Shadows

Chapter 20

I stumbled around a bit after the huge vulture- like Ladies went away. Honestly, I had no idea what sort of hellscape this was, but I had a sword in his hand, and enough muscle memory to keep me alive. All that I could even think of was Percy.

-

Gods, I love him. If only... I can't remember, but whenever I think of him, and his gorgeous eyes, well... i have this empty feeling of longing in my. Like my chest is hollow. I feel like I lost.

I was standing, I think, when the vulture ladies did something to me, but now I can't remember anything. Just my name, Nico, and that I love a guy named Percy Jackson. Ok, let me rephrase. A straight guy named Percy Jackson. Must be the reason behind that feeling. Does he have a girlfriend, or something? 

I sighed, staring at my sword. Well, what I need to do, is find a way to restore my memories. Is there any actual way for that though? Perhaps there was someone else, another human that could help. Since these monsters, these creatures and abominations seem to be way too invested in world domination. Which is bad, right?

I got off the little red rock I was sitting on, and made my way down the little lumpy red hill. This place was hell. The sights down here, well... I'd never sleep again in my life.

It was hard, pretending to sleep with one eye open, running from the scariest and most random creatures with no second thought in mind. Trying to fight the smaller ones. Whatever the reason I was here for, in the first place, no longer mattered to me at all. Possibly because I didn't even know what it was.

This was going to be a hard journey.

-

I was wandering around, I suppose, when I ended up in a darker area of the red wasteland. 

Nothing to be seen or heard.

And then, a voice-

"Oh, what misery! You are perfection, young man, the sadness and despair dripping off of you, your aura is a gloomy, miserable grey! You have faced such trials! I have no need to impair you- you're already broken! Sad, is it not?"

I whirl around to face a ghoulish, skinny, starved-looking lady, sobbing, with a bitter smile on her face. She looked slightly proud and pitiful. Who the hell is she? 

And then my lips moved a sound escaping them. Had I known her?

"Akhlys. The Goddess of Misery." 

-

Tim bustled around. It had been little over two weeks since Nico went missing. His best friend and favourite brother by far, was still lost. By now, the Waynes were starting to accept the fact that maybe, Nico did run away. After all, the original reason they had for taking him in was that he had their identities, but then they sort of became family. Nico even joined the family business behind the mask, and became the vigilante 'Ghost'. So why had he left them? They trusted him not to bust the secret, but... they missed him. 

Batman and gang had been busy this last week, after losing Nico, then getting Jason back. It was touch for them. Jason and Bruce had a big fight and then Red Hood set out once more. The Wayne family was starting to break apart slowly, and they knew it. Dick wasn't on any better terms with Bruce, and Tim was caught in the middle of the whole mess, officially coined as 'Replacement' by Jason Todd, who finally came back from the dead only to find out that his place as Robin was now filled by someone else.