Sapphrenia's wing was wrapped around you protectively when you woke up. Groaning in pain, you sat up and checked her over for any injuries. Sighing with relief when you found none, you crawled over to the bag that had your trunk in it and looked for the ambrosia."I really need to take care of myself better or else I might break. That wouldn't be good, saving the world with broken limbs. Everyone would laugh at me!" You said to yourself as you took a small bite of the food and placed it back into the bag gently. Laughing at your horrible sense of humor, you tried to get up and walk. Your body still ached from the fall and being struck, but somehow you managed to stand up. 'How am I not dead?' You asked yourself as you helped Sapphrenia up and began to walk. The question never left your mind as you continued towards the woods.

You noticed that you were missing a pack that you had brought with you and began to look for it since it held your sleeping back and lantern. After what seemed like hours, you began to lose hope. "Gosh darn it! Why am I so worthless?" You fumed as your foot kicked a pebble in front of you. "That's what I was beginning to wonder." You heard a familiar voice say. 'I swear if he didn't listen he'll wish he did. Son of Hades or not, I'll kill him,' you thought to yourself as you saw something move in the shadows.

"If you're who I think you are, you have some nerve." You answered turning around and facing the boy himself. His expression was grim, but you knew he was smiling inside by the way his eyes seemed to glisten. Your eyes narrowed as you told Sapphrenia to stop walking. She neighed in frustration and in which she received a harsh glare from you.

"Yeah I have some nerve," he said as he rolled his chocolate brown eyes. Your brows furrowed as he lifted his hands up in surrender mockingly. You saw your missing pack in his right hand as he made the gesture. Raising a brow at him, you watched as he looked down at the pack and handed it to you.

"What are you doing here?" You asked as you tried to walk over to your now found pack. Your fingers brushed against his as you grasped the straps. Nico's face flushed a little at the contact and you watched him try to cover it up. Seeing your expression, he blushed more and averted his gaze from yours. "You left your pack in the stable back at camp," he answered as the two of you and Sapphrenia began to walk. "Thanks, " you replied as he nodded his head and looked down at his feet.

🕱

You and Nico were about five hours into the quest when you encountered your first monster. An Empusa with fiery red hair and murky brown eyes. Her right leg was a clean brass color while her left was one of a donkey. Her fangs were around fifteen millimeters long and her pale complexion was erie. She looked at you disinterestedly and eyed up Nico. Smirking evilly, she took one step forward. You stepped in between the two and thanked the gods that the ambrosia helped with the pain of the fall. The Empusa looked at you and retracted her claws. "Stupid girl." She hissed as she lunged at you. Pushing Nico to the side, you spun around just in time before she clawed you. "Yeah, well you're not very attractive," you called out, remembering their sensitivity to insults. The monster stopped in her tracks and looked surprised. She looked down at her appearance and looked back up at you with sad eyes.

"I-I am?" She asked heart broken. A pang of guilt hit your chest but you continued to insult the Empusa. "Yeah. . . like a blobfish!" You called out as you watched the monster stagger with hurt. "No-no I'm not!" She called back offended as she fought back the tears in her eyes. Sapphrenia stomped her hoof and glared at the Empusa, as if saying 'Yeah, you are.'

"Don't lie to yourself." You retorted as you felt your heart sink. You tried hard not to let it show on your face that you felt guilty. The Empusa fell to the ground and began to cry. "I know I am! I know I am!!" She sobbed as she clawed at her face and began to glow. You watched with relief as she turned into dust, allowing the three of you to continue walking.

Looking back at Nico you saw a stunned reaction on his face. He looked at the pile of dust and back at you in disbelief. You smirked and rolled your eyes at his slow reaction. 'Come on Death Breath, we've got a quest to finish."

🕱

"How much longer do we have to walk?" Nico asked as he tried to break the silence. You rolled your eyes. "Nico, for the hundredth time, you will know when to stop when we get there," you grumbled as you held a tree branch back for Sapphrenia.

"I don't understand why we can't shadow travel." He droned as he shrugged boredly. You glared at him. "You know exactly why. Plus, we have Sapphrenia with us." Nico's loud sigh filled your ears as you thought up different ways to make someone be quite.

"I carried the statue of Athena, why can't I shadow travel with a pegasus?" He exclaimed as he kicked at a rock. You rolled your eyes at his complaining and stifled a giggle when you heard Sapphrenia huff lowly behind you. "Come on, we're almost there." You informed him as you pushed away another tree branch.

"Easy for you to say. You don't have ADHD!" He called out as you smirked at him. "And who's fault is that?" You chided as you waited for his response. "Mine." He muttered under his breath. "Sorry, what was that?" You asked chirped innocently.

"Mine!" Nico growled out." You saw his eyes darken as he whipped around to face you. If you weren't so startled by the look in his eyes, you would've found him handsome. "I'm only teasing. Don't get your panties in a twist." You scoffed as you wrapped your arms around your torso defensively.

Your heart did somersaults as you listened to Nico's laugh. It was monotone but yet soft like silk. His usually emotionless eyes sparkled and twinkled when he smiled, making your heart burst into flames. You felt yourself blush as his face lit up and his hair was being pushed back by the wind.

You quickly turned around and hid behind Sapphrenia before he could notice your red face. Carefully placing your feet away from a twisted tree root you sidestepped a bear trap. You were a good four feet away when you heard a grunt and cry of pain. Whipping your body around you found a scrunched up son of Hades writhing in pain and clutching his caught foot. Stifling a laugh, you bit your bottom lip and went next to him to remove the trap. "Are you laughing at me? You can't laugh at me! I am the Ghost King! The Dark of the Night! The Son of Hades! How dare you laugh at me! Ouch!" He exclaimed as you removed the jagged jaws away from his foot.

"Oh yes Ghost King, how dare I laugh at you?" You exaggerated. He glared at you and you fought back a smile. For some odd reason you made him feel this way. No one else did, not even Will. 'How strange. . . .' He thought to himself.