III. NICO

THE MONSTERS CAME IN A CROWD.

Ugly-looking brutes marched at Gaia's bidding. Cynocephali, two-headed men, wild centaurs: You name it. Some of them were part of the monstrous army Octavian had tried to recruit. Others came from over the hill. And even more plodded up from seemingly nowhere, conquered by Gaia to help fight.

The demigods gathered at the feet of the Athena Parthenos, which somehow seemed to keep them going with strange magic. Nico stood at the Greek front line, rallying them even as the Roman cohorts took the brunt of the attack. A shadow briefly passed over him. Nico looked up to see Jason flying along with Piper in his arms.

Huh, he really did look like a blond superman.

A grey dragon flew beside them, and Nico guessed that it was Frank. A tiny figure perched on his back. Nico was relieved to make out Hazel's brown hair flying in the wind. Frank clutched two other passengers in his claws and – upon squinting – Nico could make out Percy and Annabeth.

Giant eagles – probably from the Roman army – circled Jason, their screeches only adding the noise to the battle. They also seemed to be talking to Jason. But Jason was too busy yelling at Frank to do something, his body language indicating towards three Roman cohorts that seemed to be taking the brunt of the attack. They might have been impressive, but the monsters seemed to never end, slowly but surely beginning over overwhelm them.

Riding Frank as she would a horse, Hazel nodded, quickly saying something to Jason in response before Frank led them towards the Roman cohorts. As Frank flew a hard left, Percy's yell flowed even louder than the battle noise. "I hate flying!" Annabeth seemed to be saying something back, but Percy's eyes were squeezed shut and he appeared to be trying to keep his lunch down. Jason and Piper veered towards the Greeks.

"Duck!"

Nico ducked just in time, and a sword sliced the two-headed man that was about to decapitate him. "Thanks," Nico said, but the other demigod had long disappeared into the crowd. A few feet away, Reyna sat on yet another Pegasus, her sword drawn as she screamed orders at the legion. Octavian had fled the scene, disappearing in the crowd of demigods. Maybe it was cruel, but Nico rather wished an ogre or something had cut Octavian down.

Jason and Piper touched down not far from him – closer to Reyna – and Nico began cutting his way to them. "We had some giants to kill!" Piper was saying as Nico finally made his way to them.

Reyna smiled. "Excellent! Help yourself to some barbarians."

"Why, thank you!" Piper said, grinning as well – her dagger clutched in a hand.

They dived into the battle, working as if they had grown up together. Nico nodded to Jason, cutting off the heads of a two-headed man. "Good timing. Where's the ship?"

Jason pointed at the Argo II streaking across the sky in a comet ball. Chunks of must, hull and armament fell as the ship tumbled to the west, disappearing behind the western hills. Nico knew that Leo was fireproof but… "Gods," Nico mumbled, a feeling of dread sneaking through his body. "Is everyone okay?" Please let Leo be fine.

Nico didn't know how he could ever tell the seven if he felt Leo's death.

"Leo…" Jason's voice cracked. "He said he had a plan."

"He'll be fine," Nico said hollowly, still half-expecting an explosion or a feeling of death.

"Sure," Jason replied, but he didn't sound too sure, more like hopeful.

Nico tightened his grip on his sword. "But just in case…For Leo."

"For Leo," Jason repeated, nodding. Side by side, they charged into the fight.

Jason seemed to be fueled by an outside source – fighting as if he had just slept for fifteen hours and had a huge breakfast before attending the battle. Nico couldn't see how he managed it. The son of Hades was only running on adrenaline by now, and every so often he would find himself passing through a tree. Maybe Will was right about not shadow-travelling.

Will!

Nico glanced around the battlefield wildly, but he couldn't make out the familiar glare of golden hair. Dread pooled in his stomach, but Nico pushed it down, reminding himself that he would have felt Will's death. He felt the deaths of those closer to him more. Focus on the battle, di Angelo. Will can take care of himself.

He hoped.

They were in the front lines of the Greco-Roman army. Karpoi grain spirits swirled out of the grass. Gryphons dived from the sky. And lumpy clay humanoids appeared. Jason halted at the sight, brow furrowed in confusion and his mouth posed to ask a question. Nico recognized the clay creatures immediately. "They're ghosts with earthen shells!" he warned. "Don't let them hit you!"

Jason nodded and sliced through the torso of a clay creature, ducking as another one swung a heavy arm his way. Gaia had definitely kept some surprises in reserve. They continued to cut, stab, and slice at the monsters around them, working perfectly in sync it was almost miraculous. Nico could hardly believe it, but their mixed army was slowly pushing back the enemies.

At one point, Jason and Nico fell behind the front lines, taking a second to rest their bodies. Nico dropped his sword when his sword arm turned into shadow, but luckily, he caught it before it hit the ground. Not to mention, it had dropped when Jason was scanning the demigods around them – no doubt searching for Piper.

Nico was just glad Jason hadn't seen him fade again. The older demigod would definitely have ordered him to the infirmary or something. But there was still work to be done here. Nico took the moment to gaze around the battlefield for Will.

And, as if on cue, said demigod stumbled to Nico.

His face was dirt-stained, and his hair clumped together where the mud had dried, but Nico thought that nobody had ever looked better. Will had his dagger clutched in a hand, still dressed in the black T-shirt and jeans Nico had seen on him earlier in the day. His binoculars had disappeared, but the grease was still there, albeit smudged.

He wanted to ask if Will was all right, but the son of Apollo had other ideas. He got up right against Nico – the closest he had ever been before – and Nico fought to think before all rational thought went away and he kissed the demigod. "Octavian," Will stated.

Talk about a mood-killer.

Nico's full attention was fixed on that one word. He had hesitated when he'd had the chance to kill Octavian, but there was no way Nico would let that scumbag augur escape justice. "Where?"

"Come on," Will said. "Hurry."