Poseidon Is My Daddy (Book #1 of the Daughters of Olympus Series)

The Painful Part

   After like 10 seconds, we stumbled onto the top of Half-Blood Hill. Then I realized that we wouldn't even need to Iris message Chiron, because we were already at camp. Boys. But then Nico collapsed on the grass next to me. 'Nico!' I exclaimed. I took him in my arms. He was so cold. 'What's happening to him?!' I yelled at Jason. He tried take Nico, but he was mine and was having none of it. 'Julie,' he said, 'Calm down.' He put a hand on my shoulder and I realized how hard I was shaking. He examined Nico. 'He travelled too far,' I said, 'And his body is exhausted.' Jason marveled, 'How did you know that?' 'I guess my Apollo senses are starting to kick in. We need to take him to Will.' Jason picked Nico up in his arms and I had to resist the urge to deck him. When we got to the infirmary, Will was standing by the door and I grabbed him by the arm. 'Julie, what's the matter?!' said Will. Jason laid Nico down on a bed and I faced Will. I grabbed him by the shirt. 'Fix him. Fix him right now. What does he need; a sedative? Ibuprofen? Paracetamol? Just fix him. Please Will.' He gulped and nodded vigorously, 'Okay.' He walked past Jason, 'Get Percy.' he ordered. 'Why?' asked Jason. Will nodded his head in my direction and Jason understood. And Will was right; Percy was the only other boy I trusted like I trusted Nico. 'You're my only little sister,' he'd said. 

   About 5 minutes later, Percy came into the infirmary. Will had treated Nico, he was resting  I was holding his hand. But then, just as I was about to rush into Percy's arms, the heaviest feeling of dread settled over me. A voice in my head said, 'You're mother, Kristen Anderson is dead. Murdered.'  I almost went weak in the knees. 'Julie?' worry was coating Percy's face.  I put a hand to my mouth, pushed past him and ran to the cabin. I locked the door and sank to the floor and cried. I was almost hysterical. It was about 10 minutes before I heard the door rattling. 'Julie? Can you please open the door? Nico told me.' It was Percy. Wait... Nico was awake? I didn't bother wiping my face when I opened the door. He opened his arms and I fell into them without hesitation and cried even more. 'Mommy,' I cried. He picked me up and carried me to our bunk. I don't know how, but when I calmed down, I was sitting in Percy's lap and he was stroking my hair. 'I want to go see him.' I whispered. Percy understood immediately. 'Okay, let's go.' I wiped my face and we left. On our way to the infirmary, Annabeth stopped us. 'Julie,' she said, 'Percy told me about your mother. I'm so so sorry.' She gave me a hug. 'She was murdered.' I said. Annabeth pulled back, 'What?! By who.' I had a really clear idea about who would kill her to shake me up; the Roman rat. 'Octavian. He's the only one who had a reason.' Annabeth pondered this, 'Julie, are you sure?' 'Positive.' I walked to the infirmary. 

   When I found Nico in the infirmary, he was sitting up drinking a cup of nectar. When he saw me, his face lit up but then immediately fell when he remembered my mother. 'Hey.' he scooted over making room for me. I laid down next to him and heaved a long sigh. 'You okay?' he asked. I nodded. 'I'm so sorry, bug.' A tear slipped down my cheek and I laughed. 'That's what she used to call me. So... we can both sense death?' 'Yeah. Sometimes I think Hazel got the better end of the deal, being able to control things underground.' I turned to face Nico, 'Who's Hazel.' 'My sister on the Roman side.' 'He killed her. Octavian killed my mother.' 'I know.' Nico took my hand, laced his fingers with mine and rubbed the back of my hand with his thumb. He always knew what to do. 'I'm gonna kill him.' I said absentmindedly, 'I won't stop you.' he said. And we just laid there, holding hands and completely understanding each other.