Walking away from Nico and returning to the battle was one of the hardest things Zia had ever had to do. And she could tell just by looking at Percy that he felt the same way, even though she still didn't like the sea god's son.
They couldn't leave him where he was, since the east wall might be breached again, so Percy carried Nico to the infirmary, despite Nico's protests that he wanted to go to his room.
"You're too used to your room," Percy told him. "You might fall asleep there. And if you fall asleep . . ."
He'd probably never wake up.
There was only one other person in the infirmary: a girl who seemed to be in a coma. Percy put Nico in the bed next to hers, then cranked it up so that Nico was sitting, so that he'd be less likely to fall asleep.
"Here," said Percy, holding a can of something to Nico's lips. "Drink this. All of it."
"What are you giving him?" demanded Zia. "Is that more of that nectar substance?"
"No . . . it's Red Bull," said Percy.
"Gives you . . . wings," muttered Nico. He tried to take a sip, but Percy tilted the can too far, and Nico ended up spluttering the beverage.
Zia fought down the urge to brain Percy with a bed-pan and started opening drawers until she found one with bending straws. She yanked the can away from Percy and put the straw into it before offering it back to Nico. "You'd think you were trying to drown him, sea god spawn," she muttered.
As Nico drank his Red Bull, the sounds of battle reached their ears, and they knew that they were under attack again.
"Go," Nico told them, as Zia and Percy looked at each other, then down at him.
"I don't want to leave you alone," said Percy. "If something happens to you here, there'll be no one to help you –"
"There's nothing . . . they could . . . do anyway," said Nico. And that was the truth, however grim it was, and hearing it still made Zia's heart feel like it was in a vice.
Percy knelt down so that he was at eye level with Nico. "Hold on, okay? Don't you give up on me, cousin. I've come too far for you to just bow out now."
Nico reached for him weakly and they clasped hands. "I'll . . . hold on. I promise."
When they released their hands, Zia noticed that both of them had white knuckles. She stepped forward and gave Nico a quick kiss on the forehead, before she could think better of it. "Hold on," she echoed what Percy had said, then quickly turned away before she could see what his reaction would be.
She fled from the room, but every step seemed harder to take than the last. More than anything she wanted to stay . . . but she knew that she couldn't. She and Percy were both needed elsewhere.
Staying conscience was harder than Nico thought it would be, considering how much pain he was in, and how Percy had left him so that he was sitting up-right. Thankfully, Anubis was in his head and wouldn't let him sleep. Whenever he started getting too drowsy, the jackal god started shouting at him, causing a racket that only Nico could hear, and jolting him back into awareness.
He tried to make sense of the other sounds that he was physically able to hear. Magic explosions and the roar of flames and waves kept reaching his ears, but it was impossible to tell what was going on just by that. The most he could gather was that the defenders seemed to still be holding their own.
How much longer? he asked Anubis for what must have been the tenth time since Percy and Zia left.
Not much longer, answered Anubis. Just hold on.
Hurts.
And in all honesty, Nico didn't know how much longer he could hold on. His grip on consciousness kept getting weaker and weaker. Anubis kept having to shout louder and longer in his mind to rouse him again. Nico tilted his head to look at his neighbor in the next bed. Jaz had it easy, nice and peaceful in her coma. He definitely got the short straw, with a knife in his stomach and an annoying god in his head.
I heard that.
Leave me alone. Nico's eyelids felt like they were weighted. Surely it wouldn't hurt just to close them for a second?
You are not going to sleep, Nico! Keep your eyes open, you little noob!
I'm not a noob . . .
Damn it, Nico! Wake the hells up! shouted Anubis. Your cousin is depending on you! Do you want to let Percy down?
No... Reluctantly, Nico opened his eyes again and coughed. Pain wracked through his entire body. Can't do this much longer, Anubis.
You can.
Can't. Sorry.
You won't have to do this much longer. It's nearly dawn.
How much longer?
Not long.
Nico telepathed his disbelief in that statement.
I'm not lying. It will be any minute now, Nico. Just hang on!
An explosion rocked the building, and Nico heard stones breaking. They've breached the east wall again...
What do you think you're doing?
Getting up. Going to fight.
Nico managed to swing his legs over the side of his bed.
No! Nico, get back in bed! You're in no shape –
I'm not going to die lying down in bed.
If you try to fight you are definitely going to die! That's assuming you can even get down the stairs!
Nico cried out in pain as his feet hit the floor, and he nearly fell. I'm going to drift off if I stay here!
He waited for Anubis to protest again, and felt a surge of surprise when no protest came. Grimacing, he forced himself to stand on his own, without the support of the bed. Maybe it was his imagination, but the pain seemed to be receding.
Then he realized . . . the surprise he'd felt wasn't just his own. It was Anubis's too. And the pain really was going away . . .
Nico reached down and pulled away the bandages Percy had put on his stomach, and found that his wound was gone. Pale, unmarked skin was all that was there. Not even a scar to show he'd ever been injured to begin with.
"Ra . . ." he whispered out loud, forgetting himself. "Sadie and Carter are back? They succeeded?"
"They must have," said a familiar voice from the next bed over.
"Jaz!" Nico abruptly forgot he'd ever been injured and hurried to her side. "You're alright!"
"Yeah. So are you." Jaz gave him a sunny smile.
"Are you up for a fight? Because we're under attack. The House of Life –"
Jaz held up a hand to stop Nico. "I've been dreaming. I'm up to date with what's going on. And I'm ready for my turn to kick some butt."
Nico felt a violent grin start to spread across his face. "Well then, let's go!"
He held out a hand to help Jaz off the bed, then pulled out his switchblade and hit the button, turning it into sword form. Then he started sprinting toward the door.
It was like the past two weeks, or however long he'd been gone had never happened. Nico felt better than he had in a long time. He felt strong enough to run a marathon, or single handedly kick the crap out of every single House of Life freak threatening his home. And he felt warm, like there was sunshine in his veins instead of corrosive black poison. He felt good.
Don't get over confident, warned Anubis. If you get injured again –
I won't! And if I don't hurry up, there's not going to be any enemies left! Because if everyone else on our side received Ra's blessing, like Jaz and I just did . . .
Nico skidded into the Great Hall and saw that finishing his sentence was completely unnecessary. Nope. There was no 'if' about it.
"Hurry up, Jaz!" he shouted back to her, because she hadn't been able to keep up with his demigod speed. "Before all the good enemies are taken!"
"I'm coming, I'm coming! Wait, what are you doing, Nico? Why are you on top of the rail?" demanded Jaz as she sprinted into the hall.
Nico spared only a second to shrug and answer her. "Because it's the fastest way down," he said. Then he jumped off the rail. It was high time he rejoined the party.