ON THIS SPRING DAY
━━━━━ chapter eight

━━━━━ NO ONE WAS anxious to travel that night, so they decided to wait until morning. Grover, Tyson, and Percy crashed on the leather couches in Geryon's living room, while Violet and Annabeth laid claim to the guest bedroom. You would think it'd be a lot easier to fall asleep considering a bed was a lot more comfortable than a bedroll, but Violet still found herself tossing and turning an hour later.

               ( Some of that tossing and turning was probably caused by Violet's fears of what she was going to see in her dreams. She wasn't sure how many more times she could see Elain Nevitt fighting Ms. Aarden before she went insane. )

               Violet found herself sitting on the front porch next. She figured it should've brought bad memories considering mere hours ago she had been tied up and tossed there, but the fresh air was nice ( when the wind blew the correct direction that is; the stench from the flesh-eating horses still lingered every once in a while ).

               "I can't believe you're sitting out here." Nico's voice made her jump. He stood in front of the door, closing it softly.

               "I'm sorry." She turned around. "About earlier."

               Nico didn't respond. Instead, he sat down next to her on the front steps. He sighed, his expression hard to read in the cold moonlight. Finally, he replied, "It's not your fault."

               "I guess it isn't." Violet's voice was shaky. "But, I need to tell you Bianca sent me those dreams, too. I was just too scared to say anything earlier."

               "Why would you be scared?"

               She swallowed, looking for the right words. "I guess, over the months, I've felt so guilty for ... what happened to Bianca. I mean, that cloud of darkness that passed over the junkyard ..."

               "You think it was your fault," he caught on.

               "It is my fault," she replied.

               Nico looked at her. "The darkness, not Bianca's death."

               She looked off. "You don't believe that."

               "Yeah, I do." He laughed lightly. "I never thought it was your fault. Even after Minos told me the darkness in the junkyard. If I thought it was your fault, I would've told you. I wouldn't have come to you in January."

               Violet shifted, glancing back inside. "If you don't blame me, why do you blame Percy."

               Nico's face grew shadowy. Violet feared she had overstepped, but he just took a deep breath. "You know what Percy promised me last winter. And he had the most experience with quests. I thought—" His voice broke. "Whatever I thought, I had thought wrong."

               She wanted to tell Nico that it wasn't Percy's fault, but she knew that would only anger the son of Hades. Instead, she settled for; "But I was there when you had Percy promise that. I knew exactly what you had said."

               "But you're not Percy." Nico shrugged, pursing his lips. "You weren't the one who had two other quests under your belt. You and Percy are very different; you are two very different people to me."

               "Well ..." She had become a bit lost for words. "I'm glad you don't blame me. Even if I feel like it's my fault."

               "Bianca doesn't even blame you, Violet." Nico shook his head. "And I don't, either."

               Violet stared off, watching cows sleeping in their pastures. She didn't respond after that, letting the conversation settle, but Nico had another topic to pick.

               "I don't want you to think I'm trying to make you Bianca." He glanced at her, seemingly suddenly self-conscious. "Don't take it the wrong way, but—I mean, you're not—"

               "I would never try and become Bianca." Violet shook her head. "I get what you're trying to say. And I never wanted to replace Bianca for you, either. I want to be Violet to you, not Bianca."

               He nodded. "Yeah, I would like that."

               The daughter of Eros smiled slightly, trying to lessen the anxious mood. "I didn't even think about it, if I'm honest. I never even thought about trying to replace Bianca for you. That would just be ..."

               "Disgusting."

               "Yeah." She nodded. "Disgusting. That's one way to put it."

               "I know Minos would try and convince me that's what you were doing," Nico admitted. "He tried really hard to get me to leave you alone, but ... I liked your presence. It got really lonely with only Minos."

               "I'm sure it did," she agreed, glancing in his direction. "By the way, how'd you get to the Underworld."

               Outwardly, Nico didn't react. But Violet knew the son of Hades well enough to see the shift in his eyes. "It was Minos, Violet. He helped me navigate the Labyrinth. And he didn't want you getting to the Underworld, so whenever you were around, he'd lead us in circles."

               "But why?" Violet pressed the issue.

               Nico only shook his head. "I dunno. Every time I would ask, he would just say, You're father spoke to her last winter. Sometimes he'd say It would be dangerous for the girl to know the truth. Dangerous for the gods and Kronos."

               "Dangerous?" Violet repeated. "How the hell could me finding the Underworld be dangerous?"

               "Maybe ... maybe it would be dangerous if the answers you need are down there."

               Nico's tone made a shiver crawl up her spine. "How are we going to find it then?" she asked.

               He glanced at her with furrowed brows. "Violet, you can't. You have this quest you're on."

               "After the quest is finished." She didn't say the word If. They would find Daedalus and stop Luke and Kronos. "After we find Daedalus, you and I will find a way to the Underworld without Minos's help."

               Nico shifted. "I've been thinking ... What if my dad spoke to you last winter for a reason? Curiosity kills the cat, that's what he said right?"

               "Something to the effect."

               "So, why don't we just leave it alone? You've mastered your powers over shadows well enough."

               Violet frowned. She didn't like what Nico was suggesting at all. "But why can I control shadows?" she asked. "What makes it so that I, a daughter of Eros, can control shadows? It just doesn't make sense. And why was it easier in winter to control it than in summer? And why, when I went back to Camp, did the grass suddenly grow when I touched it—"

               "What?" Nico shifted to look at her. "You've never told me about that!"

               "I haven't seen you to tell you until now," she replied, rolling her eyes. "Yeah, that happened, too. That's why we need to find the Underworld, Nico. So, hopefully, I can find some answers as to why any of this is happening."

               He shifted. "I'm just ... Look, Violet, I don't want you to die, either."

               Violet looked at him sadly. "Nico, you can't take that phrase too literally. It's just a figure of speech."

               ( But Violet didn't entirely believe herself. She saw the look on Hades's face when he told her that during the winter solstice. )

               "Maybe you're right," said Nico. "But ... I don't know how we'll find the Underworld without Minos."

               "There's an entrance in L.A.," Violet replied. "Annabeth told me about it. That's how she, Percy, and Grover made it down there two summers ago. On their first quest to retrieve the master bolt."

               Nico frowned. "Zeus's master bolt? Why would they have to retrieve that?"

               "Oh. You don't know what happened?" Violet peered at him. "Well, it's a long story. Annabeth told me all about it. I'll tell you later."

               "Right." Nico stood up and brushed off his pants. "Well, I think we both need sleep. See you later, Vi."

               Before Nico could walk away, Violet grabbed him by the arm. "What did you mean by me and Percy being different to you?"

               The son of Hades stared for a moment, caught off guard. "I—I meant the fact that I knew you before Dr. Thorn attacked. You helped me settle in at Camp. And" —he swallowed harshly— "that I knew you were ... struggling with accepting powers over darkness. And you tried to help me through Bianca's death. That's it."

               He shook off her hold and walked inside, shutting the door behind him.

🌷

Violet didn't walk inside until a few minutes later, shuffling inside and nearing the steps when Percy croaked, "Love Bug?"

               She spun around, looking at the boy who was bathed in blue light flickering from the TV. "Hey, Percy. What's up?"

               ( She didn't sound as casual as she had hoped to. )

               He rubbed at his eyes, sitting up. "Why were you out there?"

               She shrugged, glancing at the door. "Some fresh air."

               He studied her face for a moment. "Oh. Um, okay."

               Violet thought about the conversation she'd overheard between Percy and Annabeth. We can't make her talk, Annabeth had told Percy as tears burned in Violet's eyes. So we'll just have to listen whenever she feels comfortable enough to tell us what's wrong.

               But Percy struggled with patience. Violet knew that. And she supposes he wasn't wrong to have questions about her strange attitude shift since January. But she wasn't comfortable enough to tell Percy everything. Besides, she wasn't even sure where to start.

               "Here." He patted the empty seat beside him. "You look like you can't sleep, either."

               "What made you wake up?" she asked, hoping to sound casual, as she shuffled over and sat down.

               Percy shrugged. "Nightmares."

               She hummed. "Typical."

               "You sound ..." He glanced at her. "Resentful."

               "What? You enjoy your nightmares?" she countered, thinking back to Annabeth proposing the idea that Violet might be on Kronos's side secretly. "I don't enjoy mine, personally."

               "What do you have nightmares about?" Percy asked.

               Violet tugged at the end of a braid of hair. Vaguely, woven within the braid, she could see the sliver of grey hair poking out. Her physical reminder of holding up Atlas's burden. She took a breath. "This girl, who is fighting this monster."

               "You're being weirdly vague, Vi," Percy pointed out the obvious. "Does it have anything to do with that problem you told me about?"

               She frowned, and thought for a moment, "I think so."

               "You think?"

               "I'm not sure," she admitted, shaking her head. "It's—" She broke off.

               "It's what?" Percy pried.

               She glanced at him, almost self-consciously. "It's going to sound weird ..."

               He rolled his eyes. "I keep having dreams about Daedalus and his nephew Perdix. I think I understand weird, Love Bug."

               "Daedalus?" She frowned, looking at him closer. "You've been having dreams about Daedalus?"

               "You tell me about your dreams." He pointed to her. "I'll tell you about mine." He pointed to himself.

               Violet pursed her lips, but started explaining. "I've been having the same dream since last winter. It started in the middle of the quest. But ... it slowly becomes more detailed; clearer, almost. It's not as fuzzy. There's more information. For a while, I'll I knew was that this blonde girl was fighting a monster shrouded in darkness. That's it. That was all I knew for months."

               "Darkness?" Percy raised his eyebrows. "Like—"

               "I thought there might be a connection, too," Violet said quickly. "But I dunno ... It feels like the monster doesn't want to be seen. It's not like I have any control over the darkness in my dreams. It doesn't feel like I do, at least."

               "Point is," she continued, "there wasn't much information when I first received the dream. They didn't say much of anything—the blonde girl said she wouldn't do something, and the monster said that the girl didn't have a choice. And then the girl stabbed her sword into the ground and split it apart. After she did that, I'd always wake up."

               "But over the months, stuff was slowly added. Like a trickle of information. Just recently, I learned the girl's name was Elain Nevitt. And the monster's voice became more clear—the monster sounds exactly like Ms. Aarden."

               "Ms. Aarden ..." Percy frowned. "The monster who attacked you in Boulder?"

               Violet nodded. "Yeah, her."

               Violet had always been pretty elusive about her past. It wasn't as horrible as some half-bloods, but it still had its dark moments. And compared to a lot of friends back at Camp—like AJ or Connor—Percy knew a little more about her past than them. He knew about her issues with her mother, Dahlia, where the issues stemmed from. And he knew of Ms. Aarden attacking Violet on her way back to Camp, though she never told anyone what had become of Ms. Aarden exactly.

               Violet just didn't know how to explain how Ms. Aarden got swallowed by the earth, as if the earth had suddenly become alive and sentient.

               "That's ..." He trailed off.

               "Odd," she finished for him. "I know. Well—your turn. Tell me about your dreams about Daedalus."

               Percy sighed and dragged his hand down his face. "I don't know where to start," he admitted.

               "How about ..." Violet pretended to think for a moment. "Where the dream first started."

               He shot her a look. "Oh, ha-ha. Real funny, Love Bug. Problem is, I've had multiple dreams. I guess they're like a trickle of information, too."

               She raised her eyebrows. "Tell me about them. We have the time."

🌷

Violet didn't know when she fell asleep, but she did find how she fell asleep; her head cradled in Percy's shoulder.

               It was a comfy place to lay her head, don't get her wrong, but it was beyond embarrassing because Grover woke them up nervously as Annabeth snickered behind him. ( The day Violet learns of a crush Annabeth has that isn't the lowlife Luke Castellan is the day it is over for the daughter of Athena, Violet promises that! )

               Violet shoved Percy away, who grunted as his head knocked into Grover's. "Keep laughing, Annabeth," she grumbled.

               Annabeth's grin widened. "Oh, I will."

               "Vi, that fucking hurt," Percy grumbled, rubbing his right temple. "Grover has horns ..."

               "Oh, and my horns don't hurt now!" Grover snapped, holding onto the top of his head. "Your head's like a gigantic boulder. Oh my gods ..."

               Nico watched with raised eyebrows as he stood at the front door. He raised them higher as Violet grabbed her bag and slung it over her shoulder and stalked over.

               "No good morning?" he asked as she walked out the door behind him.

               "I hate you and Annabeth," she snapped back.

               "I didn't even say anything about that!" Nico stamped his foot. "So, don't go and drag me down with Annabeth, Violet."

               The four finally caught up with Violet and Nico down at the cattle grid. Annabeth was still snickering by the time they got down there, and Grover still cradled his horns. Percy, however, watched Violet carefully.

               Percy made her shift uncomfortably. She turned to Nico to escape. "You could come with us," she told him.

               It had been a passing thought while talking to Nico during the night, but that's all it had been. Violet knew he never would, but maybe she was hoping he would surprise her. But she wasn't surprised when he shook his head. She was sure no one had slept well in the demon ranch house, but Nico looked worse than anybody else. His eyes were red and his face chalky. He was wrapped in a black robe that must've belonged to Geryon, because it was three sizes too big even for a grown man.

               "I need time to think." He wouldn't meet her eyes. And despite what he told her last night, Violet could still hear a bit of resentment at the fact Bianca had been summoned for Percy and not for Nico. Of course, Violet didn't blame him for that resentment; she understood the feeling perfectly.

               "Nico," Annabeth said. "Bianca just wants you to be okay."

               She put her hand on his shoulder, but he pulled away and trudged up the road toward the ranch house. Maybe it was Violet's imagination, but the morning mist seemed to cling to him as he walked.

               "I'm worried about him," Annabeth admitted. "If he starts talking to Minos's ghost again—"

               "He won't." Violet sounded sure of herself ( she didn't know where it had come from because that wasn't what Nico promised last night ). "I just know he won't."

               "Little lady's right. He'll be all right," Eurytion promised. The cowherd had cleaned up nicely. He was wearing new jeans, a clean Western shirt, and he'd even trimmed his beard. He'd put on Geryon's boots. "The boy can stay here and gather his thoughts as long as he wants. He'll be safe, I promise."

               "What about you?" Percy asked.

               Eurytion scratched Orthus behind one chin, then the other. "Things are going to be run a little different on this ranch from now on. No more sacred cattle meat. I'm thinking about soya-bean patties. And I'm going to befriend those flesh-eating horses. Might just sign up for the next rodeo."

               Percy nodded. "Well, good luck."

               "Yep." Eurytion spat into the grass. "I reckon you'll be looking for Daedalus's workshop now?"

               Annabeth's eyes lit up. "Can you help us?"

               Eurytion studied the cattle grid, and Violet got the feeling the subject of Daedalus's workshop made him uncomfortable. "Don't know where it is. But Hephaestus probably would."

               "That's what Hera said," Annabeth agreed. "But how do we find Hephaestus?"

               Eurytion pulled something from under the collar of his shirt. It was a necklace—a smooth silver disc on a silver chain. The disc had a depression in the middle, like a thumbprint. He handed it to Annabeth.

               "Hephaestus comes here from time to time," he explained. "Studies the animals and such so he can make bronze automaton copies. Last time, I—uh—did him a favor. A little trick he wanted to play on my dad, Ares, and Aphrodite. He gave me that chain in gratitude. Said if I ever needed to find him, the disc would lead me to his forges. But only once."

               "And you're giving it to me?" Annabeth asked.

               Eurytion blushed. "I don't need to see the forges, miss. Got enough to do here. Just press the button and you'll be on your way."

               Annabeth pressed the button and the disc sprang to life. It grew eight metallic legs. The daughter of Athena shrieked and dropped it, much to Eurytion's confusion.

               "Spider!" she screamed. She grabbed Violet's shoulder, nearly climbing the girl. Violet yelled in protest ( "Get off me, mad woman!" she screamed, trying to back away from Annabeth ).

               "She's, um, a little scared of spiders," Grover explained. "That old grudge between Athena and Arachne."

               "Oh." Eurytion looked embarrassed. "Sorry, miss."

               The spider scrambled to the cattle grid and disappeared between the bars.

               "Hurry," Percy urged, pointing after it. "That thing's not going to wait for us."

               Annabeth wasn't anxious to follow, but they didn't have much choice. They said our goodbyes to Eurytion, Tyson pulled the cattle grid off the hole, and they dropped back into the maze.

🌷

Violet wished they could've put the mechanical spider on a leash. It scuttled along the tunnels so fast that most of the time she couldn't even see it. If it hadn't been for Tyson and Grover's excellent hearing, they never would've known which way the spider was going.

               They ran down a marble tunnel, then dashed to the left and almost fell into an abyss. Tyson grabbed me and hauled him back before he could fall. The tunnel continued in front of them, but there was no floor for about a hundred feet, just gaping darkness and a series of iron rungs in the ceiling. The mechanical spider was about halfway across, swinging from bar to bar by shooting out metal web fiber.

               "Monkey bars," Annabeth said. "I'm great at these."

               She leaped onto the first rung and started swinging her way across. She was scared of tiny spiders, but not of plummeting to her death from a set of monkey bars. Go figure.

               Annabeth got to the opposite side and ran after the spider. Violet grumbled something about monkey bars and broken arms, but followed after Annabeth. Percy was after her. When Percy got across, Violet looked back to see Tyson giving Grover a piggyback ride ( or was it a goatyback ride? ). The big guy made it across in three swings, which was a good thing since, just as he landed, the last iron bar ripped free under his weight.

               The five kept moving and passed a skeleton crumpled in the tunnel. It wore the remains of a dress shirt, trousers, and a tie. The spider didn't slow down. Percy slipped on something that sounded like scraps of wood ( and nearly took Violet down with him, that bastard ). But when Violet aimed her flashlight at the floor, she saw pencils—hundreds of them, all broken in half.

               The tunnel opened up into a large room. A blazing light hit them. Once Violet's eyes adjusted, the first thing she noticed were the skeletons. Dozens littered the floor around us. Some were old and bleached white. Others were more recent and a lot grosser. They didn't smell quite as bad as Geryon's stables, but almost.

               Then Violet saw the monster. And the smell of rotting corpses wasn't the only thing making her nausea anymore.

               The monster stood on a glittery dais on the opposite side of the room. She had the body of a huge lion and the head of a woman. She would've been pretty, but her hair was tied back in a tight bun and she wore too much makeup. In all honesty, the monster reminded Violet of her ballet teacher when she still lived in France. She had a blue ribbon badge pinned to her chest that took Violet a moment to read: THIS MONSTER HAS BEEN RATED EXEMPLARY!

               Tyson whimpered. "Sphinx."

               Spotlights blazed on either side of the creature. The only exit was a tunnel right behind the dais. The mechanical spider scuttled between the Sphinx's paws and disappeared.

               Annabeth started forward, but the Sphinx roared, showing fangs in her otherwise human face. Bars came down on both tunnel exits, behind them and in front.

               Immediately the monster's snarl turned into a brilliant smile.

               "Welcome, lucky contestants!" she announced. "Get ready to play ... Answer That Riddle!"

               Canned applause blasted from the ceiling, as if there were invisible loudspeakers. Spotlights swept across the room and reflected off the dais, throwing disco glitter over the skeletons on the floor.

               "Fabulous prizes!" the Sphinx said. "Pass the test, and you get to advance! Fail, and I get to eat you! Who will be our contestant?"

               Annabeth grabbed Violet's arm. "I've got this," she whispered. "I know what she's going to ask."

               Personally, Violet was okay with not being the contestant. She was horrible at riddles.

               The daughter of Athena stepped forward to the contestant's podium, which had a skeleton in a school uniform hunched over it. She pushed the skeleton out of the way, and it clattered to the floor.

               "Sorry," Annabeth told it. ( She didn't sound very sorry, in Violet's opinion. )

               "Welcome, Annabeth Chase!" the monster cried, though Annabeth hadn't said her name. "Are you ready for your test?"

               "Yes," she said. "Ask your riddle."

               "Twenty riddles, actually!" the Sphinx said gleefully.

               "What? But back in the old days—"

               "Oh, we've raised our standards! To pass, you must show proficiency in all twenty. Isn't that great?"

               Applause switched on and off like somebody turning a faucet.

               Annabeth glanced at the others nervously. They all gave her encouraging nods and thumbs up.

               "Okay," she told the Sphinx. "I'm ready."

               A drumroll sounded from above. The Sphinx's eyes glittered with excitement. "What ... is the capital of Bulgaria?"

               "That's ... that's not a riddle," Violet whispered to Percy, who shrugged.

               "New standards?" he whispered back.

               Annabeth frowned. For a terrible moment, Violet thought she was stumped. "Sofia," she said, "but—"

               "Correct!" More canned applause. The Sphinx smiled so wide her fangs showed. "Please be sure to mark your answer clearly on your test sheet with a 2B pencil."

               "What?" Annabeth looked mystified. Then a test booklet appeared on the podium in front of her, along with a sharpened pencil.

               "Make sure you bubble each answer clearly and stay inside the circle," the Sphinx said. "If you have to erase, erase completely or the machine will not be able to read your answers."

               "What machine?" Annabeth asked.

               The Sphinx pointed with her paw. Over by the spotlight was a bronze box with a bunch of gears and levers and a big Greek letter H—Êta—on the side, the mark of Hephaestus.

               "Now," said the Sphinx, "next question—"

               "Wait a second," Annabeth protested. "What about 'What walks on four legs in the morning'?"

               "I beg your pardon?" the Sphinx said, clearly annoyed now.

               "The riddle about man. He walks on four legs in morning, like a baby, two legs in the afternoon, like an adult, and three legs in the evening, as an old man with a cane. That's the riddle you used to ask."

               "Exactly why we changed the test!" the Sphinx exclaimed. "You already knew the answer. Now, second question, what is the square root of sixteen?"

               "Four," Annabeth said, "but—"

               "Correct! Which US president signed the Emancipation Proclamation?"

               "Abraham Lincoln, but—"

               "Correct! Riddle number four. How much—"

               "Hold up!" Annabeth shouted.

               Violet didn't know why Annabeth was stopping. She was doing great. And the quicker she answers the 'riddles', the quicker they can chase after the spider.

               "These aren't riddles," Annabeth said.

               "What do you mean?" the Sphinx snapped. "Of course they are. This test material is specially designed—"

               "It's just a bunch of dumb, random facts," the daughter of Athena insisted. "Riddles are supposed to make you think."

               "Think?" The Sphinx frowned. "How am I supposed to test whether you can think? That's ridiculous! Now, how much force is required—"

               "Stop!" Annabeth insisted. "This is a stupid test."

               "Um, Annabeth," Grover cut in nervously. "Maybe you should just, you know, finish first and complain later?"

               "I'm a child of Athena," she insisted. "And this is an insult to my intelligence. I won't answer these questions."

               "Honestly ..." Violet's shoulders slumped.

               The spotlights glared. The Sphinx's eyes glittered pure black.

               "Why then, my dear," the monster said calmly. "If you won't pass, you fail. And since we can't allow any children to be held back, you'll be eaten!"

               The Sphinx bared her claws, which gleamed like stainless steel. She pounced at the podium.

               "No!" Tyson charged. He hates it when people threaten Annabeth, but Violet couldn't believe he was being so brave, especially since he looked so terrified of the Sphinx before.

               He tackled the Sphinx midair and they crashed sideways into a pile of bones. This gave Annabeth just enough time to gather her wits and draw her knife. Tyson got up, his shirt clawed to shreds. The Sphinx growled, looking for an opening.

               Percy drew Riptide and stepped in front of Annabeth. "Turn invisible," he told her.

               "I can fight!"

               "Annabeth!" Violet summoned Larkspur. "The Sphinx is after you. Let us handle it!"

               As if to prove their point, the Sphinx knocked Tyson aside and tried to charge past Percy. Grover poked her in the eye with somebody's leg bone. She screeched in pain. Annabeth put on her cap and vanished. The Sphinx pounced right where she'd been standing, but came up with empty paws.

               "No fair!" the Sphinx wailed. "Cheater!"

               With Annabeth no longer in sight, the Sphinx turned on Percy. He raised his sword and Violet drew an arrow but, before anyone could strike, Tyson ripped the monster's grading machine out of the floor and threw it at the monster's head, ruining her hair bun. It landed in pieces all around her.

               "My grading machine!" she cried. "I can't be exemplary without my test scores!"

               The bars lifted from the exits. They all dashed for the far tunnel. Violet could only hope Annabeth was doing the same.

               The Sphinx started to follow, but Violet yelled, "No!" and sprigs sprouted from the ground and curled around the monster's paws tightly. The loss of momentum made the Sphinx fall face-first into the ground. It didn't keep the Sphinx down long, but just long enough for Percy to pull Violet back just as the bars slammed shut.

               "How'd you do that?" he asked as they ran along.

               "I don't know!" she admitted, her heart racing.

               "Annabeth!" Grover called.

               "Here!" she answered, somewhere in front of Violet. "Keep moving!"

               The five ran through the dark tunnels, listening to the roar of the Sphinx behind them as she complained about all the tests she would have to grade by hand.

🌷 JULY 29TH, 2023 / i'm gonna say this here, so read carefully bc i've gotten a couple of comments about this during royal cries (quickly deleted bc i'm not leaving that on my book) - don't EVER confuse vi and nico's relationship for anything even slightly romantic, okay?

nico's gay, vi's whatever the fuck she is (i honestly have put much thought into it but she def likes girls and boys), and nico and vi are like siblings

nothing romantic will ever happen (in my fics) between nico and any girl bc nico's gay and a lot of the fandom just doesn't respect that, even after it was made canon that nico is gay like i've still seen recently updated fics that has nico paired with a girl (i shudder everytime i see it - it's like a luke x annabeth fics or those pertemis fics)

moving on - thoughts on vi and nico's convo? thoughts on vi and percy's convo? thoughts on anything else i forgot to make a question about?

(i still haven't decided on a ship name for vi and percy and its actually driving me crazy)

anyways,, thoughts?? opinions??

(not edited and barely proofread)