Chapter Eight

Diclaimer : You know how it goes. We are not Uncle Rick.


He was awake but he couldn't open his eyes. They felt as if they were glued shut. His hands were tied together and he was hanging from somewhere by them. Though he doubted they wanted his hands gone the slow way; his knees could touch the ground. The wet ground. With his sight gone, he relied on his other senses to give him any clues as to where he was. He took a deep breath; immediately wishing he hadn't. The air held a putrid smell that caused the contents of his stomach to rumble. He was surprised he didn't throw up.

Definitely in a sewage.

That would also explain the humid feel in the air, the wet floor, and why he felt so dirty.

Last thing I remember...

He was talking to Angel... Angel. Why had he been so mad at her? He couldn't understand why. He couldn't remember why. What had she done to him...?

His train of thought was pulled into a screeching halt as he heard someone else coughing. "Definitely in a sewage." She repeated his words aloud.

"Angel?" It wasn't really a question, he could recognize her voice. The sound of it also indicated she was to his left. How had he not realized she was there?

"Nico? You're here too? Good, I thought the bitch might have separated us, 'cause you know, you can shadow travel." She said in a matter of fact tone and if he could, he would have smacked himself across the forehead. Of course, shadow travel. How it had escaped him, he didn't know. But another question presented itself.

"The bitch? You know who too-"

"I believe she's referring to me. You should really work on your language Angel. And your manners. It's not right to talk about someone behind they're backs." Breathed a familiar voice from somewhere ahead of them. He frowned as he tried to remember the person the voice belonged to. Nothing. Anytime he got close it slipped away from the edge of his mind.

There was a sound of struggle and metal clashing against itself from beside him. It didn't take a genius to figure out that Angel was trying to break free of her bonds. "Why? Who are you really?" Angel's voice shouted. Nico couldn't understand why she was mad. This other person had done nothing to them. She was being very civil. He wanted to voice that thought but he found he couldn't speak as well. Nice.

"Answer me first, how did you know it was me?" The other voice called. What was her? Had she done something? Nico's mind couldn't make any connections.

"I didn't," Angel's answer came, her voice ragged and filled with rage. " I just knew it was a trap." A sound of movement came, and Nico felt someone breeze past him.

"How?" The whisper felt dangerous, though he couldn't fathom why. It was just a word.

When Angel replied, her voice sounded a bit more hoarse than before. "Answer this and I'll answer that. What did you do to Alan?"

"He was shall we say... under my influence for a short while. No that's not right. Nico is under my influence. Alan was being a good puppet. I read your diary and then played him to my advantage. Your turn."

"He couldn't remember the name of a waitress that served us about two years ago. That wasn't in my diary." Was it his imagination, or was there a smile in her voice?

"It was two years ago, how was he supposed to remember?" The other person said bitterly.

"He has photographic memory," It wasn't his imagination, there was a grin in her voice. "Why are we still alive? You're letting us go, if you wanted to kill us we'd be dead by now. But we're not." The smugness in her voice made Nico feel a bit better about everything as well, although he still didn't understand.

"I was supposed to kill you and blame it on someone, but as it turns out, there is a hitch in that plan. A witness that should have never been here. It's alright, I'll work something out."

Nico's mind fought to understand. He could see all the pieces of the puzzle in his mind, but he just couldn't fit them together. Nothing seemed to connect.

"A hitch?" Angel asked, confused.

"You'll see." The voice replied mysteriously, before the sound of moving feet came again, this time away from them.

"WAIT!" Angel yelled, making Nico wince. She had a really loud voice. "The prophecy, was it real or was that just another one of your tricks? And my mom?" She yelled again, in a much lower voice, since the other person had stopped moving.

"Both fake. I had a lot of fun torturing you with the prophecy. And your mom? She's under my influence as well. I'm having a lot of fun with her. Goodbye." This time she left, Nico could tell by the sound. He heard Angel sigh next to him. Slowly his mind started to work. The voice... it was... Elena?!

His eyes snapped open and then it was like he could finally see the connections. He finally understood what was going on. How had she done that? He let out a growl.

"Hey, chill. You can get us out of here with shadow travel right?" For a split second, he had forgotten Angel was there with him. "Yeah, I can do that." He concentrated, calling to the shadows and beckoning them to him and... nothing.

He tried again, this time with more energy and focus. Still nothing. He started to panic, struggling against his bonds. "What's wrong?" Angel asked him, alarmed.

"I can't..." He struggled against his bonds again. "I can't shadow travel." Some color left Angel's face and her lip trembled slightly, but she composed herself.

"It's fine. We'll find another way out." He could hear the disappointment in her voice. A light caught his eye in the dark and he focused his vision.

"You've got to be kidding me." He said as his eyes fell upon their weapons. She had left them there, about two feet away from them; so that they could see them, but not reach them in any way.

"I know." Angel let out a sigh. "What was wrong with you just now? It was like you were asleep." She asked him in a dejected voice. "What was her 'influence' as she puts it like?"

Nico stopped staring at the ground and finally worked up the courage to look at her. For the first time ever she looked terrible. The side of her head was bloated and some of her hair was caked in dried blood. Also she was extremely dirty and her clothes were a bot torn, as if someone has dragged her across the floor.

"I don't know how to put it. It was like I couldn't see straight. I think... I think I couldn't remember her. Yeah. I didn't know who she was. And also whatever I did know didn't make any sense at all. It does now, but it just didn't." He stopped rambling for a second. "What I just said didn't make ANY sense at all did it?" Angel shook her head.

"Nope. Zero." He sighed. It was becoming an occupational hazard. Both not making sense and the sighs.

"I'm sorry." He finally said after two minutes of silence. "I shouldn't have trusted her, or-"

"It's fine. She did say you were under her influence." He had a feeling it wasn't fine, she probably would have smiled at him if it was. That's just the way she was.

"By the way, why couldn't she put you under her influence?"

"I... don't know." She was lying. That much was obvious.

Nico sighed, again. He could literally see the tension in the air. He had a feeling that even if their time in the sewers lasted about two more seconds, it would feel like two lifetimes.


F.A. : I hope you know that I really am sorry for the updates. See the thing is, school started. And House of Hades came out. And I read it, and it sorta ruined my plot. So I had to rewrite the entire plot, in a way that what I had written would still make sense. And also, the net was out at times.

Times are not good to me, and I am going to stop promising updates. I hope you know that the reviews are what keep me going. I write this for fun, so I'm not all that motivated, but when I see you guys... it just makes me want to do it for you, so please review.

Wise : Speaking of reviews, we have some to answer.

Work An Angle : Aww thanks. And F.A. has sent you a slap. Hope you don't receive it.

Nic-n'-Nyx (Nyx) : It's totally OK. The last review you left me, (I only saw it today, even though it's been there for about two months) was what got me writing again. This chapter has been sitting around half finished for ages. And you got me on it. I really do hope you get the time to read it again. And thanks.

ChaserMoonstone : I always feel so bad when I see your reviews. Like we leave you hanging for so long, it's really not cool. And I know that feeling. I love you, you're the best. Please hang with us.

MadlyMagical : Thank you soooo much. *Beams*

We also know that this chapter is extremely short, and we are sorry for that. But this is kind of a filler for the next one, which will take off from a bit before this chapter ends, in Angel's POV. Thanks so much guys and remember, reviews keep us motivated so please review.