𝙼𝚎𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚘𝚒𝚊 (𝙇𝙚𝙤 𝙑𝙖𝙡𝙙𝙚𝙯 𝙓 𝙊𝙘)

τριάντα δύο

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They arrived at the Colosseum just in time to see their missing friends fighting giants.

Hedge chuckled with glee as Elena told him to fire the Greek Fire at the giants.

"Hold on guys!" Leo cried, landing the ship inside. Elena watched as a round man turned one of the giants into ashes. She recognised that unpleasant face anywhere.

"Dionysus," She groaned.

"Actually, I think he's Bacchus. He's got a purple shirt." Hazel corrected.

"You're right." Elena nodded, taking a second glance.

As soon as the ship landed, she jumped off, others following closely behind. She ran past Jason and Percy and knelt beside Nico. She had a multitude of things to say and a longer list of things to tell him off for but seeing him half conscious and thinner than ever, she shut her mouth. He was still her brother after all, no difference of blood or camp could change that. She'd promised Bianca.

He'd gotten taller in the last few months they'd been apart but he was still light. She lifted him off the floor and carried him through the Colosseum. It might have looked odd to everyone else considering she was several inches shorter than him and he looked a lot more dangerous but she didn't mind. Hazel hurried to her side as they took him to the stern.

"Nico," She fed him small chunks of ambrosia, "How are you feeling?" He leaned into her body colder than she thought healthy for a human and mumbled so quietly she couldn't hear him.

"I could be better," He mumbled again when Elena leaned into him to hear better. Hazel sat beside them.

"We were worried you were dead," Hazel said, helping him sip the water she'd brought to his lips. Some colour returned to Nico's powdered milk complexion but not enough. Elena used her powers to bring a blanket from her room, the black tendrils disappeared into the floor and returned with a thick blanket. She frowned, that blanket used to be a lilac colour instead she was face to face with a black mass. Maybe her powers were messing with her items? It didn't matter, Nico would probably prefer the black blanket to a bright lilac one anyways. She wrapped him up in the blanket and continued to feed him small amounts of ambrosia while listening to him explain what had happened. Hazel got the others when he'd finished telling them they needed to hear him out. Elena helped him to his feet.

"Thank you," Nico rasped. His eyes darted nervously around the group. "I'd given up hope."

"You knew about the two camps all along," Percy said. "You could have told me who I was the first day I arrived at Camp Jupiter, but you didn't."

Nico slumped against Elena and she squeezed his arm reassuringly, "Percy, I'm sorry. I discovered Camp Jupiter last year. My dad led me there, though I wasn't sure why. He told me the gods had kept the camps separate for centuries and that I couldn't tell anyone. The time wasn't right. But he said it would be important for me to know..." He doubled over in a fit of coughing.

Elena held his shoulders until he could stand again.

"I—I thought Dad meant because of Hazel," Nico continued. "I'd need a safe place to take her. But now...I think he wanted me to know about both camps so I'd understand how important your quest was, and so I'd search for the Doors of Death."

The air turned electric—literally, as Jason started throwing off sparks.

"Did you find the doors?" Percy asked.

Nico nodded. "I was a fool. I thought I could go anywhere in the Underworld, but I walked right into Gaea's trap. I might as well have tried running from a black hole."