𝙄𝙉𝙁𝙇𝘼𝙈𝙀𝘿; heroes of olympus

unripe fruit

NICO DI ANGELO

NICO SAW THE ANGEL FIRST.

He knew he shouldn't be here. He wasn't even an official part of the Argo II crew. But of course, if anything to do with the dead was involved, then Nico was involved.

He was starting to really hate the Hades kid thing. No, not starting―he was fairly sure he had always hated it, ever since Bianca had died.

No use dwelling on old ghosts.

The ship had anchored in the bay along with six or seven cruise ships. As usual, the mortals didn't pay the trireme any attention; but just to be safe, Jason, Nico, and Annabeth hopped on a skiff from one of the tourist boats so they would look like part of the crowd when they came ashore.

At first glance, Split definitely wasn't the type of place Nico would hangout, but Jason seemed chill with it, and Annabeth was enamored by the architecture. Typical Annabeth, Nico thought. He had known her long enough to know her fascination with the stuff, even though half of it was probably just the Athena genes.

Nico observed. That was his thing. And quite honestly, he was irritated with her for insisting she come along. He already had to walk Jason around like his pet dog and try not to alienate himself further.

Not that he disliked Annabeth or anything. She was far too kind to him for him to dislike her. He wanted to hate her―of course he did, she was dating the boy he had loved since he had first laid eyes on him. But he couldn't. In fact, he had a healthy amount of respect for her.

Jason nudged Nico out of his thoughts. "Are you guys seeing this?"

Nico's eyes had been locked on the angel looking guy for quite a while. He didn't sense any Underworld magic coming from it, so it definitely wasn't a ghost.

"Yeah," Nico agreed. "Not a ghost, if you're wondering." He paused. "Maybe we should buy some ice cream."

The three of them made their way toward the street cart, shouldering through the crowds of tourists. 

The spirit wore a red tank top, Bermuda shorts, and huarache sandals. His wings were a combination of russet colors, like a bantam rooster or a lazy sunset. He had a deep tan and black hair almost as curly as Leo's, and by the way Jason was staring at him, Nico could tell he noticed as well.

Nico was tempted to crack a joke, but he was mortally against doing anything that might out himself.

"I don't think ghosts would eat ice cream bars," Annabeth said, as if trying to start a conversation. She'd been unusually quiet lately, which wasn't surprising, considering her boyfriend was in Tartarus.

Yeah, Nico didn't want to think about that either. His mind was a fucking minefield. He hated it.

"You'd be surprised," Nico murmured.

Annabeth gave him a curious look and tried for a smile, but it didn't exactly meet her eyes.

That was one thing Nico appreciated about Annabeth: she never actually treated him like a freak. She was a little wary―but who wasn't?

Apparently, Jason Grace wasn't. Nico hadn't noticed Annabeth climbing onto his back until Jason wrapped his arms around Nico's waist, said "Hold on," and lifted them both into the air.