Half-Blood High

This is Halloween

WARNING: CONTAINS BLOOD OF OLYMPUS SPOILERS. PLEASE TURN AWAY IF YOU HAVE NOT FINISHED THE BOOK.

Nico POV
************

Halloween soon rolled around for all of us at BAG academy.

Much to my dismay, Casey moved away and found himself a boyfriend.

But in the meantime, so did I.

"Who or what are you going as for Halloween?" My new boyfriend, Will Solace of Apollo cabin, asked me.

"Nothing," I told him, "besides, my plans for Halloween are not to go around and ask strangers for candy: this is the time when spirits are the most restless. I'm hoping I can maybe find Bianca floating around here."

Will sighed softly. He sat next to me on my bed and kissed my forehead. My face felt like that idiot Valdez had sneezed ashes on me (that actually happened once, but that's another story).

"You don't think I'm gonna find her, do you?" I asked him bitterly.

"That's not why I kissed you," Will said, "kisses release all kinds of hormones that give the same effects of being on drugs--"

"So you're trying to drug me? I thought you were my boyfriend slash doctor," I told him.

"I just wanted to make you feel better," Will concluded, "trust me: I'm a doctor."

I rolled my eyes. Then Will slid his fingers along my jawline, drawing my face closer to his. He brought me in for a kiss, and I put my arms around his shoulders.

Suddenly the door opened. "Nico have you seen my--"

We both stopped and stared into the golden eyes of Hazel Levesque.

Schist, I thought to myself.

"Nico, you bad brother," Hazel teased. "Don't worry, I'll be out as soon as I find my costume. Frank and I are going as Maid Marian and Robin Hood."

"We should do a couples costume like all the others," Will said.

"No." I said flatly.

"Aww, come on Nico," Hazel coaxed.

I sighed. "Fiiiiiiiiiine..."

Couples costumes were the stupidest idea ever.

Will had decided on us going as characters from an anime called Ouran High School Host Club. I'd never heard of it, but apparently I was supposed to be Haruhi Fujioka, and he was Tamaki Suoh.

"Will, I don't even know who I am," I said.

"It's okay; no one else really knows except for Annabeth and that other girl in Athena cabin who watches anime," Will told me.

I was not convinced that we looked good.

And to make matters worse, Will had insisted on downloading the English dub version of the opening theme for the anime, "Sakura Kiss"; and every so often he would play it on his phone and sing along.

"Gods of Olympus, you're a weeb." I muttered.

"Aww, you do love me, Haruhi!" Will exclaimed.

"Aren't I supposed to be a girl?" I asked.

"Uh...who told you?"

"It's a good thing you're cute."

"Aww, Haruhi called me 'cute'!"

I slipped my hand in his while we went door-to-door.

We were trick-or-treating in the neighborhoods in New Rome. After the war with Gaea, all the kids of Hecate got together and created this huge portal where demigods could go between the camps with ease.

"Hey, Will and--Nico?" I heard a voice call out.

Oh crap, it was Annabeth and Percy. Annabeth was dressed as Maka Albarn from an anime called Soul Eater (which I found pretty cool) and Percy was Soul.

"I didn't know you were into anime," Annabeth said.

"Neither did I; I assumed it wasn't your type." Percy said pointedly.

"OH MY GODS PERCY CAN YOU JUST LET THE POOR KID GO YOU'RE MY TYPE OKAY?" Annabeth shouted.

"She's right. Man, I'm sorry Nico." Percy said.

"It's cool. We're cool now." We shook on it.

I felt a chill down my spine, and I thought I saw a female spirit drifting away in the wind. "Hey!" I called out after it. I let go of Will's hand and started running toward it.

"Nico!"

The girl's spirit darted in between other kids in costume. I chased after her, hand outstretched, my bony fingers wishing I could grasp her by the tail.

She disappeared in between two buildings, and I found myself in an alley alone.

Nico...

"Who is it?" I asked. I draw my sword, the blade gleaming in the darkness.

It's me.

"...Bianca?"

The spirit reappeared, taking the form of my sister.

"I thought I'd never see you again..." I said, dropping to my knees.

"Oh Nico..." She knelt down to me, her cold fingers caressing my tear-stained cheek. "How grown-up you've become. You're dating now, and you're in real high school."

"Y-yeah..." I stammered. "I am."

"I'm so proud of you. Mama is, too. We love you, Soldatino. Stay strong for us." Bianca said.

My mouth twitched into a smile. "Bianca..."

"Goodbye, Soldatino." She kissed my cheek, and her form evaporated.

"Nico!" Will found me on my knees, crying. "Is something wrong?"

"No...everything's fine. It's great, actually." I said.

Will kissed my cheek in the same spot Bianca did. "Good. Now come on; let's get some more candy."

He laced his fingers in between mine. As we left the alley, I glanced back and I thought I saw Bianca wave one last time.