XL

Nico

(A/N: Hello, and welcome to the first chapter in this story that is also a shirt size! I hope you like it! If not, tell me why. If you do, tell me why too! Also, I did say that the next Nico chapter will be the finale. So there's that to look forward to. So yeah! Enjoy.)

Nico woke up tied to a chair. He had no idea what had happened, and he most definitely had no idea what was going on. It was pitch black- he couldn't see anything. In the distance, he could hear voices and the occasional glint of celestial bronze.

The voices were hushed, and rather excited.

"Did we get the boy?" this voice was very feminine, but it also crackled like a loudspeaker.

"Yes, we did." This one sounded more like a human being- a male. It seemed. "What do you think we should do to him, Leucophyre?"

"I'd say kill him." The feminine voice replied. "Actaeon?"

A booming voice replied, "I'd rather keep him alive, and kill him at the final minute. I mean, it's not like he knows where he is. Cragaleus, your pick."

"I mean, I support both of your causes," the person who sounded like a normal human said nervously. He must have been Cragaleus, and it seemed like he didn't want to get between these two arguing people. Siding with one would mean rejecting the other. "I stand firmly in the middle. I don't really care, and besides, the Earth Mother needs him for the sacrifice."

"How about the girl?" Actaeon asked. "We don't have a girl yet."

"Don't worry." Cragaleus replied. "The Earth Mother has her ways. At this moment, they are chasing the sands across the plain. Soon, they will get to Lisbon-" he suddenly stopped, as if somebody had put a hand over his mouth.

"You idiot!" Leucophyre screeched in her hag-like voice. "The boy is already awake. You have just revealed where he is! Have a thousand years as a rock addled your mind? He's probably trying to escape right now! Turn on the lights!"

Nico had indeed been trying to escape, but failing very well. His shackles had turned out to be celestial bronze, his chair was actually magnetic, and he had a giant piece of metal stuck to his back. He couldn't get out.

Leucophyre, who turned out to be a middle-aged woman wearing a biker suit, stalked out of the darkness. "Well, well, di Angelo, I see you're having a swell time in that chair. As you are probably wondering, yes, we are keeping you here for the purpose of awakening the Earth Mother. Of course, we have a very specific date to adhere to, so this will be your prison until then."

Nico had not been wondering about that; he had been looking at the giant domed room. His 'prison' was a giant, white, steel dome made of meter- wide panels. It was probably about fifty feet tall and very sparse- the floor was pure white, and apart from his chair and the locks, there wasn't anything else in the room. He tried shadow travelling, but failed miserably. Was it the chains, or was he too tired? Perhaps it was something else. He didn't know and didn't care.

"If this is my prison, then why lock me up in chains? Why bother?" Nico asked them.

"To prevent you from escaping, of course." Actaeon stepped out from the shadows. He was big and buff-in both senses of the word. "The shackles have a special enchantment on them that prevents shadow-travelling."

Cragaleus stepped out as well. He turned out to be thin and scrawny, with messy, spiked hair. "Oh, and we made sure that there were no shadows for you to jump into this time. The lights have been angled in that way."

All this time, Nico was thinking of a way to get out. But without a way to shadow-travel, it was hopeless. In order to escape, he would have to first get out of the chair.

Leucophyre turned towards the Actaeon and Cragaleus, and began talking in hushed voices. Suddenly, Cragaleus turned and faced him with his back, and began swinging something shiny in his hand.

At first, Nico didn't pay attention to it. Then he realized what it was.

It was a celestial bronze link.

He couldn't really make sense of it. How could Cragaleus be on the Gods' side? Then he remembered how he had 'accidentally' said where they were.

Lisbon. That meant that they were on the edge of the Pacific, just one giant sea away from home. He immediately looked at the links binding him. There! He saw a carabineer disguised as a chain, near his left wrist. He struggled to grab it, and he unclipped it with ease. Immediately, the magnet dropped off him, the chains came off, and he sprinted away from the three people. Leucophyre cried out, and ran towards him. Actaeon raised a giant axe. Nico split open the ground at his feet, creating a shadow in the room. He jumped.

As he fell into the darkness, the last thing he saw was Cragaleus getting beat up by the other two people.

He woke up in a dream. He didn't exactly like dreams, because they usually were prophetical, or had some sort of warning in them. He found himself in a giant garden, and lo and behold, Eusebeia was walking towards him. This time, she wore a long black gown. Her hair had turned darker as well. "Nico di Angelo." She said, and her voice was stern, yet gentle. "Your moment of testing draws ever nearer. You must prepare yourself. For when it happens, you will have to accept the truth, and only the truth. You will have to clear your head of any doubts. It will be hard, but it will determine the fate of this quest."

Nico still found it kind of weird. "What, is a giant mouth going to come out of me and create a giant sound wave or something? And besides that, where are my friends now?"

Eusebeia's eyes flared.

"In Lisbon." She muttered. "I cannot tell you exactly where. As for your test, there is no way to prepare. You must accept the truth, I cannot stress this enough. And by the way," she added, "it is time for you to wake up."

Nico's vision flashed, and he woke up on a beach. The sun shone brightly on him. Sand dug into his shoes. He hated beaches.

Nico thought of Reyna, and he blushed. He pushed the image away, and instead thought of the two camps' battle. A wave of determination coursed through him, and he ran towards the city.