The Girl With the Diamond Blade- Nico di Angelo x Reader (Percy Jackson Fanfic)

Chapter 13

It was at this point that you realized you had no idea where Nico and Annabeth went after leaving camp.

You wracked your brain for some clue, some sign that would tell you where to turn next. However, you knew that if you were going to avoid the night guard harpies that ate campers out after curfew, you had to get going. You decided to sneak around the strawberry fields and then up around the tall pine tree that marked the entrance of the camp.

When you stepped outside the borders of the camp, you noticed something: it was windy. Windy with an ominously humid feel to the air. As your hair whipped around your face, you tied it back with one thought in your mind: you would have to find Nico and Annabeth before the storm set in. Otherwise, it'd be hard to track them down.

You spotted two faint sets of footprints in the damp grass, heading towards a road. You followed them for about an hour or so, until suddenly, there was a fork. You couldn't see any more footprints, and you began to get nervous. Maybe leaving camp was a bad idea, what if you couldn't find Nico and Annabeth? Maybe trying to join their quest was a bad idea; Percy had told you about the time he  had gone on a quest with too many demigods, and someone had died! What if you found them, and then got in their way? What if...what if you found them, killed? No. You refused to think your friends dead. They were capable, you reasoned, they were seasoned demigods and they wouldn't just fall victim to some random--

"AAGH!" You heard a loud shout emanate from somewhere nearby. Immediately, you went into attack mode, summoning your dagger and setting up your guard, eyes darting around for the enemy.

"Up ahead," the voice echoed through your mind. "There's where you'll find your friends."

You didn't have time to contemplate where the voice came from; you were too busy running like crazy down the dirt road. When you turned around a bend, you saw something that, metaphorically speaking, knocked you off your feet.

Where you had come to a stop was just the next part of the road. That much was normal; it was everything else that blew you away. First of all, Annabeth and Nico were standing a few hundred feet away, weapons drawn. Then comes the crazy part: a girl stood a few yards in front of them. Except, she wasn't ordinary. No, this girl was probably the most beautiful girl you'd ever seen, with full lips, a curvy frame with long legs, and fiery red hair flowing and dripping down and around her shoulders.

She was standing, poised confidently with her hands on her hips. She was staring right at Nico, and something welled up inside you. Something that told you, hey, she shouldn't be looking at him like that. 

"Why don'tcha come a little closer, Neeks?" she drawled out in a sugar-sweet voice. The sound of her voice seemed to swirl around you, closing in until it was all you were immersed in. Everything in you wanted to follow her orders, but then...

You looked at her a little closer. You started to notice that no, her eyes weren't sea-blue; they were bright red. Those long legs included a goat's leg for one of them. Her lips were full, yeah; but they also sported fangs. And as you looked closer at her red hair, you noticed that the way the twilight danced on it wasn't quite right.

You realized her hair was made of fire.

When you saw that, you gasped quietly. This was a empousa, and you desperately wracked your brain trying to remember anything useful. 

"Nico!" you called out, "Don't listen to her!"

Nico's head didn't turn to you, though Annabeth's did. She had a pretty nasty gash on her forehead, and it was bleeding, tracking dark streaks down her face. Her eyes widened when she saw you, but she stayed calm. But when you saw Nico start to lower his sword just the slightest bit, take the tiniest step forward...