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

Chapter 2

'It hasn't been easy you know. Having only the dead for company. Knowing that I'll never be accepted by the living. Only the dead respect me, and they only do that out of fear.'

Rigel at last realized why Percy hated the gods so much! She hadn't met many gods - at least not as many as Percy had - but still each one of them had managed to piss her off. Especially this Bacchus. 

When the wine god had appeared, Rigel was like - phew! Goodbye Joker twins! 

But what did Bacchus do? He made Percy and Jason fight the twins in the Colosseum! But that was not all. He made Rigel sit and watch. Sit and WATCH?!? Nico and Piper were safe - they were sitting beside a god! (a god as useless as Bacchus, but a god nevertheless) So Rigel was free to go help Percy and Jason. But no! That "god"damn Bacchus made her sit with them. 

'Where do you think you're going?' he had asked when she tried to climb down the emperor box. 

'Help them defeat the giants as someone ELSE is not helping,' she had snapped back. 

'Sit down.' Grape vines erupted out of nowhere and bound her forearms to the arms of the chair. And no matter how much she struggled to free herself, failure was all she got. She even asked Piper for help to cut away the vines but her dagger could not pierce through the thick stem. Why do you keep a dagger if it can't cut through a "plant"? Rigel thought enraged. She could've asked Piper to try with her sword, but unfortunately it activated on her touch only... 

Why wouldn't Bacchus let her go? She was perfectly alright - not that Bacchus seemed to care much about their well being but still! She was not injured like Piper and Nico! So she OUGHT to go and help... 

How hard it was for her to just sit there and watch Percy and Jason fight Ephialtes and Otis! At first everything was going quite okay. Both of them had managed to defeat Otis whose essence was trying to re-form in a churning lake. But then, Ephialtes attacked and... things worsened. 

Percy lashed out, slicing the giant's spear in half but Ephialtes wasn't even fazed. The giant swept low with the blunt end and knocked Percy off his feet. Percy landed hard on his sword arm and Riptide clattered out of his grip. 

Rigel balled her fists, wanting to punch the stupid god that just sat looking down at the arena with an amused smile. 

When Jason tried to step inside the giant's guard and tab at his chest, Ephialtes parried the strike and sliced the tip of his spear down Jason's chest, ripping his shirt. Jason stumbled, looking at the thin line of blood down his sternum. Ephialtes kicked him backwards. 

Beside her, Piper cried out. Rigel just looked away, helpless. She clenched her fists so hard her nails dug into the skin. 

Ephialtes towered over Percy and Jason, both halves of his broken spear poised over their heads. Both her friends were weaponless and helpless. 

Rigel was about to curse Bacchus when she saw the Argo II in the sky above the Colosseum. Rigel sighed in relief, breathing properly for the first time. Leo, you rock! 

Percy and Jason rolled away and Ephialtes bellowed in disbelief as green fire blazed from the ballista of Argo II. 

Rigel cheered! Ephialtes lay charred and groaning on the arena floor, while Otis was floundering in the lake trying to re-form, but from arms down he looked like a puddle of burnt oatmeal. 

As Percy turned to yell something at the wine god, he disappeared from the emperor box and appeared in the arena, right next to Percy. He disintegrated Otis and Ephialtes completely and strode around the stadium with his arms raised triumphantly, as if HE did all the hard work. The urge to punch him increased within Rigel. But she was still tied to the chair. The audience of ghosts cheered and threw spectral confetti at him. He grinned at Percy and Jason and said something which Rigel could not here. 

As the Argo II landed and Leo and the others disembarked from the ship, the crowd of ghosts shimmered and disappeared. The grape vines that held Rigel's arms vaporized. She wanted to run down and throw a few punches at Bacchus but Piper and Nico needed help. Supporting both of them with an arm each, she struggled down the emperor's box. The Colosseum's magical renovations began to turn to mist. The arena floor remained solid, but otherwise the stadium turned to its old wrecked self. 

Rigel saw Bacchus have a small talk with Percy before vaporizing in a cloud of mist. 

Jason came running to meet them - Piper, whatever. Piper let go of Rigel's arm and embraced Jason. Rigel could not help but roll her eyes and make her way towards Percy and the others. 

'I don't mean to be rude, Nico, but... I'm supporting your entire weight! You can just make an effort to move your legs,' Rigel snapped at Nico who was slowing her down. If Nico was angered by her comment, he did not show it. Heck, he could barely walk, let alone show anger! 

Much to Rigel's relief, Hazel ran to them. 'Oh thanks the gods, Nico you're okay,' she said, wrapping her arms around Nico. Though from which angle Nico looked okay to her, Rigel could not say. Guess he was still breathing, if it counts - which definitely does, she thought stupidly. 

'Well Hazel, now he's your responsibility - thank the gods,' Rigel said. She let go of Nico and made her way towards Percy who was listening to Leo's narration of how they escaped. 

' - finding you was easy, thanks to that godly light show at the Colosseum,' Leo ended as she reached them. 

'Percy!' Rigel threw her arms around him and he hugged her back. 'You really scared the hell out of me,' she said letting go. 'You and that stupid son of Jupiter. He and the god forsaken Bacchus made me watch over Piper and Nico,' she added with disgust. 

'I'm glad they did,' Percy replied, ruffling her hair.  

She sighed. 'I was really scared. I don't wanna think what would've happened if Leo hadn't - ' she broke off. 

'Hey we did come right?!' Leo grinned. 'That is all that matters!' 

'He's right, Rigel.' Percy gave her a big grin but still she could see his weariness and pain. His smile vanished as he turned to Leo. 'Where's Annabeth?' 

Leo winced at that. 'Yeah, about that... she's still in trouble, we think. Hurt, broken leg, maybe - at least according to this vision Gaia showed us. Rescuing her is our next stop.' 

'Tell me about this vision,' he replied. 'Tell me everything.' 

The floor shook. The wooden planks began to disappear, splitting sand into the pits of the hypogeum below. 

'Let's talk on board,' Hazel suggested from where she stood, supporting Nico. 'We'd better take off while we still can.'