The Next Generation: Hades's Helm

Chapter 6: Nico

Rights to Rick Riordan for the characters Nico di Angelo and Jason Grace. Thunder and the (currently unnamed) street girl are my OCs though.

Nico had been with Thunder all day.

Shortly after Jason Grace's passing, Thunder had arrived at Camp Jupiter. They had shortly figured out that she was, in fact, a daughter of Jupiter.

The way they figured that out, though, was quite unusual. Jupiter himself had come down to the Fields of Mars after Thunder helped the fifth cohort win one of the war games when she was 6. Jupiter had given Thunder a ring, which had a lightning bolt charm on it. All Thunder had to do was toss up her ring, and when it landed in her hand, it would become any weapon she willed it to be. Most often, there would be a crack of lightning in the background when she did.

Thunder wasn't technically the daughter of Jupiter's real name. Her real name was something in Korean since Thunder was Korean, which meant lightning in English. It was 번개. Nobody in either camp could pronounce her name right, and Lightning was a bit of an odd name, so they called her Thunder.

Thunder would visit Camp Half-Blood a lot and have quickly befriended Nico. When she visited Camp Half-Blood, she would sleep in the Hades cabin, since it was empty except for Nico. Nico often told Thunder stories about Jason before bed, since Thunder had gotten to Camp Jupiter after Jason had died, and was curious about her older half-brother.

Of course, Nico didn't live in Camp Half-Blood anymore. He was almost 21 years old. He had an apartment with Will in the mortal world. But he did like to visit Thunder in Camp Half-Blood every so often.

This night was no different.

Nico had told Thunder about the time he and Jason had visited Cupid, and Nico had come out to Jason (against his will).

"Really?" Thunder asks after Nico has finished the story. "He was really that nice?"

"Yeah," Nico confirms, sitting on the bunk across from Thunder in the Hades Cabin. "Jason didn't tell anyone else and was still kind to me, even after he found out."

Thunder smiles, obviously pleased by how kind her big half-brother had been to Nico. At that, Nico has to smile in return. She was just too cute.

"Okay, little lightning bolt. I think it's time to go to bed now. Chiron and the praetors wouldn't be too pleased if they found out I kept you up this late."

"Okay!" Thunder says, still smiling. She yawns a bit, before lying down in her bunk, pulling the covers over her face.

Nico smiles, a small smile, but a smile nonetheless. He lays down in his bunk, settling in for the night while waiting for sleep to take him.

  

Nico had a nightmare that night.

Of course, he did. What demigod went a night without nightmares?

He was in an alleyway. To either side of him, was an apartment building. Down the alleyway, in a dead end, was an industrial recycling bin. Behind it was a piece of cardboard, laid out like someone had put it there intentionally.

Nico was wondering what was happening, why he was having this dream, when he got his answer. A little girl runs past him, sitting down on the piece of cardboard. She took a glass bottle that had fallen out of the recycling bin, held it by the neck of the bottle, and broke it on the wall of the alleyway. This obviously caused the glass to shower everywhere, but it also made sharp edges on the glass bottle, which the girl was still holding.

Only then did Nico notice what the girl looked like. She was wearing a gray hoodie and gray sweatpants, but they were dirty and torn like she had been wearing the same clothes for months. She had black hair, pulled back in a braid. But her hair was dirty and matted like it had been in the same braid for a week and not washed in months. The girl's face was dirty like she hadn't had a bath in weeks. But there was another problem.

This girl looked young. No older than 6.

The girl's clothes were baggy on her. Which was odd, since they looked like they would fit a toddler. She was obviously malnourished. But she still had the strength to run and fight. Nico couldn't help but feel a sense of awe and respect for this small girl.

Then something else ran past Nico. It was a teenage girl dressed like a cheerleader. She was a pretty African American girl, with curly hair like Medusa's. But there was one other problem with this girl.

Her legs. One was bronze, the other looked like a donkey's.

This was an empousa. More specifically, Kelli. This young girl was a demigod.

The young girl looked at Kelli in fear, while Kelli just smiled maliciously.

"Well, well, well. Look what we have here. A little, weak, malnourished half-blood. You'll be a wonderful meal." Kelli said, walking towards the girl still.

The alleyway was small, so within a few steps, Kelli was almost to the girl. Nico wanted to do anything. Kill the empousa, tell the girl to run, anything to save her. But he couldn't. He was in a dream. He couldn't move.

But this girl didn't need Nico's help. While Kelli was walking towards her, she kept the broken bottle behind her back, looking helpless and scared. But when Kelly got close enough, and was about to strike, the girl took the glass bottle out from behind her. She stabbed Kelli in the chest, turning her into monster dust instantly.

That's when Nico noticed the scars.

The girl's neck was covered in scars. They all looked like they were from a knife. Nico couldn't see her arms and legs, but he presumed they were covered in scars too. Who would take a knife to a child's skin?

There was another scar, following the girl's left cheekbone. This one looked slightly worse than the rest. As if the cut had been deeper than the others.