The Dorky Sea Prince

Chapter 5

Percy's POV

   It was times like these when I wished I had taken the offer to become a god. Because Nico was good. And I mean, really good.

   I found out that just because I was invincible didn't mean I couldn't get tired. He was dodging and thrusting and shadow-travelling behind me to try and take a stab. It kept me jumping around and trying not to die because, apparently, Nico wasn't afraid of aiming at my weak spot.

   Laughter fluttered around me, disappearing into the shadows, then appearing beside me. No, in front of me. No... Behind me. Ugh! I turned and tried to attack, but he was already gone. There was a silence. No laughter. No steps. I turned all the way around, trying to predict where he would come next.

   Then, he appeared, right in front of me. His sword was raised and he had a dark smile on his face, like he wasn't even tired. Wasn't shadow-travelling supposed to make him tired? 

   I raised my sword just in time to catch his before it could slice me in half and take my soul out of my body. Whew, that was a close one. I put all my strength (which was a lot by the way) into trying to push his sword off mine. But it didn't work. He held his swrod in place, and he didn't even seem to be trying all that hard.

   Finally, I got him to move a bit. Or did I move? Yep. It was me. The force that he put into his sword was so powerful, it knocked me down. I fell and Nico straddled me, pointing the tip of his sword to my throat. I gulped and he grinned. "Does that mean I win, Jackson?"

   I bit my lip and pushed him off, my turn to pin him to the ground. "Not yet." In the process of switching our positions, Nico and I had both dropped our swords. But that didn't seem to bother him, because a knife appeared in his hand and he pointed the tip to my throat... yet again.

   "What are you going to do? You may have me pinned, but you are weaponless. Unlike me. If this were a real fight to the death, I would've won." He smirked, and I saw that he was surrounded by shadows. They clung to him, protecting him. And he looked natural. No sweat, no cuts or anything.

   I looked down at myself and realized that pretty much the same had happened to me. I was tired, but bathed in a blue-green light. No cuts, no sweat. And finally, Nico seemed to notice, too. "What...?" he asked, looking slightly confused.

   A cloud started to build around us, blue-green and black light (can light be black? Deep thoughts by Percy Jackson) swirling around Nico and I, shielding us from the watchers that had started to form. We were in our own private bubble.

   I got up, looking around. I touched the cloud of blue and black light, but now it seemed more like a wall than a cloud. I looked over at Nico, who was watching the cloud carefully. For some strange reason, I couldn't tear my eyes away from him. It was like he had put a trance on me. I was suddenly very aware of his dark eyes, reflecting the light swirling around us. His hair that swayed in the wind that the swirling light had created. To his body that was poised to attack, a hand on the hilt of his sword, which he seemed to have picked up.

   "Percy, stop thinking about me." His voice was so blunt, I was immediately pushed out of my trance. He covered his eyes and said something in Italian under his breath. When he looked back up at me, he cursed in Italian and Greek, then continued muttering.

   "Nico, what's wrong?" I asked, taking a move to touch his shoulder. But he recoiled, flashing me a glare with mixed emotions, then continuing muttering. "Nico..." This time, I grabbed his shoulders and made him look up at me. "What's wrong?"

   He stared at me, eyes full of... Love? He cursed in a language that sounded like Italian and Greek mixed into one and looked away. "Percy, I swear to gods, if you keep looking at me with those concerned baby seal eyes, it'll only get worse. Take a step back." I let go of his shoulders and tried to step back, but the wall of light was right behind me, preventing me from moving any further than half a step.