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Chapter 11: Apple Pie

*Nico's POV*

The dead grass poked at my legs. Shadow-travelling both of us and our gear here was extremely exhausting, I'll admit, but I know Dean needs to get to the infirmary. At first I tried to lift his unconscious form onto my back, but he was way too heavy for my poor back to lift so instead I grabbed him by his feet and began to drag him from the back of our cabin to the infirmary. About half way there I felt like I was going to pass out myself. Hell it probably would've been easier to just shadow-travel us there but too late now. Oh well. I kept walking, coating both of us in shadows so we wouldn't be seen. I don't think Dean would take very kindly to being seen by all of camp being dragged unconscious by his little brother. I know I wouldn't. A good twenty minutes later after I had tripped several times and was feeling more worn out than an old pair of shoes, we finally arrived at the infirmary and I opened the door and walked in. Everyone immediately looked up at the door to see who was entering but all of their expectant faces turned to confusion quite quickly. With a start I realised that they couldn't see either of us. Uncloaking us, I stepped forward and all the kids backed away, scared. I rolled my eyes. Really? I mean i don't think I could walk another step nonetheless fight any of them. Only Will Solace stepped forward to help.

"Hey Nico. You look like, well, death. Come. Sit. I'll help you out. So what happened?"

I simply shook my head and stepped aside so he could see Dean behind me on the floor. His eyes widened.

"Gods! What happened to him? Nico what happened to you two?" He inquired while stepping around me and grabbing Dean under the arms. He hoisted Dean up and quickly carried him over to the nearest available bed.

"Went shopping," I muttered "got attacked by some dracnae and a chimera."

"A chimera? Damn, Nico. And how many dracnae?"

"Like, fifty. And Dean killed the chimera and about 40 of the dracnae. I was really more of the distraction while he bounced around took everyone by surprise. He used the last of his energy to save Percy, Sam and I from these dracnae we didn't see come up behind us about to stab us. We were all too focused on helping Dean 'cuz he already wasn't looking too good. He saw them behind us though and took them all out right before they stabbed us. If it weren't for him you'd be burying three campers right now, not trying to nurse one."

Will stood there momentarily shocked. Then he shook his head of sandy blonde hair and pulled out a container of nectar and poured some into an IV drip which he put into Dean's arm. I must have looked very confused because Will laughed and explained.

"It's a little cheat for when people are unconscious. With that, he should wake up in a few minutes, max."

I nodded and turned around to head back to my cabin when Will called my name. I turned back around to face him with one of my eyebrows raised.

"You look pretty terrible yourself. You want anything?"

I shook my head and once more began to leave.

"Thanks, but I'll be fine with a pomogranite from my cabin and an hour or so of sleep."

I heard Will chiding me as I walked out and began to head to my cabin, shrouding myself in darkness once more.

*Sam's POV*

Percy and I split up. He went out to the woods and I stayed near the bus. I looked around. As far as I could see there were only a few dracnae near me. I pulled out an arrow, knocked it, aimed, and then let it fly. It hit the dracnae between the eyes and it crumbled to ash. These arrows are pretty cool, I must admit. While celebrating my small victory, the other dracnae has become especially pissed at me. Apparently killing one of their friends wasn't making them so happy with me. They turned and hissed at me, then began to move in. I drew back a red arrow, aimed for the center of the group, and released the string. The ten or so dracnae that were left were reduced to ash—exploding arrows are pretty cool. I turned around to head back in the direction of the bus as I had wandered a little while hunting the dracnae and came face to face with another dracnae. It shot out its claws in an attempt to skewer me, but I side-stepped easily. Years of hunter experience made dodging quite simple. I blocked its next strike with my bow and then slid the frame of it up against the monster's neck, choking it. Just then, I remembered that Nico had mentioned something about a master. Now seemed like a pretty good time to ask, so I decided to give it a shot.
"Who do you work for?"
"And why would I tell you, half-blood?" It spit back. I drew an arrow and stabbed it into the creature's arm. The noise it made was somewhere between a scream and a hiss and it began to thrash against my bow.
"I'll ask you again. Who do you work for?"
"Go to Tartarus!" I sighed and twisted the arrow while burying it farther into its arm. The thing let out an even louder scream.
"One last time, and then... well your head would be a great trophy. Who do you work for?" I asked, all the while still twisting the arrow further and further into its arm.
"Iapetus!" It struggled to speak.
"Why thank you." I said as I yanked the arrow out of its arm and instead, drove it through its heart. The monster vanished into a pile of dust.
Iapetus... I know I've heard that name before... he was the Titan of death. In charge of all mortal lifespans. But I thought that all the titans were dead or gone or locked up or whatever. That's odd. I gotta tell Percy.
Now that the dracnae were gone, I decided to climb up on top of the bus to see if I could find Percy to tell him about what the dracnae has said. While clambering up, I heard Blackjack from somewhere off to my right and decided to follow the horse—sorry, Pegasus—instead. My feet made low, heavy sounds on the asphalt road as I ran towards the noise. When I got there, I found Blackjack with long, bloody scratches on his nose and Percy, standing beside him, the last dracnae having been slaughtered as I arrived.

"Hey, Percy! Nice work! Is Blackjack okay?"

"Uh hey Sam. Thanks. Blackjack says he's okay, but the swear words I heard when it happened say otherwise." Percy nudged the Pegasus who whinnied back at him, shaking its head.

"Would you like me to take a look at him?"

Percy looked back at me and nodded his head, "Sure. That would be great, thanks."

"No problem." I replied, stepping towards Blackjack and turning his head in my direction to get a better look at the lines that marred his nose. They seemed pretty deep, but not too bad.
"They're pretty deep, but not fatal. He should be fine with some antibiotics to prevent infection and a bandage and some rest."

"Cool. Well I suppose we should be heading back, huh?"

"Yea. Probably. But first, you know how Nico had asked us to see about a master?" Percy nodded. "Well I got one of the dracnae to answer and get this, it said Iapetus." I waited for Percy to react but he just looked at me blankly.
"Uh who's that?" He asked.
"He's a titan. Also known as 'The Piercer.' He was the Titan of death." Percy's eyes widened.
"Yea. I don't understand it either."
"We really need to get back to camp and tell Chiron. This can't mean anything good." He said, his face looking grim.
"I agree. Plus, I need to talk with my brother. I don't know what he was thinking, going out like that with another child of the Big Three. He knows better." I shook my head.
"Hey, at least he and Nico know how to handle themselves. Plus, it was good practice, ya know?"
"I guess."
"Yea. So cmon now, let's go back to camp." Percy said, nodding toward Blackjack. "You can fly us back, right Blackjack?
The horse let out a loud whine and Percy laughed.  "Hey, sorry I asked. And what did I say about the language?" Percy grinned and proceeded to climb up on Blackjack and I followed suit.
We were off the ground within seconds, the forest and bus miniature toys from the clouds.

*Deans POV*

Why do I feel like I have a massive hangover? I woke up, staring at a white ceiling, my head pounding and feeling as though I had walked 100 miles drunk as hell. I tried to sit up, but I was so weak and sore. I groaned and closed my eyes, giving up on trying to sit up. When I opened them, there was a face about two inches from my own.
"Dude! What the hell! Where am I? Who—" and then I realised that this kid was one of the Apollo kids, I recognised him from Sam's new table.
"Sorry. I'm Will Solace, head of Apollo cabin and you're in the infirmary back at camp."
"Who brought me here?"
"Nico."
"And where is he?"
"I don't know."
I rolled my eyes and tried to sit up again. I wanted to go back to my own cabin. I always hated the doctors and this infirmary wasn't much better. My attempt to sit up got about as far as the first attempt. That is, about one centimeter off the bed.
"And where do you think you're going?"
"Cabin." I groaned.
"Here. Have a sip of this." He handed me a glass filled with orange liquid.
"Orange juice? Really. I don't think that's gonna help man." He laughed.
"Just drink." I took a sip and immediately warmth spread throughout my body and I was full of energy. The drink tasted like a warm, homemade apple pie and man was it good.
"Shit, man. What is that?"
"Nectar. Drink of the gods. Feel better?"
"Yea."
"Go ahead and sit up now." I sat up effortlessly and smirked, man that felt good.
"Think you can stand?" In response, I stood up and walked to the door.
"Thanks, man."
"No problem. Anything for a sibling." He waved at me and I walked out the door.

The walk back to my cabin was awkward. Apparently children of Hades are really feared or something. I don't know why, I'm not that bad. Maybe a bit abrasive sometimes but not too harsh, right? Oh well. Screw them. Nico is way better anyways. A little young, sure, but way cooler than all these asshats. But those asshats kept staring and it was really starting to get to me. I'm not used to so much attention. I wish I were invisible. I wish I had the energy to blend with the shadows but, even with the nectar I wasn't strong enough. Shadow-work is so tiring. By the time I made it to my cabin I wanted to take a nap but apparently Nico had a different idea.