To Hold Up the Sky (Percico/Pernico)

Chapter 20: Growing Closer When Split Apart

Prophecy:

There will be six at the beginning and at the end.

One will be enemy and one will be friend.

A choice be made; heart or mind.

The lover's ears be deaf and eyes be blind.

Misleading will he try to thee.

For much is the Pit God's unease.

For an ancient god will pave.

A looming final path: destroy or save.

Chapter:

Shadows flickered on the walls as two demigods traveled through the maze, making the ancient corridor look gloomier than ever. The sound of footsteps echoed, bouncing off the decorated stone walls in a creepy manner. The older demigod looked at the carvings on the wall to thier right as they walked past, trying to read the greek letters. He slowed down when he read something particular.

"Percy, what are you doing?" Nico asked, looking at Percy with a worried expression on his face when he saw him studying the carvings. Being the laybrinith, Nico figured it would probably be messages about real happy stuff, like death, destruction, and more death.

He internally sighed. "What does it say?" he asked reluctantly, not really wanting to know.

"Look here." Percy said, pointing at a word and gesturing Nico closer to him. The son of Hades went over to look at the lettering right next to him. As he stood next to the older demigod, he accidentaly brushed his hand against Percy's side. The contact  sent electric sparks up his arm, making him flinch slightly and shiver. 

Nico's eyes widened as he saw Percy slightly shiver too. Did he feel what Nico just felt too? A flicker of hope sparked in him.

But then Percy rubbed his arms, muttering something about being cold. A wave of dissapointment overtook Nico, his hope completly crushed. 'Percy will never like you!' His brain scolded him. 'He's as straight as a pole, idiot!' 

Yet what Nico didn't know was that Percy did that as a cover up, silently having an internal battle.

"Why did that feel so right?" His mind wondered. "It felt so nice. Hades, it felt even better than hugging Annabeth."

Percy knew that it wasn't normal to feel that...thing or whatever it was...towards a friend who happens to be male. But what was it? Deciding it was for another time, he decided it was a burst of the chills. Yea....

"See how that tile over there is slightly discolored from the rest?" Percy pointed out.

Nico studied it, narrowing his eyes on the tile. "Yea, I do." His eyes widen. "It could be a secret enterance somewhere!"

"Excatly. And I think I know where." Percy answers. Before Nico could ask, the older demigod cut in and ordered, "Read the words, Nico." 

Nico did what the son of Poseidon asked. His face paled significantly, the shadows becoming gloomier and the moss beneath his feet turning brown. "Please don't tell me we need to go in there." Nico practically begged, his voice desperate. "Can't we just continue on someplace else?"

The older demigod sighed. "Nico, as much as I'd like to, we can't. We need help if we're ever going to find the rest of them again, let alone get out of here alive." He felt a pang for the son of Hades as the younger demigod stood there trying not to shake with fear. 

Without a second thought, Percy grabbed his hand to comfort Nico, rubbing circles on the back of his hand. Nico tried to jerk out of his grip, but Percy insisted. "Let me help you. You helped me when I fainted, so now I'm going to help you in return. Ok?"

"Can we get this over with?" Nico asked, not meeting Percy's eyes. He wanted to deal with it for as little as possible, for standing here was not helping his nerves. Even with Percy holding his hand.

Percy seemed to understand. "Yea, you're right, lets go." Pushing the tile, he heard the sound of gears turning and other contraptions working as the whole entire wall opened up, revealing a familiar place. The grounds looked as ancient as always, the random pilliars around the ruined city standing tall and proud as usual. Power hummed in the air as it incased the place in a giant bubble, preventing the sky from crashing down upon it. It felt nice for Percy, feeling wind blowing on his face and rippling his t-shirt. But he was smart enough to know that a price would have to be paid for this freedom.

A price that may never be repaid.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hey everyone, I have some news. So I have decided to not put a time limit on this story because I have no idea if I will be able to finish by the end of the summer or not. I do hope that I can, but I can no longer make any promises.

I would also like to say, if I haven't before, that An Alternative Life is going to be a short story with about 10 chapters. Its not going to be a plot filled piece but more focused on messages and the tragedy of the story. So no Percico, just an awesome sister haunting Nico story.

Last thing, I want to take more time with this to make each new chapter written well and not crappily. So if updates end up being slower, just know that the writing is going to improve.

QUESTION: Who do you think Nico and Percy are visiting?