The Forgotten Heroes || PJO

T W E N T Y - E I G H T: Chat and Run

--- Nico POV ---

"There it is." Percy whispered.

"Wait, really?" Zale asked, also whispering.

"Yes, really. It's the only pit in all of Tartarus."

"Shut up Skylar."

"Don't ask stupid questions!"

I sighed. "Guys!"

"WHAT?!"

"Shut up." Percy demanded, without looking back. "She'll hear us."

"Who?"

"Nyx. And what is she doing?" Sky answered, whispering once again. We all looked.

We were on the edge of a cliff, and a shade of black darker than I'd ever seen loomed in front of us. But it wasn't constant. Out of the darkness loomed a building, made of something that looked like brick. The brick somehow darker than the nothingness around it.

"Is that... is that a castle?" Zale asked.

"She's building it up!" Percy whispered. "Oh my god, I can't believe she actually believed her!"

"What are you talking about?" I asked him.

"When I fell with Annabeth... To stall, she told Nyx that we were stopping by on a tour and that it was nothing like we'd expected from the brochure. I mean, all we could see was a pit then. Listen, if we end up having to go through there, don't look at anything. run through with your eyes closed."

"How are we supposed to-"

"Just trust me." Percy cut Zale off. "Our minds can't comprehend or handle what's in there. If you want to live, you grab the person nearest you, and you run with your eyes closed. Maybe now, as Chaos Warriors, we'd be okay, but I don't wanna take any chances. So if worst comes to worst, close your eyes and run. Got it?"

"Yea, I understand."

"Promise me. All of you."

Percy got up and walked closer to tedge, right in the vision of Nyz and anything else that could be watching. Nyx took no notice of him.

"Nyx! We need to talk!"

"What? Who are you?" She turned, but did not come closer.

"I am Endymion, a member of Chaos's Warriors."

"Chaos? Oh, Chaos! How is he?" She kept glancing back at those who were constructing whatever it was she was overseeing. "Has he found another inheritor?"

"Inheritor? What? What's that mean?"

"You don't know? Oh, then I mustn't tell. And what of his sis- Well, if you don't know about the inheritance, then perhaps you wouldn't know of her either. What is it you wanted again?"

"We are here because of the Fates. They say you hold answers to our questions. What are you making, exactly?"

"Oh, this little thing? I'm making my Castle better, so it can be on the Brochure for the Tour of Tartarus. As for the Fates, well, what do they know? Perhaps I do have your answers, perhaps not. It really depends on what you wish to know, and what's in it for me."

"That's the thing. We don't entirely know what questions you have the answers to either." Zale spoke up.

"Well, I know plenty of things." Nyx seemed strangely conversational. "I know how to create something our of darkness. I can make paths to the mortal world from here. I've been around since before the Titans you know. I know cures to long forgotten curses and illnesses, and I even know of some that don't exist on this pitiful planet. I could tell you near anything you want, if you'll pay the right price."