Half-Blood Hill (A Percy Jackson Fanfic)

Half-Blood Hill (12)

The way to Persephone is really tricky in the Hades Lair. I mean, my dad is sort of obsessed with this lady, don't know why, but he is. So the thing is, the man has got like a couple hundred booby traps every where around his beautiful lady. 

Lame. 

There was a freaking trap door that carried us down to the dungeons on a big slide. I'd just stopped to check my surroundings when the thing flew open under my feet. So we'd wasted quite a bit of time going down there. Percy insisted we take the stairs and let him and Pandora fight the way through. I guess he didn't want me tiring out in case we ran into a couple of Mormo's. 

Mormos which I could only kill, by the way. 

Let's get this straight, only a son of Hades can kill Mormos. Only a Son of Hades can wield the Stygian Iron blade. Only a Son of Hades is in the dumbest Hades Prophecy ever. Why did I have to be a Son of Hades again?

Because Hades had an affair with a beautiful Italian lady and caused her to go insane. Ah, yes, that sums up my childhood. Oh, plus that part in my story where my deceased sister Bianca and I are stuffed in a hotel for a couple decades. 

"How long have we been in this amusment park for?" Percy grumbled. 

I was wondering the same thing, too. I was getting exhausted. My legs were killing me. I wanted to sleep. I wanted to eat something. I wanted a nice fluffy hotel bed with a room service provider. The good stuff. 

"Hey, earth to Nico."

A skinny finger prodded the back of my spine. I forgot about annoying Pandora. I rolled my eyes and kept walking forward. 

"I'm really tired of all this. If I see a Mormo we're torturing it 'til it tells me about the stupid Prophecy," I muttered. 

Percy shot me a look. "Nico...It's okay. I know you're getting really worked up, but I swear we'll find Persephone, get out of here and find the next two bells."

"But which one of us is getting sacrificed?" I groaned. 

Percy was my best friend. I couldn't even think of letting him get knifed. Pandora, on the other hand... Just kidding. She was super irritating but I wasn't that horrible a person. 

"I've thought about it," Percy finally said, "I think it should be me."

"What?" Pandora and I both yelled. 

It was like the air around us had evaporated. I stared at Percy. Horror stricken I turned away. 

"Let's not talk about this until we get there," I said. 

"No, Nico. Hear me out. I think I was put on this quest to fight. That's all. You guys have no need for me, really. We know you're needed here, you're the only one with magical powers in Hell. And Pandora has a role in this quest too. Why else would Dionysus want her?" Percy asked. 

"Good question. Why did the Wine Dude want her?" I winced as I heard far off thunder. Looked like the Wine God was still offended by my nickname for him. 

"She has a role, I don't," Percy said blankly. 

Finally I felt the gift Percy was offering. I stepped forward. "Percy," I muttered, "you... You have a role, too."

"Yeah?"

"You have a role as 'Nico's Best Friend'."

"We'll always be friends, Nico," Percy grinned. "Now, let's get the last two bells. I'm not gone yet and I'm going out with a bang."

XX

With that in mind, Percy and I blazed our way through Hell. We blasted away the silly little maids that got in our way (don't worry, they were already dead). We kissed goodbye to a couple of skelo-warriors. If this was our last chance to fight together, we'd be sure to be remembered.