Work Text:
October 5
Reader, I must confess: though I have won countless battles & returned heroic from quests of legend untold (or at least faced the pegasi stables after feeding hours to clean up the muck, which should count, have you seen that shi— listen, it’s not like junior campers get sent on quests that often, okay!) I have never felt fear so chill & thrilling race up my spine as I did walking into Nico DiAngelo’s cabin.
The black cabin is stark against the evergreens, a haunting contrast against the flickering red-orange-yellow of the trees that change colors this time of year. I’m told I’ll return in one piece, but will I be the same when I do? This may just be my most perilous quest yet, Reader, more even than the time Drew made asked me to request that the Ares kids redecorate their cabin to look more “aesthetic”.
Well, I can hardly procrastinate any longer.
Interviewer: Holy Hades why is she in here?! [a yelp sounds, followed by stumbling & crashing noises]
Reyna [wryly]: Hello to you too, I suppose.
Interviewer: [gulps, coughs, stutters] Uh, good morni— afternoon! Good afternoon, Praetor.
Nico: You don’t have to bow to her.
Reyna: Yeah, you really don’t need to do all that for me. [laughs] Now for Nico on the other hand…
Nico: Oh, shut up. That only happened once!
Interview: What only happened once?
Nico [menacingly]: I doubt that’s one of the questions on your approved list, Fletcher .
[Interviewer whimpers]
Reyna: It’s a funny story, Nico, there’s no harm in sharing.
Nico: Don’t you dare ! [rustling, then a heavy thump — muffled arguing sounds too quietly to make out, punctuated by additional thumps] Okay, fine . But I’ll tell it. I… may have accidentally summoned, like, an army of skeletons? And apparently… they see me as their prince or something, because they would not leave me alone.
Reyna: [snickering] Not even to the bathroom.
Nico: Not even to the bathroom! Ugh. We lost two jumps that day because I spent so much energy just trying to sink them back down.
Reyna: Yeah, but if we’d had to fight that hydra on our own you wouldn’t have been better off.
Nico: I would’ve been fine. I had you there, didn’t I? I wasn’t on my own this time.
Reyna [softly]: No. You weren’t.
Interviewer: [through giggles] Jumps? Hydra? [a gasp] Oh! Yes, that’s exactly what I was supposed to be asking about, actually, your adventures with the Statue of Athena during the war. [clears throat] So, about that—
[an alarm blares across camp]
Would you be disappointed in me if I said I didn’t finish the interview that day, Reader? I’m sorry, I’m sorry — I was too busy laughing. I had no idea those two were friendly with each other. How the Hades did that happen?? Don’t worry, though. A reporter never lets their trail go cold… even if it took till winter to reschedule that interview.
January 17
Maybe it’s the snowy winter or the barren branches, the black on white, but the Hades cabin doesn’t look so scary this time. Maybe it’s the lights that someone has strung up, cheery yellow & twinkling even as dusk falls earlier each night.
Reader, you would be proud to know I didn’t make a single noise when I walked in to find Reyna sprawled out on Nico’s bed.
Interviewer: Are you two ready?
Nico: Are you? As I recall, you were the one who forgot to ask any of your questions the last time we were here.
Reyna: [giggling] Are these still just for Nico? Or am I included in the interview this time?
Interviewer: Of course, Praetor! I would never dream to leave you out of the conversation.
Nico: And yet you planned to interview me alone last time. I had to invite Reyna here.
Interviewer: WHAT! Is that why she was here when I came?! You set me up?
Nico: Of course. I wouldn’t have made it home without her — I don’t think I would have even left Greece.
Reyna: Yeah— yeah, it was… quite the sight to walk away from the Argo II, huh.
Nico: Not used to looking over your shoulder, huh, Praetor [teasing].
Reyna [pensive]: No. Not at all. I… [hesitates] Well. My job has always meant I’m the one sending heroes off to die, hasn’t it. It’s quite a change to be the one questing for once.
Nico [quietly]: Yeah. Yeah, I know what you mean. When Bianca… I mean, I never expected her to die, & I didn’t send her off, but—
Interviewer: You two are some of the most powerful demigods around — and frankly, terrifying to boot. More than Percy “Goofball” Jackson, for sure. Are you seriously telling me that this was your first quest? For both of you?!
[silence. recording ends abruptly with a high-pitched beep]
So… I left again. Don’t be too mad, Reader! I’m a good reporter, & that means I don’t just ask questions, I ask the right questions. When I learned… well, anyways. I’ll see you soon, Reader — I’m so close to cracking this case!
April 30
I’m sorry, Reader. I’m a failure, a turncoat . I’ve betrayed you. I… may have talked to Nico & Reyna without recording myself. I’m sorry! They’re kind of incredible — like cats in the sun. They’re so close, did you know?
Oh. I guess you wouldn’t have known, since I… yeah. Reader, I wish you’d been there with me — wish you’d seen them, Nico dozing off on Reyna’s shoulder under the flowering trees, or Reyna sprawled out on his lap, soaking up the warmth of the black cabin through thin t-shirts & playing with each other’s hair (who knew Nico knew how to braid?!). It turns out black looks really dam [sic] good against pinks & yellows & greens.
I did scrounge up a little something for you. Forgive me, Reader?
Nico: You come out of Tartarus & you wonder, like— was I meant to stay there? It stays with you, in your bones spitting out ghosts & lurking like electricity in your nerves. Should I have died there, alone & ravaged? Would that have been worse than living?
Reyna: Dying would have condemned me to that fate, though, yeah? When you’re there — and obviously the Praetor’s office is not even close to literal hell but — you know, it’s lonely. You send kids to die & you do it on purpose, but you’re not a god so you actually care , & it feels—
Nico: Like there’s no wrong answer. Staying alive is as much a punishment as death is a relief.
Reyna: But you came back.
Nico: Yeah. Then you took me home.
[Interviewer awws quietly]
Reyna: It didn’t feel like home back then, but then again—
Nico: Neither did the Argo II! [laughs] We were terrible at asking for what we needed back then, huh. But we’re a lot better at that now.
Reyna: Yeah, or leaving when we need to. [snorts] I haven’t punched Octavian in nearly a month.
Nico: Yeah, ‘cause you keep sending me to do it for you!
[recording cuts off with a scratch & some muffled laughter, then a thump followed by high-pitched beeping]
It’s so sweet to watch them, Reader. I hope you’re not still scared of them — these two absolute dorks. I’m not. I’m a bit ashamed to admit I ever was, actually. They fell on top of each other laughing & play-fighting — they fell asleep like that, wrapped up in shadows & sunlight.
Right now I’m standing outside Nico’s cabin. I’m looking back; I’m wishing I was in there with them. But as much as they’ve made me feel welcome, there’s some things that are not for a reporter’s recordings at all — or honestly, even for just an acquaintance. These two have been through the end of the world together. It’s no surprise that they are each other’s world now.
They’re best friends, Reader. It’s no mystery at all.
This is Lee Fletcher, signing off. Have a great summer, Reader! We’ll see you next year — promise.
