Running Over Water

[32 - Happy Meals]

Percy

I search for a drachma out of my pocket and throw it into the air, quickly muttering the words under my breath.

An image of Nico suddenly appears in the air, and immediately, he sits up and stares at me as if he sensed my presence.

It seems like he was in his cabin, laying in his bed, as he if he going to sleep. I looked at the clock on the wall and frowned when I saw it was only later afternoon.

He sighed in exasperation as he noticed it was me. "Whatever you want from me, I'm not doing it. Good night."

He pulls falls back down into his bed and turns his back to me. I rolled my eyes at him. "Nico, come on, I need another favor. I know it's been like not that long since my last favor but it's urgent. I can't really explain it but I need you to help defeat this bad guy who runs really fast, and I need you to do the "Summoning of the Dead" act you do. I promise, if you do this, I'll take you to McDonald's."

Nico shifts in his bed before turning to face me. "Has to be a Happy Meal."

"You can have as many Happy Meals as you want. So you're in?"

Once again, he sighs and sits up again. "Fine. But I swear to gods, Percy, you seriously need to stop getting yourself into trouble." He gets out of bed and wobbles around, grabbing some stuff and shoving it into a backpack. "Whatever, I'll be there in a few." And he ends the call with a hand swiping the air.

Mere moments later, Nico appears from the dark corner of the room with a backpack on his shoulder. "All right, where is this guy." Nico asks, looking around the room.

"Oh, well, at the moment, we don't really know. We're kind of working on that part right now. And another thing, I kinda need you to cover for me. So, these people don't know I'm a demigod, for obvious reasons. They believe I'm a metahuman."

"What's that?"

"Basically a demigod but minus the whole Greek stuff."

He scoffs, "If only that was us."

"Just try to follow my lead, and don't say anything stupid," I say while unlocking the door and walking out.

"You of all people are telling me not be stupid?" He rolls his eyes and follows me out.

I lead him to the Cortex where my friends are huddled together in the same spot, whispering amongst themselves. They all simultaneously turn their heads at us as they hear us walk in.

"Hey, guys," I beckon them over and they all look at each other in confusion before coming towards us.

"Who's this?" Caitlin asks, saying out loud what I'm sure everyone else was wondering.

"Nico. And you?"

"Caitlin," she holds out her hand, waiting for Nico to shake it but instead, my cousin looks at her hand as if it was infected and looks back up at her. I jab my elbow into his side, and he turns to me with a death stare. After a second, he reluctantly turns back to Caitlin and shakes her hand.

"So!" Barry interrupts, saving the awkward moment. "I take it you're going to be the one helping us." Barry looks at me with an uncertain look on his face before looking at Nico. "How do you guys know each other again?"

"We're cousins," I said, making a grim smile. Cisco looks from me to him.

"Not to sound rude, but how exactly can you help us?" Cisco asks, looking at Nico. "You're a metahuman too?"

He nods in head in a swift motion and looks at me expectantly. I take it that he wants me to explain more. "Yes! He is a metahuman. He lives here in Central City. We were visiting his family when I got hit by the particle accelerator."