I forced some ambrosia into Nico's mouth and hoped it would heal that huge scratch on the left side of his abdomen. Natasha was still cradling his head in her lap and Leo was just standing there looking rejected. I saw that his left arm was a bloody mess, but he noticed that I had seen it and he tried to hide it.
I handed him a piece of ambrosia and stood up, leaving Nico, sadly, in the terrible care of Natasha. I felt bad. It was my fault that Nico had been hurt. I should have known better than to track down Polybotes, especially since he could smell children of Poseidon three or four miles away. But, when he said he was going to kill me, he only said child of Poseidon, not children. I glanced suspiciously at Natasha. That would explain why she was so different from Percy and I. But if Poseidon wasn't her godly parent, then who was? Someone that had to do with water.
Nico started moaning, a sign that he would be okay, and he attempted to sit up. He leaned back against a tree trunk and looked around. Nico looked uncomfortable when he saw that Natasha had been cradling his head in her lap, but got over it quickly.
"So, about that giant hand that came out of the ground..." I was curious how he pulled that off. I wondered if it had been Hades helping us. He looked around sheepishly.
"I don't even know how I did that. Must have been my dad helping us out. Although why he would help us, I don't know. He isn't exactly the friendly type." I nodded in a silent agreement with him. I had gone to the Underworld hundreds of times and seen both the good and bad sides of Hades. Mostly the bad side.
Nico looked embarrassed, although I don't know why he would be embarrassed after saving us. I guess he didn't like to have so much attention.
I felt really stupid right then. I mean seriously, I tracked down a giant that could smell me coming from miles away.
"I am sorry, guys. I am such an idiot. I chased down the only giant in the whole world that could smell us coming miles away. I promise not to mess up again." I felt like crying. All those years of holding back the tears were starting to come back for round two, and I didn't think I could hold them back again.
"It's OK. We all mess up every now and then. At least none of us died!" Leo said, almost smiling happily. I gave him a grateful smile for trying to cheer me up.
Nico stood up and tried to act normal, although every time I saw him turn he winced a little. He grabbed his sword, stuck it in its sheath, and nodded, as if he was saying he was ready to go. I surveyed the others, silently sending the message that it was time to go. We grabbed all our things, a few book bags and jackets, and got ready to go.
Before we left I looked at Leo's arm, despite his protests, and saw that the gash was healing nicely thanks to the ambrosia. I still wrapped some gauze around it though, just in case the gash reopened and started bleeding again. At least he didn't look so rejected anymore.
"So, now where are we going?" Leo asked me after I finished patching him up. I thought about it for a couple seconds.
"We are going to have a talk with Clytius, he's in Ohio." Leo and Nico looked rather surprised when I said this, probably because they remembered meeting him in the House of Hades. Natasha was being as ignorant as ever, but it didn't matter because I was too busy planning how to get to Ohio safely.