When Nico woke up, he surprisingly found himself wrapped around a distinctly female body, which was a rather foreign sensation for him.
For a long time in his teens, he had been confused. Did he like girls or did he like boys? The answer was simple and in the same time complex.
He liked boys. That was for certain. It had taken him a long time to accept that fact. It had been hard for him. He was a strange guy to start with, people were generally scared of him. And for a kid from the 40's, being gay was basically unthinkable.
It didn't help his state of mind, that there was this one girl. The one currently sleeping in his arms. She did things to him, that he could never hope to analyze. She was the exception to the rule. Generally, girls were odd. And ridiculously complicated. They were always strangely unbalanced. Not the insane kind of unbalanced (although in some cases...)
Most of the ones he had met, were insecure and rather dependent on their boyfriends. Sure, it was probably endearing to some, but mostly he just found it annoying and pathetic. So, what if your hair isn't perfect? So, what if your boyfriend happens to be friends with another girl?
It was either insecurity or arrogance, and he didn't want either one.
Hermione was perfectly balanced though. She was confident but not arrogant. She was beautiful, but not perfect. Her hair was still atrocious.
She was intelligent, more so than Annabeth, he thought but she didn't rub it in other people's faces. At least not on purpose.
Nothing had ever come out of it in the months they spent together. Sure, they had hugged, they held hands, but they had never kissed. He had been deeply fascinated by her, but he had also been too confused, and too scared. He was still confused, although not as much. He still needed to get some things straight inside his mind, though. (No pun intended)
He had been happy for a while with Will. In a way, he was a lot like Hermione. Definitely just as bossy. The problem was that he and Will were never really on the same page. Of course, it didn't help that he was keeping a big secret. He could never have told anyone about Hermione. Not even Hazel. He had sworn it on the river Styx.
He supposed Will must have suspected something. Their break was very amicable. They were still great friends, but Nico's head (and probably heart) was somewhere else. By some kind of miracle Will understood that, and didn't resent him for it. He was now seeing Joseph, a son of Mercury from Camp Jupiter.
Hermione was what kept him going through Tartarus. He had promised to come back to her, but once he came out on the other side, and they had finally beat Gaia, he couldn't find her anymore. She was somehow shielded from him. It wasn't until last month that he found her. When he finally did, he kept trying to find the perfect moment to approach her, but it never came. Instead Percy had thrown them a bucket of shit last week, so now he didn't have any choice.
Had it really been five years? Huh. Time really flies when you're fighting to survive.
They had a lot they needed to talk about. A lot had happened in the world of demigods that she needed to know. The war with Gaia for instance.
Percy. The idiot.
It looked like there were some things he needed to be informed of as well. She definitely had more scars than last time he saw her. He was especially interested in the half-healed ones on her neck and forearm. Maybe Will could take a look when they reached Camp Jupiter.
She began stirring, and he pretended to be waking up at the same time, so she wouldn't notice he had been staring at her like a creep. She was sitting up, when he opened his eyes and he couldn't help but find her adorable. Her hair was plastered to her face on one side and the other looked like it might try to eat her at any moment.
"Morning, Princess."
She snorted. "I think it's more like afternoon"
"Huh. It's hard to tell. Anyways. It should give us some time to talk and get some food. The next jump is to San Francisco, so that's a what. Four-hour jump?"
"Probably. Time zones aren't within my area of expertise. "
Now it was Nicos turn to snort. "That's just a fancy way of saying you don't know, right?"
"What's in San Francisco anyways? I thought you said the camp was at Long Island."
"Well, there have been some developments. A lot of things have happened in the last five years." That silenced the both of them
"Tell me. Why didn't you come back." Hermione whisered eventually.
She looked so vulnerable at that moment. He realized, that maybe he meant more to her than he had thought. That shouldn't have been surprising him. He had found out a while ago, that may be not everyone hated him or thought him a nuisance. He should have realized that Hermione cared a lot sooner. She had definitely tried hard enough to show him all those years ago.
It was surprising that she still cared though.
"I had meant to come back. Honestly. There were a lot of things I didn't tell you, that I probably should have. There was this prophecy"
"Oh for crying out loud! I have had it with damn prophecies!"
Nico chuckled "Dam prophecies? Doesn't matter. You're probably going to get used to that. We get them all the time. I'm curious how you came across one though."
"One? Try a million."
"How in Hades did you come across a million prophecies?" He asked, incredulous.
"Well. Apparently one was made about Harry. Remember I told you about him? Oh gods, I forgot to tell him I was leaving! He's going to be so worried! I need to call him or something."
"We'll do that when we leave here. Back to prophecies?"
"Right. Sorry. Got sidetracked. Whenever a prophecy is made, it's recorded and sent to the hall of prophecies."
"Wizards have a hall of prophecies?"
She looked rather uncomfortable. "Well. Not anymore..."
"Okay. I'm going to get that story later. But there was this big prophecy here. They called it Prophecy of the Seven. It went like this 'Seven half-bloods shall answer the call, to storm or fire the world must fall, an oath to keep with a final breath, and foes bear arms to the Doors of Death.' It was a very important prophecy. The world depended on it."
"It does sound rather grim. Who were the seven?"
"I told you about Camp Half-blood, because that's where you would belong. Remember I told you about my sister, Hazel? It's kind of complicated, but she is a daughter of Pluto, not Hades. It's difficult to explain, but the gods have different aspects. Most of them have a Greek aspect and a Roman one. That means that their kids can also be either Greek or Roman. The Greeks are sent to Camp Half-blood, but there is another camp called Camp Jupiter, where the Romans are. The Greeks and Romans have always had a tense relationship, so the gods agreed to keep them secret from one another. They were close to civil war a couple of years ago, but they had to join forces. The seven had to be a mix of Greek and Roman."
She was listening intently, absorbing information, and so he told her about trying to locate the Doors of Death through the Underworld. He told her about Tartarus (Without going into details, although he could see he didn't have her fooled). He told her about being trapped by the twins, Annabeth and Percy falling into Tartarus. He told her about Argo II, about the crew and all the events that lead to the final battle at Half-blood Hill.
"That sounds incredible. It's amazing how we didn't even know the world was falling apart."
"I tried to find you after the battle, but I couldn't. Not until, like, a month ago."
And then it dawned on her.
"The protection spells. Of course! After fourth year, I was almost always under some form of protection or concealment charm. They increased the spells on the school as well."
"Then why didn't you contact me?"
"Well, I did try. But I think I must have spent all my drachmas, trying to Iris-message you while you were in Tartarus."
"They didn't have great reception down there" He tried to joke about it, but even though it had been a couple of years, it still felt fresh, and his chuckle sounded forced.
She looked like she might start to ask more questions about Tartarus, but luckily her stomach chose that moment to make a growl. Thank the gods.
"Well, it sounds like we need to get ready to find something to eat!" he hurried to say and escaped to the bathroom.