The Dragon's Daughter

iv. surprises

"Elora sit at our table?" Tyson asked.

"If she wants to," Percy answered.

"Hell yeah," she said. "I'm not gonna turn it down. Let's go, Tyson!"

"Big crack," Tyson said when they were at Poseidon's table.

"Earthquake, maybe?"

"No," Percy said. "Not an earthquake." Percy was quiet before talking again. "Nico di Angelo," he said, lowering his voice. "He's this half-blood kid we brought to camp last winter. He, uh...he asked me to guard his sister on a quest, and I failed. She died. Now he blames me."

"Straight to the point," Elora said. "You failed. She died. Kinda sad."

Percy grimaced. Then he mouthed 'sorry' in her direction.

"Don't sweat it."

Tyson frowned. "So he put a crack in the floor?"

"These skeletons attacked us," Percy said. "Nico told them to go away, and the ground just opened up and swallowed them. Nico..." He looked around. "Nico is a son of Hades."

Tyson nodded thoughtfully. "The god of dead people."

"Yeah."

"And riches too," Elora added, plopping a grape.

"Elora's brother."

"Yup," she said. "Who would've guessed I'd have another set of siblings."

"So the Nico boy is gone now?"

"I guess. I tried to search for him this spring. So did Annabeth. But we didn't have any luck. This is a secret, Tyson. Okay? If anyone found out he was a son of Hades, he would be in danger. You can't even tell Chiron."

"The bad prophecy," Tyson said. "Titans might use him if they knew."

"Exactly," Percy said. "So-"

"Mouth sealed," Tyson promised. "Like the crack in the ground."

☼︎☼︎❁☼︎☼︎

Elora went straight up to her room in the Big House after dinner was done. A bedside table with books, a closet filled with dresses, shorts, and items she'd never thought to wear before. She went over to her mini library and picked up a book before sitting at a small chair with a side table.

A few pansies were on top of her desk. They were tied with a card. A.

Thanks for the flowers, Apollo.

Glad you like them. Don't worry, they won't die.

She smiled and set them on a vase.

She continued her reading but stopped when they began to talk about a character's brother. It reminded her of her own. It's been a while since she saw her brother.

☼︎☼︎❁☼︎☼︎

"Elora," Nico said.

"Hm yeah?"

"Thanks for everything," he said. He was dressed up with a jacket.

"It's nothing Neeks." She ruffled the boy's head.

"I need to go," he said.

"Where to?"

"Somewhere. I -- I'm still not sure but I just need to go," he said. "I also want to go to Bianca. I want to try something. But I have to do this alone."