Percys Present of the Sea (a Nico DiAngelo love story)

Worries and woes

Nico's POV

I can tell by the way she's looking around that she's not comfortable sharing her story with me, here. I decided to take her by the hand and walk her over to my cabin, since I'm the only one that lives there it's always private. My favorite place in the world, I thought sarcastically. As we're walking over, I can feel her starting to observe me more and her surroundings. Being a son of the God of the dead has that effect on people. We settled by the fire and I start listening to her story, it was sad for sure, but it sounded just like any other demigod story, especially for one of the big three. I mean clearly something was going on, but my interest really wasn't peaked until she describes to me what sounds like a hell hound.

That is one of the underworld creatures, something called upon only by Hades or a child of Hades. I am the only child of Hades, so that means only one other person could've summoned it there in the woods, why? The thing that bothers me most of all is that it was just observing, it never attacked. Who is this girl and why is Hades having his top lieutenants watching her. Watching and not attacking, what purpose could he possibly have for her. Why is he watching her? Not to mention the fact that a cyclops attacking her entire family means there's another player in the game at the very least, cyclops are not one of my father's minions.

At this point she had calmed down from her panic attack and had fallen into a restless sleep by the fire, exhausted, still with tears in her eyes. Nico could tell there was more to the story, but he wasn't very sure she could get through it at the moment. She seemed traumatized and even though she's telling a story about this big family, she arrived here alone he knew that much. So what it happened to the rest of her family? She watched her parents die right in front of her, but what had happened to her step brother?

Nico got up quietly, trying his best not to disturb her. He put a blanket over top of her and set off into camp on a mission. After hearing a story like that and experiencing her trauma firsthand, he couldn't help but care about her.

Not to mention him and his entire friend group had all dealt with this same kind of BS, and never had anyone to help figure things out. Now they were all senior campers, and the most recent saviors of the world. They had the means knowledge and friendships to help make this girls experience easier, and he was going to try. First he needed to make sure everyone else was up to speed.

He ended up finding Percy and Annabeth together, what a surprise, in the woods over by the amphitheater. "What's up Nico," Percy said happily. " Hey Percy, I met your sister" " She's great isn't she" annabeth said, " We're letting her sleep in", Percy said "She had a long night" "I should probably go get her though, Chiron probably will want to talk to her about how she got here" Said Percy
"Well that's actually what I came here to talk to you about, has she told you what happened yet, how she got here?" I asked. Percy looked at me perplexed, "No I haven't had a chance she got in so late last night and was in such rough shape, why?"

I proceeded to tell Percy all that she had told me, Annabeth listening in as well. I told them about Marisa growing up by the ocean and her family. I told them about the camping trip, and the cyclops. Annabeth had tears in her eyes by the end. "Oh my gods", Percy said, "She watched her parents die right in front of her". Percy was clearly saddened, at his sister's misfortune. "I have to go find her" Percy said, obviously wanting to guard her from any more pain. He had even taken up a stance that looked like he was ready to pounce on anything remotely harmful in the room. Nico informed them that he wasn't finished, and proceeded to tell them about the hell hound staring at her in the woods. This caught both of their attention. "A hell hound?" Annabeth said "and it didn't attack", "That's strange" Percy agreed.

I wanted to come and tell you guys before you took her to the big house, since all of this sounded so dire. If I didn't know any better it sounds like the makings of another war of some sort. It sounds like she might be involved in a prophecy. At this I saw the life leave Percy's eyes and dread fill them. Nico understood completely what he was thinking. They had just finished a six year prophecy themselves. Saved the world. Dealt with all the bullshit along the way. Percy knew what the weight of the prophecy meant, and Nico knew as well. If Percy had never taken up the first prophecy, it would've fell on Nico's shoulders as the only other child of the big three at the time.

Another child of the big three adding to the party could only mean more expectation, pressures and quests. And from the sound of it, this time they were centered around her. Not to mention Marisa sounds like she's lost more than most, and based off of the story and the players involved, this was just the beginning for her. All three looked around at each other worriedly. They decided to go back to Nico's cabin and try learn the rest of Marisa's story, in case it had any more clues before they take her to the big house to Chiron.

It's not that they couldn't share this information with Chiron, they just all knew how quickly things would move from there with the Oracle, and the gods. If this does turn into a prophecy, if this does turn into a quest they want to be well appraised of the situation first so they can properly help and protect Marisa.

Somehow this girl had only been here 24 hours and all three of them cared about her so deeply they would risk their lives for her. They all wanted to protect her from any more pain.

Nico, Annabeth, and Percy, headed back to Nico's cabin for the rest of the story.