I'm getting to the climax of my story- I promise, there is a plot somewhere in there. I lost my laptop charger so couldn't write for a while, sorry! Thanks for reading and for all the emails I found in my inbox today!
"Nice timing as always Nico. But what the Hades are you doing here?"
Instead of a response, Nico suddenly clutched his stomach. Danny could see the kid- Nico, he reminded himself- cringing slightly as Percy removed Nico's hand and checked him over. A small gash was leaking blood onto Nico's clothing.
"Freaking owl must've gotten me after all. Crap," Nico looked down at himself. "This was my favorite shirt, too. Ambrosia?" He looked hopefully at Percy, who sighed as he pulled a ziplock baggie out of his pocket and handed what looked like a lemon bar to Nico. As much as Danny liked sugar, how was this going to help the situation?
The stuff seemed to heal Nico immensely, as he visibly relaxed and wiped the rest of the blood off with his sleeve. When Danny looked at Nico's stomach again, the gash had pretty much disappeared. What the-?
"You okay?" Percy asked, obviously still concerned. Nico nodded and managed a smile.
"You're welcome for saving your podex, by the way," He smirked. "Gods, being half-dead totally sucks."
Danny looked up with a start. Was Nico like him? How was that even possible? His mind raced a mile a minute as Percy nodded, smirking along with Nico.
Were they both Halfas? No way, Danny thought to himself. Not even my luck could be that bad.
"-And don't think I've forgotten about you." Danny was jolted back to reality and found Nico's dark eyes boring into his green ones. "Who in the name of Olympus are you?"
"Danny," he replied, sticking his hand out somewhat awkwardly. "Danny Phantom." Nico's eyes grew wide and he somewhat reluctantly shook the ghost's hand. Danny was shocked to discover Nico's hand was just as cold as his own.
"Wait, no way. You're Danny Phantom? Like, The Danny Phantom? Di Immortales, Perce, even you don't normally have luck this bad," Percy merely looked confused as Nico shot a glance his way.
"Excuse me? Have we, uh, met somewhere?" Danny asked tentatively. Nico laughed, sounding like a normal thirteen-or-fourteen-year-old for the first time.
"No, but my Dad's pretty pissed about you and all your... issues. He was telling me the other day that he just might kill the other half of you and be done with the whole thing." Nico was incredibly nonchalant about it, as if discussing the weather or the best place to get a cheeseburger. Danny, on the other hand, was flabbergasted for about the zillionth time today. This kid couldn't possibly know about him, right? Even if he was a Halfa- the likelihood of which was becoming stronger and stronger in Danny's mind.
"The other half... what're you talking about Nico?" Percy asked, still obviously confused. At least there was a little relief- Percy was obviously normal and still oblivious. Thank God for that.
"It's not really my place- and I'm sure you'll find out eventually, anyways." He turned back to Danny. "I'm Nico di Angelo, by the way."
"Erm, pleased to meet you, I guess," Danny replied. He had a sneaking suspicion that he definitely wanted to stay on Nico's good side. The only response he received was a curt nod.
"Uh, not that I'm not grateful and all, but why are you in Amity in the first place?" Percy ended the extremely awkward conversation.
"I was getting to that," Nico shot back. "Dad's sent me on another mission." He said it with deadly seriousness, like he was singlehandedly saving the world and need not be distracted from his task.
"So Death Breath Errand Boy returns?" joked Percy with a hint of amusement. His smirk was quickly replaced with a look of mock-seriousness when Nico shot an obvious death glare at Percy. "Right, then. Carry on."
"As I was saying, apparently Amity Park is a hotspot for ghosts escaping back into the mortal world. Some, like Danny, are helpful and don't go around causing trouble. But there're a lot that need to be sent back to the Underworld."
"The Underworld?" Danny couldn't help but ask. "I thought all ghosts lived in the Ghost Zone."
"The Ghost Zone? Never heard of that one..." Percy muttered.
"Hades has a lot of layers, I guess. The Ghost Zone must be one of them..." Nico said uneasily. "Ghost Zone, where have I heard that before?"
"I don't really know that much about it," Danny said. "But it's kind of like an alternate world, mirroring this one- except it's for ghosts."
"Do you know anywhere we could get more information? Maybe even an entrance to the infamous Ghost Zone?" Nico asked.
"Hey, I have an idea. I'm staying with my step-cousin, Danny, and his parents are big-shot ghost hunters. I bet they know a ton about it. Mr. Fenton was blabbering on and on about ghosts all through dinner last night, and we could IM Annabeth and Chiron, too," Percy said. "Just let me go find Danny..."
"Oh, well, um, I gotta go! Places to be, ghosts to catch, you know how it is. I'll, ehrm, see you guys around!" Danny said suddenly. Turning invisible and intangible, he flew outside to where all the students were gathered, calling their parents to come pick them up early and dashed to the alley behind the cafeteria. With a quick glance to make sure no one was around, he changed back and Danny Fenton ran back to the rest of the school body just in time.
He saw Percy and Nico walking out of the auditorium, swords now mysteriously gone. He went back over their conversation in his head. Nico said he was half-dead, and where did the swords come from... or go to? Then there was that lemon bar that totally healed Nico, and all their talk- like they dealt with ghosts and monsters every day.
Where did Nico even come from? Danny wondered suddenly. He'd just shown up at the precise moment to kill the owl, like he'd Apparated or flew or something. That's impossible, Danny thought, but for some reason, he couldn't convince himself. As he saw Percy, Nico in tow, walking towards him, he was sure of it.
Percy was hiding something. And Danny was going to find out what it was.
I had a hard time with this one so I'd really appreciate some feedback. Thanks!