XXVI

NICO

Nico cursed. He had known. He had known that he would spend quite a long time in the Underworld since finding a soul among thousands was not easy. But he didn't expect that it would take this long. Two weeks. It had been two freaking weeks, almost going three since he had left the upper world. He almost fainted when he had learned that today's date was October 20.

He tore through the streets of Manhattan while ever so often glancing at his back. He had barely made it out alive in the Underworld. The furies had chased him right after he had gone to the Elysium. Bianca had bought him some time to get to the upper world but it wouldn't last long.

As a distraction, if ever there were Underworlders after him, he could temporarily lose them in the sea of people as well as warding off his scent. They couldn't harm him in this crowded area full of mortals. All Nico wanted was a little bit of more time to talk to Will. After that Nico would gladly accept whatever consequence awaits for him.

The sky rumbled as lightning flashed across it. It seemed that it was going to rain. Yet as Nico looked up for a brief second, he could feel it. It was a premonition of what was to come. A bad omen. It was a déjà vu as if the history was repeating itself, Bianca protecting him and him dying all over again. The sky was conspiring with the Underworld, manifesting Hades' wrath. Wrath towards him. Nico vanished in black smoke in the middle of the crowd. Some yelped in surprise but most of them were confused as to what had happened.

Nico appeared in front of Jupiter Half-blood Hospital. He paused for a moment to catch his breath. Then he wondered for a second why he was having a hard time breathing when he was immortal. He got his answer as he stared at his reflection on the glass window of JHH. His eyes widened. His reflection started to flicker as if he was going to disappear any time soon. When he looked down at his hands, black smoke was curling around him.

The shadows were taking him back. He almost smiled, no one could really run away from Hades. Now, he was forced to come back to the underworld.

He closed his eyes, trying to ease the panic building inside him. Lord Hades, all I need is a little bit more time, after that, I'm yours and do whatever you want. But I won't leave this world until I finished what I have to do. I won't. His hands curled into a fist. I control the shadows. They do not control me.

Nico opened his eyes and looked back at his reflection. His reflection stopped flickering, the shadows disappeared. He took a deep breath and went inside the hospital. Nico went to the Emergency Room and learned that Will wasn't there. A nurse said that Will had a scheduled surgery at that moment.

Operating Room then. Nico thought and vanished. The nurse blinked at the space where Nico had been.

Nico appeared on every operating room in JHH but no sign of Will. He even checked the locker room and other rooms that a surgeon might go before surgery but there was still no trace of the blond. He was starting to have a bad feeling about it. Will never missed surgery.

Soon, with some stroke of luck, he met Kyla and Lou in the hallway.

"Kyla!" He called and ran towards the two. "Where is Will?"

Kyla stared impassively at Nico while Lou gasped in surprise.

"Nico!" Lou exclaimed, "where have you been?!"

"It's a long story but I need to see and talk to Will. Where is he?" Nico asked urgently.

Then all of a sudden, Kyla punched him in the face and Nico stumbled back in surprise. He gazed wide-eyed at Kayla.

"Kyla!" Lou shouted.

"You dare to find Will after leaving him all of a sudden?" Kyla seethed. "Where were you when Will needed support especially from you? Where were you when Will needed you the most?"

At this point, Lou was holding Kyla back preventing her from punching Nico again.

Nico looked down at the floor when shame suddenly cursed his entire being. "I-I know I am a jerk for leaving Will at a time like that. That's why I am here to talk to Will. I don't have much time-"

Kyla huffed, calming down a bit. She stopped struggling against Lou's grip on her. Lou's hands loosened on her. "What do you think of Will? You can't just come in and out of Will's life when you pleased it! Do you even consider what he might feel? Gods, you are an insensitive jerk!"

"Kyla, please. There's not much time left. . ." Nico pleaded but Kyla wasn't listening to him anymore. The doctor was frowning at something over his shoulder.

"Dr. Yew," Kyla called out. Nico turned. A doctor was heading to the operating room. She walked towards the doctor. "Why are you here? This is Will's surgery, isn't it?"

"Ah, that bastard, asked me to cover for him." Dr. Yew answered good-naturedly. He scratched his head. "He said that there's an urgent matter he needs to do. " Then in a low voice, he added. "Besides, he offered me something hard to refuse. .. " Then he went inside the OR.

Kyla was frozen in her spot. She turned pale.

"K-kyla?" Lou called at her uncertainly. Nico was frowning at her.

Then Kyla covered her face with her hands and released a muffled scream.

"H-hey, what's happening?" Lou shook Kyla getting her attention.

Kyla looked at Lou. She was shaking. "Will went after Austin. We need to call the police."

Lou also went pale.

"O-oi what's going on?" Nico asked. He didn't like the expressions he was seeing.

"Stay out of it." Kyla snapped at him. She left him behind, running.

"Hey, Lou." Nico held the nurse's arm. "Please tell me what's going on? Is Will in some sort of trouble?"

Lou took a deep breath. "Will has this patient named Austin-"

"I know Austin, skip the intro." Nico interrupted.

"Then you also know that the patient was involved in some sort of syndicate?" When Nico nodded, Lou continued. "Austin has gone missing earlier and the police believed that he went back to that syndicate. Will went after Austin."

"He did WHAT?"

"Will is in danger right now," Lou said worriedly. "Stupid Will. . ."

Nico turned on his heel.

"Nico!"

He ignored her as he rounded in the corner and vanished. He materialized outside the hospital. It started to rain. He got soaked pretty quickly by a heavy downpour. The sky continued to rumble as lightning flashed. If Nico had to, he would turn New York upside down just to find his stupid blond.

Nico kept on popping up on random places across the city. Will must have not gotten that far. He also tried to catch snippets of news from the police he encountered along the way, but no such luck. He turned up in an alleyway. It wasn't helping that he was starting to fade and the shadows were hunting him again. But he ignored it and focused on finding Will.

Because he had no idea where else to search, he just assumed that most gangsters and evildoers hide in this kind of alley, like what he had seen on TV before. The alleyway was creepy and filthy. He paused in an intersection, weighing which way to go. He looked at his right, in the same moment that another lightning crossed the sky. It illuminated briefly something metal lying on the ground. Nico's eyes widened in recognition. He ran towards that something. When he had reached it, he crouched down and picked it up. It was a stethoscope.

He gripped the stethoscope hard. Who else would bring a goddamn stethoscope in this area? He scanned his surroundings. There was a backpack abandoned and opened near him. Several medical supplies also littered the ground.

Will. Nico thought as he continued to grip the stethoscope.

Police car siren's echoed from a far off distance. Nico vanished and followed the police car.

The police car led Nico in a building engulfed by fire. Several fire trucks were trying to put out the fire. Polices wearing raincoats were running here and there barking some command on one another. Nico recognized the two police officers.

"Hurry up!" Jason Grace commanded the fire volunteer. "There are people inside! What's the status, Detective Jackson?" He turned at his fellow police officer

Percy shook his head grimly. "Negative. We can't go further. The flames are too big. But I've assigned some fire volunteers at the back entrance. That's our last hope."

Jason cursed.

Nico looked up at the building. Then he froze. He could feel it.

Will's aura of death. He was inside of that building.

"Hey! Who are you!" Jason shouted at Nico. Nico looked at the cops.

"You are a civilian." Percy realized. He started to approach him. "You can't be here."

No. You mortals cannot save my Will. Nico thought morosely. Then he bolted to the side of the fire truck, out of their sight. He vanished.

Percy blinked and looked around. "Oi. Where is he?" He turned at Jason who shook his head helplessly. Then they both stared at the burning building in horror.

"He hasn't. Has he?" Jason whispered.

Percy cursed. "It's impossible to go beyond. He'll be trapped too."

"Should we try the back entrance now?" Jason stared at Percy.

Percy stared back.