. "Botany. Nothing but studying plants . . . what a dream."

Apollo turned to Percy. "And your major?"

"Yeah, uh . . . marine biology?" Percy answered. "Aquaculture? I dunno. I'll figure it out."

Apollo gestured to the bunk beds. "You and Belle are both staying here?"

"Gods, no," Belle replied. "Trust me, I've been sharing a room with Percy for months, and it still drives me insane how he just leaves his dirty clothes all over the floor. Him and I couldn't be rooming together, anyways. Dorms are required for all freshmen and they aren't co-ed. But luckily, Annabeth and I will be dorming together."

Her and Annabeth high-fived.

Percy sighed. "Yeah. Meanwhile, I'll be all the way across campus in this empty boys' dormitory. Two whole blocks away."

Annabeth hit his arm. "Besides, Apollo, our living arrangements are none of your business."

"Although I'm sure you would like to room with that one boy we met at the café the other day," Belle added, smirking slightly at Annabeth. "What was his name? Felix?"

Annabeth's cheeks flushed red. "Shut up, Belle."

"Come on, I know he intrigues you," Belle teased. "He's cute."

Percy looked offended. "Hey!"

"Dude, we're literally soulmates. Chill out."

Apollo held his hands up in surrender, stopping their bickering. "But you did travel across the country together to get here?"

"With Grover," Percy explained. "It was great, just the four of us again. But man, that road trip . . ."

"Kind of went sideways," Annabeth agreed. "And up, down, and diagonal. But we made it here alive."

Apollo nodded. "Have you talked to Jason and Piper lately? Jason really gave us quite a scare on that quest for Caligula's shoes."

"Oh, don't worry, I already yelled at him for it," Belle reassured him. "Yeah, Jason visited us here a couple days ago. We unfortunately missed Piper before she moved out to Oklahoma, but we Iris-messaged a little while ago. She was telling us all about her new girlfriend Shel — Gods, it was adorable the way she kept rambling on about her."

"By the way, your mother is doing well, Percy," Apollo announced. "I just saw her and Paul. Your little sister is entirely too adorable. She never stops laughing."

Percy brightened at the mention of his little sister. "I know, right? Estelle is awesome. I just miss my mom's baking."

"I might be able to help with that," Apollo admitted, and a plate of Sally Jackson's fresh-baked blue cookies teleported straight into his hands.

"Dude!" Percy exclaimed. He stuffed a cookie in his mouth, his eyes rolling up in ecstasy. "Apollo, you're the best. I take back almost everything I've said about you."

"It's quite all right. Wait . . . what do you mean almost?"

Belle laughed slightly and locked eyes with Percy. The two stared at each other for a moment, and while doing so, the world seemed to stop. Both of their hearts glowed in love and extreme adoration for each other. There was no feeling quite like it. And even though they were only seventeen, they both knew that with each other was exactly where they were supposed to be.

For her entire life, Belle had tried to reject the idea of a fairytale. But somehow, Percy Jackson managed to change her mind. She knew that she had finally found her Prince Charming. The two of them were Beauty and the Beast — endgame, lovers, soulmates, but most importantly, two strangers that had grown to love each other in a whirlwind of tragedy.

Him and her? They were forever.

— [ ♡ ] —

wdym it's over? nope. nah. can't be I don't want it to happen.

ok yeah it's really the end and I'm actually sobbing

go read my actual author's note bc I spill all my feelings there <3333

gifs by 1-800-SIMPINGFORSEB !