The Real World || Percy Jackson Olympians Fanfiction (2)

Chapter 21

Wind rushed around my body, and it was the only thing I could feel. My hair whipped around me, and for a moment, I was blind.

Once my hair blew away from my face, I saw that the ground was quickly rushing up to meet me. Nico was only a little bit below me, thankfully it wasn't too late.

I stretched my body straight out, pinning all of my limbs together to make myself more aerodynamic. Immediately, I started to pick up speed. My eyes a stung from the wind as I zoomed head first towards Nico.

Our bodies clashed together as I finally met him. He had been falling silently, unaware that I was here to save him. Now, his eyes scanned over me with horror.

"What the Hades are you doing?" He shouted over the drone of wind in our ears.

"Saving you!" I replied. "Now be quiet and let me concentrate."

I closed my eyes and tried to block out everything. My mind was purely focused on the air around me, trying to make it bend to my will. Just when I thought I had got a grip on it, and we started to slow down, my concentration disappeared and we continued to drop even more quickly.

My mind ached, my who being felt exhausted and I felt as if I could black out at any second. Nico held onto me with a death grip, making sure we didn't spin away from each other. I was his only hope, and I was failing.

Stealing a glance downwards, I saw that we were even closer to the floor then I thought we were. If I had to estimate, I would have said that we had a maximum of thirty seconds until every single bone in our bodies broke.

"I can't do it!" I screamed, tears being ripped away from my face as they exited my eyes.

"Sh, it's okay," he whispered into my ear, only just loud enough for me to hear. "I'm going to try shadow traveling when we hit the floor, but I can't promise anything. Libellus, if we don't make it, I just want to tell you that I'm sorry. I never wanted to hurt you..."

"It's okay," I interrupted. "I understand that you have your own way of coping with things, and that's fine. I really enjoyed being friends with you, and I am extremely greatful for beintg able to know you."

"Same to you too."

There was nothing else to say. I wrapped my arms around Nico's neck and my legs around his waist. He held onto my back whilst burying his face into my neck. If I had to die, I could think of worse ways to go.

My face was staring up at the sky, so I could see a small speck in the distance that I liked to think was Leo. I smiled at him, knowing that that would be the last thing I did before we collided with the floor.

The whole world seemed to stop as suddenly I was absorbed by shadows. They were everywhere, except from above me. That was still the sky. Nothing happened for a moment, and I thought that I was either dead or we had somehow survived.

Just as I was about to try and find out what had happened, pain shot though my back and everywhere else on my body. It was excruciating, and the coldness of the snow did nothing to help it. Nico's body pinned me down, but we only stayed on the floor for a few milliseconds.

The shadows crawled over us, pulling us into them. I welcomed the darkness that was brought along with it, but the pain never went away.

Suddenly, the shadows cleared and I was staring up at the sky again. Nico got up off of me, and I marveled at how he was unharmed.

"We made it. We made it! Libellus we're still alive!" He shouted, whooping into the sky.

I heard his footsteps getting fainter as he walked away from me. Leo and Nico were standing a few feet awto my right, and were both greeting each other again. We had arrived back on top of the mountain.

My hold rolled onto it's side, so I could watch the reunion. My neck protested, and I let out a gasp as the pain became unbearable. Tears ran down my cheeks, but a smile was on my face. Because the two boys had lived, I was happy. But Leo heard my gasp, and quickly spun around to face me.

"Libellus?" He croaked, sensing that something was wrong.

Nico turned around too, and they both cautiously came over to me. Leo grabbed my hand, whilst Nico came and stroked my hair out of my face.

"No no no no, this can't be happening! We survived!" Nico screamed in frustration.

Then Leo's hand was gone from mine, and he stood up. In a matter of seconds, his bag was off and he was contacting Chiron through Iris message.

Chiron appeared through the water, but this time he wasn't alone. Percy, Annabeth, Jason, Piper and a few other campers were all there too, obviously in the middle of a meeting.

"Chiron!" Leo called, grabbing the attention of the centaur. "Help us!"

"Ye- oh. Oh dear, that doesn't look good."

From the angle the Iris message was, everyone could see my limp body bleeding in the snow. Jason shot out of his chair, sending it flying backwards into a nearby wall.

"Libellus!" He screamed, pure pain in his voice. "No, no! What happened? Nico, you said you would protect her! You said..."

I tried to speak, but all that came out was a pathetic whimper. Nico had slightly moved away from me, giving me some space. The rest of the campers had gathered around the image of us, and I could see tears in all of their eyes. I tried to talk again, and this time, some words came out.

"Jason," I whispered, just managing to be heard. "I love you, and you're a great brother. Look after him, won't you Piper?"

Piper nodded and took Jason's hand in her own. Jason was crying too much to speak, so he just let out a heart shattering moan and fell to his knees.

"Leo, promise me you'll be okay. Don't just use jokes as a way to hide your sadness, but please try to actually be happy. You'll find someone who's just right for you, and when that day comes, just know that she will be so lucky to have you."

Coughs took over my body, and with them, a pool of blood trickled out of the corner of my mouth.

"Nico..." It was obvious I didn't have much time left. "You think you have no one, but that's not true. You just need to open your eyes. You and Leo aren't that different, and I hope the two of you will be able to be better friends after this. Maybe we'll be able to see each other again, but for now, it was a privilege to know you."

"Libellus..." He started, coming to crouch next to me again.

"No, I don't want any goodbyes. These things are left unsaid."

The boy nodded once, and that was the last I saw of him. My eyelids became heavy, and my head painfully rolled back up to the sky. The stars burned my tear-filled eyes, but the image slowly started to fade. I was lulled to sleep by the sound of sobbing, and the quiet whisper of a boy's voice.

"I love you."