Death Bound
Chapter Eleven
"Don't scratch her, alright, Death Head?" Leo smiled, patting his beloved ship and looking up at them. They stood aboard the Argus II, looking down at all seven of the prophecy and Reyna.
Hazel waved first, closely followed by everyone else, except Reyna, who merely nodded in their direction. She looked scared. Nico turned his fire-bright eyes to Leo. "We'll bring her back in one piece." he promised.
Zanna waved goodbye with one arm, the other steering the ship as it lifted high into the air. It was two days after Nico had asked her. That was how long it had taken the joking, flirty son of Hephaestus to teach her to drive his greatest masterpiece, what he called his "baby".
They were out of sight in no time. Nico came away from the railing to stand beside her. "How's it going?" he asked.
"We're traveling at about thirty miles per hour, and gradually speeding up. Tell me when you want me to cut the engines." Zanna told him.
That was the plan they'd decided on, to make it easier. He would picture exactly where they needed to go and then tell her to shut off the boat. They would free-fall towards the water, and HOPEFULLY hit one of the many shadows the light hitting the waves created. It would be impossible to shadow-travel any other way. She didn't need to be a child of Athena to work out that he was scared.
"Nico, are you alright? You sure you want to do this?" Zanna asked and he looked at her, eyes turning dark.
"I've got no choice. Everyone's counting on us. We'll just have to do it." he told her.
Zanna sighed then met his gaze with her own. She slid her hand across the steering board and grabbed his own. He jumped at the contact and looked at their fingers, intertwined. "We will do it. For... everyone, dead or alive. Including your sister... Bianca." she told him.
He blinked at her slowly and she released his hand. She could feel his eyes on her , and needing to break the silence, she announced, "We're nearing eighty mile per hour."
He seemed to snap back to his old self and looked around. Night was closing in. The moon, just-so-happening to be full and bright, was casting many odd shadows all over the tossing water below them. Nico cleared his throat. "Cut the engines."
Zanna did as she was told and they immediately began to drop. She watched Nico saw his hands clutch the railing until his knuckles turned white, saw his face screw up in intense concentration. She herself was gripping the railing, but only to keep from flying off the boat. She was biting her lip to keep from screaming.
They hit the water with a pain-inducing splash, but just as the boat went under...
Zanna felt as though her stomach was in her throat, as if her entire being was being squished. Then, with a crunching noise, the world was there again, and the pure blackness that had consumed her was gone. She was lying in a clearing, still aboard the boat. Her first feeling was one of intense and complete relief and she let out a loud, "WHOOP!" of excitement.
Then she turned to congratulate Nico and found him lying on his back, still as a stone and paler than when she'd first found him.
Chapter Twelve
Zanna fell to her knees beside him. She'd known this would happen, that he'd pass out. He's only unconscious. I knew it would happen. He knew it would happen. She thought as she pulled his head up and checked his pulse.
Fluttering. His heartbeat was rapid, but slowly starting to slow. The little blood left in his face was draining. She swallowed her rising panic and lay his head back down on the boat, running for the rooms below, where there was nectar and ambrosia. Could they cure this absolute exhaustion that was going to take over her friend?
She found a bottle and a Ziploc bag full of ambrosia squares and ran back up the stairs, slipping and slamming her knee into the wood in her haste. She let out a squeak of pain but otherwise ignored it and slid back to where Nico lay, paler than the moonlight illuminating the prow.
She pulled him into a sitting position and propped him up, forcing open his mouth. She was much less gentle than she had been back that first day when she had given him nectar while he slept. Now she was afraid of drowning him, the way she poured it.
"Wake up, please." she whispered. Nico's chest continued to rise and fall shakily, all through the remainder of the night. She didn't even know if they were in the right place, nor did she care. She just needed the dark-haired boy in front of her to keep breathing.
Dawn came, and with it the sun. She watched it rise, sitting in front of her companion. She reached out a hand, brushed the hair from his face to feel his forehead. He was warm, feverishly so, and she knew she couldn't risk any more of the food or drink of the gods.
She sat there with him until noon, when her stomach began to growl. She fought to ignore it, but starving herself wouldn't help him, so she dashed downstairs once more and brought up a box of Cheese-Its and a couple bottles of water. He had regained slight color in his cheeks, but his chest was still rising and falling unsteadily. She munched on the cheesy squares without tasting them, watching him and looking around anxiously, wishing she were a daughter or Apollo or something so she could heal him. But no, she had to be the daughter of Death. She swore silently that if her father claimed the teenager propped up on the railing in front of her, she'd... well, she didn't know what she'd do.
Suddenly there was a buzzing in her ears, something she couldn't shake. She reached up and pawed at them, wondering what it was. Then she saw that Nico's breathing was slowing even further.
"No. NO! NO NO NO!" she screamed and grabbed the front of Nico's black skull shirt, pulling him towards her. "Open your eyes, Nico!" she yelled.
The buzzing faded. She trembled. Then Nico's chest heaved, and his breathing resumed its irregular pattern. She released him, realization that he'd almost died nearly killing her, as well. He'd almost died, right there in front of her.
She poured a tiny bit more nectar in his parted lips, praying it helped.
Night fell again, and in the distance she swore she heard wolves.
Author's Note: Review.