The Demigod Of Egypt

Nico Di Angelo

      Surprised was mild way of putting Nico's emotions when his nephew showed up with a girl that's supposed to be training with a god and another girl who's the daughter of your ex-crush.
       "Theodore? What are you--"
       "Very, very long story."Teddy warned.
        "Why do you need me?"Nico interrogated."And why does little Sadie look like she's been crying?"
Sadie's daughter frowned,"Do I still look like I'm crying?"she demanded, her eyes flashing with minor annoyance.
Zoë nodded,"Ruby, you were just scared out of your mind less than five minutes ago. I think it's fair."
       Ruby sighed and suddenly her face turned normal. Ted glared at her,"No magic for useless purposes on quests."
        "Fine..."slightly puffy-eyed Ruby returned.
       "So, um, we sort of have a problem only you can fix."Ted admitted. He launched into explaination about how they planned on heading on going to the underworld and all of the reasons behind it. When he mentioned the spell Ruby refused to name, Nico facepalmed.
       "Why didn't I make the connection? Anubis told me about the disturbances! I should've easily connected it with the drakons."
       "You just didn't look at it from the right angle."Ruby reassured him.
       Nico slapped his hands against his legs with a sigh,"Okay, why were you crying?! Honestly, I've been silently debating with myself over why you of all people would cry."
       Ruby's face turned pink and she muttered something incomprehensible.
       Ted ran his hand through his hair,"She's pathologically phasmophobic."
       "But she's Anubis's--oh! Oh... oh gods... that's, that's painful. Poor girl."Nico winced. He met Ruby's eyes,"And it's also nothing to be ashamed of." He lifted his shirt and ran his finger along a long scar,"I got that one when I was visiting my father, and this one when I was still figuring out ghosts. Wow, I have a lot from ghosts."Nico admitted, admiring his scarred body.
       Ruby smiled wanely,"I got hospitalized when I was eight after I refused to use chaotic magic to bring a ghost back to life. And those ghosts wanted me in return for my aunt Zia."
      Nico pointed at Ruby,"after your little quest, you and I are spending some time learning underworld stuff."
       Ruby shook her head,"I'm fine."
       "That wasn't a suggestion. It was an order. Honestly, it's like you don't even know how to be a child of the underworld."
         Ted raised an eyebrow,"You sound like uncle Will."
        Nico chuckled to himself,"I guess I do, don't I? So you three came here looking for the entrance to the underworld correct?"
        Zoë nodded.
        "I'll give you two a pass to the underworld. I need to run a few errands there myself."Nico locked eyes with Ruby,"You are staying here."
         "But--"
         "Ghosts sense fear. They've been manipulating you your whole life. You're terrified of them. I am not having you go to the underworld. Might as well give Cerberus a red ball and tell him not to chew it."Nico insisted.
        Ruby opened her mouth to protest, but Nico did have a pretty solid reason."Well, um... what am I supposed to do? You guys are dealing with Egyptian magic, which I know how to counter. It might be-"
         Nico smiled,"You can take a break. I know exactly how you feel right now. We won't go until Will's home anyways. He'd freak out. Now, we can handle ourselves. Trust me."
      "But--"
      "No, bad Ruby. You behave."Nico scolded as if she was a dog.
Ruby narrowed her eyes,"Is that a pun?"
      "May-be."Nico admitted."Dead dog."
       Ruby growled quietly,"Fine, I'll stay. Just let me enchant some arrows for Zoë, if I'm gonna be resting."
        Zoe's eyes lit up with excitement,"Ruby found a way to enchant arrows so that they dissolve anything they touch. We've killed drakons with only one arrow!"
        Nico's jaw dropped,"You may not be a child of the underworld but you are one heck of a magician! That's seriously cool!"
        "I can only do two or three arrows at a time. It's easier if I'm there to dissolve it myself."Ruby admitted."And it helps that we have an expert marksman."
         "I'm not that good."Zoë muttered modestly,"There are better archers than me."
         "This girl is one of the best archers I've ever seen, and I've seen my dad shoot."Ted insisted."I would've never guessed, but she is deadly with a bow!"
        Nico snorted,"Did Percy ever tell you about his shooting abilities? They're the worst ever. He may be good with riptide, but bows..."
        Zoë laughed,"It's hilarious when he and Luke try to shoot!"
        Ruby snickered,"Have you seen Ted shoot?"
        "RUBY!"
        "He couldn't hit a target if--"Ted scooped Ruby over his shoulder.
      "HEY! PUT ME DOWN!" Ruby banged on his back in protest.
        "Nope."Ted denied with a grin.
         "Ted, I'm giving you to the count of three before I whip out the linen."Ruby warned.
         Zoë gave Nico a look,"and they're not dating."
         "Are you kidding me? They're more obvious than Annabeth and Percy. I thought Teddy and Ruby were dating last year."
           A flustered Ted sent down a flustered Ruby and they both exchanged annoyed glances.
           Ruby hid her face in her hands, her Carmel hair tumbling on it face."How many times are you going to say that in one day?"
           "Until I get a good reaction, like that one."Zoë admitted.
           Ted sighed with relief,"So that's the last one?"
           "No, why would I ever stop?"Zoë asked. Completely bewildered.
             Nico rolled his eyes,"Just give the poor kids a break."