Page 139 of The Court of the Dead
“No,” he said. “This is not happening.”
He realized that Dolus and Apate hadvastlyovercompensated with the Mist. His senses had gone from fully prepared for Mist, to overexposed with no Mist at all, to completely unprepared for extra-heavy Mist. His brain had Mist-lash. Was that a thing? All he knew was that when you have to guess which cat is your boyfriend, you have a problem.
Nico, Semele said,I know I told you to lose your Puff. Now I think you shouldfindyour Puff.
“Yeah…yeah, you’re right.” His hands trembled, but he started walking around the pavement, picking up cats. “Defiance?”
“Meow.”
“Defiance?”
“Meow.”
How was this possible? Was everyone in the park seeing the same illusion? Nico looked very human to himself. What did he look like to everyone else? Maybe they were all wandering around, picking one another up and wondering if this kitty was a friend or an enemy. Or maybe the fight was still going on and Nico just couldn’t see it.
Finally, he hefted a huge black Maine coon. “Defiance?”
The fluffy sack of fur bared its fangs and hissed.
All around Nico, the change was instantaneous. The cats vanished. Now he saw a park full of mortals, mythics, and minor gods standing around and looking confused. Many were grabbing at the air or dodging unseen threats, like each person was wearing a VR headset and playing a different game.
Defiance, once again a toothy ball of darkness, purred proudly in Nico’s arms.
“Demigods!” Nico called out. “If you can hear me, grab a Cocoa Puff!”
Everybody just kept playing their virtual-reality cat games.
He spotted Will, leaning over Lavinia, combing through her pink hair like something important was hidden in there. Nico grabbed Loneliness and pressed the Puff into Will’s hands.
Will gasped. His eyes cleared. “Nico? What—”
Duck!warned Semele.
Fortunately, Nico had a mental connection to her. He understood that she meantHit the deckand notLook out, there is an actual duck attacking you, because either scenario was genuinely possible. He tackled Will and they dropped to the ground as a harpy swooped down at them, her talons extended.
Whether the harpy actually meant to attack them or was lost in some illusion, Nico wasn’t sure, but she flew on, screeching in outrage.
“What the actual Hades?” Will grumbled.
“You okay?” Nico asked.
“Yeah. I mean…under the circumstances? I think Dolus and Apate went too hard on the Mist.”
“Just a bit.” Nico scanned the crowd. There—hovering over the biggest fountain—the twin gods were waving their arms like symphony conductors, laughing as confused mythics ran into one another or tried to fistfight with lampposts.
“Can you get the Puffs paired off with our friends again?” Nico asked. “I have some gods to strangle.”
“On it,” Will promised.
Nico ran for the plaza, dodging and weaving through hallucinating crowds and holding his Puff like a football.
A telkhine rushed at him, snarling and snapping its teeth, but Nico bounded out of the way. He didn’t want to attack anyone he didn’t have to. He couldn’t be sure which mythics were friends. For all he knew, the poor telkhine just thought Nico was a particularly vicious house cat.
He stumbled, trying to leap over the baby drakon. Defiance tumbled out of his arms. The world shimmered. Nico lost his balance and slammed sideways into a tree. When the yellow spots of pain faded from his eyes, he found himself in a nightmarish new illusion.
Standing next to him was a lady in the most stereotypical witch costume he’d ever seen—long black cloak, pointy hat, warty prosthetic nose, and a straw broom in one hand. She was yelling at a guy in a cheap plastic Superman outfit.
“Hello?” she screamed.
