"Bernadette! Hurry up." Nico yelled though my door. I was packing my bag. "Sorry Nico. Give me 10 minutes." I yelled back. A little bit about me. I'm Bernadette Young. I'm Hades daughter. I have dark brown hair and highlights. Hazel eyes and I'm 16. Me and my brother Nico are being forced to move to Washington state for school by our dad and his brothers. All the children of the Big Three, Zeus, Poseidon and my dad Hades have to go. I seriously didn't want to. I rather go to camp and train or go walk the USA with Nico, my 13 year old half brother. He's a good kid and everything but sometimes he's really annoying. "If you don't hurry we are going to be late." Nico said. "I know. I just have to get all my stuff and we can go." I grumble back. I gab my suite case, purse and take on last look at my purple room. I walked down the hall of our house in the Underworld and my dad walks up to me. "Detta, be good, don't kill anyone, be safe." He numbers off. "I will try my hardest, please don't make me go." I almost started begging again. "I'm sorry. I love you." He looks at me and holds out his arms. I go and give him a hug. "Love you too. Come on Nico." I walk down stairs and wait in the garden. We shadow travel to Forks Washington and I all I can think of is how glade I am that Thalia, daughter of Zeus is coming with.
When we landed in a forest with more trees than I can even think about Nico laughed. "Nice landing huh?" I shrugged. "Come on, we have to get out of here." I told him and we started walking, I can't shadow travel more than one time in about a half hour. We came to a rode in a small town so I did the best thing, I went to the gas station and asked where our house was. The lady looked at me funny and sent us to the police station. "We are lost Detta, nice job." Nico said. I just ignored that comment and kept walking. When we got there a silver car was parked right outside and Nico looked at me. "You have to get a car so you can drive me places. I can't shadow travel everywhere." I nudged him as we walked in to shut up. There was a man sitting at a desk playing cards with another guy. "Um hey, can you help us?" I ask, but Nico just walked up, "We are looking for our house. Do you know how we can get to 4208 Ave?" The man blinked. "Sorry, yes. I'm Charlie. I'll get you a map." He ruffled though some papers and handed a map. "La Push is up here and your house is right here. Do you need a ride?" I shook my head. "Thanks." I pushed Nico out the door and he gave me a look. "Great. I want to go home Detta." I nodded. "I know. Let's just go find Percy and Thalia." He nodded and we started walking. After about 5 minutes I was lost. "How about we go home and tell Dad we got kicked out." Nico suggested, I laughed and ruffled his hair. We kept walking till almost dark. I stopped in at a restaurant and we got some food. I wasn't hungry but Nico ate a burger, fries and a large malt. "How about we shadow travel there?" Nico asked. "I don't know if that will work.
We don't know where it is." He frowned and looked out the window to the dark street. "I'll be right back." I told him and walked to the counter and asked for directions. "I can take you." A girl said. She had brown eyes and hair. She looked nice. "Thanks. My brother and I have been walking for about a hour and can't find the dang house." She laughed and smiled. Nic walked up. "Come on Detta. I wanna go." I sighed. "This is Nico. My little brother. I'm Bernadette. Call me Bernadette. Thanks again." She smiled at Nico and he gave his creepy smile back and I elbowed him. "I'm Bella. Nice to meet you." Bella said,unfazed by Nico. "Be good Nico. She's helping us. Don't scare her or I'll scare you." I hissed at him faster than a mortal could hear. "Sorry." He gave me a smile and we hop in her car. She drove though the small town up a drive to a beautiful house. This wasn't ours. "Sorry. I have to grab something." Bella said. We just nodded. "Detta?" Nico whispered. I turned to look at him. He was 13, wore black jeans, a black tee with dancing skeletons and black Reeboks. "Yes?" He just shrugged and looked out the window. "It's going to be fine." I promised him. He just looked at me and I wanted to make everything better. "I'm a bad sister. I'm sorry I got lost." I told him. He shook his head so his shaggy dark hair flipped. "No, your a great sister. I don't think I could have done better. Thanks." I smiled and he smiled and it was ok. "Nico? Don't listen to anything Dad says against you about Bianca. You're a great kid." He nodded and closed in his shell again. Bella came back. "Sorry. You are going to love it here. Where are you from?" Bella asked and backed out. "California." I said. Nico grinned and I gave him a look. "Cool. Ever been to the Hollywood sign?" I nodded and Nico looked like he was trying not to crack up. "So you're going into?" She asked. "10th grade. Nico's going into 9th. He skipped a grade. I know he will hate having school in the same building as me." I shot him a grin and he burst out laughing. "I'm a only child. You got any other siblings?" I shrugged. "A lot of extended family. Just me and Nico. There was three but..." Nico kicked my chair. "Anyway. There's the house." We pulled up. I got out and grabbed our bags. "Thanks so much. See you at school tomorrow." We ran to the house before she could come in. "Goodnight." Nico wandered off to his room and I went to unpack. My room was the same as in the Underworld. I just stop trying to unpack after about 5 minutes. Stupid ADHD. I just crashed on top of my blankets in my clothes and let the nightmares take me.
Luke was fighting Kronos for his body. "Help me Berry." He begged. Only Luke called me that. I try to fight Kronos but I was pushed back time and time again. I was crying but wasn't doing to give up. I used to like this monster. I was being pulled back by a invisible hand and my dream changed. I was in the palace room on Olympus and Percy and Annabeth where talking to a Kronos. I stayed back, Hades wasn't welcome. Luke was fighting Kronos and Percy gave him a knife and the I screamed. No one did anything. Maybe I wasn't here. Luke went back to Luke and Kronos was gone. The gods came in and Zeus looked right at me but didn't say anything about me and kept walking. Then the dream faded and I woke up.
Nico was shaking me, "Detta, wake up. Time for school." I grumbled and looked out the window. It was raining, perfect. "You o.k?" Nico asked. I nodded. "Fine, come on." I got dressed almost the same as him, dark jeans, black tee and a huge hoodie and back Reeboks, same as ever. I quickly did my make up, black liner and light shadow. I grabbed my bag and we were out the door. "You need to get a car.'' Nico pants after we arrive across the street from the school. "I need to get money first Nic." I told him. We walk up to the lot and see Bella with some really pale people. "You smell that?" Nico asked me, I nodded. "Don't worry. I bet these people don't bite." I nudged him with my elbow but he didn't smile. "I can't..." I hugged him. "Don't worry. We can do it. Remember, regular mortals." He nods and shallows. Poor kid. We tried to walk past them but Bella waved. "Bernadette, Nico." Crap. We walk over and Nico's fingers drum on his leg, he did this when he wanted to kick some monster butt or was really nervous. "Don't worry." I told him and caught his eyes and I gave him my best I'm-The-Big-Sister-Here look and he nodded a little and grinned. "Hey Bella. Thanks so much for the ride last night. We probably would have been walking around the forest all night." I told her. She just smiled. "No problem. If you need a spot for lunch or anything come over." I nodded and we walked to the office. "See Nico, that was fine." But it kinda wasn't, I could smell the monsters like they were right in front of us. The lady in the office looked us over and sighed. I grinned at Nico. He smiles a little. "So, your the new kids? di Angelo?" Nico gave her a creepy smile. She nodded. "Young?" I smiled. She nodded and gave us our class list and locker numbers and stuff and wishes us a good day, yeah right. We walk out of the office and Nico starts complaining, of course. "Why can't I just getting eaten by Hydra instead?" I laugh. "It's o.k. Just show up, stay low and don't talk to people. That's what I'm doing." He nodded and smiles. "Good luck." He said. I ruffle his hair and gave him a hug till he complained about being over protective blah blah blah. "If anyone touches you I'll kill them." I promise him. He laughs and we went our separate ways. I walked to English. The teacher was sitting at his desk and pretending that the room was empty. "You must be Bernadette Young. Welcome to English, I'm Mr. Johnson. Everyone. Be quiet." Everyone stopped talking and looked at him. "This is Bernadette. Please make her feel welcome. You can sit over anywhere." He handed me a book and I walked to the back, in the corner. I sat down and stared out the window and tried not to feel too homesick. Being Dyslexic I can't read English very well so being in a English room was really hard. "Miss Young. Can you tell me where the English language came from?" I try really hard not to laugh. "Latin." I say and he nods. I doodled on my notebook and wrote my name in Ancient Greek. The bell finally rang but he kept us lat to discuss the homework. Nico was waiting outside the door while the teacher went on and on. "Just wait. I know, it sucks right?" I whisper in Greek faster than anyone could hear. He smiles his honest smile and I felt better. I am doing this for him. He is my baby brother and I have to stand up for him. He finally said we could go and I almost run out the door. "It does suck. What do you have next?" He asks, looking around. "Art, you? Why do you keep looking around?" He shrugs and walks away. I just sigh and walk to art. Apollo was my teacher. "Miss Young. How are you?" I shrug. "Fine, except I'm here instead of at home with my dad. Zeus is crazy." The last part was quiet. He laughs. I smile. "Maybe on somethings. I saw Percy earlier." I almost scream. "Why didn't you tell me?" I demand and he laughs again. "Didn't think you cared. Poseidon and Hades? Yack." I laugh and he calls everyone to attention. "We have a new student. This is Bernadette Young. You can go sit in the back." I nod and sit down. We had a fun day today, make your own whatever you want. I painted a picture of all the gods fighting, a owl, a horse and a grapevine to name some. I added Apollo in his sun car flying over the fight. He smiles at the picture. "I love it." I nod. "We finally have a cabin." I tell him. "I know. I heard it's so cool." I laugh. "It is. Does my dad get a chair on Olympus?" I ask him. "Yeah. Zeus had this big meeting to welcome him. I forgot how cool your dad is. He saved us in that war." I shudder. My dad is pretty cool. "Why are you here?" I ask him. He thought a minute. "Why not?" He asks, I shrug. "Don't you have other jobs?" I ask. "Not really. I drive the sun. That's really it. I love art so I thought why not help others?" I smile. He looked young, he could look anyway he wanted to. He didn't look like a teacher, more like a kid outta collage. I think of Luke and go back to painting. The bell rings and I said bye to Apollo. I had Strings next. I play the violin, and am told I am very good but I don't hear it. Someone walks up to me. "Hey, you must be new. I'm Ariella." She is about my hight. She has thin blond hair, hazel eyes like me and perfect white teeth that showed when she smiled. "I'm Bernadette. I'm new, so is my brother. He's a freshman. What you do you have next?" Normally I don't talk to people but she seemed really nice. "Strings. You?" I tell her me to and we walk together. "Where are you from?" She asks on the way. "California." She nods. "Cool. I'm from here, me and my mom and my baby sister live here." I nod. We got to the room and I sit down on the corner. Ariella sits next to me. "You don't have to sit back here if you don't want to." I tell her, she just shrugs. "I want to. Friends sit together." Wait, I didn't say anything about friends! The teacher comes over. "You must be new. Welcome." I said I was and then look out the window. "What can you play?" She asks. I play something I thought of after the war when we had our service for the people who died. Everyone is watching me and when I am done, started clapping. The teacher waits till it's quiet. "That was wonderful, child. Did you write that?" I nods and she smiles. She made me feel happy, like a mom hugging a child after they dug up her flower garden. (Guilty. Persephone loves me.)
"Thanks." I say. "Where did you take lessons before?" She asks. Apollo taught me when I was younger. "My dad's friend taught me." She nods and turns to the class. "Go back to work and maybe Bernadette can teach you a thing or two." I shrug and go back to playing softly. Not many people were playing, only listening to me. I hate getting attention but this was nice, getting recognized for something I was good at. Hades and his children hardly ever got that. Too soon the bell rang and Nico comes to get me. "Hey, I heard you playing. That was really pretty Detta." I smile. "Thanks Nico" I give him a side hug "This is Ariella, Ariella this is my little brother Nico." Nico smiles and says hi. "Hey Nico." Ariella says back. I had lunch next. Ariella has to get something from her locker. We walk together. "Having a good day?" Nico asks. I can't lie to him. "Not really. You?" He shrugs. "Kinda." We sat at a empty table. I have a apple for lunch and Nico got a sandwich and Coke. "Is that a good idea?" I ask, pointing to the Coke. "No." He grins. I grin back and take a long drink from it then gave it back. Hyperactive kids like us don't need Coke. Bella walks up with the people from the lot. "You want to sit with us?" Nico crunched his nose up. I look at him. "Not really." Nico says. She just nodded. "If you want someone to sit with, we are here." I nod and she left slowly. Ariella came 2 minutes later. "Don't you have food?" I shook my head. "I'm not hungry." Then Nico got excited. "I bet Dad is." Crap. "Right. Come on." I pull him out of the lunch room but not soon enough for Bella to see us. I pray she wouldn't follow us. We went to the side of the building out side the door and Nico puts a apple in his palm and looks at me. "Please accept this offering Hades." We say together as it burst into flames. I sigh and lean against the wall. Nico grabs my hand. I close my eyes and took a deep breath then look at Nico. He shrugs and looks out at the forest. "It's going to get better Detta." I don't say anything but walked back inside and sit down at our table and put my head on my hands and don't move. Nico comes in and Ariella gives him a look but he just shrugs. He takes out a note book and draws an army of skeleton horses and horsemen. I raise my eye brows at him but he just smiles a little and keeps drawing. He adds Cerberus and a few hellhounds. Mrs. O'Leary is there in her dog tags. I smile a little and he smiles back and thinks a minute. He adds Kronos on the ground, in a million little pieces, trampled by the army. I laugh out loud. "Great job Nico. Can I add something?" He nodded and passed it over. I added us with the Hades flag, watching our Grandfather get beaten up. Nico smiles and adds something else, but I can't see it because the bell rings. "Show you later. Have a good day and love you." He says with his Honestly-Cute-I-Mean-It smile. "You too. Be careful and have fun." He nods and I walk alone through the crowds to Bio. The teacher is standing at his podium, looking at paper when I walk up. "I'm Bernadette Young, the new girl." I tell him and he smiles and nods and gives me a book and looks at another paper. "You can go sit with Mr. Cullen and Miss Swan till we can get another table in here for you." I shrug a little and sit down and put my head on my arms and that monster smell hits me. I gasp and looks around, nothing. I scoots to the edge of my chair and try to stay away from the windows. Bella looks at me. "Hey Bernadette. This is Edward. I guess we are all partners." I don't move. "I guess so." I say dully. She frowns a little and the air moves and I hold my breath. Man, it stinks. I just want to find that monster and slice it up The teacher says that we were studying structures of monuments and that we are going to do a project about it later. Totally Annabeth, I whimper a little and Edward gives me a look. I thought that sounded boring. Anything about school was boring. Stupid ADHD. I sit up a little and lean back in my chair and shake my leg and run my fingers over a dent in the table that looked like a hand print. I look over at Bella and give her one of my Daughter-Of-Hades-So-Don't-Piss-Me-Off smiles. She shudders and I smile to myself, I think she gets the message. Edward rubs her back which pisses me off. I remember when Luke did that to me. My turn to shudder. She looks at me from behind Edward. I shrug and try to make my mind go blank. I think of camp and what I miss of it. I take off my hoodie. I run a little warmer than normal humans. My turn to work on the lab. Edward passes me the box and our hands touch, super hot and super cold. I tense and I see Bella shoot him a look. I pass it to Bella and then put my head on my hands and stare at the clock. 5 more minutes. 2 more minutes. 30 seconds. RING. I am out of there there fast than a mortal could but I don't care, I rundown the hallway to find Nico. I turn to look\behind me when I crash into someone. "PERCY!" He smiles. "Hey there Ghost Girl. Where have you been all day?" He asks and I feel so much better. I give him a huge hug and he laughs. "I missed you so much. Have you seen Nico?" I ask him. He looks behind him. "Yeah, I just had art with him, why are we talking in Ancient Greek?" I shrug. "Because I can. Is everyone here too?" He nods and smiles again. "So how have you been?" I make a face and he laughs. "That bad?" I nod and he looks around. "I can fix that." He says. Nico runs up then and I put my arm out to stop him from crashing into me. "Whoa. Slow down. Where's Thalia?" He looks behind him and there she was. Daughter of Zeus. "Hey guys. I thought we would never find you." I hug her tight and she laughs. "Didn't know you missed me so much. Did anyone else smell that?" We all nod. "What the Styx is it?" She asks. "Don't know. When I touched Edward Cullens hand it was colder than a block of ice. Where were you at lunch?" I ask. She looks at Percy. "Oh, around. What do you have next?" Thalia asks. "P.E. You?" She grins. "Same. Percy has History. I'm starting to think this year isn't going to be so bad." She grins at me and I grin back and Nico looks like his job was done. "Told ya it would get better." He says. I ruffle his hair and we walk together down the hall and I'm starting to believe him. The Cullens and Bella watch us go. I hear someone say "What's up with them." but keep walking. We at doing two things in P.E. One was gymnastics, I am really good at that. The other is baseball. I go to gymnastics with Thalia and the boys go to baseball. We are all good at running, we have tons of practice. I walk over on the mats with Thalia and we stretch together when a girl comes and stares us down with her hands on her hips. "You're the new kids?" She asks us. I nod. "You gotta boyfriend? Either of you?" We don't say anything. I see Thalia go for her wrist but I grab her hand. "Stop it." I tell her. "Please?" I shake my head and look back at her. "Who are you again?" I ask. "Jessica." She says. "Awesome. Can we help you?" Thalia asks sarcastically. "No, just stay away from Cullen and remember we own this gym." I laugh. Thalia gives me a big grin. "You think that? Can we ask you something?" Jess nods. "How about we show her Bernadette." I nod. We go to the end of the mat and start running into a roundoff back-handspring back tuck cartwheel full. Her jaw drops. "Whoa, that was really good. Where did you learn that?" I shrug. "Go ahead. Have your gym. We will be over here." Thalia says. We walk to the corner and do single and double back tucks. The coach comes and calls everyone over but we stay where we are. She talks about this really easy stuff. Jessica raises her hand. "What if we can do everything?" The couch keeps talking. "Go ahead and try it on your own.'' She says. The coach comes over. "Are you on a team?" We shake our heads. "You are now." We grin and high five. "Thanks so much." She gives us a routine to work on. We work really hard till Nico came early and watched. "Nice." I smile and do a perfect double full twist for him. He whistles and gives me a high five and Percy comes over. I see Jess look at him then whisper to her friends. I have a bad feeling I know what they are saying. "You don't have to leave yet. Do more stuff." He grins and Jess walks over. "Hey, you must be one of the new kids?" I shoot her a look. "Be careful Percy." He grins. "I will. Go play with Pinecone Face." I shrug and walk back. "What's he doing?" Thalia asks, I don't say anything. I just stretch out and watch Percy talk to Jess. I look over at Nico, who is smiling and gives me a thumbs up. I nod and walk over. "You liking school?" I ask. He shrugs. "Sure. Is that Bella?" I look to the door and it is. "Hey Bernadette." She smiles. I just kind of nod. She walks over and looks around. "So, you can do gymnastics?" Percy comes up from behind me and wraps his arm around my waist. "The very best. Only beautiful girls can pull this off and you two must be really good." I slap his arm. ''You spend to much time with the Aphrodite girls, what about Annabeth?" He just grins and looks at Thalia, "O.k, Pinecone Face counts to. You wanna go get some food?" I nod and Bella was in for anything. I grabbed my bag and we walked out. "Where's Thally?" Perce asked. I just shrug. "She wasn't paying attention." I say simply and Percy rolls his eyes. "Bernadette, you need to go get her." I roll my eyes and walk back in. "Hey, you want to come with Pinecone Face?" I ask. She smiles at me, not good. "No, I'm o.k. Have fun." I wasn't expecting this answer. "Are you sure? What about you know?" She just shrugs then flat out grins. "You don't think the daughter of the best god can take it?" She asks, I hesitate. She just laughs and pushes me a little. "Have fun.'' She says and I look at her a minute then walk out. "She doesn't want to come. Come on." Nico looks at me and then at percy and then at Bella. "Right. I don't have a car." I say. Bella just nods and walks to hers. "I can drive us anywhere. Where we going?" We just go to her house and hang out. "Nice house." Nico says, looking around. Bella laughs. "It's nothing compared to Edward's. Where do you live again?" I turn to Percy. "Yeah Perce. Where do you live?" I ask, smiling. He shrugs. "Around." We went to the kitchen and there is the man from the police station. "Dad, this is Bernadette, Percy and Nico. They just moved here." Bella tells him and we just stand there. "I know you two. You found your house o.k?" I nod. He smiles. "You want to get some food?" He asks. Nico nods and looks at me. "Come on Detta." I shrug and follow him to the table where we have warm pizza. "So, where are you from?" Charlie asks. "California." Nico says. "Cool. Where did you go to school before this?" He asks. Nico looks at me for help and I look at Percy and he shrugs. "Does the hotel count Detta?" Nic asks. I stare at him and remember he's over 70 years old. "No, shush now." He closes his mouth and grabs my hand. "Where do you live?" Bella asks. "4208" I tell her. "Cool. So what do you parents do?" Percy cracks a smile. "Stuff." I say simply, picking at my uneaten pizza. "I see." Charlie says. I take a sip of water and stare at Nico's hand in mine and give it a little squeeze. "Percy can you help me with the dishes?" I ask but Charlie stands up. "No, we can do them. You can go hang out with Bella." I shrug and Percy smiles at me but I don't say anything. Bella gives us a short tour of her house and we end up in the family room. "Do you like it here?" Bella asks. "It's really green." I say. She laughs. "That's what I thought. You get used to it." I look out the window at the rain and think of Thalia. "We should get home soon but thanks for the food." I say and stand up. He nods and takes my hand. "Thanks again, see you at school." Percy says. "Don't you need a ride?" Bella asks. I shake my head. "No, we are good. Thanks so much." I say and we almost run out of there. I turn to Percy and practically scream. "Where have you been?" He almost grins but my eyes flash dangerously. "I have been staying with my dad and I don't know about Thally. I should have called you or something. I'm really sorry." He is almost begging. I smile a little. "O.k. You have to shadow travel with us or walk." He laughs. "No, I'm going to walk. Oh come here." He hugs me nice and tight and I feel better, like I'm not responsible for everything, he is. "I missed you." I mumble into his shoulder. "I know. me too but I'm here now and it's o.k. I promise, in a little bit we can fix everything and it will be great." I nod and pray I can believe the wonderful picture he painted in my head. Nico punches a tree. "You o.k?" I ask, pulling away from Percy and walking over to him. "No." He spits at me. "What's wrong?" I ask him. "I want to go home." He says. He starts crying and punches the tree again, leaving a indent. "Come here." I say but he screams and fights my arms. I sit on the wet ground and rock my sobbing brother. We are a couple yards from Bella's house and I almost think of asking to use her car. He just lets me hold him and rock him till he turns quiet and still. I pick him up like he's 5 instead of 13. Percy is gone and I start walking to Bella's and knock. Nico is asleep in my arms and when Bella opens the door. "Can I use your car?" I ask. She is shocked and nods and hands me the keys but doesn't say anything. I get Nico in and start driving. I look over and he is still asleep. When we get to the house I open the door and think "Oh crap, how is Bella going to get to school?" I shrug and look at Nico again. I pick him up and carry him inside to his warm bed. He makes a noise but i just kiss his forehead and leave the door a crack and walk to my room and look in the mirror. I look different, thinner and paler and tired. I sigh and get in my , fuzzy black pants with smiling skulls on them and my black tank and fall into bed. The next thing I know the sun is in my eyes and I groan as I look at my clock, 8:30. To late for school but we need a mental health day. I get up and walk to Nico's room, he's still sleeping. I go to the kitchen and grab a orange and sit at the table till he does. When I'm done I go take a nice long hot shower. I grab some black jeans and my tank from last night and my fuzzy black Ugg shoes and sit on the couch and watch SpongeBob. Nic comes down at 9:30. He stops at the bottom of the stairs and looks at me. I just look at him and then he walks a little closer. "Hey." I say. He just nods a little and walks to the kitchen and sits down. I get up and make some waffles for him and we don't say anything. The phone rings and I stare at it for a minute then answer it. "Hey. It's Bella, I was just making sure you got home o.k." She says. I say we are fine then hang up. Nico looks at me and gives me a look but I just shake my head and look at the clock, almost 10. Nico finishes and I grab his plate and wash it and count to 100 before turning back to him. "Nico?" I ask. He just shakes his head and sits there. I sigh. "Come on Nico." He nods and follows me. I take us to my room where I it down on my bed and he stands in the door way. "Come in." I say. He walks a couple feet and I grab his hand like he's 7 and he sits lightly on the edge of my bed. I pulled him up a little so I was in the corner with pillows and blankies everywhere. He feels so small in his cotton long sleeved shirt and pants that look almost like mine. He is shaking a little so I just wait till he talks. "Nic? Can you talk to me?" I ask. He shakes his head and leans against me. "I got scared." He whispers. I wait. "I was scared I was going to be alone after you where with Percy and I didn't have you anymore." He says just as quiet. I laugh softy. "Nico. It's o.k. I will never leave you. I promise on the River Styx." He looks up at me, wide eyes. I smile and he gives me a tiny smile. "I love you." He whispers and puts his hand over my heart and I put mine on his. Thump thump thump, it sounds like the best sound I have ever heard. "I love you." I whisper back. He grins and leans back down, keeping his hand on my heart. I snuggle down and whisper stories to him. He laughs sometimes but other thank that is dead quiet and listens. At 11 I get up and make lunch, grilled cheese and we end up having a bread fight, slipping on the floor and banging my head on the oven, gasping for breath from laughing Nico comes around the corner and I tickle him and we lay on the floor, laughing and tickling each other. I eat some of the bread and Nico's head is on my ankles and my back is against the island. I get up and grin and chase Nico around the kitchen again. The door bell rings and I go to answer it, Nico close behind. Bella is there with someone I don't know. "Hey I came to get my car. You two o.k?" Nico is giggling behind me. I nod. "Just fine. We needed some personal time. Sorry about the car." I say. She just smiles and pulls some bread out of my hair. "What are you doing?" She asks. "Making lunch." I say. She raises her eye brows. "Want some?" I ask. She says sure and I grill and Nico watches. "This is Edward, by the way." Bella says from the bar stools that go to the island. "Hey Edward." I say over my shoulder. He says hey in a musical voice I have only heard from Apollo. Nico coughs and I laugh. "Do you want something Edward?" I ask. "No thank you." He says. Very polite. I set all the plates down and Nico was next to me right away. I ate and Bella told us what we were doing in each class. I played with my food and am not really hungry. I finished and did the dishes while everyone talked, well Bella and Edward did and Nico is them. When I was done I gave Bella the keys. "Do you want to go out?" She asks. I shook my head. "I think me and Nico are o.k here. Thanks for letting me use your car." I say and Nico comes over and puts his arm around my waist. Bella watches us a second. Nico looks at Edward. "Are you her boyfriend?" He asks. I nudge him. "Don't be rude Nico. That's none our beeswax!" He just grins at me then back at Edward. "Wife-to-be." Edward says smiling. Nico laughs. "I bet Silena and Beckendorf would have gotten married after college." Nic says to me. "Nico di Angelo." I scold he just grins at me and laughs. "Probably. Stupid Ares." I grumble. Nico laughs again. "What happened?" Bella asks. I look at Nico. "They got killed." Surprisingly Edward looks guilty? "I'm sorry." Bella says. "Me too." I say. The back door opens and I freeze. "I got it." Nico says in a tight voice. He jogged out the back while I turned back to Bella. "Thanks so much again." I say. He smiles. Edward doesn't take his eyes off me. Nico comes back. I look at him, "Mrs. O'Leary. Percy's back. A hydra and about a dozen more hellhounds. Gods now we get some action." He tells me, all hyped up. "Crap." I whimper. "Go help him. Dump a bucket of water on him and that should do it. Tell Mrs. O'Leary to go see Dad." Nico frowns a little then gets all hyper again. "Why can't she stay? Please?" I shake my head. "No Nico. I'm sorry." I was. He gets down on his knees. "Please please please. I won't get her into trouble or anything. Let her stay." He gave me his puppy eyes and begged. "Gods Nico." I say laughing, "Fine she can stay but you're taking care of her." I tell him and he gets up an hugs me, kisses my cheek then runs off screaming at Percy in Ancient Greek. Bella looks at me. "What was that?" She asks. I look at Edward then back at her. I think a minute then shrug. I think of all the times Luke has shrugs me off. I wince and Edward locks eyes with me and I remember the nightmares and pain. Mrs. O'Leary howls and I sigh. Percy walks in with dirt all over him and he was grinning like a fool. "Hey Ghost Girl. Sorry about the garden." I growl and he laughs. "There's my Ghost Girl." I finally smile and hug him and then dust dirt off him. "What did you do?" Looking him over. He smiles. "Seaweed Brain. Hey." He walks over to the couch where Bella and Edward are, watching us. "I'm Percy Jackson. Her cousin." He says, grinning still. "Edward Cullen and Bella. Bella helped us find the house. Want to go shower?" I ask and he grins at me. "I'm good. So, where do you live?" He asks Bella and I hiss at him. "You are getting dirt all over the newly cleaned floor. They don't want to talk to you. Please leave or I'll go all Hades on you." His smiles fades a little and looks at the trail of soil he tracked in then looked at me "Sorry. Wasn't thinking. I'll go see if Nico needs help." He says then runs out the door. "Sorry, he wasn't thinking." I say to Bella but she just smiles. "It's fun to watch you." I laugh. My life wasn't that interesting. Tariffing maybe. Edward smiles at me and I get lost in his gold eyes. Nico runs in behind me and knocks me over into the pile of dirt. "What the Styx Nico?" I scream at him, brushing myself off. "It was Seaweed Brain, I promise. Sorry Dessa! Don't tell Dad, please!" He begs. I glare at him. "O.k. Clean this up while I go yell at him. Barnacle Brain can't help him now." I threaten though my teeth. Nico is sweeping, watching me go outside and can't find Percy. I look around then swear loudly. Someone laughs and I grab for my sword. A water ballon pelts me from up above. I spin around and theres Percy on the roof. "Perseus Jackson. You better get down here." I saw calmly, to mad to show it. He grins then his me again and I scream and stomp back in the house, dripping water everywhere. I slip and land on the hard marble floor and curse loudly in Latin and someone starts laughing but it's not Nico, it Edward. I glare up at him and look at the wet marble floor. I see myself on my knees, I look weird, there's a strange light in my eyes. I've seen that light in Luke's eyes. I winch and sit down and glare at the ground, cursing my dad for sending me here. Nico comes over cautiously and gently puts his hand on my back, over my Achilles spot. I don't move. Nico is the only other person besides Luke who knows where it is. "I'm sorry." He says quietly. I nod a tiny bit and a pale hands comes in front of my face, I look up and there's Edward. "Want a hand?" He asks. My heart speeds up in a odd pattern. He stares at my eyes and I look at his gold ones. I take his hand and pick myself off the ground. "Thanks. If you could excuse me I have to go kick some Seaweed Brain butt." I say, smiling slightly and Nico smiles back and snakes his arm around my hips. I pull him closer and give him a little hug then march back outside with a new determination. I find Percy still on the roof. "Hey Fish." I say, grinning. He watches me. "Hey Ghost." He replies. "If you comes down I promise I won't kill you." I say. "What if I don't?" He asks. I think a minute. "I'll get Nico." He couldn't say no tho Nico. He smiles faintly and jumps off. I laugh and he bows and makes a water ballon and chases me around the vast yard. He traps me in the back where we have graves for the people who died in war. Luke included. He tackles and tickles me till I'm gasping for breathe form laughing. He stops and lays in the grass with me and we watch the graves. He rolls over to look at me. "Dessa? Do you want to go to camp?" He asks, just barley whispering. I nod and he grins and studies my face. "We could go. No one is making you stay." The second he said that lighting flashed. "O.k maybe some gods. We could leave." He says, I can't even see his lips moving. "I want to, but Nico needs to stay here. I have to stay, go back to Annabeth." I say. He shakes his head and winces. "I'll stay if you do." He says quietly. I turn the the fading sun and think. I look at Percy and think how perfect this is, how cute he is. Suddenly he's kissing me and I'm kissing him back. Someone big is laughing from the back door but I ignore them. "What about Annabeth?" I ask. I'll be in such big trouble. "She's not here. I like you. A lot." He whispers and gently kisses my nose. I smile a little and I hear someone go "What is she thinking?" Nico. I laugh a little then stand up and brush off my butt. Percy stands to and the sprinklers come on. "Percy Jackson. You are so dead." I say but he just runs the though the water. A rain shower during a sunny day. Bittersweet. I look back at the graves and then go chase him. When we get to the house we are soaking and I'm grinning, something I haven't done in a long time. "Detta." Nico says, his eyes pleading. "Hey, I let you keep that mutt in the yard so now I get a little love." I say back. He opens his mouth then shuts it. "That mutt has a name you know. She's your too." He practically yells in my face. "Next time she wants to run someone into a tree, you can go." I say back and he stomps up, gives me a hug then leaves, slamming the door behind him. Percy laughs and someone else laughs. I spin around and there's three people I don't know. A tall guy with honey hair, a huge guy with curly brown hair and a drop dead beautiful girl who almost put Aphrodite to shame. I laugh at myself and Percy nods like he knows what I'm thinking. "That's Emmett, Jasper and Rose. They came by to see where we went." Edward explains. I nod. "Nice house." Emmett says. "Thanks. You want anything to eat?" I ask. They shake their heads and look around. "Sorry you guys where here watching life at our house, I bet you have other things you want to do." I say. Bella smiles. "No, this is fun. Can i see our backyard?" I nod and we all walk outside. The yard is a huge field. There's the grave site in the back but it's shady and calm. Dang, my dad knows me to well. They guys go to my garage. I have a motorcycle I use for when I need some speed. "Nice bike." Bella says, surprising me. "Thanks. You ride?" He nods and Edward tenses. "You know any good places to just ride fast? I love speed." I say and she laughs. "La Push. I'm going up there tonight. I could bring you along if you want." I nod and see Rose looking at the graves. I walk up and she backs up a little. "Sorry." She says. I shake my head. "This camp we go to, people get hurt and sometimes die. Why shouldn't they be remembered for being a hero?" I ask. She nods and watches Luke's for a minute. "Want to see my room?" I ask. She smiles and follows me inside, leaving the boys to gape at my fancy cars. The fluffy white carpet is cool under my feet. I open the dark wood door to my room. It's dark purple and white wood work. A king bed is in the middle and a reading chair. I have a board on the wall to hand things up like Eminem posters and pictures of my friends from camp and my cabin. My favorite is of Luke, Thalia,Nico and Percy at the lake. I even have a picture of Clarisse. I like fighting and she loves using my anger as her target. We both have fun. Rose looks around. "I love your room." She says. I laugh. She walks to my closet and laughs. Almost everything is black. I shrug and sit on my bed. "I'm thinking you hate pink." She says. I nod. "Hate it. So does my best friend Clarisse. We burn the Aphrodite girls clothes for fun. Late at night when no one can hear them scream in shock." I say, remembering the first time we did that, high of Root Beer and chocolate. We stayed up till 3 at the fire put, throwing each pice in strip by strip. No all their clothes just the really scary ones. "Weirdos." Rose mutters. For some reason that pisses me off and I break the pencil I'm holding. She stare at me for a minute and I look around just to do something. I walk to the window and look out. It's raining and it's green. I sigh and turn back to Rose. "Where was this taken?" She asks looking at the pic of Luke. "A camp I go to." I say. She smiles at it. "He's cute. What's his name?" I swallow the lump in my throat. "Luke. You saw his grave in the back." I say. She looks lost for words. I nod then walk to the door and look out. The bots yell for us and I walk out and almost fall down the stairs. Emmett grabs my arm before I go head first out the door. "Thanks." I mutter. He laughs. "We already got one clumsy girl, you don't need to watch you too." He says. I hear Bella say 'Not for long.' Nico walks in. "Hey, where have you been?" I ask. "Underworld. Dad has some things to yell at me. Bianca said hey and that you're a great sister and that I should listen to you because you have a lot of crap going on." He says. "Good for her. Did you eat?" He shakes his head then grins at me. I see his sword at his side. He nods then gives Emmett a high five and walks to the den to kill brain cells with violent games. "Don't you think we have enough killing and violence Nico?" I yell after him. He laughs. "Shut up. Let me have my fun." I sigh and smile. "Brother. What will you do?" I ask. Edward laughs. "Good point. I walk down the hall to my piano room. I don't really play piano just for violin. Edward's jaw drops. He sits down and plays something so beautiful I want to cry. Bella grins at him. "Thanks." She whispers and sits next to him. He kisses the top of her head and keeps playing. I bite my lip and grab my violin to match his notes and we make something so beautiful I wouldn't be surprised if Apollo came by. When we are done Percy and the Cullens clap. I bow and the door bell rings. A man in a doctors coat answers but he looks to young to be over 30. "I'm Carlisle. I'm here to pick up my kids." He says in a smooth voice. "Great. I'm Bernadette. I just moved here. We were playing music if you want to come and listen." He nods. "Show me the way." We walk back to the white carpeted piano room. Everyone grabs a seat and I grab my violin and Edward starts then I go softly and allow myself to remember the pain and love I'm made myself forget. It's only me and Edward and our instruments. I play my best and am totally into it till Nico walks in and I am playing for him. When he lost his sister. I go off and do my own song but it still fits his song. We finish and everyone is dead quiet then clap. "That was wonderful Eddie." Emmett says. "Nice going bro." Jasper says. I put my violin back in my case and Nico comes up and hugs me. ''That was great." He says grinning. I smile at him and ruffle his hair and watch Bella kiss Edward and everyone tell him how great his part was. Nico understands and we sit down and wait. "Thanks so much for letting them come by. Great job. Want to come over for dinner this weekend?" Carlisle asks. I shrug. "Maybe. We will have to see how it works out." I walk my finders on the keys of the white grand piano. I feel Edward's eyes on me. "Sure. Sorry." I say. Carlisle laughs. "No, it was good for them. I have never seen them leave the house for other people. I have to ask, who do you live here with?" He asks quietly. "No Detta. Don't tell him. You will have to give me up because your not 18. Then Dad would have to come and that wouldn't work for him. Lie." Nico shoots at me. I nod at him. "My friend is out. We're good." I add. Nico smiles a little. Carlisle nods but I can tell he doesn't believe me. They leave and Bella smiles at me. "Pick you up at 7." Then she leaves and I wait at the door. "You are going? You're talking her? No, Bella. It's not safe. Tell Jake first." I hear Edward say. "Yes, I can do anything I want. I'm 18. So lock me in your house. You can do that you know." She says cooly. I can't hear what he replies but I turn back to Nico and he gives me a funny look. I shrug and walk upstairs. I hear him playing his games. I look in my mirror. Skinny me. Dark layer hair. Straight white teeth. Long black nails. I wanted to change out of my blank tan and pants but we where going to a party later. I think thats what Bella said it was. I sigh and fall on my bed. Outside the sky is fading from dull to really dull. I look at the clock, 4:40. Almost 3 hours. I grab my phone and it says I have 8 messages from Annabeth, Clarisse and Thalia. Annabeth doesn't really like me so it must be important. "Having fun yet? Clarisse misses you. Take care of Percy. -ABC. I delete it and move on to Clarisse. A lot of them are about missing me and why I haven't been around. "Hey Clarisse, I've been having fun. Not! I want to go to camp so badly. Nico finally broke. Bella and some people who live her came by and watch our crappy lives. Percy was a Seaweed Brain. I lied to a hot doctor and am going to a party at 7. Miss you more than Tartarus. -Dessy. I hit send and lay back. I end up falling asleep and of course, having a scary nightmare.
I was in a field with Luke and he looked really scared. "You have to run Berry. They are going to come. They are not human. Run. Save yourself. Please." I run to him but he flies back. I get up and they are 5 huge wolfs. They don't want to hurt me. A black one, brownish-red, sandy,a gray and a white one. I go up and pet the reddish one and he smiles almost at me. Then runs to Luke and fights a invisible something or other. I watch as Luke nods and walks up to me. "Thank you Berry. Now go back. Go back to Nico and Percy." I reach for him but he backs up. "Come back." I scream after him. "No, move on Berry. Love Percy." I reach for him. "No, I love you. Please Luke. Come back to me. Please." I'm begging him but he just smiles as I trip and beg form my knees. He strokes my faces and kisses my forehead. "I'm not good for you. I have to go. Your dad only gave me a few minutes." My dad? This was real. He was talking to me from the underworld. "No, please. Come back, I need you." I'm shaking on the ground,crying begging him to come back. "No, just don't forget me. I love you Berry, but like a sister. You know where to find me." He says with one last kiss he walks across the field and the wolves give me a look then follow him into the trees.
Someone is shaking me awake. It's Bella. "You're o.k. It's me, Bella. Wake up." She's shaking me and I'm shaking like a leaf, gasping for breathe. I take a deep breath and look around. Bella is sitting on the edge of my bed. "I came to pick you up and Nico let me in. You o.k?" I nod and shallow and get up and walk to the bathroom and try my best not to see myself in the mirror. I take a quick shower and put on some black jeans and a purple tank and my Hades sweatshirt and Reeboks, and quickly put on my make up and we go down stairs. "By Nico. Don't let anyone in except for Seaweed Brain. No, not even him. Keep the doors locked and keep a eye on Mrs. O'Leary. I don't know what time I'll be back. Don't touch my car. Go to bed by 10." I tell him, he just rolls his eyes. "I got it. Have fun. You need it." He says smiling, I give him a hug and I grab my bike. Bella has a old Honda. She laughs at mine. "You would fit in nicely with Edward." I snort. "We are hardly the same species." I'm kinda joking but Bella stays quiet and we ride fast to the reservation where a bunch of huge people are standing around a camp fire. Bella jumps off and walks up. "Everyone this is Bernadette Young. She just moved here and I thought she might like to meet some new people." People stare at her then nod. I walk over with her, I don't like crowds of living people. Theres a guy sitting on a log by the fire. "Jacob." She says and jumps up on his shoulders from behind and he laughs and stands up and she wraps her legs around his waist. He sees me and smiles, his teeth really white against his dark skin. "I'm Jacob." He says. I nod. "Bernadette." I say. He walks over to the food. I grab a apple and sit back on that log and he sits next to me then a kid about 16 then a girl who looks like she rather be anywhere else. "Where you from girl?" He asks. I smile. "California." They all grin except the girl. "I'm Seth, that Leah." Seth says. I nod. "You know any scary stories?" He asks, I nod. He grins and he looks scary in the flickering fire light. "We're telling stories soon. So, what's a girl like you doing here?" He asks. I laugh. "My dad. I have to wait a year then I'm free. I'm going to New York." I say. He whistles. "Yo Jake, this is your girl man." He yells at Jacob who's talking to a man in a wheelchair. I laugh. Bella comes over and sits down next to me. I look at Seth and think 'Where have I seen you before?' I take a bite out of my apple and throw the rest in the fire. "For you Daddy. I miss you. I love you Daddy." I say, Seth gives me a look. "I speak Ancient Greek." I say, his jaw drops and someone in the trees laughs and I tense. A guy about 25 jumps down and walks over. "Sorry I'm late." He says. I shrug as the wind picks up and everyone walks over. Someone walks out of the trees, it's Nico. "Story time." The man in the wheelchair says. Everyone sits down. I look at Nico and he sits across the fire from me then I look around at the boys. They are 4 that stand out. Jacob, Seth, Leah and Sam, the four wolves form my dream! "Does anyone have a story?" He asks, looking around. I raise my hand. He nods and I stare at the fire. "There once where people and wolves and then they where people who turned into wolves. The big 5 where very powerful beings. One was black, one was white, one was gray and one was sandy and one was reddish brown. They saved the people who got caught up in the Titans plans to rule the world and take over for the gods. There were some heros who went looking for them but they weren't to be found unless they wished it so, like the god Pan. They went on their own time. The only one who could beat them was very different form themselves. Vampires. A bite could kill them. They stayed in the forest until they saw they where needed. There was a son of Hermes who messed up and they saw that and sought to help him. He gave up all he loved, his mother, his camp where his friends and family lived, for something worse that would only end in death. Once he saved the world by killing himself and Kronos who lived in his body. He went back to the people he loved and he was at peace and forgave himself for his mistakes and the wolves saw that and fought for his peacefulness. The wolves roam the forest looking for lost victims to help to this day Luke is still in their minds and their minds." I finish. It's dead silence. I look a Nico from the fire. I stand up and pull him up and run to the edge of the forest while people quietly start talking. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?" I yell at him. He glares at me. "I got lonely. I missed you. I was scared something would happen." He says quietly.