Chapter 23

We ran up to the tree and were joined by the girls a minute later. There were Probably 10,000 monsters. In the front of the monster army was Kyleigh, sitting on top of a thestral. Next to her though, Was Nico.

Nico pov 16 days before)

I decided to travel the world. It helps take my mind off of everything at camp.besides, the way i do it it's very cheap. At the moment i'm in Paris, France at the notre dame cathedral. I keep seeing ghosts everywhere but obviously no one else can see them. I've been attacked multiple times and not just in France. I was attacked at Mt. Rushmore, the Grand canyon, Hoover dam, the Taj mahal, and the great wall of China. I realized I had zoned out so I zoned back in. "The notre dame was built on top of the ruins of two other churches in the middle ages around 1160." The tour guide was saying. I zoned back out and looked around. "Annabeth would really love the architecture." Someone said behind me. Immediately I was on guard and I spun around. It was just Rachel. "Oh hey Rachel." I said, happy it wasn't another monster. "Hey Nico. What are you doing here?" She asked. "I'm just traveling around the world. What are you doing here?" I asked. "My dads on a business trip and decided to take me along." she answered. "Oh cool." I said. I turned back around but I kept my guard up. She was acting really weird. while we were talking she had been fiddling with the bottom of her shirt, Her eyes were always darting around the room. And something just didn't seem right. That's when I realized I hadn't seen her dad. I turned around to look at her again, "Hey where's your dad?" I asked. A flash of nervousness crossed her face. "Um.. he's in a meeting." She answered. "Oh okay. Hey what are you getting Percy for his birthday next week." Panic crossed her face. "Um i'm not sure yet." She said. I pulled my sword out and pointed it at her neck. "Who are you?" I asked. "What do you mean? I'm Rachel." She answered, worriedly. "No you're not. If you were Rachel you would know that Percy already had his birthday this year so again I say. Who are you?" I asked again. She cackled. "Good job little demigod. Your smart." she said. Slowly she changed. Her skin turned green and scaly as she grew.

It was a dracanae. " Lizzie" I growled. She had attacked me on all my other stops plus she was kind of like Percy's Minotaur but my dracanae. She just cackled again "what do you want Lizzie?" I asked. "You would be a valuable asset to our side, Nico, so again I give you kyleigh's offer to Join the army and be our commander" she offered but spat the word commander out like it was poison on her tongue. "Hmm tempting but I'm gonna have to pass on that one. Maybe next time though." I answered with fake cheeriness. Gosh I hang out with Percy way too much. Lizzie growled and lunged at me. I blocked her claws with my sword and slashed at her stomach. She dodged and tried to sweep my feet out from under me. I jumped and stabbed her in the back. My sword went deep and she poofed into golden dust. I brushed myself off and put my sword away, then I turned back to look at the Notre dame. I sighed.

Annabeth would love the architecture but this place is so boring. I decided to go to London after I got a snack so I turned and walked out of the cathedral. I walked down the street and found a little cafe. I was about to go in when i saw a french version of McDonalds. "Yes!" I exclaimed.

I turned around again and walked into the mcdonalds. There was no line so I walked up to the cash register. "Bonjour monsieur, qu'aimeriez-vous manger aujourd'hui?" He asked (Hello sir what would you like to eat today?") . "J'aimerais un mcgriddle avec des frites et un grand coca s'il vous plaît." I answered (I'd like a mcgriddle with fries and a large coke please) "Ce sera 29,95 $" He answered. I handed him the money and he told me that it will be right up. I sat down on a stool under one of the counters and waited. A few minutes later my food was ready so I ate and left. I found a shady alley and walked into it.

I shadow traveled to London and looked around and discovered that i was near the river thames. I could make out the London eye just up ahead. I could also see big ben. I decided to go to the London eye and started walking there. I got there and paid thirty pounds and walked into an empty compartment. The ride started and it was a beautiful view, but when I was at the very top it stopped. The ferris wheel was stuck. I heard a thump on top of my compartment. (Were gonna pretend that the compartment is big and could fit 20 people if needed.) I opened the door and saw five furies flying around the outside of the compartment. One dived towards me and grabbed the back of my shirt, hauling me up on top of the compartment. Once I was hovering 10 feet over the roof of it she dropped me. I hit the roof and the whole thing swayed. THe furies all landed, surrounding me in the process. "What do you want." I growled out. "Same as always." One of the furies answered. "Hmm well let me think… um i don't think my answer has changed since two hours ago but like i said. Maybe next time!" I answered, sarcasm dripping from my voice. I seriously need to stop hanging out with percy so much. The fury that talked hissed and lunged for me. I dodged and tried to shadow travel away but I soon realized that there were no shadows this high in the air. The fury that was obviously the leader of the pack cackled. "No shadows here demigod." SHe laughed. That's when the people on the ground and in the other compartments decided to see me. They started screaming and pointing up at me. They probably thought i was a crazy person, standing on top of the highest compartment, fighting a bunch of bats who are supposed to be sleeping at this time of day.

Quickly I lunged at the leader and slashed at her neck. She flew into the air but I managed to cut her ankle. She hissed and flew higher. Two other furies jumped on my back from behind me. I jumped around and wiggled my body trying to get them off of me but they wouldn't budge. Finally i jumped into the air and twisted so that i would land on my back. I landed on top of the two furies and they let go of me. I took my sword and stabbed them both. They turned to dust. Two down three to go. I turned towards the two furies still on the roof. We circled for a moment before the one on the left lunged towards me. I side stepped and swiped at her side but she twisted and my sword went past her. The other one lunged at me but was very sloppy so I sidestepped and stabbed her. She poofed into dust just as the first one shrieked and lunged again, this time I jumped into the air and did a flip. I landed on top of the confused fury and stabbed my sword into its head. Once she poofed I realized I had forgotten about the leader. I whirled around, looking for the fury. I looked up and side to side. I turned slowly in circles but I couldn't see her. Then I saw a black streak come up from under the compartment. She landed behind me and I whirled around. She lunged before I had even fully turned around. I tried to get my sword up to block her claws but she managed to scratch my arm. It was deep and was bleeding a lot. I continued to block her attacks. She got a couple more hits in. I was slowly getting dizzy. My vision started going black. I was starting to black out from the loss of blood. My movements became sluggish and she got two more scratches on to me. "Count yourself lucky demigod. I wish to kill you but I have orders to simply bring you in." She said. And that was the last thing I heard before I blacked out.

I woke up in a dark room. The only reason I could see was because I'm a child of Hades so I can see better in the dark. I looked around and saw the room was big. There was a door on the far wall that had a slit for pushing food through. There was a table pushed up against the right wall. I couldn't tell what the shapes on the table were but I figured they were not good for me. I tried to get up and walk over to the table and quickly realized I could. I looked down and saw that I had chains on my wrists and ankles. I studied them and saw they were some kind of metal but i couldn't recognize what kind until the door opened and the lights came on. It was Tartarus metal. Which means i'm in Tartarus' fortress. "Oh look he's awake." A girl's voice said.

I looked up and for a minute i thought it was Emma but i quickly realized that it was most definitely not Emma. According to Emma Kyleigh had killed their family but there are always two sides to the story and from what i heard at the battle and they were yelling at each other she hadn't wanted to.

I growled as I glared at her. "Now now. Is that any way to treat your hostess?" She asked. "Is this any way to treat your guest?" I shot back. She just laughed and shook her head. "The more you talk the worse it will get for you." She says I growled again. She walked over to the table and grabbed a weirdly shaped, red dagger. "Do you know what this is?" She asked. I stayed silent. "It's a tartarus blade." She answered herself. "It slowly kills whoever it's used on." She paused and looked up at me from the dagger. "But, sadly that is to be used as a last result." She said, regretfully. She sighed, "Well I guess we will have to use this." She set down the tartarus dagger and picked up a bottle. The bottle was filled with a green substance that I'm guessing is poison. She walked over to a big bucket of water and uncapped the bottle. She poured it in and the water instantly turned black. I looked at the water, trying to not let any of my fear show on my face. She looked at me and walked over, dragging the bucket with her. She left the bucket right in front of my head. "This bucket is full of a poison that will give you so much pain you will be on the brink of death but it will not kill you." With that said she grabbed my hair and pushed my head into the water. My whole head was submerged other than the part of my hair that she was holding. I tried to hold my breath, knowing if I breathed any of it I would be poisoned. Eventually I couldn't take it anymore and opened my mouth. As soon as the water went into my mouth I started writhing in pain. It hurt like Tartarus. Try every monster ever attacking you and hitting you with their sword at the same time. Then scratch that cause it's not even close to what im feeling at the moment. Kyleigh pulled my head out of the bucket and let go of me. I dropped to the ground and continued to writhe in pain.

Five hours later the pain stopped and I sat up. I looked around and realized there was a plate of food sitting a couple feet in front of me. I reached out to grab it but I was quickly stopped by the chains. I tried every way I could to get the food but nothing worked. It probably didn't help that I couldn't move much because of the poison still in my body. I was in a lot of pain and moving just made it worse so i just sat there.I remembered how Percy would start singing when we were in Tartarus and then we would join in. There was always this on song that we would sing together. We actually sounded good when we sang together. I started to sing quietly.

Well you only need the light when its burning low

Only miss the sun when it starts to snow

Only know you love her when you let her go

Only know youve been high when your feeling low

Only hate the road when your missing home

Only know you love her when you let her go

And you let her go

Percy would always sing that part.

Staring at the bottom of your glass

Hoping one day you'll make a dream last

But dreams come slow and they go so fast

Emma would sing that

You see her when you close your eyes

Maybe one day you'll understand why.

Everything you touch, oh it dies

Emily would sing that. Then all of us would sing the chorus.

Oh you only need the light when its burning low

Only miss the sun when it starts to snow

Only know you love her when you let her go

Only know youve been high when your feeling low

Only hate the road when your missing home

Only know you love her when you let her go

Then i would sing

Staring at the ceiling in the dark

Same old empty feeling in your heart

Cause love comes so and it goes so fast

After that we would just take turns singing

Well you see her when you fall asleep.

I continued to sing out loud.

Never to touch and never to keep

CAuse you loved her too much and you dived too deep

Well you only need the light when it's burning low

Only miss the sun when it starts to snow

Only know you love her when you let her go

Only know youve been high when your feeling low.

I was slowly getting louder.

Only hate the road when you're missing home

Only know you love her when you let her go

And you let her go

Oh oh oh no

And you let her go

Oh oh ohno

Well you let her go

I could hear someone far away storming towards my cell

Well you only need the light when it's burning low

Only miss the sun when it starts to snow

Only know you love her when you let her go

Only know youve been high when your feeling low.

Only hate the road when you're missing home

Only know you love her when you let her go

The noise was getting louder but i continued singing

Cause you only need the light when it's burning low

Only miss the sun when it starts to snow

Only know you love her when you let her go

Only know youve been high when you're feeling low.

Only hate the road when you're missing home

Only know you love her when you let her go

And you let her go

I finished the song right before the door to my cell slammed open. "What do you think you are doing?" Kyleigh screeched. "Um breathing? Sitting? Trying not to die?" I guessed. She growled. "You know exactly what you were doing. I told you talking would make things worse for you." She hissed. "Umm i wasn't talking i was singing." I answered, sarcastically. "Well If you're well enough to sing, you are well enough for another round." She said, grinning sadistically. She closed the door and walked over to the table. She grabbed a normal dagger and studied it. When she deemed the dagger lethal she walked over to me. She stood in front of me for a moment before yelling at me to stand up. At first I didn't because it would activate the poison but she kicked me, activating the poison anyways. I stood and she pushed me backwards. My back was to the wall and she was standing right in front of me. I studied her. She had the same brown hair as Emma. She also had the same eyes but Emmas were filled with kindness and gentleness with a little bit of that 'i've seen too much look' Kyleigh's eyes were angry. As i looked into her eyes i noticed the look of betrayal, and what surprised me most was the sadness. "Why do you do this?" I asked her. She looked surprised for a second but quickly masked it. "This?" She asked. "Why do you work for kronos, Why do you attack Camp half blood, Why would you kill your family?" I knew that last one had hit a nerve. "That wasn't my fault." She whispered. "I know what Emma thinks but there's always two sides to the story." I said. She faltered. "I.." She trailed off. Then her face hardened and turned into a snarl. "What do you think you're doing demigod." She accused. "I'm not doing anything i truly want to know-" I was cut off by her plunging the dagger into my left shoulder. I had to bite on my lip to keep from yelling out and giving her that satisfaction. She pulled the dagger out of my shoulder, making me bleed a lot. She then took the dagger and started lightly tracing a word onto my chest. Then she dug in with the dagger. I bit my lip so hard I could taste the blood but it stopped me from screaming out. Finally she was done and I could collapse onto the floor. She left the room and i layed on the ground, bleeding from the cuts and hurting from the poison. I looked down at my chest and saw the word, Alone, Written there. I looked away from my chest and closed my eyes. I started to whisper a couple lines from a song I knew.

I am a lost boy

From a different time

I whispered, changing the words so they fit me.

Usually hanging out with Percy Jackson

And when were bored we fight monsters in the woods

Always on the run from

Evil bad guys

That was all i could whisper before i blacked out from the pain

I woke up to see Kyleigh standing above me. "Wake up you stupid demigod or so help me" She said. I sat up and glared at her. "Oh good you're awake." She said, obviously disappointed that she couldn't kick me some more. "Well i have a proposition to make you." She said. "Well what is it?" I asked "If you join our army the torture will stop immediatly." She offered. "Nah, I'm good but i will take the second part." I answered. She growled and kicked me again. That day she cut another word into my chest and she used a new device called an iron chair. This routine continued for many days. Each day she would offer me the job then when i said no she would cut another word in and use a new form of torture. Many of the new forms of torture i could not hold my screams in. On the 14th day she came in. "If you say no today we have a way to make you." She said, happily. "Well I still am not in the betraying mood so i think i'm gonna stick with my answer for the last 12 days" I said emphasizing 12 days. She walked over to the table and grabbed the knife I know so well. She walked over and carved another word into my skin. Traitor. This meant she was confident I would join their side. This will not be good. When she finished carving my skin she walked out and walked back in with a bucket of red. It looked like blood. "Do you know what this is?" She asked. I glared at her. "It's your blood." She answered herself like she does everyday. I felt my face pale a little. She grabbed my hair and pushed my head into the water. My whole head was submerged other than the part of my hair that she was holding. I held my breath for as long as I could.

I couldn't take it anymore and the blood filled my lungs. Kyleigh pulled my head out and let go of me. I fell to the floor, coughing and trying to get the blood out of my lungs. Finally I passed out.

When I woke up Kyleigh and another man that I soon identified as Hypnos, were standing in front of me. "Sit up boy" Hypnos hissed. "You're a god you're supposed to be on our side." I said. "HA" He laughed. "Why are you helping them?" I asked. "The gods are dumb and they only carre about themselves." He answered. "Enough small talk. Do it, Hypnos" Kyleigh interrupted. He crouched down in front of me and out his hands on my temples. I tried to struggle but it hurt too much. I could feel hypnos doing something in my head and right as i was about to protest i blacked out.