I'm sorry for the delay, again. I'm becoming lazy, to be honest. And I'm trying to juggle too many things at once. I will try to post the next chapter quicker. xx
NICO:
According to him, the fighting started a little disorganized. That's how things went wrong and Nico ended up in the pool.
As soon as the sky rumbled and Jason charged at Original Jason with his gladius in hand, Percy charged the guard who was holding Nico.
So obviously, the guard just threw Nico into the pool.
He splashed into the water, his heart beating furiously against his ribs. He didn't know what to do, so he stayed very still. He didn't have the faintest idea about swimming. His long hair floated around him as he held his breath in. He was sinking.
He couldn't hear anything that was going on outside. Pressure built up. He strained to keep his eyes open but the chlorine made his eyes sting.
The pool wasn't very deep. It was about four times Nico's height in the deepest part.
He wanted to struggle, he wanted to fight back to the surface, out of the pool and help his friends. But his body refused to rise up.
Just then, there was a disturbance in the water and Nico saw a dark shape swimming towards him. A sword glittered in his hand.
"Percy", he said but only bubbles came out. He didn't know if Percy had heard him.
The son of Poseidon wrapped his free arm around Nico's waist and kicked the water, slowly rising towards the surface. Nico clung to him for his life. For a fleeting second he had this urge to fight Percy. To resist his help. But he didn't.
But he didn't copy the paddling movements Percy was making either.
They broke to the surface and found Jason fighting all the four guards and Original Jason. "If your little swim date is over, can you please HELP ME?!", Jason snapped at them.
Percy quickly got to drowning the guards and fighting with them but they were very fast and too strong.
Nico rolled between the legs of one of the guards and grabbed his sword.
"Spartoi", he heard Percy yell, "These are spartoi"
Spartoi. The name registered in Nico's head. He was dripping wet but he knew he had to help the other two.
Warriors of Ares, born from a tooth or something?
The thing, basically, was that they were going to kill them. So it didn't matter who they were. What mattered was that how they were supposed to kill them.
Nico felt a bony hand around his neck and he struggled to loosen the grip that was choking him.
He swung his sword over his head and heard a sickening crack. The grip loosened and he stumbled away. He turned to face the Spartoi whose skull he had just vertically cracked.
His throat burned as he took a deep breath. There had been too much air shortage in too little time.
He charged at the Spartoi guard and stabbed him in the chest. His sword stuck out of the guard horribly. His form flickered and a grey skeleton stood there. Then the guard was back.
He was plucking Nico's sword from his chest when another one came running at Nico. Weaponless, Nico did the only thing he could. He willed the ground to open up, forming a tunnel to the underworld and the second guard fell down the crack. The ground closed up like nothing had happened.
But Nico was already feeling slightly weak. He hadn't recovered quite so well as he had hoped. His heas felt a little dizzy. He tried to avoid opening the ground up generally as it took too much energy (for a weakling like you, said a snide voice inside his head).
The first Spartoi plucked his sword out of his chest and threw it away. Another of its brothers seemed to be walking slowly towards him, wary of Nico.
Just then a shout came from the other said and Nico turned.
Jason was flying and Original Jason was struggling to levitate while balancing a similar gladius in his hand. That was the only reason Jason had the upper hand. Quite literally.
"I learnt a lot, when I was with Medea. Some of her tricks were fairly easy to pick up, for someone as smart as me", Original Jason said casually while Jason just snorted.
Nico knew he was just trying to look casual, as if this was nothing, but he knew that Jason was running out of ideas.
Percy was fighting two of the guards while a third lay at his feet, beheaded.
"BEHEAD THEM", Percy bellowed over the storm that Jason seemed to be cooking up.
Percy himself was surrounded by a wall of swirling water which was acting like a shield.
Nico turned and with a swift movement of his wrist he hacked the head of the first Spartoi, so suddenly, that the other spartoi couldn't even react. In a rage it ran at Nico with its arms outstretched but Nico just jumped to the side at the last moment.
The spartoi slipped and fell into the pool.
Nico couldn't explain why he did what he did next. It didn't make much sense at that time, but later he realized it was crucial.
He jumped towards where Percy was fighting at that exact instant, Percy jumped towards the pool, grabbing one of the spartoi with a watery hand, made from the pool water.
Nico parried with the remaining Spartoi as Percy crushed the two spartois in the pool with his water hands. The spartoi Nico had been fighting fell to the floor as Nico swung his sword on his neck. The head fell off and turned to dust, along with his body.
Nico wondered what the attack power of Spartoi was, in Mythomagic ,because they seemed quite stupid right now.
Or maybe it had something to do with their batshit crazy master.
Realizing that he was drifting away, Nico brought his mind back to whatever was happening.
He turned to Percy to find him on the floor, wincing.
He rushed to him and realized he was struggling to get up but he couldn't something was holding him to the floor but Nico had no idea what that was.
He looked up to where Jason and Original Jason were fighting.
Now that Original Jason was comfortable levitating himself, he was fighting Jason with easy flicks of his wrist.
But his eyes seemed to be fixated on Percy.
Explanations rushed through Nico's mind.
Original Jason had mentioned learning tricks from Medea, his sorceress wife, hadn't he? He was using magic now, levitating himself. So that's how he had gotten their car to drive up here straight. He could have many other tricks up his sleeve but Nico doubted magic was that easy for a mortal, even if he was a centuries old Greek hero. (Though not so much now)
And where was the pretty woman in the blue dress?
He willed himself to concentrate, gritting his teeth. Percy. He was being held to the floor, unable to get up. Since Nico couldn't spot something physically wrong with him, Original Jason had to be doing something to keep Percy on the floor so he wouldn't be able to help Jason. Nico wouldn't be able to help them anyway because they were in the air.
Since Original Jason wasn't moving his eyes from Percy, Nico couldn't only guess that his gaze had something to do with Percy's immobilization.
Nico felt helpless. Jason didn't seem to get anywhere near beating Original Jason and Percy was on the floor wriggling to get up, to control the water to drown Original Jason or choke him or something. And here he was, standing helplessly.
"Jason!", he screamed and Jason looked down, barely missing a blow from Original Jason.
"I'm a little busy here, Nico", Jason yelled.
"Jason, your father!", he shouted as loud as he could, hoping, Jason would take the hint.
Luckily, he did.
Jason called a bolt of lightning and slammed it into Original Jason, who was too stunned to come up with something to defend himself against the lightning.
Many things happened just as the lightning struck Original Jason.
It should've killed him but it didn't. He screamed as he came hurtling towards the ground. He crashed into the pool side table.
Percy was able to move again and he jumped to his feet with renewed vigour.
Jason came flying down like some god.
The woman in the blue dress came back, still smiling, holding a gun pointed towards Jason.
"Are you serious?", Percy groaned when he saw her.
Original Jason grinned. "Modern technology", he sighed, "Isn't it one of the best things ever?"
"Oh, I forgot to introduce her to you didn't I?", Original Jason said politely, "This is my girlfriend, Janine. She was a mortal stuck in the underworld due to her untimely death", he smiled at her but it didn't seem genuine, "She had connections to all kinds of people up here, so she chose to come back with me"
"I will kill you if you move. All of you", Janine said, still smiling.
Original Jason clicked his tongue, "Janine, honey, I want you to spare the dark little one. He seems...", the pause was creepy, "useful"
A shiver went down Nico's spine. He didn't like Original Jason's tone.
To everyone's surprise, Jason laughed. He hooted and shook his head, grinning. "Jason", he said icily, "Ro you not know how a gun works?"
Original Jason looked blank for a second before regaining his composure.
"Okay, let's not get into that", Jason replied still grinning. "Basically, if you shoot at any of us, I can redirect the bullet. I control air, remember?"
Nico saw his chance and stepped up, "And since you two basically belong in the underworld, which happens to be my father's kingdom, I can very easily send you right back". Or at least he hoped he could.
"And all I can do is wriggle on the floor", Percy muttered but only Nico and Jason heard him.
"Nico", said Original Jason silkily, "I was hoping you'd join us"
His emerald green eyes sparkled fiercely.
But Nico preferred sea green eyes.
"Look, you both are supposed to be mortals", said Percy uncomfortably, "But Jason definitely isn't, due to some wicked sorcery. So it would be bad to kill you both so you'd better return to the underworld without any more stupid struggles or delays."
Nico's heart fluttered unreasonably.
He cleared his throat and opened up a narrow staircase to the underworld. It was more than these wretches deserved anyway.
"Go", Nico said as sharply as he could, "I can't hold it for long"
"I WOULD NEVER!", roared Original Jason suddenly.
Jason sighed and flicked his hand and Original Jason went flying into the hole of the staircase and he could be heard tumbling down the stairs to the underworld, cursing.
"I don't do that to ladies, even if they do point their guns at me", Jason said not impolitely.
The woman sniffed and tossed her gun aside and walked down the stairs complaining about spider webs and dirt on her dress.
As soon as her blond hair was vanished from view, Nico closed the tunnel and collapsed.
Maybe it was time for his nap.
"Are you okay?", Percy was kneeling beside him while Jason cocked his head to study Nico. "You seem fine, let's go"
"Maybe we should rest here, one night?", Percy suggested.
Jason sighed dramatically, "I'll go check out the house. You get the kid in"
The voices were getting fainter and Nico felt strong arms pick him up. He was too tired to feel embarrassed.
Instead he found himself remembering the time Percy had carried him out of his father's dungeon. With great power, comes a great need to take a nap. Had he really been that silly?
Smiling at that thought, he fell into a deep sleep, full of dreams he would avoid if he could.