DA : Chapter 23: A Shocking Revelation I

Same Time as Percy Left to Find Medusa

The hill was silent as a steady breeze rolled by, the tiny blades of grass dancing in unison to the light of the stars. The fields of Mars spread out within the valley, New Rome just over the hill itself. It was still the middle of the night and the stars were bright though shadows abounded as well.

In this darkness the shadows writhed and condensed together to form a feminine figure. Soon the shadows and darkness dissipated to reveal Andromeda, her currently black eyes scanning around herself.

Finding no one she released a tensed sigh, though her frame did lose some of the tension it held before.

"Okay … if I were a legendary demigod of the big seven prophecy, where would I go?" she asked herself as she looked towards New Rome. "Hmm … I could probably find them wherever the strongest presence is," she mused as she started to walk towards the city.

She walked silently, enjoying the cool night and fresh air. She glanced at the moon and frown though, the bright satellite being a constant reminder of the goddess who'd lied to her for years.

She sighed in sadness at the thought, wondering why things had to turn out like this. Even still she couldn't truly hate the goddess or her Hunt, which was why she left all the planning on how to eliminate them to her brother and Rhea.

They didn't have a problem with the task and honestly, Andy wished them a quick death … but knew that it wasn't likely.

Still, that wasn't her purpose at the moment so she shock the thoughts before she noticed she'd arrived at the city limit and a statue with no arms had just popped into existence in front of her.

"Halt!" Terminus, god of Borders and Boundaries, shouted in latin at her. "State your business."

"Hello Lord Terminus," she greeted respectfully with a small bow and everything. "I just wish to visit the city. Is that okay?"

The statue stared at her hard before asking, "Just who are you young demigod? I've never seen you before."

"I'm from the Greek camp and am just visiting the area," she replied without missing a step. "I was enjoying the fields and wasn't really planning on visiting the city tonight but tomorrow.

However, it just looks so beautiful at night that I couldn't resist. So can I go, pleeeaase?" she asked with full blown puppy eyes and quivering lip.

The statue grimaced slightly, obviously trying to resist her gaze but it was a losing battle and soon Terminus caved.

"Very well," he said stiffly. "Any weapons to declare?"

"No, I only have jewelry," she answered in a voice laced with powerful charmspeak beyond the ability of any god or monster.

Terminus couldn't so much as twitch an eyebrow as his facial features softened before he nodded.

"Enjoy New Rome," he said before the statue went completely stiff meaning that Terminus had moved his conscious to another one along the border.

Andromeda had a very Percy-ish grin on her face as she continued to walk, already hearing the chatter of the lively city. 'Now to search …'

...

A raven haired figure sat comfortably at a local café of New Rome, sipping on a steaming cup of black coffee, no sugar. He was dressed in a black bicker jacket over his equally black t-shirt with a skull on the front.

His ripped jeans were more of the dark grey shade leading to thick, black boots with steel toes.

His belt had a skull buckle matching the one on his right index finger, his usual Stygian Iron blade left back at his room in the Underworld due to laws of New Rome and bringing weapons.

He was Nico Di Angelo, now a young man of 23 years.

He'd filled out in the years, with a steady stream of training, hunting down rogue souls, and proper rest and nutrition thanks to one Dr. Solace.

Now standing at nearly 6 foot and with a body of a tri-athlete, more defined and chiseled features, and of course the dark and mysterious air around him, he was quite the chick magnet. Mores the pity he didn't bat that way.

He sat alone for now, silently thinking on the last few years and how much things had changed ever since his cousin disappeared. A week after the seven were given their rewards, Percy simply disappeared off the face of the earth.

At first Nico had been a little worried but when he'd been informed of how Annabeth had not only cheated, but took godhood without pause without coming clean to his cousin, he thought that Percy had simply left to get some air. Alaska was beautiful that time of year anyways.

However, after a year passed he got worried and noted his father was particularly distressed at the mentioned of the lost hero so Nico had pressed him for information and what he got shocked him.

He knew he'd felt an odd death pair of deaths that week but to get it straight from his father how the gods had murdered Percy's family … well, let's just say that there were several sorry undead that got to feel his wrath in the aftermath.

After venting he made sure to visit Sally and Paul in Elysium (Hades escorted them himself) and tried to inform them of what happened. They weren't thrilled but he promised to keep them up to date of anything particularly important.

Afterwards he'd almost charged straight into the Hunt to recover Percy's sister but then thought better of it. He knew the Olympians were covering up what they did and a search had been issued for Percy.

That alone would keep the Hunt too mobile and alert for him to possibly sneak into their camp unnoticed.

He also couldn't bring himself to tell Thalia about what her mistress did. Where would Thalia go if she left the Hunt? Would Artemis even let her go if she knew that the secret could get out?

Not likely and Nico wouldn't have pushed it past the goddess to threaten to harm Percy's sister to keep them both quiet so he decided that for now, he wouldn't act.

What was he waiting for? A sign possibly. Percy was too powerful for his death to not cause literal quakes through the Underworld so Nico was sure the cheeky bastard is alive somewhere.

'But does he know what the Olympians did? Probably … his disappearance was too convenient otherwise,' Nico thought as he heard the bell for the door ring, signaling a new customer. He stood at 6 foot'2 with a bright head of blonde hair and electric blue eyes.

His strong jaw line, lean and muscular build, and faintly tanned skin turned many a heads in the café. He was dressed in a buttoned version of the Camp Jupiter shirt, curtesy of Calypso's dress shop located in the city next to Leo's forge.

His sleeves were rolled up showing his branding of SPQR and over a decade's worth of bars for his services.

Lastly were his clean blue jeans and tanned boots that had a heavy thud with his every step, marking the approach of Jason Grace, son of Jupiter, ex-praetor, and one of the immortal (partially) guardians of New Rome.

'I know I love Will and all but I got to admit, Jason's hot,' Nico thought while appreciating the sight.

After a year or so with his reward, Jason had returned to Olympus and asked if he and Piper could be allowed to grow until they reached 25 and many people liked the results.

It was actually pretty funny when Nico and Jason did these hang out since they almost always got hit on together and then had to softly put down their admirers. Nico just did a sort of 'not interested' glare while Jason was just too damn nice and usually took forever to get his point across that he was taken.

The rare few that replied with 'doesn't matter, you look like you could use two girlfriends' always made Jason choke while Nico actually laughed from time to time. Even the thought of it was making him smile faintly.

"You're looking happy. Something nice happen?" Jason asked with a chuckle as he plopped down in the seat across from Nico.

"Nah, just thinking of the girls that hit on you," Nico shot back and was satisfied to see Jason scratching his neck nervously. Giving him some mercy Nico pushed on with the conversation, "So, back from another 'exciting' job?"

Jason sighed as he relaxed in his chair. "Yeah. Two demigods this time up in Oregon. Both around 12 years old and already running from a persistent pack of hellhounds.

Got to them in time though and I dropped them off yesterday at the barracks. Looks like a son of Mercury and I'm almost sure a daughter of Athena but they'll have to wait for official claiming."

"The work never ends," Nico muttered while taking a sip of his coffee and waving down a waitress.

"Amen to that," Jason agreed as he looked through a small menu. "But hey, that's the job I picked and honestly, makes me feel good to go out and save lives like that. If anything I'm sure he would have joined me."

At the mention of Percy they got a little more sober, both missing the guy that was their brother in all but blood, especially Nico after he came to terms with his crush on Percy and how Percy was obviously in love with Annabeth … bitch.

"I miss him man," Jason said softly after a waitress came and took his order.

"Most of us do," Nico agreed with a sigh. "We searched for years but he just up and vanished."

"Yeah and remember about his family. Jeez, do you think he even knew about them dying?" Jason asked as he looked at his own hands. "… Even his little sister disappeared … she never got a chance."

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