scared? | a nico di angelo fanfic

chapter 2: leaving

Both of them ran up to the Big House and knocked on the door. It was freezing, so both of them were red from the cold, with Nico huffing from the run.

Nico had a grin on his fact, his eyes scanning the room anxiously. "Hey! Where's... where's my sister?"

The room was silent. Percy glanced at Chiron then back at us.

"Hey, Nico." He sat up. "Let's talk a walk, okay? We need to talk."

Nico left following Percy, with the younger boy's face drawn with worry.

Hoa hesitated for a second before following them. Once she caught up, she tugged Nico's arm. "Hey, you alright?"

She focused on taking the fear from Nico away, and in seconds, he looked a lot calmer. "Yeah."

"Great."

Nico turned to Percy, his eyes narrowing. "Where is my sister?" He asked Percy, his voice becoming more authoritative.

Percy looked off into the distance. "She's gone. I'm so sorry, Nico."

Percy talked about how she died, how she sacrificed herself for the quest. Nico's face clouded over with anger at every word he spoke.

She couldn't do anything about that. She specialized in fear and terror, not anger.

"She wanted you to have this." Percy handed Nico a figurine. Hades. The only figurine he didn't have and the one he ranted about the most.

He closed the figuring in his fist, anger completely on his face. "You promised you would protect her."

Percy looked sad. And hurt. "Nico," he said. "I tried. But Bianca gave herself up to save the rest of us. I told her not to. But she—"

"You promised!"

Nico glared at Percy with such fury and anger in his eyes. It made Hoa think to the past. That's how she was during the Vietnam War.

Her thoughts wandered off to the Lotus Casino and how she saw Nico at one of the games, playing Pac-Man. She walked up to him, saw him die way too many times, and made him watch her play.

She snapped back to reality when Nico spoke again.

"I shouldn't have trusted you." Tears brimmed the young boy's eyes and his voice broke. "You lied to me. My nightmares were right!"

"Wait." Hoa intervened, tugging at Nico's arm. "What nightmares?"

Nico ignored her and flung the statue against the ground, clattering against the icy marble. "I hate you!"

"She might be alive," Percy said, his sea green eyes full of desperation. "I don't know for sure—"

"She's dead." Nico closed his eyes, shaking. Hoa put her hand over his eyes, trying to take any fear from him, but there was none, just anger. "I should have known earlier. She's in the fields of Asphodel, standing before the judges, being evaluated, right now. I can feel it."

Hoa's eyes widened. He could feel what? Who was this kid?

Then she looked at the figurine Nico threw to the floor. Shit. The situation just got way worse.

Hades. God of the Underworld. Was it possible that Nico was his son?

Percy, not having come to this realization, stared at Nico in confusion. "What do you mean, you can feel it?"

Before Nico could answer, she heard a clacking noise. What the hell?

Percy drew his sword and she drew her dagger. Lóng hăng hái, or "fire" in Vietnamese, was a beautiful weapon, with its bronze blade, the reddish hilt, and gold outline, carved masterfully by Benkendorf, head of the Hephaestus Cabin.