Chapter 7

(Nico's POV)

The grass crunched under my feet, and as soon as I struck the door I regretted coming to find her.

She called me into the cabin, and I opened the door to a surprising scene. The inner vines of the cabin were strewn across everything - the bed, the wardrobe, the chairs, everything. Bellina was sat on the bed, a flower crown lazily resting on her head, making a daisy chain out of strawberry blossoms. She looked up at me with a confident grin.

I wanted the shy Bellina back.

"Hey! Nico!" She jumped up from the bed, revealing a long, coat-like daisy chain drooped around her arms. They covered her hands and arms like lace gloves and continued with this pattern straight up to her back, where it ended about halfway down her back.

It was beautiful to say the least.

"What's up?" She asked. I frowned.

"This isn't you."

"You only just met me." She folded her arms. "How would you know what I'm like?"

"Because the part of you I've gotten to know is you. Otherwise, Sadie would have asked you what was wrong or w-"

"She wouldn't do that."

"How can you be so damn sure?!"

"The real question is, how could you be so damn sure?! I've known her my whole life. How long have you known her, smartarse?!" The vines on the bed and around the walls creaked to life. I was in trouble.

"Look, I don't want to start anything."

"Really? Because you're showing the exact opposite."

"Were you just trying to insult me?"

I'd had it with this side of her. I forced the ground beneath me to crack - just enough for it to be unnoticeable.

"I wasn't trying." The vines rushed to her side like minions. "I was succeeding."

I ripped the ground open like opening a coconut. She gasped in shock as the ground of her precious cabin started cracking and breaking like a crushed eggshell.

"That's for me to decide."

Suddenly, the vines shot out and wrapped around the hole, sewing it together like a needle and thread. As the last 'thread' was made, the vine erupted back out the ground like lava from a volcano. The vine snapped itself at the very end of the hole, refusing to let it come undone. The remainder of the vine found its home somewhere in her flower-like mesh that covered the whole of her upper body.

"Are you sure?" She teased.

Plan B.

"Why are you acting like this?" I cried. She seemed to loosen up, her eyes worried and curious as she looked me dead in the eyes.

"Acting like what? Myself?" Her eyes did the most magnificent thing - instead of the stormy blue-grey colour I had come to love, her eyes were becoming purple. It looked as if someone dripped purple food colouring into water. "Well, who do you want me to act like?!"

Then it happened.

As I looked her in the eyes, they were no longer just eyes with purple irises. The entirety of her eyes were pure, deep purple - even her pupil. It felt as if the colour was so strong it pierced my brain. Soon, I found I couldn't move my eyes away from hers, as if I was being gripped by an invisible hand, my eyes forced open by its omnipresent fingers. Then a loud screeching sound swam in my ears. It pierced deep in my ears, and I could almost feel it in my brain. I screamed in pain as a clutching feeling entered my head. It felt like a headache, a panic attack and a seizure all at once. Psychologically, I was dying. Physically...I wasn't doing too good either. I found that all I could do was scream. I dropped to the floor with pain, curling into a fetal position like a baby.

"MAKE IT STOP!" I found myself screaming. The noise in my ears became screaming and crying and my vision was turning white. I also found I couldn't blink, so I could feel my eyes slowly drying out. My lungs felt full of lead rather than air and I had no chance of standing.

I must have blacked out, because when I awoke I was on the bed.

Bellina was kneeling beside me, bawling her eyes out. There was a glass of water on the floor next to her and a wet cloth on my head. her hands were clasped around mine.

"Oh God...you're alive..." she whimpered.

"H-how...?" I croaked. There was a slight ringing in my ears and my eyes felt red raw, but apart from that I was fine.

"I'm so sorry..." She began sobbing, and her head collapsed onto her hands. I sighed lightly and used my free hand to begin stroking the back of her head. I ran my hand through her hair, desperately trying to drown out the horrible sound of her crying.

My fatal flaw didn't seem to be kicking in. I just couldn't find a grudge to hold...maybe I wasn't 100% conscious yet.

"Why did you-"

"I don't know," she mumbled into her hands. "I just got really angry and then there was this huge weight-like pressure pushing on my temples and before I knew it you were on the floor, screaming for me to stop and-" she hiccupped, "and I couldn't.

The door burst open.

Pollux gasped when he saw Bellina strewn across the floor, and me collapsed onto his bed. He slowly crept up to us, keeping his eye on Bellina. He'd already met her once, and it didn't go well. Their meeting ended with the phrase, "You will never replace Castor! NEVER!" and with Pollux slamming the door behind him. That was when I decided to go find her weapon, actually.

"What did you do?!" Pollux asked, clearly bewildered.

"She..." I looked Bellina in the eyes - a dangerous move following what had happened just moments ago. I had to tell Pollux the truth. "...gave me insanity."

Pollux's eyes widened. Very few children of Dionysus inherited his power to cause and cure insanity of people, and Bellina must have been one of those lucky few. Bellina seemed confused, but looked as though she understood what we were talking about.

"We've gotta tell Chiron, this could-"

"No! We've gotta hide the power. This is incredible...if she goes on a quest, she-"

"Are you insane?!" Pollux screeched so loudly the windows almost shattered. "She can't go on a quest! She hardly has the mental capability, never mind the physical capability!"

Silence fell. Bellina sniffled, then slowly rose to her feet.

"Watch it," she warned, her voice surprisingly strong despite the crying she'd done. "If I can drive the son of the God of Death to his knees, I can sure as hell do it to you." Pollux seemed to look worried, bearing in mind he was roughly five years older than her. "Now back off. You're lucky I don't have my spear."

"Okay, calm down Perky. Game's over." I joked. She spun around, flashing me a cold tone before relaxing.

"You're right," she sighed. Pollux had long gone by now, but neither of us had seen him go. She seemed scared to sit anywhere near me, and she looked scared of herself.

"Sip your water, please," she said, pointing at the glass of water on the floor. "I don't want you to dehydrate and pass out again."

This is her. This is the Bellina I know. Shy, kind, helpful...

This is the Bellina I've grown to love.