Chapter Text
It was a full moon and the shadows stretched across the ground of Camp Half Blood.
Percy was training alone in the arena. He was too wired and tired to sleep again, so he was training past midnight again. He hacked and slashed at the training dummies, stepping and spinning in the sand. He sensed a presence behind him. He spun around, swinging Riptide. The person behind him raised his sword to block Riptide, their blades clashing.
“Nico?” Percy lowered his sword and Nico slowly lowered his sword to his side.
Nico di Angelo stood in front of him, holding a glowing black sword. Pale skin, black wavy hair, thin, a head shorter than Percy. He wore a brown aviator jacket, black graphic t-shirt, black jeans, and combat boots.
Percy stepped closer and grabbed Nico's shoulder. “Nico, where have you been? We looked for you. We thought… something happened.”
“I-” Nico took a deep breath. “I was with Luke.”
“Luke?” Percy's grip tightened on Nico's shoulder. His voice was a mix of concern and caution. "You've been with Luke Castellan?” Nico nodded. His expression was unreadable.
“Are you hurt?” Percy looked Nico up and down. Nico's expression showed surprise, then he shook his head.
“What are you doing here, Nico?” Percy let go of his shoulder and stepped back. His grip tightened on the hilt of Riptide slightly.
Percy felt a sharp pain in his side and he gasped. Nico's sword sliced deep into his side, staining his burnt orange camp t-shirt red.
“I'm here to take you to Luke.” Nico locked eyes with Percy, pulling back his sword. He gripped his shirt, and pushed forward. Shadows enveloped both of them, Camp Half Blood fading into darkness.
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Disoriented and dizzy, Percy stumbled back and fell to the ground. Nico fell on top of him, knocking the breath from him, and igniting the pain in his side. “What the hell?” Percy groaned, seeing the trees of a forest above them instead of the arena. The sky was sunset orange instead of midnight black.
Nico knelt above Percy and held his stygian iron blade against Percy’s throat. Percy lifted Riptide, but Nico used his knee to hold down Percy’s sword arm to the ground. “Nico-?”
“Drop it.” Nico growled. Percy strained against him, gritting his teeth at the pain in his side.
“Nico! What are you doing?”
Percy continued to struggle, so Nico moved his blade against Percy’s neck, drawing blood. “Drop it.” Nico demanded. “Drop Riptide.”
“No.” Percy said, glaring up at Nico. “Get the hell off me.”
Nico glared down at Percy for a moment. He lifted his sword and brought the hilt against the side of Percy’s head. Percy’s head exploded with pain, his vision turning dark for a moment. He groaned.
Riptide slipped from his hand and fell on the forest floor. He watched Nico sheath his own sword in his belt and pull out celestial bronze cuffs. Percy felt his arm being pulled in front of him. Nico closed one cuff around Percy’s wrist, cold and hard. Percy struggled, but it was like moving through mud. Nico pulled Percy’s other arm in front of him and cuffed his wrists together.
“Stop.”
Nico stood up and dragged Percy by the chain on his wrists a few feet across the forest floor to the nearest tree.
“You fucking traitor.” Percy growled. His back was slumped against the tree. He tried to get up, but Nico looped a longer celestial bronze chain through his cuffs, across his chest, and around the tree. “What are you doing? What do you- What does Luke want with me?”
Percy's breath started to speed up when he realized he could hardly move. He strained against the cuffs around his wrists and the chain across his torso. He pressed his chained hands against the wound in his side.
Nico moved from behind the tree, and picked Riptide up from the ground. He stood in front of Percy, turning the sword in his hand, examining it. “How do I turn it back into a pen?” He looked down at Percy, who looked like he wanted to take Nico’s head off. He had never seen so much hatred in Percy’s expression.
He gripped the hilt tighter. “Tell me.” Nico demanded.
Percy glared up at Nico, silent for a moment. Shove it up your ass. “Why would I tell you?”
Nico's frown deepened. “How long before it returns to your pocket?”
“Let's find out.” Percy smirked.
“What happens if I keep Riptide? Will it go back to you?”
Percy just glared at Nico. The truth was that he didn’t know. No one had ever stolen Riptide before.
“Fine.” Nico said. “I’ll just tear out your pockets.” Nico pulled out a pocket swiss army knife from his black jeans and flipped it open.
“You don’t have to do that, Nico.” Nico ignored him. He crouched beside Percy, pulled the lining of his jeans pockets out, and cut off the thin material, one by one.
“Hey. These are my favorite jeans.” Percy was breathing fast. He had never felt so vulnerable, without Riptide, without pockets, chained to a tree in the middle of gods know where. “When I get out of this, I’m going to cut your stupid jacket up.”
Nico stood, pocket knife in hand. He dropped the torn cloth on the ground. “You’re not getting out of those chains. Not without Riptide.” He had found the pen cap in Percy's pocket. He touched the cap to Riptide and slipped the pen into the pocket of his aviator jacket.
Nico turned around and walked a few feet towards another tree. He crouched down, swept some leaves aside, and pulled out a backpack that was hidden in the tree’s roots. He set the backpack against the tree and rifled through it.
“Nico…how long have you been planning this?” Percy stared at Nico’s back.
When Nico didn’t respond, Percy looked around the forest. The sun was just starting to set. If they were still in the United States, they were in a different time zone now, hundreds of miles west of Camp Half-Blood. “Where…where are we?”
Nico was silent for a moment. He pulled a stack of dried branches from the base of the tree and set them on the dirt between Nico and Percy. He finally looked down at Percy. “We’re miles from civilization, from any water. You won’t get anywhere without me. Got it?”
Nico and Percy locked eyes. Percy clenched his fists. Percy reached out his awareness but he didn't sense any water, except a small amount in Nico’s backpack, but he kept his expression neutral. Even if he used the water right now, he was still chained to the tree. And apparently miles from anywhere.
“Where are you taking me?”
Nico sat down in the dirt, next to the pile of dried sticks. “I already told you.” He started to stack the twigs over a pile of leaves, building a campfire. “To Luke.”
“Where is Luke? Why are you taking me to him?” Percy asked firmly. When he didn’t get an answer, he continued. “Why did you join him, Nico?”
“You’ll find out.”
Percy strained against the chains and raised his voice. “Do you know what will happen if Luke captures me? If he kills me? He wants to destroy Olympus!”
Nico snapped a branch in half with a sound that echoed in the forest. “Maybe that’s what I want.” He leveled a glare at Percy.
“You want Olympus to be destroyed? You want the gods to die? Are you insane?” Percy took a deep breath and lowered his voice again. “Nico, you don’t mean that…”
Nico flicked his lighter on. He held it to the dried leaves, watching the flame grow into a small fire. “I do.”
“You’re talking about the gods, our family, your father-”
“The gods killed my family!” Nico stood up and stepped closer to Percy. “Just like you killed my family.” Percy also stood up, gritting his teeth at the pain in his side.
“What are you- …” Percy's confusion shifted to realization and sadness. “Nico, I- I tried to save Bianca.”
“No. You killed her. You took her from me.”
“Bianca chose to go. She chose to sacrifice herself. I tried to stop her-”
“You took her on your quest to save your girlfriend. She barely even knew she was a demigod. She probably didn't even know what her powers were. She didn't even have any training!”
“Nico. Bianca chose to go on the quest. She knew the risks. She knew… that one of us wasn't coming back. I tried-”
“It's your fault she didn't come back. It's your fault she left in the first place.”
Percy's anger rose. “Do you remember why we went on the quest in the first place? It's because Luke kidnapped Annabeth, after she risked her life for you and your sister. And now Luke is twisting everything- to make you hate me-”
“I already hated you!” Nico slammed Percy into the tree, hands tightening in his shirt. “You lied to me! You promised-! You took her from me.”
Percy stared at Nico, stunned. He opened his mouth and closed it again. Nico let go of his shirt, stepped back, and stalked back over to the campfire.
Percy’s voice was hoarse. “Nico. I’m sorry.”
“Shut up.”
The flames illuminated the forest floor and trees. The sky was a dark blue fading to black.
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