Nico winced as he shifted on the ground. 'Stupid Minos' he thought. Minos had been leading him through the Labyrinth, but led Nico straight into a monster's lair. Thankfully, he didn't die. He just got stabbed, cut, and a few broken bones. Minos had given some him some ambrosia and left. It healed Nico's bones enough that he could walk, but he was convinced that he was definitely bleeding to death. Okay, maybe that was an overreaction. He was only probably bleeding to death.
Just as Nico was on the brink of sleep, there was a rustling sound off to his left. His eyes snapped open as his hand darted to the Stygian iron sword on his hip. As quickly as possible (which wasn't that quickly considering every move hurt like a bitch) he got to his feet. His black-as- night sword sucked what little light and heat was in the chamber. It was a circular chamber with a stone floor, and mosaics all across the walls and ceiling. They depicted scenes of nymphs frolicking with Artemis, Apollo and Dionysus drunkenly singing, and Aphrodite flirting with a dozen men. The scene was so happy and bright. It made Nico sick.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk." A smooth voice whispered behind him. Nico spun around, sword out in front of him. "Now, now, Mr. Di Angelo." The voice, which Nico now realized had a heavy Greek accent, stated. He gripped his sword tighter. "Quite rude." The voice whispered in his right (Or was it left? No, it was his right) ear. Nico turned before stating in a pain filled voice: "Show yourself! I'd really like a face to go with annoying voice." There was a low chuckle that reminded Nico of velvet before a woman stepped into his view. She had sleek snow white hair that just brushed her shoulders, pitch black eyes, pale, almost transparent skin, and was dressed entirely in black. "Who. Are. You?" Nico asked slowly. "I am Anake, Goddess of Destiny, Necessity, and Fate. I heard you haven't taken a side in the war." She cocked her head and furrowed her white eyebrows, "Why is that?"
"What war?"
"'What war?'" Anake exclaimed. She took a step forward, Nico took a step back. "The war between the Olympians and the Titans, you idiotic fool! The Olympians are cowering like scared children and the Titans are rising higher and higher and you don't even know it?" She practically screeched. She took three steps forward, Nico took three steps back. "Everyone is choosing sides. Even the mortals, though they may not know it. You must choose, spawn of the dead! You must choose! The cowering Olympians," Four steps forward, four steps back, "Or the powerful," two steps forward, two steps back "Great" one step forward, one step back, "Mighty" one step forward, one step back, Nico rammed into a wall. "Titans" Anake hissed the last word. In an instance she was in his face, her warm breath smelled of honey and dead flowers. "Do you want to be a slave to Kronos when he wins or do you want to be his army's general?" Nico's nose twitched. "Tell me child." She ordered, shifting even closer so her mouth was next to his ear. "Who are you for? What will you represent?" She whispered. Nico grit his teeth, "No one, I will work for no one." There was that stupid velvet chuckle again. "I love when you demigods think that you can be unique and different from the rest. But there's a small flaw there: you aren't. You never were." She sighed a little, "You follow what you think will benefit you most. So, just think about it. If you join us and Kronos loses, your father will take you in and protect you. If he wins you could lead armies and have whatever you'd like. If you join the Olympians and they lose, Kronos will crush you. If they win, you'll still be an outcast with no one." She paused, letting the new information sink in. "You'll still be nothing. Absolutely nothing." Nico's breathed hitched. 'Damn you' He thought. "Percy will still not need you for anything." Nico pursed his lips. "Percy doesn't matter. He let Bianca die." He stated, though it was obvious it was a lie. "But, if you choose Kronos, you can have Percy. You can own Percy." She said. Nico's mind raced with the idea of owning Percy and what they could do together. Then he violently shook his head and pushed the creepy, annoying, goddess of destiny away. "No," he stated firmly, "Percy doesn't matter, I don't need him, and I don't need Kronos." Anake hissed, "Fool." Her form began to glow and Nico looked away before the light blinded him.
Nico woke with a start. He looked around confused, trying to figure out his surroundings. He was lying on the ground, Reyna and Coach Hedge sleeping next to him. Then he remembered; they were bringing the Athena Parthenos to Camp Half-Blood, he wasn't still in the Labyrinth, and he most certainly wasn't talking to a crazy-ass goddess. Nico sighed and ran a hand through his hair. That was really weird. Lately, any dreams he had were about Tartarus, so dreaming about events that happened over a year ago was strange-even for him. Was it foreshadowing anything? No, she wasn't going to bother any demigods any time soon. His Father had promised him of that. Nico settled back onto the ground, closed his eyes, and let sleep take over him again.
Author's Note:
I'm not sure how many chapters this story will have, but it'll be at least three. I'll try and update this as often as possible.
