Chapter 13: A Rescue
Hellooooooooooooooooo again! Sorry for the slower updates. I'll try to post as frequently as possible. Please read and review. And I did the disclaimer enough so I'm not doing that anymore.
Nico
Oh it was so delicious. But... why should I have to reach for it?! But once I have it... oh yes YES! Ah the fruit. Why does it not come? Why... WHY?!
Percy
It was a horrible feeling. This shadow travelling. Once more, he was reminded of how strong the son of Hades is to withstand this on a dayly—no, hourly—basis. He struggled to hold on to reality, and almost let go when he fell onto the soft bank of the River Styx. "E-Everyone alright?"
"Yeah. Hey let's get as far from the water as possible?" It was Leo's voice, and he had already backed away from the source of his trauma. Poor guy. My fault.
"Sure." He helped Jason to his feet, as Leo nudged Frank (he was too weak to lift his weight). All four of them shifted slowly away from the dangerous river. "So where now?"
Jason grunted. "Your father sent us here. So that means we can get to Nico and get him out of here."
Memories of the last hour (or what felt like an hour) flashed through Percy's head. "Y-Yeah. Let's go. Fields of Punishment."
Leo was a little too eager to put distance between himself and the Styx, and the other three had almost collapsed, running after him. "Leo! Slow down!"
"Huh? Oh sorry!" He slowed to a stop, and Percy (the closest behind) leaned on him, panting for breath. "You ok?"
"Yeah man, but you can run."
"Like I told Jason. A weakling's gotta save his skin." Just as Percy lifted himself off of Leo's bony shoulder, Jason showed up at his side. Talk of the devil...
"Holy schist man! You're faster than Arion!" Jason was ready to collapse, and he did, one arm around Percy and another around Leo, both of which were holding him up. "Thanks."
Frank just caught up, and (thankfully) did not collapse on Leo. The small guy would've crumpled.
"Well since we're all here should we—"
"No!" Came three answers in unison, forcing the son of Hephaestus to surrender, both hands up.
"Alright alright. Few minutes." Frank gasped in gratitude as he collapsed backward, laying with his back to the ground until he caught his breath. "Ready Zhang?"
The brawny kid nodded, reluctant to end the short break from sprinting. He found Leo's hand above him. Percy raised an eyebrow. What is Leo thinking... can he even carry Frank?! To his surprise: somewhat. With great effort, Leo got Frank to his feet.
"Whoo! There's some muscle here after all!" Leo rolled up his sleeve and flexed his bony arm. "C'mon admit it dude!"
Frank sighed and rolled his eyes before making a sarcastically ecstatic face. "Oh yeah you're so strong Leo!"
"That's all I wanted to hear! Oh Frank you mind giving us a ride? As a horse?"
"Not at all." In an instant, the big guy was replaced by the same huge stallion. Jason jumped up first, then offered Leo a hand, pulling the lightweight up with ease, and Percy mounted.
Leo stroked Frank's fur. "Leggo!" The horse went fast enough for Leo to fall off. It was a wonder he didn't. Still, no one complained when they skidded to a stop in front of the Fields.
Percy was first to dismount; he was the closest to Nico. "Nico..." He looked back and nearly tripped as he scrambled backward in fright, seeing Leo's hand in flames. "L-Leo! Put it out man!"
The shorter boy took a while to respond. "Watch." He closed his eyes. "Nico di Angelo." And shot the single fire ball into the sky/"undersky". Rather than disappearing, it flew straight in a direction leading straight into the Fields. "Quick!"
Percy understood in an instance, and the four took off sprinting through the veritable prison with renewed strength and worry. "O-Over there! In the pond!" Jason followed his gaze just in time to see the fire disappear over a small pond.
Jason put a hand on Percy's shoulder, calming the teen down. "Hey. Nico's gonna be pretty mad if you look this worried when he sees you."
Percy stared hard and tensely at the distant pond, before finally softening his gaze. "Alright man. Let's go get Nico." Running as fast as they could, the heroes made their way to the pond, and the son of Poseidon nearly cried when he saw Nico di Angelo in the pond (which must have been pretty close to freezing), stripped up from his waist and his arm out reaching for an apple. He noticed that Nico's shirt and jacket was lying on the pond's edge beside them.
Percy swallowed, scared he would do something stupid due to his emotions. "N-Nico...?" No response. "Nico?"
"The fruit... oh the fruit... have you tasted it?"
Percy tried not to scream. "Nico it's me! Perce!"
"Bah! Names and faces matter not. There is only the fruit. It is my beginning and end. It is my purpose. My truth. My reality. All else is an illusion."
The tears came. "Nico! Please Nico! Don't you... recognize me?!" Jason stepped in front and took the lead.
"Nico di Angelo."
"Nico di Angelo... who is that? That is the only name I remember from my past..."
"Nico di Angelo I have tasted the fruit. I know its secrets."
Nico's expression wavered for the first time. "You have? Impossible! Or are you Tantalus..."
Percy remembered vaguely the story of Tantalus, a son of Zeus cursed to a fruity fate. Jason nodded firmly. "I have. And I can give it to you."
Nico whipped his head to face Jason. "GIVE IT TO ME! Or I will KILL you!"
"I will. Just come here." Jason took a step back and the son of Hades reluctantly took a step forward, exposing his stomach above the water. Percy winced as he imagined how cold it must be.
"Alright... But mark my words. If you trick me I will not hesitate a moment to take your life."
Percy saw Jason's expression waver as he gulped, but he stayed firm. "I would never trick you. Just come closer."
A few steps later, Nico put his left foot on dry land. Then his right. His entire body stiffened and he spasmed as if with electricity. Percy's eyes widened. "Nico!"
When Nico stopped spasming, and met Percy's eyes he didn't look nearly half as distant. "Perce..." He whimpered and fell forward. Thankfully, the son of the sea god caught him in time. The poor boy was shivering. He buried his face in Percy's chest and was almost on his knees (Percy was holding him with all his strength). "Perce..."
"Jason! Get his shirt! He's almost frozen." The son of Jupiter's face paled as he grabbed the black shirt (which still read Party Animal) and tossed it to Percy. "Ok come on Nico. Let me put this on you."
"Please... Please..." It seemed like that was all he could say. He was begging. Percy held Nico by his now muscular shoulders and had to put an elbow against his toned stomach to hold him up fully. Then he let go of one shoulder and lifted Nico's arm as he readied himself to put it through the sleeves. Before he could complete the action, he felt a hand on his wrist stopping him. It was Leo.
"Leo?"
"Percy hold up a sec. I'll try to warm him up a bit. Just get his arms in there. I just need his torso." Percy would have to hug the guy next chance he got. For now, he busied himself putting Nico's no longer bony arm into the black sleeve. Unfortunately, Nico only wore T-shirts so the sleeve didn't cover much of his arms. Percy helped his other arm in the sleeve, and finally put the biggest hole around Nico's head, but made sure he didn't let it come all the way down, and left the chest and stomach exposed.
Leo warmed his hands with a bit of fire, then got to work, putting his hands on Nico's abs, warming the cold body. "Whoa man you were right. He's almost frozen."
Percy reached for the signature leather jacket and put it around Nico's shoulders, slowly putting both arms in the sleeves, now fully covering them. Under other circumstances, it might be like Nico was hitting on someone. What with his jacket unzipped and shirt pulled up, but the expression on his face killed it all. Leo had warmed Nico's stomach quite a bit and now Nico could support his own weight.
He stood up without leaning on his best friend and nearly tripped. "Percy... Leo... Jason... Frank... Thank you all. I owe you my..." His voice cracked. "... my life." He broke into tears and hugged the son of Poseidon beside him, whose eyes were also streaming with the tears he held since Nico left.
Percy struggled to speak. "Bastard... don't ever leave us again."
"Don't worry bro. I'll never... Forgive me?"
"Of course."
Nico
They were heading back through the Underworld to escape alive. Of course, it was just then that the world started swirling and the ground shaking. Nico, who was still off balance, fell on Percy who did his absolute best to hold him. Jason had his arm around Leo, and Frank leaned on a tree. Nico screamed loud enough so that all the demigods could hear him.
"Let me protect you guys! I think I can stop this!"
"Go for it!" As soon as Percy said it, Nico closed his eyes, and when they opened they were shining silver.
He started chanting something impossible to make out. The storm settled as he spoke as if he was literally calming it down. Finally the last bit of wind died down and the ground pieced itself back together.
"Whoo! Nico that was awesome!" Leo grinned as he beamed at the son of Hades. Nico however fell to the side to be caught by Percy again.
"Sorry. That took a lot of energy. But hey in a bit I'll be strong enough to shadow travel us out of here. Whaddaya say Perce? Jay?"
Percy hesitated. "You're still not balanced from the cold, and you just drained your strength to protect us now."
"Trust me. I can do it."
"I... I just don't want you to hurt yourself doing it." Nico sighed. As he looked at the ground, he reached out and placed his hand on Percy's shoulder.
"I won't. I promise." Percy silently nodded in approval.
A few minutes later, they were out of the Underworld and on the Argo II's pegasus dock. Nico immediately threw his arms around Leo. "Didn't get a chance to thank you."
Leo was first taken aback, but then returned the embrace. "Hey don't worry about it." Nico pulled away.
Jason stood first. "Well that was an adventure. Everyone alright?" There was a vague murmur of affirmation. He offered a hand to Leo to pull him up. Percy stood and picked Nico up. Leo again picked Frank up, and looked quite proud of himself. They piled into the narrow corridor and Jason ran to his cabin to check what time it was. "Guys? It's only been five minutes... I guess demigods don't always follow time."
"Yeah man! We're cool like that!" Leo pulled black shades out of his toolbelt, which was shrunk into a normal belt (It usually is) and put them on. Of course, he took them off as soon as he got a smack in the back from Frank who was grinning back at him.
Nico suddenly remembered something urgent. Reyna is here.
Hey guys. I felt like making Nico stay in the Underworld longer but took pity on the poor guy.
Me: Sorry man!
Nico: *Sulks*
Me: Sorry?
Nico: Ok you are forgiven.
Me: YAY!
Anyway thanks for reading. Please review. ^_^ And yes there will be Reyco next chapter!
