Ancient Reicarnation: The First Daughter

IX. Nico

Nico watched as they flew off to Egypt. He recounted his conversation with Pandora before they left.

"I'm scared," Pandora said in Italian. "I'm scared and what if all this backfires?"

Nico couldn't believe she was talking to him. A sixteen year old looking for comfort in a fifteen year old? A fifteen year old son of Hades? That wasn't something people saw everyday, but Pandora trusted him.

"You'll be fine," Nico said. "Don't worry. I can swear it."

"Swear it then!" she said. "I'm so scared, parts of the prophecy are burned, I'm in lo-" She bit her lip.

"In what?"

"In love," she responded. "With someone on the quest."

"Is it Will?" She slowly nodded her head. "Will is a great guy, and one of my best friends. For your sake, I won't tell him."

"Thanks Nico," Pandora said, hugging him. Nico tensed then wrapped his arms around her.

"I swear on the River Styx that you'll be fine," he whispered.

"Trust me, I'm only worried about not waking up from a death-like sleep, not completing the quest," she said releasing him. "Thanks Nico," she said, this time in English.

Nico wasn't paying attention to where he was going as he thought about it. He crashed right into Athalia. They fell and she landed right on top of him, her face inches away from his.

"Oh Styx!" she exclaimed. "I am so sorry!" She got up and helped Nico up.

"For a child of the goddess of balance, you sure do trip a lot," Nico said, brushing the grass off his black pants. She blushed. "That was my fault. I was just thinking."

"About what?" she questioned.

"Just..." Nico tried to think of something. "About them. I'm worried."

"Aren't we all?" Athalia said, grinning. "The only one I knew well enough before they left was Percy."

"How?"

"Mom always talked about the war in New York and nothing. But. Percy."

"Makes sense," Nico replied. "He's the most famous demigod alive right now."

"She told me about how he fought the Minotaur," Athalia said wistfully. "He fought Kronos, but she also told me how Luke Castellan was the real hero according to Percy. Just, basically everything."

She sounded like someone who'd talk about their favorite bands or singer or celeb. They knew almost everything about then next to the people closest to that person.

"He's also the best sword fighter since Luke," Nico said.

"I already knew that."

"Wow."

Athalia scooted closer to him. Nico didn't mind for some odd reason. "Hey," she said. "Thanks for yesterday. I never got the chance to thank you."

"I did almost get clubbed by a Cyclops thanks to you, but you're welcome," Nico said. She stuck her tongue out at him. "Do children of Harmonia have special powers?" He'd never seen one at play before.

Athalia frowned. "Other than being nice?"

"You're not very nice," Nico said sarcastically.

"Shut up. All of our talents are usually self taught or we've been trained in some way. I'm pretty good with a sword."

"Really? 'Cause most children of Harmonia act like they're the most angelic people in the universe."

"Well," Athalia said, chuckling. "Not me."

Nico decided he liked Athalia. He really, really liked her. She was fun to be around, somewhat humorous, kind, and easy to talk to. Most people weren't like that.

"Shut up!" a female voice cried. Nico turned his head in the direction of the voices and saw Jessica from Eris cabin yelling at her boyfriend, Jonas, from Hephaestus. They'd been together for three years. "How could you say that to me?"

"Because it's true!" Jonas spat. "You think I'd call you stupid and idiotic for nothing?"

"I didn't even do anything!"

"I don't care!"

"Fine!" Jessica screamed, tears streaming down her face. "We are OVER!" They marched off.

"That's not good," Nico said. "If long term couples are breaking up, that means Aphrodite's magic is really weakening."

"Nico!" Lacy from the Aphrodite cabin called out. "Oh gods this is not good."

"What?" Nico questioned.

"Ever since our mom was kidnapped, the powers of most of us haven't been working. Even though it's kinda a good thing, Drew can't charmspeak. If Drew can't charmspeak, think about Piper!"

Nico cursed. "Why couldn't it be some other god?"

"Aphrodite is the oldest, and if this Khione figure wants war, she'd had to make sure there isn't any love." She ran back to her cabin.

Nico groaned and covered his face with his hands. "Why does this have to be so hard?" he said into his hands.

Athalia slid her hand into one of his. He looked up, his face warm. "Hey," she whispered. "It'll be fine."

"How do you know that?"

"Harmonia is the goddess of harmony. As long as she's here, the camps don't war against each other."

"I guess..." She put her head in the crook of his neck. Nico never really experienced stuff like this, so he had no idea what to do. "It's just... I don't know. Percy trusted me to keep the camps from fighting. There's no guarantee that I'd be able to. I mean, I'm a son of Hades. Death happens around me."

"Who your parents are," Athalia replied. "Doesn't define who you are." Nico nodded a little. "You wanna walk along the lake?" He nodded again. Athalia never let go of his hand, and they received a couple of weird looks from other campers. Nico's face felt extremely warm now; someone was touching him, strike that, holding his hand, and people were looking at him. Not his two favorite things in the world.

But for some reason, he liked holding Athalia's hand. She sent weird vibes to him that made his knees feel like jelly, a feeling he hadn't felt since Percy.

They sat down on the water's edge. "It's beautiful here," Athalia said. The sun caught her eyes making them sparkle.

"Uh..." Nico had no idea what to say. He forgot how to speak. He just thought that happened in books. Apparently it happens in real life as well.

"Is your mom alive?" Athalia asked. "Do you have any siblings?"

That struck Nico like a nail in his heart. Bianca was a touchy subject, along with his mother. "My mom isn't alive," Nico said. "I did have an older sister. She joined the Hunters of Artemis and died. Hazel, well, we're related on the godly side, so she's all I've got."

"Oh," she said in a small voice. "Tá brón orm." Nico guessed that meant I'm sorry in Irish. He stayed quiet for the rest of the time there.