Chapter 10

Nico found me sitting in a tree in the middle of the woods, staring up at the sky, in the middle of the night.

"Sorry 'bout your nose," I remarked to him, breaking the song of the crickets and frogs.

"I don't think I'll be underestimating you again. Percy told me about the pictures."

I shuddered when I remembered the battle and my family intertwined. My face when I fought Nyx, furious and feral, compared to my face now was like I was bipolar or something.

"I don't think I'm a half-blood," I said suddenly after a long silence. I was pretty sure that Nico was looking at me like I was nuts.

Turns out, I was right. "You were claimed. Not much clearer sign than that," Nico said, sounding faintly incredulous.

"No," I insisted. "It doesn't add up. One, it's my dad that I don't know. I only have dyslexia, not ADHD. I talked with Athena, she called me mortal."

"Then what about your weird aura?" Nico asked. "And when did you talk with Athena?"

"Friday night," I mumbled.

"Right before you beat Percy and Annabeth," Nico said. "You were blessed?"

"I have some fate that I'm probably gonna die from, apparently. Athena acted like it was going to be worse than Percy's fate. Personally, I think that's impossible," I told him. "And apparently, it wasn't just Athena. It was her rival, too. Whatever it is, its got to be pretty bad if two long-time-rivals got together and blessed a clear-sighted mortal. I'm thinking that it might involve Percy and Annabeth as well. Athena told me that I wouldn't stay in the Hermes cabin forever. Direct quote, "It will resolve itself." Styx claiming me probably was a diversion to the rest of the camp so that they wouldn't figure out I was mortal, just a weirder-than-usual demigod. But really, it isn't the first time a forbidden kid has been sent to camp. Right now, I'm so confused it isn't funny."

I leaned my head back and it thumped against the trunk of the tree I was sitting in. Nico was silent for a long while, digesting that long rant.

"You sound like an Athena kid, that's for sure."

I barked out a laugh. "I just told you I'm not a demigod of the River Styx, that I'm a fake, that two rivals got together and blessed a random kid, that I'm apparently going to have an impossible fate, and that's all you have to say to that?!"

Through the darkness, I saw Nico's shoulders shaking with laughter as he shrugged. "Blame the ADHD."

I laughed a little. "Percy told me what kid-you was like, once."

Nico covered his face in his hands. "Shut up! Just shut up!" He was probably blushing really badly.

"Your face looks like my old room," I snickered. "Crimson red," I clarified.

"Shut up, Luana!"

"Never! By the way, I proved you wrong. Percy can't surf all that well," I said, grinning.

"Really?"

"Naw, Percy can surf without a board and is the most graceful person on the planet," I said, my voice dripping with sarcasm.

"You haven't seen him when he's mad," Nico warned. "You should've seen him in Rome. Saved my sorry butt. Him and Jason and Piper. Either I was really out of it, or he looked like he was doing ballet."

I snorted. "You obviously haven't seen him when I'm waking him up. He woke up, stood up, turned around towards the bathroom, and fell over his bed. When he came out, he tripped over a trashcan that wasn't even in the direct path. I don't even know how he tripped over it. He's done several face-plants since I came."

By now Nico was practically falling over and his face was red for an entirely different reason. I was laughing all the way through that little dissertation.

"And some of the places that Annabeth climbs to when facing down a spider," I shook my head. "A ceiling fan, once. She really scared me that time."

Now Nico looked incredulous. "How did she get on a ceiling fan?"

I shook my head. "I don't know. She might've climbed a bunk bed and scrambled onto the fan. But I honestly don't know."

"Why didn't she swear you to secrecy?" Nico said suspiciously.

I grinned at him. "I picked up quite a few tricks from the Stolls on how to stay hidden."

Nico groaned. "It's bad enough with them, we don't need you, too!"

I shrugged. "Get over it."

He snorted. "Can't. Not when they painted my cabin pink."

"Ick!" I covered my face. "Red, yes. Pink, NO! What did you do to them?" I asked curiously.

"Set Mrs. O'Leary on them. Rather funny to watch them run away from the sweetest hellhound that ever lived," Nico grinned.

I whistled. "A son of Hades calling something sweet. Never thought I'd see that!"

"Shut up!"

"Not going to happen!" I sing-songed.

Nico huffed as I laughed at him. The last of the peace for awhile.

On Olympus

Apollo suddenly knelt on the ground, clutching his head. Athena ran over, kneeling beside him, looking at his face. "Apollo?!"

His eyes were glassy and distant. Apollo was muttering something over and over, something Athena couldn't quite catch. "Poseidon! Get over here!"

A brilliant golden light shone next to her, and Poseidon in all his Hawaiian t-shirts glory appeared, in a battle stance. He saw what was going on, and dumped a bucket of water on Apollo's head. Instead of helping, like it had so many times before, Apollo screamed like he'd been burned with hydra blood. Athena jerked away and checked to make sure her ears weren't bleeding.

"PERSEUS JACKSON YOU ARE NOT DYING ON ME!" Apollo screamed in a familiar voice to Athena. She realized it was Luana's voice. Poseidon was ashen.

"No..." Apollo whimpered, seemingly acting out his vision. "Someone get Thalia and a Apollo kid! Annabeth, quit screaming in my ear and do CPR! I don't know the steps!"

Poseidon looked distressed, and Athena was frozen. Annabeth would be inconsolable if that happened to Percy. In a different, much creepier voice, Apollo whispered, "Lightning and death intertwine with the life of the sea." Then, in a different voice, warm but distressed, "Tread carefully. Nyx is still out for you."

"Who was that?" Athena whispered.

Poseidon shook his head, knowing she was questioning the first voice. "I don't know."

HOLY CRAP I AM SO SORRY FOR DISAPPEARING ON YOU FOR SIX MONTHS INSTEAD OF FOUR!

So sorry about that. But seriously, I wasn't planning for it to be this bad.

I will probably update later on today or tomorrow. Again, so sorry.

~Lou

PS-I don't own PJO.