If you like this story so far, check out my other stories. Some make more sense when you read the others. Especially what's going to occur in this chapter. And yes, I did put in a demigod version of two orugitas. I couldn't resist.

DeLaynie's POV

I was the first one up that morning. I went to check on Nico before going on my morning scooter ride. It had been a little over a month since Dad and I took the Di Angelo kid in, and things had been going smoothly so far. Nico hadn't tried any attempts to hurt or kill himself, and according to the therapist he was seeing, he was doing fantastic. Pudgie probably had a hand in that.

I slipped into his room. Nico was fast asleep. He had been taking his meds nightly without much of a fuss, which was something I thought wouldn't happen. I checked his arms and legs. There were no cuts, but I made sure to keep an eye on him. I slipped out of the room.

As I rode my scooter, I made up yet another one of my mental stories. This one was about a homeless girl who got adopted by a gang boss. My mental stories could literally be about anything. Mostly I included people I knew in my stories.

After I did my scooter ride, I went inside to help make breakfast. Dad needed extra hands due to him being in a wheelchair. I smiled as I walked into the kitchen. Dad was already waiting, polishing his clear glasses. He was wearing his gold suit today. The gold coins in his hair were a nice touch. I hugged him, and we got started.

Dad usually got out the ingredients for breakfast, and get the oven supplies up and running. Then he'd instruct me on how to do it. I used to be forced to cook for the principal and teachers, with the punishment for even a slight mistake being that I'd lose my food privileges and be beaten very badly. I became scared to cook as a result, which only resulted in more mistakes.

Dad was a patient man, though. Dad never forced me to help, and didn't even force me to try anything he knew I didn't like. Pudgie usually batted the spoon, and occasionally licked it depending what I was cooking. Once I was more comfortable living with him, Dad started to ask me to help him. He didn't get mad when I got mixed up, and instead just encouraged me to try again. Nico was nice about it too. Nico often helped me help Dad make dinner, as he knew I was slow.

As I made bacon, Dad reminded me that it needed to be covered in grease, which I did so quickly. After we finished, I went to get Nico. However, upon opening the door, I discovered Nico had cut himself. He was bleeding pretty badly. He was almost unconscious on the floor. I yelled for Dad, and called 119.

"119, what is your emergency?" The lady asked.

"My foster brother cut himself!" I shouted.


The emergency services came, and took care of Nico. He'd cut himself with his sword. Dad went with Nico to the hospital, and I stayed home in the sensory room my Dad set up in case I got overwhelmed.

Pudgie did her thing and licked my face, and brought me some hot cocoa mix, making me laugh and calm down a bit. I heard the phone ring. It was Dad.

"Hey DeLaynie." Dad said.

"Hey Dad." I managed, still shaken up.

"Nico is going to be okay. I'm confiscating the sword for now. He cut himself due to a dream. His boyfriend and sister found out where he was, and were demanding permission to go on a quest to get Nico. Nico didn't feel ready to see him."

"So he cut himself?"

"Yes. Don't worry, though. I already chewed him out about the heart attack he gave us. He can come home later today, even though he is now grounded. And he asked me to tell you he's sorry for scaring you like that."

I sighed with sweet relief. Nico knew better than to scare me like that. But I felt sad because he may leave soon if we hear from his sister and boyfriend again.


Nico's POV

I was resting in my room. Amos was playing lecturer and yelling at me for scaring him. After ten minutes he winded down, but I could not get my dream out of my head. I knew now that Will had figured out where I was, and was bringing Hazel. They could get hurt if they came near me.

"Nico. Reminder that your PTSD is now more under control. And you haven't attacked anyone in a while." Amos reminded me.

I knew that, but I was scared to face Will. What if he hated me now?

We headed home later that day. And I prayed Will wouldn't find me.


DeLaynie's POV

As soon as Dad and Nico came home, Nico went straight to his room for his week long bed rest. Nico's arms were covered in bandages. I had given the leftovers of what we were supposed to have for breakfast to Philip of Macedonia as well as some homeless men, so we only had to worry about the dishes. Dad put them in the washer, and I went to grab Uno cards so me and Nico could play.

Nico was resting in bed, and staring at the ceiling. I knocked. Nico sat bolt upright.

"DeLaynie? What are you doing?" Nico asked.

"Can we play Uno?" I asked, pulling off my best six year old puppy eyes look.

He accepted. I jumped on the bed and Nico shuffled. We began our game. Nico and I were both good at this game, so it was hard for one of us to win within an half hour of starting. Nico put down a yellow 5 card. I countered with a green 5 card. I jokingly dealed the cat in too. It made the game interesting. We played like that for forty five minutes until I won. Nico almost jumped out of bed to chase me. He was a VERY sore loser.

I ran downstairs, as for now Nico was confined to the upstairs the whole two weeks of his grounding. Dad had left Nico's sword in the main hall, with a note asking me to hide it, so I did. I went place the blade in the one place only I could access. As I went into the living room, I saw Dad and I had guests.

It was my Uncle Julius, Aunt Ruby, and their kids, Carter and Sadie. I recognized them from the picture Dad hung up in the stairway in the main hall. How they got here, I don't know. They didn't seemed surprised to see me though.

Uncle Julius looked like he could take Thor in a boxing match, which is saying something. Ruby looked like a mix of a model and scientist. Carter looked like that dork no one gave crap about in high school, and Sadie looked like a punk version of her mom.

"This DeLaynie?" Uncle Julius asked.

"Yes." Dad said.

Sadie death glared me. I knew I kinda deserved it for telling her my Dad was dying of magic cancer, but I knew that the other magicians of The House Of Life may figure out where we were, so with Dad's permission I lied and said that so when the magicians got suspicious they wouldn't have any reason to look for us.

Of course, that didn't stop Vika Menshikov from figuring it out and more than likely ratting us out to Carter.

I watched Sadie come over. I expected Sadie to come over and hit me, so I braced myself. Arms ready to protect my ribs and head. Sadie however, just hugged me. I was surprised, as I thought she'd hate me.

"I understand why you lied like that. And I'm not about to slap the person who woke me up from a magic induced coma." Sadie said. Loud enough for the others to hear her.

I couldn't help but cry a bit from relief. I was terrified she'd beat me up over me telling her Dad was dying, and was mentally bracing myself for a swift, unintentional reminder of my past. Sadie seemed to notice as she backed up a bit. Dad cleared his throat, mumbling that he'd explain later.


Me and Sadie were playing in the pool. Dad had explained about my past to his brother's side, and they understood my issues better now. Dad had ungrounded Nico so he could join us, so he was hanging out poolside with Carter in a lounge chair. Dad had set him up so he could still be on bed rest. I had hidden Nico's sword now, but Dad was keeping an eye on him from where he was sitting with the other adults. Pudgie was playing poolside with some toys. She loved the water, but the pavement was warmer.

I dunked Sadie as we played. When I say dunk, I mean I caused a wave that knocked Sadie under the water. She got so annoyed. Her green streaks were framing her face pretty good. Dad had gotten her enchanted hair dye for Christmas, so her streaks lasted longer. As we played, Philip of Macedonia splashed us. I then got an idea. I told Philip to splash Carter and Nico. Me and Sadie watched as Carter and Nico got soaked. Carter then got a look of shock on his face.

He grabbed a water gun from the bucket we had near the door, and aimed for us. I just willed the water to freeze. He looked at it after it didn't blast. I then proceeded to make it backfire on him. Carter was soaked. I died laughing. Man that was good. Dad looked over at us about then. His laughter rang out strong. Uncle Julius and Aunt Ruby both burst out as well. Nico was very obviously snickering.

"DeLaynie! You are going to pay!" Carter shouted.

It may have been fall, but it was still warm. So I just dunked him. He was on the ground within seconds, and was spitting out water. Man, he was a professional dork. And annoyingly, I was attracted to dorks. Their nature of being sweet and loveable made it hard to not feel giddy when I was near them.

Pudgie went over and sat on Carter's belly. She was very demanding of attention when someone was annoyed.


After we finished, we all went to dry off and get ready for dinner. I just willed myself dry, and changed into a blue tee shirt, and blue jeans. I went downstairs, where Nico and Dad were awaiting me. We turned on a song as we cooked called two caterpillars. It was purely our favourite thing to listen to when we were all in the same room. Tonight we had to make grilled cheeses. With spaghetti for Nico.

As we cooked, Uncle Julius joined us.

"Whatcha doing?" He asked us.

"The kids usually help me make dinner and breakfast. The kids just do as I say. DeLaynie, by far, does the best." Dad said.

Uncle Julius just stood in the corner and watched us. He seemed interested in the fact me and Nico were the ones making dinner. I, on the other hand, had a literal panic attack. I wasn't used to the fact Dad had just given me expectations.

I fell over, and began to have trouble seeing and breathing. Dad was quick to catch on. So was Nico. They let me sit down and Nico finished it. Dad asked if what he said was what triggered it. I nodded. He understood, and let me go to the sensory room to calm down a bit.

He seemed to know he'd triggered my past a bit. Carter caught me running. He asked me what was wrong. I just shoved past him and slammed the door to the sensory room.

Carter banged on the door. I curled up in the small spacd the sensory room had. Carter left, and I grabbed my fidget tube. Pudgie used her private tunnel to come in and play with me, helping me calm down a bit. Carter came back though. With his mom. Aunt Ruby used the fact she was a ghost to slip inside the room.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Aunt Ruby asked me.

"Just had and unexpected panic attack. I'm fine." I said.

"What happened?"

"Please leave me alone." I said, hugging myself.

She backed off, giving me some some room to breathe. Dad came a few minutes later. I heard him sliding down the door.

"DeLaynie, you okay?" Dad asked.

"I'm fine." I said.

Dad knew I was lying though.

"Sorry, about earlier. I forgot about our deal of me not putting expectations on you shoulders. You can stay in here during dinner, if you want."

"I'm coming."

"You sure?"

"I'm sure. I'm just going to bring Pudgie."

Dad and I left the room. He knew better than to give me expectations considering what I'd had to deal with. I hugged him for a bit before we sat down for dinner.


"Dang, DeLaynie, this is good." Carter said.

I wasn't paying much attention, considering I was dealing with Nico not eating. Nico had explained earlier what was up with me, so Uncle Julius and Aunt Ruby didn't press me. But the room just felt tense. As we ate, Dad had a coughing fit.

Oh no I thought.

Dad only had coughing fits like he was having now due to his magic dying, and he had to take medication as soon as he was done. He coughed harder this time however. I went over to check on him. Dad's cough stopped after a few minutes more than it usually lasted.

I went to get Dad's medication while Nico stayed back and kept an eye on him. I grabbed the liquid, pouring it into a small cup we had. I dashed back to Uncle Julius interrogating him. I gave Dad the medicine. Dad managed to drink it. He gagged a bit due to how disgusting it tasted.

"Ok, DeLaynie, what in the Duat is going on with my Uncle?" Sadie asked me.

"Dad's magic is dying. The poison from the attack he endured, it cursed him, so his powers are fading. It won't stop him from having a magicians lifespan, but it will render him unable to wield magic without disintegrating." I said, looking at the floor.

Dad wasn't letting it stop him from living life though. He still took care of us everyday. And I felt good about that.

After I said that, it was time for Uncle Julius and Aunt Ruby to go. Sadie and Carter were spending the night with them, so they left as well, making my dad swear to call them and explain better. Which I guess he deserved to do.

Nico and I went to get ready for our baths. As I undressed, I felt someone's breathing cutting through the air. I realized I was not alone. I followed the feeling to the closet. That was when I met Will Solace face to face..


Nico's POV

I heard DeLaynie scream. I immediately pulled my pants back up and ran out the door. I may have been put back on bed rest, but I had to make sure my little sister was okay. I ran in, and my boyfriend and half sister and friend were in the closet. I froze.

Amos came in during the moment. He quickly caught on to what was up. He dragged them out. We learned that they had come unintentionally to DeLaynie's closet. They were aiming for in front of my room.

Amos just had us finish getting ready for a bath, and said I had to watch DeLaynie this time around.