On Olympus:
Nico opened his eyes, taking in the blurry ceiling of his cabin at camp. He swung his legs over the bed and tried to stand. His head hit the ground as his legs gave out.
"Nico?" Annabeth stood in the doorway, a concerned look on her face. She knew better than to help when he was like this. He was too independent to rely on anyone easily.
"Give me a minute." He leaned against the side of his bed, head resting on the palms of his hands as he fought not to black out.
If it had been anyone else who saw him this weak he would have been pissed but Annabeth was...Annabeth. A big sister in every sense of the word.
"How many times did you shadow jump?" Nico tried to remember and failed. Stupid redhaired bitch.
He stood and walked to a World War II soldier's trunk and pulled out a dark gray t-shirt. He caught sight of his face in the mirror and realized he looked hungover as hell. He took the time to clean the dried blood on his face, the gashes weren't deep enough to worry about but the location was troublesome.
"What'd I miss?" Annabeth looked up from her Ipad when he spoke "Gods called in everyone on this. They want this person found now."
They walked to the dining hall, Nico tried to ignore the stares directed at him by some of the head councilors. He wasn't at camp much. Usually only when he had to drag Percy into something or needed healing but most of them had seen him before. He realized they were staring at the gashes on his face, surprised that he was hurt or worried about the girl? Nico wasn't sure.
"Head Councilors and a few others know the specifics but others have caught on that something's up."Annabeth told him as they entered the pavilion.
"How?" Nico was annoyed that other people were getting dragged into this. He was the one who fucked up and he would take care of it. Soon as he figured out who the hell the girl was.
"Hunters are here." Annabeth told him as they neared the man table. Sure enough, Thalia sat at the main table with the head councilors who had been talking quietly till Nico and Annabeth entered.
"Nico." Percy offered the son of Hades a cup of coffee. Nico accepted gratefully, feeling slightly more alive after draining it.
"Who is she?" Clarisse, daughter of Ares, sat at the table, combat boot covered feet resting on the table balancing her weight on two of the chair's legs. A large hunting knife spun between her fingers.
"No idea." Nico collapsed onto one of the benches.
The knife clattered to the floor as Clarrise straightened. "What the fuck zombie boy. The Gods want us to find her. You're the only one of us who knows anything."
Nico filled the group in quickly, explaining why he had been there and what had unfolded. The demigods sat in silence for a moment.
"One thing I don't get." Percy leaned against the wall, staring off at the Manhattan Sound as he thought before looking at Nico. "Why would a couple monsters getting killed make Hades send you to investigate?"
"They weren't killed Percy." Nico spoke slowly as if explaining it to a small child. "They were destroyed. Obliterated. Wiped of the face of the fucking planet. They aren't regenerating ever."
The pavilion erupted into chaos as demigod tried to speak over one another. "Quiet!" Annabeth finally reigned them in. "That's not possible Nico." "It is." He replied grimly before conceding, "It just takes something like Zeus' Master Bolt."
Chicago:
Kaie stumbled as her home materialized around her. She fell to one knee as exhaustion threatened to overwhelm her. The silver design on her arm burned. Fighting back the grayness, she rushed into her bedroom, throwing cloths, cash, and power bars into a bag.
She had to leave. If the son of Hades was still conscious he could be leading the Gods back here even now. She left the apartment a few minutes later. Nothing but a set of keys and a backpack with her.
She had known this would happen one day but leaving behind everything she had broke something in her. She didn't even bother to lock the apartment door behind her. It wouldn't stop them anyway once they got here.
Rushing down the street she paused. A sleek black bike was parked by the curb. A silver skull and crossbones decal was on the side of the engine.
Kaie knew she was grinning maliciously as she pushed through the wards meant to protect the bike. Normally she would never dream of damaging a piece of art like this but that bastard deserved some pain of his own.
An Hour later:
Nico stood in the living room of the woman's apartment. It was small but most people would call it cozy. There was a distinct lack of personal objects. No family photos or knickknacks.
"Hard drive's been wiped." Thalia stood in the doorway that lead to the bedroom, a silver laptop tucked her arm.
"Got another one." A blond hunter whose name Nico didn't know pulled a butterfly knife from a box of cereal. "How many does that make?" Thalia asked as she caught the knife as it was tossed to her and dropped it on the coffee table. It clinked against the assorted weapons, mostly blades, that already lay there. Nico scanned the pile. "Twenty three."
"Damn." Percy whistled softly from the doorway. "She thought something was coming for her." "To be far, something is. Namely us."
Nico scanned the room, looking for something, anything while ignoring the continuing conversation between Percy and Thalia. He wasn't going to loose any more face around these prissy little hunters.
There. The rug was compressed slightly along the wall though nothing was around it. Nico crouched and ran a hand along the smooth paint covered surface. His finger caught on a tiny groove. He pulled on it and a small door opened out of the wall.
"Nice Nico." Thalia came along side him, scanning the contents of the small cabinet hidden there. Fake ID's, case, maps, and other loose objects filled it.
One of the maps caught Nico's eye and he pulled it out, unrolling it on the kitchen counter. A simple map of the United States, Un-unique except for four red dots placed almost as if at random.
Nico glanced up at Thalia, a sly grin spread across her face. "Girls." The hunters spread around the apartment looked up at once. "Time to go hunting."
"Hey Nico!" Clarisse was outside the apartment, acting as a lookout for cops or anything else.
"Yeah?" Nico yelled out the window, ignoring the harsh glare thrown his way by Thalia. "This your bike?" "Crap!" Nico raced out of the apartment pissed at himself for forgetting about his ride.
He skidded to a stop and let out a string of swears crude enough to earn him a raised eyebrow from Clarisse Queen of Cussing.
The both tires were slashed and melted to the pavement. Beyond salvaging in any form. Closer examination revealed that the key slot had been melted shut somehow.
Nico couldn't help but wonder if the girl carried around a blowtorch to go with her knives.
Please Review! Just out of curiosity what are y'all thinking Kaie is? Non existent cookies to whoever comes closest!