"Nico, how many times do I have to explain what an earthquake is? I said earthquake, Nico—earthquake! Not a freaking mountain!" Reyna exclaimed. Pandemonium erupted as quickly as Mt. Half Blood rose. Monsters were being crushed left and right as the mountain continued to form.
"Technically speaking, Mt. Half Blood formed from a convergence in the tectonic plates beneath us, which qualifies as an earthquake," I supplied.
Reyna gave me the death stare and I almost shuddered. "You named the mountain?"
"Yes, I named it Mt. Half Blood in honor of all of the demigods that fought valiantly in this war. I figured if the Gods and the Titans have a mountain, why can't we demigods have one too?" To be honest, I'm really proud of myself. I didn't know I could trigger earthquakes, let alone create mountains.
"Who cares what the name of the mountain is! We have our distraction!" Will yelled triumphantly as he readied his bow and quiver. That seemed to seize everyone's attention.
We raised our swords and yelled a battle cry. Not for the gods, but for ourselves. The Gods don't deserve recognition. Not from us, anyway. We leaped into battle, slashing and stabbing every earthborne that ventured too close. Will perched himself on the peak of a nearby hill, targeting each monster with the keen eyes of a hawk hunting its prey. Reyna looked regal, stabbing and jabbing in a deadly dance. Her purple robes twirling in ribbons around her. Adrenaline fueled me as I summoned the undead, skeletons upon skeletons and everything in between hacking at monsters with incessant recovery.
For a moment, I almost believed we had a fighting chance. Gaea smirked amusingly. She's playing with us, I realized.
"Little demigods," Gaea's somnolent voice resonated across every hill, every wildflower, a deceitful lullaby singing of safety and warmth before you die. "You're resilience is refreshing. However, you've already lost. Your army has been slain, your loved ones have been destroyed, and your spirits have been shattered—the gods will not save you. What do you have left to fight for?"
She's right. What do I have left to fight for?
Bianca and Hazel are dead. My friends, the people I considered family are dead. My cousins are dead. Almost every Greek and Roman demigod is dead. There's nobody left to save, nobody left to fight for.
Except the Gods, I thought bitterly.
What do you have left to fight for?
Revenge. Even Gaea can't take that away from me.
I fought harder. I swung my sword in a deadly arch, a blur of shadow and darkness. The stygian iron greedily consumed the golden dust of the monsters. There's too many, I thought. There's no way we can fight them all. Gaea summoned the giants, her children, to join the battle. All eleven rose from their corrupt thrones. They all had identical malicious grins on their ugly faces and a dangerous glint in their eyes.
Uh oh. We are royally screwed.
The giants decimated us one by one.
They wiped out more than half of our strike team in a matter of mere minutes. Without the help of a god, a demigod can't slay a giant. As psychotic as my great-grandmother is, she knows her grandchildren all too well. Gaea knew the gods would be too stubborn to aid their children in war. A genius plan to use against the Olympians, one born of their own ignorance. I'm not sure whose crueler—the Gods, the Titans, the Giants, or the Primordials.
The sound of the ringing once again pounded in my ears and a tidal wave of anguish overcame me. I know that feeling all too well.
Someone I love is about to die.
I searched frantically for Reyna and Will in the chaos. The metallic smell of fresh blood pervaded my nose as the bodies crumpled to the ground in broken heaps.
Where are they?
I can't lose anyone else, not again. My breath hitched as I saw an Emposua rake her claws into Will's throat. The ringing reached a crescendo once again. "WILL!" I screamed in vain. His eyes locked with mine. Those piercing blue eyes, the perfect shade of a crystal sky—a shade that I will never see again. He tumbled to the ground as the Emposua cackled.
Tears poured from down my face like a waterfall. He's gone. He's really gone. I have to keep moving forward, I have to find Reyna. Before she goes too. I locked away the pain in my heart and kept moving.
This is no time for mourning the fallen.
The screams around me were drowned out by the ringing, as if I were underwater in a void of sound. Blood oozed from my ears. It was a dim awareness in the heat of battle.
I spotted the Praetor of New Rome dauntlessly dodging and rolling past each and every obstacle Gaea threw at her, her eyes vacant of fear. I darted to her, slashing and stabbing the earthborne in my way. At one point, a drakon breathed fire in my direction and almost fried me like fish sticks. I killed him quick enough.
I'm so close, I thought. So close. I weaved through the mayhem, feeling like my head would explode from my killer headache.
"Help me! Please help me!" A young girl, a daughter of Hermes, screamed at the sky. She looked to be about 12 years old. The volume of the ringing seemed to grow as I glanced her way.
She's bleeding out, I realized.
I don't know what came over me, but I kneeled down next to her. "What's your name?" I asked gently.
Her distant periwinkle eyes focused on mine. "Megan, daughter of Hermes."
"My name is Nico," I introduced myself. "son of Hades."
"I'm scared! I don't want to die," she whimpered, her crimson lips trembled.
I brushed a strand of blond out of her face. "Don't be afraid. It won't hurt anymore than it hurts already. You're a hero. You'll find peace in Elysium with all of your friends and siblings right beside you. You will be remembered. And who knows? You might want to go for rebirth, get another shot at life. If you live a hero's life 3 times, you can go to the Isles of the Blessed."
The daughter of Hermes relaxed slightly and grasped my hand in hers. "Will you stay with me? Just until… I have to leave for good?"
"Of course," I reassured her. I held Megan's hand as she took her dying breath, stroking her hair to comfort her in her final moments. I felt her soul slip away as she stared into the ruthless red. Her frost-shaded eyes evermore clear, innocent, and empty. A tear trickled down my cheek as I closed her eyes. I'll remember Megan. Always.
I left to join the fight once again.
"Reyna!" I dashed to her, barely missing a claw to the eye, which grazed my cheek instead.
"Nico! I thought you were killed! The team, they're—"
I cut her off. "I know. We need to figure out another plan and fast if we're going to have any chance at defeating—" This time I got cut off as an enormous wall erupted right between Reyna and I. "REYNA!" Oh gods I'm going to lose her too! I can't lose her! "Reyna can you hear me!?" A sharp pain pulsated in my skull. I winced and clutched my head.
Oh no.
Gaea emerged from the other side of the wall with a sadistic grin on her face. Victory shone in her eyes. Clenched in her hand, Reyna's corpse hung limply like a rag doll tossed aside, a shard of earth impaled in her chest.
"NO!" I screeched in horror. She's dead! Everyone is dead!
Mother Earth cackled with sickening glee. "Oh Little Angel, you're poison! Everything you touch, everyone you love dies! Congratulations! There is no one left to save! You are the only demigod left standing! My forces have decimated the half bloods you left unguarded with your foolish plan. Olympus will fall with no children left to defend them! At last! I shall rule this world and rid it of impurity! Tell me son of Hades, how does feel to be the last survivor of your kind?"
"No," I shook my head in shock, desperately hoping to wake up from this dream of living terror. "No, no, no, no, no." I'm the only one left. How could I have let this happen?
"Yes, my Little Angel, you let everyone die! Don't worry, you will be joining your friends soon enough…" Gaea reached out for me, a terrifying glint in her grass-green orbs.
I raised my sword, ready to go down with the last bit of dignity and courage I could muster…
A flash of amber encased my vision, blinding me as I cried out in alarm. I shut my eyes as the light intensified, and an ancient, yet familiar voice echoed in the radiant void. "Nico di Angelo, you have been gifted a second chance. Prevent the deaths of the Seven and warn the Gods of their undoing before it is too late. You must unite the Greeks and Romans, or all will be lost. Only reveal yourself to those you trust. Farewell, son of Hades."
Fatigue overcame me as my vision swam. My knees gave way, my eyelids heavy. I collapsed into the welcoming arms of sleep.
