HUNTRESS OF THE SEA

CHAPTER: NINE

Disclaimer: I in no way own anything directly related to Twilight or the Percy Jackson series.

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"So what's the deal with you and Edweirdo?"

"Why do you want to know?" Bella playfully retorts. She reaches into the Ziploc bag and pulls out a small square of ambrosia. She pops it into her mouth and hums in appreciation.

Nico shrugs. "I don't know. Maybe because you yelled at the guy."

"So? I yell at a lot of people."

Nico picks a loose string off his jacket. "And because he won't stop thinking about you. And him. And the time you two spent together…"

Bella swallows too suddenly and starts violently coughing.

Nico smiles, but nonetheless rushes into the bathroom for a cup of water. He fumbles with the plastic protecting the paper cups, but finally rips it open, spilling cups all over the floor. He manages to grab one and fills it with water, quickly rushing back out to give it to Bella.

Bella practically rips it out of his hand, downing the water in no time at all.

Someone knocks on the door. "Bella? Are you all right?" Alice yells.

Bella gulps in air. "I'm fine," she squeaks.

Nico starts laughing.

"Shut up!" Bella glares at him. She's already embarrassed that a square of Ambrosia, which is supposed to heal demigods, was the reason she nearly choked to death.

He quickly sobers up. Bending down to retrieve the water bottle, he grabs it and hands it to Bella. As she's taking sips of the nectar, he walks around the bed and plops himself down right beside her, making himself comfortable. He's almost dozed off when Bella speaks again.

"But really Nico how do you know what he's thinking?"

He slowly opens his eyes, his brows furrowed in confusion. "I don't know. I think it's kind of like with the children of Poseidon and equestrians."

"You can telepathy with vampires?" Bella fiercely whispers, her eyes glancing at the door.

Nico groans, moving his palms up to rub his eyes. "They can hear you, you know. Jeez, Bell, I thought you knew all about monsters, being a Hunter of Artemis and all."

Bella slaps her hands over her mouth. "Sorry," she says sheepishly. "But can you really?"

Nico shrugs his shoulders. "I guess so. It's more like I can read their thoughts. I can't think anything back to them, I tried."

"Interesting," Bella muses.

Nico pops an eye open. "Do you know why?"

Bella sighs. "I would have to guess that your father is behind the creation of vampires. Therefore, you can read their thoughts. I do not know why you cannot telecommunicate with them though."

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"Did I hear that right?" Carlisle asks no one in particular.

Edward snaps his mouth shut. "He can hear our thoughts."

"But how?" Rosalie grumbles. "I don't like this. And I certainly don't like him."

"Rosalie!" Alice admonishes. "You don't even know him."

Rosalie rolls her eyes. "Oh please, Alice. He appears here with no explanation as to how and demands to see Bella. Not to mention that he gives me the creeps."

Alice nods her head slightly. "Okay, I agree with you there, but still, how bad could he be if Bella's friends with him?"

"How do we know they really are friends?" Jacob growls, having transformed back into a human. Leah stands behind him with her arms folded, as Seth lets out a snore from the couch.

"She seemed okay with him being in the same room as her," grumbles Emmett. He's still feeling a sting of sadness, knowing that Bella doesn't feel comfortable around him anymore, but that she's okay with staying in the same room as some creepy goth kid.

"And who is his father, I wonder?" Esme asks.

"Shh, quiet!" Alice interrupts. "They're talking again."

::: ::: :::

"So how did you find me? I know you far too well to know that your shadow traveling hasn't gotten that good."

Nico grumbles under his breath.

Bella reaches over to swat him across the head. "Be nice," she says.

"If you must know, I had a dream," he says, one hand rubbing his head. Bella wrinkles her nose at his dramatics.

"A demi-god dream?"

"What do you think?" he retorts.

Bella raises her hand in warning. Nico holds his hands up in surrender. "Sorry," he mutters. "I'm just tired from traveling."

"What was the dream?" Bella asks, curiosity eating at her.

Nico's eyes unfocus as he replays in his mind what Bella cannot see. "I was standing in the fields of Asphodel –"

Bella winces. She knows too well what he was doing there, dream or not.

"-when I felt a presence behind me. I wanted to turn around, but I couldn't. And then I heard her say, 'She needs help, Nico. Go and help her. The shadows will guide you there.' I woke up after that."

Bella nods her head. "Who was the 'her' in your dream?" she softly asks, fearing the answer.

Nico hunches in on himself. "I think we both know who it was, Bell."

Bella can't stop the small sob that escapes.

::: ::: :::

"Who are they talking about? What her?" Emmett asks frantically. His eyes fly over all of his family members as he hopes one of them knows. Every one of them shrugs their shoulders in confusion. Emmett growls and starts pacing the room in agitation. It bothers him that this goth kid knows so much more about Bella then they do. That she seems to trust him more than she trusts them.

"What are the fields of Asphodel?" Esme politely asks. Her eyes follow her son's movements around the room.

"The fields –" Carlisle's voice breaks. He clears his throat and continues, "The fields of Asphodel are located in the underworld. It's a place for the deceased."

"But you said that Elysium was located in the Underworld," Alice points out. Horror is written all over her face. Jasper rubs her arms reassuringly.

It's Edward that answers her. "Elysium is reserved for the good, the ones who live a good life and die a heroes death. The fields of Asphodel are reserved for the normal, the ones who live neither good nor evil in their life, but are simply ordinary."

"How do you know so much all of a sudden?" Rosalie asks, eyeing her brother.

Edward half-heartedly shrugs his shoulders. "It's all coming back to me now. Everything I ever learned about Greek mythology through the repetitive years of high school."

Alice suddenly shudders. Everyone turns to look at her, worried that she's being pulled into another dream, but instead she stares back at her family with sad eyes. "He may say it was a dream, but I get the feeling that that boy has been to the Underworld for real."

Esme lays her head against her husband's arm.

::: ::: :::

"Okay," Bella sighs, rubbing her eyes and wiping the unfallen tears away. She pulls herself up and swings her legs off the bed. "We need to keep on moving."

Nico groans, his voice muffled as his face is planted against the pillow. "Do we have to?" he whines.

Bella grins and grabs her pillow. "Get up," she says, smacking him in the back with her pillow. "I need your help to the bathroom."

Nico groans again as he lifts himself off the bed.

As he's making his way around the bed, Bella takes off the belt that's around her femur and pulls the pads of gauze off. Nico takes one look at the bloody gauze pads and wrinkles his nose.

"That's disgusting, Bell," he says.

Bella smiles. "Don't be a wuss." She throws it into the wastebasket, making a perfect shot. Upon inspection of her leg she sees that the blood has stopped flowing. The ambrosia and nectar have done the trick and there is still a cut on her leg, but that can be easily dealt with.

Nico moves to her side, lifting her arm up and placing himself underneath. With a groan, Bella lifts herself off the bed. "Gods, I hate getting injured," she mumbles.

Nico laughs. "And yet, you also seem to enjoy it with how much you've had to be treated."

"If you weren't helping me, you'd be on the floor right now."

"Yeah, yeah," Nico dismisses. "Like you could ever hurt me."

Bella pulls back to playfully glare at him. "Do you want to keep on testing me?"

Nico pretends to think about it. "Maybe another time."

They make it to the bathroom door and Bella hobbles inside. She turns around to close to face him. "Good," she says, slamming the door.

Nico half-smiles at the door. Bella was ever the drama queen, even more so than Bianca. His smile drops as a flash of agony shoots through him. He can't even think her name without feeling the pain of losing her.

The shower starts and Nico realizes that it's either wait for Bella to finish or leave the room and mingle with the vampires. With a yawn, he turns around and falls face first onto the bed. Shadow traveling always takes its toll on him, though he is getting more stamina with every shadow he passes in and out of.

"Thank you, Bianca," Nico breathes out.

And then, he's snoring away, sucked into a blissful dreamless nap.

::: ::: :::

Chapter: Snack Size.

This update is for Saphira Nograd; whose review called my plotline "fresh." Thank you. Haha, I like that.

This one is more of a filler chapter. And also my procrastinator chapter because I should be studying three chapters of my homework. Eh. Really, I wanted the talking chapter to stand alone (and be over with).

Do you know how amazing October is going to be? My birthday, the House of Hades release, and the Walking Dead comes back! I'm pumped.

Stupid gmail was putting my fanfic emails into the spam folder. For a sec I was thinking no one liked my story anymore.

Please don't make me think no one likes my story anymore. That would be sad (even for this snack sized chapter). Please, please leave a review for me!

Until next update.