Demigod Journals (Percy Jackson FanFic - Blood Of Olympus)

Iris Messaging Some Friends (Reyna)

POV: Reyna

((Nico and Reyna))

My first reaction after seeing the scandalous Iris message was to put my hand over the eyes of the equally gaping, surprised boy beside me.

"Hey?!" Nico protested when my hand blocked his view. His hand held my arm to pull it down. "What are you doing?" He asked looking at me with his signature irritated look.

"Sorry." I said and tried to explain. "Hylla just used to do that to me whenever we caught people on compromising positions. It became a habit of mine too."

He scowled even more. "Just how old do you think am I? I'm not a kid."

"Fourteen tops, I guess." I answered.

His back and shoulders straightened. "Oh, well. I was born in the thirties. So I am at least sixty years older than you."

"But you still look like a kid." I tensed too in response with the angry fire in Nico's dark eyes. He was angrier than usual and that somewhat unsettled me. Have I gone too far with the teasing?

"Oh no, I'm not taking that as a compliment."

"She right, ghost boy. You're still a kid." Coach Hedge said during a break from his long Jackson-and-Annabeth-you're-grounded speech. The look he was giving us was an obvious 'kids, play nice' look.

"But he was born in the thirties." Percy said from the IM. He and Annabeth were sitting now by the cabin floor, looking like very guilty teenagers. "So he is technically older." He continued.

"Shut up Jackson, you are still not off my hook. And you are all kids who should know how to behave!" He managed to glare daggers at all of us.

"How are you, Coach?" Annabeth asked again, louder this time. "How's the Athena Parthenos?" She asked with a firm voice, once again trying to change the topic. Someone tossed Percy a clean orange shirt and he quickly put it on.

"It's still here." I said. "We're uh..." I turned to Nico who was still scowling at me. I ignored the look which made him even grumpier. "Where are we?"

"West coast of Spain." He said gruffly. "We're jumping to the sea of monsters next."

"The sea of monsters? But won't that be too risky?" Annabeth asked, worry lined her face.

"We need to risk it. Time travels differently in the sea of monsters. If we time it right, we could use it on our advantage." Nico answered but was trying his best to not look at the rainbow message.

"How could you time it?"

"I could feel the shifts of shadows, even the land themselves." Nico's face hardened once again in a defiant frown. "I can do it. It's the only way if we want to arrive on camp in time. Don't you trust me?"

Annabeth grimaced and Percy looked confused. "Hey, no fair man. Annabeth - we all are just worried about all of you. The sea of monsters is more dangerous now. Many monsters have aligned with Gaea's cause." Percy said in his girlfriend's defense. There was a chorus of agreement in the IM. Jason, Piper, Frank and Hazel appeared on my view and each took a place behind the couple who had now moved sitting on the bed.

Annabeth sighed. "You know that's not what I meant, Nico. Of course we trust you. But-"

"Then believe that I would anything to bring this statue back to camp and try stop the war between the Greek and Roman demigods." He stood up, a little unsteadily but he kept his feet and then looked at me. His tone softened. "I need to scout the area. Will you be okay here?" I wanted to say that Coach had already did that earlier but I understood the look on his face. I sighed then took his hand in mine. He stared at me with quite surprised eyes. I moved my index and middle fingers to his wrist to feel for his pulse. His hand was cold as always while his pulse was a bit faster than normal but it was strong enough for a little walking so I nodded. Also, color had seem to return in his face now. He'd be fine, I told myself.