Well, here's my Round Three oneshot for Battle of the Fandoms by Lunknownl. My other stories for rounds one and two were We Were Made For This and Waning Crescent. Sorry for typos/OOCness and that it is SUPER fast paced. It was a last minute story, and it really isn't that good. So enjoy...
Nico was tired, angry, and a bit scared, though he'd never admit the last one.
A few days ago he had left Camp Half-Blood, going off on his own to explore the world as he usually did. He hated staying in one place for a long time. Yeah, Camp Half-Blood was a nice place and he had finally been given the chance to have a cabin there, but that was still under construction, and until then he would have to stay in the Big House.
Even though he had also taken part in making sure the world didn't end during the Titan war—thank you, thank you, hold your applause—not all of the campers treated him equally. He was still a son of Hades, and he was still an outcast, no matter how many reassurances Percy and Annabeth gave him. There were still those moments when people stared at him for no real reason.
Nico hated being judged, even if the judging wasn't intentional. So one hot summer day he'd backed up his little backpack full of things that barely meant anything and had shadow traveled to Denver. Colorado was nice but in a few hours it had gotten old and he'd left.
Next had been Arizona. Why, he had no idea, but it was freaking hot down there. He'd been standing in the middle of nowhere with long jeans and an aviator jacket on. So yeah, his visit had been cut just a tad bit short.
Finally he had decided to spend the night Oregon. He'd had just enough money to get a motel room. The man at the front desk hadn't even cared that he was thirteen years old. Nico had only gotten a few hours of sleep when a horrible screeching noise had awoken him.
Screeching noises were NEVER a good thing.
He'd had the naiveté to hope that it was just some really bad car brakes. Oh, how wrong he had been.
No matter where he shadow traveled to or how many times he tried to kill these monsters, the rogue Furies just wouldn't seem to die off.
Yep. Rogue Furies. Though Greek Mythology only liked to mention a few of his father's Furies, there were many more that no one had a clue about. When his father Hades decided that they weren't good enough and had been plotting his downfall, he'd cut the apart and banished them into Tartarus for all eternity.
Looks like eternity hadn't lasted long enough.
Nico guessed that since the Furies couldn't kill of Hades, they do the next best thing and try to end his son.
So he'd gone from Oregon to Montana, but the Furies had appeared there too. For an entire day he'd run throughout Montana, fighting off the monsters with his Stygian Iron sword. He never had a moment to rest, to eat, or to do anything but stay alive. The second he had the chance he had shadow traveled into California.
Shadow traveling was tiring. Doing it so many times in one day really took its toll. Plus, it took a lot of mental preparation. He couldn't just shadow travel 24/7. Sometimes Nico actually had to make his way on foot.
He could fight monsters and travel throughout the Underworld, but he couldn't drive a car. How messed up was that?
Now, Nico was near the Caldecott Tunnel, trying to keep away from the Rogue Furies. He couldn't see them now, but he knew that they were close. It was like a sixth sense.
Nico wanted to just take a long nap and then shadow travel back to New York. Of course, he hadn't done it before because the last thing his camp needed right now was a bunch rogue monsters trying to kill everyone. But now, Nico realized that he wouldn't be able to kill these monsters off on his own. He needed help, and help was about three thousand miles away.
But then, Nico noticed two people, just standing at the entrance to the Caldecott Tunnel's maintenance entrance, in between the ongoing traffic. Yeah, that wouldn't have normally been weird.
Except they were dressed in armor and had weapons on them.
Nico stared down at them, and then there was a screeching sound. He winced. They were catching back up to him. He didn't have time to make rational decisions or think about a plan. He needed to act now.
The two demigods (they had to be demigods. It was the only explanation) at the entrance turned and their eyes landed on what had to be the Furies behind him and then their gaze slid to him. One of them motioned for him to come down there and hurry up. The other one had a bow and arrow in his hands and was aiming at the monsters behind him. Nico watched one arrow wiz by and a scream indicated the end of a Fury.
That wouldn't last long, however, because they just kept coming back. Nico would have to ask his dad about that some other time.
Nico slid/tumbled down the steep hill and fast as possible and only managed to get a couple of bruises and to not fall into the highway. Thankfully, there weren't that many people out for some reason, so he wouldn't be killed by an oncoming car.
Turning around for a split second, Nico watched another arrow hit a Rogue Fury. There were three left.
He turned back around and started running over the lanes of traffic towards the demigods. As he approached, he heard their conversation.
"And you always said that a daughter of Venus couldn't shoot," the girl with the arrows said.
Daughter of Venus? What? Didn't they mean Aphrodite?
"Well, excuse me for being wrong," the guys said. Then the guy noticed how close Nico was. "Come on, hurry up. They're getting closer, and the last thing we need is a dead guy to clean up after."
"Yeah, dying really isn't on my schedule," Nico grumbled. He wanted to ask them who they were, what they were doing, what they were guarding and why they were helping him, but there wasn't enough time to, because in a few seconds he would be Kibbles and Nico.
The girl nodded to the two of them. "I'll hold them off. You both get inside."
The guy agreed, and cursed in Latin as he tripped. Opening the door, the two of them ran inside. As they continued to move, Nico asked, "Who are you guys? I mean, I know you are demigods, but where are we going? What are you doing here?"
He looked at him, surprised for a second, but his expression quickly became unreadable. "We're going into Camp Jupiter," he informed him stiffly.
"What the heck is Camp Jupiter?!" Nico demanded.
"The only safe place for us Romans. Don't worry, you'll be safe there and all will be explained." But the look on the guys face said otherwise, as if he were expecting Nico to be killed right when he stepped foot inside of this camp.
Camp Jupiter being a camp for Roman demigods? What in the name of Hades was that supposed to mean? There weren't any Roman demigods. There were only Greeks. Nico knew it for a fact. He would've found out by now if there had been another camp. Maybe the guy had something bad to drink and was going crazy, but Nico knew he wasn't going into a camp.
"Our praetors, Jason and Reyna, should help you once you get inside," the guy was saying.
Nico nodded but he wasn't really paying attention. Ahead, he could see a light. He ran faster.
The minute he was out of the tunnel, he breathed a sigh of relief.
"YOU'RE DEAD NOW!" screamed someone, and he groaned. Of course they were still after him.
There were three Rogue Furies that had breached the entrance, following Nico. Of course they did. This wasn't Camp Half-Blood. There weren't any magical barriers to keep monsters out. But what was this place? Where exactly was he? He'd have to think about that later, because there were some mean monsters on his rear.
All around him, Nico felt people drawing weapons. How many demigods were there? One of the Rogue Furies dived down at Nico, and he just managed to dodge out of the way, but he ended up flat on his back. The Fury loomed over him with sharp claws reaching for his throat. "Prepare to die, demigod scum."
"Not just yet," he said. He switched the grip on his sword and impaled it into the side of the Fury. She screeched as Nico reared his back off the ground and flipped the monster off. Landing on the ground beside him, Nico stabbed his sword downwards into the gut of the monster, and she dissolved into dust without a second swipe. The wind that had started to blow swept the essence of the monster away from him, probably back out to the highway, but that wouldn't last very long.
He jumped up and got into stance, ready to fight more monsters. Instead, he found that the monsters were gone and he had ten swords pointed at his throat to kill him.
So he lowered his weapon, clearly outmatched.
"Who are you people?" he demanded, but he wasn't answered. Instead, a few of the people left, and he could see two people walking towards him. He had a big feeling that these were the praetors named Jason and Reyna that the guard had told him about. Obviously they were the leaders of the camp or group or whatever they were, kind of like Percy. They both wore matching outfits—jeans and purple shirts with bed sheets over them like togas, decorated with medals.
The girl, who had to be Reyna, had dark hair and eyes and was older than Nico by a few years. She was guarded by two dogs that were made out of silver and gold with ruby eyes. The guy, Jason, had blonde hair and was very muscular. His blue eyes looked just like Thalia's. They stood side by side and stopped a few feet away from him, watching closely, daring him to do something.
Nico's gaze went to their arms, where they both had multiple tattoos that seemed to be burned into their skin. He wondered what he looked like to them. Running a hand through his hair, he decided that he needed a haircut, though he wasn't sure he'd live long enough to get one.
The praetor Jason held up a hand and the people surrounding Nico backed away, but they didn't sheathed their weapons.
"You're a demigod," the praetor named Reyna finally said.
"Of course I am!" Nico gasped, still trying to catch his breath. "What, do I look like a mortal? I'm certainly not a god."
Reyna gave him a look that could kill.
"How have you survived this long without coming to Camp Jupiter?" asked Jason. "You have a sword and you seem to know how to fight. You know you're a demigod. So how did you get your training? Where are you from? Or have you just trained yourself all on your own?"
Nico's head was swimming. Camp Jupiter? Romans? Praetors? This place really was Camp Jupiter, and it was for Roman demigods, not Greeks.
Oh Hades to the no.
"Wait!" Nico said. "You mean… you all are demigods?" He looked around and all of the faces. There was so much power in the air. So many demigods in one place, even more than Camp Half-Blood used to have. They all looked trained. They all looked dangerous.
The guy named Jason narrowed his eyes, challenging Nico. He spoke carefully. "Yes, we are demigods, just like you are. I am a son of Jupiter."
"You mean Zeus," Nico corrected.
Reyna shook her head. "No, he means Jupiter. My mother is Bellona. Considering you already know all about demigods, who is your parent? Don't you even try to lie to me. Argentum and Arum can sniff out liars." She gestured to her dogs made of silver and gold, who were growling at him. Nico gulped and took a step back.
What was he supposed to do? These people claimed they were Roman, but that was impossible. There was only Camp Half-Blood, and Nico was a Greek. Had they been lied to this entire time. Was this actually another camp for children of Roman gods and goddesses? They didn't seem to know anything about the Greek gods, and Nico realized that they didn't think they existed.
He easily could say that he was from Camp Half-Blood and that he was a Greek demigod son of Hades, but how would they react to that. Nico knew the Greeks and Romans had been enemies. He couldn't just tell them about his camp. That would put them all in danger and he wasn't about to do that again.
"My name is Nico di Angelo," he finally said. "I'm a son of Pluto."
Not my best work, but I hope you enjoyed nonetheless. Reviews are loved.
-BBH