AN: Oh jeez. Did I really not update for almost four months? It seems so. Now, I have a whole list of reasons for my absence that I thought of throughout that four months, but I won't burden you with the agony of reading such miserable excuses. Instead, I'll give you the next chapter. Feast your eyes…
(Okay, that was weird, but it amuses me so to talk like that. I really have no idea why….moving on…)
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"Oof!" The kid yelped as he landed on the ground – painfully it seemed.
"Nico?" Percy and Annabeth said together, disbelief evident on their face.
"'Sup?" Nico, apparently, mumbled as he shakily stood up. He stumbled over to us and reached into his pocket. Pulling some squashed cake-like things out of a plastic bag, he nibbled one and stood up a little straighter. I took in his appearance.
He was about Sadie's age, with really long (nearly to his shoulders), messy black hair. He seemed kind of sickly, judging by his pale skin and skinniness. He wore all black: an aviators jacket and skinny jeans that were both baggy on him, topped all of with combat boots, kind of like Sadie's. He reminded me a little of Anubis's human appearance. Vaguely.
After eating the weird food, the kid seemed a little more energized, but still ready to drop.
"What are you doing here?" Percy asked, supporting Nico when he stumbled into him.
"Visited camp," Nico yawned. "Chiron told me to look for you guys."
"And you knew we were here?" Annabeth asked skeptically.
"Nah. Just a coincidence that you guys happened to be here," Nico said sleepily. "Chiron didn't tell me much. Why was he looking for you?"
Percy and Annabeth looked at us, and then back at Nico, whose eyes were drooping.
"Why don't we take you to my place and we'll tell you after you're rested?" Percy suggested, already grabbing Nico's arm and hoisting him up.
"Cool," Nico mumbled, head drooping. He fell asleep before we had gone twenty feet.
-:-
"So who is he?" Sadie asked as we walked to Percy's house (we couldn't take a cab, seeing as we were carrying a body).
"This is Nico di Angelo, son of Hades," Percy replied. Sadie and I stared at him blankly.
"God of the dead and the Underworld," Annabeth elaborated, and we nodded in understanding. That might explain why he had such a gothic appearance.
"How did he just come out of the shadows like that?" I questioned, as long we were on the topic. It obviously wasn't by portal and didn't look like Duat travel, either. And then there's the fact that the Greeks don't really know how to do that . . . [Shut up!]
"That's called Shadow Travel," Percy answered, shifting his hold on Nico. "Children of the Underworld can move from shadow to shadow, but it takes a lot of energy, as you can see," He said, gesturing with his head to Nico's unconscious form. "Plus, it's a little unpredictable."
"Meaning?" Sadie asked, a little exasperated.
"Meaning, he occasionally ends up in China," Percy said without missing a beat, in a matter-of-fact tone.
"Fun," she replied. "I've always wanted to go to China." I rolled my eyes.
Before long, we arrived at Percy's apartment. We got some weird looks in the elevator, but they looked away when Percy sent a look back, one like, What? Never seen some teenagers carrying an unconscious body around? Sheesh. I wondered if he had ever needed to use that look before this. I decided I didn't really wan to know.
We walked down the hallway towards Percy's apartment, and, seeing as he got there first and didn't have any extra hands, Percy banged his head against the door several times, creating a resounding thud.
I winced in sympathy but Percy didn't appear fazed. A moment later the door opened and Sally ushered us in without a word, seemingly unsurprised by the sight that greeted her. Again, I wondered how much she had seen as a demigod parent. Especially as Percy's parent.
Percy dumped Nico unceremoniously on the couch and sally scolded him, picking Nico up and laying him on the couch in a position where Nico's feet weren't by his ears.
"Percy! Be more gentle with your cousin!" I didn't know much about Greek mythology, but I guessed that that meant Poseidon and Hades - Percy's and Nico's fathers, respectively - were brothers.
"He's unconscious, he won't feel a thing," Percy argued. Annabeth rolled her eyes and gestured for us to follow her into the kitchen.
Sadie plopped down on a chair and rested her head in her hands, looking bored. She raised her eyebrows.
"So, what now?" She wondered. We seem to be asking that a lot lately. Annabeth shrugged.
"Well, first off, we wait for Nico to wake up." She looked at us. "We'll probably have to tell him about Egyptians."
I frowned, reluctant to tell some random kid all about us. I was about to voice my thoughts but Sadie cut me off.
"Okay. I don't see any harm," she said to Annabeth, who nodded and left the room, probably to see what was taking Percy so long. I scowled at Sadie and she turned to me.
"Don't look at me like that. Give me one good reason why we shouldn't."
"We hardly know him," I said immediately. "Actually, we don't know him."
Sadie rolled her eyes. "Yes, and we knew Percy and Annabeth for so long before we told them."
"That's different, I saw him defeat the monster," I retorted. "And we knew him for two days."
"We knew Percy for a day," Sadie corrected. "And how long did we know Annabeth?"
"Well, Percy obviously trusted her," I said desperately, knowing it was no use. When Sadie tried, she could actually be pretty intelligent.
[Ow! Why did you hit me?! That was a compliment!]
"And they obviously trust Nico," Sadie said firmly, lifting her chin defiantly. I sighed and stuck my tongue out at her. She smirked triumphantly.
"It's good to know you have some sense in that noggin of yours," She said, patting me on the head like a dog. I scowled and snapped at her hand, missing it by a couple of inches.
[Sadie, that's not an accomplishment. Did you think I was actually trying to bite your hand?]
"Nico should wake up soon," Percy announced as the demigods came back in the room. "Although, that mostly depends on if he feels like it. He tends to sleep like the dead, no pun intended."
While Percy chuckled at himself, Sadie and I stared at him and Annabeth punched him in the arm, rolling her eyes. Percy just stuck his tongue out, not wincing. Annabeth stared challengingly back and Percy backed off like a dog with it's tail between it's legs. When he turned to the fridge, Annabeth shook her hand, mouthing curses inaudibly. Sadie and I grinned at each other.
We talked about random stuff for a while, seemingly trying to distract ourselves from our problems for a little while. But it wasn't too long before Sadie couldn't stand our clueless – and kind of awkward – talk about sports and other pointless topics.
"So what's the deal with Nico?" She asked, making it seem like she was asking for the latest gossip, not the most likely angst-y backstory of a half-deity. I mentally rolled my eyes at her bluntness, but didn't stop her. I was kind of curious myself.
"Well, he's a son of Hades, as we said," Percy said slowly, looking carefully at Sadie. "What else do you mean?"
Sadie shrugged. "Well, he said he 'visited camp.' I was under the impression that demigods went to camp and didn't come and go."
I was surprised she picked that up; even I didn't notice that.
"Well, it depends," Percy said. "Some demigods only stay for the summer, while others stay year long."
Annabeth nodded. "That was what I used to do; I didn't start leaving over the school year until a couple years ago." She grimaced: half-ruefully, half-reminiscently.
"Right," Sadie said, obviously noting Annabeth's reaction and making note to come back to it later. "But who just 'visits' camp? I mean, if they haven't found a couple Egyptian magicians, of course."
Percy looked at Annabeth looked at Annabeth, then back at us, a little uncomfortable. "Well, Nico's kind of a special case-"
"And by that, he means most people are creeped out by him," Annabeth interrupted. She grinned at him. "Thought I'd cut to the chase."
Percy rolled his eyes. "It's not just him, though, it's children of Hades in general. Although he's the only one, now that-" Percy frowned, cutting himself off. I raised my eyebrows, wondering what he almost let slip. He shook his head. "But, anyway, it's just 'cause children of the Underworld tend to have and aura of death that just keeps people from getting close to them."
"It doesn't matter if they're the most cheerful person in the world," Annabeth added. "Although I suppose that might help a little bit . . . But once their powers develop, people have a natural reaction to stay away. It's like they smell of death. And the fact that most of them end up not exactly right in the end doesn't exactly help their case."
Percy nodded in agreement. "And I know for a fact that Nico spends more time with the dead than the living."
I shared an uneasy glance with Sadie. This Nico kid was starting to seem creepier and creepier.
"So the other demigods at camp just kicked him out? Then why does he visit?" I asked, my curiosity piqued despite my wariness.
Annabeth shook her head. "Nobody kicked him out; he even has his own cabin. No, nobody directly says that they don't like him, but they obviously avoid him. Nico knows he's unwanted and would rather be with the dead, anyway, from what he says."
"Chiron encourages him to stay, but can't really control where he goes, besides asking for a few visits every once in a while. And he visits me and Annabeth occasionally because we're really the only ones that treat him like a living person. Besides, we've had some close calls together in the past…" Percy smiled grimly, making me wonder about those 'close calls.'
There was a brief moment of silence before Annabeth sighed and shook her head. "It's actually really stupid how they judge him just because of his father. I didn't see them complaining all of their butts last summer . . ."
I looked at her interestedly, thinking that she might elaborate, but she didn't offer up any more information.
Sadie looked like she was itching to ask something else, but before she could, a yowl outside the window interrupted her.
AN: Oh man. Another cliffhanger (I think?) But hopefully it won't take me this long to write the next chapter.
*FAIRLY IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S NOTE RIGHT BENEATH THIS. PLEASE READ. OR DON'T. IT'S COOL EITHER WAY.*
Ok, so I have to say something…Some of you might not like it…I'm sorry :( Buuuuut, I'm not sure if I'm gonna be focusing on this story much. I have a little more planned, but I was stupid and an incompetent planner when I started this, so I kind of wrote myself into a corner. Now, that doesn't mean it's on hiatus or that I'm giving it up, but it's just not going to be my main focus. What is my main focus going to be, you may (unlikely) ask? Well, to be honest, I'm not really sure. Yes, I still love writing, but I'm just not as into writing continued stories as one-shots. I mean, you have to plan. Never been my strong suit -.-
So, to be clear, I'M NOT GIVING UP ON THIS STORY. I'm just not focusing more on it. Not entirely sure what that will mean, as "focusing" on it meant I update four months later, but whatever. Hopefully you guys generally get what I mean…?
Oh, and for those of you reading my Mark of Athena story, I'm sorry for that too! But I should be updating generally soon….hopefully…
~Please no spoilers for the Mark of Athena in the reviews! I'm not finished with it yet; I have like less than 50 pages….I'm ashamed that it's taken me this long….*hangs head in shame*~
*RANDOM RANTING THAT YOU PROBABLY WON'T READ AND DON'T REALLY NEED TO. WHATEVER FLOATS YOUR BOAT, MAN.*
So here's is where I'm gonna say some of the excuses that I compiled over the weeks. I feel like it's a tradition to give lousy reasons that are kind of stupid :D
Laziness. Major one, I'm sorry to say :(
Writer's block. HORRIBLE. D:
Obsession with other internet sites. I can't even tell you how much time I spend on the internet now. *shakes head*
Reading other books. OHMIGOSH! I've found so many awesome books! *sigh* They're so beautiful…
Goodreads. 'Nuff said. (Okay, not really. This could fit in the internet obsession, but I'm just in love with Goodreads now .)
FictionPress. Okay, this one not really, 'cause I got one like three days ago, but I just wanted to put that one here :) I haven't published anything on it yet, but I have some things I want to :)
Homeword/School. Gah, I'm so busy with school! I won't get into anything 'cause this would end up a lot longer….
Music. I swear I'm listening to/playing music 24/7 now. Okay, not literally, but I do love music :)
My need for ranting to anonymous people on the internet has diminished for now,