So, yeah... this is part three.
After a while, me and Bianca headed out to the camp.
We had been told that we are demigods, children of the original Olympians.
This was a mythomagic gold mine for me.
The thing with mythomagic and me was that it was my way to cope with the world around me. The way everyone seemed to distrust me... it was horrible.
So I became obsessed with it, because there was never a time I didn't need to cope.
But this guy, Percy Jackson... he was something that made me feel better. Like I didn't even need the game anymore.
It confused me, because I had no idea what was going on at all. Some guy suddenly swoops in, tries to save us, and even though he didn't exactly do a good job, I was still captivated by him. I mean, what's not to like? He's brave, he's kind, and he's especially attractive.
But that was the problem. With the exception of Bianca, I had never thought of a girl as more than just a friend. Then a guy comes along, and it seems I want to be more than just his friend. I was even thinking of him in ways like beautiful, and attractive.
So, what was with me? Was just happy to be alive? Was I just in shock? Was I just... different? After, all, he had always heard the adjectives he used to describe Percy used on girls, but never boys. And Percy, while not overly masculine in form, was definitely not feminine in form either.
These thoughts ran through my head, to where I almost forgot about Bianca leaving, and that me and Bianca were in the same tent.
Bianca pov.
Nico seemed deep in thought. I had a feeling that I knew exactly what was on his mind. The overly talkative bo was easy to read sometimes, and difficult at others.
But right now, I was reading him like a book. And it was a strange book, one that I had read a million times, but on the million and first, discovered that two very important pages had been stuck together, and only now were they beginning to come apart.
To be honest, Nico being gay didn't really strike me as absurd. Most boys his age were already trying to do things to girls that, honestly, made me want to barf.
Nico, however, had never shown any interest in girls whatsoever, and let's face it, the guys in our school didn't exactly have sparkling personalities. Or bodies, for that matter. (For a military school, those guys were really out of shape.)
Nico was never exposed to the concept of homosexuality, either. That is what I thought funny. That evangelist guy who drove his lamborghini of a cliff (may he burn in hell) had one time said that kids pick up homosexuality from those they interact with, but Nico had never even heard the word, much less understand its meaning. (He always went to me for stuff like that so as not to embarrass himself in front of others- people at our school beat you for stuff like that. Civilized, huh?)
And he had never seen any of that on TV, because in that place there wasn't any. No one at school even engaged in anything remotely intimate. Even stuff like reaching for the same spoon and touching hands for a second was never seen.
Nico... I don't care what happens, where I go, if I die... I will always look over you.
"Percy..." I heard faintly. I realized that it was Nico. He had finally fallen asleep. And yes, he talked in his sleep.
"Percy... how..." he mumbled.
"How could... do..." he went on.
For some reason I had the feeling that that was no ordinary dream, nor was it a nightmare.
For some reason... I think it was something real.
Something from the past, present, or... the future. Zöe, one of the huntresses, had mentioned something about that.
He seemed distressed. He had broken into a sweat, even though it was only about 40 degrees in there.
He was obviously dreaming of something horrible, and he didn't know what to do. It was like the world had ended, but he was still there.
I snapped out of my shock, and woke him up. I know we went to bed late, and we had a long day ahead of us, but It was still two or three hours till sunrise, and I didn't want him to go through for three more seconds, much less three more hours. Being dead on your feet is better than sleeping through hell.
When he woke, he almost hit me. He hadn't done that in years.
And the look in his eyes... they were the most feral things I had ever seen. Something in that dream had struck a nerve.
But one thing she didn't know was...
What could he have dreamed that had made him so vulnerable?
Nico pov
I was walking through a desert. I don't know how I got there, but I kept on walking.
Finally I find a junkyard, full of things that made me think of a computer with pirated music. It was pretty cool, but probably didn't work right.
But I went on. And I saw some thing. It was kind of shiny, and I picked it up. When I decided to keep it, a giant shadow loomed over me, replaced with blinding light, and searing pain as if someone had set all the nerves in my boddy on fire. And then, all I felt was fear, and anger. I hear a voice, a voice that was as beautiful as the most precious flower, say something to me. "I'm sorry." The voice said. I heard that it was sad, and even though I didn't know what he did wrong, all I want to do is to tell him that it wasn't his fault, anything to make him feel better, anything to take the sadness out of his voice.
But for some reason I'm angry at him. But what could be so horrible that I couldn't forgive him? How could I ever become so enraged at him, of all people?
"You promised! You promised!" I screamed at him.
What had he promised? And what had happened as a result of breaking that promise?
As I scream at the boy, his sea green eyes start to fill with fear, and though he never moves his legs, he seems to get farther and farther out of reach. And when he is completely out of view, hundreds of skeletons begin to attack me.
I scream for them to get away, and they hesitate, but another voice, one full of bitter anger, tells them to keep attacking me. When people start coming to help me, I keep pushing them away, but why? Its obvious that I'm about to die, why wouldn't I get help? But I push them away, Percy, Bianca, people I don't even know, I push them away.
But too late do I realize that I had been so focused on repelling those who wanted nothing more than to help me, I had forgotten about the real problem, the swarm of undead that were already on top of me, and I couldn't breath.
Suddenly, I woke with a jolt as violent as the one the shadow had given me. I flailed about, trying to protect myself.
Soon, I found myself sobbing uncontrollably into my sister's shoulder. Somehow, I had a feeling that that had been no ordinary dream. And he had a feeling that, unless he was careful... that dream would come true.
Ok, so yes I know, does not happen in the book at all, but, if this is going to be told from nico's pov, you had better get used to that, because he was not on the quest.
Prepare for wild camp stories.
Also, Bianca had that long moment, clarifying that nico had never even heard of homosexuality, and was not familiar with the concept.
This is actually an excerpt somewhat resembling my life.
I had no access to media, I was nine, so kids hadn't quite picked up the words "gay" or "homo" or a certain f-word. And I had no friends outside of school.
And yet, I'm gay. No influences, no one telling me the words and definitions... hell, the first time I heard the word gay, I was ten, and I didn't find out about what it meant untill I was almost 11.
So, that's where that came from.
Fun fact: For me, I consider June 12 as "coming out day",because that was the day that I came out to my parents, and like poor Nico, I was forced. My parents had been worried, because I had been acting weird (I had just gotten shot down for the fourth time in a row) and they wanted to know what was wrong. I was, and still am, a terrible liar, so eventually, I ran out of lies.
It worked out for the best, though.
