The Unsung Hero (An HoO Fanfic - Nico di Angelo) DISCONTINUED

Chapter 1

"I'm the son of Hades, ... . I might as well be covered in blood or sewage, the way people treat me. I don't belong anywhere. I'm not even from this century. ... " 

Rigel really felt hurt. Percy got to fight an eight-headed Hydra, Jason was battling Otis and even Piper got to protect that weird kid Nico from a pair of leopards. Rigel was the only one who got to fight random, not-so-dangerous animals like wolves and hyenas. That kind of hurt her self-esteem. 

Percy had asked her to go after Ephialtes - as he himself was busy saving himself from the Hydra. And so she was running to the giant in Bermuda shorts, when a dozen wolves rained down on her.  

One had almost managed to bite off her hand as they fell on top of her from their suspended cages all of a sudden. She slashed through them quite easily but then another dozen animals attacked her. 

'I - hate - animals,' Rigel cried, cutting the head off the last hyena. Once done she scanned the room. 

Percy was battling the Hydra unarmed. He ducked behind a giant hamster wheel and the way his eyes scanned the room, Rigel could tell he had a plan. Jason was fighting Otis, sword against spear. Rigel was pretty sure that he probably could have impaled Jason several times had he not insisted on doing a pirouette with every attack, which slowed him down.  

At the dais, Piper stood guard over Nico as the leopards advanced. She aimed her cornucopia and shot pot roast over the cats' head. The leopards raced after it so Rigel guessed it must have smelled pretty good. 

Rigel had almost decided to go after Ephialtes - who just stood laughing and pushing buttons on his control board, cranking the conveyor belts into high gear and opening random cages - when she saw two hellhounds sneak up on Nico and Piper. Shit! Piper was still facing the leopards and Nico was barely conscious! Rigel thought of shouting a warning but she knew it would be useless over all the chaos. One option left - 

Cursing under her breath she jumped onto the nearest conveyor belt which seemed the only clear path to reach them. Sheathing her sword over her shoulder, she jumped over the boxes that stood as hurdles on her path. 

'Too slow, too slow, too slow,' she muttered as she realized she had only a few seconds. 'PIPER!' she yelled. Useless! Almost everyone was yelling something or the other. 

But that's when she saw it. From the ceiling hung long chains, which might have once held cages. Rigel smiled to herself. It was exactly what she needed. She stood on one of the boxes to increase her height and then jumped, grabbing a chain. With all the speed she could muster, she swung from one chain to the next - Tarzan style. 

'PIPER!'  

Piper turned and saw two hellhounds looming over her... and Nico. Before she could decide what to do, she saw Rigel jump at them from somewhere high, and she almost seemed to be flying. Unsheathing her sword midway, she landed on top of one of the hound and drove the blade through him. It bellowed and fell hard to its side. Rigel jumped off of him before it hit the ground. The second hound, realizing what had happened to his companion, attacked her. Another blade sprang out from the pommel of her sword as she hit the hellhound with the hilt, slicing open its gut, before it had time to realize what had happened. 

Piper gaped at her. 

'No thank you required,' Rigel said casually, walking towards them. The extra blade shrank back into the hilt of her sword. 

'Rigel that was amazing,' Piper said.  

'I'd say it was piece of cake. But thank - ' 

'Duck and cover', she heard Percy yell. She looked at Piper and realized she hadn't heard.