Death and Shadows

Ch. 5 Separations and Encounters

A/N. Last chapter before we get into the Battle of the Labyrinth! This chapter kind of goes into it during one part, but at the end it really signals that the story is getting into the book. Enjoy!- Anna

~Lia's POV~

When I woke up, I didn't open my eyes right away, but I could still see a bit of light coming through my eyelids. Relaxing where I laid, I just listened to my surroundings and felt the grass prickle underneath me. A small breeze whisked across my face. My eyebrows furrowed when another breeze passed my face a couple seconds later. Breezes don't stop and then continue again constantly. I slowly opened my eyes, and they quickly widened when I saw a familiar face sleeping so close to mine: Nico di Angelo.

Suddenly, last night's memories came flooding back to me. Telling Nico all about my past and powers, Nico telling me about his own life, and the two of us falling asleep under the stars at the castle. I couldn't believe I did that. Was I that deprived of human contact that I would just spill my whole life story to anyone who would listen?

Nico's face was inches away from mine. His face seemed so peaceful while he was sleeping. His long dark hair hung over his eyes just barely, and I resisted the urge to push the hair to the side. As I went to get up, I was stopped by something holding me down by my waist. It was Nico's arms wrapped securely around me. I freaked out a bit and forcefully rolled my body out of his grip as fast as I could.

Nico's eyes snapped open at the movement to see me crouched at his side very much awake. "What happened? Are you okay?"

"Yes! I'm fine...I just woke up," I answered, still feeling a little flustered.

Nico raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything about how I was. "We got anything for breakfast?"

I reached into my bag and pulled out the food we had and passed some to Nico. We ate in silence as we watched people go by and the sun rise in the sky. It was such a peaceful morning. Not a cloud in the sky and the park was the perfect temperature. I wanted to stay in the calm bubble forever that the park offered, not wanting to have to worry about anything for a couple more hours. 

When we finished our food, we put the trash in my backpack, and got ready to move.

"Where are we going today?" Nico asked.

I hefted the backpack over my shoulders and smiled at Nico. "Wherever we want to."

That's how it went for a while. We would walk around New York, see some sights, battle some monsters, find a safe place to sleep, and then repeat. Whenever we could, we would train together, and Nico was getting much better. Occasionally we would steal food and supplies, and I managed to get Nico to not waste his powers shadow traveling us out every single time. It would just tire him out for the rest of the day, and I did not feel like appearing in the middle of a monster area. 

Sometimes as we were walking, I would try my power on some random rat or bug by simply tapping them with my finger. It would only work sometimes, even when I tried so hard to will my powers to work, and rarely would they come back. It was the only practice I could get that I was comfortable with.

Nico started to worry me though. Sometimes in the middle of the night, I would wake up to Nico mumbling something, and an eerie blue glow lighting the night. Whenever I would try to see what it was, the glow went away, leaving Nico sitting there by himself saying that he had just woken up. He started to look paler than usual, and bags formed under his eyes. I tried to ask him what was up with him, but he would just tell me he wasn't sleeping well. He never told me why exactly.