Piccolo Nero

I hate it when I think my favourite fictional character exists in real life, and he actually doesn't, and then I cry myself to sleep...

Okay, I'm kidding. That never happened...Well, it did, but not the crying myself to sleep part.

Anyway...

It was a normal Arizona afternoon, (and by normal, I mean extremely hot) and Kyoshi, Kris, Alan, and I were at the target arena. Alan and I argued amiably and researched about the Riordanverse (you know, the way normal teenagers do) while Kris and Kyoshi shot targets with Inferno Bows and Rifles.

After, like, 20 minutes, Kyoshi turned to me and Alan.

"Do you guys know anyone called Nico?"

Being the PJO Greeky that I was, my eyes lit up. "Nico?"

"Yeah. Do you know him?"

"Do I know him? DO I KNOW HIM? I've been in love with the guy since I was 12!"

"Uh, he's my boyfriend."

I blinked. "Uh, he's gay."

"Huh? Nico isn't gay."

"No, he is. I know the Prince of Darkness more than anyone!"

"The Prince of...Oh. Oh boy. Zia, you're such a Greek geek."

"The term is Greek gee-Oh. Nevermind."

"I'm not talking about Nico di Angelo, I'm talking about my boyfriend, Nico Chiellini."

"Oh. Well, in that case, I don't know the heck you're talking about."

Kyoshi sighed and sat next to us. "I miss Nico. He told me he was coming to the BlankHouse this week or the next, and I'm so worried about him, but-"

Someone knocked on the door.

Kyoshi stood up. "Neeks!" (Yeah, it isn't Nico di Angelo but you call him Neeks. What a coincidence.)

She ran to the door and opened it to see a little boy in a plain red t-shirt and jeans and white sneakers.

"You're not Nico."

The boy scoffed. "Of course not. I'm-"

"Mark!" Kris dropped her Inferno Bow and tackled her little brother in a hug. "You finally came!"

Mark pulled away from his sister and came over to me.

"Hello, Zia."

"Hello, Mark."

"Who's the new hottie?"

I looked at Alan and Kyoshi.

"Uh, which one?"

He looked at Alan. "Oh, there's someone else here. Hi. Anyways, why is Jennie Kim in the BlankHouse?"

"Jennie...Oh. That's Kyoshi Miyazaki. She joined us last month."

(Yes, Timeskip)

Mark smiled. "Hello, Miss Kyoshi."

Kyoshi smiled back, but there was sadness in her eyes. "Hello, Mark."

"Okay, so there's Zia, Kris, Kyoshi, Tweedledum-"

"Alan," Alan said.

"That's what I said. So where's Lana Rhoades?"

I sputtered. "How do you know who Lana Rhoades is?"

"Hmm? Oh, I meant The Little Toad. I wonder where that came from."

Kris giggled.

"Anyway, where is he?"

Alan blinked. "Who's the Little Toad?"

"It's-"

At that moment, Taylor entered the target arena. He saw Mark and frowned.

"Who's this?" he asked.

"This is Mark," Kris said. "He's my brother. He's a new student at the BlankHouse."

I looked at Kris. "What?"

Mark grinned. "Yes! I'm a BlankHouse student! I passed the tests and I'm ready to beat the shit out of some demons!"

Alan raised his eyebrows. "Did that five-year-old just say shit?"

"Point of correction, old man. I'm 10, not 5. I was five half a decade ago, so if you were referring to the Mark Maywell from half a decade ago-"

"Alright smartass," Alan said. "Before you start beating the shit out of demons, you have to learn to fight. So-"

"I'll do it," Taylor said.

We all looked at him.

"What?" he said. "I'll teach him, give him an Inferno Weapon, and even give a personal school tour."

(Spoiler: We shouldn't have trusted him)

"Yes," Mark said excitedly. "Little Toad will teach me."

"I'm going to pretend you didn't say that."

Kyoshi cleared her throat. "Actually, I need to see Mrs. Mendev and ask her about Nico, and I'd prefer it if you guys came along."

"Sure," I said. "We'll come."

We left Taylor with Mark and headed to Mrs. Mendev's office.

On the way there, I started up a conversation with Kris.

"So," I said. "You hate Mrs. Mendev with every cell of your being, yet you let your parents admit Mark."

Kris sighed. "Yes, it's true, I have mixed feelings towards the Deranged Inferno. Heck, my feelings aren't mixed, they're pretty straightforward; I hate her. But I'm thinking about Mark in the situation. I'm not going to let my emotions get in the way of Mark's skill acquisition."

"Can't he acquire the skills elsewhere? The BlankHouse isn't the only training academy."

"Yes, but my parents need me to keep an eye on him, so he doesn't say  things he doesn't need to."

"Like how you told him to say shit? And Lana Rhoades?"

Kris laughed. "I only made him say Lana Rhoades. The shit part was all him."

We reached Mrs. Mendev's office and knocked twice. Mrs. Mendev opened her door and frowned.

"Oh," she said. "It's you. What do you want?"

Kyoshi cleared her throat. "Mrs. Mendev, my boyfriend was accepted into the BlankHouse a few days."

"I see. Who is your boyfriend, exactly?"

"Nico Damien Chiellini."

Mrs. Mendev nodded.  "Come into my office."

We entered her office and sat down as she went back to her desk. She scanned a few documents.

"Okay," she said. "Chainz, Haylemann, Solace, Churches...Yes. Nico Damien Chiellini admitted 3 days ago."

Kyoshi smiled. "So does this mean he'll be coming soon?"

"No."

Kyoshi frowned. (Funny how you can change someone's emotions with one word.) "What do you mean 'No'?"

"Miss Miyazaki, all the students of all the BlankHouse have bounties on their heads." Mrs. Mendev glanced at me. "It is possible that this boy would die if he isn't dead already."

"Don't you keep tabs on your students?"

"I keep tabs on my students in the BlankHouse, not students on their way to the BlankHouse, and especially not dead students. Now if you'll excuse me, I have an establishment to run."

Kyoshi slammed her fist on Mrs. Mendev's desk and she flinched.

"No," She said. "I don't I may have told you, but where I come from, Okinawa, I am known as the Bane. I can see all your weaknesses just by staring into your beady little eyes, and I know how much you care about your 'establishment'. And don't you think it'll look a little sus if five students, all on their way to a particular training academy just die? That will definitely ruin your reputation, wouldn't it?"

Mrs. Mendev looked genuinely afraid for a split second, then she composed herself.

"Kyoshi Miyazaki, your behaviour toward me is quite repulsive. I should expel you but I will give you a more suitable punishment. I will not search for your boyfriend. If he reaches the BlankHouse, so be it. If he dies, it will be none of my concern. I hope this will teach you not to talk back to your elders, especially those who have your academic success in the palm of their hand. Now leave my office, all of you."

We left the office and she slammed the door behind us."

Kris puffed her cheeks. " Well, things couldn't get any worse."

Damn you, Kris.

We heard Mark screaming all the way from the target arena.

"Kris! Zia! Somebody help!"

We ran back to the target arena.

My first thought when we got there was: It's a Blackout Demon. It has to be.

I wasn't.

We opened the doors and saw Mark in a corner holding an Inferno Dagger while a BlankBot loomed over him. Taylor was nowhere to be found.

Kris ran to the BlankBot to try and disable it but the bot pushed her away. Mark screamed.

I clenched my fists and my hand caught fire. I shot a column of white-hot flames at the BlankBot's face. Its face melted and it collapsed.

Kris stood up and ran to Mark. "Are you okay?"

Mark nodded.

Kyoshi walked over to the BlankBot and inspected it. She frowned and looked at me.

"What's Killer?" she asked.

"It's the highest and hardest difficulty setting for the BlankBots. Why didn't Taylor set it to easy?"

"He said I need to be a man," Mark said.

Kris clenched her fists. "The next time I see that son of a-"

Just then, Taylor entered the arena, slurping a cup of lychee boba tea.

"Hey, guys, what's going-"

Kris walked up to him and knocked the boba out of his hands.

"Kris! What the hell is wrong with you?"

She slapped him. "Why are you like this? Why are you a menace to society? Many questions I'd love to ask you, but I think I'll beat them out of you." (Bad idea, Kris)

Kris raised her hand again but Taylor grabbed her wrist.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you."

He squeezed her wrist and she yelped in pain.

I came closer to Taylor. "Let her go."

He dropped her wrist.

"How could you leave Mark with a BlankBot that was on Killer Mode? You could've killed him!" (Yeah, no shit, Zia. It's legit in the name)

Taylor grunted. "He needs to learn to protect. There has been too much loss."

"You don't know shit about loss!"

"Excuse me? I lost my best friend to a Blackout Demon. If anyone, you don't know shit about loss!"

"The Blackout killed my parents, you intolerant shit!"

Taylor and Kyoshi gasped.

"Zia," Alan said. "I had no-"

"Save it. I'm going to my room."

I got to my room and slammed the shut. I sat on my bed and furiously wiped my tears.

It's not like I didn't plan on telling them about my parents, I just didn't want to tell them at that point in time. Yet, I let it spill out of my mouth just because I was angry at Taylor.

I clenched my fists at the thought Taylor really thought he'd had a horrible life. Sure his parents were divorced, and his best friend was dead, but his parents were still rich and they spoiled him rotten.And he even had parents. Stupid ones, yes, but he still had them. But someone like me had to-

Someone knocked on my door.

"Zia? Are you okay?"

"**** off."

The door opened and Alan poked his head in.

"I don't think you meant that."

"What do you want?"

He entered the room and sat next to me.

"That was a very sudden...announcement you made back there."

I shrugged. "It doesn't matter now. If you came here to tell me sorry, then forget about it."

"I didn't come here to sorry. I came to check on you. I had no idea you were hurting all this time."

"Whatever. It's not I like I want to be loved."

"Hey," he took my hand. "You might not want to be loved, or at least you might claim that you don't want to be, but you need to be loved, no matter who you are or what you're going through. And in case you need a shoulder to cry on, or punch, if you're that type of girl, then I'm here for you."

(Please forgive me, I don't know how to write this kind of stuff)

I sniffled. "Alright, Smooth Talker. I'll try my best not to be depressed, and if I do, I'll always have you to punch."

Alan chuckled. "Yeah, I-"

Kyoshi suddenly entered the room. She had changed clothes- A black BlankHouse turtleneck and jeans and combat boots. She had her hair up in a ponytail but left the two blonde strands out on the sides of her face.

She looked up at us and blushed.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything."

I quickly let go of Alan's hand. "No, you're good. Are you going to look for Nico?"

"Well, I was, but something happened."

"What? Did Mrs. Mendev stop you?"

"No, Nico's already here."

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Spoiler: Nico Chiellini looked nothing like Nico di Angelo. (I mean, he was still just as awesome, but still...)

He had dark hair and Paris -brunette eyes that danced back and forth, taking everything in.

Sadly, he wasn't wearing an aviator jacket. He wore skinny jeans and a sky blue t-shirt with the word Lunedí written in cursive at the center in white.

He did have a silver skull ring, so he was good in my books.

He smiled and walked up to me.

"You must be Zia Cage."

"Yes," I said. "How do you know my name?"

"Kyoshi told me a lot about you. And your boyfriend, Alan."

Alan blushed. "Actually, we're just friends."

"Really? Then why did...Nevermind. What about the others?"

"Kris is in her room and Taylor walked into the assembly hall. His eyes were red and for some reason his left arm was caked in dust.

He froze when he saw me.

"Z-Zia," he said.

"Taylor."

"About  what I told you earlier, I am so so sorry. I-I went to my dad's place and something happened and-" His voice cracked. "And it made me realize everything you went through and how I treated you, Kris, Mark and the rest."

Alan surprisingly looked concerned. "Is your dad alright?"

Taylor winced. "I'll give you the details later." He turned to me. "I hope you can forgive me."

At this point, my brain was like, Hahaha! Never, bitch! But my heart was like, Awwww~

I crushed him in a hug. "Of course I forgive you."

Nico cleared his throat. "Um, I also have some news."

I pulled away from Taylor and turned to him.

"News about what?"

"The next Blackout Demon. The one I was running from."

"What's its name?"

"What?"

"The name of the demon. Because apparently demons now have specific names to make themselves feel less inhumane."

Nico scowled, like he found my comment offensive. "I think it...he called himself Piccolo Nero. He seemed to be looking for something before he spotted me. It's been almost two decades since..." His voice faltered. "At any rate, I managed to escape and come to the BlankHouse, n=but the demon is still out there and that doesn't sit right with me."

Taylor crossed his arms. "So where is it now?"

"I don't know, but it shouldn't have left Prescott."

Alan looked around. "So could we go check it out?"

"Sure," I said. "We just need-"

Just then, Kris teleported into the hall. She had cut her hair to shoulder level and had dyed the tips pink. She gripped her satchel and grinned.

"Me?" she asked.

"Hmm? Oh, yes. We need you."

She looked at Taylor and curled her lip a bit.

"Is he coming with us?"

I nodded. "He's better now."

"Hmph. I'll believe it when it when I see it."

And with that, the six of us headed to the BlankHouse car park.

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

I was starting to feel nostalgic for the Grand Canyon.

Alan had promised to hold my hand and talk to me as we searched for Piccolo Nero, but being the absolute dork that he is, fell asleep next to me.

Kyoshi and Nico were sitting at the back of the Jeep and spoke to each other in hushed tones while Kris sat in the passenger seat as Taylor drove.

I looked at Alan. His black hair was falling in front of his face and I was super tempted to push it back. I was kind of shocked when Alan came to talk to me. Not like I wanted anyone else to come, but it was just...surprising.

I eventually fell asleep and woke up to Kris standing over me, pinching her nose with her fingers.

I looked around. It was already night time and the Jeep was parked next to an open manhole.

I looked at Kris. "Don't tell me we're going down there."

"Yeah we are. Nico says that this was were he last saw him, and he's the only one that has actually seen this demon, so..."

I groaned. "Fine."

I got up and followed Kris down the manhole, were our friends were already waiting for us.

We began to navigate the sewers, which wasn't a very fun experience.

At a point, we reached a turning and saw a little rat. I thought it was really cute (and terrible), but Kyoshi shrieked and jumped onto Nico.

"Oh my goodness," Nico said. "Don't be afraid, Miya. It's just a cute little rat."

Kyoshi scowled. "It's not cute. It is a demonic mammal that doesn't deserve to live. And you know I don't like it when you give me nicknames."

Nico put her down.. " Yeah, I know. Sometimes I just can't help myself."

Kris flexed her fingers impatiently. "Uh, people? can we keep going? I don't mean to ruin the moment and all, but this is sewer."

Kyoshi looked at Nico. "Wait," she said

She took Nico's hand and pulled him closer. She leaned in... and kneed him in the groin.

Nico yelped and fell into the water, giving us a very disgusting midnight shower.

Alan wiped his face and looked at Kyoshi. "What the hell was that?"

"Wait," she said.

Nico came out of the water and began to grin like a maniac.

"Well, well, well," he said. "Tesoro, how could you reveal my secret?"

He spread his arms and a dark mist swirled around him, until standing before us was the Italian Blackout Demon, Piccolo Nero.

A/N: Hey guys! I'm so so so sorry for the delay (I sound like Taylor rn). I use my brother's laptop to type this story and it shuts down by 9 (don't ask me why, it's pretty embarrassing really)  and he hardly lets me use it. I'll try to upload more often.

BYE 4 NOW!

~Firefox

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