Monay, here, back with chapter 3. I have a feeling the story is getting boring and I'm focusing too much of the story on Posy and less on Nico, so if anyone feels like this please let me know so I can try harder to make it non-boring. Also, since Nico is fifteen, the story obviously takes place two to four years afterThe Last Olympianand in the story, Nico might seem OOC a little bit because I know Nico is supposed to be all angsty and secretive, but you know what, it's been a long time and people can change over time. And I know Nico's powers would be able to let him see in the dark, being the son of Hades and all, but in chapter 2, just pretend that Nico never knew hecoulddo that and that was his first time using it. Read/Review, Enjoy :]
Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson & The Olympians
Chapter 3
Posy's POV
"Does this kind of stuff," I began to ask. "Always happen to you?" I ran my fingers through my damp hair. It smelled like something gone rotten; I need a shower.
"Yeah," Nico said, putting his sword away. "Sort of."
We found a ladder leading back up the hole and climbed out. The bright sun was a drastic change from the darkness of the hole, and I had to squint to see at first, giving my eyes time to adjust to the light.
"Nico! Posy!" Min's voice. She ran toward us while Robbie swung himself over on his crutches. "What happened to you?"
"We, uh.." I tried to think of a reasonable excuse as to why we were both wet and smelled like a dumpster truck without spilling the beans about the Nemean Lion. My mind went blank. Not a good sign.
"Fell in the pond over there," Nico said. He winced again as he tried to walk, and it occurred to me that he had twisted his ankle back there.
"Nico?" Robbie said, concern plastered onto his face. "Are you okay, man? You look kind of sick. Something wrong?"
"I'm fine," he said. He had a distant look in his eyes, like he were dreaming or something, and for a split second I was worried for him. "I just need a glass of water." The next thing I knew, Nico had tumbled over and collapsed, Robbie catching him just in time before he hit the hard ground.
"What's happening to him?" I demanded. Robbie lay him down on the grass, while Min knelt down and leaned over him, laying a finger on his neck.
"His pulse is okay," she said. "And he's breathing, he should be fine."
"He's probably just exhausted," Robbie said with a small smile, although I didn't grasp what was so amusing about Nico fainting.
"Shouldn't we call for help?" I said, still genuinely concerned. He was doing fine up until he just collapsed.
"He'll come around," Robbie reassured. "Sooner or later. Just give him a little time."
I didn't know what made Robbie so sure that he'd "come around", but he said it so clearly and in such a strong voice, I didn't dare doubt him. I looked over at Nico, lying still on the grass. He looked much more peaceful just lying there, younger, different than the fierce boy he was fighting against the lion. In fact, just looking at him on the grass and the thought of him fighting at all sent a sick feeling to my stomach. He's just a kid I thought. Some invisible force possessed me and seized my hand as I reached over his head and pushed his hair out of his face, and lingered there a little longer than I was comfortable with. The contact made me blush, and I quickly pulled away, fearing he would wake up.
"It's getting kind of late," Min pointed out, glancing at her wrist watch. "What time do you need to be home, Posy? It's four o'clock, now."
"Hmm," I wondered to myself. "I'm usually expected home at four thirty or so, but I guess I can call my parents and tell them I'll be a little late."
"So you're going to stay and wait for him to wake up?" Min asked. I nodded, blushing again. "Alright," Min said. "Well, my mom is waiting for me. I have to go. It was nice hanging out with you Posy."
"I'll walk you home," Robbie offered, following behind Min on his crutches, and soon they were gone from my sight. That left me alone with Nico, and to tell you the truth, I was a little uncomfortable with the idea.
I looked back at him; he looked comfortable just lying there, and didn't want to wake him up. I sighed. It's going to be a long wait. I called my dad and told him that tutoring with Min was going a little longer than I planned as an excuse. He told me okay and not to stay out too late. Then I hung up. I sat there waiting and waiting and to amuse myself I tried to count how many little kids with balloons passed by, and watched clouds. I went to the hot dog guy and bought a bottle of water for when Nico woke up, since he said he needed a drink. Then I sat down and started playing with the grass. But soon that got boring, and fortunately, after an hour or so, Nico finally awoke. He groaned a little bit before his eyes flickered open, little by little. He propped himself up on his elbows and rubbed his eyes.
"What the?" he asked to himself.
"Hi," I said. "Welcome back." I opened the water bottle and held it out to him. He took and took a long swig, his Adam's apple bobbed up and down with every gulp, and soon he had drunk the whole thing. He really was thirsty.
He wiped his mouth on sleeve before throwing the bottle into a wastebasket. "What happened?"
Well, how should I say this? "You knocked out." I said. "We just got out the hole and then you sort of just fainted right in front of us. What was that all about?"
He tried to stand up, but discovered the pain in his ankle was still there and cursed under his breath. He sat back down on the grass, moving his sword out of the way. I suddenly remembered him back in the hole and him knowing that the sword was right next to me. Then I understood; that was one of his powers as a demigod. This stuff was getting more interesting every day.
"My powers," he started, and I suddenly perked up and listened intently. He looked at me when I did so with an expression one would give to a circus monkey.
"Anyways," he cleared his throat. "My powers really take up a lot of my energy. I get tired after I use them. That was the first time I ever tried sensing things in the dark, and it really took a lot out of me. That's why I fainted."
"Well, you really had us scared to death you know," I explained. "We thought you had hyperthermia or something, I was about ready to call an ambulance."
"But you didn't, right?"
"No."
"Good," he tried to get up again, and this time he finally got to his feet, although the pain he felt was still apparent on his face. I tried to grab his elbow to help him walk, but he pulled away.
"Don't touch me," he said as he began limping toward the path.
"You'll never get anywhere," I said. "Your ankle needs to heal, it needs ice."
"What I need is ambrosia," he said. "And I'll be fine, stop worrying so much." He limped off toward the path some more, and I followed closely behind, knowing he'd soon need my help.
"Ugh!" His face cringed again as another pain shot up his leg, and this time he fell on his knees again. I giggled a little.
"You're a horrible liar," I said as I grabbed his arm and pulled him back up. "C'mon, I'll help you out." His face held a glare, but grudgingly he allowed me to help him walk the path. I positioned myself so that he could put an arm around my shoulder and I could support him. He was heavier than he looked, and it turned out to be a strenuous activity. I then noticed the height difference between us; he was probably a few inches taller than me, maybe two or three, and he kept his eyes trained on where we were going.
Soon we were on the sidewalk. "Where do you live?" I asked him. "I can help walk you there."
He shook his head. "Just get me to that corner over there. I can limp the rest of the way."
"Do you live with your parents?" I asked. I looked back at him. "I mean, don't you live with your mom somewhere?"
"No," he said. "I can't. My mom's not with me anymore."
"Oh." I felt awkward after asking that, and after seeing Nico's sad expression I felt horrible for putting him in that mood. "I'm sorry," I said. I don't think he heard me.
I finally got him to that corner and we said our goodbyes and soon we were both on our way home.
On my way home, I decided I would just use the pond excuse for the reason I was wet and smelled like a sewer. The first room I need to walk through in order to get to the stairs is the kitchen, and I was hoping that mom hadn't started dinner yet, but as bad luck would have it, there she was. My mom looked a lot like me, except taller and more womanly. She was pregnant, too, with my new baby brother. I wanted a sister, but pregnancy doesn't work that way, so that means I'm going to have one more brother to put up with, as if Peter and Frankie weren't enough. When I walked into the kitchen, my mom was mixing something in a Pyrex bowl, and when she saw me she nearly dropped the dish she was holding. Her eyes got wide and her jaw dropped. I'm in trouble, for sure.
"Posy Annette Felrose!" she said. I was in deep trouble. That was the only reason my mom ever used the full name. "Do you to explain to me right now why you're dripping wet! And what is thatgod-awfulsmell?"
Actually, I'd rather not. That's what I wanted to say, but I knew better than to sass my mom in this mood. Especially when she's pregnant and her hormones are out of control. It could be hazardous.
"Oh, this," I said, looking down at my clothes. "I see. Well, Mom, I'm sure there is a perfectly logical explanation as to why I'm wet and smell really bad."
"I sure hope so," My mom said, placing her hands on her hips and tapping her foot. "So you want to tell me what that perfectly logical explanation is? Or do I have to wring it out of you?" Ha! I liked what she did with the wringing it out of me seeing as I'm dripping wet. I was about to burst out laughing, but she looked at me in that mom-glare that meant business.
I gulped. "Well, I was taking a walk in central park with my friend, Min— "
"Okay, pause," my mom said. "Your father said you and Min were in a tutoring session at the library. Why were you at central park?"
"There's a library in central park," I said. "And anyway, while we were walking, a biker sped past me and I fell into the pond there."
"You fell into the pond!" Yes, I did, Mother. "Which one? The one with ducks in it?" I nodded. "Oh, that explains the smell. This is why you need to be more careful! Especially when there're bikers! Now go upstairs and wash up."
"Good idea," I said. I nodded and made my way to the stairs and out of the corner of my eye, I saw Mom take out the Febreeze and spray the parts of the kitchen where I had walked. Jeez, it's not like I had the plague or anything. On my way up, I ran into my brother Peter, who always wore these weird cardigans. Today it was a navy blue one with gray stripes. He pinched his nose as he went past me.
"Did you shower in the sewer today? You stink," he said.
"You're one to talk," I said, fanning myself. Some smell radiating off of Peter's body, too, and the smell was so strong, I thought I'd faint. "Did you use enough perfume?"
"It's cologne," he said, before walking down the rest of the stairs. I skipped every other step, and soon I was in the bathroom. I turned on the hot water and waited until it was just the right temperature to take my clothes off and get in. While I was in there and rinsing the dirty water off me, I could see the filth running off my body and into the drain. Ew. The hot water felt good, especially after walking around for so long in damp clothes with the wind blowing. I wouldn't be surprised if I become sick the next day. I reached for the shampoo, and rubbed it in my hair, and that's when my mind wandered back to the sight of seeing Nico sleeping on the grass, when I pushed his hair out of his eyes. His olive-toned skin, though stained by the dirty water, sort of glowed in the sunlight.
My friend, Lauren, would probably be all over him if she met him. She's the kind of girl who's, how should I say this? Boy-crazy. She usually went for the pretty-boy types, the kind who are handsome in an almost androgynous sort of way. Nico would be different, though. He's cute in a more boyish way.
I experimented with the idea of Nico being cute in my mind, the way he seemed so peaceful there on the grass, but it seemed strange to think of him that way, so I pushed it out of my head, feeling the blush creeping up to my face. I rinsed the soap from my hair, and savored the final minutes of my hot shower before turning off the water. After I dried myself off, I wrapped the towel around myself and took a good long look at my reflection in the mirror.
I have brown eyes framed by long eyelashes. My eyebrows arched nicely, I guess, and I pinched my cheeks to add a little color. That just left my hair. It was medium length and sort of just fell from my head, flat and thin. I always thought that hair ought to be thick and flowy, and framing the face nicely. But mine just sat there on my scalp oh-so-boringly, thin, no volume at all, almost lifeless. I envied those girls on those hair products commercials with their shiny beautiful hair. I held a few strands of my hair out as I wiped the steam from the mirror. I noticed all the split end I had and frowned.
I reached for the scissors. It was only an inch or two off the bottom, no one would noticed. I snipped away at the bottom strands of my hair and looked at it. It was uneven on one side so I snipped some more, and it kept going like that, until my hair had lost almost five inches. And the tips were ragged.
Panic began to set in now. There was no way I could just waltz into the kitchen with my hair going unnoticed. Mom would be furious! My breathing got heavier, and when I could no longer hold it in, I opened my mouth and just let it out.
"Ahhhhhhhh!" I yelled in a high-pitched scream. I cupped my hand over my mouth again to stop the noise, and I heard my dad running up the stairs. He knocked.
"Posy? Sweetie, are you alright in there?" I had to think of something fast.
"Uh," I squeaked. "I-I'm okay! It's just, uh... I-I saw... a spider, but I squished it! No worries!"
"Well, okay, if that's all it was."
Panicking, I set the scissors down, grabbed another towel and wrapped my head in it. I had to do something about the cut hair, so I gathered it all up in my hand and put it in the shower, then turned the water back on, letting it wash into the drain.
My mother called out that it was dinnertime, so I dashed out the bathroom, crashing into Frankie on the way out, and to my bedroom, and changed, keeping the towel wrapped around my head. Then I went downstairs to dinner. My mom made baked salmon, corn, and mixed vegetables tonight, Dad's favorite, and he didn't waste anytime in digging into the meal. I sat quietly in my seat, trying not to call attention to the towel on my head, but of course everyone noticed, and soon Frankie came down and took his place across from me.
"So how was your day, kids?" Dad asked.
"Alright," said Peter. "I got an A on my test today, and, oh, Mom, Mrs. Webster is asking for the recipe on your casserole."
"Oh, of course." Mom said.
"And what about you, Posy?"
I thought about my day, fighting against the Nemean Lion and Nico fainting on the grass and then helping him limp home. It was exhausting to say the least, but I actually enjoyed it. "It was good." I said plainly.
"Frankie?"
"You know, Dad," Frankie started to say. "I think we should reassign chores."
"What makes you suggest that?" Mom asked while she scooped herself a generous amount of vegetables.
"Well, I think Posy should clean the bathroom. I mean she is the one who leaves the most amount of hair in the shower. It almost clogged up the drain. Let's make her clean it up." That little insect.
"Which reminds me," Dad said. "Posy why are you wearing a towel on your head at the table?"
"Because," I said. "My hair is wet."
"Well, maybe it'll dry if you take it off,"
"No,"
"C'mon, sweetie, take it off." I bit my lip. i really didn't want to take it off and show off the new hair-do, but at this point I didn't have much of a choice. I forced my hands to go up to my head and remove the towel, and my new short hair fell just barely past my shoulders. I heard Peter and Frankie suppress a laugh, their mouths were full. My mom's jaw dropped again.
"Posy!" She got up from the table and took my head in her hands, fingering my hair. "What did you do? You cut it, didn't you? I told you not to do that!" I pushed her away.
"It's fine, Mom, it'll grow back." In a few months. Who am I kidding? I want my hair back now!
" it old you to stop messing with your hair! For once just leave it alone! And look what you've done now that you've gone and cut it!"
I hate it when my mom is right, and that's usually most of the time.
The next day at school, of course everyone noticed my new haircut. It was way too short for my liking and when I saw myself in the mirror I thought it made my face look a little too thin. I liked my long hair. I endured seven hours of Lauren fretting over my lost hair and Ariel lecturing me about leaving my hair to its own will. Hair isn't alive, it doesn't have a will. Its only will is my own, and I chose to cut it. Not a very wise choice.
In English class, I slumped down in my desk determined not to get called on. In Spanish class, same thing. And my day went on like that until it was finally time to go home, but on my way out the door in Spanish class, I felt a tap on my shoulder. When I turned around Landon Hunter was standing behind me with his bright blue eyes, tanned skin, and bronze-colored hair.
"I thought I knew you from somewhere," he said. Oh no, he remembered that little run-in we had the other day. "Posy, right?" I nodded. He was seriously eyeing me down now, and I felt like I was shrinking. "Did you do something different to your hair?" I could just die of embarrassment right now. I pushed a strand of hair away from my face. "I-uh, cut it short." I said, just barely audible.
"It looks nice," he said. "Anyway, your mom owns that catering business, right?"
"Yeah, Beth's Catering Business."
"Great," he continued. "Well, we're planning the Winter Dance in student council. I know it's like months away, but we need to start early and stuff. And we kind of need a catering business for the dance. You think you could ask your mom if she could hook us up? It's kind of important, can you mention it?"
"Yeah, sure," I said.
"Thanks," he smiled again before turning around and joining his friends and went off to a coffee shop, while daydreamed about going there with him, just the two of us. I went to my locker and got my books and then went outside. Knox Prep was a tall white building and on the outside was a gate lined with flowers, and then just to the side the gates was a brick wall. I was supposed to meet up with my other friend, Jen, there and the two of us were supposed to get crepes together, but instead of Jen, I found Nico sitting on the wall lazily watching traffic.
"Nico?" I said with mild disbelief, as if he were a ghost, and stood in front of him. "What are you doing here?" He squinted his eyes when he looked at me, like he didn't recognize me. All of a sudden it looked like his light bulb went on.
"Woah, Posy?" he said with the same tone as me.
"Yes, I'm Posy, who did you think I was?"
he was trying to hold back a laugh, I could tell. "What in Hades happened to your hair? It looks like a mop,"
Great. "Real charmer, aren't you, Nico? What girl doesn't want to hear her hair being compared to a mop?"
"Just stating my opinion,"
"If your opinion's going to offend someone, you might as well keep it to yourself,"
"What ever happened to freedom of speech? I'm pretty sure it was in the Declaration of Independence,"
"You mean the Constitution?"
"Whichever it was, I don't care enough to remember,"
"It's your country's history, I think you should care a little bit more, or at least enough to remember the important documents."
"Whatever," he said, jumping off the wall.
"What are you doing here, anyway?" I asked again.
"This is your school?" I nodded. "I had no idea."
"But of course you didn't just come to see my school, right?"
"Actually," he said. "I was kinda hoping I could talk to Robbie, I need to discuss something with him."
"Discuss what?" I never knew Nico and Robbie were so well acquainted, not to mention friends. What was so important that Nico came here to discuss it with him?
"Just some important business," he answered. It didn't look like he was going to tell me, so I decided not to press the topic any further. I looked him up and down; he wore the same black jeans, and wore a gray shirt. He wasn't wearing the aviator's jacket today, and he wore just some plain black shoes. And I noticed something different about him.
"You're not limping." I said. he looked down at the ankle he had twisted. It was perfectly fine, and he had landed softly on it when he jumped off the wall.
"Yeah, I guess I'm not," he said.
"How'd it heal so quickly?"
"It was just a sprain, not like it was broken or anything. And the ambrosia helps to heal me." If Nico could somehow market ambrosia as a miracle healing formula or something, he'd probably be a filthy rich guy.
'Oh," I said, suddenly speechless. "Well, I guess I'm glad you're okay."
"You guess?"
"Whatever."
"So," he said, changing the topic. "How're you getting home?" I'd almost forgotten that I was still at school. On my track days, when I was too tired to walk, I usually took the bus home, but that wasn't one of those days.
"I guess I'm walking home today," I answered.
"Oh." he said.
"So, um, bye." I stepped to the side and started walking in the opposite direction, but it wasn't long before I saw Nico appear by my side again.
"Can I help you?" I asked.
"Um," he said. "Do you mind if just, you know, walk you there, to your house? I'm not in the mood to go home yet."
"Oh,' I said. "Yeah, sure. I don't mind. What's going on at home? Where do you live anyway?" I hoped everything was okay.
"I live with a friend of mine, Percy, he's a demigod, too. I don't want to live at the Camp, and there's school to worry about, so my friend lets me stay with him and his mom and step-dad. And right now Percy's got his girlfriend over, and it's really awkward."
"Same here when my brother, Peter, has hisgirlfriends over," I said, relating to his situation. "So, um, where do you go to school?"
"Some public school in some part of the city,"
"That explains so much, by the way. How'd you get here so fast? It's only like three o'clock and you're already here."
"Shadow-traveled, of course."
"Oh right. How does that work by the way?"
"Well, shadows are like made up of the same substance, so basically, I can control them and pass through the different shadows and end up in different places."
"Wow, that's pretty cool. You're like a superhero or something." That got him to laugh a little, and smiled at my accomplishment. He had a nice smile, despite being a child from hell...literally. It was warm and slightly contagious. A genuine kind of smile.
The walk ended soon as we made our way toward my house, and I noticed that there was a car parked in our drive way, one that I hadn't seen in a while, and just as we were getting closer, and elderly man came out of the car. "Grandpa!" I yelled, as I ran up to him and threw my arms around him in a hug.
"Posy!" he said, planting a kiss in my hair. "How nice it is to see you! How have you been?"
"I'm doing great!" I said. Nico sort of just stood back while I greeted him, almost shy. "Oh, Grandpa! This is my friend, Nico." Nico stepped forward just a little bit, and waved to my grandfather. Grandpa waved him up to come closer and Nico obeyed. The Grandpa extended a hand to Nico and Nico shook it. The whole time, Nico was silent and frowned a little. What was his problem? He was being rude.
"How are you, young man?"
"Fine,"
"I don't remember hearing Posy talk about you, you must be a new friend of hers."
"Mhmm."
"Well, it's been nice meeting you. Posy is a wonderful girl, I'm sure you two are good friends."
"Mhmm."
And now his answers were short, obviously not showing any interest in the conversation. Who does he think is, a god? Well, he is half-god, but still!
"Well, I ought to go inside now," Grandpa said. "I think the rest of the family will want to see me." Grandpa gave me one last kiss before going on inside to greet the family. I turned on my heel and faced Nico with my arms folded across my chest.
"What's the matter with you?" I said, raising my voice for emphasis. Nico just looked down at the floor sullenly and for a minute I thought the raising-my-voice thing was working.
"Posy," he started to say, but I kept going.
"My Grandpa is trying to be nice to you and you're just being really rude. You have to go apologize to him! You can't just talk to him like that!"
"Posy!" he said, grabbing my shoulders. "Your Grandpa,"
"Yeah, what about him?"
"I saw his life aura," he explain in a low voice. "And it's not looking good."
"What do you mean?" I asked. I looked him straight in the eye and breathing stopped for a minute there. "What do you mean his life aura isn't good? Nico, tell me!" He looked sad, and he obviously didn't want to tell me, and a part of me didn't want to hear it either. I didn't know what he was going to say, but I could only guess. I pushed him onward, and he sighed.
"yougrandpaisdyingPosy," he said fast and barely audible.
"What?"
"DYING! YOUR GRANDPA IS DYING, POSY!"
TBC...
Okay, so there's the third chapter, I hope you guys liked it. PLEASE leave reviews! Let me know if you'd like to see more of Nico's point of view or if Posy's starting to get annoying or something. I don't want her to be annoying, I want her to be a likeable character! Thanks for reading! Is it too much much to ask for a teeny tiny little review, something helpful, or encouraging, a suggestion, a concern, anything? Please review people, reviews are what keep me going...
-Monay