New Hope Rewritten

Chapter XI: I'll Never Forget You

Nico

I couldn't control myself. I lost another person close to me. My heart was beating so fast I thought it would give in right then and there. I dropped to my knees and clutched my shirt right where my heart should be. There was a ringing in my ears and all I could hear was the loud and unsteady beat of my heart along with the anguished cry of pain from the person I cared and most probably love.

No, I definitely love Kairi.

But I was so lost. That day, we held a memorial for her. Chiron looked at me occasionally with a sympathetic look and he probably had it hard too. Being an immortal mentor really is hard as he himself watches the heroes he creates die.

Don't even get me started on Percy.

He wouldn't leave his cabin at all. The only people he would let inside were Annabeth and I but even then he wouldn't speak. All he would say was that he broke his promise with her and that it should have been him being thrown off the cliff. He never left his bed and continued to stare at Kairi's bed where it was neatly made by her. He didn't even go under his bed because he didn't want to ruin what she fixed. There wasn't a single dirty spot in the entire cabin and that only made Percy feel worse.

"She trusted me... and I left her to die down there alone." He says, his voice hoarse from crying. The only thing Annabeth could do was to hold him and to tell him there was nothing he could do if the god of prophecy foresaw it happening.

"I should have jumped with her." I say, finally speaking after so long. Then I look up at both at them in realization, "I should jump with her." I move to stand up and start to shadow travel to my father's realm until I felt a hand grab me firmly and keep me from moving anywhere. I turn to look who it was to see Percy out from his bed and holding me with a firm look.

"Don't."

I plead, "Percy, please, you know better than anyone that I love and care for her more than anything! Please let me go!"

"Do you think she would be happy to see you down there with her?" He asks, his voice a deadly whisper. "DO YOU THINK SHE WOULD LIKE TO SEE HER SACRIFICE ALL IN VAIN TO SEE YOU PERISH WITH HER!?"

I stare at him as tears I held back for so long spill. I crumple to the ground and grab my hair tightly, "Then what am I supposed to do?" I beg.

"I don't know." Percy says, "But I do know she would want you to be happy."

"She makes me happy."

"Then do the things she does that make her happy."

I stare at the floor, "She liked doing new things."

"Then try new things." He pulls me up and his eyes stare at me, "Don't let my sister die in vain or I won't forgive you."

I nod and shadow travel away with a place in mind.

I reappear at an orphanage. I take a slow breath as I remember Kairi telling me all her stories about her life in there. I could already imagine a small little Kairi running around the front yard with a hose and watering the plants already with a bit too much water or swinging and falling off with a thud only to get back on it and swing again.

"I always broke a few things at the orphanage—like the front door. I once left a dent on the front door from—"

"—running into it with just my head." I mutter as I recall her words to me. I march forward and sure enough the bottom of the door had a slight dent. I knock on it lightly and eventually the door swung open to show a middle-aged woman with a few gray hairs to look at me with a warm smile,

"How may I help you?" she asks politely.

"Hi, I would just like to ask about someone you used to have under your care." I start off.

She seemed to frown, "Is this about Kairi?" she asks with a sigh, "Sir, whatever she may have done she truly does have a golden heart—she just has bad luck with handling things and breaks a few things here and there but she never ever means to. She's a good kid and I swear by it." She says firmly.

I shake my head, "Oh I know, I just wanted to ask about her in general—not here about anything negative about her. I just want to know more and the first place I could think of was here." I say.

"Ah, I see. Well, come inside—the children are having nap time anyway." The lady opens the door wider for me to come in.

The place was rather large. There was a huge living space with couches, a television, and a fireplace that had a dim light. "Sorry if it's cold—I've been throwing log into that fireplace for a long while and it still hasn't changed. I've got a feeling its Kairi's effect on leaving the orphanage. The kids aren't even that jolly as they used to be. She really changed a lot of things around here." We both sit on the couch and she suddenly gasps, "Not once have I introduced myself, my goodness how rude of me. I'm Isabel but the children call me Aunt Bel."

I faintly smile, "I'm Nico di Angelo, and I was Kairi's schoolmate."

Bel raises her eyebrow at me, "Are you sure you're just her schoolmate?"

"What makes you ask that?"

"Well, your eyes tell me a different story." She says. "You could also say it's my Motherly Gut and my gut never lies."

I gulp and look away as I felt the heat rush into my cheeks, "I guess you could say we were something more..."

"Do you love her?"

I glance at the lady through the corners of my eyes then switch my gaze to the fireplace, "I do."

"Is she okay?" Bel's voice was suddenly small and quiet. I turn to look at her and this time she had her gaze away. "I've been worried sick. The police haven't found a thing nor have the school said anything about her sudden disappearance."

My throat got dry, "I... Well... you see..."

Bel starts to tear up, "The poor thing is all alone, isn't she? She doesn't deserve this sort of treatment. She deserves a happy family and a normal life. Both she and her mother didn't deserve this world's cruelty."

"Her mom?" I pick up.

"I guess there's nothing to hide about her and you have a right to know anyway." She leans back into the couch and sighs, "Her mother remarried to an abusive man. I knew her mom personally—she used to be my friend at high school. Selena Wright—the best swimmer at school and an advocate for the unfortunate people. Always the first to volunteer to feed the hungry and teach the uneducated. She also had a few anger issues and was a bit bipolar in a way. One minute she's fine, the next she's mad and raging. She would be calm then the next thing you know she's the storm. A moral and independent woman—everyone knew her passion for helping and for the water." She laughs a little to herself,

"Selena was always obsessed about the water and the sea creatures and the lack of care for beaches and for the water in general. She wanted to be a marine biologist but she never got to reach that dream when her parents separated. She was all on her own, working and studying but she had to give up her education if she wanted to survive. The next time I heard from her was that she was having a baby with a man that loved and supported her until he suddenly disappeared. She was never mad about him leaving her though—she never told me why."

Bel then furrows her brows, "Then she had to marry an abusive man and I knew she hit rock bottom. Yet she never lost hope in Kairi. That little girl was her hope—the only light in her darkness. However, that man took things too far and now... well, I'm sure you know where I'm going with this. I hope Selena's in a better place."

"I'm sure she is." I say. I'll make sure she is.

The lady smiles, "Thank you—as for Kairi... that girl had beautiful eyes. Selena was always happy to know she had that mysterious man's eyes. Her eyes were a beautiful shade and she was unruly as the sea. Running around, giggling mad with a glint in her wide eyes, the very life of the orphanage. I took Kairi in as soon as I heard Selena died. I was a bit late however since the poor little thing was already replacing Selena's job as that drunk man's punch bag. I took her just in time when she was going to..." Bel chokes.

"That vile mortal was going to rape Kairi." I turn my heat to the fireplace to see Hestia sitting next to it, the fire ablaze with her anger.

My eyes widen, "No way..."

"Yes way." Both Hestia and Isabel respond to me in unison.

"That poor thing—I took her into my orphanage and reported that man to the police. I don't know if he's still in jail but I do know I took Kairi far away from him." Bel says as she gets herself together.

"Since then, I blessed her and this place to never run out of food and be under my protection along with Poseidon's protection." Hestia says as she points to a trident mark above the fireplace.

"Ever since I let Kairi in, our problems with food vanished. We always had enough for food, water, electricity; the whole place in general was at its best performance. She's a true sweetheart." Bel shakes her head, "Sure, she broke a few things but she was always there for others and loved our fish tank and claimed they spoke back to her. The other kids and my other co-worker, Samantha, crossed it off as her imagination but whenever I see Kairi speak back to them I find it hard to think she isn't joking when she means they do respond to her."

Bel continues to tell me stories of Kairi and even shows me a few of her baby pictures—Kairi eating alone, Kairi speaking to the fishes, Kairi after breaking her chair for the seventh time. I listen intently and can't help the weight in my chest at looking at how happy she is. After a few more hours, I decided I had to leave.

"Thank you for everything." I say as I start to walk out the door.

"Nico?" The tired lady calls out.

I turn around and face her, "Yes aunt?"

"Please, just tell me. Is Kairi okay?"

I gulp and hold the calloused hands of the mother figure of Kairi, "I'm sure she's happy with her mother." I say. I hold Bel as she sobs,

"Oh that poor girl, she's been left all alone... Oh my poor Kairi, my poor little sea of happiness." She cries out. I couldn't hold myself back, I cried along with her.

"I'm sorry I couldn't save her."

"I'm sure you've done all that you've can." Bel says.

"Aunt Bel?" a small voice speaks. We both turn to see a little boy with huge glasses and a teddy bear clutched tightly within his left hand looking at us, "Who's that?" he asks.

Bel gets herself together, "Damian, this is Nico—Kairi's boyfriend." I get taken aback at how straightforward the lady is with the little boy.

"I see," he says, "So is Kairi coming back home?" he asks.

I walk towards him and get down to his level, "I'm sorry Damian, but she's not coming back here. She's at a better place right now." I say.

Damian slowly tears up, "Kai is dead... isn't she?" he asks, slowly hiccupping. He looks down at his teddy bear, "Mr. Triton still hasn't been stitched up by her yet. She promised to stitch him back together when she's back from school."

I blink and look at the stuffed toy, "That's Mr. Triton?" I ask. Damian nods, "Do you think it would be okay if I stitch him together instead?" I ask some more.

He shrugs as I take the toy away from him gently while Bel is already behind me with a sewing kit within her hands. I gratefully take it and fix the toy's arm. Hestia looks on with a smile and blesses the toy, "He will always find home when he needs it." She says.

I give back the toy to Damian who immediately smiles, "I'm glad you love Kairi—I would have beaten you to a pulp if I wasn't so tired." He says with a yawn afterwards. "She picked the right dude."

"I'm glad you approve of me." I say while standing up, "Well, I really got to go home."

"Will you come back?" Damian asks, his eyes staring at me with a silent plead. Hestia chuckles next to the fireplace,

"Well? Can you handle visiting this place?" she asks.

"Yes, I will come back." I firmly answer. The little boy smiles from ear to ear and hugs me,

"Thank you so much! You better come back or else I'll tell Aunt Bel to chase you down and beat you up!" he says.

I laugh, "I will, don't worry."

"Thank you so much Nico." Bel says.

"For what?"

"I'm sure this orphanage will have some light once more."

With a skip in my step, I leave and walk into a dark alleyway. There was a sudden flurry of dark feathers raining down on me but I couldn't find myself to question it. I was slowly healing with what Kairi left.

I'll be their new hope just as Kairi was with me.

This is as far as I've rewritten. I'm still unsure on rewriting this whole series since I'm still busy in school so we'll see how much free time I've got. I hope you like what I've done with the whole story and hopefully it makes more sense and is less random than it was before. Thank you for reading~

Writer-chan out~!