The seven and Nico were gathered on the deck of the Argo II, talking, when all of the sudden, a silvery mist flooded the deck, stopping just short of the group of demigods. Nico, Percy, Annabeth, and Jason drew their weapons, but a feminine voice called out from the mist.
"Put away your weapons. I only wish to speak. Anyhow, how would you kill me with those little swords and daggers of yours? I am a goddess."
Annabeth lowered her knife ever so slightly. "Who are you? Which goddess?"
"I would not expect you to know of me. I hide myself in the mist, a secret to most. Though I do believe you met my husband. But I did not come to discuss me." This left Annabeth thinking hard, trying to figure out who this goddess was. "I have been waiting for you, Nico di Angelo."
Nico did not look particularly pleased about that. "Why?"
"Do I need an excuse to visit my people?"
"Your…people?" Hazel asked, frowning.
"The people who are mysteries. Those who hide in the shadows and mist in fear of their secrets; of them being discovered." Nico's eyes widened.
"Mysteries…secrets…wait, I know. You're Jana, Goddess of secrets, mysteries and all things hidden. Your husband is Janus, God of gateways." She smiled proudly, but Nico paled.
"That is correct, Annabeth Chase. Well done." Jana's voice sounded from her mist.
Annabeth frowned. "But why are you after Nico?" that statement made everyone look at the son of Hades with confusion; they had been wondering that exact thing. Nico looked paler than usual, his eyes wide with fear, which both stunned and worried everyone. Jason stood at his side protectively and placed a hand on his shoulder, squeezing it reassuringly. Nico's mouth twisted into a scowl, but the fear in his eyes subsided a bit, and anyone could see he was grateful Jason was there.
He clenched his fists to stop his hands from shaking. "Well, then just get it over with." He spat. "Tell them my big secret. I hope my humiliation makes your day." The venom in his voice shocked everyone. What the Hades was he talking about? Jana was silent.
"It'll be fine, man." Jason said. "They'll be fine with it."
"Easy for you to say, Golden Boy." Nico snarled, but Jason didn't get angry. He just held up his hands in surrender, and the others stared at them. Nico turned so his back was facing them and he was looking into the mist, shoulders slumped. "Sorry." He said softly. Then slightly louder: "Well, are you going to tell them or not?" the mist in front of him swirled. Out of the silver fog stepped a teenage girl, maybe 15 or 16. She had dark hair and fair skin. She had deep purple feathered wings and wore a silver dress that matched the mist. She strode regally towards Nico with her wings slightly outstretched, and stopped a few feet away from him. The girl, who was clearly Jana, had dark, sad eyes like Nico's.
"You mistake the reason for my visit, Nico di Angelo." Her voice was kind, which was saying something for a goddess. "I am not here to reveal your secret, for it is not mine to reveal."
"Well, that's a refreshing change." The son of Hades muttered. A small smile played over her lips.
"I am, however, here to tell you that you should tell them." Nico groaned in frustration and Jason said:
"I know, right. I've been telling him that since I found out, but he won't listen to me." Nico glared at Jason.
"Don't encourage her."
Jana spoke calmly. "He is right, Nico. Your secret hurts you. I can feel it. Letting people in helps a lot. You have been feeling slightly better since you told Jason, no?"
"No, I haven't." Nico denied. "And I was forced to tell Jason to get that stupid scepter, and that didn't feel great. Besides, there is nothing to tell since I'm over it."
The goddess frowned. "You cannot lie to me, just like you could not lie to Cupid. I am the goddess of Secrets, Nico di Angelo. I will know when you are 'over it'."
Jason decided to add his wisdom to the conversation. "You can tell them, Nico. They're your friends."
Nico sighed in annoyance. "How many times do we have to go over this, Jason? I am a son of Hades. I am a scary person. People are scared of me before they even know me. From the way people treat me, you'd think I walk around covered in blood or sewage. I don't belong. I am an outcast." His voice was filled with bitterness and hurt. He seemed to have forgotten that he and Jason weren't alone, because he winced when he saw the other demigods' shocked faces.
And they had every right to be shocked. Nico never talked about his personal feelings, and always seemed to have no emotions, with an exception of anger. He rarely smiled. He seemed to not care about what people thought. It sometimes seemed like he didn't feel anything at all, which obviously wasn't the case. Percy stepped forward.
"Is that really how you feel, Nico?" He asked.
"Yes. No. Maybe…sometimes." He admitted with a shrug, like he was asked whether he liked vanilla or chocolate ice cream better. Piper shook her head.
"We are your friends, okay, whether you like it or not. You're stuck with us. Get used to it."
"Piper's right, Nico. And you can tell us anything, you know." Percy agreed. Jason took that as his cue to nudge the son of Hades in the shoulder. Nico didn't say anything, but he didn't have to. Annabeth had been thinking and was on a roll, out loud this time.
"Ok, so Jana said you couldn't lie to her because she's the goddess of secrets. She also said that you weren't able to lie to Cupid, either, and he's the god of love, so it has to be about something in that category. You said you were forced to tell Jason when you went to get the scepter from Croatia, so you must have met Cupid there. He must have made you admit who you liked in front of Jason, and judging by how big of a deal and how humiliating it is to you…" she paused for a moment before reaching her conclusion. "That's it, isn't it? The person you like, it's a he. The person you like is a guy. Am I right?"
Nico looked momentarily panicked, but swallowed nervously, biting his lip, and nodded, not meeting anyone's eyes. Everything was silent for a second before Leo asked the million-drachma question.
"So who is it?"
"Wh-what?" Nico asked.
"Who do you like?" he repeated, leaning back against the railing.
"So…you guys are…" he trailed off, but Leo knew what he meant.
"Ok with it? Of course we are! Why wouldn't we be?"
Annabeth turned her stormy grey eyes to the son of Hephaestus. "Leo, Nico was born in the 1930s. Back then, it was a really big deal. It was even considered a mental illness. Sometimes, they used to-mmmmh." The daughter of Athena was cut off when Percy clapped his hand over her mouth to spare them the details of how sick doctors used to, ah what they called it; fix people like Nico.
"Thank you, Annabeth." He said, stressing the syllables in her name, the universal code for 'stop talking'. He then turned his attention to Nico. "So who is it?" he asked, repeating Leo's question. Nico tensed and took a small step back towards the steps that lead below deck. He looked like he was considering running, but Jana spoke in his mind.
"You don't have to, but you should. You can do it, Nico. It will make the pain go away." She said soothingly. He sighed. She's right. He told himself. Man up, Di Angelo.
"That's the worst part." He muttered, barely loud enough for the demigods to hear. His eyes were boring holes into the deck.
"Come on." Percy persisted, and Jason shot him a look he ignored, but Annabeth caught it. Wait…she thought, mind connecting the dots. Oh, gods. "Tell us. We won't judge."
Nico chewed his lower lip and twisted the skeleton ring on his finger. He glanced up at Percy and then returned his gaze to his hands. This only confirmed Annabeth's suspicions. No one else had figured it out yet, though.
"Nico…" she began, but Nico cut her off.
"I'm sorry, OK?" he said, a pained look in his eyes. "Believe me, it was not my intention. And I'm not going to try anything, so you don't need to say it."
Everyone's eyes widened, and the daughter of Athena shook her head. "I wasn't going to say that. Besides," she said, smiling faintly, "I can hardly blame you, can I?"
Nico blushed furiously, squirming under everyone's gaze.
"I'm confused." Percy interjected, and all the demigods groaned, save Nico, who sighed in annoyance. "Do we know who he likes?"
Jason rolled his eyes at his friend, and Frank, Hazel, and Piper shook their heads in disbelief. Leo face-palmed, and Annabeth said: "Seaweed Brain, with all due respect, sometimes you are incredibly dense."
"Hey!" the son of Poseidon protested. He paused. "So…"
Everyone groaned again.
"OK, yes, I have kelp for brains, yada, yada, yada, I get it. Can someone just tell me already?"
Nico took a deep breath and forced the words out before he could change his mind. "It's you, okay?!" He shouted. Percy's sea-green eyes widened, stunned. "Happy now?" Nico said quietly, looking between Jason and Jana. The goddess of Secrets sat on the railing, wings extended fully to keep her from falling. Most of the mist had retreated from the deck, and what was left of it swirled around her, but she was still visible. The son of Hades' eyes shone, and before anyone could say anything, he was gone, disappearing below deck. The distant slamming of a door below was heard in the silence.
"Why didn't he tell me?" Percy asked in a small voice, talking to no one in particular.
"He was terrified of what you would think." Jason said. "Of how you would react."
"Why? Did he think I would hate him or something?"
Jason nodded. "That's exactly what he thought." Jason pointed a thumb over his shoulder, at the stairs Nico had vanished down. "It's what he still thinks."
Without replying, Percy disappeared down the stairs, but reappeared to say: "Thanks for getting him to tell me, Jason. You, too, Lady Jana." He paused. "Why did you do it?" He asked the goddess. "In my experience, the gods rarely ever do something out of the goodness of their immortal hearts. What's in this for you?"
Jana shrugged. "Nothing. You are right about the gods, Percy Jackson, but I know Nico better than most, and I have a soft spot for him. He hides in the shadows, both figuratively and literally. He has many secrets, and that makes him my business. His life has been nothing but hardships and suffering, and this secret of his contributes to that a great deal. It causes him great pain, and if he went on like this much longer, he would snap. Nico di Angelo is very brave and very strong for his age, but he was forced to grow up much too fast. One's soul can only take so much before it is too overwhelmed to go on. Remember, death is not something a son of Hades fears."
Hazel gasped, eyes brimming with tears, when she realized what the goddess meant. "You mean he would…kill himself?"
Jana nodded grimly, and Frank wrapped his arms around his girlfriend as tears slipped down her cheeks, pulling her against him. The goddess of Mysteries continued. "Eventually, yes, and I do not wish to see that happen. I have seen what he used to be like: a curious little boy who was all smiles and laughter. It saddens me to see that little boy gone."
"Wait." Leo said. "You're telling me that Nico, our Nico di Angelo, used to smile and laugh?"
Percy nodded, smiling slightly, remembering the little 10-year old he had met just 3 years ago. "All the time. He was obsessed with Myth-o-Magic, that mythology game. He asked annoying questions. When he found out I was a son of Poseidon, the first thing he asked was if I could surf really well. He also asked if Annabeth was a daughter of Athena, then why didn't she know better than to fall off a cliff." The demigods chuckled. They couldn't imagine Nico ever acting like that. Annabeth laughed.
"He really asked that?" she questioned.
"Yeah. He also called Mr. D. 'The wine dude'. " He chuckled softly at the memory. His smile morphed into a frown. "I gotta talk to him."
§§§§§§§§§§§§
Nico was sitting in the corner of the living room, tears running down his cheeks, cursing himself. Why had he done that? It was a stupid thing to do.
"What have I done?" he asked the air quietly. "I'm so stupid."
Salty tears continued to fall quietly. A few minutes later, the doorknob twisted and the door swung open. Nico wrapped his arms around his knees and propped his head on them. He refused to lift his head to see who had come. Someone sat down on the floor beside him. That someone gently forced Nico to look at them, and Nico looked up reluctantly into the sea-green eyes of none other than Percy Jackson.
"Are you OK?" The son of Poseidon asked, and Nico pulled away and stared at his feet intently. He nodded soundlessly, but it was obvious he'd been crying.
"No you're not." Percy paused. "Did you really think I would hate you if you told me the truth?"
The son of Hades nodded. "Don't you?" he asked, and his voice was shaky. Percy shook his head immediately.
"Of course not."
Nico took a shaky breath, and Percy slung an arm over the younger boy's shoulders. He tensed, but relaxed after a moment, and Percy spoke. "I'm sorry Nico."
"For what?"
"For hurting you."
"It's not your fault."
"It's not my fault that I'm devilishly handsome?" he asked with a grin, and laughed when Nico gave him a look that clearly said 'shut the dad up' before chuckling himself. "I'm just kidding. I actually don't know what people see in me. I seriously don't." he said when he saw Nico's raised eyebrows.
"Well, do feel free to ask Annabeth later." The son of Hades pushed Percy's arm off and stood, a small smile on his face.
"How do you feel, son of Hades, now that your secret is out. Humiliated like you thought you would?" the voice of Jana asked from the front of the room. Both boys turned to see her standing there, mist swirling at her feet, smiling.
"No." he admitted. "I feel better, much better, just like you said." He paused. "Thank you, Lady Jana."
The goddess smiled warmly. "There are some secrets that are not meant to be kept, Nico di Angelo." She waved her hand, and the lights went out, leaving the room in total darkness. "Your life was dark, but all one needs to defeat the darkness," her hand glowed with silver light, illuminating the room, "is a little light. Do you understand?"
Nico nodded. "I do."
"Goodbye, son of Hades. Take care." With that, the goddess disappeared in a swirl of silver mist. Nico turned his dark eyes to Percy, who smiled at him.
"Do me a favor." The son of Hades said.
"What?"
"Don't treat me differently." He said. "I don't want to be treated like a fragile little kid who needs pity. I don't. I just need people to act…normally around me."
Percy grinned. "Wouldn't dream of it. I shall be as normal as an ADHA, dyslexic, monster-slaying, titan and giant fighting, seaweed brained demigod son of Poseidon can be. Now come on, let's go talk to our friends."
As he made his way back above deck, Nico followed, and a small smile played on his lips. Maybe some secrets aren't meant to be kept, after all.