[2] 𝐈 𝐀𝐌 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐀 𝐖𝐎𝐌𝐀𝐍 𝐈𝐌 𝐀 𝐆𝐎𝐃 , 𝗉𝖾𝗋𝖼𝗒 𝗃𝖺𝖼𝗄𝗌𝗈𝗇

𝖿𝗂𝗏𝖾 | 𝗴𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗳 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗮 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴

Apparently it was, and in front of her a faint image of Nico Di Angelo glimmered in the blue water. He looked older and more mature, but he resembled a Tim Burton character more so. His eyes were sunken and his cheekbones were deep. His usual olive skin was deathly pale and his hair sat shaggy. He looked like he was in distress, a hint of guilt glittering in his dark brown eyes. His wide eyes were scanning around her, and when he finally realised where she was, he let out a sigh of relief. "Regina, if you can hear me, I need you to meet me as soon as possible by Zeus's fist. Bring your sword."

Regina couldn't reply for three reasons. One, she couldn't speak underwater, she wasn't a mermaid. Two, Nico didn't even give her time to respond, as he signed off immediately after ordering her to meet him. And three, she had approximately two seconds left to swim to the top and breathe before she drowned herself. The last reason was her main concern.

When she finally did make it to the top, she gasped and tried to inhale all the air she could into her lungs, her chest heaving up and down as she respired. Struggling to swim back to the grass, she was grateful that Annabeth became aware she needed help. The blonde girl reached out and clasped her hands around Regina's arms, guiding her to the ground where Regina fell onto her back, cursing the water. The second worst thing Poseidon ever created.

"Regina," Annabeth sighed angrily. "Why were you down there so long? I was worried something bad happened to you."

Regina ran a hand through her soaked hair. "Iris message."

"Oh." Annabeth said simply, a gulp stuck in her throat as she sat on the grass and hugged her knees. She glanced sideways at Regina, "that can never be good."

"It was Nico." Regina informed Annabeth, who reacted with a raise of her eyebrows.

"What did he want?" Annabeth asked. "The last I saw of him was Easter."

"You've talked to him recently?" Regina asked, wringing her hair out.

"Yeah, regular check ups with Percy." She replied, quietly saying the raven-haired boy's name like that would evoke a certain emotion from Regina. It did, but she didn't show it.

"And Grover? Tyson?" Regina asked. Even though she felt sad that she was so distanced from her camp mates, she wasn't going to deny the fact that it was completely her fault. She chose not to connect with them. She chose to pretend Camp Half-Blood didn't exist. She chose to forget the memories of the past. She has nothing to envy, yet she was jealous of everything.

"Tyson has joined Poseidon in the sea. They're not doing well, since Oceanus declared war on him. They've been fighting, small battles that get harder to win every time." She said, then her lips thinned. "And since the whole Pan incident, Grover's taken it upon himself to restore the wild. He's travelled from state to state telling all the satyrs and nymphs that the Lord Pan is dead and they must heal nature themselves..."

Regina frowned at her the clear worry on her face. "What's wrong? Did something happen to him?"

Annabeth bit her lip and sighed. "It's just, we haven't heard from him in two months. Usually he would come up to visit Juniper, but since the start of June he hasn't responded to anyones Iris messages, and Juniper hasn't seen him. She's really upset, and we're all really concerned."