Perseus the Hunter

Chapter 14

The smell was becoming putrid and brought tears to both Kynigos' and Will's eyes. They ventured toward the breathing, Kynigos lighting his hand alight so that they could see the smooth ground beneath them. It was a shallow slope downward, Kynigos wondered if they'd eventually stumbled upon the Labyrinth before the memories started to create shooting pains across his head making him put his past away for now.

"What do you think it is?" Kynigos didn't have an answer, at least not one he was going to share with the innocent son of Apollo. He had a feeling he knew what it was but he was hoping that it wasn't the case. If it was, he knew exactly who was heading the incoming war and he wasn't sure he was strong enough to stop them.

Ignoring Will's attempts to fill the silence, he carried onward. The snoring was louder, more deafening. They were so close that Will was clamping his ears to stop himself from going deaf.

"Hades' Underpants that's lou..." Kynigos's hand clamped over Will's mouth, stopping him from finishing his sentence. After being ignored for what felt like hours and then being shut up so rudely Will felt anger rolling up inside him. The next exhale almost blew him off his feet which made the anger subside and give way to fear. He looked at Kynigos, the panic very visible on his face. Kynigos however seemed unfazed.

He clenched his eyes shut and hoped it wasn't what he thought it was. He settled the panic and fear inside of him by breathing slowly, he would have to be quiet. He needed to be as quiet as possible. He placed a hand on Will's chest telling him mentally to stay put, do not move, make a sound or even breathe. Kynigos crouched his knees slightly and disappeared into the shadows. Will's panic grew when he could no longer see Kynigos, but he followed his orders as best he could. 

Inside the shadows he was able to move quieter, be completely undetectable. He slunk into the opening, praying to his guardians that it wasn't what he thought. He stopped short when the wall in front of him shifted. Fear flooded through his veins, he had been right. 

The wall was bumpy and textured, it shone in the small spots of light in the darkness. Glistened like monster dust. He followed the wall upward high above his head where it seemed to stop and peter off into absolute darkness, but through his sense he could tell that was where it stopped. It shifted again almost like it knew he was standing a foot away. Through his abilities he could enhance the darkness, let the colour flood back into his vision. He could see the stripes of gold, green and blue. He turned and without another thought went back to the son of Apollo. He needed to get him out of there now. 

He reappeared in front of Will which made the young man jump, but before he could yelp Kynigos threw his arms around him and vapor travelled out of the tunnel. Will squealed when he was suddenly hit by the sunlight and tried blinking multiple times to readjust his eyes. Kynigos didn't know what to do. He realised why he was sent back now but it didn't make sense. Why that particular monster, why now, why underneath the camp? He had too many questions and not enough answers. His guardians were not going to be pleased, he had to leave again. They couldn't know where he was going or they would insist on going too. 

Will, after managing to adjust his eyes from the abuse was trying to make sense of what exactly had just happened. Opening his eyes he watched as Kynigos paced from side to side in front of him. His head was pointed at the floor but he could tell his mind was elsewhere completely. 

"What just happened? What was that thing under the camp? How did it get there?" He had way too many questions and by the way that Kynigos had stopped in his tracks he knew that he was thinking the same thing. He stopped asking them out loud and waited to see if he had any answers. 

'I don't know, but I'm going to find out. I need you to do me another favour Will' 

Will nodded, this man, or being, he still hadn't decided his level of power, had helped him and the camp. There was no way he would say no. 

'I need you to keep an eye on the camp. Go to the two goddesses and tell them that I need to do something and I will be back in a few days, take them with you to see Chiron. Tell him that I need him to enforce a strict curfew. No one is to be out after dark or before light. Do you understand? No one can go out of the camp greens, no one into the forests, and everyone stays with a buddy. Will, do not tell anyone about what is under the camp. The last thing we need right now is a mass panic. He will ask why, he will fight you on it, but I need you to make sure this happens.' 

Will nodded heavily, trying to remember word for word what Kynigos asked him to say. 

'Go now, Will' 

He turned and ran back down into the camp. There was no doubt there was only, what he needed to do right there and then. It almost felt like charm speak, gods he hated when Piper used that. This was slightly different, it was close to when Percy was in camp all those years ago, it was that same sense of leadership that Kynigos held. He had this power over people that he didn't abuse and people knew it which is why they always followed him. He felt powerful himself. Like this small task he had been set upon was nothing compared to what Kynigos had to do, but it was life and death, it was a purpose.

He burst into the medical tent, awakening the goddesses. They jumped out of their chairs, their blankets falling to the floor by their feet. Looking at Will before glancing at the cot where Kynigos was sleeping before, only to find it empty. 

"Where is he?"

"What's happened?" 

They both spoke at the same time it was like listening to the Stoll brothers. 

"He woke up a while ago, he is fine. He said he needed to go do something and he would be back in a couple of days. But I need you to follow me please, my ladies." He remembered that the two were actually still goddesses at the last second. 

"Why? Where has he gone?"

"What was he doing?"

"A few days?" They were both extremely worried, maybe Kynigos wasn't immortal? 

"Please, my ladies." He gestured out of the tent and waited for them to leave, he glanced over at the cot with the sleeping man. "Sleep well Nico." he whispered before leaving after the goddesses. 

Across camp there was a small area that had been cleared especially for the younger children. The hunters watched over some and a few parents sat to the side talking, watching their children play. One woman with choppy hair watched her blonde haired son play with a hunter of Artemis with a small smile on her face, happy that she still had him, had a part of Him with her even though He couldn't be there. It was hard for her to raise a son on her own, she had her friends who helped as much as they could. But she still missed Him. She played with her feather absentmindedly as she listened to her friends talk next to her. 

One small child saw a pink butterfly, it landed on his nose for a few seconds before taking off once more, flying high. He watched on in wonder, his long brown hair falling from his eyes as his head tilted backward. He got up to his feet as it came back down again to sit on the small fence that stood a few feet away. He decided he wanted it to land on him again so he could show his daddy the pretty butterfly. He chased after it but it took off again before he could capture it. He laughed as he missed it by a few inches and took off chasing after it into the woods that surrounded the camp. 

It taunted and fluttered just out of reach from his fingertips before flying a few more feet away. It landed on a rock in the middle of the heavily wooded area and the child leapt forward to try to capture it, but it disappeared under his fingers. He looked around for it. Searching through the trees, before he realised he didn't know where he was. He tried to find something familiar, but the tree cover was so thick that he couldn't even see the sun any more. He started to cry out for his daddy, tears fell down his crumpled face in rivers. Screaming at the top of his lungs. Night creeped around him, elongating the shadows, making monsters dance across tree trunks. He sat against a tree and pulled his legs up tight, his throat hurt from screaming, his voice cracking when he yelled. His cheeks stung from the salty tears. He wanted to go home. He wanted his daddy to come rescue him. Why couldn't he hear him? Where was his daddy?

A noise to his left stopped him. He looked, the shadows were really dark now, he couldn't see much in front of him, let alone inside a bush. He saw something though, something shiny, something leering which made him cry out again in fear. It leapt toward him and the next thing he knew was darkness.