nico-di-angelo

Christmas in the Underworld was NOT my idea. If I'd known what was coming, I would've called in sick. I could've avoided an army of demons, a fight with a Titan, and a trick that almost got my friends and me cast into eternal darkness. But no, I had to take my stupid English exam.

For a long time,_ Nico said, __ had a crush on you. I just wanted you to know._ Percy looked at Nico. Then at Annabeth, as if to check that he__ heard correctly. Then back at Nico. __ou __ __eah,_ Nico said. __ou__e a great person. But I__ over that. I__ happy for you guys._ __ou _ so you mean __ __ight._ Annabeth__ grey eyes started to sparkle. She gave Nico a sideways smile. __ait,_ Percy said. __o you mean __ __ight,_ Nico said again. __ut it__ cool. We__e cool. I mean, I see now _ you__e cute, but you__e not my type._ ____ not your type _ Wait. So __ __ee you around, Percy,_ Nico said.

I had a crush on Percy," Nico spat. "That's the truth. That's the big secret.

Nico strode forward. The enemy army fell back before him like he radiated death, which of course he did.Through the face guard of his skull-shaped helmet, he smiled. "Got your message. Is it too late to join the party?""Son of Hades." Kronos spit on the ground. "Do you love death so much you wish to experience it?""Your death," Nico said, "would be great for me.""I'm immortal, you fool! I have escaped Tartarus. You have no business here, and no chance to live."Nico drew his sword-three feet of wicked sharp Stygian iron, black as a nightmare. "I don't agree.

Yeah, well,_ Nico said, __ot giving people a second thought_that can be dangerous.

Hey, can I see that sword you were using?"I showed him Riptide, and explained how it turned from a pen into a sword just by uncapping it."Cool! Does it ever run out of ink?""Um, well, I don't actually write with it.""Are you really the son of Poseidon?""Well, yeah.""Can you surf really well, then?"I looked at Grover, who was trying hard not to laugh."Jeez, Nico," I said. "I've never really tried."He went on asking questions. Did I fight a lot with Thalia, since she was a daughter of Zeus? (I didn't answer that one.) If Annabeth's mother was Athena, the goddess of wisdom, then why didn't Annabeth know better than to fall off a cliff? (I tried not to strangle Nico for asking that one.) Was Annabeth my girlfriend? (At this point, I was ready to stick the kid in a meat-flavored sack and throw him to the wolves.)

Percy scowled. "I-I know you."Nico raised his eyebrows. "Do you?

Hazel frowned. "Why that one?""You don't see the ghost?" Frank asked."Ghost?" Nico asked.Okay... if Frank was seeing a ghost that the Underworld kids couldn't see, something was definitely wrong.

Nico di Angelo came into Olympus to a hero's welcome, his father right behind him, despite the fact that Hades was only supposed to visit Olympus in winter solstice. The God of the dead looked stunned when his relatives clapped him on the back. I doubt he'd ever got such an enthusiastic welcome before.

Nico was devastatingly alone. He__ lost his big sister Bianca. He__ pushed away all other demigods who__ tried to get close to him. His experiences at Camp Half-Blood, in the Labyrinth and in Tartarus had left him scarred, afraid to trust anyone.

Nico didn__ like to be touched, but somehow this brief contact with his father felt reassuring _ the same way the Chapel of Bones was reassuring. Like death, his father__ presence was cold and often callous, but it was real _ brutally honest, inescapably dependable.

Images flashed through his mind. He saw Nico and his sister on a snowy cliff in Maine, Percy Jackson protecting them from a manticore. Percy's sword gleamed in the dark. He'd been the first demigod Nico had ever seen in action. He was Nico's favorite game, Mythomagic, brought to life.Jason saw the moment when Percy returned and told Nico that Bianca was dead. Nico had screamed and called him a liar. He'd felt betrayed, but still... when the skeleton warriors attacked, he couldn't let them harm Percy. Nico had called on the earth to swallow them up, and then he'd run away- terrified of his own powers, and his own emotions.

The Underworld had no mercy. It only had justice

Please!_ That word didn__ make sense to Nico. The Underworld had no mercy. It only had justice. __ou__e already dead,_ Nico said. __ou__e a ghost with no tongue, no memory. You won__ be sharing any secrets.

Nico studied his face _ his sea-green eyes, his grin, his ruffled black hair. Somehow Percy Jackson seemed like a regular guy now, not a mythical figure. Not someone to idolize or crush on.