Shrouded in Darkness

All is Revealed

A rumbling, trembling from below shakes the ground. Some people squeal and others yelp. Plates fly and so do the cups, spilling liquid all over the stone floor. I fall to one knee trying to regain my balance and wondering what the hell is going on. Then right before my eyes the ground opens up and spits out a tall, dark haired, dark clothed guy. He lands on his back with a thud but immediately sits up like it didn't phase him. He looks pretty pissed. Then right as i begin to wonder how we're going to fix the crack that's been made in the ground it closes up leaving another grayish line slashed across the pavilion.

The boy is scowling now as he stands. I get a feeling he does that a lot. I begin to stand too and watch him brush the dust off of his dark skinny jeans. He runs a hand through his messy dark locks and looks terribly unhappy as he surveys the tables. His eyes land on me and he cocks an eyebrow looking at me quizzically. "Who are you?" he asks striding toward me. He's at least a head taller and has dark smoldering eyes that match the mop of dark hair on his head.

"You pop up out of the ground and want to know who i am? Shouldn't i ask you that?" i counter. He smirks, looks at the ground and kicks away a stray rock.

"Nico?" somebody calls out behind me. I turn to see Percy standing about a foot behind me in amazement.

"Unfortunately." the boy replies. Percy's face lights up in a smile.

"Man where have you been! And why have you done to your hair?" Percy says excitedly coming up next to me. Nico and Percy are about the same height though i could've sworn that Nico was my age. At least I hope he is.

"I was born like this." Nico says pushing a strand back.

"Your hair's just.. Longer." Percy says rubbing the back of his neck. "

Yeah." Nico grumbles. "I have to cut it." he says brushing a strand out of his eyes.

"You should leave it." i but in. Nico gives me a weird look.

"It looks good on you." i say meekly. Nico glances at Percy then back at me. He takes in my similar dark clothing and dark hair before staring deep into my eyes.

"Who are you again?" Nico asks crossing his arms over his chest.

"I never said my name." i retort. He might've come up with another sarcastic remark if a silver glowing horse hadn't whinnied above us. In awe all the campers looked towards the sky as a dark haired wild eyed girl landed the horse and slipped off of it easily. She was dressed in all black and carrying a spear. Her short black hair hung low into her crystal blue eyes. She wore a silver circlet on her head that in no way went with her punk clothing or skull earrings. "Nice shirt." i say as she walks up. I recognize the band name on it. She looks from me down to her shirt. "They have some good music." i said slowly wondering if i had said something wrong by the way Percy was looking at me.

"Thanks." she says carefully sizing me up. I was tiered of people doing this.

"Thalia? Not that i don't want you here but it's been so long! Is something wrong?" Percy asked stepping toward her.

"Oh my gosh. Thalia." i said lowly. She looked beyond Percy and zeroed in on me. "Your brother told me about you." i said shyly. Thalia nods and looks out behind me. there's a shuffling of feet and Jason appears in my line of view heading toward his sister. Thalia hits him affectionately.

"Artemis sent me. She said you guys needed me." Thalia said scanning the field looking for trouble.

"Well we're doing fine i think.." Percy said confused running a hand through his hair.

"Nico." a voice says shyly. Nico and i both turn to see Hazel behind us. Nico gives a small smile and holds out an arm. She steps into it and gives him a one armed hug. For a second my heart drops but then i remember that Hazel and Nico are related.