chapter 25: leaving 2.0

At dusk, Nico walked to the back of the house where they had previously finished their summons. "Minos," he whispered. "Show yourself."

Blue light swirled, forming to become the figure of the ghost king. "Nico," he sighed, "If you're here to tell me how much you love Hoa again, I'd rather not."

Nico's shoulders slumped. "Well, tell me about your plan. The one you discussed earlier to save Hoa."

Immediately, Minos' eyes lit up. "Oh, yes! We shall capture Daedalus's soul to be able to trade their souls for when the time comes."

Nico frowned. "I don't understand. Why can't we just stay at the ranch? It's much safer."

Minos scoffed. "Oh, please. You should know this—death is inevitable. Her death has been prophesied—therefore she must die. However, if we capture Daedalus, we can use his soul for the trade. You will also help me achieve vengeance, so this will benefit both of us."

Nico sighed, turning away. He thought about leaving the ranch, it was just a matter of convincing himself to actually do it. "Just let me think on this a little more. I will notify you if we leave." He glanced back at Minos. "You are dismissed."

That talk instilled the thought of leaving in his mind. It was just a matter of getting Hoa on board without letting her know that it was Minos' idea.

~•~•~

"Please, Hoa. I know I'm leaving, so it's just a matter of whether you want to go."

Hoa sighed. "Why though? Is it because of that stupid ghost king?"

Nico tackled her onto the bed, hugging her tightly. He buried his head into her neck as he whined. "Please?"

Hoa tried to shove him off but to no avail. That boy could be a koala when he wanted to. "You're going to have to give me a few good reasons."

"What are we supposed to do? Sit here while the war is going on? Hoa, we can't just wait for everyone to die—even if I wasn't too close to them.'

"Nico—"

"This isn't about demigods and monsters—this is about humanity. Please Hoa, I don't want to sit out anymore."

Hoa froze at those words. He cared?

Nico took this opportunity to climb over her form, propping his form on top and leaning his face inches from her's. "Please, Hoa."

Hoa let out a shaky breath, staring at his eyes. For a moment, she was lost in them, the dark orbs somehow having this strange light to them that only attracted her more.

Nico stared right back, leaning closer and closer. One more inch until they ki—

Until he pulled away and coughed. "I-I take your silence as a yes?"

She hesitated, still affected by what had happened the moment before. "But—"

He grabbed under her arms, pulling her back up to a sitting position and making her straddle his lap.

Now he's just manhandling me.

He hugged her like she was a teddy bear. "Hoa," he said. "This could be my one chance to finally be included. People will judge me because I'm a son of Hades, but if I come back to fight with them, then they might see me as someone more approachable."

Hoa hesitated, but she knew that Nico could see that her wall was falling down. "Nico—"

He cupped her face, those beautiful chocolate orbs giving her puppy eyes. "Please."

She looked down at the limited space between them. "Fine."

~•~•~

Hoa was packing her bag, filling it with the necessities that they would need to survive. She needed food and water, which led her down to the kitchen.

By now it was almost 11 PM. They were planning to leave as soon as the clock struck midnight.

Hoa sighed, silently checking if Eurytion was around before grabbing a few plastic bottles of water, using some to fill their canteens and saving the rest to put inside the bag. She stole some protein bars while she was at it before exiting the kitchen.

On the way back to Hoa and Nico's shared room, she spotted a notepad with a pen.

It wouldn't hurt to let Eurytion know, right? She thought. We'd be long gone by the time he finds it.

Ah, fuck it.

She grabbed the notepad, writing a short and concise letter to the ranch's new owner.

     dear eurytion,     thanks for treating us well. you're way better than geryon and i hope you can live a nice eternity.     nico and i will be traveling and taking our part in this war that was kinda forced upon us. i want to thank you for your hospitality and (begrudged) kindness during our stay.      also, thanks for making nico and i sleep together. it led to some nice bonding moments. by the time you see this, we'll be long gone. don't try coming after us.     thank you again for your hospitality,     hoa pham

Hoa signed off the letter and sighed, looking up at the stairwell. She ripped the letter out of the notepad, tucking it into her red hoodie's pocket.

If only we didn't have to leave, she thought. Oh well, we'd have to go eventually.

She met back up with Nico in their room, gently closing the door behind her. He took a backpack for himself and stuffed supplies inside of it like she did.

Hoa tossed Nico his black hoodie. "Wear that, or wear your aviator jacket. I know we're in Texas, but it's almost midnight."

He rolled his eyes. "Yes, ma'am."

11:47.

They finished packing, slinging their respective backpacks over their shoulders. "Ready to go?" Nico asked her.

"No," she admitted, "but I'm going anyway."

He hugged her. "Thanks for doing this, Hoa."

She reached up and ruffled his hair. He really had grown so much. "No problem, Neeks."

He pouted like a baby.

Never mind. His mental age is still two.

They left the house quietly, Hoa making sure to put the note on the nightstand before she left. She also made the bed and cleaned the room quickly, making it look presentable. It was the least she could do for that kind of hospitality.

Also because theys stole a lot of supplies.

After they made it out of the house, Nico took the lead. He walked off in a random direction, Hoa quietly trailing behind him. They reached the Labyrinth entrance that Percabeth and the rest of the group used.

Nico pressed his finger on the delta symbol, making it glow blue. He stepped back and let the magic do its work before bowing slightly to Hoa.

"Ladies first," he said.

She smiled. "Càm ơn," she thanked him.

"You're welcome," he said, smiling.

As she walked off, Nico stared at her back for a few seconds.

"Anh cũng thích em," he muttered. "Anh có thể cũng yêu em."

I like you, too. I might love you, too.

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hi im madi, your loyal author ♥️

im losing interest in the fandom but i promised myself that i would never discontinue a book, so here i am

also since nico is the multilingual king he knows vietnamese

ok enough of my ranting onto the other books

check out muse! its a jax x reader (from tadc--the amazing digital circus) and doesn't have many chapters yet, but still! plsplspls take a look.

and that one murder drones book is (still) popping off.

anyways

how was the chapter?

also, what are some questions of your own?

anyways, tysm for reading this crappy book! 😃