You felt a hand on yours. It was warm. 'who's hand is it?' You opened your eyes and Nico was right next to you. Sadly he wasn't the one holding your hand. 'Wait what?! I do-dont care!"
"Congratulations, (Y/n), you won!" Will shouted.
"O-okay." You said.
"Percy is still asleep. You each gave each other a good beating." He started to laugh.
Nico just stood there twisting his skull ring, again, "hey, um, Will, I need to speak with (Y/n) alone for a few minutes."
"Oh, okay. See ya!" He shut the door behind him.

You felt- well you don't know how you felt. Maybe happy, worried, nervous? You sat up, "hey, Nico."
"I volunteer to go on the quest with you." He said.
"What, why?"
"I don't know. . ." His hand were cupping your face. You felt your face heat up.
"N-nico! W-what ar-"
He moved his hands, "I-I'm sorry, I didn't m-mean to uh-"
"It's okay. Just tell me why you volunteer."
"I don't know. I just want to help."
You were happy someone was helping you. You were so glad you didn't have to do this alone. You suddenly did something unexpected. You jumped up and hugged him. ". . .Thank you." You felt him hesitate but he wrapped his arms around you.
"You're welcome." Nico's voice was as soft as his hug. A tear slipped from your eye. He must of felt it because he hugged you tighter. "It's okay." He stroked your (h/c) hair. You buried your face on the crook of his neck.
"(Y/n), please don't cry." He whispered.

You both broke apart.
"You really know how to fight."
"Yeah, my mom tought me. . ." You looked out the window across the room. The sun was setting, "I'm going to go talk to Chiron and 'Wine dude.'"
"You know, they aren't going to move the quest date."
"Son of a bi-"
"Don't forget, we've still got to find an extra a volunteer."
"Why?"
"Well three is best."
"Zack! He can come!"
"What if he doesn't want t-"
"Lets go find out!" You take Nico's wrist and pull him out the cabin, "wait, where is Zack?"
"I don't know but we can find him during dinner."
You really weren't all that hungry and being there would just mean a lot of attention at the Posiedon table, 'no thanks, "well actually, I'm not hungry, I'm just going to skip it."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah, I need to get cleaned up and find a shirt."
"I have one you can borrow, d-do you want it?" He asked nervously.
'He's cute when he is nervous.' You immediately threw that thought out of your head.
"I-"
"Hey! (Y/n), Percy's finally awake." Will interuped.
"Oh, that's great!" You grabbed Nico's arm and followed Will to Percy.

He was sitting up on the bed. When he saw you his eyes lit up, "hey, (y/n), how are you feeling?"
"Fine, how are you holding up?"
"Oh, great!" He winced, "sorry about the whole 'cutting you'."
"Don't sweat it, I almost killed you."
"I got to admit, I have new respect for you, man, you are one scary-"
"One scary what?"
"One scary. . .person."
Chiron and Mr.D opened the door, "(Y/n), we are very surprised with your power but I'm afraid we are not going to move up the quest." Mr.D spoke.
You frowned. Those lying rats! "Now I know what 'Mr.D can also stand for, Mr. Di-" Nico yelped and covered your mouth, "(Y/n)! You must still be feeling a bit tired, let's go!" He yanked you away from the group and dragged you to your cabin door while Mr.D shouted threats to turn you into a dolphin.
"I don't need you to protect me!" You shouted at him.
"Like it or not, I'm always going to protect you!" Did he even know what he was saying?

His lips were so close to yours. His hands cupped your face. His lips barley touched yours.
You were surprised, you felt a blush creep into your cheeks. He got near your ear and whispered, "we have sword practice tomorrow."

He inched away and left without saying anything else. He left like nothing happened.
.
.
.
One day, two days, three days, four days. . . You felt like an idiot. You couldn't forget how close he got, how he almost could've kissed you. You chided yourself, no, forget it. It was just strange, so forget it. You were mad he'd do something like that. You tried to ask him what that was all about but it seems you'd be better off forgetting it. Every day you would practice sword dueling with him, neither of you ever said anything about that day. five days, six days, a week.

Three more days until you can go on the quest. You still haven't found a third person. Zack wasn't able to go because he was already on his own mission, he had to go finds some demigods and nobody else wanted to go.
Was it because if you. . .?
.
.
.
.
The day has finally arrived! You had clothe and a bit of food in your backpack, so did Nico. But still no third person. "What are we going to do?" You asked Nico.
"Wait, I've got an idea." He ran to the brown house.
When he came back, Chiron, Annabeth, Will, and percy were with him.
"Farwell," Chiron waved.
"But the thir-"
"Nico says he knows someone. And that he can help."
"Oh. . .Okay."

"Bye, have a safe journey!" They all shouted in unison.
"Good luck!!" Percy shouted.

As soon as you both passed the camp borders you ready for anything.
"Nico, who is the third person?"
"You'll see soon enough." He stood still, "do you think you can handle shadow travel?"
"Yes, but it just makes me feel a bit dazed. A tiny bit though." You tell him.
"Get ready." He held your arm and then you both disappeared into the shadows.
You immediately felt the change. You felt weird. It was like walking in the dark, which was exactly what you were doing.
Regaining your vision you shook your head. "Where are we?"
Nico spread out his hands, "this, this is the spot where you pushed me."
Oh. You had forgotten about that. You laughed and gently pushed him again, "Okay, we need to find my home. This is near the entrance."
"I know." seeping into the darkness you grabbed his wrist.

Once again the feeling hit you.

The light blinded you for a second but immediately you could tell you were on a beach. You looked for a cave. The cave was at the peek of a forest. The cave entrance was only feet away from the dirt blending into with the golden sand. You sprinted to the cave leaving your backpack and a surprised Nico behind. You were happy to be back home.
"Mothe-" you stopped yourself. . . She wasn't there. . . You felt like crying, like crawling into hole and crying the sadness away.
You grazed the stone of the cave with your fingers. You breathed in the sweet scent of cinnamon. "I'm home." You whispered.

"M-mother? W-why aren't you here?"
No one.
You ran outside to the forest.
There she was! Crying on a large rock. . .
"Mother!" You yelled as she looked up.
Nico yelled but it was too late.
'It's a trap'
The nymph bared fangs and hissed.
"I've been waiting, daughter."
'No this can't be. . .' You saw no point in screaming, you just stared in fear. Not because the creature had fangs and it was going to kill you, but because it wasn't your mother. It looked just like her, beautiful blue eyes and long brown hair. But it didn't have her sweet voice nor her nice smile.
The nymph lunged at you.
Nico stepped in between and swung his sword at her. "Run!" He shouted. As the creature landed back on the ground with a wound on its gut, you saw her image flicker. Her eyes changed from murderous to concerned, scared, and fighting to be release of what ever was possessing her.
"No! She still in there!" You cried back, "don't hurt her." You stepped closer to the nymph that, once, was your mother.
"Don't be stupid!" Nico screamed as the creature hiss, ready to attack.
Nico ran for the creature, but you stood in front of it, blocking any of his shots. He stared at you, he was surprised and angry that you were doing that.
Then the creature raked it's claws on your back. You gasped in pain but didn't move.
"(Y/n)! MOVE. NOW!" Nico shouts were muffled by the pounding in your ears. The feeling of your own warm blood oozing spread through your back. You screamed in pain, you squeezed your eyes shut. 'Nico, you can't kill her. Please.'

The nymph screech, "daughter." After that it got really quiet. You fell to the ground, your vision going black.

Someone picked you up.
Nico.

He walked in the water with you in his arms. He gently set you down in the water. One of his arms cradling your head to keep it above water. His other arm wrapped around you to keep you afloat.
"You stupid idiot!"
"Why did you kill her?" You croaked.
"It was either you or her. I'd rather it be her."
"She dead. My mother was still in there. . ."
Ha ha. . .no.
"Shut up. Heal with the water."

Your wounds started to shut. The blood was washed away in the water giving the water around you a slight shade of red. You felt better. He didn't let go, though. He pulled you into a tight hug, "such an idiot." He let go, leaving you in the water, alone. You got up, walked out of the water and felt all your energy been drained away. 'It must've been the water giving me all this energy, I guess it's another perk of being a Posiedon child.'
You staggered to the cave where Nico was, waiting. He watched you stuggle but didn't help. Maybe trying to teach you a lesson.
'She's dead. Mother is dead. Who possessed her? Wh-'
"Hey," Nico said, bring you back to reality, "here." He gave you a rose. The flower was different than any rose you had ever encountered. It was the same shade of blue that your mother's eyes were.
'When satyr and us, nymphs, die we are reincarnated. As a piece of nature.' You remembered your mother saying. That day you were in the garden, she was planting flowers and you were helping. 'One day I'll be a tree of a flower, I don't know.'
You kissed the flower and brought it to your heart, "Chiron said that once we reached here that we would know more about our quest. Maybe we should search for some clues."
Nico took your hands and brought the rose to his lips and gave it a small kiss, "I'm. . .sorry. I said I would protect. . .you. . .always."
You felt your eyes start to get teary, "Nico. Why do you want to protect me?"
"Remember when I said, please don't cry." He put his hands on your shoulders, "it hurts even more when you cry because of me."

You both searched the cave until sunset.
Nothing.

You sat at the wooden table inside the cozy cave.
"Looks like we're going to have to spend the night here and keep searching tomorrow." You tell Nico.
He nods and stays silent.
"Nico, who was the third person?"
He smiled, "close your eyes." You shut your eyes and covered them with your hands. Moments later you felt a strange presence. You opened your eyes, Nico had something cupped in his hands. It let out a little meow. "I-is that a cat?" You questioned.
"Kitten."
"Is it our third person?"
"Yes he is."
"Umm. . ."
He released the gray kitten onto the table. It let out a cute meow and pranced over to you. It rubbed it's head against your arm. The kitten was no bigger than your palm.
"I think he likes you." Nico smiled. You looked at him, he seemed exhausted, he needed to rest.
"Nico, you should probably get some sleep."
The kitten was climbing you shirt to get to you shoulder.
"No, it's oka-"
"I know you're tired."
"Bu-"
"Get sleep."
". . .Goodnight then." He left the table, waiting for the sound of his steps to fade, you sat at the table. When the sound of his footprints no longer audible you also left. You left the big cave and went outside to the shore. The waves roared and the moon gleamed. The kitten hoped off your shoulder and jumped around trying to get your attention. The kitten bit the hem of your shirt finally getting your attention. It meowed and put it's small paw in the air for a second. You put the kitten back on your shoulder.

You glanced at the water and saw something. It was a quick shimmer of bronze and silver.
You got up, 'what was that?,' you made your way inside the water. It was cold but it really didn't bother you. You saw it again from the corner of your eye. You walked to it but nothing was there. The little game went on for a while. Occasionally you would catch a glimpse the bronze and silver tail. You heard a laugh. Was it from a naiad?
You laughed and continued to play the game. Who knows for how long, though.
Your fun quickly ended when you heard shouts emerge from the cave. "Nico!" You said and began to run to his aid.
You found him asleep; he was having a nightmare. What could it possibly be about, he was screaming and trembling.
You put his head on your lap, trying to calm him down. He was in a cold sweat. "It's okay." You whispered and stoked his black hair. He kept trembling but stopped screaming.
"It's okay." Eventually he calmed down. 'He looks cute when he's asleep.' You looked away trying to get rid of the thought. Starting to get up, a cold hand grabbed your wrist, "please stay." He whispered. Nico's eyes were still closed but his voice sounded fully awake. Sitting completely back down and getting comfortable you yawned along with the kitten.
Nico's head rested on your lap again. He was still holding your hand when he fell asleep. You trailed to sleep right after him.
.
.
.
You opened your eyes. You were leaning against the cave wall, Nico's head still on your lap, the kitten laid on Nico's chest, nuzzling his neck. Your fingers were intertwined with Nico's. He hadn't let go of your hand through the night.

You couldn't help but to wonder what he was dreaming about.

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So here is another chapter!
I've been wondering, should I write a leo fan-fic?
I hope you enjoyed this story part! :)
Bye~