Demigod Diaries - Lily XXIV

I still couldn't believe that I had won.

Once I stepped out, I suddenly felt shaken up with nerves. My hands couldn't stop shaking my lips were trembling my knees felt like buckling and my vision was going blurry.

I thought I would collapse before I reached the fountain. It was as if by speaking out, just by going against my shy nature, all my energy had been drained out of me.

I probably would have passed out if I hadn't spotted Nico coming towards me. Something about seeing him gave me a burst of new energy.

He came over with anxious look on his face. "So?" he asked.

I exhaled. "I got the quest. We're going to find Hazel- I mean to get those nuts."

Nick nodded grimly. He checked me over with a look of concern. "What happened in there? Are you okay?"

I realized my knees were shaking. "I'm fine. I'm going on the quest with Grace Tan and Amy Crystal."

Nico pulled back. Then he said "Why the heck is Grace Tan going?"

I spotted Grace clenching her fists and watching us near the other end of the fountain.

He kicked the dirt. "Di immortales. At least tell me you're leading the quest."

I grinned a big, goofy smile. "Yep!"

He smiled at me. I resisted the urge to hug him.

Just then, Percy Jackson strolled over.

"Hey, kids!" he called. Nico scowled. Percy reached us in no time and ruffled Nico's already messy hair. Nico ducked as much as possible and pulled a sour face as Percy let go.

Percy laughed. "Seems like someone's been taking her courage pills today! When did you learn to stand up like that?" he asked, directing his comments to me.

I shrugged helplessly. "Just felt natural. Now I feel like I've been through war."

Percy doubled over with laughter. I was stunned. Was I really that funny?

Nico looked a hundred percent uncomfortable. "Percy... we were discussing something private..." he trailed off as another kid yelled "Look!" and of course we all looked.

Streaming through the sky were three large comets. But they looked so close. In fact...

"Duck!" I yelled. He all hit the deck as a fireball slammed into the fountain. It turned the water to steam.

Then, out from behind the clouds, came a huge bronze shape- of a dragon!

As it came closer, I could see three people on it's back. All of them had been in Nico's 'seven others' picture. One was a beautiful girl with long brown choppy hair flying freely in the wind, one was a boy with black curly hair and an impish face and elf ears, and another was the blond boy with blues eyes who had been in those sad photos with Nico.

The dragon landed, and all the old-timers started welcoming them. As soon as they all got off, the elf boy patted the bronze dragon's neck and started giving instructions to the Hephaestus kids. The pretty girl was swarmed by the Aphrodite girls who, amazingly, were not going for the blond boy (this was amazing because he was totally in their territory and was just the kind of boy they loved to flirt with). I did see Grace sneaking some dreamy looks at him before one of the girls in her cabin grabbed her shoulder and said "Don't even think about it."

The blond boy was getting welcomes from pretty much everyone. Even Annabeth came up and shook his hand. Percy gave him a fist bump and a "How ya doing, Jason?" so I guessed his name was Jason.

I just stayed with Nico.

When Jason started edging closer towards us amidst all the other campers, Nico stepped closer.

Jason was laughing. He turned and Nico shoved the point of his sword under his chin.

"We need to talk." he said blankly to the boy, not meeting his eyes.

Lots of people were staring at them, but Jason just shrugged. "Sure, man." he said. Nico didn't move his sword. Jason put his hand in his pocket and brought out a large lumpy gold coin and flipped it. It changed into a golden sword mid-air like mine. Nico grabbed it out of the air without looking and sheathed his own blade. He turned his back and started off towards the forest with Jason following behind him.

I couldn't help but follow them.

I have a flair for staying quiet. I managed to follow them to Bulls-Eye clearing then climb up a tree to watch without them noticing me.

Nico stopped right in the middle of the clearing, where the grass had turned yellow.

Jason looked calmly at the wilted circle. "You spend a lot of time here." he said, gesturing towards it.

Nico didn't turn, so I couldn't see his expression. "It's the one place where I can be alone."

He turned to face Jason. Jason smiled and spread his arms. "Well, if you're going to kill me, why not now?" he said in amusement. I could tell he didn't expect that Nico even wanted to kill him, yet there wasn't a hint of sarcasm.

Nico fell backwards onto the ground. Jason just smiled and looked over at him. He bent down and picked up his golden sword, changing it back into a coin, and walked over to Nico.

Jason put his hand on Nico's shoulder and yanked him up. Nico reluctantly sat up. I noticed that he didn't even seem to tense when Jason touched him.

Nico drooped his head. "I'm doing something terrible, Jason. I can't figure out how to stop it." he said. Jason's smile wavered. "You were with Piper all summer. You don't know what's been going on."

Jason sat down next to him. "Look, I don't know what you're going through, but remember that I understand and you can tell me. It'll be fine."

Nico scowled. "Lily won't be friends with me when she finds out." he muttered.

"Who?" asked Jason, sitting forward.

Nico's face turned red. "It doesn't matter." he muttered.

Jason raised an eyebrow. "Is Cupid bullying you again? Or Aphrodite? You looked the same way in Dalmatia."

Nico groaned, then he turned away from Jason. "I'm guessing it's Aphrodite." he said.

Jason nodded. He put a hand on Nico's.

Nico looked down at it. "She's just a girl. Daughter of Poseidon. Around thirteen."

Jason smiled. "Well, you've a thing for children of Poseidon. How is she?"

He started twisting his skull ring, which made the ground tremble slightly. "She's... mysterious."

Jason grinned. "Like you."

"Yeah."

"That's what you like about her?"

"More like what she likes about me." said Nico absentmindedly. Then he stopped and clapped his hand over his mouth.

Jason elbowed him a little. "Go on. Let go of your feelings. You'll feel better."

Nico sighed. For a moment, I thought he might attack Nico. But instead he unzipped a pocket and took out the pink chrysanthemum flower yarn statue of me. He sat it down on the grass and it began to move, mostly walking or looking embarrassed or skipping along.

Jason smiled at it. "I guess you like her a lot, huh?"

Nico played with the little hands. "She's the only one that seems to care about me around here. Every time someone picks on me, she's there, waiting with a shoulder for me to lean on. I can't bring myself to tell her the truth." he looked up at Jason with his big round eyes. "I don't know how to accept her. I that awful?"

Jason patted his shoulder. "Just be yourself. You'll be fine."

"But I can see how scared she is whenever I do something like... She gets all frightened and worried that I'll get mad at her and..." he trailed off.

I wanted to slap myself. Maybe then I would behave better for Nico.

Jason sat calmly. "And...? Tell me about her."

Nico was very very red now. "She's- she's so kind and so daring, but... But she's not like Hazel. She can't take care of herself. She's not powerful."

I felt like I had been slapped. That was it. He needed someone who could take care of herself. I was just useless.

I couldn't stand it anymore. I jumped down from my tree and ran.

They didn't even notice me. I could hear Nico saying "I don't want..."

But by then I had fled.

Maybe because I really did want him to like me.

Maybe that was why I had to find Hazel.