The Return of Evil | A Percy Jackson Fanfiction

=23= SECRET IDENTITIES

=NICO'S POV=

I decided I officially hated shadow-travel. Cursing under my breath, I crept out of the white bed I'd been sleeping in for over- what? Four hours now? It didn't matter. I hated the infirmary too.

My legs shook from the lack of energy. Moving slowly, I made my way to the old oak door on the other side of the room. Thank the Gods that there wasn't anyone else in here. They wouldn't have let me leave. I scowled. Especially Will. He wouldn't have let me leave for at least a week.

"Why am I always thinking about Will?" I muttered to no one in particular.

The sandy-haired demigod always managed to make his way into my thoughts, one way, or another. Frankly, it was getting a bit annoying.

The door squeaked loudly as it swung open. I stepped outside. Normally, I didn't like the great outdoors- but for once, I was glad to get out of the heavy anti-bacterial smell of the infirmary and into fresh air. At least Will didn't smell like that.

There you go again, I thought. Always thinking about Will.

Speaking of which, where was Will?

I walked over to a group of Ares campers by the climbing wall. All conversation ceased as soon as they saw me.

"Hey." I said bluntly.

"Hey." They replied, glancing towards each other nervously.

"Have you seen Will?" I asked, putting my hands into my pockets. It was funny, if you thought about it. The boys in front of me were all at least three years older than I was, but acted as if I was the older one. My cold eyes bore into theirs. "Have you seen him?"

"John saw them." One of the teens said. He quickly nudged a blonde-haired kid next to him. "Tell him, John."

A blonde-haired Ares kid named John. What was the world coming to?

"Last I saw him, he was running towards the Big House with Chiron and that girl, Annabeth." He blew a bit of his hair out of his eyes. "Seemed like they were in a hurry."

I stared at the kid. He seemed familiar somehow, though I just couldn't put my finger on it.

For some reason, he looked more like an Athena kid, than an Ares kid.

"You have any siblings, John? I mean, not on the godly side?" I asked, my expression neutral.

He sighed, as if he'd been asked this question many times before. "Yeah. One. Her name's Astrid."

For a moment, I was confused, but quickly hid it. "Astrid?" I said. "As in, the Athena girl, Astrid? You guys are brother and sister?" Even as I said the sentence, I knew it was true. The two looked almost identical, except for the fact that John was obviously younger than his sister.

"Yep. That's the one." He replied, casting his eyes down. "Our family's complicated."

I smirked. "Tell me. I've got all the time in the world."

But internally, I was secretly screaming at myself to run to the Big House and find Will. I needed someone to talk to.

John obliged. "So, Astrid's dad- my stepdad, and my mom, married. They had a kid together- a totally normal, no godly blood at all, mortal kid. A few years later, they divorced. The kid, Sam, stayed with my stepdad. Now, we skip to a few months later. My stepdad meets Athena. They fall in love. BOOM! Astrid comes to life." He said Astrid's name in distaste, as if he hated this part. "Then, my mom meets Ares. You get what happens next. My mom and Astrid's dad get back together. Happy ever after."