Hestia was used to not being seen. She was also used to seeing all. She was there, always, just standing in the bright flames, in her hearth, her home. Since hearths were an essential item in every home and place, she could be anywhere as long as the fire was burning.
She was there when a twelve year old boy with jet black hair and sea-green eyes was being shown around camp by Chiron.
She was there when the same boy was invited to Olympus for the first time. She was there during the war.
She was the uninvited guest at weddings and funerals. She saw everyone. But no one saw her.
Until...
Until a pale little boy, no older than eleven, with a black bomber jacket way too big draped over his skinny little body. His eyes so big and dark they seemed to pop right out of his eyelids.
Those deep mysterious eyes staring right at her. At her. Not around her or through her. It took a while for her to notice him. But when he walked right to the edge of the hearth, she stopped and almost stumbled.
He stared for a moment, almost speaking a few times but then catching himself and rethinking. He finally decided what he would say to her but was quickly grabbed by an older girl, who looked almost exactly like him, and whisked away to another group of kids.
Probably his sister, Hestia thought. Her mind wandered back to her flame eventually, but the thought of that little boy never left.
First came disbelief. How could he have seen her? No one ever sees her. Well, everyone sees her, but they don't take notice of her.
Then comes doubt. Maybe he wasn't looking at her, maybe someone behind her, or simply staring in to space. She pushed the thought out of her head. It was almost ridiculous. But somehow she found herself hoping that he did notice her.
Over the next few days the thought grew smaller and smaller until she had almost forgotten it. But one night, while she was tending the flame furthest from the centre of the camp, where everyone was gathered to celebrate the conclusion of another quest, she heard a loud commotion.
A familliar voice rang with what seemed like sorrow but also guilt. She cpuld never forget the voices. The other was one sha hadn't heard much, it was almost indistinguishable with the strength it carried in the form of rage.
"Nico- Wait!" The first voice rang through the thick bushes and trees, they were getting nearer. "There was-" the sentence was intrerupted by a loud thud, i dicating that the boy had stumbled and fallen on his face, but the second pair of footsteps barely slowed and continued stomping ragefully while the firmer regained his balance, "there was nothing more I could have done. It the Proph-"
The boys came into view, stumbling out of the thick foliage and she could finally see who was speaking.
"I don't care about some dumb prophecy!" The voice seemed so strange, almost unnatural for a tiny child, who only a few days prior seemed so pure and innocent. "I asked you to protect her and now she's g-" The boy choked on a sob but his face was dry of tears. "Now she's gone," he turned back to face the taller boy, the one Hestia immediately recognised to be Percy jackson, famed within camp and Olympus. "
"Nico, I'm sorry-"
"NO!" Nico took a big step and even though his size was nothing compared to the taller boy, he somehow seemed like he could kill him right there and not bat an eyelash. "No! You swore to me that you would protect her and look how that ended up."
He started running but just before he could get out of sight a lour rustle erupted from the forest. The ground shook and out of the branches ran three skeletal figures. Their eyes were flaming with terror as they got between the two boys. Two went for Percy while the other started for Nico.
Percy was already holding his sword, but he was too preocupied at first to notice that Nico had no weapon or armour except for his oversized jacket.
"Nico! Watch out!"
But it seemed that The little bou,however small he was, was filled to the brim with the horrifying events that must have happened, and this was just the cherry on top.
He turned and the eyes that previously looked so deep and inviting were radiating hate and power even Hestia was intimidated by him. And for a split second, time seemed to slow down.
Nico's glare flashed straight in to Hestia's eyes and now she knew for sure who he was staring at. He needed comfort and she was the only person around who he knew wasn't menacing or backstabbing. She returned his stare and just for a moment she saw his eyes relax, like he knew exactly what to do.
The moment ended and reality snapped back. The skeleton warriors suddenly took notice of an easier target and started for him. But Just as they were nearing him and Percy was doing his best to get between nico and the threat, Nico let out a scream, a roar that carried all the rage that was bottled up in his small body for who knows how long. And in that same.moment the ground started to rumble.
The skeletons froze and looked around for the source of the sound, even percy was staring in disbelief at the boy in front of him. The skeletons' knees started to rattle and the joints seemed to almost pop out when the ground produces a loud echoing crack and a glowing chasm opened up right underneath their feet, and all three of them plunged feet-first deep into the abyss .
Straight after the last bone was falling into the ground, Nico ceased his roaring and breathed fast for a moment while the chasm closed, leaving no trace that it ever was there. Before it was even fully closed, he started sprinting out of the forest at full speed, leaving Percy gaping.
