After long long long long long long long long long last, I finally got my last one-shot that I remember being requested after my House of Hades fanfiction finished.
This one is for DorkyHater, who asked for Nico with a girlfriend. Of course, I then read the House of Hades, and seeing as I'm sure most of you have read it, that, for many different reasons, killed my inspiration for this fanfiction.
But at the very end something caught my attention . . . Nico and Reyna go off with Coach Hedge to get the Athena Parthenos to camp. I decided to go for a fic which you could take as slash, or just a good friendship fic. In my mind it's an interesting pairing, although those two are the most serious characters in the book . . . so . . . .
But yeah. I hope you like it DorkyHater! So sorry it took so long!
Disclaimer: me owning Percy Jackson would be like Percy ruling the world: it wouldn't end well.
Nico stumbled slightly as they came out of the shadows in the middle of the woods. "Where are we? Are you sure this is near the Camp?" Reyna asked, and Nico feel her suspicious eyes on him. Of course, he thought bitterly, she had every right to be suspicious of him. He'd been going in between Camp Jupiter and Camp Half-blood for a year.
"Yeah I'm sure. I just thought it might be better not to come out in the midst of bloodthirsty romans, or in the midst of the Ares cabin, who are sure to be the ones guarding the borders." He snapped hoarsely.
Reyna blinked, and nodded. "Good." She turned to Coach Hedge, who was peering eagerly through the woods, as though he couldn't wait to get to camp. "Satyr, come help us move this statue." She cast an annoyed look at the Athena Parthenos, which was the main reason for Nico's exhaustion.
Nico shook his head. "There's no need." He grumbled. He snapped his fingers, and the ground cracked, ten skeletons climbing out, then standing at attention. "Carry the statue and follow me." Nico said coldly. Reyna stared, and for a moment she didn't follow when Nico started moving. But then she shook her head and walked after him.
Coach Hedge kept trotting ahead before doubling back, and not for the first time Nico wondered why he was with them. He wasn't exactly going to help bring peace to the Camps.
The thought almost made Nico stop walking. How in the world were the son of the god of the Underworld and the daughter of a Roman goddess of war going to become peacemakers? "Do the kids in your camp trust you?" Reyna asked suddenly, and Nico shot a glance at her, noticing for the first time that her hair was slightly shorter, and far more ragged than it had been before, and that her eyes were tired and sad.
"I don't know." Nico said truthfully. He'd never been able to tell if the campers of Camp Half-blood trusted him or not.
"Would they kill you on sight if they saw you with a Roman?" Reyna asked, and Nico almost smiled at the weirdness of the question.
"Probably not," Nico said, then quickly amended the statement. "Well, at least most of them wouldn't."
"Good, because they're going to have to trust you. Here's our plan." She started talking, outlining her idea. Even as Nico wasn't sure how they were going to do it, he had to agree it was a good idea.
Now to go and make it work.
When Nico and Coach Hedge appeared on Half-Blood hill he was sure they were about to be shish kebabs, especially when the first camper he saw was Clarisse. But when she saw him, she pulled back, her expression surprised. "Hold! It's di Angelo." Clarisse said quickly, and the five or six Ares campers behind her lowered their weapons. "What are you doing here? I thought that you and the others went to save Prissy and Annabeth," Clarisse said, and Nico sighed.
"We did." He muttered.
"You saved them?" Clarisse asked, and Nico saw the relief in her eyes. The other campers managed a weak cheer.
"Yes," Nico said. "And now I'm trying to help save the camp." Quickly he explained the plan, ignoring the angry growls when he mentioned that he was working with the Roman Praetor. Clarisse managed to keep her face impassive, although Nico could see the anger and impatience in her eyes.
"Great death boy, but that's not going to work unless we warn the entire camp, and we don't have time to do that." Clarisse pointed out.
Nico raised an eyebrow as behind him a Roman war horn sounded. "I'm betting you guys have it set up so that when you hear the sound everyone gets their weapons and comes running." He guessed.
Clarisse sighed and nodded. "Fine. But if this plan fails I'm going to tear you apart."
Nico turned grimly around and stood at the ready. "If my plan fails, you might not have to."
The Romans outnumbered the Greeks by at least fifty campers, and everyone could tell immediately. It was fairly obvious that unless they found some miracle, everyone was going to either die, or be captured.
Nico sent Coach Hedge to spread the word that there was a plan, and to tell everyone when to speak and when to remain silent. Then he gave the anxious satyr permission to do whatever he wanted, hoping that it wouldn't come back to bite him.
Soon Clarisse had organized all of the Greek troops into formations, and they gathered at the border on top of Half-blood hill to wait.
It was horrible, not knowing whether or not Reyna had been able to convince the Romans to listen to her.
Nico found himself doing something he didn't usually do, praying to his Father. Please dad . . . if you care about me or Bianca at all, please let this work.
As the Roman forces came into sight, Nico relaxed slightly. Reyna was leading them, several Legionaries carrying the Athena Parthenos.
Nico breathed a sigh of relief, but then he realized he had relaxed too soon.
Octavian stepped out from behind Reyna, a grin on his face. From the way he held his hand, Nico guessed that he was pointing a knife at Reyna's back. He groaned. It was too soon for failure. They had to unite the Greek and Roman forces.
"Hello graecus," Octavian said cheerfully. "I caught the rabble sneaking into our camp with a bunch of skeletons carrying this monstrous thing."
He shook Reyna when he said rabble, and Nico's grip on his sword tightened slightly.
Clarisse seemed to be about to speak when one of the children of Athena, whose name might have been Malcolm, although Nico wasn't sure, stepped forward, his eyes focused on the massive statue of his mother.
"That . . . that's the Athena Parthenos!" He said, and the awe in his voice made Nico look at him in surprise.
The other campers started to whisper. They'd all been to Chiron's classes, and they'd heard the story of the Athena Parthenos before.
Octavian smiled. "Yes, it is. And unless your entire camp surrenders, it will go up in smoke." He gestured towards two campers who were standing with torches in their hands. They were from the first cohort from the looks of things.
I fact, all of the campers Nico could see were from the first cohort, second cohort, and fourth cohort. The third cohort and fifth were nowhere in sight, which meant that all of their perspective allies were out of the picture.
"Nico think of the plan!" Reyna yelled, and for a moment their eyes met, and Nico remembered the steps of the plan. Step one: distract Octavian.
Octavian hissed and poked Reyna with the dagger. "Be quiet prisoner. You have just proven your guilt by conspiring with a Greek, and a son of Hades at that. What was your plan Praetor? Did you want your friend to kill us all?"
Nico rolled his eyes. "I am the ambassador of Pluto, and a son of Hades. My sister is a Roman, and my leader spent several weeks in your camp, and even became your Praetor. I watched as Jason Grace made an emergency field promotion just a few hours ago, and made Frank Zhang, former Centurion of the Fifth cohort Praetor. You have no chance Octavian."
Octavian almost dropped his knife. "Frank Zhang? Praetor?" He sounded so shocked that Nico almost laughed. But instead he nodded.
"Yep, Praetor. Now why don't you let your other Praetor go, and we can talk this out peacefully." Nico suggested, shooting a warning glance at Malcolm, (it was Malcolm, right?) whose hand was on his sword.
For a moment Nico thought he might have won, but then Octavian grinned evilly. "Reyna is no Praetor of mine."
Three hours later they really had won, in a battle involving an elephant, the Fifth cohort coming to the rescue, and Nico and Reyna shadow traveling around with the Athena Parthenos until they could get the statue to Malcolm.
Nico didn't even have the energy to keep his eyes open, although he thankfully had managed to stay awake.
Reyna was carrying him as she stumbled towards camp. She had several gashes along her arms, but she didn't seem to notice. "Are you still awake?" She asked, wincing as she bumped into a tree.
Nico was barely able to move his mouth enough to answer. "Yeah."
"Good." Reyna said, and kept walking.
Two weeks later
"Duck!" The instant Nico heard the now familiar voice, he did exactly as it said.
The instant he hit the ground, something whizzed over his head. Nico rolled and came back to his feet, diving towards the monster that had thrown the thorn. It was a Manticor.
In fact, it was a particular manticor.
Dr. Thorn smiled as he released a new barrage of attacks and Nico raised the shield that he'd been given, feeling every thorn that hit it push him backwards and put another dent in the shield. There was no way he could fight Dr. Thorn on his own.
"To your right, and then attack!" Reyna's hurried whispered came from his left, and he knew what she was planning. If they attacked at the same time, Dr. Thorn wouldn't be able to throw his thorns at both of them. He'd have to choose, and that choice would give them enough time to hopefully kill him.
"On my count." Reyna said, and Nico nodded. They'd been fighting this battle for several days. The Greek fleet had taken on a bunch of Romans to go and assist the seven demigods of the prophecy, and now they were fighting at the base of Olympus.
Throughout the battle, Nico and Reyna had found very little chance to pull back. Nico wasn't sure if either of them had gotten more than twenty minutes of rest for every five hours they'd been fighting.
And now that they were in the middle of Gaea's force, rest was even harder to find.
As they finally managed to take Doctor Thorn down, Nico was just glad that they were both alive. Bruised, scratched up, exhausted, a complete and total mess, but alive.
1 week later
When Reyna realized that she trusted Nico di Angelo, it surprised her for a few minutes, but then she let it go. They'd faced so many monsters together over the past few weeks, united the Greek and Roman camps, and only four hours earlier had helped the seven of prophecy to fight Gaea.
Now the battle was over. They were free to sleep. And Reyna was letting Nico take the first watch, something that she would only Jason do in the past.
Something that she would only let the people she trusted the most do, was watch over her in her sleep.
A year and a half later
Nico stepped out of the shadows near the Principia, shading his eyes as the full glare of the summer sun hit him. He hadn't visited Camp Jupiter in several months, and finally he'd decided he couldn't put it off any longer.
It wasn't that he didn't like being in Camp Jupiter. Percy and Annabeth were about to start college in New Rome, Hazel was there, Frank was always willing to talk about Mythomagic despite how geeky it made them both seem, and of course there was Reyna.
Somehow through the battle against Gaea they'd become friends. Maybe some godly power had looked down, seen them, and gone, "those serious people need another serious person to talk to!" and smashed them together. But in any case, Reyna was someone to talk to. Sometimes she reminded him of Bianca, and sometimes of Annabeth.
Frank glanced up as Nico entered the Principia. He was writing something down, looking hurried. "Hi Nico. Mythomagic, or Reyna?" He asked, and Nico almost smiled.
"Reyna. Maybe we can do Mythomagic later." he added. Frank nodded, and then went back to his hurried scribbling. Nico hesitated, shrugged, and kept moving. If it were to be a choice between Mythomagic and Reyna, Reyna would have to win.
Reyna laughed as Nico described the battle. "It was my ghost against twenty skeletons. The skeletons fell apart every time the ghost flew through them, but they would just knit themselves back together again, and the ghost couldn't be killed or injured."
"How did you win?" Reyna asked, reaching for a jelly bean and then popping it into her mouth.
Nico raised an eyebrow. "Win? Oh no, that was a fight I lost. My ghost got fed up and went back to the underworld, and I had to run from a bunch of skeletons. I ended up shadow traveling to a really small town in India." He shook his head in amusement. "They might still be fearing that their 'death god has come upon them and they will all perish,' for all I know."
Reyna laughed again, and took another jelly bean. She'd finally found someone who knew how to lose a battle, but still have a good time with it.
Life was good.
Reyna ran through the streets, fear coursing through her. She didn't scare easily, but having a drakon three times the size of the Principia chasing her and breathing acid?
Yeah, that was scary.
All around her the other Legionaries were scattering, scrambling for their weapons, or even just running for their lives. Reyna had to admit that while normally she would have been furious with their behavior, she couldn't really blame them at that moment as she was doing exactly the same thing.
Suddenly there was an explosion behind her, and she turned to see a shadowy form emerging from a crack in the ground, slowly revealing itself to be a dark skeletal dragon, who promptly launched itself at the drakon. A smaller shape ran out of the shadows towards her and gripped her arm, pulling her away. "Come on Reyna! The skeleton dragon is causing a distraction so that everyone can get away!" Nico hissed in her ear.
She turned towards him, noting dried blood on his forehead, and how pale he was. He must have been in some sort of fight before he came here. Well, this wasn't a better situation, but Reyna was really, really glad to see him.
Reyna woke up in the infirmary, and for a moment she had no idea what was going on. Then she remembered the fight . . . and sat straight up.
"Woah, Reyna, slow down." A gentle hand touched her shoulder, and slowly pushed her back down, easing the stabbing pain in her sides and head. When she opened her eyes she could see Frank standing there, with dark circles under his eyes. "How you ever did it without another Praetor helping you, I'll never know." He said hoarsely.
Reyna almost laughed, but remembering the agony that had shot through her when she sat up, she didn't. "Neither do I." She responded.
She looked around. She was in her room, which had doubled as part of the infirmary for a while. There were some Apollo healers standing and talking in one corner, while another knelt at someone's side.
"Where's Nico?" Reyna asked, realizing what, or rather who she was looking for.
Frank sighed. "I don't know. Wandering around with Hazel somewhere, I think. It took her forever to convince him that it would be alright for him to walk around. He blames himself for your injuries. Although, come to think of it, Hazel might have gone to find Percy to see if he could make Nico come around."
"Idiot." Reyna muttered under her breath. "If it weren't for him than I'd be dead."
Frank nodded, looking exasperated. "That's what Hazel and I have been telling him. I'm not sure he believes us though. You might want to talk to him about it."
Reyna nodded, and started to sit up again, but Frank pushed her down. "Nope. Not until you're totally better." He admonished.
Reyna sighed, but gave in, laying down and closing her eyes. Nico would be fine. For now she needed to rest.
Nico flipped the coin in his hand once more, and as always it landed on a picture of Cerberus, all three of his heads glaring up at him. On the other side was a picture of the wicked looking tail of a Drakon, which reminded him only of the attack on New Rome.
Nico groaned. If he'd been just a little faster getting out of the Underworld, then maybe he could have warned them, and none of this would have happened. Reyna wouldn't have been so badly injured, New Rome wouldn't have been decimated . . . The only reason it had survived was because Percy and Annabeth had made the perfect strategy to hold the college, and once they'd gotten the civilians in there, they'd kept everyone safe. There were surprisingly few deaths, but Camp Jupiter was a wasteland.
And to Nico, it felt like it could only be his fault. Everyone he cared about had something bad happen to them that was his fault. He was amazed that any of the seven had lasted so long, not to mention Reyna and Hazel.
"Nico?" For a moment he thought it was Hazel come again to tell him that it wasn't his fault, but when he turned, Reyna was standing there, smiling faintly, while Annabeth stood next to her, as though ready to catch her if she fell.
"Oh my gods Reyna, what are you doing? You shouldn't be out here." Nico said, unable to even muster the energy to say hello.
Reyna raised an eyebrow. "Your sister and Frank have been telling me some things." she said accusingly.
Nico winced. Reyna couldn't have been awake for more than two hours, and already she knew he was blaming himself?
"Nico, I don't know what reasons you have for thinking it's your fault, but I will tell you this, I don't blame you." Reyna said coolly, sitting next to him. "You got there just in time to save us, and if you hadn't been there I would have died, not to mention New Rome would be at least partially destroyed."
"If I had gotten there earlier than you wouldn't have been hurt, and none of it would have even happened." Nico mumbled.
Reyna sighed, and leaned her head against his shoulder. Nico stiffened, feeling shock etch itself into his face. "You are an idiot death boy." Reyna said softly. "I would prefer you came late and put me in danger while saving my home and my people, than that you didn't come at all."
Nico blinked. "That's not it. I'm . . . I'm cursed. I shouldn't care about anyone, because something bad always happens." He whispered, his voice ragged.
Reyna turned to look at him. "The seven are still here, and I'm still here. I don't think you could ever lose your dad, no matter how much you might want to. So whatever curse you think you have, I think it's malfunctioning. Cheer up death boy. It'll hurt those you care about more if you beat yourself up over every single injury we get."
Nico looked at Reyna, and for the first time in forever, felt a glimmer of hope. He could do this. He could make friends, have a life, and not everyone would die. "Ok." He agreed. But then he made a face. "But only as long as you send all of the blue jelly beans to Percy. Those are his favorite, and my least favorite."
Reyna laughed. "Whatever you say death boy."
I hope you liked it! It took me forever for not being a billion words long . . . . . *sigh*
REVIEW PLEASE! :) :)