chapter 6: shitty parenting as well

As soon as the door opened, they brandished their weapons and held them high. She scanned the room, finding it complete with no furniture. It was completely white, which practically blinded her after being in a dark area for such a long time.

Her gaze focused on someone leaning against the wall. He dressed similar to Phobos, but when she met his blood red eyes, she wasn't shown any fear. This person wore no bandana, showing off his messy, dark brown hair.

He felt more... familiar.

"Deimos," she guessed, keeping her bow aimed with a frown. Gods, she hated this guy.

He winked at her. "Right on the dot, little flower."

She used to love her name back when her mother was alive. She remembered being in Saigon and her house that was sprinkled of bullet holes; the walls, the ceiling, the cracked windows.

Little Hoa peeked into her mother's room and saw her chatting with a man—Deimos.

"Mother?" She called out in Vietnamese, her native language.

She stopped talking with him and looked at Hoa. "Hello, little Flower." She opened her arms out for a hug.

Her world seemed to light up when Hoa's mom called her that. Flower.

But after she died, she started hating her name. Flower. Seriously? Couldn't she just be something more badass than a flower?

Hoa felt her gaze harden as she looked at him. "Don't ever call me that," she warned. She let the arrow fly, hitting an inch away from his ear. That was personal, and he knew that.

His eyes twinkled with amusement. "You can try to kill me, but you're just a little girl against a god. Keep that in mind."

She nocked another arrow and kept her bow held high but lowered it slightly when Nico tapped her shoulder.

"He's weak in a fight," he whispered to her. "He relies on his powers primarily. I learned that in Mythomagic."

She paused, deciding to tone down the violence and focus on talking.

"Why did you want to speak with me?" she said, her tone angry but level.

He raised his eyebrows. "So I need an excuse to see my dear daughter?"

"You could've seen me when I was in the Vietnam War. You could've seen me when my mom died. You could've seen me when you claimed me. You could've visited me in my dreams and actually showed that you cared," she gritted out, "So what do you want from me?"

"It's against Ancient Law for me to show favoritism."

"I am your only child!"

She let her arrow fly, hitting an inch away from his crotch. As quick as light, she managed to nock and shoot another one, this one even closer.

So much for toning down violence.

Nico grabbed her hand to try and restrain her from shooting any more arrows. She glanced at him and met his eyes, his chocolatey orbs of brown trying to calm her down.

Why? She asked through her eyes.

He shook his head. Not worth it.

Hoa lowered her bow, hardening her gaze (if that was possible at this point) as she looked back at Deimos.

The god of terror looked calm, drawing his sword and smiling. "If you want to fight so badly, you can just tell me, little Flower." He conjured a sword and started walking closer.

She raised an eyebrow. If Nico was right, he was supposed to suck at fighting. Why was he taking his chances?

Because he thinks I'm weak.

Adrenaline coursed through her veins as she reached her hand out to Nico. He met her eyes once more as he handed her the dagger.

"You sure you want to do this?"

She smirked. "Hell yeah."

She handed Nico her bow and quiver as she walked up to Deimos. Her mind started racing as she began analyzing him. He was using a sword, which means she will have to knock it out of his hands at some point. He was also larger than her, so she would have to prioritize movement so he couldn't hit her easily.

They circled each other, testing on who would make the first move. Deimos finally cracked, lunging at her and trying to pin her down, but she sidestepped. She started parrying his sword with her dagger, trying a maneuver so she could get closer. She ducked under his sword swing, smacking his wrist with the hilt of her dagger, forcing him to drop his sword. She then rammed him against the wall, sudden strength rippling through her like a stronger version of adrenaline.

He sunk into the wall, slumping down. She pointed her dagger at him, clearly showing that she won. In one last futile attempt, he tried grabbing her dagger by the blade. She twisted it, making the sharp edge scrape the palm of his hand.

Nico's eyes were shining in the corner, showing his happiness for her although there was no visible smile on his face.

"My, my, little bird taught her Flower well," Deimos said. He stood, brushing off his jacket and getting rid of his sword. He looked at her with a gleam in his eyes.

Chim Pham was her mother's name. 'Chim' means bird in Vietnamese.

He didn't have to bring up Mom either, she thought. She looked at him once more, slamming him against the wall and putting her dagger against his throat. "Do not," she warned, her voice laced with fury, "ever think that you are entitled to talk about my family. You aren't worth anything that they were."

His eyes widened with surprise, before narrowing. "What's stopping me from causing terror between you and the boy over there?"

An inhuman growl came up in her throat as she shoved the knife closer. "Just know that you won't accomplish anything except for making me hate you more."

There was a moment of silence for a second, before Deimos chuckled. "You've got some nerve to threaten a god like that, kid."

Hoa remained silent, waiting for him to continue talking.

He smirked. "You're doing good. Keep that up." He snapped his fingers and a passageway appeared. "Takes you to the Labyrinth. As for why I wanted to talk to you, it's because someone's asking for that boy there." He pointed. "Nico, correct?"

Hoa froze. "Who?"

"They chose to remain anonymous," he said as he pushed the dagger away from his throat. "I'm just the messenger."

"Deimos, the great god of terror, is just a messenger?" She narrowed her eyes. "Suspicious as fuck."

He stood, brushing off his jacket. "What reasons do I have to lie to you?"

Hoa bit her lip, knowing that she couldn't argue. Why would he lie to her anyways?

"Let's go."

She whirled around, forgetting about Nico for a second. He grabbed her shoulder and guided her towards the exit.

Deimos looked at her one last time, his red eyes meeting hers. "Kid," he said, "Proud of you today."

Before she could hear more, they plunged into the Labyrinth once more.

~•~•~

"Who the hell is looking for you?"

Hoa paced, trying to think of the enemies that they made, which was a small list for Nico. "I'm going to kill them."

A hand came up on her shoulder. "Calm down, Hoa."

She stopped before her anger came back. She sat down and put her head in her hands as she tried to strategize. "There's literally nobody after you, unless you count Percy and the squad, but why the hell would he contact Deimos?"

Nico slid down right next to her, keeping his cold hand on her shoulder. "Hoa, it's going to be fine."

He winced as he sat down, and Hoa could tell the nectar was beginning to run out. Eyes widening, she started fussing over him, making him eat a bit of ambrosia. "Here, take this, you need it."

Nico felt a bit annoyed at how she was babying him. "I can take care of myself, you know."

"No, you can't."

"Yes I can," he said, now glaring at her while she tried to get him to eat the ambrosia.

"Well, I'm taking care of you anyways."

She could tell that he wanted to counter with something else, but once he saw the look on her face, he decided not to risk anything.

As they sat in silence, Hoa thought about her fear and her mother. Her fear was... what? The vision didn't actually describe much, just showed her being in the war again.

Nico looked over to her. "Watcha thinking about?"

She hesitated. A tear slipped down her cheek as she thought of her mom. She couldn't handle the emotional pain anymore.

Tears began falling down her cheeks as she looked away from Nico. She sniffled, trying to control herself, but she really was as scared as he was.

Two cold arms circled around her stomach, twirling her around and pulling her towards Nico, letting her sob into his shirt.

"It's ok, Hoa... you don't have to tell me if you don't want to." He said, trying to make her feel better.

"No, I want to get this out."

She thought back to the war. She told him about her past, how she didn't actually remember much of it, but she remembered her mother being shot.

~•~•~

It was dark and stormy, with droplets of rain falling down like needles on her skin. Soldiers came inside, looking for shelter, but her mom refused. In retaliation, the soldiers shot her. 9-year-old Hoa was standing in the doorway and witnessed what happened.

One man who seemed like he was in charge, told the soldiers to force her to kneel and tie her up. They complied, binding her heels, hands, and gagging her mouth as well. The leader grabbed her shoulder and pushed her out back with him.

He traced her body, her mother's blood following his finger as he ran it down her jaw, arm, and leg. She was shivering, hating this monster's touch. He smacked her, laughed in her face, and then left her alone in the jungle.

Lucky for her, she was still near her house. Under the roots of a jungle tree, she stashed a small knife, in case something like this happened. It's common sense to be prepared in the middle off a war.

She proceeded to cut her bonds and get the gag out. Then she ran as fast as her feet could take her, no matter how dark it was and no matter how many trees were in the way.

By now, the soldiers realized that she was gone, so bullets started raining against the trees. She ducked and weaved, bullets hitting the bark she was right next to, the log that she crawled under, the dirt where she just stood.

Finally, she reached a clearing. She looked around and saw soldier after soldier, hiding in the trees, trying to look camouflaged. There was nowhere to run.

The people who were chasing her caught up. They grinned as the leader walked up to Hoa, with her stepping back little by little. She whimpered as she moved, her back pressing against a tree. Suddenly, a bullet hit his head, and he dropped down.

The camouflaged soldiers got out of their hiding spots as they began to surround everybody there. Hoa became scared, thinking the people were coming for her, but one pushed her out the way, grabbing her hand and running, her following along.

~•~•~

She sobbed into Nico's chest as she described getting out, going to America, and being in the Lotus Casino. Deimos used his magic to summon skeletons that would scare people, one of them grabbing her and leading her out. She followed the skeleton to camp, thinking she was a hostage the entire time.

She talked about Phobos and how he made the memories resurface. "A-And there were bullets everywhere. I had to keep running for my life." she said, her voice choking.

Nico held her tighter when he heard her sad sobs. Hoa appreciated his embrace, even though throughout all the years she lived through, she refused to let someone in.

She had breakdowns like this before, with Annabeth consoling her as she cried, but she never explained why she was crying. With Nico, she felt more safe. She loved the comfort the boy was trying to offer her.

Hoa nuzzled her head into Nico's chest, breathing in his scent. Rain. Like the rain in her childhood home, leaking through the ceiling. She has always loved the rain.

His hands started to massage her back as she melted in his hug. Slowly, her tears stopped flowing and her sniffles became silenced as she wrapped her arms around Nico and squeezed.

Nico froze for a second, before relaxing. His hands continued to rub circles in her back as she breathed in and out.

Finally, she slowly pulled away. She wiped what was left of her tears and laughed. "This is stupid of me, sitting here crying while trying to navigate this stupid maze."

Nico smiled, a small one, yet still a smile. He grabbed her hand and held it, rubbing the back of it. "That's fine, you know you need it."

She gave his hand a gentle squeeze. "Thanks, Neeks."

He frowned, then scowled. "Don't call me Neeks."

"Fine, Neeks."

His scowled, then smiled shyly. "I'm calling you Flower if you call me Neeks."

Hoa rolled her eyes. "Fine, Death Boy."

He squeezed her hand. "Fine, Daisy."

They stayed there, bickering, before Hoa yawned and put her head on the younger boy's shoulder. He froze, then ran his hand through her hair. Hoa loved the feel of it, closing her eyes and letting her body relax.

"Goodnight, Daisy."

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hi im madi, your loyal author ♥️

first of all. 2000 WORDS!!

you finally know hoa's story!! its a bit too much information to throw out there all at once, but i hope i wrote that well enough. also, deimos... fuck that guy, but he said he was proud of her, so at least he cut his losses instead of being a jerk.

also, nico hugging hoa? thats so cute and supportive of him. yay!

also, school's starting soon! i might upload less then i am right now. just wanna let yall know 👍

what are your opinions on these--

how was the chapter?

deimos? screw him.

who do you think is looking for nico?

opinions on hoa's badass era?

nico hugging hoa?

what do you think of hoa's past?

what about the nicknames for each other?

what do you think is gonna happen next?

also, what are some questions of your own?

anyways, tysm for reading this crappy book! 😃