Clocks


Chapter Three


I

He should've told Percy before leaving.

Well, the son of Poseidon was busy arguing with some other demigods in the Big House about the disappearances after all. Nico was useless in that department, so Percy wouldn't need him there.

Nico trudged through the grass, looking up at the groups of trees and the blinding sun. His backpack felt even more heavier than earlier, thanks to which his shoulders were starting to hurt, sears of pain passing through occasionally. Sweat poured down his face due to heat.

However, none of it really bothered him. The one thing that did was echoing about in his head, as he threw around what Bianca had said.

'Find the Seer.'

It sounded like some sort of Oracle, perhaps a fortune teller. Nico had enough of green mist for one day, so he decided to find a particular Oracle who didn't really need the three-legged stool who perhaps would know what was going on. He pushed aside the vines and stepped over the stump of a cut tree.

She would probably be at college now, Nico thought to himself as he steppped out of the clearing, landing up on the brick path near the busy road, filled with lines of multi-colored vehicles.

Rachel Elizabeth Dare, with much help from the Seven, had managed to convince her parents to let her go to an art college, a very prestigious one at that. Mr and Mrs Dare had been extremely reluctant at the start, but with the help of a very convincing facade and from the demigods, they let her attend. It was her first year there.

Nico just hoped she knew what was going on. Rachel had made it clear that she didn't want any demigod business during the semester, but he decided to take his chances.

After walking for a bit, he melted into the shadows.

The feel of shadow-traveling would honestly never change. Each time he stepped into the darkness, there was always the whooshing, cold air, the claustrophobia, The fear of it all, and that feel like he was being sucked into the abyss, never to return.

Nico hated to admit it to anyone, but this was definitely not on the top hundred best Underworld powers, if there even were that many.

Nico nearly popped up in front of the place he had hoped he would.

'Dartmouth Art Academy,' read the neatly printed letters above the much too large entrance. The glass doors shone with a yellowish glint, contrary to the building which was painted white and nothing lesser than impeccable. It had a little gravel path leading to the entrance, starting from the huge walls and metal gates, and bushes running along the school walls and the gate walls. Trees and other plants littered the place as well.

It seemed so serene and peaceful. Nothing like the demigod world.

Nico squinted against the surprisingly bright rays of the sun, looking for a way in. The place was huge too, with its dormitories, various rooms for practicing art, and the main building for the foyer and all that. He had no idea how exactly colleges worked, but he assumed that was how it was.

Rachel's dorm room was in the third building, room number something between twelve, or twenty-one. The last time he'd been here was an year ago when Rachel had taken them all to see the place, and he didn't remember much from the short time he'd had here.

Deciding to trust his instincts for once, he crept towards the third building the best he could through the bushes and the occasional tree. Then he began his climb up the wall, using the tree near the building and reaching into the window ledges for support.

Being the smooth, great person he was, Nico snuck in through the window of what he hoped was room twenty-one.

He tumbled off onto the wooden floor, standing up and brushing his jeans.

Nico glanced at his watch. It was fifteen past one, hopefully the lunch-time here. Maybe the Oracle would show up quickly, finish up the business, and he could leave without much of a hassle. Mortals, besides the one he was here to see, were one thing he didn't want to deal with today.

He took a look around the room, taking in its empty, yet calm atmosphere. There were two bunk beds, each one with their own cabinets, bedspreads and owners. Four desks ran along the opposite wall, and a huge rug was on the wooden floor beneath his feet. The sun filtered in through the window, casting an almost happy light over the colorful room.

Paint was splattered against the walls, and half-done canvases lay on the beds, on the tables and on the wooden stands lying around. She must be really happy here, he thought, Rachel being among like-minded people like her must have made her happy.

A bell suddenly rang, startling him so much he nearly tripped on his own feet. He didn't hear someone approaching the door for that very reason.

The door suddenly slammed open, and that's when Nico met eyes with the one and only, Rachel Elizabeth Dare.

Her eyes widened in surprise, so Nico did the one thing that made sense. He gave her a slight nod and stepped out of the door view.

Rachel managed to convince her friends not to enter the room. Then she turned to Nico, full on glaring at him.

"What are you doing here? I thought I said I didn't want to see you guys here until at least a term!" She sounded so frustrated Nico felt bad for showing up. "I wanted to ask you about something," he said calmly, surprising himself with his tone.

He knew it was selfish to come here and ruin the little peace parade she and going, but he pushed it away and looked at her, waiting for an answer.

Her eyes narrowed. "Well, hurry up then. I have class in a while."

Nico took a deep breath. Then he told her everything.

Everything from the Bianca dream, till the end. Then about the strange request his sister had. It was like as if a strange weight had been removed from his chest, and Nico was surprised that it was easier to breath.

Rachel sat down on her bed, gesturing towards a chair nearby, to which Nico headed towards and sat down. She suddenly seemed to be thinking so hard that he could see the gears turning about in her head. Then she sighed, looking at him again.

"I'm trying really hard not to pick you up and throw you out of the window y'know," she said finally, glancing around the room with an anxious look on her face. "I've managed to reel in those stupid prophecies for so long. But, this is extremely serious," she took a deep breath, and started.

"I can't tell you much, you know that. I usually have visions about these things and know stuff in advance, but this case is strange," she frowned, "I only know small snippets of what's to come. But I can tell you this," Rachel bowed her head slightly. "It's not good. You have to make sure that emotion doesn't come in front of any of your judgements. And I mean it. None of them."

Nico opted on staying silent.

Rachel continued. "I trust that you of all people will do what's right. Your fatal flaw as a hero isn't that great and you know it." Of course he did. Holding grudges, like every other Hades child for the last few centuries.

"And remember," she seemed to struggle while saying this, "everything is going to change. Everything."

Then the bell rang, signaling the end of their chat.

Rachel grabbed her books, gave a curt nod to a still dazed Nico, and as he stumbled towards the window, she opened the door a crack and managed to get out.

He jumped out of the window just then, grabbing onto the ledge for support before climbing down as fast as he could without attracting any attention. Once he was back in the bushes, he relaxed slightly.

Nico looked up at the sky, before he stood up and walked right out of the gate.

He'd come here, he'd gotten what he could. Things would get bad, she had said, it wouldn't be the same for a bit. He pondered over what he'd just heard, his ears ringing.

Just as he began walking across the pavement, something hard hit his head.

The pain came quite naturally, but it didn't really sink in until he felt something being injected into the back of his neck.

That's when it all faded away.


II

Nico woke up and passed out a few times, many more times than he would've liked or counted.

All he saw was a white ceiling. It was so bright that it made his eyes hurt, so he closed them time to time.

What was happening?

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At some point, he thought he spotted Bianca peering down at him sadly, or Percy shaking his head.

He thought he saw others - Jason, Frank, Hazel, a certain daughter of Athena.

Why were they there?

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He was on a couch the next second, sleeping on it.

Nico jolted upright, immediately trying to scan the area. His eyes protested, sending a burst of pain that made him recoil back to his former position, as he shut his eyes yet again. He felt consciousness return, and thoughts started flowing through his head.

That's when it hit him.

He had no idea where he was.

"They shall be seeing you shortly," a robotic voice resonated across the room, shaking him out of his stupor. Through his bleary eyes, he made out a chair and a table in front of the couch he was on, and the purple-carpeted floor. There were white pillars, or that's what it looked like, in all four corners of the room.

Nico tried to sit up, rubbing his burning eyes.

The pain hit him like a bulldozer, and then he was out again.

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When he came to again, there was someone sitting on the chair in front of him.

Nico looked down at himself. He was sitting up this time, and when he opened his eyes, it didn't hurt at all. He looked around the room once again.

"Good evening, Mr di Angelo. We have a lot to discuss. Tea?"

Nico shook his head slightly, unable to speak. He still felt extremely tired and like as if someone had run him over with a truck. The taste in his mouth was nasty, and every single one of his teeth ached. He ignored it along with his parched throat.

The robed figure shrugged. "Suit yourself," they said, voice all distorted from under their mask and hood. The mask was a teal one which strangely reminded Nico of the masks from the Court of Owls from those old Batman comics he had seen around; in other words, it had the same cruel eyes, same unnoticeable nose, same stoic mouth.

When the person held the teacup up to his mouth, or whatever he had, to drink, Nico couldn't help but wonder how that was possible. Where was the tea going?

The robes were a darker shade of navy blue, with some grey highlights here and there. Overall, this costume didn't reveal much about the wearer, making Nico even more frustrated as to why he was here.

The guy seemed to notice his growing impatience and restlessness. "So," they sipped some more of their tea, "you seek me, I presume?"

"I don't seek anybody," Nico snapped darkly, voice hoarse. "You just showed up and kidnapped me from the middle of the freaking road."

"Ah, yes," a sniff, "that was necessary. We cannot have demigods such as yourself knowing the location of our headquarters. The prospect is inevitable, although things will get quite... messy." They looked at Nico - he couldn't see the eyes under the mask, but he could tell they were scrutinizing him. He ended up frowning slightly.

"Who are you?" Usually people asked the son of Hades that question. He got annoyed at it, and he could tell that this robed guy was too.

They sighed darkly. "Me? You must know, di Angelo."

"I am the Seer, the one you seek."

At first he felt something similar to surprise bubble up to the surface of his usually pent up emotions. Then he felt the rage; red, hot, sizzling, forming little bubbles on the surface.

"Some form of advertising you have," Nico sneered angrily, "using my dead sister against me. You have no right, bastard."

He expected the Seer to be angry, but they looked quite calm, like as if this happened everyday. "Actually, she was trying to communicate with you via less dependable methods. I simply helped her gain passage to you."

"But.." he faltered. Would she say those things to him? Was she disappointed?

No. This dude, whoever he was, had to be lying. There was no way-

"What did she say to you? Perhaps I can be of assistance."

He growled in response. Bianca would never say things like that, even if she had actually appeared. Right?

And even if she had intended to say those things, he wasn't going to go around sharing it with these random immortals who showed up claiming they wanted to help. This Seer, or whatever, could have simply implanted the dream in his head, anyway.

"None of your business. And I told you before, I don't seek anybody. Send me back. Now."

"Foolish demigod," the Seer sneered right back, any form of niceties evaporating from their tone, "I am much more powerful than what you think. Choose your next words wisely. I am only so tolerable to such behavior from a demigod of your race. Don't tell me what to do."

Nico stayed silent, staring at the entity.

"Are you a titan? Primordial, perhaps?"

A laugh. "Quite daring guesses, son of Hades. However, I am none of those. You may know me as just an entity for now. Now, enough games," the teacup disappeared, "You have been brought here for a purpose that I suppose you know already."

He just kept glaring at the guy.

"What did your sister tell you? I must know if I am to be of any help to you," the Seer pressed. He couldn't see under the mask, but it was obvious this person was getting frustrated. "Shouldn't you know already if you love stalking me so much?" Nico asked, earning something that he thought was an eye roll. "I can't enter dreams, as much as I would like to. Now do what you have been asked to do."

Nico didn't want to tell them about it. So he decided to stay as vague as possible. "She told me to find you. That was all." That wasn't exactly a lie. She had been telling him things that had already been floating about in his brain at some point, and that had been the only new piece of information he'd gotten.

"That's all?" The Seer sounded suspicious, rightfully so too. Nico nodded, trying to calm his racing heart.

"Hmph. Then we need to know why she asked that of you, isn't it? Spill, di Angelo. I'm wasting my time as it is. And that is very valuable, you of all people should know that."

"Fine," Nico hesitated, trying to block out Bianca's weary and angry voice from his memory, "she kept asking me to save her. Then she asked me to find you." It sounded like nonsense even to him, and he waited for the Seer to laugh at him and send him home on his way. Maybe he'd get the reminder that he was insane too, far too gone for help at all. That would've been better than the alternative.

Instead, the person stood up. "I believe I understand what she was trying to tell you. Come with me."

"Why do you care so much?" The question tumbled right out of his mouth. Although, he couldn't even help but wonder why this random entity who had better things to do than talk to half-insane demigods had chosen to do just that. And no good thing ever came without payment, even he knew that the hard way.

This guy would probably start demanding things the minute they showed him what Nico wanted to see and hear.

He received no reply however.

They swept out of the room with Nico right behind, wondering if he had made a grave mistake.


III

"I have something here. An invention, perhaps even foreign to the gods themselves. Not that any of them have the intelligence to create something like this." Their voice was mocking, echoing off the lonely room's walls and glass displays.

The room was an high-tech one, with those screens near the display cases and the colorful buttons. The walls were made of a brown colored material that highly resembled marble, Nico thought, as he followed the Seer towards where he was being led to. The place gave off that professional feel that you usually got from museums, something that probably fit.

The Seer stopped near a screen and raised their hands to tap out something, before turning to the buttons.

A set of metal doors that he hadn't seen earlier near a display case opened up, revealing another small room lit yellow.

Nico was led into the room, which had him staring in awe. The walls were covered with blueprints, detailed diagrams, drawings of various buildings and designs for perhaps other things. The architecture depicted in the sketches was what stood out the most; if built in real life, it would be extremely famous.

He glanced up front, and his jaw dropped even lower, if possible.

A grey, sleek motorcycle stood on a display. It's wheels were huge, the black glinting yellow and its silver center shining. The bike had two leather seats, black handlebars and a strange device attached at the back, pulsing with a white light.

"This is Ton Taxidióti."

"The Traveller," Nico translated, his eyes still transfixed on the bike.

"This motorcycle is one of the most greatest inventions to exist, unknown to the rest of the world," they said, running a gloved hand along the seats.

"Have you ever thought of what time is, di Angelo? It's not just the seconds ticking by, nor is it a clock. It's a separate dimension all together. It's a debated topic between mortals, you know, and they put it into amazing works of fiction. H G Wells, for example. Or those comics the younger generation insist on reading." They seemed to roll their eyes in distaste.

"My point is, people think about it. Some spend entire lifetimes studying it, only to emerge as a failure. You may think we have a titan of Time, it's embodiment, supposedly - Kronos, that bastard, or perhaps a Primordial such as Chronos, the Greek equivalent of Time itself. They aren't exactly wrong, but these beings just control the surface. Time is deeper, much more deeper than anyone can imagine.

"Unlike Kronos, Chronos is supposed to be time itself - liquid time, switching between different ages, different phases, all that. If you were to meet the entity, and managed not to explode, you would see yourself in different stages - a boy, maybe an old man. Imagine how powerful that being is, and what could happen if that power was harnessed."

As they said that, Nico felt like he was a younger version of himself, being lectured by Minos.

He wouldn't completely trust this entity, he decided, he'd just roll along with whatever they said and stay out of trouble.

"This orb you see here," the Seer gestured towards the pulsing thing, "is a chunk of Chronos' power. It's a physical manifestation of what he does."

Nico swallowed, suddenly overtaken by a bad feeling. "Did you-"

"Oh no, di Angelo, we didn't kill the entity." There was a hint of a smirk in their distorted voice. "That would be disastrous, just as killing Atlas, that stupid titan. As much as a scumbag he is, ending him would result in the sky toppling down on the earth."

He still had his doubts, but before he could ask anything about how exactly they had gotten the orb, the Seer moved on. "Now, you may be wondering about your purpose here."

Nico nodded slightly, the suspicions against the Seer rising with every second.

"I was told of a prophecy a long time ago. It wasn't exactly a typical prophecy, the ones that come in rhymes and cloaked in mystery, no. It was just a sentence that, at the time, didn't make any sense to me. But now I see its significance."

The Seer opened a book lying on the table, flipping through yellowed pages.

Suddenly, they turned the book towards Nico, pointing at the highlighted sentence.

His face paled.

He'd heard that before.

He'd seen that line somewhere before.

And it wasn't in any old book.

'Angel, come run back

Set the clock on its track'

"The harpy," he said, staring at it. "She said that. She said that right after the Giant War."

"Apparently, this was the lead to the next prophecy. It's your fate."

Any suspicion faded away, and all Nico could hear was the blood roaring in his ears. This was Fate, he thought. This was it.

"How did you know it was me?" he asked, just to make sure.

"I didn't. Not until I was told that you were searching for me, by my little friend who happened to pass by your little camp."

"Who?" Nico felt angry at being spied on, but he decided to push it away for now. "We call him Sound," they said, and as he did a tiny bird flew into the room and settled on their shoulder.

"The sparrow," he realized, looking at the white stripe along its back. He remembered seeing it outside his window, glancing at it near Percy's cabin window, cursing it for chirping its head off. "How-"

"I happen to know some species of bird that offered to help me if required," they said simply, "however, Sound here happened to be intrigued by your deserted cabin and stumbled across you." The bird cocked its head to one side and chirped, seemingly saying 'that's what you get for scaring me, punk.'

Nico's eyes narrowed, but he didn't say anything.

"Anyway, I must explain the Traveller," the Seer flicked the bird off their shoulder, who flew off out of the door. Nico frowned at the bike, as they began speaking once again.

"Where was I? Yes. So, with this orb, we can actually open up time and go through it. As you know, the hero the Flash generates speed fast enough to break into the dimension of time. This bike works similarly, except that it will open the door into the dimension much more easily in comparison to his method. You won't have to travel faster than the speed of light, which should be a relief.

"Your mission here, which is the reason I'm entrusting this motorcycle to you in the first place, is to do what your sister has asked of you."

"Set the clock on its track," Nico muttered, looking at the orb.

He wasn't sure of this at all. He hadn't read any of those comics, so the impending future, if you could call it that, had never looked that uncertain. Nico would be changing history. There were bound to be consequences, some after effects, perhaps. If the Seer knew, they weren't saying anything.

However, he was going to get Bianca back.

If it was fated to happen, then so it was.

A surge of ebullience poured through his very being, eliminating the negative, for the first time.

He could do this.

"Are you ready, di Angelo?"

A deep breath. "Yeah. Okay."


IV

It all happened so fast, he barely had time to process anything. A minute or two ago, he been suited up on the bike, led to an open ground, and hit the accelerator.

Then it was a flash of something, and he popped up here.

A junkyard, by the looks of it. He ran through the stacks and heaps of metal, looking for the group of five.

"No!" That was definitely Thalia.

A bolt of blue lightning hit the huge figure in the distance. Nico braced himself as a huge tremble shook the ground and the robot fell to the ground. He stood up and peered at the scene in front of him.

He spotted Thalia, holding her spear and shield in some kind of battle stance. Zöe held her bow, arrow nocked, ready to fire. She didn't look any different from the last time he had seen her. He saw the yellow spots dancing in and out of his vision, but he shook his head and looked at the others.

Grover, the satyr, seemed to be the only one who wasn't holding any kind of menacing weapon, eyes wide in fear and anxiety. Nico reminded himself that this was before he had met Pan.

And then he saw Percy and Bianca, the two of them talking. He crept closer to the scene, hiding behind the huge hunk of metal that so conveniently happened to be right behind the two.

They both looked young. They shouldn't have had to go through this.

Bianca was how she has always been. The same determined expression he'd always known to take over her face when he did something stupid.

His head suddenly hurt. He felt nauseous, shivering slightly, but it wasn't from the cold at all.

"Distract it," Percy was saying, the grim undertone to his voice even more apparent, "I'll just have to time it right." He looked so much younger, so much more innocent, it made Nico stare in surprise at how much different he looked and sounded like.

He looked at his sister, who had clenched her jaw in some silent kind of anger. "No. I'll go."

And that's when the alarms blaring in his head just went up to the maximum volume. It was time. He was watching it in the flesh. Eyes glued to the scene, he found himself unable to move. He watched with some sort of a sick fascination.

Shock decorated Percy's features. "You can't. You're new at this! You'll die!"

His sister looked surprisingly nonchalant. "It's my fault the monster came after us. It's my responsibility." She suddenly bent down to pick up a small gold statue which Nico recognized all too well. She pushed it into Percy's hands, a determined look on her face, before saying the words Nico dreaded the most.

"If anything happens, give it to Nico. Tell him... tell him I'm sorry."

Red filled his line of vision as he watched Percy scream, reaching out to her.

"Bianca, no!"

She didn't wait. She charged at Talos' huge left foot. The alarms went a pitch higher and stopped, and that's when he hopped out of his hiding spot and ran after Bianca, ignoring a confused Percy, who blinked in surprise.

Everything that happened next was a blur.

He remembered flashes of light.

Bianca's confused face as he pushed her out of the way.

The metal crunching under his own feet as he climbed up the robot's machinery in his left limb.

Screams of outrage in the distance as he took control of the bot, making it punch itself. He could have almost laughed at everyone's shocked expressions from the eyes of Talos.

The robot teetering about, like it was on edge.

The huge crash, shaking him to the bone, as the robot fell backwards in the most ungraceful way.

His eyes closed, waiting for the inevitable to happen.

Metal collapsing on him, that brief pain that vanquished much quicker than usual.

The silence.

The white light that was so welcoming, so warm.

It felt like home. Something he'd never had.

So he welcomed it with open arms.

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"Who the hell was that?"

"Well, the robot stopped. What was that?"

"They have saved us... for the cost of their own life. May the Fates be with thee."

"What-"

Only she was silent as they rushed towards the robot, expression unreadable.

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Nobody noticed the tiny, gold figurine on the ground, forgotten amongst everything else.

Even as it glinted under the moonlight, no one saw it at all.

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This was only the start of everything. The beginning to the end of all things. The single flick that revealed the final chapter.

Clothos bowed her head, after looking at both her sisters.

"He has done it." Her tone held emotions that were too complex to decipher.

"It has begun, sisters. It has already begun."


(Author's Note) - Who remembered the sparrow?