I'm so very sorry for the long wait. It's been a few months since I last updated and I hope this chapter will make up for the long wait.

I have published a new TVD Self-Insert fanfiction. If you're a fan of that fandom, then you should try reading 'The Hanging Tree'.

Please leave a review.

Summary: Death gained a whole new appeal the moment I became a daughter of Hades. [SI, Self-Insert/OC-Insert]

Enjoy.


Chapter 14

The Turning Point Pt. II

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Where She Witnessed The Repercussions


"The monstrous act by definition demands a monster."
― Rick Yancey

"And we all know love is a glass which makes even a monster appear fascinating." ― Alberto Moravia,The Woman of Rome


We shouldn't have let her leave by herself.

We should have known that something like this would happen. We might not have been any children of Apollo or some kind of Oracle, but we still should have known that something like this would happen. That someone would use the moment we were apart from each other to attack.

Or perhaps I was just blaming myself for something I had no control over.

Just like I mentioned before, I could not exactly predict the future. I might have known about a possible future. A future of a universe I did not exist in.

My existence alone had changed everything, making it impossible for me to actually predict anything.

For all I knew my existence alone could have caused a ripple that would destroy this whole world. Maybe the love our father now held for us caused something it shouldn't have. Maybe father's anger at Zeus' daring actions led to the death of an important ancestor.

Someone like the grandfather of Percy Jackson.

What if the Chosen One didn't even exist in this universe because I was born? What if he wasn't the Chosen One anymore? What if one of my siblings or even I myself took that place from him?

There were so many possibilities I had thought of through the years. This whole endeavor was maddening.

But ultimately it came down to one thing.

While my presence in this world has changed everything, it has also ultimately changed nothing. I wasn't stupid or naive enough to believe that I could have stopped World War II from happening, however, I should have been able to save our mother.

Maria di Angelo should have never died in this world. Neither should we have ever entered this cursed hotel.

Bianca and Nico di Angelo should have had the possibility to be normal children. They should have grown old in the 20th century and died before it ended.

Jerome Chavalier should not have died at such a tender age.

I should have, no, could have stopped it all. But I did not.

I had failed them all.

And there wasn't even a real excuse for my inaction. The only thing I could say about my ineptitude would make me look like a bigger fool than I already was.

I had failed my whole family because of one emotion; Fear.

I had feared that if I changed something, the future would end up being worse than it was already meant to be.

What if by saving mother I would condemn Nico to an early death? What if by stopping us from entering the hotel I would sentence us to a future even worse than our current one?

What if, what if, what if, what if.

There were so many 'what ifs' going through my mind that I never even considered the chance of success. I decided prematurely that it would be better for me to do nothing than to destroy everything.

And by doing that I might just end up paying the highest price of all.

The life of a sibling.

The life of my older sister.

I should have expected this. Nothing good lasts forever and the time I had spend with my family in this world was too good for someone like me.

Quite frankly, I knew that I did not deserve this second chance. That I had done nothing to warrant it in my first life and did not live up to this gift's honor during my second one.

Still, I did not expect this to happen. I did not expect that someone would actually manage, no, dare to attack us inside the Lotus Hotel. The Lotus Eaters normally kept any conflict at bay and also ensured their customers safety. No one with any intent to harm us should have managed to do so.

And yet, I could still feel the throbbing pain at the back of my head and the unusual silence left in the wake of Bianca's unconscious state.

We could always feel each other. Even during our sleep we could feel the emotions that accompanied each others dreams.

Besides her presence and the throbbing pain at the back of my head, I could feel nothing through the bond I shared with my sister. Nothing.

That scared me more than anything else because while my sister was still alive, her assailant was probably at her side and he or she could do whatever they wanted to Bianca. I wasn't there to protect her and that just might end up being the reason for her death.

I doubted she slipped inside our shower or that the assailant just wanted to say 'hello' to us.

A chair scrapped loudly across the floor and my gaze instantly flittered towards my brother's figure. I wasn't the only one feeling an all consuming panic and fear. Nico did as well. He knew just as I did that today we might very well lose our sister.

Face pale and eyes wide, Nico clenched his jaw tightly. His Adam's apple bobbed slightly as he swallowed visibly. Slowly, my brother opened his left fist, grabbed the steak knife he had previously used to eat his dinner from the table and expertly hid it inside his sleeve.

For a moment I was actually relieved and able to appreciate his foresight. There was no need for us to reveal our true identity to our new acquaintances by using the weapons father had gifted to us, weapons that could only be touched by the Children of the Underworld.

I did not think for even a second that they would misinterpret the weapons origins and meaning. Not when one of them just so happened to be a daughter of Athena.

Annabeth Chase.

She came to our table, while we were still so obliviously eating our dinner, and without any hesitation introduced herself and the two boys following behind her to us.

Perseus Jackson and Grover Underwood

I had literarily walked into Percy fucking Jackson and not recognized him. And as if that wasn't enough I had managed to make a bad first impression on him and his two best friends, one of them his maybe girlfriend.

Wasn't that just great?

Fortunately, I had managed to ignore the part of me that screamed 'flight or fight' and had gently inquired what they wanted from us.

It seemed as if they took my question for an invitation because soon the three of them were sitting with us at the table.

Our conversation didn't go far beyond the introductions. Percy Jackson had just informed us that there were many things his small group had to tell and explain to us when we so suddenly felt Bianca panic. And it wasn't the 'I can't find my keys' kind of panic, more like the 'I just opened a door, only to find a man murdering his wive and now having to get rid of the only witness' kind of emotion that she was feeling.

It lasted for a second and was then replaced by head-splitting ache at the back of my skull. Afterwards Bianca was just gone. An almost completely silent presence at the back of my mind.

We were never this silent. Always there. Always screaming our emotions at each other.

And I had never felt as afraid as I felt at that very moment. An emptiness I never knew could exist filled my body where the myriad of emotions my sister felt normally were.

That's not to say that Bianca was completely gone. She was still there, albeit too weak to transfer anything else to us but that painful headache.

She was there, but we did not know how long it would stay that way if we did not find her soon.

''Wait! Where are you going?'' The dark haired intruder, Perseus Jackson, shouted after my brother who was already halfway across the room.

Nico only stopped for a second to send me a look and inform me of a plan that was doomed to fail epically in Italian. ''I'll go from the back, you take them from the front.''

He was gone in the crowd before I could formulate an answer and without a pause I turned my head to the unwelcome strangers. Even though I knew their names and that they probably did not mean us any harm, it still did not change the fact that they were indeed strangers.

''We have to go. If you wish, you may come with us.'' I was up from my seat and moving, not waiting to hear what had to say. If my theory was right, they would follow us no matter what.

There could be only two reason for them being here in this hotel. Either a prophecy or someone had send them to get us. Neither sounded all too great.

Especially because I doubted that our father would send a bunch of kids to get us.

I did not fail to grab a knife from a neighboring table on our way out of the room. My left hand closed around it with a steel grip. The group of demigods behind me regarded me with caution.

I could only hope that this small action would not scare them away. It was doubtful that they had something to do with whatever happened to Bianca. The knowledge I possessed made me aware of that and the fact that they could help us with whoever dared to attack my sister.

We di Angelo siblings were many things, but not stupid. Someone had managed to knock out Bianca. Was he just lucky enough or perhaps that strong? We couldn't tell, thus it would be better for us to have some backup.

In the worst case scenario we could leave them to be fed to the wolves and save ourselves.

When had I started to think like this? When did start seeing people as necessary sacrifices?

Leaving the dinning room was easier said than done. There were so many people there during dinner time that I had to push more than half a dozen out of my way.

Normally, I would have never pushed anyone so carelessly out of my way, whether it was an adult or a child. But that moment of uncertainty, of not knowing if my sister was safe, made me into something I would later come to hate.

Almost blindly, only focusing on the feel of Bianca and where she was, I ran out of the large hall like room into a maze of corridors. The footsteps of three previously fictional character followed my wake.

Any other time, I might have stopped to think about the fact that the Percy Jackson was running after me and shouting for me to stop and wait.

I did not care. My older sister was in danger and twin might soon be as well.

Running and running, I continued following Bianca's faint trail. Nico took the so called longer way, creating a long enough distance between himself and our new acquaintance to be able to safely shadow travel.

They did not need to see us using our powers. They did not need to know about our father.

The farther from the dinning room I was, the less people surrounded me. The crowd thinning so much that I was soon alone in a hallway leading to countless of rooms. People rarely came here, too addicted to all the hotel and casino had to offer to even think about sleeping and spending some time alone in their room.

Those few that did venture here immediately entered their room.

There were also the Lotus Eaters, but they only came every few days to clean up the rooms and never bothered any of the guests.

The building was parted into two sections, the hotel where people ate and slept and the casino. Most people preferred to stay in the casino, thus the first section was always relatively empty compared to the second one.

This worked to my advantage; I could not imagine how it would have been to navigate through this maze if there had been a crowd as large as in the dinning room here.

Left, right, left, left and right again.

From what I guessed, Bianca and her assailant were still near our room, moving slowly in my direction. Whoever had attacked probably wanted to get her out of the hotel.

The person obviously wasn't strong enough to carry her, so it had to be someone young or a slightly built girl.

It turned out to be a boy maybe a year younger than Nico and I were. Short dishwater blonde hair adorned his head and he had a pair of stormy gray eyes that seemed to darken with each second he did not manage to lift the motionless body before him. The boy actually looked to be about my height and there seemed to be almost no muscle to his body.

His arms thin as sticks and cheeks slightly gaunt.

Dark rings decorated the space under his eyes.

He looked up, startled, once he heard our footsteps and we immediately froze in place. The group of practically strangers only about two feet behind me.

I watched with a twisted satisfaction how the young boy's eyes widened in fright and forced my gaze not to stray from him to my sister. Father had early on taught us to never lose sight of our enemy.

''Aidan?'' A chocked female whisper.

How did Annabeth Chase know this boy? Was he there with them? Perhaps they were all send there to capture my siblings and me?

Almost unconsciously, I took a few steps forward, putting a small distance between myself and those who might have been send here to harm us Children of Hades.

That was a mistake I should not have made. Belying his appearance, the boy's hand moved with a speed no normal mortal could achieve, took a small knife from somewhere on his body and pressed it to my sister's throat. Horror stricken, I could do nothing but watch.

''None of you move or the girl will end up dead!'' The blond child shouted, his whole body shaking with panic and what I thought to be anger. It was then that I remembered where I had seen eyes similar to his own before.

Annabeth.

Now that I thought about it, the eyes weren't the only thing they shared. They had also very similar noses and cheekbones.

He must have been a Child of Athena then. Shouldn't such a child have known better than to attack one of us? To attack a Child of Hades?

Not only because of the rumor about what happened to all those who dared to harm a Child of Hades after their death―Father might have not loved or cared about many of his children, but he still hated everyone who dared to harm them.but also because of the rumors about the supposed insanity those children bear. There were so many prejudices about father's children that it wasn't even funny anymore. The only positive aspect to them was that they kept many people, demigods and satyrs and so on, from actually even thinking about attacking us.

Could it be that he did not know who we were?

Perhaps.

Not knowing, not informing himself about who he was attacking, would end up being the last mistake the child ever made.

There weren't many things in this world that I wouldn't do for my siblings, but there were certain lines I wouldn't cross till there truly wasn't any other way out.

That did not apply to my twin.

Later, I would not be able to find words strong enough to describe what I felt the moment it happened, however, I would remember the event more vividly than anything else.

From the corner of my right eye I saw Percy raising both of his hands in a placating manner, his mouth opening to say something that would be forever be lost to the world.

A cry filled the air and I watched with horror filled eyes how Nico suddenly appeared only a few feet behind the boy. My twin moved faster than I had ever seen him moving before.

The knife was pressed harsher against Bianca's throat; I could feel its sting and saw a trail of crimson blood flow from her throat down her modest cleavage and stain the dark red dress she wore.

He was behind the child within less than a second. The steak knife he had taken from the dinning roomed gleamed in the hallways dim light.

Without hesitation, without even the slightest tremble, my brother's hand moved towards the boy's throat.

Blood. There was so much blood.

The crimson liquid squirted out of the crudely torn throat. It stained the floor, the walls and my sister.

For a numb moment I wondered how she would get all that blood out of her hair.

Another cry came from somewhere to my right.

Unbidden, my eyes had followed the boy's slow descent to the ground. His hand had long since lost its grip on the knife, having luckily only cut a shallow line on my sister's skin.

The boy's, no, Aiden's eyes were wide, bulging even and looking at something a few ways away from me.

He was looking at his sister.

Left hand pressed to his throat, unsuccessfully trying to stop all the blood from leaving his body. Lips opened and formed words no one managed to hear.

Stormy gray eyes were pleading for help.

He was just a child.

Blood dripped from his mouth and his body twitched periodically.

How could someone so small have so much blood in his body. The crimson liquid seemed to be everywhere where my eyes went, slowly spreading in a need to reach even me.

By the gods.

This just couldn't be happening. No, this just couldn't be happening.

FuckFuckFuckFuckFuckFuckFuCK

Nico―my twin brother, the boy with whom I had grown up, the boy at whose side I had slept at night, someone I loved―had just killed someone in cold blood.

He had killed a child.

Oh my fucking hell. No, no, no, no.

I was trembling, my whole body was trembling. Palms sweaty and skin probably as pale as a sheet.

The knife fell out of my hand.

I felt like throwing up.

Aiden―Oh my gods―he was making gurgling sounds, blood flowing like a waterfall out of his crudely torn throat and being spit in droplets out of his mouth. The bags under his eyes more profound than before, contrasting heavily with his by the second paler getting skin. Thin beads of sweat gathered on his forehead and I heard more cries and shrieks and shouts from my side.

Somewhere in my shocked mind I noticed Percy stopping Annabeth from running to her baby brother's aid. She was crying and kicking widely around herself.

Hoping to blend everything out, my gaze focused on the boy's, on my brother's victim's face. To be more precise, his eyes.

His dark gray orbs that seemed to have lightened since the last time I had gazed upon them. They were shining with a fear that made him seem even more like the child that he actually was.

No, please no.

I shouldn't have looked. I should have ran away, away from him, my sibling and the world.

Not doing so would end up being one of the biggest mistakes I would ever make.

With an emotion I couldn't name―a mix of horror, shock, guilt and pain―I watched how the light slowly faded out of his eyes. How they glazed with the dimness of death and the life disappeared out of them.

I felt him die.

One after another tears spilled down my cheeks. My shoulders trembled more and more and I would have fallen to my knees had the gleaming knife in my brother's hand not caught my attention.

Dip, dip, dip.

That's how the droplets of blood falling slowly from the knife sounded like. My gaze trailed along the blade and up the blood stained hand and arm of my twin. His clothes looked us if he had washed them in blood.

Inspection stopping before my eyes could reach his face, I raised my hand to rub some sweat away from my forehead.

I had to force myself, for the first time in this life I had to literarily force myself to meet Nico's gaze.

I flinched.

Madness. Pure madness and pleasure. His eyes as dark as those of our father and wide with glee. I could feel his emotions trying to suffocate me.

There was no guilt, no disgust. No, he felt pleased. Euphoric even.

Pleased at what I had no idea. I only hoped or perhaps tried to delude myself that he did not feel any pleasure from killing but from being able to save our sister.

Some blood was smeared on his pale cheek and I witnessed how a small grin spread on his lips.

Oh god.

Disgusted filled me and once again I felt like throwing up. But there was one emotion in me that was even stronger than the disgust and horror I felt; Guilt.

That boy had died because of me. Had I not been born in this universe, then Nico would have never been here on this day, capable of killing a child. Had I not been born, then my siblings would have never ended up being like they were. It was father's influence that made them so ruthless and ignorant to the importance of life.

My existence had made Nico di Angelo into a killer.

I doubted Bianca would feel any more guilt about Aiden's death than Nico did.

I had created two monsters.

Instead of being a good influence for them, I completely ignored all their flaws till it was too late to change anything and now I had to deal with the consequences.

A child was dead because of me.

''Nora.'' His voice, my twin's voice, a killers voice.

For a second I did not react. Then, slowly, ever so slowly, my feet started moving in my sibling's direction.

I couldn't bring myself to look at my twin again.

Bianca was still unconscious, completely unaware of the gruesome scene surrounding her. I fell to my knees harshly, feeling the impact rattle my bones and not caring about the fact that I had just bruised my skin.

What I did care about was the feeling of my cream colored dress being drenched by blood. The liquid felt wet and sticky against my skin and soon my hands were covered in it as well.

I touched Bianca's throat, searching for a pulse I knew was there. Afterwards I proceeded to search her head for a wound. Just where I had felt the pain on my own skull, I found a bleeding wound. The blood was fortunately already clogging, which meant that she at least wouldn't bleed out.

Just like the child that had dared to assault her.

''I'll carry her to our room, you just open the door, Nora.'' It was spoken like an order and I would have normally at least scowled if he used such a tone with me, but none of this was normal.

I rose to my feet and did exactly what he said.

Nico picked our sister up from the ground and laid her down onto our bed.

After making sure that I had not ran away or something he gave me one last order of feeding our sister ambrosia and then proceeded to make his way to the bathroom.

How could have everything gone so wrong?