CARTER POV
“Hey, nice to see you’re all alive…” I trailed off as Sadie ran past with Aunbis, ignoring me.
“Well, you’re ever so welcome Sadie. It’s not like breaking into Olympus and risking my life is all that bad. We should do this regularly.” I muttered.
“Don’t just stand there, you dolt! Come on!” Sadie shouted running past me.
I walked after her, my mood getting worse and worse. “Oh, and you’re also welcome for the invisibility spell I put on you and all our friends.”
I ran after them, hurrying to catch up with the rest.
“Why is it that everything goes so smoothly for you guys, and not us?” Asked Frank in the crowded elevator.
“You had Sadie, we didn’t.” I replied simply, getting a punch in the arm. Sadie had to be one of the most grateful people in the world.
We had a rather uneventful walk home, besides the lighting and rain that suddenly started up. In the distance the waves of the ocean moved joyfully, as if laughing at the sky’s distress.
Now that we were out of a godly realm, Anubis looked like Walt again, and Sadie didn’t seem to really care. Everyone hurried off somewhere, as I was left alone to go to the library. I wanted to see how Leo’s progress was coming with Nicole.
The doors nearly hit my face as Leo stormed out of it, muttering something about catching on fire and cleaning up the wall.
I walked into the library, looking at the walls until I faced this one section that was covered in white foam that had a fire extinguisher at the base of the wall.
Leo seemed to enjoy playing with fire, because this wasn’t the first time I had found a burned up wall.
A girl burst out of the white foam, looking a bit startled to find the wall in that state.
“Carter?” Nicole asked, brushing away the fizz that had caught in her hair.
“Nicole! How did you get out?”
“I didn’t.” She sighed. “It’s a shabti. Thanks for those lessons by the way.”
“What’s going on?”
“My magic is going by fast. This shabti will probably break in just a few minutes. Nico and I are running out of options. The place is like a clay box okay? Some of the clay is spread thinner in some places. Nico and I can manage to break little parts of that from the inside, but not enough to break completely out. That’s how I got the shabti to you. Carter, listen to me. Find a breaking point and help get us out. Got it?”
“Yeah I think so.”
“And Carter, I know that Zia left to go on some important mission, but you need her. Go get Zia.”
I took a step back, dumbfounded. “How did you know about Zia?”
“Oh. Whoops.” Nicole blushed. “Yeah, Sadie and I were talking one day, and that just happened to be part of our conversation.”
My face was red, I’m sure.
Nicole’s eyes widened, then she started cursing. First time I had ever heard her like that. “The shabti’s failing. I’ve got to go Carter. Bye.” She said, before the shabti made a popping noise and in it’s place was a small wax figure, slightly bigger than a crayon.
Leo burst back in the room, dropping a small bucket of cleaning supplies he had been carrying.
“I heard Nikki.”
Oh, poor guy. “That was her shabti. She gave us a plan to get her and Nico out.”
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So, Nicole had shown up, telling me to go find my old girlfriend. I guess I should explain. After saving the world and becoming pharaoh, Zia and I had a good few months of coupleness (I don’t care if that’s not a word.) until she got called away.
She got offered to go teach professionally at the First Nome and help out. She had helped out there before, and it meant a lot to her. She came back for visits, but I didn’t get to see her that often. There you have it! The happy ever after, after the happy ever after. Didn’t end up so happy did it?
“Sadie,” I interrupted her music, walking into her room. “I have to go get Zia.”
“Brother dear, two things I must tell you. Do not interrupt me when I’m listening to Adele. Second, now is probably not the best time to go and try to get your girl back.”
“No, I’m not- I’m not trying to start our relationship over!” Okay, maybe that was a lie. But that wasn’t the only reason I was going. As I explained the situation to Sadie, she looked a bit hopeful.
“We can get Nico and Nicole back to safety?”
“That’s what Nicole said. I’ve got to go. Pass on the message to the others!” I said as I exited her room.
I hitched up our boat to Freak (long explanation, no time) and we traveled through a portal I set up.
With a squawk Freak landed a small while away from the First Nome.
“Here buddy.” I threw him a cold chicken that I had pulled out of the daut. It’s disgusting, but it keeps him happy. “Stay out of sight, okay? I’ll be back later.”
I left, walking through the small streets of Egypt. The hot dry air beat down on me, my feet kicking up the dust around me.
I wondered, how did Nicole know we needed Zia? Why did she think we needed her? Why was Zia necessary?
I entered the First Nome with those thoughts, shaking out of them when someone called my name.
Turning, I saw my uncle Amos heading towards me.
“Hi, Amos!” I greeted him.
“Hello Carter.” He sounded joyfully surprised. “What are you doing here?”
Oh, where to start. I could just image it.
Oh, hey uncle Amos! What am I doing here you ask? Well, apparently there are Greek gods as well, and now there’s a battle raging between the Egyptians and the Greeks. So, we ended up going a quest with demigods, one of our initiates died, I started crushing on a girl because I was that sore about losing Zia. Now we have two people trapped in a literal nothingness, we have to save them as well as keep the gods from destroying themselves and each other otherwise the world gets tossed into confusion. I was instructed to come get Zia to help out with this quest, and joyfully fling her into this mad danger. So nothing big.
“Long story.” I waved it off. “I need to get Zia. Do you know where she is?”
“I think she’s just taking a break around the shops.”
“Thanks Amos. I hope to see you later.” I said as I walked towards the street shops that we had at the entrance to the First Nome.
In her brilliance, she was quite easy to spot. She wore a flowing white shirt made of linin as is usual in Egypt. It showed off her caramel colored skin perfectly, her beautiful eyes rolled as another Magician tried to flirt with her.
Her eyes caught a glimpse of me, her face immediately lighting up. “Carter!” She pushed the other boy aside, walking over to me.
“What are you doing here?” She asked me, stopping just inches away.
“I need your help.”
Her face fell. “Oh, okay. So it’s not some sweet sort of surprise visit. It’s a help-me-save-the-world-again-and-by-the-way-I-don’t-care-about-you-anymore.”
“No! That’s not it at all! I mean, I do need your help but I do care about you.”
She just stared at me, arms crossed. She didn’t believe me.
I pulled her to me, kissing her and dipping her like they did in dancing. She seemed pretty happy then, at least until I lost my grip and she fell, pulling me down with her.
“Carter,” She said breathlessly. “You’re still the same.” She laughed, standing and brushing herself off. “Let’s go, and on the way you can tell me the situation.” She said, hauling me up off the ground.
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NICO POV
A blast of fire burst through the wall, blowing Nicole and I back harshly.
The flames spread quickly, engulfing everything. The walls still looked black, not showing any shadows or anything, making the fire look like it was suspended in midair. “Nicole!” I coughed, looking around for her. She lay a few feet away, staring into the light as if her mind were somewhere else.
“Nicole!” I crawled over to her. “Nicole, stand up!”
She formed some words with her mouth, though no sound came out. She looked like she was having a conversation with some unseen force.
“Magicians are so weird.” I muttered as I picked her up.
I ran to nowhere, with Nicole hanging limp in my arms like a rag doll.
She kept speaking silently as the flames chased after us, the smoke growing thicker and thicker.
I ran for what felt like forever, when Nicole’s head snapped up.
“What happened?”
“Fire!” I sputtered, inhaling the smoke. “We need to get out!”
“We’ve been trying that forever! Just freaking run!” She said, having more energy than me. She pulled on my hand, dragging me behind her.
We sputtered and coughed as the flames encircled us.
“Just run through!” She yelled, as the fire burned bright around us.
Her face was covered in soot and ash, while parts of her clothing had burned into tatters.
“We can’t!” It was a tower of heat, the wisps of fire burning 20 feet high all around us, and just growing taller.
“Well, we’re just going to have to.” She said, pulling me through.
Fire and heat hit every part of my being. Flames licked at my face and arms, and it was the most unbearable four seconds of my life. The floor broke as we passed the wall of fire, but instead of making us fall down, it blew us higher, until we hit a ledge. I grabbed on, using my other hand I swung Nicole up ahead of me. Her fingers climbed over my arms, trying to get a good grip on me to pull me up.
She heaved me over the gap, leaving me at her side. Our breathing was hard and heavy, slowly going back to normal.
The blazing light shone beneath us, like an ocean of burning.
“Are…are you okay?” Nicole asked, leaning over me.
“I’m fine.”
“Your arm would say otherwise.” She said as she examined burning arm. I hadn’t been able to focus on it before but now the pain started to kick in.
The sleeve on my right had burned away, leaving a sizzling hemline and a red, charred shoulder and arm.
“Come on. Let’s get away from this ledge before something else happens. I’m not a healer like Jaz, but I can try to do what I can.”
I had no idea Jaz was, but I assumed she was some sort of magician doctor.
Nicole helped me away from the ledge, stopping when the light was barely a blaze.
“Sorry if I hurt you.” She said before gently grabbing my arm and examining it. I winced, the skin around my burn sensitive.
“I don’t know much about burns. It looks like a second degree, based off what Jaz has told me.” Gently she laid my arm back down, shuffling with the packs to pull out a water bottle.
There were a few singes in the packs, and the bottle cap looked slightly melted. She held up a clump of some sort, before throwing it over her shoulder. “Flashlights are useless now.” She muttered, before holding up the water bottle and muttering a few things.
“What? What was that?”
“Oh, um, just a spell. Se-kebeb. Means ‘make cold’. The water was pretty much at boiling point before.”
“I don’t want you using yo-”
“I know, Nico. But I don’t listen to anyone besides me.”
She said as she gently let a cool trickle of water onto my arm. I gasped in pain, making Nicole wince.
“I’m sorry. I would use a healing spell, but sadly, when I try those they usually cause injury. Not exactly my strong suit.” She apologized.
“It’s okay.” I muttered, staring at my arm.
“Bandaging, bandaging…what was that spell...?” She mumbled snapping her fingers as she tried to remember.
“Oh yeah! Tas.” She whispered, as some loose bandaging appeared around my arm.
“Why is it pink?”
“Yeah, um, sorry about that. It’s just how that spell works.” She blushed as she shrugged.
I sat up straighter, getting a better look at her.
“Hey, are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
Nicole had a tendency to lie about her wellbeing. With a disbelieving glance at her, I took her arms one at a time in my hands, checking over them. Her fingertips were slightly burnt, nothing big. She stared at me as I checked over her.
I traced my hands up her arms, looking for any burns like mine. She really did seem fine. I inched closer as I checked her neck and face, making sure she was okay.
Her hair spilled as I pushed it back to check her neck. She cocked her head, letting me see it more clearly.
Finally my hands made their way up her face, trailing over her jaw, cheekbones, and forehead. She jumped just ever so slightly as I touched her forehead, but stayed where she was. I couldn’t believe she was this okay.
“I told you.” She whispered. “I’m fine.”
Her hair was singed, her clothing had holes in the sides and her pant legs were burned black. Ash decorated her hair, soot on her face like makeup.
“How can you be that fine? It’s impossible to run through fire and end up that perfect.”
“Lucky I guess. Magic maybe. I haven’t quite gotten my little powers under control.”
“I guess so.” I muttered, slowly pulling my hands away from her face.
It was silence after that, each of us staying where we were. The hours grew on, in a pure silence. At some point she laid her head into my lap, completely exhausted.
I started braiding her burned hair, just for something to do.
“Where did you learn to braid? Not many boys know how.” She whispered, breaking the hour-long lack of noise.
“When I was really little, Bianca forced me to learn how. She said it would be a useful skill.” I laughed quietly, going back to that memory. I was about three, Bianca not much older.
“Like this, then like this, then this, and this again then like this…” Bianca said, her syllables messed up with toddler tongue. I leaned over her shoulder trying to see how she braided her doll’s hair. I was barely tall enough to stand and see over her. With her being such a bad teacher it took nearly the whole day to learn how, but she had taught me. Being only three, I had put tons of little braids in my short hair, which lasted for only a few hours until my mom came and took them out. She explained that I could braid Bianca’s hair, not mine.
I laughed quietly again, now seeing how that was funny. When I was little, of course nothing seemed odd about it, but now it was one of the moments with Bianca I would cherish forever.
“I suppose it could be useful.” Nicole said, snapping me back to the present.
“At least that lesson is coming to use.” I said, pulling back another strand of her hair.
“Yep.” Was all she said as I played with her hair for the rest of the night.
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NICOLE POV
I fell asleep with my head in Nico’s lap, his fingers running through my hair. It felt so good, just to have someone mess with my hair. Such a simple everyday gesture.
Something shifted under me, and I sat up, blinking the sleep out of my eyes.
“What’s wrong?” I muttered, sitting up straight next to Nico.
“Nothing. Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you.”
“S’okay.” I mumbled, waving it off. “If we’re both awake, should we get moving?”
“You’re not quite awake yet. Are you sure you want to leave now?”
“No…” I groaned, crashing back into Nico’s lap.
He chuckled quietly, stroking my hair.
“You’re a lot different than you were with the others.” I said sleepily, not quite aware of what I was saying.
“I hadn’t noticed.”
“You seem a lot looser. Not so grumpy.” I yawned.
Nico’s hand stilled on the top of my head.
“It may seem weird, but I do feel happier with you. I know that we’re in a horrible situation right now, but for me it hasn’t been that bad. I think its just cause you are so easy to get along with. In this darkness we’re trapped in, you just light it up.”
“Not literally. That’d be a bit creepy.”
Nico laughed softly. “No, not literally. I don’t know. Maybe it’s because you didn’t know me before. You don’t leave me alone; you don’t let me be sorrowful. You try and try and try. Other people don’t. I tell them my sister is dead, and then they let me be. They don’t try to be my friend. But you did try, and then you did become my friend. No one seemed to care as much as you.”
“I just happen to be persistent that way.” I smiled sleepily, turning to face Nico.
He was smiling too, the biggest I had ever seen him smile.
“You’re funny.”
“Wrong; I’m hilarious.”
“Eh…I’m not so sure about that.”
I pushed him softly, making him laugh. Because of the position we were in, I really didn’t get him to move more than a millimeter.
“So, what happened last night? You sort of blacked out during the fire.”
I furrowed my brow, trying to remember.
“Oh…the shabti! I was talking to Carter through the shabti! I bet when it broke, that’s when I woke up or whatever.”
“So you were told Carter how to get us out?”
“Ahuh.”
My mind wandered elsewhere suddenly making a connection. The shabti burst out of the wall covered in the fluff of a fire extinguisher. The fire…
“Oh my gods, the fire came through from the other side! We were so close! So… freaking…close!” I whined, sitting up straight.
“I thought the shabti had ended up in the Brooklyn house by some sort of portal, but we really were just outside the wall of it! We were right there! Literally just inches away from home!” I stood up, pacing and yelling a bunch of words Nico seemed shocked to hear come from my mouth.
“We were home! We just didn’t know it and now we’re who knows where! Just…ugh!” I shouted, kicking up the almost empty backpack. It flew over my head, landing with a thump a few feet away.
“Nikki, calm down!” Nico stood, coming over to me.
“How can I calm down? I was this close to Leo! This close!” I pinched a small amount of air between my finger and my thumb.
“We’ll find a way out. If we were that close before, then we can get that close again.” Nico comforted as he pulled my now sobbing self into a hug.
“It’s alright.”
“No, it’s not. Don’t pretend it is!” I cried into his torn shirt.
“Actually, it does seem alright to me.” He pulled my head up, staring me in the eyes.
“Things could be much worse. We could be dead, or alone. We could have absolutely nothing with us, but that’s not the case. We have each other, and even if it’s a small amount, we have a few supplies. Now, stop thinking about what we don’t have, and be grateful for what we do have.”
I stared in silence at his face. It used to be hard, cold, shielding his anger and sadness. Now it was open, soft, loving.
“I’m sorry.” I muttered, looking away. He was right. Things could be a lot worse.
“You don’t need to apologize. You’re upset, and that makes sense. But throwing a tantrum doesn’t help anything.”
I giggled quietly. “I was not throwing a tantrum.”
“Yeah, you kind of were.”
“Shut up, Nico.” I told him, burying my face back into him. He hugged back, holding me tight as he kissed the top of my head.
“We’ll get out of here.” He muttered into my hair.
“I know. There has to be a way.”
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CARTER POV
Zia and I arrived to the Brooklyn House, and of course she wasn’t too surprised even with everything I had told her.
“How did this Nicole girl know about me?”
“She said Sadie told her.”
“I don’t believe that. Sadie wouldn’t do that.”
“I beg to differ.” I muttered under my breath. There are many things Sadie would do.
“Trust me Carter.”
“I do trust you!”
“Sometimes I’m not so sure.”
“Zia, I trust you. Trust me when I say that.”
“There’s a lot of trust going around.”
“I’ll trust you on that.”
“I’ll trust you to stop the trust.”
“Fine.” I laughed, walking through the hallways with her.
“Okay, introduce me to these demigods, would you?”
“Course.” I replied, leading her down the hallway.
We ran into Piper who was chatting with Jaz in the hallway.
As we walked around, we saw the demigods popping up. Piper was chatting with Jaz, Jason was playing with Felix and his penguins. I didn’t interrupt them, just gave Zia their names.
Annabeth and Leo were in the library. Hazel and Frank were chatting quietly on a couch.
“Wait,” I said. “There should be one more…” A loud splash came from outside.
“There he is.” I said simply, leading Zia out to the balcony.
In the pool with Philip of Macedonia, Percy was laughing and wrestling with the white croc.
“Percy!” I called, making him look up. In that moment of distraction, Philip took the opportunity to dunk Percy with his tail.
After a moment, his head popped up, his hair perfectly dry. Demigods were weird.
“Hey Carter! Who’s your little friend?” He asked as he dodged the crocodile’s next attack.
“This is Zia. Zia, this is Percy.”
“How’s it going Zia?” Percy asked, splashing the crocodile.
“Um…” Zia whispered next to me. “Uh, It’s going fine! And you?” She said louder this time, so Percy could hear.
“Oh, it’s going gre-” He was cut off when Philip pulled him under again.
“Great!” He said as he appeared again, this time climbing onto the back of Philip.
“Do demigods usually play with crocodiles?” Zia whispered to me.
“Not usually, from what I can guess. Percy’s the only one that does. He’s odd, even for a demigod.”
“Ah.” Zia said as she stared in confusion at Percy playing with Philip. At least they now had a friend in each other. We watched in silence and confusion as Philip started death twirling while Percy was on his back.
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LEO POV
I sat at a table, skimming through a scroll for the third time. I had already gone through every book and scroll Carter and Sadie had in their library, but I couldn’t help but think maybe I had missed something. I was starting the entire collection over again.
“Leo!” Annabeth ran over breathlessly. “I’ve got it! I think I know how we can find her!”
I jolted to my feet. “What have you got?”
“Using what information Nico left with me and the method we used to find the entrance, I think we found the breaking points.”
“But how do we know where they are?”
“We don’t. We’ll just to pray that we get lucky and find them.”
“Come on. There’s got to be a way to tell th-” I looked over to Hedge.
“We’re going to try the dreams one more time.” I told Coach, making him groan.
According to Annabeth there were three places we could try. All pretty hard to access, besides one. Which luckily wasn’t too far. There was only one problem.
It was at the Lotus Hotel and Casino.
Annabeth explained that place to me, and after that conversation, I wasn’t too keen to go there either. But we had to. It was our chance at getting back Nikki.
As we waited for Coach to sense a sleeping Nikki, we organized our next move.
“We’re running out of time. We need to separate. Half go get Nicole and Nico, the other half work on blocking the gods for good.” Jason explained at the head of the table. He always held a sense of leadership.
“I agree.” Annabeth confirmed. “But who is going with each group?”
“I’m going to get Nikki. And I would like to request that Jason and Piper come with me.” I immediately spoke up.
“Okay. Piper, is that okay with you?” Jason asked her.
“Of course. I went with you two on our first quest; would be wrong if we didn’t go together on this one.”
“Okay. Carter, Sadie, Zia, Blake. You four are our magicians. Who’s going with who?” Annabeth asked.
“I’m going with Leo. I want to see Nico and Nicole safe as well.”
“I prefer to go on the other quest. The one to separate the gods.” Sadie requested.
By the end of our meeting, Jason, Piper, and Carter were going with me.
Annabeth, Percy, Sadie, Hazel, Frank, Blake, and Zia (big group) were going to go stop a full on war.
I wonder who’s task was harder?
I felt bad leaving the others with the harder task, but I needed to get Nikki (and Nico) back. It had been agreed that as soon as my group was finished we would catch up with the others.
I hoped all went as planned.
I couldn’t stop worrying the whole way back to camp. Now was the time to get Festus.
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Jason and Piper sat behind me on Festus, making it feel like old times. I’m pretty sure if Carter hadn’t been freaking out, it would be just like it used to be.
“Carter you won’t fall. Just relax! Festus is a good boy.”
I got a scream of terror in answer.
Trying to ignore Carter and focus on the wind, the feeling, the sky, I felt instantly better. The metal of Festus left a metallic scent in our noses. Most people can’t describe the smell of metal. But being a son of Hephaestus, I easily can. It’s one of the most amazing smells in the world. Sharp and refreshing. Kinda like how something so minty can be pleasant, even when it’s kinda awful.
The sky whipped by in a blur. The sky went from a loving baby blue to a sunset pink to a sparkling, navy colored night.
“I’ll bring you up here someday.” I muttered so quietly that barely I could hear myself. “Just you and me. We’ll watch the stars, just like the first night on the Pegasus. Your face will light up like it always does, and things will go back to normal.” I remembered that night. The night Nikki and I first kissed. We had been riding home, and in her beautiful glory she absorbed the stars beauty, radiating with awe and amazement. Her face had tilted up, the starlight dancing in her blue eyes. Her summer soil hair waved loosely in the light breeze, making her look like a fairytale. “Just like normal.” I repeated. I was getting her back. I was sure of it.
Festus is pretty fast; we got half way through our journey in a day. As we settled Festus down in a forest, we all kinda separated. Jason and Piper obviously separated away from us, leaving Carter and I in an awkward silence. I wasn’t too keen on being real buddy-buddy with the guy who had a crush on my girl.
Carter looked at me, obviously knowing exactly what I was thinking.
“Look, dude, just calm down. I’m not looking to go after Nikki.”
I stayed silent in response, my arms crossed as I leaned back against a tree.
“Leo, what did I do?”
“You kissed her.” I said sourly.
Carter sighed, thumping his head back against his tree. “I was missing my girlfriend, and tricked myself into thinking I liked Nicole. But I’ve backed off, okay? I have my girl back and you have yours.”
“I still don’t trust you.”
“We can’t be enemies or whatever, you know that right? I’m her teacher. I’m going to be seeing her everyday once she leaves your camp and comes back to my home.”
“How can you be sure she’s going to leave the camp? Maybe she’ll stay there.” With me, I added silently.
“How could she stay there? She can’t go against her culture otherwise she’s in pain. Didn’t she tell you about her dreams?”
“Yes. She did but maybe the dreams were a one-time thing! Maybe they’ll stop!”
"They won’t and you know that. She needs both sides in her life.”
"Once she’s back she will stay at the camp with me.”
“She will come back to the Brooklyn House and continue her studies.”
“Maybe I’ll want to decide for myself.”
I looked up, seeing a spray of black and gray mist. A small light flickered behind it, showing two shaded figures.
“Nikki.” I breathed, going over to her image. Someone who I’m sure was Nico stood close to her, his arms wrapped around her in a backwards hug. I felt a tinge of anger at him. She was growing farther apart, and now it wasn’t just literal.
“Hey. I got Hedges message. I must admit, when he showed up in my dream I panicked. I didn’t want to be dreaming of him.” She paused. “Don’t. Tell him I said that.”
“How are you contacting me?”
“Using my magic to get a rainbow. It’s hard, I don’t know how long it can last. But we got the dream, and I had to try to contact you. What’s going on? Coach mentioned something like—”
“Carter told me about the weak spots. We found one, and we’re going to go get you out. We need you to find a weak spot again, and wait by it. Hopefully it’s the same spot we’ll break in. If it’s not we’ll try to find you, okay? Just find a spot and stay put.”
“But what if—”
“Nikki, no time for what ifs. We’ll find you.”
Nikki let out a sob.
“It will be okay, I promise.”
“No, it’s not that.” She choked out. “It’s just—” She fell back against Nico, absorbed in pain.
“Her magic is running out.” Nico said, gently trying to help Nikki up.
“She’s going to burn up.” Carter spoke for the first in this conversation behind me.
“I know. We have to go. See you soon.” Nico said. The mist faded, as the image of them burst into nothing.
I wanted to tell her I loved her, but didn’t get the chance. The moment I saw her, those were going to be the first words out of my mouth.
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I woke, sore and freezing. “Festus,” I groaned. “Get up buddy.”
I suppose when you’re a giant metal machine you don’t have much trouble waking up. Festus burst to life, whirring his mechanical teeth as his ruby red eyes flickered on.
“Everyone up! We need to get moving!” I commanded the weary others as I stood up and stretched. Hustling them up, I herded them all up and onto Festus’s back.
The hours seemed long; the feeling of knowing that that we were so close to Nikki was painful. Time would not go fast enough. The sky did not interest me today. Not now, when Nikki was stuck in my mind; more than usual. The look of her pain last night hurt. I didn’t want anyone in that kind of pain—especially not Nikki.
Her face flashed in my mind once again. She couldn’t keep her eyes open. They flittered, like she was struggling not to faint. Her mouth was twisted in a grimace, just trying not to scream or cry out in pain.
Once she was back, safe in my arms, she would never feel that kind of pain again. I wouldn’t allow it.
With a clank and a crash, Festus landed noisily. He was still getting used to not being a masthead.
“Thanks buddy. Stay outta sight okay? We’ll be back later.” Told him with a pat as I slid off his cold golden back. He shook, whirred, chirped and clicked. “I know, buddy. But we have to go. Be back soon.” I told him before running off with the others to catch up.
“Dude, that’s crazy.” Said Jason as we stood outside the door to the Lotus Hotel and Casino. The lights gleamed, a flash of colors repeatedly running through them in a startling pattern. Through the door sounded like paradise. Laughter rang through the huge rooms, smells tempted you to every sweet. It was a sight to see; everything seeming made for a certain person. I’m pretty sure our little group stood there for a good ten minutes just taking it in.
I shook my head, trying to snap out of it. “Come on. We need to get going, guys.” I said, walking in, with the others following behind.
Taking in the whole thing was trying to look at the whole existence of life. Like trying to look at space. Everything went on forever in each and every direction.
“So,” I cleared my throat, trying to remember how to speak. “How do we find where we’re supposed to break thro—Guys? Guys! Come back!” I shouted as they wandered off in a daze. I hurried after them, trying to get them back. My attention drifted away from Piper’s retreating figure.
I got lost in a maze of entertainment. I went from game to game, enjoyment and adrenaline coursing through my veins. Everything went by in a blur. Game to game, treat to treat, show to show, ride to ride. It was a rainbow of lights around me, bright and flashy. Endless bodies and yet I didn’t have to wait in any lines for anything. I saw Jason out of the corner of my eye, before turning to another game.
My hands buzzed over a control, moving and tapping and twirling gidgets and gadgets. It had felt like an hour by the time I started coming out of the hypnotism of the fun. I smiled after finishing my game, turning to my side. Looking for someone. This whole time, I had been happy, but not entirely. Something had been keeping me from complete joy. My happiness drained, my face going slack. I knew it. I knew I had needed someone for complete happiness.
I weaved through the crowd, which seemed to thicken at my displeasure. I got to Carter, trying to take him away from a quizzing machine.
“Carter!” I pulled on his shoulder jerking him around.
He moaned. “What do you need, Valdez?”
“We need to stop playing, and go get Nikki.”
“She can wait.” He turned to go back to his game. I whipped him back around again, slapping his face as hard as I could. I can’t say I regretted it. I can’t say I didn’t have the urge to smile and laugh as I did so. Because then I would be lying.
“Get yourself together, and help me find Jason and Piper.”
We found them going down a water slide together, and met them at the end.
“Lets go.” I said, grabbing and pulling Jason up from the pool as Carter pulled out Piper.
“Why? Piper and I were having a great date!”
“Come on, Leo. Just a little bit more? We aren’t in any rush.” Piper compelled. For that one moment I hated her and her charmspeak.
“LIVES are at STAKE!” I shouted, Carter and I pulling them all to quieter corner.
“We need to find where the breaking point is. Maybe a game that’s broken?”
Jason and Piper were slowly going back to normal.
“Try a ceiling.” Jason pointed upward. I’m sure that the building wasn’t supposed to be falling apart, but Jason was right. The ceiling was lined with cracks, barely holding together.
“So we need to break that. But won’t the ceiling burst down and kill everyone?”
“This place has lots of magic. If we break it, it will mend itself. No one would get hurt.”
“Then what are we waiting for?” I asked, heading to an elevator.
A tall bellhop stepped into our paths. “Mr. Valdez, your rooms are on floor—”
“Someone already told us, thanks.” I lied. I didn’t want to be held up.
Let me say, the five minutes in the elevator were probably the longest of my life.
-----------------
NICO POV
As soon as the iris message ended Nikki let out a scream of pain.
“Too much magic! Pushed it too far! Dang place limiting my magic!” She cursed, struggling to get off the jacket she had been borrowing from me.
“Nikki, come on just calm down.”
“Nico, do me a favor and shut up. I’m the one burning to death. Not you.” She said through gritted teeth. “Gods I feel like the doctor when he’s regenerating.” She muttered. I have no idea what she was talking about, but over the time we’d been trapped together I had learned that she spoke a lot of jibberish.
She stumbled falling over. “This is the worse the pain has been.” She muttered, once her pain had subsided.
“You feeling okay?”
“What’s it look like?” She asked. She looked weary, tired, and broken.
“Doesn’t look like you are.”
She sighed, on the verge of tears as she pressed into me.
“What’s wrong?”
“Leo.” Was all she needed to say, and I instantly understood.
“Hey,” I said, pulling her tear streaked face up. “I’ve told you this so many times before. Just believe me okay? He’s coming, and you’ll see him again.”
“I don’t know that I will Nico.”
“What do you mean?”
Her eyes widened, realizing she said something she wanted to keep secret.
“What’s been going on.” I demanded. It wasn’t a question.
“I don’t want to talk right now if that’s okay.” She was upset enough, and I didn’t want to push her but I was worried.
“Nikki—”
“Nico, please. What do you want me to do? Beg you to leave me alone? Nico, I’m begging you. I don’t want to talk right now.” I sighed.
“Okay.” I whispered, pushing her hair out of her eyes. She gave another shaky breath, trying to calm down her sadness.
“You weren’t like this before. You were confident. You were brave. You were happy and optimistic.”
She didn’t say anything for a moment.
“You weren’t like this before. You were upset. You were sad. You held pain in your eyes all the time. You were angry.” She whispered quietly.
I put my fingers on her neck, rubbing my thumb over her tears.
“I told you before. You make me happy.”
She sighed.
I looked her in the eyes, examining her face. Shadows seemed permanently etched along her face.
She seemed to know what I was doing, but she didn’t move, she didn’t pull away.
My lips gently met hers, barely a touch. Her lips were smooth, sweet and nice, even with all we’d been through.
I heard her give a sob, but she didn’t try to stop. Instead she pressed against me, kissing me back.
She kept crying silently; I felt her tears as the fell, soaking my face as well.
I started to pull away. I worried I had upset her more.
Instead she moved to stay with the kiss, which surprised me. She slipped her hand into mine, pulling my arm around her so that now I was hugging her.
My arms tightened around her.
I don’t how long it passed before she pulled away, standing from my grip on her.
“We need to go find a weak spot like they told us too.” She said, and I couldn’t help but realize that she wouldn’t say “Leo”.
I instantly felt myself harden up. Just like before we had been trapped.
“Right.” I huffed. I stood, pretending not to notice her staring.
I quickly picked up my jacket, putting in on quickly. I started walking ahead, not caring to see if Nicole was okay.
I didn’t hear the familiar tap of her footsteps and I turned, my face twisted in anger.
“Are you going to come or not?” I asked harshly.
“I’m coming.” She muttered, walking about a foot behind me.
------------------
NICOLE POV
Nico and I walked in a silence, feeling along the walls to try and find a weak spot.
I couldn’t believe I had kissed him. It was like I had forgotten he was Nico.
When I looked at him, I kept seeing Leo. Not that his appearance looked like Leo. That’s not what I meant. I meant, when I looked Nico, they had the same personality.
When Nico wasn’t guarded, he was kind. He was sweet. The way he touched me was reminded me of when Leo would touch me. Each one touched me as if I were glass; afraid I would break and vanish into nothing.
Because they both had been on their own for so long.
“I got it.” Nico grunted, patting against a wall. “Here’s a weak point. Now we just wait.”
“I guess so.” I said barely above a whisper.
Nico didn’t say anything, obviously back into his permanent anger.
“Nico, please, don’t be angry with me.” I whispered. This was the last thing I wanted and needed.
He didn’t respond, just crossed his arms and stared at the floor.
We were opposite each other, and instead of a few feet it felt like miles were stretched between us.
“Nico, please.” I pleaded. “Say something.”
“Why did you kiss me if you don’t love me? You love Leo, right?” He snapped.
I flinched at Leo’s name used so coldly. “I—I—You kissed me!”
“You kissed back!”
I didn’t have an answer. Sure Leo and Nico seemed the same to me, but I loved Leo. I didn’t think I was in love with Nico.
“See? You can’t say anything.”
I opened my mouth, trying to find something to say. “Nico…” I said, putting more meaning into his name than I actually said. I walked over to him, trying to sit next to him.
Nico shied away from my touch as I laid my hand on his shoulder. I pulled it away, sighing.
“I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“I don’t know.” I whispered. “For upsetting you.”
Nico sighed. “I’ve been all alone since I was ten. I’m fifteen now. Five years entirely alone, with no home. Do you know how that feels?”
I wanted to say I did, but doing so would be a lie. Nico continued, not giving me a chance to reply.
“Then I met you. I didn’t know it, but I fell in love with you. I didn’t know it until we kissed. Nikki you are the only thing that has made me feel happy in five years.”
I couldn’t say anything. What was there to say?
“Nikki, do you even like me a little? I know you love Leo, but I want to know if you feel anything like that for me.”
I lifted my gaze from the ground, looking at his face. His eyes searched my face, flicking across my face.
“I…I don’t know.”
“Do you feel anything when I do this?” He asked, enlacing my fingers in his and pulling me towards him slowly.
I felt my face heat.
“Do you feel anything when I do this?” Nico whispered, kissing my knuckles sweetly.
He pulled me closer pressing me against him. “Do you feel anything when I do this?”
He asked, looking at me with his dark eyes before kissing my forehead.
“Nico, that’s not fair.”
“What’s not fair?”
“You kissing me like that. How am I supposed to not feel that?”
He smirked, seeming more like Leo than ever before. “So you do feel something for me?”
“I…” I was feeling something. I was feeling his lips on my face. I was feeling his hands holding mine. I was feeling the cold leather of his jacket that he wore.
“Please tell me if you feel something.” He begged, moving his lips back to mine.
“Nico…” I moaned, trying to figure out a way to tell him to stop. I couldn’t kiss him; I couldn’t be in love with him. I had Leo.
“Nico, please.” I whined, placing a hand on his chest, going to push him away. I couldn’t though.
I kissed him back as he kissed me.
He pulled his head back an inch or two, just enough to see me.
I laughed very quietly. “You kissed my cheek when we first met.”
Nico smiled. “I forgot about that.”
I smiled softly back.
“Well?” He asked when I didn’t say anything.
I opened my mouth to answer the question his eyes asked when an explosion a few feet away burst, making the shadow walls solidify and crash down around us.
----------------
LEO POV
Well, the black stained floor seemed enough of a hint as to where to break Nikki out. I had my tool belt, and from it summoned a giant hammer, that was bigger than any hammer you could buy.
“Watch out.” I told Jason and Piper. They backed up, as Carter pulled out his wand.
“On three?” I asked him.
“Why wait? Just start bashing.” Carter said before yelling out a spell. I started banging the hammer head against the floor, it cracking and splintering with every spell and hit. Shards started flying everywhere, finally opening up a hole. A nothingness opened up before us. Someone was screamed from inside, and I immediately jumped through. The scream was Nikki’s. I hoped in, letting my right arm light up in flames. “Leo! Wait!” Jason shouted from above me.
“I’ll be back! I hear them, just give me a moment! Keep the hole open!” I shouted as I ran towards where I had heard a scream.
“Nikki!” I shouted, black dust flying everywhere.
I heard murmuring, and stopped in my tracks. I couldn’t see more than a foot ahead of me.
“Nikki?” I called into the darkness.
“Leo. Stay where you are.” Nico’s hard voice demanded.
“Why? What’s wrong?”
“Just trust me! Stay there!”
I swallowed, trying to keep from screaming. I had a feeling something terribly bad had happened.
Nico walked slowly into view, a broken body in his arms.
Her brown hair was tangled and matted, her clothing torn. As the neared the light of my fire, I could see permanent tear streaks in the ash dusting her face.
An arm hung limply, her neck titled back like it was looking for the stars.
Underneath her eyelids, I knew there were sky blue eyes, soft and loving, not like ice or crystal.
“Nik—” My voice caught in my throat as tears formed in my eyes.
I couldn’t speak, and I couldn’t move.
“Leo.” Nico said, but he sounded far away.
“Leo, we need to get out, and get her help.”
I couldn’t think. The next thing I knew we were back in the hallway of the lotus casino.
Nico laid Nikki gently down on the carpet. In the light she looked even worse.
Everywhere she was cut, scratched and bleeding.
I wanted to scream and I’m not sure if I did as I laid down next to her. My hands hovered above her. This couldn’t be real. I touched her arm with one finger, before wrapping her up in a one person hug.
She didn’t move. She was cold and pale.
I heard my name, but ignored it. I cried, pressing my head to her neck.
“Nikki.” I cried, speaking one full word.
“Nikki. Wake up.” I told her. Why wasn’t she waking up? Nothing made sense. She should be waking up. My thoughts ran a million miles an hour, yet it was like I was trying to speak a foreign language. I couldn’t remember anything. I couldn’t think about anything. Only one word formed in my head.
“Nikki.” I cried, Jason coming over to me.
“Leo, we should get her to a hospital—”
“She’s dead.” Nico stated flatly. “When you broke through something fell and crushed her.” He said, his voice cold and harsh. He held no sympathy for this girl.
“She’s just knocked out. She’s alive, I know it. She looks fine.” I whimpered, pulling back to look at her limp body.
“Leo we need to go.” Piper said, mustering all the charmspeak she could.
I nodded. “Get her to camp. Get her to the infirmary. Some nectar and ambrosia will help her.”
“Leo she’s—” Nico started again.
“DON’T YOU DARE TELL ME SHE’S DEAD.” I gathered her in my arms. “She’s just hurt. She’ll be fine. You’ll see.”
We walked out of the Lotus Hotel, and this time nothing caught my eye. I didn’t see anything. It was a just a blur, the weight in my arms the only thing that was real.
As we neared Festus, Jason stopped me. “Festus isn’t fast enough. It takes two days to get back to New York.”
I was ready to snap at him, when Nico spoke up. “I’ll take her. I’ll shadow travel her back to camp.”
“Not without me.” I wasn’t letting her go ever again.
--------------
NICO POV
We arrived to camp, and I ignored the shouts of the campers as I followed Leo. We ran to the infirmary, and I watched angrily as he set Nikki gently on a bed. He kissed her forehead, before rushing to the cabinets, pulling out nectar and ambrosia.
“She won’t swallow it. She’s dead she can’t.”
“She. Is not. DEAD!” Leo yelled at me.
“Leo, look at her. She pale because her heart isn’t beating. It isn’t circulating her blood. She isn’t breathing. She. Is. Dead. Get that through your thick skull.”
“You idiot! She’s alive can’t you se—” I grabbed Leo, pulling him over to her body.
“Feel her wrist. Check her pulse.”
Leo glared daggers at me, but knelt to his knees, so that he was level with her wrist. He gently placed his fingers on her arm, checking for a sign that she was alive. His face whitened, then moved to her neck checking for a pulse there.
“Where…where is it? I swear she had one…” Leo trailed off.
I could see his thoughts organize as plain as day on his face. He was out of his shock, and now could see the truth.
He sighed, pressing his lips to hers one last time.
When he pulled away, he stared at her face. In a flash, the softness he had upon his face was gone, anger and rage on his face. He whipped around, his fist connecting with my face.
“Why didn’t you protect her? You could have done something, why didn’t you?” He yelled as he tried to hurt me again.
“It’s not my fault! It’s not like I wanted this to happen!”
“Of course it’s your fault! You were with her, you were supposed to take care of her!” “I was never supposed to do anything! I could have let her die but I tried to keep her alive! It’s not my fault that you were so reckless that you made the place crush her!”
Leo stopped, but the anger on his face didn’t go away.
He turned, walking out the infirmary as his entire being caught fire.
------------------
LEO POV
I ran, getting away from the infirmary. It was my fault she was dead. I knew that this would happen. Why didn’t I just stay away from her? That would have saved her.
I could still do things for her now. I was going to do whatever I could for her now, even if it would never make up for the fact that it was my fault she died.
Our first date flashed through my mind.
“Any questions for me?” Nikki asked. We were playing a little questions and answers game to get to know each other better.
“I want to know what your favorite moment was.” I told her.
She took a deep breath, lost in thought.
“I’m sure this one will be added as one of my favorites, but the first kiss was probably my favorite.”
I smiled. “Mine, too. I have another question. Favorite flower?”
“Ooh, I don’t know. I like flowers in general. Any flower.”
“Speaking of such,” I pulled a bouquet out from behind the picnic basket. “These are for you.” He handed me some roses.
Nikki stared in awe at the bouquet, fingering it delicately. Her mouth was in a small o from surprise, and her eyes gleamed with tears. “Oh, Leo…” She breathed the words, stunned. “This is so sweet.” She said, looking away from the roses and up at me. The smile on my face couldn’t have been bigger.
“Thank you. I love them.” She whispered.
“I’m glad you do.” I said, barely above a whisper as I gave her a quick peck on her cheek.
I stiffened, running through the forest to where a patch of wild flowers grew. That was were I had picked the roses for her. I think it used to be a patch the Demeter cabin tended too, but then it was forgotten over time.
The flowers still grew though, just many more than I’m sure than was originally intended.
I swept through the flowers, picking them in a vigorous rhythm. Just all types, roses, bluebells, lilies, tulips, and every kind I could find.
My hands were covered in dirt, from prying them up from the ground, but I didn’t care. I was used to being messy.
“Shears.” I told my tool belt, pulling out a pair of gardening shears to trim the stems so that the roots were no longer there.
I clipped them, crying as I did so.
I walked back to the infirmary, where thankfully no one had touched Nikki.
Her brown hair was splayed beautifully across the shoulders and the pillow.
I smiled softly, pushing it gently and putting a white lily in her brown hair.
I stroked her face, expecting it to be cold. I did a double take. She felt warmer. Her face was no longer as pale as she was before. But she still wasn’t breathing. I was confused. How long had it been? It felt like hours, days even, since she died and we got to camp. Turning my gaze to the clock on the wall, I startled. It had only been an hour.
If an hour without her felt like days, the rest of my life would feel like immortality.
“I’ll be back in a bit.” I said, kissing her forehead before walking away to go grab more flowers. It kept me busy. The working was the only thing keeping me sane.
--------------------
NICOLE POV
Crashing started around us, interrupting my conversation with Nico.
My hopes lifted, even though we were in danger. “Leo…” I breathed, somehow knowing it was him.
“Nikki watch out!” Nico screamed, trying to pull me with him as he backed away. I was confused. Why did he want to get away from our help?
Something crashed down on me, making it hard to breathe. I didn’t feel pain, but I could sense it was there, if that makes sense. My vision started going fuzzy, someone leaning over me.
“Nikki,” Nico whimpered.
“Hey,” I mumbled. “How’s it going?” I laughed weakly.
“Now is not a time for jokes.” Nico said firmly.
“Of course it is. It’s the last joke I’ll be able to make. Might as well take the opportunity.”
“Nikki, stop.”
“You’re Hades kid. You know I’m dying better than anyone. Help me out?” I asked, struggling to keep the smile on my face.
“Er, sure.” Nico said, trying to refrain from crying. Miraculously, Nico managed to pry me out.
“Thanks.” I said, before hearing my name in the distance. I smiled wider.
“That’s Leo, isn’t it?”
Nico just nodded, pulling me up straighter.
“Tell him not to come over, please.” I asked, despite how badly I was aching to see him. I just didn’t want to see him crying. I wanted the happy memories, no sad ones.
“Why?”
“Please, Nico. Do it.”
Nico nodded, shouting at Leo to wait.
“Thank you.”
“Nikki—”
“Nico, do me a favor and shut up.” I laughed again.
“Why? What do you want me to do?”
My arm was pretty beat up, but I lifted my hand grabbing his collar and pulling him to me. It would be my last kiss, and maybe it was wrong, but I was in love with both of them. I kissed Nico, my mind refusing to remember that it was Nico.
I pushed him away, staring at him.
“Thanks.” I muttered. My lungs were begging me to stop breathing.
“Bye.” I smiled, shutting my eyes. It was my imagination I’m sure, but I didn’t see Nico as I closed them. I saw Leo.
I didn’t know where to go, once again. I could choose the Greek afterlife, or the Egyptian afterlife. I liked surprises. I closed my eyes, wandering to wherever.
“Do you mind opening your eyes?” A deep voice asked.
I opened my eyes, finding Anubis before me.
“Hello. How are things with Sadie?” I asked, trying to make Anubis uncomfortable because I was just in that mood.
“Please shut up and listen.”
“Oh, someone’s in a bad mood. Want me to put some streaks in my hair? Maybe that would make you feel better.” I taunted.
“Would you just listen?”
“I don’t exactly like listening. I enjoy talking a bit more. I believe Sadie feels the same way.”
Anubis sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Will you please let me finish?”
“Fine.” I rolled my eyes. If this was the afterlife, it wasn’t very fun.
“I was looking for you while you tried to make up your mind on whether to go to the Greeks or to come here.”
“Aw, Anubis. Sadie won’t be pleased to know that you’re crushing on me.”
“If you say anything about me and Sadie one more time—”
“You’ll what? I’m already dead.”
“Do not speak, okay? Not until I tell you to.”
“I don’t appreciate being bossed around.”
“Oh my Egypt…JUST SHUT UP.”
“Sorry, did I strike a nerve?”
Anubis stared at me, a moment later a white cloth tied around my mouth.
“Much better.”
I tried to scream but this was obviously magical. I couldn’t even hmph. As I tried to untie it as to take it off, Anubis spoke.
“You did good job dying, but if you die, the whole world dies. I wanted to get you back to your body as soon as possible, but then you spent all that time trying to decide which afterlife to join.”
I stomped my foot, walking forward ready to punch this jerk. I wanted to be able to talk again. He dodged my attack, grabbing my arms and holding them firm at my side. I glared at him as he continued speaking.
“You can’t die, because you are necessary in stopping the battle of the gods.”
I rolled my eyes.
“I’m serious! We have to get you back to your body, but it’s going to be hard because you died about an hour ago. I’m going to bring you back to your body, ok?”
I kicked his shins.
“Hey! He huffed. “Lets get this over with. I’m sending you back, but you’ll be trapped in a kind of daze while your life is returned, got it?”
I gave him my best I’m-gagged-I-can’t-answer-you-so-either-ungag-me-or-stop-asking-me-questions look.
“Fine.” He said, obviously getting it. He whipped me around untying the gag.
“Jerk…” I muttered as soon as my ability to speak was back.
“Hey, I’m giving you your life back. Be happy.”
“Not until I see Leo again…” I muttered so quietly not even I could hear.
“Oh, someone’s in a bad mood. Do you want me to make dress in suspenders? Maybe that would make you feel better.” Anubis taunted. Leo would occasionally wear suspenders.
“Shut up.” I blushed, even if I was dead.
Anubis smirked.
“If you’re going to make me live again just freaking do it!” I shouted at him. He laughed, his image fading as I went into a colored light.
It was weird. There were colors everywhere, but they were colors I didn’t even know existed. I couldn’t see my ghost. I was just floating in the air. It felt like I drifted there forever, but slowly I could feel parts of my consciousness being dragged away.
One more glance at the colors was all I got, before I felt solid again, sunlight blinding my eyes and the sent of flowers hitting my nose.
I sat up, every part of my body aching. I think I must have had a few broken ribs; it hurt to move and even breathe. But I couldn’t sit still. Looking around, flowers were everywhere. When I woke up they were tucked into my arms, around my neck, and there was one in my hair. I didn’t have to think hard to know who had left them there. I stood, everything in me screaming to lay back down, but instead I grabbed some ambrosia that had been left out and shoved it into my mouth as I ran out the door.
I found Nico first, sulking in the shadows.
“Nico!” I shouted.
He turned, his face lighting up with amazement before turning to joy.
“Nikki!” Nico scooped me up, twirling me around before pulling me closer and kissing me.
“How are you alive? I saw you die!”
“Anubis. Another death boy helped me out.”
Nico laughed, for the first time it was a full on laugh.
“I’m so glad.” He pulled my head back up for another kiss, and at the moment I was too happy to think otherwise.
I pulled away again, beaming up at him. The first time we met, he had only seemed slightly taller. But it was crazy to think that had been so long ago. He had grown he was a full inch or two taller.
“Gods, I didn’t realize how much I missed being alive, even after just an hour.” I said as I buried my face into his chest.
He laughed, hugging me back.
Nico was actually happy. It was a miracle to me. He shone like the sun, and I had never seen him like this before.
“Feel anything?” Nico asked against my lips as he kissed me again.
“I think I might.” I laughed against him. Smoothly he slipped his jacket and slipped it over my shoulders, pulling on the empty sleeves, making me stumble against him.
I laughed.
“Nico,” I started, looking at him as our noses touched from being so close. “I never knew you were like this.”
“I didn’t either.” He admitted.
I giggled, but was interrupted when Leo spun me away from Nico and punched him.
“Stay away from her.” Leo demanded as Nico stumbled back, holding his face. I was worried, taking a step forward to go help him when Leo gripped my arms, staring me in the eyes.
“I love you!” He cried, before kissing me.
The world melted away as Leo kissed me, even Nico who stood just a few feet away.
My knees locked from the amazement of his kiss. Leo was the only thing holding me up. We broke away, both of us gasping for air.
“I thought you had died.”
“You’re not going to get rid of me that easily, Valdez. I’m full of surprises.”
Leo gasped with joy, pulling me back in for another kiss.
I felt Leo slide his hands up to my shoulders, slowly taking off the jacket Nico had put on me. He didn’t anything that had to do with Nico to come back to me.
“Wait,” I pulled away. “Why did you punch Nico?” I asked, wanting to know how much he had seen.
Leo blushed. “I’m sorry. Just the way he was acting…it made me nervous. I thought he was going to stop with the hugs and start kissing you.”
I couldn’t help but feel guiltily relieved. He didn’t know that we had kissed—multiple times.
“Are you feeling okay?” Leo questioned, cupping my face with one hand while holding my waist with the other.
“I’m fine, Leo. I promise.” I assured him as he secured the flower in my hair.
“But we need to get going. I believe there’s a godly battle we need to stop.”
“We have a little time.” He murmured, kissing my forehead.
“No, sadly we don’t. And I’m looking forward to letting Sadie know I broke her record.”
“What?” Leo asked, confused.
“Sadie has died before. She was dead for two minutes. Wait until I tell her I was dead for an hour.”
“So competitive…” Leo smirked as he pulled my face back to his for another kiss.
I realized I had never really thought about what it was like to kiss someone. Kissing different people gives it a different feel.
When someone kisses Leo, or if he kisses you, it’s like your floating in the embers of a flame that slowly grows to be more brilliant and amazing as it lights your way.
His lips were like spices from around the world. Enjoyable and exotic. It was a flash of colors so bright going back to regular ones became dull. It was the heat of hot sand. So hot it burned your skin, but felt so good. The grains of sand shifted around you. Doing anything to fit with you. To please you. Kissing him was familiar, but different somehow each time. He was everything bright and wonderful. Everything warm and amazing. There was nothing like him.
When I kissed Nico, it was almost the opposite, but still wonderful. It was when you touched something so cold it was pleasant. Like a burst of mint in your mouth. Like falling snowflakes in a snowy land. Everything was hidden from you, but you had a vague outline of what was under the sheet of snow. Kissing him was like trying to catch a single snowflake in a soft fall of millions. When you touched, it was gentle. You could barely feel the snowflake on you skin. Yet the design was so amazing, so incredibly different that you couldn’t help but be intrigued. You know how snowflakes are said to never be exactly in the same pattern as another? Nico was the most brilliant, original design. He gave you the cold mystery of winter. He was delicate and beautiful.
When he became more than a snowflake, more than gentle, he was the pleasing sting of snow on your bare hand.
I wondered, how did my kisses feel to them?
“Leo, we need to start preparing for the battle.” I told him, putting my finger on his lips to stop him.
“How? The others haven’t told us where they are yet. We can’t join them until they tell us where they are. And Jason, Piper, and Carter are still riding back here on Festus.”
“I suggest that we go train a little extra.”
“Do we have to?”
“Well, for starters my sword is long gone. I want to get a new one and practice.”
“I’ll make you one then.”
I startled. “What?”
“I’ll make you a sword. It’ll be perfect.”
I laughed. “Leo, you’re sweet, but we don’t have time for that.”
“Sure we do. I’ll have it done within the hour.”
“You can’t possibly—”
“’Course I can.” Leo said as he grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the forges.
“Leo!” I laughed, barely having time to pick up Nico’s jacket with my other hand.
As we ran through the camp, I saw Nico sulking around the shadows of the forest. No one noticed him but me. He was hunched over a patch of dirt as he patterned something into it.
“Wait, Leo. My sides are hurting. I’m going to go back to the infirmary for just a moment or two. I’ll catch up okay?” It wasn’t a complete lie. My sides did ache a bit. Definitely something wrong with my ribcage.
“I’ll go with you then.”
“No! I mean, no. We don’t have time to waste. I promise, I’ll be right there, okay?”
Leo’s face fell. “Don’t die on me again, okay? If you’re not back to me in fifteen minutes tops I’m going to meet you at the infirmary.”
“Leo, I promise. It’s nothing serious I’m sure. Just sore. I’ll be right back.” I told him, pulling my hand out of his as I walked away towards the infirmary.
I took a few steps, waiting to see if Leo had left. I risked a glance behind me, finding Leo walking away with slumped shoulders.
I ducked behind a tree, waiting for him to vanish from my sight.
“Excuse me? You’re blocking my tree.” A shrill voice sounded from behind me.
I turned to find a green skinned nymph.
“Sorry. I’ll just, move.” I said. I ran over to Nico, bumping into him as I sat too quickly.
“Hey. Are you okay? I noticed you vanished. And sorry about Leo. Is your face okay?” I asked, trying to get a better look at him.
He shied away from my touch, refusing to look up from the ground.
“Hey, I’m trying to see if you’re okay.”
“I’m fine.” Nico grumped. He was moody, but it wasn’t a problem for me. It seemed normal to me. It wasn’t annoying. It was just Nico being Nico.
“Let me look at you.” I said, putting my hand to his face and pushing it towards me.
He didn’t seem to be hurt too bad. There was a faint bruise to the right of his mouth.
“Gosh, I’m sorry about that.”
“It’s okay.” He mumbled pulling his face out of my hand.
“How’s your burn?” I asked as I moved to his arm. He had put on a new shirt; this one wasn’t torn and burned. It was then I realized I was still in as bad a state as before.
I started sliding his sleeve up to check the burn which had been on his upper arm and shoulder.
“It’s fine!” He told me as he slapped my hand away.
“Di Angelo, I’m going to see how you’re doing. You aren’t stopping me!” I told him sternly. I could see Nico try to hide the smile on his face from my comment.
I slid up his t-shirt, unwrapping the pink bandages I had used to help him.
It was still burned, but it was healing. It looked much better already.
“Did you get help when you got here for this?”
Nico shrugged. “I got some slave from the healing cabinets and put it on myself. Must have been magical; healed drastically in about half an hour.”
“That’s good. I brought you your jacket by the way.” I held it up with a hand.
“Thanks. You better go. Leo’s probably waiting for you.” He said glumly.
“Hey.” I said, making him look back to me. “You’re my friend. Leo can wait. He’s not going to die without me for a few minutes.”
“He didn’t die, but kinda did start going crazy during the hour you were dead.” Nico chuckled.
“No matter. Why did you leave?”
“Well, I saw getting punched as an invitation to leave.”
“Again, I’m sorry about that.”
“It’s not your fault.” He looked back to the ground. “So I assume that we’re just friends now?”
“Nico, I’m not sure. Can you give me some time? I mean I just came back from the de—”
“I saw how you looked at him. You don’t look at me like that. Maybe you say you love me, and maybe that’s true. But you love him a thousand times more.”
I lowered my head.
“Nico—”
“I don’t want this to get out of hand and cause trouble. I’m okay with it, as long as you’ll stay my friend.”
I looked up. Nico had a soft smile on his face, his eyes looking at mine kindly.
“I can do that. And I would never stop being your friend, Di Angelo.” I said as I moved to hug him.
“Now you really should get going. Leo’s going to be worried. He loves you a ton.” Nico muttered into my ear.
I sighed. “Okay. I’ll see you later. Meet me in the arena for some extra training before we have to go catch up in the war okay?”
Nico smiled. “Okay. See you later.” He kissed my forehead, before helping me stand. I ran off to the forges, glad at least all that drama was over.
----------------------------
“Leo!” I called, swinging to a stop against a column holding up the forges. “I’m back.” I wheezed, out of breath from running.
A greasy covered face popped up a few tables and workstations away.
A cocky smile quickly spread on his face, as he brushed his hair back with a dirty hand.
“Hey. Glad to see you made it. Come check out my awesome work!” He said, gesturing over.
I walked to him, careful to avoid the other campers who were working. They all smirked between Leo and me, as if they couldn’t believe that Leo was hanging out with me; or possibly the other way around.
“Careful, Leo.” A gruff voice sounded behind me.
“She looks pretty delicate. You sure she should be here?”
I didn’t give Leo the chance to reply, if he had wanted to. I turned around quickly, watching all the Hephaestus children.
“Looks can be deceiving.”
They all silenced after that, not expecting me to stand up for myself.
“So, what can I do?” I asked Leo, looking over the sword work he had already done. He was amazing. The blade was already finished.
“You can help me make the hilt, if you want.”
“Don’t mind if I do.” I smiled.
Leo beamed, and within the next twenty minutes he helped me form a perfect fitting hilt for my hand.
“Beautiful. How do you do it?” I asked, looking over the finished sword.
“Beautiful…” He repeated, making me look up to see why he was in such awe.
He stared at me, then blushed.
“Sorry, I meant—”
“I really don’t care what you meant.” I said, standing up. I was about to hug him, when I stopped.
He noticed. “What? Did I do something wrong? Is something else wrong?”
“No.” I shook my head. “My hands are so dirty. I don’t want to ruin your clothes or get you dirty.” He had been wearing gloves as he worked, so he was cleaner than me.
“Dirty equipment, clean hands.” He muttered as he slipped his hands into mine and pulled me towards him.
I made some weird sound in my throat of enjoyment as my face heated up. Leo smirked, hearing my squeak.
His forehead bumped mine, making me smile as he chuckled quietly.
“I love you, I hope you know that.”
I could have said something romantic, but hey. This was me.
“How can anybody not love me?” I whispered, making him laugh.
“There is no possible way to not love you.”
“Good. Cause I don’t want you to stop loving me.” I muttered as we turned our heads enough to kiss.
Whoops and yells rose around the forge, all of Leo’s siblings cheering. I blushed about to pull away to stop them, when Leo slipped his hands around my waist and pulled me closer, whispering.
“Don’t satisfy them. We can do what we want, and we have no reason to be embarrassed.”
“I think we’re satisfying them right now.” I muttered. I felt him smile against me, but he continued kissing me, his grip tightening as my arms made their way around his neck. The cheering grew, the forges noisiness bringing in more campers.
I heard the snaps of cameras which I’m sure were not allowed, but I tried to ignore them. Leo was right. Why should I be embarrassed of loving the most wonderful person in the world?