It was in December, a couple of weeks before Christmas. I was sitting on the couch in my apartment with my mother and Paul, her partner. He recently asked her to marry him, not before receiving my "Permission". I had given him. Paul was a good guy and my mother's eyes sparkled every time she was with him. She was happy, and I was happy too. Paul was gentle with me, he helped me to feel comfortable in his school ... even though I set fire to the music room. As for my love life, well...Annabeth, one of mybest friends...or maybe something more, I don't know, she returned to San Francisco to her family, and we hadn't been talking for a while,more precisely from the attack on the camp. I missed her, but at the same time I was relieved not to have her around. Since my mom and Paul were becoming too sappy, I decided to leave and go to my room. I sat playing with my ballpoint pen, Vortex. I looked out the windowand noticed that the garden I had planted, despite the cold, was growing well. I enjoyed it because it was the promise I made to a girl, before leaving her island and leave. Forever. At one point I dropped the pen, I bent down to pick it up and when I got up, I had a shot, I saw a boy pale, white skin, almost like a dead man, with a black coat, who looked like someone who hadn't slept for weeks. "Stop scaring me like this, Nico" I told Nico di Angelo, the son of Hades. He still had a blank stare, then he looked at me and smiled "Excuse me,Percy."
"Nothing, only warn me, next time. All right, Nico?"
"Yes, yes, I'm just a little 'tired'"
"Why don't you sit down?"
I asked him. Actually he looked very tired. He didn't sit down.
"No, no, that's okay, I came to make a visit"
"Why?"
"... nothing"
He began to survey the room
"Nico, what's the matter? The last time you came here was for something important. You know you can tell me everything"
He spun around to me and said "Ok It's been so long since I talk with a friend...I've missed you"
Before I had time to reply, Nico asked me "Can we take a walk, Percy?"
"Well...I do not know"
"Please, there are a couple of things I want to talk to you about"
His attitude didn't convince me, I knew that he had forgiven him for the death of his sister, but I could not completely trust the son of Hades, he had the same cold look of his father. At last I decided to follow him, I mean, I owed him.
"Ok" I said
"Fine" He said, with a smile that I hadn't seen for a long time on that face. I do not know if that was a mistake, but for sure I wasn't prepared for what was about to happen.
