Death and Madness|| Nico di Angelo

We prepare for battle

Distance was shorter in the Labyrinth. Still, by the time Rachel got us back to Times Square, I felt like we'd pretty much run all the way from New Mexico. We climbed out of the Marriott basement and stood on the sidewalk in the bright summer daylight, squinting at the traffic and crowds.

I couldn't decide which seemed less real—New York or the crystal cave where I'd watched a god die.

Percy led the way into an alley. Then he whistled as loud as he could, five times.

A minute later, Rachel gasped. "They're beautiful!"

A flock of pegasi descended from the sky, swooping between the skyscrapers. A midnight black one was in the lead, followed by four of his white friends.

"Yeah," Percy told him. It was a bit strange to me that Percy was talking to a horse, but the others weren't that surprised. "I'm lucky that way. Listen, we need a ride to camp quick."

The Pegasus Guido groaned and complained, but eventually he agreed to carry Tyson. Everybody started saddling up—except Rachel.

I watched as Percy and Rachel interacted. Truth be told, they seemed like great friends, or it could've been like a child hood crush. But Percy and Annabeth were the real thing... oh gods the tension between the two... don't even get me started. 

When I turned my attention back to the horses. Nico was having trouble. His Pegasus kept shying away from him, reluctant to let him mount.

"Go without me!" Nico said. "I don't want to go back to that camp anyway."

"Nico," Percy said, "we need your help."

He folded his arms and scowled. Then I put my hand on his shoulder.

"Nico, please?" I said. "We need you"

"That's a first coming from you"

"Hey, I only meant that we need you to make skeletons dance, we'll handle the rest" I shot back. 

"Sure, make the monsters some wine will you?" 

We both turned to each other. A smile spread across my face. "Come on death boy, don't you wanna save camp?" 

Slowly, his expression softened. "All right," he said reluctantly. "For you. but I'm not staying."

At last we got everybody on a Pegasus... Nico's pegasus had been reluctant to take him so I got on along with him. We shot into the air, and soon we were over the East river with Long Island spread out before us.

We landed in the middle of the cabin area and were immediately met by Chiron, a potbellied satyr- Silenus, and a couple of Apollo cabin archers. Chiron raised an eyebrow when he saw Nico, but if we expected him to be surprised by our latest news about Quintus being Daedalus, or Kronos rising, we were mistaken.

"I feared as much," Chiron said. "We must hurry. Hopefully you have slowed down the Titan lord, but his vanguard will still be coming through. They will be anxious for blood. Most of our defenders are already in place. Come!"

"Wait a moment," Silenus demanded. "What of the search for Pan? You are almost three weeks overdue, Grover Underwood! Your searcher's license is revoked!"

Grover took a deep breath. He stood up straight and looked Silenus in the eye. "Searcher's licenses don't matter any more. The great god Pan is dead. He has passed on and left us his spirit."

"What?" Silenus's face turned bright red. "Sacrilege and lies! Grover Underwood, I will have you exiled for speaking thus!"

"It's true," I said. "We were there when he died. All of us."

"Impossible! You are all liars! Nature-destroyers!"

Chiron studied Grover's face. "We will speak of this later."

"We will speak of it now!" Silenus said. "We must deal with this—"

"Silenus," Chiron cut in. "My camp is under attack. The matter of Pan has waited two thousand years. I fear it will have to wait a bit longer. Assuming we are still here this evening."

And on that happy note, he readied his bow and galloped toward the woods, leaving us to follow as best we could.

It was the biggest military operation I'd ever seen. Everyone was at the clearing, dressed in full battle armor, but this time it wasn't for capture the flag. The Hephaestus cabin had set up traps around the entrance to the Labyrinth—razor wire, pits filled with pots of Greek fire, rows of sharpened sticks to deflect a charge. Beckendorf was manning two catapults the size of pickup trucks, already primed and aimed at Zeus's Fist. The Ares cabin was on the front line, drilling in phalanx formation with Clarisse calling orders. Apollo's and Hermes's cabins were scattered in the woods with bows ready. Many had taken up positions in the trees. Even the dryads were armed with bows, and the satyrs trotted around with wooden cudgels and shields made of rough tree bark.

Annabeth went to join her brethren from the Athena cabin, who had set up a command tent and were directing operations. A gray banner with an owl fluttered outside the tent. Our security chief, Argus, stood guard at the door. Aphrodite's children were running around straightening everybody's armor and offering to comb the tangles out of our horsehair plumes. 

I found Castor and Pollux providing everyone with water and juice boxes. They smiled as soon as they saw me and engulfed me in a hug. 

"Kinda.... squishing me" I said. "I can't breathe you guys!"

Finally we broke apart. The two ruffled my hair. 

"We thought you ran into trouble." Castor said. 

"Only a little" I grinned. "How's everyone?"

"Scared" Pollux answered. "This is the first time I'll be in a full scale battle"

"Cheer up Pol" Castor chuckled, but even I could tell he was having trouble keeping up his cheerful persona. "Everything's gonna be okay. And Violet, after this you'd better introduce me to your boyfriend"

I stuttered over my words before eventually forming a sentence. "Wh-what boyfriend? I don't have a boyfried- I'd like a girlfriend though"

"I meant di Angelo" Castor smirked. I hit his upper arm. 

"He's not my boyfriend" 

"Sure" Pollux was smiling now too. 

"I'll take you both out on a date, fully paid by me" Castor pointed a thumb at himself. I stuck my tongue out. 

Pollux kissed the top of my head. "Go to the front lines, you're more of a fighter than me and Castor"

So I did what Pollux said. 

It looked like a pretty good setup, but Nico muttered next to me. "It isn't enough."

I thought about what I'd seen in the Labyrinth, all the monsters in Antaeus's stadium, and the power of Kronos I'd felt of Mt. Tam. My heart sank. Nico was right, but it was all we could muster. 

"We can do this" I tried for a confident smile, and I took Nico's hand in mine.

Castor suddenly appeared by Nico's side. He gave him a box of grape juice and winked at me. I scoffed and immediately let go of Nico's hand. 

"Castor!" I yelled, but he was already running away. 

"Violet!" He yelled back with a huge grin. 

Nico looked at me with a questioning look, but I tried my best to look nonchalant as I waved away his concern.

Over at the edge of the clearing, Grover was talking to Juniper- his girlfriend. She held his hands while he told her our story. Green tears formed in her eyes as he delivered the news about Pan.

Tyson helped the Hephaestus kids prepare the defences. He picked up boulders and piled them next to the catapults for firing.

I caught Percy and Annabeth's eyes from across the battle field. I tried again for a smile, but it wavered. The ground underneath us was trembling.

Everyone in the clearing stopped what they were doing. Clarisse barked a single order: "Lock shields!"

Then the Titan lord's army exploded from the Labyrinth.