Chapter Six

Will had done what he could for my ribs, and they were still sore but definitely not broken anymore. Me, Will, Reyna, and the Seven were all gathered in the big house. Percy, Jason and I had recounted the story as best we could, or, in my case, as best as I remembered, since I was drowning for a while there.

"Are you sure the creature was referring to Nico?" Chiron asked, directing his question to Percy, who shrugged.

"That's what I assumed, since it only seemed interested in him. It didn't try to touch me until I had Nico."

Chiron hummed thoughtfully. I sighed and rested my head on the back of the couch I was draped on. Mr. D opened his mouth to say something when Rachel burst through the door, pale and shaking, speaking much too fast for any of us to understand.

"Calm down, Rachel," Chiron said, putting his hands on her shoulders and guiding her to a chair. "Tell us what's happened."

"There's been, there's been another prophecy." She stuttered. "About you guys." I sat up carefully, all of us focusing our attention on Rachel. "It's about...well maybe it would be better if you heard it," she whispered. I glanced around the room, confused. The spirit of Delphi doesn't usually give prophecies unless you ask it a question. This must be a pretty serious one, then.

All of us watched as Rachel's eyes began to glow a creepy green-ish colour, and she started to speak.

"Seven victorious joined by two,

A healer and a daughter of Roman crew,

Face an enemy old and new.

A traitor hidden behind his mask,

A question to the answer you never ask.

Until the three crows' breath,

Shall you fall prey to the son of Death.

The battlefield lies where murder sing,

And stand you against the oldest king.

When sun rises on the night,

Should you commence a deadly fight.

And son of death on his knees,

Slain by blade of swiftest seas

For death becomes his one appease,

From dirtiest sin of friendly disease.

And should the sun rise next day,

Victorious or dead, none can say."

Rachel wouldn't meet my eyes. Everyone else was staring at me. I swallowed thickly. "What- that- I mean, what does that even- what is that saying?" Percy stuttered.

"It's saying that there's going to be another war." I muttered. "And I'm going to betray you all." I looked at Percy, who was staring at me. "And then you're going to kill me."

He shook his head. "No. No, that's, that's wrong I would never do that, Nico, it has to mean something else–"

Annabeth put her hand on Percy's shoulder. "Percy. Think about it. 'Son of death on his knees, slain by blade of swiftest seas'. The son of death is Nico. Hades doesn't have any other demigod sons. And blade of swiftest seas, that's Riptide."

Percy swallowed, blinking back tears. "No," he whispered. "No, I won't- I can't kill him."

Chiron cleared his throat. "Regardless of what you can and cannot do in the future, Percy, we must do what we can now. This new prophecy is alarming and I fear it requires immediate action."

" 'Seven victorious joined by two'..." Will said, sitting down next to me and discreetly squeezing my hand. "Seven victorious, we all know who that is, and the other two-"

"I think it's you and Reyna," Hazel said. "A healer and a Roman? Who else would it be?"

"But what does it mean, 'enemy old but new'? Does that mean we've fought them before?"

"And what about 'when sun rises on the night'? That makes no sense!"

"Everybody stop!" I shouted, standing up. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Rachel flinch. "There's no way to decipher it right now. The oracle never gives straight answers, and we're lucky it's as understandable as it is.We need to deal with what we know for sure."

"Nico's right," Mr. D said. "We can't deal with all the other stuff now. What do we do about Nico?"

I winced. I really didn't want to be reminded of my future traitorous-ness, but at the same time it was all I could think about. And we needed to deal with this.

"What do you mean, 'do about' it? He would never betray us! We know Nico, he's our friend, he wouldn't–"

"Jason, please, just. Let's think about this rationally." I sighed. "The safest option, for everyone, is for me to leave camp."

My statement was met with immediate reaction. Everyone was in adamant disagreement. Chiron raised his hands and everyone fell silent. "I agree with Nico. If the information in this room were to make it to the other campers, as it inevitably must, Nico will become a pariah. It is safest for him to leave before that happens."

No one argues with Chiron. We agreed that I would leave that night, as soon as possible. I would leave all traces of camp Half Blood here, including the brace on my ankle and any clothing with the camp logo on it. Weapons were exempt.

I would tell no one where I was staying, and I would Iris-message Chiron every week. If he didn't hear from me for more than two weeks, he was to assume the prophecy was beginning to come true and prepare the campers for another war.

I left him a list of instructions to follow if the campers ever did need to go up against me. I really hoped it wouldn't come to that, but the oracle has never yet been wrong.

I was packing my bag, back in cabin thirteen, after dropping off the brace back at the infirmary. I had already said my goodbyes. Hazel, Frank and Reyna had left right away for Camp Jupiter, to begin early preparations. Everyone else was busy.

Except Percy, apparently, because he walked into my cabin as I was closing my bag up. "Hey," he said. His eyes were red. I smiled at him sadly. "Hey. You know I'll be okay, right? I've been on my own long enough. I know how to deal with the world, Percy. I'm not a kid anymore."

"I know. But I'm still gonna worry. I'm your cousin. It's my job." He shook his head. "I really thought we'd all get a break from this prophecy shit, but I guess not." I hummed in agreement. He still looked really worried, so I set my bag down.

"Percy, can I show you something?" He nodded, a little confused. I lifted my left hand. On my index finger sat a ring. It was silver, shaped like a feather curling around my finger. "This was a gift from Hades. Well, actually, I bought the ring. But that's not the point. You know what, I'll just show you."

I rolled my shoulders, the tattoo on my back burning as a pair of huge, black-feathered wings unfurled, tearing holes in my shirt "This was a gift from Hades." Percy stared in shock.

"Oh my Gods, you really are an angel," he whispered. "Can I?" I nodded, and he circled me slowly, reaching out a hand to gently touch one of the wings.

"What- are these like your sword? The feathers are razor-sharp..."

"No, they're a part of me, technically. The tattoo is just a way to... hide them, I guess?" When Percy had circled around to my front again, I flexed my shoulders and the wings sunk back into my skin, appearing as ink. I pulled out a fresh shirt to replace the ruined one. "I bought the ring because I kept forgetting they were there, and believe me when I tell you they've literally saved my life.

"The point is, Percy, you don't have to worry. I'm more than capable of taking care of myself. If I ever get in a tough spot, I can deal with it. I also have a place in the Underworld if things here go too far. You know that." I pulled the fresh shirt on and shouldered my bag again.

"I do know that. And I trust you to stay safe, Nico. We're just- we'll miss you, you know. You only just got back and now you have to leave again."

"I know. But hey, I like travelling anyway. I'll message you whenever I get time. Chiron wants me to stop by the Underworld and see if Hades knows anything about what's going on. He'll probably ask you to do the same with Poseidon, so I'll message you when I get wherever I'm going to stay, alright? See you, Percy." I gave him a mock salute, falling backwards into the shadow by my wardrobe.

Things are really going to hell again. Good thing that's where I'm headed now.

little bit of angst and fluff for you there. Imagine being so powerful you literally have to leave instructions on how to defeat yourself. Also, the picture in the beginning is nico with his wings. They were a gift from Hades a few months after the titan war, as a sort of peace offering. Hades gave nico the wings and taught him how to turn them into tattoos. Nico then went and got the skull/halo tattooed because hes dramatic and aesthetic. Hades got Zeus to agree to let nico use them to fly with the exception he fly no higher than the empire state building or zeus with smite him out of the sky.

Also the thing from last chapter was a Kraken, which is Greek monster I looked it up.

Fun fact: an average adult has about five litres of blood, and can only loose up to two litres before they die.