NICO, THE EASTER BUNNY

PERCY

"How are you alive?" I asked while hugging my cousin. Nico shrugged.

"Seems like Leo's little trick with the flames did more than we thought. They're like highly flammable. The fire just kept spreading and I only had to take out a few. It's great. I've literally been lighting them on fire with a lighter and they just run close to other flesh eaters and drop dead. Best weapon ever." Nico said.

"Well a lot of stuff just went down. Anyone want to comment?" I asked.

"My best friend just died, Percy. I'm not in a joking mood." Annabeth said. I hugged her into my chest.

"I'm sorry."

"It's okay. It's not your fault." Annabeth pulled away. "You need to spill about our parents and this island though."

"Yea, that's a conversation for later. We have other things to deal with. Go make sure that Zoe is okay. I'm going to have a chat with Ethan." I walked out of the warehouse to see Will frantically trying to patch up Zoe and the others helping him in anyway. Piper stood with a frightened Juliet by the cars. I walked over to Fisher who was keeping watch over Ethan. "Fisher, go see how Reyna's doing. Ethan and I are going back inside." I dragged Ethan into the warehouse and tied him to a chair. Nico and I stood in front of Ethan. I whispered something to Nico and Nico left to do as I asked, leaving me alone with Ethan. I slapped Ethan hard to wake him up. Ethan looked around in confusion before his memory returned and the look changed to one of fear. He quickly tried to cover it up with a cool expression.

"What are you going to do to me?" Ethan asked. I pulled up a chair and sat across from him.

"That all depends on how Zoe is. Don't get me wrong, Ethan. Today is your last day on Earth. The severity of your punishment will be determined by Zoe's state." I said.

"I stabbed her through the chest. There's no way she will survive that." I stared Ethan right in the eyes.

"You're underestimating two things. How strong Zoe is and how amazing Will is." I leaned back in my chair. "I just want you to know, if Zoe dies, you will beg me to kill you." I left Ethan and walked into Annabeth as I was about exit. "Is Zoe okay?" Annabeth shook her head.

"I'm sorry, Percy. Will tried. He really did. We just don't have the necessary equipment to help her." I turned around wordlessly and grabbed Ethan. I dragged him outside. The others watched but did not speak as I pulled Ethan over to a tree.

"If you're going to kill me just do it already." Ethan pleaded. I grabbed some rope out of the car and tied it tightly around Ethan's legs.

"Is it ready, Nico?" I asked. Nico and Jason dropped the shovels they were using to dig a deep hole next to the tree.

"It's ready." Nico said. I threw the end of the rope over a sturdy branch. Jason, Nico, and I pulled on the rope until Ethan was dangling upside down over a seven foot pit. We threw some wood into the pit and started a fire.

"What are you doing to me?" Ethan demanded.

"We're giving you a choice." I said. I handed Ethan a knife.

"What."

"There's a nice fire burning underneath you right now. If you cut yourself down, you fall into the pit and burn to death. If you stay hanging, either you will die of dehydration or zombies will eat you alive. It's your choice. This is your punishment." Ethan yelled insults and screamed as we walked away. I jumped in the driver seat in one of the cars with Annabeth in the passenger seat. Jason, Piper, and Nico sat in the back of the car. Fisher drove the other car with Reyna in the passenger seat and Will and Juliet in the back. We started the cars and were on our way to our new home.

"Where are we going?" Annabeth asked.

"Fisher and I agreed to go to my dad's house. They're the only other survivors and that's where they were staying so we might as well." I explained.

"Good point. I believe you still owe us an explanation about our parents."

"Okay, listen up." I addressed everyone in the car. All of us are the children of an Olympian. Our parents were the most powerful people in the world and we were expecting to take over for them if they died. Half-Blood Island is an emergency sanctuary in case of a world crisis so that the most important people could be safe." Everyone was very interested in what I was saying. "As of now, there are ten people alive in the world. The five of us, Fisher, Juliet, Reyna, Will, and Chiron. Chiron lives on the island and is in charge of shaping us into our parents if we ever needed to go there."

"Why didn't any of our parents go there then?" Piper asked.

"That's the thing, they did go. They just didn't make it. I'm trying to figure out why."

"I think I know. You see, Percy and I are the only ones that know about our parents being Olympians. My theory is that all their planes went down." Nico said.

"That would make sense. This apocalyptic air must have caused engine failure and the planes went down. If we want to go there, then we need a boat." I said.

"So, who are our parents?" Jason asked.

"Out of the people alive, Jason is the son of Zeus, Annabeth daughter of Athena, Piper daughter of Aphrodite, Reyna daughter of Bellona, Will son of Apollo, Nico son of Hades, Fisher, Jules and I children of Poseidon."

"We are going to regroup at the house, get some supplies and then head for the island." Nico said. We pulled in to my dad's driveway. We all entered the house and headed straight for the basement. I headed for a secret door on my dad's wall. Large steel doors slid open revealing everything we would need to survive. Fisher looked around in shock.

"I've literally leaned on the door to this room and never even knew it was here." Fisher said. Juliet walked over to my side.

"You know, today is Easter." Juliet said. Everyone seemed to stop what they were doing and look down as if remembering all the normal Easters that they had. Nico came to Juliet's side.

"Well, luckily for you, I grabbed something on the way home." Nico said and grabbed an egg painting kit out of his bag. Juliet's smile lit up the room. Juliet tackled Nico in a hug.

"Thank you, Nico."

"Anytime, kid." Juliet grabbed Piper's hand and the two started painting eggs together. I sat down at a table in the corner of the room. I looked around at all my friends. Despite the racks of swords and other weapons, it seemed almost normal. Jason watched with a smile on his face as Piper and Juliet painted eggs. Reyna and Fisher talked silently in the corner of the room. Nico was taking inventory on the weapons. Nico's father, Hades, was the main man when it came to building weapons. I kind of felt bad that Nico had to grow up with all this information on weapons and military operations. Nico seemed happy though and that's all I could ask for. Will was setting up a makeshift medical center in another corner. Even Will, to some extent, got to take care of people. Annabeth sat down next to me.

"What are you thinking about?" She asked.

"I don't know. I think that if we can get to the island then things might be okay. We could have a life together and have a shot at being normal" I said. Annabeth kissed me.

"Hey, Juliet. I think that the Easter bunny hid some eggs in this room." Nico said. Juliet jumped up excitedly and began searching the small room for eggs. Annabeth leaned on my shoulder.

"Yea, I think we're going to be just fine."