And here... We... GO.

Everything was so confusing. Why was it all so confusing? I shouldn't have been able to do that, like Annabeth said, Poseidon s the god of the sea, not all liquids! So how did I do it? Was it some sort of.. fluke? A onetime occurrence never to happen again? But... no, I can still feel it. If I open my mind and search for something that flows; I find them. "Them" being not just the ground water or sea or even moisture in the air, oh no, I mean the water in sugary beverages, the thick sickness of poison that I try to ignore for Annabeth, and blood. That is what scares me the most. The fact that in my reach of water it extends to the very life of the living animals.

Annabeth doesn't know. She can't. If I told her that with the flick of my hand I could turn someone's own body fluids against them? No, she freaked out watching my control the poison, if she were to see me take command of blood... Let's just say leaving me or shunning me or doing both would be the least she could and would do. And what's to judge? I would probably do the same too. In fact, we all would. Every god, goddess, nymph, driad, monster, and half blood would-

No, not every half blood. I could feel my blood pounding in my ears as I stood up from my crouched position on the deck of the Argo II. My legs fought me in my endeavor to stand and my whole body begged for rest. it seemed so long since I had had anytime to even breath free, like only minutes ago I climbed out of the doors to hell. Well I suppose it had only been minutes or maybe an hour or two since then.

A soft smirk broke out on my cracked lips. Yep, not even a day and not a rest since I was in the deepest pits of hell and it sure showed on me. I wiped the grin off my face so my fellow demigods wouldn't think I was insane. Probably am, after all, I'm going to find the "outcast" so I can ask advice on hiding scary talents. A snort escaped me as I realized the irony. Oh yes, they totally hide their bad-apple scary skills. Now that I've decided to share my hunger for poison - sarcasm mind you - with the offspring of Death, all I need to do is find him and hope he listens.

Crap. He's leaving to take Reyna and the stupid statue back to the camp. He probably already left or if I find him in time he won't have time to listen to me! I let out a miniscule snarl and gripped my hair. Perfect, just perfect. I don't have time to search the ship or the surrounding area and all of its shadows he can hide in!

I whipped my head to look over at the stature. Still there. No pale Italian standing anywhere near it though. So he hasn't left yet. Good, but Reyna was making her way over and the satyr Coach Hedge was hopping around the base of the giant Athena. They are leaving soon, well don't that leave me with a lot of options? The only way I could find him fast enough is if-

Well gods of Olympus why didn't I think of that sooner? I leaned on the rail of the ship and shut my eyes. Letting my mind wander out to all the sloshing or stagnant waters; I clenched my hands into fists, tearing my nails into the railing, and ignored the pure fresh water and the salty goodness of the sea. Instead I focused on the liquids a bit thicker, pushing out of mind the sugars of plants and the ever so tempting wild poisons and venoms. Keeping in mind the warm and slippery feeling of controlling blood, my mind narrowed down to the partially golden flacks of demigods. There was a burning sensation that was Leo and a sparky electric current in Jason's veins. I could feel how Frank's blood seemed to be ever changing and Hazel had an almost magnetic field that pulled gems and gold towards her and her blood carried the faint stench of death. Focusing on the stench of death, I easily filtered the rest of the half bloods out until only one remained. Nico diAngelo sat on a rock in the shadows outside, his blood filled with a white substance that could be ghosts, and unrefined power coursed through him, honed and in control. I identified this as his frankness about being the son of the king of the Underworld. That fact was accented by the stench of decay.

I opened my eyes slowly and released my control of blood. How tempting it would be to remain aware of the sweet nectar of life giving blood. It told everything about a person, their inner aura in a way. Ignoring how much time I spent examining Nico's blood, I dashed off to the location I knew he was in. As I neared him I slowed down so my footsteps would not startle him. He was casually splayed out on a boulder with his back to me. I pushed away how I noticed that the soft wind played with his somewhat shaggy hair- he's your cousin dimwit, and those observations go for Annabeth. Instead I said, "Tartarus is a pain in the ass. "

He started and glanced at me before responding, "Ya, I guess. At least you had someone with you." I winced at the veiled slight. Deciding to ignore it I hopped onto the boulder next to Nico, ignoring how he tensed before scooting away. Sweeping my eyes over to him I stated, "You learn stuff about yourself there." He just grunted in reply.

Nonchalantly I leaned back and said, "I leaned that I'm a monster who is only cute when controlled by a leash and following orders. What'd you learn?"

His eyes snapped to me in surprise and nearly yelled, "You're not a monster Percy! You're kind and heroic and brave and compassionate and loyal and not a monster. That place lies to people." By the end of his mini speech he turned away with a slight blush.

I chuckled out a, "Thanks Nekks," which he responded with a, "Shut up." I just smiled and shook my head. I really wish we were closer, we could have so much fun. "To Annabeth I am, I could see it in her eyes when I fought the monsters and when I almost killed the goddess of night. With her own poison."

That caught his attention real good. "What do you mean?" he inquired. I shrugged and said, "Annabeth thought I was a monster when I controlled poison like it was ocean water and tried to drown Nyx. Looking back on it, and seeing everything else it opened up, I suppose I am a monster. obviously I'm not supposed to have this power, my dad only has domain over the sea, not all liquids. I mean sure, it is hard for me to actually control the other stuff but I can do it. And if I can't control it now, I could practice and then I would be able to. Either way I can still feel it now."

Nico had gained interest throughout my little tale and leaned in closer to me. "What can you feel Percy?"

I let out my shaky breath. "Everything. Anything that has water. The less it has the more ... slippery it is for me but that makes it more enticing." I stared him straight in the eyes as I said, "I can feel you Nico. If I wanted to, I could make your body rip itself apart." I watched closely as he blinked then as a flurry of emotions passed through his eyes, too quick for me to read. He pulled his face into a blank stare.

"Would you?" His two words tore through me like a spear. I knew betrayal shone in my ees. "Never!" I hissed at him. He was my friend, like a little brother, who sometimes hated me but I could never hurt him! A small sigh of relief escaped him. "Thanks. I just had to make sure." I simply nodded in understanding, how could not? I had basically threatened him.

"Do you... Are you going to use it?" His eyes shone with interest. I could only shrug. "Annabeth told me to never do it again, that some things were never meant to be controlled. She only knew about the poison."

Nico seemed to seize onto that. "Only the poison? And you learned about this in Tarturus, with the poison incident being the first time right?" I gave a slight nod. "So you went against her and found out what other dangerous things you could command?"

My eyes widened in horror. Would he- "Don't worry, I won't tell her, I just wanted to make sure I got that right, so I could suggest you practice it anyway, in secret. You never know when that might turn out to be useful. " I licked my lips and glanced away. Wasn't he right? Hadn't I been telling myself the same thing? And hadn't I come to him to confirm that it was not as evil as Annabeth seems to think?

Nico grabbed my face with his thin and deathly cool fingers and forced me to look at him. "Percy," he started, " I command the dead for a living. I live in a world of grey not black and white. You have a pet hellhound! You have to stop classifying one thing as good and another bad. It. Is. Not. That. Easy." He sighed and removed his hand from my face, using it to run through his hair. My eyes followed the movement. "Look, I know this might seem crazy but just try it when you get the chance ok?" he asked in a pleading tone. I nodded in agreement, not trusting myself to talk.

He bit his lip before he spoke. Not only could not pull my eyes away from how his teeth cut into his flesh, but I immediately gained awareness of his blood. Before I could stop myself I reached over and ran my thumb across his bottom lip, tugging it slightly out of the grip of his teeth. I ignored how he tensed and I kept my eyes on the tiny cut and the blood trickling out of it. Brushing my thumb over the cut I willed the blood to go back into his body and mend the break in skin, soothing the swelling down. Once I felt the blood back in its rightful place I snatched my hand back and looked away, a blush blooming on my cheeks. Why did I do that? Why? It would have healed eventually and it wouldn't have been a problem! Why did I have to reach over and touch him like that? So not in the bro code. I glanced over and saw Nico with a shocked face brushing his fingers against the area he once had a cut. At least he wasn't angry.

"W-well, I was going to say that, um, when I first discovered what I could do, and that I was in a time period 40 years in the future, well I started watching cartoons and anime." Nico stumbled over his words a bit and picked at a loose thread on his shirt. "I found one called 'Avatar the Last Airbender' and it really helped me get an understanding of how to do some of the more complex stuff I do. Not that they tell you how to raise the dead, just, the theory apples. And well, they have a waterbender who can bloodbend."

I couldn't help but laugh. "What does that make me? A poisonbender?" We both laughed, whether it was at the poor joke or the tension still hanging in the air, I have no idea. When we both quieted down I glanced over at Nico and offered him a genuine smile. "Thank you Nico. I know I haven't been the best to you, and that you hate me, but it means a lot that you'd help me. Thanks. And if you ever need me for anything, all you need to do is ask and I will be there for you. Promise."

Nico glanced at his lap and fidgeted. "It is no problem really, and..." He trailed off before starting again. "Can you make me promise Percy? I know you just did but, ... please promise that you will remember the world is always gray and never black or white? That there is no line between good and evil?" The unspoken words of, "I know it's a lot to ask," echoed through the short silence. I know how much gray there is but, why does he need me to remember it?

"I swear it Nico. I swear both the promises I made." He raised his eyebrows in surprise as I added, "On the River Styx." Thunder boomed and Nico stared at me with an unreadable expression.

A commotion over by the Athena Parthenon or whatnot seemed to bring Nico out of his trance. He gave me a small smile and said, "That's my queue." I watched as he jumped off the bolder and landed in its shadow, slipping away via shadow travel. The only thing left to bid me goodbye was his soft, playful whisper of, "See ya 'round... Poisonbender."

So yep, I did have to make this because it seems no one was curious about how Percy handled almost drowning some goddess in poison. No one? Seriously? ok then. And I was also kinda curious about the whole Nico got it hot for Percy thing. Who else totally called that? Because Only one other person I know said they called it and It seemed pretty obvious to both of us but everyone else asked, "How the hell did you call that?!" kinda deal. So yes, some blooming Perco/Necry if you look close. So, I hope you enjoyed and leave a comment because I like reading them.

P.S. sorry if this was crappy