I started getting a little nervous when we arrived at the train station. It was pretty crowded so Argus had to park a ways away from the train we were going to board. Oliver unbuckled as soon as the car stopped and hopped out with his bag and laptop, eager to begin the journey. As scared as I was, it was nothing compared to how nervous Nico was. Throughout the whole trip he had been twisting his skull ring feverishly. He looked deep in thought and occasionally bit his lip… not that I was looking at his lips, or anything…
"Hey, are you okay?" I asked, refraining from resting my hand on his. He looked up at me and for a second I saw fear, pure and wild, running through his eyes. Then he narrowed his eyes and they became cold and shielded. I rolled my eyes. I wasn't about to let him "protect himself" from me. I was going to find out what was bothering him.
"Oh, no you don't." I said, crossing my arms. "You are going to tell me what's wrong." Nico's eyes widened just a little bit. I think he was a little surprised by how pushy I was being. He looked nervously at Argus and then leaned towards me.
"Well, it's nothing really." Nico said quietly. "But, this is actually the first official quest I've been on."
"No way!" I said, louder than I meant to. Nico silenced me with a glare and another glance at Argus. "But you're the best sword fighter at camp! And you've been here longer than most people. Not to mention you're a son of one of the Big Three, which makes you super powerful." Nico blushed at my compliments, but shrugged them off like he didn't care.
"Well, after the Giant War there weren't as many monsters and the gods were a lot quieter, so…" I nodded in understanding.
"So you've never really gotten the chance." Nico nodded. He folded his hands in his lap and looked down at them. He looked like a shy, scared, little kid and my heart hurt for him.
"I just… I really don't want to mess up." He confessed. "This is my chance to finally prove to everyone that a child of Hades can do something… good."
"Oh, come on!" I said, playfully smacking his arm. "I'm sure you've done lots of things that people admire." Nico looked up at me skeptically.
"The last time I did something good was returning the Athena Parthenos to camp, and even then Reyna got all the credit." I didn't ask who Reyna was. Probably an old camper…
"Well then I guess we'll just have to go out there and kick Erebos' butt. Then everyone will look at you as the hero you are!" Nico's fearful expression melted away for a moment to reveal surprise and hopefulness. "I know you can do it." I smiled at him and he smiled back. I ignored the butterflies that fluttered in my stomach.
Argus cleared his throat and we both jumped. I glanced at him and the eye on his cheek gave me a wink.
Seriously, why is he winking? I wondered. Then I realized he was also winking at Nico. At me and Nico. Ugh. I mentally groaned while I unbuckled my seat-belt. Why can't we just be friends? Why does this have to be so hard? I picked up my bag and hopped out of the car, not looking back at Argus just in case he winked again. Oliver was standing and waiting for us patiently at the sidewalk.
"There you are." He said happily. His excitement was practically radiating off of him. "Let's go! We've only got fifteen minutes." He turned around and led the way to the train we were taking. I fell back to walk with Nico.
I nudged his shoulder with mine. "So far so good, huh?" He smiled and looked at his feet. "Maybe we'll be heroes after all?" He actually laughed at this. The sound made Oliver turn around and look at us. His brow was furrowed in confusion.
"What is that –" Then he realized that the rare noise was Nico's laugh. Oliver was so surprised at hearing his laugh that he stumbled over his feet. Nico quickly stopped laughing when he realized that Oliver was watching him intently. He pulled his coat tighter around him and put folded his arms. I rolled me eyes and looked at Oliver. I mouthed the words "Drama Queen" and pointed at Nico. Oliver chuckled shortly and turned back around.
We walked for a couple more minutes before we finally reached the train. I knew it was our train because Oliver stopped dead in his tracks, causing Nico and I to bump into him.
"Oliver, are you okay?" I asked. He was staring up at the train with his mouth wide open in awe.
"This is a high speed train." Oliver whispered.
"Is that… a bad thing?" I asked cautiously. We really didn't need any problems this early in the quest. Then Oliver turned to me with a huge grin plastered on his face. He grabbed my shoulders and shook me back and forth.
"Are you kidding?" He yelled. "This train is amazing!" He released me and turned back to the train. I glanced at Nico, but he was looking closely at Oliver. "Did you know that this train only operates in certain areas of Europe, Japan, China, South Korea, Taiwan, and North America? They're preferred for long distances and they're also one of the fastest passenger trains in the world! In fact,it can travel faster than some airplanes at -"
"125 mph." Nico interrupted. I looked at him in surprise.
So he's a nerd after all… I grinned. Maybe they'll actually get along. I was half expecting them to hold hands and jump up and down, screaming and giggling about trains. Sadly, this didn't happen. However, Oliver did look impressed. He looked like he wanted to keep talking about the train, but Nico changed the conversation.
"We should probably get on the train now." He said flatly. For once I didn't mind that he was guarding himself, because I knew he was actually trying to make friends. It was a slow process, but at least he was trying.
Oliver had just put his foot on the first step when people started screaming. We all whipped our heads around, searching for the source of the shrill cries. Then I saw it. As it flew across the sun I caught a glimpse of its ten-foot wingspan and its razor sharp beak the size of my hand.
"No, no, no." I mumbled as I tightened my grip on my mace. I glanced at Nico and I could tell by his grim expression and tight grip on his sword that he had seen it too. Oliver, on the other hand, was still looking around, but he had his knife pulled out.
"Where is it?" Oliver asked, his voice trembling slightly. I pointed to the sky. "Oh my gods… is that a…?" Nico nodded and finished his sentence.
"A Strix. And I've got a few choice words for that guy." He swung his sword around and the dark, menacing look in his eye sent chills down my spine. I looked back at the sky to see the Strix circling above us. I tried to ignore the pounding of my heart and the sweat gathering on my palms.
You can do this. I told myself. You can do this… And then the Strix dove right for us. The crowd around us ran away screaming. I struggled to control my breathing and I raised my mace. When it got nearer I realized that it was heading for straight for Nico. It seemed to remember their first encounter and was determined to finish its job.
Soon the Strix was only five feet away from us. Nico yelled a battle cry and swung his sword, but the Strix had pulled up and Nico's strike bounced off its scaly feet. Nico stumbled back and his sword lowered slightly. I was too scared to move, but I saw the Strix lung at him.
"Nico!" I screamed, but it was too late. The Strix's claws raked across his chest and he screamed in agony. Nico's pain was enough to get my feet to move. I jumped forward, closed my eyes tightly, and swung my mace with all my might. I was surprised to feel it connect with soft flesh. I wrenched open my eyes to see the Strix flutter backward with a huge gash in its side. Adrenaline rushed through my veins and I ran towards the bird again. It was flying unevenly. Hopefully that meant I had struck one of its wing muscles. I raised my mace to swing again, but the Strix was quicker than I thought. It swung its claw around in an arc and caught my right arm. Its talons felt like they were flaming coals and when the sliced across my forearm, my entire arm felt like it was on fire. The shock and pain of the impact made me fall backward.
But the Strix wasn't done with me. It had forgotten about Nico, who now lay slumped against a garbage can. All it cared about was revenge. It flapped toward me and I tightened my grip on my weapon. I was expecting it to lung at me, but it didn't. Instead it swooped above me and latched its claws onto my mace. Then it began to soar upward. It flapped so quickly that Nico soon looked like an ant on the pavement.
Suddenly I remembered my Zoology class. Early this year we had learned about the way some birds kill their prey. They would fly up hundreds of feet into the sky and then release their prey. They would watch their soon-to-be meal splatter on the pavement and then dive in for the feast.
I closed my eyes tightly as I realized that was what the Strix was about to do to me. The idea that I was going to die in a few seconds shocked a single tear out of my eye. I knew it was only my imagination, but I felt like I could hear it splash on the pavement. I opened my eyes and the Strix kept flying higher. Suddenly I realized that it was teasing me. It wanted me to suffer the pain of not knowing when you I would be dropped.
I closed my eyes again and tried to accept my imminent death. But my breath was stolen from me lungs when a falling sensation filled my body. The shock caused me to let go of my mace. My eyes snapped open and I saw the Strix, eyes full of anger, grow smaller and smaller. I probably only had five seconds before I became a human pancake. I knew there was no way out of this. More tears were ripped from my eyes, partly because of the wind, partly because I knew I was dying.
I thought about all the things I never did. I didn't tell Kayla how much I admired her. I never took the chance to tell Will how much he meant to me. I should have told Austin and Victoria how they could always make me laugh. I didn't tell Oliver how much I liked his nerdy spiels. But most of all, I never told Nico how I really felt about him. There was actually a chance that we could have been together, but I pushed it away.
I could feel the ground rush up below me and I did the only thing I could think of.
Apollo, Zeus, whoever is listening… Please don't let me die.
I watched a cloud move away from the sun and I let its warmth bathe me. I watched the sun until I felt my body slam into the ground and the golden image was chased away by thick darkness.
"Juliet! Wake up!"
Wake up? I can't, I'm dead! I felt myself hit the ground. I'm lying on it right now! It's warm, and soft, and –
Wait a second. Soft?
I opened my eyes, but I had to close them quickly because it was too bright. Instead I rubbed my fingertips across the "ground". It should've been rough pavement. It should have been cool. But instead it was warm… And it was breathing!
I snapped my eyes open, despite the bright light, and sat up. My head spun and my back, shoulders, and neck ached. I was surprised I didn't have any broken bones. I looked down at whatever I was sitting on and gasped.
It was a dog! It was huge and black and I was sitting on its side. I looked further up its body and saw its head. Its tongue was sticking out between razor sharp teeth and it was panting happily. I glanced around for Nico or Oliver. I saw Oliver sitting in front of me on the pavement with his head in his hands.
"Oliver?" I asked and my voice sounded gravelly. Oliver's head snapped up and his face split into a huge grin.
"Juliet!" He said, leaping up. "You're alive!" He grabbed my hands and helped me off the giant hound. I stumbled forward, but Oliver caught me. I put one of my arms around his shoulders and he put one hand on my waist to steady me. We walked to a bench where he sat me down. I glanced around for Nico, but he was nowhere in sight. In fact, neither were any other people. Or the train. Just me, Oliver, and the dog.
"We missed the train." I said flatly. Oliver nodded sadly. "Where's Nico?" Oliver avoided my eyes and fiddled with his laptop case.
"He was, uh, kind of having a meltdown so I sent him to get new tickets. Don't tell him I told you that." I raised my eyebrows in shock. Nico was having a meltdown? Because he thought I was dying?
Of course he was, my conscious snapped. Everyone he ever loved either left him or died. You would think he might over react if he saw you falling from the sky!
Nico… loves me? I shook my head and pushed the idea out of my head. Love was a big deal and I had only known him for two months. There was no way he loved me. Not that there's anything lovable about me…
I pulled myself out of my thoughts and turned to Oliver.
"How did I survive?" Oliver smiled.
"Nico saved you." He said simply. "He saw you falling so he summoned Mrs. O'Leary, she's the hellhound, and –"
"A hellhound?" I repeated, baffled.
"Yes, she's actually very sweet. Anyways, Nico summoned her and told her to lie down where you were going to hit the ground. He knew she would be alright because she's so big and has thick bones. He just wasn't sure how you would hold up. When you fell unconscious and didn't wake up, he got a little… er, freaked out so I sent him to get the tickets. I gave you some ambrosia to see if it would wake you up and it worked! You're alive!"
"Yeah." I mumbled, still thinking about the fact that Nico and Oliver had both saved my life. Affection for both of my friends bubbled up in chest and I threw my arms around Oliver. "Thank you so much!" He hugged me back and after I held on for longer than was necessary he awkwardly patted my back.
"You should be thanking Nico." He said, pulling away from the hug. "He kind of needs you right now." I stood up on shaky feet, gave Oliver one last smile, and headed off to find Nico. It wasn't that hard because there was a big building with a sign in the window that said "Tickets: 30% off for round trip". I took a deep breath and pulled the door open.
My heart nearly shattered at what I saw.
Nico was sitting on a bench with the three tickets next to him. His head was in his hands and his whole body sagged. I wondered if this was what he looked like when Bianca died and Percy betrayed him. I wondered if he had ever looked this hopeless. I couldn't understand how a single human being could be so full of anger and despair but still hold them self together, even if it's just by a few threads.
I walked toward Nico as quietly as I could and sat down next to him. His head jerked up when he felt a presence next to him and his hand twitched towards his sword, but when he saw it was me dropped it. His eyes were so dark I felt like I could fall into them. They were wide with shock and fear and they were rimmed with red.
"Hi." I said, scooting closer to him so that our hips were touching.
"Hi." He said back, his voice was deeper and thicker than usual. It was only like that after he cried. I sighed and leaned my head on his shoulder. At first he tensed up, but the he relaxed and rested his hand on mine. All of this felt so natural; so right.
"Thank you." I whispered. After a few more seconds of silence I said "I told you I wasn't going to leave you." Nico didn't say anything back, but he brushed my knuckles with his thumb and sent chills up my spine. Then the butterflies erupted in my stomach and fluttered around. I sighed again. I knew I had to give up pretending that I didn't like him. I obviously did. But I would wait to tell him, and wait to see how he would react, until after the quest. We didn't need stupid drama while we were trying to save the world. It would only distract us.
We sat together in peaceful silence for a few minutes before Nico sat up. I was reluctant to remove my head from his shoulder, but I forced myself to.
"The train leaves in ten minutes. We should probably get out there." I nodded and savored the warm feeling that his chocolate eyes gave me. We headed back towards Oliver and Mrs. O'Leary. I replayed the fight with the Strix in my head. I cringed as I remembered the way it had slashed at Nico.
Wait, if he's hurt how is he walking? I grabbed Nico's arm to stop him. I looked at the front of his shirt and saw three long cuts in the fabric and it was stained by blood. I gently touched the slash in the middle. I was expecting Nico to wince, but he didn't. He just gave me a half smile.
"How did you…?" I asked.
"Ambrosia." He said simply
"Oh yeah… I really need to get used to that stuff." I said to myself. Then to Nico I said, "What did it taste like?" His steps faltered a little and he blushed. I watched him closely, but he didn't say anything. "Tell me!" I exclaimed.
"Okay!" Nico laughed and held up his hands in defeat. "But I'll only tell you if you promise not to laugh!" I drew a cross over my heart and said, "I promise."
"It tasted like a McDonalds Happy Meal." He said quickly. For a second neither of us did anything. We just kept walking. Then we both burst out laughing. It wasn't even that funny, but we laughed anyways. When we finally calmed down I couldn't help but keep smiling. Nico's laugh seemed to do that to me.
Oliver stood up when he saw us coming.
"Ready to go?" He asked and his excitement about the quest was once again restored.
"Yeah, I've just gotta send Mrs. O'Leary back." Nico replied. I watched him walk over to her and she stood up to greet him with a sloppy kiss. I could hear Nico's quiet laughter and see the light in his eyes. He looked like a little boy who just got a puppy for his birthday. He scratched behind her ear and whispered something to her. She perked up and gave him one last lick, which cause Nico to laugh harder. Then he gave her a pat on the side and she went running into the nearest shadow. She vanished with a swirl of darkness and Nico came back towards us.
"What are you smiling at?" He asked me while he wiped some of the drool off his face. I hadn't even realized that I was smiling.
"What? Oh, nothing… It's just a nice day, that's all." Nico didn't believe my obvious lie, but he dropped the conversation.
"Now are you ready?" Oliver asked impatiently. I tightened the straps on my backpack and reached for my mace, but all I felt was air. It should be hanging on my belt. I spun in a circle and scanned the ground.
"Has anyone seen my mace?" I asked, trying not to panic.
"Oh! I picked it up after you fell. Surprisingly it isn't very damaged." Oliver said, pulling it out of his backpack. I was surprised it could fit in there. I breathed a sigh of relief and thanked him.
While Oliver led us to the new train Nico kept glancing at me, as if I was about to disappear or something. He didn't think I noticed, but I did. The concern and relief was apparent in his eyes. I just wanted to hug him until he was happy, but I knew that was impossible. It would take a lot more than a hug to fix Nico di Angelo.
When all our bags were loaded onto the train we relaxed into our seats. I sat next to Oliver and across from Nico. I thought about the Strix and how we hadn't defeated it.
"Do you think the Strix will be back?" I said, putting a voice to my thought. Nico immediately shook his head. "How can you be sure?" I asked.
"Because I sent Mrs. O'Leary to find it and… take care of it." I smiled a little and I was glad to know that Nico was on top of things. I felt immensely tired all of the sudden and I considered taking a nap. When the train started moving all of us began to feel drowsy. After about an hour Oliver dozed off. My eye lids were growing heavy, too.
But then I remembered something horrible and I snapped my eyes open and shot up in my seat.
"Aw, man!" I exclaimed. Nico bolted up out of his seat, his sword drawn. Even Oliver jerked awake.
"What is it?" Nico asked, breathing heavily. "Is it the Strix? Another monster?"
"No." I said and folded my arms and pouted.
"What then?" Nico said while he sheathed his sword.
"I didn't get to taste ambrosia! I was unconscious!" Nico gave me a sarcastic look that said, "Seriously". But then Oliver started laughing. Even Nico managed a chuckle.
Once Nico sat down and Oliver got comfortable again, I leaned back in my chair and closed my eyes. I was finally fulfilling my destiny. Even though I was so scared that I felt numb, I was glad to be doing something. Maybe I would become a hero after all.
Please review! I'll see you next week!