※Rewritten※

I stood by the snack table, bowls that before the show had nothing in them, but now they had all kinds of delicious food. A bowl of trail mix next to mini pretzels, goldfish, barbecue chips, regular chips and a platter of different kinds of dips. The fridge now had drinks inside. Soda to juice, but there was at least two rows full of water bottles. Pretty sure they had put those there for us to help out our voice, nonetheless it was a nice gesture.

We had roughly fifteen minutes to prepare for the next three to get ready and warm themselves up. Nico would be the first to perform, Hazel would be after him, then Annabeth would sing before the second break. From what I could tell, each one of them had either piano or guitar to accompany them. Hazel would be playing a ukulele with her song, though. Still, a ukulele is still a guitar, just tiny and Hawaiian. But besides that, I looked though the snack table trying to decide what to eat, "What should I eat?"

"So many choices, only one reveals the truth," Leo quipped in his best evil villain voice. "Choose wisely, the fate of the kingdom rests upon your shoulders."

"Such a trivial task shall not best me!" I yelled and grabbed a handful of the pretzels and stuffing my mouth with them.

"Fool! You have chosen the pretzels dipped in deadly nightshade poison! Muahahaha!" He laughs, hands curled upward and flames sprouting from his hand. I gasp, coughing slightly because the crumbs of the pretzel almost go down the wrong pipe, falling to the floor pretending to be dead. "The kingdom is mine now!"

"Not so fast, Sir Leo the flame of evil!" Jason pointed the ladle from the punch bowl at Leo who had now fashioned a flame beard and crown. "For I am Jason, knight of the kingdom of fridge, and you have killed my fellow knight, prepare to die!"

Jason stepped over me, ladle pointed upwards to Leo in as if it was a sword. But Leo, the weird evil genius that he is, laughed and spoke again, "You think that sword will defat my guard beast? Bring forth the flame dragon!" Behind him Frank morphed into a gecko, bright orange and a bit derpy (don't tell him that). "Behold! My dragon!"

I could hear the girls on the couch chuckle at our antics, they just sat there and watched as I died on the floor from pretzel poisoning. "With my final breath, I call upon the master of death, Nico the shadow of death, grant me one last favor!"

"What is it, oh noble, fallen, warrior?" Nico walked up to me speaking in a monotone voice trying to mimic Thanatos.

"Defeat Leo the flame of evil, save my brother in arms from the fate I have suffered!" I speak in a nearly-almost-dead-but-not-quite voice. "I offer you the pretzels of my demise, take them and fulfill my request."

"No need, your soul is all I require," He says as he walks over me and flicks Leo on his forehead. And very dramatically, lots of emphasis on very, Leo falls to the ground, the flame crown on his head disappearing the closer he gets to the ground; and just like me, he dies. "It is done."

"Thank you, master of death," I gasp one last time and 'die,' my tongue sticking out of my mouth to show that I am dead.

They clapped and gave us a standing ovation, Piper pretending to wipe tears form her eyes as she clapped, mumbling to herself how beautiful we were. Together, the five of us turned to them, bowed, and laughed when we stood back up straight. It was refreshing to joke about during a stressful day. It wasn't save the world stressful, but stressful none the less. Those who had performed were still shaken up a bit, the empty stares from the judges and the high expectations of the audience. And man, those expectations were high.

"Nico, you're on in five!" A stagehand opened the tent flap and looked to the son of hades.

With a sharp breath, Nico turned and looked in the mirror. The dark brown leather jacket he's had for years still didn't fit him right. The body of it still draped two or three inches from his waist and the sleeves were a solid five inches from where his hands were. Made me wonder how long the arms of the previous owner that it still hung no matter how much Nico grew. But, Nico didn't mind it, he didn't care, he just pulled the jacket straighter and took a deep breath. "I don't know if I'm ready or if I'm ready to run away."

"You're gonna be fine, Neeks, just don't think about it," Jason said. The ladle he once held now back in the punch bowl ready to serve the next cup of fruit punch or to defeat the evil Sir Leo, the flame of evil.

"Easy for you to say," Nico sighed. "You just went."

"And I'm trying to give you advice," He took a swig of his punch.

Reyna shook her head and looked towards the slightly panicking fourteen-year-old. "Don't look at the judges or make eye contact with the audience unless you want to."

"That helps," He ran his fingers in his hair, attempting to make it look presentable, and followed the stagehand to the stage where Braxton had just finished his announcement.

We looked to the screen. Nico sat center stage on the same stool Piper had when Jason performed, behind him was a daughter of Hermes dressed in black and a microphone in her hand. A backup singer. Neat. She too looked nervous but kept her cool for the main performer in front of her. Nico adjusted the mic stand in and nodded slightly, the soft melody of a piano fading in from right stage. The glossy black grand piano shined in the spotlight as Will Solace accompanied his boyfriend and played the slightly melancholy tune.

"I don't know where I'm at, I'm standing at the back, and I'm tired of waiting," Nico sang into the mic. Eyes closed and his voice soft and powerful, matching the sad and quiet song from the piano. "Of waiting here in line, hoping that I'll find, what I've been chasing."

The song jumped into the chorus, the same rhythm and same notes just slightly louder and pressed with more emotion. Nico sang, his eyes still closed, and Will played, his eyes closed as if he memorized the song. But it was Nico the people paid attention too. They sat silently and watched the son of hades sing his heart out, watched as he poured himself open during the chorus. And then the bridge, the most heartfelt and intense part of the whole song, rivaled the gaze Nico gave when he finally opened his eyes to sing the last line of the bridge. "And I don't wanna hear that sound, of losing what I never found."

"I shot for the sky," Nico looked up to the clear night sky where Zoe's constellation watched over us. "I'm stuck on the ground. So why do I try, I know I'm gonna fall down."

"I thought I could fly, so did I drown?" He closed his eyes again, shutting them tight and gripping the mic tight with every line of the chorus. When it the camera panned to the audience, it looked like a concert. They had lighters and lit them waiving the flame from side to side, trying to give an emotional song the scene it needed. And slowly did Will end the song, softly and solemnly just as Nico sang the very last line, "Oh, it's coming down, down, down."

Cheers erupted from the audience as Nico slid off the stool and gave a bow to the views. His cheeks slightly dusted pink from embarrassment while they clapped. Will smiled and led Nico off stage where we were waiting to sing our praises for him.

Words: 1348