¹On This Spring Day, percy jackson & the olympians

008.

ON THIS SPRING DAY
━━━━━ chapter eight

━━━━━ NO ONE WAS anxious to travel that night, so they decided to wait until morning. Grover, Tyson, and Percy crashed on the leather couches in Geryon's living room, while Violet and Annabeth laid claim to the guest bedroom. You would think it'd be a lot easier to fall asleep considering a bed was a lot more comfortable than a bedroll, but Violet still found herself tossing and turning an hour later.

               ( Some of that tossing and turning was probably caused by Violet's fears of what she was going to see in her dreams. She wasn't sure how many more times she could see Elain Nevitt fighting Ms. Aarden before she went insane. )

               Violet found herself sitting on the front porch next. She figured it should've brought bad memories considering mere hours ago she had been tied up and tossed there, but the fresh air was nice ( when the wind blew the correct direction that is; the stench from the flesh-eating horses still lingered every once in a while ).

               "I can't believe you're sitting out here." Nico's voice made her jump. He stood in front of the door, closing it softly.

               "I'm sorry." She turned around. "About earlier."

               Nico didn't respond. Instead, he sat down next to her on the front steps. He sighed, his expression hard to read in the cold moonlight. Finally, he replied, "It's not your fault."

               "I guess it isn't." Violet's voice was shaky. "But, I need to tell you Bianca sent me those dreams, too. I was just too scared to say anything earlier."

               "Why would you be scared?"

               She swallowed, looking for the right words. "I guess, over the months, I've felt so guilty for ... what happened to Bianca. I mean, that cloud of darkness that passed over the junkyard ..."

               "You think it was your fault," he caught on.

               "It is my fault," she replied.

               Nico looked at her. "The darkness, not Bianca's death."

               She looked off. "You don't believe that."

               "Yeah, I do." He laughed lightly. "I never thought it was your fault. Even after Minos told me the darkness in the junkyard. If I thought it was your fault, I would've told you. I wouldn't have come to you in January."

               Violet shifted, glancing back inside. "If you don't blame me, why do you blame Percy."

               Nico's face grew shadowy. Violet feared she had overstepped, but he just took a deep breath. "You know what Percy promised me last winter. And he had the most experience with quests. I thought—" His voice broke. "Whatever I thought, I had thought wrong."

               She wanted to tell Nico that it wasn't Percy's fault, but she knew that would only anger the son of Hades. Instead, she settled for; "But I was there when you had Percy promise that. I knew exactly what you had said."

               "But you're not Percy." Nico shrugged, pursing his lips. "You weren't the one who had two other quests under your belt. You and Percy are very different; you are two very different people to me."

               "Well ..." She had become a bit lost for words. "I'm glad you don't blame me. Even if I feel like it's my fault."

               "Bianca doesn't even blame you, Violet." Nico shook his head. "And I don't, either."