Nico Di Angelo, Assistant of Ironman

Part 13- What Could Be

It was wrong. He knew that. She'd be disappointed in what he used her gift for. But he had to avenge her. It was ridiculous, really. All it took to set him off was a party. A celebration on the day she died. The day he held her in his arms, watched as the life drained from her face. They always say it drains from the eyes, but you could see it in her whole face. Her smile dropped, everything slacked, though the eyes were the worst. They don't close like in the movies, they stare into your soul, bringing pain and despair to whoever looked into them.

Empty.

That's how they're always described, but I would like to renew that sentence. They were like a bag with crumbs in it or a jug that's still wet on the inside. You can very clearly see that there's something, but that something isn't enough to warrant use. Like when your phone is low battery but shuts off before 0%, you know it still has some in it, but it's not enough to deliver the intended purpose fulfilled in quantity.

It's not enough.

Not enough that he tried. He still wasn't skilled enough to save her. He still wasn't strong enough to protect her. And he hadn't been brave enough to avenge her.

But now he was.

It was ironic, really. 

Avenging against the Avengers.

But...

"Anything for you, Carmen."

~

"What kind of bull**** are you trying to pull here?!"

Currently, Nico, Leo, and a screaming banshee were sitting in Nico's cabin, as it's one of the least occupied spaces in the camp. Technically, Hazel should be in there while she's visiting, but she was playing volleyball right now after Nico said he needed to talk to his quest... mates? Questees? Questers?? I don't even know, but you get my point. Unless you're stupid.

Moving on-

Drew, naturally, was confused. I mean, really, she had a single, kind of ok encounter with these losers, and now she was signed up for a quest... which, admittedly, she was both excited and scared about.

Even though if you asked just about anyone, they'd say she hated quests, it wasn't always like that. 

She had always been daddy's little girl, never able to really explore who she was. But when her father told her that her mother, who she had always assumed was dead (even though no one really said anything), was none other than Aphrodite on her 10th birthday, he took her to meet Chiron. Now she was in camp, and thought, maybe, this was her chance to distinguish herself a bit more; have her amazing adventure of self-discovery, and venture out from the protective shield of her father!

But life wasn't some teen fiction.

And even if it was, even Drew herself knew she would be a pesky side character who'd cause a bit of trouble and then disappear for the rest of the book (which, for some reason, felt remarkably true).

When she got to camp, there were two people she instantly got along with: her newfound older sister Silena, and a timid boy named Camreon staying in the Hermes cabin, 'cause he was an Iris kid.

Silena was her first taste of feminine care, and Camreon was her first taste of friendship with someone her age. It was amazing.

At first.

But then, the longer she stayed in the Aphrodite cabin, the more she hated it. Silena and Camreon were the only reason she felt she could still be sane, and that if she lost them, she might as well kill herself. But of course, that was also an overdramatic 10-year-old.