𝐌𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐢━━Nico di Angelo

69

Dive Bombing a volcano was not on Ajax's bucket list.

His first view of southern Italy was from five thousand feet in the air. To the west, along the crescent of the Gulf of Naples, the lights of sleeping cities glittered in the predawn gloom. A thousand feet below him, a half-mile-wide caldera yawned at the top of a mountain, white steam pluming from the centre.

Ajax's disorientation took a moment to subside. Shadow-travel left him groggy and nauseous, as if he'd been dragged from cold waters right after he'd thrown up.

Then he realized he was suspended in midair. Gravity took hold, and he began to fall. 

"Nico!" 

"Pan's pipes!" cursed Gleeson Hedge.

"Whaaaaa!" Nico flailed, almost slipping out of Reyna's grip. Ajax noticed her arm around him, and as much as he hated it- he had to remind himself this was not the time. Nico would hate the touch though- he couldn't help thinking.

The wind rushed past his ears, making it hard to hear what the others were yelling. The ground approached fast. It was beautiful and terrifying. Ajax had always wanted to go skydiving, just maybe with a proper parachute next time.

He watched Reyna grab Coach Hedge by the shirt collar as he started to tumble away. If they got separated now, they were dead.

Ajax tried to thrash midair to make his way over to them.

He was the furthest away, and even if Coach strained, he wouldn't be able to catch him.

Panic wound inside him.

His thoughts were a mess.

He caught Nico's eyes, saw the desperation in them.

He pushed himself forward again. He thought he said something, but he wasn't sure what.

"Nico" probably.

Nico kicked upwards hard. It hit Ajax's butt.

"Fucker!"

But he understood the reason. He grabbed onto Nico's leg like a koala. It was humiliating to reach upwards and grab Nico's arm. But he managed.

Cheeks tinged red, he gave Reyna a thumbs up.

They plummeted towards the volcano as their largest piece of luggage – the forty-foot-tall Athena Parthenos – trailed after them, leashed to a harness on Nico's back like a very ineffective parachute.

"That's Vesuvius below us!" Reyna shouted over the wind. "Nico, teleport us out of here!"

His eyes were wild and unfocused. His dark feathery hair whipped around his face like a raven shot out of the sky. "I – I can't! No strength!"

Coach Hedge bleated. "News flash, kid! Goats can't fly! Zap us out of here or we're gonna get flattened into an Athena Parthenos omelette!"

"Nico, we have to do it together" Ajax half yelled. The wind still made it hard to listen to the plan. He hoped his words were loud enough. Ajax wasn't as skilled as Nico at shadow travel. He'd barely practiced. And he was sure if he had to help them escape, by himself, they would probably end up way off course like Norway or something.

Nico nodded in response.

His fingers dug into Ajax's arm, holding onto him as if he was just an illusion, as if Nico was afraid he'd fly away.

Just before they hit the volcano's steam plume, they slipped into shadows. Ajax thought it was like being plunged into water, but where he was in control.

The shadows were a swimming pool and he was an aspiring swimmer. He could navigate it, he knew how to manipulate them... just not completely right 100% of the time.

The air turned frigid. The sound of the wind was replaced by a cacophony of voices whispering in a thousand languages.

Ajax's feet rested on solid ground. The eastern sky had begun to lighten.

In front of him, a bronze satyr stood in the middle of a sunken fountain decorated with mosaic tile. Crepe myrtles and rosebushes bloomed in a nearby garden. Palm trees and pines stretched skyward. Cobblestone paths led from the courtyard in several directions – straight, level roads of good Roman construction, edging low stone houses with colonnaded porches.

Ajax turned around frantically. Behind him, the Athena Parthenos stood intact and upright, dominating the courtyard like a ridiculously oversized lawn ornament. The little bronze satyr in the fountain had both his arms raised, facing Athena, so he seemed to be cowering in fear of the new arrival. On the horizon, Mount Vesuvius loomed – a dark, humpbacked shape now several miles away. Thick pillars of steam curled from the crest.

"We're in Pompeii," Reyna realized.

"Oh, that's not good," Nico said, and he started forwards. immediately collapsed. 

"Shit" said Ajax before he collapsed.

Coach Hedge caught him before he hit the ground. The satyr propped him against Athena's feet.

Nico dropped down next to Ajax and loosened the harness that attached him to the statue.

It hit him just then- the overwhelming feeling of having used more power than he had. Like every muscle in his body had been overused. Every part of him was so sore, Ajax thought he would pass out immediately. 

His head pounded, his vision swam. His limbs were heavy.

It felt too much like a panic attack.

He felt Nico lean against his shoulder.

Together, they steadied their breathing.

Around Nico's boots, the stones cracked. Dark seams radiated outwards like a shotgun blast of ink, as if Nico's body were trying to expel all the shadows they'd travelled through.

Yesterday had been worse: an entire meadow withering, skeletons rising from the earth, mist swirling around them, making them look like clowns, axe murderers, and even a creepy old guy.

Ajax could tell their power together made Reyna anxious. She hated that she knew nothing about it.

"Drink something." She offered them a canteen of unicorn draught – powdered horn mixed with sanctified water from the Little Tiber. They'd found it worked on Nico and Ajax better than nectar, helping to cleanse the fatigue and darkness from their system with less danger of spontaneous combustion. Nico took two sips and offered it to Ajax.

The boy tried not to think too much about the feeling of Nico's fingers grazing his own.

He pressed the canteen to his lips and forced himself to down some of it. It didn't work fast, but already, Ajax could feel his lost strength coming back to him. He sighed deeply, his body aching.

Nico looked terrible, so Ajax must look worse. This time, Ajax had done most of the heavy lifting, he could tell. The pain and fatigue was worse than the last time.

This time, Nico had simply guided him a little.

Ajax looked at him now. His skin had a bluish tint. His cheeks were sunken. Hanging at his side, the sceptre of Diocletian glowed angry purple, like a radioactive bruise.

He looked powerful, gone mad with the lure of darkness and greatness.

Ajax wanted to kiss him.

Nico looked up at him, so Ajax looked away. Sometimes, it felt like Nico just had to say the word and Ajax would do anything he wanted. Nico's glare was always too intense, like looking into a bright source of light. Ajax thought he'd explode from the warmth inside him.

"You should rest," Reyna told them. Her eyes travelled between the two of them, Ajax felt Nico move away. He saw his expression become guarded. As if just realizing there were other people "After two jumps in a row, even with a little help... you're lucky to be alive. We'll need you to be ready again by nightfall."

Ajax wanted to protest, he wanted to eat an entire buffet, he wanted to sleep for five days straight. But Reyna's expression was stone cold and her voice firm.