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“Nico, you can’t keep going off whenever you want!” Will yelled, waving his arms to emphasize his point.
“Why not?” Nico retorted, frustration building up. “I can take care of myself!”
“I know you can, but what if something happens?”
“Then I will deal with it. It’s my choice, Will!”
“Argh-” Will threw his hands in the air, gesturing wildly. “Just let me help you-”
“Will.” Nico said, quiet, furious. Will stopped, anger visible on his own face. “I get that you have… issues.” Will started to open his mouth to argue, but Nico stopped him. “No, let me talk. I get it, but you can’t keep- keep controlling me because of it. I get that you’re worried, but I can do what I want.”
“This has nothing to do with-”
“But it does! I get it, Will, I do, but just stop!”
They stood silent for a moment, panting as if they’d just run a marathon. Nico raked his hand through his hair in frustration.
“Listen, I think we both need to cool down. I’m going to go… somewhere, for a while.”
Will bit his lip, clearly wanting to object to the idea but aware that they’d just argued over the same subject. Nico let out a frustrated huff, and shadow-travelled away.
He’d intended to land somewhere in New Rome and visit his sister and friends, but instead he tumbled out in the middle of a deserted highway. Nico was instantly on high alert. His shadow-travelling rarely went wrong anymore, and he hadn’t been tired at all, so he should have been in New Rome. Someone else must have brought him here.
Nico then realized he was in the middle of a highway. He quickly got off the road, then stood there for a minute as he thought about what to do. He had the feeling that if he tried to shadow-travel again, he’d end up right back here, but he had to try. Nico summoned the shadows again, slipping into them. They turned tumultuous, spinning him around in a whirl of darkness, and Nico was spat out the other side on the highway again.
A loud noise pierced his ears, and Nico looked up to see car headlights speeding towards him. He dove out of the way, landing hard on the concrete. He sat up quickly to see an empty road. But there was a…? Nico was confused. There was a car right there. He would’ve been run over if he hadn’t gotten out of the way. Someone was messing with him.
Well, shadow-travelling was out of the question. Nico scanned the area around him to see if there were any buildings or identifying landmarks. On the opposite side of the highway, empty paddocks stretched for miles, no animals or houses in sight. To the right of Nico, in the distance, a small, desolate shack stood.
There were no other buildings around him, so Nico began to make his way toward the shack. The ground was hard beneath his feet, and Nico didn’t have his sword with him. He felt vulnerable. Nico was hoping there would be someone at the shack who could help him, but he had a suspicion that whoever had brought him here was waiting for him.
Nico approached the house cautiously. He crept around the outside of it; it looked like it only contained one room with a small window, which was covered with blackout curtains. A door, closed and presumably locked, was set in the wall opposite the window. Nico hesitantly walked up to it, steadying his shaking fist before knocking on it firmly.
It swung open immediately. A pale woman was behind it, her black cloak-like dress swirling around her like shadows. She looked like she was trying to appear welcoming, but instead gave off a cruel and intimidating air, her eyes sparkling with a sadistic delight.
“What are you doing here?” Nico questioned rudely. His eyes went wide and he quickly stammered, “My- my goddess,” in an attempt to gratify her.
“Mmm,” She smiled coldly, looking down at him. “I heard trouble in paradise.”
“With all due respect, my lady, is that not Lady Aphrodite’s domain?” Nico chose his words carefully, making a calculated but desperate attempt to dissuade her from whatever chaos she was about to wreak.
“Perhaps, but you must be forgetting, Nico,” she reached down and tilted his chin up. Nico froze in fear. “I am Eris, the goddess of strife and discord, and you happen to be a favourite of goddesses similar to I.” Nico swallowed, wanting to pull away from her but knowing to do so would be a death sentence. She stared deep into his eyes, then seemed to find what she was looking for, as she released him. Nico did his best to stand tall and unaffected. “Come inside, Nico.”
Every time she spoke his name, Nico felt a shiver go up his spine. He followed her in a trance, only snapping out of it when she slammed the door behind him. Nico felt like he’d just been doused with a bucket of cold water. He spun around to look at Eris, only to find no one there.
“Demigod,” Eris said from behind him. Nico jumped, slowly turning around to see Eris looming over him. “Would you like to play a game?”
Nico found himself unable to refuse. Eris steered him to a table and chairs that had appeared in the middle of the room. She forced him into one chair and gracefully sat in the other, a row of ten identical bottles appearing in front of them.
“Here are the rules – you’re going to tell me something about yourself. Something you’d rather I didn’t know. If I do know the fact, you pick a bottle and drink the entirety of the contents. If I don’t, I will drink one. One of these bottles will send you home, but one will trap you here forever. You have five chances to pick the right one.”
Nico stared at the bottles. “And what if I don’t pick the right one?”
“Then you will be faced with a challenge.”
Nico really, really didn’t want to face whatever challenge the goddess of strife had cooked up for him. “Why should I play the game?”
At this, Eris smiled. “Because you have no other choice. Now, let’s begin.” She leaned forward, looking deep into his eyes. “Tell me something about yourself, Nico.”
Nico almost choked. “I-” He had to be smart about this. Something private enough to appease her, but something he tried his hardest to keep hidden from everyone. Nico closed his eyes, fighting back the urge to cry. It would not do to show weakness in the face of such a powerful and vicious goddess. “I was homeless during the second Titan War.”
Eris laughed. Nico’s stomach dropped. “Oh Nico, that’s old news with the gods. Drink up.”
Nico bit his lip, then swiped a bottle from the table. If he was going to suffer, there was no point delaying it.
The bottle was half-full, and Nico drained it all as Eris had instructed. It sparked against his throat as it went down, an electrical storm brewing in his stomach. Nico gasped, twitching as the pain commanded his nerves and muscles. He clenched his jaw and bit back a cry, making himself hold as still as possible until the pain receded. Eris watched silently, waiting until he’d stopped moving.
“You chose wrong.” Nico almost shot a sarcastic reply in return, but held himself back at the last second. Gods, how he wished he’d never had that fight with Will. “Another.”
“I… was outed by Cupid. In front of Jason.” Nico swallowed. Surely she wouldn’t know too much about his love life, and it was personal enough that he didn’t like sharing it with anyone, especially after Jason’s death.
“Eros and I talked about that. Drink.”
Nico wanted to scream. Did every god know everything about him? He picked a bottle, guzzling it. It burned on the way down, but Nico kept drinking, knowing it was his only option. When he was done drinking the small amount of liquid in the bottle, he set it down with a thud, preparing for the pain ahead. His throat still burned, though the feeling was dissipating, and he felt a strange light-headedness, but no pain. “What was that?” His mouth felt weird and heavy, his tongue thick. Eris smirked.
“Vodka.”
“Ah.” Nico hadn’t been properly drunk before, but he knew enough about alcohol to know that vodka was pretty strong. He also knew he tended to be more loose-lipped when drunk.
“Three chances left.” The unspoken command hung in the air. Nico crossed his arms, as though it would protect him from telling her his darkest thoughts.
His secrets were spilling out of him in a waterfall of twisted, shameful words. Nico despised it. He rolled the phrase around his mouth before spitting it out. “I was sexually assaulted in Tartarus.”
“Oh, yes.” Nico’s head shot up. He’d never told anyone that. How could she know? “Akhlys discussed it with me.” Of course she had. Of course she had. Because why wouldn’t the goddesses of misery and strife talk about him behind his back, trading information about his traumas like he wasn’t a fucking person with feelings? Then again, it wasn’t like they cared; they were goddesses. The emotions of demigods didn’t matter to them unless the demigod was miserable.
Eris raised an eyebrow, and Nico angrily snatched a bottle, downing it in one gulp. It went down as easily as water, but when it settled, Nico felt his stomach wrench. He turned to the side and threw up violently, shoulders heaving. The liquid left an empty, nauseous feeling in his stomach, and Nico dry heaved again. Eventually, the urge to vomit subsided, and Nico leaned back in his chair, looking at Eris expectantly.
“Two to go,” was all she said, waving a hand to make the vomit disappear.
Nico sighed. If he was going to get out of this, he may as well really shock her. “I tried to commit suicide when I was twelve, but I failed.” Nico didn’t know whether it was the residual liquid or the appalling admission, but he wanted to throw up again. He wished he could forget that period of his life, but it was cursed to remain forever lurking in the back of his mind, haunting him, waiting to be dredged up.
Eris nodded. “You’re a plentiful source of gossip around the darker gods.”
Nico pressed his lips together, supressed any comments he wanted to make. He scanned the bottles properly for the first time, setting his eyes on one that was three-quarters of the way full. He drank it slowly. It eased the pain in his throat, but Nico was ready for it to suddenly fill him with agony. Nothing happened. He turned to Eris, hardly daring to hope that it would be his ticket home.
“Rainwater. Final chance.”
Nico swore that Eris was messing with him, but it wasn’t like he could do anything about it. He picked his next words carefully. It was something that was deeply truthful, but he hadn’t admitted it to anyone, though he had a feeling most of his friends knew. He’d barely realized it himself, but he figured that something like this wouldn’t show up on a goddess of strife’s radar. “I’m in love with Will Solace.”
The words hung suspended in the air, but with Eris’s smile they quickly crashed to the ground. “Why do you think I brought you here, Nico? Drink.”
Nico reached out with a trembling hand, cautiously picking up the bottle closest to him as if it might explode. He raised it to his lips and gulped it down, praying to the gods he’d get lucky.
A wave of dizziness hit him, and Nico swayed and fell off the chair, hitting the ground. Everything was muted, the only truly distinguishable feeling the burning pain lighting him on fire. A pair of sandaled feet stood in front of him, and as the pain cleared slightly, a hand tilted his chin up so his eyes and Eris’s met.
“You lose,” she hissed, and everything went black.
Nico woke in the dark grey of the morning. It took him a minute to gain his bearings and awareness of his surroundings.
He was lying on his side with his arms behind his back. Nico was immediately aware of the dirty rag serving as a gag stuffed in his mouth. He tried to spit it out, but it was firmly stuck in his mouth, so he reached up to pull it out with his hands. As he did, he noticed the restraints on his wrists. They were bound tightly with thick rope, as were his ankles. His ankles were also closely tied to a metal ring on the wall, and the rope on his wrists was attached to the wall with another, longer piece of rope. He tried tugging them free, but they stayed tied.
Nico noticed a few objects near his hands, but it was still too dark to properly see anything yet. The view outside his window consisted of greyness, but he thought the sun would rise soon. Right now, Nico wasn’t in any immediate danger, so he settled in to wait until the room brightened.
While he waited, Nico found himself thinking. If he hadn’t insisted on arguing with Will, he wouldn’t even be in this situation right now. Nico found himself missing Will, and wishing he was back at camp in bed, blissfully asleep. And why was it that so many gods and goddesses were borderline obsessed with him? Nico just wanted some fucking peace, was that too much to ask?
Nico tried sitting up to retain some of his dignity, but his arms and legs were tied too far apart to allow him to sit up. Nico slumped to the ground again, resigning himself to lying on the cold, hard floor until the sun had risen enough to see.
It was several hours before the room lightened. As soon as Nico could see, he scanned the room again. The door had disappeared, somehow, so Nico couldn’t exit by that way. Nico then remembered the objects near his hands, and he struggled as close as he could to study them.
Eris had left him a box of matches, a jagged sliver of glass, and a note. Nico stretched out to grasp onto the note, reading it.
Nico,
This is your challenge. The house will cease to exist at noon, and if you are still inside it, you will cease to exist too. You cannot shadow-travel out. You have two tools. Use them wisely.
Eris.
Nico swore aloud. “Fuck!” He restrained the urge to rip the note up, thinking that Eris would not take to that kindly, and instead set it aside to make a plan.
He had to get out, and fast. The matches were least likely to work and the most time-consuming, so Nico first set about detaching his wrists from the wall. He grabbed the shard of glass, wincing as it dug into his skin. It seemed that no matter how he held it, it would cut into his skin. Nico steeled his resolve and started sawing at the rope.
It wasn’t easy. His hands got sweaty, and he constantly had to stop to readjust his grip. The glass cut into his skin, and soon he was oozing blood from several small slices on his hand. Nico soldiered on, cutting through the thick rope determinedly. After several minutes of hard work, it broke, and Nico was able to move his wrists around. They were still bound together tightly, but it was progress.
Nico took a moment to wipe his hand on the rag, trying to stop the blood from flowing as heavily. It was a lost cause, and the sun was rising faster than he’d anticipated, so he just moved on to his ankles.
Nico scooted down to where his legs were bound, finally able to sit up. He spread his ankles as far apart as they could go, and got to work.
It took longer than his wrists had. The rope around his ankles was thicker, and knotted in the centre. Nico wiped sweat off his forehead, pausing to staunch the blood on his hand, too. While doing so, he had a brainwave. Nico tried wrapping the glass in the rag, then continued hacking through the rope.
For a while, it worked; Nico’s hands were relatively protected from the sharp edges, and he could still cut the rope. But the glass shard quickly sliced the rag to pieces, too, and the glass started slipping around in his hand as the rag fell apart. Nico abandoned it, continuing with his hand and ignoring the pain. The rope on his left ankle broke, and he was faced with the dilemma of his right ankle.
The rope was tied very tightly, so tightly that it was hard to get even a finger in between the rope and his skin. He’d have to cut carefully, and try to avoid his skin.
Nico started out fast, but slowed down as the bonds frayed and the rope got thinner and thinner. He paused to wipe his hand again on the remains of the rag, then carried on. Nico got more eager as the rope thinned, and with one last slice, the rope was broken. But the slash had cut through the rope and into his skin, and blood welled up quickly from the gash. Nico hissed and dropped the glass to press the rag to the cut, biting his lip. The rag was getting soaked, red staining its original white colour.
Nico took a break. The sun was higher in the sky, but still a while away from noon. Nico had a feeling that the matches weren’t there for no reason, and tested the glass shard on the rope around his wrists. As he’d thought, Nico couldn’t twist his hands around enough to reach the rope with the short piece of glass. He set it on the floor frustratedly, making sure not to accidentally shatter it. Nico reached for the matches.
There were only six. Nico had no idea whether that would be enough, but he had to be careful with them. He couldn’t afford to waste any.
Nico was running on panic now, striking the match and twisted his hand just enough that it could reach the rope. The match was too close to his hands; it burned, the heat searing into his skin. Nico gritted his teeth and closed his eyes, letting the fire burn through the rope. It wasn’t until Nico felt the heat sting his fingers that he dropped the match, startled. He quickly stuck his fingers in his mouth, sucking on them to make the pain go away.
“Fuck,” Nico let himself swear quietly. The whole situation was unfair; what had he ever done to the gods?
Nico took a deep breath and picked up the next match. He struck it against the side of the matchbox, carefully holding the flame to the rope again. This time, Nico could see a bit of progress; the rope was becoming weaker, slacker. Nico shuffled his hands inside their bonds, blowing the match out when it burnt down to the end. He continued the process two more times, the rope thinning significantly.
After he’d blown out the fourth match, Nico looked over his restraints. They were quite thin, and Nico thought that one more match should do it. Nico’s hands were burnt and red around the rope, but that didn’t matter when he was so close to being free.
Nico struck the match again, producing an orange flame. He twisted his hand, ready to continue working on the rope, but the match slipped through his fingers, falling to the ground and extinguishing the flame. Nico gasped, then swore. He had to get out of these ropes; if this last match didn’t burn through it, Nico was completely fucked. He picked the last match up with shaking hands, striking it and putting it to the rope. Nico steadied his hands and concentration, biting his lip hard as the pain shot through his hands and dug under his skin. His focus was solely on the match, willing it to be enough to get him out of the ropes.
With a snap, the rope broke. Nico let out a relieved breath and blew the match out. Now to focus on getting out of the shack.
Though Eris had said he couldn’t, Nico thought he should at least try shadow-travelling. It wouldn’t be the first time a god had lied to him, and anyway, what was the worst that could happen?
Nico summoned his powers, about to step into a shadow, when a bolt of electricity ran through him. Nico screamed, his focus on his powers falling away to the sudden agony that raced through his body. It only took a minute or two to dissipate, but Nico was still left shocked. Pain. The worst thing that can happen is a lot of pain, Nico thought bitterly. He really hated the gods.
Nico turned to the other exit route: the window. He figured that if he could break it, he could crawl out and shadow-travel away from outside. Nico got to his feet (and gods, that felt weirdly good) and hurried to the window, taking a quick glance at the sky to check the sun. It was much higher now. Nico had to hurry.
Nico made a fist, making sure it was as well positioned as possible to be able to break the window. He wound up and threw a punch, glass flying everywhere as the window shattered. Nico shrieked, letting out a cry as he felt a couple of his fingers break. He groaned, clutching them in his other hand and gritting his teeth. It had been a while since he’d broken a bone, and he’d forgotten how much it hurt.
Nico then got as much glass out of the way as possible so he could crawl out of the window. Some of the pieces were still stuck to the frame, so Nico tried his best to avoid them. He gripped the sides of the window frame, trying to ignore the pain from his burnt hands, then got a foot up on a glass-free area. He ducked under the sill and carefully lifted his other leg over the glass, wincing as it got a bit scraped up. The ground wasn’t too far away, but Nico was injured and tired, so he had to land as safely as possible. Nico took a deep breath, and jumped.
Luck must’ve been on his side for once, because Nico didn’t sustain any more injuries when he landed in a crouch. He stood up shakily, turning back to look at the house. As he watched, it faded into the background, then disappeared completely. Nico looked at the sun in surprise, noticing that it was high in the sky. It must be noon. Will must be worried.
Nico shadow-travelled straight to the infirmary, half-expecting to be electrically shocked again. When he landed in the little office off the side of the infirmary, he almost cried with relief.
Someone entered the office, talking to someone over their shoulder. “Yeah, I’ll be there in one sec- Nico?” Will sounded shocked, either at the place he’d shadow-travelled to or his injured state, Nico didn’t know. “Where were you-” Will began to demand, then backtracked. “I’m sorry. You were right; I can’t keep you from doing what you want. But, um-” He looked Nico over, worried. “Are you okay?”
“No. Got kidnapped by a vengeful goddess. The usual, you know.” Nico took a step forward, but his knees buckled. Will caught him, then lifted him up to carry him out to a bed.
“Thanks,” Nico said, leaning back against the pillows in exhaustion. He was tired. It turned out getting kidnapped was not fun. At all.
He heard Will making quiet noises in the background, then he tapped his shoulder. “Hey, eat some ambrosia,” Will said. “You’re injured.” Nico sat back up, taking the square and eating it quickly. He felt rejuvenated almost instantly. “You need nectar on your hands, too.” Nico held them out, sighing in satisfaction as the burning pain disappeared with the healing liquid, replaced by a faint soreness. “If you don’t mind me asking, what did happen?”
Nico looked at the floor, then lifted his gaze to stare directly in Will’s eyes. “I’m sorry, Will. You were also right. I shouldn’t run off without telling people. It’s not fair to them, or me.” Will opened his arms, and Nico gratefully fell into them. Will sat on the bed with Nico, pressing a kiss to his head.
Nico revelled in the feeling of being in Will’s arms for a moment before beginning his account of what had happened. “So, Eris – goddess of strife and discord – heard about us? Somehow? And she really likes me – or hates me, I guess – so she made me drink all these weird liquids to go home or be trapped forever. Also, experience a lot of pain. And get drunk on vodka.” Will looked confused, but Nico just shrugged. “I don’t know. I threw it up pretty quickly after that, so it didn’t last long anyway. But then I failed the test, so she kept me there, and I was tied up, and had to get out by cutting and burning through the rope, and- it doesn’t really matter. It sucked and it’s over.” Nico finished his story, clearly exhausted.
Will made a sympathetic noise, kissing his head again. “I’m so sorry, Nico. If I hadn’t argued with you-”
“It was as much my fault as it was yours,” Nico cut him off. “And it wasn’t anyone’s fault it happened, okay?” Will nodded, though he still looked guilty. “If you really want to make it up to me, you can stay here and cuddle with me. Win-win situation.” Will laughed, and Nico leaned up to kiss him quickly before flopping back on the bed, lying down this time. Will joined him, wrapping an arm around his waist and snuggling down.
Nico was so tired that it was only a few minutes before he was asleep.