I 019. I

𝑪𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑪𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒅𝒐𝒓𝒔

❝ nico ❞

     BEFORE SHE LEFT OLYMPUS, ARIA AND HER HAD A TALK. It was mostly about school and what they would do. She had decided Ariadne would be better off in Miami.

Of course there was a lot of arguing on Ariadne's part. She didn't want to leave New York, it was close to camp and to the Jackson family. But Aria wasn't having it.

"Ari," the goddess said, "I can keep you safe in Miami. There's a great school down there, and I think you'll enjoy it."

"But I like New York," the girl said. "There's other schools, and I'm near camp, I can go there if anything bad happens."

Aria sighed. "Ariadne, your father and I talked, he thinks it's best you go back to Florida after Christmas break. You have the barrier, and Beckett misses you."

She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "I'm not going," she argued.

"Yes you are."

Her father stood behind them, raising an eyebrow at his stubborn daughter. "It's best," he said.

Ariadne grit her teeth. "What do you know what's best for me? You've been stuck at camp for years, and wouldn't it be better if I'm closer to camp, anyways?"

The god glanced at his wife who shook her head. He placed a hand on his daughter's shoulder, squeezing it. "Ari. Chiron agreed as well. If both you and and that Perry are in the same place, after all of this, it's not safe for you."

"His name's Percy," she mumbled.

He ignored her.

Ariadne looked at her two parents and nodded. She shut her eyes tightly while they did their best to lighten the mood.

"I'll see you for Christmas," Aria said before taking her husband's arm and walking away."

She wasn't looking forward to it.

Compared to Mount Olympus, Manhattan was quiet. Friday before Christmas, but it was early in the morning, and hardly anyone was on Fifth Avenue. Argus, the many-eyed security chief, picked up Annabeth, Grover, Percy, and Ariadne at the Empire State Building and ferried then back to camp through a light snowstorm. The Long Island Expressway was almost deserted.

As they trudged back up Half-Blood Hill to the pine tree where the Golden Fleece glittered, Ariadne half expected to see Thalia there, waiting for them. But she wasn't. She was long gone with Artemis and the rest of the Hunters, off on their next adventure.

Ariadne smiled at the sight of the piece of fabric tied to one of the branches, the very one she had tied on after their first quest.

Chiron greeted them at the Big House with hot chocolate and toasted cheese sandwiches. Grover went off with his satyr friends to spread the word about their strange encounter with the magic of Pan. Within an hour, the satyrs were running around agitated, asking where the nearest espresso bar was.

Ariadne, Annabeth, and Percy sat with Chiron and some of the other senior campers—Beckendorf, Silena, and the Stoll brothers. Even Clarisse from the Ares cabin was there, back from her secretive scouting mission.

She had a scar on her chin, and her dirty blonde hair had been cut shot and ragged, like someone and attacked it with a pair of safety scissors. It didn't seem as if the quest had been easy.

"I got news," she mumbled uneasily. "Bad news."

"I'll fill you in later," Chiron said with forced cheerfulness. "The important things is you have prevailed. And you saved Annabeth!"

Annabeth smiled at Ariadne and Percy gratefully.

"Luke is alive," Percy said. "Annabeth was right."

Annabeth day up. "How do you know that?"

Ariadne looked between her two friends with knitted eyebrows. She didn't remember having that conversation.

Percy told them about what his dad has said about the Princess Andromeda.

"Well." Annabeth shifted uncomfortable in her chair. "If the final battle does come when Percy is sixteen, at least we have two more years to figure something out."

The brunette resisted the urge to roll her eyes. She could care less about if Luke was alive or not,. The girl had given up on helping him, but obviously Annabeth hadn't.

Chiron's expression was gloomy. Sitting by the fire in his wheelchair, he looked really old. He was immortal, but he looked older than what he usually did.

"Two years may seem like a long time," he said. "But it is the blink of an eye. I still hope you are not the child of the prophecy, Percy. But if you are, then the second Titan war is almost upon us. Kronos's first strike will be here."

"How do you know?" Percy asked. "Why would he care about camp?"

"Because the gods use heroes as their tools," Chiron said simply. "Destroy the tools, and the gods will be crippled. Luke's forced will come here. Mortal, demigod, monstrous... we must be prepared. Clarisse's news may give us a clue as to how they will attack, but—"

There was a knock on the door, and Nico di Angelo came running into the parlor, his cheeks bright red from the cold.

He was smiling, but looked around anxiously. "Hey! Where's... where's my sister?"

Dead silence. Ariadne stared at Chiron. She couldn't believe nobody had told him yet. And the she realized why. They'd been waiting for them to appear, to tell Nico in person.

She took a deep breath and looked to Percy, who gave her a nod.

"Hey, Nico." Percy stood up. "Let's take a walk, okay? Ariadne's gonna join us. We need to talk."

He took the news in silence, and it made it incredibly worse. Percy kept talking, explaining how it had happened. Ariadne told him how Bianca sacrificed herself to save the quest. But they felt as if it was only making things worse.

"She wanted you to have this." Ariadne brought out the little god figurine Bianca had found in junkyard. Nico held it in his palm and stared at it.

They were standing at the dining pavilion, just where'd they last spoken before the two older kids went on the quest. The wind was bitter cold, even with the camp's magical weather protection. Snow fell lightly against the marble steps. It fit the exact mood she was feeling.

"You promised you would protect her," Nico said.

He might as well have stabbed her with a rusty dagger.

"Nico," Percy said. "I tried. But Bianca gave herself up to save the rest of us. I told her not to. But she—"

"You promised!"

He glared at them, his eyes rimmed with red. He closed his small fist around the god statue.

"I shouldn't have trusted you." His voice broke. "You lied to me. My nightmares were right!"

Ariadne and Percy exchanges a glance. "What nightmares?" she asked.

He flung the god statue to the ground. It clattered across the icy marble. "I hate both of you!"

"She might be alive," Ariadne said desperately. "I don't know for sure—"

"She's dead." He closed his eyes. His whole body trembled with rage. "I should've known it earlier. She's in the Fields of Asphodel, standing before the judges right now, being evaluated. I can feel it."

"What do you mean, you can feel it?"

Before he could answer, she heard a new sound behind them. A hissing, clattering noise she recognized all too well.

Percy and Ariadne drew their swords and Nico gasped. They whirled around and found themselves facing four skeleton warriors. They grinned fleshless grins and advanced with swords drawn.

"You're trying time kill me!" Nico screamed. "You brought these... these things?"

"No! I mean, yes, they followed us, but no!" Percy shouted. "Nico, run. They can't be destroyed."

"I don't trust you!

The first skeleton charged. Percy knocked aside its blade, but the other three kept coming. Ariadne sliced one in half, but immediately it began to knit back together. He knocked another's head off but it just kept fighting.

"Run, Nico!" Ariadne yelled. "Get help!"

"No!" He pressed his hands to his ears.

Percy and her weren't doing so great. She was attempting to throw them away with vines, but when one left, another took its place. They slashed, whirled, blocked, jabbed, but they kept advancing. It was only a matter of seconds before the zombies overpowered them.

"No!" Nico shouted louder. "Go away!"

The ground rumbled beneath them. The skeletons froze. Percy grabbed Ariadne and rolled out of the way just as a crack opened at the feet of the four warriors. The ground ripped apart like a snapping mouth. Flames erupted from the fissure, and the earth swallowed the skeletons in one loud CRUNCH!

Silence.

In the place where the skeletons had stood, a twenty-foot-long scar wove across the marble floor of the pavilion. Otherwise, there was no sight of the warriors.

Awestruck, Percy looked at Nico. "How did you—"

"Go away!" he yelled. "I hate you! I wish you were both dead!"

The ground didn't swallow them up, but Nico ran down the steps, heading toward the woods. They started to follow but slipped and fell to the icy steps. When they got up, Ariadne noticed what she had slipped in.

Ariadne picked up the god statue Bianca had retrieved from the junkyard for Nico. The only statue he didn't have, she'd said. A last gift from his sister.

She stared at it in dread, because now she understood why the face looked familiar. They'd seen it before.

"Hades," she whispered.

Percy looked into her eyes, and both of them knew nothing good would happen.

Annabeth and Grover helped Percy and Ariadne search the woods for hours, but there was no sign of Nico di Angelo.

"We have to tell Chiron," Annabeth said, out of breath.

"No," Percy said.

They stared at him.

"Um," Grover said nervously, "what do you mean... no?"

"We can't let anyone know. I don't think anyone realizes that Nico is a—"

"A son of Hades," Annabeth said. "Percy, do you have any idea how serious this is? Even Hades broke the oath! This is horrible!"

"I don't think so," Ariadne said. "I don't think Hades broke the oath."

"What?"

"He's their dad," she said, "but Bianca and Nico have been out of commission for a long time, since before World War II."

"The Lotus Casino!" Grover said, and he told Annabeth about the conversations they'd had with Bianca on the quest. "She and Nico were stuck t he te for decades. They were born before the oath was made."

Percy nodded.

"But how did they get out!" Annabeth protested.

"I don't know," Percy admitted. "Bianca said a lawyer can and hit them and drove them to Westover Halls. I don't know who that could've been, or why. Maybe it's part of this Great Stirring thing. I don't think Nico understands who he is. But we can't go telling anyone. Not even Chiron. If the Olympians find out—"

"It might start them fighting among each other again," Annabeth said. "That's the last thing we need."

Grover looked worried. "But you can't hide things from the gods. Not forever."

"I don't need forever," Percy said. "Just two years. Until I'm sixteen."

Annabeth paled. Ariadne gulped. "But, Percy," the brunette said, "this means the prophecy might not be about you. It might be about Nico. We have to—"

"No," he said. "I choose the prophecy. It will be about me."

"Why are you saying that?" Annabeth cried. "You want to be responsible for the whole world?"

"I can't let Nico be in any more danger," he said. "I owe that much to his sister. I... let them both down. I'm not going to let that poor kid suffer any more."

"The poor kid who hates you and Ariadne and wants you both dead," Grover reminded him.

"Maybe we can find him," Ariadne said. "We can convince him it's okay, hide him someplace safe."

Annabeth shivered. "If Luke gets hold of him—"

"Luke won't," Percy Saudi "I'll make sure he's got other things to worry about. Namely, me."

Ariadne wasn't sure Chiron believed the story Annabeth, Percy and her told him. He could tell they were holding something back about Nico's disappearance, but in the end, he accepted it. Unfortunately, Nico wasn't the first half-blood to disappear.

"So young," Chiron sighed, his hands on the rail of the front porch. "Alas, I hope he was eaten by monsters. Much better than being recruited into the Titan's army."

It was incredibly morbid. Ariadne shut her eyes tightly for a few seconds.

"You really think the first attack will be here?" Percy asked.

Chiron stared at the snow falling on the hills. She could see smoke from the dragon guardian at the pine tree, the glitter of the distant Fleece.

"It will not be until summer, at least," Chiron said. "This winter will be hard... the hardest for many centuries. It's best you go home to the city, Percy; try to Jeep your mind on school. And rest. You will need rest."

Percy looked at Annabeth. "What about you?"

Her cheeks flushed. "I'm going to try San Francisco after all. Maybe keep an eye on Mount Tam, make sure the Titan's don't try anything else."

"You'll sent an Iris-Message if anything goes wrong?"

She nodded. "But I think Chiron's right. It won't be until the summer. Luke will need time to regain his strength."

Percy nodded. He looked Arians who leaned her arms against the railing. "What about you? Are you staying in New York?"

Ariadne let out a breath. "Aria and I talked. Her and my dad think it's best if I go back to Miami. There's a barrier there and all."

"Oh." He looked down sadly and she smiled.

"Don't worry, I'll make sure to be safe."

He smiled. "Just take care of yourself. Make sure you Iris-Message me if anything happens."

Ariadne smiled tentatively. "Deal. And, Percy—"

She was interrupted by Grover, who stumbled out of the Big House, tripping over tin cans. His face was haggard and pale, like he'd seen a specter.

"He spoke." Grover cried.

"Calm down, my young statue," Chiron said frowning. "What is the matter?"

"I... I was playing music in the parlor," he stammered, "and drinking coffee. Lots and lots of coffee! And he spoke in my mind!"

"Who?" Annabeth demanded.

"Pan!" Grover wailed. "The Lord of the Wild himself. I heard him! I have to... I have to find a suitcases."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Percy said. "What did he say?"

Grover stared at him. "Just three words. He said, 'I await you...'"

***

SHE SAT ON HER BUNK BED. It was quiet inside the cabin, and she felt a bit warmer thanks to the fire bulbs outside.

The girl had cleaned up the dried hot chocolate from days ago, the one she had spilled before the quest. And nothing made sense to her.

Ariadne couldn't believe it was all happening. A war in two years. When she was eight she didn't expect to live that long, and at that moment, she didn't know if she would.

Yes, she was the Daughter of the Vines, but there could very well may be another daughter of Dionysus out there. And maybe, every prophecy she was apart of was this amazing new sibling who would change the world.

The brunette didn't feel as if she was up to the task. Not because she didn't want to, but because she wasn't strong enough. And then she remembered what Athena had told her.

Kronos knew her weakness. He knew how scared she was of never saving everyone, and they hadn't this quest, and it was shaking her very being.

Ariadne shook her head and took a deep breath. Grover had been consoled by Chiron and they headed towards their own cabins to catch up on rest, or to see her siblings in Annabeth's case. Which reminded Ariadne of Hailee from cabin six. The girl had had an allergic reaction and couldn't participate in the quest, and the brunette needed to check on her.

As she made her way towards her door, a knock sounded. The girl pulled it open, and to her surprise, it was Percy. He gave her a crooked smile as she let him in.

"Hey," he said. "Can we talk?"

Ariadne nodded. Her nerves picked up. He most likely wanted to discuss the prophecy between them, and her heart was racing in its chest. Campers weren't allowed to be alone in a cabin together. If Chiron knew he would have a fit and most likely ban them from s'mores at campfire or forced to do kitchen duty for a week.

Percy took a seat on the edge of the bed, admiring the cabin he had never been in.

Grape vines lined the roof and walls. They hung from the ceiling, and he wondered if hey ever tickled the girl when she slept if they wanted her attention. The walls were a lavender color underneath, and there was a drink fountain in the corner with a glass holder beside it.

The floor was a dark brown color, reminding him of the forest floor. Towards the back was a large red curtain, and it was opened to show a dim stage, lights off.

A large bathroom and closet rested off to the side and he saw multiple bookcases of playbills and books which belonged to the Dionysus kids. It surprised him that the cabin was large compared to the only three cabin members, and it didn't seem as if there were anymore arriving anytime soon.

Bunks were covered in deep purple sheets and blankets. Vines painted across with a personal are at the end of them. Pictures of Castor and Pollux holding their sister were on the wall. From her tenth birthday, to her thirteenth, they were there.

"So," she said, "what's up?"

Percy looked at her and blushed. "Uh..." He didn't know how he was supposed to say it. After contemplating everything, he realized his feelings were genuine and not just because of the prophecy. "How are you?" he asked softly. "We haven't really talked about Zoe. Or Bianca, really."

Ariadne looked at her feet. The girl gulped down the knot in her throat. "Uh, I'm good, I guess."

"You guess?"

The girl shook her head. "Well, not really, if I'm being honest." She took a seat next to him. "Athena told me about my fatal flaw."

"Same," he said. "I apparently have excessive loyalty."

She sighed, "I don't know how my fatal flaw could destroy me. I like helping people. I like saving people, and if I don't—"

Her voice fizzled out.

Percy tilted his head. He took her hand in his and squeezed it lightly. "If you don't?"

"If I don't help someone, I feel pointless. And if I can't save someone it's as if I'm not good enough. Thinking back on this quest, I wonder if it would've been better if I had just not told Bianca my plan, and she would've been back here with her brother."

"Aidan," he said. "No, that's... that's not okay. If you hadn't told Bianca, none of us would've known, and where would that leave the rest of us? We would be heart broken. Annabeth. Thalia. Grover. Me."

Ariadne scoffed, "But it would've solved so many problems. Bianca would be here. Artemis could have her lieutenant, Thalia still could have joined. And Nico would have his sister back."

Percy gave her a frustrated glare. "Are you listening to yourself? You're not weak, Aidan, and if someone had ever told you that then you need to tell me. Because you are one of the strongest people I know," he told her.

"I cried on this quest," she spoke quietly.

"Yeah. So what—"

"How many times have  you cried on this quest?" He was quiet. "How many times did Thalia? How many times did Grover?"

"Aidan, just because you cried doesn't make you weak."

The girl let go of his hand and stood up, pacing around the room. "Yes it does! The past three quests I have cried. On each of them. And it pains me to cry when I know I'm not as strong as the rest of you guys are."

Percy stood up with her. "That doesn't mean you're weak! You are extremely powerful! You held the sky easily, and you were doing so well!"

"Annabeth held it for hours!" Ariadne shouted. "I couldn't even hold it for a few minutes without feeling as if I was dying."

He bit his lip. "You're the best swordswoman in hundreds of years, that doesn't make you weak."

Ariadne pulled at her hair. She resisted the urge to scream and throw things around. The girl felt weaker than she ever had before.

"Aidan." Percy reaches his hand out and placed it on her shoulder. "It'll be okay. We're tired and—"

"Bianca's dead because of me."

He froze.

"I told Bianca my plan and she ran for it even though she had a brother. She had a brother, Percy," the girl said shakily. "Nico has no one. I know the feeling. It's not fun, it's terrifying. I hate it."

"You have your brothers—"

She gave him an angry glare. "Where are they?! They're with their own family, celebrating time together in this stupid world that wants to kill us!" The girl pursed her lips. "If only I pushed harder to save her, I could have. Bianca would still be her. And the last thing she told me was—"

Her chest clenched tightly. The breath left her lungs. She placed a hand to her mouth and closed her eyes.

"Ariadne?" Percy asked. "Ariadne?"

"I swore on the River Styx I would protect Nico for her. And now that he's gone..."

Percy shook his head. "He's okay. You will save him."

Ariadne's body shook. "If I had saved Bianca, I would've saved Nico as well. Percy, I'm so stupid. I-I ruined his life."

The girl couldn't hold it in anymore. She tried to take a few breaths, but nothing was entering her lungs. She collapsed to her knees and began to hyperventilate.

She clawed at her throat. Her eyes blurred with tears and she couldn't focus on anything. The girl felt dizzy, and her body trembled under his hand.

Percy rushed over. He had been friends long enough to have seen only one of her anxiety attacks, and they weren't pretty. It was best he kept her at an arms length in case she lashed out and tried hitting him.

All he could do was talk quietly  and get her to breathe.

It hurt to breath. All she could really do was kept trying, but the girl gave up at one point because it hurt too much.

Ariadne could only hear a soft voice pulling her from her dizziness, but it wasn't enough to help the girl from crying out.

Tears fell down her cheeks. She struggled to open her own eyes in fear the purple would cause whoever it was to go mad, and she didn't know if she could reverse it.

Percy tried to keep away his own emotions knowing it would've help. "Aidan, breathe."

She couldn't.

"Breath. Breath in deeply and out. Like you did when you were trying to smell that one candle at the shore, you remember?"

A breath entered her lungs, and it soothed the burning pain in her chest.

Percy smiled at the sight of her returning to reality. "Yeah, see, just like that. Take another one."

He took her hand and held it against his chest, letting her feel his heart and his breathing. "Do it with me," he said.

"In."

She followed along.

"Out."

"In."

"Out."

"In."

"Out."

Ariadne blinked a few times and swallowed the large lump in her throat. She tried to hold in her sobs while looking at Percy, but they escaped against her own will.

He hesitantly pulled her into his chest, leaning against her bunk as she sat in his lap. The boy ran a comforting hand through her hair. She listened to his steady heart beat and was killed into a peaceful silence, her sobs quieting down.

"Thank you," she whispered.

He smiled into her hair. "You're not weak, Ariadne, you are strong."

The girl smiled against his chest. She reached up and touched the gray streak in his hair as he did the same to hers.

They looked at one another. Purple and sea-green colliding in a perfect mix. He leaned his forehead against hers and took a deep breath with her.

A soft kiss placed itself onto his cheek and the boy blushed heavily. The girl leaned her head into his neck, smiling when he kissed her temple.

Both demigods sat there for a few more minutes, sharing small whispers and soft kisses to the cheeks for comfort. But neither could bring themselves to do what the other wanted.

Ariadne Phoenix and Percy Jackson wouldn't be the same. Because as they say, love is a curse that humans are burdened to live with for the rest of their lives. And it never happens the way it should.

END OF ACT I.

authors note:

Who else is crying?
🙋🏻‍♀️I am

THEY KILL ME!

Next act is part two and it's botl. I love this book and it deals with my goddess Ariadne and Theseus and we dove more into why Aphrodite failed.

Also, Ariadne aint gonna be liking Rachel one bit. And she's gonna be a massive bitch because the girl is literally ignoring her love for Percy and just saying it's a crush.

And can I say, that little moment where they touch the gray strands in their hair makes me cry so much. That's gonna he their thing when they need comfort, and I'm keeping those streaks there.

One more thing: Ariadne has officially reached the point where she's going to become angry rather than sad, and that camp battle is gonna be a big reminder of that.

Thank you guys so much for reading! Comment your favorite part or moment!

Love you guys!