A/N: Um, yeah. So I know I said I was writing a Naruto story, but this idea just crept up on me. Oh, and a lot of this stuff is made up, cause, I can't remember a lot of stuff from the books. And this is not a one-shot, but I have no idea how many chapters. I don't plan for it to be for long, but...My brain doesn't really care for my plans. Whatever. No pairings, because I suck. Bleeeeh.
Warnings: Violence, Swearing...um...Generally a dark story.
Disclaimer: Don't own nothin' to do with Percy Jackson. There. I said it.
You know sometimes, I get lonely.
I mean, I know I have Annabeth living a few cabins down, and we talk all the time and shit, and don't get me wrong, it's nice. And I mean, I still talk to loads of other people all day, laughing and joking and stuff.
But I get jealous. Jealous that they have a cabin full of people to sleep with, eat with, train with. Yeah, I'm pretty sure it would get annoying after a while, but I think it's better than being alone. Just having someone else's breathing to listen to and just know you're not alone.
Meal times are the worst. Because you can see everyone else having fun, and even when they're not, it's still better than being alone.
There's only one person that can relate I guess.
Nico.
I can see him sitting alone at his table, keeping his head down. Once in a while, he'll look up, and stare longingly around, before he quickly snaps his head down as if he's been caught doing some awful crime.
You see, after the big war against Krono's, and all the yay-look-we-won-Percy's-a-hero thing, a Hades cabin was built. I'll admit it's pretty fucking scary, and it kind of looks like it doesn't belong, with it's dark, death aura thing going on.
I guess most people think so too. At first, they tried to accept him, making a effort to include him. But I don't really know what happened. People started to just…not care anymore. Like they were forced to like him, and now he was out of the spot light, they just assumed no one would care.
Well, it's not like anyone did care really. Harsh, I know.
People tried to avoid him, as if they thought he would just go away. They would wrinkle they're noses, and say stuff like, 'Ew! What's that horrible smell? Oh, it's Hades kid. You know, he stinks like death…'
That wasn't really his fault. I mean, I guess I stink of ocean and seawater. It just sucks that his scent was, well, death.
And another thing, most don't call him by his name. In fact, I don't think they even know his name. Just Hades kid, or something worse.
He looks lonelier than me. I mean, I'm his friend, but I'm only there so often. I tried getting Annabeth and him to be friends, but...they haven't really bonded I guess. At least she doesn't treat him like dirt.
I don't know anyone else who really speaks to him.
I wish some people would actually try to get to know him, 'cause he's a nice kid. He may not look it at first, but he's funny and playful, and it's not fair he gets a bad rep just because his father is Hades.
Sometimes, life really sucks as a half-blood.
I was supposed to be teaching some lessons in how to fly pegasis right now, but I saw Nico wandering about, looking a bit…lost. So I thought my lessons could wait two minutes.
"Hey, Nico!"
He didn't seem like he heard me. Huh. He must be really spaced out or something, 'cause I was like, almost right next to him by now.
I tried again. "Hello, living to dead boy…Hey! Nico!"
He snapped his head up at that, his eyes coming into focus, but not quite landing on me.
"Wha…?"
I had to laugh a bit at that. He was always spacing out.
"Hey, Mr. Day dream! Nice of you to finally join us," I waited a bit for him to process that. He seemed a bit slow today. Actually, he didn't seem really well today. I studied him. He had pale skin that contrasted sharply against his black clothes and messy, fluffy hair, that matched his clothes. Big black eyes finally seemed to wake up, but they were shadowed by dark rings.
Nico, being…well, actually, I didn't know precisely how old he was, but we always thought he was around somewhere like 14. But a lot of the time, everyone thought he was younger. I mean, he was kind of on the small side (he had to look up to most people, and that usually pissed him off), and most of the time he was with me, less than mature.
Anyways, like I was saying, Nico being younger than me, I was about a good six inches above him, but today I seemed to dwarf him (and I'm not even that tall). I frowned as I saw the way his clothes hung off of him. I told him to eat more, damn him.
"Oh! Hey Percy," he grinned, but I was still frowning at him. "What?" Blunt as ever.
"You look like shit," I declared. He was about to open his mouth to say something, but I beat him to it. "And what are you doing, wandering around here? Don't you have…like lessons or some boring shit like that?"
He looked blankly at me, before looking slowly at his surroundings. He smiled sheepishly. "Um…I don't actually know. I was walking towards… archery, I think…but then I guess I spaced out and…well, ta-da?" He grinned sheepishly.
I rolled my eyes. "I guess it was better than spacing out in archery. You could of killed someone. Or gotten killed," I mused, not liking either.
Nico grinned again. "I could kill someone even if I didn't space out. I'm the shittiest person there at it."
"You obliviously haven't seen my epic skills at it then. I could make you look like a pro."
"You seem to do that anywhere though, at anything I guess. Maybe I'm just that awesome. Or maybe your just that shit," He laughed as I punched him playfully in the arm. He shoved me back, and I shoved back harder, so he almost fell over. It was quite funny to watch him try to regain his balance, waving his arms around. I let him know this by laughing so hard, my gut hurt. I wasn't that funny, but I guess I was in a good mood.
Suddenly, I was tackled to the floor. As my face was introduced to the dirt, I heard a triumphant yell and more laughter. I looked up to find Nico sitting smugly on me, with his arms folded.
"You are so dead," I spat out. Before he had a chance to defend himself, I grabbed his arms and swung him over me so our positions were reversed as I slammed him into the ground. I then turned around and pinned his arms above his head. "Pinned ya," It was my turn to smile smugly.
My smile slowly evaporated though, as I looked down. He seemed to be choking, gasping for breath. "Oh, fuck Nico," I quickly scrambled off of him as he rolled over, coughing and gagging. "Oh man, I am so sorry-,"
But I didn't get a chance to finish as I was tackled again. "Ack! That's cheating!" I yelled as we tumbled down the hill, rolling and laughing, whilst trying to pin each other. By now, my face was bff's with the ground. They knew each other so well.
As we slowly came to a stop, it turned out Nico came up on top, literally. He now was sat on my stomach again, leaned over so he could pin my arms above my head.
"Pinned ya," he mimicked cockily.
"Ba! You little cheat!" I accused, huffing and puffing.
"I didn't cheat! I just used the element of surprise!"
"And cheating. Don't forget the cheating part."
He stuck his tongue out at me.
I laughed as he got up off me, offering his hand. I smirked before grabbing his hand, and slamming him back on the floor. "Hah! How's that for the element of surprise!"
I got up, brushing myself off, still being smug. "Did you like a taste of your own medicine?"
But as I looked down, he was hacking and coughing, and had rolled over so he was on his hands and knees. I rolled my eyes. "Oh, come on! I'm not that stupid. Nope, your dirty tricks won't get me this time. I'm too good," I turned away, with a huff.
But then I heard a awful sound. I turned around to find him retching and his breakfast all over the ground. And he was still gasping for breath, eyes wide.
I hesitantly crept closer. "…Nico? Hey, I know you want to win, but isn't throwing up going a bit too far?" You never know the lengths people will go to, just to win.
He continued to hack and cough really hard, until I noticed something dark coming off his lips. As I knelt down next to him (still a distance away, mind you), I looked down to see it speckling the grass where he was coughing. Realization coursed through my body, turning my blood cold.
"Oh my…Fuck, you're coughing up blood!"
His eyes travelled to meet mine, desperation showing clearly. "Oh…Shit shit shit! You're not joking!"
A voice inside my head told me mockingly, "We have a winner! What was your first clue?"
I told it to shut the fuck up. It did. I also decided my lesson plans could fuck off as well.
I put my hand on his back, and hissed a little. He was freezing. I mean, he was normally cold, but this was ridiculous. After he had stopped trying to hack his guts out, he collapsed against me, groaning and still coughing a bit.
"Can you walk?" I asked.
He looked at me, before trying to get to his feet, and failing miserably. I sighed. "Okay, upsy daisy," I lifted him up, carrying him bridal style. He laughed a bit, before that turned into hacks and coughs again. The worry in my stomach began to bubble and I felt a bit sick.
As I rushed through the woods, trying to make my way back to the Apollo cabin (they were the best medics here), I cursed him as he felt like nothing in my arms. "When you get better, I am force feeding you into eating something, whether you like it or not."
I was reminded by the voice in my head that people wouldn't really like force feeding, or they would just eat normally. Thus the point in force feeding. I reminded it to shut up again.
By the time we had reached the cabins, Nico had began to shiver. The worry in my stomach felt like I was going to explode. I desperately looked around for help. Fortunately, help found me in the form of Will Solace, head counsellor of the Apollo cabin.
What a change of luck.
"Hey, Percy, What's…up?" He asked looking at me, and then the shivering form of Nico. His eyes darkened. "What happened?" he asked as he quickly lead my towards the Big House, where all the injured half bloods were put.
I swallowed thickly. "I…I don't really know…I mean, I found him wondering around, and then we…err, were fighting. But not proper fighting! Just, you know…" He nodded to show I could go on. "And then he just started hacking and coughing. He threw up, and then he coughed up blood!"
His eyes widened a bit, before returning to normal with a professional glint in them. "How long ago did this happen?"
"I…dunno, about…ten minutes or something? Not that long," By now we had reached the Big House, where Chiron and Mr. D we're still playing cards on the porch.
Chiron seemed to notice us first, smiling and waving. "Ah! Percy, and Will! I do hope you have come to join us in card, hm?" he joked. No one ever joined. But then he spotted Nico. "Nico? Is he hurt?" he then got up, tail flicking. "What happened? Quick, quick, inside you get!"
We were ushered in quickly as Mr. D complained about their card game.
"Huh, trust half-bloods to ruin a good game of cards. Thinking they're so special. And Mr. Johnson no less…"
He was ignored. I was instructed to put Nico down on what looked like a hospital bed, as Will began to tend to him. I was pulled aside and then told to repeat what I had told Will no more than two minutes ago.
And so I did.
He frowned slightly. "This is rather…sudden. He seemed well this morning."
That's because no-one bothered to actually check, was the sarcastic reply in my head. I nodded just for the hell of it.
Our non-existent conversation was interrupted by a loud groan from behind us. We twirled around (we would make such fabulous ballerinas), as Nico began to sit up from the make-shift hospital bed.
He blinked a few times, wincing. Will was immediately firing questions like the expert archer he was.
"Dizzy? Sick? How do you feel?"
Nico, who hadn't fully came back to the land of the living (ha-ha, pun, I'm oh-so-witty!) groaned again before answering.
"Like road kill."
I rolled my eyes. Nice.
"So…What exactly happened?"
Will sighed and ran a hand through his hair.
"Well, I don't know the cause of why he threw up exactly, but he might of irritated his throat in the process of coughing so violently. I'll need to swab your throat to see whether the blood is coming from your throat or stomach."
He handed Nico a glass of water, telling him to drink it slowly. He then retrieved a white cotton wool bud from the table near him, and bent down next to Nico (who had downed it, despite his instuctions to drink it slowly), whilst instructing him to stay still and open his mouth.
He gently swabbed the inside of his throat, careful not to make him gag or whatever. He then took the bud out, it coming back a thick red.
My most intelligent response was, "Yum yum." I don't know. Don't ask. Thus is the dysfunctional workings of Percy Jackson.
Will continued, ignoring my random moment of…whatever that was. "This means you have irritated your throat, so I advice lots of water and no food for the next 24 hours, okay? I would heal it with a song…But I don't think it's that serious. And any medicine might irritate your throat further."
Nico whined. A lot. "But I really wanted some gummi bears. Really badly."
"Well you should of thought about that before you hacked up your throat," I scolded.
Will also told Nico that as soon as his throat healed, he should eat. Like, more. To which Nico screeched something about the pineapple gummi bears, dammit!
Chiron then told me to keep an eye on Nico for the rest of the day, as Will and him joined hands and frolicked out of the door, singing, What a Wonderful World.
Ok, that last bit didn't happen, but what if it did? Pretty…creepy actually. Yep, creepy was the word I was going for.
Anyway, I pulled up a chair beside Nico. "So…Nico-"
I was cut off by him whining again, "Perrrrrrrrrcy! I really want some gummi bears. Like, now. So, if you could give me some, then…um. Yeah. It would be good."
"But, I don't have any," I reasoned.
"Oh…" He looked truly disappointed for a second, before his eyes lit up again. "I know! Since, you're all like…pimpin' with water and shit, why don't you turn this glass of water into the shape of a gummi bear, and then put pineapple juice in it!"
I lost him at the word 'pimpin'. Whoa. Wait a minute, this was getting a bit side tracked.
"Right. Well, as much a I would love to do that, I can't. So instead, why don't we discuss what actually happened back there?"
Nico looked at me, before furrowing his brow, as a thoughtful look was placed on his face. "I don't really know…I was winning, as normal," I scoffed, but decided not to interrupt. "And then…there was this really loud noise, and everything went fuzzy…"
"Noise? What noise? I didn't hear anything."
He looked at me questioningly. "It was really, really loud. It hurt my head. Oh! And then I threw up. I think."
I nodded my head. "Actually, threw up blood."
"Oh? Cool."
I laughed a bit. "Not really."
We talked about random stuff for about another hour, until I noticed his eyes drooping. "Are we tired?" I teased.
"Mmmhmm…"
"Alright, well, while you go to la-la land, I'm going to go take a shower, 'mkay?"
He lifted one hand lazily in a mock salute, before turning and curling up on his side. I chuckled, before turning and heading towards the Poseidon cabin. Just as I was half-way there, humming myself a little tune, I seen a blob of blonde hair approaching me. I like to call this blob, Annabeth.
I raised my hand in a casual wave. "Hi, Annabeth. What's up?"
She looked like she had ran a marathon. "Hey, Seaweed Brain, where have you been?"
"Oh! I had to stay and look after Nico, since he's not feeling like a good zombie dude today."
"All day?"
"Yep. Just like a good little camper."
She looked extremely…worried? "Hey, don't worry, he's alright!"
"I'm not worried about him," she snapped. "but have you seen the news?"
"Umm, no…I didn't realize we had a T.V to watch the news…"
She sighed, seeming to brace herself. Suddenly, something seemed wrong. So horribly wrong. "Annabeth, what's going on?"
"I…I'm sorry Percy, but there's been an attack."
"Wha…What kind of attack?" I felt sick. Again.
"A large group of monsters invading Manhattan… We think they were trying to attack Olympus… And, a lot of people were reported dead or injured. And I…I…don't know if you're mother is alive…I'm so sorry…" She whispered in the end.
What? No.
No, no, no. She's wrong. There must be a mistake.
I stood there, a feeling of dread slowly creeping up my spine. I heard myself say in a voice I didn't even recognize, "I have to go. I have to go find her."
Annabeth grabbed my arm as I spun around. When did the world dance so much? "No! Percy, you can't go. It's too dangerous."
I was suddenly angry. Really angry. "So what am I supposed to do? Wait here, for nothing, whilst somewhere, she could be dying!" I was shouting and making a scene, but I didn't care. I wasn't going to lose her. Not again.
Annabeth started to shout too. "Percy, there is a whole army of monsters down there! What if you didn't come back? Huh? What am I supposed to do then? Because I am not going to let you die!"
"And I'm not going to let her die!" I screamed.
Annabeth looked at me, tears shimmering in her eyes. "Please, Percy…Don't…"
I wrenched my hand away and I ran. I was running away from the world. My breathing quickened, and suddenly I felt like everything had been put on fast forward. I didn't know where I was going. All I knew was I needed to get home. But…
How to get there, I needed…Blackjack! Yes! I ran to the staples (and I could feel something burning my eyes), but found them empty. I let out a yell of frustration. I forgot they were being used for lessons. Okay, so that was gone, but…I could still use the sea!
Yes! I quickly turned around, but found my path blocked by Chiron. Dammit! Couldn't he see this was important?
"Chiron, move! I need to get to the beach! Move!" But he stood his ground, blocking me from the exit of the staples.
"I'm sorry Percy, but I'm not letting anyone leave. It's too dangerous," he said sadly, with such a calm voice that I was suddenly angry all over again.
"No it's not! I just need…I need to know she's okay…Just…Please…" I realized I that the water trickling down my cheeks were my tears. My anger had now completely dissolved. All it left behind was me feeling so raw and open. I felt scared. So scared.
"I'm so sorry," was all he said, before he moved quicker than I could think. I felt a pressure towards the back of my neck, and then everything went dark.
And I was unconscious.
"I think…waking…"
"Percy…"
I slowly opened my eyes, but found I couldn't actually see out of them, as they were assultated with bright colours, and it took a moment for them to adjust. Looking up, I saw the faces of Annabeth and Chiron staring down at me.
"Mmphhh…Wha…?" My voice sounded horse, and my throat hurt. The type of pain you get from shouting or screaming.
"You're in your cabin, Percy. Wake up," Annabeth said. She seemed to look very drained, and her eyes were red and puffy. There was barely any colour left in her at all.
"Annabeth…? What…?"
And then it all came back like a truck had just slammed into me. "Mom!"
Annabeth grimaced. Then Chiron spoke softly.
"I'm sorry Percy, but I'm afraid I had to knock you unconscious, as you were panicking so much I feared you would do something you might regret."
Duh, I was panicking. I was kind of, worried, you know? Once again, I decided to keep my thoughts to myself. "Is she…?" I couldn't bring myself to say it.
"There's still no word."
I felt numb, as I just nodded and let the emotions flood over me. She could be…No. I decided I wasn't going to think like that. She had to be okay. Positive. Think positive.
Chiron spoke again, more deciding. "There will be a meeting in a hour about what to do with the new situation, and-"
Suddenly, he was cut off by loud noises coming from outside. It sounded like…shouting. A whole lot of shouting.
Momentarily giving in to pure curiosity, I followed Annabeth and Chiron out of my cabin. Outside, we were met with a horrible sight.
It seemed like all the campers had gathered outside of the Big House. Well, most of them looked to be inside the Big House. Everyone was shouting and screaming, desperately trying to claw their way inside.
"What are you all doing?" Chiron shouted in horror, but for once, and this is the only time I've seen this happen, no-one listened to him. They continued to fight amongst themselves for the chance to get inside.
Annabeth and Chiron automatically went to breaking up these fights. Me? I decided to see what was so special they needed to act like this.
And so, I dived into the mob, and within the first five seconds, I realized I was going to have to force my way through. So as I slowly neared the door, being kicked, punched, screamed at, I pushed people back with just as much force. Some seemed just insanely curious, but others seemed extremely desperate to get inside.
I felt someone grab the collar of my shirt, but I pushed on, regardless, hearing a RIP! I was pretty sure my shirt was sporting a new style. The ripped kind.
Finally, I got through the outer mob, and pushed my way through the door. Inside was way worse that outside. Almost everyone in here had blood on them, from various cuts and bruises (or other peoples), and some were knocked to the floor, being trampled on.
I then saw that people were trying to push their way towards a tightly crowded area, where everyone was hunched around a certain spot on the floor. At first I thought they were protecting something, but then I realized they were shouting and screaming even louder than everyone else.
They were clawing at the spot, and as I got closer, and became one of the small inner crowd, I began to hear some of the things they were shouting.
"Where is she?"
"Is he alright? Tell me, is he dead?"
You fucking monster, where's my dad?"
"Mom!"
"Useless little fucker, you will tell me…"
"Please! I need to know…"
They wanted to know if their loved ones were dead. There was someone who could tell them if their friends, lovers, family were dead! I suddenly understood the desperation all around me, and as I saw the person right in the centre of the crowd, there was no recognition in my eyes.
Just the pure need to know.
I tore the guy that was currently pinning him off, and for one moment, one horrible moment, I saw hope and relief shine through his eyes.
Nico di Angelo's eyes. Son of Hades. The only demigod who could feel when someone died. The only demigod who knew who was dead.
That was before I re-pinned him to the ground, snarling and shouting. The hope and relief quickly vanished.
"Percy…?" There was now confusion and just a tiny bit of hurt in them.
"Is she okay? Tell me."
He shook his head numbly. "I don't know what you're talking about…"
"Bullshit!" I screamed. Then I leaned closer towards him, and whispered so quietly, I don't know how he heard me.
"Where's my Mom?"
He began to shake, as he stammered. "I…I really don't-"
SMACK!
His head snapped to the side from the force of my punch. He slowly turned his head back towards me, and looked me dead in the eye, with only one thing showing now.
Fear.
Time seemed to slow as suddenly, I remembered. This was Nico di Angelo. Not just son of Hades, but my friend. I had just punched him. I caused him to look at me like that.
He was afraid of me.
It felt like he had punched me. My whole body went slack as he pushed me off of him. I landed on the floor, flopped out. I lifted my head up, to see him with wide eyes, shaking his head. He frantically began to scramble backwards, until his back hit the wall.
I was extremely aware or the fresh line of blood, slowly dribbling from the corner of his mouth to his chin.
His hands raked through his hair on both sides of his head, pulling on it and murmuring something I could just make out as new hands grabbed for him.
"Just stop. Stop, stop, stop! Make it stop!"
Thick black forms quickly whipped out of the walls, devouring him, until they consumed him entirely.
And just like that, Nico di Angelo vanished into the shadows.
A new wave of screams broke out.
"Where is he? Quick find him!"
"He just disappeared!"
"Shadow travel!"
Everyone was suddenly fighting again, fists being thrown and dirty blows by the dozen. They were confused, and angry. I just led there, not caring if I was being trampled on. I deserved it. I was a monster. Not him, me. I wanted to lay there forever, thinking about absoloutley nothing, and-
"EVERBODY, STOP!"
And we did. There was dead silence as all fighting and screaming ceased, and all heads turned to the back of the room, where Annabeth Chase stood, tears spilling down her cut cheeks.
"You guys are acting like animals! Can't you see what you're doing? What you've done? You're hurting each other, and you're tearing apart the camp! You make feel me feel sick. I…I'm ashamed to be a half-blood, if this is what it means. If it means hunting down your friend, and treating him like…like dirt! If it means doing this, then I don't want to be a part of it. Ever."
She shook her head as she tried to meet everyone in the eye, but no-one could meet her broken gaze. We all looked down guiltily, trying to find somewhere to look. "I can't believe this. We're supposed to be hero's. We're supposed to be friends. We're supposed to be family!" She screamed, and then ran out, crying. I felt even shittier than I did a moment ago.
"Well done, Percy. You have successfully driven away your two best friends, in under 5 minutes," the saracastic voice told me, but I barely registered it.
Then Chiron came in, scarily calm. "Everyone to their cabins. Now." I would of felt much better if he shouted at us, somehow. I don't know, but as everyone gradually filed out of the room, no one could look him in the eye. We all kept out heads down, and as I drifted past him, he whispered something to me.
"I'm so disappointed in you."
I ran the rest of the way. I felt sick, and my stomach flipped as I sprinted to my toilet-
And just managed to make it in time as I threw up into toilet, hunched over, with my eyes watering and throat burinng.
As I collapsed against my bathroom wall, the world tilted dangerously, and my head felt like exploding. I didn't want to think, but I couldn't stop the images racing past my mind.
Big black eyes staring at me. Fear. Hurt. Afraid. Mumuring, scrambling back away from me, pulling hair. Blood. I did that.
Anger, blonde hair. Tears, horror. "We're supposed to be family." Shock. She's crying. And I did that too.
Calm. So very, very calm. Then, like a tidal wave. Disgust. Disipointment. And…that disipointmet aimed at me. Because I did that.
I did all of it.
I unsteadily climbed to my feat, whiping my mouth as I stumbled around. I somehow found my bed, and collapsed on it. I buried my head in my pillow, wishing I could just sink into it forever. I tightly shut my eyes, but the images kept coming until I could feel them overriding me.
And now I was shutting down. As the darkness crept up on me once more, I could feel all the thoughts that were whirling around my head slowly dissolve, until only one remained.
I miss you, Mom.
Ironically, the very thing that got me into this situation. And I had never felt so utterly lonely as I did just then.
Because, sometimes, I get lonely.
A/N (Again.):Oh snap, best ending ever? Yes, now you can agree with me that I really do suck. Bw ha ha ha. Whatever, be nice kiddies, because this is my first fic ever. So yeah...Um. That's all for now folks?
