A/N: Welcome back! I hope you enjoyed the first round of adventures with Ras and Nico; let's go at it again! ^^ As always, all of Riordan's characters belong to him, the rest belong to me.
Title: Three-Way Bridge, Part 2: I'd Come For You
Universe: Percy Jackson and the Olympians / Heroes of Olympus / Kane Chronicles
Main Characters: Erasmus Porter (OC) / Nico di Angelo (canon)
Clarina (OC) / Orinda McHale (OC) / Kohn Robertson (OC)
Rating: M for sexual content and language
Summary: Erasmus and Nico are back! But troubles are as well; first Ras dies, and then he gets kidnapped! Will Nico be able to save his lover from a fate possibly worse than the death he's already suffered?
What is it about seeing the one you love that sends shivers down your spine, and makes you feel younger all of the sudden? I don't know and, frankly, I don't care. In fact, all I really care about right now is the fact that he was there, I was there, and the only thing between us was... a Cyclops.
I think I saw it first. Or it saw me. I'm still not sure on that point.
I was hunting with Lore Pinter and Clarina when we stumbled on it eating a large chunk of meat that I hoped was deer. It was at least seven and a half feet tall with long greasy hair and a gross loincloth hanging off its hips. The moment it saw us, the ugly giant grabbed a huge knife—larger even than the short sword I'd gotten from one of its buddies some time ago—and bellowed at us.
"That... is one ugly Cyclops," I muttered, slowly pulling my Heavenly Steel blade from its sheath. Lore pulled his own sword, a Celestial Bronze blade given to him by his satyr protector before he died.
"Let's send it back to the underworld," he suggested. "I'm sure it'll feel more at home there."
"Agreed," Clarina said, her fiery hair blazing as she stood battle-ready.
"Watch Lore's back," I told the empousai. "I'm going to try connecting to its ka." She gave me a worried look while Lore took a deep breath and stepped forward.
"Are you sure?" she asked. "Last time didn't go so well." The concern in her naturally hateful red eyes was a bit unsettling, but I'd gotten used to it; I smiled at her.
"That was a golem, remember," I snorted. "Those things have about as much soul as the stone they come from."
And less personality, Heka laughed.
Decided to join the party for once? I asked him, facing the Cyclops as Lore kept it busy playing whack-a-mole.
Eh, why not? he said casually. I can't leave you alone too long or you'll get in trouble despite your empousai bodyguards. I couldn't help but laugh at that, which earned a cursory glance from Clarina. Tilting my head to the left, I savored the tingling feeling of Heka's power flowing through me to show me the softly glowing pale orange strands of light flowing through the Cyclops' body like veins and arteries. Most monsters had the same orange-ish ka, varying in shades, and this one was no different. I connected to it easily and searched for the impression left from coming up to the surface from the underworld. Just as I found it, the connection shattered and the ka dissolved like snow in summer.
"Damn it, Lore," I sighed. "Don't even give me a chance to try..." I trailed off as my gaze landed on a shifting shadow. A very familiar shaped shifting shadow.
"What is it?" Lore asked timidly, moving just behind my shoulder. His shyness belied his ancestry; beneath his gentle, hesitant appearance was a warrior to be feared. I'm sure his father Ares was proud of that, despite his outward act.
"It's been so long," I murmured, watching the shadow form a human shape that resolved quickly into that of a pale young man with shoulder-length black hair and piercing black eyes. Gold dust from the destroyed Cyclops floated down lightly, like mini snowflakes, coating everything in a layer of gold fuzz, including him and me.
He turned, looking around. I opened my mouth to call out, but a lump stuck in my throat and tears pricked at the back of my eyes. I dropped my sword and shield and lunged forward.
Nico di Angelo whirled as my sword made a clanging sound against the ground and ripped his Stygian iron sword from its sheath just in time to jerk it out of the way as I attacked him, wrapping him in a tight hug. He hesitated, but only for a moment before returning it. I buried my face in his neck, breathing in the cool, death-like scent of the underworld that clung to him. A tear of absolute joy streaked down to soak into his collar.
He wore a black t-shirt under an off-black leather jacket with his customary black jeans, and I couldn't help but notice how much better he looked without the headache-inducing tropical number he'd worn when we first met.
"I missed you," I whispered, squeezing him tightly before pulling back to look at him. He grinned, though the sheen on his eyes told me he was close to tears. Without warning, he reached out, grabbed the front of my hoodie and yanked me down—I now held at least three inches over him.
Before I could protest, his lips met mine in a frenzy of sweet, unbridled longing. His sword fell to the ground as he reached up to tangle his hands in my hair, which had grown several inches since he'd last seen it, going from shaggy to shoulder-length. I mimicked him, gripping his soft hair between my fingers and tugging, deepening the kiss to something lust-filled. He pressed his body flush to mine with a soft groan that sent chills down my back, making me ache for him.
"I promised," he muttered through the kiss, "that I would say it next time I saw you..." He broke the kiss and pulled back just enough to look me in the eye. "I love you, Erasmus Porter." A grin spread across my lips and grew; I couldn't stop it.
"And I you," I said before smashing my lips back against his.
After a long, passionate moment, Clarina cleared her throat, drawing us reluctantly back to reality. I touched my forehead to Nico's, eyes closed, and sighed.
"Please tell me there's a monster here to kill us," I told her, "because I can die happy now." Nico burst out laughing and pushed me back. I hadn't ever heard him laugh out loud, but it sent a wave of bliss through me to hear him happy enough to do so.
"I threatened you once that I would haunt you long after you died," he said, poking me in the chest. A small shower of remaining gold dust fluttered to the ground. "Well, get yourself killed, and I definitely will."
"Is that an offer?" I asked, winking. He rolled his eyes and stepped back.
"Answer your empousa," he ordered, crossing his arms. The smirk betrayed him, but I just took his hand in mine, forcing him to uncross his arms, and looked at Clarina, who waited patiently beside Lore. The young man stood staring at us, his jaw on the ground and his eyes wider than dinner plates.
"Lore, mouth closed," I said. "Clarina?" She lifted her crude bow, the one Lore had managed to make out of an oak sapling Heron had found that was dead, still rooted in the ground.
"The others are waiting for us," she reminded. "And we still have to catch our dinner."
"No need," Nico said. "Dinner's on me." He patted the bag slung over his shoulder, which bulged heavily. I had no doubt he had enough food for several people in it, I just hoped it would be enough to feed my ever-hungry gang.
"Let's not keep them waiting, then," I said, and proceeded to drag him back to camp, leaving Clarina and Lore to grab our weapons.
The camp was surrounded with a makeshift fence of tall wooden poles jammed into the ground, sharpened stakes pointing outward every few feet. Three small platforms had been set up just inside the fence, raised high enough for guards to stand on and keep watch for monsters.
The entire encampment wasn't much bigger than two or three football fields set side-by-side, but it was big enough for five tents, an improvised shack to house healing supplies and/or sick kids, and a mess hall of sorts, with plenty of room left over for a training ground where the empousai and I sparred with people in the evenings.
Heron Stein and Kyle Lord, on guard duty, met us at the empty part of the fence that served as a gate.
"At ease, men," I said playfully, saluting them as I hurried in, towing Nico along.
"Ras, did you get anything?" a blonde, green-eyed young woman called, striding toward me.
"Yeah," I grinned. "I got Nico." She frowned and I rolled my eyes. "Orinda, meet Nico di Angelo, son of Hades. He brought us dinner. This is Orinda McHale, seventeen-year-old daughter of Ares and my second-in-command. She oversees the comings and goings of our little encampment, and she sets up the watches. Speaking of, Orinda, make sure Kyle and Heron get separated next time; they get in too much trouble together." She nodded, and then held out her hand to Nico.
"If Ras brought you into camp," she said gruffly, "then he trusts you, and if he trusts you, I trust you. Pleasure to make your acquaintance, di Angelo."
"Likewise, McHale," Nico returned warily, shaking her hand. He watched her head over to meet Clarina and Lore, rubbing his hand, and muttered, "Strong grip."
"Ha, you should see her skill with a sword," I said softly. "Come on, I'll show you around and introduce you to everyone." He followed me toward the mess hall on the east end of the camp, to our left as we came in from the gate.
"How many people are here?" he asked, amazed at the number of children that ran past, playing some kind of Keep Away with a bent metal pipe.
"Gina, make sure they keep away from the fence; we don't want a repeat of last week!" I shouted, stopping to let Samuel Turin and Angela Wren—an eleven-year-old son of Athena and a ten-year-old daughter of Demeter, respectively—dodge around me before walking with Nico again. I shrugged as Gina Winter waved to let me know she'd heard. "I lost count; around twenty or so? About four or five are older than me, but nobody contests my leadership, for whatever reason. Even Kohn, the oldest—I think he's eighteen, now—even Kohn follows my lead, though he did put up a bit of a fight when he first joined us."
"...Twenty?" Nico squeaked, his voice cracking. I glanced at him as I gestured for him to enter the open-air mess hall, and smiled the look of astonishment on his face.
"Yep, twenty demigods and four empousai," I said. "Welcome to the mess hall. We serve up to two meals a day, six days a week. Mondays are hunt days; everyone finds their own food for the day, so that the empousai and I aren't spending everyday hunting."
The mess hall wasn't really a building, just a large piece of canvas stretched across six poles and tied to the ground. The sides were open, and pine boughs were laid out on the ground to act as a floor. Four rough-hewn tables sat beneath the canvas, with a couple dozen equally rough chairs spread out amongst them. Three girls sat at the other end of the hall, chatting with a young man. All four waved when they saw us. I waved back.
"We've got a few more girls than guys," I told Nico, leading him toward the tents at the back of the compound, "but not so many more that we can't do guys-versus-girls competitions every once in a while. We split everyone up into one of four groups, older males, older females, younger males, and younger females. Each group has their own tent, with one older guy and one older girl watching over the younger kids. It's pretty evenly divided with about five or six people per tent."
"And the empousai?" he asked, looking at the fifth tent.
"I share with them." Nico stopped and faced me, raising an eyebrow skeptically. "What? The guys refuse to let me stay with them—something about the captain not sleeping with the soldiers—and very few of the girls are comfortable enough around Clarina and the others to sleep with them. So we share a tent of our own."
You've got empousai bodyguards, Heka snorted, repeating his earlier statement.
Shut up, I told him. You're about as useful as a stick.
Well, let's see, he countered. Sticks can be used for fires, they can start fires, they can be used for roofing material, or they can be whittled down to shavings for bedding, or f-
Ok, ok, I cut in, I get your point... He laughed.
"You ready to meet everyone?" I asked Nico. He grimaced.
"Do I have to?" he grunted. "I'd rather just drop off the food and hide in your tent until I can get back to Camp Half-Blood."
"Let's put it this way," I said, grabbing his hand. "Either you can meet everyone now, when we're gathering for supper, or you can get accosted later in the evening, by any number of people at a time, as they try to meet the person that brought food." His grimace turned into a wince.
"Point taken," he said. "I choose now." With a laugh, I led him back to the mess hall, where a dozen or so other kids had joined the first four. Clarina and two other empousai took up guard duty on the wall so that the rest of the kids could join us. Enova appeared at my side, so I assumed Arsine and Lilianna were the other two on the wall.
"Alright everyone!" I shouted, trying to be heard over the clambering of twenty kids looking for seats. It quieted to a low murmur, and I continued. "Tonight, we have a special guest, and instead of deer or rabbit, we're having something better for supper, something straight from the halls of Camp Half-Blood." Cheers went up around the hall and I gestured for Nico to show us what he'd brought. He opened his bag and pulled out a plate, followed by a goblet.
"Wish for whatever you want," he said, holding them up for everyone to see. "Chiron is lending them to you; I told him that you were gathering demigods from around the country until Camp Half-Blood could spare satyrs to do so, and he thought you could use a hand feeding them." Then he gave them to me and dug for another set. I handed the first to Enova and told her to hand the rest out. She took the bag and set out several plates and goblets at each table.
"Looks like you brought more than enough," I noted. Nico shrugged.
"Chiron sent two or three dozen plates and at least eighteen goblets," he said. "I didn't think you'd need them, but it looks like he was right to send so many." When Enova returned the bag, with ten plates still in it, but without any goblets, Nico glanced at me. "You won't have anything to drink."
"Ah, who cares?" I shrugged. "I've learned to go without over the past seven or eight months."
"...Try ten," he said, rolling his eyes. "It's been over nine since we met, and you said you'd been running for almost a month on your own, so..."
"Alright, ten," I snorted. "I guess I can't count anymore." He chuckled and handed me a plate.
"Eat something," he said. "At least a bite." I took the plate and looked out at all the kids joyfully devouring foods they hadn't eaten in weeks, months, even years. Orinda met my gaze and nodded her approval, a slight smile on her lips. It was the first time I'd ever seen her smile. Somehow, that made everything so much better.
"What's on the menu?" I asked Nico, twirling the plate between my index fingers.
"Anything you want," he said, crossing his arms. The amused look on his face told me he was interested in finding out what I'd choose. I grinned and stopped the plate for a moment.
"Does that include you?" I inquired, blinking innocently. He snorted.
"There are young minds in the room," he reminded me. I laughed and twirled the plate again.
"Later, then," I smirked. "For now..." I thought for a long moment, then stopped the plate upright and tentatively wished for crackers and cheese. They appeared on the plate and I couldn't help but grin.
After eating those, I turned to Nico. He shook his head in response to my unasked question and I waited, eyeing him until he sighed and reached out to touch the edge of the plate. A pile of blueberries appeared on it and he took those. I snatched one from his hand just before he tossed half of them into his mouth and he swatted my hand away. Laughing, I reached for another, and he slapped my hand away again. This time, he raised his finger in warning and then dumped the rest of the berries into his mouth.
Lifting the one I'd stolen, I inspected the plump, dark blue berry. Setting it between my teeth, I bit down, feeling the fruit burst, spraying juice across my tongue. I savored the sharp, sweet flavor, and suddenly had a craving for pomegranate seeds, which I hadn't tasted in years. But when I wished for some, Nico paled and shifted away from me, terror flashing in his gaze. He quickly buried it, but it didn't stop me from worrying and I dumped the seeds off to the side.
"Did you have to waste that?" Nico asked blandly. If I weren't able to read people, I wouldn't have seen the fear still lingering in his expression.
"It scared you," I said cautiously, watching him carefully. "Why?"
"It didn't scare me," he returned, a defensive bite in his voice. "They're pomegranate seeds." Glancing away, he clenched his jaw. "I just... avoid them."
"Why do you avoid pomegranate seeds?" I asked curiously, torn between anxiety and laughter. He shrugged noncommittally, trying to pass it off as nothing.
"For a few days before I met you, I had nothing but," he answered vaguely. "I kind of got sick of them." He obviously didn't want to talk about it; there was more to his story, I knew, but I didn't ask.
"Figures," I snorted, feigning amusement. It felt too forced, but Nico cast me an almost unnoticeable glance of gratitude and moved on.
"Are you sure you don't want something to drink?" he asked, lifting a small flask to his lips. It looked like the same one that had held liquid ambrosia last summer, but he downed several large gulps heedlessly, so I knew it was something else.
Watching the muscles of his throat contract as he swallowed was probably a bad idea; I longed to kiss those muscles.
"Hmm... maybe," I answered, stepping closer to him. He paused, a bit of the liquid still in his slightly puffed cheeks. Casting a sidelong glance at me, he gulped and held out the flask.
"Have at it," he offered. "It's my own mix; honey, milk, a hint of vanilla, and nectar pulled straight from a flower in my step-mother's garden." I took the flask, but didn't drink from it; I took his chin, turned him to face me, and kissed him, licking the lingering drops from his lips. Even just two tiny droplets of the liquid filled my mouth with a soft, silky taste, like whipped cream soaked into something nutty and drizzled lightly with pure honey from the comb.
A dozen oohs from around the room set my face a blaze as I pulled away. Nico's face flushed red and he snatched his flask from me, capping it and tucking it into his pocket, which left me to explain it to my troupe.
"Are you eating or staring?" I demanded, hoping I didn't sound as flustered as I felt. "Remember, we still have dodge ball tonight, so eat up while you have the chance." All eyes instantly turned back to the food and every mouth was suddenly being crammed. "Ten minutes, I want everyone out on the practice field!" I turned to Nico, hoping to make up for embarrassing him. "Let's go around to each table and I'll introduce you to the kids." He nodded after a moment, and I took him to the nearest table, Enova trailing behind us.
"Hey, Razzie!" Teri greeted. She sat next to Orinda, with Penelope on her other side, and Gina across from her. Kohn sat on Orinda's other side, with Heron next him and Kyle beside Gina.
"Hey, Teri," I returned, patting Penelope on the head. "Glad to see you awake for once."
"It's mealtime," she grinned. I shook my head, smiling.
"Nico, this is Teri-Lynn Henderson, daughter of Hypnos," I introduced. "You met Orinda already." They exchanged nods. "The others are Penelope Jadestone, daughter of Aphrodite, Gina Winter, daughter of Iris, Kohn Robertson, son of Athena, Heron Stein, son of Demeter, and Kyle Lord, son of Hephaestus. Kyle joined us just last week." He reached out and I clasped his wrist. "He's proven a great help with defenses."
As if to prove my words, a metallic twang came from the direction of the gate, followed immediately by a shout from Clarina. Several of the older demigods leapt from their chairs and grabbed their weapons, dashing toward the front of the encampment. I sighed.
"Looks like dodge ball is cancelled," I said, striding toward the gate. Enova silently handed me my sword and Nico's, which I passed on to him, muttering, "Again."