I woke up, laying right between both boys. Nico had fallen asleep during his watch, and lay right up against me, Percy on my other side, both facing me. My shirt was stained with blood, and I felt stiff and dizzy. I was still too weak to heal myself, leaving me weak and vulnerable. Percy stirred, rolling over, starting to snore loudly in my ear. I sighed. Boys. Sitting up slowly, I drop a branch into the dimming fire, igniting it once again. Both boys stir, opening their eyes to see the fire burning bright, me sitting by it's side. Percy and Nico get up, sitting down beside me.
" How are you feeling?" Percy asks, digging into the rest of yesterday's meal, his fingers smothered in grease. I shrugged.
" A little dizzy, but I guess I'm okay. I still haven't healed yet." I replied, roasting one of the rabbit legs over the fire. Percy frowned. Nico nudged me.
" You'll make it. You're past the danger now. Just take it easy, okay?"
I nodded, squeezing his arm. " I will." He reminded me of Damon, both caring and direct. Neither of them say what people want to hear. They speak the truth, seeing things for what they are. I sighed, biting my lip. I had to find him. I would do whatever it would take to bring him back. He was the only one who understood. If only we had dreams, we would be able to guess where he was. Annabeth too.
After breakfast, we walked out of the shelter of the woods, walking along dusty roads after shadow traveling with Nico. My wounds were slowly healing, turning into a thin scab after six hours, which was still slower than normal. Hopefully, I would be fully healed in two days at the most.
The hot wind stung my eyes, dust clouding my vision. Sweat soaked our clothing, running down our arms and faces. There was nothing around for miles except for dust, sand, and a few scraggly bushes here and there. Nico stumbled ahead of me, grabbing onto Percy for support, but then he went down hard on his stomach, nocking the wind out of him. Nico rolled off of Percy hastily, sitting up and coughing up mouthfuls of sand. Percy lay there coughing and choking, then sat up, breathing heavily.
" I...can't...go...any...further." Percy panted. Nico coughed again.
"Water, Percy... Water..." Nico rasped, clawing at the sand. I sat down and leaned against a rock, out of the wind, nodding for the boys to do the same. Soon, Percy had pulled enough water out of the plants nearby to quench our thirst, shortly replaced by hunger. By this time, it was dark out, and the wind died down, giving us cool air and a sweet breeze.
" Let's go." I stood up. The boys looked at me as if I was crazy. " If we wait till morning , we're never going to get anywhere." I put my hands on my hips, glaring at them. Nico shrugged. Percy sighed, both boys grabbing their bags and standing up.
" We can shadow travel. It's dark enough." Nico offered.
" Sure. " I replied, taking Nico's hand. Percy did the same And we were pulled into the shadows, surrounded in darkness.
We arrived at the entrance to Hades' realm this time. The entrance to the Underworld.
" You first, Nico?" I suggested. He nodded, stepping ahead. Percy brought up the rear, both boys surrounding me as we trudged along the dark passageway. You could smell death. Literally. The sour and musty smell came in gusts of air rushing towards us from the tunnel ahead. You would think that the air would be moving the other way, into the tunnel, but the Underworld was different. It was dangerous.
Nico kicked aside a large bone as we ventured deeper into the cavern, about the size of a human child. It was about four feet long and six inches wide, making me feel very uncomfortable. First of all, why was it there? Second, how could Nico kick it that far? Third, what or who did it belong to? I tried to get various gruesome images out of my my head as the slippery floor tilted downward. Ahead of me, Nico stopped, turning towards us.
" This is where it gets dangerous. We could shadow travel and risk attracting attention from monsters," I shivered. " Or we can go this way..." He gestured to a path about two feet across, needle-like stalagmites sticking up from the ground, only inches apart. Why was everything so difficult?