They hit Ohio before either one spoke. Kaie was to frustrated and depressed to bother and Nico knew better than to get involved in something personal.
"We're pulling over for food." Kaie's static filled voice filled Nico's helmet as they wove through traffic. A few minutes later she pulled into a Mcdonald's parking lot and Nico followed suit. "You want to talk about it?" Nico knew she needed space but also knew the longer she stewed in the anger and frustration, the worse it would be when it all came out. He could vouch from personal experience.
"No." she walked past him and into the Mcdonalds.
As Nico moved to follow, his cell went off. He knew it was stupid to have one on him but Percy had told him to take it in case Rachel had any visions or the gods decided to interfere. Sure enough, Percy's name lit up the screen. "Yeah?"
"Rachel just had a vision of five manticore's coming after you." Percy was unusually blunt which worried Nico. "What else?" The line was silent for several seconds.
"Rachel's having a hard time seeing anything more than a week into the future. She says everything keeps shifting." Nico sighed. Wasn't that how the future work regardless? "Got it."
"Watch out Nico. Annabeth talked to her mother about the Gray Lady. Lady Athena wouldn't give her details about the last time the Gray Lady lived but it was bad and a lot of people died." "I'm always careful." Nico reminder his older cousin who simply laughed and hung up, leaving an annoyed and Nico standing in the parking lot alone.
After a moment he walked into the Mcdonalds and found Kaie sitting at one of the plastic booths. Two plastic trays sat ton the table filled with food sat on the worn plastic table in front of her. She hadn't seemed to touch any of it though.
She was leaned against the booth's divider, staring up at the ceiling. Her fingers tapped a steady rhythm on the table.
Nico slid in across from her. "What was with the scene in the dining hall today?" He grabbed a handful of soggy french fries and a packet of catch up.
"The gods need to stop lying and hiding things from their children. They would be nothing without you but they ignore that. It almost destroyed them once and it may do so again." Kaie spoke listlessly and continued to stare at the ceiling, fingers tapping a steady rhythm as Nico watched her face for any emotion. He could tell she was hiding something, just like the gods.
"It was more than that." He said after a moment. Kaie looked down from the ceiling and glared at him. Dark silver energy rolled across her gray eyes. Nico simply ignored that, refusing to be intimidated. He raised and eyebrow in response.
After a moment she relented. "Dealing with panicky and pissed off demigods will distract the gods. I work better when they are not involved." Nico nodded, understanding. The gods definitely had a way of complicating everything they came in contact with.
They sat in silence. Nico plowed through most of the food while Kaie barely ate. Nico considered trying to get her to eat more but it wasn't his business. But the gods needed her to fight so she needed food. He cursed himself for being unable to decide how to act around her. It was annoying as dealing with a hyper Percy.
A roar echoed from the outside the resaurant. "Crap." Nico had forgotten about Percy's/Rachel's warning.
"What is it?" Kaie tensed, a hand moved to where the hilt of her left knife was hidden by her worn jacket.
"Manticore. Percy called to tell me Rachel had a vision of them."
Kaie glared harshly. "And you forgot?"
"I thought we had more time!"
"The Oracle sees the future! Next time tell me immediately!" Kaie retorted sharply.
"You think there's going to be a next time?"
She glared again. "Really?"
Nico stood. "Right. Stupid Question." He bowed sarcastically and swept an arm towards the restaurant's glass doors. Screaming people were now visible, running towards the restaurant. "Shall we Lady?"
Kaie stood, slapping him on the back of the head as he straightened. She walked towards the door, pulling her knives out in a fluid motion from where they were hidden under her jacket. "Let's go kill some manticore."
Nico followed her out, people pushed past them, trying to get to the safety the Mcdonalds offered as the manticores came into view. Five of the monsters stalked towards the restaurant's golden arches in a basic point formation, intent on the building.
Nico glanced over at Kaie. Her stance was loose, ready. Her knives twirled through her fingers so fast the blades blurred as she warmed her wrists up. Nico was surprised to find himself impressed. He hadn't been impressed by anything in a few years.
He considered his weapons for a moment then pulled a black sword hilt from where it was belted to his back. He ran his thumb over a black stone set in the center and a dark silver blade unfolded. Two and a half feet of Stygian iron with hydra blood imbedded in the metal. His eighteenth birthday present from his father.
He swung the blade twice, warming up his wrist as he moved to Kaie's left side. "So, split them fifty fifty?" He asked amicably.
Kaie grinned but kept her focus on the manticores who were closing the distance between them. "Just try to keep up Ghost Boy."
Kaie sprinted forward as her adrenaline surged, rushing towards the monsters instead of away like everyone else.
This seemed to confused them for a moment. She took the opportunity and jumped, vaulting over the head of the lead manticore. Her boots touched its back for a moment then she was straddling it. It roared and bucked, trying to throw her off, and hit the monsters around it. Kaie dodged the tail that lashed towards her head and slid her knives between its ribs.
It exploded in a cloud of dust and Kaie hit the ground on her stomach. She cursed loudly and heard Nico laughing. She always forgot about that effect.
A manticore roared above her and Kaie rolled instinctively. A scorpion tale struck the concrete where her head had been a moment before. She rolled back and threw one knife as she stood. It slid through the air striking a manticore between the eyes and the creature disintegrated.
She glanced over her shoulder. Nico circled the final manticore. Kaie was impressed. He had actually managed to keep up.
She waited till the creature had its back to her and crossed the distance between where she stood and the creature before lunging. Her knife slid under the creature's jaw and dust blew to the ground. The wind picked up, sweeping the strangely colored dust from the parking lot. Kaie smiled, at least someone was cleaning up her messes this time.
Nico came up along side her. "Not bad for a ghost boy right?" Kaie gave him a half smile. "Not awful."
The stood for a moment, looking at each other. Kaie couldn't stop herself from admiring his eyes. Dark brown bordering on black. Unique.
Sirens echoed in the distance and they broke apart. Kaie glanced away, cheeks on fire. Nico cleared his throat, "We should probably go."
Kaie nodded and moved to the bikes, picking up the knife she had thrown during the fight. She mentally scolded herself. No getting involved with hot demigods. It would end badly no matter what. She needed to follow her original rules and maybe everything would end up okay.
Ten minutes later, against Kaie's better judgment, they ended up sharing a room in a ratty motel just off the highway a few miles down the road from the Mcdonalds. They were both exhausted. Trying to continue tonight would lead to one of them ending up wrapped around a tree or in a ditch.
Nico immediately collapsed onto one of the twin beds. "So who sent the manticores? Normally I would assume one of the gods but..."
Kaie dropped her bag on the bed, sat on the edge, and began pulling off her boots. "I'm going to assume it was whoever opened the death gate. They must know who I am and trying to stop me before I can figure out where the gate is."
"Do you know who it is though?" Kaie glared at him, "I have no clue."
Frustration was etched onto Nico's face. "I thought that's what we were trying to do."
"Nico. I am not a seer, prophet, or mind reader. I have almost to clue what the hell I doing except I know I have to find and figure out how to close a deathgate before hordes of undying monsters rise up and attack cities, Camp Halfblood, Olympus, and whatever the hell else they feel like going after. There are thousands of people in Greek mythology alone. It could also be anyone from another mythology or a mortal who stumbled on the idea of a deathgate. So tell me where exactly should I start?"
Kaie fell backwards, head hitting the thin pillows. She stared up at the ceiling feeling horribly overwhelmed with no help. Nico didn't count. He was a glorified parole officer she told herself.
"New York."
"What?" Kaie sat up and looked over.
Nico was staring at the ceiling, face scrunched in thought. It was a strange look on him. Kaie wanted to laugh but her body ached from the manticore fight and a day of travel.
"That's where I would start normally. But we were already there. And it's not Chicago either since you lived there. Not the northeast at all then." He hesitated.
"You seem lost in thought. I know that it's unfamiliar territory. Should I send a rescue party?" Kaie couldn't stop the sarcasm from coming out.
Nico glared at her while still lying down. An admirable feat. "I'm actually working here thank you very much Gray Lady. Feel free to start doing your job anytime."
Kaie smiled but it disappeared upon hearing him use her title. It didn't sound right. With a start Kaie realized she didn't want Nico to think of her as the Gray Lady. She sighed and cursed silently, collapsing back onto the pillows.
"You okay?" Nico had sat up while she was distracted and was looking at her with concern.
"Fine. Just thinking." She replied bluntly. "I'm still getting a tug from the west so I say we keep heading that way in the morning." She returned to business before he could say anything else. The room was silent for a moment before Nico agreed.
Thank you to everyone who has reviewed. It has helped a lot. Please keep up the good work. I'm trying to decide how much I want to include the canon characters (besides Nico) in the story. Right now they could either be very involved or barely. I'm leaning towards the first but I wanted to get your opinion first.