Hello again, thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! I appreciate your comments and encouragement.
This chapter has a bit more plot and a tiny tiny bit of percabeth.
Nico:
Nico wouldn't say he's nervous about going on the quest. He'd done many things more dangerous like being locked up in Tartarus and shadow traveling across America. Really, no matter what they faced Nico was sure he could handle it. Unless it was Hades doing, that would piss him off.
The Hades cabin was as dull as always, Nico never bothered to decorate it since he simply didn't care. The only distinguishing trait it had was an old picture of Bianca, Nico, and their mother. Nico was careful when he framed the photo. He wondered if he should add something Hades related to the cabin sometime, it was technically his. Maybe a little bust of his face, he might like that.
What if his father was responsible for everything. Why would Hades care about the Oracle being silent. Maybe there's some terrible quest he wants to keep a secret. That's ridiculous Hades doesn't care about quests. Lots of heroes die on quests maybe he wanted to prevent death. No he's not that compassionate.
"Just ask him yourself," Nico grumbled under his breath at his own scattered thoughts. He dug around for a golden drachma and headed into the bathroom attached to his cabin. Since he never expected cabin mates, Nico build the bathroom small, one stall, one sink, and one shower. One large mirror sat over the sink, and the walls were painted stark white. Plain and simple, just the way Nico liked it.
He decided the shower would give him the best stream for an iris message. Nico turned the shower on full, making sure not to soak himself with water. "Show me Hades." The underworld became clear in the fountain of water, but strangely Hades didn't appear in the image.
The underworld thrown room appeared to be empty, and Nico let out a huff in frustration.
"Now now young hero, don't fret." A woman's voice drifted through the link, and Nico tensed when a young goddess stepped into his view. She had an air of spring about her, and Nico unfortunately recognized her.
"Persephone." Nico kept his voice cool and collected, though if he were being honest the goddess always made him nervous. She always stood out in the underworld, it felt so unnatural. "What do you want?"
"I can't simply say hello to my favorite son in law?" Persephone layered sweetness into her voice, but Nico was still on edge. He had never gotten along well with Hades late addition to the family, and their visits together were never happy ones. Persephone had always felt that Hades given Nico too much of his time, which of course took away from her own desire to be with Hades.
"No."
"Fair enough," Persephone's smile flickered slightly and she glanced past the iris message. "Your father went to check on the field of asphodels. I thought I'd take the time to wish you good luck on your quest."
Nico took a wary step back from the shower. Why would Persephone wish him well? She hadn't shown him any affection in the past. "Thanks I guess."
Persephone's smile returned to full strength at his comment, "Surely you know that's not all I'm here for young hero. I also bring a warning and a gift. Which would you like first?"
The question sounded like a trap. Nico thought carefully about his answer. "I'll take the warning first."
"Good choice." Persephone paused for emphasis and a chill rolled down Nico's spine. "Your quest may seem clean cut, but new challenges will try to halt your progress. If you don't rely on your allies you will surely fail."
Nico simply stared when Persephone finished. "Is that it? Really?"
"Don't undervalue my words hero." Persephone looked like she wanted to roll her eyes, but Nico didn't care. She was wasting his time with all of this, saying he needed to rely on his friends. He had already heard this, what was the point? "And now for the gift."
Persephone reached into her robe and drew out a small black orb. "This is orb of Delphi. Hades has been guarding it in the underworld for centuries but you will need it on your quest." Demeter squeezed the orb tight in her right hand, and suddenly Nico felt a heavy weight in his left jacket pocket. He pulled out the orb to give it a closer look.
The orb was partially transparent and had a thick fog that floated inside the hard glass. Nico shook the orb curiously but the fog barely shifted. "What's it for?"
Persephone merely shook her head, "You will need to figure that out for yourself. Now I must go; good luck Nico." Persephone reached out and smoothly interrupted the connection which left Nico in the dark.
"Great," Nico grumbled to himself as he rolled the orb around in his palm. "Useless advice and a useless present." Why did I expect anything else?
Nico crouched down to drag his backpack from under his bed. He placed the orb between a couple camp half blood t-shirts and dropped it inside. That should keep it safe for now. Nico gathered the rest of his belongings and headed to bed, tomorrow was going to be a big day.
Percy:
Percy had mixed feelings about going to New Rome. On one hand he wanted to look at apartments and college with Annabeth. On the other he had left quite an impact during his time there. A few butterflies fluttered in his stomach at the thought of encountering his old comrades.
The group had set out at the break of dawn, and Percy found himself riding Blackjack in the back of the group. Annabeth was closest to him, then Nico and Will with Reyna at the front. The pegasi were more than happy to fly them to San Francisco and it should only take a few hours.
As they flew, Percy couldn't help but notice how friendly Will and Nico were acting. The two of them were flying side by side. Percy strained his ears but he couldn't make out whatever they were talking about. It must have been funny since Will let out a loud laugh every thirty seconds or so. Even Nico seemed to be holding back a chuckle and Percy imagined he was smiling.
Percy knew he shouldn't be spying on them. He just wanted to make sure Nico was doing okay. He was completely thrown by his confession only a week ago, and the teen hadn't spoken a word to him since.
Percy was happy for Nico. It seemed like he had something strong developing with Will, and Percy already felt bad about not knowing about Nico's feelings for all of those years.
"Hey," Annabeth cut off his deep thoughts; she must have been able to sense his inner conflict. "Got something on your mind?"
Percy hesitated in answering. Did he want to mention Nico? No it would probably smarter to focus on the New Rome stuff. "I'm just nervous to check out New Rome."
"Yeah it'll be overwhelming. I'm excited to see the architecture though. The Romans used a lot of Greek methods, but they had a few cool ideas of their own." Annabeth kept going about pillars and types of cement and Percy merely listened. He always loved when Annabeth got excited about things, though he could tell there was a drop of nerves mixed with her rambling.
Percy reached out to rest a hand on hers which brought her words to a grinding halt. "It's going to be amazing." He would have said more but Camp Jupiter appeared on the horizon.
The sun by this point was about halfway up the sky and Percy guessed it was around 11 am. The camp was thriving with campers and Percy felt a rush of adrenaline as he remembered his first time in the camp. Reyna motioned for the group to land in the center of camp.
Once landed they said goodbye to the pegasi and headed into camp. Percy kept his head down for the most part, though he waved sheepishly if a camper acknowledged him.
Frank Zhang was the first camper that walked up to them. He had a dorky bright smile stretched across his face as he greeted Reyna. The two shared a few amicable words before Reyna turned towards the group. She spoke with Will and Nico about the quest and it made Percy want to go on it even more.
Traveling to Delphi was right up his alley, a year ago he would have been a given for that kind of thing. He was all about traveling the world, especially with Annabeth by his side. Despite this he knew he couldn't go. This quest was for the next generation, plus he had an important task to do in New Rome. Percy suddenly realized he completely zoned out and Annabeth started to tug him further into the camp.
"Where are we going?"
"They're putting us into one of the new cabins."
That's it for now I hope you all enjoyed it.
