Author's note
I have a poll going on from November 19th, 2013 until November 30th, 2013.
This poll is to let the fans of this story decide who Percy falls in love with. Please vote! I want to know what you guys think!
Also, I thank you for following the story this far! You guys are awesome!
Chapter four
Break time
Hazel would've dropped her food if she'd had any.
Kaida couldn't be serious. A break time? Demigods don't get breaks. They just fight monsters until they drop. Monsters just don't give them breaks.
But Kaida wasn't a monster, Hazel realized. Kaida was a dragon with super-human intelligence.
"A break time?" Nico asked.
Kaida smiled her creepy dragon smile. "Yes. I feel that you all deserve it."
Hazel scanned the faces of her friends and she saw that they were all incredulous as well.
"You'll actually let us relax for a while on this tropical island?" Frank asked. He had dropped his sandwich and was trying to put it back together with only one hand. Hazel helped him.
Kaida tilted her head quizzically. "Have any of you ever had a break before?"
"None of them were given to us by monsters," Hazel said coldly.
Jason glanced at her nervously, and so did some of the others. Hazel knew that she was probably scaring them with her sudden hostility, but after Kaida put Nico through so much, she was ready to skewer that dragon's head with her spatha.
Kaida didn't seem to notice her anger, though. "Well, that does not surprise me. However, please do not forget that I am not a monster. I am immortal not unlike monsters, but I do not spend my time anywhere but on this plane of existence."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Annabeth demanded.
"It means that even if I am killed, I will be reborn without going to Tartarus."
"Well," Piper said. "I think that a little vacation time seems lovely. I say we all just spend some time to reflect on things and not kill each other. Agreed?"
"Agreed," the whole group said together, even Hazel. Hazel thought that maybe Piper was using charmspeak again, because Hazel still wanted to kill Kaida.
After that announcement, the lunch was mostly silent. Everyone was still dazed from facing their worst fears. Hazel noticed subtle differences in almost everyone.
Percy was even more protective of Annabeth, but he was always careful to not show her too much affection when Nico was around. He seemed to be the most alert, next to Hazel. Jason was pale still, like he wasn't quite over his shock. Leo was never away from Calypso's side. Nico didn't seem to be bothered by physical contact. Frank seemed even more determined to help everyone. Annabeth stared off into space a lot, as though the Mist was still obscuring her vision of the real world. Piper was tense, and she was constantly trying to keep the peace in every situation, as though commotion scared her.
The only person who didn't seem that different was Reyna. Hazel had known Reyna for a long time, but she still couldn't tell what that praetor was thinking. She sat through the whole lunch, sitting with the authority of a princess, never speaking a word the whole time.
After the lunch, everyone went their separate ways. Percy went off with Annabeth, Leo with Calypso, Jason with Piper, Reyna by herself, and Hazel with Frank and Nico.
Hazel was worried about Nico. He had never been the talkative type, and he had always looked like he was haunted, but now he looked even worse. He kept mouthing a word that she was pretty sure was Percy. He seemed dazed, like a sleepwalker.
As they walked toward the beach, away from everyone else, Hazel grabbed Nico's hand. He didn't react, only kept walking. Hazel stopped.
"Frank?"
"Yeah, Hazel?"
"Could you give me some time with my brother for a bit please?"
Frank looked disappointed, but not surprised. "Sure. I'll, uh, go find Reyna. Then she won't be alone."
Hazel felt guilty as Frank trudged off in the direction Reyna had gone. She turned to face Nico.
"Talk to me."
"There's nothing to talk about." He looked like he was having trouble focusing on her, like he was thinking about something else.
"That's a lie," Hazel said. She glared at him, and for the first time, Nico seemed to really see her.
"It's not important."
"That's also a lie." Hazel was starting to get really upset. Her brother never let her in, even when he clearly wanted to talk to someone.
He gave her a glare that should've paralyzed her with fear, but instead strengthened her resolve to not let him off the hook.
"It…it's none of your business," he told her.
He started to walk away, but Hazel grabbed his shoulder. He stopped, taken by surprise by her determination.
"You never let anyone in," she said once he looked her in the eyes. "You hide, over and over again. When will you realize that Bianca wasn't the only one who will ever accept you? I'm your sister too."
"Hazel…" His voice was tight. She knew he hated it when anyone brought Bianca up in front of him, but she needed him to know that she meant business.
"Please, Nico. I'm here. Just talk to me. That's all I ask. I want to be there for you, the way you've been there for me."
He looked like he might start crying if she kept pushing him, but he didn't speak.
She continued to glare at him, doing her best to imitate the stare that Nico himself had perfected.
Nico's shoulders slumped. "I…I guess I do owe you that… But not here. I think Kaida is listening."
Hazel turned around. They were half a mile from the hill that Kaida was on, but with that dragon hearing of hers, Hazel suspected she was eavesdropping on everyone on the island.
"Is there a place on this island where she won't hear us?" Hazel asked quietly.
Nico nodded. "Follow me."
She followed him down to the beach. Nico lead her around the far side of a nearby hill. The hill was a slope on one side and a cliff on the other. She touched the cliff side, and a tunnel opened, heading into the center of the hill. They followed it into a large cave. Hazel shrank the opening to the size of a fist, so Kaida would be unlikely to hear them but they still got fresh air.
Hazel folded her arms. "Well?"
It came out harsher than she meant it to, and Nico flinched. Hazel felt guilty. Nico had been through so much already, and here she was forcing him to talk to her. She had always hoped that one day Nico would open up to her, but he was just as closed off now as when she had met him.
"What do you want to know?" Nico asked.
"What do you want to tell me?" Hazel asked gently.
"Bye, everyone," Leo called.
Piper managed a weak smile at him as she walked away with Jason. "Don't get lost!"
Leo grinned. "Same to you!"
He walked arm-in-arm with Calypso. The breeze was warm, the sky was deep blue with a few clouds, and the smell of flowers and cinnamon drifted through the air. Leo had never been so at peace, even after the whole facing-his-fears thing.
They made their way to the beach, and Leo spotted Hazel being led by Nico behind a hill. Hazel looked pretty upset.
Leo and Calypso kept walking, and they stopped when they spotted a dark crater of sand on the beach. It had fragments of machine parts and a broken table in it.
Leo couldn't help it. He started cracking up. Calypso started laughing, too. "Wow, this place brings back memories, doesn't it?"
Calypso nodded. "Remember how annoying you were back then?"
"Aw, you know you liked me right away. Well, after you got over me breaking your table."
Leo looked up from the pile toward the center of the island. His smile melted. He walked toward it.
"Leo? What is it?" Calypso followed him.
"You kept this?" He had reached the site where he had made the control board and work table when he was originally trapped on the island.
Leo didn't know why, but he started tearing up. "You said you thought I'd never return."
Calypso looked sadly at the work bench. "Well, I had to…to remind myself that you really had promised to come back. None have ever done that before, much less fulfilled that promise."
They sat on the work bench, facing the lake that surrounded the island, and held hands as they watched the waves.
"I'm sorry."
Percy looked at Annabeth in surprise. They had been walking for a while, but she hadn't spoken that whole time.
"Uh, for what?"
"For worrying you," she said. She kept her eyes fixed on the horizon. Ever since leaving her nightmare, she wouldn't make eye contact with Percy. That alone was enough to make him worry.
He smiled at her, and she glanced over at him. As soon as she saw his eyes, she turned away. He squeezed her hand.
"What happened?" he asked.
She had her eyes fixed ahead of her again, like she was afraid of what she would see if she looked at him.
"Your eyes. They…they're still green, right?"
He raised an eyebrow. "Last I checked."
Annabeth stopped walking. She turned to face him, and looked him straight in the eyes. Her gray eyes seemed darker than usual, like she was thinking really hard about what she should say next. She took a deep breath.
"In my nightmare, your eyes turned red—and I mean pure red, with no whites or pupils—and then you shoved me. You shoved me away and…" Her voice cracked. She swallowed, then continued. "And I had to watch you fight a hellhound the size of a mountain. You shoved me away and then I fell, helpless to save you from certain death. It was horrible."
Tears streamed down her cheeks, and Percy hugged her.
He kissed her head. "It's okay. It was only a dream. You won't lose me that easy. I promise."
"What about Nico?" she asked.
Percy's blood ran cold. "What about him?"
"What was his nightmare like that was so terrible?" She had an unmistakable tint of bitterness in her voice.
"Who…?" Percy couldn't finish his sentence.
"I heard Hazel talking about it. You…You really helped him and not me?" She stepped back from Percy, and he could see hurt and misery in her eyes.
"I'm sorry, Annabeth. I really wanted to help you, but you should've seen his terror."
"I was terrified, Percy! I thought you were dying! I thought you turned against me when I needed you most!"
"So did Nico," Percy snapped.
Annabeth's look of anger changed to disbelief. "What?"
Percy swallowed. He didn't want to tell Annabeth about Nico's fears, but Percy was afraid that Annabeth might hate him if she didn't get a good reason.
"Let's go sit on the beach and talk, okay? I need to tell you something."
They walked down to the beach in silence. Percy sat down behind a large hill and Annabeth sat down to his right. They leaned against the rocky cliff.
She looked at him expectantly.
"Nico's worst fear was all of us." Percy watched her expression. She didn't show any.
"He's afraid of us rejecting him. All his life he's been rejected everywhere he went. We've been his closest thing to a family. In his nightmare, he was hunted down by everyone. Bianca was alive, but she hated him too. I—I killed Bianca. She was about to stab Nico, but I killed her with Riptide. Then Jason attacked me, and Nico had to watch the both of us die right next to him. Then you…you stabbed him through the heart with your dagger."
Annabeth put a hand to her mouth, tears pooling around her eyes.
"So you see why I had to help him?" Percy asked.
She nodded. To his left, Percy heard a strange sound, like a miniature avalanche. He turned around and his heart almost stopped.
There was a cave that hadn't been there a moment before. Hazel was standing in it. Next to her was Nico.
"What did you just say?" Nico's voice was so quiet Percy could hardly hear him.
"N-Nico? When did you get here?" Percy stammered.
He expected Nico to unsheathe his sword and try to kill him, but instead he just stood there, which for some reason was worse.
Nico's expression seemed familiar for some reason. Then Percy realized it was the same expression he'd had on his face when Percy told him Bianca was dead. The thought stabbed Percy like an icy dagger.
"Nico?" Hazel asked quietly.
Nico took a breath. "Don't worry, Hazel. I won't hurt him." He looked Percy in the eyes. "Even though he's hurt me so many times."
"Nico…" Percy's voice wouldn't work.
"Save it! I don't want another sorry excuse from you, Percy Jackson!" Nico yelled. He tore off down the beach, Hazel sprinting after him.
"Oh gods, Percy. I'm sorry. I didn't know Nico was right there," Annabeth apologized.
"Great. Now I betrayed him," Percy muttered.
Annabeth put her hand on his arm. "Go."
Percy gave her a grateful look, then took off down the beach toward Nico.
The first thing Percy learned: Nico was fast. He was faster than Hazel, who slowed to a stop after a few hundred feet. As Percy ran by, she glared at him. Her gold eyes were full of resentment. Nico kept going at a full sprint until Percy felt like they must've traveled halfway around the island. At long last, Nico slowed down.
"Nico!" Percy called. That was the wrong thing to do. As soon as Nico saw how close Percy was, he took off again.
The sand was hiding lots of things. Nico found a log that was half-buried in sand with his foot. He stumbled toward the water. Percy took the opening.
Nico screamed in surprise as a giant hand made of water grabbed his feet and he fell into the lake. By the time he was standing again, Percy had caught up.
The second thing Percy learned: there were no dead people on Ogygia. Nico tried to summon a skeleton to hold Percy off while he ran, but he couldn't seem to do it.
"What the…?" Nico wondered aloud.
"Nico…" Percy frantically attempted to find a reason for betraying Nico's trust, but he just couldn't.
"Don't." Nico looked at the sand, like he was still trying to find a skeleton warrior. "I don't need another excuse. She's your girlfriend. You tell her everything, don't you? Even things you won't tell me, like my worst fear?" Nico's tone worried Percy. Nico was dangerous all of the time, but when he got upset, people tended to die and the dead tended to come back to life.
"Nico, I know what I did was wrong."
"Let me guess, you want me to forgive you because Annabeth needed to know or you'd be in big trouble, right?"
Percy shook his head. "Nothing could excuse what I did. I know that. I should've known better. I'm sorry."
Percy waited for Nico to tell him off and run away again, or something. Instead he just stood there, processing Percy's words.
Hazel walked up behind them. She passed Percy and stood protectively at her brother's side. She watched Percy the way she might watch a potential enemy. The thought made Percy sad. He didn't want to alienate these two. He had known them both for too long.
"You jerk," Nico mumbled.
Percy cautiously stepped back. "What?"
"You know I can't stay mad at you when you look at me like that," Nico growled.
Percy didn't know what he was talking about. Then he remembered something Annabeth had told him when she'd gotten mad at him while they were on a date. When he was sad, she said he resembled a baby seal.
Percy had to resist the urge to smile. Without meaning to, he had probably toyed with Nico's heartstrings. He immediately felt horrible. He wasn't a very good friend if he did that sort of thing.
Nico sighed. "Whatever. But if you tell anyone else, and I mean anyone—"
"I promise. I won't."
Hazel relaxed a little bit. She must've been ready to support her brother should he need her, but she didn't want to fight Percy.
Percy was relieved that it hadn't gotten so out of hand that they had to physically fight, because he didn't like his chances against two children of the Underworld.
"Check this out! You can see for miles out in the water here, Jason!" Above them, Piper appeared on a hill. She was beckoning at someone to hurry up and join her at the edge of the cliff, presumably Jason.
"Alright, give me a sec. This area's kind of steep," Jason called.
"Oh please. You can fly, Jason. Just get up here!" Piper laughed.
Percy watched as Jason walked up to the edge of the cliff and put his arm around Piper. A lump formed in his throat. He remembered that Annabeth was waiting for him. But one look at Nico told him that their discussion was far from over. Nico's eyes were like broken glass, like everything he looked at hurt him.
Percy remembered the way Nico had looked when they had first met. He was a carefree kid with his sister, who always looked after him. He didn't remember his past, but it didn't seem to matter to him. He collected trading cards and was constantly talking about attack points and other geeky stuff.
Looking at him now, Percy couldn't believe he was the same person. He looked so much sadder and so bitter; it was like he had aged twenty years since they met.
Hazel noticed Percy watching her brother and she seemed sympathetic, like she knew what Percy was thinking about. She gestured to a spot a few yards away. Percy nodded.
"Nico, I'll be right back, okay?" Hazel said.
Nico didn't respond. He had been watching Jason and Piper, but he turned and sat down against the rough stones. He stared blankly out at the water without a word.
Hazel walked quickly to the spot she had indicated. When Percy walked up behind her, she turned on him.
"Do you see what I see?" she asked urgently.
"Well, I guess that depends on what you see," Percy said.
"He looks…I don't know, damaged? He's…" Her voice cracked. She wiped her eyes. "He's already been through so much, but it just keeps piling up. At this rate, he'll shut down completely."
"What do you mean?"
She huffed impatiently. "I don't know how to explain it, but I can feel him slipping away, losing his will to live. If nothing's done, he'll die. He already looks like a ghost!" She put her hand on Percy's arm. "Please. He's the only family I have. You have to save him."
"What am I supposed to do about that? I've never been that good at morale boosting, especially with Nico. His mood has always seemed pretty constant to me," Percy told her.
"Talk to him. He…He might just open up to you." Hazel blinked away tears.
"Me? Why would you think that?" Percy asked incredulously.
Hazel swallowed, like what she was about to say was uncomfortable. "I think he will because he loves you."
Percy tried not to wince when she said that. The idea that Nico could fall in love was weird enough, but the thought that it could be Percy that he'd fall in love with was even weirder.
Percy sighed. "What can I say to him?"
"Ask him to talk to you. I think he will," Hazel insisted.
Percy glanced uneasily at Nico, who had moved to the edge of the water. He was sitting cross-legged, and every time the waves came in he got soaked. He didn't seem to mind it at all.
"There's definitely something wrong," a voice said behind them.
Hazel and Percy turned around to see Jason, Annabeth, and Piper standing behind them.
"The question is," Jason continued, "What?"
"I think he's lonely. Look at his worst fears: He's afraid of us leaving him. He finally has some people who will stay around him. We treat him like a person, whereas most people treat him like a threat. He needs to know that we're still here for him," Annabeth said.
Piper and Jason looked quizzically at her when she mentioned Nico's fears, Hazel looked annoyed, and Percy winced.
"So, how do we fix loneliness?" Piper asked. "The guy doesn't let anyone go near him."
"Actually," Hazel put in, "he doesn't like joining in on things. If we decided to be around him, instead of him feeling like an outsider or intruder, maybe he'll lighten up?" Her tone made it into a question.
"Worth a try," Percy decided. Without waiting for anyone else, he walked over and sat next to Nico.
Nico continued looking out at the water with no expression on his face. Percy nudged him. "Nico? You spacing out?"
Nico blinked a few times. His vision seemed to clear a little bit. "What?"
"Dude, stop being so antisocial." Percy heard Hazel and Piper gasp when he said that, but Nico didn't seem to mind.
"Antisocial?" He was talking slowly, like he had just woken up. He looked at Percy. His eyes widened.
"Percy?" he asked.
Percy raised an eyebrow. "Yeah?"
"Where—where's everyone else?" he asked nervously.
Percy grinned. "What? You don't like being alone with me?"
Nico's face turned red. "Uh…I um…."
Percy laughed. "Relax. You need to lighten up, you know that?"
"Lighten up?" Nico sounded like it was a completely foreign concept.
"Yeah. You know, you have all of us pretty worried, Nico. Hazel's worried out of her mind, thinking that you're having a mental break down. Jason and Piper are concerned, too."
Nico frowned. "They…they care about what happens to me? I didn't think they did. They're not the types to worry about someone like me. I'm not worth it."
"Whoa, stop right there. You're not worth it? Of course we care about you! You're our friend Nico." Percy noticed that what Nico was saying sounded disturbingly like what the spirits in the River Cocytus in Tartarus said. The thought scared him. It sounded like Nico really was losing his will to live.
"Friend." The fog in Nico's eyes seemed to clear up more. "That's right. I have friends now. People who care about me…I-I never had that before."
Percy smiled. "Well, get used to it, because now you're stuck with us."
Nico looked at him gratefully. "Thank you, Percy."
"Are you going to stop being so moody now?" Percy asked.
Nico faked being offended. "Me? Moody? I've always been nothing but cheery!"
"Well, if that's how you show happiness, remind me to never make you mad."
Nico laughed. The sound echoed, and Percy knew that everything would be okay. It occurred to Percy that he'd never heard Nico actually laugh before. He had never simply laughed because he was happy.
"What do you say we go find the others and we all enjoy this break together?" Percy asked.
Nico nodded. Percy stood up and helped Nico to his feet. They brushed sand off their clothes.
Together, they walked over to the place where Piper, Jason, and Annabeth had been hiding.
"You guys can come out now," Nico told them.
Percy laughed as their three friends crept out from behind the clump of foliage. "We weren't eavesdropping," Hazel said quickly.
Nico laughed again. "Don't worry about it, Hazel. Thanks for, you know, caring about me."
He gave her a kiss on the cheek, and Hazel smiled. "I'm just glad that you're feeling better."
"HEEEEY!" someone called from down the beach.
The group turned and saw Leo and Calypso running toward them, waving their arms happily.
"Leo! Calypso!" Piper called back, waving.
Soon Leo and Calypso joined them, and they started talking about what had happened since they separated. Percy happened to glance at Nico, who was talking to Calypso, and Nico actually looked his age for once. He looked like a happy fifteen-year-old kid, just talking to his friends on vacation.
"Are you sure this is the way?" a voice somewhere up on a hill nearby asked.
"I could hear talking, and there aren't any other people on this island," another voice answered.
The first voice grunted. "Zhang, what I meant was you could be hearing things."
Frank popped up at the crest of the nearest hill, and his face lit up. He turned around. "Hey, Reyna! They're over here!" He took off down the hill and joined them, Reyna lagging behind.
"Frank! There you are!" Hazel cried, hugging him. "I'm so glad to see you!"
"Yeah, we couldn't find you guys. This is a pretty big island, you know?" Frank said, looking embarrassed.
"The important thing is that we're all together now," Nico said. Everyone was so surprised to hear something positive from him that they just stared at him. Nico started to look uncomfortable, and finally he demanded, "What?"
Percy smiled at him. "Good job. You really are lightening up, huh?"
Reyna joined them and doubled over, out of breath.
"You okay, Reyna?" Jason asked. She nodded.
"Well, now what do we do?" Annabeth asked.
"Whatever we want to do," Leo said cheerfully.
The day passed quickly after that. They hiked all over the island, Calypso pointing out things of interest. They got tired and hot, so they decided to head back down to the beach.
"I'm going for a swim," Percy said as he walked toward the water.
Annabeth followed him. "I'm coming too."
He stopped. "You don't have a swimsuit."
She folded her arms. "Neither do you."
"But my dad's Poseidon. I don't really have to worry about that."
"Look, Seaweed Brain, I'm going for a swim, whether you like it or not."
Percy shrugged. They both plunged into the waves. They splashed around and dove under the water. After a few minutes, Percy noticed his friends sitting on the beach, looking tired and bored. He decided to play a little prank.
They were all shocked as a giant wave picked them up off the sand and carried them out into the water.
"Hey!" Piper and Hazel protested. Jason splashed Piper, and they got into a splash fight. Nico playfully splashed Hazel, and she chased after him as he dove underwater. Frank turned into a dolphin and followed Hazel and Nico.
Only Reyna didn't seem to want to join the fun. She swam for the shore.
"Reyna! Hey Reyna! Don't leave! Have some fun for once!" Percy called. Reyna turned around, her eyes glittering murderously. Before he could change his mind, Percy manipulated the water to spray up into her face.
She growled and charged at him through the water. They swam around, Reyna trying to kill him, but steadily her anger seemed to fade. She laughed as Annabeth splashed her. The two of them started chasing each other in circles.
Everyone played around and splashed through the waves until sundown. When the sun was a glowing red orb hovering just above the horizon, they all made their way back to the shore. The invisible servants of the island brought them a giant blanket and a feast for a picnic. They all sat together, watching the sun set and the stars come out as they ate and laughed. Their gleeful chatter echoed endlessly into the perfect night.
"They're having fun," Kaida mused. "I'm glad." She was on a hill overlooking the group of demigods. She had watched them having fun and goofing off. "Even when they know things will get worse, they have fun. The way mortals behave…" She trailed off. She smiled as Nico, now almost completely out of his shell, playfully shoved Percy, who seemed to be telling a story.
Kaida felt an emotion that she had never felt before. She couldn't place it. Was it joy? No, she had felt joy before. Pride? No, that wasn't it.
Jealousy.
Kaida was jealous that these demigods were together. All of her existence, Kaida had been alone. She never had friends. She didn't even have a family. Is this what these demigods were giving her in return for her help, a sense of family? To know what she had been missing in her three thousand years of existence?
Kaida shook her head. She was their teacher, not their friend. She was immortal, and they were not. They would leave her one day, the way everyone did. Kaida couldn't live the way they did. She never could and never would. She was the Trial Master. That was her curse. That was her duty.
As their laughter echoed through the night, a single tear made its way down Kaida's metallic cheek.
"Soon," she murmured. "Soon the trials continue. But for now, demigods, your family can rejoice. I am not uncivil. Tomorrow, we will see just who you can really trust."
