Back To Black | Luke Castellan

19

More than an hour went by and Nadia was cleared for her injuries from Ares. The first place she went to was the Ares cabin to talk to Clarisse.

She spotted Nadia and ran to her, pulling her into a hug. "I'm so happy you're back." She said and Nadia smiled. "Me too." She said as she pulled away, holding each other's hands.

Clarisse looked down at the patch on her stomach. "What happened?" She asked, looking back at her eyes. "Your father happened."

"He did that?" She asked and Nadia nodded. "Yeah. Percy and I fought against him. Percy drew first blood, winning the duel and Ares retailed by swinging at me." She told her.

She sighed. "But it doesn't matter now. All is good." She said and Clarisse slowly nodded.

Nadia put the thought of her being the lighting thief in the back of her mind. She didn't believe that she was capable of doing it. She just needed a friend to be by her side.

"Come on, let's go outside." Clarisse said and they walked out of the cabin with the other Ares kids and they stood and talking for a while.

It was a beautiful day and everyone was outside. She noticed Annabeth looking over at her and she smiled at her but Annabeth ignored her and Nadia's face dropped.

She saw her whisper something to Luke and he looked over at her for a second before saying something back at Annabeth.

"So how was your quest?" Clarisse asked her and Nadia looked from the two of them to her. "It was alright. A lot of fighting. A lot of running. I met my dad." She said.

"Oh yeah, what was Hades like?"

She raised her eyebrows. "He was something. He said he wanted me to come back to the underworld and learn from him." Nadia said, crossing her arms.

"And are you?" She asked and she shrugged her shoulders. "I might. I mean, I don't know a lot about my powers and no one here can help me. But I don't trust him."

Nadia looked at her. "I guess I could go see if he's full of shit or not for a few days or weeks."

Clarisse smiled at her. "I think you should go. I think it'd be good for you." She said and Nadia smiled. "Thanks, Claire." She said and Clarisse laughed.

"I still hate that nickname."

Nadia bumped her shoulder with hers. "You love it." She said and she rolled her eyes. "I hate you."

She shook her head. "No, you love me."

Everyone started clapping and they turned their attention to see Percy walking into camp. Nadia looked over to Clarisse to see her face go cold and cross her arms.

They saw Annabeth go up to Percy and hug him, the she saw Percy look over at them. They pulled away and started walking. Annabeth looked over at her and nodded her head to the cabin.

Nadia looked at Clarisse. "I have to go, I'll see you later." She said and walked away, following them.

Her, Annabeth, Luke, and Percy grouped in the Hermes cabin to talk away from everyone. Percy was asking why Nadia was hanging out with Clarisse and why she's even there.

"Why are you hanging out with her?" Percy asked her. "Because I care about her. She's my friend." She said back to him.

"Clarisse stole the master bolt." He said and Annabeth looked at him. "It's complicated."

"How is it complicated?" Percy asked her. Luke looked outside before looking at Percy. "Everyone was ready to join the war here. To start fighting each other." Luke told him.

"An accusation against Clarisse—"

"Without proof." Annabeth said. "Exactly." He said looking at her and back at Percy. "Without proof, it would have lit this whole place on fire. But now you're back."

"You stopped the war. You saved the world. Now it's safe to tell Chiron and finish cleaning up the mess. I told him we need to meet him away from the celebration so we can talk without any of Clarisse's supporters noticing." Luke said.

Nadia glared at him.

"I'll keep an eye on Clarisse while you're gone. Make sure she isn't going anywhere." Annabeth said and Nadia rolled her eyes.

"What about you, Nadia?" Luke asked, looking at her. She looked at him. "I am not going to distract and lie to her. I can't do that to someone I love, so I'll go with you and Percy."

He sighed and nodded. "Great. And we'll meet back here. Ready?" He asked Percy and he nodded. They looked at Nadia.

"Just let me put a sweatshirt. I've been wearing this jacket for days." She said. "We'll be outside." Luke said and the two boys walked out.

Annabeth stayed with Nadia in the cabin and they walked over to her bed. She took off her jacket and laid it on her bed.

"Are you okay?" Annabeth asked. Nadia looked at her. "What?" She asked. She walked up to her and gently grabbed her arm and held it up.

Nadia looked to see that her bracelet was black. She could have sworn it was silver before but that wasn't what freaked her out.

The skin around the bracelet was black.

"What happened?" Annabeth asked, looking from it to her. Nadia's opened her mouth and stuttered. "I-I don't know."

"Do you feel alright?" She asked her. "I think so, why? Do you think it's bad?" She asked and Annabeth shrugged her shoulders.

"I don't know. You're going to have to ask Chiron. If you got that in the underworld, it's not good." She said and Nadia took her arm back.

"It's fine. It's probably nothing." Nadia said, she walked over to her drawers and pulled out black long sleeve.

Annabeth looked away when Nadia took off her shirt and put on the long sleeve. She turned around to see Annabeth looking at the ground.

She smiled at her. "I'm all good." She said and she looked at her. "Bring your sword, just in case." Annabeth said.

She nodded and flicked her wrist and her sword appeared. She flicked it again and it disappeared. Nadia saw Annabeth look confused.

"Trick from dad. He left me a letter on how to summon things and get in and out of the underworld." Nadia said and Annabeth slowly nodded.

Annabeth walked up to her and hugged her. Nadia put her arms around her. "What's this for?" She asked her.

"For always protecting us on the quest." She said and Nadia smiled pulling away. "Thanks, Annabeth." She said and she nodded.

"I'll see you later." Annabeth said and Nadia smiled, again before walking out of the cabin.

"What took you so long?" Luke asked her. "Girl talk." She said, not wanted to tell them about her bracelet and black skin. Nadia's skin was dark, but this was pure black.