WAIT FOR ME [ nico di angelo ]

Percy is a mystery

"You do you I guess." Louis and said.

"This makes me happy," he said. "I don't know why...but it does."

"Are you particularly connected to this blue drink in any way?" Louis asked. Hazel, how was sitting next to him, stomped her foot onto his. She must of sensed what he had been thinking about doing. "Remember what happened last time. Reyna almost killed out after!" Hazel whispered frantically. 

Louis shrugged. "Nico told me to do it." He whispered back. But, he knew it was a bad idea if he used his powers. Gods damnit Nico!

Thankfully Percy didn't really seem to catch any of this, as he was slightly distracted. Just for a moment, one of the aurae became visible—an elfin girl in a white silk dress. She giggled as she topped off Percy's glass, then disappeared in a gust.

The mess hall seemed especially noisy tonight. Laughter echoed off the walls. War banners rustled from cedar ceiling beams as aurae blew back and forth, keeping everyone's plates full. The campers dined Roman style, sitting on couches around low tables. Kids were constantly getting up and trading places, spreading rumors about who liked whom and all the other gossip.

As usual, the Fifth Cohort took the place of least honor. Their tables were at the back of the dining hall next to the kitchen. Hazel's table was always the least crowded. Tonight it was she and Frank, as usual, with Percy and Nico and their centurion Dakota, Louis and Hazel. Louis sat in-between Hazel and Nico, while Frank, Percy and Dakota sat on the other side of the table.

Dakota reclined glumly on his couch, mixing sugar into his drink and chugging it. He was a beefy guy with curly black hair and eyes that didn't quite line up straight. It wasn't a good sign that he was drinking so much so early in the night.

"So." He burped, waving his goblet. "Welcome to the Percy, party." He frowned. "Party, Percy. Whatever."

"Um, thanks," Percy said, but his attention was focused on Nico. "I was wondering if we could talk, you know...about where I might have seen you before."

Now this caught Louis's attention. As he still wasn't sure what Nico knew, or what he was planning for that matter.

"Sure," Nico said a little too quickly. "The thing is, I spend most of my time in the Underworld. So unless I met you there somehow—"

Dakota belched. "Ambassador from Pluto, they call him. Reyna's never sure what to do with this guy when he visits. It's mostly only Louis that likes spending time with Nico. You should have seen her face when he showed up with Hazel, asking Reyna to take her in. Um, no offense."

"None taken." Nico seemed relieved to change the topic. "Dakota was really helpful, standing for Hazel."

Dakota blushed. "Yeah, well...She seemed like a good kid. Turned out I was right. Last month, when she saved me from, uh, you know."

"Oh, man!" Frank looked up from his fish and chips. "Percy, you should have seen her! That's how Hazel got her stripe. The unicorns decided to stampede—"

"It was nothing," Hazel said.

"Nothing?" Frank protested. "Dakota would've gotten trampled! You stood right in front of them, shooed them away, saved his hide. I've never seen anything like it."

Hazel bit her lip, looking slightly uncomftable. Percy studied her. 

"Did you and Nico grow up together?" he asked.

"No," Nico answered for her. "I found out that Hazel was my sister only recently. She's from New Orleans."

Nico was still talking about the children of Pluto. "There aren't many of us," he said, "so we have to stick together. When I found Hazel—"

"You have other sisters?" Percy asked, almost as if he knew the answer.

"One," Nico admitted. "But she died. I saw her spirit a few times in the Underworld, except that the last time I went down there..."

"She was gone." Nico's voice turned hoarse. Louis could hear the pain in his voice. The same pain he'd heard before. "She used to be in Elysium—like, the Underworld paradise—but she chose to be reborn into a new life. Now I'll never see her again. I was just lucky to find Hazel...in New Orleans, I mean."

Louis reached under the table and took Nico's hand in his, squeezing it tightly. He wasn't sure why, but loosing a sister at such a young age was awful. And, like he said before, Percy might've had something to do with it.

No matter how annoyed Louis was at Nico during this moment, he didn't let go.

 Looking around, no one noticed this gesture, all but Nico. He could feel Nico's eyes staring into his soul. They locked eyed once louis turned to him . The cold exterior and distantness was still evident in Nico's eyes. But Louis couldn't help but see the smallest smile twitch over his face, as a sense of gratitude.

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