Nico
Her “directions” were the equivalent value to horse manure.
He was so mad he could barely think.
There were wanderers, all around him. He tried to talk to them, but they only stared, as if they understood what he was saying but didn’t understand why he was saying it. He didn’t know any rituals. He didn’t belong here.
He just kept circling back around, looking at her instructions. “I will send Anubis.” She will send Anubis. Oh, great. Wow. She will send him. And when will that be? Another year? It took ages just to get down here, and he was hungry.
He ran his hands through his hair, frustratedly, tugging. Something was going to happen. He had to get there in time…
Something was happening, he didn’t know what, he didn’t know what-
And suddenly- finally- he saw someone. An actual, live person.
One with silky, long black hair.
His breathing hitched.
“Bianca?” he called out, not daring to believe it. He began to run. “Bianca?”
He was reaching her, he put a hand on her shoulder. Insanely, excitedly, unthinking, he shouted, “Bianca, it’s me, it’s-”
He was thrown through the air so fast that he didn’t realize he was flying until he was actually on the ground. Nico lay there, stunned, trying to get up, while handcuffs bound him.
A dark face came into view. The voice sounded male. “Who are you? Don’t try anything. We are not in a good mood.”
“I-” How stupid. How stupid was he? Of course Bianca wouldn’t remember him. His heart started beating so hard it almost leapt out of his chest. He couldn’t speak. He just stared at them.
“Talking would be good.” This voice was a little savage, but definitely feminine. Nico just continued to let his brain go, “I don’t believe it. I don’t believe it.”
And he felt…
He felt..
.Like he honestly didn’t believe it. Nico frowned. Maybe it was just him searching for her for so long and finally finding her that made him feel this disbelief, that it’s finally over, but this doesn’t… feel… right.
He remembered.
A wisp.
Even if she was Egyptian, she’d have one. Would it work in the Land of the Dead?
Yes. If you were human, it will work. Nico had tested every possibility. He’s done his research well.
He concentrated on the air around him.
It was harder, with the spirits all around disturbing his magic.
And he searched.
And searched.
But he felt no wisps coming from these two people.
But…. he let himself cry, desperate. Maybe the Egyptian magic is messing this all up- remember, you never researched Egyptian magic…
He looked up at the faces. “Does either one of you recognize the name Bianca?”
Silence. Total silence. And they growled, “No. Why are you following us?”
Nico tried to put his hands up, but remembered that they were still handcuffed behind his back. “I’m looking for someone. And I need Osiris to help me. But please- this will help me find her- what are your ages?”
“Why would we tell you that?” The girl whipped him with his words, harshly, but the other one pulled her back.
“I don’t think… Bree, I don’t think he means any harm.”
“How do you know? We never know, down here! We never know!”
“Bree. He’s looking for someone. He just thought he found her.”
“But how do we know-”
“Sadie Kane,” Nico provided. Both of them whipped around, and he could distinguishly make out their faces. Young teenagers. Perfect ages. Maybe… Maybe one of them was Bianca…. “She left me directions. It’s in my pocket. You can get it out, if you’d like.”
“He’s in the cuffs, Bree!” the male protested as he came forwards. His hair was light, feathery, like Daniel’s, which made Nico sad.
The male stopped in front of him, not bothering to bend down and get the actual note, concentrating. The note flew out of his pocket.
He read it, frowning. He passed it to Bree. “Sure sounds a whole lot like Sadie.”
She read it once. Twice. Carefully. She sniffed it, and then she turned sharply to Nico. “How did you get here?”
“I, uh, fell asleep.”
“Who are you?”
“My name is Nico Di Angelo.”
“What nome are you from?”
“I… Well. I fell asleep at the First Nome?”
She raised her eyebrows and narrowed her eyes. “A First Nome magician? I find that hard to believe.”
“Whoa. I never said anything about magician.”
They both stared at him. “Then… what are you?”
“Transport representative between New Rome and Camp Half-Blood. Basically, I help people travel to the steps of the Land of the Dead safely.”
This caused their mouths to fall open, gaping large O’s. “You’re a Greek?” The girl- Bree- asked, just as the boy asked, “You’re a Roman?”
“Born Greek. Lived Roman. Kind of. I dropped out of the Legion before I could finish my ten years, but considering the position I graduated to, they’ve kind of been counting that as Legion work. I don’t know. Children of the Lord of the Dead are odd, they assumed.” Nico seemed to realize just at this moment how much time they were wasting, and he began to panic. “I need to know your ages. I need to know them now, so I can know if there’s still a chance, if there’s still hope-”
“We’re not telling you our ages,” protested Bree, shaking her head from side to side. Her skin was pale, almost translucent. She had more doll-like features than Bianca. But… maybe…
“I don’t need his,” Nico pleaded. He looked sideways at James. “I mean… No. I guess I do. There is that possibility she reincarnated as a boy… But you especially. What’s your age? Help me!”
He was starting to go insane with worry. Time was running out. Time was running out.
“How do we know you’re not going to perform some voodoo Greco-Roman magic on us?” Bree demanded.
“Which one of you is Nico di Angelo?” a voice, growling and a little raspy, spoke behind him.
There was a beat. Nico couldn’t move well, but he tried to scoot around and raise his cuffed hands. “That’d be me?”
Whoever had just spoken had fallen silent. Nico tried to shift himself over as best as he could to get a good look at whoever was behind him.
It was…
Huh.
It was… a dog, maybe?
“A jackal,” the guy corrected, seeing the puzzled look on Nico’s face, rolling his eyes. He surveyed Nico’s situation, to his uncomfortably clenched position, to his magically bound blue hands, to the solemn expressions on the teenagers behind him. The jackal thought about it, clearly allowing himself to be amused for about three seconds before deciding not to care. “Sadie sent me. Let’s go.”
****
Reaching the First Nome with the help of two teenagers named Jacqueline and Sunny, Daniel was promptly shown a room.
He uneasily fell asleep.
*****
There was a shift. Elena could feel it. They were being pulled off the path.
She reached into the water and tapped Naida softly. She pointed the direction they needed to go.
And when they finally surfaced, the water carrying them up to land, Elena hugging all of the river nymphs goodbye, she had no idea where they were.
“I’ve never been here before,” Elena looked worriedly at the air. Faithful as always, the golden path led the way.
“We are close, though, I think,” Wyn blinked, her palms rubbing some sort of watch (?) between her fingers. “You’re right. These are buzzing. There’s something magical close.”
“Okay,” Elena said, uneasy. “Are you guys… uh, sure about this?”
They looked at her uncertainly, like they weren’t sure what to make of this. “We have to.”
“I just feel like they’re waiting for us,” Elena voiced, barely a whisper. All three of them looked at each other.
“Then they’ll be waiting for us. We can’t back out now.” Benji decided. “Let them throw whatever they have.”
It was like the Fates were waiting for him to say that.
The baby sphinx roared, smashing its way around the corner. Before Elena could think, “Oh, yeah! I remember you!” It stood up on its hind legs, flapping its wings up in the air and swooping down towards the trio.
“Roll!” Elena yelled, just as Benji screamed, “Duck!” She slammed herself into the ground, her mind blank, her knife in hand, rolling into action- literally. When she finally stepped from the ground, the thing snatched her, dragging her up, up, up, into the sky…
And dropped her.
Or tried to. But Elena held on, with both hands. Grasping for dear life. She held her breath and shook the lion leg. Her shoulder was shuddering.
It tried to kick her off, but she just kept shuddering, kept holding onto the wing, before it careened downwards.
She tensed, let go, and fell into a hard roll, avoiding her shoulder, exhaling out all the air. Wyn was already in the sky, battling the thing. Benji ran over towards Elena, yelling, “Are you-“
“Help her,” Elena said as calmly as she possibly could. She stood up and brushed the dirt off her jeans. She put her knife back into its strap.
He nodded, dizzily, jogging backwards. “Okay,” he said. “Okay-“
And as the Sphinx swooped down again, trying to avoid Wyn, almost pathetically flying away, Elena was smacked with another surge of pity again. She saw its face start to cry, its eyes scrunched, cheeks crying, only one tooth in. Elena groaned, wanting to kill herself for what she was about to do. But she got up, looking around wildly, for anything, anything-
There. In the tree. There was a feeling there, an odd, tinkling noise; a pricking feeling. Elena started off for it.
She yelled. “Please. Please. Can you hear me?”
And she waited. And waited. Impatiently. As she looked over her shoulder, she could see Wyn raise Benji, his blades flashing and slashing through the air-
Then she realized the tinkling noise was right in her ear.
Elena stared. Dancing, pulsing lights flitted around her. She couldn’t really tell what they were, but… they were beautiful.
But were they good?
“Can you…” She swallowed. “Can you understand me?”
They frenzied around her head faster. She wasn’t sure if they did. Elena pushed down her frustration. Calm. Calm. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale.
She beamed at whatever they were. “You are so beautiful. Honestly. I love your little lights. Can you help me?”
And she waited. And waited. All she heard was the tinkling. It was until she finally sighed, putting her hand on her head, turning away, that she heard a burst of laughter.
“No, no, no! No! Leave not!” a tiny, teensy sound flew around her ear. It was the light.
“You can… speak?”
In return, it laughed some more, and flitted away.
“Can you-“ Elena asked, looking back at the baby sphinx. Time was running out. “Can you help me?”
More laughter.
Elena thought, deciding to move instead of convince, running away from the tree. After her, the lights followed, crying, “Leave not! Leave not! Leave not!”
She waved her arms at the Wyn. “Bring him over here!”
Wyn slowed, narrowly missing a slicing of her head by the Sphinx. Benji kept fighting with the same grace and speed he always had. “What?”
“Bring him over here!”
The lights were getting quite annoying. Now that they stopped their silent treatment, all they were doing is talking. Elena was feeling kind of guilty that she ever bothered them in the first place.
“Fight! Fight! Fight!” they sang in her ear. “Fight!”
“Sing,” she said stubbornly back. “Fight!” They sang again.
A thought formed in her head, just as Wyn was looking down at her hesitantly. “You’ve seen me fight, Wyn! You say I’m special! Well, then, bring that bloody cat down over here!”
“Not,” the lights sang. “Not the cat! Bring not him down!”
Wyn nodded, pulling Benji along as she swooped down onto the ground. Elena tried to focus on the lights around her. The Sphinx was coming towards them fast. “You will not sing to the Sphinx,” she said, pleading, to the air. “Don’t make him fall asleep!”
Benji blinked, confused. “Elena, what-“
“To the Sphinx! To the Sphinx!” they sang so sweetly, so harmoniously, that Elena almost fell asleep herself. “Right,” she tried to say, drowsily, but they were already gone, singing a ballad to the Sphinx as it came barreling down from the air.
Immediately the effects started taking place. Elena looked to Wyn and Benji, crouched and ready, and said, “Roll.”
They all did, to different sides, as the Sphinx crashed, its head spinning, trying to batter the lights away. But they kept at him, singing a song that Elena had to close her ears to block out, so she didn’t pass out. Right at the edge of him falling into a thick, deep sleep, Elena shouted, “Don’t leave! Stay here forever!”
“Never!” They cried out, disbanding themselves, shooting to opposite corners of the trees that decorated the banks of the River Thames. Their ringing and their giggles still sang in Elena’s ears, even after they left.
She approached the Sphinx baby, who was shaking its head, nodding off. Elena started patting its head.
Its eyes opened sleepily, full of red, watery tears in its big, blue eyes. It looked at her drowsily, then at her knife, and tried to stand up, shaking its head, backing off.
Elena stared at it, taking out her knife. It was here that she noticed it was still protecting its wing and torso- the side that was stabbed with this very knife.
Elena threw it away, as far away as she could. Then she turned back to the baby, wondering if it understood.
It blinked at her. Once.
Elena started singing again, but this time, the baby began crying. Not attacking, or slashing, just crying, rolling on its side, wailing for something.
Its stomach growled.
“Oh, God, help it,” she realized. “Benji- do you have any food with you?”
Reluctantly, he brought out what he had- food for a three day trip, for all three of them. 27 meals of sandwiches, applesauce, juice boxes.
Elena laid them all out in front of the Sphinx.
“Go on,” she willed. “Eat it. Even though you only have one tooth. And you might not like sandwiches. Go on.”
The Sphinx inched forward, still bawling its eyes out. Closer. Closer. It sniffed the content, evaluating its meal.
Still crying, it ate everything in about 8, 9 bites.
And promptly collapse on the ground. Elena rushed forwards, afraid she killed it, but it was just curling up, ready to fall asleep. She smoothed its bouncy, golden curls down at the top and Elena witnessed for the first time ever it smile.
Soon it was purring.
Elena patted its head, just one more time, for good measure, before standing up. The golden trail of magic was fading. Not enough to be significant, but a noticeable amount. Elena frowned.
“Let’s move,” she muttered, ignoring the claps that followed her by Wyn, and the silence coming from Benji.

Notes