The Boy with the Black Sword

Nico should have known it was a terrible idea to drop by a high-end private school in Brooklyn.

When twelve immortal, somewhat all-knowing beings tell you to stay away from a certain place, you should listen. You'd think he'd have learned to pay attention when all of the gods agree on something, because they never agree. Never. When all twelve Olympians tell you to stay away from Brooklyn, it's probably in your best interest to stay away.

Nico had originally planned to stay away. Contrary to popular belief, he wasn't actually suicidal, only depressed. He thought this was allowed, considering his mother and sister were dead and his dad was the immortal god of the underworld who hated his guts. Yes, he was curious as to why he had to stay away from Brooklyn, but he didn't have a death wish. The only reason he'd ventured into the city was because of the iris message from Lacy.

He had been wandering around camp by himself. Everyone else was either training or working on the Argo II. It was just him, alone with his thoughts which were constant loop of Percy and Hazel. Where was Percy, how was Hazel, is Percy alive, is Hazel okay, is Percy okay. Is she settling in at the Roman Camp? Is Percy alive somewhere hidden in the Roman Camp? Has she made any friends? Does Percy remember anyone?

He probably would have walked right by if it hadn't been for all the screaming.

Lacy had iris messaged the Aphrodite cabin in hopes of finding Piper. Nico wasn't sure why she hadn't just directly asked for Piper, but he suspected that she didn't know exactly how iris messaging worked. Either way, her misty, multicolored image was yelling for help from Cabin 10. As much as he'd wanted to walk away and let someone else deal with it, nobody else was around to. So in he went.

Lacy was away at some private school in the city, just like she was every year with Drew and Mitchell and a few other campers who didn't stay year round. In retrospect, it was a terrible idea to send multiple demigods to one school, no matter how well trained or how little monstrous attention they attracted. Now there was a spirit wreaking havoc around the school, attacking students and trashing classrooms.

Lacy told him Drew had disappeared along with the other campers, but she and Mitchell hadn't been so lucky. Mitchell was locked in the janitor's closet while she hid in a classroom, huddled under the teacher's desk, praying the monsters wouldn't smell her. Nico asked for the address, not even thinking twice when she told him it was some fancy school in Brooklyn, and told her he was on his way.

He turned out the lights in the cabin and walked straight through the back wall.

When he melted from the shadows on the front lawn of the school, he couldn't do anything but stare, trying to comprehend what he was seeing because he was pretty sure spirits didn't give off flashes of multicolored light. Something wasn't right, but he didn't have the time to think about it. He could hear crashing and screeching and screaming already and he hadn't even gone through the front door. Sighing, he ran to the front steps hoping it was unlocked and flung open the enormous set of double doors.

The room he stumbled into shouldn't even be called a room. It was more of a grand hall or a foyer, all stone floors and columns and fabrics draped on the walls. However, the dark figure floating through the hall was a distraction from the beautiful architecture. Naturally, it saw him before he had the chance to get away.

He fumbled for his sword as the monster screeched, heading straight for him with her talons and fangs on full display. He leaped to the side and the monster flew past him, stopping short when she realized she'd missed her target. She turned back to him, and probably would have charged again had it not been for his sword. He swung it in front of him, causing her to stop short, allowing him to get a good look at the ghost for the first time.