Aleka, The Fourth Fate

Nico

He had carefully placed Alex's unconscious body on one of the infirmary beds just when the door flew open and Will and Lou Ellen rushed in.
Will walked over to her side and put a hand to her forehead. Alex shifted in her sleep and mumbled something in a language Nico couldn't translate. Will examined her ribs and finally announced,"Well, the good news is that she'll live," Nico and Lou Ellen let out a sigh of relief.
"And the bad news?" Lou asked.
"The bad news is that she'll have to stay here until tomorrow. She'll probably need the extra rest, but she'll be on her feet in the morning."
At this point, Alex had started to stir. She opened her eyes and groaned. "I feel like I've been run over by an eighteen wheeler."
"A little nectar will cure you of that," Will said, handing her a tall glass he had just poured. Wincing, Alex sat up and drank. She had finished the glass in no time at all, and by then some of the color had returned to her cheeks, and she was able to move without much pain.
"Thank you Will." She said, smiling at him.
"You can thank me in the morning. You'll be as good as new then. If you'll excuse us, Lou Ellen and I must attend dinner. We'll tell Chiron what happened." Lou Ellen and Will bade them farewell and left, which left Nico and Alex alone.
Nico looked at Alex, and noticed how she sat, with one leg tucked under her and the other dangling over the edge. How she had this odd layer of sadness around her, and how her eyes had a slightly scarred and shattered look about them. He had just noticed the burn on her neck, a burn shaped like a face of a beast, when he was jolted out of his thoughts by none other then Alex herself, who was looking at him peculiarly. "Why are you staring at me?" She asked. Nico could feel his face heat up a bit as he muttered an excuse.
"It's fine," she said, her lips curving in a small smile. "I was just wondering."
"Would you mind," Nico said, choosing his words with care, "if I asked you something?"
"And what might that be?" Alex responded, leaning against the frame of the bed, her expression guarded.
"Well, I want to know about you, like, your past, what you like, you know, basic stuff." Nico pulled up a chair next to the bed and sat down, looking at her, waiting for an answer.
Alex didn't look at him, but at her knees, her hands rubbing the back of her neck, as if the mark there burned.
"When I was young," she began, still not looking at him, "I was told my mother had disowned me, and was put in the system. I bounced from foster home, to foster home, to foster home, and finally ran away. I lived on the streets for about two years when Hecate showed up and explained who she was and who I was and guided me to camp."
"And about the the stuff you like?..." Nico asked, and Alex raised her gaze and locked her eyes with his.
"I'm a simple person." She said with a shrug. "My favourite color is purple, I like to read, and I have this serious addiction to caffeine and chocolate. I like alternative and rock music, and hate dogs."
She removed her hand from her neck and placed both of them in her lap, and cocked her head at him.
"Now you." She said, looking at home the same way he had probably looked at her: expectantly.
"I was born in Italy in the early 1930s," he began, and glanced at Alex for her reaction. She motioned for him to continue. "I lived with my mother and my older sister Bianca. During World War ll, we came over to America......."
Nico talked for how long, he didn't know. It seemed to go on for hours. He explained what had happened when they had reached Washington D.C. , how his mother had been killed by Zeus and how Hades had ordered the Fury Alecto to erase their memories and bring them to the Lotus Hotel, where time stands still, for what they thought was a month but was actually 70 years. Their experiences in Westover Hall, how Bianca had told him she was to become a Hunter of Artemis, and how she left on a quest with Zoë Nightshade, Thalia Grace, daughter of Zeus, and Grover Underwood, a satyr, to rescue Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena, who had been kidnapped by a manticore, and where being followed closely by Percy Jackson, the son of Poseidon. The visions and dreams he had had of Bianca, of the dangers she faced, and how, when faced with a deformed version of Typhon, had, had--
Nico swallowed hard. Bianca had always been a sore subject, and remembering and recounting everything about their lives made it difficult to speak.
"And she sacrificed herself," Alex said quietly, making Nico look up sharply in disbelief, "to save her friends." She blinked, and a slight panicked look came into her eyes.
"How do you know that?" He whispered. Few people knew that. Almost NO ONE knew that. How would Alex?
"I saw it in your face," she said, avoiding his gaze. "Your expression, the look in your eyes. I kind of pieced it together. I'm sorry." She was rubbing the back of her neck again, looking at her feet.
"It's fine," Nico said absentmiedly, "but how did you know she sacrifice--"
The door flew open a second time today and Chiron wheels into the room. "Alexandra, my dear, I apologize profusely for what happened, I had no idea Mrs.O'Leary would ever act in such a manner, she's usually extremely well-behaved. And on your first day too..." He stopped when he saw Nico and, looking flustered, said, "Mr. di Angelo, I think it is time you left the poor girl to recover and to stop bombarding her with your questions."
"It's fine Chiron, Nico was just keeping me company."
"Well, I'm afraid it is time for Nico to go to dinner, as he is being missed."
"Of course I am." He muttered, getting up from the chair and glancing at Alex just in time to see her hide her smile.
Nico got up, said good-bye to both Alex and Chiron and left, closing the door behind him. He took his time walking to the dining pavilion, thinking of his conversation with Alex.
She was a good listener, nodding at the right times and not interrupting. It felt good to open up to someone, like a weight had been lifted off his chest, and he felt somewhat lighter, like the experiences he had kept to himself had been stored away and removed from his constant thoughts. Nico realized he liked Alex, a lot, and found himself wondering when he would get to speak to her again......

Notes

Hello my wonderful reader! 609 views, even after I deleted my last chapter, as I got a much better suggestion from @percabeth120 about what should happen. A lot of this chapter was her idea (actually, most of it) and I am really grateful for her insight and helpfulness. Thank you SOOO much! Please rate, comment, and subscribe to my story, and if you have any ideas or suggestions for what happens NEXT then please comment below and let me know! Thank you, and I hope you like this chapter! ☃ (P.S. My winter break for THREE whole weeks just started, so I'll be able to update more often. Yippee!!)