It returns! Sorry chapters take so long, there's no real excuse other than lacking inspiration or motivation to write.

Anyway, I don't own anything I portray in this story that so many people are reading for some reason.


A Protector Until The End: Chapter 9: I Don't Necessarily Break The Rules, I Just Bend Them At Extremely Untried Angles


At this point in time I had many complaints regarding my most recent set of life choices. My ears were ringing, I couldn't hear much of anything and nor could I see much of anything. All I really understood was the ongoing pain filtering throughout my system, which only really served to tell me I'd attempted to force spiritual energy through a bronze blade and somehow hadn't killed myself in the process.

I'd just hurt myself. A fucking lot, which was a considerably better result than I'd expected seeing as I shouldn't have even been able to attempt using a Getsuga without Zangetsu or my powers.

Enough logical thought had returned for me to recognise my mistake. It had to have been the Demon. It just had to be. Nothing else would've inspired thoughts that made me do something like that, something that no doubt put my life and the lives of those around me at risk.

Great, just what I needed: Being outcasted as a freak or someone untrustworthy just over a day after arriving here. Just my luck. I wasn't trying to sound insensitive towards any I could've hurt by accident in the blast but realistically there wasn't much I could do until my senses returned enough so I could find out what happened and help with the fallout of what I'd done and/or apologise for all damage caused to any Campers or Hunters and the forest.

Or in layman's terms, I knew I'd messed up. Badly.

Which is evidently why I wasn't too surprised that the moment my hearing become coherent what I mostly made out was cursing most likely aimed at me – though old English wasn't something I understood so well but I got the gist Nightshade probably wanted me dead now. Naturally, her voice – while loud – wasn't the only to pierce the metaphoric shroud that was my returning hearing, and I couldn't stop the pang of guilt at Thalia's worried tone as she either muttered things at me or commanded other campers.

Slowly, my vision also returned, and with it the almost expected sight of Thalia next to me with presumably a first aid kit while others who were probably nearby got the same treatment. The feeling against my back – through whatever blood soaked my shirt, or what was left of it – indicated I was probably leaned against a tree or a rock, as well as the feeling of cloth around me that wasn't present before – most likely bandages over new wounds.

My throat felt like I'd chugged something acidic and watered it down with gravel, but I had to say it aloud anyway "Sorry" I coughed "Looks like I messed up pretty badly."

Her gaze fell on my now open eyes as the rest of my vision cleared, her eyes reflecting conflicting emotions at my state. Aside I could see Hunters aiding others whom I'd most likely caught with the misfired attack. I call it a misfire because a Getsuga never could've caused this kind of carnage, I'd always been more focused with them unless my aim was to cause damage – except this time I had no control over the attack. My arm was still numb but I could see only the hilt of the blade remaining, but more prevalent was the landscape in the area around us.

Foliage had been torn free and scattered, along with fragments of rock and shards of tree, as if fired out like projectiles while the rest of the area looked like it had simply been vaporised what with the small crater centred in the clearing holding a burning piece of cloth that was probably the Hunters' flag.

"It's not your fault," Thalia chided, her tone forcibly calm as she tried to wrap bandaging around my now-burnt arm "Can you just tell me what happened? Nightshade's so furious about whatever attacked that nobody seems able to understand her." A pang of guilt ran through me, maybe because I knew I deserved to be blamed when they thought it something else.

Another pang of guilt as the thought of lying briefly flittered across my mind, but was ignored as I recalled my promise to myself that I didn't want to continue lying. I replied "Actually it is my fault," Thalia's gaze found my eyes and her own narrowed, most likely to deny or get annoyed that I continued to disagree with what she said before I continued "I was the one that did that." I used the arm I still had most control over to gesture to the scene before us, to the wrecked fragment of the once pristine forest that I'd eviscerated, for lack of a better word.

"How?" her response was instant, yet her voice didn't raise. Instead she appeared hesitant despite how quickly the question escaped her, but her tone held no anger towards me.

"I don't know, it just happened. I ," I faltered, unable to describe the rapid feelings of guilt and anger towards myself for what I'd done "I lost control." I could at least see the irony – I'd spent so long worrying about my Inner Hollow taking control and hurting people that long after he was gone his power had become mindless on its own – and now it had forced me to hurt people, something I'd long since abandoned fearing because I thought him and his power gone.

Thalia fell silent, continuing to bandage my wounds. I made no attempt to continue speaking as Chiron appeared with Nico – who looked happily triumphant until his eyes fell upon the scene. I guess I hadn't been unconscious too long. The pain in my sustained injuries had dulled greatly and while Thalia finished bandaging a final wound Zoë's gaze fell upon me and quickly turned murderous. I could practically feel the intent to kill from her, if I didn't see it reflected entirely and completely in her eyes.

"Foolish knave!" and "Despicable man!" were among the only few things in her stream of curses that I actually understood, but her raised voice attracted eyes all around the surrounding group. It was predictably easy to tell this situation wasn't going anywhere good.

"Thou would use deadly force in sport? Arrogant fool," she stated and I guessed I was lucky she was at least talking in a way I could just about understand; at least I think that was lucky – I'd be insulted by what she said after I stopped thinking all of her anger towards me seemed justified, though that gave her all the leeway she needed to continue "Milady should have turned though into a creature befitting such a dishonest, dishonourable," her voice had raised with every word as she approached. Hunter and Camper alike watched her approach and Chiron made to start moving, perhaps to intercept her before she did something regrettable – though I doubt she'd see killing me that way at this point.

I didn't realise Thalia had moved until the bolt of lightning shot past Zoë with the shout of "Shut up!" that accompanied it. Looking at her, I could see that Thalia looked pretty much livid, whether with Zoë in general or the continuous curses she seemed to be throwing with reckless abandon and rage. Sparks, small but noticeable, arced off Thalia's spear and seemingly around her before disappearing.

Zoë's voice held no less of an edge "Thou wouldst defend him?" her hand inched towards the hunting knife re-sheathed at her waist, gaze fixed on my friend. The fact it seemed like she may have been willing to start a fight with Thalia to get to me was probably what kicked my exhausted mind back into full operation despite the massive amount the previous fight had taken out of me.

The glare-off continued for several seconds after Zoë's question, but Thalia's spear raising higher against Nightshade definitely voiced her answer – she was willing to fight Zoë for my sake when Zoë was trying to achieve whatever she believed as justice for injured Hunters. As far as I could sense with what little Reiatsu I had left none of the Hunters had died, but I'd definitely left a couple in bad shape – whether from the brunt of the attack or from the debris shot loose by the blast.

"Thalia, Zoë – Stop!" Chiron commanded, but even his commanding tone was drowned out in the apparent suspense over what could be about to occur.

Everyone else seemed to have halted as well, as if even Chiron saw that he wouldn't be able to do much to solve the situation peacefully without physically restraining them before they started attacking each other – though glancing to the side I could see he was also working on the injuries sustained by Campers and Hunters alike, to which I assumed he saw the injuries as more important that stopping the potential fight. Mr D stood leaned against a tree to the side drinking a Diet Coke, watching as if it was a show for his entertainment.

"Move thyself, Grace." Zoë commanded, her knife free of its sheathe and held in the same standoffish way Thalia stood with her spear, as if they were both ready to attack at a moment's notice.

"Like hell I will" Thalia ground out, anger lacing her tone and a scowl set firmly on her face. If the sense of déjà vu didn't indicate something similar had happened before I don't know what did, either way this needed to stop and the only way that would probably happen was if Zoë got what she wanted.

So I took the opportunity opened because nobody else was saying anything and the two girls were too focused on what could become a fight if someone (read: I) didn't stop it before it started. I caught Zoë's glare on me as I brought myself to stand, moving with a slight limp until I'd moved into Thalia's field of vision as well.

At the apparent movement the moment of standoff seemed to be broken and Zoë instead turned her blade against me with a growl.

I kept limping past.

She made an indignant yell shortly followed by a cry of warning from Thalia, I'd already half expected it.

Wetness flowed between my fingers, the expected crimson liquid dripping through the gaps from where I'd grabbed her knife by the blade the moment it made any indication of movement.

It had been subtle, but I'd noticed it happening ever since I'd first encountered their group; the slow change in mind set, like an unused piece of knowledge or muscle finally receiving use after a long time. It was slow, which was why this would be the earliest point I'd have acknowledged it actually happening.

It wasn't a situation where jokes or humour could be made, nor was it one where I could see light being made from the situation. Instead my scowl seemed to reinforce itself in an expression I knew I probably hadn't held in, what was for me, about two years.

"If you wanted to kill me then you'd have done it by now if you were smart." I stated, recalling battles where you could be killed by the presence of your enemy alone if you overestimated your own ability "Whether you want to hear it I am sorry for what happened and I was not in control and whether you care to know or not I refuse to let it happen again."

I released the dagger and turned away, continuing my ongoing limp away from the area. "If you actually want to kill me instead of simply releasing frustration," I advised "Attack me with intent to kill. I'm too experienced for you to half-ass it, whether you want to acknowledge me or not." I thought I'd silenced her with what I'd said, or ideally placated her against starting a fight. I heard speaking behind me but instead set my focus towards getting back to my car – at least nobody who held anything against me would show up there, if they even knew I had a car or that it was so close to the camp.

As quickly as I thought I had ended the situation – and crossed the clearing away from most of the campers – I realised I hadn't. The hissing incorporeal voice dispelled all thoughts the moment it appeared, shocking me as I clutched my head as if to repel the foreign voice (my head was a no go for any incorporeal voices other than Zangetsu, rule number one of Ichigo's mind).

"Five shall go west to the goddess in chains,

One shall be lost in the land without rain,

The bane of Olympus shows the trail,

Campers and Hunters combined prevail,

The Titan's curse must one withstand,

And one shall perish by a parent's hand."

The invading presence disappeared the moment the obscure poem finished. I didn't have a damn clue what the voice belonged to that invaded my mind, but anything I'd heard so far as to why a certain God disliked me indicated one thing.

So those were what those prophecies were I'd been told I was apparently good at breaking.


A Protector Until The End


"When you counter, you don't let them cut you. When you protect someone, you don't let them die. When you attack, you kill." I recalled aloud, uncaring of if anyone was around to hear me. Why I'd gone to recalling Kisuke's words during training I wasn't sure – perhaps as a comfort of recalling something I'd lived by for so long.

I wasn't sure how long I'd been sitting in the car – long enough for it to get dark – but after fixing the bandages left unfinished due to my abrupt departure from the site of the Capture the Flag game I'd been left alone with my thoughts, and honestly after what had happened that was probably the most beneficial thing of all.

Re-evaluating, that's what it was – something I'd probably picked up when I no longer had life threatening battles every other week was looking back and recalling every detail I could on all the battles I'd fought. I'd recall every mistake or misstep I'd made and tell myself that if ever given the opportunity to fight battles like that again I wouldn't make those mistakes and nobody would suffer because of any I did make.

Except now I'd made a mistake and harmed people who didn't deserve it in a game that was meant to be a sport. Recalling Kisuke's lessons once more I came to the conclusion, after what was probably an hour, that it was my mindset.

Every battle I fought before today had always been simple – none where I'd have to hold back because my enemy would never show me the same mercy under any circumstances. I had the mindset of someone who'd experienced their battles against people where these Campers – and most likely the Hunters were the same – who were trained to fight monsters, not people.

They were as I was before Kisuke had trained me – they held back against other people for fear of killing where I went full force unless given reason otherwise, or maybe it was just they had better experience holding back against human opponents where I'd otherwise have to force myself to or limit my own strength. I'd laughed at this thought – I'd never thought the training I'd received from Kisuke was ever a problem or hindrance until now, far too late to amend the damage done. I might've been trained by him, but I definitely hadn't learned any of his vast intelligence – a rather traitorous part of my brain decided.

I groaned – these thoughts were pointless. They wouldn't lead me to some great discovery just thinking about mistakes and the reasons behind them – the same conclusion I usually had when recalling my other past battles, too.

It wasn't like I had much else to think on either – even after finding the Di Angelo siblings, my only apparent lead towards my answer; I was left with no clue where to go next or what to do. The prophecy I'd heard earlier didn't concern me or my answers at all – probably a link to whatever reason Apollo disliked me, maybe that I was truly unpredictable to them. The only real things I could garner from the prophecy were the obvious – some goddess in trouble, Campers and Hunters had to rescue her and the two blatantly obvious lines that could've only been more explicit if it dropped two named death certificates in the hands of all who heard it.

I didn't remember much mythology but for some reason the depressiveness of knowing people would die didn't seem unusual compared to the other thoughts since I'd been dragged into this apparent other-world to the one I was accustomed to.

"Drachma for your thoughts?" a familiar voice asked.

I still wasn't sure what to think in the grand scheme of things – the things said by the Manticore had pertained to me as much as it had the others, as if yet another bastard with a god complex wanted me in on his scheme. And then there was the other situation I couldn't make heads or tails of – one currently rapping her knuckles against the side of my head.

My hand shot out to knock away the tapping fist before I shot her a dry look "Really?" I deadpanned.

She shrugged noncommittally "You were zoned out again," she stopped to look at the car before returning her gaze to me "that can't seriously be comfortable for you." She stated, commenting on my position sitting in the driver's seat of the car with the door wide open, my legs crossed in front of me in a familiar meditative position, almost like Jinzen if I was even able to enter my inner world anymore. What she was referring to however was that due to the limited space in the front seat of the car my folded legs instead were semi-folded due to the steering wheel being in the way, making it look as if I was sitting weirdly with no apparent reason.

I removed myself from the apparent awkward sitting position before replacing myself in the passenger seat, beckoning Thalia to sit in the driver's seat I'd previously occupied ( we never really had short conversations, so we may as well have gotten comfortable first). "Meditation helps me think" I replied.

"Didn't really look like meditation to me," she replied, smirking before she continued "But then again, you do always have to do everything in some form that goes against what's seen as normal."

"Or maybe you just don't know what actual meditation looks like," I retorted, slipping back into casual bantering.

"Not that, I know that much." She replied before the smile on her face contorted towards concern "Are you okay? That was really dumb, what you did before" so the bantering was definitely over, make way for the meaningful conversations or something to that extent, yay.

It was clear there were two ways this conversation could go (technically three, but I wasn't going to lie anymore) so I went with option two, straight to the point instead of skirting around the subject. "I was never trained to fight in sport or anything like that," I began "The way I was trained was pretty simple, whether it's a monster you're fighting or a person you attack with intent to kill because if you don't you're already dead." I sighed, it was by far the bluntest way I could put it but I felt Thalia didn't deserve more skirting around the subject or lying after what had happened.

The silence didn't give any reassurance to what her reaction was to my honesty, and it was only after what felt much longer than what was probably only a couple of minutes did reassurance come in the form of her hand gripping mine, not so tight as to cause harm to the wound where I'd decided to grab Nightshade's dagger that I'd absentmindedly bandaged after losing myself in thought on returning to the car.

"If you being honest about what you've been through is that intense I should feel worse about trying to pressure you into telling me." Her voice had lowered, probably without her even realising, as she spoke. Maybe I'd expected to be told that the mindset I possessed would be that of someone who would kill without remorse or some other such being considered unforgiveable, yet instead she was the one who looked down in guilt.

I gripped her hand in my own, wondering how talking like this and being honest and confiding in each other suddenly became so normal in such little time, a total enigma in my mind. "You don't feel as bad as you think you should because you want to be able to see the pieces," I said, beckoned to continue when she raised her head to look at me questioningly "Back then we told each other everything because we relied on one another, remember? You can tell that I," I hesitated, puzzling in my mind for the simplest way to define myself "that I'm broken, in a way. Parts of me you knew and keep trying to see are shattered into unrecognisable pieces that you want to see, to recognise better the 'me' that you knew back then."

Thalia relaxed back into the seat, taking in the concept of what I'd said before replying "I kind of understand what you're saying, but I don't think you're very good at analogies or explanations or being supportive while trying to do the other two".

I shrugged "What I mean is you keep wanting to know because you care" I explained. It was at least uplifting to see parallels between what I remembered of the past and what was now, we still supported each other…

She questioned "Then why didn't you start with that?" and we still had our own weird brand of conversations.

Seeing the apparent need for a new topic Thalia said "Nightshade calmed down after you left and despite having ravaged that section of the forest worse than a pile of landmines none of the Hunters were in critical conditions, they were unconscious and between Chiron and the Apollo cabin their wounds should be gone within a few days at most."

At mention of that a tension I didn't know I'd been feeling released "That's good to hear. I overestimated my own ability and when things got too tough instincts took over and it went too far."

"You don't need to worry about it, they'll be fine. At this point after all you've said I'm not sure if it's surprising or not that you managed to take on several Hunters at once, even if they held back to avoid causing serious damage." She responded, a light smile returning to her face. Of course, the way she'd stated that definitely rang against my more… competitive side.

"You just don't wanna admit I might actually be a decent fighter, do you?" I deadpanned, looking for any indication or faltering in her expression.

"No, I'd never go that far," she mocked, she was definitely mocking me now "I'm just saying for you to last as long as you did they must've held back more than they would against others." Oh, now it was on.

"Sure," I replied "Because Nightshade runs through a treeline blindly and gets clotheslined by me because she was holding back." I retorted, sarcasm evidently lacing my tone.

"Maybe that just makes her more of an idiot for underestimating you." Thalia replied – evidently I was kinda surprised, seeing is that almost sounded like a backhanded compliment, though the subject of Nightshade brought another question to mind.

"You guys didn't try to kill each other on my account after I left, right?" I questioned, hoping I'd receive the ideal (but unlikely seeing as it was Thalia) answer of 'No'.

"No," Okay, I'm pretty sure I took the term 'colour me surprised' literally seeing as Thalia followed her statement with a look at my response but instead of commenting sighed in exasperation (how I was the exasperating one here I wouldn't understand), and instead continued "The Oracle showing up sort of… killed the tension."

I didn't miss the hesitation that came immediately after she mentioned 'The Oracle' and drawing a line between two sometimes associated words, such as 'Oracles' and 'Prophecies' spawned my response "That's what you came to talk about, right? That prophecy."

Thalia lamented "So onto the serious part of the conversation it is then" she sighed "To give the briefest explanation prophecies lead to quests being issued, sending a number of campers as heroes to complete it."

Jeez, my ability to draw lines between two points must've been on point today "And you're one of the five?"

She nodded "It's going to be me, Grover, Nightshade, Bianca Di Angelo and that Hunter that looked ready to kill someone with a basketball." I felt my eyebrows rise at Bianca's name.

My surprise quickly turned into deadpan when I processed how unbelievably idiotic that sounded "They're sending a kid who's been a Hunter for all of about two and a half days on a quest."

Thalia shrugged "It happens, plus Nightshade was the one to choose which Hunters would accompany her royal pain in the ass. If it counts, Water Boy had his first quest not long after he first came to camp, too." That probably settled my nerves by the equivalent of a few inches, I guess.

"I thought he'd be going with you if I'm honest" Thalia was in the same group with Percy and Grover back at Westover, so it made more sense in my mind to send someone like Percy with experience over someone with no experience or training like Bianca.

Another shrug and a mildly annoyed look from Thalia "Nightshade is pretty much the poster girl, or the mouth behind the megaphone, for the 'No Boys' club," Thalia saw my eyebrow rise in response and guessed what I'd have said "Grover's a Satyr, technically doesn't count as male."

I took a minute to take in what I'd been told before settling back into my seat with a sigh "And I suppose this is you telling me it's safer that I stay put at camp while you go on this quest?"

Thalia nodded, holding a guilty gaze as she did "Thorn said his masters had some kind of interest in you, and that puts you in danger outside of camp. Sorry, Chiron's orders." Her gaze rose again and she smiled "Plus, your concern over Bianca is to do with her brother getting left behind, so at least if you're still here he has someone to keep him company." I knew Thalia was trying to make me less put out about being told to stay put, especially when neither of us had mentioned the prophesised deaths that would occur on this quest, but it didn't help that the so-called unbreakable prophecy dictated two deaths would occur while two of my friends and Nico's only family was on this quest.

I dropped the subject, starting an argument with Thalia on this would mean nothing especially considering my only two arguments were not wanting them to go because people would die or telling them to let me join them when I wasn't one of them. Instead I opened the car door and stepped out once more into the frigid winter air "Well then I guess we should get back there, I'm guessing the psycho chicken ladies come out soon?"

Thalia chuckled, stepping out of the Beetle and shutting the door "You're still gonna call them that no matter how many times I tell you they're called Harpies, aren't you?"

I smirked "I call 'em how I see 'em."

Her smirk matched mine "Fine then 'In sore need of a haircut'; let's get back to Camp before the Psycho chicken ladies show up."

We ventured back through the trees in relative silence to camp, and I was left to listen to the subtle but varied sounds of the nature around us. It would've been peaceful if I wasn't already hatching a plan to break every rule I'd been told thus far. No, I wasn't breaking them, I just hadn't been told of any consequences if I didn't adhere to them, so I wasn't so much breaking them as I was bending them into figures of eight.

"Stop a second," Thalia said as we reached the crest of the hill, Long Island Sound's bay glimmering in the moonlight despite the frigid fog and air.

"What's up?" I asked, confused at her suddenly halting us. I swore to any of the gods I actually knew the names of if she was gonna turn us around because she dropped something in my car there would be Hell to pay.

Thalia's eyes seemed brighter in the contrasting darkness around us, as her gaze flickered towards the pine tree and then back to me "Ichigo, if I-." I cut her off by striding past her. As quickly as her mind caught up to the situation she turned, jogging the distance to catch up before grabbing my arm "I need you to listen, if I or any of us-." I turned to her, which was more than I'd done since that train of thought started in her mind and left her mouth.

"Shut up." I stated.

Thalia's expression turned to surprise and I spoke again "Sounds like I have more faith in your abilities than you do if I'm honest. I still owe you answers so if you want them you'll have to come back. Bianca still has her brother, whether she leaves him or not, so she'll have to come back for him. Grover is Percy's best friend so he'll have to come back. Nightshade still leads the Hunters so she'll have to come back." My words halted for a second when I realised I couldn't exactly cover all the ones on the quest "If that other Hunter wants to threaten any more campers with basketballs she'll have to come back."

Thalia smiled at me "Optimism doesn't suit you," she jabbed.

"Too much smiling and people will start thinking that punk stereotype you dress to doesn't suit you." I replied.

"While this is definitely fun we've probably got only a few minutes before the Harpies come out," Thalia stated before her gaze away from her watch and back to me "So I guess I'll see you in a few days or something like that." She turned on her heel and walked back towards the cabins, turning once to say "Stop smiling, the universe will probably implode if you start holding more than two expressions regularly."

I raised a hand to wave at her retreating form "See you later then."

Unfortunately my definition of later was much shorter than hers would be.


A Protector Until The End


I was not, nor had I ever been, a morning person. The only reprieve I had was that I hadn't woken up instinctually trying to throttle in retaliation to whatever non-existent attack from my father I'd expected.

In hindsight I'm pretty sure my luck ended there, because of course it wouldn't be as simple as leaving the Big House through the front door without raising suspicion as I'd wanted to. Whatever possessions I had within the camp had been roughly jammed into a camp backpack (a ridiculously priced one from the camp store with the initials 'CHB' stitched into the black material. I'd crept a third of the way down the stairs before the voices reached me, prevalent among them those belonging to Chiron and Nightshade (or most likely the first person most likely to reprimand me for what I was about to do accompanied by the second most likely to kill me for it). Unfortunately there was no way to get to the front door and exit the Big House without crossing past the lounge, where the voices emanated in the direction of.

So I did the nest most logical thing, I jumped out the window of the room I'd been staying in, landing roughly on the grass next to the house. I ignored the blunt shock to my legs, realising why it was always advised to crouch when landing, before heading towards the arena. The biggest flaw in my plan was that it relied on getting to the training area first to retrieve a new weapon after vaporising my previous one.

Sadly, that wasn't the end of my attempts at remaining undetected that went sideways. I realised life was so much easier when you were trying to sneak around enemies you could take down instead of trying to sneak around allies, which in itself was a realisation that came when I dove to the side around the arena after freezing when I saw one of the demon chickens and I must've trod on something because it perked up and turned my way as quickly as I could dive out of its sightline with a screech of "Dinner!" which attracted two of its cluck-assed siblings to hover (the weird creatures did not seem aerodynamic enough for actual flight) around the arena, trying to sniff out their non-existent meal.

There went any chances of me grabbing a weapon to go on a life threatening 'Quest'. It seemed I'd be following them on this quest as armed as I was when we first met at Westover, nothing more than my Fullbring and my experience.

With that objective crossed off my list, I made for the edge of Camp. At least nothing on the way there tried to kill me.

This led to me musing, as I crossed through the forest towards my car, how other teenagers would have thoughts of relief on getting good grades in school or getting their first real jobs where I instead was relieved that nothing had attempted to murder me by this point in the day.

They just had life easier than me I guess, though I doubt they'd see it the same way unless they knew all the crap I'd been put through.

When I reached the car I was quick to open the door and discard my backpack into the backseat, unsurprised at the grunt that came from the 'blanket' it landed on as I put the keys in the ignition, shutting the door with as much force as when I'd opened it. I'd seen the black van at the edge of the forest and it parked closer to the camp borders than the Beetle, so I doubted I'd have too long before they departed if they hadn't already so I'd have to be quick to get on their tail.

While the engine took its inconveniently long time to start I leaned back into my seat and turned to send a dry look at the backseat "Are you sure you want to come, Nico?" the blanket made a surprised noise and the ten year old popped up, looking extremely guilty or apologetic, like a toddler caught with their hand in the cookie jar.

The boy had wrapped himself up in layers befitting the cold, and without the blanket I could see he'd also thought to bring along his weapon and was wearing the armour from Capture the Flag under his coat. Under my gaze he responded "I know I shouldn't have come or I should've asked you first but the doors were unlocked and- "

"I said are you sure you want to come?" I responded, accompanied with a dry look. I figured if he shared the same impulsiveness Percy and Thalia had combined with his sister being his only family… well to be honest I'd expected to run into him earlier while I was crossing camp.

I wasn't going to deny his right to look out for his sister. Whether he was young or not his only family was leaving him on a quest where people could die so if he wanted to go I wasn't necessarily convincing him to do it, I just wasn't stopping him.

Nico looked surprised, like he hadn't expected me to let him come along… though under different circumstances I doubt I would've anyway, I just knew I'd trained him enough to look out for himself and it wasn't exactly like they were letting me join them on the quest anyway. Plus, this way around I'd still be looking out for Nico like I said I would… I just wouldn't be doing it within camp borders.

His surprise quickly fell away and he nodded eagerly. "Okay, but ground rules," I began (I'm not sure if I heard him groan or a voice inside myself groan at how adult I sounded saying this) "Stay close to me and do whatever I say. We're facing real danger here, not a game. I need you to promise me that, okay?" Don't think I wasn't taking this seriously, I knew what I was facing and how bad it could turn out in bringing Nico along, but from what I'd heard Percy had his first quest at twelve and Nico was just ten. As well as that there was just this gut feeling I had that agreed to let him come with me, and those instincts had saved my life before.

He nodded and I turned back towards the road "Well then strap in, we're in for a bumpy ride." Which was mostly due to the fact I had to get the car back onto open road, we'd have to go quickly to catch up to the van and because the busted old Beetle had a million and one problems that would leave me unsurprised if it turned into a moment from one of those kid's cartoons where the entire car falls apart and leaves the character skidding along the road in a chair.

Well, at least it wouldn't get boring.


That felt like a good cut off point, so next time we progress further through Titan's Curse. I'm not sure what people will think about Ichigo taking Nico along, but it's a little thing that might span to have greater effects later on in the story.

The next chapter might take a while longer to be honest. I've neglected updating To Shatter Fate for too long so I want to at least get some of the next chapter done for that before coming back to this (yeah, I haven't even started writing the next chapter for that yet, sorry TSF readers).

No guest reviews from that last chapter, so nothing for me to respond to on that point.

Anyway, here's the update people have waited for, I hope you enjoyed it and I hope you'll be patient with me in the time it takes to bring you lovely people the next one.

See ya next time :D