Nyx’s garden was exactly how Nico remembered it. The opposite of Persephone’s garden – something beyond death, beyond rot, beyond life. Every branch of every tree and bush was twisted and
gnarled like a bad nightmare, and all of it clicked and chittered with the sound of trillions of swarming insects.
Small Bob let forth an anguished cry and ran to his friend. Nico followed, overwhelmed by the sight of Bob inside one of those disgusting pods. He dropped to his knees at the base of it.
‘Bob,’ he said. ‘I’m sorry it took me so long.’
Nico watched Will approach the pod, his hand outstretched. He laid it gently on the bulging surface and hummed.
Inside, Bob thrashed about, and Will jerked away.
‘He’s still alive,’ said Will. ‘But … this isn’t like the other pods.’ Nico wiped the tears off his face and stood. ‘No, it’s not,’ he said.
‘Look.’ He pointed at the transformation.
Within the regeneration pod, Bob was not just trying to escape. He was
changing. In one moment, he was Iapetus, his orange jumpsuit in tatters, his wild white hair pulled in every direction. He opened his mouth and
screamed at Nico and Will, but they couldn’t hear anything.
Then, in the next moment, Iapetus was torn apart.
Will gasped as they both watched. The Titan was nothing more than a
soup of flesh and threads, and then he slowly coalesced. His uniform – the one Hades had given him after he’d become Bob – began to stitch itself together. Bob’s body formed next, muscles and sinews stretching, and then there he was, his silver hair parted down the middle and softly glowing.
‘Bob,’ said Nico, and he placed his hand on the membrane. Bob did the same, and for a moment they made a connection. You came, he said. My sun and star.
Of course I did, Nico replied, unsure what the other part meant. We shouldn’t have left you down here.
I didn’t know if you’d heard me crying out to you.
Nico laughed. Well, the prophecy was a nice touch. That made it easier.
Bob startled. What prophecy?
Bob pulled his hand back, and Nico heard his cry of pain as he was torn apart and remade into Iapetus. The Titan screamed in fury.
Once he was Bob again, Nico reestablished the connection.
Get me out of here! Bob begged.
Nico unsheathed his sword and stepped back. ‘Watch out, Will!’ he cried, and then he raised his Stygian iron blade and brought it down swiftly on the pulsing membrane of the regeneration pod.
The blow promptly bounced off.
Nico was thrown back by the force, and he landed on his butt. Hard.
‘You’re kidding me!’ he screamed. ‘How is that possible?’
He got up quickly, then thrust the point of his blade at the pod. It was like trying to stab concrete.
‘This doesn’t make sense,’ Nico said, lowering his sword to his side. ‘How?!’
‘Let me try,’ said Will, and he raised both his hands and placed them on the pod. He hummed a low melody, which rose in volume. Will stopped for a moment and glanced at Nico. ‘You should cover your ears.’
Nico complied after sheathing his sword. Even with his ears plugged, he heard the piercing note that rang from Will’s mouth.
But still nothing happened.
Bob pressed his agonized face against the membrane. His lips were moving, so Nico placed his own hand back against Bob’s.
You need to get out of here! It’s dangerous!
We know, Nico replied. We know Nyx is behind this. But Bob was shaking his head. No, not just her.
This time, Nico spoke aloud. ‘It’s not Nyx?’ ‘What?’ said Will in alarm.
It is, said Bob. But they’re coming. You need to leave.
Nico backed away from the Titan, his heart racing.
Will was in his face. ‘What, Nico? What did he say?’
He didn’t have time to answer. They felt the rumble beneath their feet,
and Nico spun around, trying to locate where it was coming from. The dark, bitter garden stood still, except for the leaves that fell from the trees with
each roll of thunder.
‘Nico, what’s happening?’ said Will, panic on his face. ‘Is that Nyx?’ ‘He said “they’re coming”, whoever “they” are,’ said Nico. ‘We don’t
have much time. What are we supposed to do?’
‘I don’t know! Those other pods … I broke them by accident when I used my power. So I don’t get why it’s not working now!’
‘And my sword is Stygian iron. I don’t get it, either.’
Bob – now as Iapetus – pressed both of his hands against the side of the pod. He was mouthing something to Nico, and Nico rushed forward,
slamming his own hands against the membrane.
My sun and star, he said again.
What? said Nico. What does that mean? It must be both of you.
Then the Titan shrieked as he was torn apart again.
Bitter, frustrated tears poured down Nico’s face. This couldn’t be it. This couldn’t be how they lost.
A terrible roar echoed from somewhere in Nyx’s garden. ‘Nico, what was he saying?’ asked Will.
It must be both of you.
Nico pulled his sword from its sheath at his waist, and it glowed. It
hummed.
There was another roar. It was closer.
‘Will, he said it has to be both of us,’ said Nico.
Will hesitated at first, but an epiphany dawned in him, and his eyes went wide. ‘Together,’ he said.
He reached out and wrapped his hand around Nico’s, the one that clutched the hilt of the sword.
They pointed it at Bob’s regeneration pod. And Will began to sing.
It was his mother’s song, the one Nico had first heard earlier in this quest.
But this time, as each note left Will’s mouth and echoed through Nyx’s
garden, it illuminated him. Will burned with the brightness of a thousand suns, and that energy passed through Nico, through his Stygian iron blade.
Will sang, and Nico burned. He burned like a red giant, a star ready to explode and engulf all of Nyx’s realm.
The blade grew longer until the tip of it pierced the membrane of the pod, and Nico cried out as he sliced downward, sending goo gushing
everywhere. As Bob slid out of his fleshy prison, complete with his broom, Nico and Will let go of the sword, which smoked and clattered to the ground.
Bob used his wide broom to push himself to his feet, and he coughed up the nasty goo from the pod. Nico and Small Bob rushed to his side, not
caring that their friend’s overalls were dripping with slime. Nico wrapped his arms around Bob’s shoulders and squeezed.
‘You’re free!’ he said. ‘You’re free, Bob.’
Bob breathed heavily, his whole body shaking. ‘You listened to me,’ he said, dropping the broom so he could gather his cat into his arms. ‘Thank you.’
‘I’m just sorry we didn’t get here sooner.’ ‘What about the other one?’
‘What?’ Nico pulled back. Bob pointed.
Nico turned to see Will doubled over, panting. ‘I’m fine!’ he called out, then stood upright. ‘Just a little tired.’
Will’s eyes widened as he looked past Nico. Nico spun around.
It was Nyx, her smoky wings raised in the air and her body swirling with darkness, and Nico could easily imagine that she was wearing the most horrible smile on her void of a face.
‘Welcome back, Nico di Angelo,’ she said. ‘I’ve been waiting for you.’ She folded her wings …
… to reveal an army of monsters waiting behind her.
