The Blood of Olympus

She said we so easily, as if she and Percy were interchangeable, inseparable.
Nico had once read a story from Pluto…all humans had been a combination of male and female…. Zues split them in half-man and woman. Ever since, humans had felt incomplete. They spent their lives searching for their other halves.
And where does that leave me? Nico wondered.
It wasn't his favourite story.

  
    “To storm or fire the world must fall.
 An oath to keep with a final breath,
 And foes bear arms to the Doors of Death.” 
  

  
    “To storm or fire the world must fall.
 An oath to keep with a final breath,
 And foes bear arms to the Doors of Death.” 
  

"No one can hate you with more intensity than someone who used to love you."

"No one can hate you with more intensity than someone who used to love you."

'Oh, come on!’ Percy complained. ‘I get a little nosebleed and I wake up the entire earth? That’s not fair!'

“You will suffer, son of Hades!’
What else is new? Nico thought.”

“Nico was devastatingly alone. He’d lost his big sister Bianca. He’d pushed away all other demigods who’d tried to get close to him. His experiences at Camp Half-Blood, in the Labyrinth and in Tartarus had left him scarred, afraid to trust anyone.”

“Hades allowed himself the faintest smile, but there was nothing cruel in his eyes.
‘I can entertain the possibility that you acted for multiple reasons. My point is this: you and I rose to the aid of Olympus because you convinced me to let go of my anger. I would encourage you to do likewise. My children are so rarely happy. I … I would like to see you be an exception.”

“I am Nico Di Angelo, son of Hades. I control the shadows. They do not control me.”

“I am praetor,’ Reyna corrected. ‘Unless I have been removed by a vote of the full senate.”

“I don’t define myself by the boys who may or may not like me.”

“You will not find love where you wish or where you hope. No demigod shall heal your heart.”

“She’d felt more pain from Nico in their brief connection than she had from her entire legion during the battle against the giant Polybotes.”

“He carried so much sadness and loneliness, so much heartache. Yet he put his mission first. He persevered. Reyna respected that. She understood that. She'd never been a touchy-feely person, but she had the strangest desire to drape her cloak over Nico's shoulders and tuck him in. She mentally chided herself. He was a comrade, not her little brother. He wouldn't appreciate the gesture.”

“Then she did something so unexpected Nico would later think he dreamed it. She walked up to Nico, who was standing to one side in the shadows, as usual. She grabbed his hand and pulled him gently into the firelight. ‘We had one home,’ she said. ‘Now we have two.’ She gave Nico a big hug and the crowd roared with approval. For once, Nico didn’t feel like pulling away. He buried his face in Reyna’s shoulder and blinked the tears out of his eyes.”

IOU one Roman praetor.
She will be returned safely.
Sit tight.
Otherwise you'll be killed.
XOX, the Hunters of Artemis.

“Nico scowled. ‘It’s none of your business, but I don’t belong. That’s obvious. No one wants me. I’m a child of –’
‘Oh, please.’ Will sounded unusually angry. ‘Nobody at Camp Half-Blood ever pushed you away. You have friends – or at least people who would like to be your friend. You pushed yourself away. If you’d get your head out of that brooding cloud of yours for once –”

“Good. So you may be dense, but you’re not an idiot.’
‘How can you even talk to me like that? Don’t you know I can summon zombies and skeletons and –’
‘Right now you couldn’t summon a wishbone without melting into a puddle of darkness, di Angelo,’ Will said. ‘I told you, no more Underworldy stuff, doctor’s orders. You owe me at least three days of rest in the infirmary. Starting now.”

“Reyna,’ she said, ‘I don’t know what she meant, but I do know this: you are an incredible person. There is someone out there for you. Maybe it’s not a demigod. Maybe it’s a mortal or … or I don’t know. But, when it’s meant to happen, it will. And until it does, hey, you have friends. Lots of friends, both Greek and Roman. The thing about you being everyone’s source of strength: sometimes you might forget that you need to draw strength from others. I’m here for you.”

“They shook and, after Reyna left, Piper knew that Reyna was right. They would meet again, because Reyna was no longer a rival, no longer a stranger or a potential enemy. She was a friend. She was family.”

“Fear can’t be reasoned with. Neither can hate. They’re like love. They’re almost identical emotions. That’s why Ares and Aphrodite like each other. Their twin sons – Fear and Panic – were spawned from both war and love.”