Breathing Next To You (Percy Jackson)

Chapter Four

Percy

Again, I sighed.

"Or do you not know?" Jason asked me," if you don't, that's fine. I'm just curious, and you seem to not be afraid of him like most people are."

"No, I know," I assured him, playing with a small locket that was so dam old," um... Nico has a lot to him, Jason. There's a lot you don't know, there's still stuff I don't know. He wasn't always so dark and so negative on himself. Gods, he used to be the happiest kid at Camp when we had brought him for the first time. He loved everything and everyone."

Jason was afraid to ask.

"So.... What happened?"

I hesitated and looked over at the son of Hades, who had that tiny Hades figurine latched onto his backpack. It was only a few inches tall. Starting to rust. It was metal, after all.

"Um... Well like you he had an older sister," I explained," they came here together. They were closer than could be and she was my age, maybe a year younger. He was already hurt when she flat out left to join the Hunt, but figured it wasn't the end of the world. I was still there and Grover and Annabeth, too. He could make friends. But... There was a quest and she was issued. I snuck out of camp for it because my best friend was kidnapped bitch please I don't care if I get suspended, I'm going. Junkyard of the gods we were crossing and didn't realize it and she picked up a little figurine from Nico's favorite game. Mythomagic. It was the only one he didn't have, the Hades one. Well it woke up and attacked and in the end what we said didn't matter, she have me the figure and sacrificed herself. We never found a body and had to assume she died. I kept the figure and when we got back he was so excited and so happy we got back and he asked about his sister and I took him out of the room and on a walk and explained that she was dead and I gave him the thing and he just kind of store at it and responded in silence, which seemed to make it all worse so I tried to explain what happened and skeletons followed us into camp and he accused me of trying to kill him and of letting Bianca die and killing her and he told me to go to hell and to die and he sent the skeletons to the Underworld, which is what that crack is at Camp, and he was gone. He left the figurine behind. We didn't find him until the next summer. In the Labyrinth trying to do everything in his power to get her back because their Mom died when he was little and that meant he was alone and he was scared, and he thought everyone hated him. He said he didn't belong because he didn't have a cabin and that nobody liked him and nobody cared about him and he left again that summer. He did accept that he couldn't get her back. But that's kind of why he hates me and why he thinks like he does. Has it gotten better? Yes. Will he ever be that kid again? No."

"So that's why you guys hate each other?"

"I don't hate him," I clarified," its a one way thing."

Nico groaned for a moment and started to move, silencing Jason and I. Quickly enough he was awake.

"We're you guys talking about me? I heard my name."

"I was just asking some dumb questions, you happened to be in a story," Jason covered up. I knew if he knew I told of Bianca he would kill me. Literally.

"Oh," he remarked, following with a yawn, " well... Um, what time is it? I'm not tired and it's still fairly dark out."

We all have up on sleep and decided to just keep moving a while longer.

I have never been on a more awkward quest in my life.

The three of us just had a lot of shit on our minds, I believe. Things we didn't want to share, things we weren't comfortable with. They tried to eat at Aunty Em's and I was quick to stop that, explaining it was a monster nest for Gorgons mainly.