Stupid Cupid

~Stupid Cupid - Chapter 17

        "Sky? What are you doing?" I try to turn towards Nico's voice but we're still invisible.

"He needs to calm down." I reply. "Leo, listen to the sound of my voice. This is an illusion. You're mom isn't here. You're fifteen, not eight." Leo's hands stop flaming along with the building and then the building shimmers back to being burnt rubble.

"What? No!" the Cyclops bellows. I reveal Nico and myself. "You two demigods ruined their plan! We would have ruled if Kronos and the Earth Mother rose together! Those puny Seven would have never defeated them! I shall kill you and eat you for lunch!" The venti swarmed Nico and the empousa me.

I pulled out my sword just as Miranda tried to jump on me. The blade pierces her in the gut and she crumbles to golden dust. The other two advance. The one on the right hisses at me and I swing my sword narrowly missing.

"You cannot kill us, little demigod." I look at the one on my left because she decided to challenge me.        

"Sorry, I've already killed four of the six that have attacked me in my life. And the first three were with a pocket knife and on a broken ankle. I'd like to think my chances are pretty high." They both hiss and lunge.

I role to the side and stick my sward out. It catches one other the empousa's foot and she stumbles. I pick myself up and easily stab the wounded monster and watch her turn to dust. Two down, one to go. Just as expected, the other lunges. At least, I thought she lunged at me. When I swiped my sword she was behind me.

"What the..." I'm stopped short when a pale hand grasps my throat. I begin to choke. "Le...o." I wheeze and all of the sudden the empousa bursts into flames. Leo stands an inch from where she just was.

"Leo." I breath and hug him. He hugs me back and when we pull apart we stay closer than necessary.

"Thanks for the help." Leo looks over me and then into my eyes.

"Same." Leo's eyes flash to my lips and we start leaning in. We're stopped short when a call of 'hey' is heard.

"Nico!" Leo and I say in unison. The venti are winning the fight.

"Go help Nico. I'll take care of the Cyclops." Leo nods at my command and shoots off to where Nico is struggling with evil wind spirits.

I charge the Cyclops switching my sword for my bow. Three arrows are shot and the big lug barely misses the first two but the third gets lodged in his shoulder.

"I will kill you!" he bellows.

"That's not the first time I've heard that! Nor the first time I've gotten away scratch free!" I shoot another arrow and it sticks in his leg.

"Die, demigod scum!" He swings a big wooden club at my head. I duck.

"Now you sound like my uncle. Do you know him? His name's Zeus, King of the gods and sky." That seems to make the guy angrier because he screams in rage and smacks the ground where I once was with the club.

I shot another arrow which got him in the hand holding the club. He dropped the club and pulled the arrow from his skin. In a wisp of my hand ice darts are flying at him. Another wisp sends water swirling around his body and freezing him in place. Only his head isn't covered and I easily shoot an arrow straight threw his forehead and he disintegrates.

I turn around to find Leo and Nico fighting a venti. It's too awear of both of them but not of me. An idea forms in my head and I form one large ice dagger. It's at last a foot long and as cold as dry ice. I have to be careful because if this even skims Nico or Leo then we'd have a big problem. I take my shot and the dagger whistles by and straight threw the venti. Leo looks up in surprise as the wind spirit dissipates. Nico stays still and then drops.

Leo and I both rush to him. A line of ice spreads across Nico's chest. The clothing that was there has a slash that is singed at the opening. I try to pull the fabric away but the ice burns my hand. I reach into Nico's pocket for the bag of ambrosia but my hand skims a cold piece of metal. I grab the metal and the bag. Leo takes the ambrosia but I hang on to the metal. It's a simple metal figure of what I assume is Hades - it's the same figure that I saw in my first dream. I'm pulled into a vision.

Nico is screaming and yelling. Tears streak his face. We're outside the Mess and Percy is reaching out to him. The figure is clutched in his hand tightly and he's shaking. Percy looks ashamed and disheartened.

"You promised you would protect her." Percy's eyes lost their light.

The ground opened and a small army of the dead rose then fell. Nico ran off and Percy called after him but he never stopped. Nico kept running into the woods.

Nico is following a transparent figure around what I think is a tunnel.

"Where are you taking me, Ghost King?" Nico asks with dig brown eyes.

"Just follow along, son of Hades."  

Nico stands confidently in front of the figure from the last image. He has an aura that screams 'obey me'. The figure is hunched but still standing almost like he's getting to tired.

"I am the Ghost King!" the figure yells.

"No. I am." Nico replies and the figure disappears.

"Sky? C'mon, we need to get Nico back to camp." Leo said.

"How do you suppose we do that?" I ask desperately.

"I've got connections." Leo smiled wickedly but he didn't have the same evil glint in his eyes. He was trying not to think about the day he started the fire.

"Then make them fast." Leo whistled and in a few seconds a big, golden dragon was flying down towards us.

"Festus!" Leo shouted.

"Festus? I thought you were still fixing him?"

"I finished a little bit ago. Before I was taken... I wanted to show you that last day." I nod and head towards the dragon.

"You've got Nico?" I called back and I heard a grunt of agreement.

Leo and I mounted Festus and I held Nico in my lap. Leo was navigating Happy the Dragon while I made sure the son of Hades didn't fall to his death while of the ride to camp. I had asked how Festus got here so quickly but Leo just shrugged and said, 'Festus has his ways.' After he said that I decided not to ask any more questions. All Nico and I's stuff is still in the tent which is tucked safely in Nico's pocket.

I tried to remove the ice several times but each time took more and more out of me. I did what I could to slow the spreading but Nico was unusually pale. Leo melted the ice around the slashed fabric but he couldn't do anything else without hurting Nico more. My heart was racing but my mom always told me I didn't have anything to worry about - I had always been good in situations like this.

"How far are we from camp?" I ask Leo.

"At least a day and a half. Festus is fast but not that fast. My guess is, he had already been flying around looking for me when I called him." That was too long.

"Land."

"Are you insane? If we land there's no way we'll get there in time."

"It won't happen anyway. Land." Leo doesn't argue, he lands the dragon.

"Hold on." I grab his hand and clutch Nico.

My eyes close and we're surrounded in black. Leo still clutched my hand and Nico hangs loosely on Festus's back. Taking this big of a load all the way to Camp Half Blood is a lot but I have to make it. For Nico. That thought alone fuels me with enough energy to get us into the open. Leo screams. I feel a rush of air but them my body shuts down. I think we were falling. Festus will hopefully catch us. My mind goes blank.