Nicodemos Dante di Angelo was literally the cutest thing to ever grace the planet earth. Period.
He had soft wispy black hair and wide dark eyes that followed me wherever I went. And his gummy smile.
God.
Or Gods, considering who my new dad is. But yeah.
I adored him.
I spent every free moment I had by his side, which admittedly was shorter than I expected. It seemed that now that I knew how to speak Italian fluently it was a green-light for the start of my lessons.
The only thing I struggled with was Italian, because hey, it wasn't my first language. It took me a little longer to adjust to the grammar and sentence structure and shit.
But everything else was fair game, like math and sciences. The face that my tutor made when I wrote all the numbers from 1 to 100 on our first session was priceless.
Oh, they started teaching me other languages too. Upon my mom's insistence, they began 'teaching' me English, supposedly because my father was American.
My grandfather wasn't really happy about that. But considering the fact that World War I had just ended and that he was a Colonel in the Italian Airforce, I guess that I could see where he was coming from.
So yeah. My education had just started and was taking away my precious time with Nico.
But whenever I was released from the evil clutches of the tutors who loved to squawk mindlessly at me, I kidnapped Nico from his crib in a prehistoric-looking stroller and wheeled him away into freedom.
Oh god, you should have seen the first time Nico's nanny found him missing from his crib. The mansion descended into utter chaos. It was beautiful.
All of the staff were running around like headless chickens, screaming incoherently and bumping into each other while my mother classily sat in a corner with a cup of tea in her hand and a smile adorning her face.
She had seen me slip out with my brother which quelled all of her worries, but the awesome woman decided to just sit and watch the madness.
When I later asked her why she didn't intervene, she just smiled that serene smile and told me that she thought that it was funny.
I now know why Hades fell in love with this woman. It was because she was a complete Troll.
As I pulled the Nico-disappearing stunt over and over, people began to get used to it. Which was a shame. I revel in chaos.
I always wheel Nico outside into the garden and we take a walk. When I know that nobody's around, I talk to him in English.
Because hey, I may now speak Italian but that doesn't mean that English isn't my language. I'll always be an obnoxious American at heart. You can take the American out of America but you can't take the America out of the American!
…Or something like that….
But yeah. When it's just me and him, I tell him about my previous life. About all of my foster homes, about how cool the 21st Century would be (if we survive long enough to see it, being a fricken monster-magnet and all…) and about all of the orphans that I had left behind. Billy, Tommy, Jessica, Sophie, Carl, Mahashri, Dakota, Shin-Woo, Francesca and Alejandro.
I told him about each and every one of them, all of the memories I had. It was my way of remembering, I guess. I couldn't be with them anymore, not after my Death, but this was my way of letting them go. It was slow, but as I recited all of our misadventures and Nico listened with wide, dark eyes, the painful feelings of loss in my chest slowly transitioned into fond remembrance.
Little baby Nico was my Shrink.
…I am so messed up.
But whatever. I have bigger things to worry about.
Like the immortal, almighty god that decided to drop by for a visit.
It was on just a normal day that I kidnapped Nico for a stroll through the garden that I finally ran out of stories to tell him.
"I… don't have any stories that you haven't heard, bud."
Nico looked devastated.
I felt like I had been shot.
I was such a bad person. How could I disappoint my little brother like this?!
"Nonono, I still have a few stories to tell! Yeah, wanna hear about the evil, all-powerful Darth Vader? Or, or about the awesome, badass Captain Jack Sparrow? Or, I dunno, wanna hear about Naruto and his band of crazy ninjas, just for god's sake, don't look at me like that, Nico!"
"You know, I wouldn't mind hearing about them. But I have to admit, I have a few questions about why a kid like you would know about them."
I froze.
Oh shit. I was busted. Even though I had been so careful, now somebody knew that I spoke English fluently even though I had no reason as to how I was able to.
I slowly turned, ready to start making up bullshit excuses, then I saw him.
Simply put, he was hot.
Both physically and metaphorically.
He was the best-looking man I had ever seen in my two lives. He had golden blond hair that was ruffled as if he had just stepped out of a shampoo commercial and the brightest blue eyes that shone like they sky on a perfect day. His body exuded an unnatural warmth that had the potential to be comforting, but was currently stifling.
"Haha, hi there! What brings a fellow English-speaker around these parts of Italy?"
The man's blue eyes glowed with mirth and the heat surrounding him hot a bit hotter.
Nico whimpered and I frowned. As subtly as I could, (which, to be honest, wasn't very subtle at all) I slid Nico's stroller behind me so that my admittedly small form could defend him from the heat as best as I could.
The man watched us in curiosity. Finally, after a long, uncomfortable silence of him observing us, he replied. "Oh, nothing in particular. I just overheard a fascinating conversation about media that shouldn't even exist for another 50 years, so like any responsible God of the Future would do, I came to see what was up."
Ooohhh shit. This guy better not be who I think he is.
"Um, Lord Apollo?"
"At your service."
"Oh."
I laughed nervously. Because, how do I even begin to explain what he was asking?
"Um… nice to meet you?"
Apollo nodded sagely. "Of course it is."
The Sun God's gaze left me and turned to Nico. My little baby brother was looking at him with wide eyes, his hand stuck in his mouth with drool running down it.
"Who's this little guy?"
"Nico di Angelo, Lord Apollo."
"And you?"
I gave a short bow. "Bianca di Angelo, at your service."
"Hmmm." He stared at me. "You're a strange one, aren't you?"
I smiled stiffly. "I prefer the term 'unique'."
Apollo huffed out a laugh. "Funny, too. And confident. I don't know may who are aware of my identity and continue to fearlessly look upon me."
"I'm… special?"
Apollo's blue eyes bored into my own. "That you are. I don't know many souls who have bathed in the River Lethe who still retain their memories."
And so the ball drops.
I close my eyes in anxiety. "Lord Apollo…"
"Don't worry, I'm not here to out you."
I look up at him in shock. "You're… not?"
He smiles slightly. "Nope. I'm just here to warn you." His face loses all traces of humor. "It's not every day that the Fates let someone slip through with their memories intact. They must have allowed this for a reason and it's not my place to interfere. I'm just here to warn you."
He eyes me gravely, his eyes a piercing blue. "Do not attempt to misuse your knowledge. You have seen the fates of those who misuse their power. Do not be one of them."
I swallow. I know that the knowledge I have about the future isn't a thing that I should take for granted, but for an actual Olympian to come and warn me about misusing it…
Apollo must have seen the utter terror on my face because his face softened. "Do not be afraid of it, little one. The future always has many paths, that is its nature. It is up to your choice on which path you will take."
He knelt in front on my tiny form so that he could look in my eyes. "The Fates have burdened you with a great responsibility. I pray that you will be strong enough to bear the burden. Else, that little one's life may be forfeit." He jerked his chin to a softly babbling Nico.
I felt a swell of emotion in my stomach. No. No. I refuse to let anything happen to Nico. At first he may have just been a character out of a book that I had taken pity on, but now he was my brother. I would not abandon him to his fate.
The God must have somehow read my intent on my face because he smiled. "Good. Resolution is good. I approve of your loyalty to your brother."
And suddenly, I remembered. I wasn't the only one so crazily overprotective of my sibling. Apollo was the same way with Artemis.
I nodded, my voice thick in my throat. "I would do anything for him, my Lord."
Apollo studied me intently. "You surprise me, demigod, and I don't need my foresight to see that you will continue to do so."
He stood and looked down at me. "This will not be the last time we meet, Bianca di Angelo, daughter of Hades, ruler of the Underworld."
There was a searing light that forced me to close my eyes against the glare and when I opened them again, he was gone.
Nico and I just stood in silence. I turned to him and he looked at me with wide eyes.
I nodded seriously. "Yup, little buddy. That just happened."
You know, Maria was a fricken badass woman, and just an amazing lady overall, but she had a real sick sense of humor.
You know she's Italian, right?
So she's craaazy Catholic.
Yup.
So Pope Pius XI is running things around here. And… he's actually an ok-kind of dude. I mean, nowadays, whenever you think of people high up in the church you think of all those scandals with those pedos with their flowery little choir boys, right? But as far as I can tell, Pius isn't really into that kind of shit.
Or hey, he might be, and he's just really good at hiding it. Don't look at me. You have no idea how much this man is worshipped here, it'll be a gods-damned miracle if any dirt on him would be able to get out.
Religion. A nice, pretty word for fanatical, officiated cults.
But yeah. Pius is pretty chill. In fact, last I heard, he actually asked Mussolini to tell Hitler to chill with the whole 'Death to Jews' thing he has going on. So he's an ok dude in my book, regardless of whether or not he likes to cop a feel of little boys in the storage rooms of churches.
Oh yeah. Hitler.
I'm in the same time period as this bitch.
I'm already concocting ways to take him out, but sadly, it's a little hard for a 4-year-old little Italian baby to get her hands on some tanks and AK-47's. Yes, most of my plans include heavy artillery. It'd be fun to blow him into tiny smithereens.
Whoa, another tangent. Ok, back to Maria's crazy Catholicism. So she's super religious. We gotta say grace before every meal, and we have a private tutor to teach us about the Bible every other day of the week.
Yes, us.
By the grace of the gods, Baby Nico has finally joined me in my study sessions. He's around 2 now, so he's old enough to regurgitate anything the Bible studies tutor crams into his head. It's so damn funny to watch. He doesn't give two shits about it, but he'll nod along to whatever he says.
Say what you want, but Nico know how to pick his battles. And pissing off the Bible teacher, and in turn, disappointing our mom isn't one he's itching to fight.
Only two and he's already so wise. Must be my influence.
So Maria's super Catholic. It's so ironic though, that she still believes in God after meeting dear old Dad. Even the reveal of the existence of the Greek Gods did nothing to sway her faith.
Seriously, one meal where Hades joined us and we said grace before eating. He looked like he swallowed a lemon, it was priceless.
I think it's a hit to his macho-god-man-ego that mom doesn't think he's a real god. In her eyes, he's like some sort of… existing being that has the power to reanimate skeletons and control ghosts and not die, but he's not God.
But she's totally cool with the whole 'Death' think he has going on. I dunno, maybe she has like a hidden goth-fetish or something? But she's so onboard with it that she decided to honor him in her own little way.
With our names.
Yeah. You wanna know our official names? Bianca Azrael di Angelo and Nicodemos Dante di Angelo.
She honored him, Hades, the Greek god of Death, by using Catholic references to legends of death. With the names of an Angel of Death and the man who supposedly wandered into Hell alongside Vergil in Dante's Inferno.
Honestly, sometimes I wonder if she does this stuff on purpose. Either she's so oblivious it's scary or she's a troll with balls of steel. I seriously can't imagine anyone else, including myself, doing something like this and not getting blown into pieces, and I'm his fucking daughter.
Hmmm, is it blasphemy if you offend a god in the name of another god?
I don't know, but I'm not sure I'm eager to find out. I may be ballsy and slightly off my rocker, but I'm sure as hell not suicidal.
I sincerely hope that neither Nico nor I inherit this particular trait from Maria. Mortals don't survive for very long after insulting Higher Beings. And that's kinda against my long-term goals.
Alright, fine. Goal.
Survival.
Heeyyy. Hi people. Please don't kill me for not updating for the longest time. Please.
But yeah, thank you for reading! I'll try to update again soon, because all the plot bunnies are coming back with a VENGENCE, but school starts, like, tomorrow, so that might be kinda hard. Don't worry, I'll still try, though.
And yeah, some of you might have noticed that I changed the category to Percy Jackson/Kane Chronicles crossover, and all I have to say to that is… wait for the next chapter, things will be clearer :D
So yeah! I hope you liked the chapter and have an awesomesauce day!
