Nico had almost reached the Doors when the Alodai twins caught him.
By that time, he was nearly insane. Between Akhlys, smiling and letting him pass because he'd gone through enough misery even for Misery, the Acheron, delivering tormenting messages about Bianca's death, and the spirit of the pit whispering in his mind with dark thoughts, he hadn't had a moment since he fell where he wasn't on the brink of insanity.
He'd been trudging towards the black and silver doors, determined to cut the chains before he lost his mind, when he saw a blinding light.
Probably, if he was descended from any god but Hades, he would have thought some monster killed him when he wasn't paying attention, and that he was on his way to the court of the Underworld.
But he was a child of Hades, so he knew that death wasn't anything like this.
Then he realized that the light was actually flashing neon colors. After having been in the dark, melancholy pit for so long, and spending so much time in the nearly colorless Underworld, the sudden brightness hurt his eyes.
Nico could hazily make out two huge forms in the midst of the neon lights and fog machines. He was vaguely disturbed by that - I know I've heard a myth about a pair of huge monsters that like to put on a wild spectacle, but I can't quite recall it at the moment, he thought.
By the time he realized who the monsters were, he was already being scooped up, terrified.
The Alodai twins put him in a huge bronze jar, like they did to Ares in the myths. It was cold and hard, and Nico didn't know how long he'd have to be in it. I hope it won't be too long, because damn this is uncomfortable! Oh yeah, and also the threat of a slow, torturous death by suffocation, he thought.
Luckily, he had 8 of Persephone's pomegranate seeds in his pocket, which he brought along just in case he needed them in Tartarus.
Well, it turned out he didn't need them in the pit, but he would need them outside of it. Because judging from the terrible "easy-listening" music he could hear even through the jar, he wasn't going to be in Tartarus for much longer.
He could hear one of them complaining, "Ephie, I don't think that was featured on Hephaestus-TV! You said it would get media coverage!"
Ah. So that was Otis, then. Which means the other one, who was telling his brother to shut up and stop whining and don't call him Ephie, was Ephialtes.
Well, that stupid music stopped, so I think we're out of the pit, Nico thought. It should have been cause for celebration, but it only filled him with dread. Where are we going now?
He didn't know. All he knew was that he was helpless. All he could do was eat the seeds and pray. Pray to Persephone that her seeds would sustain him. Pray to Dionysus to keep his mind intact. Pray to his father for guidance.
And most of all, pray to all the gods of Olympus that he would be rescued before his seeds were out.
Nico ate a seed and scratched a tally mark on the jar with his sword. Day one of this new kind of hell, he thought bitterly.
A/N: Hey guys! So this is my first fic. Constructive criticism is welcome but no flames please. Did I portray Nico okay? Was he too OOC? What can I do to improve? Please review to tell me what you think!
