Chapter Text
Yan’s bobcut bounced around her head as she ran up to him. She greeted him with a short, tight hug, almost hitting him in the face with the bow strapped to her back. “Thank you so much for coming”.
Nico held up both hands to appease her, and hopefully create a little more personal space. “Of course, Yan”.
Her already bewildered, stressed expression turned a little wary to add. “Are you… How are you?” she asked.
“Good”. He sounded more defensive than reassuring, but that would have to do. “How are you?” he deflected.
Now that he mentioned it… He actually wanted to know.
Yan quickly glanced up and back. “Oh, good… Good”.
Nico pursed his lips and nodded. “Yeah… Apart from Amira’s death threat, of course”.
Yan cracked a forced grin. “Yeah, exactly”.
Nico got down to business. “Chiron told me about the dead owl. Said they’d come by to ‘make amends’ today specifically. How many are ‘they’? Who even are ‘they’? Is this really all we know?”.
Yan frowned apologetically. “Yes, pretty much… And there’s another thing…”.
Nico didn’t get to learn more about the thing. Yan perked up and ran around him. He turned around in time to see her cling onto Logan.
“Hey, beautiful” he offered the top of her head, ruffling her hair.
She let out a long whine into his stomach.
“Yeah…” he affirmed. He rummaged in his pocket and looked up. “Hey, Spooky!” he greeted with a wide grin, by now already clenching a cigarette between his teeth.
“Hi!” Nico greeted back.
Yan let go and regained her composure with a deep breath. “So! Apart from all that, Amira is being impossible. She’s insisting on fighting them alone”.
Nico hummed in understanding. Then he sighed in even more understanding. “Well, that sucks. But, it’s not like she has a choice. Not really. She’ll have to listen eventually. To you at least…”. He gestured at Yan, trying to sound reassuring.
Yan made clear it hadn’t worked. “Pffff! She's never going to take that from me!”.
Nico raised an eyebrow. “Aren't you friends?” he asked.
Yan popped her lips, thinking about it. “Well, yeah…” she started “She's my friend, but Amira doesn't really do friends. I assume she just sees me as some sort of ‘friendly’ colleague. She's never going to let me change her mind. Not based on just goodwill, at least” she concluded.
“Oh, but we don’t have to do this the easy way” Logan muttered. A dangerous little smile ignited, threatening to spread.
Yan’s shoulders dropped in defeat. “Oh. No… At least let me try!” she pleaded.
The danger in Logan’s smile doused.
Yan patted him on the cheek. “I’ll be right back”.
Nico watched her hurry off. He slowly turned back when he felt something burn the side of his face.
Logan narrowed his eyes a little, staring at him for a moment. “How are you?” he asked intently.
Nico put on a poker face. “Fine” he replied casually.
Logan took an extra long drag from his cigarette and stepped closer. “Hah…” he didn’t quite confirm.
Nico shifted a little under the pressure of the scrutinizing orange stare.
Before Nico could return the question, Logan came to the point. “You look bad”.
Yeah. There it was. Nico sighed, then put on a fake wide smile. “Stop it, you’re going to make me blush” he tossed out dryly, giving Logan a little shove.
“Ha!” Logan laughed, his eyes glowing warm. “You do tend to do that” he tossed back, taking a triumphant drag from his cigarette.
Nico tensed up as a flash of warmth went through him.
“See?” Logan laughed.
Nico put up the best scowl he could manage. “Yeah, yeah. I get it. I’m ‘tired and awkward’... So, how are you?”. He wasn’t even trying to deflect, Logan didn’t exactly look well rested either.
Logan’s grin died down to a faint smile. “Probably about as good as you” he exhaled in a small cloud of smoke. They side-eyed each other, eyes scrutinizing and narrow.
Nico was the first to admit defeat. “That sucks…” he conceded, looking down to the ground.
Logan patted him on the shoulder. Nico glanced over, into a warm look. Not a completely innocent one however… “Yep. It's happening. I can feel it. I'm slowly wearing you down. Any day now I'm going to get you to have an actual, healthy, adult conversation about your feelings” Logan declared smugly.
Nico rolled his eyes dramatically. “Yeah? You're really trying to get on all my nerves at the same time right now? That would be impressive! But, If anyone could pull it off…”. The sarcasm laid on so thick, it almost managed to hide his amusement.
“Ha! Even if I do, you'll just put me in my place anyway!” Logan countered, not even bothering to hide his own. “It's pretty comforting actually… Knowing I don't have to hold back all the time…” he added, all jest gone, his look even warmer now somehow.
He'd done it… That madman had actually gone and done it. He'd just gotten on all of Nico’s nerves at once. He felt every single one of them light on fire. Now to put Logan in his place, as promised… Where the hell would that be? “Well… Freak recognizes freak, I guess?” he tried weakly.
They turned to look when a quiet, strained conversation moved closer and closer. It seemed Yan had found Amira. She gestured wildly at her trying to keep up with Amira’s long strides, reasoning desperately along the way.
Amira stared straight ahead, right at them, only replying with single, curt words. She came to a halt in front of them and jutted the back of her spear onto the ground. It caused a stern, disapproving thud. Yan shut her mouth into a defeated pout, looking up at her. “Chiron never should have informed you. I specifically forbade it” Amira declared, hitting the ground again for emphasis.
They all stared at each other in silence for a few seconds.
Logan was the first to break it. “Is Shane at camp?” he asked, looking in the general direction of the shed.
“Don’t involve him. None of you were supposed to be involved in the first place" Amira ordered.
Logan turned to her, fire burning in clear protest.
Yan gripped his arm. “Lo… I think she’s right on this one. Shane’s not a fighter…”.
The fire died down. “He has the right to be here, same as we do. If we don’t tell him, he’ll never forgive us” he protested anyway.
Yan looked down, pursing her lips.
“I’ll go get him” Nico offered, mostly desperate for something to do. He turned around and walked off before anyone could stop him.
“Leave” he heard Amira order. “No” he heard Logan reply. Nico sighed. Good luck, both of you… He wondered how long they’d be able to keep that up.
The clattering and tinkering spilled out of the cracks in the rotten wood before he’d even opened the door. As soon as he did, he found Shane, right in the middle of the Gods forsaken mess.
He turned around in surprise, blinking at the light Nico let in. Nico sucked in his lips at the sight of him. Shane looked drop-dead ghoulish… ‘Tired’ wasn’t in the same ballpark.
“Morning…” Shane offered, his voice like gravel.
“Hi… You look, uh” Nico stammered in return.
“Yeah, I know. I’m a bit hungover” Shane chuckled like a sputtering engine. “What’s up?” he asked.
Nico straightened up. “Come with-”.
He got cut off by the loudest, grainiest version of Hollaback girl suddenly blasting out of Shane's back pocket. He waited for Shane to pick up. Shane didn't, pursing his lips and loudly humming in approval. Nico watched on mildly horrified as Shane bent down low and started twerking to the beat of the music. The fact he was so much better at it than he'd expected, made it so much worse. Nico wished he could look away…
How long is this song?! He blessed whoever was on the other side when they hung up.
Shane let out a disappointed whine and grabbed his phone, still bent over. He quickly tapped the screen a few times and put it up to his ear. “Yeahlo?” Shane greeted. He seemed happy to hear from whoever had called him. “Whazzuuuup?!” he drew out loudly. “Yeah! Last night was crazy! I can't believe you headbutted that melon right in half!”.
Nico couldn’t decide whether to be impressed or appalled.
Shane glanced over at him. “Yeah! Yeah… Listen, I can't really talk right now. Call you back later?”. He smiled widely. “Cool! Love you, mom! Do zobaczenia!”. He rapidly fired some kisses at his phone and put it away.
Nico had a million questions.
Shane asked his first. “What were you going to say?”.
Right!
“I came to get you. Everyone’s waiting near the main hall. Amira’s in serious trouble”.
Shane’s expression dropped. “What…? What’s going on?!” he asked with uncanny seriousness.
Nico saw genuine fear in his eyes, it grew quickly. “Uh… Someone sent her a threat. A dead owl with a message. They’re coming to kill her, in revenge for last mission…” He quickly explained.
Shane threw his invention into a pile, knocking it over with a barrage of loud clatters. “Agh! I saw her this morning! She didn’t even friggin tell me!” he shouted in frustration.
Nico took a step aside to let him past as Shane stomped up to him. “Let’s go…” Shane grumbled, grabbing a large sledgehammer with one hand and Nico’s sleeve with the other.
Nico let him drag him almost all the way back, still not over Shane’s sudden change in demeanor.
“Leave!” he heard, in what was probably the closest he’d ever heard Amira come to a shout.
“No!” he heard after, nowhere near the closest he’d ever heard Logan come to a shout.
Well, guess he wasn’t going to find out how long they could keep this up after all.
“What’s all this scary stuff about a dead owl?!” Shane’s deep frown and crossed arms didn’t manage to come off as commanding.
Amira's eyebrows raised, sharp and thin like spears ready to strike. “I'm telling you all to leave! Right now!”.
Nobody moved.
Logan grinned through his obvious annoyance. “Too bad, you fucking tyrant. You're not in charge today. Your orders don't mean shit!”.
Amira's eyebrows lowered all the way down, spears looking for a different opening. “I'm not ordering. I'm pleading. Please, just let me deal with my own problem”.
Yan stepped in. “This isn't just your problem! We were all there, weren't we?!” she reasoned.
“Yeah!” Shane chimed in, raising an angry fist in solidarity.
They all turned to look at him.
“Wh- Come on~! I built the bomb! I was there in spirit!” he whined, shaking his fist.
Amira blinked a few times.
This was probably the most flustered Nico had ever seen her. “Amira” he started, getting her attention. “We're not letting you go through this all alone. You can’t push us away” he concluded calmly.
Amira regained full stoicism with a single deep breath. “I can't force you to leave, but I will do anything I can to prevent any of you from getting hurt” she warned.
Logan snorted. “Good. Guess we're all on the same page now”.
Amira didn’t reply, seemingly planning ahead. “All the kids are under house arrest in their cabins. Let’s take watch at Half Blood Hill. It’s the highest point. We can see most of the campgrounds from there” she ordered. She walked ahead without waiting for an answer.
Nico listened to Yan’s sigh and watched Logan’s knuckles turn white, then relax. They followed along, not in for another fight.
Shane dashed ahead and spun around to face them. “Last one at the trashcan is a piece of shit!” he dared excitedly. He'd barely finished before he spun around again and started sprinting towards the trash can over in the distance.
What…? Nico stopped and turned to look at the rest in surprise, only to see a complete lack of reaction from any of them. He shrugged and just kept walking.
The metal made a loud clang noise as Shane jumped and smacked it triumphantically. He quickly bent over next to it and peered intensely straight ahead, seemingly ready to make a call in case of a photo finish. He was obviously not bothered in the slightest by the fact none of them had even made it halfway there…
Logan slapped the top of the trash can as he made it past, probably in an attempt to humor him. Then he slapped Shane on the top of his head, probably in an attempt to do the opposite.
Shane dramatically chopped the air as all of them finished. “The results are in! Sorry, Nico. You're the piece of shit. It's official” he declared.
Nico snorted. “Joke's on you. I've been a piece of shit the whole time!” he revealed dramatically. “In fact, I've probably been a piece of shit since before your grandparents were even born” he added with a villainous tone.
Logan laughed and offered a fist bump. Nico took a second. Should he really put a seal on that statement?
Whatever. It was true either way. He returned it.
Yan shot them an offended look.
Not nearly as offended as Shane's. “Agh! That's against the rules, dude!” he complained loudly.
Yan gave Nico a sad, disapproving pout.
He smiled apologetically and held up his hands in a peace offering. “Sorry, Yan. But, I'm defending my title here…”.
The corners of her pout twitched a little. “Stooop~” she pleaded weakly.
After reaching the very peak, Amira dropped down into a nimble cross-legged pose. She crossed her arms too and stared off into the distance, keeping close watch of every corner of camp.
One by one they dropped themselves down in the grass around her.
“So… Now what? We just wait?” Shane asked no one in particular.
“Doesn’t seem like we have much of a choice, right?” Nico asked him in turn.
Yan looked Shane over, eyebrows tightly knit. “Shane, are you sure you want to be here when this goes down?”.
Shane seemed hurt, then a little embarrassed. He quickly looked down and fidgeted with the hem of his shirt. “Well… It's true, I'm a lover not a fighter…” he mumbled.
Logan huffed quietly. “You don’t have to choose…” he muttered under his breath.
“But” Shane continued with emphasis, actively ignoring him. “I'm not just going to cower in fear when someone's trying to kill my friend! I'll help out as much as I can!”. He looked back up, eyes full of determination.
Amira shook her head sternly, then looked away in disapproval.
Logan jabbed him in the upper arm in support.
That was all the encouragement Shane seemed to need to go on the offensive. “What about you? You’re hardly a stonecold killer yourself, Dr. Munchkin”.
Nico folded his hands in front of his mouth and carefully watched on as Yan’s hard stare wiped all arrogance off Shane’s face.
Logan added another, slightly harder jab in the arm. “Watch it, bud. Don't let the cute little face fool you. If Yan wanted to kill us, we would have been dead a hundred times over. She's a monster with a bow” he warned in a low voice.
Yan pressed the palms of her hands under her chin, framing her pouty smile with her fingers. She looked up innocently and threw in some exaggerated blinks.
Shane pouted back at her, rubbing his upper arm. “Did you really need to punch me that hard? You know I bruise easily” Shane whined, turning his pout to Logan.
“Sorry, pal. I thought that was still playing nice” Logan offered, clearly a little puzzled.
Nico snorted. “No way. You never learned this in elementary school? I bet you have piles of report cards from hopeless teachers saying you play too rough”.
Logan cracked an annoyed smile. “As if I’d ever read a fucking report card anyway” he countered, clearly not denying anything.
Nico feigned an appalled gasp. “You never learned how to read either?!”.
Logan slumped his shoulders and stifled a laugh. Yan giggled loudly between them. He tugged on her hair. “Really? You too? Even after I had your back earlier? Careful, or you might actually hurt my feelings” he warned.
Yan did her best to swallow the rest of her giggles. “Well, no offense, Lo. But no one is going to believe that. You're hardly the sensitive type…”. Behind her grin laid a hint of an accusation, clearly meaning at least some offense.
“What do you mean? I'm plenty sensitive. I cry pretty much every night” Logan replied with a wide smile.
Oof! Nico hissed loudly.
Yan laughed awkwardly, then quickly covered her mouth with her hands. She hit Logan in the chest dramatically then buried her face next to her fist. “Don't do that to me” she whined, slightly muffled.
“I was just joking” he soothed.
“All your jokes are always true…” Yan complained.
“That's what makes them funny” Logan explained, patting her on the head like she was stupid.
Yan put her arms around him and groaned.
“C’mon~” he tried a little more desperately. “You sound just like Gwen right now…”.
Yan clung on tighter and groaned louder.
“Ah, Gwen” Shane said dreamily. “She's got what every guy wants. A nice big pair of-”.
Logan flung a stick at him, making Yan jolt away.
“Blue eyes!” Shane laughed, shielding his face.
“That's my landlord, man!” Logan grumbled.
“I was going to say blue eyes, dude! I swear! You gotta give me just a shred of trust here…”.
Logan narrowed his eyes, then pursed his lips. “You better mean that” he warned.
Shane shook his head in exaggerated disappointment. Logan kicked him in the leg. Shane kicked him back. They smiled at each other.
Yan sighed in frustration. “Ugh… You guys are such… Guys”. She turned to Nico and Amira “You two have to save me”.
Amira raised an eyebrow.
Nico snorted. “Sorry, Yan. I agree, guys suck. But I'm still a guy”.
Yan clung dramatically to his arm, putting her forehead on his shoulder. “Don't say that~! You're so much better than that~!” she cracked up a little as she wailed.
Nico did too, putting a fist in front of his mouth to hide it.
She turned her face on Nico's shoulder. “How is Gwen?” she asked Logan.
“Good!” he replied. “When she isn't screaming at me…” he added.
Yan looked worried. “Why would she scream at you?! You guys are so close!” she asked desperately.
Logan shifted uncomfortably.
Dumbass… Think before you speak.
Nico thought back to the last fight they had when he was there. Forcing Logan to open up about the details of his mental health problems didn't seem like a very good idea given the circumstances.
Nico watched on as Logan tried to avoid Yan's eyes, less and less effectively. He decided to spare him, but not to let him off too easy. “He made out with her crush” he explained.
Logan shot him a surprised look. A rare mix between relief and betrayal. Nico sent him an evil little smile back, getting him to frown.
“Oof, Taylor?” Yan hissed.
Logan held out his hands in exasperation. “Did everyone know except me?!”.
Yan gave him a stern but pitiful look. “You're really bad at subtlety, Lo. You need everything spelled out when it comes to romance…”.
She glanced at Nico, just for a split second. It probably didn't mean anything. Nico tensed up anyway.
“Well that hasn't exactly been a problem before…” Logan retorted, crossing his arms.
“Haven't changed a bit, huh?” Shane asked with a grin. Logan looked annoyed. Shane continued. “This habit is starting to become a problem, man. How many has it been at this point? Dozens?”.
Logan threw his head back a little, avoiding all possible eye contact at this point. “Look, it's not that big of a deal… At least, not the others. Lay off” he said quietly.
Yan stuck up for him, helping him out of the hole he'd been digging himself into “You don't get to make fun of him, Shane. You're one of those ‘dozens’”. She added air quotations.
Nico gave Logan an astonished look. “He is?!” he interrogated, desperate to hear more.
Logan grinned. “Dare” he explained with a shrug.
“Can we stop bringing that up already?” Shane complained. “You guys are making me feel real cheap here”.
Everyone looked at him.
“Shane, hun, you did that for a bag of chips. It's kind of on you” Yan retorted.
Shane pouted. “Okay, but I made you guys work for it” he countered.
“You jumped onto his lap before he could even answer" Amira added.
Shane looked offended. “I don't get to feel dainty very often, you guys. I just made use of the opportunity! Besides, I was really, really snacky, and Dorito's are my favourite. It's pretty much on you” he concluded.
Nico turned to Logan. “So what did you get out of it?” he asked.
“Uhm, hello?!” Shane said, while exaggeratedly posing his face. He gestured at himself wildly.
“Other than the satisfaction, I mean” Nico clarified dryly.
Logan snickered. “The credit. I had to uphold my fearless reputation”.
Nico mulled it over. “How was it?” he asked Shane.
Shane replied by sticking his hands up like he was weighing two options. “The Dorito’s were better” he concluded.
Nico looked at Logan.
Logan smiled faintly. “Believe it or not, I’ve actually had worse” he concluded in turn.
Yan gave him a teasing look. “You mean the girl who bit you?” she asked.
Logan shook his head with a half smile. “No, I actually got into that a little... I meant the one who kept trying to tickle me. That almost turned into an actual wrestling match”.
Yan laughed. “I’m still dying to know who that was…”.
Logan gave her a mysterious look.
Amira raised a stern eyebrow. “And you didn’t tell her off?”.
Logan shook his head slowly. “Nah, it was a fun challenge. Besides, I wasn't in for the long run anyway. Somewhere out there, there's a guy who's really into that, and they'll live happily ever after. Didn't want to dull her spirit”.
Amira's cold grey eyes looked even sharper than usual. “I can’t believe I’m about to say this, but you are actually too polite sometimes.”.
Her eyes turned even sharper.
“They’re here” she declared. “They’re already at the Amphitheater”.
She pushed herself off of the ground with her spear and paced off. They scrambled to keep up with her.
Nico took in the sight of the small crowd waiting for them as he made his way down the slope, he counted eight compared to their lacking five…. One of the mercenaries was particularly imposing. So tall and broad Nico wondered if he was part giant.
Amira strode so fast she might as well be running.
Shane made a beeline for his shed. “Stall as long as you can! I’ve got the perfect tool for this!” he promised.
Amira didn’t acknowledge him, striding on without second thought.
She carefully scanned the group of young men and women now just a few tens of feet away, lingering on one to the side. His bronze Corinthian helmet tipped upward, revealing his face. With an accusatory point of her spear, she singled him out.
“You! Unclaimed one! I remember you! Why did you lead them here?!” she demanded.
The young man crossed his arms. “Heh! ‘Unclaimed’ no more, bitch! Lady Nemesis sends her regards!” he yelled, grinning from ear to ear.
Logan stuck up two middle fingers. “Tell your mom to shove her regards up her ass, dickhead!”.
The young man scowled at him, raising his own middle fingers.
The mercenary next to him quickly smacked his hands back down.
Amira held out her spear at an arms length to keep them behind her as she addressed the entire band of enemies. “How dare you defile sacred grounds for revenge! Tell me! What business does Nemesis have with me?!”.
The group roared and whistled. “You fucking Olympians always think everything's about you!” One of them spat, a young woman. She continued. “No! This goes way further back than you! We’re just here to send a message! But, if you thought you could mess with the Old ones scot-free, you're dead wrong! You will be soon, anyway!” she sneered.
Amira held back her spear further, making them all take a step back. “Stand back. All of you!”.
Nico opened his mouth.
“Fuck! Off! Amira!” Logan yelled.
Nico closed his mouth and pursed his lips. Well… That was kinda the gist of it anyway.
Without a warning, Amira stuck out her spear in front of her and started sprinting towards their enemies. Everyone stood stunned as she jumped, stuck her spear in the shoulder of the largest mercenary and flung herself over him. She tore it loose with a bloody crunch and hit the ground behind him with her feet. She never even looked back.
“It’s me you want!” she yelled as she sprinted off behind them.
The mercenaries followed suit immediately.
“Stupid fucking-!” Logan spat as he did the same.
Nico took one last look at Yan before following after. He heard her panting further and further away as the distance between him and Logan’s back grew. Before losing sight of him completely between the trees, Nico still managed to see him leap over an entire picnic table, planting one hand flat on its surface and smoothly landing on the other side.
Ha… Nope…
Nico frowned to himself as he adjusted course, moving around it. He forced his legs to go faster. One thing was for sure… Nico fucking hated nature. What was the deal with all these trees and bushes everywhere?! Something sharp caught onto his shirt and cut into his hip as he ran past. Something else scratched his cheek.
Fucking ow!
No time for that, though. He heard a scream, adjusting him in the right direction. Soon after, he came across a young man from the opposing side, affirming the right direction. He laid bleeding from a large slash on his leg on the ground. He protected his face with his arms as Nico jumped over him.
Alright, two things were for sure… Nico fucking hated running… Had he been this out of shape for long? Or did sleeping really matter this much?
Nico slid to a halt, panting. Found you! …Well, one of you, anyway. Logan stood a few tens of feet away, sword drawn.
Nico had not found just him, he realized. Logan had gotten himself surrounded by four very unfriendly looking young men, circling him from a safe distance. The closest two eyed Nico warily.
Logan glanced over to him, eyes blazing despite his serious expression. The mercenary he'd just taken his eyes off moved in quickly, closing the distance.
Or, he would have… Logan's heel crashing into the underside of his chin sent him right back where he came from. The mercenary curled in on himself as soon as he hit the ground, grasping at his face. This got the attention from his friends, they slowly raised their swords.
Logan glanced back over to Nico, eyes cooled off to an annoyed smoulder. “She’s over there!” he gestured with his right hand.
Sure… Dumbass. Nico turned his hands, willing up whoever was fit to heed the call. He turned around to keep eyes on their enemies and slowly made his way over to Logan as cracks opened up in the ground all around them.
The mercenaries took some unsteady steps back as undead pulled themselves out of the dirt.
“I'll never get tired of that…” Logan muttered, the amazement evident in his voice.
Nico tried to ignore him and focus on controlling the makeshift army. He hit Logan’s back with his own. As he glanced over, he caught a look full of admiration. He tried hard to suppress the smile that threatened to spread across his face.
The four mercenaries fought back as hard as they could. Harder than Nico was ready for, honestly.
One of them somehow managed to not only kick the skull off of one of his soldiers, he’d managed to kick it right into another one, exploding it in a burst of bone and bronze.
Another one sliced the lower arm off of one skeleton, sword and all. The undead soldier glanced down at it with expressionless, hollow surprise.
Nico pulled the three skeletons back together, almost all the pieces in the right place… As he did, he lost two other soldiers. In the chaos of swords hitting swords, bone and flesh around him, he didn’t even know what had happened to them. It was impossible to keep track of, and nearly as impossible to keep up with.
Nico stopped trying to see and hear, and just felt. He grimaced as he pulled all skeletons back to their feet and pushed them onward, trying not to lose any ground. All undead undead rose back to the challenge, then staggered, they seemed to waver a little.
The mercenaries jumped at the opportunity, they regrouped and moved forward as one, trying to break the line.
Nico put his all in it. His soldiers straightened up and swung and clawed even harder than before. He shuddered against Logan's back. Right after, he felt the palm of Logan's hand brush against his and his fingers search his hand. Logan’s warm fingers locked around the cold of his. A surge went through them, up his arm, down to his heart, spreading a feeling of relief.
Ha.
He didn’t know Logan could do that too… He wondered if Logan did. Then again, he didn’t really… Logan didn’t seem to think anything through… Idiot.
Nico smiled, glancing over at him.
Yan hopped over the bushes, into the clearing. She stopped, trying to make sense of the situation. The mercenaries were too preoccupied to even notice her.
“Over there!” Logan gestured, holding out both their hands.
Yan nodded, sprinting off in the given direction, raising her bow in her fist as she jumped over more bushes.
They turned back to the problem at hand. Logan stuck out his sword, his arm now next to his. The draining feeling of keeping up some of the makeshift army lifted slightly.
“Man…” Logan breathed out shakily. “I still really suck at this…”.
Nico squeezed his hand, it had gone noticeably colder.
“You’re doing great… Just… Don't overdo it!” he breathed back.
They watched the undead pile on top of an unlucky mercenary. His colleagues tried desperately to free him. Not in time… A skeleton raised his sword high over its head.
Nico looked away right before the nauseating crunch, sounding their hollow victory. Three horrified screams forced his eyes to witness the aftermath of his deed.
Three backs quickly made their way through the woods, seemingly trying to get as far away as possible.
Logan dropped his arm heavily. Nico slowly lowered his. Countless bones and a handful of swords clattered down. “Gods, man. I don't know how you manage to pull that off every time… It's insane” Logan huffed.
Nico felt Logan's hand tremble in his before he pulled it back and wiped at his face. He looked pale. “Told you not to overdo it” Nico scolded. He tried not to show how exhausted he was himself. That wouldn't really help drive home his point.
“I'm still standing this time, right?” Logan countered with a tired but triumphant smile.
Nico smiled back. “Yeah, you're getting a lot better at this”.
Logan patted him on the shoulder appreciatively, then slowly strolled over to their fallen enemy, lying in a bloody pile of bones. He carefully tilted the young man’s head with his boot, knuckles whitening threateningly around the handle of his sword. His shoulders relaxed before he knelt down. Nico’s breath shook a little as Logan slowly closed the young man’s eyes. Nico’s breath shook even more when Logan got back up and looked him over warily.
“That was a lot of skeletons. You good?” he asked.
Nico stuck out a hand, leaning against a tree, very casually. He let out a short laugh in disbelief. What a stupid question!
He was fine, obviously.
Logan walked up to give him a closer look.
He disagreed, obviously...
Nico ignored him.
His elbow gave out right before his knees did, knocking his shoulder against the tree. The bark felt coarse and sharp against the palm of his hand as he slid down, trying to get a grip. He'd made it about halfway to the ground before Logan caught his upper arm.
“I got you…” he grunted as he pulled Nico back up, lifting his arm over his shoulder.
Nico swayed against him, but he was glad to at least be back on his feet. Logan could be annoyingly overbearing, but he was strong, sturdy and very upright. Nico really appreciated that about him right now. He was close to thanking him when Logan bent down and picked up his legs from under him, hoisting him up.
Not this again…
He didn't have enough energy left to be embarrassed. He used all he had left to struggle against Logan’s grip. Logan seemed fine with that, not moving even as Nico shoved his hand onto his chest as hard as he could.
“Lemme go” he breathed, pushing against him for emphasis. His body betrayed him once again. The side of his head slumped against Logan's shoulder. Funny, the studs weren’t nearly as sharp as they seemed. Or he just couldn’t care anymore.
Logan started walking, ignoring him completely.
Rude.
Nico passed out in protest.
With his last ounce of consciousness he barely registered Logan adjusting his grip, shifting him a little. Nico’s face grazed against the warmth of Logan's neck. He didn’t register his own arm moving, slowly pulling himself closer.
The quiet of unconsciousness fell over him. It was less cold than usual. Apparently it smelled of warm pinewood. It was soothing, almost comfortable.
The soothing comfort didn't last nearly long enough.
When he woke up he didn't recognize his surroundings. He heard Yan hum to herself very close by.
She met his eyes. “Welcome back, Nico!” she said with a wide smile. She turned back to whatever she was doing with the gash on his hip before he could respond.
Nico turned his head, looking past Yan fussing over him. Down from the ground, everything that was happening looked a little confusing. Maybe the lightheadedness didn't help either.
His head was laying on something. Logan's coat, he realized as one of the spikes stabbed him in the face.
Then he saw it. Something flying right at Yan's back.
Crap!
With a jolt he pulled her in, bracing her as best as he could. At the same time he did, the heels of two army boots landed on the ground in front of his face.
Logan caught the spear reaching around himself with his hand, grabbing it near the point. He swung it around to the other side. “Cowards” he spat.
Nico wanted to speak but couldn't, completely out of breath after adjusting to the sudden crisis. He released the tension in his muscles, feeling the ground press against his back.
Yan slipped free.
Logan took a step forward. With a grunt he threw the spear back right where it came from. It made a low whistling noise as it disappeared out of sight. He let out an evil sounding cackle at the result and turned halfway to face them.
All three of them caught their breath.
Nico could tell Logan had kept himself busy while he had been asleep. His shirt, his lower arms and his hands fully covered in blood.
“Ha! Thanks” Yan let out, offering a thumbs up. Logan smiled, returning it.
“Are you-” Nico began to ask.
Logan pulled at his shirt, unsticking the blood soaked fabric from his chest with a wet sound. “Don't worry, that’s not mine” he assured with a devilish, toothy smile. His eyes were on fire. He wiped at one side of his face, smearing the blood from his hand all over it without realizing. It added to his absolutely crazed look, like some sort of disturbing war paint.
Times like this Nico kinda understood why others could be scared of him. Then again, in a weird way, Logan being an unhinged savage was kinda reassuring. He was glad he'd been there just now, anyway.
Nico dragged himself upward, in a sitting position.
They were next to the lake now, he realized. All of them were.
Amira diligently held off the remaining small army with some impressive swings and stabs with her spear. She drove the back of the handle down into the ground and leapt, flinging her long legs around in a wide arch. Nico huffed as two of her opponents failed to dodge, crashing into each other in her sweep.
He heard Yan’s bowstring pull. A mere second later one of the mercenaries dropped to the ground, clutching his leg, blood blooming around an arrow. Sadly, he wasn’t the only one who’d noticed. Three young men broke off the larger group and made their way towards them.
“Shit…” Nico swore out loud.
Yan chuckled. “No worries! Not to brag, but long distance is kind of my jam”.
Nico watched her place three more arrows on her bow. The string made a strained noise as she pulled it back even further. She aimed calmly, the mercenaries still at a safe distance, but quickly closing in on them. She exhaled as she let go.
The arrows struck barely a second later. Two of them hit nearly dead centre in two upper legs, stopping the unlucky young men in their tracks. The third only missing because of an, admittedly impressive, manoeuvre by the luckiest of the three.
“Wow” Nico let out in awe.
Yan winked. “Now watch me do that a couple more times” she giggled.
The third enemy broke their short conversation. Petrifyingly fast, he pulled his bowstring, the arrow pointing straight at them. Yan was faster. Her arrow hit his neck before he'd even managed to pull all the way back. He dropped down heavily, no sign of life…
“Jim!” one of their stricken enemies exclaimed desperately, stinging Nico with his sudden humanity.
He forced his eyes away from the young man dragging himself over to his fallen comrade, checking on Yan instead.
She drew a heavy breath. “I hate that part…”.
Nico put a hand on her shoulder. “You saved the other ones…” he reassured.
A roar closer to the water grabbed their attention. They watched a mercenary's sword and shield drop to the ground, the entire tip of Amira’s spear stabbed through the eye-slit of his Corinthian helmet… Amira kicked him off her weapon, letting him keel over like a felled tree. The gigantic mercenary used his towering height to reach over her, grabbing two huge fistfuls of curls. She struggled while he lifted her off of the ground. Her strong, ineffective kicks got put to a halt when he turned, fast, swinging her along. He made a full circle before he let go, flinging her far out onto the lake. Amira herself almost made another full turn before she hit the water, flat, with a loud bang.
The surprisingly wide splash subsided too late to keep eyes on her, hiding her somewhere under the surface.
Shit!
The loud mocking laughter from their enemies did little to drown out Yan’s contrasting terrified shriek. It brought Nico back to the reality of the situation.
He mustered up as many undead as he could. Which sadly, wasn’t nearly as many as he’d done before. He gritted his teeth through the effort and sent the troop of unfortunate skeletons into the water.
Come on. We can do more than that.
With some dull popping and cracking noises in the background he took hold of some more fresh tools… He felt an unsettling disturbance crash through the hectic atmosphere around him as everyone froze. He tried not to focus on the others’ expressions as the four former enemies made their way over and joined the search.
Jim was the first to breach the waterline… His own victim the third, after Amira’s. The fourth, the last one, had a little more trouble staying upright. And for good reason, it seemed. For a brief moment the angle hit him just right to see the glimmer of the sunset on the water through the gaping hole in his chest.
Three of the remaining mercenaries took a step back. One took a reluctant step forward, quickly pulled back by another.
Yep. That's right. Death could be ugly… This is what rubbing that fact in their faces did to people... This was what he did to people. He clenched his teeth harder. No time for self loathing right now. No time for any of this right now.
We don’t have this long!
Right when desperation was about to take over he found her. Jim dragged her up and towards the bank. Nico’s knees gave out. Whatever. As long as Jim’s didn’t, he didn’t care.
Yan splashed up to them and grabbed Amira right before Jim fell over, floating face down on the shimmering surface. She threw Amira down onto the hard ground.
No reaction…
Her last bit of life force was about to drip out of her. He could sense it.
“She’s gone” he declared heavily, the second all life left her body.