Death and Madness|| Nico di Angelo

Don't call Nico a little, Italian Emo

There's three things you need to know before reading this. 

One: Greek Gods are real. 

Two: Don't trust long lost friends who show up at your door after eight years and...

Three: Don't call Nico a little, Italian, emo unless you're me, because he will obliterate you.

Now that we have that out of the way, we can move onto what actually happened. 

My name is Violet Keen and up until this morning I thought I was a normal thirteen year old. Of course all that changed when Luke told me who he really was. Ugh just thinking of him makes me want to punch something. 

You see, I knew Luke before he ran away from home. We didn't live next to each other, but my mum mostly took care of him (She always did like him better than me). He was like an older brother, always taking care of me even though he was facing problems of his own. 

I had always known there was something weird about his mom, but we never met and Luke hated whenever she was brought up so we mostly talked about me. The last time I had seen him was the day before he ran away. I was five and he was ten. I remembered begging him not to leave, that he could always stay with me, but he said he had made his choice. 

I don't think he realised I was a half blood too, because he kept saying there was a whole other world he was part of. And that he couldn't stay any more. I didn't see him after that for nearly eight years. 

I didn't want to believe it was him at first. He didn't look anything like the Luke I remembered, he had a big ugly scar on the left side of his face now. And there was something changed about him too. He seemed... evil, still... I knew it was him.

And here he was. On my doorstep, eight years after he left me. He was fidgeting with what looked like a baseball bat. And that confused me even more. 

"Hi, can I help you?" I asked. He seemed familiar, but I couldn't place it. 

"Maeve? Gods you're so big now" His face broke out in a grin while I stood frozen. Only one person called me by my middle name- "L-Luke?" 

He nodded slightly and rubbed the back of his neck. "Can I come in?"

"You show up on my doorstep after eight years and you have the audacity to ask if you can come in?" My voice rose with ever word, and by the time I said it, I had practically screeched the last few words. But I didn't care. How could this be the same Luke I had lost eight years ago?

He seemed very hurt by my words and I forced myself to take in a shaky breath. For the first few seconds I was sure I was imagining it. But when I rubbed my eyes, and he was still there, I cleared my throat awkwardly and invited him in. 

The house was empty, and as Luke walked toward the living room, I realised he still knew the way. I tried not to feel abandoned, and betrayed and instead I focused on the fact that he was back. But the questions still remained- how? why? 

"Listen, Maeve. I can't stay for long" Of course. "But there's something very important that you need to know" 

He said as he sat down.

"Where were you these last eight years Luke?" I asked, trying to keep my voice steady. I offered him a peanut butter sandwich which he refused.

"It's complicated." he sighed. "I don't know how to say it, but I need your help"

When I didn't say anything, he continued. "The Greek gods...  they're real"

He said it with such a straight face that I almost believed it. But then I burst out laughing. If this was his idea of a joke, it wasn't a very good one. This was all one big dream wasn't it? Any second now I was going to wake up and laugh at this stupid dream.

"You come back after eight years and the first thing you say is that Greek gods are real?" I said when my laughter finally subsided a bit. Luke looked conflicted and frustrated but he nodded. "What like Zeus and Poseidon?" 

Thunder boomed outside. As far as I knew, the sky had been clear moments ago. I frowned. 

"Names have power." Luke warned me. 

"The thunder doesn't mean anything" I crossed my arms. 

"It does. Maeve, they are real. I would know- Hermes... the messenger god... is my father" I swallowed. Not knowing whether to laugh or not. In the end I decided to humour him. 

"You're saying there's such a thing as god" I raised my eyebrows. 

"Gods... plural" Luke corrected. "They're still alive after so many years.. and I'm here to show you how unnecessary they are"

"Is this some sort of joke?" I scoffed. He could not be serious. 

"Maeve, I need you to believe me. The gods move with the heart of the west, wherever "western civilisation" moves. First they were in Greece, then Rome and now America. They're the ones that control so many aspects of the world" Luke explained. But I still had trouble believing him. 

"Okay, fine... say they do exist." I held up my hands. He could believe whatever he wanted. "What does that have to do with me?" 

"You're a half blood Maeve" He said, dead serious. 

"A half- what?" 

"Half blood, half god and half human, like me" Luke explained. "I didn't know it before. And if I had... I would've taken you with me"

"Half God- Luke are you sure you're okay?" I asked. For a second, the mad look in his eyes was scary, but he sighed in frustration again. 

"Yes. I'm fine. And it's true. Your dad is a god" He breathed deeply. "I don't know who, but doesn't that anger you?" 

"Anger me?"

"The fact that some random god... got..." He pressed his lips into a this line. I kind of understood what he meant. So I continued. 

"That.. some random god got my mum pregnant and never told me that he was my dad?" Luke let out a small chuckle at my tone.

"Yes.. These gods, they don't care about their children. And the lives of half bloods isn't easy. Most of the times they die in horrible ways because their parents didn't care about them" He looked at the ground. "After a certain age, the monsters show up. They try to kill the demigods and usually they succeed."

"Whoa, hold on... monsters?" I asked. 

"All the Greek myths are real Maeve. The chimera, Cyclops, Minotaur, ghosts, Kampe... they're all real" 

"Are you sure?" I asked again, I was biting down on my lip now. I had had my suspicions about these weird things for a while now. Like people with horns and pedestrians with one eyes. I could either accept this explanation and go with Luke to a safe place or... as he said, die at the hands of a monster. Luke nodded. "So, is dying at a young age inevitable?" 

"No, there are several places which are safe." Luke said. "Like with me"

I snorted, I couldn't believe that he was slipping back into his brother mode. "What, you're gonna slay all the monsters to keep me safe?" 

"No, we're going to overthrow the gods"