Chapter Thirty-Two
Disclaimer: I do not own the PJO or HoO series by Rick Riodan, nor do I own Star Holder Commander's character, Walker. I do own all of the other OCs mentioned.
Nico's POV
We were almost out, I could see the exit sign thirty feet ahead of us around a curve. I felt like I was going faster every second, just trying to get there and out of here. I was also trying to keep Kyra from falling asleep. She had just gotten progressively worse as the minutes ticked away. I was afraid that if she fell asleep, she wouldn't wake up again.
This resulted in chattering to her non-stop, and blasting the music as loud as I dared without alerting every one of Osiris's monsters that were in the vicinity of our presence. What didn't help my feeling of panic was that nothing seemed to keep her awake for long. I was constantly having to reach over and shake her shoulder before she fell into too deep of a sleep.
In the trees ahead of us, I saw something move; something rather large. My foot pressed down slightly more on the gas pedal, speeding us forward just a little more.
I go around the small curve and look in my rear-view mirror, to see a tree crashing down across the road. There was a blood red lion the size of one of those old SUVs sprawled on top of it.
"Oh hell no," I say, completing the curve and jetting past the exit sign. Kyra and I both would have to be in proper condition to fight that thing, there was no way I could do it by myself after taking down Cacus.
After a few more minutes, the tress clear away and there's a split in the road. The one on the right led further north, basically up into Canada, and the one on the left was the road back to home. I turn left, as Percy had instructed me to, and we were on a deserted merging ramp leading to the interstate.
The gas station was exactly where Percy said it would be. What he failed to mention was how upscale it was. I didn't even know gas stations could be upscale until seeing this one. It was rather large for one, to begin with, and it looked like a Greek temple. But considering what Percy had told me, about how the franchise owner is a demigod, that part didn't surprise me so much.
I pull into one of the spaces and unbuckle my seat belt, grabbing the backpack. I quickly get out and go to Kyra's side, opening her door to help her out. I close her door and lock the truck, and we go inside.
It was just as fancy inside as it was outside. The floor was gray marble, and the walls were a sunset red color. There was classical music playing softly in hidden speakers throughout the store. The whole place just felt clean, which was a feeling I hadn't felt in quite a while.
A girl comes out from behind the counter, smiling at me. She looked to be in her late teens or early twenties, her hair was a pretty chestnut color, as were her eyes. "Welcome to Godly Goods, can I help you with anything?"
"Ah, yes. I need to see your back room please," Percy had told me on the phone that that was the code demigods used, though how she couldn't have guessed by mine and Kyra's appearances, I dunno.
"Oh! Of course, right this way."
She leads us to the back of the store and down a hall way. At the end of the hall, there was a locked metal door. She takes out a key ring and unlocks it, and it clicks right open.
"Everything you need should be right back there. If not, press the blue button on the counter and I can come help you find what you need,"
"Thank you um," I glance at her name tag to see what I should call her, "Candice,"
"No problem." She smiles and then turns around, leaving Kyra and I.
I nudge the door open and practically drag Kyra inside. I close the door behind us and look around. The room looked to be nothing but a fairly spacious hotel room. There was a queen sized bed over on one wall, a small round table with four chairs around it, a TV mounted to the wall, and a small kitchen area.
I help Kyra onto the bed and she lays down. I hurry over into the kitchen area and open the mini-fridge. It was packed to the brim with snacks. There were sandwiches of all the simple variety – turkey and cheese, peanut butter and jelly, tuna, etc. – and in the door there were bottled waters, soft drinks, and, exactly what I was looking for, nectar. I had given her the last of what we had had hours ago.
I grab one of the small glass vials of it and close the door, hurrying back over to Kyra. She was nearly passed out again when I reached her side. I shake her awake again and she gives me an irritated look, one that said, "If you do that one more time, I will handcuff you to the toilet."
I uncap the vial and put it up to her mouth, tilting it back. She grudgingly complies with what I wanted her to do and drinks it. When she finished it, her cheeks were turning pink. I knew it was mostly because she had consumed all of the godly drink she could without bursting into flames, but it made me feel a little better to see some color back in her face.
"Okay, you can rest now." I say, grabbing the throw blanket at the end of the bed and spreading it over her.
When I could hear her breathing slow and steady, I took a more thorough look around the room. There was a phone mounted on the wall by the kitchen space, and a small bowl of golden drachmas by the little sink.
I go over and pick one up, to see if it was actually real or not. It was. I look to the sink, to see that it really wasn't a sink at all. It was a miniature water fountain, with a nozzle coming up from the base and spraying a mist of water. There was a click light right above it, and I pressed the button to turn to it on. A rainbow forms in the mist and I give a small gasp. I quickly grab a handful of drachmas and toss one in, saying the ancient chant to Iris.
The rainbow shimmers for a good two minutes before a face pops up. It was my father's face, and boy did he look mad.
A/N:
Am I really going to leave it like that for another two weeks? Yes, yes I am. I'm sure you're all wondering why Hades looked mad, and you'll find out later!
The little Iris Message station came to me when I thought about the one Percy had in PJO. I knew Nico would have to have a way to contact everyone, but not necessarily by the phone, because that might attract monsters.
I was going to upload this early on Saturday afternoon, because I didn't know if I'd have time today. Let's just say things have gotten very complicated in the past week and a half. I thought things were kinda bad with my family right now and what we're having to go through, but then something happened with my boss's family, and she had to leave. So I've been handed all this responsibility for work, a lot more than I usually have (which is quite a bit anyway), when I really just want to scream, "I DON'T WANT ANY OF THIS ANYMORE. TAKE IT BACK. I WANT TO BE TEN YEARS OLD AGAIN AND BE AS HAPPY AS COULD BE RIDING AROUND MY NEIGHBORHOOD ON MY BIKE WITH MY BEST FRIEND."
But, sadly, that's not the way life works. Bad things happen, and life gets really fucking complicated and you want to scream at the world and ask why this is happening to you and the people you love, and you usually can't do a thing to help make it better.
Somehow, I haven't broken down a single time during all this, which is pretty incredible for me. I think I've just seen too many people cry in this short period of time, and I don't want to see it anymore, so I'm mentally forcing myself not to.
Sorry about being so down and everything, it's just been stressful lately and I've only talked to one person about all this, which I couldn't be any more thankful to have there listening.
On a different note, I've started reading 1984 by George Orwell for school and it's so good! I'm only a few chapters in, but it's really interesting so far. It kinda reminds me of The Hunger Games, with the government set up in it. I'm really looking forward to reading more of it!
Oh, and also. I've decided that I'm ending this story at 35 chapters, and I think the last part of this trilogy will be called either "The Haunting Injustice" or "Comatose Grudge." What do you guys think?
M/A:
"'I've been tryin' to keep my grip, yeah I think I'm over this
I can hear it now, oh no, oh no-o
Yeah my tongue will let it slip, why'd I do those things I did
I can taste it now, oh no, oh no-o'"
~ Cardiac Arrest by Bad Suns
XOXO,
Mrs-diAngelo25
