<>------<> Midnight <>------<>

 ‘You idiot.’

The words were out of my mouth before Nero’s eyes were fully open. As much as I was glad they still did that, I was ready to pummel my brother into oblivion for being so thoughtless.

‘Tartarus, Nero? How could you be so stupid? At least if you’d stayed at camp, you’d stand a chance. There’s no such thing as hope down here, Nero. You’re going to die! We’re going to die!’

I stood up from my position crouched beside Nero on the bank of the Phlegethon. The River of Fire reflect the fury and anguish in my tone. Nero did his best to sit up against the rock behind him, not saying a word to interrupt me.

‘You’re important in this war, Nero! If we lose you, we’ve as good as lost the fight! This is Tartarus! This is dangerous, and certainly no place for someone as ill as you. You’ve doomed yourself, Nero. You’ve doomed us all.’

‘Midnight.’

I flinched as a soft grip enclosed around my upper arm and Annabeth stepped into view. Her eyes relaxed to look like swirling orbs of grey mist as she grasped my arm tightly, but not in hostility. After a long moment, she surrendered her hold.

Annabeth nodded at Nero, ‘Give him a break. Sure, he was a complete and utter idiot, following us here, but he is here now. He’s been through enough without a lecture.’

Nero looked as stunned as I was, as if Annabeth had jumped in the Phlegethon and started to do water aerobics while singing opera. The daughter of Athena stared us down determinedly, sincerity in her words clear in her softened features.

Nero lowered his head, letting his hood fall further down his face, ‘I’m sorry.’

I bit back an angry retort of ‘so you should be’ and instead dropped down next to him, my anger kind of draining out of me when I saw the pale colouration of his skin and the lack of life in his movements. Nero could barely lift his head, and fury gave way to worry. Yes, my brother had been beyond stupid, but he was here now, and I was going to do everything in my power to keep him alive until we could find Damasen’s hut.

I reached into my backpack that lay on the ground beside me, rummaging around until my hand closed around a Ziploc bag filled with small ambrosia squares. I pulled it out and handed it to Nero. He took it gratefully and placed a single square in his mouth, sighing as the healing properties of the godly food eased the painful sensations of the mysterious illness. I watched in concern as he lay back against the rock.

Annabeth came up behind me, ‘We need to keep moving. Can you stand?’

The question was directed at Nero, who nodded discreetly without so much as a single glance up at the daughter of Athena. Once again, I cursed his stupidity. But Annabeth was right on that account; what was done was done, and there was no use criticising it.

Nero pushed his back against the rock and shoved his palms into the glass chipped ground, grimacing. He used the rock for support as he maneuvered himself upright. I held a hand out to him, and he took it with apparent reluctance. Annabeth left the two of us to be as she knelt by the Phlegethon to take a drink.

‘I know you’re mad at me-’ Nero began quietly.

I shut him up as I pulled him into a hug. When we pulled apart, he simply stared at me, waiting for an explanation which I was only too happy to provide.

‘I’m incredibly mad at you right now,’ I said firmly. ‘But, I’m a lot more pleased that you’re alive. It’ll be good to have other company down here.’

Nero gave a small grunt in agreement as said demigod stood up, breathing heavily and shouldering her backpack. She glanced over her shoulder at the two of us, side by side, and nodded at the River of Fire.

‘We need to get moving,’ she said bluntly. ‘Hurry up and drink. The sooner we find Damasen’s hut, the sooner we find the cure and get outta here.’

I scoffed, more than a little over her superior attitude. Nevertheless, I grabbed Nero’s forearm and he tightened his grip around mine, allowing me to pull him up into a standing position, away from leaning against the rock.

I knelt down next to the fiery waters and, cupping my hands, thrust them into the current. I brought the fire to my lips and tipped it back down my throat, doing my best to ignore the burning sensation and gasoline taste. Retching, I pushed my hands back under the surface of the Phlegethon and filled my cupped palms for Nero. I stood up and offered it to him, which he accepted thankfully. I watched the swallow reflex in his throat as the healing water ran down, scorching his insides along the way.

Nero coughed and wiped his mouth, ‘Can we get going now?’

‘Right,’ I agreed. ‘We don’t have time to spare.’

Shouldering my own backpack, I helped Nero with his, ignoring his grumble that he wasn’t a child and could do things on his own.

‘Nope,’ I said stubbornly. ‘Down here, you are a child, and you are my little brother.’

‘But you’re my little brother,’ he protested.

‘Don’t care,’ I felt a small smile start to spread across my face and I placed a hand atop Nero’s hood, ruffling his hair beneath. ‘You’re my little brother, and that’s final.’

Nero wisely said nothing, but did shake his head in exasperation. I smirked discreetly. He came down here, he’s subjected to my overprotectiveness.

‘Okay, that’s enough fooling around,’ Annabeth scolded. ‘Let’s go already. It's a long way.’

‘Then let’s hope we don’t run into any monsters,’ Nero muttered.

I blame Nero. I really do. He jinxed it.

‘You had to say something, didn’t you,’ I grumbled, pulling my deckras sword from its sheath.

He gripped the handle of his own weapon tightly, ‘How was I supposed to know?’

‘Chit chat later,’ Annabeth said. ‘For now, we kill monsters.’

I scanned the row of hellhounds no more than a hundred feet away, ‘Ten to one hardly seems fair.’

‘And who said life was fair, Midnight?’ Nero asked, a slight laugh in his tone. ‘Especially since this is Tartarus.’

I chuckled, ‘Point taken.’

‘Fifty feet,’ Annabeth announced. ‘Nero take the left flank. Midnight, the middle. I’ve got the right.’

I glared at the monster dogs approaching straight down centre. They were all mine. I was going to obliterate every last one of them.

I was sick of monsters. Ten thousand years and I was not done being picked on. That made me mad; really mad. Generations and generations of demigods had come and gone, yet I was still here, and still under attack from the same monsters. Stupid regenerating bastards.

‘Midnight?’ Nero said softly, concern present in his words.

His voice brought me back to earth (or Tartarus, you know what I mean), and I realized there was low, menacing growl emitting from my throat. I kept my gaze on the enemy, like a hungry wolf stalking its prey. And I was hungry; hungry for monster ash. I wanted every single one of those hellhounds dead.

‘Twenty feet,’ Annabeth reported. ‘Let’s do this.’

Not waiting for anything else, I charged.

The first hellhound that crossed me was introduced to my sword and instantly melted into shadows. I swung my blade in an arch cutting through three more and dissolving them. The silver edge of my blade flashed, blinding the monsters as I sliced through their hides with ease. My vision tunnelled to the last few hellhounds in front of me.

The monsters backed up, snarling violently. The low growl in my own throat intensified as my anger at these monsters grew. They were going to pay for the generations of demigods they had slaughtered.

A sudden, violent heaving sound ripped away my fury, leaving anxiety exposed like a second skin. I took a split second to glance over my left shoulder where my brother was attempting to battle five hellhounds while doubled over in a coughing fit. The monsters trampled over the monster dust of their brethren as they stalked towards Nero.

Without a second thought to my own enemy, or the makeshift plan Annabeth had devised, I tore from my own path and headed straight for Nero. He didn’t see me coming until I ploughed into the nearest hellhound, driving my sword through its side. It melted into ash.

‘Midnight,’ Nero choked out.

‘Looks like you’re not fit for physical activity,’ I grimaced. ‘I’ll take this.’

‘I got it,’ he coughed again, ‘Midnight.’

I shook my head, ‘Now’s not the time for jokes, Nero. Go back.’

My brother was too disoriented and in too much pain to disagree. He stumbled backwards a few feet before collapsing down hard, placing his head in shaking hands that rested on his knees. His hood fell over his face.

Turning back, I was facing approximately a dozen nasty, snarling, oversized dogs from hell. The nearest one growled at me and snapped at my side. I jumped back, and as it withdrew, I raked my blade across its neck. It disintegrated.

There was silence for the space of ten heartbeats. I could hear Annabeth facing her opponents, hellhounds falling to her drakon tooth sword. Her fight was nearly over.

All at once, I thrust my hand out and the ground beneath the closest monsters dropped away into an abyss. The dogs howled as they plunged into darkness and the ground closed up after them, leaving barely a scar in its wake.

The next row of hellhounds leapt at me simultaneously; four pairs of vicious claws extended to rip me to shreds. I crouched down and rolled forward, underneath the monsters. As they flew over me, I span my sword in an arch, cutting through them all and sending them deeper into Tartarus.

Three more were left.

Is there even an end to them? I wondered.

But then I realized; no, there wasn’t. We were in the monsters home court; their territory. There was no end to the monsters we would encounter, and it would only be so long before we couldn’t defend ourselves anymore.

The final three hellhounds attacked at the same time; one to my left, one to my right, and one straight for the middle. I swung back and my sword glowed a harsh silver. I lowered my head to shield my eyes as I brought my blade down and it sliced through the one on the right and the one in the middle.

The hellhound on the left leapt, claws out, and shredded my side.

With a cry, I grasped the wound and fell to my knees. I heaved my sword over my shoulder and shoved it down the through of neck of the hell dog. It howled as it faded into shadows, joining its brethren.

Dropping my blade, I pressed both hands against my side and felt the tattered skin beneath. My armour was ripped and torn, metal pieces sticking out dangerously and cutting into my hands as I tried to restrict the flow of blood. My side burned like acid, and I bit back a scream.

The sound of feet scrambling for traction, and suddenly Nero and Annabeth were by my side. My brother took my slick, crimson stained hands in his shaking ones and lifted them from the wound to examine it. Lowering his head, he let his hood fall further down his face, shielding any expression from view.

Annabeth was ripping open her stash of ambrosia. She carefully picked out a cube and handed it to me. I took it and almost retched at the sight of my own hand, fingertips smeared with blood, turning the glossy silver surface of my armour a dark scarlet. As soon as the ambrosia slid down my throat, I groaned in relief as the agony began to subside.

‘That was stupid,’ Nero muttered, fishing a length of gauze out of my own pack.

I grit my teeth, the tell-tale metallic taste of blood filling my mouth, ‘You wanna talk stupid?’

‘Shush,’ Annabeth scolded. Her brow was furrowed in concentration as she took the gauze from Nero. ‘Try not to talk.’

‘Never my strong suit,’ I managed.

The persistent pain dragged me down until I freefell into welcome unconsciousness.

When I came to, we were moving. As my eyes opened, they focused on the ground moving beneath me, but I wasn’t walking; someone was carrying me.

I pushed up against the person’s back, my fingers brushing against something incredibly soft and supple, something a beautiful crystal blue.

‘Nero,’ I murmured. ‘You idiot.’

‘What was I supposed to do?’ his weary voice answered immediately from in front of his wings. ‘Leave you there?’

I nodded honestly, ‘Yes.’

He laughed shortly, but it turned into a kind of heaving cough, ‘Like that was gonna happen.’

I sighed and focused on the girl trekking beside me, ‘You shouldn’t have let him.’

Annabeth shrugged, ‘Nothing I said would’ve stopped him. And he threatened to send me out of Tartarus the easy way.’

Chuckling at the thought of my brother threatening the daughter of Athena, I felt down under my rib cage where my armour had been shredded. Pieces of the deckras had been chipped away so the edges were dulled and less likely to impale me. My skin had been tightly wound with the gauze, but was already soaked through with blood.

As my vision began to spin, I lay back down against Nero’s back and let him carry me across the rough terrain. It didn’t matter how much I hated the situation, he wasn’t going to let me walk on my own any more than I was going to let him come to Tartarus. Not that that turned out as I’d hoped.

‘You okay?’ Nero asked quietly.

I allowed myself a shaky breath, ‘Depends.’

‘On what?’

‘On whether you want the stereotypical hero answer or the truth.’

I was rewarded for my folly with a hollow laugh from Nero and a grudging smile from Annabeth, both of whom lapsed into silence instantly after, leaving me way too much time to think. Thinking always led to bad.

My thoughts wandered to the Sorrows. Destiny, Aeras and Arrow ought to have begun the campers training. They’d probably realized Nero was missing, and could probably deduct where he’d run off to. The idea of my siblings scrambling around in a panic sent my stomach tying itself in knots.

I turned my head and stared out at the shifting landscape as we passed between two cliffs. The molten rock faces seemed to press down, overwhelming me with an uncharacteristic sense of claustrophobia. My breaths became sharper and more laboured.

‘Midnight?’ Nero asked concernedly.

‘Yeah?’

His wings drew closer around him, dislodging me for a moment from my piggy back position. I heard a chittering sound that I eventually realized to be Nero’s teeth as he shivered and shook.

‘Hey, you okay?’ I sat up and placed a tentative hand on the side of his neck in the space between his wings.

‘No,’ he answered honestly. ‘I can feel it, Midnight. I’m dying. Promise me you’ll help me get the cure back to the others before I die.’

I shook my head, ‘The first person entitled to that cure is you.’

‘Promise me,’ Nero growled weakly. ‘Promise me.’

I sighed in defeat. There was no changing the mind of a stubbornly loyal Nero.

‘I promise.’

His shoulders slumped in obvious relief. I glanced sideways at Annabeth, her hands shoved casually in the pockets of her jeans as her hard grey eyes flicked up to me. The concern on her face startled me but made me wonder, did she still have a caring side?

I pushed away the thought and settled back against my brother as he staggered across the harsh ground of Tartarus, the acidic air tainting our lungs and the fading gargle of the Phlegethon behinds us an echo of everything we’d left behind in the world above.

~*~

Enh. I'm not particularly proud of it. Actually, I'm kind of dissapointed how this chapter turned out. But what can ya do? Well, I do have many, uh, interesting, things ahead for everyone. You know that point where you can see exactly where you want to be, and know exactly what you want to happen, but you actually have to get there first? Yeah. That's me. But anyways, this chapter is dedicated to Dj_jd_x for their wonderful comparison of me to our dear Uncle Ricky. THANK YOU! XD Again, sorry for the wait, but please remember to vote, comment and follow! Stay colourful, M&M's!

~TripleM