The Guardian of the Underworld

Chapter 5: Jason

Jason looked back down at Will who was curled up on the floor crying. He knelt so he could see his face and looked towards Piper for reassurance. He'd never seen Will like this before. "Hey Will, what's wrong?" 

"I-It's N-Nico...." He managed, with a sob between each word. "He s-said something strange. B-But not in his own v-voice."

Jason looked confused but kept asking questions. "Do you know where he is?" 

"N-No." He wiped his eyes. "A-After it happened, he t-told me to go somewhere else and n-not try to find him." 

Nico never left Will alone by himself unless it was really necessary. Neither of them ever left each other by themselves. 

"Do you know if anyone one has left the house since then?" He asked. 

Will looked up at him . "I don't think so." 

Jason could see worry, sadness, and almost fear in Will's eyes. He decided not to ask anything else just yet. "Me and Piper are going to go look for him. You go out and wait for us by our car. We need to get everyone to Percy and Annabeth's place so we can talk about what's going on. 

"Okay. P-Please make sure Nico isn't hurt. I shouldn't have l-left him. He n-needs me. I should come with you-" 

Piper spoke up. "No Will. You need to stay by the car. We promise we will bring him to you as soon we find him." 

Will nodded and started heading to the front door. 

Piper looked at Jason. "What do you think is happening? A giant group of monsters attack us all at the same time, Nico gets controlled by some strange voice, what if something has happened to the others? We need to hurry and find Nico fast." 

They both start running down the hall yelling Nico's name. "Nico! Nico, where are you? It's Jason and Piper! We need you to come with us!" 

Jason heard a banging sound in the bedroom. "Nico! We're coming!" Jason sprinted in the direction of the bedroom. Luckily, the house wasn't too big, so they were able to get there pretty fast.

When they got to the room, they stopped. Piper threw her hands up. "It's locked!" 

Jason started banging on the door. "Nico! Open the door and let us in! We need to talk!"

Nico yelled through the door, "No! I don't know what's happening! I don't want to hurt anyone!" 

Jason pulled out his sword -which he was smart enough to bring with him- and held it over his head. "You've left me with no other choice then! Back up!" 

With one swing down, the door broke into pieces. Jason stepped through, careful not to cut himself on the sharp parts that were still left of the door. 

He looked at Nico then back at the door. He held up his thumb so he was pointing to what was left of the door. "I'll pay for that." 

Nico tried to get around them so he could run, but he wasn't fast enough. Jason caught a hold of him and held him in place. 

Jason saw Nico close his eyes and he knew he was going to try to shadow travel away. 

"That's not going to work right now." He said to Nico. "You're way to worn out for it to get you anywhere." 

Nico opened his eyes and Jason saw a look of defeat on his face. "Jason, you don't understand. I don't want to hurt you. I don't know what's going on." 

Piper stepped into Jason's line of sight and motioned for him to let go. She took Nico's arm and led him to the bed. They both sat down and started to talk. 

Piper had a way with Nico that Jason just didn't understand. She could comfort him and calm him down almost as well as Will could. She could easily persuade Nico to listen to what she was saying even without using charmspeak. Nico listened to her as if she were another one if his sisters.

After a few minutes Piper got up and walked back over to Jason. "He said he'll come with us." 

Jason nodded and Piper signaled Nico to follow them and they all walked out. 

Once they reached the car outside, Will looked up and ran to Nico. He started asking if he was okay or if he was hurt. Nico didn't speak to Will at all and just nodded or shook his head to answer the questions. 

Jason could tell Nico was still worried about going with them, but it was too late for him to leave now. 

They all got in the car -Jason and Piper in the front, Will and Nico in the back- and started driving towards Percy and Annabeth's house. 

"Nico, I was so scared! You can't just tell me to leave like that! I needed to help you!" Will kept going on but Jason could tell no one was really paying attention to him.

Jason was shocked when Nico took Will's hand and put his head on his shoulder. Will looked just as shocked as Jason but didn't say anything. 

"I know I shouldn't have yelled at you like that. I was scared I would hurt you. I'm sorry." 

Will was on the verge of tears again. "No, no. It wasn't your fault. It's okay. Everything is going to be okay."

No one said anything after that and Jason guessed they had about 30 minutes until they would get there. Piper took Jason's hand and mouthed What is going on? 

Jason had the same question. I have no idea.

When they got to the house, they all got out and headed to the door. "Are you guys ready?" Jason asked, looking at the others. 

They all nodded in response and Jason turned back around so he was facing the door. He raised his fist and knocked on the door three times before it was opened. 

Percy was at the door holding his sword, Riptide. Jason guessed something had happened to them as well, otherwise he wouldn't have pulled out his sword before opening the door. 

They didn't need to worry about what a mortal would see if they would have been the one to show up at their door thanks to the mist. Jason thought it would've looked like Percy was holding a fishing pole, or a hockey stick. 

Once Percy saw who it was, he capped Riptide and put it back in his pocket. "Jason, what's going on? Frank, Hazel, and Leo showed up about 10 minutes ago saying Piper texted them to meet up here." 

Jason looked at Percy. "Wait, was Calypso with Leo?" 

"No. He came by himself and he hasn't said a word since he got here." 

Jason looked at Piper who he guessed was thinking the same thing. "Oh no."