Hey, gang! Man, I'm getting too close to what I've got written... Gotta pick up the pace, haha.

Anyway, thanks bunches for all the reviews! (And extra thanks to those of you who wished me a Happy Birthday, haha. I had a great birthday, if anybody's wondering. Hung out at home and played Final Fantasy XII pretty much all day XD ) Glad to hear most of you are looking forward to the next Percy set - but try to enjoy this Nico set, okay? I promise it's a good one, haha.

Thanks, everybody! Enjoy!

XLVI
NICO

Nico knew wars between gods were dangerous. Gods were living personifications of nature itself. They were the air you breathe, the water you drink, even the emotions you feel. But knowing and witnessing are two totally different things, and no amount of theoretical knowledge could have prepared him for the battle that began on Mount Olympus that night.

'Dangerous' didn't even begin to describe it. It was chaos—all-encompassing madness that struck the Olympian castle like a bolt of lightning and threw everything into a frenzy. Nico couldn't even tell who struck first. All he knew was that one second he and the others were standing in the throne room, watching the Olympian gods stare Erebos down threateningly, and the next there was a gust of wind, a flash of blinding light, a blaze of heat, and suddenly it was like the gigantic throne room had erupted around them, filled with every natural disaster that was known to man and possibly a few that weren't.

Throwing both arms over his head, Nico dropped to his knees to avoid being forced off his feet by the howling wind. He heard shouting all around him and saw flashes of movement, but couldn't have followed the abrupt battle no matter how hard he tried. But at the moment, following it wasn't quite as important in his mind as escaping it. This was very clearly no place for demigods, and he and his friends would probably find it in their best interests to make themselves scarce before they got caught in the crossfire.

Gritting his teeth, Nico lowered his arms and looked around, trying to take in as much of his surroundings as he could. He was careful not to focus too long in the direction of the gods in case any of them had gotten carried away and assumed their true immortal form. A heavy rain had started to fall in the throne room, making it especially difficult to see. A few feet in front of him, he could make out the form of Frank lying on his stomach with both hands over his head. To his right, Jason had made his way to Erebos's throne and was crouching beside Percy and Annabeth. Leo was nowhere in sight.

With difficulty, Nico got to his feet and staggered over to Jason and the others. "We have to get out of here!" he shouted over the wind when he was within earshot, leaning a hand against the throne for stability.

"I know!" Jason called back. He shook rainwater out of his eyes, but it was replaced almost instantly. "But how? They're blocking the door! And I don't think we want to get close—YAAGH!" He scrambled backward and slipped on the wet marble floor as a stray bolt of lightning struck the glass of Erebos's throne right where his head had been a second before. He scowled and climbed shakily back to his feet.

Nico looked around, the wind whipping his hair across his face, and tried to work out another exit. Before he could come up with a plan, he heard a yell from somewhere behind him and something solid collided with his back, knocking him forcefully and painfully to the ground. He twisted around with an annoyed groan to find Leo grimacing and pulling himself up from the floor. Nico glared at him.

"Don't look at me," Leo insisted. He sat up and turned sideways just as the god Hephaestus approached behind him, brushing his hands together and looking highly displeased. Although, Nico realized, that may have just been his normal face.

"You kids leave Erebos to us," Hephaestus said in his gruff, booming voice. "We need you in the city. His army's wreakin' all kinds o' havoc."

"How are we supposed to get out of here?" Leo called back over the racket. Hephaestus frowned, glancing toward the door they couldn't see through the torrent of wind and rain. Then he shrugged and reached suddenly toward the chamber's east wall, throwing a small orb of bright orange fire the size of a baseball. Nico wasn't sure how that would help them, but evidently the god's fire packed a punch, because when that little orb hit the wall it exploded so brilliantly that it blasted a twelve-foot hole right through the stone.

"I-Is that okay?" Frank, who Nico noticed had stumbled over and joined the meeting, stuttered in surprise.

Hephaestus shrugged again. "Eh, I gotta rebuild this whole dang city anyway. Now get goin', all o' ya. And kids… Thanks. For settin' us free." His eyes seemed to twinkle for the briefest of moments as he looked them all over, pausing a second longer on Leo, before he turned around and disappeared again into the storm.

"Well, you heard the man," Leo said to the rest of them. "Let's get out of here!"

As Leo and Nico stood, Jason crouched down and grabbed one of Percy's arms (both of which had been freed of the shadows binding them when the rain had started to fall), hanging it around his shoulders and pulling him to his feet. Percy grimaced and leaned on Jason, still looking tired and in pain. Annabeth shot a stony look over her shoulder before leading the way out of the throne room through the brand-new gaping hole in the wall. Together they ran across the courtyard, and Nico noticed with an inward groan that the storm was beginning to spread. Rain was pouring outside as well, even though they were well above the clouds, and the trees in the courtyard were nearly bent double from the gusting wind. Nico gritted his teeth as they ran, gripping his sword so tightly that his fingers turned numb in an effort to keep it from flying out of his hand.

They skidded to a halt at the top of the steps and looked down into the city, but through the wind, rain, and darkness seeing clearly was impossible. They could hear shouting and metallic clanging, the sounds of battles going on all over the mountainside. It was clear that Erebos's army was out in full swing, and it was down to their camp to stop it.

"We should split up," Annabeth suggested seriously. "Most of the others should be here by now. They need to know what's going on."

"Can you walk?" Jason asked Percy as the latter pulled away from the former.

Percy pulled Riptide from his pocket and shot a glance over his shoulder toward the palace. "I'll be fine as soon as I get some distance between me and Erebos."

"What's going on with you, anyway?" Nico asked him.

"Not a lot of time to explain. Long story short, I'm infected by his darkness 'cause I didn't die during the eclipse. He wants to kill me under the weird moon tonight to finish Nyx's spell and make himself more powerful."

"Oh, if that's all," Leo said sarcastically.

"And you were gonna let him?" Annabeth demanded.

Percy held up his hands. "Hey, it was that or watch him kill you guys. I was just trying to—"

"Guys, this can wait, okay?" Jason interrupted. "The gods need our help. You said it, Annabeth—let's split up and get down there."

Annabeth huffed in confliction, undoubtedly knowing that Jason had a point. "Fine. We'll fan out and spread the word that the gods are awake and fighting Erebos, and that they want us to clear out the city." She bit her lip, looking troubled. "It's possible that Erebos might try to escape, or drive the gods' battle down to us. Be careful, everybody, okay? This isn't gonna be easy."

And with those comforting words of encouragement, the six of them split into random pairs and set off down the stone steps, branching off into the city. It became obvious very quickly that Erebos had managed to summon a whole mess of his children and followers, as more monsters than Nico had ever seen in one place had gathered throughout the mountainside city of Olympus. Most of their campers had arrived as well and joined the fight. After leaving the main road, Nico and Frank ended up in a sort of bazaar, a street-side market that must have once been a bustling center of activity. Now, though, almost all of the sale carts had been overturned or smashed to pieces. Rubble and broken wares littered the cobblestone street. And all down the road, battles were taking place.

Nico had barely stepped around the corner when he was met with a set of sharp claws swinging wildly toward him. "Whoa!" he stammered in surprise as he staggered backward into Frank, knocking them both to the ground and very narrowly missing having his throat slashed. He looked around at the sound of an angry, hissing growl and his eyes landed on three creatures standing nearby—ugly woman-bat hybrids with furry faces, dripping fangs, shriveled bodies, and huge, leathery wings.

"Aw, great," Nico grumbled as he and Frank climbed to their feet. "Keres."

"Carrie who?" Frank said blankly.

"Not 'Carrie', Keres. They're daemons that usually lurk around battlefields—they like violent deaths. Especially ones they cause."

Frank winced. "Violent deaths. My favorite. Are they more of Nyx and Erebos's weird offspring?"

"Unfortunately."

One of the Keres shrieked wildly and lunged for them, claws outstretched. Nico dodged sideways and swung his sword, vaporizing her in seconds. As her two sisters hissed angrily, Nico noticed that they seemed to have multiplied—a small host of daemons had appeared around them, and still more were battling other Greek and Roman campers all throughout the bazaar. Evidently they'd somehow managed to stumble on an entire Ker nest.

The next group of daemons charged forward as one. Frank drew his bow with lightning speed and embedded arrows in three of them, reducing them to dust. Nico ducked as one spread its wings and leapt into the air, diving straight for him. He stabbed upward and sliced her across the gut and she exploded into ash. Another tackled him from behind, its poisonous claws glancing harmlessly off his armor. His sword slipped from his hand and skittered across the cobblestone road, just out of his reach. He felt a rush of wind on his neck and was expecting the Ker to stab him in the back of the head when instead she shrieked shrilly and was shoved off of him. He twisted around to see the daemon impaled on the antlers of a black stag. The animal shook its head and the Ker disintegrated, then it turned sideways, beat the ground with its hooves, and charged another group, spearing and vaporizing six daemons in rapid succession.

While Frank cantered through the mob of Keres, Nico snatched up his sword and scanned the area. A group of a few Roman demigods nearby seemed to be having some difficulty. A few of them had gone down under the bat daemons and weren't moving, and those left were being quickly overwhelmed. Clucking his tongue in a spark of distress, Nico ran toward them. He'd fought Keres once before, the time a few years ago when his stepmother, Persephone, had sent him, Percy, and Thalia to retrieve the sword she'd secretly forged for her husband. He knew how dangerous they were, and how deadly their poison could be. They needed to be dispatched as quickly as possible.

With a growl, Nico sliced through two Keres that were bearing down on a Roman girl whose gladius had been knocked from her grip. She nodded to him in thanks and went to retrieve her sword as he turned and blocked the claws of another daemon that swooped down on him. The Ker hissed, spraying a mouthful of saliva, and when Nico lifted an arm reflexively in disgust she jerked forward and almost sank her fangs into his neck. Thankfully, the blade of a spatha burst through her chest at the same instant and she exploded into ash just in time.

Nico cringed as he brushed monster dust from his face—being coated in the stuff wasn't exactly his idea of a fun time.

"Nico?" a familiar voice said, and he looked over into the face of his Roman half-sister, Hazel.

"Hey," he greeted her shortly. "Thanks for that."

"Don't mention it. What happened up there?"

"The gods are awake," Nico explained as they both dodged around a charging Ker and Hazel beheaded it with a swing of her sword. "They're fighting Erebos."

"I thought so. I heard a few people have seen some of the minor gods throughout the city, joining the battle. Did you find Percy?"

She must have been trying to sound calm, but Nico didn't miss the worry in her voice. "Yeah, he's okay," he told her. "He's down here somewhere. I think he was with Annabeth when I last saw them."

"Good," Hazel said with a sigh of relief. She spun around seemingly without thought and sliced through two more Keres. "Jeez, how many of these things are there?"

"Too many," another voice replied as Frank, back in human form, jogged up to them. "Did you guys notice the rain pick up?"

Now that he mentioned it, the rain did seem to be falling harder. When they'd left the summit, the rain in the city had been nothing but a light drizzle, like the storm from the palace just barely reached the mountainside. But now the drops falling from the sky were thicker and more insistent, and a low chorus of drumming had begun to echo down the bazaar as raindrops thrummed against rooftops. It could only mean that the storm was getting bigger—or closer.

"We can't waste time here," Nico said urgently. "We've got to clean this up and get out of here. Otherwise we'll be flattened under a battle between gods. I don't know about you guys, but that wasn't on my to-do list today."

"Right," Frank agreed as Hazel nodded resolutely. The three of them set off at a run down the street, intercepting groups of Keres and helping their fellow campers exterminate them. One small consolation in all the madness was that with the gods awake, Thanatos was back on border duty. At least they didn't have to worry about every monster they killed coming back for more. Unfortunately, there were plenty of the battlefield daemons to go around, and try as hard as they could Nico and the others couldn't save everybody. His death sense was going crazy with so much fighting going on around him. He felt a dull wash of cold every time another soul nearby crossed over, which was hardly something that helped to boost his morale.

But that didn't mean he was ready to give up. The gods were counting on them to help crush Erebos's army. This was war, after all, and no matter how many people they lost it would go on until only one side remained standing.

Nico couldn't summon any dead warriors on the immortal mountain, so far from the Underworld, so all he had to fight with was his sword. Luckily, the blade was made of Stygian iron and absorbed the energy of every spirit it defeated, stealing their essence from the air with each killing blow. It helped to invigorate his body and made it easier for him to suppress the aching buzzing in his head. They were down to only a few Keres remaining when Nico suddenly felt a cold wave of emptiness at the same instant someone behind him screamed in pain.

"NO!" Hazel's voice cried shrilly, and having vaporized the last Ker in front of him Nico whipped around to see his half-sister drive her sword heavily through another daemon, slicing it in half. It shrieked and vanished, but neither Hazel nor Nico was paying it any attention. Nico felt his breath turn to ice in his throat as Hazel threw herself on the ground beside Frank, who was lying on his back and shaking noticeably with his face screwed up in pain. He had a hand gripped tightly to the side of his neck, and blood was gushing out between his fingers.

"No…" Hazel repeated as her hands fumbled with the bag tied to her waist. "No, no, no…" She pulled out a bottle of what Nico assumed was nectar and uncapped it. Voice shaking, she ordered Frank, "Let go—please," before gripping his hand and pulling it away from his neck, exposing three ugly slash marks. Hazel tipped the bottle carefully over the wound, trickling a few drops of nectar from the rim. Frank grunted in pain, but some of the tension in his expression faded; the god drink must have been helping. Stowing the bottle back in her bag, Hazel tore a strip of wet fabric from her sleeve with shaking hands. She wadded it into a ball and pressed it to her boyfriend's neck, placing his hand back over it with another order of "Hold this, we have to slow the bleeding." She raised her head and looked around wildly. "We need a healer—some help."

Stepping toward them, Nico could tell the wound was bad. Frank's skin was already unnaturally pale and his eyes were starting to droop. The cloth he held over his neck was soaked with rainwater and was still growing darker by the second. Cuts dug by the Keres weren't just dangerous—they were deadly. The daemons' claws and fangs were imbued with disease. Wounds they inflicted were difficult—if not impossible—to heal.

Hazel's eyes looked up and met Nico's, and he could see the hopeless anguish in them as tears dotted their edges. "Nico," she said, her voice still trembling, "is there…?"

Nico's gaze dropped back to the son of Mars and again he felt that wash of emptiness. His death sense was ten times stronger where it came to his friends and family, to people he cared about. He could actually feel Frank's life leaving him, and it was horrible. Numbly, he shook his head, clenching his hands into fists in an effort to keep them from shaking. Hazel gasped and looked down at her boyfriend, the tears in her eyes breaking free and sliding down her face.

"Ha-ha!" a nearby voice suddenly laughed. "Check it out, Momos. I told you those bat witches would be more than enough to take down this sad excuse for an army."

Nico looked around in alarm and did a double take when he saw the two people standing a few feet away. They were the same height, one male and one female, and looked to be barely a year older than he was. Both had jet-black hair and shining, dark gray eyes. Their skin was a pale, ghostly white. Strangely, they were dressed in what looked like private school uniforms—the boy in khaki pants, a white Oxford shirt, and a navy blue sweater vest; the girl in a blue plaid skirt and a white button-down shirt. Their clothes were mussed and torn, dirty like they'd been in a fight or just spend an afternoon rolling around on the ground; the boy's sleeves were rolled up and his tie was loose, and the girl's shirt was halfway unbuttoned. And on their identical faces were two of the cruelest sneers Nico had ever seen.

"You're right. Pretty pathetic, huh?" the boy replied to the girl, his lip curling in wicked amusement. "But hey—looks like a few losers dodged the axe. Prob'ly hid under the bloody corpses o' their dead, weakling friends." The girl cackled in delight and the boy tilted his head to the side, evil sneer widening.

"So whaddaya say, Oizys?" he said in a low voice. "How 'bout you and me shove these lamers into the dirt where they belong?"

Heh. To those of you who were expecting a god-fight, sorry. That'll come a bit later. I find it more fun to focus on the kids, you know? I'm saving the god stuff for nearer to the end. One big god does show up next chapter, though, so there's that.

Review for me? Pretty please? See you sometime hopefully-soon, assuming I can get some more of this actually written, heh heh. Later days!

-oMM