A/N: Warning of Self-harm. Please comment review favorite follow, whatever you feel like. It's just nice to know that others enjoy my writing and gives me motivation to continue. Since you have all been so patient for my updates I have written an extra-long chapter over 2,500 words. I really love my fans so please PM if you would like to chat. Shout out to my friends TsukinArchangel and AthenaBoy, as well as a couple of my favorite authors XtheSonofhadesX, Hitome-chan, KekuleSalvador and Bragi151. It is in part, because of you guys I have the inspiration to write the stories that are usually locked in my head. If you haven't read their stories, you should. They are amazing. Thank you all for putting up with my slow updates and my journey to better my writing. Without further ado I hope you enjoy Chapter 14!
Nick's POV
I sat on a stone bench in my mother's realm, where she was I had no clue. Gods and Goddesses never informed mere mortals of their plans. I held a small pocket knife in my hand as I stared at the cavern around me. Space. It was such a cold and beautiful place. Devoid of life, yet bright in a way no other place can be. Stars sparkled and glinted like diamonds in the ether.
I knew my life couldn't be good for long, that happiness was always short lived. Even when I was in the mental institution my time with Dylan hadn't lasted long before Nyx had pulled me into this life. This nightmare of Gods and demons, monsters and unrequited love for a boy who had saved my life. Tears blurred my vision and my breathing became erratic. The pain had returned. It always felt the same as if I had a knife being stabbed in my stomach and the palms of my hands simultaneously. Only one thing could stop the pain.
I dragged the knife along my forearm. I hissed and my vision cleared. I could see again. The invisible knives that tortured me had eased, I breathed freely, entranced by the line of red on my coffee colored skin. I tried to tell myself that if Nico wanted Percy than I hope they were happy together. However, I knew I was lying to myself. I needed Nico as much as I needed oxygen. As much as Earth needed the sun of the moon lest it fall into Chaos of uncertain origin. I needed him like a junkie needs a fix. I had to win Nico over. I just had to.
I dragged the knife across my wrist this time and sighed in relief. Stowing my knife away, I pushed my hoodie down covering my cuts I had just inflicted. There was a quest to complete, a mission to accomplish and a boy I had to make fall in love with me. I couldn't survive without Nico. I had to impress him. But how?
I stood up walking out of the cavern that I visited frequently to think. The cavern was laced with primordial energy making it possible to shadow travel there without tiring the travelers. I began walking down the stone steps and back into the Underworld, making my way for Hades Palace. On my way, I saw my mother's temple grand and large, but as much as the God of the Underworld. It stood majestically like a black and white Taj Mahal. The black was the stone readily found in the Underworld, the white were my mother's favorite jewel, diamonds, of course. Ironically it was also my birthstone being born in the month of April.
That's when I had a stroke of brilliance. I could impress Nico, by hurrying the quest along. I would not only acquire the Stars of Night, I would steal them. It wasn't so ludicrous after all. My mother often tasked me to steal mortal artifacts from various museums around the world. She had trained to me to do just that. I often found my mother's interest in modern high-tech gear strange. Wasn't she an Ancient Goddess?
I altered my course climbing the many steps up to the temple. Two male vampires stood guard on either side of the entrance. Their skin was incredibly pale from never seeing sunlight and they were dressed in black leather complete with automatic pistols and sub-machine guns strapped to their sides. It always unnerved me how this part of the Underworld could have simply been a part of the world above. The way they dressed always seemed cliché to me. Like something out of the Matrix or Blade movies. Dylan and I always loved those movies. Don't think about Dylan! I scolded myself.
The vampires simply nodded as I walked into the entrance hall. The same majestic exterior was reflected on the inside. A gold chandelier hung from the ceiling a pale glow from the candles dancing along the walls. The shadows stretching almost unnaturally. There was an arched doorway on either side. I normally took the door on the right to reach my mother's throne room. This time I took the door on the left.
I was greeted by, what appeared to be, a modern museum. Artifacts and modern human weaponry lined the walls in glass display cases and odd exhibits. Tablets of ancient languages and guns of modern origin surrounded me. Many of these pieces I had acquired on my mother's orders. Sometimes I wondered if Hermes was really the God of thieves. I made my way to the opposite end of the room where an actual door stood. It was gilded in gold and silver in a crisscrossing pattern. A lone female vampire stood guard in front of the door.
I remember when I first came to my mother's realm. I had commented on how I had always believed vampires were a myth. She had chuckled in her haunting way and told me a story of the cruelty and kindness of the Gods. Long ago, Apollo in a fit of rage cursed Ambrogio so that his skin would burn should it ever touch sunlight again. He was an Italian-born adventurer whose fate brought to Delphi, in Greece. He ended up gambling away his soul to Hades and as his bad luck would have it Artemis made it so that Ambrogio's skin would burn if he touched silver. The kindness came soon after when Artemis, taking pity on the poor young man, gave him the gift of immortality. But immortality came at a price: blood would be his sustenance. She also blessed him with strength and speed only second to her own. Thus, the first hunter of the night was then created.
Ambrogio was my mother's second in command and these were his kin. Although his kin did not share his immortality they possess all of the other talents and curses that made up the iconic vampire. As I walked closer to the woman with incredibly pale skin, she realized I was heading towards the door. Beyond lay my mother's most prized possessions including the Stars of Night. She reached for her 9mm and I grabbed her wrist twisting with all my might. I heard her wrist snap as her gun clattered to the marble floor. I kneed her in the gut, her breath escaping with a gasp. Her blonde hair fell into her face and before she had a chance to recover I snapped her neck in one quick motion.
I quickly collected her pistol and checked to see the safety was indeed off. It was. I deftly checked the gun was loaded, a full clip of silver bullets. Ambrogio insisted just in case his vampires ever turned on him they were more easily killed. Her neck and spine were just beginning to regenerate so I did not have much time. I pulled to black beanie off my head and muffled the barrel of the gun aiming at her forehead. "Sorry." I whispered. Her eyes met mine terror being the prevailing emotion for her at this point. I pulled the trigger and she disintegrated in ash. I kept the gun and quickly opened then shut the door.
I looked around and as I expected the Stars were on a stone pedestal in the center of the room. There were only a few artifacts in here and most of them were on shelves along the wall. My mother was a bit obsessed with the new technology the mortals had created over the years. I assumed that this roomed had all the stops in security. She most likely had trip lasers, and pressure plates everywhere. There would be a mix of old and new. Traps that would likely explode or gas would flood the room, but at the same time hellhounds might be released from hidden compartments in the walls.
I had to approach this like some of the more paranoid museums I had broken into. Nyx, however smart, had one weakness. The occult, rituals, and symbolism. She most likely had the lasers in a symbol and the pressure plates in a pattern. The lasers while easy to guess as a pentagram, with the stone pedestal in the center the pressure plates I would need to keep an eye out for. I tried to imagine the pentagram in my mind's eye. If it were one of the mortals museum's I would guess the place had two sets of lasers, one high and one low. She most likely had only one, low to the ground. Gods were always over confident. Look at Hades. He probably expected either Percy or I to die and Nico would be safe. Then again, maybe Hades was smarter than I gave him credit for. I took one more look around the room, looking for any clues or traps. Cameras! I spotted one in each of the four corners. I raised the gun, looking down the sights and breathing deeply as I had been trained to do. Ambrogio had taught me on days my mother was too busy. He, like my mother, had eons to perfect his skills, I quickly squeezed off four shots, destroying the cameras. I had only three bullets left.
I went back to imagining the laser in my mind's eye and stepped over the places I believed they lie. When I got to the center I let out a nervous breath. If the alarm sounded. Well, I wasn't going to think about that right now. I moved forward cautiously. My eyes glued to the ground making sure to avoid any parts of the grey stone floor that looked different than the rest. Once I was only a couple feet from the stone pedestal with the Stars of Night I relaxed. I took a moment to assess what the Stars actually were. It was a small globe that was black obsidian with a map of the stars and constellations etched into the stone with what appeared to be gold or some similar metal. I had no idea why this was so important to the Camp's survival, but I wouldn't question it now.
I picked up the black orb wonderingly. Immediately, an alarm began blaring and red lights flashed everywhere. "Shit." I said preparing to run. I held the gun out in front of me and made my way back the way I came. Unfortunately, my mother had protections in place that made shadow traveling impossible within these walls. I would need to get outside first, then find Percy and Nico. Come to think of it they were probably heading back to Hades Palace right now. I ran for the door ignoring the invisible lasers I had painstakingly avoided the first time. Th alarms had been set off, things weren't going to get worse. My mother was good.
As I came close to the door I used my mind to blow it off its hinges. In a stroke of luck I had knocked a vampire into a display case with that little move. I didn't stop to see what became of her. I tore back through the entrance hall the two guards from outside sweeping the area sub-machine guns at the ready. They spotted me and then the black orb in my hand. Recognition, confusion and a grim determination flashed across their features in seconds before they opened fire. I quickly took cover around the corner of the open doorway. Bullets hit the stone wall deafeningly. I peeked around the corner and quickly pulled back bullets whizzing by. If I had been a second slower my head would be a splattered mess. I waited until the bullets ceased and looked again. One vampire was making his way towards me and the doorway the other was beneath the chandelier. I used my mind to yank the chandelier down and the other vampire turned at the sound of his comrade being impaled. I quickly fell the demon with a bullet from the gun and threw it aside as I raced into the entrance hall, and down the stairs. Two more vampires rushed out of the throne room, guns trained on me. My heart was pounding in my ears. Terror flooded my veins. Bullets whizzed by my head and shoulders. I felt a searing pain on my upper arm, my white hoodie torn. As soon as my feet hit the dirt of the Underworld I shadow traveled, concentrating on the Gates of Hades.
The shadows deposited me right outside the gates of Hades. Now that the adrenaline had worn off my shoulder hurt like a white hot branding iron being seared into my flesh. I groaned and clutched my right tricep. The Stars of Night fell into the dirt at my feet. That was when I felt the blood, thankfully the bullet had only grazed my upper arm.
"Nick!" I heard Nico's voice. He sounded worried. I turned and saw him running up the path with Percy in tow. "Oh my gods, you're hurt."
"I'm fine, Nico, it's just a scratch." I said fighting the urge to embrace him. Apparently he felt the same as he came close and then pulled away, probably thinking it better not to after all that had taken place. Instead Nico tore open my shirt hoodie further and inspected my wound.
"This is not a sword wound." Nico replied suspiciously. "What happened to you? And what is this?" He said pick up the black globe that had fallen to the ground. I kept things very vague and simply said it was the Stars of Night. I had my suspicions that Hades had already heard of the break in. The Underworld was his realm after all. I was quite sure however he had no idea who it was.
"That still doesn't explain this wound." Nico said hotly.
I smirked at him and said in a mocking voice that I hoped sounded more amused than cruel, "I'm so glad you care." Nico blushed, red tinging his pale ivory skin.
"Of course I do, you know I do." Nico whispered, embarrassed.
"Do I?" I asked him quietly. "Turn around." I said more confidently. He did, but hesitantly. I unzipped his backpack and shoved the Stars of Night inside before closing it back up.
"Before we go in there," Percy began and Nico as well as I spun around and glared at him. Was Nico mad at him too? "I didn't mean to kiss you back there Nico, I-I got caught up in my own thoughts, but I love Annabeth, and I'm pretty sure Nick loves you."
Before Nico had a chance to respond I walked forward and punched Percy in the jaw. He promptly fell on his ass.
"Now is not the time for this Fish boy." I said quite cruelly. "And my love for Nico is none of your business." I added icily.
Percy blinked up at Nico and I. Suddenly, I could feel Nico's hand resting gently, comfortingly on my wrist. I struggled not to show the pain from my cutting earlier.
"Sorry, Perce, but if Nick hadn't punched you I would have. You shouldn't be toying with someone's feelings, especially mine, especially when I've been crushing on my best friend for years." Nico said trying to keep calm. "At any rate Nick is right we have a quest to complete."
Percy stood up rubbing his jaw and nodded seemingly at a loss for words. I felt Nico's hand leave my wrist and he moved forward pushing open the gates.
"It's time to see my father, get the Scales of Justice and get back to camp." Nico said leading the way to his father's throne room.
As we entered the throne room, Ambrogio was speaking to Hades, who appeared to be quite angry. Maybe pissed off would be a better term.
"WHAT do you mean, you had a break in?!" Hades spit at him. To Ambrogio's credit he didn't even flinch.
"Someone stole the Stars of Night, right from under my guards' noses. Three were killed in the struggle." Ambrogio replied calmly and professionally.
"Do we know who it was?" Hades asked seemingly regaining his composure.
"My guards have an idea who the perpetrator was, but it makes no sense." Ambrogio said apparently not willing to implicate who he believed it was.
"Who?!" Hades spat again his eyes blazing with anger.
"I would rather not speculate until further evidence comes to light." Ambrogio said straightening his purple tie, which offset his black suit quite nicely. "Now if you will excuse me Lord Hades, I have plenty of business to attend to." Without waiting for a reply Ambrogio walked out passing us on the way. Our eyes met and he nodded to me. He was friendly enough, so maybe he suspected it was me. But he didn't seem to care. "Good day, Nick" he said as soon as he passed me. "It's nice to see you again, don't forget to visit me, it has been a while hasn't it?"
Nico looked at me questioningly while he mouthed, You STOLE the Stars of Night?
I nodded.
And they didn't know it was you? He mouthed again.
I smirked whilst shaking my head. He chuckled.
Percy glanced at our exchanged questioningly, but we had already arrived in Hades presence.
"Well, you and Jackson survived after all." Hades said with grudging respect.
"Of course we did no thanks to you. We want the Scales of Justice." I said.
"Please, Father." Nico added shooting me a look of warning.
"Of course. I have already sent word the Judges of the Dead will be quite ready to hear your case." Hades said smiling widely and on him it looked quite distiurbing.
"What case?" Percy asked suspiciously.
"Oh." Hades said innocently. "Didn't I say before?" He laughed cruelly. "They are willing to hear your predicament and if they deem you truly need the Scales of Justice, then and only then will they be released into Nico's custody." "Good luck though, no mortal has ever possessed the Scales of Justice and the Judges of the Dead are quite…protective of the one and only possession they received from Themis."
"Did you say Thesis?" Percy asked confused.
"Themis." I corrected. "The titan Goddess of Divine Law."
"Oh." Percy said scratching his head. "Trying to keep all these gods and goddess straight give me a headache."
Nico chuckled. "Of course it does, Seaweed brain, you don't have much space of up there."
"Hey!" Percy said obviously offended. "Let's just go convince these guys we need the Scales to save the camp."
"I don't know…" I say cautiously. "If what Hades says is true, they won't be very willing to part ways with it, even for a while."
Hades smirked cruelly, he was definitely good at that. It was creeping me out and I had seen a lot of creepy stuff.
"Your right about that son of Nyx." Hades replied.
Nico glanced at his father. "Let's make our plan on the way." He said.
Did he not trust Hades? Well who would? I mean honestly.
"Sounds like a plan." I say turning on my heel and walking out. Maybe we should just steal the scales, if they wouldn't give them up. On the other hand security might be even tighter in the Underworld since I had stolen the Stars. On the bright side Nico had definitely seemed impressed by my skill.
Nico was right behind me, Percy? I didn't really care. He had got on my bad side by kissing Nico and before this was all over he and I would have a little chat. I was not an enemy you wanted to have. And Percy just went to the top of my list. All the progress I had made with Nico was seemingly washed away with just one kiss from Percy Jackson. Sure he was attractive and he had saved the world from Kronos. He survived Tarturus with Annabeth, but he hadn't defeated the Earth Goddess or the Titan's at least not yet. I had heard the Romans were coming to Camp Half-blood to begin a war, but they had just disappeared en route. I suspected the Gods and the Mist, but no one knew for sure. The Earth Goddess, Gaia, had appeared to have halted her war for reasons unknown, but it had kept everyone on edge. With the threat of civil war as well, Camp was a pretty grim place these days. All of my knowledge was second hand from Nico. I knew he didn't spend much time at camp and I had just arrived so I had to take his word for it, not that I didn't trust him, I trusted Nico with my life. Percy...well he was a different story.
Sure he was a great demigod and maybe even a good friend, but Percy didn't have anything I didn't have.
That's not true, he has good looks, he's known Nico longer, he's Nico's first crush and he has confidence and happiness in a way you will never have. God's I was screwed.
