Geez...I go out of town for a few weeks and people think I've abandoned this story...really guys I'm not going to do that it just takes me a while sometimes to outline the next chapter. I was visiting family and had a wedding to attend to so that didn't really leave me much time to just sit down and write with all that going on. So please don't think I'm leaving a story the way it is just because it takes me almost a month to update. Luckily I had a notebook with me so I managed to write out some things and even outlined the chapter after this one. Now onto some reviews...
SharinganWeasel: Lol sorry if I confused you, really the only bad guys in the story is the group that Andromeda and Aquarius are apart of and Triton, though he technically is only going to be a bad guy for a while. As for the Greek gods and Japanese god, I never really said the Greek Gods are the bad guys, just a bit neglectful like the case with Hades, Persephone, Nico and Bianca. Bianca well maybe I did make her a bit bad but that's only for that one part.
JD7474: Ack...thanks I thought it was the 300th but it was the 600th floor I believe...gotta re-check that later...
TheMuseNamedPancake: Hahaha can't forget about Triton! He's a sneaky one and not really since he's already attached to Nico so he'll prefer hanging around him rather then the other campers.
Shinigami: Yes Tatsuya will give up the kids to camp half-blood I"m still figuring out how exactly but it will be dramatic and Percy will be very happy to see his old friends. I'm glad you like the berating I had Demeter give Hades and Persephone.
That's about it and about those asking me why it takes so long to update, like i said it takes a while for me to make sure my plot is consistent not to mention trying to come up with what to happen next, so please bear with me and be patient for updates. Thanks again for everyone that reviewed and commented, enjoy this chapter!
Nico groaned as he was frowning in his sleep, tossing and turning a bit before he blearily opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling. Not recognizing where he was he sat up slowly and looked at his surroundings as another yawn escaped his lips. He was about to summon his sword just in case but then he froze when he recalled what had happened back at camp previously, his argument with his so called sister, leaving in a burst of shadows, coming back to Amelia's bakery…
"Oh man did I really run back to them?" Nico groaned out as he held his head, "I can't believe I didn't just hide out somewhere, why would I want to come here and endanger Percy's family? I'll apologize to Amelia later for intruding."
With that in mind he finds his shoes at the edges of the bed and was about to grab them when the door opened forcing Nico to look up.
"Nico you're okay!" Percy chirped happily as he ran to the bed and hugged Nico tightly.
The older dark haired boy just sat on the bed surprised as Percy hugged him as Celeste bounced in after her master.
"Did sleeping help? Mom said you were really tired." Percy asked as he gazed up at the son of Hades.
"Yeah, I feel a lot better." Nico replied softly not wanting to push the other boy away from him as he patted Percy's head, "I was just about to leave so you don't have to worry about me."
"What no! You can't leave Nico!" Percy shouted holding tightly onto Nico trying to stop him from moving.
"Percy really I think its best if I leave." Nico said as he managed to stand up and tried to walk towards the door but Percy was holding onto him as hard as he could.
"You don't have to leave! I heard my parents say that it was fine for you to stay here!" Percy argued.
"I'll just be troublesome!" Nico shouted back getting frustrated, what Bianca had yelled at him was really getting to him as he tried to unhitch Percy from him. The two struggled for a while until the door opened once more and Tatsuya looked amused at the two wrestling on the ground.
"Oh please don't' stop on my account." Tatsuya laughed amused as he leaned against the doorframe.
"Dad! Talk to Nico he insists on leaving and doesn't believe me when I said it was alright for him to stay here!" Percy shouted.
"I overheard everything Nico, and Amelia and I had discussed it. We don't see you as a burden of any kinda and would be more then happy to have you around." Tatsuya stated.
This stopped Nico from trying to leave as he just stares up at Tatsuya shock written all over his face before he frowns and looked at the ground unsure, so he was surprised when he felt someone patting his head and looked up to see the tall dark haired man smiling at him.
"Nico there are many things we need to talk about, what happened, why you're here and probably plenty more." Tatsuya said gently, "we all are going out to dinner, and you're coming with us."
Percy nodded as he grinned at Nico, "it's a really good Japanese place down by the pier! What kind of food do you like to eat?"
"Er…I've never had Japanese food so I don't have much of a palette." Nico replied as Percy gazed at him.
"Really? Boy have you been missing out its really good as long as you know what to eat." Percy replied grinning, "come on let's go, we have to pick up mom and then we can eat."
"Do I get a say in this?" Nico couldn't help but asked amused.
"Not really, once Percy gets something in his head its hard to deter him." Tatsuya chuckled.
"Thanks for the warning." Nico replied as he was surprised by how strong he was as he was being lead to the car.
Before leaving the room Tatsuya made sure to grab Nico's bomber jacket and shoes as he followed the two out of the house, making sure to lock it behind him before he settled into the driver's seat. He handed the jacket and shoes behind him to Nico as the two boys put their seatbelts.
"Thanks Tatsuya." Nico said as he took the items from him and started to put on his shoes as the older man drove off towards Amelia's bakery.
Nico actually took this time to relax a bit and gazed out the window, for once not worried about when he'll be sent out to a mission, training, or dealing with campers. It wasn't long before they stopped in front of Amelia's bakery. They looked out the window and saw Amelia waiting for them outside. Tatsuya unlocked the doors allowing Amelia into the passenger seat.
"I have Tobias and the others closing up for me since they know I'd like to spend some time with my family." Amelia said as she buckled in before turning to look in the back of the car as Tatsuya started driving to the Japanese restaurant, "so are you two excited about going out to eat?"
"Nico says he's never had Japanese food before mom!" Percy stated grinning.
"Well we will just have to change that then, we can order a bit of everything for you to try." Amelia replied.
"You don't have to do that Amelia! I might not finish it!" Nico said but Amelia just gave Nico a wink.
"Trust me we're going to have to order a lot since these two have a bit of a bottomless stomach." Amelia teased looking at Percy and Tatsuya, "they'll finish the food easily."
"Mooooom!" Percy whined as he pouted, as Tatsuya didn't say anything but snorted at the comment.
Nico's couldn't help it but the corner of his lip twitched in amusement but he didn't say anything as he leaned back as he listened to Percy trying to convince his mom that he doesn't have a bottomless stomach.
"We're here!" Tatsuya said as he parked the car as everyone piled out.
Nico looked at the impressive building with a sign hanging over the entrance as the dark blue roofs resembled the tops of a shrine.
"Come on I made the reservations already so we just have to walk in." Tatsuya said walking inside, they didn't' have to wait long and were immediately seated in a private room with cushions on the floor with a sliding door.
"Your waitress will be with you in a moment to get your drink orders." The woman said bowing before she shut the door behind her.
Tatsuya, Amelia and Percy took off their shoes first before sitting down, and Nico quickly followed the suit and took a seat next to Percy as they looked over the menu. The son of Hades shifted a bit on his cushion as he was more used to sitting with chairs and not on the floor with cushions under them.
"So Nico what do you plan on doing now? You were very upset when you came into my bakery." Amelia asked kindly as she placed her menu on the table to look directly at the dark haired teen who stiffened up.
"I apologize for bothering you when you were working Miss. Amelia." Nico mumbled, "but I don't really know I've only remember living in three places."
"Do you know what those places are?" Tatsuya asked.
"Some hotel in Las Vegas, something with a flower, the underworld and then…the camp." Nico replied sighing at the last place, "other then that I'm pretty much homeless."
"Nonsense!" Amelia admonished shocked that Nico would say something like that, "You have a home with us! We have room and giving you a roof over your head is no problem!"
"Don't even try arguing with her, she's just as bad as Percy but she's right stop thinking so lowly of yourself we care for you Nico. You've proved that you're a good person by helping my wife in her shop and taking care of my son." Tatsuya stated firmly.
Nico didn't believe Percy when he said his parents were allowing him to stay with him but seeing the intense look on Tatsuya's face along with Amelia's he knew there was no point in arguing as it would prove useless against these two adults that were deadest in convincing him into taking residence in their house.
"Besides I think Percy's grown attached to you and it would be good for both of you to have someone as a sibling." Amelia added as Percy agreed with his mother.
"Please Nico? It would be great if you could stay with us instead of leaving! You're like the big brothers I had when I was in the orphanage and I like being around you!" Percy added as watery sea-green eyes stared back begging the other boy to stay.
"If you stay with us you'll have a lot more freedom, you could do things you weren't able to when you were in your other homes, and we'd never condone you for anything unless its necessary. You can learn different things and actually have a fun and enjoyable childhood." Amelia said grinning, as Nico seemed to really be thinking about it.
"It's a benefit as well since you don't have a place to stay like you said earlier and with what my wife said Percy likes you, that's more then enough to convince me to let you stay with us." Tatsuya declared.
Looking at all of them Nico couldn't help but start laughing amused at how determined they were at getting him to stay with him.
"Alright alright you convinced me, stop with the puppy eyes Percy and the incentives Miss. Amelia." Nico chuckled as Percy cheered loudly while Amelia just laughed with Tatsuya.
"You caught us, but none of this 'Miss' stuff, its Amelia." The woman said firmly, "there's no need for formalities."
They finished talking just in time as the waitress came in to take their orders. Nico and Percy let Tatsuya and Amelia order the food for them while Percy was talking about all the stuff they could do together now that Nico wasn't going to be leaving. Once the waitress had gotten everything she left once more leaving the family to their private talk.
"So…how do you use these things?" Nico asked holding up the chopsticks.
"Like this, see?" Percy replied splitting his chopsticks and then holding them in one hand.
Nico tried to copy what Percy was doing but his fingers kept fumbling around and the chopsticks kept falling onto the table, much to Nico's frustration. After a few more tries Tatsuya saved Nico and showed him how to position his fingers correctly with the chopsticks and the son of Hades finally managed to get a good grasp on the chopsticks. While they were waiting for their food Amelia had Nico try picking his folded napkin with his chopsticks so he could have a bit more practice with it.
Soon the food came and Nico was both amazed and horrified. Amazed at how precise and elegant the food looked while horrified at the concept at eating raw fish.
"Don't' you get some sort of disease if you eat raw food!" Nico exclaimed as Tatsuya took a slice of sashimi and dipped it into his soy sauce before he ate it.
"No the chefs here are experts and this is normal." Tatsuya replied.
"Its not that bad, just don't eat the green stuff by itself." Percy said popping a sushi roll in his mouth as he pointed to green substance on one of his plates, "its really really hot."
"That's wasabi Percy, it's a spicy horseradish." Amelia said as she ate some of her own food.
"Is it really safe to eat this stuff?" Nico asked as he picked up a sashimi piece and eyed it.
"Just eat it and see for yourself." Tatsuya said as he put some more rice on his plate.
Glaring at the offensive piece of fish for a bit he lightly dipped it into the soy sauce before he popped it into his mouth and chewed it. He had winced and waited for the awful taste, but to his surprise it wasn't as bad as he thought as he swallowed.
"…..Can I have some more please?" Nico asked making Tatsuya laugh as he pushed the plate closer to the eager boy.
Both Amelia and Tatsuya laughed at that as they pushed the sashimi plates towards the eager boy. The family had an enjoyable dinner and it wasn't too late so Tatsuya treated everyone to ice cream on the way home which Percy and Nico both enjoy. They arrived back in their house and sat around the couch, the air in the living room suddenly going tense.
"Nico, I would like to know what exactly made you come literally running back to my shop this afternoon, Tatsuya and I would like some clarification on what had occurred." Amelia asked concerned.
Nico scowls a bit as he remembered that he had actually cried in front of Amelia, someone he's only known for a few days.
'I can't even remember the last time I cried like that…' Nico thought to himself, "I'd rather not talk about it, its rather personal and I can deal with it myself."
"I understand, you can tell us if you ever feel comfortable with doing that." Tatsuya nodded as he folded his arms, "but more importantly, what can you tell me about this camp of yours you came from?"
"No offense Tatsuya but I may not like the camp but that doesn't mean I can go spilling its secrets." Nico replied uneasily.
"I'm not after the secrets, I'm more interested in the general layout and what goes on in the camp, in return I'll reveal to you what I really am. Is that acceptable?" Tatsuya replied.
"Really? You would show that to me?" Nico asked surprised."
"I'll show you what I can, my true form is something I can't go showing off, but I can show you the gists of it." Tatsuya replied.
"I guess so…as long as you don't ask how it remains hidden or things like that." Nico replied as Tatsuya nodded agreeing to those terms, "but you're not planning to attack it or anything are you? Because the camp has some powerful protection around it."
"I would never attack a camp and endanger other kids like yourself." Tatsuya promised.
"You're not just using me to get information on the camp are you?" Nico couldn't help but ask a bit worried now with his situation, it almost seemed to good to be true there had to be a catch somewhere.
"Nico Di Angelo, I, Tatsuya Kazuki swear on Lady Amataratsu-sama, Queen of the gods of my land that I will never use you for my own gain, hurt you or betray you in any shape or form." Tatsuya declared, "This is the highest promise I can give you for if I broke it I would lose all my powers, my memory of being what I am and banished from the realm of my brethren never to return."
The whole room suddenly felt a strange warmth pass through them and Nico could feel the power of the promise that Tatsuya had just made.
"Alright I believe you since that promise really reinforced my belief you aren't going to harm the camp." Nico said, "why do you want to know about the came anyway?"
"I'd like to get an idea of where I might be sending Percy if the time calls for it. Since I can't get a tour like I do in schools this is the next best thing." Tatsuya replied chuckling.
"Yeah I guess it is, well here's what the camp is like." Nico started and just explained the generally outline of the camp, the cabin's purpose, activities and other things the campers did like pick strawberries or go out keeping the monsters at bay in the mortal realm.
"Hmm that's not as bad as I thought it would be, I had my worries since something bad must've happened there for you to come to use. I didn't want to send Percy to a place like that." Tatsuya stated.
"Not all the campers are bad, many of them are a bit unusual and have some quirks from their parents but there are some decent ones." Nico replied thinking of Josh and his friends, even Zacharia came to mind when he thought about it.
"Well I hope so because the only way that I'll allow Percy to go there if I didn't have any other options for him or I was unable to protect him." Tatsuya stated
"Even if he does go there I'll be with him." Nico said, "even if I may not like it there I do have some friends there that I'm sure Percy would get along with."
Tatsuya seemed reassured by that statement.
"Hey Tatsyua? I know you made that promise to never betray me unless you want your Queen god to hurt you, but uhm…" Nico started scratching the back of his head nervously but Tatsuya gave the young boy a knowing grin.
"I promised I wouldn't betray you that includes saying where I got the information." Tatsuya assured much to Nico's relief, "now I believe its my turn to show you my part of the deal."
Nico and Percy watched as Tatsuya stood up removing his jacket before the older man starts to concentrate. To the teens amazement, they watched as Tatsuya's pupils turned into slits as the electric blue eyes got darker, the short hair suddenly started to grow until it was down all the way down his back touching the back of his legs, dark sea-green horns started to appear and protrude from Tatsuya's head. On his skin dark blue scales started to appear and cover his upper arms and parts of his face as his nails grow longer and sharper, his teeth sharpened into fangs.
Almost instantly Nico could feel the power coming off of Tatsuya more easily then how he was in his previous form. The feeling he was getting from Tatsuya was similar to when a god or a very strong monster was nearby or in their presence.
"T-Tatsuya you're not a monster are you?" Nico couldn't help but ask.
"Dragon." Tatsuya corrected giving the son of Hades a fanged grin.
Nico didn't say anything but his legs felt like jelly and could give out at any moment.
"Dragon! You're really a dragon!" Nico asked almost hysterically but refused to show the emotion and just settled for trying to figure how this all worked out as he was trying to wrap his mind that he was standing in front of a dragon of all creatures.
"Dragon god actually," Tatsuya chuckled, "My origin is Japan and I represent the power of the ocean, my original name is Ryujin. Tatsuya is just a human name I picked up."
"Nico calm down, I know this is a shock to you but I've been in your shoes before when I first met Tatsuya. " Amelia said as she placed her hands on Nico's shoulders as the boy looked like he was going to try and escape from the house with the look he had in his eyes.
"You make it sound easy…" Nico replied dryly but sat back down on the couch, "and how did you exactly meet Tatsuya anyway?"
"When she did something good, but rather foolish." Tatsuya replied bluntly as Amelia laughed sheepishly, " Amelia was on a boat with her family and friends when she was in college and there was an accident."
"See me and some of my friends were in a little raft being pulled by the boat, it was fun but rather dangerous since the raft was being sent into the air once it hit the waves from the larger boat." Amelia explained, "and one of my friends stood up so when the boat it another wave she went flying off, I dove into her as my other friend grabbed the radio we had with us to tell the bigger boat to stop."
"So what happened? How did dad save you?" Percy asked on the edge of his seat as Nico was interested as well, it was rare he got to hear how an immortal and an mortal being ended up meeting or got together.
"Well I managed to get her back on the boat but then my leg cramped up." Amelia replied grimacing, "I had trouble swimming with only one leg, I tried but I was more sinking then getting up, didn't help that I was losing air as well, but you know what I did?"
"What?" Percy and Nico asked.
"I prayed, I prayed to Tatsuya or Ryujin at the time to save me since we were in a very deep part of the ocean." Amelia replied thinking back to the incident, "then a sudden current of water shot at me and I was scared wondering what was happening! I felt the water wrap around me and then pretty much launch me into the air and I flew out of the water and landed on the raft.
At the last part Amelia glared at semi-dragon looking man next to him who was sniggering.
"The expression you had was priceless." He snickered as Amelia rolled her eyes, "screaming and everything."
"I was in shock because one moment I was drowning the next I find myself three feet in the air and land on top of my friends in the raft!" Amelia growled.
Percy was laughing as he held his stomach and rolled off the couch because he was laughing too hard. Nico coughed as he tried to muffle his own amusement but his shoulders were shaking hard.
"My friends were in a state of shock as well when they saw what happened and my brother got it all recorded for proof, they made sure I was alright and thankfully nothing was wrong. I just had to rest a bit until my leg stopped cramping." Amelia sighed as she continued the story, "after that we went to shore to try and have fun but I couldn't stop thinking about what had happened. My dad suggested I give an offering as a thank you for the being that saved me, so since I happened to be in pastry school at the time I went to work to make the perfect treat to offer."
"But…how were you going to give them to dad? He's didn't appear so how do you know he would get them in the first place or where to offer them?" Percy stated suddenly realizing how difficult it could be, "did he have a shrine or something?"
"Not exactly…the ocean was considered the shrine so what I did was the best thing I could think of I got a small boat for the cupcakes and sent it out to the sea." Amelia replied.
"Just like I use to do!" Percy said grinning.
"Yes exactly only with Tatsuya…I got a reply." She said giggling as the two teens gave her a blank stare.
"A reply?" Nico asked looking at Tatsuya, "how did you make sure that it was Amelia that got it?"
"I had my ways, I know the ocean well enough." Tatsuya replied not going into detail.
"So how did he reply to you mom?" Percy asked urging Amelia to continue.
"he sent the boat back when I went to the beach that morning for a swim, and inside was a bunch of sea shells spelling out 'thank you'." Amelia replied smiling, "I was in shock I stared at the boat for a few minutes before I picked it up and carried it back to the house and showed my brother, he thought I was playing a prank but when he picked up one of the shells he was surprised, apparently the shells weren't ordinary shells, they were rare ones, ones you'd only find at the bottom of the ocean."
"After that we started to exchange little notes." Tatsuya said picking up where Amelia left off, "she'd send me a note and I'd reply back with a little gift each time. The notes started off as just questions to get to know each other better. Now usually I didn't interact with mortals but this was the first time I was actually thanked for something, it was refreshing…"
"So how long did you continue these notes?" Nico questioned.
"A while, though I didn't tell anyone but my brother my parents would've been worried." Amelia replied, "and I'm glad I didn't because eventually we managed to meet and it was interesting I was half expecting some colossal being not a good looking college guy looking a bit older then me."
"You watch the ocean for so long you're bound to want to do something different once in a while." Tatsuya chuckled, "I was 'studying' at another college for a degree in teaching and history, we met at the beach where we first started to send each other the notes."
"So you've been together since then? That's pretty amazing what did your family think?" Nico asked.
"Weeellll they don't know who Tatsuya is exactly…they know he's a good man and are happy that I'm with him, though they keep asking for a grandchild is starting to get tiresome." Amelia huffed as Tatsuya turned back to normal, loosing his dragonic features.
"So…because you're a dragon god of the ocean that's the reason you can help Percy master his skills better." Nico said finally getting it.
"Exactly, right now we're just working on control and manipulation." Tatsuya explained, "later on when we get enough practice he can turn the water into ice, its also one of the reasons I decided to take Percy in. It would be dangerous to let Percy go around with his power untrained."
"But why didn't you have a child with Amelia? There are plenty of half-bloods…" Nico asked.
"and how many of them actually get to see their parents?" Tatsuya replied folding his arms making Nico wince at that, "exactly besides when we adopted Percy we felt it was a better choice for back then, rather then have a child with my power…"
"And now?" Nico asked looking at the two adults.
Tatsuya and Amelia looked each other before Amelia's face turned a bit red as her hands rested on her stomach as she smiled softly.
"Percy…how would you like to be a big brother?" she asked gently making Nico's mouth dropped and Percy stare.
"Really but how!" Percy exclaimed before Nico, Tatsuya and Amelia's face went red as Nico reached over and pinched Percy's arm, "OW! Nico!"
"Percy, don't ask that you'll find out when you're older just answer Amelia's question." Nico coughed out.
"Yes! I'd love to have a little sister or brother!" Percy shouted back happily.
"This is great news for you but uhm since you're technically a dragon how are the kids gunna…?" Nico couldn't help but question a bit worried.
"The younglings will be human since Amelia is one but when they get strong enough they will be able to transform into a dragon form." Tatsuya explained wrapping an arm around Amelia, "they're not going to have half-features."
"That's a relief." Nico replied, "congratulations you guys I'm really happy for you how long have you known?"
Amelia coughed, "about a month or so… remember when I kept being sick Percy? That was the reason."
"Sooooo how are babies born?" Percy asked but he let out a surprised yelp when Tatsuya grabbed him and hauled him upstairs.
"Bedtime Percy its way past your time and you need sleep!" Tatsuya stated hurriedly as Amelia and Nico heard the door slam upstairs much to their amusement.
"So! Now that you're here you're going to get to decorate your own room anyway you like and we have to come up with a story for you if you want to go to Percy's school." Amelia said smiling at Nico.
"School? But isn't the year almost over?" Nico said confused.
"Yes but there are two weeks left and I can say you're family just coming in and wanted to get a feel for the school you're going to be going to." Amelia explained, "that way you'll have something to do when you're not with me in the shop."
"Alright do you have any idea where to start for a cover story?" Nico asked.
"Hmm why don't you tell me a bit about your family and we can go from there." Amelia replied as she headed for the kitchen to make some tea. Nico followed her and the two sat down at the kitchen table to talk.
Nico tried some of the tea and surprised that it was good.
"Well my mother was from Italy and we stayed with her for a while before we were moved." Nico replied rubbing his head, "I'm sorry I can't remember much…"
"Why's that?" Tatsuya asked coming into the kitchen.
"Percy asleep?" Amelia asked.
"Yeah it didn't take long but he was just running on dessert for a while before he finally felt tired enough." Tatsuya replied chuckling at how stubborn Percy was at sleep, "but why do you have problems remembering your past?"
"It was because after something happened to my mother that my sister and I had been moved to I think it was Las Vegas? I remember a bunch of lights before everything went foggy, we were trapped there for a while." Nico replied rubbing his head.
"Trapped? Couldn't you leave?" Tatsuya asked worried.
"No, it was because something kept us in there made us forget about the time passing by." Nico stated, "some sort of flower I think. Anyway we were pulled out later and then sent to the camp."
"Do you have any idea how long you were there?" Amelia asked concerned, "and why were you there in the first place?"
"Don't know why we were there in the first place, protection maybe as for how long it was around 70 years." Nico replied.
"So…you're technically eighty something?" Amelia asked amazed.
"Technically yes but I don't think of it like that." Nico replied.
"Well we can work with this, you being Italian will help explain why you haven't been around." Amelia said sipping her tea some more, "hm, now that I think about it some more we're going to have to get you a medical record tomorrow."
Nico couldn't help but blanch at that, exactly how far behind was he in his shots.
"Is that really necessary? I didn't need one in the camp…" Nico asked sweating a bit.
"Yes because what if you have an allergy or something else?" Amelia said firmly, "no tomorrow we are going to get you checked up, there's a hospital I know that my good friend works there that I can get in an appointment."
"Great…." Nico groaned.
"You'll be fine." Tatsuya laughed while Nico just grumbled as he rubbed his arms.
"I think I have a pretty good idea what we can do but why don't we rest up for now, we have a lot to do tomorrow. I'll have to call in that I won't be in work and Tatsuya can you take Percy to school?" Amelia asked as she started to clean up.
"Sure it'll give me time to look around at what we need for the new room." Tatsuya replied smiling.
"Oh don't worry about that, I'll do that when I'm out shopping." Amelia replied, "we're going to need paint and who knows what else for Nico's room so looking for the other stuff will be fine. If you want to help you can in my bakery~"
"And have it burned down…no." Tatsuya replied flatly making Amelia laugh.
"He may be a dragon god of the ocean but in the kitchen he's a pyro." The woman explained as she was still giggling.
"I'll find something to do, I'll probably take Celeste on a nice long walk tomorrow." Tatsuya said, "oh tomorrow before we all leave there's something I need to do with Percy and you Nico."
"Uhm okay." The young dark haired child replied nodding before he bid Amelia and Tatsuya before heading to the downstairs guestroom.
"Things are really moving huh Tatsuya?" Amelia said as she leaned her head against Tatsuya's shoulder, "we have Percy, Nico's staying with us as well and now we have our own little one."
"I wouldn't change anything we have right now…" Tatsuya replied as he kissed her head, "come on we need our rest as well like the others."
"Right right, I can't wait to tell my workers about this." Amelia laughed as she could already imagine her friend's faces, "they didn't say anything but they had noticed that I've been more tired lately."
Tatsuya just chuckled before they headed upstairs to their own shared bedroom…
The next Morning….
"Okay Nico this is important, for both you and Percy." Tatsuya said as he stood in front of the two boys. Nico didn't say anything but he nodded understanding, "do you promise that you'll protect Percy with everything you can if I am unable to?"
"I promise on the river styx that I will." Nico replied firmly.
"Good now Nico and Percy would each of you hold out a hand please?" Tatsuya asked.
The two teens did as they were told and each held out a hand towards the humanized dragon. The man nodded before he closed his eyes and started to mutter something under his breath, as the chanting continued a bright turquoise color surrounded Tatsuya and soon a blue orb appeared out of Tatsuya's chest. The orb floated above Nico and Percy before it split in half before landing on their hands where a symbol appears that neither of them recognized before disappearing.
"What was all that about dad?" Percy asked looking at his hand for any signs of what had just happened.
"I just gave both of you a bit of my power to protect you two and to act as some sort of alert just in case something happens." The dragon man said, "its like an automated alarm."
"Well that's convenient." Nico said as he examined his hand as well.
"Alright now that that's taken care of lets get on with business I'm taking Percy to school and you're going out shopping with Nico." Tatsuya reminded.
"Yep got to take Nico to the doctor's first but after that its shopping." Amelia grinned.
"Just don't make him your pack mule." Tatsuya said making his wife glare at him.
"Bye Nico, bye mom I'll see you after school!" Percy laughed as he followed Tatsuya out the door to his car.
"You ready?" Amelia asked looking at Nico.
"Do I have a choice?" Nico replied following the woman to the other car.
"Not really." Amelia replied.
oOo After the Doctor's oOo
"See that wasn't too bad." Amelia laughed as they walked into the mall as Nico was still rubbing his arm grumbling about evil needles.
"Swords are one thing but those needles were irritating…" Nico scowled as Amelia was still laughing, "so where should we go first? This place is huge…"
"Hmm well I know where the furniture is so we can look there later for stuff for your room and there's a directory if we get lost." Amelia replied as they walked through the crowds.
Nico who never really liked crowds stayed close to the woman as they walked around. Amelia seemed to know where she was going as she waded through the crowds easily, never bumping into anyone that seemed too busy walking around aimlessly.
"Do you have any idea what color you'd like to paint the room?" Amelia asked gazing at some of the store front windows, "you can decorate it anyway you want to."
"You really don't mind?" Nico asked Amelia.
"Of course not, you should check Percy's room his was a lot of fun to paint and put together." Amelia said, "he wanted the room to be like the ocean so the wall was painted like the ocean floor with coral, fishes and everything, its pretty nice. He has a "
"Really that sounds like something that he'd do." Nico said as he started to think about how he would want to do his own room as they continued walking as he looked up around him every few seconds to make sure he didn't lose Amelia in the crowd.
When Nico looks up a bit later he finds himself coming to a stop as he looks into a store and just felt himself being drawn to it. Amelia stopped herself and turned around to see Nico staring at a store before she walked back to him.
"Why don't we check this store Nico." The woman said kindly as they walked inside.
The store that had caught Nico's eyes was a store of different kinds of science, astrology, chemistry, and earth science was the one that seemed to hold Nico's keen interest.
She watched, as Nico's eyes got bigger as he walked immediately towards the section of the store that held the geodes and Nico was picking up and examining the different rocks on display. She watches as a real smile appeared on his face looking ecstatic as he gazed at the large egged shaped geodes that were split open and showed the crystals inside, the books that explained what each type of geode there was and information. Nico seemed to really of found a hobby he really enjoyed or couldn't wait to do.
After a bit more time spent in the store the two walked out of it with Nico carrying two bags of merchandise to start a geode collection.
"You really didn't have to do this…" Nico said as he couldn't stop looking at the geodes, books and other materials he had picked up. The son of Hades even picked up a book on astrology and constellations.
"Its not trouble at all besides you looked really happy being in there and I couldn't deny you not bringing something back home." Amelia replied as Nico keeps looking at his bags, "besides I guess it makes sense you being the son of you know who you're bound to pick up some traits from him, like his control over certain things."
"Its strange it just seemed to draw me to them but I'm not complaining, I haven't had a real hobby for a while." Nico stated.
"Well you can't say that you don't have a hobby anymore, now we can focus on getting you clothes and stuff now." Amelia added, "come on the store is really close by."
Nico quickly followed after her actually looking excited about decorating his own room.
A few days later….
Nico yawned as he looked around for some building materials and grabbed a few before heading back outside where he was working with some other students in Percy's school. He had passed the placement exam he was given but since the school was almost over for summer time he would start officially when the year started but for now he had been observing the remaining classes and helping out with the festival.
As Nico walked back to the group he was assigned he noticed that many of the students, mostly the girls were watching him and whispering quietly with each other as he passed them by. When he looked at them they just giggled and then ran off, much to the confusion to the poor teen. With his bomber jacket tied around his waist he got back to the group as he dropped the wood to the side and grabbed a hammer, fixing up their current project.
Once that was done they all started to paint it as the boys in the group made small talk with him.
"So how long were you in Italy for?" one guy asked as he was painting the sign for the stand.
"A few years but then we moved here with my family after an accident happened." Nico replied easily, "I don't remember much about it though."
"Ah that's rough man." Another guy said, "but I think the whole school was surprised when they heard you were coming, we hardly ever get new students during the end of year stuff."
Nico wiped his forehead before he rolled his painter in the pan to get more paint on it.
"Well my Aunt whom I'm staying with you know Percy's mom?" Nico replied.
"Oh yeah! Everyone knows about her she runs the best bakery around and everyone is going to be busy trying to win her cakes from musical cakes game." Laughed the other boy.
"Byron here could eat a whole dozen of her cupcakes." Laughed the first boy before Byron punched him on the shoulder.
"Shut up! Like you couldn't finish a whole German chocolate cake on your own Erik." Byron retorted.
"Guys stop fighting we need to finish this stand before school ends since the paint needs to dry." The last guy sighed.
"yeah yeah we'll get it done Shane." Erik muttered going back to work.
"Hey Nico~"
The four guys looked up to see two girls grinning at him shyly as he eyed them suspiciously.
"Yeah?" Nico asked looking at them.
"Hey we were wondering if you'd like to hang out later, you know go down by the pier and grab a snack." One of the girls asked.
"Can't I have plans already, I'm still getting settled in so I can't do much." Nico replied getting back to work.
"Awww…well when you're free look for us and we'll show you around!" the other girl said before the two walked off.
"Man I don't know how you do it Di Angelo, the girls are practically flocking to you!" Erik said enviously.
"You think I'm doing this on purpose?" Nico asked, "its not like I give them any special attention."
"That's the thing! I think they like it when you don't pay attention to them it probably has you being one of those guys they admire or crush on afar!" Byron explained as Nico gave him an incredulous look that read, 'are you kidding me'?
"Dude, I think its because he's a foreign exchange student that has the girls going gaga over him, they like the 'exotic' types." Shane retorted.
"Girls are weird." Nico said bluntly shaking his head.
"Maybe so but you got all the hot ones coming to you." Byron sighed wistfully making Nico roll his eyes.
"Don't worry about it Nico, you'll get an idea about girls the more you have them around you I'm sure." Erik laughed slapping Nico's back.
"No comment." The son of Hades replied.
Once the booth was done and fully painted, the four of them cleaned up their area and headed to put the materials away.
"I have to go pick up my cousin so we can head home." Nico said as he changed his shirt into a clean one since the other one had paint on it."
"Alright see you tomorrow Nico." Byron said as he walked off with Erik and Shane, "don't forget we're working on painting backgrounds tomorrow."
"I won't forget!" Nico shouted back as he grabbed his own bag and walked off to one of the large practice areas for band where Percy and his grade was setting up the maze. He opened the door and saw a huge set up of cloth that outlined the maze and that some of the lights were off and there were off.
"Percy? Hey where are you its about time for us to head back!" Nico called out as he walked into the maze.
He was so intent on looking for Percy that he didn't see a wire that he stepped on and suddenly he was completely soaked.
"Gah! What in the name of Zeus!" Nico cursed as he spit out some water.
"Ah! Sorry Nico we were trying to find all of our mini water balloon catapults we put around we were making sure that they worked alright." Percy replied sheepishly as he poked his head out between two sheets.
"They work…" Nico said dryly as Percy walked up to him and making sure that no one was around he concentrated and took the water out of Nico's clothing and forms the water into a ball before he made it evaporate.
"Evaporating small water like that is easy, making it form ice is hard…I've tried to do it when dad wasn't looking." Percy explained when Nico wondered how he did that, "and technically it is still water when it evaporates…."
"Uh huh you about done here?" Nico asked.
"Yep! I just have to clean up the water balloons and get rid of the wire and tell the others I'm leaving." Percy replied as he hurriedly cleaned up the trap that Nico had set off and say good-bye which only took a few minutes, "okay done! We can go now."
As they walked out of the school the two talk about the day and what they did today to help set up for the festival that was fast approaching.
"The drama teacher is really working us to make sure we don't screw up our lines or forget the parts to our songs…" Percy said grimacing as Nico chuckled.
"Oh yeah how are your costumes coming long? Your tights fit you alright?" Nico teased making Percy's face burn, "and how is you're singing"
"They're not tights they're leggings! And my singing is fine…since I don't have that big a part I'll only be in the beginning for a bit before I join the band doing the music for the play." Percy replied.
"True…but you still have to wear tights." Nico laughed as he ran ahead of Percy as the younger boy chased after him.
"They are not tights!" Percy shouted angrily after Nico.
Once they reached home they talked about what they were going to do now since they didn't have assignments from school to do due to the festival.
"Hey why don't we go surfing? Dad's been showing me how to over the weekend and he's been teaching you as well!" Percy said.
"You mean he's been forcing me to try and stand on the stupid thing while you ride the waves." Nico shot back at Percy.
"Hey son of the sea god here." Percy replied smartly making Nico pinch Percy's face.
"Smart aleck…but alright it won't hurt to do that for a while, and no knocking me off my board on purpose!" Nico added as Percy ran upstairs to get changed as Nico headed to his own room.
When he opened the door he was amused to see Celeste sleeping on his bed again.
"You're really comfy there aren't you girl?" Nico said as he scratched the dog's head as she nuzzled his hand before licking it happily, "you want to go to the beach with me and Percy?"
Celeste jumped off the bed and barked happily as she ran to the door and sat in the hallway, her tail wagging happily.
"Alright just give me a moment to change." Nico replied at the dog's antics as he grabbed a pair of black swimming trunks and changed into them. He keeps his bomber jacket with him as he and Celeste walk into the living room where Percy is already waiting for them with his backpack with towels and sunscreen.
"Percy you go get Celeste's leash while I call Amelia what we're going to do." Nico said as Percy nodded and went looking for the dog leash as Nico grabbed the kitchen phone. Amelia replied that it was fine with her that the two went surfing as long as they were back before 4pm since she's planning on making dinner.
"Sweet Apollo on a flaming chariot! Come on Nico let's goooo already! Even Celeste is ready before you!" Percy shouted from the front door.
"Hey how many times have I told you to stop quoting from that ridiculous Disney show about the Greek gods!" Nico shouted from the kitchen as he leaned backwards to glare at the younger boy. He finished up his call and hung up the phone just as Percy ran out the door with Celeste on his heels.
The two grabbed the surfboards in the garage before heading down to the pier.
"Percy you go on ahead I have to lock up the house okay, don't go too far." Nico said.
"I won't! besides I'll have Celeste with me!" Percy replied as he left his 'cousin' behind running towards the beach eagerly.
Nico shut the garage and quickly locked up the house, making sure that nothing was left vulnerable before he headed to the beach himself. Just as he got to the pier where he had to take the steps from the boardwalk down to the sands, he stopped when he sees two familiar faces in front of him, nearly dropping his surfboard. It was Luke and Thalia…
"Nico…what are you doing?" Thalia asked staring at the clothes Nico was wearing and the surfboard.
'Di immortals...This is not good…' The son of Hades thought to himself as he stared at Thalia and Luke.
Next Chapter: Battle at the Beach