NICO WASN'T A very chatty person. So Louis figured it'd take a lot of convincing to get him to agree. Fortunately, that wasn't the case.
The two teenagers hung back together, standing outside alone as the night started to settle in.
"Well?" Nico started, after a while of their very intense staring competition. "What did you want?"
Louis crossed his arms over his chest. "How do you know Percy Jackson?"
This is where Louis caught Nico. For he then compleatly avoided his gaze. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"I'm not as dumb as you might think I am."
Nico raised his eye brow. "Are you sure?"
Louis huffed. "Not the point right now."
"Great! So we're done." Nico pushed passed him, trying very hard to avoide this conversation. Louis wasn't having it. He grabbed Nico's wrist, pulling him back towards him. "Just tell me a bit about you're history with him. Please."
Nico kicked the dirt like a five year old, then looked back up at Louis. "Fine. He was one of the demigods who rescued me and Bianca when I was 10. Bianca went on a quest with him. He promised he wouldn't let anything happen to her. But he let her die. I was so mad that I ran away from the greek camp. Percy found me eventually." He stopped talking. Louis could see tears springing to his eyes. He assumed it was from talking about Bianca. Nico was leaving out a lot of parts, but the fact that he was even telling him this in the first place had to mean something.
Nico continued. "Percy is a very powerful demigod. More then you could ever imagine."
"Do you have any idea as he just suddenly showed up here with no recollection of where he is or why he has no memory?"
"I don't know. But if my theories are correct . . . " He trailed off, leaving Louis hanging. "Never mind."
"You're not telling me something."
"That's not it."
"Then what is it?"
"Just drop it Louis! If you really want to know as to why Percy's been sent here, then why don't you look yourself." He stormed away, leaving Louis out in the cold night air.
Nico had basically told him to use his powers on Percy. But that could never happen. He'd find out why Percy was here, sure! But he'd tried that kind of thing in the past and it really didn't go so well. Being a son of Fortuna didn't always have it's perks.
All Louis knew for sure was that Nico was planning something. Something dangourous.
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LOUIS'S ARGUMENT WITH Nico has poisoned his apatite for the night, no matter how good the food at Camp Jupiter was. He and Nico hadn't spoken since, and frankly, Louis wasn't too fazed by it.
Invisible wind spirits—aurae—waited on the campers and seemed to know exactly what everyone wanted. They blew plates and cups around so quickly, the mess hall looked like a delicious hurricane. If you got up too fast, you were likely to get beaned by beans or potted by a pot roast.
Hazel got shrimp gumbo. Apparently it made her think about being a little girl in New Orleans, before her curse set in and her mom got so bitter. Percy got a cheeseburger and a strange-looking soda that was bright blue. Louis didn't understand that, but Percy tried it and grinned.
"You do you I guess." Louis and said.
"This makes me happy," he said. "I don't know why...but it does."
"Are you particularly connected to this blue drink in any way?" Louis asked. Hazel, how was sitting next to him, stomped her foot onto his. She must of sensed what he had been thinking about doing. "Remember what happened last time. Reyna almost killed out after!" Hazel whispered frantically.
Louis shrugged. "Nico told me to do it." He whispered back. But, he knew it was a bad idea if he used his powers. Gods damnit Nico!
Thankfully Percy didn't really seem to catch any of this, as he was slightly distracted. Just for a moment, one of the aurae became visible—an elfin girl in a white silk dress. She giggled as she topped off Percy's glass, then disappeared in a gust.
The mess hall seemed especially noisy tonight. Laughter echoed off the walls. War banners rustled from cedar ceiling beams as aurae blew back and forth, keeping everyone's plates full. The campers dined Roman style, sitting on couches around low tables. Kids were constantly getting up and trading places, spreading rumors about who liked whom and all the other gossip.
As usual, the Fifth Cohort took the place of least honor. Their tables were at the back of the dining hall next to the kitchen. Hazel's table was always the least crowded. Tonight it was she and Frank, as usual, with Percy and Nico and their centurion Dakota, Louis and Hazel. Louis sat in-between Hazel and Nico, while Frank, Percy and Dakota sat on the other side of the table.
Dakota reclined glumly on his couch, mixing sugar into his drink and chugging it. He was a beefy guy with curly black hair and eyes that didn't quite line up straight. It wasn't a good sign that he was drinking so much so early in the night.
"So." He burped, waving his goblet. "Welcome to the Percy, party." He frowned. "Party, Percy. Whatever."
"Um, thanks," Percy said, but his attention was focused on Nico. "I was wondering if we could talk, you know...about where I might have seen you before."
Now this caught Louis's attention. As he still wasn't sure what Nico knew, or what he was planning for that matter.
"Sure," Nico said a little too quickly. "The thing is, I spend most of my time in the Underworld. So unless I met you there somehow—"
Dakota belched. "Ambassador from Pluto, they call him. Reyna's never sure what to do with this guy when he visits. It's mostly only Louis that likes spending time with Nico. You should have seen her face when he showed up with Hazel, asking Reyna to take her in. Um, no offense."
"None taken." Nico seemed relieved to change the topic. "Dakota was really helpful, standing for Hazel."
Dakota blushed. "Yeah, well...She seemed like a good kid. Turned out I was right. Last month, when she saved me from, uh, you know."
"Oh, man!" Frank looked up from his fish and chips. "Percy, you should have seen her! That's how Hazel got her stripe. The unicorns decided to stampede—"
"It was nothing," Hazel said.
"Nothing?" Frank protested. "Dakota would've gotten trampled! You stood right in front of them, shooed them away, saved his hide. I've never seen anything like it."
Hazel bit her lip, looking slightly uncomftable. Percy studied her.
"Did you and Nico grow up together?" he asked.
"No," Nico answered for her. "I found out that Hazel was my sister only recently. She's from New Orleans."
Nico was still talking about the children of Pluto. "There aren't many of us," he said, "so we have to stick together. When I found Hazel—"
"You have other sisters?" Percy asked, almost as if he knew the answer.
"One," Nico admitted. "But she died. I saw her spirit a few times in the Underworld, except that the last time I went down there..."
"She was gone." Nico's voice turned hoarse. Louis could hear the pain in his voice. The same pain he'd heard before. "She used to be in Elysium—like, the Underworld paradise—but she chose to be reborn into a new life. Now I'll never see her again. I was just lucky to find Hazel...in New Orleans, I mean."
Louis reached under the table and took Nico's hand in his, squeezing it tightly. He wasn't sure why, but loosing a sister at such a young age was awful. And, like he said before, Percy might've had something to do with it.
No matter how annoyed Louis was at Nico during this moment, he didn't let go.
Looking around, no one noticed this gesture, all but Nico. He could feel Nico's eyes staring into his soul. They locked eyed once louis turned to him . The cold exterior and distantness was still evident in Nico's eyes. But Louis couldn't help but see the smallest smile twitch over his face, as a sense of gratitude.
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