Percy vs Nico - Percy Jackson

Chapter 23

Nico's POV
I stumble and try to catch my footing when I arrive in a familiar room. My feet give way and I lean up against my desk until darkness fills my vision and I can't feel my legs.

I wake up on the ground, my stomach churning with a weird sensation. My face stung as I turn onto my back. The floorboards were cold but soothing against my throbbing head. I lay there for a while until the dizziness goes away, then I stumble to the bathroom. Located above my eyebrow is a cut and a blood trail leading down the side of my face. I wash my hands and the blood off my face, taking a look at the wound closely. Normally, in the Underworld, this cut would heal with ease and without pain, but I was greeted with the reality of being human. The cut would not heal as fast and it stung like fuck. I contemplated going to the infirmary to check it out, then it dawned on me that i've been missing for who knows how long? I needed to think of a good excuse. Hmm, got it. My Auntie needed help taking care of her cats, even though I don't have any family that I know of and I hate cats. That'll do nicely. I wash my face again as the cut continued to bleed and had a shower. Gods I can't remember the last time I had a shower, and man, it felt good. I think I spent 30 minutes just standing in the water alone.

After my shower, I practised the excuse multiple times in my head, just in case. My hair looked healthy and was curly for once. I put on my shoes and was about to open the door, when I reminded myself to be cautious of Percy. He had every right to finish the job off, and I didn't wanna take my chances if I bumped into him. With that I walked out the door, for the first time in a while, I was back at Camp Half-Blood.

Percy's POV
"We missed movie night." I say, remembering that it held a couple days ago.

"Are you stupid?" Annabeth asks me, I shoot her a glare. "That was days ago."

"Maybe, it had something to do with you getting here," I say like a detective, "What do you remember about getting here?"

"Well, I was actually looking for you..." She says breaking eye contact. I raise my eyebrows, intrigued, "That's when I heard footsteps behind me. I turned around, thinking it was you and got hit with something. Right in the nose." She said pointing to her nose. Holy shit. I hadn't noticed it at first from the dim light, but her nose looked horrible. I let out a noise showing my disgust and she hit me in the shoulder again. I'm glad she could tell those gestures were jokes, otherwise i'd be dead by now.

"Have you thought of an escape plan?" She stared at me blankly again, then let out a sigh.

"Yes," She said with confidence. It sparked hope in me and I relaxed a little, "I've thought of a plan to escape but i'm still here. Dingus, if I would know how to get out of here, do you think i'd still be here?" She says sarcastically. I roll my eyes.

"Well, let's work on one." I say, "Now that I have my sword, we at least have some light, even it's only a little." I inform as she nods her head.

"Okay, let's scan the area." She says taking the sword from my hand. Her face scrunches as she touches the warm liquid on the handle. "You can, uhm, be in charge of the light." She hands the sword back to me and wiped her hand on her jacket.

"Okay then." I say but she gives me an anxious look. "What?"

"You okay?" She asks.

"Well, i'm stuck in a dark room that we could possibly never escape from, but other than that i'm fine." I say.

"No, I mean, the blood on the handle." She points out.

"I'm fine." I say dismissively. She stares at me. Hard. I flash her a smile that she doesn't give back in return. "Come on, we've got some mapping to do!" I say cheerfully.