Nico found himself on his bed.
"Hazel?" he muttered.
"Morning, Nico," Hazel replied, pouring a cup of tea and handing it to Nico.
"I don't drink tea," he said, looking at the tinted orange-brown liquid.
"Now you do," Hazel said. She gave Nico her "death-stare" that made Nico flinch and reluctantly drink his tea. He felt better after that and a warm feeling crept to his heart. He rubbed his head and ended up with sand on his hands.
"Wha-" he started.
"Probably from the ground. I found you blacked out there yesterday," Hazel explained, looking at Nico's bewildered look.
"Oh," Nico said. The past day's events slowly came flooding back to him.
"You've been out cold for a day. Will was worried and he dropped by earlier. You should probably tell him. He was all sweating and everything," Hazel said. She handed him a small box.
"What's this?" asked Nico, slightly pleased that someone had sent him a gift.
"A gift from Will and that nice Demeter girl," Hazel smiled.
"Katie Gardner? Didn't expect her to give me something," Nico said.
"No, not Katie, though she did give you this flower," Hazel replied, gesturing to a glowing blue potted plant beside him.
"Then who?" Nico asked.
"I think her name was Jayne Everglades. She actually made the tea you're drinking. She said she grew some herbs and Will mixed some medicine and stuff in the tea together with the herbs," Hazel said, "Open the box." Nico nearly spit out the tea in his mouth and forced himself to swallow the last gulp. He set down the cup as gently as he could to hide his anger and forced a smile.
"No, I think I'll open it after. I'm going to shower now, thank her for me, will you?" Nico asked.
"Sure, and Chiron says you're off activities for today and tomorrow," Hazel reminded, exiting the cabin. Once Nico was sure Hazel was far away, he put on a fresh set of clothes, slung his sword around his neck and walked out, only to find Will passing by.
"Nico! Thank the gods, you're better," Will sighed, kissing Nico on the lips. Nico pulled away.
"Bye," he said, walking off. Will raised an eyebrow but Nico was gone before he could say anything. Then, Jayne walked up.
"Hey, Sunshine, let's go to archery," Jayne said, in a way that was nearly identical to Drew Tanaka, a girl from Aphrodite's.
"Okay," Will said, following Jayne with no hesitation.
Unknown to the two campers, Nico had hidden behind a tree the moment he heard Jayne's obnoxious, bubbly voice, just to see what she would do. But that turned out to be a huge mistake, because what she did not only enraged him, but he was more convinced than ever Jayne had to go. Permanently.
Nico went to the trees and found Katie Gardner there, which was perfect for his plan.
"Hey Katie," Nico smiled.
"Hey Nico," Katie replied.
"Did you like that gift I sent you?" she asked.
"Yep. I wanted to ask you something about Demeter kids," Nico said.
"Ask away," Katie replied, untangling a bunch of vines.
"Well, if there are really powerful Demeter kids, do they get hurt if a plant is harmed? Like a plant that really...connects with them?" Nico asked.
"Yes. Every single one of Demeter's children has something called a "life plant". They're born with it. Jayne's is a cedar green tree, which is a bit dangerous because usually, life plants are something rare or special. If you look at the forest near camp, cedar green trees are found literally everywhere," Katie said.
"So if I slashed one of them, what would happen?" Nico questioned.
"Well, she'd feel immense pain. Most of us are strong enough to endure it, but although Jayne is powerful in terms of power, she is really weak. Killing one cedar green tree would be the same amount of pain as killing her," Katie continued, "And that isn't good. Some people who have their life plants harmed might feel so much pain, they don't die because of it, but they just lose hope of living and die, like the gods." Nico smiled inwardly.
"Thanks, Katie," Nico said. Katie smiled.
"Always happy to help," she replied, going back to untangling the vines and branches of the trees.
Author's Note: Hi everyone! Sorry that it took so long for this update, this story is not exactly the easiest to write. Big thanks to BlueEyedOwl1 for helping and reviewing the past chapters! Hope you like it, and two more reviews for another update please!