Piper / December 4th
If the world wasn't in danger, than I probably would have been excited to meet people like Chloe and Ryan - demigods who hunt down monsters instead of being the hunted. The idea seemed cool, and it was probably something I would do if I had enough skill and confidence.
"Are the others back yet?" Percy asked. "Tibernius said we had less time to rescue Nico then we thought"
I glanced over and checked the time on the clock. "It's about two in the afternoon, and we said to meet up at three"
"At the latest" Jason added
"Could you try and find Nico with your dagger?" Percy requested, pointing to it
"I already tried, but it doesn't always show what I want. Rarely does it, actually" I said
"Try again," Percy said, "please"
Percy had these kind of baby seal eyes when he pleaded for something, and when in combination with his sea-green eyes, they looked kind of adorable. It made me wonder how Annabeth ever resisted them or won an argument against him - which was usually the case.
I groaned. "Fine"
Unsheathing Katoptris, I studied the bronze blade and the light shimmered, meaning a vision was coming. There was an apartment filled with Roman demigods, all standing around a dining table where Octavian talked and pointed to a large map. On the side, Reyna paced by the window, gazing down at Central Park.
"They've already set up a base in Manhattan" Jason said
"Roman demigods... they want to attack the Greeks?" Ryan questioned
"Long story" Percy simply said. "But that map... it shows Long Island"
"They must be scouting around the territory and discussing invasion routs" Jason guessed
I concentrated harder, and light rippled across the blade, changing the scene. There were a few crumblings walls and a single column. A stone floor covered with moss and dead vines, all clustered around a grassy hillside with tens of dozens of pine trees.
The view zoomed in, and on one side of the floor, a set of stairs had been dug up, leading down to an iron gate with a padlock. The blade zoomed again, through the doorway, and into a dark and cylindrical chamber.
I dropped the blade at the sight.
"Piper, what's wrong?" Jason asked. "It was trying to show us something"
"We can't go there" Piper shook her head
"Piper, Nico is dying and we have to find him. Not to mention the fact that Rome will be destroyed" Percy said
"If we don't find your friend, Xander will win" Ryan reminded
The imagery of what my friends were saying made me unable to speak, but I picked up the knife anyway and forced myself to glance at the blade again. There, two giants in gladiator armor sat on oversized praetors' chairs. Behind them, a large bronze jar where Nico di Angelo was curled up into a ball, no longer moving and no seeds in sight.
Jason exhaled shakily. "We're too late"
"No" Percy denied. "He must've gone into a deeper trance just to buy time. We have to hurry"
The blade went dark so I slipped it back into the sheath. I really did hope Percy was right - that Nico was still alive and in some kind of hibernation.
"We should wait for the others" I advised. "They should be back soon"
"And our third 'crew member' isn't back yet either" Chloe said
"I don't think we can wait" Percy insisted
"Hey? Are you guys fighting giants?" Coach Hedge called from the other room. "If you guys want, I can take them for you"
"No thanks Coach, we need you to man the ship" Jason said and the coach groaned loudly
We found the place pretty easily, considering Percy led us directly to it - an abandoned stretch of hillside that overlooked the critically injured Forum. Getting in was surprisingly easy as well - Jason's sword cut straight through the padlock.
The metal gate creaked open, and no alarms went off. Stone steps in front of us spiral down into darkness.
"I'll go first" Jason volunteered
"Don't!" I yelped and the group turned to me
"What is it Pipes?" Jason asked, raising an eyebrow. "Wait... you've seen this imagine in the blade, haven't you?"
I nodded. "I just didn't know how to tell you guys. I saw the room down there filling up with water, and I saw me, you, and Percy drowning"
"But I can't drown" Percy frowned
"The future must've changed, because there wasn't any water in the image you showed us, and we got more backup" Jason said
Chloe held a thumbs up and Ryan simply crossed his arms. There armor was darkened by the lightning in the room, but there golden insignia provided a slight source of light.
"Look, I'll go and check it out first" Percy said. "It's going to be alright. Be right back, promise"
Before I could come up with an argument, Percy had disappeared down the stairwell. If Annabeth survives, and Percy doesn't, then it won't be Xander or Gaea or the giants or Majin Kai who kills me.
Percy reappeared about half a minute later. "We have good news and bad news. Which do you guys want to hear first?"
"Bad news" Ryan said
"Good news" I said
"Ok, bad news, there's no exits down there. Good news, no water" Percy revealed
We descended with the upmost caution, as if the floor beneath us would crumble and drop us miles down. Even when Percy gave an all clear from the front, I kept my eye out for traps and monsters, as if I was in some kind of haunted house, only with real stuff. Finally, we jumped to the floor of the cylindrical room, which annoyingly was five feet lower than the stairwell.
"Who designed this" I muttered
The room was identical to what we had seen in Katoptris's blade, except there was no water. Around the back side of the room, opposite to the stairwell, nine alcoves were carried into the wall. Each was about five feet off the floor and big enough to contain a human, but they were empty.
"Here's the weird part" Percy said, stepping to the middle of the room
In an instant, green and blue light rippled across the walls, and the sound of a fountain played, yet there was no signs of water and the only sources of lights were Percy and Jason's blades, and the golden insignias plastered on Ryan and Chloe's helmets.
"Do you guys smell the ocean?" Percy asked
As he said it, the scent of salt water and storm was getting stronger, as if a hurricane was approaching and going to run us over like a deer on the highway.
"An illusion...?"
"I feel like there should be lots of water here, but there isn't any" Percy said
Jason moved over to the row of niches and touched the bottom shelf. "The stone is embedded with seashells. This is a nymphaeum"
"A what?" I said
"There's one on Temple Hill back at Camp Jupiter. It's a shrine we have dedicated to the nymphs" Jason explained
"This place looks like it's been buried for centuries" Chloe said. "The nymphs, they must've-"
The soothing sound of water changed into a rapid chorus of snake-like hissing. The rippling blue and green light changed into lime, and above us, the nine niches each contained a withered old woman - a borderline mummy.
"Let's see... what would happen to them?" said a creature by the center niche
Out of all of them, she was the worst of all, and she fixed her eyes on me. "Maybe the nymphs would still be here, suffering, and waiting for vengeance"
"Who are you?" Percy demanded
"I was Hagno, the first of the nine"
"There was always nine nymphs of this shrine" Jason said
"Yes, but of course, we are the original who attended the birth of your father" Hagno replied. "He was such a squealing whelp. We assisted Rhea in her labor, and when the baby arrived, we hid him so that Kronos could not eat him. And when Zeus grew up, we were promised eternal honors. But that was in the old country of Greece"
The other nymphs clawed at the niches, trapped in.
"When Rome rose to power, we were invited here" Hagno continued. "A son of Jupiter swayed us with favors - a new home, no down payment, and an excellent neighborhood. Most importantly: Rome would last forever"
"And then what" Ryan said, trying to sound bored
"Rome didn't last" Hagno snarled. "The aqueducts became diverted, and our master's villa was abandoned and torn to the ground. We were forgotten, buried beneath the earth, and we were forbidden to leave. Our old master never chose to release us, so for centuries, we have withered away here in the darkness, with a great thirst"
"I'm sorry, but we aren't your enemies" I charmspoke. "If we could just help you-"
"Such a sweet voice" Hagno said. "And beautiful features too. I use to be like you - my voice as soothing as a mountain stream. You cannot help us, for we have been trapped in the dark, with no food but hatred, and no drink but violence"
Percy raised his hand. "I'm a son of Poseidon, so maybe I can summon a new water source for you guys, and then we can all be quenched and happy"
"Ha!" Hagno cried. "I know your father well, son of Poseidon. Ephilates and Otis promised that you would come"
"You're working with the giants" Ryan stated
"They're out neighbors after all" Hagno shrugged. "Their chambers are just beyond this place, where the aqueduct's water was diverted for the games. Once we deal with you, we will never suffer again"
The nine nieces glowed, and the nymphs disappeared. Water poured in from the alcoves - a sickly, dark, and oily water.
Narrator / Meanwhile
"You don't want to fight me" Victor said. "In other words, just surrender now"
"I didn't learn how to surrender" Layton shrugged and titled his head
Layton dashed forward at the helmet-less Victor, who threw a punch forward. Just before the hit could land, Layton time-skipped so that he suddenly appeared behind him, but Victor spun on his heel and rocked him with a punch to the face.
Victor continued to pressure with a frenzy of punches, and Layton blocked, crossing his arms in an x-shape. After about a minute of blocking hits, Layton time-skipped a few feet away to gain distance.
"You hit hard, even without the gloves" Layton said
"Thanks for the compliment. If this is your way of surrendering, then I'm all for it" Victor replied
Layton time-skipped to the front of Victor, throwing his left fist forward. Victor dodged by titled his head to the right, and counterattacking by throwing his own left hook that made a loud metal clang upon contact with Layton's mask.
The assassin stumbled back a couple of inches and swiped his foot forward to attempt to trip his opponent, but Victor jumped over it and kicked his chest midair. Layton continued to time-skip, reality appearing shattered for a split second as he did, but each time he attempted an attack, Victor rapidly guessed his location and landed a hit.
Eventually, Victor landed one big punch to the gut that sent Layton crashing through a large pile of rocks and causing smoke to blind the vicinity. Once it cleared, Layton immediately continued to pattern, with Victor continuing to guess the location of Layton's time-skip and landing a heavy blow. However, the assassin seem to be improving ever so slightly each time he used the technique.
After about three minutes of the same pattern, Victor swiped his fist and Layton blocked with his arm before throwing a hook forward, finally landing a big hit to the cheek as a Vibranium met human bone.
"You've taken two big hits to that same cheek" Layton warned
Victor wiped blood that was leaking from his right cheek. "I'm not exactly use to fighting a southpaw"
Suddenly, a wave of caution came over the assassin and he looked up to where the two had fallen from. "Our friends are in trouble"
"Our friends? What are you talking about?" Victor questioned
"This whole time we've been fighting, our friends must've found each other" Layton answered
"You have friends? And they met mine? Now you're just stalling for time" Victor said. "Regardless, I'm not letting you go - not after everything"
"Then I'll have to beat you down myself" Layton concluded
"Good luck. Your time-skip is useless against me. I guess I'm that right opponent"
"I never figured a son of Demeter to be such a fighter" Layton said. "Then again, I'm a son of Hecate"
"You're a demigod" Victor realized, sounding as if he was disgusted to be of the same kind of human as the assassin
"What did you think I was?"
"A monster"
"Only inside"
"Inside... what are you on about?" Victor asked
"I don't have time to explain. Our friends need us, and it's up to you if we go and help them" Layton said
"My friends are just as skilled as me. They'll be fine. If I don't take you in now, I might never get the chance"
"You'll have to beat me to do that" Layton reminded
"I've already countered each and everyone one of your time-skips"
"You're fast enough to predict and counter my time-skip" Layton admitted. "But that speed is what I was counting on. As the fight went on, and you continued to attack, I memorized your attack speed"
"I should've known" Victor shook his head. "As an assassin, you must have the natural ability to adapt as a fight continues"
"So you've done your homework. Allow me to show you the final"
Layton once again time-skipped and Victor predicted, jolting around and throwing a right hook forward, but his fist stopped halfway as a crushing pain to his chest rippled across his entire body.
"Vibranium is nearly indestructible, but its defenseless against my technique where I can hit straight through it" Layton said
Victor slowly looked down to see that, indeed, Layton's fist was phasing straight through his armor and his knuckles were making contact with his chest.
The assassin jumped back and Victor fell backwards, hitting his head on the ground, but still conscious.
"It's over. Let me help you so that we can help our friends" Layton insisted
Victor exhaled greatly. "This fight was over the moment you took the life of my dad"
"Huh?"
On each of Layton's sides, three vines erupted from the walls of the trench. The top two wrapped around his head, the middle two around his torso, and the bottom two around his legs. Slowly but surely, Victor got up to his feet and steadily walked over to his muffled opponent.
"Now I end this"