Leo hadn't slept all night, but he felt better than ever. He'd studied Rachel's statue over and over, something picking at his brain he couldn't figure out.
Then it hit him. The red dirt. He'd seen it before.
His old school, where he'd met Piper and Jason, had been in Oklahoma. The land there was incredibly rich in iron, resulting in red clay dirt. It was common in southern states. At the time, he'd thought it was the most boring thing in the world. He'd passed the time drawing mustaches on the windows so if a person passed by at the right time, the unlucky pedestrian seemed to be sporting a lovely handlebar.
Now, he was thankful his busy brain usually picked up conversation happening a room away, even when it bothered the hell out of him.
"This red-dirt is found only in the more southern regions of the United States, including Oklahoma, the Carolina's, and a small patch in rural New York-" his teacher had droned, boring him out of his mind until he'd been forced to take her chair apart and add in some springs so the next time she'd sat down, there was a little extra...bounce. Long story short, she'd broken her hip and he ended up here.
Ah, memories.
He'd googled the location of this red-dirt, and discovered a small strip mall, a couple warehouses, and other such places had been built on it. Know what stores were in this strip mall?
Halloween stores. Meaning: masks.
The giant jerks who'd taken his boyfriend didn't seem that smart. Hopefully, their HQ was near the mask shop. He'd opened up all his friends doors, blasting an air horn and basically freaking out.
"Leo, what?" Annabeth asked, rubbing her eyes, still in her pajamas. It was 3 AM, after all.
"CLUE!" he screeched, and she was wide awake. As soon as he'd explained the situation, they all changed out of their pajamas and got supplies.
"I'm calling the cops!" Annabeth announced as they were getting ready. "Seems like the right thing to do."
However, she wasn't on the phone five minutes before she screamed "Wait? Are you crazy?" And hung up.
"I'm leaving his father a voicemail, and then we're going. The police are being idiots," she sniffed, ushering them out the door. "Get the supplies."
Supplies being medical kits, a couple of knives, cell phones and candy bars.
Chiron had specifically told them they had no curfew, probably hoping they'd use the time to grieve. But there wasn't any grieving happening tonight, oh no.
Tonight they were finding Nico, and bringing him home.
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Nico's sword may have been confiscated by Gaia, but that didn't mean he was out of tricks.
It had started out with a lack of screaming after a round of crazy gas. The effort it took to stop the yells was tremendous, and resulted in him actually biting through the fabric of his favorite jacket, but he knew the result would be worth it.
Sure enough, after about an hour, the gears of the platform started to creak and Otis was dropped down.
It seemed Nico's luck was really improving. Gaia would have seen through his ploy in an instant.
"Boss lady says to make sure you aren't dead. Since you ain't screamin'," Otis said, lumbering over.
"You ain't dead, are ya? Euphie will kill me if you're dead...."
"No, you idiot. I'm not dead," Nico laughed, trying his best to sound pretentious and haughty, not like he was terrified. Behind Otis, things flickered in the shadows, looming faces and empty eyes.
They're not real. They're not real.
"I'm just bored."
"Bored? You ain't scared?" Otis asked, looking amazed. "You're 'sposed to be scared."
"Well, normally I'd be terrified. But not when I have my secret weapon."
"Secret weapon? What secret weapon?" the giant questioned. Nico hid a smile, despite his body shaking.
"Sorry, can't tell you. Then it's not a secret."
"Aw, you can tell me!" Otis promised, leaning forward.
"Well, okay," Nico agreed. "But only if you don't tell anyone. Not even Euphie."
"Cross my heart!"
"It's my skull ring," Nico confessed. "It's impossible for me to be afraid while I'm wearing it."
"Ha! Tricked you!" Otis yelled, grabbing Nico's fingers and wrenching his ring off.
"No! Please!" Nico cried, but Otis only laughed.
"Whatever you do, please don't take my ring and throw it in the grass outside! I can't bear it!"
"In your face! I'm going to take this ring and throw it in the grass outside!" Otis gloated. "And there's nothing you can do about it." Still cackling, he jumped on the platform and was lifting away, still laughing
"Phase one, complete," Nico whispered to himself, because it seemed like something Leo would say.
Something caressed his side, but he didn't look down. The gas made him see things that weren't there, feel things that weren't happening. The more afraid he got, the worse it was. The first time he'd been taken, Nico felt like he was being ripped apart and sewn back together, every day. Giving in to his fear would only let the monsters barely held at bay come crashing forward.
Still, he had to be convincing. The next time he felt something grab his foot, he screamed.
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Had the circumstances been different, Leo didn't doubt that shopping at the mask place would have been fun. Lucky for them, it was a 24/7 store, for when you need a dozen masks at 4:00 AM. It would have been worth all the weird looks they got.
While Annabeth and Reyna handled actually questioning the guy at the register, the rest of them tried to blend in by buying masks.
Leo decided that when they busted Nico out, it would help to be wearing masks so they wouldn't be recognized. Plus, maybe it would boost morale.
By the words of the desk guy, "Tall, smelly, twins? Yeah, that's those jerkoffs that live in that direction-" they knew they were headed to the right place. So, they bought the masks.
Annabeth was an owl, Frank a grizzly bear, Piper a dove and Jason an eagle, while Percy was a dolphin and Rachel was a snake. Hazel chose a witch hat and fake nose, and Reyna put on a Roman helmet and battle skirt, even though it wouldn't hide her face. Really seemed to fit her personality, though.
Leo chose a dragon, and in a show of optimism got Nico a skeleton mask for when they rescued him. As they all piled back into the car they'd stolen from Argus' garage, he tucked it into the supply bag and zipped it back up. Closing his eyes, he listened as Annabeth started the car and began to drive in the direction the cashier had said.
It took them less than ten minutes to get there, and the sun was just beginning to peek over the horizon. He was right; the dirt was red, and Reyna confirmed that it seemed exactly like the kind covering the twins.
The only problem was the warehouses. There were at least three on the property, not to mention the house. Add that with the woods around it and any other hiding place, and even with the ten of them they'd have trouble finding him in less than ten hours without being spotted by Gaia.
They knew better than to split up, so it was a slow process combing through the area for anything that revealed Nico's location. Leo was about to tear his hair out in frustration and yell "Screw it!" before leaping up to peak in the windows and risk being spotted. It was all just taking too long! Who knew what was happening to Nico while they wasted time combing the grass?
"Look at this!" Hazel hissed, and they all rushed forward.
"It was glinting in the grass. He's giving us a sign, I know it! It has to be this house!"
Leo looked down. It was Nico's skull ring, glinting in the sunrise. It lay before the smallest warehouse, almost as if it had been thrown out the window.
Then they heard the screaming.
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Nico's ankle was about to break, he was sure. For the past day, or what felt like a day, he'd been straining against his iron chain to escape whatever monsters the visions summoned.
Sometimes it was his dead sister. Other times it was his father. Sometimes it was his friends, and those were the worst.
Gaia would look over the top occasionally, peering through the wooden slats. She'd laugh at the sight of Nico cowering in the corner, throwing rocks and screaming at things that didn't exist.
He heard her voice constantly, even through his yelling.
"I don't know how he survived the first time. Look how weak he is."
"Could you imagine, Otis? The one person who got away, and it was this sickly little crybaby."
"Once he's out of the way, who can stand against me as I take the city? Who can resist?"
The visions weren't always terrible, though.
Okay, so about 99% of the visions were terrible. The one exception, however, was what kept him going.
Sometimes it was Hazel, smoky and shimmering, running her hands through his hair and smiling that little smile. She'd make him grin the tiniest bit and forget the horrors in front of him.
Sometimes it was Leo, smirking that idiotic smirk that made him want to either kiss him or kill him. He'd sit beside Nico, hold his hand, and laugh about all the fake monsters in front of them, calling the special effects cheesy and the sounds a cheap haunted house record.
Most times, however, it was everyone. How could he even notice the beasts of his mind when there were nine of his favorite people in front of him, distracting him? How strange that the visions of his friends were used to both break him and build him up.
It was getting harder and harder to tell the difference between reality and fantasy, and most of the time that worked to his disadvantage. The 1%, however, was real enough to keep him alive.
He was collecting more scars, even though he tried not to. He'd cut his back on sharp stones, the jagged edge of his chains. The pain sharpened the world around him somewhat, however, so he wasn't complaining.
It was Otis' job to dribble food and water down the sides of the hole, although in Nico's hallucinations it seemed like a flaming river carving it's way down the side. He waited until there was a break in the gas to eat and drink, but he was receiving less and less each day.
Nico was currently collapsed on his side, ankle throbbing from being pulled against chain for so many hours, back bleeding and hungry. He hadn't moved in a while. To try to focus on what was real, he concentrated on the sounds above him.
There must still be some gas leftover, because he could have sworn he heard Leo's voice, and Gaia screaming.
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When they burst into the warehouse, Leo didn't expect to find the two giant twins playing Uno at a card table while show tunes played in the background. He definitely wasn't expecting Gaia to be bent over some wooden slates, calling taunts down them. The fact that she was obviously taunting his boyfriend set Leo's anger meter at about eleven. On a scale of one to five. Slowly, he walked up behind her.
She was mentioning something about "Who can resist?" when he finally snapped.
"Me, dirt-face," he growled, punching her in the face as soon as she spun around.
Across the room, Percy was fighting one twin with.... a pen?
Well, whatever he was fighting with, it really looked like those capture the flag games were paying off. He clicked the end and drove the sharp point into the ugly dude's arm while he howled in pain. While he was doubled over, Jason kicked his backside and the tall man collapsed into the table, shattering it and throwing cards everywhere. He didn't get up.
"EUPHIE!" the other one cried, surging forward only to be tripped flat on his face by Hazel. Reyna pressed the tip of her (very realistic looking) spear against his throat.
Annabeth and Piper exchanged glances.
"You want the honors?" Piper offered, and Annabeth grinned.
"Maybe Rachel should do it."
"Yes!" the redhead fist pumped. "My pleasure." She brought her foot down on his face, hard, and the second giant was down for the count.
(It should be added that the girls took their giant down much more efficiently and quickly than the boys.)
Meanwhile, Leo was still busy with Gaia. He could see why she was feared all over the city; she really packed a punch.
Around the fifth time she slammed his head on the wooden planks, actually breaking a few, he realized he had help.
Frank rammed into her head first in a body slam worthy of a rhino, shooting her backwards over the hole. He helped Leo up as they turned to face her, the rest of their friends joining.
Hazel, meanwhile, was peering down the hole, screaming for Nico.
"Hazel! Platform!" he yelled, grabbing Nico's sword and jumping onto the wooden mechanism, flipping a switch that sent them both down into the depths.
It was dark, and cold, and smelled like a gas leak. Leo didn't even want to imagine spending two minutes down here, let alone days.
They scanned the ground as their eyes adjusted. It wasn't a particularly big space, about 20 feet all around, but the ground was rocky and sharp, easily hurting their feet through shoes.
"Nico!" Hazel yelled finally, scrambling over a rock, following a bloody trail.
And it was Nico. Crouched and shivering, bloody and silent. Leo didn't want to imagine what it was like the first time around, when police had found him instead.
"Get away!" Nico shrieked, and Leo froze.
"Nico, it's us!" Hazel assured him, stepping forward. Nico screamed nonsense about monsters and threw a rock at her, though his aim was off by a mile. Then Leo realized something very important.
"Hazel!" he hissed, and Nico jumped.
"The masks. Take them off."
Before she could remove hers, Leo threw off his dragon mask and crept forward slowly.
"Nico, it's me," he said slowly, sliding the sword towards Hazel with his foot and gesturing at the lock chaining him up. She nodded and got to work hacking at it.
"L-Leo?" Nico whispered, reaching out, then stopping himself. "No. It's not you. It's never really you."
"This time it is," Leo promised, pulling him up and pressing him against his chest. He felt the slack as Hazel finally got the chain off.
"I'm right here, I'm real, and I've got you, ya big baby," he whispered in Nico's ear, and the other boy stiffened.
"Oh god, it really is you. No other version would say something so stupid," Nico said, voice hoarse from screaming.
Leo only laughed and pulled him closer, Hazel joining in on the hug.
Outside, he heard police sirens.