Chapter Thirty
I came to upside down, which was not the weirdest way I had ever woken up, but was definitely one of the most disorienting. Something was still wrapped around my ankle, and my foot had gone numb. My head was pounding and my hands and arms tingled from the excess blood pooling in them. My wings were still out, and the joints had gone sore from having the appendages hang down limply in a way that was not very comfortable. I couldn't feel any wounds, and as far as I could tell, I wasn't wearing any cuffs or anything. I was just upside down.
I was back in that weird, spacey place- I could feel my wing tips grazing the wet-not-wet ground, and the swirls of stars and planets glinted. I twisted my head, trying to see if I could spot what was holding me up, but it was too dark to see anything. Last I remembered, I had finally gotten rid of Minos for good, and then that stupid doorway I had forgotten about dragged me here, I guess. It was a lot darker than it had been in my dream. And the nightmare-inducing screams of my father were missing, and I didn't know if I felt relieved or horrified by that fact.
It was very quiet, and when I started squirming to get down, the rustle of my feathers and clothes was deafening. Not just to me, either, because a second later, I was dropped harshly and hit the ground head-first, having to roll awkwardly to avoid crushing my poor wings. As the tingling feeling of blood rushing back to where it was supposed to be levelled out, I realised I couldn't feel my powers- something or someone was blocking them, and I felt naked without their use.
I slowly climbed to my feet, wishing I had managed to hold on to my sword. I wasn't used to fighting with only my wings, and although the feathers were razor-sharp, they still felt a little bulky and weird as I hadn't really gotten used to them yet. "Hello?" I called out, my voice sounding oddly muted and muffled in the endless space. It was still too dark to see anything, and my senses were all messed up.
A gold glow started to my left and I instinctively pulled a wing around to shield my face. It was reminiscent of when the Gods shifted to their True forms, and I didn't want to risk losing my mind or being incinerated or something. The glow got brighter until it seemed like the being was only a few feet away from me. I kept my wing blocking their figure, and my eyes fixed on the fog that had begun to swirl around my feet.
"Niccolo di Angelo, son of Hades of the Underworld. Ghost King and wielder of Deathbringer." The voice, in contrast to mine, echoed loudly. I couldn't tell if it was male or female, but it held a weight to it that not even Zeus had. Whoever they were, they were powerful. "Hero of the demigods, and traitor."
I grit my teeth. "I'm not a traitor. What did you do to my father?"
The voice was quiet for a moment. "He is out of your reach. But you are not out of mine, and you would do well to remember whom you speak such disdain towards."
"Who I-?! I don't know who you are, only that you kidnapped my father, and are the cause of another huge war! But you should know that we've defeated Kronos and Gaea, and whoever you are, we'll defeat you too!"
Their laugh was an odd sound, more like wind sliding through a tree. "Yes, Gaea was weak from her slumber, and Kronos has always been too ambitious for his own good. Tell me, little traitor, you've seen Tartarus, haven't you?"
I froze, (not that I was exactly dancing around before) momentarily forgetting how to breathe as I remembered the horrors I had lived through. "How did you know?" I whispered.
They laughed again. "He had nothing on me, little traitor. He was weak and it landed him his role as a prison for the filthiest sorts of creatures this universe has ever known."
The realisation that this being was saying they were more powerful than Tartarus, who I still could hardly think about without breaking down, terrified me. But there was also the possibility that they were lying. Kronos had probably told us dozens of times that he was the most powerful being ever or something along those lines, and it turns out he was defeated by a bunch of teenagers. Same with Gaea.
But there was also the possibility that this being wasn't lying, and that this might be the war that us demigods lost. But I didn't want to think about that. I couldn't.
"I'm not a traitor. Stop calling me that, I would rather die before I betray my family!" If there was more bite to my tone than I meant, I couldn't really bring myself to regret it. This being had dredged up some of the worst times in my life, and I wanted to sucker-punch them so bad. But I would probably die long before I made contact, so my rage had to go somewhere.
The being hummed. "You will have to, little Godling. More times than you may think." What the hell was that supposed to mean? As I tried to puzzle that cryptic-ass statement out, I realised that whatever had been dampening my powers- be it the discombobulation from waking up here, or something else- had almost completely faded away, and I would probably be able to shadow-travel back to Gotham. At least, I hoped so. I had never tried inter-dimensional (or wherever the Hades I was now) travel before. There were equal chances that I would be fine, that I would die, or that it wouldn't work. But anywhere was better than staying here with this freaky being.
"Look, I don't know what you're talking about, and I hope I never have to learn, but I've got places I have to be. And if you don't want your ass getting beat, you better stay out of our world." I slipped into one of the many shadows, focusing on Gotham. It felt really far away, and it was harder to pinpoint a location, so I searched around until I found a person instead- Jason. He was easy to find, both because I'd spent more time with him than anyone else in Gotham, and the uniqueness of his soul. It felt like a long time before I was finally able to push out of the shadow.
My knees instantly gave out and I hit the ground hard, which was not a good sign. My ears were ringing and my hands felt numb. I recognised these signs- the fading. Wherever I had been was so far away from Gotham that one shadow jump had taken enough energy out of me that I was starting to fade.
I blinked up at Bruce, who was crouched beside me, dressed in his suit. Jason was beside him, and Damian lingered behind the two before Bruce said something to him and he darted off. They had all looked like I had scared the shit out of them, and I couldn't blame them. Bruce and Damian didn't even know about my powers.
Bruce reached out to grab my arm, my ringing ears concealing what he was saying, and his hand passed right through me. Everyone stopped. The Waynes stared at me and I stared at my arm. This was very much not good. Nectar and ambrosia would only do so much- practically nothing if the fading was this far along- and the only two people who had ever managed to heal me when I was like this were back at camp.
I looked up at Jason, who was hovering his hands over my shoulders, his helmet discarded to the side to reveal his face- he looked terrified. We were still in the basement, and I could see my sword still stuck in the ground. Jason saw where I was looking, and reached for the weapon, but I grunted out a 'no' and he turned to look back at me. "But you said your sword had souls in it, right? And you can draw power from it?" He sounded desperate.
I shook my head. "Not like this." Gods, speaking was hard. "You have to call Will, he-" I had to pause to wheeze in a breath. "He knows you, you have to tell him what happened, right now!"
Jason nodded. "Okay, okay! Uh, do I do the rainbow thing?" I nodded, trying to focus on just breathing. The darkness in the corners of the room were stretching out to me, and for once that was not a good thing.
"What is happening?!" Bruce finally shouted, drawing my attention. He seemed just as distraught as Jason, but he still had his cowl on so it was hard to tell.
"Can't explain right now-" Breathe, Nico. "You need to get rid of the shadows."
"What?" Bruce was hopelessly confused. Thankfully, Jason had used a piece of glass to cast a rainbow and tossed a regular coin at it. I didn't think it would work, but even Iris must be worried, because she accepted the human currency without hesitation. "Uh, magic rainbow, accept my money and show me Nico's doctor friend Will!" Close enough, I supposed.
Will's face appeared a moment later, and he did a double-take, realising it wasn't a fellow demigod calling. "I know you," he said. "Jack, right?"
"It's Jason, but that's not important right now! It's Nico!" Immediately Will's demeanour changed from confused to concerned. "I don't know what happened, he was gone for a while and then he reappeared and now he's like, intangible or something?"
Will blanched. "Is he fading?" He demanded. Jason looked back at me, and I nodded. Bruce had been able to place his hand on my shoulder, and he was rubbing circles on my back as I focused on breathing and trying not to pass out, which grew harder to do every second that passed. Jason turned back to the message. "He says yes."
Will swore, a string of colourful words that clashed with his very sunny-looking person. "Okay, I'm on my way. I'll take Mrs. O'Leary and be there in two minutes. You need to make wherever you are as bright as you can, okay? And try to keep him awake." Will cut the connection before Jason could say anything else.
Everything was starting to fade. Noises were being lost in the ringing, and my sight was blurring out. I vaguely realised Damian had returned with Dick and Tim, and a second later they all had some sort of flashlights on, trying to make the basement brighter. This was the first time I had seen them all in their suits at the same time. I hoped it wouldn't be the last.
As I let my eyes drift closed ('let' was a strong word- it was mostly out of my control) the strange being's words came back to me- that I would have to die more times than I thought. I really hoped this wasn't one of those times. That would suck.
....haha yeah.....that would suck...if it was one of those times...haha........
anyways. im not sure i like this chapter very much, it seems rushed and sort of forced, but oh well.
put a finger down round three, here we go:
Put a finger down if when you were in school you knew where at least two of your teachers lived.
also a really random weird fact is that kangaroo ladies have two uteruses, but three hoohas. and they can literally hold their baby in until they find the right place/time to give birth. that's fricking wild yall.