Disclaimer: all Rick Riordan's. not mine.
"Braccas mes vescimini!" I shouted at Alecto.
But first! Let me rewind. Fortunately, as canon states, Argus left us at the bus stop, and then we climbed onto the bus to LA. Unfortunately, as canon states, The Furies had come and decided to attack us.
We didn't even have the invisibility cap this time. 'Twas sad indeed. I could already imagine the headline – Three Teenagers Attack Defenceless Old Women On Tourist Bus, because yes, my luck was truly as bad as the original Percy's.
Fortunately, I'd remembered a particularly hilarious catchphrase from the series, and decided that it absolutely had to be my battle cry.
Eat my pants. But in Latin.
Alecto looked so genuinely confused, I had to stop myself from falling on my face out of pure laughter. Yes, I decided, use Latin on every single one of the monsters that know I'm Greek.
It would be fun to mess with them.
The Thrill Ride O' Love Incident shall never be spoken of, or so help me, I would rip out the heart of that sorry twat who dared say a word about it.
I accept that I have a habit of adopting nearly every stray child I come across. But could you blame me? They're darlings. And also, they need a parental role in their life, it's good for their mental health. Did I mention they're also absolute darlings?
"These are the twins, Nico and Bianca di Angelo, and I require adoption paperwork for them immediately."
The twelve-year-olds, they really didn't give all that much of a reaction, except the fact that their faces brightened up the minute I finished my sentence. My fellow questers, on the other hand…
"Wha-?" Luke mumbled, befuddled, clearly not yet used to my spontaneity.
Jason just sighed.
Lying through our teeth was really easy. Making the mortals believe us was even easier.
I was certain that Leo and Piper wouldn't mind the new addition to our little family. In fact, I think they would be rather overjoyed - they're sweet like that.
But there was another thing: the Prophecy. Nico and Bianca were twelve (Jason and I didn't really dwell on them being twins; if he and Thalia could be switched up for the sake of plot, Nico could also be aged up for the sake of plot). Perseus Jackson was twelve years old when on the quest to retrieve the Lightning Bolt.
It wasn't fair.
See, ever since I first read the Percy Jackson series (and thus, began my obsession), I'd always had a soft spot for Nico di Angelo. He was such a cute, bright, bubbly child (ahem wine dude ahem). Kid didn't deserve anything he had to go through – his mother's death, his sister's abandonment, his sister's death, his father's rejection, being turned into a plant twice, Tartarus, captivity…
And to be a little more honest, I could never imagine the little boy who totally left us in the dust in Mythomagic, who looked at me with those cute doe eyes (and dear gods, Nico di Angelo had doe eyes I would never be able to get over this), and shyly asked me if he could call me Mom going through the horrors that awaited a child of not one, but two Great Prophecies. And he was the Prophecy Child. I don't know how to explain it, but I could feel it in his aura, and don't ask me how because it's weird - I don't understand it either.
The point is, Nico was definitely the one the prophecy was referring to. Also, Bianca had taken one look at the stories about Artemis' hunters, and chosen her destiny. Not that she couldn't change her mind on her own. There was a chance, albeit a small one, that she doesn't join, and becomes the Hero of the Prophecy instead.
But all the same, it just gave me more incentive to protect the di Angelo twins from the cruelty of the demigod world, although I knew in my heart that that was impossible.
It wasn't fair.
Then again, we were demigods. Our lives were never fair.
A/N: i'm really, really sorry about the short chapter. my own laptop is in a horrible state, and can't last ten minutes without shutting down without warning. for now, i'm writing on my dad's computer, and it's keyboard is giving me flashbacks of the time of typewriters, and i wasn't even alive at that time.
anyway, to the one who said nico was probably the new adoption, you were absolutely right. except this time, it's nico and bianca. with paperwork. stay tuned for the meeting with uncle h (promise it'll be fun).
~ Arty
