Disclaimer: I do not own anything.

Warnings: Violence. Language. Implied f/f.

Just Be Friends

Chapter Two

Persis I

Persis was furious.

Not just at Grover, no, but at Thalia and herself—mainly, herself. The daughter of Poseidon was so distracted with the daughter of Zeus—particularly her blue eyes—that she'd completely missed Grover's distressed call. It wasn't until Annabeth came searching for them that she realized her best friend was in danger—along with the new demigods.

"This way," she said, uncapping Riptide and entering the dark hallways. She was acutely aware of Thalia behind her, the taller girl's breath on her bare neck—her curly dark hair had been brushed aside—as she kept her hand on her favorite magic item.

"It's cool to have an empathy link in times like these, huh?"

Annabeth shot Thalia an annoyed glance. "It would've been even cooler if we weren't in this situation in the first place."

"Too late, Annie," The blue-eyed demigoddess mumbled.

Persis ignored her best friends' banter, peering into one of the open doorways. Her sharp eye caught sight of a large indent on the lockers. "Oh-kay," she mumbled, stepping back and closing the door. "They've been here, but they—"

"Went out," Thalia finished, glancing at where the hallway ended: the backdoor laid waiting. "Awesome. Snow."

Persis shot her cousin an impressed look. "No one can do sarcasm as you; you sound like you mean it."

Thalia smirked. "Hey, I got my charms, cuz."

"I know," Persis mumbled, following Thalia as she led the trio of demigoddesses out of the school and into the waiting snow. Persis shuddered as the chill hit her head-on.

"Okay," whispered Annabeth. "here's the plan. I'll go invisible and I'll tackle the threatened ones—"

"How can you be so sure?" asked Persis, curiosity making her green eyes gleam brighter than they already were. Both girls stared blankly at her, the silence lasting far too long. "Well?"

Thalia snapped out of her daze first, scowling. "Let her finish. We're running out of time."

Annabeth waved the girls off before another argument could start. "I know because it's the most logical action for someone holding people hostage."

"Are you implying you would've resorted to such underhanded—"

"Shut up, Persis," snapped Annabeth, cheeks heating up. "At any rate, I'll do my part and you two will charge in and defeat the enemy. Thals, it'd be a good time to use your shield, and Persis, use the ocean beneath the cliffs to your advantage."

Persis scoffed.

"This is my home turf, lady, you don't need to tell me what to do."

Nodding, apparently satisfied that they wouldn't be charging in without a plan—the daughter of Athena would go crazy without a plan in every action—Annabeth whipped on her invisible cap and disappeared. Thalia flashed her a confident smirk, tapping her bracelet and darted into the forest with Persis close behind. They got close enough to hear the last snippets of conversation between the di Angelo girl and Grover.

Bianca was panicking about needing strong men to protect them, making Thalia snort in disbelief as they got closer. Grover responded with a hampering all-girls reinforcement.

Annabeth chose that moment to break in, just as Thorn readied his missile to fire.

Together, the daughters of the Big Three burst from the foliage that kept them hidden.

(And this part, she would always look back on and wonder)

He was nothing special, just a scrawny boy with shaggy black hair, doe-like brown eyes, hiding behind his sister. It was easy to tell that they were siblings seeing as they had the same olive skin and other features.

Their eyes met; his dark eyes were filled with wonder; her green eyes were assessing; her blue eyes were focused on their enemy.

She sighed, slumping down onto the cold ground, shoulders hunched in defeat.

They'd lost Annabeth.

Persis glared slightly at the Lieutenant of Artemis, Zoe Nighshade, they said her name was. The moment they met, neither girls could get along with one another—another similarity to Thalia.

Persis had been frustrated, the reason why she didn't show Artemis much respect—and she never expected for Artemis to be a little girl—and Zoe took it the wrong way. Her voice was tight with anger when she spoke to the daughter of Poseidon. Well, if that was how she was going to act, Persis didn't think she should play nice either.

"Stupid, obsessive Huntresses..." grumbled the daughter of Poseidon moodily, doodling meaningless pictures—a stick figure with a crown in her braided hair getting impaled—on the snow-covered ground. It was too cold for her liking and though the falling snow was beautiful, she was too disheartened to enjoy it.

Persis glanced up when she heard snow crunching.

She blinked when she saw the di Angelo boy. "Hey," she said, seeing him watch her curiously.

He beamed at her. "Hey," he returned, plopping down beside the daughter of Poseidon. Grover trotted up behind the younger demigod, sighing as he settled down beside Nico. "I'm Nico."

"I know," said Persis. "Grover told us." Before she could say anything else, he cut her off.

"So, do you argue a lot with Thalia because she's the daughter of Zeus?" Persis scowled, but said nothing. Nico didn't seem too deterred. "If Annabeth's the daughter of the goddess of wisdom, why didn't she know better than to jump off the cliff?" Persis gritted her teeth, shooting him a look that read drop it but either he didn't get it or he ignored it.

He tilted his head to the side, eyeing her curiously. Anytime now, Persis was sure he'd be prodding her with sticks for his own amusement. "Are you dating Thalia?'

Persis choked. "What?"

"She's the daughter of Poseidon I've been talking about," warned Grover, taking pity on his best friend and deciding to save her from being embarrassed to death; he gestured to Persis, he didn't look too enthusiastic though. Persis figured it was because Thalia had probably ripped him a new one with yelling. "Thalia's the daughter of Zeus. She's Persis. Show some respect."

Persis laughed. "Please, I'm not a goddess or anything. You can talk to me however you want to." From the corner of her eye, she saw Zoe walking closer to them. Purposefully, she said loudly, "I'm not some pompous ringleader of some girls's club who demands respect from everyone she meets."

Grover snorted and Nico snickered at her not-so-subtle insult.

"Perseus Jackson," snapped Zoe Nightshade, striding up to them in all her queenly glory. Persis sighed, like, here we go again before turning to face the immortal maiden.

"Yes, me."

"Lady Artemis seeks to speak with thee, come."

"How... pompous," stated Grover.

Nico was grinning at her teasingly. "You still haven't answered my question. Especially the last one."

Persis shot the infuriating brat a filthy glare before stomping off.

So much for that adorable looks, he was the devil!

A.N: Don't be too deterred by the length, this will be in different character's pov—I'm testing this new style of writing—so some chaps might be repetitive. This story will extend to the HoO so don't worry about this ending too soon or lacking much fluff.

Question: Who should Nico end up with in the end?

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