The Real World || Percy Jackson Olympians Fanfiction (2)

Chapter 17

"Are we almost there yet?" I wined.

"Not yet, about twenty minutes left until it gets dark," Leo replied, to which I moaned at.

"Quit moaning, you're not making this any more enjoyable!" Nico snapped.

We hadn't stopped moving since we woke up that morning, and we had decided that a break would only waste more time. Besides, we would rather put more distance between us and the town.

A very thin path stretched straight up the mountain, and we followed it in a single file line. Nico lead, I went second and Leo brought up the rear. The tension still rested in the air between us three, and the exhaustion that came with climbing wasn't helping.

"This way."

Nico swerved to the right, off of the path. After sharing an uneasy glance, me and Leo followed him. We walked out onto a flat bit of land, and there we found a small cave fixed into the mountain. It was rather small, and was only big enough for the three of us to sit with our backs against the wall, but it did provide some shelter from the wind. If I stretched an arm to my right, my hand would be outside.

Me and Leo sat next to each other and Nico sat opposite us. Immediately, we got some leftover food out and then decodes to sleep.

At first, it was very uncomfortable. I tried to stretch my legs out, but found myself being kicked by Nico. Then, a sleeping Leo ended up with his feet on my lap whilst he lay his head on the floor. I dozed off for a couple of hours and woke up again after banging my head against the cave wall. I'd had enough.

I picked up my sword and exited the cave. Trees surrounded the land which I stood on, but I could walk through them and find myself on the edge of the ledge that I stood on. From this height, I could see the miles of snow below me and the dark silhouettes of the town buildings in the distance.

To warm my body up, I decided to have a little bit of sword practice. My arm struck out and sliced thick branches off of the trees around me. They fell almost silently, only making a small thud when they met the floor. Adrenaline swam through me, pushing me onwards to abuse the beautiful nature that surrounded me.

I spun in circles, arching my sword upwards and listening for the satisfying sound of the branches being cut off. My eyes darted around, picking out other targets. I faced back towards the entrance to the cave, about to stab at a large branch which I had spotted out of my peripheral vision. However, I just managed to pull my arm back before I decapitated Nico.

"What made you think that sneaking up on someone training with a sword was a good idea?" I hissed, glaring daggers at the smirking boy.

"What made you think that murduring innocent trees in the middle of the night was a good idea?" He asked, mimicking me.

"Shuck it, Nico. I'm not in the mood."

"'Shuck?'" He questioned.

Oops. "Nothing, just something I grew up saying," I murmured, turning away from Nico and taking a seat on the ledge which looked out onto the town.

"Why are you up, anyway?" He came and sat next to me, dangling his legs into the air below us.

"Couldn't sleep in that small cave. You?"

"I heard you leaving, I'm a very light sleeper," he replied.

I took a deep breath, looking up at the stars. "What are we going to do when we find Aphrodite?"

"Who knows, maybe we can tie her up then contact Chiron for help," Nico suggested. "But don't worry about it now, we'll deal with it when it comes."

"Easier said than done," I muttered.

Nico's black eyes shone in the glow of the stars above us. They were framed by his overgrown black hair, which fell into his eyes every now and again. His appearance was the spitting image of anyone who would be a son of Hades.

"I could help you with that."

He reached a hand out and pushed my hair behind my ear. I shuddered under his cold touch, which only enlarged his smirk.

"I don't understand you, Di Angelo," I sighed. "One minute you're shouting at me and the next, you're flirting with me."

"Well can you blame me? You're very hard to dislike, no matter how hard I try."

"Why do you try?"

Nico raised an eyebrow at me. "I'm used to being isolated. I've always been different from everyone else, and my sister was always my only friend. That's why I push everyone away. I don't like people trying to be close to me, even though most don't even try. I'm "scary death boy"."

"But with you, I can't help myself. You look at everything and everyone as if they're something you can read and understand. As if you can absorb them and do whatever you can to adapt to them. Everyone at camp adores you, you say things as it is but always have just the right amount of kindness to it. I've heard a lot about opposites attracting, and I think this is why I'm so tempted to be friends with you. I'm the boy from hell, and you're the girl from the sky."

I sat gaping at Nico. This was the first time he had been so honest with me, and I felt as if I needed to give something back.

"I really want to be here for you, Nico. But you're so distant to everyone, and I didn't even know if you wanted me around."

Nico scooted closer to me, so we were both sitting cross legged and facing each other. Our knees were touching, and he stretched his hand out to touch my cheek.

"I always want you, Lib."

The next thing that happened was more unexpected than being sent off to different worlds. Nico's hand moved from my cheek to behind my neck, where he gently pulled my face closer to his. My eyes instinctively closed as our lips met. Warmth spread from my face to my toes, and I felt Nico lifting me up and setting me back down on his lap. I wrapped my legs around his body and placed my hands on either side of his face.

We broke away after a few breathless minutes. Nico's face was flushed, and a ghost of a smile rested on him. He brushed a hand through my hair before moving his mouth to my ear.

"I didn't expect you to kiss back," he whispered, brushing his mouth across my skin as he spoke.

"I didn't expect you to kiss me," I replied.

"This night's just full of surprises. Goodnight, Libellus."

"Goodnight," I said, but Nico was already walking away.