Heroes of Hogwarts: Being Brave is Believing in Yourself

Chapter 19

Somewhere over the Atlantic and CJ:
Nico felt like he was being tossed around. His hand was still holding on to Hazel's and Draco's, but he felt like he was going through a shredder.

His strength was draining. But, they had to make it all the way to Camp Jupiter. Reyna had said that camp was the most threatened, so they decided to go there first.

Nico gave up all he had as his vision dimmed.

Then the world went completely dark.

The darkness swirled. It focused and unfocused. Nico saw someone's face. It looked like.....

"Clovis?!" He asked.

The son of Hypnos jolted awake. "I'm up! I'm up! Oh, it's just you. What do you want?"

Nico grinned. "I need you to tell Will Solace that we're coming back from England. We're going to go fight for Camp Jupiter. Tell him, okay? Clovis? CLOVIS!!!"

Clovis woke up(again). "What?! Oh, I heard you. Tell Solace Will that you're coming back from Camp Jupiter and are going to fight for England. I got it."

Nico gritted his teeth. Hopefully Will would understand. "I feel like I'm waking up, Clovis. You tell him, okay? You better not forget."

As Clovis nodded, Nico felt his eyes opening. Another blurry face appeared above him.

"Nico? Nico! Gods, you're okay!" It was Hazel.

"Hmm? Yeah I'm fine." Nico sat up. He looked around. They were in a tent. It was just Hazel and him.

"Where are we? Where are the others?" Nico asked groggily.

Hazel hugged him. "We're in Camp Jupiter. We made it, Nico! Leila and Dakota's cohorts got quite a surprise, though. Jason had to fight them for a bit so they wouldn't kill us."

Nico laughed. "Sounds like we're in the right place. Can we go with everyone else now?"

Hazel nodded. She led him outside. The glare of the sun off the Little Tiber momentarily blinded Nico. He shaded his eyes with his hands and walked with Hazel to another, larger tent with many more flags. Nico guessed it was the Command Tent.

As they walked inside, Nico saw everyone, including Leila and Dakota, gathered inside.

Draco glanced at Nico. "Glad to see your up."

Nico made his way to the table in the middle of the tent. On it, there were little soldiers and little monsters positioned all across the map of Camp Jupiter and the Caldecott Tunnel.

Nico cleared his throat. "Before we begin this weird war meeting-thing, I want everyone to know I gave a message to Clovis to give to Will."

Neville frowned. "About what?"

"About how we returned and are going to help Camp Jupiter." Nico said.

It was Percy's turn to frown. "How?"

Nico sighed. "In my dreams."

Percy frowned some more. Annabeth waved his words away. "Enough Seaweed Brain. Clovis will come through. We need to start figuring out what to do."

Paisley shifted. "Uh, does Reyna know we're here?"

Dakota took a drink of Kool-Aid. "She should. I sent a message."

"But aren't you in the same camp?" Ron asked.

"Too dangerous to leave our post," Leila said, focused on the map.

She looked up. "How did you get here again?"

Nico sighed. "Shadow travel."

"Not your zombie chauffeur?" Leila asked, a smile tugging at her mouth.

"Jules-Albert? No." Nico said.

Dakota cleared his throat. "Right. So how did the monsters get here? They couldn't have come from England. They must already be in America."

Leila nodded. "But we still don't know where they're going to come from. And when. And who their leader is."

Annabeth huffed. "Too many unanswered questions."

"We'll figure it out." Ginny said cheerfully.

Leila focused on the map again. "Hylla told Reyna very little. And Reyna told us even less. Anyway, how do you wizards even fight? Up close and personal? Or up high and hidden?"

Harry shrugged. "Mostly up close and personal. I really enjoyed getting all up in Voldemort's face."

Hermione smiled.

Hazel joined Dakota. She was a Centurion, after all.

Nico faced Frank. "Frank should be with Reyna. He's a praetor."

Frank shook his head. "I know Reyna would want me here. She needs to command troops over in the camp, and I need to command troops here, at the edge of camp. Where the monsters will come first."

Leo lazily let a flame crawl up his hand and arm. "The boring part is waiting for the fight to begin."

As the group went over battle strategies and ate dinner, nothing happened. When the sun was long gone and the moon was shining in the sky, nothing happened.

Nico had to agree with Leo. The boring(and hardest)part of a war was waiting for the action to begin. After getting his nap earlier, Nico couldn't sleep.

He tossed and turned. He stared at the tent ceiling and at his pillow. He curled into a ball and stretched out. He opened his eyes. He closed his eyes.

When Nico realized falling asleep was hopeless, he left the tent and sat down by the river. The night was cloudy and chilly. Only a wisp of moonlight was visible through the clouds. Perfect, Nico thought, for a surprise attack. A chill ran down his spine. He told himself to stop freaking himself out. That wouldn't help his nerves.

A figure appeared beside him. "Couldn't sleep?" Draco asked.

Nico shook his head.

"Me either." Draco sat down next to Nico.

Nico decided to make conversation. "How do you like Camp Jupiter so far?"

Draco chuckled. "Other than the fact that all I've seen are tents and a river? It seems good. Definitely more fun than Hogwarts."

Nico shrugged. "It's a camp, not a school."

"A camp with a city. And a university. And a-"

Nico laughed. "Okay, I get it. It's more than just a camp. It's an awesome Roman hide out with artillery and gardens."

Draco's teeth flashed in his smile. "Got that right."

Nobody said anything else for a while.

When the first rays of the sun came through the clouds, Draco stood up and stretched.

"I'll see you later Nico." He said.

"Okay." Nico said.

Then the arrow came whistling through the air and lodged in the ground half a centimeter from Nico's foot.

A/N: HAHAHA!!! I got the power! Vote my unicorn cupcakes if you like Nico and his darkness. ^w^

Okay, share this story to get more updates faster! Thanks so much for reading! I also wanted to add that I always make the chapters 1000+ words, unless it's a filler chapter. Okay, that's it! Thanks a ton! ;)