Hey all! Sorry for the slightly late update. Adulting gets in the way sometimes...
Anyway, thank you to the Follower and Favorite-ers this past week; You all are simply AMAZING! And to my two reviews for last chapter: Guest and misty 209, you two rock, i LOVE YOU!
Shameless begging ahead: It was my birthday on Monday, and I would love it if more people took a second to review this little collection of stories. Just as a birthday gift... if you feel so inclined... I might possibly love you forever and ever...
And... On we go!
6. Will
Of course I hate the idea. But I wasn't going to voice that fact in front of all the other head councilors. I tighten my hold on Nico's hand and he offers me a small smile. I'm sure he knew this suggestion was coming too. They all rely on his shadow traveling way too much in my opinion.
Annabeth suggests that we all return to our own cabins and try to get some rest before breakfast; there's no way I'll be able to sleep though so I walk out of the Hades cabin and then promptly sit down on the stairs, waiting for the crowd of people to go away.
After most of the others have gone back to their respective bunks, I hear Nico speaking right behind me in hushed tones to his sister's boyfriend, "You know you can stay here in our cabin if you'd be more comfortable. I know you're worried about her as much as I am."
I crane my head around just in time to see some red splotches rise in Frank's cheeks, "I don't think… I should probably… Hazel and I aren't really at that place…"
I couldn't help but chuckle at the poor guy's stammering. Frank is pretty intimidating; big brawny, fighter who can shoot an arrow as well as any of the archers in the Apollo cabin, and he has two Godly genetic lines running through his veins. But when it comes to Hazel, he's pretty much a big teddy bear.
Nico shakes his head, "Good Gods, Frank… you're worse than Hazel sometimes. We have two spare bunks you know. Take the one over mine; that way you can keep an eye on her, but no one will get the wrong idea."
I can I hear Hazel's muffled laughter coming from the cabin.
Frank awkwardly scratches the back of his neck and nods his head, "Thanks Nico." The son of Mars ducts his head down and wanders back into the cabin without another word.
"I think you broke him, di Angelo," I joke as I pat the space next to me on the stairs.
Nico sits down without any objection but puts some space between us, "Yea well, Hazel and I are both from… more conservative times. I think that's rubbed off on Frank a bit." He glances sideways; I guess he's trying to gauge my reaction.
I smile at him, "I already told you that doesn't bother me. You're not going to scare me off that easily."
He grins back at me and I can feel my stomach kind of warm up.
Yea, yea… joke all you want… I've already heard all the cracks about 'warm fuzzy feelings.'
The smile on Nico's face drops a few seconds later though; as does the happy feeling in my stomach.
"So how mad are you going to be if I decided to do this?" Nico looks out over the dark edges of the forest.
I smirk a little before I answer, "Well, I can't get too pissed. You'll be off doing hero stuff and rescuing one of your friends." I pick at a scab that I had on my left hand from stringing a bow earlier this week, "But that doesn't mean I'm going to like that idea of you risking your neck on top of using your life force for underworld-ly travel."
"Fair enough," Nico nods his head and his eyes fall to the grass in front of the cabin.
We let the silence built up around us.
"Can I ask my stupid questions now so that I don't have to ask them in front of Annabeth?" The daughter of Athena is always really nice to me, but that doesn't mean she's not intimidating at times and kind of short with her temper too.
Nico snorts, "Yea, sure." He holds up his hand as if taking an oath, "I won't tell a soul."
I glare a bit at his word choice but smirk anyway, "Why can't someone just take Mrs. O'Leary?"
"A hellhound will probably be too big to hide; but I guess it could be an option if Leo and Calypso have a place to safely keep her hidden as she recovers from the shadow traveling," He answers the question formally with no hint of joking; he knows that I wouldn't appreciate that.
"So what do you think the general plan will end up being?" Honestly, I can kind of imagine it already, but I ask to just have something to keep talking about. I really don't want to go back to the Apollo cabin.
"Well, someone will probably have to come along so I can be guarded while I recuperate from the shadow travel. And then when a safe opportunity presents itself, I'll use the shadows to get everyone back here," Nico glanced over at me as he spoke. He looked calm and collected; ready to accept the quest right this second even if he didn't have the whole picture yet. I hate that he jumps into things before looking at all the options and details first; he's actually a lot like Percy that way. I would blame the 'Big Three' thing, but Jason isn't usually as impulsive.
"You'll need someone powerful with you; who will you end up taking with you? Jason or Percy would be good. They've had plenty of experience with crazy dangerous quests," I try to joke, but the chuckle gets kind of caught in my throat.
"No, I don't think that would be a good idea. I'm going to attract enough attention; Lamia is the one who hates demigods, remember? She's the one who gave us our scents and sic'ed monsters on us. I'm guessing she probably keeps some monsters around to ward off demigods from coming to her little island, so bringing another 'Big Three' demigod with me would be suis… it wouldn't be the best idea," Nico fidgets nervously. At least he's thinking this quest out more.
I smile a bit, "Can I come with you then? I'm just a son of Apollo; no 'Big Three' blood to tempt the monsters with."
It's so easy for me to fall into the teasing banter. I like to think that I'm the reason Nico's lightened up a bit since he came back from the big quest in Greece.
"No way, dude. I am not going to be responsible for risking your life too," Nico leans back on his hands and smirks at me.
"I can risk my own life, thank you very much," I cross my arms and glare at him a playfully, but it doesn't faze him in the slightest. I guess my curly blonde hair sticking out all over the place doesn't help me look intimidating… I need to ask Annabeth how she does it…
"Yea, I know. But you're the best healer at camp. We'll need you safe and prepared for us when we get back; you know, in case one of us doesn't make it back in one piece…" Nico's voice drops off as he admits the dangerous possibility.
I hate this.
He's right, but I still hate it. As much as I would like to go with him and watch his back; I would be better use here, ready to heal them up when they jump back through the shadows.
I try to lighten up the conversation, but I still want to help brainstorm on who should go with di Angelo, "What about Frank? He's powerful, but probably not as smelly as Percy or Jason?"
We share a comfortable laugh and Nico sits up again and scoots a little closer to me. I take his hand and thread our fingers together. He knows I've accepted that he's going and I'm not going with him, so I guess it's safe to show affection again. He knows there's no chance of me going off at him about risking his life unnecessarily if we've already talked it through.
"That might be a good idea. Frank might be able to hide in plain sight if there are enough animals around. But we don't know what kind of creatures are there, if there are any there at all," Nico leans his head into his other hand. His eyes fall shut and I don't know if it's from exhaustion or thinking. Nico's eye's open slightly as he suggests, "What about Annabeth?"
"Annabeth would be good. She'd be able to protect you and form a plan to get you all out while you rest up to shadow travel again. But as good as Annabeth is at fighting and planning, she still won't offer you guys any kind of protection from that queen or the monsters," I admit as I pull on Nico's hand a bit until he sits up and leans over onto my shoulder.
"Annabeth isn't going to like that answer," Nico says as he adjusts his head until he's comfortable on my bony arm. I hesitate slightly before I lean my check on the top of his head, but he doesn't pull back. "Um, what about Piper?"
"Piper might be the best choice. Annabeth and I have been training her up and she's one of the best fighters now. Since she's a daughter of Aphrodite, she hopefully won't be as noticeable to the monsters. And her charmspeak could come in quite handy with Lamia," I do like the idea of Piper doing. She and Nico could make a great team; and her powers could protect everyone against the queen. Piper might even be able to charm their way off the island without a single blow even being thrown. "But what if the monsters that Lamia has are too powerful? What if she doesn't want Leo and Calypso to leave?"
Nico sighs heavily, "Yea, that's the problem. Charmpeak is good, but there's too many ways for people to work around it. Piper is pretty powerful, but that doesn't mean that Lamia will be swayed easily."
"You're going to have to take me."
Nico and I spin around so quickly I think both of our necks crack. Hazel stands in the frame of the door and looks out at us with a determined expression.
"No way, Hazel. You can't come with me. It's too… You're the only way Leo can contact us if something goes wrong…" Nico quickly covered his real reason with some logic; quick thinking on his part.
I know Nico has had a hard time letting go of the death of his sister Bianca. Unfortunately it's transformed itself into being overprotective of Hazel at times.
Hazel crosses her arms and huffs at her godly brother, "You already went through a lot of the options Nico. I'm the only logical choice even though I'm also the telephone."
Nico cringed a little from her raised voice. Hazel is usually very sweet, so when she raises her voice at all you know you need to pay attention and take her seriously.
"I never called you a telephone," Nico tries lamely to defend himself.
Hazel ignores her brother's comment and makes her case, "I am one of the 'Big Three' as you all call it, but I can control the Mist. I can cloak us and keep our scent to a minimum. I'm the only one who can protect us while you recover."
Frank steps into view behind the small girl and she reaches for his hand automatically, "I don't like it any more than you do Nico, but she's right."
I squeeze a little on Nico's hand, "Three against one, di Angelo… Sorry."
He looks at me and sighs looking defeated.
"Alright Hazel; you and me."
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Misha
Ps. Check out my other stories too: 'Penelope Jackson: The Lightning Thief,' 'Thrown Back' and 'Begin Again.'