"Hi, Adrianna."
"Oh! Hullo, Nico. It's nice to see you! It's really cramped in here ya know?"
"Yeah, I know."
"I don't care, though. If it keeps everyone safe, then I'm fine with it!"
"Right."
"Just the other day, Luke Castellan came to visit me for a while! He's really nice."
"I believe you."
"Good, I'm glad! My wrist hurts a little bit."
"Do you want some painkillers?"
"No, it'll pass. How's Father doing?"
"Still stressed."
"Stressed is desserts spelled backwards!"
"You've told me before."
"Have I? My mistake, I seem to be forgetting a lot of things lately!"
"Ana says hi."
"Ana?"
"...You, you don't remember Ana?"
"I've never met anyone named Ana before. Is she your girlfriend? You should tell me when you get a girlfriend! I can give you all kinds of advice on what girls like!"
"Ana Jean Wilson?"
"Is that her name? It flows nicely, like mine! Adrianna-Ruth Marie Michaels. Aaron likes my name because it flows."
"You don't remember Ana?"
"What's she like? Are you being kind to her? There's nothing I hate more than an abusive boyfriend!"
"She-she's nice. You'd like her. I think you two would be great friends."
"You should bring her next time!"
"I can't."
"Why?"
"The Underworld atmosphere makes her severely nauseous."
"Oh, that's too bad. I would've loved to meet her."
"She, uh, would've loved to meet you, too."
"Is she blond like me? Or is she brunette like, Anna... Anna..."
"Annabeth?"
"Yeah! Like Annabeth!"
"Annabeth is blond."
"Really? I could've sworn the last time I saw her she was brunette. We're talking about Perry's girlfriend, right?"
"Percy."
"Son of that sea god guy?"
"Yeah."
"Yeah, him. Were talking about his girlfriend, right?"
"Yes, we are."
"OK! Just making sure! Wouldn't want to confuse them for someone else; that would be embarrassing."
"R-right."
"Nico, do you need a glass of water? You're voice is cracking."
"No-no, I'm fine."
"Are you sure? Father usually gets me whatever I ask him to get me, I'm sure he'd get you a glass of water or something."
"No, Adrianna, I'm fine. It was, uh, puberty."
"Well, they are saying that puberty starts later for boys now-a-days."
"And earlier for girls."
"You read that article too?"
"Current events study in biology."
"Father finally made you go to school? It's about time! You'll never get anywhere in your life without a decent education."
"You've expressed this concern before."
"I can hear the difference in your vocabulary!"
"Good, then I'm learning."
"Is school where you met Ana?"
"No."
"Where'd you meet her?"
"Camp."
"! She's a demigod!"
"Yeah."
"Her parent?"
"Apollo."
"..."
"Twin to Artemis?"
"..."
"Archery?"
"I was never any good at that."
"God of the truth, the plague, healing, pulls the sun chariot across the sky!"
"Nico, there's no need to scream."
"Yes there is! Don't flinch away from me! A month ago you'd be lecturing me on all the things I missed when I listed off Apollo's domain! Now, I'm the one having to remind you of everything! That's not right! It should be the other way around!"
"Nico, am I making you angry?"
"...Yes..."
"I'm sorry..."
"Don't be, it... it's not your fault."
"Who's fault is it, then? If I'm the one making you angry."
"It's that bastard Kronos's fault. Not yours, it was never your fault."
"Who's Kronos?"
"It's better that you don't know."
"My ear lobe kinda hurts."
"Do want some painkillers?"
"Nico? Are you ok? Why are you crying?"
"It-it's nothing, I promise..."
"But your voice is shaking."
"I'm fine, I promise."
"You don't usually repeat things like that when you're fine."
"I don't need a hug, Adrianna! Arresto!"
"Nico..."
"Mi dispiace, it's just... You used to be able to own the Athena kids at Greek Mythology trivia. Now, because of what happened..."
"What happened?"
"You don't even remember that?"
"No. Should I?"
"You probably should, but I think it's better that you don't... Adrianna? Are you OK?"
"My head..."
"Breathe."
"It hurts."
"I know it does, just calm-"
"How could you possibly know my pain? You don't have a... a Kronos Fragment stuck in your head!"
"Stop, you're going to pull out your hair, that'll just hurt more-"
"My hair? Really, is that what you're worried about? I'm dying Nico-"
"No you're not. Chiron said you'd be fine as long as-"
"Father took me to Apollo and Athena. I'm dying Nico. This thing is slowly deteriorating my knowledge. Everything I worked so hard for..."
"Adrianna..."
"Gone. I have till the end of the year before I'm completely wiped clean of everything and everyone I knew. Luke tries to help, since he was in a similar situation, but he wasn't dying or loosing his knowledge. He can only sympathize... I want someone who can empathize with me. Someone to talk to."
"Ana's been having dreams about me getting infected."
"You'd best leave, then. Before that happens."
"I don't want to."
"Sometimes I have dreams... Kronos shows me what the world could be like if I would let him take me over... Sometimes I feel like..."
"You can't give into him."
"And then Gaea tries to show me what the world would be like if she and Ouranus could rule it together again, just the two of them... it's so peaceful, Nico..."
"You can't give in to either of them."
"There's a war in my head... Gaea shows me the evil things that Kronos has done, and Kronos shows me the evil things Gaea has done. They're family... why can't they get along?"
"I don't know."
"Luke tries to remind me of my own beliefs, but I forget so quick... I only have little flashes like this where I can recall all that's been happening every know-and-again."
"You'll be fine."
"No, I won't... I don't... I don't want to be like this anymore."
"Stop crying."
"What did I do? Please, Nico, tell me: What. Did. I. Do?"
"I don't-"
"Whatever it is, I'm sorry ok? I left my mother, I'm sorry. I joined the Titans' side in the second war, I'm sorry. I'm a horrible person, I'm sorry."
"You're not a horrible person..."
"Yes I am... Yes I am..."
"Does your head still hurt?"
"Yes..."
"Do you want some painkillers?"
"No, it'll pass."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes..."
"I can get you some, it's not a big deal."
"You're just like Luke, ya know. He always insists that I take painkillers. But I say "no" every time, wanna know why?"
"Why?"
"Because it always passes. The pain always passes, no matter how bad it is."
This is Makaria experimenting with different writing styles. I decided late last night that I wanted to do an all-dialogue fic, and here it is. Exactly what's wrong with Adrianna may or may not be explained in a future one shot.
(Yes, Alphabet Soup readers, I'm using one of the plot lines from Alphabet Soup to practice with different writing styles. Sadly, though, I'm still not planning to update Alphabet Soup for a while more.)
-Makaria Lee
PS- Yes, Adrianna mistaking Annabeth for a brunette is a reference to the Percy Jackson movie.