Hey! I won't make this too long, because I'm extremely excited for y'all to read this (oh, gosh, I'm starting to say y'all; the South is getting to me). I just want to say a couple things.
1) This has nothing to do with my new PJO fanfic that I'll hopefully be posting soon (maybe). Daughter of Prophecy is completely separate; this is ONLY A ONE-SHOT.
2) I have only read the PJO series and the three available HoO books. However, this takes place after the Giant War (I'm making up my own results and such).
3) There's probably some things that have been slightly altered, but nothing should be too vastly different.
Please enjoy this! I think I'm on a roll with PJO/HoO...
~Second Chance~
When he looks at Hazel, he see smooth caramel skin, uncontrollable brown curls, and soft gold eyes. When she speaks, he hears her own, unique, New Orleans-accented voice.
But sometimes - if he glances at her in his peripheral, if she makes a certain face - he sees a different girl, one with straight, silky hair and warm brown eyes. One whose voice permeates his childhood, reminding him of radio shows and Mythomagic games.
It's not that he doesn't love Hazel - he does, honestly - but she's not what he was looking for when he made that trip down to the Underworld.
He still has yet to figure out what led him to the Fields of Asphodel. After frantically combing Elysium - getting stopped several times by old campers - he had raced into the judgement pavilion and demanded to know where she was.
(And really, he wonders, when did he stop thinking her name?)
The spirits judging had calmly told him the situation: how she had come to them just three days prior and, after much discussion and consideration, she made the decision only the bravest of Elysium heroes have the courage to make - to try for the Isles of the Blest.
He had stumbled his way out of the pavilion, too shocked and dazed to do much of anything. Soon, though, his shock had morphed into anger, and he turned toward his father's palace. He fully intended to storm into the throne room and demand the god tell him why he'd let her go.
(After all, he'd always said she was his favorite.)
But he'd found himself changing direction, his black boots soon crunching the dead yellow grass. He looked around, watching the memory-deprived souls mope. Asphodel always depressed him. He wanted to leave, but something wouldn't let him. His eyes kept searching.
And there, leaning against a tree, knees to her chin and her golden eyes watching the water by the Isles, was Hazel.
He's not sure why his Roman half-sister reminds him so much of her. Maybe it's her hair, which - although curly - is about the same brown. Perhaps it's her age, only one year older than she had been last. But whatever it is, it makes it really hard sometimes to not use that name.
Hazel lets him call her Bi- her name. He doesn't mean to, never means to, but occasionally it slips out. He knows she understands - sometimes she slips up, too, and calls Leo "Sammy" - but he still hates it. It's been happening more often recently. Nowadays, reality has to knock him in the head almost every day.
(He wonders if it has anything to do with the fact that he was so close...)
His mind constantly switches from one name to the other, as if it can't decide, to the point where he's even started second-guessing whichever one he says.
(...but on the other hand, maybe it's just that his brain isn't used to figuring out which sister is which.)
When he looks at Hazel, he sees a thirteen-year-old girl who lost everything but has gained even more. But, no matter how much he cares about his half-sister, sometimes he can't help but wish he'd found what he was looking for in the Underworld.
~Second Chance~
(Ten Years Later)
"You need to get out, Neeks. It's not healthy, you staying cooped up all the time."
"I get out," the pale boy grumbles in protest.
"Going from Camp Half-Blood to Camp Jupiter every so often is not getting out, especially when you shadow-travel." The brunette sighs. "I worry about you, Nico. You've always kept to yourself, but now you're hardly even talking to Percy or Jason. I'm the one who contacts you. And you haven't been to see Annabeth yet; she's due in two months, you know."
"I know, Hazel."
Hazel sighs again. "Some of the girls and I are having a baby shower for Annie this Saturday. The guys are looking after the kids. Be at Piper's house, 1:30 PM sharp. And this is not a request," she adds when she sees him trying to argue.
He grumbles a response and waves his hand through the image, dispersing the rainbow.
He knows he could just not go. Maybe Hazel practically demanded him to, but he could just ignore her, like he normally does.
But he also knows how worried she really is. Over the past ten years, he's grown closer to his Roman sister. He is the one she came to when she and Frank had their first fight, when she was raised as praetor, when she found out she was pregnant. After years of fighting and defending in battle, she'd become a lot less apprehensive. If she worried about something, it was serious.
Nico di Angelo sighs and resigns himself to his fate.
~Second Chance~
"Tye! Don't touch that!"
"Heather, give that back to your sister!"
"Leo, your daughter is about to set the curtains on fire."
"Trista!"
Nico suppresses a groan. He can feel a major headache coming on from the constant shouting.
Percy Jackson walks up to him, a three-year-old balanced on his hip. "How do children have so much energy?" he pants, gasping for air.
"A combination of sugar and youth, I think," Jason Grace interjects, trying to contain his lively two-year-old. "But mostly sugar."
"But I didn't give them any sugar!" Percy complains. "They had Kix for breakfast."
"They're your kids, Kelp Head," Nico finally grunts. "Their ADHD is just as bad as yours."
"At least Posy and Tye aren't the Underwood's," Frank Zhang, Hazel's husband, says, smirking.
The four men look towards their friend.
The satyr, in all fairness, is handling it a lot better than expected. In ten years his horns have grown and curled, making them perfect to hang onto...
...which is exactly what his kids are doing.
"Ow! River, be careful. Linden! You're too old to do that! Ouch!"
Even Nico winces at the suppressed pain in Grover's voice.
"Why did he have so many kids?" Chris Rodriguez asks, coming up beside them with one daughter on his back and the other hanging off his neck.
"Twelve kids is not that many! And they're really very well-behaved," their friend protests loudly, right before he shouts, "Winter! Put Fawn down!"
Feeling bad for the satyr, Nico reaches out and scoops up two of the one-year-olds, putting the third on his back. He turns to the group of fathers.
"I think it's time for a nap."
~Second Chance~
It takes an hour (and tricking Trista Valdez into using her charmspeak), but finally the twelve kids under the age of five are sound asleep. The remaining eight are watching Cinderella in the family room.
The six male demigods and the satyr sit in the kitchen, catching their breath.
"So Percy, how goes the last couple months of pregnancy?" Chris asks, grabbing a Capri-Sun out of the fridge.
The son of Poseidon groans. "She craves the most random things," he complains. "The other night she asked for fried ice cream with ketchup and popcorn."
The others make various faces of disgust.
"That's nothing," Frank says. "When Hazel was pregnant with Emily Marie, she wanted a relish-and-peanut-butter smoothie every night."
"Thalia said our mom ate a hot dog dipped in grape jelly for lunch for a week with me," Jason offers.
"And you still wanted kids?" Nico asks.
"The perks of parenthood outweigh the downfalls of pregnancy," Leo insists.
"Which you would know if you had any," Grover adds.
Nico snorts. "What, is it 'Gang Up On Nico Week'? Hazel practically told me to find my soul mate the other day."
"You know, Nico, she's just worried about you," Frank defends. "You used to take care of her; now she's taking care of you."
"I know that!" Nico says. "It's just... I got so used to being alone, you know? After B died, I couldn't really take being around people very much. Then I found Hazel and I was still alone most of the time, in the Underworld or shadow-travelling the world. Even now, after ten years... It's still hard for me."
They all sit in silence for a moment.
"Daddy!" Emily Marie calls from the family room.
Frank gets up. "The movie's probably over. I'll go put a new one in."
After he leaves, Percy turns to his cousin. "The kids'll be fine with us. Go ahead and leave, if you want."
Nico shoots him a grateful look before bidding everyone goodbye. He lets the shadows engulf him and fades away.
~Second Chance~
The shadows deposit him in Bryant Park.
It's not by any means the largest park in Manhattan - only a total of 9.603 acres - but, as always, it's bustling. The amount of people occupying the park is enough to make Nico uncomfortable and claustrophobic, but he doesn't have any real incentive to leave.
He slowly walks through the park, no real destination in mind. He doesn't stop until he hears the music.
"Hush-a-bye, don't you cry,
Go to sleep my little baby.
When you wake you shall have
All the pretty little horses."
The voice is coming from his right, behind a large boulder. Something tingles in the back of his mind, like he should know that song.
Then suddenly, it comes to him.
From the recesses of his memory, he recalls the lullaby. His sister used to sing it to him when he couldn't sleep, or when he was scared, like the time that the tall black-haired woman had appeared in their apartment and began screaming at his mom. The song is a part of his childhood, a memory that should've been washed away by the River Lethe... but it's still here.
"Black and bays, dapples, grays,
All the pretty little horses.
Hush-a-bye, don't you cry,
Go to sleep my little baby.
Hush-a-bye, don't you cry,
Go to sleep my little baby.
When you wake you shall have
All the pretty little horses."
The voice suddenly snaps into place in his mind. Hardly letting himself believe, he hurries around the big rock.
A young red-headed girl is leaning against the boulder, her arms wrapping around her legs, pulling them to her chest. She has bright green eyes that seem familiar. They're not the right color, but somehow they remind him of...
The girl looks up.
"Please don't kill me." The whisper is soft, quiet, but it yanks at Nico's mind almost violently.
He slowly, carefully, kneels down in front of her. His hands are in front of him, showing her they're empty.
"I'm not going to hurt you," he promises in a low, gentle voice. "My name is Nico. What's yours?"
"Bristol," she replies after a slight hesitation. Confusion is clear on her face, as if she's not sure why Nico hasn't gotten rid of her yet.
"Where are your parents, Bristol?" he asks.
Her eyes shimmer with held-back tears. "I don't have a daddy; my mommy said he wasn't allowed to stay with us."
"Where is she?"
Her voice is a faint whisper. "Momma got killed by the giant doggy."
Nico's blood runs cold. "What did the doggy look like?"
"It was big, like a semi-truck, and black, and it had glowing red eyes. It growled and bit her up and crushed her."
Hellhound, Nico snarls in his thoughts. And if Bristol knows exactly what it looked like, then either she can see through the Mist, or she's a half-blood. "When, Bristol?"
"Six years ago."
It's then that Nico notices the rags tied to the girl's bare legs and arms. "What happened to you?"
She sniffles. "The big doggy came back a couple days ago. It scratched me and tried to eat me, but I hit it in the eye and it ran away. He gave me a lot of owies."
He reaches his hands out. "May I see?"
After her shaky nod, he unwraps the ragged cloth. The injuries aren't too bad, but they would be enough to warrant stitches - for a mortal, anyway.
He studies Bristol. "I can make the owies go away, but first you have to answer my questions. Okay?"
Obviously relieved that he isn't killing her, she nods in agreement.
"Did you ever meet your daddy? Do you know his name?"
She shakes her head. "I think it starts with an H."
Hermes, Hephaestus, Hypnos, Nico immediately thinks, automatically omitting his own father - Hades would have told him if he'd had another child. He can't think of any Roman gods besides Hercules, who he's pretty sure has no children.
He lists the three names to the girl, but she shakes her head. "I don't know."
"Have you ever seen anything, besides the big doggy, that tried to attack you, but no one else saw it?"
She nods after a moment of thought. "It was big, with one eye, and it talked to me."
Cyclopes. "What did it say?"
"It looked at me and said, 'You don't smell like fish' and walked off."
"And no one else saw it?"
"No."
Now Nico is almost positive this girl is a demigod. He knows it's a risk until he knows for sure, but he digs in his pocket and pulls out some emergency ambrosia. "Here," he says to Bristol. "Eat this."
She snatches the square up and scarfs it down. Her eyes widen. "It tastes like ice cream!"
Nico smiles. "It's called ambrosia. It's the food of the gods."
She tilts her head. "The gods?"
He nods."The Greek gods."
He figures this will unleash a torrent of questions, like it had in him when Grover had first told him, but she just nods in acceptance and watches in amazement as her "owies" fade away into non-existence.
In the silence, he mulls over his previous thoughts in his head. He'd been so sure he heard her voice...
Suddenly Bristol looks at him. "How old are you, Mr. Nico?"
Nico almost laughs at the title. "I'm twenty-three. How old are you?"
"Ten."
His smile freezes on his face.
His hands grow cold.
Ten years... she's ten years old...
The fragments snap into place.
The familiar sparkle in her eyes; the sound of her voice when she sang; the lullaby.
It's been ten years since she chose rebirth, since she left Elysium for a second chance at life.
Bianca.
And it's the first time in years he's been able to think her name without wincing, without feeling the sharp stinging pain of loss.
He stands suddenly, startling the red-head beside him. And, like he did all those years ago for Hazel, he holds out his hand.
"Come with me, Bristol," he says. "Let me show you something."
And to his relief and joy, she puts her small hand in his.
~Second Chance~
It takes them two hours to get to Half-Blood Hill.
He could've shadow-traveled, but he hadn't wanted to scare Bristol. They'd taken several taxis, but she hadn't seem to like cars very much, so they'd done a lot of walking.
Finally, though, they make it to the top of the hill. Nico looks at Thalia's pine tree, the Golden Fleece glittering on a branch, Peleus the dragon curled around the trunk, smoke blowing out through his nostrils as he sleeps.
Bristol seems fascinated by Peleus - until she catches a glimpse of the camp.
"Whoa," she breathes, and Nico can tell she's trying to take it all in at once. He knows he she feels: he'd first come here when he was ten, too, and he'd been almost overwhelmed.
"Welcome to Camp Half-Blood," he says to her.
On the trip here, he told her the basics: how the Greek gods are real, how they sometimes - well, more than sometimes - had children with mortals, resulting in demigods. How he had determined that she is a demigod.
Bristol grips his hand tightly - or at least, tightly for a girl her size - and allows him to lead her through the invisible border.
Campers nod in greeting as they walk, staring curiously at the little girl. It isn't unusual to get a new camper every few days - but it is unusual for the son of Hades to bring one in.
Nico takes Bristol to the Big House, where Chiron and Mr. D are playing pinochle on the porch.
Mr. D groans when he sees Nico's tag-along. "Not another one!"
Nico ignores him and speaks to Chiron. "This is Bristol. I found her in Bryant Park. She's ten." He turns to the girl. "Bristol, this is Chiron. He's the activities director and primary trainer here."
Chiron smiles down at her. "Hello, there, Bristol. How are you?"
But she's staring at his wheelchair. "Why are you in your chair? Don't your legs hurt?"
The centaur's smile dims a bit. "My legs feel fine."
"But horses' legs start to hurt if they're folded for too long."
Chiron looks to Nico sharply. Nico shakes his head slightly, answering the unspoken question: Did you tell her I'm a centaur?
Just then, a thirteen-year-old flits up the steps, skidding to a stop in front of the card table.
"Chiron, Mikey from the Iris cabin told me to tell you that Rachel Dare IM'd and told him that she would be back soon but that she doesn't want anyone to disturb her because she has inspiration and is going to be painting the rest of the night. She told him to tell the harpies to leave her dinner outside her cave."
Chiron sighs, a bit fondly, and nods. "Very well; I will make an announcement at dinner. Thank you."
Before she can sprint off again, Nico speaks to her. "Hey Breezy, this is Bristol, our new camper. Would you mind showing her around camp a bit?"
The white-haired teen nods.
He turns to Bristol. "This is Breezy; she's a daughter of Apollo. She knows this camp like the back of her hand, and I promise, no matter how insane her hair looks, she's not a monster." Bristol giggles at that, making Nico smile at the sound. "You'll be perfectly safe with her. Okay?"
"Okay," the child agrees. She takes Breezy's offered hand and lets the girl pull her away.
Chiron turns to Nico. "Who is she?"
Mr. D is now listening, although he tries to feign a deep interest in his Diet Coke.
"She's who I told you she is: a ten-year-old demigod I found in the park a couple hours ago. Her mother is dead; I don't know who her father is, but I know it starts with an H, and no, it's not Hades - he would've told me if I had another sister."
The centaur studies Nico's face. "That's not all, is it." It isn't a question.
Nico takes a deep breath, almost unwilling to speak his thoughts for fear of them sounding ridiculous and impossible.
"I think Bristol is Bianca." Before Chiron can say anything, he rushes on. "When I found her, she was singing, and her voice sounded exactly like B's! And she's ten years old. Bianca decided to be reborn ten years ago. You can't tell me it's a coincidence. Nothing is ever a coincidence for demigods."
Chiron remains quiet for a long moment. The sounds of an ordinary Camp Half-Blood evening fill the silence. In the distance, Nico can hear Bristol's giggles as Breezy shows her the naiads in the lake.
Finally, the old centaur speaks. "There is no way to prove it... but I believe you may be right."
"You may not be able to prove it, Chiron, but I know. I can feel it. Bristol is Bianca. There's no doubt in my mind."
Chiron nods. "I believe you." His face became serious. "Nico, I know you're happy. I can't even imagine how you must be feeling. But you have to remember that Bianca has been reborn. She's Bristol now, and there's no guarantee she'll ever get more than a couple flashes of her first life. You'll have to be able to treat her fairly, like she's someone you just met - which she is. Can you do that?"
Nico's face is impassive. "Of course."
And that's that.
~Second Chance~
"I'm scared," Bristol whispers.
Nico knows what scared is. For several years, scared was his consistent, unwelcomed best friend. As he looks down at the newly-claimed daughter of Hermes, he takes note of her constantly moving green eyes, her small hand sweaty in his larger one. Worried, he deducts. Nervous.
"Why? Don't you trust me?" he asks.
This snaps her out of her heavy contemplation. "Of course," she replies immediately.
"Then there's nothing to be worried about." He stresses the emotion; he's found that she has a hard time putting names to her thoughts and feelings. "They're just people. It's not like I'm leading you into a lair of monsters."
He can tell she's not completely convinced of her safety - her tense muscles prove that - but it's been a week, and she's come to realize that he means what he says. She trusts him.
"Are you ready?"
Taking a deep breath, she nods.
Nico opens the door and leads her inside.
The moment he walks in, he's bombarded.
"Nico!"
"Finally, Death Breath."
"Where in Hades have you been?!"
"What is wrong with you, di Angelo?!"
"You're such a _!"
"HEY!"
Everyone shuts up.
Nico takes a calming breath. "Alright. In order: quit calling me Death Breath, Pinecone Face; I haven't been in Hades, Piper; there's nothing wrong with me, Rachel - we've been through this; and for the love of the gods, Rodriguez, don't swear in front of the kid!"
At the last reply, all eyes fall on Bristol - which is exactly what Nico didn't want to happen.
As expected, the small girl cringes away from the group of girls, trying to hide behind the son of Hades. She starts to tremble - first her hand, then her whole body.
Oblivious to her reaction, the girls start the commotion again.
"Who is she?"
"How old is she?"
"Where did she come from?"
"Is she like us?"
"She's tiny!"
"And so skinny!"
"What did you do, di Angelo?!"
Nico puts two fingers in his mouth and lets loose a shrill whistle. Once again, everyone is quiet.
He puts his arm around the shaking little girl behind him and tucks her into his side, holding her to him until her tremors subside. Only after she's still does he look up.
All the girls are staring at him with varying expressions of shock, confusion, and curiosity.
"You can't talk all at once, or crowd her, or make any sudden moves towards her," he almost growls. "She's skittish, especially around new people. Got it?"
They all nod. Nico pulls Bristol away from his body a little and turns her to face them.
"Why don't you tell them who you are, sweetie?" he suggests gently.
She takes a shaky breath. "My name is Bristol," she begins quietly. "I'm ten. I came from Bryant Park, in Manhattan. I don't know if I'm like you, but I'm a demigod."
Nico smiles down at her before turning to the others. "Girls, meet Bristol, daughter of Hermes. Bristol, this is Annabeth Jackson, daughter of Athena; Clarisse Rodriguez, daughter of Ares; Piper Valdez, daughter of Aphrodite; Reyna Grace, daughter of Bellona; Thalia, daughter of Zeus and Lieutenant of Artemis; Juniper Underwood, dryad; and Rachel Elizabeth Dare, Oracle of Delphi." He smiles at the last girl. "And, of course, this is my little sister, Hazel Zhang, daughter of Pluto."
Hazel glares playfully at Nico. "Hey! As I recall, you were only ten when you stopped aging. I was thirteen when I died. I'm older than you!"
Nico rolls his eyes. "Whatever, Haze."
She ignores the annoying nickname and instead kneels down so she's level with Bristol. "Hi, sweetie. It's nice to meet you."
"It's nice to meet you, too, Miss Hazel," Bristol replies shyly.
After hearing Bristol's soft voice, the other girls gather around slowly, so as not to startle her.
Bristol looks up at Reyna. "Are you a Roman, Miss Reyna?"
The former praetor, looking surprised at the young child's knowledge, nods.
The ten-year-old turns to Annabeth next. "Are you having a boy or a girl?"
The daughter of Athena smiles. "I don't know, but either he'll be a Freddie, or she'll be a Lindy."
Nico stands back, watching in relief and joy as Bristol interacts with the girls, slowly warming up to them. He hadn't be too worried about their reactions, but it's nice to see the timid girl being social. At camp, she mainly talks to only Chiron, Breezy, or himself.
How Rachel and Percy didn't notice the new little camper is beyond him: she was the talk of camp all week, especially after appearing with no warning, and with Nico di Angelo, nonetheless. And she's not exactly held to the same rules as the other campers. She eats at the Hades table with Nico, and sleeps in the Hades cabin at night. She goes to activities with him and is almost constantly by his side, unless, of course, Breezy steals her away to pick strawberries or play with the naiads in the lake.
Nico smiles at that thought. Breezy may be energetic, flighty, and even more ADHD than Percy and Leo combined, but she makes a great friend for Bristol.
Suddenly, Nico hears the voice again, the one that made him stop and look behind that boulder.
"Constant as the stars above
Always know that you are loved
And my love shining in you
Will help you make your dreams come true
Will help your dreams come true"
The other girls are silent, listening intently, completely focused on the small girl in front of them. They are entranced by her voice.
"The lamb lies down and rests it head
On its mother's downy bed
Dolphin plays in the moonlight's glow
And butterfly dreams of a violet rose
Dreams of a violet rose"
Nico remembers this song, too. Bianca would sing it to him at night, in the morning, any time he was sleepy or restless... actually, there was never really a time when she wouldn't sing it. She loved finding excuses to sing to him.
"I'll cradle you in my arms tonight
As sun embraces the moonlight
The clouds will carry us off tonight
Our dreams will run deep like the sea
Our dreams will run deep like the sea"
The song brings back hundreds of erased feelings, memories, thoughts. He's found that being around Bristol will do that; it's as if being around a part of his sister, even if it's a little part, is slowly washing away the damage the River Lethe had done to his mind all those years ago.
And as Nico listens, he realizes what Bristol really is: his second chance. A second chance at having Bianca, a second chance at having someone who he could keep close to him and care for, just like Bianca used to do for him. He thinks he knows why Bristol was an orphan all these years. Any soul that chooses rebirth is reborn into a life that will teach them a lesson, so they will learn from their mistakes. Bianca left Nico three times: once to become a Huntress, again while sacrificing herself for others, and finally when she chose to leave the Underworld. Nico grew up fast after she died; he lost his chance at true childhood.
What Bianca never understood, was how hard it was for Nico, to be alone, to feel so bitter and hate the world so much. Bristol understands, only she never became bitter, never filled up with hate. And that's what Nico needs: someone who knows how he feels, but won't stoke the flames of harshness still simmering inside of him.
Bristol is his second chance. And he's going to take it.
"Constant as the stars above
Always know that you are loved
And my love shining in you
Will help you make your dreams come true
Will help your dreams come true"
~Second Chance~
Whew! 4,693 words! This may very well be the longest thing I've ever written.
I hope you liked it. The main idea popped into my head about two weeks ago, and I just let my imagination fly.
A couple ending notes:
1) I know Piper and Leo will probably never even come close to being a couple, but at the point where I made the families, I hadn't read Mark of Athena yet. I assumed Reyna and Jason would be together, and maybe Piper would go to Leo for help. After finishing the book, I couldn't bring myself to change it; I just love Trista Valdez so much!
2) Don't ask me how Juniper and Grover have so many kids, or if they're dryads or satyrs, or how a nature spirit and a satyr would have kids in the first place. I don't know.
3) Did anyone guess who the 'tall black-haired woman' who screamed at Nico's mom was? Haha, I don't know if that's very in-character for Persephone, but I think Hades having two children with the same mortal would warrant some anger.
I may (separately) post a little "guide" to the future-families I have created. If you'd like me to put one up, let me know!
Please review! I don't own anything that belongs to Rick Riordan. Nor do I own 'All the Pretty Little Horses' or 'Constant as the Stars Above'.