Fighting Darkness

Chapter 4

Reyna didn't pull out her sword. If it were anyone else, she would pull out her sword. But this was Nico. Nico, who cared but never showed it, who put others in front of himself, who was sweet and shouldn't have been so scarred and depressed. Nico, who was still only fifteen, had been through so much already. He didn't need this. He didn't need yet another thing to add to the long list of tragedies he had endured.

So, for that very reason, Reyna refused to do anything to hurt Nico. The thing that occupied Nico's body flexed its hand, as if it were sore and hadn't moved in a while. Reyna didn't know which God was in him. She was sure that he wasn't even a God. He radiated power; it seemed to pour off of him in waves.

"Get out of his body." Will growled, his posture rigid. Anger was building up in the Son of Apollo quickly, and Reyna was surprised. Will was the sort of person to stand up against bullies, to defend the helpless, sure. But to yell at whatever was possessing Nico's body took real guts. She admired the Roman side of the son of Apollo. Not afraid of confrontation. Ready to fight for what he wanted. And at that moment, Reyna could tell that the thing he wanted was Nico.

The demon's head turned slowly, taking in Will, drinking his appearance in. His gaze was unsettling.

"Ah, son of the sun god. How nice to finally meet you, in person. The boy thinks about you constantly. You're all that is ever in his head. I suppose I will have to get rid of you. It'll help him to listen to me. He's been blocking out my voice for far too long. Now, he will finally be forced to pay attention to me." The voice would make anyone in their right mind flee. Even her Roman soldiers would flee, save a few of the brave ones. Or the foolish ones. Where did that leave her? Reyna wasn't foolish, but she had never considered herself to be brave. She just did what she had to, when she had to do it.

"Son of Apollo, prepare to die." The voice said calmly. Nico, or the monster, or whatever he was, raises his hand, aiming it at Will. He opened his fist, and from the palm of his hand, darkness came out. It was unlike anything that Reyna had ever seen before. It was pure darkness, made of your worst nightmares. If that wasn't scary enough, being hit by the thing was much, much worse.

Reyna knew it as soon as she was hit. She wasn't brave. She was foolish.

Memories flashed back at unusually high speeds, as if on fast forward. She was suddenly whisked back, into her past.

She was twelve years old, watching her dad knock Hylla out. Her body lay limp and lifeless on the ground. Her twelve year old self was both angry and scared. He had killed the only person who protected and loved her. He had killed her sister, and he deserved to die. She felt as if it were happening all over again, grabbing the sword from the wall, murdering her father with it. She saw his body drop to the ground, like it was happening in slow motion. She heard her sister's gasp of surprise from behind her, but she twisted the blade in deeper, determined to finish the job. She watched as the life drained from his eyes. Nothing was said, no sweet words of parting or tearful goodbyes. He had simply died.

The scene played a few more times, until she was a sobbing, broken mess. Just as she thought she couldn't take any more of the scene, her surroundings changed.

The boat swayed, almost tossing the two sisters overboard. It was a nice day, the sun felt out of place. The pirates circled the two young girls, ages twelve and fifteen. She was forced to endure replays of the dirty pirate ship, slaving away, getting whipped and beaten. Much, much worse things occurred on the ship that fateful day that they were captured.

She was sixteen, riding on Scipio, her Pegasus. Her friend of four years. Her trusted companion. Her best friend. After battling a Griffon, it had sunk its claws deep into her battered horse. Scipio had tried to fight it, but the poison was painful and worked all too quickly, dragging the horse out of the sky. They tumbled down in a field, and she had plunged her dagger into Scipio's chest, crying the whole time. It was the humane thing to do, but she still knew that she shouldn't have put the horse through such a painful journey. It was her fault that he was dead.

Her fault.

Her fault.

Her fault.

Her fault.

Everyone dead, because of her.

Reyna immediately collapsed in his arms. She stepped in front of him, to save him. The Praetor hadn't spoken a word to him before. Will ignored the raging thing inside of Nico, as hard as it was, and focused on Reyna. He laid her down on the ground, still in his arms, and knelt, inspecting her. Black crept up her neck and down her arms. It was coming from her chest, Will would find out where exactly later.

Reyna was twisting and squirming, her body shuddering with sobs. They were not normal sobs, no. These sobs were completely different. Terrified. Petrified. Will could sense her pain. He feared that the saying, 'Scared to death.' Would apply to Reyna.

He closed his eyes and pressed his hands against her stomach, concentrating hard on directing his energy into Reyna's lifeless form. It was hard; something blocked his connection to her life. He hummed a hymn to his father hurriedly. It wasn't his best song, but it was something. This girl needed help immediately, no time for long or complicated songs.

Her breath slowed, but she wasn't dying. Her breath all together stopped, and she was not dead. It was almost like hibernation, without being dead. He felt her skin get cold suddenly. It wasn't deathly cold; it felt like she had become a Romansickle. It hurt Will to touch her; he pulled his hand back with a surprised gasp of pain. He feared that he had acquired frost bite just from touching her. That wasn't natural.

He watched, helpless, as something encased her body. Unlike the dark plasma that had shot at her, it was completely solid. He remembered the story of Medusa quite clearly, the snake-headed woman who turned people into statues for her garden.

The story reminded him of Reyna at the moment. It moved at an alarming rate, covering her skin in a thin casing of the stuff. It radiated dark energy, Will felt like he was going to faint just looking at it. There was nothing that he could do for her.

Will got up from his position on the ground. Nico was back to normal, his dark eyes wide, horrified. He scrambled off of the bed, leaning over Reyna.

"No…" Nico mumbled, his body starting to shake. Will watched, helpless. Throughout all of his years alive, he realized quickly that being helpless was the worst feeling in the world. There was nothing he could do. He sat down on the ground beside Nico, his hand coming to rest on his frail back.

"Nico, it's not your fault." Will said quickly. He knew Nico well by now. He would automatically blame himself. He couldn't let that happen.

"Yes, it is. I'm too weak. He came through because I'm weak. Kill me, Will. I want to die, like Reyna." Nico said softly. He was too young to sound so broken. It made Will want to cry. Nico wasn't even crying, he assumed that the boy was still in shock. His pale body shook with sobs that wouldn't surface. His eyes glistened with tears not shed. He was deathly pale, almost green looking. His bottom lip trembled, his throat bobbed, he hugged himself.

"Let it out, Nico. Just let it out. Don't hold back, you've done too much pretending. You don't have to pretend for me." It seemed to do the trick. His emotions were water, and the dam cracked, spilling them haphazardly.

Will held Nico tightly as he sobbed, screamed in frustration, shook like a leaf, hiccupped, cursed, and he even pounded on Will's chest with his fists, hard. Will refused to move, trapping him in his embrace. He knew that Nico needed it. He needed something to hold him together, or else he would fall apart. They stayed like that throughout the night, Will holding him and rocking him back and forth until Nico wore himself out, falling asleep with tears still fresh on his cheeks. Will held him even in his sleep, clutching tightly to the boy.

((Author's note: Thank you guys so much for reading! A huge thanks to people who commented, favorited, and followed! Thank you so much! Please leave reviews, I love it when you fangirl about my story! Tell me what I can improve on, what you liked, what you want to see more of, etc. Next chapter coming soon, possibly in a few hours, depending on how many reviews I get.