Nico's Quest

Chapter2

It made him feel incredibly guilty that he'd nearly killed Nico with that stupid ritual. And it didn't make him feel any better that Nico didn't blame him. It had still been a lack of foresight on his part. He should have foreseen that the book might have been split up. He should have thought to include safeguards against that in his spell. He didn't even know what he would have said to Carter and Sadie if he'd killed Nico, let alone to Percy.

The thought of having to tell Percy was enough to make Anubis shudder. Gods didn't normally fear mortals, even if said mortals were sorcerers or demigods, but Percy Jackson was one that any wise god would do well to make an exception for. Anubis had learned from Nico's memories that Percy had once beaten Aries in a one-on-one fight and gone up against Kronus himself. He also knew that Percy had the curse of Achilles and therefore only one weak spot. He was also pretty sure he knew where that weak point was. Nico did his best never to think about it, knowing that Anubis had access to all of his thoughts and memories, but Nico was too smart and knew Percy too well not to have figured out the general area where Percy's weak point would be, and therefore Anubis knew too. But even with that information, it would be a mistake to underestimate Percy. Anubis hoped to never have a reason to face Percy as an enemy, and he knew that Percy also saw Nico as the little brother he never had . . . aside from that Tyson character. Well the fact remained that Nico was very important to Percy. If anyone hurt him they'd have Percy to deal with. Anubis was sure no one had forgotten what happened to that crazy Aziza woman, and the tiger fish incident.

Nico kept up a light conversation as they walked, most of it about inconsequential stuff, which was good, because Anubis was a little distracted. He kept the largest part of his consciousness there beside Nico, so that he could protect his host if something attacked, but the other fragments of his consciousness were having to work overtime as strange developments began taking place. Bast had returned to the Duat to scout out the area around her former prison, and Sadie had gotten into trouble and needed help, and with his host stuck here in the Duat, there was frustratingly little that Anubis could do to assist her. Anubis had to wait until Sadie ran past a cemetery before he was able to even talk with her, and even then all he was able to do was give her a knife and some directions. And a birthday kiss, which he wasn't able to enjoy nearly as much as he hoped he would have, due to the fact that he was concurrently talking with Bes and getting him to go pick Sadie up early, as well as noticing that Nico's strength seemed to be waning and that his eyelids were fluttering, and he was stumbling every third step.

"Let's stop for a few minutes and rest," said Anubis finally, when he was able to shift his concentration back to his host, once Sadie was on her way to the Underground, and Bes was on his way to go pick her up.

"No."

Anubis regarded his host, non-plussed. "And why not? You are clearly tired."

"Because every minute I spend here could end up being an hour or more," said Nico. His expression darkened with stubbornness. "So if I rest for five minutes here, that could be five hours in the normal world."

This was true, but it was also true that Nico needed to rest.

"Besides," Nico continued, looking around them. "This part of the Duat is pretty much a barren desert. It's kind of pointless to sit down in the middle of a sand covered wasteland. The sun here will bake me just as much as if I'd kept moving."

Anubis froze. He hadn't considered the Duat's sun and its effects on his host, but now that he was paying attention he could see that Nico wasn't having an easy time of it. His normally pale skin was flushed and his hair was slick with sweat.

"You look terrible."

Nico looked at him incredulously. "You're insulting my looks now? Really, Anubis?"