ooh yay, another chapter of all talk, no action. enjoy, review, thank you
NICO
Twenty-four hours after their meeting, the head counselors and praetors were gathered once more in the rec room of the big house. Chiron was again pacing at the head of the ping-pong table with a solemn expression. No-one smiled. Leo and the Stoll brothers, always ready with a joke, were silent and straight-faced.
"For Rome, for Greece, for gods, for earth." Chiron recited, pausing to run his hand over the edge of the table. "The very world is at stake." He explained, "Gods and mortals alike, demigods or no." He allowed his dark gaze to rack over each of them. Nico stared back steadily, being no stranger to piercing gazes.
"This," Chiron went on, "Is massive." Nico saw Clarisse chewing the inside of her cheek, a habit she thought nobody noticed but which Nico had picked up on long ago. "This is not Gaea we are talking about, it is not the extermination of the gods we risk. It is the extermination of the world as we know it. And that, my friends, is only the first line."
"What about the other lines of the prophecy?" Jason ventured. Nico watched the contraction of his muscle as he squeezed Piper's hand under the table.
"Beware the dark, avenge the hearth." Reyna supplied.
Percy shifted from the corner nearest Chiron. "That bit is obvious. The dark is Nyx, and the hearth is Hestia. We have to venture into Nyx's lair and take back Hestia."
This was met with an uncomfortable silence. All of them knew Percy was right, yet nobody wanted to admit it.
"I thought Bac—I mean Dionysus said Zeus was going to rescue Hestia." Frank said uncertainly, "and what could a couple of demigods do against Nyx anyway?"
"You underestimate yourself, Frank." Chiron answered, "Gaea was brought down, and so was Kronos. Zeus, I am afraid, may require. . .assistance on this matter."
"So we demigods will have to go on a quest." Clarisse realized, her eyes glinting.
"Patience, Clarisse." Chiron chided, "We're only halfway through the prophecy."
"The next line." Annabeth offered, "By death, by scorn will heroes fall."
They dwelled on this for a few moments before Leo Piped up from the tail end of the ping-pong table, "Last time they said someone was gonna die, nobody really died." He gestured to himself with a grease-smudged finger.
Travis nodded. "Bad boy supreme, back in black. Geddit? Cuz he's so dirty all the time." He smirked at Clarisse, "Back in Black, geddit?"
"That's the lamest thing since diet nectar and the ambrosia-lite movement." Clarisse snarled, not taking kindly to this assault on her music taste.
Conner shook his head, "Gotta agree with Clarisse on this one, bro. Of all the crazy song titles out there, you go for Back in Black?!"
Nico was tempted to snap at the three of them to shut up, but he knew dumb jokes were only their way of dealing with stress, as cold silence was his own way. And stress levels were skyrocketing right about now.
"Even if cheating death is an option," Will cut in, "And I'm not saying it is, what about the scorn part?"
"For saving the known world," Chiron answered, "I'd say dignity is a small price to pay." He looked round at everyone again, as though seriously hoping nobody thought otherwise.
"As for the last line," Piper's face was stony, "Or night and strife envelop all. That much is clear. Nyx intends to overthrow our parents and reign the world herself if we don't stop her."
Nico realized that he knew exactly what Mr. D would have said if he'd been there.
Idiotic fools, he'd say, only a suicidal maniac would stand out against Nyx and hope to live. See, this is why I hate heroes. Glory-drunken rats, all of them. Take that Peter Johnson boy for example. . .
"So a quest it is then!" Clarisse declared, the rest of the prophecy out of the way.
"Hold up," Annabeth's voice was quiet, but the amount of darkness that had taken over it brought everyone to silence. "There's one teensy little problem." She shared a glance with Percy.
"Nyx lives in Tartarus." Her boyfriend finished. "So I suggest everyone wanting to volunteer think over that line about death very seriously."
Tartarus. That word was poison to Nico. It brought memories to the surface of his mind. Memories he had been forcing into the deepest, darkest depths of his conscience since this whole Nyx affair had begun. Of course, he had known from the beginning that Nyx had lived in Tartarus. That a quest would mean going down into the mouth of the darkest evil there was, but he had convinced himself that it was not important, because he would not be volunteering for a quest anyway.
Fire flashed, images seared onto the insides of his eyelids, and the burning acid of the River Phlegethon rose in his throat. Despite the safety of Camp Half-Blood and his fellow demigods, Nico began to tremble.
Piper, sitting beside him, placed a cool hand on his knee. "Relax." She whispered under her breath. Never had Nico been so grateful for the control her words had over him as his body ceased the horrid shaking and the dreaded memories sunk once again into the darkness from whence they came.
"A quest . . ." Chiron mused, "Only three then. . ."
"I'll go." Nico had hardly realized he'd spoken until the words came tumbling unceremoniously out of his mouth, and all pairs of eyes were blinking at him. Hell, only seconds ago the kid had been shaking like a leaf at the very mention of Tartarus, now he was volunteering for a field trip?
Great Zeus, what have I signed up for?
"If we're going below the surface, I'm the best person to navigate. It's a . . . natural talent." He explained. Not only that, Nico felt a need to go, he realized. Ever since that Capture the Flag game two weeks ago, he'd felt the pull, like a giant magnet, towards the Underworld. Towards Tartarus.
"Me too – I'll go too."
If Nico had looked to his right he might have seen one of Piper's eyebrows lift slightly, at any other time a small grin might've accompanied it. But he was instead looking to the left, towards Will.
"I got the prophecy." Will reminded them a trifle defensively after a pause, "By right, I oughta be the leader."
"I got the dream! I should go!" Clarisse added, to no-one's surprise.
"No." Reyna broke in tightly. Clarisse glowered. "You will need a Roman representative. After all, this quest is for both of our people. I will go."
Nico noticed that neither Percy nor Annabeth had volunteered for a happy adventure into Tartarus. In fact, Annabeth had turned slightly pale and Percy was clutching her hand tightly. He did not blame them in the slightest.
"It is decided then." Chiron nodded, "Will Solace, son of Apollo will lead this quest, accompanied by Nico DiAngelo, son of Hades, and Reyna Ramirez-Arellano, daughter of Bellona. It is your mission to assist Zeus in restoring the goddess Hestia to her rightful place on Olympus, and to stop the goddess Nyx from wreaking havoc on Olympus, Earth, and the Underworld. I leave the rest," he gestured with his hand, "To you."
"We'll leave tomorrow morning." Will determined, "Nico, Reyna, make sure you pack a lotta ambrosia."
"But – but I had the dream!" Clarisse spluttered angrily, "How come I'm not on the quest?!"
"Shut it Clarisse." Annabeth said firmly, "By the time all of this is over, you'll be glad you aren't"
CLARISSE
Clarisse LaRue, daughter of Ares, renowned for her ferocity and strength, was seriously annoyed. She was not about to be upstaged by an idiotic squirt who liked dumb haikus, a gloomy fourteen-year-old who seemed more dead than alive, and that prat of a Roman who called herself the child of a war goddess.
Clarisse had decided on something that would set things straight. And she refused to call it the Percy Jackson Route.
She was going on a quest. Without the stinking blessing of the Oracle. She had also reassembled the head counselors. Without Chiron's stinking permission.
And so she waited on the beach, the climbing wall popping and hissing in the background. Several of the counselors had already arrived; they were just waiting on a few more.
Travis sauntered up alone. He looked strangely small without the company of the younger Stoll, and was wearing an uncharacteristic glower. Piper raised her eyebrows.
"I didn't realize Conner had turned invisible."
"Oh, he hasn't." Clarisse smirked. Travis scowled irritably at her.
"The Satyrs say he's gonna be in the infirmary for a week at least." He snapped.
"Let's call it revenge for the Vocaloid incident, yes?" Clarisse suggested with a little too much relish.
"A week, even with ambrosia?" Leo asked, "Bit harsh, dontcha think, Clarisse?"
"Kid deserves it for all the crap they've pulled on me." Clarisse muttered. She's never admit it, but the truth was that she'd never really meant to hurt him that badly. Clarisse and Conner had been sparring in the amphitheater that morning and she'd quite accidentally stabbed him in the thigh with Maimer. She'd expected the stupid kid to dodge, but well, that's what you get for overestimating people. She tried not to think of it as a bad omen for her quest.
"But I digress." She snapped back to attention as she saw Annabeth and Percy approaching, and someone she didn't recognize with them. But Jason did.
"Leila!" he grinned, waving to the girl, who waved back. Even without looking to closely, Clrisse could see the SPQR tattoo on her arm and her brow furrowed in discontent. "What's she doing here?"
"Reyna was right." Annabeth answered upon arrival, "If you're going on a quest, Romans deserve some part of it."
"Who said anything about a quest?!" Clarisse shot, annoyed that she had been so obvious.
"You're not that hard to read, Clarisse." Annabeth rolled her eyes, "And a friendly welcome you bring to the table."
"It's my quest." She snarled, "I'll decide whether we need Romans or not. Which we don't."
"Oh come on! You haven't even met her yet!"
"Jeez you two." Leo broke in, "Go ahead and make the girl feel like she's not here, will ya?"
"Give her a chance. Jason knowns her." Piper added. Forcefully.
"You!" Clarisse pointed accusingly at Piper, "Will you stop that charmspeak crap? I don't like being controlled."
"Who gave you the right to boss her around?" Jason jumped to his girlfriend's defense.
"There's this thing called Freedom of Speech, Airhead, or maybe they don't have that in Rome."
"Well maybe –"
"All of you shut up!" Piper snapped, using the wretched charmspeak again. Nonetheless, Clarisse didn't feel the need to say anything more. "Now relax."
Clarisse relaxed and allowed herself to feel calmer.
"Alright then." Piper turned to the newcomer, speaking normally again as she stuck out her hand, "I'm Piper McLean, daughter of Aphrodite."
"Leila Troy, daughter of Ceres." The girl shook Piper's hand once up and down. Her voice was soft and her form petite and a little shapeless, and she looked about Nico's age. She had olive skin with a spattering of freckles over her nose, but her most striking feature was her curly hair, which was tied up in a ponytail and dyed a shocking shade of lavender.
Clarisse didn't know much about Romans, but she did know that all the ones she'd met were pretty stony and disciplined, and she also knew that no child of Demeter would dye her hair – they all believed in organic material and al naturel.
"Right." Clarisse took charge again before Piper could dominate the situation too much. "As Annabeth said, I'm going on a quest to get Hestia back from Tartarus. I got the dream, so it's not fair that I couldn't go officially. Whether you idiots are coming or not, I don't care, but you can come if you want as long as you obey my commands. Clear?"
The rest of the counselors chewed this over in their minds for a minute. To Clarisse's surprise, Leila was the first to volunteer.
"If I don't go, you won't have any Romans to protect you sissies from the monsters." She grinned with a wink. Clarisse considered this. Sure, Romans were a pain in general, and this one was built like a daffodil . . . but she had been the first to volunteer, so maybe she did have some steel in her. And a sense of humor besides.
"Alright." She decided, "Anyone else?"
"Me." Travis said after a moment.
"You?" Clarisse asked, a little surprised.
"The mission is to steal back Hestia." Travis explained. He looked at Clarisse and pointed to himself. "Thief." He said.
Clarisse rolled her eyes. "Yeah whatever. But if I catch you pulling any more AC/DC jokes you're out."
"Deal."
"I think you should take Malcom." Annabeth spoke up, "You'll need an Athenian demigod to keep you crazies straight down there. I already asked him if he was willing to go and he agreed."
"You're not volunteering yourself?" Clarisse smirked, "Afraid, Annabeth?"
Annabeth shuddered slightly next to Percy. "Yes." She replied quietly, "I'm afraid."
And Clarisse was smart enough to know that when Annabeth Chase was afraid, she usually had a good reason.
okay. Leila is not an OC. I promise. if you read BoO she shows up as a centurion of the fifth cohort. however, we know very little about her so i'm really just making her up as I go along. so yeah she's kinda an OC. sorry.
-oldsoul