The Ring: A Percy Jackson Fanfiction

8. Nico's Back

"Nico come on," Lou Ellen begged.

"No, it's sc-scary out there," Nico whimpered, taking a few steps deeper into the cave.

"I am going to kill Percy as soon as I see him again," Lou Ellen grumbled. She had realized that Nico was all obviously Percy's doing.

"Well then don't go out there!" Lou Ellen said. "Just shadow travel us to camp and back!"

"What's the p-point?" Nico asked. "The Hecate c-c-cabin has been torn down. You won't get any potions from there." He didn't want to admit it, but he was also scared out of his mind about facing Thalia, the murderer of his boyfriend.

"The infirmary is still up and they have sorts of herbs and weird helping stuff in there! Just take us there Nico, please. I swear as soon as you take that potion you won't be afraid any longer!" Lou Ellen said. Well, she hoped. Hopefully the potion would undo the effects of Percy's hypnosis.

Nico loosened up a bit, hearing what the daughter of Hecate had just said. "R-really? How?" He asked.

"You may not believe me but... well, you're actually one of the strongest, bravest, toughest people I know. I've hardly ever seen you afraid. Percy just hypnotized you to be like this," Lou Ellen explained.

"Really?" Nico said. "Let's go then, I guess."

Lou Ellen smiled, for two reasons actually. One because he didn't stutter at all when he said that. And two, Nico was helping!

"Great!" Lou Ellen said. She walked over to Nico and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Let's go, Neeks!"

Nico nodded, then made the two sink into the shadows, willing them to shadow travel to the infirmary. As soon as they had reached he infirmary, Nico had to hold back a scream. The infirmary was quite... creepy. It was totally run down, cobwebs on the walls, the lights flickering and buzzing. But the worst part was the bodies.

Dead, bloody bodies were staring at the ceiling lifelessly, swords, Spears, and daggers hanging out of their body. It looked like there was about six of the dead bodies. Not to mention the horrible smell. "Th-th-this is horrifying," Nico whimpered, beginning to hyperventilate. He began to reach for the door, but Lou Ellen slapped his hand away.

"Get yourself together, boy!" She scolded. That just made him breath even harder and Lou Ellen's expression softened. "Sorry, Nico," She sighed.

"S'okay," Nico said quietly, his breathing beginning to steady again.

Lou Ellen studied the dead demigods hesitantly. She saw two sons of Ares, one she recognized as Sherman Yang, Alice and Julia from the Hermes cabin, Malcom from the Athena cabin, and Nysa from the Hephaestus cabin. These poor demigods, Lou Ellen said, careful not to say it or loud, in case it might trigger Nico in some way. But she couldn't stop the small tears from falling down her cheek.

"Let's... let's look for the ingredients for the potion," Lou Ellen said. Nico nodded his head shakily.

"What d-do you need?" Nico asked.

"Uh, three tablespoons of ambrosia, a newt's tail, 3 cups of nectar, a laurel leaf, and a crushed hazelnut," Lou Ellen said.

"That's s-so random," Nico said. Lou Ellen just nodded. "Uh, a-are we gonna find a newt's tail in an i-infirmary?"

Lou Ellen nodded vigorously. "Oh yeah," She said, "They're pretty essential for curing a hellhound's bite."

"Oh," Nico said.

"So start looking for the ingredients. I'm going to go find a bowl and spoon or something," Lou Ellen said. Nico nodded slowly.

Nico began to make his way through the infirmary, occasionally squeaking as he ran into a dead body or two... or six. Slowly but surely, he found each ingredient, gagging as he found the bloody, squishy newt tail. He made his way back over to Lou Ellen who had her own little set up, all the ingredients in his arms.

Lou Ellen grinned. "Good job, Nico!" She said it as if she was talking to a pre-schooler.

"Th-thanks," He said, handing the ingredients to Lou Ellen who gladly accepted them.

Lou Ellen began muttering to herself as she put the ingredients into her bowl, them poofing into mush as they touched the ingredients. Nico decided that she must have been saying her spell, magic and stuff.

After a couple more minutes of ingredients and muttering, Lou Ellen grinned. "Done!" She said proudly.

She handed Nico the small black bowl that had a strange, chunky black mush in it. Nico gagged at the smell. "D-do I have to drink it?" He whined.

"Do you want to be safe from Percy's spell?" She said, crossing her arms. Nico sighed, giving in. He tilted the bowl up, then began pouring the mush into his mouth, gagging as he did it.

The taste was vile, like if you mixed the grossest things you've ever tasted into one strange mixture. Not to mention it has some questionable chunks in it. It was a weird taste considering it had both nectar and ambrosia in it. He hated it. But yet he continued to drink it, his proper memories returning as he did it.

As soon as the bowl had completely been drained, all his real memories returned, he dropped the bowl onto the ground, it shattering. His eyes were wide, his lip quivering. "I can't believe it," He said, just below a whisper.

"You can't believe what?" Lou Ellen asked with a frown.

Nico shrunk down to his knees, hugging them to his chest. For a minute, Lou Ellen was afraid Nico was still under Percy's spell. He still seemed so afraid. But it was a different kind of fear in his eyes. It didn't look as if he was afraid of her or anything else, but himself.

"I... I killed Will," He said shakily, "It was all my fault... and I blamed Thalia. I left her behind... I'm a horrible person."

"Nico," Lou Ellen said softly, placing a hand on his shoulder, "You know that wasn't your fault, right?"

"It doesn't matter what or what not's my fault," Nico said, "I killed Will... whether it was Percy who ordered me to or not."

"Nico, don't talk like that," Lou Ellen said, "I brought you back to normal so you could help take Percy down, not so you could sulk around."

Nico looked up at Lou Ellen. "Wow, brutally honest," Nico blinked.

"Well it's true. I'm not going to sugar coat reality for you. So just get your act together and let's take down Percy," Lou Ellen crossed her arms.

Nico nodded slowly. "You're right," Nico said, standing up, an deadly look crossing his face, "Will needs to be avenged."

Just posted 2 chapters! Sorry for the bad grammar by the way. I had no time to edit.

Also, a message to DiseasedFroggy LonleyDarkLord Susy_Valdez21 and BoopTheSnoop_: I'm on Snoop's side. They have blue cookies! Sorry, but I'm not turning down blue cookies.