*looking at today's date. Making a double take* Oh my... It's more than two months since I last updated this. Wow *hyperventilating*. I did not plan this, not at all. I'm incredibly sorry and it's not even a super long chapter to make up for it. I have just had a lot going on (final days of school, traveling and now work) and I haven't had the time. When I actually had time I was not in the mood at all to write so I kind of threw this together. Well, I hope it's alright. And we get to see what happened to the kidnapped demigods and Alabaster (I kind of forgot about him for awhile, oops).
As usual, this isn't edited at all and I'm not even sure if it's in character or not. I just felt that you had waited long enough and if you are still reading this, an ENORMOUS THANK YOU to all of you! I love you all!
Guest (23 May): *gives you a truckload of love* It means a lot to me that you appreciate this and I know you probably want the next chapter now (don't worry, I understand the feeling as a reader myself) but thank you for not pressuring me :) I'm happy that you like my replies, I can safely say that the feeling is mutual, and thank you once again for reviewing. It really is one of the best parts of writing this :D
Disclaimer: The only thing I own is the plot even though I have borrowed a few things from the creators of these universes.
Nico was panicking. He, the son of Hades, the Ghost King, were scared. It was probably normal to be afraid when you couldn't control your own body, but Nico felt like he should be better than this. Stronger. That he should have been able to resist that blue light when it washed through his body and rendered him helpless, a prisoner in his own body.
He could still see Will's despairing face, yelling at him not to leave. Over and over again the scene played out in front of his eyes. The ache that had settled in his heart when he followed Loki into the ship intensifying until it felt like he would explode.
Of course, in the back of his mind he knew that this was the perfect chance to find Percy and to rescue him. The only drawback was that he was under someone else control and it would be naive to think that Percy wouldn't have similar troubles.
He couldn't focus on any of that though. His mind was too busy making up the worst scenarios possible and helping him get even more terrified than he was in the beginning. Fantastic really, how the brain could come up with so many horrifying images in only a few hours. It almost felt like he was living in his own personal horror movie, and it was all in his head. Sure, his captors had most likely some terrible plan which Nico now was a part of, but he doubted any of those plans would involve any of the nightmarish creatures his mind had conjured.
The two other demigods, Malcolm Pace and Drew Tanaka, had been taken somewhere else while Nico had been brought to this empty room. He briefly wondered if they had done it with purpose, gotten him alone and just let his imagination drive him crazy, but if he thought about it it didn't make sense. Why would this god kidnap three demigods and risk their parents' fury only to leave them alone in a room? No, there has to be a bigger picture.
He waited for what felt like hours even though it was hard to estimate, there was no light to help him determine how much time had passed. Then, in the distance, he heard the unmistakeable clang of feet stepping on metal and he tensed. Or, he tried to but his body refused to obey him, instead it stood there perfectly relaxed and waited for their captors to come.
The footsteps came closer and when they finally stopped Nico was under no illusions that they weren't here for him. Suddenly the room Nico had been left in was flooded with light so sharp his eyes watered, his eyes being used to the darkness after so long time. Therefore he couldn't distinguish the person who had come, only a blurry silhouette.
"Follow me." The boy (because the voice was too high to possibly be a man) said. Nico's legs quickly obeyed and soon he was walking behind the still indistinguishable boy, they didn't seem to care that they couldn't possibly see where they were going.
After a while Nico's eyes finally adapted to the new light setting and he could finally see the person in front of him. Brown hair on the top of his head, a sliver of freckled skin between his hairline and his high collared jacket. He moved with confidence and didn't hesitate when he made turns. Nico wondered how long he had been here to get that kind of knowledge.
When they finally stopped outside of one of the endless metal doors, Nico tried to brace himself for what was coming. Would there be soldiers waiting on the other side? Maybe Percy would be there or Loki? The hope that he would find Percy and that they would find a way to escape together were perhaps foolish but it was there nonetheless.
But when the door opened none that met them. Instead it contained only two beds and a bureau and Nico couldn't understand why he had been taken here. Wasn't he a prisoner? Shouldn't he be kept alone in an even more sparse room? This made no sense at all.
"Welcome to your new room", the teenager said and swept out with his arms dramatically. "I expect you to behave, I don't particularly fancy another roommate who tries to claw their eyes out. Just so you know."
Nico froze. He couldn't mean…? Did he mean…? Percy? Had Percy been here, in this room? Had he really tried to claw his eyes out as the boy said? But no, Nico shook his head mentally, he couldn't be sure. It was dangerous to assume things and Nico couldn't afford to be distracted by this.
But, said a part of him. If Percy could resist Loki's powers enough to hurt himself without the god's permission, then maybe he was strong enough to break free. Maybe he could defeat the crazy god before he could kill or hurt anyone else. The seed of hope settled down even though Nico tried to ignore it. He couldn't rely on Percy on this, he had to try to break free himself.
The other boy threw himself down on the left bed and told Nico to sit down on the other one. His traitorously body did as asked and then it got quiet for a while. It wasn't like Nico could speak without permission (not that he would have even if he could) and the brown haired boy seemed to be deep in thought.
"Are you a demigod?" The question jerked Nico back to attention, he had been dozing for a bit when he couldn't gain more information out of the boy only by looking at him.
"Yes." Nico wondered over the cold and strict tone he had. He was sure he had never sounded like that before.
"Parent?"
"Hades." That seemed to interest the other teenager because he sat up and looked at Nico with his green eyes narrowed. Nico could see how the curiosity lingered in them though.
"I didn't know Hades had any children." The green eyes narrowed further. "I guess you're not familiar with a son of Poseidon, then?"
"I am." Hate shimmered in those eyes when Nico spoke the words, "Percy and I are friends."
The other boy's jaw clenched and a brief glance at his hands revealed that they were clenched into fists so tight the knuckles were white. Nico couldn't help but wonder how this boy could hate Percy so much, most people who didn't know him thought he was a hero. If you didn't count the monsters or mortals, of course.
"That disgrace of a demigod isn't worth your friendship", he spat. "He isn't worth any of the praise or glory he is given either. I'm glad that I at least don't have to share this room with him anymore!"
After that he fell silent and Nico settled on pondering about his options. It seemed that Percy was here, or at least had been, which was very fortunate. Nico wouldn't have had any idea about where to look otherwise. And maybe, if he could cancel this spell Loki's scepter had over him or trick it in some way, maybe he could get enough information out of this boy to free both himself and the other demigods.
Well, perhaps it wasn't a very reliable plan and it would surely be more difficult than it sounded to succeed. But at least he had a goal to strive towards. With that finally settled Nico let his mind relax and soon he fell into a dreamless sleep.