CHAPTER XIII

NICO

"THALIA CALM DOWN, PLEASE." WOULDN'T YOU KNOW, SHE JUST PACED FASTER.

"I don't trust Lucy." She growled,

"Really? I would never have guessed." I mumbled sarcastically.

"What if she's just brought them somewhere where they get killed? What if these Rose and Eliza are monsters! Do you know any dead ghosts or whatever with those names?"

"No." I said bored.

"I'm serious di Angelo!"

"I never said you weren't." I replied calmly.

She growled again. "If they end up being killed and we're just sitting here..."

"Actually you're standing."

"Oh shut up!"

"Thalia," I started calmly. "This is Lucy we're talking about, what has she ever done to you?"

"Have you not seen all the soldiers looking at us oddly."

"Actually it's just you because you constantly bag on their, practically, mother." I mumbled.

"What did you say?"

"Nothing."

She snorted. "You're just as bad as Percy." She rolled her eyes. "Why can't you ever be serious?"

"I can be serious you're just looking at this way out of proportion."

She growled again. "I am not, you know nothing about me, how would you know."

"You know nothing about me, so don't go telling me I'm never serious." It was true. Apart from the quest to the Underworld and when Annabeth disapeared I'd never much talked to Thalia, we practically ignored each other, we'd barely ever spent five minutes with each other. I looked up at the Statue of my brother, Ash, looking proud of who he was, a son of Hades. Looking down at me as if to say: Death rules! Come and join us so we can send you to Tartarus. I shivered he was so similar to my dad, but at the same time, so different. I wish he was here, but he was on a quest for Lucy, I think scouting for old rituals on how to solve the breaking of Jinx's cup. Apparently that had made the matter a hundred times worse.

"It's their signal of power." Ash had said. "It's like taking destorying Hades helm or Poseidon's trident. Without her cup we may never be able to heal her, without her cup this whole thing is useless."

Great, I thought. Another thing slowing us down, another thing that we need to solve everything. How had everything gone so wrong?

Now I really wished Ash was here, and I really didn't like Thalia looking at me like that. As if she was ready to grab her spear and throw it through my skull.

"Fine," She huffed. "Then tell me about yourself."

"What?" I shuffled on my feet, guessing I'd heard her wrong.

"Tell me about yourself." She commanded.

I scowled. "There's nothing to tell. My mom's dead. My sister's dead. My dad barely knows I exist. I'm an outcast. Nothing to tell."

Thalia looked like I'd hit her between the eyes. Then she looked down and leaned against the pilliar of my brother's statue. "My mother died too. She was a drunk, abusive parent, and I blame myself for her death."

I blinked, but I didn't say anything. Thalia didn't seem like the type of girl who would appreciate pity. "I don't remember my mom." I found myself saying.

"Why?"

"Hades made me forget, so I wouldn't have nightmares I guess."

Thalia blinked. "Then he cared for you."

I shrugged. "Yeah, well. The gods have a funny way of showing it."

"They always have."

I fiddled with my skull ring. "What exactly has happened to the Hunters, I see a few of them here occasionally."

Thalia looked around. "Honestly? I think Artemis trusts Lucy, I think she agrees with some of the soldiers, that Lucy should be the new Empress of the gods or somthing."

I nodded. "I've heard some soldiers talking about that, but... you don't agree."

Thalia fiddled with her bracelet. "Honestly... I'm not sure. Everyone says I'm too confident, maybe I'm wrong, but... the thing is the soldiers seemed to find it odd that two children of Zeus were here, I don't think Lucy often invites his children, I'll admit that's made me a bit more skeptical, but she seems so... honest, and she tries so hard to make everyone feel so happy that I'm forcing myself to hate her because I don't want to face everyone if I suddenly changed my mind." She looked up from her bracelet. "Did that make any sense?"

I nodded. "Complete sense."

There was a silence for a minute. Meaningless things to say flittered in my mind to say, because honestly I felt really awkward just standing here, waiting for something to happen, with Thalia standing almost right next to me.

"Have you ever thought about leaving the Hunters?" I found myself asking. I don't know why but I was curious, I guess it had something to do with y sister being in the Hunters.

Thalia seemed stunned but I just looked up at the statue to try to remain casual. "Not really, I don't know if it's even possible, i guess that's why it's such a big deal. besides, it's immortality, who wouldn't want that."

I may have been wrong but her voice didn't seem quite confident this time, but I let it go. "Why did you want to join?"

Thalia looked irritated. "My turn," She said ingnoring the question. "Where did you go when you ran from camp after we found Annabeth?"

I blinked. Of all things to ask I hadn't been expecting that. "Umm, at first I thought about going back to the Lotus Casino, then I found this abandoned ally. I stayed there for gods know how long. A lot of monsters found there way to me, but I guessed fear brought out my powers, I learnt to fight along the way. It wasn't long before Midas showed up." I said.

Thalia was silent for a few seconds before she said. "I'm sorry about Bianca."

I froze. after all these years only Percy had actually apologized. I always thought that maybe I really didn't want their pity, but with Hades not even saying anything, an apology from Thalia, even a simple one, made me feel better.

"Thanks."

She nodded, then got an expression as if she was deciding weather to say something or not before she said: "Luke. Luke made me want to join the Hunters. I wanted a fresh start. Everyone else had moved on, Annabeth, Grover, my mother was dead. And... Luke was gone. I wanted a peaceful life, it was too much to bare watching all the people I thought I knew seemed to have changed before my eyes."

I didn't really know what to say to that so I decided to just stay quiet. Talking just wasn't my strong suit.

"She's back!" Someone yelled. At first I thought it was Lucy then people started screaming.

"Eliza!" Someone shouted.

"I thought she was dead!"

"Wasn't she banished!"

"RUUUUUUUNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!"

"SHUT UP!" Came a new voice that I didn't recognise. It was rough and almost male-like but it was somehow a girls voice.

"Was that Clarisse?" Thalia asked.

"Oh you wish!" Came a voice right behnd me. if I had jumped any higher my head would have cleared Ash's.

Olivia floated into existence. And I really mean floated. Her usual pink petals floated around thalia and I before they formed her body then features.

"I swear, you're as bad as Annabeth with her damn cap!" I grumbled.

"Well, excuse me if I like to see a romance blossom." She flicker her hair. "I am a daughter of Aphrodite after all."

I straight fell over my own feet and Thalia choked on her own spit.

"Romance?" I gawked.

"Did it perhaps accore to you that I'm a Hunter?" Thalia way too sweetly for my comfort.

"Well, I can't resist! It was just too cute when you asked about her thinking about quitting the Hunt Nico."

I slapped my forhead. Why were all Aphrodite like this, you couldn't even escape this in Lucy's soldiers.

Thalia eyed Olivia's dagger then her neck in a way that made me think Uh-oh.

"Who's Eliza?" I asked quickly.

Olivia rolled her eyes. "I'm making a bet on you two. Anyway, Eliza is a daughter of Mars who is not to be trifled with. She's a very, very, very, very, very-"

"GET ON WITH IT!" Thalia and I yelled.

Olivia smiled. "If this isn't a romance then I will never get a soulmate, ohh maybe you two are soulmates-"

"SHUT UP!" We shouted again.

"Okay, sheesh, she's a very old soldier. I think she was the second after Ash, but everyone's scared of her."

"Why?" thalia snorted. "Cause she entertains herself and others by beating up men twice her size with her bare hands!"

Then Olivia was gone.

"One of these day," Thalia threatened. "I'm going to throttle one of these soldiers for just leaving at a freaking climax like that!"

Then she stomped off in a huff. I shook my head. Oh, and she calls the soldiers dramatic!

"Lucy, what happened?" I asked when I got to them, I was the last one there. "Where's Jason?"

Everyone's expression, and I mean everyones, made me think What now?

"Jason was taken by Piper and Jinx!" She told everyone.

If you like Lucy, you'll LOVE Kalika Valdez in

Her Treasuring Smile!

Meet Percy Jackson's sassy, kick ass sister and Leo's loyal, sweet Great, Great Grandmother!

Humour, Friendship, Action, Romance, Loyalty!