The Demigod King; Book 2

"This is What He Would've Wanted"

Merry Christmas. Here's the chapter we've all been waiting for.

Nico scowled. He stared at Percy, the demonic primordial struggling inside the demigod's body. The black veins pulsed like threads of death as Ouranos struggled against the iron.

"FREE ME AT ONCE!" Percy bellowed, baring his teeth savagely. His eyes burned black, the whites of his eyes entirely gone.

Nico tilted his head, narrowing his eyes at the primordial. He looked into Percy's black eyes and saw nothing. The body was no more than an empty shell now.

"What do we do now?" Jason asked quietly, his arms straining to hold Ouranos's chains. He looked anxious and distraught, but Nico could detect a deep resignation that reflected his own. They both knew what had to happen.

"Can you just check to see if there's anything left?" Jason pleaded, his eyes begging. He was desperately seeking a way out of the inevitable, and Nico knew it. But if Jason was looking for solace, Nico couldn't bring. Like always, he would only ever be the bearer of bad news.

Nico held Jason's pleading gaze. He clenched his jaw and gave Jason a look. Slowly, Nico took a step forward and knelt down in front of Ouranos.

"I WILL DESTROY YOU!" Ouranos bellowed, black blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.

A girl cried out in anguish from somewhere behind Nico. The son of Hades knew that the chains were taking their toll.

Nico placed his hands on Percy's face. He'd learned how to do this in the Underworld--to cast his being into the dreams of others. He'd only been able to achieve it with a few people before but had been able to communicate with Percy several times through his dreams. If there was any Percy left, he would feel it now.

He shut his eyes and felt his consciousness being sucked in. His head fell back, mouth parting as he left his body. He was inside Percy's head now. Images flashed through him--black, darkness, searing the edges of the earth. Demonic hands, laced with black threads, slicing through Nico's skin. Ripping it from his flesh, plunging into his body. Demonic fingers ripping out his organs, crushing them inside his body. The entire world, ablaze in a black inferno. The Heavens and Seas raging, dominating, destroying the gods, the titans, the cyclopes, and the hundred-handed ones. Destroying Tartarus, the man who had taken his place with his wife--how dare he! He would rip it all to shreds, he would obliterate the very ashes of these demigods, he would let nothing remain.

Nico gasped and jerked back, removing his consciousness from Percy's body. He came to on the grass, his fingers curled into fists. The plants had died twenty feet around him, withering in black ash. Smoke curled off of Nico's clothes, and his body still burned in pain from Ouranos's touch.

Jason leaned over him, holding Nico's head and gazing desperately at the son of Hades. "Anything?" He asked pleadingly.

Nico clenched his jaw, pushing himself up. He looked at Jason and shook his head.

The son of Jupiter gave a rattling sob and drew back, putting his head in his hands.

Nico drew his sword.

"NO!" Annabeth screamed.

Nico turned around to see the daughter of Athena rocketing towards him, loathing on her face. He barely had time to react before she tackled him to the ground.

"Don't hurt him!" She screamed, trying to hit Nico. "He's in there, I know it!"

"He's not, Annabeth!" Nico yelled, struggling to hold her wrists away from his face.

"Yes, he is!" She bellowed, straining towards him. "You know he is and you're going to kill him anyway! You monster!"

Nico dropped her hands then. She launched herself forward and pummeled him, striking blows anywhere she could reach--his cheek, his chin, splitting his lip, bruising his eye.