Nico's quest

chapter 15

Hurts.

And in all honesty, Nico didn't know how much longer he could hold on. His grip on consciousness kept getting weaker and weaker. Anubis kept having to shout louder and longer in his mind to rouse him again. Nico tilted his head to look at his neighbor in the next bed. Jaz had it easy, nice and peaceful in her coma. He definitely got the short straw, with a knife in his stomach and an annoying god in his head.

I heard that.

Leave me alone. Nico's eyelids felt like they were weighted. Surely it wouldn't hurt just to close them for a second?

You are not going to sleep, Nico! Keep your eyes open, you little noob!

I'm not a noob . . .

Damn it, Nico! Wake the hells up! shouted Anubis. Your cousin is depending on you! Do you want to let Percy down?

No... Reluctantly, Nico opened his eyes again and coughed. Pain wracked through his entire body. Can't do this much longer, Anubis.

You can.

Can't. Sorry.

You won't have to do this much longer. It's nearly dawn.

How much longer?

Not long.

Nico telepathed his disbelief in that statement.

I'm not lying. It will be any minute now, Nico. Just hang on!

An explosion rocked the building, and Nico heard stones breaking. They've breached the east wall again...

What do you think you're doing?

Getting up. Going to fight.

Nico managed to swing his legs over the side of his bed.

No! Nico, get back in bed! You're in no shape –

I'm not going to die lying down in bed.

If you try to fight you are definitely going to die! That's assuming you can even get down the stairs!

Nico cried out in pain as his feet hit the floor, and he nearly fell. I'm going to drift off if I stay here!

He waited for Anubis to protest again, and felt a surge of surprise when no protest came. Grimacing, he forced himself to stand on his own, without the support of the bed. Maybe it was his imagination, but the pain seemed to be receding.

Then he realized . . . the surprise he'd felt wasn't just his own. It was Anubis's too. And the pain really was going away . . .

Nico reached down and pulled away the bandages Percy had put on his stomach, and found that his wound was gone. Pale, unmarked skin was all that was there. Not even a scar to show he'd ever been injured to begin with.

"Ra . . ." he whispered out loud, forgetting himself. "Sadie and Carter are back? They succeeded?"

"They must have," said a familiar voice from the next bed over.

"Jaz!" Nico abruptly forgot he'd ever been injured and hurried to her side. "You're alright!"

"Yeah. So are you." Jaz gave him a sunny smile.

"Are you up for a fight? Because we're under attack. The House of Life –"

Jaz held up a hand to stop Nico. "I've been dreaming. I'm up to date with what's going on. And I'm ready for my turn to kick some butt."

Nico felt a violent grin start to spread across his face. "Well then, let's go!"

He held out a hand to help Jaz off the bed, then pulled out his switchblade and hit the button, turning it into sword form. Then he started sprinting toward the door.

It was like the past two weeks, or however long he'd been gone had never happened. Nico felt better than he had in a long time. He felt strong enough to run a marathon, or single handedly kick the crap out of every single House of Life freak threatening his home. And he felt warm, like there was sunshine in his veins instead of corrosive black poison. He felt good.

Don't get over confident, warned Anubis. If you get injured again –

I won't! And if I don't hurry up, there's not going to be any enemies left! Because if everyone else on our side received Ra's blessing, like Jaz and I just did . . .

Nico skidded into the Great Hall and saw that finishing his sentence was completely unnecessary. Nope. There was no 'if' about it.

"Hurry up, Jaz!" he shouted back to her, because she hadn't been able to keep up with his demigod speed. "Before all the good enemies are taken!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming! Wait, what are you doing, Nico? Why are you on top of the rail?" demanded Jaz as she sprinted into the hall.

Nico spared only a second to shrug and answer her. "Because it's the fastest way down," he said. Then he jumped off the rail. It was high time he rejoined the party.