Nico's POV
Nico hurt all over. Not just on the surface of his body, but every atom, neuron or electric impulse in his body was screaming for mercy. Every time he thought about moving his body whimpered in protest.
He knew of some of the punishments that the dead had to endure in the Underworld for their transgressions against the gods on Earth, but he didn't think any of them were going through the pain he was going through at this very moment.
There was a time when at a point like this all he would have been able to think about it Bianca. She had been his entire world for his entire life. She was all the things you wanted in a big sister. She was his rock, his hiding place, and never did she once make fun of him for still playing with toys, but now he couldn't remember what she looked like. All he could see was Dillon. The blaze in her eyes when someone pissed her off. The radiant heat in her kiss. The cute little way she bit on her bottom lip when she was really concentrating on something. Right now he would sell his soul to see her smile again.
A few silent tears rolled down his cheeks into his ears.
He wasn't tied down to the stone slab he was laying on. There was no need to tie him down. The pain that his body was being put in kept he locked in place.
Nico felt his teeth beginning to weaken under the force that he was using to keep his mouth clenched. He was not going to break. He was going to be strong. His friends would come for him. Dillon would come for him. She would rip apart the entire world for him. No she hadn't said she loved him yet, but he knew that she did. Just like she knew that she loved him.
"Yes fight me son of Hades. Its always better when you fight," The voice slithered over his body and Nico shuddered. His vision of Dillon completely shattered.
He felt a finger draw down his exposed chest and stomach. His skin burned where nail met skin. He almost gagged on the smell of his burning flesh. "You think the daughter of Zeus loves you." The voice laughed. Nico could feel the acid of his amusement flowing over his exposed body. "Zeus loves none but himself. His children are no different, but I will enjoy playing with her if she does come." The voice laughed again.
Nico's screams rang out in one sustained note. "Yes Nico di Angelo scream. Your father can not hear you. Bianca can not hear you, but perhaps Dillon can hear you." The voice was right in his head. Brushing against the memory of his first kiss with Dillon. How small she looked on the bed surrounded by all those white pillows. How her dark skin glowed against the stark whiteness of the sheets. How her lips felt against his. Nico screamed again. He didn't want the voice in his head. He didn't want the voice to taint his first kiss.
He tasted blood in his mouth, and his muscles were staining for release. "Leave Dillon alone." he croaked. He didn't think he remembered how to talk but he did.
The voice laughed again. "Beg me son of Hades. Beg me not to peel that lovely skin from her body. Beg me not to suck the marrow from her bones. Plead with me not to wear her teeth as a necklace." The finger started to draw lazy circles around Nico's stomach. He felt his intestines boiling.
"Beg me Nico. I promise I will make her death sweet." A tongue lapped at the burns on Nico's stomach. He wanted to crawl away, but there was nowhere to go.
"Please don't hurt her." He whispered.
The voice chuckled again, "Oh I think we can do better than that." The licking stopped. "Cast your eyes on me son of Hades." Nico didn't want to open he eyes. He wanted to stay in the darkness. He knew that if he opened his eyes he was going to die. "Look at me" The voice roared. Several bones in his body broke under the command. His eyes popped open.
He wished to hell that he had kept his eyes closed. He was in a nightmare.
~~X~~
I stood in the bathroom trying not to have a breakdown. I really was, but it was hard as hell. My body was shaking all over. Not like I was cold, like every atom in my body was vibrating. I felt myself heating up again.
First they took my mom. That had made me sick to my stomach, and mad off all at the same time. The only mistake she made was having a one night stand with a god. Zeus of all people. With the crazy wife. Now she was caught up in Olympus' mess. I gripped the edge of the sink to keep from screaming. I didn't know how strong I was. I could bring the whole plane down.
Steam was rising off my bare arms from the cuts Leo gave me. I feral growl started building somewhere in the pit of my belly.
But now they had Nico and I was pissed. Royally. These gods were pushing me around just because they could and I hated that. They thought I was weak. That I was frail. That I wasn't up for the job because of I was small, or too young or too stupid to run away. Well they were wrong. I might had walked away, but they were picking on the people I loved. In Brooklyn people caught bullets for less. There was going to be hell to pay when I caught up with whoever had my mom and Nico.
Bullies. They were all the same. I was going to enjoy burning them to ashes.
Hot tears were streaming down my face. I wanted to tear down the framework of heaven to get my mom and my boyfriend back. I wanted to strangle every last god till their eyes rolled back in their heads. Including my dad. I would save him for last. All of this was his fault.
I punched the wall of the bathroom. "YOW! I yelped as the pain shot through my fist and up my arm. Ok I was a little stronger than I was yesterday. I glared at the wall as if it had been the one to hit me. I turned a circle in the bathroom looking for something to stab, or fry, or strangle.
I had to calm down. I couldn't let them get the best of me. I couldn't let them make me lose control. I could kill everyone on the plane. Including my friends. I took myself back to my first night in the Zeus cabin. Nico's lips brushing mine. Him wiggling my little toe as he chuckled. I could feel myself calming down. My core temperature returning to normal.
I sagged against the sink. I was covered in a sheen of sweat. I was not looking pretty. That much I know, but I was happy that I hadn't blow up a plane with my friends inside. I needed to make nice with Persephone. If my death was going to be a every day thing I wanted to make it right with the Queen of the Dead. She looked like she could hold a grudge.
I sat down on the top of the toilet seat to keep from keeling over. I sure as hell wished Hemera or my dad had given me the lowdown on what I could do and how I could control myself. This yo-yo thing with my body was starting to show. I was sure I was looking like five miles of post Katrina road.
Ok my hissy fit was over. I cleaned up the scratches on my arm from Leo trying to hold me back. They stung like the Dickens, but I wasn't going to cry anymore. Technically I couldn't cry anymore I was drier than Iran in the summer. I was going to drink my body weight in Coke when I got back home. Then I was going toPastry and buy shoes till I could taste leather, then I was going to go all Willy Wonka at Dylan's Candy Bar.
There, I was back to my old self if I could think about chocolate a mile over the Earth.
I had a mother and a boyfriend to rescue. It was official. Nico was my boyfriend. It made me mad all over again to think about Hera snatching him. She was like so many women, getting made at the fruit of her husband's philandering ways instead of getting mad at the root. Her husband. She was the queen of Heaven she didn't have to take his crap anymore than a mortal woman did, but she took out her anger on the wrong people. And I was going to kick her ass for it.
"Don't think I am going to forget about you Hera." I muttered. I didn't know if she could hear me, but she sure as hell going to remember me when this is all over.
I opened the door to the bathroom and stepped back into the little galley area on the plane. I had seen in movies how some of them had elevators that led down into the belly of the plane. That was my only way out.
It really shouldn't be the hard to get off a plane in mid-air,. Nico could ghost through walls for pete's sake so why was I trying to figure out a way to get off plane. My mother was the god of light damnit! And my dad was lord of the sky. I should feel better in the air than I did on ground. If Nico hadn't been snatched away from me I'm sure I would have felt like a pig in mud, but nothing shy of his smiling face was going to make the world a better place.
I found the little elevator that brought the food up easy enough. Being the small person that I am I fit in it with room the spare. I had the cringe at the noise of the engines in the belly of the place. I found the baggage area around the backside of the prep kitchen.
"My queen why are you down here?" I yelped at the sound of the voice. I had completely forgotten about my pack.
I turned around. Four of the darkest wolves I had ever seen were huddled together in a dark corner. It wasn't that they were a dark color it looked like they were darkness themselves. I had to wonder how much was their actual coat color and how much was just some of New York finest dirt. It was a miracle their smell didn't give them away.
It was crazy that I didn't find talking to a pack of wolves strange. Oh how my life had turned. A few days ago I would have checked myself into Bellvue with a smile for considering anything like this. Now it all felt normal.
"I've got to get off this plane. Hera kidnapped Nico and I have to get him back before they kill him." I explained. "I will get him back." I told them. Nothing was going to stop me.
"We will follow." The lead wolf told me.
I nodded. "What's your name?" I couldn't keep calling him a wolf could I now.
"I am your gamma Clark." Ok that made about a much sense as a cook who hated food, but we were going to work with it. I didn't have time for a wolf pack lesson. "There is the baggage bay in the back that we can open without bringing down the plane." We all nodded. He lead my toward the back tail of the place. I saw the baggage door he was talking about. It was a simply latch and lift job.
Clark made quick work of it with his hand. Which were he only parts of his body he changed. I had to swallow back the bile that rose up in my throat. That was pushing the limits of me weird tolerance.
The air rushed in violently. I had to grab ahold of on the baggage bays. "Blackjack," I cried as the Pegasus stuck his snout into the plane. If the wind hadn't pinned me to the luggage rack I would have topple out of the plane in surprise. "What are you doing here?" He snorted.
Of course I couldn't understand him. He was a creature of the sea god. I was a daughter of the King of Heaven. Whatever he was doing I was going to use him. He flew along side the plane as I climbed on. He seemed to have the same idea as I did. I was starting to like horses.
I held on to his mane for dear life. The wind was clawing at me, trying to rip me off his back. "Would the misses need any help?" another voice called. I nearly toppled off Blackjack's back. A translucent woman in a sundress was floating next to me. What was this? The Mile High Grand Central Station?
I glared at the floating woman. My nerves were frayed almost beyond repair at this point. It was so not a good idea to keep poking and surprising me. "Who are you?" I demanded.
The woman didn't acknowledge my fury once single bit. "I'm Tab. Head Aurai for Zeus." The woman twirled her dress a rainbow of colors.
"What's that?" Blackjack snorted again.
"A wind nymph. Zeus said we should keep an eye on you. Looks like you could use a hand. Never met a mortal trying to get out of a plane in midair before." She poked her head into the plane for a look around. "And you have a pack of wolves with you. That's a new one too." She looked back at me. "Who are you?"
"I'm Dillon. Can you give my friends a ride back to the soil?" Blackjack was getting impatient. If we were on the ground he would be pawing a hole to china by now.
"Sure thing." She put her fingers to her mouth to release a sharp whistle.
I cringed. I always hated whistling.
A few of her friends materialized out of thin air. Good lord if I kept hanging out with demigods I was going to be in danger of drowning in puns.
The guys had to transform back into actual men. The nymphs weren't keen on carrying skittish wolves. My pack grabbed a ride back down to the ground on the back of a gorgeous wind nymph. I didn't hear any complaints from them, but I was going to be saddle sore. I just didn't have the legs to sit on a horse.
I didn't want to know what my hair looked like. I could probably give a poodle a run for their money.
We were dropped off in Central Park. I was a native New Yorker so the concrete jungle was my playground. I loved the smog, the noise, the rudeness of the asphalt of New York, but there was something magical about Central Park. It was the only green space you were going to find in the Big Apple. I loved it. It felt like home. Everything in the world was starting to make sense again.
I waddled around to get the feeling back in my legs. My pack gave me some space. I wasn't crazy with revenge anymore, but they didn't know that.
Clark sniffed out the entrance to the Underworld while I was getting my head back in the game. I was going into the pit of hell itself to rescue my newly acquired boyfriend. I didn't have time to be a weepy female with her emotions on her sleeve. I had to make Buffy look like a Girl Scout.
I hadn't really paid attention the last time I was there so it was a good thing I had some friends along who were good at finding hidden things. We stood around the knotted tree. I was not looking forward to going back into the Underworld. Not because I was scared for myself or Nico. I was bringing him home and then we were going to snuggle on a couch and watch Doctor Who till we turned blue. I didn't want to go because I was going to mess up someone day. Royally.
"We are with you." Clark whispered softly. A lump formed in my throat. My entire life had just been me and my mom. No one else was invited. Now in the span of a week I had a boyfriend I was sure I was going to fall in love with, a best friend who would kill for me and a pack who would rip apart the fabric of he universe at my command.
Things were starting to look up in the world.
"Let's go introduce Tartarus to my wrath." I threw them a smile before stepping into the tree and heading down to the Underworld. My wolves howled into the darkness heralding their queen.