Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians.
I appreciate all the views and subscriptions, they make me feel accomplished.
However, I only got two reviews (special shout out to ihavenoideawhattocallmyself and DarkLove12489). Come now, I know you all can do better than that. For me, please.
Since begging is unbecoming, I'll get to the story.
Hope you all like.
June: 15 years ago
Nico lay alone under one of the many trees in the park. His eyes were closed and his breathing was steady. To any normal person, it would look like he was sleeping.
Unfortunately, that wasn't the case.
The son of Hades had been looking for the daughter of Hecate when a piercing headache had stopped his search. Nico made the decision to take a break, considering his strange symptoms had gotten worse.
It all started when the plane took off. Yes, the plane. Since Chiron wanted this half-blood at camp as soon as possible, he'd gotten special permission from Zeus so that Percy and Nico could enter his domain without any problems. Apparently, his consent only meant that he wouldn't blast them out of the sky. Percy was fine, being the Savior of Olympus and all, but Nico had been airsick the entire time. He was now firmly convinced that Zeus hated him, though he should have been smart enough not to get on a plane with a full stomach.
After that, his overall health began to deteriorate. He barely had enough strength to get off the plane, let alone look for the girl. He'd wanted to help Percy and Zeke find her, but his cousins forced him to stay back at their camp site and rest.
That was two days ago.
Nico was finally well enough to do his part…or so he thought. This headache was so bad that he was beginning to see stars. He hadn't eaten since yesterday and his powers…
Well, they weren't exactly working.
It was now difficult to raise the dead and he didn't have much control over shadows. Everything else he had power over wasn't effective either. It was then Nico swallowed his pride and decided to tell Percy and Zeke sometime during their little trip. Throwing up was one thing, but not being able to use your demigod abilities was terrifying.
Nico's headache had subsided and he was about to get up and continue his search when he heard a giggle.
"You're not from around here, are you?"
He bolted upright and looked around. There was no one around him or on the opposite side of the tree trunk, so where had that voice come from?
'Oh, great, now I'm delusional,' Nico thought as he messaged his temples.
He considered leaving and going back to the camp when he heard the chime-like giggle again.
"Up here."
Nico tilted his head upward and found the source of the laughter and words. There, sitting on one of the tree's lower branches, was a girl about his age. She was smiling down at him with a kind expression that made Nico feel somewhat warm inside…and he didn't like it.
"So, where are you from?" She swung her legs back and forth in a carefree manner.
Nico closed his eyes and lay back down, ignoring the question. He heard a thump next to him and cracked one eye open. The girl had jumped down from the tree and was now looking over him. Nico had a better view of her features and couldn't help but think they were strange.
She had light cocoa colored skin, and Nico could tell she was African-American. However, he wasn't quite sure about everything else. Her hair was black and shiny, pulled back into a pony tail of silky, loose curls. Part of her face was covered with a large amount of loose hair that dangled over Nico's face, but he could make out enough of her facial features. She was definitely his age, but could pass for either older or younger.
She was pretty, but what caught him the most were her eyes.
They were a lustrous blue. Not striking like Thalia's or sky blue like Zeke's, but more of a glowing sapphire color. They reminded him greatly of the precious gemstone and he couldn't help but stare. They sparkled and had little specks of different colors of blue. He had never seen anyone with eyes like hers.
He felt his insides leap and that was what snapped him out of his trance. Nobody…nobody…had ever affected him like this before, and Nico was determined not to like her.
The girl's eyebrows scrunched up in concern, "Are you alright?"
"I will be when you leave," he mumbled. Nico was beginning to feel his temper rise and he didn't feel like controlling it.
"I'm sorry, were you trying to sleep?"
"No."
"Then what's-"
"Will you please go away?" Nico had never liked being fussed over, especially by someone he didn't know.
The girl pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes. For a moment, Nico felt somewhat afraid. The determination in her eyes was startling. She continued to glare at him, "Not until you tell me what's wrong."
Nico glared back, "Nothing's wrong."
"You're lying."
He rolled his eyes, "Oh, am I?"
"Yes, because your aura is out of sync."
He blinked, caught off guard by her statement. "Excuse me?"
"Your aura, it's the power that radiates off of every half-blood. If you can see them, it helps to tell how balanced and strong one's magic is."
She waved a hand over his form and Nico felt a tingling sensation run over his body. He would have been suspicious, but he was still stunned that she had known he was a demigod.
"You're a godling all right, son of Hades too." She looked Nico in the eye, "Don't look so surprised, I've never seen powers as dark as yours."
Nico tried to speak, but no words would come out. Who was this chic?
"I'd also consider getting some help; you're going to need it very soon."
"Huh?" He sat up, baffled more than he had been their entire conversation. She giggled again at his confused expression and scooted closer to him, causing the nausea in his stomach to be replaced with butterflies.
Her expression turned serious, "Well, your powers are unstable. They probably aren't working correctly and you must be feeling pretty lousy. If you don't get some help soon, you won't have control over your abilities and it will be dangerous. You might hurt someone or yourself and -"
Nico glared and shifted so that he was farther from the girl, "I'm not unstable. I have plenty of control over my powers."
The girl's eyes expressed concern, but that only made him angrier. "Nico, please listen to me. I just want to help-"
"I don't need your help; I don't need anyone's help," Nico scowled, "I'd never hurt anyone, ever! There's nothing wrong with me, I have control!"
"Nico, please I didn't mean it like that," she reached out to touch him, to try to calm him, but he stood up abruptly.
"Who are you? How do you know my name, how do you know all that stuff about me?"
He drew his sword and pointed it at her, but she didn't flinch. She didn't even move. Any normal person might be scared right about now, but not this girl. She just kept looking at him with those blue eyes and that concerned expression, which only fueled Nico's temper. He put the sharp tip of his sword on her throat.
"Who are you? Tell me!"
Before the girl could respond, Nico heard shouting. He turned around, sword still at the girl's throat, and saw Zeke running towards them.
"Nico, don't let her get away! Grab her, put a tracking spell on her, do something!"
Everything suddenly clicked; he knew who this girl was.
Nico looked back at his captive, who was smiling up at him with her hands in her lap.
"You…You're…"
"Finally caught on, have you?" She stood up and extended her hand, "Acacia Chastity Earhart, daughter of Hecate. It was nice talking to you Nico, but I should get going-"
Nico summoned every ounce of strength he had into a strong tracking spell. He willed a string of shadows to wrap around Acacia's leg, imbedding it with his power so that he would be able to relocate it. And if he found the shadow, he would find the Hecate kid with it.
Acacia looked down at her leg and quirked a brow up, "You know a tracking spell, cool." She then glanced up at Nico and smiled, "I wonder what else you can do..." She spoke more to herself, and with a curious and inspired glint in her eye, which made him wary.
Nico lowered his sword and looked back. Zeke was getting closer; he would be where they were in a matter of seconds. It was a good thing too, that spell had taken a lot out of him. He looked back at Acacia and found her looking at him with a sad expression and her hand still outstretched.
"I'm real sorry, Nico, but I have to do this."
Her hand glowed bright green and Nico understood too late; Acacia wasn't trying holding out her hand to be friendly, she was cursing him.
Before the son of Hades could move, the glow from Acacia's hand shot off it and hit Nico square in the chest. The force from it knocked Nico down and he suddenly didn't feel so good. His entire body felt sluggish, almost like there was something numbing his strength .
"I'm so, so sorry, but I'm only trying to help you." And with that, her entire form shimmered and she vanished.
Nico sat on the ground, dumbfounded, staring at the spot Acacia had once been in. 'What does she mean by help me,' he thought, 'what's going to happen?'
He was broken by his thoughts when a certain son of Zeus shook his shoulder.
"Hey, Nico, are you alright?! What happened?!"
Nico blinked and stood, his mind felt fuzzy, "I…I don't know-"
Zeke's eyes turned stormy, which happened whenever he got mad. "You don't know?! YOU DON'T KNOW?!" He grabbed Nico by the shoulders and turned his younger cousin to where he was facing him, "WHY DIDN'T YOU CAPTURE HER, SHE WAS RIGHT THERE!"
"What's going on?" Percy appeared behind Zeke and was looking at both of his cousins with concern, Nico more so than Zeke.
Zeke crossed his arms and scowled at the son of Hades, "Nico here let the Hecate girl get away."
Percy's eyes narrowed and he glanced at Nico, "He what?"
Nico took a few steps back, Percy's and Zeke's anger could be intimidating and it didn't help that he was half their size.
"I-I'm sorry," he stuttered, "she caught me off guard and I didn't know who she was! I haven't been feeling so good, she hit me with some spell, and-"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, stop right there!" Zeke was holding up his hands and his eyes were wide, "She cursed you?!"
Nico mentally slapped himself; he'd meant to leave that part out. He was causing enough problems for his cousins; there was no reason to add to them. "M-maybe, but-"
Zeke suddenly reached forward and grabbed Nico by the shirt. He pulled his younger cousin in front of him and began to look him up and down, "You don't feel faint or anything, do you? Does anything hurt, how's your vision, can you walk in a straight line?
"Zeke, stop that!" Percy yanked Nico out of Zeke's grasp, "Don't overwhelm him."
The son of Zeus looked at the ground and shoved his hands into his pocket, "Sorry."
Percy turned his attention back to the small, dark boy beside him and pressed the back of his hand to Nico's forehead. The son of Hades hated all this attention and had to resist the urge to bite his cousin's hand.
The son of Poseidon looked worried, "Gods, Nico. You're burning up."
Nico swatted Percy's hand off his head, "I'm fine."
Percy crossed his arms, "No, you're not fine. You have a fever, and who knows what else that kid's curse is going to do to you."
"He's right, Nico. You don't look so good." Zeke glanced at Percy, "We should take him back to camp."
"What? No!" Nico tried to get out of their reach, but wasn't fast enough. Zeke grabbed him by the shoulder and forced Nico to walk. He didn't have the energy to struggle, so Nico reluctantly let Zeke help him back to their camp.
"Please don't take me back there," he pleaded, "we have to find her. I can help."
"You put that shadow-tracker thing on her, that's more than I could have done." Zeke ruffled Nico's hair and smiled down at the younger boy, "Besides, Percy and I can look for her tonight. You're tired and need some rest; you'll probably get more sleep with us gone, anyway."
Sleep sounded like an excellent idea to Nico, he just hoped he could get some; especially when Acacia's words kept repeating over and over again in his mind.
She'd said something about helping him. For what, exactly, he wasn't sure.
"There's no thunder, no lightning Just a gentle breeze To warn you that something Will bring you to your knees." - Ronnie James Dio
Okay, so that's another chapter completed. Thanks for reading and I hope you review. They give me insight on how to write better and make me feel good about my work.
~Fantasila~