The next morning when Nico woke up he felt much better. Warmth had finally chased out most of the cold in his body, though it was still present in his hands and feet. The emptiness was a bit less intense too. He stirred and immediately Toby sat up to look at his face. Nico squinted up at him and smiled half heartedly.
"So how much damage did I do?" Nico asked looking around them, sure enough, all the grass was dead.
"It looks like something out of a horror movie for… I can't measure distance, maybe a football field?" Toby said. Nico groaned trying to sit, groaning again when he felt how sore and stiff his body was. Toby helped him up. Reyna and coach Hedge were sleep, apparently it had been Toby's watch.
Nico looked around scowling in annoyance and exasperation. Toby was right, the entire field around them was black, black and covered in bones.
"I wonder what the next poor mortal to stumble across this will think." Nico sighed unhappily. He didn't have the energy to spare to clean it up right now. He knew now that he was awake it would be time to leave again soon. They couldn't stay in the same place for very long ever, it was probably passed time to leave considering the sun was starting to set. It was casting a long dark shadow of the Athena Parthenos that would be perfect for traveling. Nico sat down again heavily, just the thought was exhausting him.
"Why are you doing this Nico?" Toby asked softly kneeling down next to Nico and tilting his head slightly. Nico looked at him curiously. "You're pushing yourself so hard. Why?'
"The earth goddess might be rising at camp. If she's going to be defeated the Romans and the Greeks will need to work together. This is the only way that will happen." Nico explained. He was still curious, he had thought Toby understood that.
"Why is it so important to beat her?" Toby asked softly.
"There are things in this world worth saving." Nico said meeting Toby's eyes evenly. Toby's eyes widened and then he looked away.
"Oh." He said softly. "That's what Reyna said last night I just…"
"Reyna knows for sure we're together now, then?" Toby nodded. "Okay that's fine." Nico said with a shrug then leaned against Toby, letting Toby half cradle him and nearly dozing off again before Reyna woke up and declared that they should move again. Nico agreed even though he was exhausted.
Slowly they all got themselves into their positions around the Parthenos. Once they were all in position Nico pulled them all back into the shadows for what felt like the hundredth time.
He wasn't used to dragging something big with him, it caused more resistance than a normal human and he miss calculated leaving the shadow realm too soon. They were high above the earth. Worse above an active volcano. This was not where Nico had wanted to be but he had underestimated the amount of strength it would take and he felt like a torn rag doll.
"Whaat?" he started to yell too shocked.
"That's Vesuvius below us!" Reyna shouted at him over the wind. "Nico teleport us out of here!"
Wait teleport? Now wasn't the time to correct her. "I-I can't. No strength." And he couldn't reach Toby. They could have planned this better. Coach Hedge yelled something, Nico couldn't hear it over the wind and he didn't strain to. Knowing the coach it wasn't nice.
"Nico shadow-travel! I'll lend you my strength." Nico stared at her blankly. She didn't know about how he could take it from people so she must have a way of doing it in her own power.
"How?" He started but she cut him off
"Just do it!" She yelled. He felt her hand tighten on his and something forced it's way into him. Energy, it was familiar to him yet unbelievably strange because this time he was not calling it. Still instinctively he used it dragging them all immediately through the shadows. He could feel something being taken from him too, maybe not taken so much as shared. He nearly balked when he realized that she might be feeling part of what he felt all the time, but she was holding on to him and without her power the travel would have been halted half way stranding them. So he didn't let go or resist.
After a minute that felt like an eternity the darkness cleared. Reyna let go of Nico's hand and instantly his vision started to darken around the edges. He couldn't focus on where they were, but he did notice barely when Toby came to his side.
"We're in Pompeii." Reyna said sounding aghast.
"Oh that's not good." Nico managed to get out before the last of his borrowed energy fled him and he collapsed. Toby caught and lowered him. The coach came over and undid the harness holding Nico so that Toby could lower Nico to the ground gently. This time there was only a little bit of blackness seeping out of his body. It was much easier to push out this small amount and only about a foot of grass around him died. He was cold again though.
"Drink something." Reyna half commanded at him and offered him a canteen. He took it wordlessly, he knew what it was. The mixture of water and unicorn horn. For some reason it worked better to ease the darkness. Maybe because unicorns were pure creatures of light it forced that shadows out of his body. He drank deeply, shuddering as the last of the shadows that would leave did. His skin so chilled he felt like the volcano they had been above might not even thaw him out.
"How did you do that… that surge of energy?" He asked Reyna studying her closely. Toby looked at her too, eyes narrowed almost suspiciously.
"I don't like to talk about it but it's a power of my mother. I can impart strength to others." Reyna said uncomfortably.
"Seriously? Why haven't you hooked me up, Roman girl? I want super-muscles!" Coach Hedge exclaimed. Nico winced he really didn't like coach Hedge, he could be so insensitive.
"It doesn't work like that coach Hedge. I can only do it in life-and-death situations, and it's most useful in large groups. When I command troops I can share whatever attributes I have, strength, courage, endurance, multiplied by the size of my force."
"Useful for a Roman praetor." Nico said raising his eyebrows, why wouldn't she want to talk about that? He ignored coach Hedge as he thought about it. Not that it took much work, ignoring Coach hedge had become his default mode.
"You stumbled just now." Nico commented after taking another drink. "When you used your power… do you get some sort of, ummm feedback from me?"
"It's not like mind reading." She assured him quickly. "Not even an empathy link. Just… a temporary wave of exhaustion. Primal emotions. Your pain washes over me. I take on some of your burden."
"I'm sorry." Nico almost whispered, twisting the ring on his finger nervously. He never wanted anyone to feel the way he did. Especially now, before Tartarus and Toby it had been bad because of how alone he was. After Tartarus phantom physical pain had been added and now… . Now every part of him hurt more than he would have been able to stand if he hadn't been eased into it in steps. Like a frog put into water while it's cool and then being able to stay in when it came to a boil.
"You should get some rest." She told him waving his apology aside. "After two jumps in a row, even with a little help… you're lucky to be alive. We'll need you ready by nightfall."
Nico hated it. "We're stuck here now." He grumbled unhappily. "Pompeii is the last place I would have chosen to land. This place is full of lemures."
"Lemurs?" Coach hedge asked. "The little fuzzy things?"
"No." Nico snapped, taking a deep breath before he continued. "Lemures. Unfriendly ghosts. All Roman cities have them but Pompeii…"
"The whole city was wiped out about 79 B.C., Vesuvius erupted and covered the whole city in ash."
"A tragedy like that results in a lot of angry ghosts." Nico agreed, pleased that for once someone else had the facts.
"It's steaming." Coach hedge pointed out. "Is that a bad sign?"
"I'm not sure." Nico admitted excepting the apple Toby handed to him. "Mountain gods, the ourae, can sense children of Hades. It's possible that's why we were pulled off course. The spirits of Vesuvius might have been intentionally trying to kill us. But I doubt the mountain can hurt us this far away. Working up to a full eruption would take too long. The immediate threat is all around us." Nico bit into the apple.
"Can you keep them away?" Reyna asked him. He couldn't help but notice how nervous she looked.
"I've sent out a message "stay away". But once I'm asleep it won't do us much good." Nico said holding out his hand as if they would be able to see the pulse he sent out almost automatically.
"Don't worry bout it, kid!" Coach Hedge said immediately making Nico worry about it even more. "I'm going to line the perimeter with alarms and snares. Plus I'll be watching over you the whole time with my baseball bat."
"Okay." Nico said. It would keep the coach busy at least. "But go easy. We don't want another Albania."
"No." Reyna and Toby both agreed quickly and in unison.
"Fine, whatever." Hedge said looking a bit hurt, though Nico couldn't bring himself to care. "Just rest kid. We got you covered."
"Okay maybe just a little." Nico slipped of his jacket. Even though he was still cold he knew it would be better used as a pillow. He rolled it up and laid down. Asleep almost before his head hit his makeshift pillow.
\(^_^)/ - (little time skip buddy till Nico wakes up.)
When Nico woke up he was hungry for the first time since getting back from Tartarus. Although it was less like he was actually hungry, and more like his body thought the emptiness inside him could be filled with food. He doubted that was true, but he wasn't going to miss this chance to eat because he knew that he should be eating more.
His throat still burned enough that he doubted he would be able to eat anything hot. Luckily the avocado and cheese sandwich coach Hedge made him was cool and the smoothness of the avocado was actually quite soothing. Toby looked almost proud watching Nico eat but Reyna looked worried. Nico knew her well enough to know that she was waiting for him to be done to give him bad news. He did his best not to doddle because of that. As he had suspected as soon as he was done eating she told him about a dream she had the night before.
Reyna said that in her dream she had seen New Rome swallowed by the earth. A female voice, Gaia most likely, had talked about how "her hunter' was coming for them. She had been shot at and the arrow had been about the size of a rake. After that the dream had changed to show her Octavian planning an attack on camp halfblood, which Nico wasn't surprised to hear. Though he was surprised at how low Octavian had stooped to get allies. Making deals with some demigods that were far closer to monsters than anything.
"I don't get it." Toby said looking between the three of them as Nico stared at his plate. "It's just a dream right? A nightmare?"
"Demigods rarely have dreams, Toby." Nico said shaking his head. "We see things that are happening in other places, communicate with the gods, or see things that are going to happen." Nico explained absently as he thought then looked up at Reyna. "This hunter… A giant maybe?"
"I'd rather not find out." The coach pointed out. "I say we keep moving."
"You want to avoid a fight?" Nico asked incredulously, unable to stop the smallest of smiles.
"Listen cupcake. I like a smackdown as much as the next guy, but we've got enough monsters to worry about without some bounty hunting giant tracking us across the world. I don't like the sound of those huge arrows." Coach Hedge snapped. Nico was a bit taken aback at being called cupcake.
"For once I agree with Hedge." Reyna said seconding the vote to move on.
Nico grumbled and unfolded his jacket which he had been using as a pillow. He could tell by the sun and the way the tourists were dressed that it must be warm, but he didn't feel it. He slipped the jacket back on, Toby looked a little worried about him. Nico noticed a hole in his sleeve an arrow had made earlier and slipped his finger through it curiously.
"I could ask for advice… Thalia Grace." Nico mused half to himself.
"Jason's sister." Reyna said but she wasn't asking, Nico nodded anyway.
"The Hunters of Artemis are… well hunters. If anyone would know about this giant hunter guy, Thalia would. I could try sending her an Iris message." Nico did not want to call Thalia. Last time they had talked it was not on good terms. Nico had been furious with her for convincing Bianca to join the hunters and had not been quiet with his rage.
"You don't sound very excited about the idea. Are you two… on bad terms?" Reyna asked, Nico flinched a little.
"We're fine." Nico lied and from a couple feet away one of Reyna's dogs growled. Nico scowled at it. Reyna didn't push the issue, it looked like this time she would let him get away with the lie. Instead Reyna mentioned wanting to contact her sister as well, but they decided all of it would have to wait until after the next jump because it was almost dark. Then all the ghosts surrounding them vanished, the problem was Nico could still feel them. He just didn't know what they were doing.
"Where did they go?" Reyna whispered franticly looking around her.
"I-I'm not sure." Nico admitted unhappily. "But I don't think it's a good sign. Keep a lookout. I'll get harnessed up. It should only take a few seconds."
"A few seconds you do not have." A female voice said and it took Nico a moment to realize that it was coming from coach Hedge's mouth. It was the look on Reyna's face that clued Nico in that it was Gaia's voice. "Be glad, Reyna Ramirez-Arellano. You will die as a Roman. You will join the ghosts of Pompeii."
"What the fuck?" Toby yelped as spirals of ash started to swirl around them, resolving themselves into crumbling humanoid forms.
"The earth will swallow you." Gaia promised still through coach Hedge's body. "Just as it swallowed them." Nico bolted towards the statue beginning to harness himself as quickly as he could. If he messed up they may not take the statue with them and that would be bad.
"There are too many of them." Reyna yelped.
"The dead always outnumber the living. These spirits have waited for centuries, unable to express their anger. Now I have given them bodies of earth."
Seven billion alive over ten billion dead. Nico knew it was true. Until now it had always been a good thing for him, he could always find plenty to control, but now it was not. He could feel the anger in the spirits pushing his power away from them with a force he couldn't break through. They had created shells of hatred, thicker than their shells of earth, and he couldn't break through.
"Nico?" Reyna called.
"I can't control them." He yelped back, untangling a knot in his harness. "Something about the rock shells I guess." No it wasn't, but the truth would take too long. "I need a couple of seconds to concentrate on making the shadow jump. Otherwise I might take us into another volcano!"
"It will not-" Gaia started to say but then Toby hit coach Hedge on the head with the handle of his axe. The coach crumpled.
"That was annoying and weird." Toby commented. "I'll apologize later."
Nico pulled the scepter out from it's place on his belt then hesitated. "Reyna, if I summon more dead who's to say they won't join the mob?"
"I say!." Reyna snapped. "I am a praetor. Get me some legionnaires and I'll control them." Nico hesitated for another moment. "Nico! Zombies! Then concentrate on getting us out of here."
Nico raised the scepter and felt the earth move beneath him as dead began clawing their way to the surface to answer his call. The ghosts surrounding them charged, Reyna's dogs pounced and so did Toby. Nico closed his eyes tightly and pushed more power downwards, cracking the earth to give the dead more easier paths to the surface, trying to block out everything around him. But he was weak and his power wasn't responding to him as readily as it normally would.
"Nico any time now!" Reyna yelled. Nico growled, pushing down hard he smiled when he heard a loud crack from the earth splitting open. The scepter was heating up in his hands but he ignored it, opening his eyes to see dead crawling out of the crack in the middle of the courtyard. Then he looked down and saw the scepter was smoking, so were his hands. They were burning, he cursed loudly but refused to let go.
"It's fighting me." He yelled, pushing back against the scepter. "It doesn't like summoning Romans to fight other Romans."
"Just secure coach Hedge. Get ready to shadow travel. I'll buy some-"
The scepter exploded into pieces in Nico's hands. He could feel blisters forming on his hands where he had held the metal.
"I don't know what happened." He gasped. "You've got a few minutes tops before the zombies disappear." Toby charged back towards Nico, scooping the coach up as he ran.
"Then let's go!" He yelled and started tying Hedge to the statue with knots Nico knew were usually meant tying people up so they couldn't escape Toby. They were strong knots so Nico left him to it, focusing on harnessing himself to the statue.
"Legion!" Reyna yelled commandingly. "Orbem formate! Gladium signe!"
"Nico! Towards Spain and a few miles to the left! Seed Eater!" Toby yelled as he tied the last knot.
"Got it!" Nico yelled back as Toby lunged across the distance between them. Nico grabbed Toby's shirt collar and pulled him in closer, kissing him and drawing out some of the energy he would need for the jump. Toby stumbled but hardly seemed to notice, adrenalin keeping him going. Reyna was yelling, Nico didn't hear what, but he yelled back.
"Reyna now! We're leaving!" She looked back. He started the build up of power he would need, focusing on the location, he assured that Reyna would get there in time but then she got hit. "Reyna!" Nico shouted again, he could feel the shadows drawing him in, it was too late to abort the jump now. Reyna lunged for them, Toby grabbed Nico's hand and lunged for her as well. Nico wasn't sure if they connected but he could feel Toby's hand still clutched in his as they fell back into the darkness.
The whispering always bothered Nico about this way of travel more than anything else. Sometimes when he was younger he had stayed for longer than he should have in this place, listening the whispers and trying to answer them. That was really how he had ended up in China.
Save me. – it's so cold – where am I? That was the sort of things a lot of the voices said in many voices. Too many of them children but there were others.
Then I told her – Get back here you bitch – I'm going to kill that-Many colours of darkness swirled in front of Nico's eyes. He could feel it trying to push inside shut his eyes and tuned them out, focusing on the place in the human world he wanted to get back to. His feet hit the ground and he slumped back against the statue.
"Reyna?" He asked looking past Toby to see him clutching Reyna's hand. She was pale, but other than that she looked fine. "Oh thank the gods." He whispered and then he passed out again.
A/N This is a filler chapter just incase anyone is a creepypasta fan only and didn't know what happened in Pompeii in Heroes of Olympus. sorry it's late, I'm actually ahead in writing them but my editor has been sick so y'all wish him well. :/ and go follow him on tumblr if you want to, Salukinut if anyone is unaware. :P
Incase anyone didn't notice I've started another creepypasta/Heroes of Olympus crossover. It is called Haemo Kyrios and is focuses on what I think Percy would be like if he was a creepypasta and what would happen when the demigods found out. It is not in the same universe as this fic, mostly because I want to be able to pair Nico with someone new. So go check that out if you haven't already.