Hello, I'm back!
This chapter was soooo frustrating to write.
But it's finished now, whew. Thank you to everyone who reviewed, favourited and followed, you guys are awesome! Replies to all the reviews are at the bottom of the page. There are spoilers for BoO, and they are indicated, but please don't read if you haven't read the book!
On with the chapter!
The last dragon was by far the most vicious, with lethal looking spikes running down its spine and around its throat like a mix between a Tudor ruff and a stud collar. The way it brandished its tail reminded Nico forcibly of Dr Thorn, and the beast tugged on its chains with single minded determination.
The final champion's name was called and Potter walked into the arena.
He stood utterly still, causing the crowd to mutter as the dragon roared and prepared to incinerate the threat to her nest.
Then he was gone. He wasn't anywhere in the arena, and Nico's view had been obscured by the dragon, he didn't know what was going on…
Finally, he saw Potter flying around the dragon's head. The demigod didn't understand what was going through the wizard's mind – surely he was only seconds away from becoming charcoal?
But apparently Potter was throwing caution to the wind. He dived. Nico lost sight again, but judging by the roar, the Gryffindor had secured his prize.
The son of Hades understood the strategy when he saw the handlers (including Leo, interestingly) converge on the dragon, and try and subdue it.
Potter obviously had gone in quick to minimise his time with the dragon and avoid injury that way, rather than taking an incapacitating approach like the others.
The crowd cheered as the scores were posted, the high of such a spectacle obviously sweeping away the animosity felt for the fourth champion, for now.
"So you enjoyed it then?" Rachel asked.
Nico huffed.
"Reyna told me everything. Why didn't you stay at camp and talk to people?"
He sighed. He'd wondered the same thing. But he hadn't stayed. And now it was too late.
Rachel gave his arm a sympathetic squeeze.
It seemed like once one major event finished, the next was just around the corner, as the Yule Ball was announced at the beginning of December.
Rachel had given Nico hints that the campers were also thinking of doing something special for the Winter Solstice, but she hadn't said what yet.
He hadn't had much time to contemplate Rachel's actions, and he was successfully avoiding confronting the problem with other issues.
Like finding a date for the Yule Ball.
"Ah, the Yule Ball. You haff found date, yes?"
"Not yet. No." Nico answered curtly. The Seeker didn't look perturbed.
"No pretty girl takes your fancy?"
"Not really." How would Hogwarts react if he asked a boy? Did he really want to come out in front of the entire school so publicly?
"Perhaps you could take somevone as friends? It vould be better than going alone. I insist that you do not."
Despite all arguments, Krum would not be moved, and the Son of Hades wondered if the other was conspiring with Rachel to get him to socialize with the campers again.
"Why are you bothering me about this? Haven't you got your own date to worry about?"
"I haff asked Herm-own-ninny" Krum told him.
Nico huffed, put out.
He had considered asking Morgana, but the girl had stopped attending lessons, and Nico was growing concerned. There was something definitely Not Right with the daughter of Hecate, and the Ghost King couldn't ignore the fact that his friend was acting strange any longer. He'd tried asking if she'd been threatened by their mystery person, only to end up without a nose for the day.
Nico was beginning to get really irritated with Morgana. She was avoiding him, and the Mist was covering for her among the denizens of Hogwarts. Before he knew it the Christmas holidays were almost upon them, and Morgana was one of the few campers who was going to leave.
"Morgana! Morgana wait!"
She disappeared before Nico could grab her, leaving a frustrated son of Hades behind.
"I'll ask Rachel if she has a date yet." Nico sighed. The Oracle would know it would be just as friends, and at least she was a decent conversationalist. Perhaps she wouldn't even want to dance.
Rachel accepted, under the condition of one dance.
"You can't go to a ball and not dance! Most of Camp Half Blood will be there too – just for those couple of days, so you can talk to people. Will Solace will be there, and Reyna. Boy, are you in trouble with her for just running off like that, and I'm sure Will will have something to say about you travelling so soon after everything. Just because you're refusing IM's doesn't mean…"
"YOU THINK YOU CAN TAKE ME ON PUNK?! YOU WANT SOME?"
Clarisse screamed from the Hufflepuff table, focused on Brutus, the new kid. The Son of Ares looked like he would rather drink a maggot lemon milkshake rather than challenge Clarisse right now, but straightened, and said,
"I challenge you to a duel. Winner becomes cabin counsellor." His voice did not waver, which Nico considered to be quite a feat, with Clarisse's apoplectic fury merely two inches from his face.
"Dawn tomorrow, in front of the barracks. You better be ready to hurt."
And she stormed out.
There was a beat of silence.
"Place your bets! Clarisse v. cabin 5's newest recruit! 30 seconds at 3:1, 60 seconds at 20:1, place your bets!"
Nico cursed under his breath.
"This is the last thing we need; Clarisse challenging the new kid to a duel."
"Clarisse has to defend her title every other week, so what?" Jason asked, sliding in beside Nico.
"Not in front of the population of Hogwarts, she doesn't!" The son of Hades snarled, standing up.
"I'll make sure no one suspects anything; besides, a duel for cabin five will hardly give us away. Stop being so paranoid, Death Boy."
The last bit was said in a teasing tone, but Nico still glowered at him.
"I need to talk to Morgana" he stood up abruptly.
Rachel opened her mouth to say something, but Nico was already gone.
Dawn the next day, and the entire castle were either camped out on the grounds; or watching from various windows.
The teachers had tried to intervene and halt the duel, but each of their arguments had been overruled. The duel wasn't magical, technically it would be held on camp grounds, Clarisse was Brutus' guardian, and on and on. Finally, they tried to stop them by force, and it was revealed that no witches or wizards could come within camp borders – until the fight was over.
Percy had set up the arena, and was reading the rules of the combat. None of the campers were paying attention, having heard and ignored the official rules many times before. Most were talking, much to the consternation of the assembled witches and wizards.
Brutus was a pasty white, a far cry from the decisive warrior that had lead his companions to camp. Opposite stood Clarisse, an expression of utter contempt twisting her features into an ugly scowl.
"How long will the contest last, do you think?" Nico asked Blaise, who was stood next to him.
"How long? Not who will win?" The other asked, raised an eyebrow.
Nico turned to him in bewilderment.
"Surely you can't expect the weedy kid actually beat her? She's taller, stronger, older –"
"Of course she'll win." The other retorted, irritated. "The question took me by surprise."
"Twenty seconds." Nico hedged "Her authority was challenged in front of everyone at dinner; the humiliation was too public for her to hold back, despite this being how she inducts newbies into the cabin."
"By beating them up?"
"She earns their respect, and it bonds them, weirdly. Each member has had to go through this, so their loyalty to their cabin can't be questioned. I don't pretend to understand it, but it works."
"You're being surprisingly candid about this." Daphne observed.
"I know you know I know, so why bother?"
They lapsed into silence, as the fight began.
Clarisse charged her prey, spear glinting.
Brutus dodged her thrusts successfully a couple of times, but his own swing missed and he momentarily lost his balance.
Clarisse had him unarmed, unbalanced and was threatening to break his arm before any of the assembled crowd could blink.
The entire duel took twelve seconds.
The Son of Hades whistled.
"She was really pissed."
Later that day, he spotted a familiar head of hair turning into an adjacent corridor. Before he could make a move towards Morgana, something grabbed his arm and pulled him into a secret passageway.
"What do you want, Granger?" Nico asked, irritated. It was the last chance he'd likely get to speak to the demigod witch as she'd be leaving the next morning.
The bushy haired girl fidgeted.
"I wanted to apologise."
Nico narrowed his eyes, not believing.
"I thought you were part of some Dark Arts cult, from your statue I mean, you said it was an idol, and they're only used in Dark rituals or by cults. You swear strange oaths by sticks and Hades, the Greek version of hell, and Greece is the cradle of dark magic. But I searched in the library, and proper cults like that haven't existed since the Witch-hunts."
Nico blinked.
"What about the Wiccans?" he blurted out.
"They're squibs and Muggles, it's a Ministry endorsed smokescreen, so that an overheard conversation will be passed off as just a bunch of old eccentrics."
"Why did you apologise now?" Nico asked, suspicious.
Hermione shuffled her feet, before squaring her shoulders.
"Viktor asked me to the Yule Ball, and he- I may have questioned your friendship." She rushed one before Nico could respond "I've been suspicious of you and questioning your motives since second year, and that was wrong of me. You proved again and again that you were only doing what you thought was best, and … I guess it's just taken me awhile to come to terms with that."
Nico wasn't convinced, and it showed. "I am NOT part of some poncy dark arts club-"
"-cult-" Hermione cut in.
"CULT, whatever. Just… No. And leave me alone, I have enough to deal with without you poking your nose in, so shove off."
Hermione looked a bit unsure and opened her mouth.
"Yes, yes, I accept your apology if you'll just go away!"
He stormed off.
The daughter of Hecate was gone, and Nico had no idea where she'd disappeared to.
The holidays went by quickly. The school seemed to be holding its breath in anticipation of the Yule Ball. It was a chance for all the students to feel part of the Tournament, and mingle with the foreign students. Though the visitors seemed determined to find fault in the smallest things, Hogwarts had never looked more spectacular.
Real fairies were used on the Christmas tree instead of candles, un-melting ice sculptures where suits of armour once stood, and one of the courtyards had been transformed into an ice rink (the Weasley Twins had never been more popular).
Rachel looked different when Nico came to pick her up for the dance. She'd always been very pretty, but seeing her without paint down her front, hair styled and wearing fancy clothes.
Nico groped around for something to say, a little off-balance with the whole situation, and finally blurted:
"I think there's a clear-sighted mortal here."
Rachel spun to look at him, eyes wide.
"Really, who, where?"
"This girl called Luna, third year Ravenclaw. Everyone else thinks she's off in fantasy land, but she'll say something and…"
"As a demigod, you know she's actually seeing the real world"
Luna and Rachel really hit it off, with the Oracle taking the girl under her wing. They were practically inseparable, and the young Ravenclaw seemed much happier.
She'd been invited to the camps' solstice celebration, which was basically a giant bonfire with alcohol (the Stoll's had spiked everyone's drinks), singing, dancing and eulogies. Percy had practically shoved him the newest clay bead, since he'd not received it yet, and tried to get him to talk about his quest.
"We're here all year with nothing to do, surely you don't have to do this quest completely by yourself?"
"You're not magical Percy."
"So? Most wizards look pretty useless in a fight. That pasty faced one in your class practically wet himself when I challenged him to a sword fight."
"What, why?"
"'Cause he was being a whiny brat."
"Nice, thanks. It's not like we're trying to keep a low profile."
"Come off it Nico, are you telling me you haven't wanted to beat some sense into the arrogant tosser?"
"It's my quest Jackson, stop trying to interfere."
Percy huffed, but didn't argue further.
"So, Viktor approached me about the second task. He seems to know something's off with us."
"I haven't told him a thing." Nico said defensively. Percy raised his arms in surrender.
"Chill, I was just saying. Doesn't seem to buy the part-selkie rumour." He shot the other a look. "Thanks for that. Selkies are the most annoying creatures of father's kingdom."
"Appropriate then." Nico mumbled.
"OI!"
Nico stifled a snort at Percy's outraged face, and the other shook his head, smiling.
"Anyway, he seems to know about the Nature spirits, and wanted to know if Jerry was one, and if he needed to offer a sacrifice."
"Jerry?"
"Oh, yeah, that's what I call the Giant Squid."
Nico stared, but the son of Poseidon just grinned in response.
The son of Hades was much more cautious around the Durmstrang champion after Christmas vacation, trying instead to uncover what was wrong with Morgana and block his friends from interacting too much with Rachel and the other campers.
Unfortunately, the campers, and Nico's relationship with them was brought up pretty much all the time. No matter how often he repeated that he only went to camp during the summer, and that the families were powerful and very private, none of the Slytherins listened. They couldn't understand why Nico had kept his heritage a secret, especially if his family was so powerful.
His nightmares hadn't stopped, but instead of distinct enemies in the shadows, it had now morphed into a sense that the shadows themselves were hunting him. The friction between him and his dorm mates had gotten to the point where Nico would spend the night in his cabin rather than stay in Slytherin House.
After another month of Morgana still avoiding him, Nico threw in the towel. He wasn't going to chase the girl any longer.
Viktor Krum on the other hand refused to do the same for him. It was barely a week before the second task when the Bulgarian managed to corner the Son of Hades.
"Di An-gel-o. Wait."
Nico turned to the older student reluctantly.
"Viktor."
"I thought ve vere friends, yes? Vhy von't you talk to me?"
Nico scowled.
"Don't you have a task to prepare for?"
"I haff prepared. I vant to talk to my friend and ignore the Tournament for now."
Nico sighed. He had missed their strange conversations, but he was still convinced that the other would discover his secret if he slipped up even the slightest.
"Fine. How have you been?"
The son of Poseidon stared at the churning lake in horror. Fighting through the crowd of spectators, he made his way to the judges' enclosure. The officials were all bickering amongst each other.
"What's happening? Are you causing this?" he shouted.
The ministry spokesman looked disgruntled, while the foreign headmasters gave him a superior look.
"It started when we put the hostages in the lake; we may well have to cancel… though we still have no idea what's causing such a disturbance…"
"Hostages?" Percy asked, incredulous.
"Something the champions treasure and will sorely miss, a close friend or …"
Recalling a dark brooding son of Hades talking freely with a large duck-footed Durmstrang student, and suddenly, everything horribly made sense.
"Was Nico di Angelo a hostage?" the son of Poseidon interrupted.
Dumbledore's eyes widened. The demigod took that as a yes.
Swearing, he wheeled around. He sprinted for the water's edge. Quickly brushing off the fishes' calls of welcome, he swam straight for the underwater settlement. The water was turbulent, as if the lake itself knew of Nico's presence, and was angry.
"Jerry, if you see any humans; get them to shore quick as you can!" The Son of Poseidon called to the squid. He passed Cedric departing with his hostage in all haste. He didn't stay to listen when the boy called out, too intent on reaching the mermen before any real trouble began.
Aided by the currents, it was barely two minutes from the time he entered the water to spotting the hostages.
Gabrielle Delacour, Ronald Weasley, and Nico di Angelo. Like eerie balloons, they hung suspended in the water, tethered by ropes of seaweed. It looked like the sleeping trance hadn't fully taken hold of the Ghost King, who was thrashing lightly against his bonds.
Harry and a Shark-Viktor were valiantly trying to fight through eight mermen; there was no sign of Fleur. The water-folk were blocking the way to the hostages, or rather one hostage in particular. Nico had an additional two mermen guarding him that weren't fighting the intruders. The water was also buffeting everyone all over the place, causing even more chaos.
"We will not surrender! The Son of Death is ours! He was warned against trespassing and now he will suffer the consequences!" The lead merman shouted. The others roared their approval.
"STOP!" Percy shouted.
The mermen paused, but didn't lower their weapons. Shark-Viktor made another attempt for his hostage, only to be met with more spears in his face.
"Put your weapons DOWN!"
Percy uncapped Riptide and sent a strong current in the direction of the fighters. While it was effective in getting rid of the mermen, it did nothing to help the increasingly turbulent lake.
Percy sliced through the bindings of the nearest hostage, then waved his arms to get Harry's attention. He pointed at him, then the young girl, and upwards. The younger boy nodded reluctantly, and began his ascent.
Shark-Viktor cottoned on and bit through the seaweed tethering Ron, before grabbing hold of the unconscious red-head and following his competitor to the surface.
Finally, Percy swam to his cousin. When he cut the other boy free, he felt him jerk and kick out. Looking up, he saw that Nico was awake. Worse, whatever spell that had been keeping the other breathing had failed. Nico's cheeks were puffed out and his eyes wide and desperate.
Frantically, Percy tried to conjure a bubble of air, only for it to dissipate immediately in the violent waves.
Not understanding why his powers weren't working, and seeing Nico straining not to inhale, Percy only reacted when he caught the others face in two hands, sealed their lips together and breathed.
Six people broke the surface of the lake like corks from a bottle. They looked to be swallowed by the tempestuous water immediately, only to land on the waves like they were solid.
Percy shouted at everyone to run, and they began sprinting for the shore. It was difficult, as the lake had not truly frozen solid; jets of water sprung out of the liquid ground like geezers. Viktor Krum was leading, followed by Ronald Weasley, and Harry Potter was helping the small blonde girl. Halfway to safety, he bent down and she scrambled onto his back. Ron paused to see where his friend had got to, and waited until he caught up.
Meanwhile Percy was struggling. Nico weighed a lot more than he looked, and the lake seemed to redouble its efforts of dragging them back in once they'd reached the surface. Water acting against him left him feeling uncomfortably vulnerable. His cousin was out cold, and not breathing. It had taken six and a half minutes to get everyone to fresh air, and Nico hadn't been able to hold out. Mentally apologizing to his friend, Percy lugged him into a fireman's hold and staggered after the others. His feet sank into the lake like quicksand. He was dimly concerned that if the others moved too far away, the lake would turn liquid beneath their feet and the currents would drag them under.
When they reached the shore, Percy's control broke. The lake frothed and boiled. Waves grew and grew, whipping faster and faster.
The son of Poseidon didn't try and reign in the lake's anger any longer. Instead, he concentrated on expelling as much water from Nico's lungs as possible. A trickle of liquid dribbled from the boy's mouth.
Seeing no change, Percy started CPR.
After two minutes, he began beating on Nico's chest, willing his friend to hold on, praying to Thanatos and Hades that his time hadn't come. He was shoved out the way by Thalia, who placed her hands on Nico's chest and zapped him.
Nico's back arched and his eyes flew open.
The ground began to shake. Deep cracks appeared and skeletal soldiers climbed out. The already panicking crowd started screaming. The steward-demigods were hard pressed to keep them from a full blown riot, and were desperately trying to evacuate everyone away from the increasingly violent lake.
The monsters had finally brought him up for air.
What better way to torture a Son of Hades, who rightly feared any great body of water, than by holding him in the Phlegethon? The water burned. It burnt his skin and hair. His lungs burnt; his throat and mouth burnt. His eyes burnt from when he'd failed to shut them in time. Of course, the water then healed the wounds from the torture he'd endured before the waterboarding, but the pain lingered.
He heard someone say his name. The voice was faint, very far away.
He called out for help. All the previous times he'd got no answer, but now he felt the dead respond. He would laugh if he had the strength. He summoned as many as he could, until he thought he might faint with the strain. He just needed enough to escape, to run.
Too late, the monsters were back again. He struggled against them, but they overpowered him easily. He could hear screams, and knew they were his own. They shook him until he felt dizzy and yelled in his face. He felt their spittle and braced himself.
He felt a sting on his cheek. He didn't understand. Where was the overwhelming, debilitating pain?
"Nico, snap out of it!"
The world slammed back into place. Nico blinked. Percy was staring at him in concern. He violently shrugged the boy's arm from his shoulder.
"If you EVER kiss me again, Jackson, I swear on my mother's grave, I'll kill you."
Nico wanted the ground to swallow him up. He had never been so humiliated.
Someone made a noise that was a mix between a hysterical laugh and an angry growl.
"Need a little help here, Death Breath!"
Nico paled when he saw what he'd done. Thalia, Jason, Percy and he were surrounded by an army of skeletal warriors.
"Necromancy isn't appreciated by wizards. They'll lynch me."
"So what are you saying? You won't stop them? You friggin' made them!" Thalia demanded; lightning crackled down her arm.
"Just, just please, let's fight them, make a show of it!" Nico suggested desperately.
"Why should we, you've been ignoring us this whole time!" Jason growled. The wind was now blowing so fast, it was like breathing treacle.
"I-"
Percy went white. He was staring at the lake. Nico wheeled around.
A wall of water was heading straight for them.
Looking back, Nico had no idea how he'd managed it. Geokinesis was Hazel's speciality, not his.
He felt adrenalin surge through him in response to a spike of pure terror, and flung his arms up.
The earth groaned and protested. Spikes of obsidian sprung upwards, a reverse landslide reaching for the heavens. A sheer cliff face was growing a thousand, a million times its normal rate, building a wall higher, higher, but not high enough.
The entire lake was bearing down upon them, and Nico felt himself falter.
What happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object?
He could feel his comrades' palpable shock, and was enraged.
How dare they? How DARE they?
The earth moved higher, and extended wider, until nearly the whole of the school-side of the lake was a mountain of solid rock.
The water hit the craggy defence, breaking on it, eroding it down. It came over the top, filling the crevice left behind by Nico's hasty landscape gardening, and kept coming.
Jason was whipping the winds into a hurricane, but it made no difference on the advancing liquid. The skeletal soldiers were long forgotten; destroyed by the winds, lake, or Nico's lack of concentration.
And then, the water stopped.
Percy's will had finally won over the water's need to crush the trespassing Son of Hades.
The four children of the Three looked at each other.
"Well look on the bright side." Percy broke the silence. The others glared at him.
"Oh yeah? What's that?" Jason asked, surly.
"Things can only get better?" The Sea Prince joked, weakly.
Nico snorted, before sitting down abruptly. There was a slight ringing in his ears and his vision was blurring over. He couldn't enough air. Adrenalin spent, and powers stretched, he fainted.
Nico came round to the sound of someone yelling very loudly.
"What were you THINKING?" a voice that sounded strangely familiar was shouting, "Nico knew he couldn't go near the lake without incurring the mermen's wrath! They warned specifically both him and YOU in his first year! Didn't you ASK before taking him to be a hostage?"
"I hardly think any of the hostages would have consented to be in the lake if we had done so." Another voice sneered snidely.
"I had assurances from the mermen that the hostages would not be harmed, it did not expect them to go back on their word…" placated a third.
Nico scrunched his eyes, and tried to force his brain to process everything faster. He could practically feel Percy glaring at the headmaster. A straw was shoved past his lips, and he was shocked to taste liquid-blue birthday cake.
"I would question the wisdom of concealing that he is an Earth elemental, if I had known, I would have taken the proper precautions…"
There was a growling noise from the end of his bed.
"If Nico chose to hide his talents, then that's Nico's choice." Percy ground out, finally.
There was a beat of silence.
"The protection and wellbeing of the school and its students is a responsibility that I take very seriously, and that requires knowing if there is an untrained elemental with the power to level the castle residing within its walls." There was an undercurrent of warning in the grandfatherly tone.
"He's not untrained! We train him! He comes to camp during the summer! This wouldn't have been a problem, if you had just ASKED!"
"A lousy summer camp cannot be able to deal with the strongest elemental wizard since the dark ages!" Snape interrupted again.
Nico opened his eyes, and forced himself more upright.
"Careful!" Will Solace caught him, and pulled him higher, checking his temperature before giving him a square of ambrosia.
"Wha-"
"You and I are going to have a long chat later Nico, but as a doctor, I must insist you sit there, thinking peaceful thoughts, or I will show you just why you don't want a healer angry with you."
Nico gulped. The son of Apollo was positively fuming. Percy gave him a sheepish smile from where he was standing.
"It's good to see you awake Nico."
Nico huffed.
"Didn't give me a lot of choice with the racket you were making." He snarked casually, his eyes widening when he realised the Headmaster and his Head of House were still there. His cousin grinned.
"We'll leave you to Will's tender mercy then shall we? Oh, and Reyna wants a word too…"
His cousin left, snickering at the expression on Nico's face.
"For the love of Zeus, Nico, why didn't you SAY something?" Will looked at the son of Hades, perplexed.
"You were literally dragged through hell, that's bound to leave scars; and not all of them physical, I understand. But that fact remains: it's NOT healthy to suppress ANY part of yourself! Your powers are part of who you ARE!"
Nico sighed, he was getting a headache.
"I won't be around for long; I'm here strictly until you're better. Talk to Hypnos cabin about your dreams, please?"
The son of Apollo left, and Nico was left staring mindlessly at the blank walls of the infirmary until he eventually fell asleep again.
When he woke up, he had another visitor.
"I've taken care of the tiara, di Angelo."
"Ah, so you're talking to me now?" he said with no heat. After how he'd treating the other campers, he would be a hypocrite to hold this against her.
Morgana gave a twisted smile.
"I've been having…issues." She was evasive. Her lips were pressed into a thin line, and while her eyes were lined with grief, there was a steely glint to them, and it gave Nico chills.
They sat in silence for a while, and Nico's thoughts drifted to the last time they were both alone in the Hospital Wing.
"Did you discover anything, about the Mist, I mean?"
"Hmm? Oh, well I think Hogwarts wards interfere with it, 'cause they're both very similar – no muggles detect magic in the area, no mortals detect demigods… something like that. The Mist does affect them eventually, it just takes a bit of time; and if they are at all organized, or have a diary, then that's when everything breaks down."
"That's almost… disappointing."
Morgana laughed.
"Outside Hogwarts is fine; I think half the problem is the complexity of the wards, rather than any specific one. Only other really old magical structures have a similar effect, though I guess we'll never know for sure."
They lapsed into silence.
"They think you're an Earth elemental." She broke the quiet again, her eyes dancing with mirth.
"I heard. I guess it'll do as an explanation, though I wouldn't be an Earth elemental …"
"I thought I told you to rest, not start plotting your next adventure." Will Solace interrupted, scowling. Despite Nico's protests, he shooed Hecate's daughter from the room.
And that's a wrap!
So, what did you think? Morgana's got issues, Nico's just been confronted by Percy, Jason and co. (Thalia's appearance will be explained next chapter, but basically, she was called to help with the task).
Please please review and let me know what you think!
Swiss
SPOILERS BLOOD OF OLYMPUS
DanceOfTheEntWives, Kakesu Wolf, Heirofwisdom: (I'm replying to you all together as you mentioned BoO, and I felt I should address all your concerns in one go.)
I liked the book. I felt the ending a little convenient, and Nico giving up the underworld rather sad, but it's a good book.
Obviously I'll have to reedit the story to fit BoO, but that's not a priority right now. I'll fix continuity errors with the storyline as I go. He might have stayed at camp in the books, but he's got a quest to finish here, and he isn't one to leave a quest incomplete (especially when it comes to people avoiding death). He didn't stay to tell Percy he didn't have those feelings but he will (I think that saying it and meaning it do a lot to help Nico realise that it's true, and move on). As for his powers… I don't agree (Kakesu Wolf) that his powers are gone forever, I see it as tearing a muscle. After sufficient healing, he'd be fine. But if you're not convinced, I've got a plan for that. It was actually my contingency plan if Riordan decided to kill off Nico, but it'll work for this instead.
END SPOILER
The Last Deathly Guardian: I can't wait to get there too… It's going to be so difficult to not just bash Umbridge repeatedly. I could write the task from Leo's point of view as an addendum, if you're interested? I noticed I didn't write much of Harry's first task. I hoped the chapter lived up to your expectations anyway!
WildWolf14, Lavabolt, SassyWolf12: Sorry for the wait, I don't have a lot of free time. Thanks for reviewing, I hope you like the chapter!
LunaAmethyst: Not sure about the whole series, as Nico doesn't have that many more Horcruxes left to find. He's having problems with the aftermath of the war, but that won't delay the inevitable for long… As long as the stories are still getting a positive reception, I'll continue 'til the end.
Guest: Thank you, I fulfilled one half of your request, but I haven't even thought of the reactions to this… Probably not good!
Bryette Mystere: Second task, done! What did you think? Percy was certainly involved! I'm not planning on adding a romantic element to the story, whoever the partner, because I find a lot of fics veer off and lose plot to fluff or smut. I do agree that Percy cares more for Nico than he lets on, but I wouldn't say it was necessarily romantic. The blood bending is interesting, we'll just have to see.
AngelicDarkness: Erm, does the second task count as a crazy heroic act? The secret will stay hidden for a little longer. People will find out bit by bit, not all at once, or the story would be dead in the water. I definitely won't abandon the story though, and I don't have much free time to write, so updates will be slow. I don't really like writing OC's, though Morgana seems to be an exception; I just couldn't let her go. As for what she's doing, you'll just have to wait and see!
TenebrisRosis: So, the confrontation… what did you think? Hope you liked it!
Thorn D. Cinni: Leo and Dragons…It was just too tempting…
Glaris: That's my headcanon too, but I'm not willing really push the sexuality aspect as romance isn't a forte of my writing. Plus, I'm trying to keep as close to canon-Nico as possible, so while I might think he's bi, it was definitely implied he was more male orientated in the books.
The Pianist's Touch: Thanks, hope the latest chapter lived up to expectations!
Guest: Small appearance for Will. In my mind, he's lead healer for the whole of camp half blood, so he's gonna head back there once Nico is healed.
Dattebayo Luna and Ginny: Thanks! hope you like the latest chapter!
Eha1234: Yeah, that would be bad enough, but in that year Nico fought in a war, so it's even more of a problem. No more leads on Moody, but Nico was a bit distracted with Morgana going AWOL… still there's plenty of time. Hope you liked the chapter.
Nerdfighter1309: Thank you for your review, but there's no need to be so rude; the chapter's up now.
Kerowyn6: The way I write does lead to it getting choppy if I don't repeatedly go over and edit the story. To be fair, the first task was going to be confusing and choppy, because believe the spectators wouldn't have been able to see much at all. Plus Nico's dealing his memories of the war, so… yeah. Thanks for pointing it out, though I've tried to be more careful in this chapter. Ellie is kind of sweet, but I don't know if she'll appear much at all, we'll see. As for the Slytherins… well it wouldn't be fun if they had nothing to go on, would it?
HowlingRain: I actually copied that prank from someone else's fic, though I forget whose. I loved it too much, it was so fitting!
Jenna: Oh dear, I hope you haven't really checked every day! I have tried to write this chapter so many times, but the words just seemed stilted and false. Thanks for reviewing; I hope the chapter lives up to your high expectations!