Untitled Part 36
When Hazel Levesque yells "ATTACK!" and charges you with a sword, followed by an angry Minotaur, the only sensible thing to do is run. Nico saw Pirithous do just that—at least at first. The judge scrambled back to the safety of his own guards as Hazel led her forces forward, taking control of the museum's front drive and forming a defensive ring around the two chained beings.
We must reach her, Semele said in Nico's mind.
Well, duh, Nico replied.
No need to be rude, said Semele. Just because I am in your mind does not mean I can read everything in it.
They crashed into a line of dog-headed cynocephalus warriors who had been facing the other direction, thinking the main threat was from Hazel's friends in the plaza. They were not expecting eight angry demigods, a blemmyae, and the world's tiniest griffin to attack them from behind.
One dog-man ran away yipping and whining with Orcus clamped to his head, pecking at his left eye. Another staggered off, clutching Deion's spear, which was lodged in his gut. Will loosed multiple arrows, and pride filled Nico's heart as all of them found their targets. Each of the warriors burst into dust, and the rest scattered when a full-size male lion jumped into their midst, roaring and baring his fangs.
Where did the lion come from? Semele wondered.
That would be Frank, Nico guessed.
I have questions, said Semele.
Later! said Nico.
They continued their push forward, wading through the temporarily confused ranks of Team Pirithous. Down in the plaza, the situation looked like the most violent Black Friday sale ever. Imprisoned mythics rushed in every direction, trying to overrun the circle of guards. Harpies fought harpies above the cypress trees. Giants threw park benches at other giants. A giant crab—why was there a giant crab?—scuttled sideways through the bedlam, holding a screaming telkhine in either claw. Once the armies of prisoners and captors clashed, things got even more confusing, as nobody seemed to know which side anyone was on.
"Nico!"
Hazel rushed toward him, grinning as she sliced down an enemy donkey satyr—the same strange courier they'd followed into the Court of the Dead days ago. Asterion and Arielle were on either side of her, the karpos Quinoa flying around them like an avenging grain angel.
Hazel threw herself into Nico's arms. "You made it!"
Nico blinked back tears. He'd never been so happy to see his sister, even if she smelled like she'd been hanging out in a monster's dirty-laundry hamper.
Johan sobbed as he embraced Arielle. Quinoa and Orcus collided in midair trying to hug each other. Semele made Nico's body pull Asterion into the group hug, and then she used his voice to shout, "I love you, you big, beautiful cow!"
Asterion seemed a bit startled, but he accepted the hug. "Is that— Semele?"
"Yes, it's me!" Nico grinned. Then he regained control of himself. "I mean, yes, it's her. She's possessing me. Kind of. Long story."
The other mythics looked at him dumbfounded.
Hazel shook her head in amazement. "Well, I guess it's not the weirdest thing I've heard in the past couple of days." Then she spotted the lion padding toward her, his fangs bloody from biting the butt of many a retreating dog-man.
"Frank!" she squealed. "What a good kitty!"
The lion morphed back into Frank just as Hazel flew into his arms and kissed him. "I'm so happy to see you!"
"Friends, we must be quick!" Asterion warned, grabbing an enemy harpy out of the air and throwing her into the nearest parked car. "Pirithous has imprisoned two gods. We must free them before they can pledge to his cause!"
That jolted Nico out of his temporary euphoria. "What? How?"
"Also a long story," Hazel said, but she did her best to explain as quickly as possible.
Even with two minds inside his brain, Nico wasn't sure he understood it all: twin gods of trickery, chains of Prometheus, oaths and traps, and trading up to capture Hades himself.
Meanwhile, Pirithous's forces were overcoming their initial panic. The judge himself, now protected by two Cyclopes and the red-robed skeletal guards from the court, had rediscovered his courage. He climbed onto the pedestal of a cement sphinx about fifty yards away and started barking orders—"Kill them! Kill them!"—while imperiously waving his gavel.
Now that Nico knew about the chains of Prometheus, he understood why so many minor gods had pledged to serve this self-important chief justice. He also understood why those gods had not yet jumped into battle. They probably didn't like Pirithous any better than Nico did. But with Pirithous giving them direct orders, they had no choice but to obey.
Things were about to get dicey for Team Hazel and the Mythics.
"Perhaps freeing those gods should not be the first priority right now," said Arielle, her expression anguished. "We need to get our fellow mythics out of here safely!"
"Also," said Quinoa, "did we mention that the twins are gods of trickery? Before they got chained up, they exploded two judges and Laverna. There was talk of exploding more people, and the only choice they were offering was Cajun spice or extra crispy!"
Nico had to admit that didn't sound good.
"You know we're right here," said Dolus.
"We can hear you," agreed his sister, Apate.
Their necks were charred and smoking beneath their Stygian iron shackles. Their bodies trembled from the aftershocks of immense pain. They could barely lift their heads enough to meet Nico's eyes.
"I'm not going to leave anyone in chains," Nico decided. "Not if we can figure out a way to help."
His half sister smiled at him. "There's the Nico I know and love." She glanced at Asterion. "How 'bout you help evacuate the other mythics? They'll follow you. Nico and I will figure out these chains."
Asterion nodded. "As you wish, Hazel. Please take care of yourself. Arielle, Johan, Quinoa, Orcus, with me!"
"I'll just stay here," said Semele through Nico's voice. "Be careful, you gorgeous cow."
Wow, do you have to? Nico asked.
Yes, Semele said. Yes, I do.
As the mythics marched into battle to help their comrades, Hazel faced the other demigods. "Can you all buy us some time? We can't let Pirithous get near these two gods. Otherwise, I'm afraid they'll pledge their loyalty to him. The pain is just too much."
Right on cue, the iron shackles began to glow red. Dolus and Apate screamed, writhing in agony.
Frank scowled. "Legionnaires, you heard her. We protect this position at all costs. Orbem instruite!"
"Praetor!" the demigods replied in unison. Then they formed a circle around the chained gods, facing outward with their weapons ready. Will, who wasn't so up-to-date on Latin commands, looked confused for a second and then added, "Um, yeah, what they said." He took up a position next to Savannah and got ready to glow, to heal, to send some arrows flying, or to throw Kit Kat bars, depending on what was required.
That left Hazel and Nico to deal with the chains of Prometheus.
Hazel frowned at Nico. "So...you're possessed. How does that feel?"
He shrugged. "Pretty cool, to be honest. Semele saved my life, so I'm not going to complain."
Thank you, said Semele. It was a strange sensation to be granted permission, but for now, I much prefer this to the old ways.
For now? Nico asked. Meaning what?
Focus, she ordered.
He wasn't comforted by that, but he turned his attention to the problem at hand. He knelt next to Dolus and Apate. The shackles had cooled again, leaving the two gods whimpering and gasping for breath.
"Any idea how to get these off?" he asked them.
"If we knew how," grumbled Apate, "don't you think we would have done it?"
Dolus wheezed. "I don't want to pledge myself to that fool Pirithous," he said, "but your sister is correct. If he asks again...I'm not sure I'll be able to resist. You have to free us."
"Then there's the little matter of you two being the gods of trickery," Hazel noted. "How do we know you won't turn on us? Or just kill everyone, including our friends?"
Apate glanced up. Like many gods, her face was unearthly, beautiful and terrifying at the same time, but her desperate expression struck Nico as very human.
"You tried to warn us, Hazel Levesque," said the goddess. "You alone understood who we were, even when we weren't telling the truth. We will not harm you if you help us. Look at me. Am I lying?"
Hazel narrowed her eyes. "No. I don't think so. But honestly, I would help you anyway. No one should be chained like this."
"Strongly agree," Dolus said. "Especially when it's me."
Nico stood and hefted his sword. "That just leaves the question of how. Hazel, stand back...."
Semele spoke in his mind: That isn't...
Nico brought his blade down on one of the chain's links, using his own strength combined with Semele's. Stygian iron met Stygian iron with a horrific CLANG! Sparks of pure black energy sprayed across the pavement, sizzling as they fell on the gods' skin. Dolus and Apate both howled.
The impact made Nico's body vibrate so violently that the cacodemons reemerged from him, dropping to the ground with startled sounds of Eep, eep, eep! . . .
going to work, Semele finished.
"Huh," Nico muttered. "That knocked the Cocoa Puffs right out of me."
"Is that a euphemism?" Apate asked
"No, it's...never mind. Thought it was worth a try."
"Well, it wasn't!" Dolus protested.
All across the plaza, the battle was heating up. The imprisoned mythics had made a hole in Pirithous's lines to the east. Arielle and Quinoa were shepherding them through it while Asterion guarded their retreat, fending off a pursuing squad of dracaenae with help from Johan, Orcus, and a few stalwart Laistrygonian allies. The baby drakon was locked in combat with one of Pirithous's largest Cyclopes. Smaller skirmishes spread across the entire park, and it was not at all clear which side was winning. The three Underworld gods—the di inferi—were busy summoning an army of the undead, which wasn't going to help matters.
Worst of all, Nico's attempt to break the chains had gotten Pirithous's attention.
"Stop them!" screamed the judge from his well-guarded pedestal. "Go! Go!"
After a moment's hesitation, his Cyclopes advanced, followed by the red-robed skeletons with their two-pronged spears.
"Frank!" Nico called. "Don't let those bidents touch you. They weren't set to kill when the skeletons teleported their victims to the plaza, but I don't think we'll be so lucky this time."
Frank scowled. "Bidents?"
"Yeah, you know!" Nico fought down his impatience. "Poseidon has a trident. The two-pointed ones are bidents. They're symbols of Hades. They tend to be pretty nasty weapons."
Will looked back at him as if wondering whether Nico was joking. "Bident sounds like a bisexual breath freshener," he said. After a beat, he added, "And actually, I kind of want that now."
"Hello?" called Dolus, reclaiming Nico's attention. "Chained gods here?"
"Right," Nico said. "Ideas?"
Hazel turned up her hands. "Maybe...we hit the chains together?"
"No!" yelped Apate. I have a suggestion, Semele said. The entire council of gods had to agree to put Prometheus in chains. To unlock these chains, we may need a council.
Nico relayed this message out loud. "Only problem is," he added, "we don't have a council of gods."
Defiance made a sneezing noise. The Puff hopped over to the nearest chain link, opened his mouth wider than should have been possible, and began chewing on the Stygian iron.
Dolus leaned away from the Puff. "Wh-what is that thing? I have never seen anything like it!"
"It's a cacodemon," said Nico. "Specifically made from me. It's a long story; I'll tell it once we get you free."
Dolus stared at him in disbelief. "But then it's a kind of daimon. Like Apate and me. They're gods. Very, very, very minor gods, perhaps. But still technically gods!"
Hazel gave Nico a skeptical look. "A council of Cocoa Puffs?"
Even with Semele's life force added to his, Nico felt like he might pass out. His cute little demonic emotions were...gods? The implications were too much for him to handle. On the other hand, they were running out of time.
"Incoming!" yelled Savannah as the Cyclopes barreled toward them.
"Nico, now would be good!" said Will, who fired off an arrow that bounced off one of the Cyclopes's knees.
Nico felt Semele once again taking over his voice. He didn't fight her.
"I will help," she said through him. "Dolus, Apate—I am Semele Thyone. Do you know that name?"
The twin gods looked at her—looked at Nico—with total shock. He didn't know what Semele was talking about. The details of her life were all jumbled together in his brain. But clearly, the title Thyone meant something to the gods.
"You...how?" Dolus said.
"A story for another time," said the eidolon through Nico. "If I free you and you betray us...you will regret it. I take it you are familiar with my son?"
Apate started to shiver, and Nico didn't think it was from the agony of the chains this time. "We would never betray you. Him. Any of you! Just please, free us!"
Nico had questions now, but he put them aside. He felt energy course through him. He placed the tip of his blade against one link of the chain, right next to the spot where Defiance was chewing.
"Cocoa Puffs," said Semele, "I summon you to a council of judgment. Shall we break these chains and free our fellow gods?"
The Puffs yipped and howled, hopping over to join Defiance in gnawing at the chain. Nico pushed his blade downward against the Stygian iron link. It cut like butter.
Pirithous couldn't possibly have seen this from so far away, but he must have felt it somehow. He screamed, "NO!" and fell to his knees.
The Cyclopes and skeletal guards charged Frank, only steps away.
The chains of Prometheus burst, one link after another, like a string of firecrackers, until the shackles fell away smoking from Dolus's and Apate's necks.
The gods stood shakily, gasping for air.
"You—actually did it," Dolus said.
"You saved us!" Apate said.
"Now help us!" yelled Nico/Semele.
Nico was hoping for some vaporizing and extra-crispy exploding. Instead, the twin gods locked their eyes on a news helicopter that was now circling the park. This would all be on the evening news, Nico imagined, and soon racking up millions of views on every social media platform.
"First," Apate said, "we must heal the Mist."
"It's time for some deception," Dolus agreed. "I do love deception."
The two gods faced each other and locked hands, moving closer until their foreheads touched.
"You are my counterpart," said Dolus.
"You are my other half," said Apate.
Smiles spread across their faces. The air pressure dropped. A mighty BOOM! knocked Nico off his feet.
Suddenly, the park was strangely quiet. Nico sat up, his head swimming, his vision blurry.
The Cyclopes who'd been about to attack Frank were gone. So was Frank. And Hazel. And Will. Nico struggled to his feet. Panic rose in his chest.
"What did you do?" he demanded of the gods.
But Apate and Dolus were also missing.
"Meow?" said a tiny voice from the spot where Hazel had been. Nico blinked. He looked down. Rubbed his eyes. Then he scanned the entire plaza.
Where there had once been a raging battle ofgods and mythics, there were now hundreds and hundreds of small, furry, cuteanimals. The entire park was full of house cats.
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