Chapter 25. Nico: Return If Possible (R.I.P)

"He shouldn't be allowed in here!"

"The last time a boy was in our camp ..."

"Two Hunters died ..."

"Lady Artemis should turn him into a jackalope!"

I walked through the thrice accursed camp glaring all of these crazy girls staring at me suspiciously, with their wolves twining in and out of their legs. I felt, quite literally, like a jackal in the midst of wolves.

I hated this place. Hated the fact that of all places, we had to end up here. I hate these girls with their oh-so-superior attitude. I hate the fact that these girls, this camp were the very things Bianca had left me for. I hate that their hot chocolate was still as heavenly as ever.

It was all I could do to keep from exploding. These girls, they think I was going to destroy their camp or something when the truth was that they were the ones who had done the destroying. They had torn Bianca and I apart, poisoned her mind, made her think I was nothing but a burden.

Bianca had cared for me for so long I never imagined ever being without my sister. But in the span of just a couple of hours, they had taken all that away from me. They killed my sister, the only member of my family who had ever cared for me.

"The other two girls though ..." I froze, hearing the whispered words that the wind carried over to me.

"They could be recruits..."

"They're the right age ..."

"Promising ..."

No. No. They aren't going to hurt anymore people. I won't let them take anyone else from me. Who cares even if Vanessa wanted to join them? I winced at the idea. I won't let her join them. It was selfish and overbearing but I won't. Not even the freak, Alva. Connor made me promise to bring her back and I don't think he would take the news of Alva joining the Hunters very well. I may be selfish and vengeful or whatever, but I always kept my promises.

I was standing in the middle of the Hunter's camp, looking up at the clear sky. Stars were scattered over the velvet blanket that was the sky. I couldn't pick out any of the popular constellations - Perseus, Draco, Ursa Major and Orion. I never learnt to spot them. I had spent too much time in the Underworld anyway where all you could see when you looked up were stalactites. Bianca and I had always made up our own. I closed my eyes, breathing in the sweet summer air. Bianca, mia madre, Vanessa. Life would be so much simpler without girls. But, I thought dryly, it wouldn't be half as interesting either.

Bianca's face simmered in the darkness behind my lids. She had been beautiful; I knew that even as a kid. I used to hate it when those half grown human boys used to walk up to her and try to chat her up. Bianca loved the attention but I hated it. She would spend hours smiling dreamily and just staring of into space, thinking of some idiot. I would make myself a nuisance, run up to her, stir up trouble, anything to get her back. She would get annoyed, of course. I had pissed her off more times than I could count, but hey, that was what little brothers were for, right?

If only I could have her back, I thought. She could date all the guys she wanted to and I wouldn't even complain. Anything to have her back again. I had tried too. The gods knew I had tried. I had been a fool, thinking I could get her back again.

"Promise me," I remembered Bianca saying. I dreamt about her on and off after war. She only ever had one thing to say to me. "Promise you'll let go your anger." I hadn't promised her. I couldn't. I wanted to, oh believe me, I really want to. It was my sister's last wish after all. But I couldn't or wouldn't. It was the same thing to me.

"Nico Di Angelo?" A voice asked me. My eyes flew open and the remnants of my dark thoughts disappeared, banished by the soft moonlight filtering through the trees. A girl stood before me. Not a girl, I realized, but a naiad, judging by her pointy years. She seemed friendly enough; at least she wasn't looking at me like I brought the plague with me wherever I went.

"Hey, you are Nico, right?" I nodded, not quite sure what she wanted. She smiled at me. "I knew you sister. She and I were close before …." The naiad trailed off, staring into space. Then, she shook herself and smiled again. "I know it's hard to lose a sibling. Anyway, I just wanted to say … I'm sorry, I guess." I stared at her. She was smiling again and I recognized the smile.

It was oh-dear-you-poor-boy smile people get when they hear you're and orphan or something. I hated the smile. I've seen too much of it in all the years Bianca and I got shunted around. I just stood there for a moment, trying to keep myself from exploding with anger.

I needed to get out of here. Now.

"Nico?" The naiad was looking at me a little worriedly. Maybe she thinks I'm mentally retarded now. I turned around and walked in the opposite direction, my fists clenched so hard my knuckles were turning white. I'm sorry my ass. How long had she known Bianca? It had barely been a week. And she acted like they were married so something.

"Nico, hey, Nico! I didn't mean to … Hey, I just said sorry! That's all!" The naiad yelled after me. The other Hunters looked at us, their expressions somewhere between annoyance and interest. I kept walking; trying not to hear the latest outbreak of whispering and pointing. This was worse than high school.

I stomped off blindly, not even looking at where I was going until I bumped head first into something hard and pointy. I stumbled back, rubbing my head.

"Watch it, Di Angelo!" A harsh voice snapped. Great, Alva. Just the person I needed to see. She rubbed her shoulder and shot me glare, her crazy red hair standing up in spikes all over her head. I had just opened my mouth to shoot back a retort when I realised Alva hadn't been alone. Lady Artemis and Vanessa had been with her.

I swallowed my words and bowed stiffly at the goddess. She just looked at me, her eyes glimmering like the orbs. Her face betrayed no expression and I stepped back, feeling awkward. I had the feeling she knew exactly how I felt about her Hunters.

"Nico Di Angelo," Lady Artemis said. "We need to talk."

"Gaia and Prometheus are an unlikely but lethal combination." Lady Artemis was saying. As much as I hated – well not hate, strongly dislike – her, I had to admire the goddess. Vanessa had filled her in about everything that had transpired since we left camp. She got straight to the point, Gaia rising again. There was no the-gods-had-defeated-her-before or you-must-be-mistaken crap. In fact, she didn't really seem surprised at all. The goddess looked at me, her eyes flashing.

"History often repeats itself, boy," The goddess said. "There might me a slight change but essentially it is the same. Men don't change and their mistakes don't either." Apparently, she also could tell what was going through my head too. I opened my mouth to say that Gaia was a woman but I was a beat too slow.

"You mean someone had awakened her?" Vanessa asked, leaning forward in her seat. We were in Lady Artemis's tent and it was the biggest and grandest one yet. The walls were hung with the pelts of every animal I could think of and a merry fire burned in one corner. The light of the flame reflected of Vanessa's blue-gray irises, making it look like the fire she hid inside her was burning in her eyes. Her hair swept forward over her shoulders and in the firelight it seemed soft.

I imagined running my hands through her hair, sweeping it back off her shoulder. She would smile up at me, the corners of her strawberry pink lips curving up in a mischievous smile. Her eyes would sparkle the way they do sometimes. My mind went blank. That is, until someone nudged me hard in the ribs. I blinked, coming back to reality with a bump.

"Nico?" I stifled a groan, rubbing my side. I hated it when that happened. Just when I think I got myself under control, I slipped into my stupid fantasies again. I shot a glare at Alva. Was that really necessary, though? She nodded, smiling wickedly, her hair a dark auburn. I blinked in surprise; did the girl just hear my thoughts? Before I could as much as register what happened, Vanessa yelled my name. "NICO!"

"What?" I snapped back. Vanessa sat back at her spot. I winced mentally. I hadn't meant to yell. Vanessa looked a little taken back when she answered.

"You zoned out. Lady Artemis just asked you something." I looked at Artemis. She looked a little smug. I bit back my annoyance and asked her to repeat the question with as much politeness as I could muster.

"I said has any camper been on a quest before the three of you?" Lady Artemis asked, with exaggerated patience.

"I don't know. I just came back from the Underworld a week ago." Vanessa's eyes widened in surprise. My stomach clenched with something like a mixture of anger and fear. How would she react, I wondered, when she found out that my days are usually spent as a kind of Public Relations officer for the dead?

"Very well, then. It seems that we have two missing heroes and one of the oldest, most dangerous goddess on the loose." I frowned. There was something off about that statement. Lady Artemis was about to continue when Vanessa jumped in again.

"Wait, two heroes? What two heroes? I thought Percy was …." Vanessa trailed off. A chill shot though. Nerves tingling, I leaned forward.

"Are you saying Percy Jackson is not dead?" My voice was husky and I couldn't breathe. The possibility of such a thing seemed so distant but so beautiful like one of the stars in the sky. Artemis shook her head.

"No, children. I don't think he is. Percy is far too powerful for Gaia to kill him like that. It would have been far too easy, like hunting an injured dear." Triumph burst though me. Percy wasn't dead! He was alive! Annabeth had to know about. The whole camp had to know! Lady Artemis seemed oblivious to my elation. "I think," she continued. "That Gaia plans to use Perseus. She is a manipulative goddess and Prometheus siding with her only strengthens that argument."

"But …," Alva spoke for the first time. I looked at her surprised; I had forgotten the freak was still here. "You said there were two missing heroes."

"Yes," Lady Artemis sighed. Suddenly, she didn't seem like the young girl she pretended to be. Her face seemed more tired, more grown up. "Yes I did. Thalia Grace, daughter of Zeus, is also missing." My jaw hit the floor.

"Thalia? Thalia's missing?" Annabeth had to know about this. She wasn't going to like it one bit. I shuddered to think about her reaction. First Percy, now Thalia …. Vanessa and Alva shared a look but remained quiet.

"Percy Jackson and Thalia Grace. What a strange coincidence isn't it?" Artemis said. She was looking at me strangely, like she was trying to tell me something without actually saying. I didn't get it. All I could think about was how two of Annabeth's closest friends were missing.

"They're both connected to Annabeth," I said. "How come we're just hearing about this now? Why didn't you contact Camp earlier?" I demanded. There was a limit to the whole independent women thing, for gods' sake! There were other people who knew Thalia, who loved her and missed her. We had the right to know!

"Nico," Vanessa said quietly. "They're both children of the Big Three." She looked somber, her face tightening with worry.

"So? That doesn't give the Hunters the right to –" I began hotly. Artemis just went on looking at me with that strange calculating expression.

"Nico," Vanessa said again. I looked at her, meeting her eyes directly. They seemed darker somehow, more of a midnight blue than the light navy they usually were. "You're next." I stopped mid retort. I was next. Of course, Hades was one of the Big Three wasn't he? I hadn't even thought about it. I rarely did. It just didn't compute somehow, even after the war.

"Great," Alva muttered. "Now we have to listen to you and protect you."

"Would you please just shut up?" I hissed at her. She just looked at me, her face unreadable.

"Please, guys, not now." Vanessa was shaking her head. She looked at Artemis desperately. "What does Gaia want him, them for? What is she going to do?" I cut her off.

"She doesn't want me." I told Artemis. "She was after Vanessa, remember? All that bullshit about using Vanessa as a weapon and all that." I would have continued of the goddess didn't raise her hand in a sharp gesture. We fell silent, waiting.

"Who is she after and what is she going to them doesn't matter anymore." Artemis said, looking at each one of us in turn. "What matters is that the lot of you stop acting like children. Find the heroes. Complete the quest. Not squabble amongst yourselves." Alva glared at me. Annoyed, I looked away. I was sick of everything going wrong.

"Think," Artemis said. What did the prophecy say?" Vanessa looked at me. I frowned, looking down at the floor of the tent.

"They shall begin at the lady who watches, and travel east along Earth's trail." I muttered. I looked up at Lady Artemis. "We have to go east." She nodded.

"One of my Hunters will take you back to the park." I was about to protest but the freak nudged me again.

"Thank you, Lady Artemis." She inclined her head. Artemis nodded.

"And remember," the goddess looked at Alva then at Vanessa. "The invitation still stands," she said, smiling mysteriously. Artemis stood in one fluid movement. Then, walking out of the tent, she disappeared.

"But," Vanessa sounded troubled. "What's the Earth's trail?"

"I guess we'll have to find out," Alva replied ominously. I glared at her. "What?" she said innocently.

"We don't need a damned Hunter to show us the way," I growled.

"Yes, we do." Alva said. Vanessa sighed and muttered something under her breath. It might have been 'Not again'.

"Yes, you do," A familiar voice said. I turned. There was that Hunter again, the naiad. She was glaring at me, her slanted green eyes narrowing to slits. So, she hadn't forgiven me. What a big surprise.

"And why's that?" I asked.

"Do you even know where you are?" She shot back. I blinked. She had a point there. The naiad shook her head disgustedly and stomped out, muttering something about boys. Alva and Vanessa followed her, leaving me alone in the camp, feeling like an insensitive idiot.

Well, it wasn't the first time.

We trudged through the forest, looking around warily. Our eyes tracked every snap of a twig and every rustling leaf. Zena, the naiad had insisted that we made as little noise and destruction as possible as we went through the forest as Gaia's presence might still be here. Alva and Vanessa walked ahead, their voices low and muted. I could catch snatches of it as we picked our way through the forest. In the quiet it was easy to distinguish Vanessa's high thrill and the freak's low murmur.

"Are you going too?" Vanessa still sounded tense and worried. I had wanted to comfort her but I hesitated, remembering the look of surprise that flashed in her eyes when I mentioned the time I spent in the Underworld. I wouldn't be able to bear it if she started looking at me like the other campers did; with curiosity, with distaste and with fear.

Camp Half-Blood might have accepted me as a camper but I was still a symbol of what everyone, half-bloods especially, feared: death. No one likes death. People turn away from it, choosing to ignore its blatant headlines in the papers, change the channels when it's on the news. They deny its existence, looking at it like it will never come to meet them, like they don't see it every day. Very few embrace death but everyone will in the end.

I have become a symbol of that denial and ignorance. And right now, my greatest fear was Vanessa joining the other campers in their oblivion. Alva's mumbled reply pulled me out of my reverie.

"Going to what?" She sounded tired. I remembered that she had been claimed just the night before; it seemed like a lifetime away.

"Join the Hunters." My head perked right up and I strained to listen more. My strides lengthen trying to get closer. I felt like an intruder but I needed to know how did Vanessa feel about them .out of the corner of my eye, I saw Zena shoot me a contemptuous look but I ignored her. It wasn't hard; I had had lots of practice with Alva. She was silent for a while, then:

"No." The flat monosyllable filled me with hope. Zena, however, looked noticeably surprised. If Alva didn't join, then Vanessa wouldn't either. At least, I think so. You could never tell with girls.

"Why not?" Vanessa didn't' sound surprised. Her voice was teasing now, like she knew something that Alva was trying to hide. Alva shot her look and Vanessa grinned right back at her. Even in the gloomy forest her smile was dazzling.

"Just because."

"Yeah, right." I could practically hear Vanessa smiling. They walked in silence for a while. I admired how Vanessa seemed completely at ease with the daughter of Hecate. In many ways, Alva and I were in the same situation. Many shunted us because of what we represented. The others just followed the rest, like sheep in a flock, blending in without even thinking about it. But Vanessa seemed blind to all that. I had seen her at Camp. She treated everyone the same, unless of course they were asking for trouble. She had a way of looking at the real you and not just what you showed the world. It was amazing.

She was amazing.

"I really meant what I said, you know." Zena's voice interrupted my thoughts. I looked at her, a little confused.

"What?" Zena narrowed her eyes at me again but there wasn't any real malice there.

"About your sister. I really do know how it feels like to lose a sibling." I nodded and made a sound that could have been anything; from a grunt to a snort. I squirmed a little when I thought about how I reacted to Zena before. It was rather immature and I felt embarrassed now. I really had a hard time reigning in my anger at the Hunter's camp. I didn't like them but thinking of Bianca and the promise she wanted me to make made me feel guilty. Zena sighed, looking around the forest.

"I was one of Lady Artemis's first recruits, back when she first took the oath and turned her back on men." My sister and I were honoured; Lady Artemis's first Hunters. It was an incredible experience. Time ceased to have meaning, it was just strings days, one after another in this kind of magical fairytale. We were naiads of a river somewhere in Greece and we had never been able to travel far. Bu being a Hunter … it changed everything. It was incredible." Zena's eyes were glassy as she told her story. There was a ghost of a smile on her face. The sparse light that managed to filter through the dense canopy of leaves above us cast a pale pallor on her face. It was a little like having a conversation with a ghost and believe me; I know how that's like.

"Then, there was a war. Some kind of battle. It's been so long I can't even remember what it was about. My sister was the only Hunter to fall in that fight. We honoured her and we moved on. But I never forgot her. Every day, I think of her. I haven't shared my tent with anyone since then. You'd think being immortal would make it easier, wouldn't it?" I had the feeling she wasn't really talking to me anymore. Her eyes were fixed on something far away and I surprised to see her eyes brimming with unshed tears. "It was much worse. Sometimes I wake up thinking that it happened just yesterday." Zena turned her face away, staring at the trees, the ground. I knew how she felt. Bianca's death had wounded me and those scars had barely begun to heal.

I didn't say anything. We just walked on in the darkness, silence feeling the space where words belonged.

"Thank you," Zena said suddenly. I looked at her surprised.

"For what?"

"Listening. The Hunters," Zena shook her head "They were supportive but they didn't really understand. I couldn't blame them; they had no idea what to say. Of course they didn't, but they tried their best and I loved them for that. I was angry though, for a long time, I was very angry. But I learnt to let go, my sister would have wanted me to." She fell silent again.

I trudged on, mulling over her words. Bianca wanted me to let go of my anger too, but I couldn't. It had kept me going all these years; what would there be to fight for after this? I thought about it. For a long time, I combed my life and memories, trying to find something worth fighting for, aside from my vengeance. The park was even further than I had initially thought so I had plenty of time. Finally, I came up with answers. First, the truth was worth fighting for. My father had fought for the truth when he joined the Great War. He wanted everyone to realise the real side of him, although even he didn't know it at first. Second, the people. Percy fought for the people. He fought for everyone he had met in his entire life as a half-blood. I wanted that too, I realised. I wanted to let go of my anger. But I didn't really know how. I would fight for the people too, then. Annabeth, Vanessa, my father, Chiron, my few friends, even the freak.

I looked up at my quest partners, surprised to find that I was smiling. Yes, I would do that. It'll be difficult, I guess old habits die hard but I was going to try. Vanessa turned around, and when she met my eyes she smiled right back. My heart soared a little.

"Hey," she called. "I think we're here." I looked and saw that she was right. We had arrived at She Who Watches. The drawing seemed to leer at us; the crudely drawn eyes mocking. We scattered around the area for a while, I looked around noticing how all remnants of the battle had been swallowed up by greenery. It was creepy.

"So," Vanessa said. "How do we know which ways east?" Zena rolled her eyes and pulled out a compass from her backpack. Vanessa smiled a little sheepishly and I suppressed a laugh.

"Hey," Alva called. She was at the other end of the clearing. "I think you better come and look at this." We walked over to her. Vanessa gasped and even Zena seemed to catch her breath.

Before us were footprints, hundreds and hundreds of footprints. Each seemed to be at least two to three feet deep. The prints were huge, like the prints of giants.

"What …" Vanessa breathed, her eyes wide. "What the heck are these?"

Unfortunately, we got our answer way too soon. I heard a grunt and a snap of a twig. Turning, I pulled out my ring. In an instant, my sword was in my hands. The other three mirrored me; Vanessa pulling out her dagger, Alva her sword and Zena her bow.

We were surrounded. Dozens of giants surrounded us, each with six arms and one very ugly head. More were stumbling out of the woods. I stared up at the drawing of the woman above us, cursing.

This was a set up. We were trapped.