My day hadn't been that great even before Hera turned me into a dog. I had failed my math test, gotten into a fight with one of my best friends and everything just seemed annoying to me. Then, after school, I made the worst mistake that I could make: I went to Camp to burn off steam.
I mean, if I had never gone to go cut up dummies I would have never run into Hera on my way home (walking, seeing as I was too exhausted to shadow travel yet). And I would have never snapped at her when she asked how my dad was doing and she wouldn't have told me to mind my manners and I wouldn't have rolled my eyes at her- thus, getting me turned into a dog. A black Labrador to be, to be exact.
Why a dog? I wanted to know the same thing. Turns out, it's because I have the manners of one.
So here I am with a tail, a heightened sense of smell and hearing, and, of course, my junk hanging out for the world to see. I need some pants. And for people to stop staring. I may look like a dog, but I'm still a sixteen year-old guy. Isn't that illegal?
Oh well. As if they would know. I might as well use this to my advantage for a minute and pee wherever I can. Which reminds me…
When I had finished "relieving myself" I made my way down the streets of New York City- it stinks, by the way- in search of a route to the Underworld, hoping that my dad would be able to help me. I would shadow travel, but it looks like Hera had taken that ability away from me. Thanks, Hera. Thanks.
I turned a corner that led down an alley way and caught sight of a pretty girl (or at least, she looked pretty from behind) who was quickly walking down the alley. Her raven black hair was down past her shoulders just the slightest bit and she was wearing all black.
Wait! I know that look. I knew it before she even turned around to glare at me with the most electric blue eyes you've ever seen (well, until she realized that I was just a dog and not some person following her. Then her gaze softened.). "You a runaway?" she asked softly, bending down and holding out her hand for me to sniff. It felt kind of weird, but I smelt her hand anyway so I would seem like a normal dog- even though I'm anything but normal. She smelled like rain and freshly cut grass.
I turned my head and tried to think of a way to give her a sign that it was me, Nico. I couldn't use my powers. Maybe I could find garbage and write my name or something lame like that. I doubted that I could do it, though.
Thalia continued talking, "I know how that feels." She gently scratched my head. If I had been turned into a cat I would be purring right now. But I'm not so I'll just lean into her instead. She pulled away and sat down, resting on the wall and beckoning for me to come to her when I didn't follow. I sat down in front of her- doing my best to hide my junk- and she stroked my neck and shoulders and chest. Of course she didn't know that it was my body that she was stroking, but it still felt nice.
So nice that I had closed my eyes, just soaking in the moment and generally not thinking, and didn't realize until I opened my eyes again that Thalia was crying. She didn't sob or make any noise. She just let the tears run down her face.
I had never seen her like this before. Thalia wasn't one to talk or show her feelings too often- well, at least not the "deep" ones. But now I was curious- too curious for my own good, I know- as to what was bothering her. So I forgot about giving her a sign- I had time to kill.
Thalia sniffled. "I hate crying. My mom used to always yell at me when I would cry and if the 'leader' cries then everyone freaks out, so I have to hold it in. I always have to be strong for everyone else. I have to be strong for Jason, I had to be strong for the huntresses, and I have to be strong for my friends- at camp and at school.
"I mean, why do I have to be viewed as the leader all the time? Most of the time its fine and I want to be in charge, but I need a break sometimes. When I got out of the hunt I was ready for a break." I thought of the day she dropped out. That was a crazy day, to say the least. "I guess life doesn't have breaks." She rolled her eyes.
"And don't even get me started on the huntresses. I joined because I was scared and I didn't see myself doing anything else in life. I wouldn't have fit in at camp- I don't even now," she complained. That's not true, if you ask me. People accepted Thalia- I was the one who had trouble with being accepted by others. She went on, "I'm the freaky, rebellious punk daughter of Zeus. I'm not even supposed to be alive. I died and I should have stayed dead. Right?" Wrong, I thought to myself.
Her tone became solemn. "Besides, I wasn't even that in love with Luke then- or more likely, he wasn't that in love with me." My heart skipped a beat. Now we were getting somewhere. Thalia didn't talk about Luke- ever. "I had been, but things weren't the same- not at all. It just seemed like he and I had been a crush and nothing more. He just forgot about me." That's not true, I wanted to tell her. That's not true at all."We had only kissed like twice and I thought that would hardly mean anything to him now, so I figured 'Why not? Why shouldn't I join the huntresses? I would have a family for once and power that I wanted.'" She shook her head.
"I was so stupid. There was so much that I would miss out on. I wouldn't get a driver's license. I would watch my friends grow up without me. They would die and I wouldn't die until a couple of hundreds of years later. I wouldn't get to know everything about their lives. My life would be a cycle every day and every year, doing the same thing over and over; just hunting for monsters. It sounds kind of nice at first, but once you actually go through it, it really isn't. And why would a demigod- who will have plenty of monsters chase after them time and time again- want to go out looking for more? I would just be lonely for so much longer than most." She wiped a tear away, a little impatiently.
She seemed to get lost in thought for a few moments, so I just sat in shock and tried to process everything that she had been telling me. "I wasn't supposed to fall in love again. That's not me. Or at least that's what everyone else says. It's like, to the rest of camp, I'm a robot and I've been programmed to never love again. Who even made that idea up? I dropped out of the hunt, I can fall in love. It's my life, not theirs. I could have even fallen in love while I was in the hunt. I just never did. Not until after." I was starting to get nervous now. Who was she talking about?
"I feel like I'm betraying Luke even though he betrayed me first." Her tone was bitter. "I'm not even sure if this guy likes me back," she said after taking a deep breath. Her voice was calmer now. This girl was changing her train of thought a little too much. I needed time to catch up. But of course I couldn't ask her to repeat herself again or expand on what he was saying. I just had to listen and draw my own conclusions for now.
"Nico acts as if he sees me as more than a friend one minute and then treats me like a sister the next." I swear I almost died right then and there. Is this fantasy or is it reality? How in the hell could Thalia be in love with me? Me! The "emo" kid from camp that was always running off and isolating himself from everyone; getting into trouble and generally not giving a shit; one of the least romantic people on the face of this planet- then again, Thalia wasn't that big into romance herself. At least I think so. Who knows? I feel like all that I knew about her might be a lie after listening to her say all of this.
"That boy needs to make up his mind. I hate those damn stupid mind games that others find so interesting. Unless we are playing a sport or something, don't play head games with me. It isn't cute or funny. It just causes unneeded conflict. Can't anyone be straight forward these days?" She let out a noise of frustration. Or maybe it was disgust. Sorry, I apologized inside my mind.
"I know that I don't need a guy to survive, but having someone around to help keep me sane and be committed to me, to treat me how Luke should have treated me, to support me, would be nice. I know that's what friends are for, but as much as I love them, I don't really want to get 'intimate' with them." I wanted to laugh, but then I started to freak out a little more when I realized that she pretty much just said that she wanted to get intimate with me. The things you learn when you listen…
Her eyes seemed to get this sort of faraway look in them. "I miss that feeling of being in love. I missed it when I was in the hunt. I want it now. I want someone to be there when friends can't be or when Jason can't be. I want to know that I can rely on people when I need them- which may sound kind of selfish to some seeing as I don't really accept other's help. It's just nice to know that someone will be there to offer their help." She sighed. "I seriously think that Nico could be that guy." I had a mini spasm and Thalia snapped out of it.
She rubbed her thumb along my cheek for a minute. "Thanks for listening, pup. Olympus knows that if I went and told this to anyone I knew, they would freak and I would just feel worse." Thalia wiped the last of her tears away. Then she titled her head to the side. "Where did you come from anyway?" she asked as if I could answer her. "You don't have a collar or a dog tag," she observed.
I stood up, trying to figure out what to do. I had just sat here and let Thalia spill all of her secrets to me without knowing it was actually me. Oh man, she was going to kick my ass when she found out. "It's okay," she cooed to me. No, it's not."I'll figure out what to do with you." Oh yeah, you will. You'll shoot arrows at me first and then shock me to death afterwards."Maybe I'll take you home and make missing posters or something." She shrugged.
A voice came from behind us. "That won't be necessary."
Thalia stiffened. "Hera, I think I can handle it. It's just a dog." Her voice was cold and hard.
"That's Lady Hera to you." Hera flipped her hair out of her face. "But really, I think it's time I take Nico back to his father before Hades gets too upset. It really is so awful when Hades makes a fuss."
I stood frozen. Should I make a run for it or would Hera kill me? Or would it be Thalia who would kill me?
"What?" Thalia asked, dumbfounded.
"Your little friend doesn't seem to know how to behave respectfully to me so I turned him into a dog- they have the same manners as him, none of his usual powers and they don't even have opposable thumbs. As much as humans say life would be easier as a dog, it really wouldn't. You wouldn't have as much power. It should've taught him something- unless you helped him." She eyed Thalia suspiciously.
"This is Nico? Nico Di Angelo?" Thalia questioned her, still trying to wrap her head around it all and momentarily forgetting to be cold towards Hera.
Hera scoffed. "Yes. Did I stutter?"
Thalia looked at me. She opened her mouth to say something and then closed it. "I'll leave you to take care of it." She turned on her heel and practically ran out of there.
I turned to run after her. Hera stopped me. "Don't. She's not happy with you." As if I wasn't aware of that already. "Now, let me turn you back."
I closed my eyes, not sure what she was going to do, but next thing I knew I was standing up- with clothes on, thankfully. Remembering why I was turned into a dog in the first place, I turned to Hera. "Thank you."
She gave me a sort of smirk. "You're welcome."
I turned and ran trying to figure out which way Thalia had gone. After pushing my way through the crowded streets for about an hour, I realized that I wasn't going to find her. Thalia was good at hiding. Damn.
It had been two weeks since the incident and I had seen Thalia a total of zero times. I had also talked to her a total of zero times. It was like she just disappeared off the face of the Earth. I asked Percy and Annabeth if they knew where she was, but they just shook their heads and said that she would come back when she was ready.
"Hey, man, you still hung up on her?" Julio asked. I had literally just walked out of my cabin, so I was a bit surprised that he found me so quickly.
Assuming he meant Thalia, I replied, "You didn't see her face, dude."
He made a face. "That bad?"
I began walking somewhat aimlessly with him. "I'll be lucky if I look even half recognizable next time I see her." I sighed.
"Damn, boy. You really did get yourself in to trouble." He chuckled. "No matter, she'll come around," he assured.
I raised my eyebrows. "Yeah and how do you know that?"
Julio shrugged his burly shoulders- a common trait amongst children of Ares. "'Cause I know you and Thalia; you guys always come back to each other."
"A son of Ares giving love advice? Are you becoming closer to your sister cabin, Julio?" I joked.
"Nico Di Angelo falling in love? The Mayans were wrong. It isn't 2012, it's 2011." He smirked. "What did she even really say to you?"
"She was going on about the huntresses and Luke and how she was sick of being strong for everyone," I told him.
Rolling his eyes, he said, "Yeah, but what about you? What did she say about you?"
"That I play head games-"
"You kind of do play games."
"Do not. Now shut up."
"Sorry, bro," he said glancing to the side, probably checking to see if any hot girls were around.
"And that she thinks-" I stopped talking mid-sentence once I saw Julio's eyes widen. He gave me a look. Oh shit. I turned around.
"Well, go on," Thalia sneered. "And she thinks what?"
"And she thinks I'm a jackass," I finished, scared of what she'd do next.
"Actually, she thinks you need to gossip in places that are more private, and that you have a lot of explaining to do." She looked at Julio. "She also thinks that you need to leave." He saluted her (which she ignored) and jogged away. Thalia turned around and started walking towards the lake. I followed.
"Thals," I started.
She stopped walking and turned around to face me. "Don't 'Thals' me. You are so lucky I'm not beating your ass right now. Do you even know how pissed I am?" She practically screamed.
Now, I was starting to get pissed. Excuse me for trying to not wanting to jump right into a fight with her. "Sorry, Mom," I mocked her.
She glared at me before turning away. "Why'd you do it?" she asked; her voice much quieter than before.
"I thought you needed someone to listen to you." I took a step towards her. When she didn't yell or attack me, I took another one. "I know I intruded-"
She snorted. "Really?" she asked sarcastically.
"-but I was trying to help, not hurt."
Her shoulders drooped and she put her head back slightly. Her eyes were closed. "I wasn't ready to tell you."
"That you liked me?"
A small smile played on her lips. "'Like', not 'liked'. No past tense."
I smiled for a second. "I'm sorry, Thalia."
She opened her eyes and faced me again. "Thanks."
"So," I started.
She bit her lip. "'So' what?"
"Do you forgive me enough to go see a movie with me next Friday?" I asked hopefully.
She crossed her arms, but smiled. "I do." She started to turn away from me.
"Hey, about that not wanting to get intimate with your friends?"
She looked back. "Yeah?" Her voice was hesitant.
"You did say that you would want to with me, right?" She didn't answer but she bit her lip. "I'll take that as a yes." I smirked. "When does that happen? Friday?"
She chuckled and walked right up to where she was pretty much right in my face. "Maybe," she said. She started to lean in and so did I. Right at the last second she turned and walked away. So much for hating head games. Or maybe it was just payback. "We'll see," she said over her shoulder. I could practically see her smirk.
Oh, I was so getting that kiss on Friday.