When the invaders got tired of beating their heads against the east wall and sent another force against the roof, they also sent a force of magicians against the terrace. This time Amos ordered the more advanced trainees into the fight.
Spells were flying everywhere, and Percy's mobility was greatly reduced, not because he was afraid of getting hit, but because he had to look before each swing of Riptide to make sure he didn't hit any trainees. They had found out some time ago that celestial bronze could hurt Egyptian magicians, and Percy didn't want to accidentally injure someone from his own side.
There were plenty of shabtis in the mix for Percy to hack apart. In fact, none of them got past him, so the trainees were able to focus on picking off the enemy magicians.
He could hear that the fight had begun again on the roof, but couldn't spare much attention to look toward it. He could hear the roar of flames and see the glow from Zia's flames cast over the fight on the deck. Then the sounds changed and he heard a noise like the hiss of steam. Then the roof fell silent.
He waited tensely, praying that he wouldn't hear the alarm from inside that meant the perimeter had been breached. That would mean that the enemy had gotten past the team on the roof, and the only way that would happen was if the entire roof team was dead.
Thankfully no alarm was sounded. But still, Percy couldn't help but worry. He couldn't help but remember the Battle of Manhattan, and how after he split up his troops to guard the separate entrances to the city, how he'd never seen so many of those campers again. And how so much time passed before he even learned who had died. He hated that feeling of dread and felt like it was eating him up inside.
Sadie and Carter had done a good job training their students, and for that Percy was glad. It took them about thirty minutes longer than the roof team had taken to drive off their invaders, but they managed to do it without anyone getting seriously hurt.
As soon as they'd wrapped things up, Percy left the clean-up to the others and hurried up to the roof. The moment he burst through the door at the top of the stairs, his heart nearly stopped when he saw Zia holding a very still, very pale Nico in her arms.
The world seemed to narrow down to include just the three of them, so he missed the relaxed expressions on the faces of the other teens on the roof.
"Is he . . ." Percy swallowed and moved closer. Then he saw that Nico's chest was rising and falling steadily.
"He's sleeping," said Zia. "He's not injured."
Finally, Percy was able to breathe again. "Thank the gods. You're all okay?" Now he glanced around at the others.
"We're all fine," said Walt. "None of us have worse than superficial injuries, like a few burns and scratches."
"Nico's been using his powers?" asked Percy. He moved to kneel beside Zia and Nico, trying to pretend that it wasn't weird finding someone who was essentially a stranger to them both, cradling his unconscious little cousin in her arms.
"Yes," said Zia.
"His powers drain him too much," said Percy. "I keep telling him not overdo it like this."
"If he hadn't, Zia probably would have died," said Walt hesitantly.
"He saved my life," agreed Zia.
"Kwai's dead, by the way," said Julian.
"We had to kill him," added Alyssa. "He would have killed us all if we didn't."
Percy noticed that her voice shook a little. Zia's face was shadowed too, he noticed as well. Walt and Julian didn't have that darkness on their faces, so he deduced that they hadn't had a direct hand in it, but Zia and Alyssa had. Possibly Nico as well. Probably Nico as well, come to think of it. But the difference was, it wasn't something that would bother Nico at all. These girls had just killed someone for the first time and they were feeling it. Percy couldn't help but feel momentarily guilty. If he'd finished off Kwai then they wouldn't have had to get their hands bloody.
"You did what you had to," Percy told them. "And you're right, if you hadn't done that, you would probably all be dead now."
Zia's grip on Nico tightened. Nico muttered something in his sleep but didn't wake. Percy watched warily as Zia pulled him tighter against her chest. He almost warned her that Nico was extremely averse to physical contact and wouldn't appreciate it if he woke up and found himself being smothered by her bosom, but saying something like that would have been too awkward.
"How long is it going to take Nico to recover from using his powers, Percy?" asked Julian. "I don't mean to sound insensitive, but we need him if they attack again."
"What exactly is he recovering from?" asked Percy. "Tell me everything you saw him do."
And so they told him about Nico using shadows to drive the uraei away from the roof, how he got set on fire twice (once by Zia by accident), how he used shadow travel to save Zia when Kwai turned himself into living water and tried to drown her inside of him, then how Nico had used his geo-kinetic powers to turn the stone sphinx statue and stone roof tiles into dust, that was used to turn Kwai into a mud-slide, so that Zia could roast him like a prize turkey.
By the end of it, Percy was very impressed. And more than a little worried. Nico really had been overdoing it, and from what he knew about Nico, this wasn't something he could bounce back from so easily.
Percy was hesitant to give him anymore nectar or ambrosia, since Nico had been pretty much living on that stuff for the past two weeks, and had to be close to his limit. The last thing Percy wanted was for him to burst into flames. Besides, they didn't have much left, and if Nico was injured they'd need to use it then.
"It's going to take awhile for him to recover from this," said Percy after considering it for a few moments. "I don't know if he's going to be able to control shadows again when he wakes up to keep the uraei at bay or not, but if he is capable of that, you need to do whatever you can to keep everything else away from him. But he's going to need a couple hours to recover, at the very least. I think . . . I think we should take him inside to let him get some uninterrupted rest. We'll send you a replacement for him –"
"One magician alone can't replace him," said Julian. "I'm not saying he doesn't need time to recover, but he's a very important part of our defense. We need at least two more people to hold the roof if he's out. Probably more like three."
"I'll see what I can do," Percy promised. He moved to take Nico from Zia.
Zia jerked Nico away from him and glared at him, leaning over Nico protectively. Percy blinked at her then raised an eyebrow. Zia didn't back down.
"Zia," he said, as politely as he could, "I would like to take my cousin inside. Please give him to me."
It was Zia's turn to blink. She looked surprised at herself as she realized what she was doing, then embarrassed. She started to hold him out toward Percy, but changed her mind at the last minute, right as Percy was about to lift him, and pulled Nico backwards roughly away from Percy. Amazingly, Nico remained asleep. His head actually flopped like a doll's and he groaned, but didn't wake.
Percy was starting to get annoyed. "Look, what is your problem?" he demanded. "Why do you keep staring at me like I'm some kind of monster, and what exactly do you think I'm going to do to Nico that he needs to be protected from? You think I'm going to eat him or something?"
Zia's face turned red and this time when Percy reached for Nico, she didn't yank him away. Which was good, because Percy would have grabbed Nico anyway, and a tug of war match might have ensued. Yeah, that would have been pretty bad.
"Sorry," muttered Zia. "I don't know what I was thinking."
Percy was careful to make sure that Nico's head was braced against his shoulder when he stood, because he didn't want his cousin getting whip-lash. He nodded to Zia and the others, then went inside and carried Nico down the stairs.
There was something about Zia that unsettled him a little bit, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. At first he'd thought it was because she was a fire magician, and water and fire didn't exactly mix . . . but Percy had no problems with anyone Greek who had any sort of fire powers, like that new kid Leo in the Hephaestus cabin, or Hephaestus himself. There was something about Zia that almost reminded him of a river nymph, or more like an echo of a river nymph. That didn't even make any sense in his own mind, but he didn't have time to worry about it now.
He took Nico down to his room, which he'd been to before on several occasions, but still found a bit disturbing, because Nico's room had been decorated by Anubis. It had a surreal feel to it, like the four walls were only an illusion, and the room really stretched on forever in every direction. And it was filled with macabre decorations, like gravestones and the kind of statues found in graveyards. Mist hunt in the air, and the only light came from an urn full of flames and some kind of illusionary moon. The bed looked like a sarcophagus, which made Percy feel creepy when he set Nico down on it.
Nico exhaled sharply then opened his eyes. He stared at Percy confused, like he wasn't sure who he was at first. Then he reached out and grabbed Percy's arm, so that he could pull himself into a sitting position. "What happened? What hit me?"
"Nothing hit you – Whoa!" Percy caught Nico as the smaller boy slumped forward.
"Oh, that's right. I remember now. We killed Kwai. Is Zia okay?" Nico's voice was barely more than a raspy whisper, and he couldn't even sit up on his own. More than that, he didn't even seem to realize that Percy was having to completely support him. Or when Percy pushed him back down so that he was lying down again.
"Zia's fine. Everyone's fine. The only injuries we've had so far have been a couple scrapes and burns. And you passing out from exhaustion."
"Did we win? Is it over?"
"Uh, no. It's about two o'clock. Maybe two-thirty. Just a few more hours to go."
"Gotta get up." And Nico made an attempt to.
Percy put a hand on his chest to hold him down, even though it wasn't at all necessary. Nico didn't even manage to lift his head this time. "Hey, no. You're out for awhile. You've been overusing your powers."
"I've got to fight, Percy."
"You can't fight. You can't even sit. You're too drained."
"I have to!" Nico grabbed onto Percy's arm again and tried to pull himself up again. This time he only managed to pull himself up about ten inches before his strength gave out and he fell back onto the bed.
"Nico, you've done your part," said Percy. "You need to rest now or you're going to end up in really bad shape."
"What else is new?" demanded Nico. "And where's my flask of nectar?"
"You're out," Percy told him. "Same with your ambrosia."
"Then give me some of yours. It's not like you need it anymore."
"You've already had too much, Nico," said Percy. "It's dangerous to give you anymore."
"I don't care. I need it. I need to get back in this fight, Percy!"
"I'm sorry, but –"
"Give it to me!" Nico clawed weakly at his arm. "Damn it Percy, fork it over now!"
Percy grabbed the younger boy's wrist to keep Nico from shredding his sleeve. "Nico, if I give you anymore there is a good chance that you will burn into ashes."
"I don't care!"
"Well I care!" snapped Percy. "You're one of my best friends. You're pretty much my little brother. I'm not letting you burn yourself to a crisp for something so stupid!"
"It's not stupid! Percy, this is my home!" cried Nico.
Percy's come-back died in his throat.
"These people are my family. Even at Camp Half-Blood I'm not accepted as much as I am here. I never thought I'd find a place like this, but I have, and I can't lose it, Percy! I can't lose them. I have to do everything I can to defend this place and everyone in it, or I'm not going to be able to look at myself in the mirror."
Percy stared at his little cousin, taking note of the desperation on his face, and the tears in his eyes. Then he sighed and brought out his flask of nectar. He uncapped it and held it over Nico's mouth. Nico obediently opened his mouth, and Percy poured a small trickle down his throat. Not much. Maybe a teaspoon, a teaspoon and a half at the most.
"That's all I'm risking," Percy told him. "Unless you get seriously injured, you're not getting anymore tonight. Heck, you're not getting anymore for a month if I can help it. Understand?"
"Yes." Nico sat up, on his own this time. "Thank you, Percy."
"I want you to be careful," said Percy. "You know how dangerous this was, and you know how much strain you've put on yourself so far. So don't use your powers anymore than you absolutely have to, and don't repay me for this by getting yourself killed."
"I won't. The fight is mostly over, right? We only have to hold on for three and a half hours, right?"
"A lot can happen in three and a half hours," said Percy darkly. "I have a feeling that these freaks aren't going to give up so easily."
Percy didn't know how right he was.