Nico Di Angelo, Assistant of Ironman

Part 14- This Can't be Happening

Camreon - 2007

It had been an eventful couple of years, mainly because of that Jackson kid.

I mean really, who did he think he was?

So what if he was in a prophecy? I mean, he's broken like... 90% of camp rules! He breaks both rules and promises.

Nico had so much confidence in Jackson, and he was telling me all about how he couldn't wait to see Bianca again, because there was no way she wouldn't come back. After all, she was traveling with the great Percy Jackson.

But Bianca didn't come back.

And neither did Nico.

Summer, 2008

Once again, the camp was tense. It was so thick it felt as if Akhlys had taken the Earth hostage and infected all of the inhabitants with her curse.

Why?

Well, an entrance to the Labyrinth had been discovered.

And Drew Tanaka was not very happy about it.

~

Camreon and Drew had decided to meet over at Zeus's Fist after capture-the-flag, to just hang out. He had just found a new obsession in a game called "Mythomagic" that he had learned from some kid he had been hanging out with.

He didn't talk about him much, but from what she gathered, this Nico kid reminded him of his younger, mortal sister, but he thankfully spared her details, since he knew she preferred to talk about other things instead of people. She didn't like talking about people.

They either had or were about to turn 14 and 13 respectively, and with everything that had been going on, they didn't get to hang out as much, so this was one of the few times they were able to hang out with just the two of them, which they were both looking forward to.

But when Drew got to the rocks after putting away her armor, he was nowhere to be found. The game box was there, as well as a small bouquet that made her heart flutter - but no Camreon.

Drew noticed a few footsteps from their usual rock heading towards a wedge between two boulders, just big enough for a thinner person. Knowing his love of discovery, she followed them and called from the outside, hugging her thin jacket close,

"Cam? Are you stuck?"

Not receiving an answer, she frowned and started to cautiously squeeze in, the cool rock pressing against her skin, sending chills through her spine. The air had a stale smell to it, like a tomb that had been closed off for centuries despite feeling a breeze or two from both the outside and within, which made her wonder if it was bigger on the inside.

"Oh, gods..."

Pushing through regardless, she made it through stumbling onto what felt like an old brick floor. The floor sloped down, with only two ways to go, and no matter how tempted Drew was to run back out, Camreon had to be in here somewhere. Gods be damned, she was going to find him.
"Cam?!"

She continued to call while doing her best to cautiously travel down the sloping floor, feeling the air become darker and more sinister the farther she went. Her hand trailed on the wall, trying to give some sense of direction back while feeling intensely more anxious the more she traveled as if time was slipping away.

Time she'd never gotten back.

Drew's feet dragged along the now dirt ground as she walked down the endless paths of the tunnel, and felt the change as if from brick to a dry dirt road.

Her head spun slightly at looking at the same walls over and over again, making it feel as if no matter how far she walked, no progress had been made.

Nothing she had ever tried to do ever mattered.

Strange sounds sliced the air from unknown origins, sending shivers every time her feet connected with the ground.

When will this end? Surely it'll be over soon.

She'll find him soon.

She has to.

Even if it just kept going and going, and she didn't have a way to know where the hell she was going because it would never matter anyway.

She almost swung around the first corner she'd encountered when she froze, arm hairs raising under the jacket sleeves.

Something was laying on the ground past the corner, as if to taunt her.

She had stayed with her hand firmly attached to the wall behind her and craned her neck to see what it was, afraid to get close, but unwilling to allow her fears to be the thing to stop her from finding Camreon.

The shape of a body barely managed to process in her mind and short-circuited her sense of reality.

Drew had never been on a quest, despite how much she wanted to. She had rarely even seen a dead monster, but now, with what seemed to be a dead body right in her path, she wasn't sure what to do. Any and all training seemed to be distant memories, no matter how hard she tried to remember.

It (she feared to humanize it, it could be a trick) was covered in blood, whether it's own or not was a mystery she wasn't willing to solve. It lay face-down, making it impossible to see its features. Its bright orange T-shirt, the only color she could make out on the entire thing, had a giant gash in its shoulder, the former right sleeve ripped completely off.

She briefly wondered what could have done that when it moved, startling her as it groaned in pain. Cautiously squinting her eyes to see the form, she still stayed behind the corner, feeling as if she would lose her way if she dared to move even a step forward.

It rolled over with another groan, gasping for breath, before finally noticing her when it looked up, allowing her to see its blue eyes widen in shock.

"Drew?" His call was weak. It shouldn't be weak.

"Cam..." Drew let out a strangled sob as she left any caution and rushed toward her best friend, "Cam, oh my gods, Cam."

His eyes shone with tears, but worry and fear filled them. "Drew, listen, you need to get out, now, while you still can. Please-"

"No! I-I can't leave you here! I have to take you back!"

"No, Drew, listen, I've lost a lot of blood already, I'd slow you down. You have to leave me here. Go... back..." The strain of talking so seemed to get to him in his wounded state.

"No.....no....no..nononononononono!" Drew frantically held him, not sure what to do. Cameron was right, he had lost a lot of blood. She couldn't fix that, but she could stop him from losing more.

Practically tearing off her jacket, she skillfully tied it around his shoulder. Bandages and medicine were some of the only things she could do without being picked on by her siblings, and it was one of the few things she excelled at.

Once she had finally finished, she sighed and helped the now unconscious Camreon to his feet, struggling under his weight, when she heard a noise she was unfortunately familiar with.

Turning her head towards something she prayed wasn't what she thought it was, she saw now what had injured Camreon.

This isn't real, it's just not. Right?

~

Behold! Gosh this story is going to be longer than I thought...

All well!

Thank you thebookloverforlife for helping me. This took me so long to edit until I was satisfied, I could have published it a week or 2 ago ;-;

On another note, omg I was looking at my earlier chapters and I have improved astronomically! So proud of myself!

Hope you liked it!