A/N: I'm back from vacation, Sparks! That means a new chapter! Yay! I love all the reviews I've gotten from you guys, and OMG OVER 1,200 VIEWS! YOU GUYS ARE AMAZING! Please enjoy this chapter!
Disclaimer: I don't own it, and neither should you, unless you're Rick Riordan. Apologies for any OOC-ness!
When Jason and Piper set foot in Alaska, something was immediately wrong. Jason could feel something in the air that just felt wrong. His nerves were all standing up on edge as if something was watching them from all angles. A bone chilling gust of air blasted them in the face as snow swirled in the air current. If this was Boreas and his children's doing, Jason was going to head back to Quebec to smash their faces in.
"Welcome to the land beyond the gods," Jason said.
"I-It's free-freezing here," Piper replied, her teeth clattering from the breeze. "I'm g-going to kill those Northern wind gods. At least Notus was warm."
"You don't want to meet Zephyrus or Favonius, or whatever you want to call him-the West wind. He works for Cupid."
"P-point taken. Now, where are we?"
Jason looked around until he found a sign with the name of the city: Juneau. The gods had to be playing a trick on him, right? He sighed, running a hand through his hair. Wiping the fog from his glasses with the hem of his shirt, he said, "We're in Juneau, Alaska."
Piper groaned. "Even in the land beyond the gods we can't escape that monster."
He smirked. "At least this is the state's capital. Let's see about renting a car."
"Do you have any idea where we're heading?"
"Something is telling me to head to Anchorage. I don't know why, but something important is happening in that city."
Piper opened her mouth to respond for a second before she swooned. Jason caught her before she crashed into the snow. Her eyes were shut, and she was mumbling something in Ancient Greek under her breath. "Eros. Philia. Ludus. Agape. Pragma. Philautia."
He only understood Eros, but his mind told him that the name wasn't talking about the god of love. No, it felt like it was talking about a feeling.
"Pragma," Piper decided. Her eyes flew open; she looked straight into Jason's eyes. "Ow, my head. What happened?"
"Um, you said six words in Ancient Greek then confirmed one of them."
"What'd I say?"
"Eros, Philia, Ludus, Agape, Pragma, and Philautia."
She frowned, jamming her hands into the pockets of her polar ski jacket. It was one similar to the one she had lost on the Grand Canyon two years ago. "Those are the six types of love the Ancient Greeks believed in," she said. "Eros meant sexual passion; that love was feared by many and accepted by few. Philia is deep friendship, like brothers in arms. Ludus is playful love, like when little kids say they've got a crush on each other. Agape is love for everyone, and it later translated to Latin as caritas; it's where we get the word charity from. Pragma is mature and standing love, like in a marriage. Philautia is love of self, but it has two variants: narcissism and one where you found to love yourself for who you are, not what people want you to be."
"Pipes, I know your mother is Aphrodite and all, but was that your previous knowledge or something you got from your mom?" Jason asked, awe-stricken that Piper was able to remember so much about the different kinds of love.
"Both," Piper said with a shrug. "You said I confirmed a love…?"
"Yeah, pragma. I don't know why you said that, but you just swooned like you had a vision."
Piper grabbed Katoptris, which was sheathed on her belt and smiled at whatever she was seeing in the blade's reflection. "This is why I swooned," Piper said, showing him the image in the dagger's surface.
Jason could identify the people in the image as Percy and Nico, but it wasn't until he fully made out the scene in front of him that reality sunk in. Both boys were holding each other tenderly, hands knotted in each other's hair, as they kissed slowly. Their eyes were shut, but Jason could tell both of them had consented to this.
He couldn't help but smile. Jason had seen just how badly their significant other's death hurt them-he had been there when the boys decided to give themselves the thick scars on the inside of their forearms-and seeing them so broken had nearly broken him. It felt good to see that they had both found someone else to love.
"Way to go, Nico," Jason said under his breath, a stupid smile still on his face. "I've got a feeling that's why we should go to Anchorage."
"Agreed. Let's go."
Percy felt like his brain was melting as Nico's ice cold lips clashed against his own. Obviously the son of Hades had gained some experience with Will as they moved in sync, tongues mixing in harmony. He didn't even care that Poseidon was watching them. He was with Nico, and that was all that mattered to him right now.
They broke apart too soon for Percy's liking, but he was breathing heavily, smiling though gasping for air. He could feel the stupid smile on his face as he saw Nico blushing redder than a ripe tomato. He looked into Nico's onyx black eyes-eyes that usually held so much pain and raw anguish-only to see a glimmer of happiness in their depths. That in itself was an accomplishment as only Will had ever made that happiness shine through the darkness.
As they went to lean in again, Poseidon wolf-whistled, and both boys glared at him with all the hatred of monsters from the depths of Tartarus. Percy felt smug when his father quickly apologized, quietly keeping to himself as he began to eat his sandwich.
"That was nice," Nico said still semi-dazed from the kiss.
Percy laughed, kissing Nico on the cheek. "Yes, it was. Of course it would've been better if someone hadn't ruined the moment!"
"I'm sorry!" Poseidon cried.
"Shut up, Dad!" Percy rolled his eyes, but even his anger at his father wasn't enough to dampen his spirits.
As Percy went to open his mouth to say something, he jumped up to his feet, Riptide already uncapped as he scanned the surrounding area. Nico went to get up but got caught in the sheets, nearly tumbling into the fire. He felt himself tense up, knowing that something or someone was watching them.
Percy swore under his breath. "Watch Nico," he told Poseidon, running into the forest.
"But-!" Nico's argument was cut off as he put distance between himself and their makeshift camp. He had finally gotten something good to happen in his life in over a month-which had been the worst of his life; he wasn't going to let anything happen to Nico. He wouldn't lose another loved one, not again.
Percy ducked through pine trees, the needles scratching as his face, as he followed a warm tugging sensation in his gut. At the speed he was going, colors-well, the ones other than white from the snow-blurred together, and the wind ripped through his thin layer of clothes.
Finally, the warm sensation seemed to ignite into a raging inferno in his chest, like an elephant-not Hannibal or Frank-tap danced on his chest with high heels. Or like had broken a rib. He collapsed to his knees, relishing in the biting feeling of the cold for a few brief moments before pushing himself to his feet, Riptide still in a fighting stance.
A shadow crossed in front of the moon, landing in front of Percy. He jumped a couple feet back in a mixture of shock and battle strategy before appraising the thing in front of him. It was a woman-that much he was sure of-but her legs…or would her legs should've been…
Her hair was firetruck red, curled into perfect ringlets that cascaded over her shoulders. Her skin was a paler white than the snow crunching beneath his boots. From the midsection up she was scantily clothed-a tight black corset was showing off more of her assets than Percy believed was necessary. And her hips might've been as curvy as her bust, had she any legs. Everything below her bellybutton was lashed together with snake skin, melded like she had the tail of a snake. With a shock, Percy realized her bottom half was a snake, like the scales on a python.
"Hey!" she snapped. "It's rude to stare!"
It sounded like what Kelli had told him when her Mist disguise revealed the truth all those years ago in the band room of Goode High. Percy leveled Riptide, decided that this lady was a monster. It's not like any mortal woman would have the bottom half as a snake instead of legs.
He blinked, looking up into the snake lady's eyes. They were a whirlpool a dark blue and forest green with a gleam of insanity. Her smile was crooked and forced, like she had seen a family member murdered in front of her. Her canines were pointed, too, almost like the fangs that snakes used to inject venom. Percy didn't want to find out if her bite was venomous.
"So," Percy said casually, still gripping Riptide. "Would this be where you introduce yourself and that you say you want to kill me?"
She slithered over, tracing a finger down the side of his cheek, making him shiver in disgust. He stood still, though, like he was made out of marble rather than cells. The sweet scent of perfume clung to the lady, intoxicating in comparison to the scent of fresh snow, but it still exuded an aura of malice. Percy knew this kind of magic; he had seen empousai use this kind of magic, and Aphrodite had it, too.
"Now, why would I want that?" she crooned, circling him. Her hair billowed like silky curtains as she slithered around, appraising him. "I don't know why he wants you when there are so many other demigods out there. Better demigods; ones that aren't broken, or…" Although she didn't say anything, Percy filled in the blank mentally: Bisexual. "Never mind that. You aren't harmed and seem to be in perfect condition, just as he wishes."
"Time out," Percy said. "Who is this 'he' you keep referring to?"
She smiled wickedly. "Why, my master of course! He has hidden me from the visions of my mother, given me protection from those infernal Hunters of Artemis. I owe him my life."
"That's great and all, but I'm still not getting any answers. At least give me your mother's name."
"I'm hurt that you don't recognize me, Perseus. I was used as a story to scare children, especially after Hera killed mine and forced me to eat the children of other mothers. She then cursed me to never shut my eyes, so I could see the blast of energy destroy my children again and again and again. I can't even blink for gods' sake!" It was then that Percy realized that during their entire conversation, she never blinked once, which was unnerving. "At least my lover, Zeus, allowed me to rip my eyes out, giving me the gift of prophecy."
"But you have eyes," Percy said, puzzled.
"Yes, I do," she said with a slightly amused tone. She cocked her head to the side, licking her lips as if she wanted to drain Percy of his blood like a vampire. "Tartarus does heal all injuries monsters sustain-does it not? I hope that you've been able to figure out my name by now. It'd be such a shame to kill you."
Percy racked his brain until the story jumped to the forefront of his mind. "Lamia," he decided, "the monster that eats children after Hera killed yours, because Zeus was the father." He tightened the grip on Riptide's hilt, his knuckles burning as he strained them.
"At last," Lamia said, again flashing him that unnerving smile. "Pity, I would've loved to see my poison send you into paralysis as your blood turns to ashes from the inside out."
That answered his question regarding her having venom or not. "Okay, so you've checked up on me like your master wants. Now leave before I kill you."
"Pfft. As if you could kill me. It took four of those puny Hunters to bring me down the first time; and they didn't catch me for over fifty years." Lamia circled him once more, making some kind of motion with her hands. Magic. Right, in the myths it said that Lamia was a daughter of Hecate. "But here you are, alone with only a close-ranged weapon to fight with." She threw her head back and laughed; her laugh sounded like the rattler of a rattlesnake. "Good luck, son of Poseidon."
Percy lunged and Lamia grabbed the edge of the blade with her bare hands, snarling at him with fangs exposed. She caught Riptide in a manner that the blessed metal didn't cut through her skin, but wouldn't let him push any farther down. He pulled Riptide back, ducking as her tail lashed out as his head. He circled her, slashing and parrying blows when necessary. It was extremely difficult when she'd manipulate the Mist, making him believe she was a few inches to the left or to the right of where she really was.
"So much Mist surrounds you, demigod," Lamia commented. "What for? Surely you're as handsome as all the demigods and monsters say. Or are you so marred that the Mist is making your appearance for you?"
"Shut up," he growled.
"Oh, I see I hit a sore spot. Let's continue poking it, shall we? I can sense from the Mist that you're hiding scars-scars you received from Daddy Dearest abusing you while Mommy was working. She doesn't even know!"
"I said, shut up!"
"For someone that acts so confident and open, you have many secrets hidden, Perseus," Lamia continued to taunt. "You hide your abuse from everyone, not even your beloved knew. You act confident and strong when all you want to do is break down. You tell others to try and live a normal life after the war, yet you refuse to take your own advice. And now, with the death of that Chase girl, you are finally broken. You know it's a matter of time before the Olympians replace you; who would want a broken demigod to lead their children to battle?"
"SHUT THE HADES UP!" Percy shouted, and all he saw was red. He slashed and hacked at Lamia with such speed and force that she was forced to retreat. But he didn't let her.
Using the water in the snow and the air, he made chains appear, tying her to the nearest tree. A thick collar of water banded her throat to the tree, while her arms and tail were in awkward positions. Blood was pouring from various scratches on her arms and a larger one from her neck, but none of the hits were fatal.
There was a sadistic smile adorning Percy's face, one he never felt but was always there when he was fighting monsters. He swung Riptide in a wide circle by the hilt, enjoying the gleam of fear in Lamia's eyes. As it appeared that he wouldn't attack, Lamia breathed a sigh of relief before Percy surged, slamming the hilt of his sword into her gut then on her shoulder near the pressure point.
Lamia smirked. "Just kill me already! I can see it in your eyes: the despair and anguish and pain. I've been in your shoes, Perseus; I can never escape it. Join us. Anything you want you'll get. You want that son of Hades safe, fine, we can arrange that. Lead our army, son of Poseidon. Strike a blow against those horrid Olympians!"
Percy snarled, grabbing Lamia's luscious red hair as he pulled it on either side of her head. His chest was millimeters from her bust, but he didn't care. She insulted him, brought up his worst moments in his life-for that she'd pay. His legs was on other side of her tail, Riptide against her hair.
"Listen to me," Percy hissed, raising Lamia's head before slamming it into the tree trunk while adding a water gag to her mouth in case she decided to bite. "I will never join you and your master. I'd rather die than betray Olympus. As for my secrets, those are mine and mine alone. I get to decide if or when I tell people, not you. And if you thought you were going to have a quick and painless death, you are sorely mistaken. I am in charge, beginning now."
A/N: Torture scene coming up. Skip if it makes you squeamish.
With a quick downward motion, he sliced off one of Lamia's fingers with Riptide. Slowly he did the same to the rest of her fingers before completely slicing her hands off. Golden dust poured from the wounds, but none of the wounds were fatal, meaning she still had a long way to go. The agony in Lamia's eyes was visible, but Percy thought she deserved it for killing all those innocent children and for threatening his family.
He traced tally marks onto the inside of Lamia's forearm. Eighteen of them, specifically-one for each year he had lived. They almost looked like the tattoo he had on his right forearm from Camp Jupiter. The thought gave him an idea. Lamia was a daughter of Hecate-Roman form was Trivia-and there was no worse punishment than disgracing your godly parent. Above the eighteen slashed, he carved a torch crossing over a key into her arm, ignoring her muffled screams of pain. When he finished, golden dust littered his hand and Riptide's blade; he'd wash it off in the snow later.
"Have enough yet?" he asked gruffly, anger lacing his voice. Lamia nodded her head adamantly. "Too bad!"
Right above the torch and key, he carved a trident into her skin. She would forever remember that a son of Poseidon-or Neptune-did this to her, humiliating then torture. With the tip of Riptide, he casually picked off the snake scales from her tails. If anything, that seemed to cause her more pain than the carving. Once he finished the lower part revealing the pink skin underneath, he stopped. This was taking forever, and either Nico or Poseidon would come and find him, seeing what he had done. Finally, deciding that he had tortured Lamia enough, he granted a small blessing of mercy on her by finally stabbing her through the heart.
A/N: Torture over
Gold dust littered the base of the tree, showing how much damage Percy had truly done. Looking down at his hands, he found that they were caked with the dust. A sense of disgust overcame him as he dropped Riptide, trembling. He had actually enjoyed torturing a monster, like he had done with Misery. The thought terrified him.
Percy dropped to his knees in the snow, curled up into a ball, and began to sob, fearing the monster he had become.
Will knew he was dead; he had been for the past few weeks now. He didn't expect death to still warrant being pulled back into the affairs of the living. Sure, he had heard various times that souls were often used as leverage, and that is what he assumed he was.
He gave yanks on his chains at regular intervals, hoping that they'd break, but he knew someone would need to have super human-or godly-strength to snap these chains. Maybe they were made of celestial bronze, meaning that no one-including gods-could break them. Sighing, he slid to the floor, his wrists hanging limply above his head. Whoever had taken him captive had finally taken the blindfold off, but the darkness was potent.
Will had gotten used to being in the dark ever since he began dating Nico, but he never had the courage to admit that being in the dark by himself was his worst fear, second to not being able to use his healing abilities to save someone. His hands being bound was proof of that.
Earlier, while he had that stupid blindfold on, he heard screaming-the kind of screaming you heard when someone was dying. The worst part was that it had been Nico's voice. Will had screamed Nico's name repeatedly at the top of his lungs until his throat was sore and scratchy and in desperate need of water. But he was dead. He no longer needed water.
The black fog seemed to come in regular intervals with the screams of people dying and shouting Will's name to save them. He would clutch his ears, but all that seemed to do was amplify the noise, like someone had turned the stereo on. But the loudest voice would always be Nico, screaming, "Help! Please, somebody help!"
He shuddered, shaking his head to clear his thoughts. A few hours ago, when the black fog first began, he thought he had heard Nico talking to someone outside of the cage he was in. Will knew it was most likely his imagination, hoping that his boyfriend would come and save him. Still, hope was the only thing keeping him going instead of having his soul fade away, joining the nameless shades in Asphodel.
As of now, there was a constant stream of yellow, buttery light filling his cage like an imitation sun. There were two other cages from what he could see. Off a couple of feet to his right was a blonde girl curled in the fetal position with various bite wounds and scratches as spiders ran around the circumference of the tube, spinning endless webs, taking every opportunity to walk on her. If Will was here, he figured that he wasn't the only soul stolen from Elysium; it could've only been Annabeth.
Off to his left was another cage, illuminated with a bluish-green light. There was a small pool of water at the base as it was empty. But sometimes at night, when he wasn't blindfolded and immersed in darkness, he'd see Percy panic as water rushed higher and higher until he eventually drowned. Now, he didn't die, but he hung in suspension in the water, almost like a corpse. Will would've never thought that Percy feared drowning, but he didn't judge; Nico had told him that at one point he was scared of the dark.
Then there was that strange woman that would walk around in her twilight colored dress, smiling at him as if she had won the lottery. Whenever he caught a glimpse of her eyes, there was something strangely familiar in them, almost like he was looking at a portrait of his father or Artemis.
Fog began pooling around the bottom of his tube, and he groaned, shakily standing up. Will really didn't want to go through this again. The screaming was unbearable, and as insane as it sounded, he knew he'd eventually grow accustomed to the noise until it no longer bothered him. The blindfold materialized around his eyes, sending his heartrate soaring. A scalpel appeared in his hand this time-it was always some kind of medical instrument-as the screaming began.
Will braced himself, prepared to hear Nico's strained voice as he lay dying from a fatal wound, but instead a female voice resonated through his cage.
"My weakling grandson," she said with contempt. "Already dead and fearing some of the most primal things. Honestly, haven't you demigods learned to accept your own mortality?"
"We have," Will responded, not entirely sure that the woman would hear him. "I'm afraid of not being able to save people; there's a difference. I knew my own death was inevitable. Had I wished it would've been later in my life? Yes, I did, but I accept death as everyone besides the gods and any other immortal beings eventually die."
"You at least have your father's way with words. Apollo always was a Mommy's boy."
Mommy? Will thought. The answer came to him immediately. "Leto, let me out of here!" he shouted, tugging at the chains with renewed strength. He was positive he was being used as a lure, baiting Nico to come and find him. Annabeth would be the bait for Percy. At least that's what he thought. He still didn't quite understand why Percy would be held prisoner here, too, for small periods of time while he had never seen Nico. In this scenario, he was fine with Nico not being here; it meant he was free from whatever Leto intended to do to them.
She laughed, a sound so dissonant that it hurt Will's eardrums. He struggled to clamp his hands over his ears, but again, it seemed to amplify the noise. The sound would've sent Will reeling had he been standing without the chains holding him up. When she stopped, there was still a dull ringing he could hear.
"Well, you're fast to catch on," Leto commented, "just like that son of Hades that was here a few nights ago. Oh, sweetheart, don't give me that look."
Will realized that he had been scowling and relaxed the muscles in his face. Scowling didn't hurt as much as it used to; he had quickly adjusted to the expression when he started dating Nico. He'd scowl at the son of Hades anytime he attempted to escape the infirmary those first three days.
"Don't call me sweetheart," Will hissed, yanking on his chains once more, though he knew the attempt was futile. "What do you mean Nico was here?"
"Ah, that's his name; I knew it began with the letter 'n'. Well, the dreamscape is easy to manipulate once you know how to. I directed him here a few nights ago to see everything. He also learned some…disturbing things about his fate."
"Leave him alone!" Will was absolutely furious. He swore that if his grandmother did something to hurt Nico, he would ask Hades for one day back on Earth to slap her upside the head with his bow before returning back to the Underworld. "He's had enough suffering for his life!"
Leto shimmered into appearance in front of his tube-cage. He surged forward, his hands and feet trailing behind him with the chains as the only thing preventing him from breaking the glass. Her midnight black hair was in perfect ringlets with a braid going over her head like a headband embedded with pearl bobby pins. Her dress was still twilight purple-the color of the sky right before sunrise or sunset. Will wanted to smack the smug smile off her face.
She splayed her hands in front of her, palms open towards the ceiling. "I do not control Fate, but I can throw a few bumps in the road as my master wants. Honestly, it's not even Nico he's after, but someone much more powerful-someone that has led multiple armies and always succeeded."
"Nico is one of the most powerful demigods I know," Will said. "Who the heck is more powerful than him?"
"Think hard. Surely you have some brain cells, William. I'll tell you this much: He has discovered something incredibly dangerous within his father's domain, and he fights the urge to use his powers very often. He's also a son of the Big Three."
"Percy," he responded without hesitation. "But he'd never go against Olympus. Unless…" His voice trailed off as he looked at the cage on his right where Annabeth was flailing her arms at the spiders. There was no way Percy would be able to resist helping Annabeth per his fatal flaw. "You're despicable!" Will spat, gritting his teeth before he said something he'd regret.
"Thank you, William. I do enjoy such compliments," Leto said smugly.
Will swore under his breath. He knew that his grandmother was messed up, but at least he wasn't like Nico, who had Kronos as a grandfather. Man, godly families were massively screwed up.
"So I'm leverage? Fine, but Nico already saw me. He knows I'm safe."
"Are you entirely sure about that?"
"What did you do?"
She shrugged, the ripple effect glistening down her dress. "He saw you in the fog with the blindfold, in chains, with a needle and thread in either hand. He figured out that these chambers show you your worst fears, and-if I say so myself-I have him exactly where I want him."
"How the Hades is using Nico going to get you Percy?" Will asked, still not understanding why his boyfriend was being involved with this. Not that Percy wasn't his friend, but he really didn't want Nico partaking in any of this. This was too dangerous for Will's liking, but that was the life of a demigod-everything's too dangerous.
"He loves him. It's that simple."
Will felt like a searing poker stick pierced his heart. It felt like fire was rolling around his chest, burning his lungs. He wheezed in air in uneven breaths until the burning decreased to an unpleasant stinging sensation. He had only died three weeks ago-surely Nico couldn't have moved on that fast. And what about Percy? He had-is-madly in love with Annabeth; he wouldn't just leave her. Then again, Nico did harbor a crush on the son of Poseidon previously, and it makes sense that he would find comfort in Percy-but never like this.
"This better not be a lie," Will said through clenched teeth.
"You're a son of Apollo. You can discern truth from lies."
"That's a misconception. Only Apollo can do that, not his children. Only children of the goddess Aletheia can tell when someone's telling the truth or not, as she is the goddess and spirit of truth."
"Funny, I thought my son's powers were inherited by all my grandchildren. I guess not." Leto circled the tube, stopping on his right side. "But you did inherit some of his talents."
"I was the best healer camp had."
"Pity," Leto said. "I prefer fighters."
Will grit his teeth again. His patience was wearing thin. "The best archers were my brothers Lee and Michael, and they're dead! I lost them to Kronos, forcing me to become head counselor during the middle of the war! Meanwhile, I stayed behind the scenes, healing countless demigods. I even healed Annabeth from a poisoned dagger. So don't you dare criticize what a child of Apollo can do, because none of our gifts are worthless."
"Do me a favor and shut up. You're testing my patience, William."
"I'm already dead!" he shouted. "I don't care what you do to me!" He then threw the scalpel in his hand at the tube that just phased through and landed in Leto's hand.
She threw the scalpel to the floor, cracking the ground with the amount of force she put behind it. Leto scowled and her eyes swirled with unimaginable power. "I'm not known for possessing strength amongst my Titan brethren, but I can still squash you like an ant. Anyways, it's not like I'd take my anger out on you-there is a reason Nico is there after all. I doubt you'd like to see him hurt."
"Don't you dare."
"Oh, my dear, sweet William,"-Leto stepped in front of him as the black fog resumed swirling around his feet-"I already have."
The fog rose over his head, and Will could no longer see. Then the screams began, and he covered his ears, prepared to stay in that position for a long, long time.
When Percy didn't come back thirty minutes after he had left, Nico was concerned to say the least. He knew that not many things could best Percy, but this was Alaska. The state ran on its own rules, and you either survived or died. There was a reason it was called a land beyond the gods; you had to be strong and smart to survive out here.
He had thrown the dusty grey blanket off of himself ages ago, the warmth from the fire seeping into his chilled bones. Now he was up and pacing with the only noise being the crackle of the flames. Poseidon had fallen asleep about ten minutes ago beside the fire with his trident beside him, loosely gripped in his hand. A snowbank served as his pillow as he snored softly, muttering various words in Ancient Greek under his breath; he also drooled. Nico couldn't help but smile; he now knew drooling ran through Percy's veins.
The thought of Percy made him sober up, and he resumed his pacing. The snow had melted beneath his feet, showing clear track marks from where his boots had treaded. Nico found himself reaching for his sword more and more frequently, almost like he could sense something watching them.
Nico looked up at the sky, noticing that the moon had shifted slightly in the sky since the last time he had checked. Although he couldn't read and navigate the stars like a sailor or a hunter could, but he still knew how to tell the passage of time. It was nearing forty-five minutes that Percy had been gone, and Nico was seriously beginning to worry about the son of Poseidon's well-being.
His hand was again at the hilt of his sword, which was held up by a chain belt around his waist. He was itching to abandon Poseidon and go search for Percy. Deciding to go search for him, Nico went into the old house, grabbed a colored pencil that still had a point, and scribbled out a note explaining where he went. Nico touched the seashell that was still on a necklace around his throat feeling the indents of the fossilized stone. Poseidon would still be able to track him even if he disappeared.
Sighing, Nico shoved his note on the tiers of Poseidon's trident and forged into the forest, determined to find the green-eyed boy that had stolen his heart.
It wasn't that hard to track Percy; he had left his tracks in plain sight with no attempt to hide them. Suddenly, all of his footprints stopped…like he had disappeared into thin air. Nico swore under his breath, kicking the snow with the tip of his boot.
"Really Percy?" Nico asked himself. "After we told you not to. Gods, I'm going to kill you."
He shut his eyes, concentrating on locating Percy's life force. Surprisingly, he had managed to vapor travel himself twenty miles away. Nico mentally locked that location as his target and melted into the shadows, determined to slap Percy for making him worried.
Nico stumbled into the snow, brushing the damp, white powder out of his face. The cold seeped into his jacket, forcing him to stand up before he went into another hypothermia induced nap. He swayed on his feet, relying heavily on a nearby pine to keep him upright.
And then he heard the cries. Heartbreaking cries that disturbed the silence of the forest, cutting Nico right to the core. Although there wasn't a voice in the crying, Nico immediately knew whom they belonged to. Unfortunately, he had seen him at his weakest moments, right when both of them heard the news from Chiron.
He shook his head trying to shake of the drowsiness of shadow traveling. No, Percy needed him; he wouldn't pass out, not now. Nico trudged through the snow, tripping over his own feet a couple of times, until he found the clearing where Percy was silently sobbing.
Percy was curled tightly into a ball with Riptide uncapped, behind him, covered in golden dust. At the base of a tree, by the roots, was a thick concentration of the gold dust that indicated the death of a monster. That raised the question: what happened to Percy? Usually the son of Poseidon had no qualms about killing monsters-it was either his life or theirs-but something about this monster's death seemed…different. Nico couldn't tell what it was.
Nico managed to stay on his feet long enough to sit next to Percy. It broke his heart to see the tears near his chin had begun to freeze over, and he didn't acknowledge Nico's presence. He frowned, uncomfortably watching Percy cry his heart out.
He finally decided that it hurt him too much to see his crush break, and he pulled Percy's head into his lap, running his hands through his messy raven-black hair in an attempt to comfort him. To his surprise, Percy sat up and turned around, burying his face into Nico's shoulder. His tears began to soak through Nico's shirt, but he didn't care, letting Percy hold him as tightly as he wanted to.
"No, don't cry," Nico mumbled into Percy's hair, rubbing small circles in the older boy's back. "Don't cry."
"I-I'm a m-monster," Percy said through his tears, sniffling as he wiped his eyes before the torrent began again.
"You're not. Don't say that about yourself."
"But it's true!" he exclaimed. He managed to stop crying, but the occasional tear would still slide down his cheek, dipping off his chin and onto the snow. His eyes were bloodshot, almost like he was drunk, and his face was slightly puffy. There was a splash of red on his cheek, most likely from the cold, as he had been lying down face first in the snow.
Nico watched as Percy threw his head back, his eyes locked on the moon. He knew that trick: stare at a single object that doesn't move until you can force the tears back. A look of desolation and misery were glittering in his usual mirth-filled eyes, cracking Nico's heart even further. At least with Will, he had been the damaged one; it seemed like they'd be taking turns in this relationship.
"You don't need to talk about it now," Nico told him softly, brushing Percy's wet bangs off of his forehead. He pressed a kiss onto Percy's forehead. "I'll be here for you when you want to talk."
"No, Nico," Percy said while he shook his head. "I can't keep this hidden. I'm a monster."
It was then that Nico noticed the amount of dust in his hair, matted down by the melted snow. He flinched. Just what did Percy do? Nico pulled Percy closer, hugging him fiercely, as if daring anyone to take Percy away from him.
"You are not, so stop telling yourself that before-"
"Before what?" Percy interrupted, wiping his face again. "I kill myself? I deserve to die for what I did."
"You do not. Whatever you did, you were probably defending yourself," Nico argued, biting the inside of his cheek preventing him from either screaming or shedding his own tears. Seeing Percy wishing to die, it hurt him more than he'd like to admit.
"I-I," Percy stuttered, licking his lips before beginning again. "I tortured a monster."
"So?"
He shook his head solemnly. "You don't get it. I tortured a monster-more specifically, Lamia."
"I still don't get why this affects you so much. She's a monster, Percy. She eats children." Nico scowled at the idea. "You did a good deed, ridding her from the face of the Earth. Whatever you did, it doesn't matter. She would've killed you if you gave her the chance."
"Nico, you don't know the full extent of what I did," Percy said, his voice catching on the word extent.
"Well," he said, "I'm all ears; but we should get back to camp and out of this snow."
Reluctantly, Percy got up, brushing the snow off his pants and clothes while desperately running a hand through his hair in an attempt to shake the gold dust out. Nico helped out, swatting the dust away from the nape of his neck.
"Thanks," Percy said, sadness still tinging his voice.
Nico shrugged. "Don't mention it."
Percy grabbed Nico's hand and vapor traveled the both of them back to their makeshift camp.
Percy wasn't looking forward to spilling his guts. He wasn't a hundred percent sure why he even brought it up, but he knew that if he didn't tell someone, the grief would consume him. It wasn't even the act of killing Lamia that made him have a mental breakdown; no, it was the fact that he was enjoying watching her suffer, relishing in her screams. It made him sick, feeling like there was a lead weight in the pit of his stomach.
Vapor traveling wasn't too hard to do, surprisingly, and it didn't drain him of energy like shadow traveling did to Nico. Add that power to the list of supernatural abilities he amazingly had.
When they got back to camp, he was surprised to see his father sleeping next to the fire-which looked to be slowly dying. Embers would escape from the edge and fizzle out in the snow, which meant they didn't have to worry about starting any forest fires.
Poseidon looked so peaceful, unlike the proud and stolid expression the god of the sea wore when he was awake. And that in itself was something Percy had never seen before. Did gods usually sleep? Not that he knew of. But this was Alaska, maybe its power affected gods in a certain way, giving them mortal limitations. Honestly, he didn't know. He had only been in Alaska once before with Hazel and Frank. They were also on a deadline, so they really didn't have time to sightsee.
His trident was beside him with a sheet of paper impaled on the barbed tips. Most likely a note of some kind, Percy guessed. Poseidon's face was so unnaturally calm it was strange. There was no worry lines around his face, and the skin around his eyes weren't wrinkled from when he usually smiled. The only thing that told Percy that his father was still alive was his chest moving up and down as he breathed. Was a god still immortal in a place beyond the gods? Percy didn't know.
"Percy?" Nico asked, wiggling his fingers and rocking on the heels of his feet as if making sure everything was reformed from the water molecules that transported them.
Jason had told him how uncomfortable Nico was when Zephyrus turned them into wind molecules, making Percy hope that being water molecules was a better experience. Percy honestly didn't care about hopping through shadows-it was actually pretty fun, for him at least.
"Yeah?" he responded, still looking at his sleeping father.
"You still owe me an explanation," Nico said, throwing a handful of sticks into the fire before sitting down on a log beside the flames, poking the rocks with a long stick.
"Careful that you don't burn yourself."
Nico rolled his eyes, but gave a small grin. "I can always stick my hand in the snow, plus, you have vitakinesis just like Will. Now, stop trying to change the subject."
Percy sighed, slumping down onto the log next to Nico. He refused to meet the son of Hades' eyes, though, instead watching the ever changing colors of the fire, from the orange hues to the end from the blue light in the heart.
"I found out some stuff from Lamia that I'm not sure how I should react to," Percy began, holding his head between his hands. "Apparently someone wants to kidnap me, so I can lead their army against Olympus. Then she said some…unflattering things about my past and what I do-"
"What do you mean your past?" Nico interrupted. "What happened?"
"There's a lot of things I haven't told anyone, Nico, not even my mother or Annabeth. Lamia brought that up, and when she threatened to hurt you…I don't know, something snapped within me. I chained her to a tree and cut her up pretty badly; I even carved the symbol of Trivia into her arm, since she's a daughter of Hecate." Nico winced at that, but Percy continued telling the story.
"And her bottom half is a snake's tail, as she is mother of all snakes."
"Oh, so kind of like Arachne, then."
Percy nodded, and Nico moved his hand in a circular motion, telling him to go on. "With Riptide, I-I…" Percy felt his throat constrict as he remembered the agony so clearly shining in Lamia's blue-green eyes as he picked off the scales one-by-one. He stood up abruptly. "I-I can't do this."
Nico grabbed Percy by the coattail of his jacket, forcing him to sit back down. He lowered his head in shame, mumbling something incoherent even to himself. Percy had experienced many low points in his life before, but nothing like this.
"If you don't say this now," Nico told him, "you won't say it at all. Now, spill."
"I picked off her scales, okay?! At least six inches of her tail showed the pink fleshy bit, because I pried them off with Riptide! Is that what you wanted to hear?" Percy shouted.
"No," Nico replied calmly, "but it's what you needed to say."
He began pacing around the fire, running his hand nervously through his hair. "When did you become the voice of reason?"
"When you took the emotional role. Come here."
Nico, although hating all physical contact, surprised Percy by holding his arms out. Percy didn't hesitate to rush into his arms, hugging Nico like a lifeline. There was no one out here-other than Poseidon-to judge them, so he pressed a light kiss onto Nico's cheek, slightly gratified when the Italian's face burned red.
"W-what was t-that for?" Nico asked, stuttering from the unexpected kiss.
"That's my way of saying thank you, Death Angel," Percy said sweetly. He smiled as Nico blushed again.
"Don't call me Death Angel, Aquaman," Nico replied.
"You know you love it."
"You're a dork."
"But you're my dork," Percy said cheekily.
Nico just rolled his eyes before pulling Percy in for another kiss-one that wouldn't be interrupted by any godly parents. They kissed under the light of the moon, beside the warmth of the dying fire, and though they knew they'd have to leave soon, nothing could destroy their moment of bliss. Right now it was just the two of them-the sea and the shadows.
A/N: Sorry that this is shorter than usual, but this was a good place to end it. See you guys next chapter!