A Daughter's Revenge •{Nico di Angelo}•

Chapter 3

I made a sound that sounded like an animal that was growling while getting strangled. My hands clamped over my mouth.

"...dead?" I struggled to find my voice.

Leo looked down. His face was pale and he was frowning. "He may not be dead, he just looked really bad. He may have passed out from blood loss."

I whispered. "No. He can't be dead. Natasha took him for a reason. She knows I can't get my sister back. She knows I don't want Savanna back! So she took something else from me..."

I crumpled on the ground in an emotional breakdown. My whole body shook with uncontrollable sobs. All the tears that I had been holding back were released like a flood. Like a river that had been held back by a dam. (like my LotR reference here? Go Treebeard!)

Leo crouched down beside me and put a hand on my back. He gently rubbed my back in a soothing way.

Christina ran over. "Hey, what happened? Sofia, are you ok?" She leaned down next to me and wrapped her arm around my shoulders. Leo backed up and let Christina try and calm me down.

She sat down in front of me and wrapped me in a hug. I cried on her shoulder, like I had so many times after becoming a Hunter.

When I was little, after I had run away when Savanna died, I had met the Hunters of Artemis. They took me in and they became my new family. I became a Hunter when I was ten, and Christina was thirteen. We became friends quickly and every time I thought of my family, she would comfort me. She became an older sister to me.

I sat for a couple minutes, just crying. Christina rubbed my back soothingly.

When the tears stopped flowing, I wiped my eyes and thanked Christina. I sat on the bench and she sat next to me.

"So, what happened to you? After the gryphons grabbed you?"

"Well, they carried me for a few hours, until we reached a cave. I think it was somewhere near Delaware County. They landed in a forest and monsters surrounded me. Something hit me on my head and...and I think I passed out... Next thing I know is I'm standing at the entrance of the cave and monsters are running around everywhere. I heard a lot of explosions, but I didn't know where they were coming from. Anyways, I took the opportunity to slip away. A couple monsters followed me, but I dealt with them easily.

"I found some tracks after a couple hours, and I realized they were yours. I followed them to a hotel, and I found out you were taking the highway. I followed the highway but got distracted by a few monsters hanging out in the woods. I saw some police cars go bye once, but I stayed in the woods. I eventually ended up here and you guys found me. So, what happened to YOU? Where's Nico and Natasha?"

"Ummm...well..." Leo struggled to find a response.

"Natasha betrayed us. She isn't a daughter of Poseidon, she's a freaking daughter of Phorcys, and old sea god. We driving on the highway, and a van with the name 'Monster Donuts' crashed into us and pushed us off the road. I busted my leg, and Leo just got scratched up. Natasha somehow pulled Nico out of the car and she put him in the van, which was full of monsters. They drove away. And...Natasha told me something..."

"What? What did she tell you?"

"She said she would bring my sister back!" I burst into tears again.

Leo looked at me confused.

Christina shot me a look of sympathy. She knew what I meant.

"You have a sister?"

"Sofia had a sister. Her name was Savanna, a daughter of Poseidon.She died almost seven years ago." Christina explained.

"Oh."

I wiped my tears away with my hand. "Natasha knew I didn't believe she could bring Savanna back. So she took Nico instead. What...what if she tries to use Nico to bring Savanna back? Can he raise the dead, Leo?"

"I...I think he can...I've only seen he raise skeletons and spirits from the ground...But, I think he brought Hazel back from the dead...I don't know about your sister though..." Leo drowned and looked deep thought.

"He could bring her back! I can see her again! And then we can save them both!" I smiled.

"Sofia, I don't think that's a very good idea... What if the power it takes to raise her strains him so much he dies? What if it kills him? Then what?"

"...Then I'll have to wait until I visit the Underworld as a ghost to see her again."

Christina and Leo both looked shocked. "You would save a friend and prevent yourself from seeing your sister again? What if he lives?"

"Yes, I would save my friend. And I can't risk losing him again, this time for good."

"...You really do love him, don't you?"

"Yes, I love him. I grew up with him. He's a part of me that I can't live without." I smiled at the thought of him when we were young. We would always play and he would wake me up every morning by coming into my room and tickling me.

Christina smiled slyly at me. She grabbed my hand and dragged me away from the bench. "So, are you and Nico, you know...together?"

I felt my face grow warm. "I..I guess we kind of are...But he started it!" I defended myself. Christina has this habit of giving people dirty looks when she hears any former Hunters get boyfriends.

Instead of giving me a dirty look, she just laughed. "I knew it! I knew you two would get together! Iris owes me twenty drachma now!"

"Wha-what?" I felt my face grow hotter. "Don't laugh, it's not funny! Just as soon as I am finally happy, he gets kidnapped by some jerk the thinks they own the world!"

"So, how did it happen? Did he kiss you? Did you kiss him? Tell me EVERYTHING. I have to know!"

I laughed. "Well, it was after you got taken by the gryphons. He started remembering some things about his past and I told him what happened. I told him about Savanna, and Bianca, and we were best friends..."

"And how you looooovvvveeee him?"

"Shut up. Then he said he liked me too, and he kissed me." I sighed dreamily.

"Wow. You have fallen for him hard. Hook, line, and sinker."

"Shut up."

"Did he take you on a date while you were hanging round town doing nothing?"

"No...we had Natasha and Leo around. It would have been awkward."

"And when they weren't around?"

"Christina!"

"What? Someone has to take care of you. Might as well be your best friend and favorite former Hunter!"

"Ugh. Anyways, we should get a move on. If we are going to save Nico, then we have to find him, fast."

"I agree."

We went back to Leo, who looked slightly annoyed that we left him alone to have a conversation. "Come on, let's pack the stuff up. We need to start searching for Nico and Natasha."