Looking back, Percy could feel a fierce affection for his friend. Something along the lines of "atta boy" but also a whole lot of "holy crap I know him" which was new (because, not to brag but, he was usually the super powerful one).
The group had just broken into an old workshop as directed by some young ghost girl. Everything had escalated pretty quickly from there.
We ran toward the double doors that separated us from our friend. Nico paused just outside, taking a deep breath, unsheathing his sword and pressing into the large door.
"Oh gods," breathed out Will as we stumbled into the massive room. It looked like a typical workshop. But this was no regular workshop. Scattered across the tabletops were various body parts. Eyes, fingers, feet, and noses. Some were clearly artificial but others were almost too lifelike.
It was the scream that got me looking where Will's eyes had first been directed. I looked over to see that Nico was already halfway across the room heading towards a very badly abused Leo and his abuser. We all took action. Guards streamed into the large room and we engaged in battle. I saw out of the corner of my eye as Thalia leapt onto a table and sprinted towards some creature I'd never seen before.
As I sliced through my final enemy I turned to see how the rest had faired. Nico and Will were engaged with a few men which was odd, but they were good with swords and it dawned on me that they were demigods. A fresh rage tore through me as I ran to join them.
That's when laughter pierced the room. Chilling, booming, laughter that made you nauseous. A tall man stood confidently before us. What really made me want to vomit was the whip in his large hands. Leo was hanging naked with his back to us and embedded into his back were chunks of glass and metal, all attached by wire to the whip in this villains hands.
"Don't. I'll tear you limb from limb I swear it. Don't," growled a fuming son of Hades. The man grinned sickeningly and pulled sharply. Skin ripped as another broken cry resounded. Before I could even respond Nico strode forward. I expected panic and blind rage. I expected a frenzied assault. But no, this young boy-this young man- had his wits about him. Practiced in revenge. Familiar with pain. Confident in his ability to exact justice, Nico DiAngelo, son of Hades, Ghost King, marched forward with his sword loose in his left hand, his right flexing as power poured from him. The ground cracked and fissures burst open all around he and his foe. "What you have done is inexcusable. What you will suffer is inexpressible. Now face me like a man or die at the hands of the dead," he declared, voice sure and clear.
The man unsheathed his sword but kept a firm grip on his whip.
In a breath they were engaged in battle. The whip snapped to Nico's right and he rolled out of its arc diving forward to exact his own attack. In one brilliant move Nico bravely caught the whip on his forearm and yanked the man forward by his own weapon sending his chest into the waiting tip of Nico's blade. As he lay bleeding and cursing a stream of skeletons climbed from the fissures and apprehended the vile piece of filth. "Take him to my father," commanded Nico, "Speak of his crimes." They dragged the dying man into the earth as he screamed and cursed and then silence fell.
It's been about an hour since the events in that warehouse and we're hiding out at a motel as Will tends to our dear mechanic. Nico is sitting crisscross on the bed with Leo's limp head in his lap. As he mindlessly runs his fingers through his lovers' hair, Nico seems lost in his own thoughts. Not that I blame him. I pull Annabeth closer to me as I think on the horrors we'd witnessed today.
"You should sleep Nico," Will encouraged softly, but a harsh glare met him and he sighed. "I'm not telling you to leave, I'm telling you to relax. You'll catch ill again if you don't rest and you've been going nonstop for over 24 hours now."
I glanced over to see Nico's debate flaring in his eyes. Clearly afraid for Leo, he had no intention of letting himself sleep so I intervened.
"We'll keep a close eye on him Nics. And you're right here. We'll wake you if you're needed at all," I assured and finally he slumped against the pillows behind him. It didn't take long for his fingers to still, lost in the mechanics nest of curls.