The weave of the world will unravel,
The threads of existence unwound.
To the realm of unmaking they will travel,
Where he whom is nothing lies bound.
Enveloped in storms, seas and hellfire,
A tear in the rift pulls his waiting wrath.
Hidden in the broken black spire,
They will follow the fallen hero's path.
The sky was nothing but fractals of red, charcoal grey and black; a never ending storm that churned and roared above the fields of emptiness that seemed to extend in every direction as far as the eye could see. The air tasted like smoke and fire, the taste of acid lining on one's tongue. A swirling vortex of darkness in the sky seemed to sputter and churn, lightning lashing out from its depths and as a crackle of electricity swept across the sky, a creature emerged from the shadows of the abyss like lands, her clawed feet curving into the ash as she stepped to the top of a hill, looking up into the sky.
"Daughter," the sky seemed to rumble, the deep, ancient voice vibrating the very ground the creature stood upon. "You come with news."
"The oracle has spoken," the creature hissed, almost hesitantly. "It seems there is an...intrusion upon your plans."
There was a long drawn silence for a moment. The creature shifted anxiously, waiting then finally his voice spoke, lowered several octaves. "An intrusion."
"Nothing that will hinder you, my lord. But there are two that may cause a temporary setback."
She didn't seem to anticipate the chuckle that the primordial emitted - the very sound nearly tore a rift in the ground upon which the creature stood and she danced back frightfully, peering down into the thin crevice at the bottom of which she could see bubbling, boiling lava. "A setback," he mused coldly. "And who are these two."
"Perseus Jackson." She spoke the words with bitter hate and she could almost feel the cruel smile upon her father's lips as his words echoed in her ear.
"Yes, the boy who subdued you all those years...how pathetic. And what of the other."
"Just a nameless runt, my lord. He's chosen to abandon his heritage in favour of the mortal world."
"Who is he."
"The Ghost King. Nico di Angelo."
"Find him. And bring him to me."
Jade eyes shot open as the male shot out of bed, panting. The cabin was deathly quiet as sweat dripped down his face in rivulets, his fingers curled so tightly around the ballpoint pen that his knuckles were white. He leaned forward as he gathered himself, blankets a ruffled mess around him and raven hair framed his tanned face, his jaw clenched. Shit. Nico.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
The pencil fell onto the table in rhythmic intervals, synced with the ticking sound of the clock posted up in front of the classroom. It was utterly silent, save for the sound of scratching pencils and a small cough here in there. The room was filled with the air of tension - as it should be. Only a few weeks from graduation, and exams had finally come. The tests that would shape the outcomes of their whole future.
The young man in the corner of the room had to stifle a chuckle at the thought.
Placing his pencil to his temple, he leaned back in his seat, closing his eyes - exam finished in front of him. Damn. If exams were the most stressful things he's had to worry about this year, he could tell you it's been a good year, if a bit uneventful. But at this point, uneventful was just fine.
Dark eyes snapped open as the bell rang, and the class seemed to exhale a synchronized sigh as everyone gathered up their bags and pencils. "Only one more hour," encouraged the frazzle haired teacher in the students shoved their shit into their bags. "Nico di Angelo, can you come here for a moment?"
Nico glanced up and he frowned, tucking his bag underneath his arm as he slid past the other students towards the front of the room. "Yes?"
"I'd like to ask you to not tap your pencil on the desk for your next exam. It was quite distracting."
A few students from behind him sniggered, and a bloody blush rose up on Nico's cheeks. "Sorry."
As he gathered his belongings and slid from the room he heaved a sigh. He couldn't help it. Years of battle reflex that was engraved into his brain made it impossible to just sit still - especially sitting still when he's nervous.
He almost stumbled at the thought, a wry smile passing over his lips.
Stressing about exams...how funny.
Stopping, he gazed out at the parking lot, where he could see a group of kids ready to split after having finished their exams. Backpacks slung over their shoulders, with the cool spring breeze ruffling their clothes and hair, they stood without a care in the world. Not having to worry about gods and monsters and prophecies...it had been five long years since he left Camp Half-Blood. Five years since the end of the Great Prophecy, and Kronos' banishment to the pits of Tartarus. Bouncing from place to place, the Son of Hades had traveled all over the country until he'd finally settled here, at Rushmore High - all the way across the country in Washington.
He'd gotten as far away from Camp as he possibly could. And considering he hadn't had a single monster encounter, he could consider his retreat a success.
"Hey, Nico?"
Nico jolted, glancing away from the window to the girl that stood beside him. He immediately felt a bloody red blush rise up on his cheeks. Samantha Hall. She'd asked him to prom last month - which he promptly denied before tripping and falling on his face. "What?" he muttered, shouldering his bag awkwardly, fiddling with the strap and she smirked, green eyes traveling up to his as she brushed dark hair out of her face.
"I was just hoping you'd walk me to class."
Before he could flee, she hooked an arm around his and, after a brief look towards his only escape - the three story window, sullenly allowed himself to be dragged along down the hallway with this girl, who chattered in his ear about how excited she was about the end of the school year.
She wasn't a bad person.
Nico actually somewhat...enjoyed their time together. She was kind, she was funny.
He just couldn't stand to look at her. Green eyes, black hair, tanned surfer skin...it made his stomach roll and finally Nico grunted as they reached her class, twisting out of her grasp as he fiddled with the upturned collar of his dark, leather coat. "There."
"Hey...are you okay?"
"I'm fine...see you later."
He could feel her eyes on the back of his head as he shrugged past students gathered at their lockers, dark eyes cast downwards as his teeth ground together.
Are you okay.
What are you thinking about?
Is everything alright?
Yeah. Everything's fine. You just remind me painfully of the biggest asshole I've ever met in my life. The name which he'd tried so hard to swallow throughout the year seemed to dance on the tip of his tongue and he gave a low, involuntary hiss, curving his fingers around the strap against his shoulder.
That boy...the Hero of Olympus. Perseus Jackson.
He made sure to keep himself still during the next two hours of his exam. A feat that was so taxing that he'd resorted to chewing through his lip as his pencil scratched against the paper. Almost finished. He'd managed to get straight A's throughout the entire year, making the honor roll one year after another as he navigated his way through High School, despite being riddled with ADHD and dyslexia like other demigods.
And this was it. He'd already taken his SAT - one of the highest scores into the school, allowing him a full scholarship to whatever school he chose.
...but then what?
He tried not to think about it. One step at a time, di Angelo. And the next step ends, after this bubble is filled in-
Beep. Beep. Beep.
Red lights and sirens blared throughout the school as immediately, the showers overhead exploded into water that cascaded down into the classroom. As students screamed and leapt up, automatically diving to protect their cellphones from the water Nico's hand was already shoved downwards where his fingers wrapped around the pocket knife concealed in his pocket.
As the fire alarm screamed, the teacher shoved her glasses up the bridge of her nose, standing quickly. "Everyone downstairs!" she cried out. "Follow the escape route to the parking lot, leave your belongings here!"
A cascade of students pushed their way outside, a melting pot of voices swallowing Nico up as he followed the herd. His senses were like lightning, picking up everything. The dismayed voices of students fussing over their now soaked exams. The alarm that trumpeted rhythmically in his ears. The golden eyes that gazed out at him from down a hall- wait.
Nico skidded to a stop, twisting around. He was nearly run over by the hundreds of kids pushing their way outside as he stopped in the middle of the hall but he planted his feet, gazing down the skinny, locker flanked hall. It was dark, the lights flickering and vision blurry as water continued to pour down from the ceiling sprinklers. But he saw nothing.
"Mr. di Angelo, I implore you to get moving!" He looked back to his chemistry teacher, a bald little old man who was using a binder as an umbrella and he muttered an apology, moving ahead.
I hadn't imagined that...there's something here in the school. Did it set off that alarm? His fingers twisted the knife in his pocket as he grated his teeth. Typical. He'd gone all year without any...incidents, and they chose today to come and screw things up?
He turned the corner - the double doors leading out into the parking lot when suddenly he was jerked nearly off his feet as something grabbed his collar and wrenched him backwards. His sound of protest was muffled by a hand that was placed over his mouth as he was dragged around a corner and into the darkness of a flickering hallway, and Nico snarled, trying to pry out of the strong arms that were wrapped around him when a voice hissed in his ear.
"Quiet! Did she see you?"
Nico stilled, his eyes widening.
Oh, you have got to be kidding me.
Nico growled, grabbing the hand and wrenched it downwards. " Percy." He hissed. "Let me go."
The older compiled, the grip around his torso loosening and Nico scrambled away, staring at the other dumbfounded. Percy was here. Percy was in his school. And looked like he'd ran fifty miles to get there.
The guy's tanned skin was caked with mud, blood and sweat, ebon hair disheveled and his white shirt was stained with dirt. And in his hand, uncapped and glinting crimson in the flashing lights, Riptide was extended three feet in front of him as he pressed his back against the lockers, looking feverishly down the hall.
"Percy," Nico snapped. "What are you doing-"
"Shh!" Percy twisted his head around, placing a finger to his lips. "Quiet, it might hear you. Hopefully this distraction was enough to catch it off guard..."
"This distraction... did you pull the fire alarm?"
"What? Oh, yeah. Now quiet, and follow me."
Nico's jaw dropped as Percy, immediately backed down the hall. Nico hesitated only for a moment before he cussed under his breath and jogged to keep up with Percy. He had no idea what was going on, but he knew Percy wasn't easily phased and right now, he could tell something was very wrong. So he kept quiet, eyes searching Percy's face as the other led him through the school building that was now all but empty.
Percy skidded to a stop, hands tightening around Riptide that was now poised in front of them and Nico narrowed his eyes, scooting around to ask what was wrong when he saw it - the silhouette of a creature, coming down the hall. Big, with hair that seemed to writhe and twist and hiss.
Percy grabbed Nico's shoulder, dragging him into an unused classroom and the next thing Nico knew, his back was slammed against the wall, the door to his left and Percy in front of him, chest close to his and green eyes focused on the entrance, both hands pressed against the wall above Nico's head, like he was a shield.
For a moment, there was silence. Nico was trying not to focus on the fact that Percy wasn't even an inch away from him when he heard the sound of hissing. Like hundreds of snakes, and he could hear clawed feet and scales sliding against the floor. Then it stopped. He could hear the creature sniffing about, and the telltale sound of two blades sliding out of leather sheaths - when there was the voices of students, coming around the corner, accompanied by the sounds of their chatter. The creature was then gone, and as Nico glanced around Percy down the hall he caught the slightest glimpse of it - almost like a centaur, but with a reptilian lower half and two, curved blades in its hand as it shot down the hallway and disappeared.
The strength seemed to leave Percy's arms as he exhaled, face ashen and his hands fell away from Nico. "Damn, that was close." He looked at Nico, and blinked as he met the other's furious and suspicious eyes. "What?"
" What do you mean what?!"
"Shh! Keep your voice down."
"I swear to god, Jackson you'd better tell me what's going on or I'm going to shishkabob you."
"I will, I swear! But we need to get out of here. Through the window."
Percy was racing towards the window that dropped one story down, snapping off the window locks. Pushing it up, he backed away and nodded to Nico. "Go. I'll follow."
Nico strode up to the window, looking down. It was a fifteen foot drop all the way down and he looked at Percy incredulously. "You've got to be kidding."
"Nico, we have to go, she could be-!"
The wall exploded, debris blasting towards them and the boys covered their faces, coughing as the fumes of the blast filled their lungs. Their hair was flattened against their foreheads from the water and Nico blinked through the ash and dust at the creature that now filled the room and his eyes widened, his voice caught in his throat. The massive creature swept into the room, scaled hands gripping scimitars as she cackled maliciously. He knew what this creature was. Her face was human, her hair nothing but writhing snakes and her lower half was similar to that of a centaur - but instead of horse legs, the lower half of a dragon swept into the room, scaled green talons clawing into the ground as she dragged her reptilian belly across the floor towards the pair.
Kampe.
Percy snapped into action first, a snarl tearing from his throat as he brandished Riptide. "Nico, get out!" But he made it not two steps before Kampe's tail lashed out, catching him in the chest and Percy gave an 'oof!' as he was thrown off his feet, sent flying back across the classroom and his head cracked hard against the wall as he slumped to the ground, dazed. Riptide was lying at Nico's feet, and Kampe used one of her talons to push it out of the way, the bronze sword skating across the floor.
"Son of Hades, " Kampe hissed, yellow eyes narrowed to slits as a forked tongue slipped between her pale lips. She smelled of chlorine and acid, her skin bubbling and boiling. "My father anxiously wishes to see you." Her laughter dragged against sandpaper as she twirled her scimitars. " Of course...I can't guarantee how many pieces you will arrive in. Let's see, shall we."
Nico's body was on autopilot as the scimitar came curving towards his torso. His hand dove into his pocket as he ducked down, the dangerous weapon arching over his head, slicing off the ends of his hair and immediately, retreated backwards a few steps, his pocket knife in hand. He flipped the blade up, but rather than a knife it extended into a black blade, the obsidian stygian iron glinting malevolently in the flashing red lights. Kampe seemed to hiss in distaste at the sight of the weapon, hesitating only for a moment before she charged forward, scimitars a blur as they came at Nico.
It took everything he had to keep those blades from touching his skin. For he remembered all too well the penalty of those toxic blades cutting into you. A scimitar narrowly missed his arm and Nico hissed in alarm, dancing backwards and his spine crashed against the blackboard, his head slamming upa gainst the wall. He gasped, ducking down and Kampe arched the sword over his head with a frustrated roar, the blade tearing clean through the wall and Nico rolled away, coming up on his feet, panting.
He wasn't sure how much longer he could keep this up.
Kampe was immortal - one of the most dangerous monsters in existence. And like a snake cornering its prey, her golden eyes lit up with excitement as she cackled, the snakes around her rearing back as her claws tore through the ground, pulling her closer to him. "How could one such as you be a threat," she seemed to hiss to herself. "A nameless, homeless runt who chooses to live among parasites. You are nothing. "
"Nico!"
Kampe stilled, black blood spitting from her mouth as a bronze blade burst through her chest and her eyes narrowed as she swung a scimitar backwards towards Percy who dove out of the way, racing to the window. "Come on!" he shouted, leaping down and disappeared.
Nico turned back towards Kampe, who was already wrenching Riptide out of her back, eyes landing hatefully on Nico. His feet were a blur beneath him as he charged towards the window, placing a palm on the edge and he vaulted over, just as a scimitar was biting into the wall right where his throat had been and he hurdled down towards the ground.
He landed hard on Percy who was just picking himself up, and the two boys fell to the ground in a tangled, groaning mess. "Did that stop her?" Percy muttered, squinting up into the sunlight.
The wall burst apart as Kampe crawled out from the room and down the school like a spider, tongue lashing out and her claws tearing into the stone as she scurried down, her eyes nothing but malicious, molten orbs of gold.
"Guess not," Nico replied dryly, the two leaping up to their feet.
Nico had no idea what the mortals that surrounded them saw, but it must have been terrifying, because they were screaming and racing around in a panic away from the pair and the creature that was approaching them, drawing her scimitars. Percy seemed to stand in front of Nico, his lips pulled back in a snarl. "Nice to see you again," he said coolly.
" Perseus Jackson, " Kampe hissed, stopping in the middle of the parking lot to point a scimitar at the pair. " You have interfered for the last-!"
A school bus smashed into her, blasting her away and she crashed into the gymnasium that burst into an explosion of debris and dust.
The two stood petrified, not believing their good fortune and were pulled out of their paralysis as the blaring sirens of a firetruck split through the panic, the massive vehicle skidding into the parking lot.
"We need to go," Percy panted, backing towards the woods. "Before she comes back."
He left Nico there as he sped backwards into the forest that dominated the back of the high school. Nico took a few steps, before he hesitated, glancing backwards. The school that he'd grown...fond of was now in flames from the ruins of their battle. A pillar of thick, black smoke rose up into the sky and Nico grated his teeth, flipping his black blade back into a pocket knife as he sauntered after Percy into the cover of the woods.
Yet again, Percy Jackson has entered his life and destroyed it.