Chapter 22: the Honey, the Fire, and the Fury
We arrived at the edge of the coast. The beach was, as to be expected, freezing. The cold water certainly didn't help the situation either. My teeth chattered as the icy wind blew in through my clothes.
Percy strolled through the frigid waves, completely unbothered by the temperature. He stopped somewhere in the middle of the sandbank. He raised his hands and closed his eyes in concentration. "This could take a while," he said. "I don't know how long it will take to sense the guy and summon him to shore."
"Right," said Thalia. "Is anyone else hungry? Because I'm starving. How much money do we have left to use?"
Bianca pulled an envelope out of the pocket of her jacket. She opened it and counted the money inside. She grimaced. "Not much, I'm afraid. I don't think there's enough to buy a couple of meals."
"Can I take a look?" Annabeth asked. Bianca wordlessly handed the envelope to her. Annabeth too, tallied up the dollars. "There's barely enough in here to get a decent cup of coffee. We've spent most of it on train tickets to lose our bony friends."
All of our stomachs conveniently grumbled simultaneously. "Yeah, cup of coffee isn't going to do," Thalia confirmed.
"We can try hunting for our food. I'm sure there are plenty of wild beasts that we can hunt and feast on," Zoe said.
"We can only hunt for wild animals in the forest, not in a town," Thalia argued. "Besides, even if there is a forest nearby, we can't just leave Percy. Especially with the skeleton warriors on our trail."
"We can try fishing. Maybe we can catch a fish or something," Bianca suggested.
"I think the water is too cold for that," Grover said.
"Here's a thought: Why don't we just ask Percy to summon some fish for us to cook?" Thalia said. "I'm sure he wouldn't mind."
"Percy's trying to concentrate and we're on a deadline here. We need to use every second we can have," the Daughter of Wisdom said.
My eyes widened. I recalled what Hestia told me about my new powers. "I think I might be able to help with that," I scanned the beach for the desired materials to make a fire. I spotted some driftwood that looked dry enough just a few feet away. I ran over and collected the chunks of wood. I began to situate the driftwood in a tent-like formation.
"Um, Nico? As much as a fire might be appreciated right about now, we need food, not warmth," Thalia said.
"Just trust me," was all I had to say to that.
Fire, I thought. I need fire to create a hearth.
The solution presented itself in my mind. I can use Greek Fire. Hestia said I would unlock the ability to use it if I became her champion. But there's still a problem: Will the prayer still work with Greek Fire?
I sensed Hestia's presence in my mind once again. Indeed it will.
I took a deep breath and hovered my hand over the twigs. I turned to the audience behind me. "You might want to step back."
I heard footsteps retreating and I got to work. I took another deep breath and concentrated. I tapped into my senses once more. The sounds around me ceased to exist, like I was underwater. All I could hear was my steady breathing.
In and out.
In and out.
My warm breath floated in front of me, only to dissipate into nothing due to the cold. Like me, fire is alive. It breathes, it feeds, and it destroys. But it also gives light, warmth, and safety. It's one of the primal energies mankind has had the means to create. But what ignited it? An object perhaps? A thought maybe? An emotion? The answer: All three.
Prometheus felt the emotion of pity towards the humans, so he stole fire for them. The humans knew of one thought before they discovered fire: Cold. In efforts to banish the thought, they accepted Prometheus' gift. Later on, mankind began to evolve. They realized that fire had other purposes besides heat. With their firestarters and flint and steel, they ignited fire to cook, give light, and burn.
So that leaves the question for me: What is my firestarter?
I thought back to my breath clouding the air. I thought about one of mankind's first gifts. I stared at my hands. I am the firestarter. I am the heat. I am the energy. With this in mind, I summoned the fiery power deep inside me. I gasped as a strange sensation tingled and coursed from my heart, through my veins, and to my recoiling palms. I stared amazed at the sparkling emerald flames engulfing my hands. The flames licked my fingers, and oddly enough, I only felt a comfortable heat in my hand—nothing more. Without hesitation, I flung my hands into the fire pit. The twigs hissed and crackled as they fed the volatile flames.
I turned around, only to find expressions of shock painted all over the questers' faces. "You are just a little bundle full of surprises, aren't you?" Thalia asked.
I blinked. I wasn't sure how to respond to that. "You have anymore surprises that can find us some food?" Annabeth inquired.
I nodded and continued my business as if nothing happened. Annabeth, Thalia, Zoe, and Grover hovered over me as they awaited anxiously to see what I would do next. Only Bianca hung around near Percy. Her arms were crossed and a tight expression pulled her frown lower in dismay.
Aunt Hestia? I was wondering if you could maybe send over some food? We're kind of short on money here, I prayed wordlessly.
I could almost sense Hestia's smile. I would be happy to send you some food, she said. Reach your hands into the fire. Do not be afraid.
I stared at the fire reluctantly. Usually when a goddess asks you to stick your hands into something, it's punishment for insulting them. Believe me, I would know. But this is Aunt Hestia, the goddess of all goddesses. I trust her.
I took a deep breath and submerged my hands into the emerald flames. Cries of alarm sounded next to me. "Nico! What did you do that for?! You aren't supposed to stick your hands in fire, dummy!" Thalia screamed in my ear. She made an attempt to yank my hands out of the fire, but Annabeth stopped her.
"Look," the Daughter of Athena said, "The fire—it isn't hurting him."
My hands suddenly latched around something warm in the fire, like porcelain. I smiled. I clutched the plate with both hands and carried it out of the fire. A steaming plate of cheeseburger and fries emerged from the jade flames. I sat it down next to me and reached again into the make-shift hearth. Cheeseburger after cheeseburger after cheeseburger came out, all piping hot and ready to eat. Seven plates in total were situated around me by the end of the ordeal.
Thank you, Aunt Hestia! I exclaimed wordlessly.
Any time, Nico. Any time, I felt her presence leave my conscience.
Everyone's mouths watered as we stared at the cheeseburgers in amazement. Not a second later everyone claimed a plate and dug in.
"Oh my gods! This is so-o-o good!" Thalia shouted as devoured her burger. Annabeth shoved french fry after french fry into her mouth, not even bothering to chew all the way. After Grover finished the burger and fries, he began to eat the second course: The plate. Even Zoe lost her manners as she sank her teeth into a burger. I was about to pick up my burger, but I stopped.
A few feet away from us, Bianca gazed out into the sea with her arms wrapped around her. I glanced at a plate that hasn't been touched yet. I need to talk to her. I need to stop holding this grudge and I need to work this out with her. I took a deep breath and carried both of our plates over to where she was sitting.
"Hey," I greeted. "Mind if I join you?"
My answer was silence. She kept her dark eyes fixed on the dreary grey sea.
I handed her the plate. "Here. I thought you might be hungry."
She neglected the plate. "I'm not hungry."
Her stomach growled otherwise.
I frowned. "You need to eat something."
"You need to leave."
I took a deep breath and said, "I know you're mad at me. But your stomach isn't."
She finally turned and stared at me dead in the eye. I almost gasped. Her dark irises were like pools of black mirrors reflecting every emotion inside of her, all of the turmoil, all the pain from the past few days swirling into a violent storm.
"Bianca… what happened to you?" I breathed.
She looked away. "You happened."
My eyes widened. "I—I did this to you?" I took another deep breath. "I know I messed up. I know I hurt you. But I'm trying to fix it. I really am. Please just tell me what's wrong!"
"Leave me alone," was all she said.
"Bianca, please—"
"LEAVE ME ALONE!!" She roared. The shadows around her flickered and the earth trembled ever so slightly.
I couldn't stop the tears from sliding down my cheeks. Maybe that was due to the 10 year old part of me, or maybe it was just me. "Okay," I whispered softly and resignedly. "I'll go. I'm sorry I bothered you," I picked up my plate and walked away. I glanced over my shoulder. "I'm sorry for a lot of things."
The look of regret crossing Bianca's face didn't escape me as I left her and the steaming plate behind. I made my way over to the other side of the beach to collect myself. No matter how much I wiped the tears, they just kept coming. I shivered and brought my jacket closer as a cool breeze carried through the air, bringing forth the scent of sea salt and misery. After a couple of minutes, I gave up trying to stop the incessant flow of tears. It's no use anyway.
I buried my face into my hands, and my meal laid forgotten on the once steaming plate. Why? Why do I always hurt everyone I love? I thought back to the time I convinced Percy to bathe in the River Styx. How I unintentionally handed him right to my father, just to be thrown in prison. I naively thought I could give him a fighting chance against Kronos, but instead I broke the little trust the Son of Posiedon had for me. His look of betrayal burned like a branding in my skull. I recalled the time Minos persuaded me to find a soul to trade for Bianca's revival. I let him manipulate me, use me, and control me for his own selfish means. Instead of bringing back my sister, I made matters worse for everyone batting in the Labyrinth. The memory of Hazel's resurrection resurfaced. How I understood her pain and sacrifice and tried to give her a second chance. How I inevitably caused her more pain and suffering than she could have ever possibly imagined, all because of my stupidity and utter defeat in Tartarus. She worried for me, cried for me, and in the end, she took her life for me.
I looked up and gasped. Suddenly the dreamy white sky and steel grey sea disappeared into oblivion. Instead, a ruthless red sky emerged as I swam through an unforgivable sea of bodies. Panic flooded my senses. Every fiber, every vein, every cell in my body vibrated with adrenaline. The tune of ringing had returned to my ears. It was a familiar tune, a knowing presence set so deep, it had become a part of me. Like the shadow of a thousand wildflowers. Now roaring louder than ever before.
A growl sounded behind me. I whirled around and raised my sword at the ready. A hellhound had come to personally greet me. With the odds at stake, I wasn't sure which one of us would be saying goodbye. The manic monster slashed its sharp claws, but I managed to side-step before my head could be taken with them. I rolled underneath the hellhound's body to its most vulnerable spot: The belly. Without a second wasted I drove my blade through its stomach until it disintegrated into golden dust. I made a run for it before it could reform for a rematch.
I surveyed the battlefield. Blank, glassy eyes dusted the wrangled terrain like blood diamonds, reflecting and sparkling in the red sun. About a yard or two ahead of me, a lone figure resisted Mother Nature's forces as they sliced and diced. From a distance, I could clearly see a lot of imperial gold armor on the figure. I squinted for a better look. That's no armor. That's my sister. Her brilliant golden eyes flashed dangerously. Monsters would be insane to attempt to trample such a warrior. Then again, what do you have to fear when you live eternally?
I sprinted to her, wincing every time my foot stepped into a pool of blood. "Hazel!" I screamed. She looked up. Tears ran down her cheeks when she saw me. With one fluid motion, she slashed her hand through the air and a flurry of diamonds, gold, and all the most precious gems of the earth impaled the surrounding enemies.
She sprinted the rest of the distance to me. "Nico! Gods, You're alive!" She cried as she wrapped her arms around me. "I can't believe you're alive!"
I buried my head into her cinnamon hair. "They're all gone, Hazel. They're all gone," I took a shaky breath. "We're the last ones. You're the last of the Seven."
A sob escaped her lips. "I know, Nico. I felt it," she looked up. Tears swam in her molten eyes. "We need to regroup. We need to fight," a spark ignited, and suddenly her soul burned brighter than the Phlegethon. Her rage was the gunpowder, her misery the matches, and her fury the fireworks. "We need to avenge."
I nodded solemnly. She drew her spatha and I drew my sword. We circled back to back as we slashed. Golden sand blew through the searing wind and flurried around us like pixie dust. How could something so beautiful come from something so menacing? The crescendos kept rising, though we had no time to consider it. It simply became the sad song in the background of what we have always called the nightmare of our lives. Dracaena, earthborne, empousa, hellhounds… somewhere along the line they all just blurred together. A particular monster—a cyclops—had crept up behind me without my knowledge. I was too busy stabbing an annoying empousa that just refused to back down. Her evil cackle wasn't helping either.
All too late did I become aware of the one-eyed creature only inches behind me. Hazel's honey-colored eyes widened. "LOOK OUT!" My sister lunged at me and pushed me away from the gigantic spear that was a second away from puncturing my chest.
Hazel wasn't so lucky.
"HAZEL!" I screamed her name. She gasped and dropped her spatha. With one quick swing of rage, I severed the cyclops' head off clean. I caught Hazel as her legs gave way. Scarlet leaked from her abdomen. The ringing increased in a crescendo once again and I knew she would soon join our father. I can only hope she won't be blamed for my transgression.
Tears streamed down my cheeks as I shook my head in denial. "Nico…" she murmured weakly. This isn't happening, I thought. There's no way she's going too.
"Hazel, I'm sorry… I've failed you. I failed you just like Bianca," I sobbed.
Bianca. Suddenly her image flashed before me. She sat in front of me with a worried look in her eyes. "Nico, snap out of it!" She shouted.
"No," I turned back to Hazel. "you didn't fail me, Nico. You gave me a second chance at life, and I've enjoyed every moment of it…"
My older sister appeared once more. "Every moment with you," Bianca finished.
I blinked, trying to rid myself of these illusions. "I should've stayed with you, after what happened to the rest of the Seven…" A younger version of Percy and Annabeth flooded my vision for a sliver of a second. They too looked on wearily. I blinked once again. I looked down at my dying sister. "I love you, Hazel. Never forget it, okay?"
Bianca kneeled in front of me, her dark eyes wide and her silver aura shimmering in the dreary backdrop. "I am so proud of you," she said.
Hazel gave me a thin, sweet smile, and suddenly I saw Bianca staring back at me with determined eyes and that very same smile. My sight seemed to be having an eternal war with itself. It couldn't decide if it saw Bianca or Hazel. "I love you too, Neeks," both the girls finally said in bits and pieces.
"I'll wait for you," Hazel breathed. The honey, the fire, the fury left her eyes. A dull copper shade shone as her soul abandoned her body and she took her last breath.
I gasped as the dreamy white sky and steel grey sea appeared out of the abyss of my mind. My awareness returned, and it suddenly occurred to me that 1) everyone is crowded around me watching intently, 2) I'm crying like there's no tomorrow, (which could very well be true.) and 3) my sister is shaking me.
I blinked in confusion. What just happened? Was Bianca actually saying all of that or was I just seeing things? I recalled something Hazel went through when she came back to life. She had flashbacks of scenes before she died, whether it was scenes of friends, family, or even her own death. Could I be suffering from something similar? I don't remember falling asleep.
"Nico? Are you okay?" I turned to find concern written all over Annabeth's face. "You…You spaced out. Your eyes, there… There wasn't any white. Only black."
"I saw her, Annabeth," I croaked. "I saw her die all over again."
The Daughter of Athena paled considerably. "Hazel?"
I nodded.
Thalia frowned, "Who's Hazel?"
"No one you need to know about," I snapped.
"The boy is demonic!" Zoe exclaimed. "Ever since the Demon has joined us, he has been nothing but trouble and dark magic."
"Children of Hades have always been known for their bad luck," Grover admitted slowly. "...And their insanity."
"I agree," Thalia glared at me. "You're hiding something. What are your secrets?!"
I scoffed. Is she serious right now? "It took you this long to figure that out?" I narrowed my eyes at Thalia. "The question you should be asking, Grace," Thalia's expression darkened. She hates being called by her last name. At the moment I didn't care. "is not what my secrets are, but which ones affect you."
"And which ones,di Angelo," Thalia recuperated. "Would you say affect me?"
I raised my eyebrow. "Directly or indirectly?"
"Both."
I stared at her for a moment. "A fair amount," I finally said. "None of which you need to worry about yet."
"I'll be the judge of that," the Daughter of Zeus said coldly.
"Well, Thalia," I stared her dead in the eye. "The last time people had that freedom, the world ended," I leaned forward. "So tell me, what makes you think this time will be different?"
"'Last time?'" She asked. "What do you mean 'last time?'"
I glanced at Percy and Annabeth, my eyes asking the silent question: Should I tell them?
They nodded encouragingly. I glanced at Bianca. She fidgeted with her hair, an old habit that's been around ever since I can remember—which, granted isn't very long. Will Bianca finally understand if I tell her? Will she look at me horrified, hug me, or neglect me? Will she quit the Hunt? Will she help me save the world? How would she feel about Hazel?
I gazed at Thalia, Zoe, and Grover. Should I tell them? Will they understand? I want to tell them. I don't want to lie any longer. But is it worth it? Will they listen to me? Will them knowing help the Gods understand?
I took a deep breath, mentally preparing myself to speak the secret, the poison that has plagued my tongue, only to be interrupted by a bright light engulfing the beach. We all winced and shielded our eyes, waiting for the light to die down.
A homeless man, aka Apollo, cheekily smiled at us. "I see you kids have managed to capture Old Man Nerseus. Congrats! I've heard you guys need to travel West but you don't have any money. I think I can help with that," seven train tickets materialized in his hand. He handed each of us one."A train is already waiting in the station for you. Train leaves at 2:00. Don't be late, and save my sister for me, will you?" Apollo made a point to leave, but stopped short when he saw me. "You,"he pointed at me with a gnarled finger. "are going to play an extremely important role in the future. It's a little cloudy and hard to tell, though I can see that much. I don't know what your task is, but you better complete it, or the heroes of the future won't succeed. You got a lot to live up to, kid. Don't blow it."
With that little pep talk, Apollo disappeared in a blinding flash of light, leaving behind the smell of sunshine in his wake, oddly enough. After a moment of silence, Percy spoke and I noticed a bit of ketchup around the corner of his mouth. "So, does anybody know what the 'bane of Olympus' is?"
