Death's Embrace (Nico Di Angelo x femOC)

3: Is Zoe older than Jesus?

"For the scythe of Thanatos what the hell just happened?" Mariana mutter under her breath, still holding Nico's hand, not even realizing it. She shook her head and took a deep breath, and tugged Nico's hand. "Let's go back to the cabin..." Pity the losers who have to carry the mummy back to the attic.

Nico nodded in agreement, still looking a bit shocked by what had just happened. They turned and silently walked back towards the cabins.

As they walked, Mariana kept stealing glances at Nico, making sure he was okay. Once they were a good distance away from the group, she finally spoke, her voice soft.

"Are you okay?" she asked him. "That was pretty creepy even for me that I had already seen the oracle before, can't imagine how it was for you..."

Nico shivered slightly, his face a little pale. "Yeah, I'm alright," he said, trying to sound braver than he felt. "Just a little shaken up, I guess. But I don't understand. Why did the Oracle say that stuff about Artemis in chains?"

Mariana shrugged, trying to hide her own unease. "I don't know. It sounded pretty bad, though. Especially the part about a camper being lost and one perishing by a parent's hand..."

Nico shuddered. "Yeah, that's the part that stuck with me too." He looked up at Mariana. "Do you think it's actually going to come true?"

She didn't want to lie to him, but she also didn't want to scare him. "I don't know," she said honestly. "Prophecies are tricky. They don't always mean what we think they mean, and sometimes they're just downright wrong. But just in case...we have to be careful, okay?"

Nico nodded, understanding. They continued walking in silence, the only sound being the occasional snow crunching under their feet. Finally, they reached the Hermes Cabin. "Here's our stop"

"Right." Mariana paused, realizing she was still holding onto his hand. She quickly let go, feeling a little embarrassed. "let's go inside."

"Yeah," Nico said, and they opened the door to the chaotic scene inside.

Hermes Cabin was always a bit chaotic, but now it was even more so. The room was filled with demigods in various states of sleepiness, some of them still in their armor from the game talking in hushed tones about the prophecy.

Mariana and Nico made their way through the chaos to their sleep bags, which were pushed together at the back of the cabin.

Mariana snuggled down in her own sleep bag, already feeling groggy. "You should probably try to get some sleep," she said to Nico.

Nico nodded, settling into his own sleep bag. He seemed a little calmer now, but still a bit on edge.

"Yeah, you're right," he said. "Good night, Mariana."

"Goodnight, Nico," she said softly. She watched as he closed his eyes and eventually fell asleep.

Mariana lay there for a while, listening to the sounds of the other campers settling in. Her mind was racing with everything that had happened that day, and the prophecy's words kept swirling in her head. But eventually, exhaustion took over and she fell asleep.

The next morning, Mariana woke up feeling a bit groggy from the previous day's events. She sat up in her sleep bag, stretching, and glanced over to Nico's bed. He was still fast asleep, his curls falling over his face.

She gently shook his shoulder. "Hey, Nico," she whispered. "Wake up, it's morning."

"Mmmph," Nico mumbled, rolling over and pulling his pillow over his head. "Five more minutes..."