The Blood Of Olympus

3 - Nico

Sorry about the wait for this chapter. Hope this chapter clears up what happened with coach hedge.

This chapter is for all you Nico lovers!!!!

Hope you all enjoy and sorry for any typos or errors

3 - Nico

Okay, so that hug Nico had shared with Reyna earlier on was plain awkward!!! In fact Nico himself had no idea where that had come from. For starters he had never ever been attracted to the opposite sex before and the feelings boiling inside of Nico were new and totally alien to him. Nico had never found Reyna attractive in the slightest yet these new feelings about her seemed to way almost as much as the sky would. That's how intense it was.

Nico, Reyna and The satyr (what's his name again?) coach hedge were sitting together around a fire that they had previously made. Coach Hedge had volunteered to go looking for fire wood so they could rest there for the night since Nico was absolutely exhausted from transporting the Athena Parthenos, himself plus two passengers.

The first time that Nico had shadow traveled he had ended up in China (why China? Why not Japan or Venice?) and was out for it for days upon end and Nico knew if he pushed himself any further and shadow travelled they would melt into the shadows and never reappear to see the light of day ever again.

"So you're telling me that you fought hellhounds on steroids!" the coach began saying and Nico could tell that a rant was about to come on any second now. "Gleeson, everything was fine" Reyna said, her tone colder then ice. "No, you it wasn't all right! You're not seeing the big picture here! Think of when you were fighting them, what was missing?" Coach Hedge fumed.

"Um, okay well I had my imperial bronze dagger on me, Nico had his sword and we had nectar and ambrosia, so please tell me what was missing" Reyna asked puzzled and clearly not getting the joke. "Hmm, okay cupcake, I think I know what was missing, do I have to spell it out? I was! You couldn't have waited for me to get back before fighting them or couldn't you have saved me one? Just one! I don't ask for much maybe just for some monster maiming and vegetarian meals but you could have let me kick its behinds with my goat hooves. That would have been fun" Coach hedge muttered while grinning to himself, probably day dreaming about playing 'whack a mole' but instead of moles, hell hounds.

"Okay, sorry coach" Nico said as best as he could. "Next time we get into any trouble we'll try and save some of the action for you. How's that sound?" Nico asked. "Now that is more like it!" Coach hedge replied.

"Nico, can we talk?" Reyna asked. "Yeah, sure. What is it?" Nico asked. "Can we talk about it over there please?" Reyna asked then pointed to the coach and said, "I don't want him hearing, especially after some of the stories I've heard about him" Reyna winced. "He shouldn't notice us missing for five" Nico said. When Nico looked behind him, he saw the coach sharpening a blunt and pointy stick while jabbing it in the air while yelling "DIE!, DIE!, DIE!". "You think?" Reyna said sarcastically. Nico let out a laugh and said "so you do have a sense of humor after all."

Reyna and Nico walked slowly while talking, but careful not to stray too far away from camp. "So look, remember earlier on today? How I hugged you, right? Well that was a sign of gratitude that's all. I thought you had the right to know, you know, so I don't lead you on or anything. Just gratitude, that's all. I mean, you saved my butt, it was the least I could do other than saying thank you" Reyna said while averting her gaze from Nico and onto the full moon that was hanging high in the sky. Nico couldn't deny that he felt a little hurt, but he didn't know why.

Even in the pale moonlight, Nico could tell something wasn't right. The tone Reyna was using wasn't at all harsh like her usual self but more mellow and rich in emotion. Besides that, Nico could tell she was blushing. Her cheeks had gone a rosy color and she was desperately trying to hide it by not looking at Nico. Suddenly Nico had the strongest urge to say something to Reyna that he knew he would regret. It was as if, he had just been struck by Cupids arrow and trust me, Nico knew that feeling all too well.

"Okay, look I got to say something" Nico announced. "I know we haven't known each other for long but being on this quest has made me begin to question things about myself, things I never knew about me. I feel as if the real me is hidden under layers upon layers waiting to be unraveled and as I progress on this quest, I discover more about myself" Nico said while looking at the ground while he kicked pebbles around. "It's hard to put into words, it really is and in fact it is almost indescribable but I'm more certain about something then I have been my whole entire life, it's you" Nico said, instantly regretting the moment that he said it.

"Oh my Gods, Nico!" Reyna said while staring at him with her mouth wide open, gawking at him. "Please tell me this isn't what I think it is, please don't" Reyna cried. "Reyna, I'm sorry, please just try to listen" Nico began to say before he was cut off by Reyna. "Nico just shut up!" Reyna said and grabbed his head and pulled him in close, close enough for Nico to feel her heart beat.

The sensation was hard to pin. All Nico could think of was fireworks, an explosion of undying passion yearning to claw its way to the surface, yet Nico had no idea how he knew how he was describing it to himself because it was all just flowing out of him, no radiating from him. The kiss was over before he knew it. Reality was that it was short and sweet, maybe ten seconds long, but to Nico it felt like a lifetime, as if he had all ready lived it kind of like a past life.

Reyna withdrew her lips and muttered, "I swear you ever tell anyone this, I will deny it!" but all Nico could do was smile. He couldn't believe it, his first kiss and of all people to have it with, it was Reyna and it was spontaneous and unplanned, he liked that. Instantly all the years worth of worries he had had about Percy suddenly seemed to melt away and the mere memory of him liking Percy was just the distant past, which was now long behind him. "You know we'll make it through" Nico said."We're tough, plus you're a fighter." Nico guessed that, that comment had made Reyna's heart flutter because she suddenly leaned in and kissed him on the cheek before saying "just between us, ok. We can tell everyone when this war is over."