The Wolf

Ch. 59: Another Time

~Nico~

Ink black darkness consumes me. I feel the strange water from the pit filling up my lungs like tar. Frantically, I move my arms and legs in an attempt to reach the surface. My chest burns and my whole body feels heavy as if it were trapped in a pit of concrete. Stars burst before my vision, white spots on a black background.

I break the surface of the water gasping and sputtering water. The sound of my desperate breaths and the echoes of the cavern ambush my ears. I paddle over toward the edge of the rock where I pull myself out of the muck and collapse. With shaky eyes, I take in the scene before me. Nyx, in Alex's body, stands over the broken figure of a little girl with silver hair. Her blood paints the ground a shade of pale moonlight. Nyx has her hand through Celeste's chest, the Huntress is slumped as the life leaves her.

"Oh, Nico, you made it!" Nyx trills cheerily.

"Of course. I said I would." I pull myself off the ground and look back and forth between her and the Huntress.

Nyx follows my gaze and makes an 'O' with her mouth as though she forgot about the body in her hand. "You were taking so long down there that our Huntress here got a little impatient. It's her fault she broke the promise, not mine. I was just defending myself."

"Whatever," I shrug, "just fulfill your side of the deal and let Alex go."

Nyx's eyebrows raise in surprise, "Oh, my little Nico has grown so cold, how surprising." Nyx drops Celeste's body to the floor with a dull thud. "Okay, I'll return him to you now." She closes her eyes and like Peter Pan's shadow, she detaches from Alex.

Alex sways and I catch him before he can fall to the floor. His body is cold to the touch, but I can feel his faint heartbeat and hear his breathing. He's so pale he could pass for a corpse. I lay him down on the stone gently. His eyes are still closed as if he were asleep. I shake his shoulders and slap his cheeks in an attempt to wake him, but it's no use.

I stand up and face Nyx who is smiling smugly. She's clearly up to something. "Why won't he wake up?" I inquire, looking down at Alex's peaceful face.

"I told you I would give him back, but I never agreed to fix him." Nyx laughs cheerfully. "You think that it is easy hosting a goddess in your body? He was so rebellious in there that I had to lock him away inside his own mind."

I sigh, knowing this pattern already. "Fine. What do you want me to do in order to fix him?"

Nyx's face splits into a wide, pleased grin. "Well, I'm glad you asked." Nyx grasps at thin air and pulls an hourglass from nothing. "You see, I need you to go back in time. I have an hourglass that is filled up with Kronos' magic power. If you use this you'll be able to go back in time 7 years from now for me."

"And why would I do that?" I cross my arms against my chest.

"I want you to go and kill your parents for me. Kill them and prevent them from meeting me and taking care of you. This way you'll end up at your Uncle Joe's house and the cycle will repeat itself. I'll be able to carry out my plan and you and Alex can live happily-ever-after." Nyx spins the hourglass over and over in her hands. I watch the blue sand inside spill over and over.

"Okay, I'll do it." With this, I'll finally be able to save Alex. And then I'll come back and put an end to Nyx.

Nico! You can't do this! What are you thinking? I know that you've turned off your emotions down there in the pit, but I can't allow you to go through with such a wicked and cruel plan!  Noct screams inside my head. I give him a hard mental push that shuts him up.