Out of Nowhere

Chapter 14

When I wake up I realize that Nico isn't on the couch with me like he was last night. My first thought is that I missed breakfast, but surely he wouldn't leave without me. When I sit up and stretch, I see that he actually retreated to his bed. Sometime during the night he must have moved there.

I walk over to him, while he's still asleep. He's spread out like a star fish across the bunk and that makes me smile. He had also discarded his shirt, I guess he always sleeps without a shirt. The sweet memory of my first morning at camp comes to mind.

I lean down and gently kiss his cheek and a smile wanders onto his face in his sleep. "Sweet dreams, Ghost King," I whisper, then head out of the cabin.

I look at my watch in the early morning light and see that it's around 5:45. Stupid habit of waking up early. I will never sleep in a day in my life.

I feel like swimming, as always, but the rumble of thunder in the distance holds me back. I know the magical boarders of the camp stop weather, but I'd rather not take my chances of being electrocuted.

I decide on a walk in the woods, so I slowly wander through the trees. I've been walking for about ten minutes when I hear a metallic clanging noise. I follow my ears and soon come upon a huge bunker in the rocks. I stand in the doorway and stare in awe.

Machines have always fascinated me, though I can rarely do anything with them but break them. The teens in this bunker, though, are working wonders. My eyes drift around the place, wandering through the projects. Finally, my eyes reach the bright jumbo tron. It reads; "Give Leo the Tacos!" And I can't help but laugh a little at it.

I remember Leo from the table of 'the seven' and his girlfriend Calypso. He seemed quite hyper then, but when he runs by, he seems almost out of hand. He runs by me with a grin on his face, and something in his hands. Following him is a beautiful girl, Calypso, oil stains and all, absolutely fuming yelling, "Leo! I wasn't done with that!"

I'm laughing while they run around until Leo dives behind me, using me as a shield. "Hey!" I jump forward.

Calypso stands in front of me, Leo behind and I decide to take the girl's side. I grin and nod to Calypso. I whip around, surprising Leo, and grab what was in his hand. He's knocked backwards and almost falls, but with my reflexes I grab his actual hand and pull him upright again.

I hand the thing to Calypso and turn back to Leo, preparing to introduce myself.

"You're Ames, right? Percy's sister?" He asks. I nod in response.

A troublemaker type grin spreads over his face.

"I am Captin Leo, Supreme Leader of the Hephaestus cabin and this is Bunker 9," he gestures to the huge bunker.

I laugh at his 'title' and turn to Calypso. "Hi, like I said the other day, I'm Calypso."

"Ames, since you're here, do you want to see what I'm working on?" Leo asks. I answer yeah and follow him.

Calypso heads somewhere else to finish her project as Leo shows me a work bench that's cluttered with electronic items.

Some of them look like the phones I would see at school. My mom never let me have one, and I understand why now because they attract monsters. Leo gestures to the mess proudly, "I'm working on a monster proof phone that demigods can use. I think I'm close, but I'm not sure if we need our own network, or if the phone just needs to be altered."

"That's really cool!" I exclaim. He grins and his hands leap to work. I watch him work, amazed at the speed and accuracy.

At one point, something shocks his finger and he jumps back, setting his hair on fire. I jump back too, in shock, almost falling off the stool I had settled on. Fire always makes me uncomfortable, so I press my back against another work bench. Leo laughs at my expression, then explains, "Sorry. You didn't know I could light on fire. That would be startling."

I roll my eyes, a smile creeping back onto my face, "Fire isn't really my thing. Bad experiences."

He nods, "I know what you mean."

I look down at my watch an see it's time for breakfast, "I'm going to eat."

Leo nods and yells to the people in the bunker, "BREAKFAST TIME!"

Everyone puts down their work and heads back through the woods. I walk with Leo and Calypso, Leo cracking silly jokes the whole way.

Once we reach the cabins I break away and walk back to the Hades cabin. I walk in and Nico's still asleep, but this time he's curled up under the sheets. I debate playing a prank, but decided against it at first.

I shake his shoulder, "Nico, breakfast. Wake up." He mumbles something, still half asleep and turns over. I grin, idea coming to mind.

I look around for water and find a glass on the mantel. I use my powers to pull out a small string and put the end in Nico's ear, careful not to hurt him.

"Ahh!" He sits straight up and I accidentally drop the water all over the side if his face. I quickly dry him off, still laughing.

"Shut up," he grumbles, pulling on a shirt.

"There's only one way you can make me do that," I taunt.

"Fine, you can keep laughing," he sighs.

I cross my arms and stick out my lip in a fake pout. He chuckles, "Ok, I can't resist that."

He walks over, wrapping his arms around me and gives me a light kiss on the lips. It makes me smile, just enhancing my happy mood.

I grab his hand and pull him out of the cabin, "Let's get breakfast."

As we walk up there, he asks, "Did you swim this morning?"

I shake my head, "I went for a walk in the woods and discovered Bunker 9."

"Cool, what was Leo working on?"

"Monster proof phone. Machines are interesting, but I could never do anything they were doing in the bunker," I sigh.

Nico laughs as we enter the pavilion. We go to our separate tables. After putting a bit of eggs in offering to dad, I sit down next to Percy. "How was your night," I ask, smirking.

He actually blushes, "It was... good. Where did you go to sleep?"

Now it's my turn to blush, "Hades Cabin. Don't jump to conclusions, we mostly just talked and we didn't even sleep in the same bed."

He sighs, "Ok, ok. You're cleaner than me."

I laugh, "Well, I haven't known him near as long as you've known Annabeth."

He nods and we finish eating, leaving me to my happy thoughts of Nico.