Out of Nowhere

Chapter 22

We appear in a bedroom, but it looks like no one actually lives in it, of course, we are in the land of the dead.

"Where are we?" I ask Nico.

"This is my room, but I never stay here," he explains.

There's a large bed with silky black covers in one corner. On the wall across from the bed is a plain black dresser and on the other wall is a black desk with a small mirror on top. There is also a darkly colored pomegranate on the desktop.

Nico throws himself on his back onto the bed, so lay next to him.

"Why couldn't we just have a difficult quest or something. Why do we have to choose between safety and freedom?" I complain.

Nico sighs, "At least I don't have to lug Athena halfway across the world again."

I laugh remembering the stories. The seven, Nico, Rachel, and Calypso had been quick to tell me everything. I'd been educated on Percy's first quest with the master bolt to Gaea's defeat and Leo coming back.

"At least we're doing it together," I remind him.

He just turns and flat-out kisses me. I'm shocked because he never does that, so it takes me a second to respond.

We've only been kissing for a few seconds when an Iris message appears and we jerk apart. To add to the embarrassment the person being projected is Chiron. I feel my face heat up.

"I'm sorry to, um, interrupt, children, but I have an important message. Ames, your parents are being attacked. You are nearer than us and you can shadow travel. I suggest you get there quickly," and he ends the message.

I sit up and burst into laughter, "Sorry, it just felt weird that he caught us at that moment. I had to laugh." Nico grins in agreement.

My expression then changes to the opposite, "Now we need to save my parents."

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Before finding out I was I demigod I lived in Phoenix, Arizona. Last place you would think of water, but whatever.

Nico easily shadow travels back up to L.A. He calls Mrs. O'Leary and we're off to Arizona.

We arrive at my house and it's in chaos. I don't know what the mortals are seeing, but my house is under brutal attack. I basically dive off of Mrs. O'Leary, ripping my goggles over my head and swinging them into a sword.

I slash into an unsuspecting monster at the door, Nico right behind me.

The kitchen is in flames, so I reach into the pipes with my powers and rip the water out of them to douse the fire, successfully drowning a monster to dust. He must not have been one for water.

I turn to the living room to find my mother surrounded by all kinds of monsters that I couldn't name. They don't seem to want to kill her... yet.

"Where is the girl?" One snake-like monster hisses. I'm pretty sure they're talking about me and they haven't noticed me yet.

I can see that my mother is injured and exhausted. I don't want anymore harm to come to her, so I do something about it. Some would call it brave, some would call it stupid. I'm pretty sure it was the latter. I took my stance and drew all of their attention.

"I'm right here, you idiots!" I yell.

All hell breaks loose.

I have imagined what it would be like to fight next to Nico, but I did not imagine it like this.

It's like our minds are linked. We know exactly what to do in association with the other's movements. It just feels right.

The monsters are much easier to fight than Percy. They are stupid, and if I block out what they say, it works. Nico and I fight back to back bronze and iron shredding the monsters to dust. Everything is going great until I see Mrs. Burns.

Well, she's in her monster form, but all I can think about is her transforming from history teacher to night terror. My split second of distraction allows her to shoot one of those spikes. I slashes open my cheek and slices my ear. My vision turns red and I collapse.

I barely swing my sword up to block another spike. My face feels like it's on fire and blood flows freely. Nico realizes that I'm not behind him anymore. He turns and sees me on the floor desperately trying to fend off the monster.

I feel almost dead as the poison seeps into my veins.

He jumps in front of me and the monsters gather across from us.

"You have lost little demigods. You can never be a tool of the gods'," All the monsters hiss.

I groan and let my head fall the the floor. The monsters laugh and one of them says, "The girl will die, we will drink her blood."

Every muscle in Nico's body tenses. The floor erupts around us and skeletons drag themselves from the earth. They hold deadly, bloody weapons and surround Nico and I for a fight.

"You just messed with the Ghost King. Prepare to meet your end," Nico snarls.

The skeletal army advances, slicing through monsters, but more appear. One monster actually gets through the fight to me, laying on the floor in agony. It slashes at my stomach, grazing the skin and beads of blood appear. All I can do is groan, I have no strength left.

Nico turns and sees me being attacked. He brutally cuts off the monster's head yelling, "DON'T TOUCH HER!" A wave of cold erupts from him, his deepest power of the underworld let loose.

Nico directs skeletons like he does it every day. Power radiates from him and it might be the only thing keeping me alive. He slashes through monsters. Unstoppable.

There are three monsters left. Nico has one engaged in combat while the skeletons beat another. The third monster is picking off skeletons, but then sees Nico's unguarded back. The monster lunges toward him, but somehow I was able to call on one last bit of strength. I fling my sword at it and nail the monster in the back. At the same moment Nico kills his monster and the skeletons pulverize theirs.

Nico dismisses the undead warriors and falls to his knees next to me. My breathing is uneven, my eyesight blotchy, but even I can see the purple glow around him. It's the same as at DOA Recording Studios, but much brighter. His dark eyes have a fire in them. Power and cold rolls off him in waves. He's reached his full power and we're bound together, I know it.

"Indestructible..." I mumble, but it barely sounds like that. There is a literal hole in my cheek, you can see right through to my mouth.

"Don't talk," Nico whispers. He brushes his fingers around it and the wound goes numb, pain blocked. "I'm going to take you back to camp," he whispers gently.

He calls Mrs. O'Leary and my mom wakes up when a giant dog appears in her living room. Nico gets up on her and helps me up. I wrap my arms tightly around him, dazed by pain. My mom gets on behind me and holds me steady. Then we travel back to camp.

Nico carries me into the big house and lays me down on a bed. Immediately and Apollo boy starts inspecting my wounds.

Nico presses his lips to my forehead for a long moment. The last thing I hear is his voice, "I love you, Ames." Then I let myself slip into the darkness.