*There are two chapters in one this time*
Nico POV
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I feel sick. Why hadn't I been there to protect Merrily? There was no way I was letting her out of my sight. I won't let what happened to Bianca happen to her or anybody else.
There's only one problem with that plan. She'll only let Abigail and Chey touch her and won't let me, Leo, or Ryan near her. She'll hold Taylor though. I don't exactly see how I'm supposed to take care of her if I can't even touch her.
I think I'm annoying Chey now, because when I asked how Merrily was doing just now (for the tenth time) her hand brushed her sword.
"Ask me again, and you'll be a kebab before you can say Hades," she scowled. She smelled like a mix of hair oils. It's hard to explain. At any rate, she didn't look very terrifying. But that sword of hers sure did, so I stepped back.
The sun is setting and our time is almost up. We're going to have to move Merrily. She looks a lot better now that's she's had some ambrosia and nectar, but she's still in some pain. I can tell.
Chey and Abigail gingerly put Merrily in between the two of them and Leo, Ryan, Taylor and I sit up front.
When we get back to camp, Annabeth immediately rushes to help Merrily.
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We're being summoned to Half-Blood Hill, The Big House. It's been a full week since we've gotten back from the quest. The second we'd stepped foot into the borders, the items had dissapeared in a flash of light. Thanks for nothing. Merrily had been rushed to the infirmary by Annabeth and Piper. None of us had been let in to see her. We had been admitted after the first three days; the day before Merrily was released.
It had hurt. She wouldn't let any of us come near her, except Chey and Abigail. She kept Leo, Ryan and I at an arm's length and wouldn't look any of us in the eye. Since then, I'd made a few visits to the Underworld, to work on something. It'll be a surprise for everyone. Along with that, all of us were pretty ticked at the gods. We went through all that trouble to get them their stupid items, and we've heard nothing from them.
When I arrive at the Big House, Merrily, Abigail, Leo, Ryan (with Taylor) are all there. Ryan looks completely and utterly depressed, Chey looks equally upset and she's not speaking to Abigail. From what I've heard, Josh had cheated on Chey with Abigail and then had broken up with Abigail upon the two returning to camp. Brianna from the Nike cabin broke up with Ryan once she found out he had a baby.
"There are two things to discuss," Chiron begins, looking solemnly around at all of us. "Firstly, Athena apologizes about David--" Audible intakes of breath could be heard all around the room. I held my breath. "--and an outside source, who Hades says wishes to remain anonymous have all worked together to... bend the rules a little-- on one condition that our dear Athena came up with."
"What do you mean, 'bend the rules'?" Chey demands. She's since gone back to her usual style of dressing (well it's usually CHB shirts, but still), which meant her hair was pulled up into a messy ponytail, no makeup, ratty sneakers etc. But I can't help remembering what she looked like with Aphrodite's blessing.
"David might come back," Chiron explains. "But, he has to agree to Athena's terms."
"Which are...?" Leo frowns.
"He'll have to give up any chance he had at finding love," Chiron says, after a pause. "After what happened with Merrily... well, the spear would have injured any of you, but killed only David. She was angry. But this is the only way Hades can think of that she'll appease to. But he must make the descision himself."
"Great, fantastic, what's the second thing?" Ryan snaps.
"The gods would like to speak with you on Olympus. Today."
Merrily POV
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Why would the gods want to speak with us? Those items must have been really important. Before I know it, we're being hustled into the camp van, driven by Argus, of course, and hurry down to Olympus. After two hours (thanks traffic), we arrive at the Empire State Building. Chey and Nico have been bickering the entire time and Ryan was snoring. Nico walks confidently up to the front desk.
"Six hundredth floor please."
"No such thing kid, move along," the guy says boredly. Nico flashes his sword (which is invisible to mortals) under the dude's nose. His eyes widen as he takes out a key card and directs us to the elevator. We hop in and some weird 60's music starts to play and Chey groans.
"Ugh, this music is the worst!"
"Tell me about it," Leo frowns. The doors open and I gasp. Olympus is beautiful. I can't even describe it. All I know is, I better stick to the pathways. Nico leads us to the palace and into the throne room. I immediately catch my mother's eye. The spear that David died for is sitting across her godly lap and I can't help but want to smack her.
Obvioisly, I don't condone rape and I'm not excusing what he did in any way, but I wouldn't have killed him for it. Chey and Ryan look to be attached at the hip and are staring warily at their dad. He's smiling at them, unlike my mother. Nico is talking to a nine-year-old girl who is tending the hearth. I've heard about her. Hestia. Abigail is staring in awe at her mom and Leo doesn't really know what to do about his dad, who's looking proudly down at him. Then a giant flash of thunder and a man with a dark beard and tux is sitting on the largest throne. Zeus.
"You might be wondering why I have summoned you," he booms ominously.
"Must we keep with the theatrics?" Athena sighs. Zeus glares at her, and my legs turn to jelly.
"At any rate, a new threat is rising," Zeus continues. "These items were stolen, much like my precious bolt was only seven years ago when my father rose. We congratulate you on your sucess and warn you that more is to come. As it may be, the god whose item you retrieved is now your patron god. They would like to give you a few words." Leo looks exasperated. Poor Leo.
Seven of the gods get down from their thrones. A super buff, blonde haired teenager saunters up to me.
"You must be Merrily!" he grins. Apollo. I'm blinded by his teeth. "My gift to you is this dope bracelet! It'll protect you from monsters!"
"Thanks Apollo," I say nervously. I'm so close to dying of laughter:
"No problem," he grins again. "Shout if you need me!" With that, he's gone. I look at all my other friends. Chey looks a bit irritated and notice she's holding a brush very similar to the one she got at the farm. Leo looks embarrassed. He is holding a bottle full of clear liquid, but Hephaestus is patting him on the back and proclaiming how amazing his son is. Ares is clapping Nico on the back so hard, he's fallen over almost six times. I don't think Ares gave him anything. Abigail looks awkward. Hermes gave her a green backpack. From what I can overhear, it's bottomless and can summon things like food and medical stuff. Ryan walks over to me.
"What'd you get?" he asks me, standing cautiously about a foot away form me.
"A bracelet that protects me from monsters," I reply. "You?"
"A cup that'll fill with any drink I want it to," Ryan grimaces. He holds up a cup that says 'DIONYSUS LIKES THIS ONE'. Ouch.
Once everyone is done giving gifts, everyone flahses out, except our parents.. Hermes wraps Chey and Ryan into a hug before he leaves. Abigail's mom whispers in Abigail's ear for a couple seconds, which makes Abigail turn beet red. Hephaestus already left, but he gave Leo one last hug. Nico is just standing there and then my mom comes up to me.
"Congratulations," she says solemly. "You did a good job, even though you showed a lot of emotion." She taps me on the head and a warm feeling envelops me before she leaves the room. Somehow, even though it's not a hug, I feel proud of myself.
We leave Olympus and head back to camp. And we lived happily every after. The End.
Ha, yeah no we didn't.
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Yeah, the story's not over! Stay tuned for more!
Nico: What did I get?
Me: Ares's blessing.
Nico: *sighs*
Me: That's good!
Merrily: Where's David?
Me: He's busy, so could one of you guys do the disclaimer?
Ryan: What's he doing?
Me: None of your business.
Abigail: CheyPaigeFanfic does not own PJO or HoO. That was fun!
Me: I know right?
Merrily: Please vote and comment and stay tuned!