Solangelo

I Become a Blackberry

Nico's POV

I suspected Aphrodite for three reasons.

First was the fact that this was exactly the kind of think the goddess of love and beauty would do.

Second, my cabin now smelled like the most amazingly scented flower perfume, except that it smelled way too strong to me, so strong it was fucking annoying.

And third was that everything in Cabin 13 was now covered in pink sparkles.

I can hear all those of you reading this snippet of my worthless life laughing, and I don't appreciate it, so please stop; there's absolutely nothing funny about getting turned into a kitten by a love goddess. And maybe it's funny to you, but if you were turned into a cat and couldn't be changed back and no one knew who you were, you wouldn't like it either. Not for long, anyway. Obviously I know this and speak from experience.

Now, what Aphrodite expects to happen because of this, I have no fucking idea and it's annoying as Hades. (Well okay, my dad isn't that annoying, so perhaps it's closer to being as annoying as Percy and Jason teasing you about your crush.)

I padded out of the Hades cabin, on my way passing my full-length mirror and seeing myself in it briefly as I walked by. As far as I could tell, I was all black, save for a spot just behind one ear that was a little dot of white.

I continued down the front steps to Cabin 13 and into the daylight (which I hated, by the way; why did my cat eyes have to be so damn sensitive?), planning on finding an Athena kid who could figure out who I was and change me back, and then that the Athena kid could show a Hecate or Aphrodite kid how to do it. If I could choose, Annabeth and either Lou Ellen or Piper.

Lost in thought on my way to the dining pavilion (it was lunch time), I ran right into someone's foot and toppled over, seeing as I was only seven or eight inches tall.

"Huh?" the demigod said, suddenly distracted by the pressure that had knocked into his foot. He looked down at me with the most beautiful blue eyes. "Where did you come from, little guy?"

He picked me up and I came face-to-face with none other than Will Solace, whom would be identified by Jason and Percy as "Nico's Sunshine-y Crush."

Oh no, I though. Of course this is what Aphrodite's planning---for him to take care of me as a cat and turn my life into some shitty-ass love story.

While thinking, I had been tucked gently into Will's arms as he walked the rest of the way to lunch.

He tried giving me wet cat food first, but never in a million years would I eat that shit, so I stole a slice of turkey from Will's sandwich and ate that instead.

"Have you decided on a name yet?" Will's sister, Kayla, I recognized her as, asked him.

Will ran a finger over my tiny black kitten head. "I haven't decided," he said. "Any ideas?"

"Shadow!" a little boy shouted.

Was it just me or did Will pink a bit at that?

I didn't really think much of it, too busy meowing in protest. It was too ironic for my taste. They didn't seem to hear me.

"No, that's not original enough," he said thoughtfully and slightly flushed.

I noticed that a little girl, maybe eight years old, sitting next to Austin whispered something into her older brother's ear after tugging on his sleeve to get him to bend down for her.

"Do you want it to be related to his fur color?" Austin asked after.

"It doesn't matter I guess," Will said, still lightly stroking me. I wasn't proud to say that I purred lowly and unnoticeably.

"Then Elaine has a suggestion. Go ahead and tell Will, Ellie," he coaxed the little girl sitting next to him.

"Bl. . ." she was so quiet that even my cat ears couldn't hear her.

"It's okay, Ellie, just tell me," Will said lightly with reassuring eyes.

"Blackberry," she said louder, just above a whisper.

"Blackberry," Will muttered, looking back at me. "Okay. Yeah, I like that. Thanks, Elaine."

"Okay, I changed my mind!" I meowed. "I like Shadow much better than Blackberry please!"

The Apollo kids noticed this time, and laughed lightly, obviously not understanding me. I flicked my tail in annoyance, standing up and leaping from the table to the bench and down into the grass. I was about to make a "showy exit" but Will picked me up after I took one step away from the table.

"No, Blackberry, we're going to have to get you checked in the infirmary right after lunch. Well, actually, I just finished my sandwich, so let's go now."

Will stood up, me once again wrapped in his arms and pressed against his chest as we walked to the camp infirmary.