Rewriting the Past: Part 3

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A few hours later, 

"All healed up?" Percy asked, leaning against the wall. 

"I should be asking you that question," Nico replied. "After all, you cushioned our fall." Percy shrugged, waving his hand. 

"Don't sweat it Neeks. My powers kicked in, and now it's all right." Percy flexed his arm, which had formerly been broken, courtesy of the fall from Mount Olympus. Of course, it hadn't been the only bone, along with a few ribs and vertebrae, but Percy didn't need to tell Nico about it. Besides, the emergency ambrosia and his water powers had been enough to heal the wounds the moment they fell into the lake. 

"If you say so." Nico looked around. They were in an abandoned underground warehouse, somewhere along the Upper East Side and underneath an apartment complex. "How did you even find this place?" 

"Ah, it's a place from my old days." Percy sighed. "Back when I had to deal with Gabe, he used to kick me out of the house most of the time. Told me to make some cash for him and only then come back. Of course, I knew he was bluffing. As long as my mom was in the picture he wouldn't kick me out, but he did beat me up a bit, so I didn't want to take the risk of that. A bunch of orphans and a few members of the local gang used this place as a base. I joined them for quite some time. Did some deliveries and made pocket change. It was enough to satisfy Gabe, and being the idiot that he was, he never asked how I got it."

"Damn. I knew he was bad, but..." Nico shook his head. "I'm sorry Perce." 

"Don't bother. I made some good memories with the people here, at least until the cops came in and swept the place clean." Percy sighed. "It's been abandoned ever since." Nico sighed, as they both sat in silence for a while. Nico continued to scan his surroundings, slowly as his eyes adjusted to the dim light around them. 

Old wooden tables lay covered in dust, and shelves lay crumpled into pieces. There was one window in the top right corner, and even that was riddled with holes. Bullet holes, most likely. There were many carvings on the walls, and an odd carving caught Nico's eyes. 

""P + E" in a heart," Nico said aloud, drawing Percy's attention. "Did little Percy have a girlfriend?" 

"No, that's Emilia's work." Percy smiled softly. "She was the youngest kid in our group and one of the daughters of the gang members. She was four when she made that, and it was the last time I saw her." 

"Damn, did you know what happened to her?" Nico asked. Percy nodded. 

"She found new parents and a new life. They moved over to Canada, from what I heard." Percy answered. "I tried tracking her down after my first quest, but I never found anything." 

"She was like the sister you never had," Nico said, getting up. "I'm glad you had someone to keep your hopes up in this shithole. Been here for half an hour and even I feel depressed." 

"I thought death and darkness was your thing?" Percy raised an eyebrow. "Has Will finally cracked that emo exterior away?" 

"Oh shut up Kelp Head." Nico snapped his fingers, as his armor reappeared on him. "We're getting late." Percy tapped his clothes, as they morphed into his armor. 

"You're right about that. Let's get moving." Percy said. 

"We have a Capture the Flag game to interrupt." 

At Camp Half-Blood, 

(We're switching back to Perseus for adult Percy and Nicolas for adult Nico)

Percy was already having a rough day, and that was before the camp got set on fire. First, the whole controversy with Artemis disappearing happens. The camp was in shambles because of the Hunters having a panic attack, and it wasn't until Chiron and Dionysus interfered that the matter was sorted out. Now, Percy did not know what was going on, to be honest. He did have a dream, but it had been blurry at best. 

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