I'm trying to get Nico to be a little better. And Percy a bit of a mess. And Annabeth is just confused about Luke and everything.
NICO:
"I need you to make sure Percy Jackson doesn't cause trouble for me or my daughter", Athena stated. "I don't know what you're supposed to do or how you're supposed to do it but Annabeth's fate crosses yours and Percy's so you must be the one who can save her and the rest of the world from falling into destruction because of Perseus Jackson. My daughter seems to be in a trance"
"What makes you think she needs saving?", Nico asked trying not to sound disrespectful.
"Oh, don't you know?", Athena asked, throwing her hand in the air, exasperated, "He's no good. He meddles too much. And his skull is nearly empty"
Nico's body temperature went high. Fine, maybe Percy was a little thick headed but he wasn't dumb. Somebody dumb couldn't have stopped Kronos, survived in the roman camp and survived Tartarus. He very vividly remembered how serene and older Percy had looked after coming back from Tartarus. He looked more attractive but Nico would never admit it out loud.
"What exactly are you asking me to do, Lady Athena?", Nico asked, curious if Athena had something already planned.
"I just don't want him to meddle in my business. And not mess my daughter up. And not mess the lives of everyone at stake here", she snapped.
Nico wanted to snap back about how Percy had saved Olympus once and was on his way to saving it again but he kept shut and made concerned faces.
" I will make sure he doesn't meddle anymore than he has to", Nico replied and bowed to her, hoping that would be the end of their conversation and she wouldn't ask him to do something too extreme.
Before Athena could reply, Nico got up and nodded to Hades, "Father", and walked out of the room.
"Nico", Hades called and Nico turned to face his father.
"Take care", Hades said softly. Then his demeanour changed back to the cold Lord of the dead.
Smiling slightly, Nico walked out. When he exited his stepmother's garden, he saw Mrs. O'Leary waiting for him. She barked happily and gave him a saliva bath.
Cerberus looked at Nico sadly and Nico patted one of his fingers on his gigantic paw and scratched it. The gesture seemed to tickle him. He growled happily and was about to lick Nico with his tongue which was big enough to be a highway, but Nico stepped back as fast as he could. "Stay", he ordered and walked away with Mrs. O'Leary.
He dropped off Mrs. O'Leary with a couple of other hellhounds which seemed to be sleeping outside the fields of punishments, since she seemed overly excited about sniffing the sleeping dogs.
He shadow travelled back straight back to his cabin, to avoid seeing anyone in camp.
He was pleased with the way his cabin had been made. Solid obsidian walls with torchs that burned with a green flame. It looked badass.
The cabin was huge from the inside but only had one bed, in one of the curved areas that gave Nico privacy but it's not like he ever needed it. Firstly, because he didn't have any cabin mates and secondly he hardly ever stayed here. Also, if he ever chose to, he shadow travelled straight in here so he didn't meet anybody else.
He lay down on the black silk sheets on the bed which seemed a bit too comfortable.
The ceiling of the cabin was painted to show Charon ferrying the mortal souls into the Underworld. But the painting was a crude one. Charon was represented like a silver '8' and the mortal souls were represented by little golden dots. The river Styx look fluid over the black ceiling paint. All the wishes and dreams that floated in the river Styx were shown as tiny golden stars. The ferry and the background was roughly sketched in bronze. The most interesting part of the ceiling was that it was like a live representation. The souls moved, the river flowed and Charon moved. It was nice to see that the dead were finally going back to the Underworld.
He got off the bed and opened the door and peeked out.
It was starry night and it must have been pretty late because nobody was out and all the lights seemed to be out too.
He slowly left the cabin and decided to walk around the Poseidon cabin. It always had a sea breeze blowing about it. The salty air reminded Nico of Percy. And though that hurt him, he was keen for the sea breeze.
Midway along the cabins, Nico froze. There seemed to be somebody sitting near the huge stone lined fire pit, in the middle of the huge field.
At first he thought it was Hestia, the goddess of the hearth. But the girl looked older and had a dark comforter around her shoulders.
He stood rooted to the spot wondering if he should just turn away but before he could decide, the girl turned and saw him.
Her face was against the light and Nico couldn't see her enough to recognise her. She motioned for Nico to come over to her. Since he had little room for options, he approached, keeping his hand on his sword that hung from his waist.
As he got closer, his eyes adjusted to the unnatural lighting and he recognised her.
It was Reyna.
She was sitting beside the hearth, still looking strong and regal in Camp Halfblood pyjamas. But her eyes were sad.
Nico felt awkward. He didn't know what to do or what to say. He sat down beside her.
"You didn't have to run away so quick, you know?", Reyna told him.
"My dad wanted to see me", Nico replied casually. Something flickered in Reyna's face. It was probably jealousy and Nico felt bad for what he had said. Reyna had probably never met her mother, like most of the roman demigods.
"Octavian's army is reaching here day after tomorrow", she said quietly, "I did, what you Greeks call it, Iris message him about there being peace but he didn't seem too convinced"
Nico guessed he had to say something. "You will have to answer to a lot of crap for going to the ancient lands, right? Decided what you're going to do?" Nico was just being nice now. For the first time Reyna looked like a girl, not a praetor, even though she look brave and ready to pulverize anybody, if needed.
Reyna sighed, "I will go with the truth. That I decided to trust Annabeth's word. Honouring one of the Greek's wishes was the first step"
They sat there for a while, even though Nico wanted to leave. He didn't want to leave her alone. But he didn't know why he felt like showing such kindness. Was it his father who has inspired him in this way? Reyna was in no hurry to leave and Nico knew it must be terrifying for her to be at a camp full of Greeks. She had also recently lost her pegasus. He wouldn't have been able to bear it if Mrs. O'Leary died. And she wasn't even his.
Slowly dawn approached and Nico finally got up. He nodded at Reyna and walked back to his cabin.
He took a bath and cleaned up. Got dressed. He owned a couple of black t shirts and black jeans which were all randomly picked so his stepmother would stop complaining about how he dressed. By now she was probably tired of complaining. But with gods you never knew. Immortality apparently made you a bitch.
He ran his hands through his hair, which, by now, were shoulder length. Tufts of it came over his eyes. He ruffled his hair again and walked out for breakfast. He was late and glad about it because he didn't have to listen to stupid announcements regarding Greek/Roman peace. He slipped into the Hades's table which was as honourary as Hera's cabin. He ate a few French toasts and picked up an apple, and nibbled on it.
He caught Chiron looking at him carefully. He did look concerned but Nico just got up and left.
He shadow travelled straight to New York City, on the Upper East Side.
He knocked on the apartment door and a middle aged woman opened the door.
She had a sad look on her face, like most of the people Nico recently came across. Her eyes had dark circles under them. Her long brown hair was streaked with grey, but seeing Nico, her eyes twinkled.
"Oh, gods, Nico!", she exclaimed, pulling Nico into a hug.
It was weird for him because he had never expected her to hug him. But she was warm and smelt vaguely fruity. He guessed living mostly in the dark about their children turned parents into huggers. Or maybe parents were huggers. Nico would have no idea, would he? And he didn't mind if it comforted her. She pulled back and held him at arms length, her eyes somber.
"Please tell me he's alright", she whispered. Nico gulped, "He's fine. He's been in a lot of trouble lately. More than usual"
She laughed and her eyes glistened with tears, "It's great to see you, Nico. You'll have to give me all the details because Chiron has been very vague about everything"
She led him into the living room.
"It's good to see you too, Sally", Nico replied trying not to let his voice waver.
PERCY:
"Gaios?", Leo choked, "Please tell me this word sounding like Gaia is a coincidence."
Everybody blankly stared at the board.
"Can we run back to the ship now?", Piper asked hopefully.
"The ship ain't going anywhere, lady", Leo announced, "It's like it's been put to sleep"
'Put to sleep' reminded Percy of the god of dreams, Morpheus who had put all the New Yorkers to sleep during the last Titan war. But the last time they checked, the Minor gods weren't really opposing Olympus and he doubted the god could put machines to sleep.
Something tugged at the back of his mind that this was important but he couldn't figure our why.
He looked at Annabeth who had the classic look on her face. The look Percy had been seeing for years. The look that suggested that she probably knew what was wrong but didn't say it aloud so as to avoid scaring the others. Percy didn't like the idea of not knowing what they might face but he didn't push her.
"Is this some kind if a test?", Leo asked angrily, taking out random stuff from his belt and putting together a gun, "Because if it is, I'm ready to burn it down"
He took the gun apart as easily as he had put it together. Percy made a mental note to never mess with Leo's gadgets or machinery. Even if he could quench his fire, he probably couldn't dodge bullets.
Jason, along with Piper started walking towards the inhabited area with the others following close behind in pairs while Leo brought up the rear.
"If there's a monster here", Jason stated, "Then we're just going to look for it and kill it. Because until we do, we're not going anywhere"
He stopped and turned around to look look at the others, waiting for somebody to object.
As if in answer, Leo loaded his gun with celestial bronze bullets.
Annabeth had nothing to say which worried Percy, and Frank shrugged.
"I could trace magic on the engine", Hazel answered, "We probably have to make the person who cast it, undo it or..."
Or kill the person before he or she killed them. It was quite simple.
If they weren't going anywhere till they faced the person in question, Percy was all for hunting them down.
"So it's settled", Jason replied and started walking again.
Percy could tell that Jason was trying to be a leader even though he himself hadn't been so straight on the line, lately. He could see his younger self in Jason, the days when he would lead a quest and have the minimal idea about things and Annabeth had to save their asses.
"Gaios is a small island in the Greek province", Annabeth commented, like a tour guide but without the enthusiasm, "It mostly consists of hotels villas and shops as it happens to be mostly a tourist location.
"Worship here is basically catholic and hardly a bunch of people know that in the ancient times, it was an island dedicated completely to Gaia."
Everybody paled, except Leo who appeared to be not listening but instead making another gun.
"But in the battle between the Greeks and Romans, the temples and statues got destroyed and everything turned to rubble. Later, the Greek government cleared the area and turned it into a tourist spot"
Percy was glad that the statues and temples had been destroyed. He didn't think he could bear to look at the ugly earth mother without destroying her.
Then, Annabeth stopped abruptly and Percy's hand almost slipped out of hers. She looked really pale and her eyes looked dead.
Everybody stopped and Piper came over and put an arm around her. "You figured it out, didn't you?"
Percy didn't know what exactly she meant but Hazel gasped, "The giant?"
It didn't sound so good and he was almost afraid of what she would say.
"It- it might be nothing", she stuttered but Percy could tell it was definitely not nothing.
Before she could elaborate, a bunch of dracanae surrounded them from behind and a huge group of monsters followed.
The monsters were assorted, like a festive box of ugliness. Lines of dracaenae, hellhounds, telkhines, and at least two hyperborean giants surrounded them.
They must've been really stealthy because none of them had heard anything. Were they becoming so dim that they couldn't even hear a group of monsters approaching? How were they going to kill Gaia?
All of them were ready to pull their weapons out but sudden movements might have caused unwanted hostility so they made no movements at all.
One of the dracaenae stepped in front of them. She was probably the head of the Ugly Crew.
"We've been sent here to get you to out master", she hissed and spat the last word.
Annabeth stepped in front bravely, signalling with her hand behind her back to keep their weapons down.
Percy kept his thumb on Riptide's cap, ready to uncap it on the shortest notice.
He could see Jason's hand on his gladius and Hazel's on her spatha. Piper already had katoptris out and Frank held on to his bow.
Percy couldn't see Leo but he figured he too would have his guns on the ready.
"We're here to see your master", Annabeth announced boldly, "Lead us to him and we'll spare you"
The monsters became agitated and Piper stepped beside Annabeth, "We've been preparing to fight him for a long while". She waved katoptris in the air so the blade could be seen by each monster, "This is the blade of Helen Of Troy. It has been showing you and your master for weeks"
The monsters hissed and spat and growled but Hazel stepped beside Piper, "We've seen all your plans and strategies and it wouldn't take more than two of us to beat all of you, along with your master", she gulped, "He thinks he's so smart dropping our ship. We were going to land straight in front of him anyway. But we'll do with this"
Percy decided these three girls were smarter than he and the guys could ever be. They were brave and beautiful; talking calmly to these monsters about a giant they had no idea about. Or maybe they did and hadn't told the others? That thought wasn't settling.
The lead dracaenae hissed, "Follow us"
The monsters completely surrounded them and walked them to a large wooden door hidden in the sand. They slid it open and looked at Annabeth.
"You'll have to go through this, demigod", the dracaenae spat.
The door, as far as Percy could see, was attached to a huge tunnel like slide. Percy was sure it was big enough for Polybotes.
Annabeth bravely stepped into the tunnel and slipped down.
Piper hesitated but closed her eyes and slid in behind Annabeth. Hazel, Frank and Jason followed.
"You go first, Leo", Percy told him, shoving him towards the tunnel.
Leo reluctantly bent and said, "Whoever did this to my ship is going to pay. I swear on the river Styx"
The sky rumbled and Leo slid down the tunnel.
"Your turn, son of sea god", one of the telekhines barked.
Percy loved dogs but he had this sudden urge to go kick this tiny monster square in the chest. But he just bent and slid down the dark tunnel, trying not to shout.