Chapter 22

The titan demigods

Nico di Angelo

After our interesting affair with one of my Father's demons, we decided to camp out in the van, so that we wouldn't have to check into a hotel. Plus we could get away quickly if a monster attacked. We got blankets and pillows and sat in the seats, with them laid back. Percy and Annabeth stayed up front, with Annabeth in shotgun, since Percy could drive faster. Snow and Topaz were still passed out, and they were in the front row of the back seats. I was with them.

When I went to sleep I had yet another nightmare. I was in a dark tunnel, and two people were talking. It was a man with a suit and scars and scratches all over his face. He had something wrapped around his stomach, and it looked like a cast of some sort. I guessed this was probably Prometheus, though I had not seen him in the battle of Manhatten.

He was speaking to a kid, who looked to be about 13 or 14, even younger than I am. I couldn't make out his face.

"I can't accept any more incompetence from all these monsters. We need to get them ourselves."

"But my lord, tomorrow they will be going to Mount Tam. They will play right into our hands."

"No, Damari. We need to get them and stop this quest, TONIGHT. They are hindering the plan."

"What shall we send after them this time?"

"Didn't I just tell you that these monsters are incompetent? These half-bloods have too much experience fighting them. Not to mention the edge Snow and Topaz's Magic gives them. If they go to Mount Tam, we risk them discovering the staff, or worse, clues as to where we are hiding you and the rest of the Titan offspring."

Demari swallowed. "Who should we send?"

"Not you, dear boy. You are too new, too weak. I think we should send Maxx, Bella, and Grey."

"That's a good choice, my liege."

"Yes, indeed it is. Go inform them of their task. Now!"

He scampered off to do as his master had ordered.

The man strolled over to a large golden casket. "Soon my friend, you will be back. And we will make those insufferable gods pay."

I woke up with a start. I shook Snow's shoulder, and too my surprise, she woke up.

"Hmm? Oh, Nico, what happened?"

"A demon and the God of politeness drugged you and your twin."

"No, Nico really?"

"It's true. I'm so glad you're okay!"

"Yeah. My head kinda hurts though."

"I'm sorry." I ran my fingers through her pretty blonde curls. "Listen, we need to get out of here. I dreamed about a guy I think is Prometheus. He sent some people after us, and I think they're close. We need to wake up Percy."

"Go ahead."

I yanked Percy's hair. "OW! Bro, whatja do that for?"

"Drive! Now! Someone's coming!" He put the key in the ignition and stepped on it. He turned out of the parking lot, and hit the road. We were soon on the highway, and I though we were home-free, but I saw a flash of golden light, spiraling towards us.

"Faster! Faster!" I yelled at him.

Everyone was starting to wake up, because if all the movement.

I saw a black figure get in front of the van, and then it stopped. The van did, I mean.

I realized Percy still had his foot on the pedal, and that black figure was holding it back from moving. To be that strong... we had to get out of there.

I was about to tell everyone to grab hands, but then the back door opened. A boy had a knife to Sapphire's throat.

"We're going to have to ask you to come with us." He said with a grin.

The girl who was glowing golden grabbed Blade and put a knife to him too, with a big smile on her face. "Get out of the car, my darlings."

I'm sad to say, we all listened to them. "Into the woods. Now!" Ordered the other guy.

There was a stretch of woods beside the road, which we were led into. The girl with Blade stayed in the front of the group, and the guy with Sapphire in the back. The other guy stayed to the left in the middle, cleaning his fingers with his knife.

"Mind introducing yourselves?" Snow asked.

"Gag those two. Prometheus said they can charmspeak." The guy with Sapphire said.

The guy who was cleaning his fingernails came over to them and before he could put the cloth in Snow's mouth, she twisted his arm behind his head and kicked him to the ground, making a long slash on his back with her knife. She held him down with the knife to his head.

"Let. Them. Go. Now. Or he dies."

"We'll kill them if you harm a single hair on his head." The girl said.

"You were given orders to bring us in alive. We weren't. I won't hesitate to do it. There's nothing stopping me. And don't think I won't enjoy making his blood pour."

"Damn, she's hot."

She made another small cut. "Now."

The other guy shrugged. "I think we should just let her kill him. I mean the mission is more important."

"We can't let him die. He'll go to the FIELDS OF PUNISHMENT." The girl screamed in exasperation.

"Personally, I don't like him much. Just let her kill him. Then we can carry on with the plan without any problems. They don't want their people to die."

"Maxx, we need 3 members of a quest. It's unlucky not to. Besides, Prometheus said we need to have all 20 demigods."

"Well what do you want to do, Bella?" Maxx asked.

Bella rolled her golden eyes. "I don't know Maxxy, we can't really say with them right here."

"Fine. Would you excuse us for a moment." They dragged Sapphire and Blade away and covered their ears while they talked. They came back a few minutes later, with their plan.

"Okay. You win. Just let him go and we'll leave you alone."

"Do you really think I'm going to fall for that? Let them go, then I'll release him."

"Hmmm, no. You'll probably kill him as soon as we let them go. You're a bloodthirsty little thing, sweetheart."

"DO NOT ever call me sweetheart. Or you just might find yourself choking on your liver."

"Wow, honey. I wonder if you're barks as bad as your bite."

"Not honey either. Or I will cut your heart out and eat it."

"I am so turned on right now."

"Ugh! Just let them go!"

"Fine, fine." They took the blades away from their throats. Sapphire ran to Leo's arms and Blade went and hugged Caspia. For once, Percy didn't protest.

"Now, we held up our end of the bargain, now hold up yours. Let him up."

Snow put the knife off him and got her knee off his chest. She helped him up and he brushed himself off, glaring in her direction.

Then, faster than my eyes could register, the Bella girl swirled in gold and tied everyone's wrists, and gagged Snow and Topaz so they couldn't charmspeak .

This time Bella got Leo and Maxx got Percy.

"Now, into the woods!" Bella ordered.

We marched into the woods, in the same formation as before. "As you've probably noticed, sweetheart, those ropes are magic proof. You can't do anything with them on. That includes your puny demigod magic."

I gritted my teeth. I wanted to strangle him, but I couldn't.

We kept walking, until we came to a huge Oak tree in the center of the forest. Grey stepped forward, and tapped the tree in a pattern. Then the bark of pushed down, revealing a rectangular crevice, with a hole in the middle.

Grey put his sword in, and a few seconds later the ground shifted and stairs appeared. He pulled the sword out, and we were urged forward. When we got inside, it was a darkened tunnel, which seemed to stretch on forever. Paths sprouted out the sides of it, so the only direction you could be sure of was straight.

We walked for what seemed like hours, until we arrived at a dimly lit section of the cavern. It turned from stone to dirt. There were several doors and passage ways leading off in different directions.

They took us down one of them, and we walked until we came to a large oak door, that looked like the front door of a church. Grey opened it with ease, and we walked inside.

The inside was nice, it had jade green walls, polished wood furniture, a chandelier and a bear rug that seemed to watch you.

The man from my dream was sitting by the fire in an easy chair, smoking a cigar.

"Ah, you've arrived. And in good time too. You've brought all nine of them?"

"Yes, sir," Maxx said proudly. "Although Snow Sabrina put up quite a fight."

"I can see that. Grey, go to Erica to get your injuries tended to."

He bowed and left.

"Now, you must be wondering why you are here."

"Not really," Annabeth said. "Our quest is a threat to your plans, which is why you needed to stop us. And every monster we've met has told us that you've been trying to get your hands on Snow and Topaz."

"Yes, well in any case, you must at least be wondering what will become of you."

"You'll kill us?" Percy guessed.

"That would be the logical assumption. However, though we can't have you go tattling to the Olympians, we are not going to kill you. You are still valuable to us. You will be kept here, all of you, as leverage for your parents. You may even want to join us in time."

He stood and came toward us. He pulled the gags off their faces and cupped Topaz's face in his hands. "My, how you both have grown. Even more beautiful than I remembered. More violent too," he chuckled. "But then again, you always did have a mean streak. I am sorry to hear about your brother by the way. So tragic. You have my condolences."

"Please, take them to their cells. And leave me alone with the twins here."

"Over my dead body." I said. Somehow I broke the ropes binding me and I flew at Maxx. I stabbed him with my sword, and kicked him to the ground. I slit Bella's throat, and I was about to go after Prometheus, and he yelled "Prisoner resisting! Everyone in here now!"

Tons of footsteps rushed toward the door, but I didn't care. I tackled him to the ground and sliced his stomach open, taking out his liver. I remembered Snow's threat from earlier and shoved it down his throat.

I prepared myself for the hordes of demigods coming towards me. I raised thousands of the dead, and they stood there waiting for my orders.

All the Titan demigods rushed in the door, armed to the teeth. "Kill them!" I yelled to them. They started to advance, surrounding the demigods. I watched with glee, waiting for them to be torn apart.

I noticed something black propped up against Prometheus' desk. It was forked twice at the top, and the handle twisted and turned like thorns. It couldn't be...

My fathers staff.

I was sure that there was some kind of trap, he wouldn't just leave it out in the open, but then again he had faith in his little villains. He didn't expect us to escape. I picked it up, and thankfully nothing happened. I liked the way it felt in my hands. It gave me a sense of power.

"Guys! I found it! Let's get out of here!"

We held hands and shadow traveled back to camp. We landed on the hill, and my knees were shaking a little bit.

Snow came over. "You okay? I know that was a long way for one jump."

"I'm perfect. You're okay. That's all that matters."

She smiled and I held her for a little while. "Hey lovebirds!" Leo shouted. "We need to take this thing to the big house and show Chiron and Mr. D. And hold it for me, this thing weighs a jillion pounds!"

"Quit calling it 'this thing' Leo," I said with a glare.

"Yeah, just take it di Angelo, before my arms fall off."

I rolled my eyes and took it from him. We strolled down to the big house, and I felt unusually happy. We had completed the quest, killed all the evil demigods, and Snow and Topaz were fine and still with us, free. Not to mention how proud my Father would be.

I felt a smile on my face, though I hadn't tried to put it there. This was a strange feeling. I felt pride and accomplishment, not just the feeling I get when I'm around the people I love.

The world was perfect. The leaves were turning, and everything was a mass of fire colors. We walked into the parlor of the big house, and not even Mr. D's sneer could bring me down.

"Well looky here. The earl of emo is finally smiling." Mr. D retorted.

I killed the smile and replaced it with a glare.

"I see you have completed your quest." Chiron said cheerfully.

"With flying colors," Annabeth said. "We discovered that the Titans had their own demigod offspring, and Nico... wiped them out. Completely."

Mr. D suddenly looked concerned, an expression I'd never seen on him.

"The Titans...have their own demigods. The power those children must have...The chaos, the destruction. They may very well be able to kill the gods."

Chieon smiled kindly. "It's all right, Mr. D, they're dead. It will take years for them to have more and let them grow up, and now that we know we'll be able to stop them."

The wine god shook his head. "I must go speak with my Father." And evaporated in a shower of grapes.

"Well Nico, you'd best be off. You need to return that staff to your Father in the Underworld."

"I'll come with you," Snow said.

"That'd be great."

"How do you want to get there? You probably shouldn't shadow travel again."

I knew a way... but I pushed it out of my mind. It wasn't finished yet. It was too dangerous.

I remembered another one I had just created, though it was not close. "I know one. But you're not going to like where it is."

"What-"

"Just trust me. I'll tell you outside."

"Okay." I took her hand and we went down the steps and back into the cold. It made me feel better.

"It's in New Orleans."

She put her face in her hands. "My gods, Nico. When my Father finds out...he already doesn't like you. And why would you put it there, in one of the most haunted cities in the world, where spirits could escape and hide from Thanatos?"

"I know, I know. But I needed easy access to the Underworld when I was doing all those projects."

"Alright. I'll let it slide. But my Father can't know. Okay?"

"Okay. Let's go."

"Give me the staff. I'll put it in my bag." I did.

She looked up. "Are we taking a taxi in New York to the airport?"

"Yeah. I thought maybe I could do a small jump to get there."

"That's fine I guess. I don't want to turn into Will. Topaz is just lucky she can't get hurt, or she would have to deal with that too."

"Thanks."

"But you have to take some nectar when you're done."

"Don't nag."

"I'm not!"

"But, yes, I will."

"Thank you. Don't pull a Percy on me."

"Never." I wrapped my arm around her waist, and dove into the darkness.

Snow is the only person I've ever met not afraid of Shadow traveling. It exites her. It even scared me the first few times I did it.

We landed in an alley in New York. It was very dark, and there was a dead body in a dumpster.

"Wow, they really do have a lot of crime here," Snow said.

"Uh-huh. Let's get out of here before we attract trouble."

"I took that risk when I came here with you. It comes with the territory of dating you."

I laughed. "I know."

She handed me the flask she brought, and I took a small sip.

It tasted like the apple pie my father always had the undead servants fix, because it was my favorite.

We started to walk out of the alley, but someone slammed Snow against the dirty wall.

"Hey, Jace, look at this hottie." He licked his lips. The disgusting pervert.

Snow gripped his shoulder and kicked him in the groin several times. She knocked him to the ground and started pounding his head on the pavement. When she was satisfied with the amount of blood, she got up and followed me onto the street.

"Is that guy dead?" I asked her.

"I think so. Serves him right. I doubt I was the first girl he did that to. I was just the first one that knew how to fight back."

"You're my little blood covered Snow White."

She laughed. "Wait, do I have blood on me? That would look suspicious if a cop saw me."

"Just a little on your neck, let me get it for you." I touched her neck, and the blood soaked into my fingers.

"I didn't know you could do that."

"Yeah. Just figured it out a couple months ago. First time I've had a chance to use it."

"It's cool."

"Thanks. I like your purple mist too."

She smiled. We walked down Main Street until we saw a taxi, and we stopped it and got in.

"The Airport, please." She said to him.

He took the cigarette out of his mouth and tallied it up. "That'll be 44.29."

She handed him a hundred dollar bill. "Keep the change."

He smiled with his tobacco stained teeth."Well, thank you, miss. Very nice of you."

He muttered something about his wife and stepped on the gas.

When we got there we had to wade through the crowds of people. There must have been half of Manhattan there.

Since we had no tickets, we went to the admission counter.

There was a pretty red headed woman in her 40s behind the counter.

"Do you have any seats available to New Orleans?" Snow asked once she was off the phone.

"Let me check," she said and started typing in her computer.

"Good news. We have two spots on the 426 flight. It leaves at 11 AM. But they're in the back. Is that okay?"

"That's great. We don't mind them being in the back."

"Alright. That will be 419.34. Cash or credit?"

The lady was shocked when Snow pulled out one of her wallets (yeah, just ONE of them) and it was dripping with hundreds and twenties. She handed them to her, and she took it, her eyes still wide.

"Here are your tickets. Make sure you get that messenger bag checked through security. Have a nice flight!"

When we got to the security checkpoint, we had to wait in line for the longest time, and when we finally got to the front, the security officer had green hair all over his arms. Wait...green hair.

I looked more closely and saw that the hair was actually scales. A monster. Snow's wide eyes confirmed my suspicions.

"Just step through the metal detector, honey, and put that bag in the searching bin. The young man behind you is next."

She obviously didn't want to, but she didn't want to cause a scene either, so she complied. She walked through and came out clean, despite her two daggers. She rushed over to supervise the bag inspection.

The guy checking looked just like the other one, except with red scales, so they looked like Christmas demons.

She must have used magic on the bag, because all he found was a laptop, her schoolbooks, more wallets, her cell phone, and some lip gloss.

"Clear!" He said grumpily.

"Your turn." Red demon told me.

He ran me through the metal detector and it beeped for a second and stopped. Probably Snow did that.

"I'm gonna need to search you, sir."

"What? But it came out clear!"

"Come to the back room." He ordered.

"I'm coming with him." Snow insisted.

"That won't be nesessary, miss." Red demon said.

"No, no, let her come. She won't stop you from completing your task. She may even sweeten the deal." He said with a wink.

We walked into the "back room" which had a dim red glow, like Tartarus.

"Any last words, son of Hades?"

I almost laughed out loud. "You really think that a single minor monster can kill a son of one of the big three, and an immortal witch?"

"I see you're trying to distract me. Well it won't work. I'm going to eat you and kidnap your girlfriend."

"Yeah, okay." I said nearly falling over myself. "Snow, you can have this one."

"You kill him. It's not wise to make enemies. I don't want to have monsters hating me. I'll kill him if you're loosing, which, anyway, is highly unlikely."

"Fine, fine."

He prepared to pounce, and I dodged his claws and impaled him with my sword, no trouble.

"Let's catch our flight."