The Return of Evil | A Percy Jackson Fanfiction

=30= DARK SIDES

[A/N: HAHAHAHA YEAH THIS 3561 WORD CHAPTER DID NOT TAKE ME FOREVER HAHAHA WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT]

= NICO'S POV =

"Do you think that when we're old and stuff, we'll be telling our grandchildren stories about all the crazy traumatic experiences we've been through? I mean, imagine telling a six year old: 'you know, not that long ago, I was the praetor of the Twelfth Legion and had to go on really dangerous adventures- such as having to haul Nico Di Angelo's ass all the way through Tartarus on a magical chariot.'"

I blinked and cast Reyna a sideways glance. "You make it sound like I forced you to come with me on this supposedly dangerous adventure where you get to haul my ass through Tartarus."

The dark-haired girl didn't reply as she urged the skeletal horses to keep going, her hands firmly on the reins. We had been in Tartarus for what felt like only a few hours, but could've been days back in Camp Jupiter. Time passed differently in Tartarus, just as it did in the Labyrinth. So far, we'd seen nothing but an uneven landscape, a fiery river which I assumed was the Plegethon and an endless sea of blood red clouds; as if all the blood in Tartarus had evaporated and just hung there, waiting to rain down on whichever sorry soul was beneath it.

Reyna was beside me in the chariot, her usual braid draping down her back. She was wearing a purple t-shirt and jeans, with her Imperial Gold armor thrown over the top. She was taking a break from her roman toga, as she thought she should choose clothes that were easier and more comfortable to fight in.

Her voice was sharp as it suddenly cut through the air. "You didn't answer my question."

I kept my hands on the side of the chariot, our surroundings reflecting off of its golden surface, casting a strange red light on the ground as we rumbled along. Thinking back to her question, I noticed that she had said when, not if. I thought about revealing the fact that we might not make it to that age, but Reyna probably already knew that.

Hope, I realized. She was holding onto hope.

"Well my life will be one hell of a story, that's for sure," I said, a small smile etched onto my face. Slowly, my smile melted into a frown, which caused Reyna to glance my way for a second, her eyebrows knitted together. I shook my head, smiling again. "I just hope I don't scar my six year old grandchildren."

She laughed, the sound echoing across the vast emptiness. I wondered if anyone had ever laughed in Tartarus before.

The chariot suddenly rocked violently to the side, causing Reyna to cry out. The two undead horses whinnied in surprise, but the vehicle quickly righted itself again and the praetor sighed in relief. "Just a huge bump," she exhaled, talking more to herself than me. "No monsters in sight. We're fine."

"Not a bump," I said slowly, my mind flashing back to my own experience down here. The sudden image of me being curled up and suffocating in that bronze jar burst behind my eyes and I almost let go of my position on the chariot. "A blister. It's how monsters reform." Biting softly on my lip, I made a silent decision to not tell Reyna about how everything in Tartarus was part of the primordial's body- I figured she already had enough on her plate.

"So you're telling me that monsters reform in huge pockets of air randomly placed on the surface of Tartarus."

I shrugged my shoulders. "Pretty much." I paused, before adding, "although I'm not sure if they're pockets of air- I mean, they could be filled with fluid or some other kind of-"

"Okay, just stop right there." Reyna interrupted, keeping her eyes trained on the empty land in front of her. Suddenly, she sucked in a huge gulp of air through her teeth and slowed down the pace. "Look," she said, pointing towards a rocky outcropping towards the right of us. At first, I didn't know what she was talking about, but as I peered closer I realized that it was actually the mouth of a cave.