They attacked the roof again an hour after midnight, in greater numbers than before.
"I guess they got tired of pounding against the east wall," said Alyssa as they watched their enemies come.
"Good. I was getting bored." Julian stood and stretched, a violent smirk on his face.
"The night is a little more than half over," said Walt. "We just have to hold out for five more hours."
"Just a warning," Nico told them, "I doubt I'll be able to keep the flying snakes away after dawn. They're day creatures, so I'm using the power of the night to drive them back, but after it gets light . . ."
"Just do what you can," Alyssa told him.
Nico glanced sideways at Zia, expecting her to say something, but she held her tongue. For that, Nico was grateful. Being around her was extremely awkward. He wondered how long it would take her to realize that the feelings Nephthys forced her to have about him were maternal in nature. From there it wasn't a very big jump to realize that Nico was hosting Anubis.
There was always the chance that she could misinterpret what she was feeling, but Nico didn't want that to happen either. If she started thinking of him as her little brother . . . well he would have a really big problem with that. No one could replace Bianca, and Nico knew he would end up hating anyone who tried. And if Zia started thinking that she cared for him in some kind of romantic way, Nico just might have to kill himself. He had no desire to get caught up in some twisted modern-day retelling Oedipus Rex. Carter would not be happy about that either.
Nope. The best thing for him to do was just avoid her.
Despite that, Nico found himself keeping an eye on Zia as the battle began again, more so than any of his other friends. Ironically, she was the one who probably needed watching over the least.
She's a good magician, Nico commented to Anubis, who was watching the battle through his eyes.
She is. But then, she has to be in order to have hosted my mother. Though what my mother would want with a hostess who specialized in fire magic, I'll never know. Isuppose she is looking for a new host now that she has moved on from Zia.
If you see her, you better warn her to stay away from Percy,Nico told him I don't mean just not considering him, I mean keeping her distance from him. I don't even wanther in the same room as him, because if she touches him and what happened to us happens to them...
That would be bad.
You have no idea. Wait, you're in my head, so yeah you do. But there's no way Percy will be able to keep what happened from other people. Poseidon's more understanding than Hades or Zeus, so he might not start a war like my dad would, but if Zeus finds out that both Hades and Poseidon have children who are demigodlings . . .
I will keep my mother away from your cousin, Anubis promised.
Right as they finished talking, a demon broke past the four defending magicians and charged Nico.
Nico's reflexes weren't up to par, since he'd been putting himself through nonstop abuse since he and Anubis left for the Duat however long ago that was, but he was still the son of Hades. He brought his sword up and deflected a blow that would have skewered him like shish-kabob. Then he calmly sliced his Stygian blade through the demon's neck. And then he was nearly roasted alive as a stream of fire shot toward him. He dove to the side with a cry of pain, and was alarmed to see that his sleeve had caught on fire.
Stop, drop, and roll! ordered Anubis.
What! Nico tried to bat the fire out but only succeeded in burning his hand.
Stop, drop, and roll, Nico!
That made no sense to Nico, who dismissed the god's cryptic advice and tried to frantically remember if he knew a spell for water.
Argh! Just let me! Anubis seized control without waiting for permission. Nico had already been sitting, but Anubis made him slump all the way to the ground, crossed his arms over his chest, and rolled to smother the flames. Didn't they teach you how to stop, drop, and roll in school?
I don't even know what that means! And I don't go to school
. . . We will discuss this later. It's something you should know.
Whatever.
Nico sat up the moment Anubis gave him control again. Just in time to be grabbed by Zia, who gripped both his shoulders.
"Nico! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean –"
"You set me on fire?" asked Nico incredulously. "You?"
"It was an accident! I was trying to kill the demon –"
"Get down!" Nico tackled Zia as one of the uraei swooped down low and exhaled flames toward them. He screamed in pain again as he felt the back of his shirt catch fire.
He landed on top of Zia, shielding her from the blast, then rolled off of her, onto his back, copying what Anubis had done earlier to smother the flames.
Nico began cursing in Italian even before he launched himself up off the floor, into the air as high as he could, sword raised even higher over his head. It was a good jump. He was pretty sure that he cleared five feet, which put him high enough to slice the presumptuous snake in half. "Take that!"
He landed right next to Zia, in time for both of them to be showered in golden monster dust. Some of it got in Nico's mouth. He spit it out in disgust.
"I hate snakes!" he shouted, just to make sure everyone knew. "I hate them! Why are all your stupid Egyptian monsters based off snakes? You guys SUCK!"
Calm down!
"You calm down! You're not the one who just got set on fire twice!" Nico raised his sword and pointed it at another uraei, and sent an arc of shadows whipping toward it, driving it back again, then diverted that same shadow toward two others who'd been coming too close to the roof.
"I am truly sorry, Nico," said Zia. "I didn't mean to!"
The look of genuine distress on Zia's face stole some of Nico's anger away. And by some, that means most of it. It tore at his heart, seeing her so unhappy, like she was on the verge of tears. He wanted to chase those feelings away, make her smile again . . .
As soon as he realized what he was thinking, Nico felt a wave of annoyance at himself.
"Don't worry about it," he said gruffly to her. "I've survived much worse."
He held out a hand to help her up. She hesitated for a moment, then took it, and let him pull her off the ground. Then she charged back into the fight.
Are you okay? Anubis wanted to know.
My back's a little scorched, but it won't slow me down much.
That's not what I was asking about.
Gods, you're annoying, complained Nico. And in case you haven't noticed, I'm in the middle of a battle. Do you really want to talk about my feelings at a time like this?
. . . I guess not.
Nico retreated back to the stair door, and concentrated on keeping the flying snakes at bay again, also keeping half an eye on his friends, making sure that none of them needed assistance. But it wasn't long before the enemy had been driven back yet again, all the way to the far side of the roof.
Then Kwai joined the fight.
Zia had sparred against Kwai in the past on several occasions. She'd been beaten every single time. Fire just wasn't a good match up against water. Even if their magic was equally strong, she would always be at a disadvantage. And Zia wasn't sure if their powers were equal, even with their elements aside.
She tried to strike him down quickly, before he could defend himself, because that was the only way she could see herself winning this fight. Her stream of fire collided with a jet of water that Kwai aimed at her, and a deafening hiss was heard as their clashing powers created thick clouds of white steam that quickly rose skyward.
"You know Zia, there were rumors," Kwai called to her, his voice nasty and taunting. "They said you had become a godling. That you were host to Nephthys. But I knew those rumors were wrong. You? A host for Nephthys? Unthinkable. Fire affinity aside, you're simply too weak."
Zia summoned the largest fireball she could manage and flung it at Kwai, but he drowned it before it came anywhere near him.
"But you know, I had hoped it was true. I would have liked facing you if you were possessed by Nephthys. Imagine how much more feared I would be when people heard that Kwai of the Watery Death had defeated the river goddess herself!"
"I heard the half-mortal son of the sea god gave you enough trouble!" snapped Zia. "You set your sights too high if you think you can take on a goddess."
"If she was using you as a host, there would be nothing for me to worry about. You're that far below me."
"Don't get assume you've won this fight just because your element trumps my own," shouted Zia.
She flung her staff toward Kwai as hard as she could, and it began to change shape in midair.
"No cat will save you, however large, foolish girl!" Kwai summoned a high powered stream of water and blasted her creation just as it finished its transformation.
"It's not a cat," announced Zia, smirking as her hippopotamus charged Kwai.
Kwai's water slowed the hippo a bit, but not much. A lion or tiger, which were Zia's usual choices, would have been swept away in the deluge in a heartbeat, but her hippo continued charging straight through it and nearly succeeded in mauling Kwai.
He jumped aside at the last second and the hippo's momentum carried it off the roof. Zia sent another stream of flames Kwai's way, hoping they'd connect now that he was off balance. No luck. Kwai extinguished those flames just like all the ones before.
"Do you know what the problem is with magicians who are raised explicitly by the House of Life?" asked Kwai. "You lack creativity. The only way you know how to approach a problem is by using the same old spells and same old approaches that have been used for thousands of years. Your reactions are always the same. Even when you manage to pull off a trick, like the hippo one you just did, you are still entirely predictable. You follow up with your most reliable attack, whether it's suited to the situation or not."
"Stop talking as though the fight is over," said Zia angrily.
"But it is over," said Kwai. He gave her a nasty smile. "You have lost. Do you know why?"
"Tell me! Keep talking!" Zia tore off her charm bracelets and scattered them in an arc, in Kwai's general direction. "Give me more chances to get inside your guard!"
A small herd of five antelope sprang to life where each bracelet landed and charged the water magician from all different directions. Kwai didn't move to defend himself. For a moment Zia thought that she had one upped him, maybe even defeated him if her charms hit him hard enough. Three of the antelope reached him at once and smashed into him. Then they smashed through him, into each other, and ended up getting tangled up in each other's horns. The other two collided with them as well, and they all fell in a heap.
Kwai laughed and stepped forward, and Zia's jaw dropped in horror as she realized that her antelope had crashed through Kwai because he had somehow liquidified himself. The droplets that had splattered in different directions were now coming back together, reforming him. Mostly. His legs remained a blur. A very swelled up blur. In fact, all of Kwai seemed to be growing by the second, as his magic fed his form, creating more water to add to his body. If it could still be called a body. He was semi-transparent now too, and he began sludging his way toward Zia, a cruel smile on his ugly face.
Zia tried to blast that smile away, but only succeeded in creating a big gust of steam.
"If I were you, I would run, Zia," Kwai told her.
"What sort of freak are you?" screamed Zia. "What have you done to yourself, Kwai?"
"I've become one with my element. You have no idea how hard it was to learn this, how much I had to sacrifice. Most magicians would never dare tread the path I had to walk to get here. The few times I slipped, it caused quite a bit of disaster."
"The tsunami in the Indian Ocean –"
Kwai laughed. "That was the only one they caught me for. There were other times, I assure you. Hundreds more died for me to obtain this knowledge, but it was a sacrifice I was willing to make."
"You are disgusting!" Zia summoned a continuous stream of fire, the hottest she could manage, and kept it concentrated on Kwai for as long as she could. Never before had she deliberately attempted to kill another magician. Even with Aziza, she hadn't been going for the kill, knowing that Aziza was well shielded. But with Kwai it was different. All those people he had murdered for his own selfish pursuits, combined with the fact that he was now scarily powerful made him a target that had to be eliminated. Zia hoped that if she could keep her flames burning hot enough, long enough, she could completely evaporate the abomination Kwai had become.
She hoped in vain.
When at last she could keep her flames alive no longer, and slumped over, hands on her knees, panting, she watched in horror as the steam cleared to reveal Kwai still standing.
"My turn," said Kwai. And then he surged forward like a wave and crashed down over Zia. Zia felt herself be swept inside of him, and tried to escape, but found herself suspended, within him, able to move all her limbs, but unable to pull herself in any direction. She kicked and clawed, and tried to lash out with her magic, tried to evaporate him from the inside out, but it was all in vain. She was trapped.
I'm going to drown. The thought sent fear through Zia and she redoubled her efforts to break free. She couldn't hold her breath much longer.
"They say that drowning is an extremely painful way of dying. Care to try it, Zia?" taunted Kwai.
Suddenly, Zia felt a disturbance in the water behind her. Then she felt two cold arms wrap around her waist, holding onto her tight. She thought that it was something Kwai was doing, some further way of tormenting her, and would have screamed in despair if she could open her mouth.
Then everything went dark. And cold. And Zia felt as though she was traveling at the speed of light. Then she was dropped onto the stone tiles of the roof, on the other side of the sphinx statue, a safe (or at least safe enough) distance away from Kwai.
She spit out the water that had gotten in her mouth, and coughed, then had to grab onto the sphinx statue because someone was clinging to her from behind for balance, and nearly pulled them both to the ground.
"Nico?" she asked hoarsely.
Nico made an exhausted sound, but also made an effort to stand on his own. He staggered up beside her, bracing himself against the stone sphinx as well.
"You have only gotten a reprieve, Zia," said Kwai. "And you, foolish demigod, have gotten yourself a watery death beside this traitor!"
"Whatever." Nico looked like a drowned wreck. His black hair looked like a tangled mess of brushstrokes painted in black ink, his skin so pale that it was nearly translucent, but his eyes burned with dark fire that was light-years beyond any flame Zia could summon. Maybe it was just her imagination, but the darkness looked like it was thickening around him. Zia wanted to step away from him. But at the same time she wanted to throw herself between him and Kwai, and shield him so that at least one of them would have a chance to escape.
"The youth of today are such fools," sneered Kwai. "If you were a son of your sea god, like the other, then you would be a problem. But you're not. Therefore, you are just barely worth killing –"
"Do you know what happens to those who underestimate the children of the Underworld?" asked Nico, his voice cold and brittle. "They die."
Suddenly the sphinx statue exploded beneath Nico's hands. At first, Zia thought that Kwai had attacked them somehow. She nearly tackled Nico to try to shield him, but then saw that the statue had exploded away from him and Zia, so that the pieces were angled toward Kwai.
"I know what the children of Hades are capable of, little boy!" shouted Kwai. "Summoning corpses and walking through shadows. Neither will save you from me!"
"You know nothing!" shouted Nico right back. The sphinx statue continued to crumble in front of him, into smaller and smaller pieces, collapsing down on itself, almost like it was dissolving. Zia stared in amazement, but confusion, as Nico's powers ground the stone into powder, that he propelled at Kwai. It sunk into his watery body like pigment.
"What exactly do you think you're doing?" asked Kwai, looking annoyed. His half-transparent face was now stained a brownish gold from the rock powder.
"Setting up an assist." Nico grinned, despite the exhaustion that was clearly written on his face. The stone tiles of the roof began turning to powder and flying toward Kwai too. "I'll let you in on a little secret before we kill you. The children of Hades have geo-kinetic powers too. Power over stone. And sand. And dirt . . . and do you know what you get when you mix dirt and water?"
"I know the answer! I know the answer! Call on me!" shouted Alyssa. Kwai was suddenly struck with a barrage of all the crumbled clay shabtis that had been destroyed on the roof thus far as the girl who was clearly following the path of Geb joined in the effort. "You get mud!"
"What are you doing?" shouted Kwai. "Stop that! What do you think you are doing?"
Kwai was no longer semi-transparent. And he could no longer hold his watery body together very well, probably because his watery body had turned into more of a mud body. If Zia didn't know better, she'd have thought that he'd gone rolling in the stuff.
Nico staggered and went down on one knee. Zia reached for him immediately, but he shrugged her off and pointed at Kwai. "Burn that bastard."
Then Zia understood. Hieroglyphics blazed all around her as she summoned a huge pillar of fire. She heard Kwai give one last, wretched scream, then the only sound on the roof was the roar of flames, as she baked Kwai's mud tainted body like a clay pot in a kiln.
When she released her flames and surveyed their work, she felt a surge of grim satisfaction. Kwai had been reduced to what looked like either a sorry excuse for modern art, or a child's first pottery project. For several seconds he continued to glow red like embers, an aftereffect of being overheated by Zia's flames. Then he started to crumble. Before their very eyes, he fell apart, cracking into hundreds of tiny pieces, with no hope of ever being fitted back together again.
Seeing their trump card's fate made the invaders retreat hastily once again, leaving the defending team triumphant for the second time that night.
"Nice job, guys," said Walt.
"Very nice," agreed Julian. "I thought we were in trouble for a minute."
"That was a really great idea, Nico," said Alyssa. She pumped her fist in the air in jubilation.
"Yes, it was, Nico – Nico!"
Nico was on his hands and knees. Zia hurried over to him and put a hand on one of his shoulders.
"Nico? Are you alright?"
"I need . . ." Nico whispered, barely managing to get the words out. "Need . . ."
"What?" asked Zia. "What do you need?"
Nico very slowly lifted his head, and Zia was shocked to see how quickly the fire had burnt out from his eyes now that the threat was gone. He stared at her, confused, like he didn't know who she was, then whispered one word before collapsing. "Nap."
Zia caught him and pulled him close in a hug. "Alright then. Sleep. You've earned it."