Percy Jackson's Death Bed

Silver Light

Hazel Levesque returned to the inside of the Hades Cabin, where the Big Seven were looking for Nico.

"Um... hey, guys" She said awkwardly, not sure what she was going to tell them.

"Hazel," Frank asked. "Any luck on Nico?"

"Yeah," Hazel replied. She rattled her head. She thought that maybe it was better if they didn't know that Nico had gone on a dangerous and life-threatening mission in search for Percy's real body. For sure, they'd follow him into the Underworld. And Hazel guessed that that was something her brother didn't want happening. "He said that..." Hazel paused. "He'd be going out for a while."

Annabeth tilted her head. "Going out?" She repeated, being slightly skeptical.

Hazel mentally slapped herself. "What kind of stupid excuse was that?" she thought to herself. Stupid. She saw Frank Zhang look at her quizzically. Suddenly, she hesitated about lying to her boyfriend.

"Why? Doesn't he know that the one and only Perseus Jackson is back?" Piper said, playfully hitting mistform Percy behind his back. "Something like this calls for celebration!"

"Oh... well," the daughter of Pluto choked. Think, Hazel. Think... "I guess Nico doesn't really think of it like that."

They all looked at her puzzled. "Huh?" Jason exclaimed. Hazel took a deep breath and cleared her mind.

"He doesn't really want to meet you, Percy." Hazel explained. "You know how we all had the urge to kill you after you came back?"

"Yeah, and my neck still hurts because of it." Percy exclaimed as he rubbed his neck with his right hand.

"Sorry, Seaweed Brain. I just couldn't help it," Annabeth apologized. After their emotional meeting, she had slightly strangled her boyfriend for once again making her think that he was gone forever. She'd already felt enough despair when he had disappeared in the incident of Mount St. Helens.

"S'okay," Percy replied as he flashed a warm smile towards his Wise Girl. Then, his smile disappeared. "And, well... I wouldn't blame Nico if he didn't want to see me just yet."

"Yeah. And he was pretty bummed about what had happened to you," Leo told the group. "He was trying to do everything he could- talking to deceased spooky gladiators- just so he could get some info about you. For all I know, he'd probably even sacrifice his own life for yours."

What Leo said suddenly made Hazel's heart skip a beat, since Nico actually was doing just about that at the moment.

"Yeah," Jackson started. "It wouldn't be surprising if he hated m-" All the sudden, Percy's eyes rolled to the back of his head. His whole body collapsed. Jason caught him just in time before he hit the floor.

"Percy!" Jason Grace yelled.

At that moment, deep down in the Underworld, Nico di Angelo was yelling out the same name. "Percy! Percy!!!" The son of Hades felt like he was stepping on really wet mud. Each step he took was hard to make. It felt like the gravitational pull in that area was multiplied by two. Nico could barely see in the darkness. And, all around him, he heard ghostly moans that echoed all throughout the nothingness. He couldn't see where he was or where he was going. But, he kept a lookout for any sign that Percy's body might be there. Any sign at all. He didn't know exactly what, but he had a feeling that he'd know once he found it.

After walking aimlessly for what seemed like forever, Nico finally caught the faint scent of the salty ocean. "Percy?" he called out as he started moving faster, trying to follow the smell. He frantically looked around. "Perc-" Nico sudddenly felt like he bumped something with his feet. When he looked down, he jumped backwards in surprise.

There was Percy's body. It seemed to glow with a very faint light, allowing Nico to see just enough of the details. Percy's shirt was almost completely stained with dried blood. His complexion was awfully pale.

All of the sudden, Percy's eyes opened wide, accompanied with heavy breathing. It was like Percy had woken up from a nightmare.

"Wha- What the-" Percy started to say. Then, in the middle of his surprise, he felt the pain of the hole that went straight through his chest. "AGH" It was the same excruciating pain as when he was lying on the bed in the Argo II. But this time, he didn't seem to be dying.

Nico sighed. "Come on." he said, as he started picking Percy up. Even though he was struggling under the weight, Nico carried Percy on his shoulders like a sack.

As soon as he did, he could slowly feel himself weakening. With every second that Nico di Angelo was getting weaker, Percy Jackson seemed to be getting his energy back.

"Nico," Percy grunted. "What's happening?" Nico ignored him.

"Hey, Nico." Percy called again. Percy kept on calling Nico di Angelo and asking questions as he was carried on Nico's shoulders, too weak to even move. Percy kept on talking that Nico started to become a bit annoyed. But, he still didn't talk to him.

"In exchange must be the sacrifice... of a soul that has cheated death... sacrifice of a soul that has cheated death... In exchange must be a sacrifice... " All around him, Nico heard the whispers of the dead. They repeated those lines over and over in his head. It seemed like he was the only one who could hear them, since Percy wasn't complaining. But di Angelo acted like he didn't notice and kept walking back towards the hill.

Finally, when it seemed like he was able to escape the darkness and return to the part of the Underworld that he actually could see in- amongst the echoing lines in his head- one word seemed to stand out from the rest; Hissed at him with a voice louder than the others.

"Death!"

Nico collapsed, Percy laying on him. "Ow," Percy complained. Percy tried to contemplate his own pain for a few seconds until realizing that his friend was now half-unconscious. "Nico?" He tried to shake the son of Hades. But Nico's eyes were drooping down, as if he was falling very sleepy.

"This isn't right," Nico thought as he felt himself growing more and more asleep. "Why are the gods just so horrible? Why can't they just send us some help..."

Just before his eyes completely closed, Nico saw something other than black. It was a silver light in the darkness. It was approaching the two demi-gods. Maybe Nico was just hallucinating. But before Nico went out, he could hear Percy mutter one name:

"Bob."

A very thin and haggard ten feet tall titan emerged from the dark. He had wild Einstein silver hair that stuck up in every direction. He had a scraggly long beard. His eyes were pure silver. He wore a very tattered and almost unrecognizable janitor's uniform. But, even though he was in such a worn down shape, he greeted Percy with a smile.

"Hello, friends." Bob said. "Have you told the sun and stars hello for me?"

Percy replied with an even larger smile. "Yes, Bob." It almost seemed as if tears were welling up in the son of Poseidon's eyes out of happiness. "The stars say hello too."

Percy hugged Bob the titan (A.K.A. Iapetus), almost forgetting the hole in the middle of his chest. Percy jumped backwards in pain the moment he hugged the titan. This made Bob grimace. He pointed at Percy's chest.

"Owie," he said. Then, he touched Percy's wound. At first, Percy flinched. But soon, he felt a quick moment of relief. His pain subsided. Bob removed his finger. When Percy looked down, the hole had decreased in size. There was still pain and the wound hadn't completely disappeared, but it felt much better compared to before. The titan shook his head. "Bob can't heal your big owie."

"It's okay, Bob." Percy said as he unsuccessfully tried to pat the titan's shoulder.

Bob the titan looked behind Percy. "What happened?" He asked, pointing to the currently unconscious Nico di Angelo laying on the ground. "I will do anything I can to help my friends."