Work Text:
After a somewhat regular day at camp, Nico DiAngelo was taking a walk in the woods (mainly to avoid the Aphrodite cabin who was trying to set him up with various campers) when he (quite literally) ran into the secluded shed. Curious, he stepped into the shed. It was empty of everything except a large object in the center of the room covered with a sheet. Stepping around it, he pulled off the sheet, releasing a considerable amount of dust and revealing a mirror. He looked up into it, expecting to see what he would see looking into any other mirror. But something was different. Because he knew for a fact that Percy wasn't next to him.
"Wha-," He twirled around, expecting to see that that the demigod had followed him, but saw only the rest of the shed. Looking back, he saw his reflection was joined by not only Percy, but by Bianca and his mother. Percy was holding his hand while Bianca and his mother smiled at him. They looked happy and loving and, well, alive. He felt an ache in his heart as he was both overjoyed, yet heartbroken at the fact that none of it was real. He was moving to grab the sheet and paused. Mirror-Percy leaned down and pressed a kiss to Mirror-Nico's lips. Nico looked away as they Mirror-Nico smiled and deepend the kiss.
"Se solo," he whispered as he pulled the sheet back over the mirror. "Se solo..."
A few days later, Percy was taking a swim around the edge of camp. He was swimming by the forest when he thought he saw a wooden structure in the woods. That's weird, he thought as he stepped out of the water, drying instantly. Perks of being a son of Poseidon. Stepping over logs and branches, he made his way into the forest until he came across an old wooden shed. Inside was a large structure covered with a sheet. The rest of the shed had a layer of dust settled on it, although the sheet appeared to be dust free. I guess someone else has been here recently, he thought, although he couldn't imagine who. Percy figured he should probably just leave it alone, but Percy is not known for his sensible decisions, and pulled the sheet off, revealing a massive mirror.
He didn't just see his reflection, however. He vaguely remembered his father telling him about a mirror that was both blessed and cursed. It showed the thing most desired by those who dared to look at it. I guess I've found it. He considered putting the sheet over it and forgetting he ever found the thing, but again, Percy is not known for his great decisions, and peered into the reflective surface.
A baby. He was holding a baby. Percy's reflective twin smiled down at the baby it was cradling as Annabeth put her hand on his arm and smiled at them. They appeared to be standing in an apartment in New Rome. On the wall behind was a collection of photos, such as the two of them in robes and caps next to the college in New Rome, a wedding photo, and a picture of Annabeth sitting in a hospital bed cradling a newborn while Percy stood next to her with his hand on her shoulder looking happy and proud and a bit tearful. His heart filled with longing as he knew there was still so much work to do to recover from the battle with Gaea, but he had hope that one day what the mirror showed him would become a reality.
How was Leo supposed to know what Chiron meant by "somewhere in the woods?" All he wanted was to find a certain type of wood for one of his inventions, and when he asked Chiron where he could find it, the answer was "somewhere in the woods". That was like telling him to find a specific seashell somewhere in the Pacific Ocean. The woods were HUGE. He wasn't finding it around any of the cabins or where they usually had activities like capture the flag, so he decided to go deeper. After a bit of walking and finding just about every type of wood in the forest except for the type he was looking for, he finally saw a tree that matched Chiron's descriptions. After collecting the amount he needed and the initial panic following the realization that he was painfully lost, he was wandering around trying to retrace his steps. I don't remember seeing this, he thought as he came across an old wooden shed.
He stood, stunned, in front of an ornately decorated mirror as his mother handed the Leo in the mirror a wrench and he continued working on a project in Leo's old home. "Mama," he whispered as the reflections continued working, carefree. He wasn't sure how the mirror worked, but it was showing him exactly what he wanted; to be with his mother. His heart ached because he knew it could never happen. He suddenly wished he had never come across that secluded shed in the first place.
Annabeth and Piper stood in front of something covered by a sheet in the lonely shed in the woods in the woods behind Camp Half-Blood. They had stumbled upon it while searching for one of Leo's rogue inventions. They weren't told anything specific, it was just Leo running around a smoking workshop shouting something about a "hunk of metal and wires that may or may not be slightly exploding and it depended on how quickly they found it". He then proceeded to slam the door, and a small explosion was heard when they turned around to go, immediately followed by an "I'M GOOD," from the workshop. Piper was the first to say something.
"Well,are we gonna see what this thing is or not? Because personally, I'm curious, but we also need to find Leo's hunk of metal before it starts terrorizing children...," Annabeth briefly considered saying no, but knowing Piper, she'd do it anyway, and it would be better to fend off anything negative together. She also may or may not have been dying to see what it was as well.
"Let's do it," she said, and Piper pulled off the sheet.
At first, it appeared to be just a mirror. After a second, the image changed. Annabeth saw she and Percy in a house in New Rome, sitting on a loveseat while two young children played in an expansive backyard. The street behind where the kids appeared to be running around looked calm. Nobody appeared to be running around worried about a threat and most of the buildings appeared to be Annabeth's design. Everything looked exactly like she hoped it would look in the future. She didn't know if the mirror was showing what she wanted or what the future would really be like, but she felt a surge of inspiration to make this her goal. She would do her best to make this image become reality.
Meanwhile, Piper was staring in awe at the image before her. She was with her father. He had just dropped by for a visit at an apartment that she shared with Jason. They were on good terms, his horrible assistant had been fired, and all was well. The circles of sleeplessness had faded from Jason's eyes. The battle with Gaea was evidently long in the past, and Piper had a bump protruding from her stomach that looked suspiciously like evidence of a baby on the way.
"Wow," Annabeth and Piper whispered practically in unison. A small explosion was heard faintly in the background.
After hearing about the mirror from Percy and Piper, Jason decided that it was about time he experienced the powers of the magic mirror in the secluded shed in the woods. When he asked about how to find it, the best advice given was to get lost in the woods. He shrugged and went with it. After wandering for about an hour, desperately lost, he came across a small wooden shed in the middle of nowhere. Percy probably could have saved him about forty-five minutes by telling him to follow the edge of the lake, but oh well. Standing in front of the sheet-covered mirror, he wasn't exactly sure what to expect. He took a deep breath and pulled the sheet off.
Piper. He and Piper. They were together in a house in New Rome. There were pictures all around of he and Piper and Piper's dad and Thalia and all their friends. Everybody looked happy in them, not weighed down with the problems of the world. The spring was back in Piper's step as she kissed him and he kissed the large bump on her stomach where their daughter was growing. Her beautiful eyes sparkled as she laughed about something. This was exactly what he wanted to work for in the future; what this mirror was showing.
"Alright, let's find out what all the fuss is about with this mirror," Hazel said as she and Frank stood in front of where it was covered by a sheet. They took each other's hands, and Frank pulled the sheet off. At the time, they didn't know that they wouldn't have to compare visions afterwards. They both saw the same thing.
They were together, along with the rest of all their friends. The stress of the war with Gaea had faded from everyone's faces. This is how it will be, thought Hazel. She squeezed Frank's hand and smiled. One day.