Searching for Solangelo

Chapter 9: Moving on

Nico's pov:

The walk to the volcano was extremely quiet. I think it was the quietest I have ever seen Percy. I know that he was always competing with Jason but when I looked over at him I could tell he was sad. It spoke through his eyes. I could tell he was trying to stay strong for me but he didn't have to. I almost said something about it but then decided against it. I knew that it was one of two things keeping him going. Acting strong for me so he didn't break down himself, and getting back to Annabeth. Even a fool could see how much he loved Annabeth, I could tell from the moment I met them at Westover Hall. We stopped to eat lunch, and that's when the first words after Jason's death were spoken. It was Percy who broke the silence.
"You okay?" He asked.
I saw no reason to lie, even if I did I knew he would call me out on it.
"No." I replied, but I felt something change in my body. I felt like admitting I wasn't okay for once lifted the slightest bit of weight off my chest.
I saw Percy's shoulders slump.
"Me either."
I leaned over to grab the sandwiches from my backpack, and pulled out three. Both of us looked at the third one and knew who it for. I thought about splitting it but decided on something else. I pulled a lighter out of my pocket and held it to the bread.
"For Zeus." I whispered as the smoke rose into the sky.
"For Zeus." Percy repeated, showing respect for the king of the gods.,

**********

I bit into my sandwich, and I realize that when your mourning your appetite isn't supposed to be huge, but that was not my case. It satisfied my empty stomach, though it was gone in a matter of seconds. Our lunch break didn't last very long, because 20 minutes later we were back to walking.

************

I could finally see the volcano towering over us. Although it was dormant it still looked menacing. We trudged up to the foot of the mountain. I wondered where Will could be, because when I looked up they're were no caves to hide in and I knew not even what ever idiot kidnapped him would be stupid enough as to hide inside a volcano. I took two more steps forward to see if they're was some kind of code or engraving in the mountain that might tell us where to go. Let me tell you, that was a mistake because when I set my foot to the ground it gave way under me and I fell into the earth.

************

Luckily, the fall was not that far. Only 6ft or so. I twisted my body in the air and hit the ground with a roll.
"Nico?!" Percy yelled. "Where'd you go?"
It took me a minute to realize that only I had fallen through.
"Percy!" I called back. "Come down here. I'm okay."
I heard him grunt and then a thump as he hit the ground. I flicked my lighter to give us a light source. I noticed that the hole we had come through had miraculously closed and there was only one tunnel ahead.
"Well," I said. "I guess there's only one way out."
"Agreed" Percy replied. "lets get going."
So we set off down the tunnel.

*************

We had only been walking for about 5 minutes when the tunnel opened up into a room. The room was significantly darker then the tunnel, it took a minute for my eyes to adjust. I heard Percy take out riptide so I knew he must've seen something I didn't. I narrowed my eyes to bring the dark new place into focus. I inhaled sharply. Empousa, dracne, and earth-born warriors lined the walls; all armed and ready to fight. But what really caught my eye was what was in the corner of the room. It was Will, bloodied and bruised beyond recognition. One of each monster was guarding him. I felt like someone had punched me in the stomach. Someone had robbed me of the air I needed to breath. It was like inhaling fire. My chest burned with love and anger. It hurt me to see him like this. Every emotion was pulsing through my veins but I was speechless. All I managed to whisper was
"Will."