Noelle left Percy to his own devices as he made a few calls to his family to let them know he was okay after she made her own call to her father. She let him know that Annabeth was safe again and that everything was all right for now. She left out the parts of death and despair as she recounted their events, also leaving out the part that she had been a cat for a significant amount of time.
Her father just told her that he was glad she was safe and that he loved her. Noelle had smiled at that, telling him she loved him back and that hopefully she'd be back home in time to celebrate her birthday.
Percy had rejoined his friends outside the entrance to the Empire State Building where Argus was waiting for them.
Compared to Mount Olympus, Manhattan was quiet. Friday before Christmas, but it was early in the morning, and hardly anyone was on Fifth Avenue. Argus, the many-eyed security chief, picked up Annabeth, Grover, Noelle, and Percy at the Empire State Building and ferried them back to camp through a light snowstorm. The Long Island Expressway was almost deserted.
As they trudged back up Half-Blood Hill to the pine tree where the Golden Fleece glittered, Percy half expected to see Thalia there, waiting for them. But she wasn't. She was long gone with Artemis and the rest of the Hunters, off on their next adventure.
Chiron greeted them at the Big House with hot chocolate and toasted cheese sandwiches. Grover went off with his satyr friends to spread the word about their strange encounter with the magic of Pan. Within an hour, the satyrs were all running around agitated, asking where the nearest espresso bar was.
Annabeth, Noelle, and Percy sat with Chiron and some of the other senior campers—Beckendorf, Silena Beauregard, and the Stoll brothers. Even Clarisse from the Ares cabin was there, back from her secretive scouting mission. Percy knew she must've had a difficult quest, because she didn't even try to pulverize him. She had a new scar on her chin, and her dirty blond hair had been cut short and ragged, like someone had attacked it with a pair of safety scissors.
"I got news," she mumbled uneasily. "Bad news."
"I'll fill you in later," Chiron said with forced cheerfulness. "The important thing is you have prevailed. And you saved Annabeth!"
Annabeth smiled at her two best friends gratefully, which they returned with a smile of their own.
For some strange reason, Percy found himself thinking about Hoover Dam, and the odd mortal girl he'd run into there, Rachel Elizabeth Dare. He didn't know why, but her annoying comments kept coming back to him. He was only alive because so many people had helped him, even a random mortal girl like that. He'd never even explained to her who he was.
"Luke is alive," Percy said. "Annabeth was right."
Annabeth sat up. "How do you know?"
He tried not to feel annoyed by her interest. He told her what his dad had said about the Princess Andromeda.
"Well." Annabeth shifted uncomfortably in her chair. "If the final battle does come when Percy is eighteen, at least we have two more years to figure something out."
Percy had a feeling that when she said "figure something out," she meant "get Luke to change his ways," which annoyed him even more. Chiron's expression was gloomy. Sitting by the fire in his wheelchair, he looked really old. Well... he was really old, but he usually didn't look it.
"Two years may seem like a long time," he said. "But it is the blink of an eye. I still hope you are not the child of the prophecy, Percy. But if you are, then the second Titan war is almost upon us. Kronos's first strike will be here."
"How do you know?" Percy asked. "Why would he care about camp?"
"Because the gods use heroes as their tools," Chiron said simply. "Destroy the tools, and the gods will be crippled. Luke's forces will come here. Mortal, demigod, monstrous... We must be prepared. Clarisse's news may give us a clue as to how they will attack, but—"
There was a knock on the door, and Nico di Angelo came huffing into the parlor, his cheeks bright red from the cold.
He was smiling, but he looked around anxiously. "Hey! Where's... where's my sister?"
Dead silence. Percy stared at Chiron. He couldn't believe nobody had told him yet. And then he realized why. They'd been waiting for the heroes from the quest to appear, to tell Nico in person.
That was the last thing he wanted to do. But Percy owed it to Bianca.
"Hey, Nico." Percy got up from his comfortable chair. "Let's take a walk, okay? We need to talk."
Noelle got up as well. "I'll go with."
Percy looked like he wanted to protest, but before he got the chance Noelle was already walking back outside, guiding Nico by the shoulders.
~
He took the news in silence, which somehow made it worse. Percy kept talking, trying to explain how it had happened, how Bianca had sacrificed herself to save the quest. But he felt like it was only making things worse. Noelle physically comforted him by rubbing his shoulders and gave them gentle squeezes every now and then. Nico didn't bother to shake her off, the actions somehow doing their job of a little comfort.
"She wanted you to have this." Percy brought out the little god figurine Bianca had found in the junkyard. Nico held it in his palm and stared at it.
They were standing at the dining pavilion, just where Nico and Percy had last spoken before the latter went on the quest. The wind was bitter cold, even with the camp's magical weather protection. Snow fell lightly against the marble steps. Percy figured outside the camp borders, there must be a blizzard happening.
"You promised you would protect her," Nico said.
He might as well have stabbed Percy with a rusty dagger.
It would've hurt less than reminding him of his promise.
"Nico," Percy said. "I tried. But Bianca gave herself up to save the rest of us. I told her not to. But she—"
"You promised!"
He glared at the taller boy, his eyes rimmed with red. He closed his small fist around the god statue.
"I shouldn't have trusted you." His voice broke. "You lied to me. My nightmares were right!"
"Wait, nightmares? Nico, what nightmares?" Noelle asked softly from behind Nico.
He pulled himself out of Noelle's grasp and flung the god statue to the ground. It clattered across the icy marble. "I hate you!"
"She might be alive," Percy said desperately. "I don't know for sure—"
"She's dead." He closed his eyes. His whole body trembled with rage. "I should've known it earlier. She's in the Fields of Asphodel, standing before the judges right now, being evaluated. I can feel it."
"What do you mean, you can feel it?" Noelle asked, still in a careful tone.
Before he could answer, Percy heard a new sound behind him. A hissing, clattering noise he recognized all too well. The way Noelle's eyes widened was enough to give away that he wasn't just hearing things.
Percy drew his sword and Noelle unsheathed her knife while Nico gasped. Percy whirled and found himself facing four skeleton warriors. They grinned fleshless grins and advanced with swords drawn. He wasn't sure how they'd made it inside the camp, but it didn't matter. They'd never get help in time.
"You're trying to kill me!" Nico screamed. "You brought these... these things?"
"No! I mean, yes, they followed me, but no! Nico, run. They can't be destroyed."
"I don't trust you!"
The first skeleton charged. Percy knocked aside its blade, but the other three kept coming. Noelle stepped forward next to her boyfriend and cut through the arms of the second, but immediately it began to knit back together. Percy knocked another's head off but it just kept fighting.
"Run, Nico!" Noelle yelled. "Get help!"
"No!" He pressed his hands to his ears.
Even Noelle and Percy couldn't fight four at once, not if they wouldn't die. They couple slashed, whirled, blocked, jabbed, but they just kept advancing. It was only a matter of seconds before the zombies overpowered them.
"No!" Nico shouted louder. "Go away!"
The ground rumbled beneath them. The skeletons froze. Percy tackled Noelle out of the way just as a crack opened at the feet of the four warriors. The ground ripped apart like a snapping mouth. Flames erupted from the fissure, and the earth swallowed the skeletons in one loud CRUNCH!
Silence.
In the place where the skeletons had stood, a twenty-foot-long scar wove across the marble floor of the pavilion. Otherwise there was no sign of the warriors.
Awestruck, Percy looked to Nico. "How did you—"
"Go away!" he yelled. "I hate you! I wish you were dead!"
The ground didn't swallow him up, but Nico ran down the steps, heading toward the woods. Noelle got up before Percy, running after the younger boy. Percy started to follow but slipped and fell to the icy steps. When he got up, he noticed what he'd slipped on.
He picked up the god statue Bianca had retrieved from the junkyard for Nico. The only statue he didn't have, she'd said. A last gift from his sister.
Percy stared at it with dread, because now he understood why the face looked familiar. He'd seen it before.
It was a statue of Hades, Lord of the Dead.
~
"Nico!" Noelle called, gaining on the boy.
They were nearing Zeus's Fist, a pile of rocks that looked like animal droppings from any other angle but the right one.
Noelle leapt forward and managed to catch Nico by the back of the coat. Nico stumbled into the girl, but she managed to keep them upright. She turned him around by the shoulders, immediately noticing the tear tracks on his face. She wiped away his tears with her thumbs before pulling him into a hug.
"I know," she whispered, cradling the back of his head. "I know."
Nico hugged her tight. "I can't stay here. They'll never accept me knowing what I just did."
Noelle loosened her hold on the boy before kneeling in front of him, holding his forearms just in case he ran again. "Who cares? I accept you no matter what."
Nico gave the girl a small smile before shaking his head sadly. "I can't stay."
As she stared at the boy who had already made up his mind, Noelle realized that Nico and Bianca had grown up too fast. They were just kids forced into the world with no memories of who they once were. No parents. All they had was each other.
"Okay." Noelle nodded her head. "I'll let you go, but you have to promise me you'll Iris-message me when you can. And you have to visit me every once in a while."
"But I don't know where you live," Nico pointed out.
Noelle smiled because he wasn't objecting to her requirements. "I'll let you know after the first Iris-message. Sound good?"
Nico nodded. "Okay, I promise."
Noelle stood up and gave him one last hug. She squeezed his shoulders one more time before she let him run off further into the woods. As she watched him disappear through the trees, tears welled up in her eyes, a few falling down her face.
Eventually, she heard the shouts of her friends in the distance, but she stayed where she was staring at the spot she last saw Nico. Their voices only got closer until Noelle felt a hand on her shoulder, yet she still didn't turn around.
"Noelle?" Annabeth's voice was laced full of concern.
Noelle let her friend slowly turn her around, not even trying to hide the fact that she was crying. "I-I lost him. He's gone."
"Annabeth?" A new voice sounded. One Noelle recognized instantly. One that made Noelle bite her now trembling lip to keep from letting out a sob. "Did you find them?"
"Just Noelle," Annabeth called back, squeezing her friend's shoulder from where her hand still rested.
Percy called out into the woods to let Grover know they had found Noelle before running towards hers and Annabeth's outlines. He pulled his girlfriend into a crushing hug that resulted in her releasing her trapped sobs.
"Woah, woah, woah." Percy pulled Noelle back by the shoulders. "What's wrong?"
Noelle wiped her now running nose, both from the cold and her crying. "I lost Nico. He's out there all alone."
Noelle felt guilty that she could just let Nico go despite knowing it's what he wanted. She basically let him run into the monsters.
"Hey, it's okay," Percy said while pulling her back into him and rubbing a soothing hand down her back. "We'll find him."
"No." Percy felt her shake her head against his shoulder. "No, we won't. He's long gone."
Percy wanted to ask her how she knew that, but remained silent.
With the help of Annabeth, Percy managed to calm down Noelle to just a few sniffles by the time Grover joined them.
"We have to tell Chiron," Annabeth said, sitting on the ground with Noelle next to Zeus's Fist.
"No," Noelle said.
Annabeth and Grover both stared at the brunette who continued to stare at her feet.
"Um," Grover said nervously, "what do you mean... no?"
"She's right," Percy agreed, though for a different reason entirely. "We can't let anyone know. I don't think anyone realizes that Nico is a—"
"A son of Hades," Annabeth said. "Percy, do you have any idea how serious this is? Even Hades broke the oath! This is horrible!"
"I don't think so," Percy said. "I don't think Hades broke the oath."
"What?"
"He's their dad," Percy said, "but Bianca and Nico have been out of commission for a long time, since even before World War II."
"The Lotus Casino!" Grover said, and he told Annabeth about the conversations they'd had with Bianca on the quest. "She and Nico were stuck there for decades. They were born before the oath was made."
Noelle and Percy nodded.
"But how did they get out?" Annabeth protested.
"I don't know," Percy admitted. "Bianca said a lawyer came and got them and drove them to Westover Hall. I don't know who that could've been, or why. Maybe it's part of this Great Stirring thing. I don't think Nico understands who he is. But we can't go telling anyone. Not even Chiron. If the Olympians find out—"
"It might start them fighting among each other again," Annabeth said. "That's the last thing we need."
Grover looked worried. "But you can't hide things from the gods. Not forever."
"I don't need forever," Percy said. "Just two years. Until I'm eighteen."
Annabeth paled. "But, Percy, this means the prophecy might not be about you. It might be about Nico. We have to—"
"No," he said. "I choose the prophecy. It will be about me."
"Why are you saying that?" she cried. "You want to be responsible for the whole world?"
It was the last thing he wanted, but Percy didn't say that. He knew he had to step up and claim it.
"Noelle, why aren't you with me on this?" Annabeth asked. "Your boyfriend is basically saying he's okay risking his life!"
Noelle sighed, finally looking up. Even though she was answering Annabeth, she maintained eye contact with Percy. "I know what he's getting himself into. I also know if I were in his position I'd do the same. I trust Percy knows what he's doing even if he's less experienced than us."
The look in Percy's eyes was enough to let Noelle know he was thankful for what she said.
"I can't let Nico be in any more danger," Percy said. "I owe that much to his sister. I... let them both down. I'm not going to let that poor kid suffer any more."
"The poor kid who hates you and wants to see you dead," Grover reminded him.
"Maybe we can find him," Percy said. "We can convince him it's okay, hide him someplace safe."
Annabeth shivered. "If Luke gets hold of him—"
"Luke won't," Noelle hissed. "If he even thinks about touching a hair on that kid's head I'll make the scar on his back from my stab wound seem like nothing."
"Easy there, tiger." Percy nervously laughed. "We'll make sure Luke's got other things to worry about. Namely, me."
~
Noelle stood in her cabin in just a sports bra and sweats. She hadn't realized the effects of her healing arrow was not a permanent solution. That explained why Artemis hadn't let her use it to save Zoë.
Both her wound from Dr. Thorn and the one from Luke were pretty much healed, the former more than the latter. Dr. Thorn's smaller scrape was just a surface wound that was now just a small scab with scarring showing on the edges. The one from Luke on the other hand was a bit deeper. It wasn't bleeding, but it had reopened, leading Noelle to where she was now.
Noelle was stitching up the wound herself, figuring she'd be fine if she waited until morning to get some nectar and ambrosia along with some treatment from her cousins in the Apollo cabin. She tied off the last stitch, cutting the excess material, when a knock sounded at her door.
She didn't care to look before opening the door to reveal her boyfriend, his hands behind his back and a smile on his face. The smile was soon wiped from his face as he noticed his girlfriend's attire, quickly turning his head to the side as his cheeks reddened.
Noelle rolled her eyes. "Relax, Seaweed Brain. You've seen me in a bikini before."
"Yeah, but that was when you were less... developed." Percy grimaced at his wording.
"Are you saying that you're nervous because I have boobs now?" Noelle smirked.
Percy became a stuttering mess before Noelle shut him up with a kiss.
He groaned when she pulled away. "I missed those."
"Shut up and get in here before someone sees you," Noelle said, pulling him into her dimly lit cabin. She led them over to her bunk where they sat down next to each other. "So, what're you hiding behind your back?"
"I know it's not the most ideal time, but it's an early birthday present." Percy smiled cheekily.
Noelle chuckled. "Before you give me that, let me tell you something that might change your mind."
"I thought we promised not to talk about breaking up." Percy frowned.
"Not that," she quickly assured with a smile. "You know that news I was talking about at Westover Hall?"
Percy nodded.
"Well, I'm ready to tell you now." Noelle took a deep breath. "My family and I are moving out of Rhode Island."
"Moving?" Percy's brows furrowed. "Where?"
"Manhattan. Dad's buying a second bakery and leaving Auntie Jess and her husband to manage the first one."
"You're moving to Manhattan?" Percy asked with a wide smile.
Noelle nodded, biting her lip nervously.
"Oh, my gods!" Percy exclaimed, quickly pulling her forward and kissing all over her face.
"I see you're taking this as good news." Noelle giggled.
"Good news? How about fantastic news?" Percy said. "Did you think I'd be upset about this?"
Noelle shrugged. "I was just a little nervous. I mean, we've been good with the long distance so I thought the change might be weird."
"I think the change is for the better," Percy said. "I'll get to kiss your cute ass face whenever I want."
"So, you still want to give me that present?" Noelle wondered.
He pretended to think about it. "Yeah, okay."
Percy thrust a small box with a ribbon on it towards her.
Noelle opened the box, immediately falling in love with the necklace that lay neatly inside. It was a star shaped locket, the word "Brave" engraved on the front in calligraphy. Noelle opened it to see a slideshow of moments from quests.
"I found it at this marketplace on the way out from Olympus. It's supposed to show you when you've been brave," Percy told her.
"I love it." Noelle smiled at him. "Would you put it on for me?"
Percy nodded and Noelle gave him the necklace to put on. She turned away, holding her hair out of the way as Percy clasped the jewelry around her neck. He pressed a short and sweet kiss between her exposed shoulder blades, his gaze falling onto her stitches as he pulled back.
She felt his fingertips slightly graze over the side her wound was on. "It's okay, Perce. I'll have some medics look at it in the morning. Besides, it doesn't hurt much."
"Is that from Luke?" he asked, anger evident in his voice.
She nodded.
"I swear to the gods I'll kill him," Percy snarled.
Noelle turned around, resting her hands on Percy's cheeks. Her fingers made their way into his hair, paying extra attention to the new gray streak. "You'll have plenty of time for that in the summer. For now, why don't you kiss me goodnight?"
Noelle pulled his face closer, letting him do the work of connecting their lips.
After pulling away, Percy asked, "Can I stay with you tonight?"
Noelle smiled. "Of course, Seaweed Brain."
The couple curled into each other in Noelle's small bunk, ending their wintertime at camp with some much needed worriless rest.
~
A/N: What a cute way to end this book :). Anyways, next book I'm thinking we spice up Percelle with a little more mature content? I mean, let's be real, plenty of teenagers be getting down and dirty so why not two of the most powerful demigods? This is my first warning of to what might come in book 4 :) Also Noelle and Nico's friendship is so cute. Anyway, thank you all for sticking through this book with me even through the slow updates when I was going through some personal things. I appreciate and applaud your patience! I hope you enjoyed and I can't wait to see you interacting again on book 4!