The Loss Of A Hero

Chapter Twenty-Four

Percy POV

After waiting for a half hour, bored out of our minds, the Doors to the Council room finally opened. We all stood up. "You ready for this?" I asked Chloe and Kairi.

"No, not really, but let's do this anyway," Chloe said. Kairi laughed gently.

We entered the room, and the Members of the Council looked at each other, then returned their attention to us. The Council member in the center cleared her throat, then began.

"Perseus, and friends, thank you for your patience. We discussed much while you were waiting. As to the matter of your friend Nico, I trust he is not likely to open himself up to the dark being again?"

I frowned. "Honestly, I don't think he'll be opening up to much of anything for a while, having his whole being invaded like it was seems to have scarred his mind, and traumatized him badly."

"I am sorry about that. However... As he was the one channeling the dark being, we may need to examine him, to probe his consciousness and see if we can find any traces that may aid in determining the nature and identity of the foul thing."

"What? No! As I just explained, his mind and spirit are very fragile at this time, he's not much more than a frightened rabbit! I apologize, but I cannot allow you to probe him until he has recovered sufficiently enough to offer it to you himself."

the Council member sighed. "Yes, we discussed this, too, and we assumed that you would respond like this." She paused a moment, then continued. "Perseus, I understand that you are caring for your friend, but it is the highest priority to determine who or what caused all of this, and if we wait, then any trace will surely fade, if it hasn't already.

"Now, we are aware that we are causing you stress, and so have elected to grant your request, if it is within our resources. We will have someone sent out within the hour to the main library to locate as much information as possible on the subject."

I folded my arms, thinking. Would it really help for them to probe Nico? Would Nico be fine, or would he freak out?

Thoughts spun through my head, and I was quiet for a while. A light hand on my arm brought my attention back to the room. "Are you alright?" Kairi asked.

I nodded. "Yeah, I am. Thanks." I looked back to the Council. "Before I agree to your request, at least let me talk to Nico, and see if I can gain his permission first."

"I believe that we can agree on this," the Council member said. "Go, then, and hurry, if you don't mind."

"Thank you." I nodded to Chloe and Kairi, and held out my hands. They each took one, and I reached into the shadows, sending us on our way to Camp Half Blood.

We stepped out of the shadows, emerging in my cabin. Annabeth, who was awake, whirled around, startled. "What..?! Oh, it's you."

I nodded. "Yup, just us." I let go of Chloe and Kairi's hands, and stretched, yawning. "Yeesh, shadow-traveling is harder than it used to be..." I sighed. "Ah, well, no use complaining."

"Where did you guys go?" Annabeth asked.

Chloe groaned. "Ugh, don't make me relive the memories just yet, I don't know if I can bear them..."

I looked at her. "You do know that we're going right back, don't you?"

"Aw, what?" She flopped down on the bunk she'd claimed as her own, burying her face in her pillow. "Maybe tomorrow," she said, the sound muffled.

I chuckled. "Fine." I started to walk out, when I called over my shoulder, "You know, this little group won't be quite so... balanced... without you."

I walked out, laughing, as Chloe uttered a string of muffled curses in Ancient Greek through the pillow, particularly about where exactly I could stick my balance, and my oversized sword, too.

Chloe and I walked together to the dark, somewhat eerie Hades cabin, where I knocked on the door. "Nico?" I called. After a few moments of silence, I slowly, quietly opened the door.

Nico was sitting inside, on the edge of his bed. He looked up, startled, for a moment, then relaxed somewhat when he recognized us.

"Hey, Nico, I was wondering if you could do me a favor," I said. "I have some friends, and they think that they might be able to help figure out what possessed you. They just have to examine you, a sort of probe, would that be alright?"

His eyes widened, and he shook his head. I sighed. "Nico, buddy, I'm sorry. I know it's hard for you. But we need your help if we're gonna figure it out. If we figure it out, we might be able to stop it from happening again."

Nico looked at me warily, then curled his knees up to his chest. "Eve," he whispered through his parched, slightly bruised lips.

"...Eve...?" I scratched the back of my head. "Is that a friend of yours?" Nico nodded. I thought for a moment. "Do you mean... You want her to come with you...?"

Nico nodded again, and I smiled. "Absolutely. Thanks, Nico. It means a lot to me. So... Where is Eve?"

Nico shook his head. "Right, okay..." I said.

A knock sounded on the door, which opened to reveal Chloe. "Thought you might like to know, the Eve you're looking for is in the forest. She's a nymph, she's the one whose life source is..." She trailed off when Nico started frantically shaking his head. "What...? ...Oh. Gotcha." She looked back at us. "Nico doesn't want me to share what her life source is, apparently it's a secret between them, but it's cool if I just say that she's not exactly connected to the earth, so she can go around wherever she likes. Anyway, want me to go find her for ya?"

I nodded. "That would be awesome, thanks."

White tendrils of Mist curled around Chloe, obscuring her from view, then she was gone. A minute or two later, the Mist rose again, clearing to reveal Chloe and another girl, who rushed over to Nico's side and hugged him gently. "Oh, Nico, are you alright?" She placed a hand on his back, and closed her eyes. Her hand glowed faintly with green light for a few moments, then faded. Nico's expression softened and relaxed.

"You guys ready to go?" I asked.

Nico nodded, and Chloe groaned. "Not there again! Oh, the formality!"

I chuckled. "Isn't it 'humanity'?"

She sighed. "Eh, whatever.. Let's get this over with."

We all joined hands, and I reached into the shadows, pulling us all through to the Council room.

End of chapter 24

Hey, guys, I am so sorry. I got put on an Internet ban for like, all of summer. I only just barely got some time to write this. I cannot apologize enough for leaving you all high and dry like that...

*sigh* anyway, so, bits of news and stuff.

I'm currently in a very stressful and rather depressing situation. I've been working hard to try and restore some trust and all that jazz with both sets of parents, in hopes of being allowed to be with my love again, but, well, my parents still hate the idea, I haven't heard a word from hers since I asked them about maybe trying again, back on the Fourth of July, when they said they'd talk and be in contact soon, oh, and she is, for almost the entire summer, on the other end of the country, looking at colleges with her brother, since it's our senior year coming up. Which means that my last summer as a minor... Will most likely not include any time spent with the one I want to see most. I am still kickin myself for not asking her parents, during the Fourth, the last time I saw them, if I could just say hi, and give her a hug. Because what hurts most about the whole thing is that I'm not allowed to talk to her, her dads orders. So I just keep sitting here, waiting, and feeling rather suckish.

Bleh.. Sorry about that load of depression I just handed you. Moving on!

It's very difficult for me to write, having been out of the loop so long, so go ahead and give me any critique you got. I'd love to receive your feedback, since I've kind of lost track of where the story is going after not writing for so long!

Anyway, I gotta close up for now, so, I hope to write again soon! Read and Review!

-Ben