The Illusion Of Secrets (A Nico Di Angelo fanfic)

Chapter 1- Nico

Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and I have used references from the book Power of Five by Anthony Horowitz

Nico sat at the Hades table alone. Hazel was in Camp Jupiter, and he was stuck at Camp Half-Blood, alone, for another summer. Nico wouldn't have been alone, but the eldest of the Hades children—and Nico's sister—Bianca was dead. It hurt to think about Bianca, because she would never be there to comfort him again. She had abandoned him. And even before her death, Bianca. had joined the Hunters of Artemis, leaving him to be with her "sisters." Four years after Bianca's death, Nico still found it hard to say her name.

Close by, Nico noticed that Annabeth was sitting with Percy and Tyson on the Poseidon table. They were as close to legends as legends came at Camp Half-Blood. Percy was the saviour of the gods on Mount Olympus on multiple occasions. Tyson had led the army of Poseidon against the Titans. And Annabeth was the wisest and most renowned of Athena's daughters.

What hurt the most—the one thing that haunted Nico more than the specter of Bianca—was his love for Percy Jackson, the Hero of Olympus.

It wasn't admiration. Percy Jackson was the person he wanted the most; the person he wanted to look at him more than anyone else; the person he wanted to kiss and hold him tightly. But he couldn't think about Percy in that way. Percy was in a relationship with Annabeth and he loved her. Everyone knew it.

Percy turned around and saw Nico staring at him. He waved his hand in Percy's usual friendly way. Nico blushed and turned his head away. Then he got up and left the table without bothering to pick his plate as he knew the nymphs would pick it up for him.

Nico went into the forest to take a walk. Most of society at the camp disregarded Nico for being the Son of Hades, the surliest of the gods. He didn't care what they thought. Nico just wanted to be alone. He liked being alone. Nico disliked most of the camp apart from Percy, Hazel and maybe Jason, so the disregard was mutual.

Nico walked past many trees until he arrived at the beach. It was his favourite place because it would remind him of Percy. The son of Poseidon naturally loved the sea. He was the best swimmer in the Camp. Nico mostly came here to collect his thoughts and clear his head. Once or twice, he had come to the beach after a big Camp event and found Percy out there, swimming under the moonlight. It surprised Nico that Percy could be as alone as he was.

He sat it there until the sky grew darker. Nico didn't care he was enjoying himself too much, and the darkness had never scared him. In the darkness, he could think about Percy and he could be alone in those thoughts.

He didn't even notice that someone was sitting beside him until he caught a slight movement of red frizzy hair. There was only one person Nico knew with red frizzy hair who would sit beside him in the dark: Rachel. She smiled before turning back to look at the sea.

"What are you doing here?" asked Nico looking at Rachel curiously. She was hardly at camp because she was a mortal. But the gods allowed her to enter the Camp because Rachel hosted the spirit of the Oracle of Delphi.

"Just enjoying the view." Rachel didn't even bothering to look at him. The salty breeze blew across Nico's face, and he nodded his head solemnly before he returned his gaze to the sea. "Nico, I just wanted to say that you're brave."

Shocked, Nico turned to Rachel. She was smiling at him. "I said that because you went through Tartarus alone and survived. You lost your sister and you lost your mother. Heck you don't even know your mother because your memories were wiped. But you didn't give up. That's very brave of you."

Nico blushed before looking down at the sand on the ground. No one had called him brave in his entire life. Most people steered clear of Nico because of his heritage but Rachel sat next to him and said he was brave. It was the kind of thing that made them bond as friends. He actually smiled a little.

Then the next thing that came out of Rachel's mouth shook him to the core:

"An ancient evil arises,

To spread darkness over the earth again,

The Old Ones they are called;

Only five children stand in the way,

Son of Hades and Oracle of Delphi,

Together must join forces with mortals at the North,

With no help of Gods or Heroes,

Must conquer the darkness residing in the South,

And save humanity or else all is lost."

Rachel fell unconscious on her side. Nico was accustomed to her fainting spells after Rachel pronounced a prophecy. She would wake up with no memory of the prophecy, even if she remembered where they were. Nico couldn't think about anything other than Rachel's warnings about an ancient evil and that they—her and Nico—would be on their own without any help from the Gods. As if Nico's summer wasn't melancholy enough already, now he faced being separated from the remaining family he did have.

A.N

This is my first Percy Jackson story and I'm proud because I always wanted to do one but I didn't know what to write and of course I wanted to do one about Nico because Nico is my favourite character in Percy Jackson series.

Also warning Nico won't be paired up with Rachel but with a male OC as we don't seem to see enough of those but only female who are always the daughters of Poseidon.

Nico and Rachel will be best friends and only best friends as Rachel is an eternal maiden and Nico in my eyes is and will always be gay.