IF TIME STOPS 『nico di angelo x reader』

chapter 20: show them

"Wait, wait, wait," Will Solace held up a hand in the middle of Annabeth's meeting address, interrupting her abruptly. His normally composed blue eyes shook in what seemed to unacceptance.

You flinched in guilt when you saw him rub the tension that had built in between his eyebrows with his eyes tightly shut. It was an action you only saw him do whenever he was feeling agitated and now that his agitation was caused by you, you couldn't help but feel bad.

"What is it, Will?" Annabeth's own eyebrows furrowed in concern as she glanced down at Will. "Are you alright? If you're not I can get you a gl—"

"No, no, I'm okay...it's just..." Will clenched his fist as he seemingly tried to calm down and looked at Annabeth straight in the eye. "You're telling us that (Y/n) is Poseidon's blessed child? The child that was loved by all the gods yet cursed with a strange name? You're telling us that (Y/n) is that child?"

The rest of the head counsellors grew quiet, it was unnerving. Some muttered to themselves as though trying to absorb the information Annabeth gave away on their own, others threw you a nervous glance which you decided not to pay much attention to. Chiron sat still, watching the events unfold before him.

"Will..." You started, glancing at Annabeth almost apologetically, as you tried to reach out to him.

"No. You, sit back down." Will pointed at you then down at your chair, eyes angry and voice demanding. "Annabeth...I know that you hate (Y/n)...but don't you think you're going to far with thi—"

"Will!" You yelled, your hands shook under the table and all the eyes were set on you but you didn't care. "Annabeth...is telling the truth so please..."

"(Y/n)..." Will looked as though he was stabbed through the chest. "Please tell me you're lying..."

You pursed your lips and turned away from his eyes. You couldn't bear to look at him all pained because of yourself, because you lied to him about your identity and because you never told him the truth about yourself despite telling him that you trust him. Now that you thought about it, Connor and Travis might even be feeling the same as Will.

The thought of you hurting your friends emotionally hurt you and you couldn't do anything but look down.

Chiron sighed, as though he expected things to go this way, and trotted towards you. He placed a gentle hand on your shoulder and smiled.

"Show them." He smiled kindly, urging you on.

You hesitated for a moment and caught Will's eyes. His baby blue eyes were doleful as he silently held my gaze.

Then you decided. You held up your palm slowly, making sure that all eyes could see it. You felt the tingling sensation prickle the tips of your fingers and the warmth that enveloped the middle of your palm, and then without a warning, a soft shade of blue illuminated through your palm — enveloping the room in a warm glow. You felt your skin tingle and you caught a swift of your hair turning white.

When the light died down, you looked up at Chiron for affirmation. Panicked gasps filled the room and Annabeth had a hard time hushing them down. Leo fell backwards in a shock muttering the words your hair is white under his breath repeatedly, Clarisse took out her swiss army knife and had to be held back by Nico and Pollux, Will stared speechlessly, his blue eyes holding an emotion you couldn't quite read.

"It's fine. I did nothing wrong." You said, trying for a smile. You needed to calm them down and show them that you had no bad intentions. "I just allowed this camp to say my name, that's all."

"...allowed the camp to say your name?" Nico asked, drawling the words slowly as though he was still processing what had happened. 

You looked down at your palm, "Well...apparently, if you say my name while knowing of my true identity and without the permission to do so, it works like a sort of Pandora's box. It releases something unwanted."

"Ah! but, once I've given you permission to say my name, you can say it as much as you want without releasing any unwanted monsters so you don't have to worry whether or not the permission has a time limit because it doesn't." You added hastily, waving your hands in front of your face in a frenzied and awkward fashion.

Annabeth's gray eyes widened in realisation, "Then...awhile ago..." You could tell that she was thinking back at the time when you got angry when she said your name.

You nodded in confirmation. "You said my name without being given the permission to do so. You released something you, yourself, killed with your own hands." You studied the way her eyes shook. "It's just the way my name works, the person who says it without being granted the permission releases a monster they once killed...so you see, it's uncool, which is why my mother gave me a second name — (Y/n)."

"Wait...I don't get it." Clarisse spoke, looking extremely lost. She had put her swiss army knife down on the table. You glanced over everyone, they carried the same expression as Clarisse.

"I don't either to be honest." You shrugged, rubbing the nape your neck awkwardly.

A second of silence passed. 

"For all of you to understand, I think it's time to tell you the story of Seraphine." Chiron said, patting your shoulder gently.

"But we've already read the scrolls about her." Pollux tilted his head in clear confusion. It was clear to see that he doesn't understand why Chiron should tell a story a miniature amount of people in the camp has already read. You felt the same. 

But Chiron shook his head, his intense brown eyes were kind and sad, and you could tell that he was about to lay bare every thing even you, yourself, didn't know. "No, child. I did not mean the story inside the scrolls, I meant the truth."