Pernico - Survivor

Ch.33 Carry on my wayward son

Percy's P.O.V

I left the pavilion and immediately headed for my cabin. A huge rush of excitement ran through me as I arrived at the door. I swung it open and immediately a smile broke out on my face. All of the supplies were here. I hastily began to put all of the supplies into a backpack. After making sure the zipper was done up, I left my cabin as quickly as I had entered. The door swung shut behind me as I raced towards the amphitheater. I knew Leo would be coming to show us his girlfriend tonight, so I set up the prank to detonate when the spot to my right was taken. Nico always sits on my left, so I don't need to worry about him setting it off.

After rigging the strings, I tried to make it look natural by covering up the hair dye buckets with branches. They looked just like another fallen branch unless you looked really close. Then you could see a tiny hint of bright blue hair dye, but I doubt anyone would inspect a random tree branch that closely.

I decided to kill time by trying to find my cute little boyfriend. Although it proved harder than I first imagined. After searching his cabin and finding it empty, I tried the arena. I cautiously entered the Arena, trying not to be killed by a stray sword. I ducked my head as a black blade flew over my head.

"Hey! What are you trying to-"

"Sorry! Didn't see you there." Nico grinned with his sly expression.

"You liar! How'd you know I'd duck?" I asked.

"You're Percy Jackson! You've saved the world more times than I've passed a grade! I'd be pretty disappointed in you if you didn't duck." Nico stuck out his tongue.

I smirked. "How many grades have you passed?"

Nico shuffled uncomfortably. "A few..."

"What grade are you in right now?" I asked.

"I dunno... Maybe grade nine? Give or take a few years..." Nico mumbled.

"That's not as bad as I thought."

"Gee, thanks." Nico rolled his eyes.

I chuckled. "Anyways, what are you getting up to in here?"

"Just redecorating?" He finished his sentence with a question embedded in it.

"For what?" I asked, curious. Nico never even knows when camp events are, much less know in time to decorate for them.

"Oh... You know... To make the Arena look nice..." Nico mumbled, rubbing his elbow.

"Really? What's wrong with the Arena the way it is?" I asked, still confused.

"It lacks...character." Nico finished awkwardly.

"Okay then... I'll just leave you to that then..." I replied as I turned towards the exit. I expected him to yell at me to come back and then he would explain everything, but when I was met with a wall of silence, I felt slightly disappointed. I guess he didn't really want to hang out with me today...

After playing a game of volleyball with the Apollo campers, I decided that I'd killed enough time. I headed towards my cabin to have a quick shower before dinner but just as I turned the corner, I ran into something, or rather, someone. A black clad boy with glasses went tumbling to the ground as I stood there in shock. Had my brain been working, I would have at least attempted to catch him, but unfortunately, my brain was preoccupied with tonight's prank plan. I heard Nico emit a small grunt of pain as he hit the cold, hard ground. Immediately, my brain snapped into focus.

"Oh gods! Nico I'm so sorry! Are you alright?" I blurted out as I knelt down next to him. He looked up at me with one eye closed. His glasses had been flung somewhere off to my left, so with one eye open, he squinted at me. His other eye was shut for good reason. He must have hit a rock or something, because his forehead had been sliced open. The blood ran freely down his face.