DID THAT - Lil Tecca
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ARGUS, THE MANY EYED SECURITY CHEIF, picked up Annabeth, Grover, Percy and Y/N 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, Y/N 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 our 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, Percy and Y/M 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. Y/N knew she must've had a difficult quest, because she wasn't berating Percy. 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 Y/N gratefully, which made him blush slightly.
"Luke is alive," Percy said.
Y/N sat up. "How do you know?"
Percy talked about what Poseidon had told him. About how the Princess Andromeda was still moving, protected by ancient sea spirits.
"Well." Annabeth shifted uncomfortably in her chair. "If the final battle does come when Percy is seventeen, at least we have two more years to figure something out."
Chiron's expression was gloomy. Sitting by the fire in his wheelchair, he looked really old. Technically, 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 parlour, his cheeks bright red from the cold.
He was smiling, but he looked around anxiously. "Hey! Where's... where's my sister?"
Dead silence. Y/N stared at Chiron. He couldn't believe nobody had told the poor kid yet. And then he realized why. They'd been waiting for Y/N to appear, to tell Nico in person.
That was the last thing he wanted to do. But Y/N owed it to Bianca.
"Hey, Nico." He got up from the comfortable chair, gesturing to Percy. "Let's take a walk, okay? We need to talk."
.
.
.
He took the news in silence, which somehow made it worse. Y/N kept talking, trying to explain how it had happened, how Bianca had sacrificed herself to save the quest, but he knew it was hopeless.
"She wanted you to have this." He 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, where Percy, Y/N and Nico had last spoken before they went on the quest. The wind was bitter cold, even with the camp's magical weather protection. Snow fell lightly against the marble steps.
"You promised you would protect her," Nico said.
Y/N didn't say anything.
He didn't know what Nico was capable of, but it was shooting daggers into people's hearts, then Nico was a natural.
"Nico," Percy said. "We tried. But Bianca gave herself up to save the rest of us. It was her choice..."
"You promised!"
He glared at Y/N, 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. What nightmares?"
He flung the god statue to the ground. It clattered across the icy marble. "I hate you!"
"She might be alive," Y/N said desperately. "We 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?" Percy asked.
Before he could answer, there was a new sound behind them. A hissing, clattering noise Percy recognized all too well. Nico gasped. They whirled around and behind them were four skeleton warriors. They grinned fleshless grins and advanced with swords drawn. Y/N wasn't sure how they'd made it inside the camp, but it didn't matter. Percy uncapped Riptide next to him, ready to fight.
"You're trying to kill me!" Nico screamed. "You brought these... these things?"
"No!" Percy said. "I mean, yes, they followed me, but no! Nico, run. They can't be destroyed."
"I don't trust you!"
The first skeleton charged. Y/N quickly formed a shield, knocking the blade aside, but the other three kept coming. Percy sliced one in half, but immediately it began to knit back together. Y/N knocked another's head off but it just kept fighting.
"Run, Nico!" Y/N yelled. "Get help!"
"No!" He pressed his hands to his ears. "Go away!"
The ground rumbled beneath them. The skeletons froze. Percy and Y/N rolled 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, Y/N 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. Y/N and Percy started to follow but Y/N slipped and fell to the icy steps. When he got up, he noticed what I]the small god statue that he slipped on. The only statue he didn't have, Bianca had said. A last gift from his sister.
Y/N stared at it with dread. It was a face he had seen before.
It was a statue of Hades, Lord of the Dead.
.
.
.
Annabeth and Grover helped Percy and Y/N search the woods for hours, but there was no sign of Nico di Angelo.
"We have to tell Chiron," Annabeth said, out of breath.
"No," Y/N said.
They all stared at him.
"Um," Grover said nervously, "what do you mean... no?
"We can't let anyone know. I don't think anyone realizes that Nico is a—"
"A son of Hades," Annabeth finished. "Gods... do you guys 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 had with Bianca on the quest. "She and Nico were stuck there for decades. They were born before the oath was made."
"But how did they get out?" Annabeth protested.
"I don't know," Y/N 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."
"We don't need forever," Percy said. "Just two years. Until I'm seventeen."
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?" Y/N groaned. "You want to be responsible for the whole world?"
"It's the last thing I want to do." Percy said. "But... I can't let Nico be in any more danger. 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," Y/N said. "We can convince him it's okay, hide him someplace safe."
Annabeth shivered. "If Luke gets hold of him—"
"Luke won't," Percy said. "I'll make sure he's got other things to worry about. Namely, me."
.
.
.
Chiron wasn't buying it. Y/N could tell Chiron knew they were holding something back about Nico's disappearance, but in the end, he accepted it.
Unfortunately, Nico wasn't the first half-blood to disappear.
"So young," Chiron sighed, his hands on the rail of the front porch. "Alas, I hope he was eaten by monsters. Much better than being recruited into the Titans' army."
That idea made Y/N really uneasy. He almost changed his mind about telling Chiron, but he
didn't.
"You really think the first attack will be here?" Percy asked.
Chiron stared at the snow falling on the hills. He could see smoke from the dragon guardian at the pine tree, the glitter of the distant Fleece.
"It will not be until summer, at least," Chiron said. This winter will be hard... the hardest for many centuries. It's best that you go home to the city, Percy; try to keep your mind on school. And rest. You will need rest."
Y/N looked at Annabeth. "What about you?"
Her cheeks flushed. "I'm going to try San Francisco after all. Maybe I can keep an eye on Mount Tam, make sure the Titans don't try anything else."
"You'll send an Iris-message if anything goes wrong?"
She nodded. "But I think Chiron's right. It won't be until the summer. Luke will need time to regain his strength."
"All right," Y/N said. "Just take care of yourself. And no crazy stunts in the Sopwith Camel."
She smiled tentatively. "Deal. And, Y/N—"
Whatever she was going to say was interrupted by Grover, who stumbled out of the Big House, tripping over tin cans. His face was haggard and pale, like he'd seen a spectre.
"He spoke.'" Grover cried.
"Calm down, my young satyr," Chiron said, frowning. "What is the matter?"
"I... I was playing music in the parlour," he stammered, "and drinking coffee. Lots and lots of coffee! And he spoke in my mind!"
"Who?" Annabeth demanded.
"Pan!" Grover wailed. "The Lord of the Wild himself. I heard him! I have to... I have to find a suitcase."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Percy said. "What did he say?"
Grover stared at him. "Just three words. He said, 'I await you...'"
A/N: One more chapter...