The Girl He Forgot

Nico

I''m not going to lie, I miss her. For some reason, I have this burning feeling that she isn't going to come back after the fight in Athens. I wish I could convince her otherwise, but she gave 4 years of her life to me, and it would be selfish to ask for more.

We're back on the ship and moving quickly to Epirus. Some time along the journey, harpies attacked the ship and Frank shot them down with his bow. I always find myself glancing at Jason. He doesn't understand. If I tell people that... that I... they'll leave me...

All I could ever dream of was someone who understood me like she and Bianca did. She figured me out, and said that I wasn't alone. Now sure, it's exactly what Jason said, but it's what came after it that caused me to be so attached to her. I wish I could go back in time to when things weren't so complicated. When I was a little boy in Italy with my mom and my sister, and Zeus hadn't blown up a building and killed my mother.
***
"Nico, if you made this much noise in the daytime, we wouldn't peg you as the "silent but deadly" character." she scolded.
"I didn't see the barrels." I said through gritted teeth. She chuckled silently. Her face glowed in the moonlight, and her beauty went to a whole new level. Not that I'm attracted to her (gross, she's my sister), but she really was a sight for sore eyes. I always preferred her Hades form best. She greatly resembled Bianca in that form. Olive skin, eyebrows always in a soft resting position, black hair and nose slightly turned up at the end. But she was always distinguishable by her eyes and her hair. Her hair wasn't long and straight like Bianca's, it was cropped to her neck and shaggy, like mine, and her eyes were black, like mine, instead of brown. She also had curtain bangs framing her face.

"You know, one might say that sneaking around a ship in the dead of night would be seen as romantic. One is sorely mistaken." she teased.
"I have no idea why I still do this every night so we can discuss what lies we're going to say to the others tomorrow."
"Nico, you know they can't know that they are forgetting me. Forgetting someone means guilt, guilt means compensating for what you have done. Heroes sacrifice everything, it's part of the gig, which means that they are going to overcompensate for something that isn't in their control. I'm not going to accept something that I don't need." she says in all seriousness.
"Lex, when was the last time you smiled? Like actually smiled? Not for an act or a lie or doing it for someone who needed it, a real sign of happiness." she pondered the question.
"When I took you to that Thai restaurant, and you ate the red jalapeno pepper that came with your food." my heart sank to a level I didn't know existed.
"Lex, that was 4 years ago. Are you seriously going to keep planning schemes so you can stay with me while you haven't been happy in four years?"
"Nico, no matter what you do, no matter where you go, and no matter who you become, I will always be next to you, holding your hand and being your emotional support pillow. And you haven't been happy in four years either. I took you out to lunch that day because Bianca had died and you ran away from Camp Half-Blood." I fell silent, and all I could think about was how much more she deserved.

"Alexis, you deserve so much more than what you're getting. You were abandoned, orphaned, kidnapped, and sent to live in hell and you play it off like anyone could do it. They can't. You are the most powerful and brave person I know, and you have no idea what you have been through. You of all people deserve 31,536,000 smiles for each second of the year, and staying here isn't going to do that for you. I know that you are here for me, and I love having you here, but not at this great a cost. You have been there for me for 4 years ever since Bianca died. Now it's time for me to be there for you."
"When did you become so poetic?" she asked
"When you walked into my life, I know it's cheesy but it's true," I answered simply. I have never been one to get all touchy feely, but Alexis has always been the exception, "Go, Alexis. Go tomorrow. Make up an excuse and go  do what you have always wanted."
"I wish I could, but what I want can never happen. I missed my chance a long time ago."
"Then. Just. Go." I thought I knew what she wanted to do, but if she missed her chance then I definitely got it wrong.
***

"There!" I yelled. I was standing on the foremast. I pointed to a glittering green river meandering through the hills a mile away. "Maneuver us that way. We're close to the temple. Very close."
As if on cue, black lightning split through the sky and Jason strapped on his sword belt. "Everyone, arm yourself. Leo, get us close, but don't land - no more contact with the ground than necessary. Piper, Hazel, get the mooring ropes."
"On it!" Piper said. Hazel kissed Frank on the cheek and ran off to help Piper. Frank went down the steps to get Coach Hedge. We already started the descent before he came back up. As soon as they came back, Leo dragged Frank and Hazel away. I'm working with half of the crew gone! I took the Wii game controller and steered us over the river. A few hundred metres away at the top of the nearest hill stood a cluster of ruins. They weren't much - just crumbling old buildings - but, from within the ruins, tendril of black ether curled into the sky, like a smoky squid peeking from it's cave. "Guys, you'd better come see this," Piper said to Leo, Hazel and Frank.

"The Necromanteion," I said, "The House of Hades."
Piper hugged her arms, "I feel vulnerable floating up here like this. Couldn't we set down in the river?"
"I wouldn't," said Hazel, "That's the River Acheron."
Jason squinted at the sunlight, "I thought the River Acheron was in the Underworld."
"It is," Hazel said, "But it's headwaters are in the mortal world. The river below us? It flows underground, straight into the realm of Pluto- er, Hades. Landing a demigod ship straight on those waters-"
"Yeah, let's stay up here," Leo decided, "I don't want any zombie water on my hull."
I raised the sceptre of Diocletian. It's orb glowed with purple light, as if in sympathy with the dark storm.

"So, uh, Nico..." Frank gestured at the sceptre, "Have you learned to use that thing?"
"We'll find out." Nico stared at the dark tendrils of smoke coming out of the ruins. "I don't intend to try until I have to. The doors of death are already working overtime bringing in Gaia's monsters. Any more activity raising the dead and the Doors might shatter permanently, leaving a rip in the mortal world that can't be closed."
Coach Hedge grunted, "I hate rips in the world. Let's go bust some monster heads."
"Coach, you should stay on board, cover us with the ballistae." Frank said.
Hedge frowned, "Stay behind? Me? I'm your best soldier!"
"We might need air support," Frank said, "Like we did in Rome. You saved our braccae."
Hedge's scowl relaxed for some reason, "Well..." he grumbled, "I suppose somebody's got to save your braccae."
Jason clapped Hedge on the back, then he gave Frank a nod, "So that's settled. Everybody else - let's go to the ruins. Time to crash Gaia's party."