Hi my peoples! I'm SOOO sorry for the wait! Nico just didn't want the truth to be revealed.
Nico: What truth? I'm not hiding anything.
Me: ^*liar*^
Nico: -_- I'm doomed.
Ever:
Ever fell on her rear end with a giant huff! This was her fifth time on the ground. No matter how hard she tried, Ever could never get a hit on that cocky Nico Di Angelo.
"Stop being so aggressive." Nico muttered as he held out his hand for Ever. She frowned and allowed him to help her up.
"It doesn't help that you snicker when I trip." She muttered in frustration. "Every time I fall I just wanna punch that smug face of yours."
Nico grinned and handed her a wooden sword, the same sword that he had knocked out of her hands not too long ago. "I thought children of Demeter were supposed to be gentle."
Ever gave him a look and laughed. "Puh-lease. Have I ever followed the rules?"
Nico rolled his eyes. "Heaven forbid you follow the rules."
At last! He's finally getting it!
"Now," Ever started as she got in the ready position. "Let's do this."
Nico copied her and stared her down, daring her to attack first. She took the bait and lunged, swinging upwards. He jumps back and parries, bringing his sword down on her shoulder. Ever sidestepped out of the way and thrust towards his stomach. He backed up again and swung for her side. Once again she sidestepped, but before she could react Nico brought his fist up to punch her face. Ever let out a dying sound before she flung herself backwards and fell on her toosh, managing to get out of the way before his fist made contact.
"FOUL!" Ever yelled at the top of her lungs. "Cheater!"
"It's not cheating. Any and every enemy will use all foul play to defeat you."
"Okay, again." Ever stood up and got ready.
"I think that's enough for today." Nico muttered tiredly. Sweat trickled down his face, but that didn't compete with the rivers cascading down Ever's back.
No matter what happens, I need to win at least once.
"C'mon Nico!" She pleaded. "One more time!"
He sighed and got ready. "Fine. But don't come crying to me when your bruises start to hurt."
"Right back at'cha!" Ever yelled and lunged feroshiously. She swung blindly and aimed for anything that would hurt him. Nico's eyes widened as he dodged or parried blow after blow. Ever swung with gusto, showing no signs of slowing down. Adrenaline pumped through her veins, and she felt lightning fast. Beads of sweat poured down both their faces, and soon enough her eyes stung.
"Ever, calm down!" She vaguely heard Nico saying. Honestly, she didn't really care. This was fun. With a grin, Ever slashed at his head. Instead of ducking, like she thought he would, Nico jumped completely out of the way. She lost her balance and tumbled head over heals. Her back crashed against the marble column of the arena. Little cuts all over her body stung, and her head had a pounding headache. Every single muscle cried out. Her adrenaline was gone.
"Ever, are you okay?" Nico said as he kneeled next to her. "Does anything hurt?"
"Only my pride and the little cuts all over me." Ever murmured humorously. "That was fun, wasn't it?"
Nico hesitated before he smiled and nodded. "Yeah, actually. For once I had to actually try."
Ever groaned. "You mean you weren't trying before?" Her voice slurred slightly.
He grinned and laughed mockingly. "Nope."
They were both breathing heavily, and the world seemed to be swirling around. "Hey Nico?"
"Hm?"
"Is the world supposed to be red?"
"What?" Nico's eyes widened in panic. "No!"
"Oh. That's not good."
Red approached from the edges of her vision, and the world kept spinning out of control. "Ever? Ever!" She heard Nico yell from far away.
"Whoa…when did you have a twin…" She muttered before the red overcame her, and she slept.
Nico:
Right after Ever fainted, Nico took her right to the Big House. A couple Apollo healers rushed around for a while until they went into a room to discuss Ever's condition. It wasn't until Hayden, the only person in the Apollo cabin—other than Will—that didn't bug Nico about Disney songs, walked out that he knew something bad had happened.
"Well, it's bad." Hayden flat-out said. He nodded and stared at Nico with a blank expression.
"And?" Nico probed.
"They said a complicating word like brain hemorrhoids or something." Hayden scratched his head. "I had no idea you could get hemorrhoids in your brain."
Will Solace walked in before Nico could question Hayden about her 'brain hemorrhoids'. "He means she has brain hemorrhage." Will said as he glared in Hayden's direction. "It's when an artery in your brain bursts. Did she hit her head or go through anything traumatic before this happened?"
Nico remembered when she banged her head on the marble in the arena, and the subtle thud that came from it. "Yeah."
"What happened?"
"We were sparring, and she tumbled into one of the marble columns at the arena."
Both Will and Hayden winced.
"Ouch." Hayden muttered. "No wonder she popped a vessel."
"An artery, Hayden." Will said with a frustrated sigh. "It was an artery."
"Same difference." He shrugged.
"This is why you'll never be a healer." Will muttered to himself before focusing on Nico. "That hit might have done it. Good thing you brought her here as soon as did. Any longer and there would have been permanent damage."
Permanent?
"But you don't have to worry about it." Will said with a warm and reassuring smile. "She'll be up and normal by the morning."
"Is she…conscious?"
"Yup. She won't shut up!" Hayden complained.
Of course she wouldn't. I'm not sure I've ever seen a silent Ever.
"Can I see her?" Nico asked. Will nodded and led him to a room with white walls covered in butterflies. Ever lay in a pink bed. There was pink everywhere. Ever shot death glares at everything. She brightened when Nico walked in the room, but she still looked like she wanted to destroy the whole room.
"I'm just gonna guess that you don't like pink." Hayden commented when he received one of Ever's glares. She nodded and pouted.
"Pink is my worst enemy." She muttered. "No offense to anyone who likes pink!" Ever looked around apologetically to see if anyone was offended.
"Don't worry, I feel you." Hayden nodded and glared daggers at the pink butterflies. "Yellow is so much better."
"I actually prefer green." She said thoughtfully. "And brown."
Hayden rolled his eyes. "Typical Demeter kid."
There was a lull in the conversation, so Nico decided to butt in. "Uh, Ever?"
"Hm?"
"I'm sorry you got hurt with brain hemorrhoids—I mean hemorrhage!" Nico meekly told her. He looked down and fiddled with his thumbs. "I shouldn't have gone so hard on you."
"Pssssssssh!" Ever said with a casual wave of her hand. "Who cares? No pain no gain, right?"
Nico's eyes widened. "Does it hurt that bad?"
"Well, at first." She shrugged. "But now it's all good. Just you wait, next time I'll get you!"
"There won't be a next time…" He murmured quietly. Ever's eyes widened, and she leaned towards him in disbelief.
"What?" She demanded.
"I said, there won't be a next time." Nico said louder, his decision made.
She keeps getting hurt. If only after a couple weeks of training she gets hurt this badly, will the same thing happen in the future? What if it had been permanent? I can't bear it if she gets hurt because of me. I've lost too much.
"Of course there'll be a next time!" Ever replied with passion. "You can't back out now!"
"I can, I will, and I am." Nico told her with a poker face. She puffed her cheeks in anger and crossed her arms, pouting. "I'm sorry, Ever."
Ever ignored him and glared murderously at the pink nightstand next to her.
"Ever, I just can't see you get hurt."
Nothing.
Is she giving me the silent treatment?
"C'mon, Ever."
"Does anyone else hear that buzzing sound?" Ever asked the others in the room, completely ignoring Nico. "Must be my imagination."
Nico was out of the room before she could stab at his pride again.
Just like Will said, Ever was out of the pink room by the morning. She walked around Camp happily, spending most of her time with a Hephaestus girl named Marlin.
And ignoring Nico.
Every time he tried to catch her eye she'd look away and walk in the opposite direction. Every day felt like months. They dragged along. Nico didn't know what to do. Ever since he had met Ever, it seemed like they did everything together. There wasn't a moment he could remember that didn't involve Ever. Meals, training, free time, he did them all with her. Without her he just wandered around.
It wasn't until four days had passed that someone intervened.
"Psst!" A voice called. "Nico, over here!"
Nico looked around suspiciously before he saw Piper hiding behind a wall. He was strangely reminded of when she and Percy kidnapped him. Cautiously, he walked over.
"C'mere!" She hissed as she grabbed his arm and pulled him behind the wall. Jason sat against the wall and gave Nico a sympathetic look. Piper threw Nico against the wall, and he rubbed his arm.
"Okay, we have to talk." Piper said as she stood in front of the two boys and put her hands on her hips.
"About what?" Nico grumbled.
"Ever." Piper growled back.
"Why do I have to be here, then?" Jason muttered unhappily.
"Because." She crossed her arms. "You're both going to fix this mess."
Nico started to get up. "There's no mess to fix."
Before he could walk away, Piper pushed him against the wall again and glared daggers at him.
"Of course there's a problem! You're ignoring Ever!"
"Actually, she started it…" He muttered.
"It doesn't matter who started it! What matters is how things end up."
Nico stayed silent.
Piper's right. Of course I want to be friends with Ever again. I just—I just don't know how.
Piper's face softened when she noticed his expression. "Nico, everybody has fights. No two people agree about everything. I don't know what made Ever so angry, but you do. And I know that you need to fix it." She smiles and pats Nico's head, tilting her head. "It's not everyday that an amazing person like Ever comes into your life."
"But what do I do?" Nico whined helplessly. He wasn't used to these things. Having friends was harder than he remembered. "What if I just mess up again?"
"That's why Jason and I are here." She said softly. "We'll set the mood. The rest is up to you."
~~~{[()]}~~~~~{[()]}~~~~~{[()]}~~~~~{[()]}~~~~~{[()]}~~~~~{[()]}~~~
Set the mood they did. When Piper and Jason were done 'setting the mood', Nico was reminded of the day he and Ever celebrated her birthday. A plaid blanket lay underneath a tree, and a bottle of Diet Pepsi stood in the middle with two sad excuses for wine glasses. Two fancy looking paper plates were piled with Ever's favorite lunch food: greasy hamburgers stacked with bacon.
If those hamburgers don't make her happy, I'm doomed.
"Nico?" Ever's voice said from behind him. Nico turned to see her staring at him, clearly not expecting him to be there. "What are you doing here?"
"Surprise." Nico smiled and gestured to the picnic. "My treat."
She glared at him. "If you think food will make this all better, then you're mista—are those bacon burgers?" Ever walked over to a plate and plopped down, gazing at the food sheepishly. "Maybe I can bear your presence for a little bit."
They ate for a while, staying silent. The only sounds were Ever's happy chomping and Nico nervously tapping his fingers against the tree's trunk.
"If you don't hurry up and say what you want to say I'll leave." Ever threatened all of a sudden. Nico blinked in surprise and cleared his throat. He had hoped she would apologize.
"I'm sorry."
"For?"
He hesitated. "For overreacting."
"Finally!" She burst as she threw her hands in the air. "Took you long enough! Sheesh!"
"You—you've been waiting for me to apologize?"
"DUH! Ignoring you has been torture! I almost cracked and apologized when I saw the picnic. By the way, what is it with you and picnics?"
Nico sighed in relief.
I'm glad. I didn't realize how lonely it is without Ever until she started ignoring me.
"Also, sorry for flat-out ignoring you." She crunched on her burger. "It's a bad habit of mine."
At least she acknowledges that it's bad.
They finished their meal in a matter of minutes. Ever had started to clean it up, but Nico told her that Piper and Jason would take care of it. He thought he could hear Piper muttering curses at Nico when he and Ever walked away.
"That was really great, even though it was tense at first." Ever muttered as they walked back to their cabins. The sun slowly started disappearing, and a chill raced through the air. "Thanks. I'm really glad we made up."
"Me too."
Then, the impossible happened.
Ever reached over and held his hand.
H-huh? What is happening…?!
Nico tensed and glanced down at his hand. Ever's rather large hand—for a girl—wrapped around his larger hand, and he noticed that his fingers were completely limp. He glanced up at Ever's face. She was already looking at him, with a smile on her face.
Oh my gods…what do I do?!
Nico took in a deep breath.
Just…act casual.
BUT WHAT IS CASUAL?!
Okay, deep breaths. In, out, in, out, in—gods I'm taking this too seriously. Just…grab her hand.
Nico took another deep breath and started to wrap his fingers around Ever's hand. Then the weight of the situation came upon him.
Oh my gods—Ever's holding my hand. What if I'm not supposed to grab it back?
What else am I supposed to do?
WHAT IF—
No, I can do this!
What if I mess up our friendship again!
C'mon Nico, it's not like you're getting married!
OH GODS GETTING MARRIED—
Be a man!
I can't do it—
Yes you can!
WHY IS THIS SO COMPLICATING?!
Just imagine what it would be like to hold her hand!
I CAN'T!
YOU CAN!
NO—
YES—
NO—
JUST DO IT!
He grabbed her hand.
?:
He watched as the son of Hades and daughter of Demeter held hands and walked towards the cabins. Nico's cheeks were flushed a deep crimson, and Ever was laughing at his expression.
"Geez, Nico. You should have told me I was making you uncomfortable."
"Well…at first I was uncomfortable…"
"At first?" Ever blushed slightly and grinned in satisfaction. Nico blushed redder. "I could tell you were freaking out. What were you thinking, exactly?"
"Uuuh…" Nico stuttered. "I kind of had two different trains of thought that didn't agree with each other…"
Ever laughed and bumped his shoulder with hers. "So you were basically fighting yourself?"
"Pretty much."
That's when he took the picture. This time, he remembered to keep the flash turned off. But he probably should have made sure the sound was off…
"What was that clicking sound?"
"I don't know, a cricket?"
"Crickets don't click, they make fiddle noises."
"Ever, don't you mean chirp?"
"No, that's birds."
Nico sighed and snorted in amusement, the flush on his face starting to dim. He seemed to be more natural. More…content.
"Seriously Nico, what if we're being followed by that stalker again?"
"What stalker?"
"You know, that flash during my birthday picnic and that creepy shadow that ran off?"
"Oh, that stalker."
"Wait—what do you mean, that stalker. Is there more than one stalker?" Ever demanded. She and Nico slowly walked out of view, their voices getting quieter and quieter until everything was silent. The man grinned and jumped down from the tree he was in, cradling his prizes. He ran off and jumped into the pond, once again disappearing without a trace.
Enyo:
Enyo stalked around the buildings, using her sight to look for the condemned. By her side were Despoina and Ichnaea, fellow goddesses allied with her lord Enyalius. Despoina, the goddess of mysteries, used to help find clues about the condemned's location. Ichnaea, the goddess of tracking, used to help track the condemned should a trail be found—or they flee.
"Despoina!" Enyo howled at the meek, silvery-haired goddess. "Have you found them?"
"No, m'lady." The young goddess bowed deeply and spoke softly. "I have, however, pinpointed a general area where they might be residing."
"Where?" Enyo demand. She wanted results, and fast. Both she and Melpomene were tasked to find the condemned, but Enyo wanted to beat that skinny little muse. For years she, Enyo, had stood by Enyalius' side. Then Melpomene appeared in her thin robes and peachy skin, stealing away Enyalius' precious time. If that giggly muse thought she could tramp into Enyalius and Enyo's plans, she was mistaken.
"They are somewhere in New York, I believe." Despoina muttered meekly. Enyo scoffed. She was such a soft and weak ally.
"Ichnaea!" She yelled. The goddess immediately came to stand by her side, eagerness dancing across her face. "Scout ahead, see if you can find anything else on the condemned."
"Yes, milady!" Ichnaea shot off and sniffed the air as she ran, looking like a humanoid bloodhound. Enyo sighed and crossed her arms in discontent. Ahead, she noticed Ichnaea trip and face plant. Despoina kneeled on the ground, muttering, and blowing on dandelions.
I'm surrounded by idiots. Don't worry, Enyalius. I shall help you gather the condemned, and together we will become the rulers of Olympus.
THAKS FOR READING! Remember, FOLLOW, REVIEW, and FAVORITE! The more reviews I get, the faster I write!
Hayden: Just want to put it out there, but these last few reviews have been AWESOME!
Me: IKR?!
Sonic: *grumpy* I don't see how they are so great...
Hayden: That's only because everyone always mistakes you for a blue hedgehog xD *really really enjoying this*
Sonic: I don't understand any of this. Why would I be a hedgehog? Since when have hedgehogs been blue?
Me: Since Sonic the Hedgehog.
Sonic: I still don't understand. I'm a demigod, a son of Zeus. How is any of that related to hedgehogs or the color blue?
Hayden: Have you seriously never heard of Sonic the Hedgehog?
Sonic: -_-
Hayden: HAHAHAH! Oh this is just sad! Honestly, I knew you were old-fashioned, but this is just too much! *still enjoying this*
Me: He's a complex character, I should know :D HE IS MY CREATION!
Sonic: Oh dear, she's in one of her author moods again...
Me: I mean, his character is just so deep; his mother-
Hayden: Uh, changing the subject! I'M IN A CHAPTER! xD
Sonic: Which makes no sense. He is supposed to be in a whole other story line, how can he belong in this alternate universe while he is in another?
Me: How am I supposed to know? I'm only the messenger.
Hayden: It's because I'm MAGIC!
Sonic: *grumpy* -_-
REVIEW, FAVORITE, and FOLLOW! xD