Nico felt almost as if a new page in his life had begun.
He finally felt accepted and no longer like the freak. Because they were all freaks.
It was sad, but Nico felt it was the sad truth. Bulky Frank that could change forms, wiry hyperactive Leo who could accidentally set fire to himself. The flying wonder-kid Jason with his sorceress girlfriend Piper, and his own sister Hazel with weird mind-over-metal powers.
Nico could only imagine what their lives would be like if they weren't demigods. If they had no powers or didn't know this world existed. Would any of them be popular? Fit in at school? Hang out at the mall and go to Nandos?
Probably not.
Nico's train of thought ground to a halt and he sat up from his bed sharply.
"Land, ahoy!" Coach Hedge bellowed, his replacement 'club' (aka plank of wood) bashing into the side of the ship.
The sound of heavy Frank feet stumbled past Nico's door, and he took this as an oppertunity. Jumping out of bed (he'd taken an morning nap) and stumbling out the door, Nico flew round the corner and straight into...Jason.
"Oh, hey, Jason. Sorry, I..." Nico mumbled, stepping away abruptly.
"Hey, Nico. Listen, I wanted to talk to you." Jason said.
"Oh! Yeah! Sure!" Nico agreed, afterwards realising he probably sounded way too eager. He lowered his voice and tried to appear cool and collected. "I mean, yeah, dude. Shoot."
"Okay," Jason said, wiping away confusion, "I just wanted to thank you. I mean, for looking after Hazel. We've never really spoken, me and your sister, but I have a feeling that she's in a difficult position."
"And, um," Nico squeaked, coughed, and lowered his voice, "And how exactly do you mean, daddyo?" He mentally facepalmed himself.
"Like, as in her, Frank and Leo."
Nico came up blank, and his face must've shown it.
"Ah. Well, look for it and you'll notice." Jason grinned and arm-punched Nico before pivoting and walking away. Damn, Nico thought. That's some smooth macho son of Zeus.
Then he thought about what his message had said. Some kind of problem between his sister, Leo and Frank. Nico scratched his head and thought about it, but couldn't think of a problem. Oh well, he thought. Getting on some dry land might get rid of this alter-ego failure of a hickey.
Coming out the doors and onto the deck of the Argo II, Nico expected sunlight and bright light to dazzle him- they were on their journey from Italy to Greece afterall, going through the Ionian Sea. But instead, drizzling rain hit his face. The rainwater was warm and felt like a lukewarm shower, but it was unexpected. Steely clouds rolled on as far as the eye could see; equally grey rain dropped like pebbles into the moody, choppy ocean.
"Crap weather." Nico sighed.
"Welcome to Paxos. Off the coast of Zantos." Leo retorted grimly.
"And why exactly are we stopping here?" Spluttered a sopping Piper, her jumper clinging to her bare arms. Skinny jeans looked uncomfortable, the denim soaked.
"We need to stock up on supplies. All the mortar holding the edges of the ionic steel catures, which keep the oil in place-"
"You know what, forget it. We'll just go with the flow." Frank interrupted Leo. He held Hazel's hand and dragged her off the ship with him. The rest of the party followed.
Nico began walking off the plank and onto mainland, when Leo joined him.
"Hey, man." Leo began. Nico looked up at him through curtains of dripping hair, and saw that Leo didn't look so Leo-ish when his hair was all flat and damp.
"Hey. You can tell me about the ionic steel catures, you know. If you want." Nico encouraged him. He didn't really want to hear about it, but Nico thought Leo looked pretty dejected and anyway, the silence needed filling.
So, Nico followed the group whilst Leo babbled about whatever. At first, Nico gave the odd nod or "Mphm" to display his interest and listening, but after a while stopped. Instead, he focused on the squelching sound his shoes made whilsr makung contact with the muddy causeway.
After a while, Nico realised they had started climbing up hill. A dim thought hit him.
"Hey, Leo," Nico began, cutting Leo off in the middle of a speech about pistons.
"So when you fill them with the oil, it smooths out the piston connection with the movement fluid...oh, you still there? Thought you were sleep walking. Go on, dude."
"Sorry, man. It was an...enchanting speech. But...what's going on between you, Frank and Hazel?" Nico asked. He figured if he was going to ask at all, now was the perfect oppertunity.
"Damn. Ding-Dong, you've reached the voicemail of Leo Valdez. Please, leave a message and I'll get back to you, never." Leo joked, but with a hint of sincerity to his voice.
"Alright. Well, it's complicated. My used to have the like your sister, but it turns out my grandad, Sammy Valdez, used to have a thing with Hazel. So, its all weird now. And plus, she's with Frank. But me and Frank made a deal, you see. He has a stick which is basically his lifeline, and when it burns, he dies. But repeat that to anybody and you're dead to me, Nico, understood?" Leo paused briefly to look Nico in the eye before continuing,"And his end of the bargain, was that he would do anything to protect Hazel which goes without saying...but if he dies, he wants me to be there for her."
"Oh. How..." Nico began but didn't finish.
He had thought that it would be something tiny and silly, like maybe- "I love Hazel but she doesn't dig my dungarees. And Frank keeps talking about Hazel behind her back." But it was much, much more serious than that.
"If you ever need me to step in with anything, Leo, just remember I'm here. Cheesy but whatever. She's my sister." Nico found himself saying.
Leo nodded. "Course, man. I don't know why but I find it easy to tell you stuff like this."
And with that, Leo ruffled Nico's hair (much to his annoyance), and the deep-meaningful-chat was over.
Five minutes later, and the rain was still plummeting down. If anything, the storm had gotten even worse: thunder occasionally rumbed through the sky, and the odd vein of lightening would pulsate on the horizon.
"Here," Said Leo, running ahead of the group, "There's a building over here. Festus said there was bucketloads of Iron Coarside inside, which is exactly what we need."
"Right," Frank began, "And because the toy dragon said so, its true. Sure, Leo, walk into that random basement! Not dangerous at all!"
Hazel put a hand over his mouth.
"So," Jason asked, "That house over there?"
Nico saw that amongst the olive groves and dusty long grasses, a small, abandoned cottage lay. It had a damp woodshed and murky white, typical Greecian design.
"Sure. Let's grab the Iron and get back." Leo summed up.
The group traipsed over, feet against mud beating the almost-silent atmosphere. The only thing ruining perfect stillness was the sound of rain hammering against foliage and dirt.
As Nico got closer to the house, he saw that instead of wood in the woodshed, small blocks of shiny metal gleamed inside. He realised this was the Iron that Leo needed.
Jason and Frank took about four blocks each and pushed them down into Leo's rucksack. It was an enchanted rucksack, Nico had learned- the weight didn't amount. About twenty blocks of Iron would only feel like twenty feathers.
Nico helped out and grabbed two blocks. He found the Iron was slippery and cold to the touch. Wrapping his fingers around them sturdily, he clung on until his fingers went transparent with numbness. Hauling them into the bag, Nico noticed something wasn't quite right.
"Guys," He began, but was interrupted by somebody rudely hoisting him upside-down by his ankles. Nico absently let out a kind of warbled gurgle shriek. Elegant, he thought. Very attractive.
Piper turned around sharply at Nico's gurgle. She screamed as her mouth was clamped shut by a black gloved hand. She thrashed wildly and inaccurately, trying in vain to unsheathe Katoptris. It was then that the rest of the group noticed, and Nico thought he should attempt to escape. After vaguely watching Frank morph into a rhino and Jason whip out his sword, Nico wriggled. His Stygian Iron sword was tucked into his trouser belt.
He wriggled and squirmed until he felt it dislodging. Nico's captor figured something was afoot and immediately started shaking his ankle hysterically and talking in some strange tongue.
"Berhenti bergerak, anda bodoh sukar!" The voice, definitely female, angrily commanded. Nico twisted to get a look at his captor- but she was dressed head to toe in a delicately decorated, deep satin blue, Hijab-of-sorts.
Nico decided not to give up. His friends needed him. Probably.
He looked round and saw the group in bad shape. Hazel had been bagged.
Fresh anger propelled Nico to kick harder than he knew he could. He grabbed his sword from his belt and faced his captor.
She had raised her hands in a placating, surrender gesture.
Nico was about to bargain before attacking, but a hard, cold sensation rocked through his head. Nico just had time to get a last look at the group, who were pretty much over, before he dropped to the ground.