Chapter Text
Nico charged towards the god. There's no turning back now. He's going to do this.
It was still dark, and the sun wasn't up yet. There were shadows around the beach. He would have to use them to his advantage. It would make the difference between victory and defeat.
As he was running towards the god, he concentrated. After he swung his sword, he would have to quickly teleport away. And then after that, he would need to rely on Thomas and Will to weaken the god. Will's bow and arrows were literally made of shadows, and Thomas wielded a sword similar to Nico's, only much lighter.
Nico had gotten close enough for him to wound the god. He swung his sword, and, as he did, it cut through the god's fatty stomach. Nico instantly called for the shadows to teleport him away. He reappeared around 70 yards away.
From where he stood, he could see Thomas fighting with the god, sword against spear. He also saw standing a few feet to Nico's right, constantly shooting arrows that wounded the god. His plan was working.
And then everything went wrong. When Thomas had swung again, attempting to slash the god's body, Pontus disappeared. He knew gods could do that. He was actually hoping that this certain one wouldn't.
That ruined his plan. He was supposed to teleport Thomas to safety once Pontus was weakened, and then have the shadows take the sea god and take him apart piece by piece.
Will and Thomas ran towards Nico. Their plan had definitely failed. Now, there was no god to take apart. They guessed they would have to improvise. Nico scanned their surroundings. He finally saw him. To their left, Pontus had started to shimmer into existence.
Nico turned towards his two friends. "Guys," Nico pointed to the god, "there he is."
Thomas nodded and so did Will. They both started attacking Pontus. Thomas had started charging towards the god, while Will began to shoot his first arrow. The god was clearly occupied at the moment. Nico never knew being attacked by two highly trained demigods could be so hard.
Thomas froze the god for a moment and whistled. That signalled that Pontus was already weak. Alright. Nico had to do it now. He thrust his hand out towards Thomas and in an instant, he was right beside Nico.
Next, he thrust out his other hand. A hole in the Earth opened up and swallowed the ancient sea god. Nico jumped down into the hole along with him.
As Nico fell, he thought about where he would end up. He designed this hole to lead to the Underworld. Nico was fine with that. The problem was Thomas and Will. He had left those two behind. He had to get back to them quickly. He decided that right after Pontus was taken care of, he would directly travel back to Vietnam.
The fall lasted for half a minute. As Nico saw the floor of the cave he had brought them to, he directly concentrated, hoping that onve he came in contact with the floor, he would be directly teleported in front of where Pontus would fall.
Things happened according to plan. As he reappeared right in front of where Pontus was lying, he called for the shadows to grab the half-concious god. It took a while, and once the god was fully awake, the shadows were already grabbing onto his body. The sea god was now powerless and out of his territory. Nico turned the cables that held Pontus into blades, and as he did, Pontus was wailing in pain.
Nico didn't like the sight, but this had to be done.
Chopping Pontus into pieces took some time, and once only his head was left, the god let out a soft whisper.
"Do not... let Erebus..." Nico's eyes widened at that. He was anxious about what the ancient god would say.
Finally, Pontus finished his sentence. "Do not... let him... rise."
What? Nico was stunned. Don't let Erebus rise? That meant that Erebus was also evil and destructive and violent.
Then the thought occured to him. If Erebus rose, then he would take over Nico. Nico is basically Erebus' host. That would also mean that if Nico was hosting a powerful, evil god, he would also become a powerful, evil demigod.
That was highly problematic.
But now, he had more problems to deal with. He had to get back to Will and Thomas.
He ran into the nearest wall that was covered in shadow and instantly disappeared.
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When Nico reappeared, Will and Thomas were literally frozen. The both of them were encased in a block of ice, their faces full of fear. Nico searched around for the god who could have possibly done this.
He didn't see anyone, but he felt their presence. It was like the wind. You couldn't see it, but when it passes by, you'd know that it was there. The presence Nico was feeling right now felt more real by the moment, as if the god was gaining strength.
"Show yourself," Nico shouted. He was hoping that the god would reveal himself.
"My dear, Nico," a feminine voice said from somewhere to Nico's left. He quickly turned and thrust out his hand. The shadows instantly crawled towards the sound of the goddess and wrapped around her.
Nico still couldn't see the goddess, but he knew that if he continued straining her, she would eventually use her godly powers and would be visible to Nico.
Sure enough, she did. Once Nico's shadowy cables lashed around her tight enough, she shone. Nico had to look away, and in the process he covered Will's and Thomas' eyes.
Once the light died down, he turned back to the goddess. He knew this goddess. She was a minor one, and... wasn't she one of the good ones?
He searched his brain for her name, until after a while, he found it.
"Kheimon," he pronounced. She was the goddess of winter. And right now was... Oh gods. It was September. By the next month, it would already be winter. No wonder her presence felt like it was getting stronger. The only thing Nico didn't understand was, why was she evil?
"What do you want, and let my friends go," Nico said with full determination, "Or else."
The goddess laughed at that. "My boy, you must know that I can't. For I have orders from the king himself. He says you must be taken down. You and your little friends. He says you are a... threat," she looked up at the sky once she finished her sentence, as if expecting something to happen.
Unfortunately, something did. Thunder rumbled.