(listen to the song on the side during the chapter!)
Chapter 39: Nico
WHEN NICO AWOKE, HE REALIZED HE was on a battlefield. Yeah, he was hidden, but he could see the fighting bodies just a few feet away. He was looking past the Athena Parthenos, which was in front of him.
He slowly stood, feeling the blood rush from his head like a waterfall. It made him slightly dizzy, nearly throwing him off balance. He threw a hand out, the statue the only thing keeping him standing.
Where was Reyna? Where was Hedge? How long had Nico been asleep? He was worried that the fight was still going, especially since Reyna and Hedge were nowhere to be seen. He hoped that they were okay and not lying somewhere dead on the battlefield.
He pulled out his sword, which felt like a thousand pounds. His body still felt like it was made out of jelly or some kind of pudding. If his body wasn’t made out of pudding, he was pretty sure that his brain had melted into a gross pudding. He could barely think and his head literally felt gloppy, much like the chocolate pudding cups he sometimes ate Westover Hall, the boarding school he had attended so long ago with Bianca. He didn’t know why he was thinking specifically about pudding cups, but that’s how his thoughts felt.
His clammy hands grasped at his too-tight pocket in his too-tight jeans. When he could feel the plastic bag between his fingers, he pulled it out. He fumbled with the opening, carefully taking the ambrosia square in his mouth. At once he felt a surge of energy, the gloppy feeling of his brain fading.
“DON’T TOUCH ME, YOU ROMAN!”
There’s Coach Hedge.
“Hedge, stop it!”
There’s Reyna.
Nico still felt slightly weak, but he stumbled away from the Athena Parthenos, charging right into the warzone. Most of the warriors didn’t notice him, but he could hear a faint cry of, “Nico, you’re back!” He vaguely recognized Katie Gardner’s voice, still charging through the crowd. He could feel hands grasping at him and the shafts of spears probing at his ribs, but he kept going.
There was an open space, close to the cabins. He could see Coach Hedge swinging at a young Roman soldier, whose helmet had been knocked clean off. She looked a little bit younger than Nico, shielding her head and on the ground. Reyna was clinging onto Hedge’s cudgel, her face flushed.
“She just ran into you!” Reyna was saying as Nico ran into the clearing. “She’s the least of our worries, Hedge. There are other people we have to look out for. We have to stop Octavian, not this girl.”
“She’s a bad Roman who came to fight!” Hedge insisted, still trying to swing his cudgel down. The girl whimpered as he tried to free his cudgel once more.
“All of the cohorts are here,” Reyna explained, sounding frustrated. “Only a few soldiers stayed behind. A majority of them are here now. Stop it now and go find a real enemy!”
Just like that, Hedge nodded. He yanked his cudgel free, sending the young girl a nasty glare as he stormed off. The girl quickly collected her helmet and rushed away, avoiding the fight but away from the clearing.
“Nico, are you okay?” Reyna asked. She looked at him, her eyes filled with concern.
“I’m fine.”
“You weren’t asleep for very long.”
“I have to help.”
“Nico, I appreciate the bravery, but you need to rest. This is the last day for us to fight and I would feel more comforted if you were fully rested.” For the first time, Nico could see the hopelessness burning like flames in Reyna’s eyes. “This is a fight we can’t afford to lose. While we’re here, fighting for peace, the others are in Greece fighting for the world. Even if they manage to win that war, who knows if there will be a home left for them.”
“I know they can win.” Nico wasn’t bluffing. All of them were strong, but with Percy leading the way, nothing could stop them. “We can win this, too, Reyna. I can fight.”
“You just crossed the Atlantic Ocean. You can’t.” Reyna gripped her spear and started towards the mob of fighting soldiers.
“Reyna, wait,” Nico called. She didn’t slow down. “Please hear me out. After all of that time fighting together, do you still not believe in me?”
Reyna stopped walking. Her eyes seemed to be assessing the fight, but her body was rigid. Nico knew she had been listening.
She slowed turned around. For the first time, she looked extremely compassionate and emotional. She looked much more like a regular teenage girl that everyone must have always forgotten. Reyna seemed so warlike and like an adult that people must have forgotten daily that she really just was a teenager. There was no telling what emotional things she had gone through, typical teenage struggles that no one knew about.
“I believe in you.” She turned her body so she was facing him. “After everything, I’ve realized how much more there is to you. I never thought I would be able to fully trust you, and now I have. If something happens to you during this fight, I’m not sure if Percy or Hazel will ever trust me again.”
“You don’t have to worry about me. I have some tricks up my sleeve.”
Just like that, Reyna mustered a smile, though it looked too grim and tired to be real. “Well, let’s go then, di Angelo. We have a camp to save.”
A/N: last Nico chapter! hope you guys liked this, because I seriously do and the fact that this story is like practically over makes me sad.
this chapter is dedicated to PiperReyna!
my concert was awesome, even though I literally can't listen to any music because I miss it so much, haha.
the next chapter is... very eventful, may I just say... read to find out.
love you guys!
- Megan <3
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