The Return of Evil | A Percy Jackson Fanfiction

=28= ALLIES AND FRIENDS

=NICO'S POV=

[A/N: This 3881 word chapter better make up for my laziness xD]

I STOOD AMONGST THE CROWD OF CAMPERS, THE REMAINS OF CABIN SEVEN'S chariot at my side, the dark abysses of my eyes searching the throng for any sign of my cyclops friend. Tyson might be my only chance of finding Will and the others, and I wasn't about to give up just yet.

"And this is why I prefer Camp Half-Blood." I muttered, dragging the multiple pieces of the chariot through the crowd, ignoring the way the other demigods stared at me. Back at the Greek camp, everyone knew everyone, and finding a particular person wasn't nearly as hard as finding someone in Camp Jupiter- where everything was so organized that it just made things harder. I pushed past a young brunette who shot a disapproving look as I went by. Gods, this was harder than I had expected it to be. Pausing to curse, I stopped to consider my options. If I were Tyson (which I definitely did not want to be), where would I be? The dining hall? No, it was mid-afternoon at Camp Jupiter- not even near to dinnertime. The barracks? No. "Temple Hill!" I shouted suddenly as the idea popped into my head. Yes, that was probably the only logical place Tyson would be.

Readjusting my aviators jacket, I took another quick glance around, just to make sure that Tyson wasn't hanging around the swarm of campers. Then, finally accepting the fact that he wasn't, I closed my eyes and managed to summon the shadows once more- picturing the small shed for Neptune on Temple Hill.

Just as I had appeared in Camp Jupiter only moments before, the shadows engulfed me, and after a few milliseconds of freezing temperatures and eerie darkness, I found myself standing in front of Neptune's 'temple,' just as I had wanted.

"Nico?!" A surprised and uncertain voice cried out from inside the shrine. Swiveling around to see who it was, the sight relieved me.

Tyson stood in front of a no-longer dusty altar, placing a jar of peanut butter on top of it, as an offering of sorts. His one, huge brown eye was wide open, and he nearly dropped another jar of the stuff at my unexpected appearance.

"Hi..." I said awkwardly, as I entered the shed to join him, leaving the chariot outside. As I passed through the doorway, I noticed that the the trident that was nailed above the door had been replaced and cleaned, a big change from the cobweb-covered one from before. "What are you doing?"

The cyclops seemed genuinely surprised by the question. "I am offering father this sacrifice," he said, patting the two jars on the altar.

"I see Neptune's...temple has changed a bit since I last visited," I started, my voice catching on the word temple.

"Yes." Tyson nodded enthusiastically. "I cleaned the sacrifice table and made a new trident for daddy."

"All by yourself?"

The friendly monster's cheerful eye dimmed a bit and his smile vanished. "Ella helped me." He said slowly. "Everyone else..." His voice trailed off and I didn't need to be Annabeth to work out what he meant.

"They still don't respect Neptune, do they?" I said, pointing out the obvious truth.

"They respect him...but only because of brother." Tyson sighed and looked me in the eyes. "The other campers, they still don't like Neptune, but they respect him, because he is kind of like brother's daddy and he can zap them to pieces."

"Do Frank and Reyna know this?" I asked, wondering what the two praetors would do about the situation. I mean, it wasn't like they could force all the campers to suddenly worship and love the roman sea god.