The Demigod King; Book 2

"How Many Lives Are Worth Percy Jackson's?"

Nico and Will entered the teacher's lounge. Everyone else already sat there, waiting for them. Nico immediately dropped Will's hand when they came around other people. Will looked hurt, but Nico didn't feel like he was in the wrong. He was from the 1940's where being gay was punishable by death on the streets. Yeah he'd just kissed Will, but that didn't mean he was ready for other people to know he'd kissed Will.

Will sat down and Nico was about to sit next to him when he caught Jason's eye. Nico gave the older boy his best threatening face and decided not to sit next to Will. He looked at Jason as if to say, Tell anyone about what you saw and I'll chop your dick off!

Will would probably be upset again at Nico, but it wasn't like anything was going to work out between them. They'd both confessed they had feelings for each other, but that didn't mean Will wanted those feelings. Even if he did, there was no way the son of Apollo would continued to like Nico if he saw what the son of Hades was really like.

"Okay guys, how did the Wolf House go?" Jason asked. He was taking the role of leader while Percy was gone.

"We figured out that there is some kind of underground cellar beneath the Wolf House. It's a huge, empty space," Hazel announced.

"There's a trap door to get in and out," Leo added. "It's got great security precautions, but I could crack it in 10 minutes tops."

"We met up with Grover on the way," said Annabeth. "He was nearby helping a demigod get to Camp Jupiter." Ever since the Giant War, satyrs helped Roman and Greek Demigods get to their respective camps. "Grover said he could smell monsters like crazy around the Wolf House. Fresh tracks, too. He said he'd also heard that Lupa and her pack were avoiding the Wolf House because there have been so many monsters around there recently."

Nico's stomach dropped. If Lupa's wolves were relocating, the threat must be really bad. "That's bad," Nico summed up.

Jason sighed. "Okay, so we know where Percy is and we know how to get to him. Now we just need to make a battle strategy and rally troops from the camps."

"How about this: we send in some Greeks, since Percy is Greek. Leo and the other Vulcan kids can quickly dismantle any traps. Then we'll send in the Greeks in a phalanx formation. We'll have Romans waiting outside and Annabeth, who can lead the attack, will call for us once they've pushed through. We'll send some Mercury kids to scout for Percy's cell since they are fast on their feet. Once we locate it, we do a phalanx to defend it while Vulcan kids free him. The rest of us will be on the offensive, slaughtering as many troops in the underground cell as possible to decrease the amount of enemies we'll have when we inevitably face Ouranos," Reyna finished.

Everyone murmured their approval of the plan.

Jason nodded. "I like it. Only let's not go more on the offensive than we need to. I don't want to risk any casualties if it's just a rescue mission. I hate to say it, but Percy is just one person. He's extremely valuable and our friend, but let's not lose tons of soldiers just to rescue one person."

Annabeth looked like she wanted to bite Jason's head off. However, he was right. It brought them to the question Leo had posted on the Argo (in terms of being worth Frank's): how many lives were worth Percy Jackson's?

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

At dinner, Nico took his usual spot at the staff table. He deliberately avoided making eye contact with Will, who was seated at the Ravenclaw table. It recently occurred to him that, although Will was actually a few months older than him, Nico getting involved with the son of Apollo would he a teacher-student relationship. There weren't any specific ruled against it, and it was a different case with the Demigods, but still. Nico felt weird about it. Plus, he was a private person. He didn't want someone that he had to spill all his secrets to, even if Will sometimes made that very tempting.

Dumbledore seemed to pick up on Nico's bad mood. "Mr. di Angelo, you seem upset."

Nico explained the DemiSquad meeting earlier, and Dumbledore's face fell. "I'm glad to hear Perseus's location was discovered. However, it upsets me as well that he's so we'll guarded. And their plan to divide Demigods and wizards is... unfortunate. Hopefully we can stop this from happening."

"You mean, hopefully us Demigods can stop it from happening," Nico corrected grumpily. "No offense, Professor, but you wizards can't really do much to help when our enemy I'd this powerful."

Dumbledore nodded. "Right. Sorry about that. Of course we will fight alongside you as much as we can, but I regret that we won't be more significant of a foe to Ouranos."

Nico rubbed his face. "I mean normally you guys would be helpful, but this is a primordial that we're dealing with. Even some Demigods won't make a dent with him."

Dumbledore looked like he felt better. "Ah, I see."

Nico nodded at him and then finished his meal. After dinner he went to his room and had another demigod dream of Percy.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•

Percy jerked at his chains. He still looked awful, his clothes ripped and bloody, his skin cut and dirty. He now had a split lip and a cut above his eye. He was again chained to the wall, Celestial Bronze chains burning into his skin.

Then the door to his cell opened, and a cyclops entered. He locked a chain from the ground on Percy's ankle and then uncuffed his from the wall. Now, Percy could lay on the ground, although he was still chained.

"There you go, little demigod." The cyclops smiled evilly. "Missus Bellatrix wants you to take a little nap. She says you'll need your rest for tomorrow. Tomorrow is going to be a busy day!"

Percy growled and got to his feet. He tried to get at the cyclops but was tugged back by the chain. "Tell your mistress she can go to Tartarus!" He spat.

The cyclops slapped Percy down to the ground, where he didn't get up. Then the cyclops left. Percy rolled into his back and stared at the ceiling. He wore an expression of exhaustion and fear. "Please hurry, Nico," he whispered, staring right at the younger boy.