Asa angrily
kicked a rock and sent it flying out of sight.
Nico put a
hand on his shoulder. “You okay…?”
Asa pulled
his arm away. “NO! This was a STUPID idea!”
“As, I know
how you feel. When my sister died I did everything I could to get her back. All
I did was push her away… She chose rebirth and now I’ll never get to see her
again. Don’t make the same mistake I made…”
Asa wiped
his eyes. “He wouldn’t.” he said stomping away from Nico.
“Asa
please-“
“Imagine
going from having everything to nothing then thinking you just might have
something back, but it being nothing all over again! Being the nothing that
took everything! I can never get any of it back! I will never go fishing with
my dad again! I will never hear him yell at me because I disobeyed him! I will
never hear him say I love you again…” Asa said as a few more tears fell from
his eyes.
“Asa I
understand. I know how you feel. I actually considered ending my own life so I
could be with Bianca. I actually tried… It’s not the right thing to do…”
“I’m just
going to blow something up anyways… Someone will get hurt…”
“Asa, we’re
going to help you. Once you learn how to use your powers you won’t be
dangerous. Ending it all now isn’t gonna do any good.”
Asa sighed
and covered his face leaning against a tree.
Nico put a
hand on his shoulder again. “I’m not sure if it helps, but I’m here for you if
you need me…”
Asa nodded.
“Just sometimes it’s not enough, you know?”
Nico nodded.
“Believe me, I know…” he said leaning on the tree as well. “…He is still with
you, you know…”
“I know, but
I don’t see him…”
“Just
because you don’t see him doesn’t mean he isn’t there. He’ll always be with you
here.” Nico said placing a hand over his heart.
“It’s not
good enough…”
“I know.
It’s never enough, but you just have to have hope. One day, maybe not soon, but
one day you will see him again. If you just keep doing what you’re supposed to
do you’ll meet him again one day in Elysium.”
“That’s
where he is? What’s that?”
“Elysium is
like the Greek version of heaven. It’s for souls that have achieved greatness
and proven their worth in life. From Elysium you can either choose to stay or
you can choose rebirth into a new life. If you achieve Elysium in three
different lifetimes you go to The Isles of the Blessed.”
“Wow…”
Nico nodded
with a small smile.
“…Can we go
home now?” Asa asked.
“Yeah. It’s
getting late anyway.” Nico replied looking up at the sunset.
Asa took
Nico’s hand.
“I want you
to try shadow travel again.”
Asa
concentrated and they both moved about a foot forward. He sighed. “I can’t do
it…”
“Hey, it’s
better than before. You just need to practice.”
“I guess…”
“You did a
good job. I’ll take us the rest of the way.” Nico said as he transported them
back to the ship.
“Thanks…”
Asa said still sounding a little sad.
“You gonna
be okay?”
“I don’t
know…”
“…Maybe we
should just go to bed. That might take your mind off of things.”
“Maybe…”
_
Annabeth
walked into Percy’s room. “You okay?”
Percy turned
to her. “Yeah, why?”
“I don’t
know. Lot of stress lately…”
Percy
shrugged. “Yeah… I’m just trying to figure out where we’re going.”
Annabeth
raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean by that?”
Percy
sighed. “Well, usually after we leave one town we just go to the next one and
the next one… That’s all we’ve ever really done… Since I’m trying to change, I
don’t know where else to go…”
“…I don’t
know Percy, I’m sorry.”
Percy gave
her a helpless look and glanced at the ship’s controls. “I would just set us
down somewhere, but it’s too dangerous. People know about me and the others all
around. I don’t care if I’m arrested, but I don’t want to put the others in
danger…”
Annabeth
thought for a moment. “…Let’s go somewhere they don’t then. Start over.”
“Like
where?”
Annabeth
shrugged. “Kansas… Boston… but you’d have to lose the ship.”
“How come?”
“You can’t
start over with this thing near you until you learn.”
“…Why not?”
“Because.
How easy would it be to just get on the ship again and go on a rampage?”
Percy
sighed. “I guess you’ve got a point…”
Annabeth put
a hand on his shoulder and gave him a small smile. “We’ll figure it out.
Together.”
Percy
smiled. “Thanks.”
_
“Nico?” Asa
said quietly shaking him a little.
Nico woke
up. “Hmm?” he mumbled sleepily rubbing his eyes. He blinked and focused on Asa.
“Asa, it’s late. What’s the matter?”
“I was wrong…”
Nico raised
an eyebrow. “About what?”
“Everything…”
“What do you
mean?”
“I mean… I
let my temper get the best of me. I- the person I thought cared didn’t… so as
soon as the person I knew cared came along, I didn’t want to let him go.”
Nico gave
him a small smile. “Hey, it’s not your fault. For most of your life, Kyle was
like an older brother. It seemed like he was taking care of you. It’s
understandable that you wouldn’t want to let your dad go. He was the only
family you had. I felt the same way when I lost my sister.”
Asa took a
shaky breath and hugged his knees.
Nico put a
hand on his shoulder. “… You wanna know a secret?”
“What…?”
“When life
gets really tough, it helps when you have good friends.”
“But I
don’t…”
“You’d be
surprised…” Nico said with a small smile.
“W-what do
you mean?” Asa asked.
“Well, I
think we’re friends. And the others would be too if you’d let them.”
“But I can’t
let them. They tied me up. They’ve done nothing for me…”
“Percy
helped you realize who you could trust. Annabeth helped you by yelling at Percy
when he didn’t do anything about your leg. You just have to give them time
Asa…”
“I don’t
want time… I want to do things…”
“Well, what
kind of things do you want to do?”
“Find my
mom… travel…”
“Well, your
mom might be a little tough seeing as she’s a goddess, but we could probably
travel.”
“No we
can’t… I heard Percy and Annabeth talking about losing the ship and settling
down, stopping all this…” Asa said with a frown.
“Well, why
don’t you talk to them? See if they’ll reconsider?”
Asa
shrugged. “Let them. I can find another ship…”
Nico rolled
his eyes and climbed to the floor. “That’s not a good idea. Come on, I’ll go
with you. We can ask together.”
Asa crossed
his arms stubbornly.
“I will drag
you there if I have to. Come on.”
Asa lay down
on the floor. “Try.”
Nico sighed
and yanked at the boy’s foot.
Asa didn’t
budge and raised an eyebrow mischievously.
“Think
you’re funny, huh?”
“Yes. Yes I
do.”
Nico shadow
travelled them in front of Percy’s door and smirked. “I think I’m funny too.”
Asa furrowed
his eyebrows. “Ass.” he said not getting up from the floor.
Nico
chuckled. “If you don’t get up, I’ll just knock on the door and leave you
here.”
Asa
scrambled to his feet. “No!”
Nico
chuckled again. “Come on I’m sure they’ll be reasonable.” he said knocking on
the door.
“One
second!” Percy said.
Asa hugged
Nico’s side nervously.
Nico put a
hand on his shoulder.
Annabeth
poked her head out the door.
“H-hi…” Asa
stuttered.
Nico looked
to Annabeth. “Asa has a question for Percy.”
Asa looked
up to Nico. “I thought you were gonna
ask them something!”
“I said I’d
come with you Asa. You still have to ask.” He looked back to Annabeth. “Can we
come in?”
Annabeth
nodded. “Of course…”
Asa frowned.
“But you said-”
“I said
we’ll ask together.” Nico cut him off. “I’ll help you if you get stuck, but I
want you to try first.” he said walking Asa into the room.
Percy
struggled with a shirt in his chair. “Where is the head hole?!”
Annabeth
shook her head and went over to help him.
Asa tried to
shadow travel away, but only went about a foot backwards groaning when he saw
he was still in the room.
Nico
chuckled a bit and dragged Asa back forward.
Percy smiled
at Annabeth. “Thank you.” He looked to Nico and Asa. “What’s up?” he asked.
Asa slumped
as Nico dragged him back. “The sky…” he mumbled innocently.
Percy
chuckled. “Did you want to ask me something?”
“No.”
Nico elbowed
Asa lightly. “Yes.”
Asa glared
up at him and a pencil flew at his head from Percy’s desk. “No.” he confirmed
to Percy.
“Ow…” Nico
mumbled.
Percy raised
an eyebrow. “So… You just wanted to pay us a visit?”
“Yep!” Asa
said cheerily.
Nico sighed.
“He does have a question, he’s just nervous about asking.”
Percy smiled
at him. “You can ask anything Asa. I promise I don’t bite.”
Asa frowned.
Annabeth
rolled her eyes. “Nico, just tell us. He’s about as stubborn as Percy from what
I see.”
Percy
furrowed his eyebrows and crossed his arms. “I resent that.”
“I told him
I’d help him if he got stuck.” Nico said. “I want him to try first.” He looked
to Asa. “You’re not trying.”
Asa crossed
his arms. “And I’m not going to. You’re wasting your time anyway. Cats can’t
talk.” he said turning into a cat.
Annabeth
gaped in awe.
Nico sighed.
“Fine. I’ll ask if you change out of cat form.”
Asa turned
into a mouse and ran up to Nico’s shoulder.
Annabeth
continued staring wide-eyed. “How…?”
Nico
shrugged. “Don’t ask me.” He glared at Asa. “She’s right. You are as stubborn as Percy.”
Percy raised
his arms. “Sitting right here!”
Asa uttered
a high-pitched laugh and jumped from Nico’s shoulder, turning human on the way
down.
“I’ve never ever seen that!” Annabeth said still in
complete awe.
“Me
neither.” Nico said looking quite annoyed.
Percy
coughed. “Can someone please tell me
what the question was?!”
Asa reclined
back with a smug look on his face and started floating mid-air. “Yeah, Nico.
Tell them.”
“You’re a
punk.” Nico said.
Asa giggled.
Nico sighed
and turned to Percy. “Asa wants to continue travelling… on the ship, that is.”
Percy’s eyes
widened slightly. “Um…” He trailed off looking to Annabeth.
“…Percy and
I were thinking of settling down somewhere. Lose the ship, start over…”
Annabeth said.
“See?” Asa
said.
“Shut up.”
Nico scolded. “Asa was hoping you might reconsider.”
Percy
frowned and looked to Annabeth then back to Nico and Asa. “I-I’ll have to think
about it, alright?”
Asa rolled
his eyes and suddenly turned invisible.
“Asa-Ugh!”
Nico shouted.
“Asa,
Percy’s just trying to right his wrongs right now.” Annabeth said. “He’s not
sure what he wants to do, so we’re trying to find a way for him to find his
place.”
“Yeah…”
Percy said. “There’s a lot of things I’ve done that I want to fix before I even
think about just travelling anymore…”
“Whatever…”
Asa said. Suddenly, he fell from about four feet off the ground completely
visible.
Percy jumped
back. “WHAT THE-?”
“OW!” Asa
shouted.
“SORRY!” Leo
said through the radio. “I was testing the anti-magic shield!”
Asa groaned
as he lay flat on the floor.
“A little
warning next time would be nice!” Percy shouted.
Nico helped
Asa to his feet. “You okay?”
Asa brushed
himself off. “I’m fine.”
“Good. Now,
Percy said he’ll think about it. Just be patient, alright?”
Asa groaned.
“Fine… When’s my magic gonna come back?”
Percy
shrugged. “I dunno. Probably a few hours. You’ll definitely have it back by
tomorrow.”
Asa grumbled
some curses and stomped to the door.
Nico sighed.
“Thanks anyway guys. Night.”
“Night.”
Percy said.
_
After Nico
and Asa left, Percy started setting the ship’s controls.
Annabeth
looked over his shoulder. “So where are we going?”
“I’m taking
us to your town. I want to set things right.”
“What?
Percy, that’s a terrible idea.”
He shook his
head. “No. If I’m gonna change, I feel like I should fix the damage I’ve caused
already… Plus, I remember your dad was there. He doesn’t know where you are or
if you’re even alive…”
Annabeth sat
on the bed and frowned. “He doesn’t care…”
“That’s not
what it looked like to me…”
“You haven’t
met him…”
Percy gave
her a kiss on the cheek. “You’ll see.” he said with a small smile.
Annabeth
sighed. “Goodnight Percy.”
Percy
climbed to the top bunk. “Night.”
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