What if... (A Nico di Angelo story)

Chapter 5; Fear

The surprise...

It was...

"Nico.." Will breathed out.

He froze right where he stood, not realizing that Hades was talking to him.

"William? You okay? Jeez, you look like you've seen a ghost- Well, I am the Lord of the Dead-"

"Nico is the surprise?!"

In response to Will's outburst, Hades was taken aback. "Uh, well, yeah."

Will just stood there, again, staring at Hades with wide eyes.

Let's be honest, even if you are a God, being stared at for 30 minutes is very, very, uncomfortable. Hades had gotten so uncomfortable that he up and left, melting into the shadows.

Even after Hades left, Will still stared right where the God of the Underworld stood, just zoning out about what he was told.

He didn't even notice Alice walking over with Benji, humming to herself and skipping slowly; Benji was looking away from her.

Benji was the first to notice Will, quickly grabbing his sister's arm, which almost made her fall face first. "What is it, Benji?"

Alive look at his brother, then noticed he was pointing. She moved he gaze to where he was pointing. "Is he okay, Hatter?"

'Hatter' is a nickname that Benji gave to Alice, and in return, got a nickname as well.

"I'm sure he's okay. Stay here, and I'll go check on him, okay my little Hare?"

Benji nodded, letting go of his sister's arm and watching her as she carefully made her way to Will. Alice put her hand on Will's shoulder once she made it over to him, briefly looking at Benji. "Will? You alr-"

"Alice!" Will exclaimed. "You scared the shit out of me!"

Alice hit his shoulder hard. "No cussing! Benji is over there!"

Will apologized as Benji walked over, deeming it safe. "So, what happened, Will?"

Will looked at Benji. "I got a message."

Alice looked at him weird. "Care to share with the class, William?" Reyna was walking over. No. Not walking. Marching. "Oh, yeah- um- I was told a while ago by Hades-"

"Lord Hades?!" Benji exclaimed. Oh, yeah. Forgot to mention. A strange habit of Benji's is to favor certain gods, such as the King of the Underworld. Will nodded. "What did he tell you?" Alice chimed in. Will took a deep breath, then spoke. "He talked of a 'surprise', and a few minutes earlier, he popped up and had a short conversation with me." 

Alice snapped her fingers. "It was about Annabeth's report, wasn't it?" Will nodded, and Benji gave the three a confused look. Reyna sighed. "Should've came over when your sister called you over, little one." Will chuckled. 

"Well, he mentioned that Annabeth ruined his surprise." 

Reyna thought for a while, but Alice seemed to catch on a lot quicker. "It's Nico!" 

Reyna looked at her, narrowing her eyebrows. Her eyes widened after a while. "You sure you aren't the child of Athena?"

Alice laughed. "No, I'm a child of Apollo."

Benji looked at them, then it seemed to click. "Nico didn't dump you? So the rumors weren't true! I knew it!"

Just then, a weird portal opened and a lanky boy with short (bob-cut) half-and-half hair fell out, landing on his face. "Sir?" The guy's head shot up, revealing that it was a girl and not a boy, despite the flat chest. "Fuck!" The woman exclaimed, earning a glare from Alice. "Oh well, ignore me. I'm on a mission and lost focus. See ya!"

The girl stood and turned to the portal to leave, only to halt in her steps. "Oh, and," she started. They all turned to look at her. "I was told to give this to you." She summoned a letter that was in a yellow envelope. She walked over to Alice and passed it to her. "Here you go!"

The girl turned back and ran into the portal. "Well, that was weird."

Alice stuffed the letter in her back pocket. (A/N: I'm being honest, that was a stupid way to advertise a book I am working on-) "Well, continue." Reyna voiced with a slight hint of annoyance in her voice. "So, Nico is on his way -being carried by the skeletons- over here. And why?"

"Why not?" A voice appeared behind them, which caused them to turn around to it. 

It was Hades, in all his glory. "Lord Hades!" Benji yelled, walking over to him. "Hey, little guy. I heard that you like me." Benji nodded ecstatically. Hades chuckled. "You know, apparently the way Percy found out Nico is my child is because Nico got upset and threw a figurine of me from this game he liked to play on the ground." Benji listened intently, chuckling when Hades finished his sentence. 'Well," Reyna started, "Lord Pluto, may we know what you meant by that?"

Hades thought for a minute. "Oh, yeah. Why the hell would I not help my son?" Reyna bowed in an apology. "Sorry, Lord Pluto."

Hades nodded at her. "Well," He looked up, "I should go." 

Hades started fading into the shadows. "Hades!" He stopped. "Is there anything I need to do to prepare for his arrival?" Hades thought for a minute, before responding to Will. "I mean, physically, I'd get stocked up on some certain things that at least one of you," he glanced at Benji, "will know what I am talking about. Mentally, though? Hm, I'd say, keep calm, control your anger? I don't know, I'm not you." Hades shrugged before disappearing completely. 

"Wonder what he meant for the first bit of advice." Reyna put a hand to her face. "Well, I'm tired. I'm going to bed. Goodnight."

They all bid her goodnight and watched her enter Cabin 13. "I have an idea what he meant." Benji chimed. The two older ones looked at him quickly, their need to know weighing above everything else. "Well?"

Benji sighed. "I'm not saying, but I would like to have access to the Infirmary." Will nodded. "Of course, little dude, you can go in whenever you need!" Benji nodded with a smile. "Well, nice talk. Sorry, Will, but it's kind of past Benji's bedtime." Benji glared at her, but a ghost of a grateful smile passed over his lips. Will knew why. Alice and Benji's mother, once she found out about this place, she ditched them here and left the country. Since then, Alice had been taking care of Benji, who had been 1 year old, for a long time, until some other campers realized what was going on and offered support. 

Will nodded and waved to them as they left for the Apollo Cabin.

...

"Fuck-"

He ran after the two, realizing that he himself is also a child of Apollo. 

He went to bed, wondering about what the next few days will bring. 

'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'--'-'-

Heyyyy! I'm sorry if this took too long to get out, I just been having a hard time focusing what with exam stress growing and shit like that. I hope you liked this, and if it feels rushed near the end, that's because it kind of was!

I greatly hope you enjoyed this! Note that I'll be probably taking a lot longer to post because I have exams and shit like that to get through, and I have a project in Mythology and it has to be PG, so if I was to make a infographic on Aphrodite, I'd have to use the story were she was born of the foam from the sea and not the one where she was born from the severed genitals of a guy-

Well, hope you enjoyed! Bye!~