Fatal Flaw: Empathy (Nico di Angelo)

Chapter Three

Disclaimer: If I owned Percy Jackson, Annabeth Chase, or Nico di Angelo, I WOULD NOT BE HERE. That all belongs to Rick Riordan.

The moment we walked into camp, it was an internal warzone in me not to break my oath.

"Hi," he said, enthusiasm dripping from his voice. How could he be so enthusiastic when- SUGAR HONEY ICED TEA, not again. I was crying. After this guy said hi.

Clarisse happened to be nearby. "She just lost her mom." She explained. "Lost her voice along with her, out of grief."

"I'm so sorry! You're going out of your way to be nice, and hear I am stuck like a broken record and a leaking faucet... I wonder what that would sound like? Maybe like - Oh sorry!" I scrawled and apologized when I noticed him chuckling. He reached out to shake my hand, and I complied looking him in the eye. He had gentle hands and when you peered into his eyes, it looked like he'd seen a lot of death. He was obviously working in this infirmary, and thinking back, Annabeth mentioned two wars. He definitely looked as though he felt guilty. He couldn't save as many people as he'd wanted to. "It's not your fault, by the way." I couldn't stop my pen; it had a mind of its own. "You wouldn't have been able to save everyone, and you probably wouldn't be here now if you did. It would've been your life for one of theirs, and that would mean one less healer to help with their wounds. Deaths are meant to happen, in a hospital bed, on a battlefield..."

His eyes widened, and so did mine. "Oh, Sugar Honey Iced Tea, I'm sorry if I upset you!" I wrote embarrassed. I shook out my hand since it hurt from writing so fast.

"That's okay." He smiled, as if the entire camp depended on it. "Looks like you know your stuff! I'm Will Solace, son of Apollo."

"That explains why you look glow-y," I wrote and smiled again.

He chuckled and left waving.
— Time Skip—
"And that's the Poseidon Cabin, the only inhabitant being Percy, but sometimes his cyclops brother Tyson visits."

"Wait, Percy? Like Percy Jackson, your boyfriend? From the wars?" I wrote on my erasable tablet that Annabeth got for me from the Hephaestus cabin
Annabeth nodded.

"He's visiting Atlantis for now, but you'll get to meet him later, and you'll most likely get his attention during either Capture the Flag tomorrow or Dinnertime today."

I shrugged to show my confusion. Why those two specific times?

"Because you will probably get claimed by your Dad then." Oh. Claimed. That sounds nice. Family. That sounds even better.

We continued to walk around until the dinner bell.

—Time Skip—

Half-way into dinner, a boy with black hair walked over to one of the five empty tables. His hair looked almost blueish in the light. His eyes, even from a distance seemed to be glowing a sea green color, radiating power. With a swimmers lean frame, he waved over to Annabeth who jumped up in surprise, her blonde princess curls bouncing around in excitement as she ran to him.

"Percy!"
—-POV—- Percy

"Percy!" Called Annabeth, jumping straight into Percy's open arms. They give each other a chaste kiss on the lips, and hug for the rest of the next ten seconds.

"Annabeth," he chuckled. "Annabeth, you won't believe what my dad just told me. He says that I could possibly have a sibling! Besides Tyson I mean."

"Really? That's amazing! I wonder if you have a brother or sister?"

Percy thought for a second, "I would like a sister. You know, so I can be a cliché overprotective brother that won't let her date," he smiled fondly at Annabeth as she laughed at him. "Maybe not, but still. A sister would be nice."

Annabeth blanked for a split second before she gasped lightly. "Percy, I want you to meet someone."

Annabeth and Percy walked over to the Hermes table, and Percy was introduced to the girl, two years younger than he. He watched confused as the girl pulled out a glorified, demigod worthy whiteboard and expo (that she'd gotten from the Hephaestus cabin,) and wrote.

'Hi! I'm Aletha Fárence, undetermined. I've heard a lot about you Percy...' she pointed to Annabeth, and used a hand to gesture that she hadn't stopped talking about him.

"Hi, Aletha. How are you liking camp Half-Blood so far?"

'It's awesome! I do want to get myself some weapons though.' Aletha wrote. Percy noticed that she wrote in Greek instead of English, and that his brain was automatically translating it for him.

"Do you speak Greek? Without lessons?" He asked surprised.

She shook her head, erased her previous sentences by swiping her hand over the tablet. 'My tablet translates it from any language I choose. I'm writing this in Italian.'

"Cool! Hephaestus cabin?" He asked, though it was rhetorical. She nodded. "If you don't mind me asking," Percy hesitated. "How come you can't talk?" Annabeth face palmed, while she gestured to Annabeth to get Clarisse.

'My mom was killed. She was a daughter of Aphrodite, making me a legacy. A gorgon killed her. And when that happened I screamed. A lot.' She swiped over the tablet once she was sure Percy'd finished. 'But I was able to contact Chiron and tell him what happened. That was when I learned that my mom knew this was going to happen. I cried again till I could no longer speak.'

Aletha felt disgusted by herself for being so weak. She was crying just writing the word 'mom.' Clarisse just got back with Annabeth, and wrapped Aletha up in a big hug, right after Aletha swiped again.

Clarisse was about to lead her to the Hermes Cabin, when a bright bluish green light erupted from above the girl's head. She looked up, tearstained face glowing in the light as she sunk to the ground in disbelief.

"All hail Aletha Fárence," Clarisse gulped, looking at the details of the three pokers on the stick. The pearl in the middle. "Daughter of Poseidon."

And she continued to cry on her knees.