A/N: It's Akela here! Anjana is missing because she's got a piano exam, so I can write in peace! Anjana's my best friend and all, but she's a bit too cheerful. It's weird.

Anyways, here's an update!

The next morning, Nico was woken up by the sound of Riya's voice.

He was going to yell at her and ask her to shut up, when he realized that she was singing. In Greek.

Slowly, he got out of bed and walked over to the room that Riya had claimed for herself. He pushed open the ght

"Riya? What?"

She stopped. Nico peered into her room. She was sitting on her bed, her eyes wide open in terror.

"Oh gods, Nico please tell me you didn't hear that. This can't happen, not after last time. No, Nico! Say something! Are you feeling tired?" She asked, rushing towards him and grabbing his shoulders.

Nico blinked. "Well, you woke me up, so I'm kind of still sleepy, but otherwise I'm fine."

She sighed. "Oh thank god. Maybe it doesn't work on children of death."

"What? Oh, is this the thing where you sing and it can kill people?"

She nodded. "Yeah. I… I was scared that I might have killed you." Her body was shaking.

Nico felt awkward. Riya seemed terrified, and he didn't know how to comfort her. On impulse, he reached out and hugged her. She wrapped her arms around his neck, clinging onto him. He could still feel her shaking.

"It's okay. I'm fine." He whispered.

"Yeah, I know, it's just… I'm being stupid. It doesn't work on you. It's fine." She muttered.

Slowly, she pulled away. "Thanks, I'm fine."

"What happened? I mean, you said, 'Not after last time.' Did something happen, because of your powers?"

Riya looked down. "I… I killed someone."

Nico felt as though his voice had deserted him. He opened his mouth, but couldn't get any words out.

"It wasn't just anyone." Riya went on. "It was my half-brother. From my mom's side. He wasn't a demigod, just a regular 5 year old kid, the most happy-go-lucky kid ever. I was just singing, I didn't realize. I went to find him and he was just… dead." She broke down into sobs again.

"It's…" Nico didn't say It's okay, because he knew, and he understood that it wasn't okay.

"It's fine now, I'm here for you." He said softly. The son of Hades comforting someone? Wow.

Riya nodded, wiping away tears. "Why am I staying with you, Nico?"

"What?"

"You said I remind you of Hazel. Your eyes. They're beautiful, really. Deep brown. The same colour as my brother's. I couldn't close them. After I killed him, I tried to close his eyes, but I couldn't!"

"I…"

Riya caught Nico's shoulders, looking up into his eyes. For a second, she seemed so innocently young. Not the 16 year old that she was. The young girl that she had been, before her father had brought her into the world of the Greek gods.

"Will you be my brother?" she asked, her voice sounding sad, but childish.

"Of course." Nico said. "Promise you won't leave me? I can't have anyone I care about…"

She smiled. "Of course." Then she looked down at him. "Go and put on a shirt, bro."

Nico looked down at his bare chest and blushed. "Sorry, I…"

"Yeah, whatever. And knock next time you come into my room."

"Oh sure, I just…"

"Now get out."

Nico walked out. What else could he do? Riya always got the last word.

Breakfast that morning was fried eggs and toast. Riya was a great cook.

"How did you learn all this?" Nico asked, his mouth full.

"I kind of taught myself. My mother would never cook, so I just had to cook myself." Riya said, her ears turning red again.

"Oh. It's amazing, by the way. The only other person I know who's this good a cook is…" he trailed off, looking embarrassed.

"Who?"

"Um, Percy's mother. Sally Jackson. Well, I suppose she's Sally Blofis now, but…"

"Blowfish?" Riya asked, laughing.

Nico laughed too. "Percy's step-father, Paul Blofis. Not Blowfish."

Riya smiled. "You really like Percy, huh? How long have you had a crush on him?"

If anyone else had asked him this question, Nico would have clammed up and scowled and glared. But with Riya it felt easy, comfortable.

"7 years now." Nico sighed.

"Wow. Wish someone loved me that much. Don't beat yourself up over Percy. He's… is there anyone who's single and not in love with Percy?"

Nico laughed. "True."

"Anyways, I want to go shopping today. Not regular shopping. I want to get some stuff for my room. Want to come?" Riya offered.

"Nah, I'll pass. Shopping isn't my thing."

Riya smirked. "I admit, the regular shopping is dead boring. But my kind of shopping isn't."

Nico was intrigued, in spite of himself. "What do you mean?"

"Come and see."

A/N: So we'll be elaborating on Riya's character now. She's going to slowly get Nico to open up. Nice, isn't she?

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