A Tale of Gods and Magic

Percy: Nico "Avenger of the Outspoken" di Angelo

A/N I have been resurrected! Chapter will be named accordingly later. PS THX Wattpad for making me not have to reformat everything when copy and pasting. /fin

"WE ARE SO DEAD!"

Jason shouted back something that sounded like either "rice wine vinegar" or "my will is in my trunk." Percy, using logic, inferenced that it was the latter.

"ONE! HEY, DUDE," Percy hollered over the air screaming around the boys. His face felt like it was being peeled back, slowly, and being launched into the swirling storm clouds behind him. He hoped that some little girl didn't find the dessicated remains of what had once been a pretty great face. You've served me well, visage, Percy thought, mind blurred by the high altitude and promise of death growing closer and closer.

Percy squinted at the ground below. Where he had been expecting streets, all concrete and glass and drab, there was a luscious green field. Percy could see buildings lining the green, but honestly, he was focusing more on how to save himself than on the scenery.

As Percy was deciding between jumping off the thestral, pulling Jason with him, and doing some sort of somersault, the thestral hit the ground running. When the thestral had slowed to a trot and then a stop, Percy slid onto the ground.

"Oh, gods.... " Percy cradled his head in his hands. "I was so sure we were dead!" Jason hopped onto the ground and brushed off his jeans.

"You okay?" Jason asked. Percy gulped in a deep breath of air and stood up on wobbly legs.

"One, what the heck was that?" Percy asked the thestral.

"What was what?" One looked up at Percy, empty eye sockets somehow imploring.

"That... that... " Percy looked to Jason for assistance. Jason just shook his head. "Let's get going. One, why don't you... um... "

"I will graze on this grass until you need me again."

"Great. Enjoy your grass." Jason renewed the spell on the aviator jacket. It glowed gold for a split second, as if Midas himself had touched it, and then started bobbing through the air.

Jason and Percy set off after the jacket.

Through the mist Percy was sure he could see a thousand figures made of inky blackness, all stalking him, waiting for the perfect moment to attack. He whispered Nico's name, but the sound was lost to the swirls of fog around them. Multiple times, Percy thought he heard Hecate whispering undeterminable phrases in his ear. He caught "now" and "never" and "gone" and "forever." None of them boded anything well.

Percy was certain the field should have ended meters ago, but the coat kept moving through the mist. Percy and Jason exchanged looks but said nothing. Finally, the coat rammed into a large tree that Percy was sure hadn't been there a minute before.

An arrow flew through the air in the next second. Then another. And another. And another. Somehow, they all missed the boys. The archer must've been blinded by the low-flying clouds.

In the next second, Percy and Jason drew their swords.

"Show yourself!" Percy shouted.

"We're armed," Jason replied.

"I will not be killed." The voice was familiar. Cool, but a blazing inferno underlaid the words.

"Who are you?" But as soon as the last letter left his mouth, he knew the answer.

Nico.

The boy emerged from the shadows. There was a startlingly large bow in his arms and a quiver strapped to his back filled with sharp and deadly-looking arrows. There was grim determination on Nico's face as he cocked an arrow at them.

"I am Nico di Angelo, Ghost King, Avenger of the Outspoken." There were nasty bruises and red slashes spilling from under the sleeves of Nico's thin t-shirt. There was a circle of bruises around his throat like a necklace and yet more drawing patterns on his face. Blood oozed from a gash on his lower lip.

"Nico? Are you okay? It's me, Percy, and Jason. We're here to bring-"

Nico let the arrow fly loose. It hit Jason's arm.

Jason crumpled to the ground, biting his lip to keep from screaming.

"NICO!" Percy launched himself at Nico. The boy, not expecting the blow, was crushed under the force.

"Get... get off... " Nico struggled aimlessly.

"What the heck are you doing? Jason's our friend!" Nico stared at Percy with blank eyes, now submissive.

As Percy pushed the bow aside, Nico twisted in a way that reached for the point Percy still felt was most vulnerable on him... the small of his back, his Achilles' heel. Percy, instinct taking over, curled back, and Nico, taking the advantage, slammed Percy to the ground.

Percy's ears started to ring with the impact.

"Help," he muttered, but there was nobody to hear.

"Service has arrived," said someone. Nico looked up, and so did Percy.

Harry Potter, wand alight, was standing in front of them.