An: Here's the next chapter! Not my best work, but oh well. Enjoy!
Rose
"Nico?"
Nico sighed as he heard his name being called. There were many options he could do at this point. He could A) Ignore the said voice and feel the wrath of a pissed off witch. B) Respond to the voice and probably get berated with questions and rants.
Either option didn't seem advantageous to Nico.
He wondered why this always occurred to him. Why couldn't he be a normal boy? As normal as any boy in this world. But no, he had to have a god as a dad and his life was one big spill of cherry syrup over spinach egg omelets. Gross.
"Nico? Please, talk to me."
Nico sighed, "Hermione. I-"
He looked up to see Hermione standing quite close to him. Her eyes were wide with emotion, a dark brown color that reminded him of chocolate, and Nico was painfully reminded of his own sister, despite the large differences.
"You better bring me along."
"What?" Nico sputtered. This was the last thing he ever thought would come out of the witch's mouth. "It's too dangerous! You only just got to camp and you haven't even trained yet. No, this quest is just for me."
Hermione's eyes narrowed, "Hades said you needed four. I'm going."
Nico shook his head, "He said that I would need four. But I don't need anyone. He asked me. It's family business anyway. You don't need to get involved."
Hermione's hair seemed to be alive as she directed her glaring eyes at the younger boy, "Look here, Nico. You might haven't noticed, but I am part of your family."
Nico flinched. Well there goes his plan.
"And you might know this about me. But I never leave my family behind. Never." Hermione said in a voice filled with emotion. Her eyes were sparkling and Nico could feel the power in her rise and fill the room.
Nico stared at the girl. Every time he thought he knew everything about her, Hermione proved just the opposite. There was just no end to her mysteries, and Nico was for once lost in what to do.
In a last ditch attempt, Nico whispered, "I can't protect you."
Hermione smiled sweetly, causing the tension in the air to cease and Nico's body to almost relax, "Don't worry, brother. I can take care of myself."
"So do you have any idea where this so called scepter might be?"
Nico shrugged, causing Hermione to twitch in nervousness. She hated no knowing anything. She would have researched before hand, but it was difficult finding information about an unnamed scepter. Even if she was a bookworm.
"Father doesn't like making things easy," Nico replied, replying to Hermione's silent rant.
"That is an understatement," Hermione muttered as the pair passed by the cabin of Hermes, the occupants sleeping peacefully in their beds," Don't special underworld demigods have special swords or something?"
Nico sheepishly grinned, following his sister's eyes, "You're looking at my sword."
Hermione nodded, "It is a sword. And from what Percy told me..."
"You told Percy?" Nico accused.
Hermione waved her hands in defense," I had to get the information I needed. I didn't tell him about us going together. Like you said, Hades only said we needed four..."
"When a god suggests something, you're usually suppose to take the advise."
Nico turned around, "Percy! Annabeth! What are you doing here?"
Percy smiled and shrugged, "I'm here to help you on your quest. Annabeth is here because she doesn't trust me to protect both of you."
Annabeth rolled her eyes, "No matter what people say, Seaweed brain is still a seaweed brain. He can fight, but logic? You'll need me."
"I think I'm fully capable-"
"And who will protect you when something happens?" Annabeth interrupted, "No. I have to come along."
"Look guys," Nico said, crossing his arms. "As much as I appreciate all your efforts, I just need to go alone. Look, it's just a simple errand..."
"I may have not gone on 'quests' before," Hermione stated, "But I don't think this is a simple errand."
"Hermione's right," Percy said, absentmindedly patting his pants pocket, "Something doesn't feel right."
"It's probably the burrito you ate for dinner," Nico pointed out.
"Har har, very funny." Percy said, while Annabeth burst into giggles, "Look. We're a team. And I'm going with you guys. That's what friends are for."
Nico sighed. Friends? Did he count Percy and Annabeth his friends?
"Alright," he said, grunting, "You can join."
The two grinned goofily, causing the siblings to wince.
"So where we headed?"
"We can't just go to the underworld and ask around, right?" Hermione asked.
"Trust me," Percy said, "You don't want to go there. Not Disneyworld."
"What's Disney...never mind. I don't fancy it either," Hermione said, shivering, "There are certain people that I would rather not see."
Percy and Annabeth stared at the witch in confusion, and Nico just shook his head.
"Well, if we can't ask Hades, and go to the underworld, where should be go?"
"To the next best thing," Nico replied, tugging his sword's sheath.
"What?"
"Persephone."
