Chapter 9: Death's Discovery
Getting more questions than answers
His dark eyes searched his surroundings as Nico kept Reyna behind his back. When he deemed it safe, he dropped his arm that blocked Reyna from going out of the passage that he had created a while ago. Nico closed the hole after the praetor and looked at the familiar hallway.
When he had finally found Hazel after visiting Camp Half-Blood in the Roman's former secret hide out, Treasure Island still had been in hands of the mortals. Together with her, he'd scouted the area just like Reyna and him had been doing this day. Just like now, they had found out about the underground center, including the extra entrance. As children of the Underworld they'd dug the passage.
That day, they hadn't been able to do anything other than thin out the mortals' forces, but Nico still remembered that weird feeling he had had before they had been caught.
Nico was surprised that after taking over the island, the others had never found out about the center. After all, it had been a very strategic point for the mortals, which was one of the reasons why they had been eager to take it over again. Nico was determined to find out the other reason, since he knew for certain that there was one.
The son of Hades nearly bumped unto Reyna as she suddenly stopped. They were standing in front of a bifurcation of the hallways, leaning against the left side of the lighted wall. Reyna was carefully looking around the corner, but soon turned her head to the very confused Nico. She held up seven fingers and pointed to the left.
Nico frowned and looked around him, searching for an escape. Turning right or left was out of the question, seeing that they would be immediately discovered – they would certainly not get out of here alive in that case – and Nico could already hear footsteps where they had gone from. Since everything was overly lighted – much to Nico's distaste – they couldn't hide in the shadows. There was practically no way out.
His eyebrows furrowed as he thought about what Reyna and he had talked about earlier. Nico looked up and inspected the ceiling, until is eyes landed on what he was looking for. He tapped Reyna's shoulder, who was already looking around the corner again, and pointed to the grid, while looking at her questioningly. He could see the confusion in her eyes, until they turned into understanding and she nodded.
Nico moved under the grid and pushed Reyna up, so the daughter of Bellona could reach it. She pushed it up while making as little noise as she could. When the grid finally revealed an opening big enough to go in, Nico was struggling to keep her high enough. The sounds he could hear in the background urged him to keep on though, as he lifted her farther up so she could push herself up. With a lot of difficulty, she succeeded, but Nico knew that he wouldn't be able to do so. There was no time.
He unsheathed his sword, ignoring Reyna's look as she reached her hand down on him. "Nico", she hissed, "come on." Nico shook his head and gave her a look that could only say: close it. She would have to trust him in this or they would both be dead. With a death glare that made Nico shudder, Reyna closed the grid. She would definitively kill him later.
"… sure this… stronger… here…" The talking sounds went closer, but he could make out nothing of it. Nico leaned against the wall again, his sword ready in his hands. He closed his eyes and concentrated on the feet pounding on the ground. 62 ft.
"Wimp, we all… the experiment… have a chance", a woman hissed. 45 ft.
"I know that too! But I just can't help but think… us", the first voice, a male, argued back. 31 ft.
"Of course they're using us", another voice joined the conversation, "but we can't go back. Besides, you have to admit that it worked." 20 ft. Nico gripped his sword tighter in his hands. Something about this conversation made him worry.
It stayed silent after that. Nico took a short glance at the grid, seeing the tips of Reyna's fingers through the openings. He sighed and took a stance. Just a little bit closer… He dashed out of corner, his sword already raised. He had to do this fast, otherwise they would be discovered by the others.
The woman in the front didn't get any time to react at the Stygian Iron sword cutting her throat. She dropped dead on the ground with blood seeping out of her neck. Nico didn't have the time to take a good look had her, since one of the remaining six already had a gun pointed at his head. The son of Hades didn't give the male the chance to pull the trigger as he ducked, effectively dodging the spear aimed at his head, and slashed at the male's legs. The male dropped on his knees, which gave Nico the opportunity to stab in the man's heart.
Nico pulled the sword out and twirled it in his hand, stabbing the woman that was attacking his back in her stomach. She coughed out blood, before collapsing unto the ground. The son of Hades looked around him, seeing that the four remaining mortals backed up a little after seeing the demigod kill three of their comrades in just a matter of seconds.
Then, it happened.
The only woman that was still alive dropped on her knees and the three guys followed suit, their hands on the ground as they panted uncontrollably. Nico frowned as their backs mutated as if they were from werewolves of a bad TV series. Cracking sounds and screams were the only sounds that filled the lighted hallway. Nico winced while the mortals turned into hideous monsters.
Growls and howls escaped their mouths – no, maws – revealing sharp fangs and pointed tongues. Where hair should have been were dozens of snakes, like Medusa, while their skin was full of scales, all the way to their fingers. They a body like a lion's and a long scorpion tail, like the Manticore. Instead of feet were hooves that looked really out of place. Nico had never seen such monsters before in his life – and he had seen a lot. Maybe this was from the experiment they had been talking about?
He clenched his sword tighter in his hands as two of them charged at the demigod at the same time. Nico managed to dodge one, but was pushed unto the ground by the other. He tried to stab it as it hovered over him, but the skin was a hard as the skin of the Nemean Lion. The demigod screamed in agony as the fangs pierced his shoulder, as if the monster was trying to rip it off. With a lot of difficulty, he managed to escape from the monster's grasp and roll away.
Nico was just about to charge them, when two of them suddenly turned into dust, while the others were screaming their lungs out. The screams were human, strange in such monstrous bodies. Another dissolved into dust, until only one remained. Nico couldn't see who he or she was, but what he did see was the monster ripping its own eyes out with its claws. He grimaced and looked away. Even though he was a son of Hades, seeing the pain of others wasn't really something he enjoyed, in contrast to popular believe.
He ran toward the opening – Reyna had already removed the grid – and grabbed Reyna's hand, so he could pull himself up. With a lot of difficulty, he managed to climb over the edge and get inside the ventilation shaft. It was very narrow, but it was just big enough for both the demigods to crawl.
So, they did. It wasn't that fantastic to do and Nico promised himself that he would never do it again. Not only because it was exhausting, but also because of the rats that they crossed paths with or Nico's shoes that kicked Reyna's arms from time to time. Nico was certain that Reyna was now planning how to kill the son of Hades, especially after him trying to play the hero without telling her beforehand.
He was definitively certain she wanted to kill him, when Nico suddenly stopped and made Reyna bump unto him in the process. Nico should have said sorry, but was more occupied by a strange feeling. Like something or someone had died and the soul was still there. But it didn't exactly feel like a ghost. Trust me, he would know.
Nico followed the trail as if he was following breadcrumbs. He even crawled a bit faster when he could practically feel Reyna becoming more and more furious. Nico really hoped what they would find would be worth it, otherwise he would be dead meat. Son of Hades or not.
Finally, he found the place and lifted the grid beneath him. Nico glanced back at Reyna – let's just say his suspicions were right – and gestured that they would be going down. After checking if no one was in the room beneath them, he managed to go down until only his fingers were carrying his body. He let go and fell on the ground, his knees bending a bit as he landed.
He looked around him and his eyes widened. There, inside a transparent cage were the bloody and burned remains of what seemed like an enormous animal or monster, laying on an altar. Nico frowned when a name came into his mind and never left, as a ghost haunting his mind.
Bessie, the Ophiotaurus.
Percy dodged the blade that was aimed at his shoulder and watched as the sword swung a bit too far. He used the opening to slash his own sword at his larger opponent's neck and stopped before it could hit the skin. The mortal's eyes widened and he dropped the sword as a matter of surrender.
The demigod sighed and picked up the sword. "Try to control your strength as you swing. Too much force will unbalance your stance and will leave to much openings." He tossed the sword to the mortal – he had forgotten his name – who struggled to catch it and eventually let it drop to the ground again. Percy sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. He had really thought it would be easier to train these people, but apparently their levels differed a lot. Some were even as bad with their sword as he was with a bow. And that was really bad.
"He really thinks he can do it better than us, huh", someone remarked at his back. Percy turned and saw a black haired guy with a scar across his nose glaring at him. He was rather bulky, in a son of Ares/Mars kind of way.
The son of Poseidon smiled back in response, which infuriated the man even more. Before he could charge him though, the man next to him held him back. "Are you sure this is a good idea, Marc?"
Marc huffed at his comrades comment and pushed the hand away that was keeping him from going to the son of Poseidon. "I won't let this brat order us what to do and act as if he is all high and mighty." He turned to Percy and pointed his sword at him. "Let me show you your place, kid. You'll understand that a war like this is nothing for boys like you."
Percy sighed. There were always people like this everywhere he went – even still some of his fellow demigods – and it irritated him to no end. He took his pen out of his pocket and swirled it around his finger absentmindedly. "Fine, attack me and I'll show you how it's done."
Marc narrowed his eyes at him. "Take out your sword then, if you're so confident about it. I won't fight you if you don't go full on out."
Percy almost grinned at that and uncapped his pen. The mortals before him watched in awe as it turned into his lethal sword Anaklusmos, Riptide. He had refused to let it be reforged with mortal steel, in honor of Zoë Nightshade, so he had no problem using his sword in this occasion. Since Marc had a sword that had Celestial Bronze around its edges, he could still block his attacks, but not harm him.
The mortal came out of his shock and charged Percy with his sword already raised. Percy managed to block the strike quite easily, but the strength Marc put in his attack made Percy stumble back a bit. Marc used this opportunity to slash at him again, but Percy managed to dodge it. The sword was still going down as Riptide hit the tip of his sword. It hit the ground and made Marc stumble forward as he lost his balance. Percy used this to impale Riptide into his chest, right where his heart was. The blade went through Marc's body, but the hilt stopped it from going fully through his chest.
"Dead."
[A/N]: Chapter 9, a little later than planned (I had planned to update it about 5 days ago, hehe), but also a little longer ;) I hope this chapter has answered at least one question you guys had, otherwise I have to change the undertitle :P Please tell me what you think about this chapter, because I'm dying to know... :)
Almost two digits and already 100 follows! :) Up to the 100 reviews, shall we? That one still has a long way to go, but at this pace it's in around 4 chapters :D
To 8EternallyMortal8: Did I "wow" you? I certainly hope that I did :P Thanks for the review and I hope you liked this chapter ;D
To Princess of Flames: Not sure about Reyco... I think I'm keeping them as close friends in this fic ;) Maybe in another story :) Hmmmm pair Malcolm with someone, you say? Who do you think would be good for him? I never really imagined him with someone xD Thanks for the review!
To Di Blythe: Hehe, I hope you liked this chapter too, Super Grilled Girl ;P Some Nico and Percy action here, which we all love :D Thank youu and love you too! xoxox
To Hagan Son of Nike: Thank youu *grins* Still have a little bit more in store for Nico, but you'll just have to wait :)
To Datarus Finnigun: Yeah, I'm sorry for not updating for so long :( I hope you liked this one too! Btw, I like your name - I don't know why, but I do xD
To Bloodtributes: Sorry! I removed it after I saw your review :$ Haven't said a thing *locks her mouth and throws the key away*
'Till next time ^^
Xx Anny