OMEGA

Chapter Nine

Nico's POV

When Omega said that Percy was dead, my heart stopped. I squeezed my eyes shut, feeling the tears flood in an overflow.

"But how can he be dead?" I asked Omega. "I know that he's not in the Underworld and I know that he didn't go for rebirth."

Omega turned and looked at me, and even though I could only see the lower half of his face, I could tell his eyes were full of pity. "He didn't die on Earth, so he's not in your Underworld."

"When did he die then?" I asked, begging for information, wanting nothing more than to go and save Percy.

"On Planet Chaos."

Things were silent for a few seconds before there was an uproar of voices.

"Why there!?"

"Where the Hades is that!?"

"How do we get there!?"

There was yelling, mostly by the Immortal Campers who actually knew Percy.

"Silence!" Omega yelled and everyone immediately quieted. "Ponder over what I said, and at tomorrow's camp fire, I will answer seven questions. So, if you want to ask me something, I suggest running it by an Immortal. Now, good night." With that, he turned and walked away.

~~~

I couldn't sleep that night, images of Percy with a spear stuck in his stomach kept filling my mind.

I through my covers off me and walked out of my cabin and into the woods where it was dark. I felt comfortable in the darkness, given I could see fairly clearly in it, unlike other people. It was a child of Hades thing that came in handy at times like these.

I got hushed by tree nymphs as I walked past them, waking them up whenever I stepped on a crunchy leaf of a twig, but I just ignored them and kept walking.

When I got to the big pile of poop, otherwise known as Zeus' Fist, I noticed it looked weird. It was taller than normal and oddly deformed, more deformed than normal. As I neared it, I saw what it was. Someone was sitting on the top of the pile; someone dressed in all black with a hood.

I bowed at the one person I wanted to talk to at the moment. "Lord Omega," I said, announcing my presence, but I had a feeling he knew I was coming from a mile away.

"There's no need to bow, Mr. Di Angelo. You are a war hero and an immortal, that makes us equals," Omega said as he stood up and jumped to the ground, landing silently. I rose and stared at the man in front of me, wanting nothing more than to beg for information, but I held it in, not wanting to anger one of the most powerful beings in the universe. I could see a golden aura laced with silver surrounding him; something that only people with some serious power had.

"We're not equals," I said in the most respectfully manner I could. "I can tell just by looking at you that you're better than me."

Omega then did something that I didn't expect. He slapped the back of my head and I could feel him roll his eyes at me. I just gapped at him.

"Damn, you're a dumb ass," he said and laughed, seeming completely out of the character of a hard ass that he presented himself to be. "In my eyes, were equals." I could see a grin on his face and I just stared in shock. What was going on? He was acting like a teenager.

"B-but-," I stuttered, only to get cut off.

"Oh come off it, di Angelo. Did you really think I was a hard ass? I'm was Percy's friend for gods sake." I just kept staring at him and he shook his head. "My Lord told me I could be myself on this mission, and since we're soon going on a quest together, I figured I should drop the act sooner rather than later. Just, don't let the others know yet, okay? I want to enjoy the look of shock that I get."

I nodded before shaking my head in confusion. "Okay, but, what? I-I don't understand. You're this mega bad ass who rules planets and has murdered countless people? How are you not a hard ass?"

He just shrugged and plopped down on the ground, leaning up against the pile of rocks and patting the spot next to him. I sat as instructed. 

"Who says I'm not? I can be, well, I am most of the time. Normally on a mission, I'm the leader. I'm the one everyone counts on. It wouldn't be right to act all laid back and fun at those stressful times. I have to be what's needed at time, and when I can, I like to just be myself." I looked at him, and even though I could only see the bottom half of his face, I could see that he was telling the truth. He had the grin of a jokester and the smile lines that a hard ass doesn't have. I knew that if I could see his eyes, they'd have a glint of humor in them that overshadowed the deadness of being a warrior.

"You're a lot like Percy, aren't you?" I asked and he turned his head and looked at me. He cocked it to the side in slight confusion, maybe shock.

"What do you mean?" I just looked at him, searching his face, well, the face that I could see.

I smiled. "You're a power being who has a kind soul. You're someone who likes to laugh and have fun. Someone who's not afraid to do what need's to be done." My smile disappeared as I kept talking, realizing the features of the face I was looking at. Features that I'd seen in the Field of Punishments and Elysium on war heroes and terrorists alike. "Someone who has seen so much, but acts like they're not breaking inside. Someone who is a leader, who will do anything to make sure you're friends and family don't get hurt or die. Someone who's side always wins, no matter the costs, as long as they're not their own. Someone that no one wants as an enemy. Someone that I want on my side."

He kept staring at me, as if processing what I said. A frown was on his face and I was really hoping that what I said hadn't upset him. I knew that I didn't want to face the wrath of the great Omega.

After a minute or so, he stood up. "You know, di Angelo. I underestimated you." He stayed quiet as I processed what he said. What did he mean by that? Did he think of me as an idiot? As a weakling? What was it that made him underestimate me?

He held out his hand and I grabbed it, allowing his to pull me up with more strength that I expected. Once I was standing beside him once more, he smiled, making me let out a breath of relief. He patted me on the back before throwing an arm around my shoulder carelessly. "I'm glad you're coming on the quest with me. You and I are going to get along swimmingly."

(Sooooo sorry for the long wait. My family was on vacation so we haven't celebrated Christmas yet and I'm supposed to get a new laptop because mine broke, but I haven't got it yet so I had to type this all up on my phone, which I hate doing. Once again, sorry!)

(Please comment and tell me what you think!!!)

(Also, does anyone want to talk about the new Sherlock episode???)