Nico's quest

chapter 9

Like Hades's shadow-blades in Mythomagic! You're a genius! Nico glanced around at his allies. They were all locked in battle, doing the best they could against the demons, magicians, and flying snakes. He was already backed up against the stairwell and they were already covering him since he didn't have enough energy to use much Egyptian magic, after his excursion in the Duat. But if he drew on Anubis's strength, he could still use his demigod powers. He would be vulnerable if something got past his comrades, but not completely defenseless. He could still act as the last line of defense on the roof and keep the flying snakes at bay while he was at it.

Nico dropped to one knee and let the tip of his sword sink into the roof. Then he used his sword as a magnet, and focused on drawing all of the shadows through it, to him, then bent them to his will.

Zia was facing off against Aziza and was being dive-bombed by two of the flying snakes, so Nico targeted them first. He sent out concentrated waves of darkness, like black lightning, and slashed at the two snakes. He didn't hit them. The snakes sensed his attack coming and scrambled to get away from it. It was clear that they didn't want Nico's shadow attacks coming anywhere near them, which was fine with Nico. He wasn't even sure if his shadows could kill them, or if they could even harm anything, and now really wasn't the best time to be testing out new attacks. He'd settle for keeping the stupid winged snakes away from the roof.

That is probably the best course of action, Anubis told him.

I think so too. Nico pulled more shadows to him and lashed out at the other uraei. Those flying snakes followed suit and rose high about the roof, out of Nico's range. Butsometimes I wish that I could shoot stuff dead. Apollo's kids don't know how easy they've got it.

Nico maintained his position in front of the door to the stairs, watching to make sure that his friends were okay, and keeping the uraei at bay as well. Every time one got too cocky and started edging back down toward the roof, Nico sent a tendril of shadows cracking toward them again, reminding them why they needed to be afraid of the dark.

This isn't taking too much power. I should be able to keep this up awhile.

It will be much harder as dawn draws closer,Anubis warned him.You will probably notice it becoming more difficult right after midnight.

Yeah. Nico had to agree with him. But by dawn Sadie and Carter will have returned with Ra.

Unless –

They will. You and I haven't caused the end of the world yet, which means that Apophis can't cause the end of the world either. Which means that Sadie and Carter willdefinitely be back, insisted Nico.

I love how you're so optimistic about our situation.

Don't call me an optimist, noob! I'm just saying that it's physically impossible for Apophis to destroy the world when we're supposed to give rise to the end of days, or whatever the mad oracle said we were going to do. Doesn't he know if you try to stop prophecies they always blow up in your face?

Well what do you call what we've been doing, Nico?

Trying to achieve the outcome of that prophecy that leads to the least amount of damage possible. Have you considered we might just open a night club called 'End of Days?'

Anubis chuckled in his mind. This is why I call you an optimist.

Percy's oh-so-casual defeat of Kwai had obviously unsettled the invaders. They hung back for a few minutes, discussing what to do next. Bast shouted some insults down at them, and continued taunting them all during their discussion. Percy couldn't keep his attention away from the roof.

"Hey Bast," he said, finally pulling her attention away from her taunting. "Look up at the roof. See those shadows?"

"Huh? Oh. Yes, I see what you mean. Is that something Nico's doing?"

"I don't know. I was going to ask if it was some kind of Egyptian magic, but if you don't know it, it's probably him."

"He's your cousin, and a demigod. Shouldn't you know?"

"There hasn't been a single child of Hades born since the 1930s. I don't know all of what the children of the Underworld are capable of. It might be written down somewhere, but I doubt it, and Nico keeps things pretty close to the vest in case you haven't noticed."

"True. He kind of reminds me of a junior G-man," said Bast. "You know if he survives to adulthood, he'd make your government one hell of a secret agent."

Percy considered Nico's ability to turn invisible in the darkness, and teleport through shadows and nodded. "Yeah. He definitely would."

They watched as the House of Life freaks left their vantage point down by the river and tried to slink around the building.

"You think they're going to try the front doors?" asked Percy.

"Seems like it."

"And you're sure they will hold?"

"They'll hold for a long time," Bast told him. "Nothing can hold up forever against magic onslaught, but it'll take them hours to bust through, throwing everything they have at it."

"Good. That buys us some time. We're trying to hold out until dawn, right?"

"Yes. Then we'll know if Sadie and Carter have succeeded or not. And if they haven't, it won't matter if we win or lose. We'll all die anyway."

"Like Hades we will," snapped Percy. "No offense, but you guys aren't the only gods in town. Nor is your pantheon the only one that's spawned wing-nuts who want to destroy the world. We've dealt with psychos like that before, we can deal with them again. No one gets to destroy the world, Greek or Egyptian. Not on my watch."

Bast gave a sort of bitter smile. "Hearing you say that with so much conviction is almost enough to make me believe it."

"I don't care if you believe it or not. I fought Kronos to a standstill. I'll face down Apophis if I have to, while Nico shadow travels to Olympus and gets back up. Or do you think our pantheon is going to sit by and do nothing while your chaos snake swallows the sun?"

When Bast smiled again, it was a bit more genuine, but also held more sorrow. "Since Sadie and Carter's parents released me from my eternal fight with Apophis, I've seen many things that I never thought could be possible. Perhaps it is possible to beat him without my king."

But she doesn't want to, Percy realized. And he could understand why. He tried to imagine how hard it would be for him to keep fighting if the deity he was most devoted to was destroyed forever, but somehow he couldn't imagine a world without Poseidon.

"Don't count Sadie and Carter out yet," Percy told her. "Wait until dawn, and we mortals will show you something else you never thought possible. I guarantee it."