The Violin That Started it Again

Part 4) Chapter Twenty-Six

Yay! Another update because I'm feeling pretty inspired after that last chapter. And, I think that cliffhanger was kind of killing you guys. It killed me too and I already know what's going to happen.

I'm trying to see how much I can update today. My writer's block disappeared, and I know exactly how to end Depression. It's going to end really soon, and then I'm going to start Ignorance.

It's kind of ironic for the reason why Poseidon beat him up. Because Hades is the god of riches right? Well not in this case...

...

Percy Jackson

"That... That explains why there was that huge blood stain along the wall of his room, remember?" I turned to Nico for confirmation, and he nodded slowly.

"That explains it I guess," Nico responded quietly. "But why?" Nico ripped his gaze off the table and directed toward Poseidon. "Why did you do that anyway? Beat him to death? Isn't that extreme?" Before my dad could open his mouth to reply, Nico continued on. "You said you knew my father right? You must've had some reason to do such a thing to him."

My dad raised an eyebrow with a smile. "Are you defending him, Nico di Angelo? I thought you hated your father with a burning passion."

Nico narrowed his eyes. "I'm not defending him," he snapped back. "Just tell me the reason. Or are you going to lie to me about that too?"

Poseidon chuckled with amusement. "Now that you're here in front of me face-to-face, I wouldn't dare lie to you. It looks like you've been through some pretty rough things in your lifetime? I think it's time you finally got some answers, and it's why I'm here."

"What are you, my therapist?" Nico scoffed. "I can't even believe this."

Poseidon closed his eyes for a few moments before opening them once more. "Your dad... I knew about the things he's done to you."

For a second there, I swear Nico was going to flip the table and storm out of the pretzel store. A mad glint in his dark brown eyes caught my attention, and I totally thought Hell was about to rise.

To my shock, he didn't do anything. He sat there with no emotion evident anywhere on his face. The only way I knew he was listening was because of his tensed shoulders which my arm rested upon.

"Your dad owes me a lot of money," my dad began to continue. "He never paid it back. I waited and waited, but he never returned much money."

"He... Was in debt?" Nico asked slowly as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing.

Poseidon nodded. "He borrowed a lot of money from my company. I gave it to him because I knew him very well, as long as he paid it back of course. But my money never came back. I had done a bit of researching to see what in gods' name he was doing. That was when I found out about your family... Issues." My dad sighed, running a hand tiredly down his face. "I had decided it was time to end this huge debt. I had gone to visit him. It surprised me that no one else was home. I knew he had a son who was alive and... Well, he was nowhere to be found."

I glanced at Nico, and I already found him staring right back at me. That was when Nico has already moved into the spare room that my house had.

This all explained why my dad already knew of Nico di Angelo.

My dad cleared his throat. "I had tried to find a... Suitable form of punishment. I would've put him in a car accident, but that could've put myself at risk." His eyes flickered toward me. "Then I talked to Sally."

"Mommy?" Tyson's attention was drawn back to the conversation when he heard my mom being mentioned.

"What does Mom have to do with any of this?" I glared in the direction of my dad. I was suddenly in guard, waiting to do who-knows-what to my dad if he spoke the wrong thing.

"I had gone to visit her one day while the three of you" he gestured Tyson, Nico, and me, "were at school. Sally had stayed home to take care of the house and clean up a bit.

"While I was doing a bit of exploring around the house to see what had changed since the last time I had visited, the guest room had caught my eye. It looked as if someone now lived in that certain room. Black, newly painted walls, guitars, posters, clothing... It looked just like a bedroom instead of a guest room. I had asked your mother about it, and she said it now belonged to Nico di Angelo." He pronounced Nico's name slowly as if to make sure we didn't miss it. "I asked why, and she said that he had become a good friend of yours." He looked at me. "She said that Nico had gone through some traumatic things with his father and that he preferred living with them." His gaze returned to a very pissed off Nico. "When I asked what traumatic things--"

Nico slammed his hands against the table, causing the cups to rattle against the table and for Tyson and I to jump in our seats. Poseidon didn't seemed to be fazed at all. In fact, it looked more like he was anticipating that reaction to happen.

"We get it!" Nico interrupted, his breathing heavy. "Just get to the point," he snapped, leaning back into the chair.

Poseidon chuckled. "As I was saying, after I learned what happened between you," he nodded toward Nico, "and Hades, I figured out how to punish him. The same way Hades punished Nico."

Nico grimaced at this, and I pulled him closer to me for comfort. He wrapped his arms around me, swallowing nervously. His eyes were still narrowed in the direction of my dad.

We had told my mom and Paul what really happened to Nico after we started to date. I didn't want Nico to be lying to my parents while he was my boyfriend--that would've been plain horrible--so I had somehow managed to convince Nico into telling then the truth. It went pretty well actually, excluding the fact where Paul said he would threaten Hades with his Shakespearean theatre sword-fighting skills and my mom said that Nico would never be living in that wretched house ever again.

"And that was exactly what I did," my dad continued. "I beat him the same way he beat you, Nico di Angelo." Poseidon's eyes darkened. "Blood was everywhere, and he ended up dying."

Nico buried his face into my chest. I could feel his heart beating considerably fast and his breathing becoming an irregular pace. This was probably bringing such horrible memories to Nico. He was literally shaking uncontrollably in my arms. I knew that he couldn't handle hearing anymore.

"Dad," I informed him, glaring at him. He only shrugged with a smile as if he didn't just admit murdering someone with his bare hands.

I bent down so that my warm breath tickled Nico's eat lightly. "Let's go outside okay?"

There was a pause between us before he nodded. My dad had gotten out of his seat and exited the pretzel store. I told Tyson that Nico and I were going to sit outside for a bit, but then I realized that I wasn't just going to leave Tyson sitting there all by himself, so I told him to come along with us.

Tyson nodded, a grave expression replacing his usual excited and joyful mood. Even Tyson knew how serious and horrifying Poseidon's explanation was.

I opened the door for Nico and Tyson. Tyson thanked me and waited for Nico to intertwine his fingers with mine. I glanced back at the store with narrowed eyes.

I was hoping that was the last time I ever saw my dad.