Chapter Text
Chapter XLV
Blood of Olympus
I was not trained to deliver babies.
But here I was, I just delivered a satyr baby 5 minutes ago. When I became a medic, I was expecting injuries like scrapes, I did not expect to deliver a baby. I remembered what the father told me about, he was with a girl and a boy. The girl was a daughter of Bellona, and the boy was a son of Hades. I figured the boy couldn't possibly be that guy from all those years ago.
Lou Ellen and Cecil invited me to go scout the enemy bases and I just really needed some fresh air so I agreed. We had to get ready first and that included changing into more stealthier clothes. Instead of my usual bright flannel, I had to wear black.
‘Hey Lou, The clothes wont matter if his hair is as bright as the sun.’ Cecil complained. This caused Lou Ellen to do a quick mist spell on my hair. Cecil also insisted that we add black paint to our cheeks for the “aura” whatever that meant.
We left our tent and made our way to a bush to hide. We kept on moving to bushes closer to their camp. I spotted a familiar figure with dark beautiful raven hair and pale skin that I knew as Nico di Angelo.
I knew Nico from when I was around 10-11, he was in the chariot of my dad’s that crashed into the canoe lake. He was in the infirmary and had this beautiful bright smile that made my heart flutter but then his sister died and he left. I had been heartbroken when he left, no one would ever outnerd me. He was obsessed with this card game Mythomagic and he was so passionate when he talked about it.
The next time I saw him, it was in the battle of the Labyrinth when monsters emerged from the entrance to the labyrinth in camp. He had helped in the battle and made a huge difference with the undead army that he summoned. I remembered being a kid and seeing the guy I liked help save the only home ive ever known. I liked him even more after that. I then remembered the Battle of Manhattan. Many had died in that time but he helped too. I remember he not only an undead army, but 3 gods, two being from the original 6 siblings. I was so amazed and happy to see him and I actually saw him talk to someone. It wasnt me but it was someone, He talked to Connor Stoll.
I realized I had been staring at him when someone tapped my arm. ‘Dude, why are you making heart eyes at that guy?’ asked Cecil.
I realized he was probably going to shadow travel, which would be bad because he was basically going transparent. I ran to him with speed that surprised even me. ‘Nico!’ I yelled
He turned to me, startled and almost decapitated me with his sword. I paused, he looked very different from the last time I saw him. He seemed taller and more tired. He had the same raven hair though. He had these onyx eyes that seemed black at a distance but shimmered chocolate in the sun. ‘Put that down! What are you doing here!’ I hissed. ‘Me? What are you doing here? Getting yourselves killed?’ he asked
I realized he was waiting for an explanation so I pushed away the thoughts suggesting that he was angelic. ‘U-uh..’ i managed out ‘Hey! We’re scouting the enemy. We took precautions .’ He studied me with those beautiful onyx eyes that made me want to brush my hair and make sure I looked good so he would keep looking. ‘You’re wearing a black shirt but still have that lamp you call hair. You might as well be waving a yellow flag.’ He stated
I felt my face flush. He was looking at my hair? It probably was very messy by now, not a good first impression. ‘Uhm… Lou Ellen cast mist magic on us so we could be camouflaged.’ I explained. He just looked at us strangely ‘Okay…’ He said and Lou Ellen stood up. ‘Hi. You’re Nico, right? Ive heard a lot about you. And this is Cecil from the Hermes cabin.’
He knelt next to them and asked about Coach Hedge. ‘Did he ever?’ She giggled. I elbowed her ‘Yeah. Hedge is fine. He made it just in time for the babys birth.’ Nicos face brightened in a way no poet could ever do justice. ‘The baby!’ He grinned, it was beautiful. The most beautiful thing I had ever seen. Better than Mount Olympus. Better than anything really. ‘Mellie and the kid are alright?’ He questioned.
‘Fine. A very cute little satyr boy.’ I shuddered ‘But I delivered it. Have you ever delivered a baby?’ I asked, I realized that teens usually did not add “deliver baby” to their bucket list. ‘Um,no.’ He said awkwardly. ‘I had to get some fresh air. Thats why I volunteered for this mission. Gods of Olympus, my hands are still shaking. See?’ And then I had the urge to do something absolutely stupid and before I could stopped myself I grabbed his hands and held them
His hands were cold but they seemed perfect to me. I could sense the darkness in his body from the shadow-travelling which confirmed my suspicions. He looked startled by this sudden action and quickly jerked his hands back. I mourned holding his hands.
Nico explained the plan that the Romans have. I figured Nico was going to attempt to shadow travel about now so I turned to him. ‘Hey! No shadow traveling, Death boy.’ I instructed. He just scowled at me ‘Don’t you see? The romans are right there. And I just did it.’ He argued ‘No underworldy magic! I heard what Coach Hedge said about you fading into shadows. I could even feel it when I held your hand!’ I defended. I heard Cecil whispering to Lou Ellen ‘Lovers quarrel’ and ‘Aww they held hands’.
’I dont suppose you have a better plan?’ He asked. He was right, I had absolutely no plan. Though if it ended with Nico not fading into shadows, that would be ideal. Low bar I know.
An idea sprouted in my mind. We needed to diable the onagers.
Nico glanced into the distance, thinking about something. I wondered what he was thinking about right now.
’Whatever’ He said ‘But we have to hurry. And you’ll follow my lead.’ Will trusted Nico knew what to do.
’Fine,’ I said. ‘Just dont ask me to deliver any more satyr babies and we’ll get along great.’