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Chapter Text

In the end, it takes Nico four tries and two years to find him. Anyone would have given up after the second time, but he didn't. He couldn’t.

 After Jason's death, he had swore on the Styx that he would find a way to end the War. (Yes, Jace, I promise, he says crying and holding his best friend against his chest, I promise for you.) Many ideas had come and gone. Mortals, demigods and gods alike had attempted and failed to defeat Gaea, but everything was useless.

Now, a few months after Hecate, one of the few deities that still supported the Alliance, had been captured this was the only Hope.

Nico felt like laughing, but his throat was too dry to do so. Here he was, in his fifth trip through Tartarus because most of the Seven and the Olympians were dead, Mother Earth had taken her crown back, the whole planet had been submerged into a daily Armageddon at her hands, and the Pits of Hell weren't so bad as everything was up there.

Gods, Nico had seen friends and entire families perish, had seen Gods brought down from their thrones, had been there when Olympus crashed to Earth. Nico had witnessed firsthand how Gaea had risen, had seen how the mortals tried to sent their stupid nuclear weapons at her and watched them despair as they did nothing.

Since Percy and Annabeth had died down here ( it still hurts to think of them, fuck), Tartarus was the least scary thing Nico could think of.

Plus, on the Third Ride through Hell it started to lose its spooky flare.

Anyway, here he was, finally, next to Kronos´s Sarcophagus and the Titan himself chained to it.

And the first thing Nico can think of is woah, and this guy had such a powerful card in Mythomagic?

The Titan groans like he could hear what Nico just thought. The Son of Hades rolls his eyes. Please, as if Kronos could scare him after everything Nico’s seen in the past decade.

“So, it seems my brothers were saying the truth.” The titan says. “The Demigods are so desperate that they think I could help. And who are you, even? I thought Mother had killed most of my grandchildren out of spite.”

“My name is Nico Di Angelo, Son of Hades.” He replies, because that is the only thing Gaea will never be able to take from him, his name and parentage. “And yeah, we´re pretty desperate.”

“Death Breath´s son?” Krono laughs. “At least he could do something right, if he had a spawn with enough guts to come down here. Heard he didn't put up that much of a fight when the Giants took over his realm.” A shiver runs down Nico´s back. Kronos notices this, a wicked smile forming in his lips. “Oh, I guess you still remember that? Rumor says that you and one of your infernal cousins were the ones leading the Underworld´s defenses that time. Tell me, little Hellhound, how does it feel watching your home fall to the hands of your own kin?”

Nico´s grip tightens on his twin Stygian Iron swords. He needs to be strong.

‘He will play games with your feelings.’ Luke Castellan’s ghost had told him. ‘He will try to get into your mind and use your emotions against you if you give him the chance.’

“Bad.” Nico answers sincerely. “But probably not worse than being overthrown by your own children twice , and getting chained to the edge of Chaos by your mother because you failed her.” Kronos's smile disappears. “Thought so.”

“Give me a good reason to not kill you right where you stand, hero.”

“You can't do that.” It´s Nico´s turn to smile. “I´ve got the Fates’ Blessing for this quest, I cannot die until they say I can. I'm basically immortal, or how did you think I managed to cross this place these many times to find you?”

“The Gods are really desperate, aren't they?”

“Pretty much.”

‘However, my father also appreciates a sharp tongue and wit.’ Hestia had explained . ‘There is only one way you will manage to convince him, and it will be with words, not with your sword.’

Kronos laughs again. “Then, what exactly do you expect me to do, little Hellhound? Don´t you think that if I was more powerful than my mother I would have already freed myself and taken my place as rightful ruler?”

“Gaea has killed and trapped all those that represent a treat for her.” Nico starts with the speech he never really thought he would need. He can almost see Hazel´s concentrated face, as the two tried to put together the words he would speak to the Titan. (He misses Hazel the most in the lonely days in Tartarus, almost as much as he misses Bianca.) “She kicked the Olympians out of their thrones and conquered the three Kingdoms belonging to them: Atlantis, the Underworld, and Olympus. She has murdered most of Humankind with the help of the Giants, as well as destroyed the Two Camps and New Rome.”

“Why should this bother me?” Kronos interrupts. “Not watching your stupid world crumble is the thing I regret the most after regaining my physical form again just to be chained.”

“But.” Nico continues, glaring at the Titan. “This has completely messed up the balance of the World. She broke the Equilibrium of Existence by killing the Gods, wiping out the Mortals, and most importantly, imprisoning you.” Kronos frowns, his attention finally caught. “Nemesis and the Fates think that she needs to be taken down, and even Primordials like Nyx agree. The power has gone up to her head, so much that she is even menacing the Giants, her children that helped her build this wicked empire. And tell me, Grandfather .” Nico can´t help but feel that by calling Kronos that he just seriously violated the word. “Don´t you feel angry? Or jealous? You helped her when she was sleeping, you've proven yourself as a mighty enemy for the Olympians. You would have won if it hadn't been for that Traitor, Luke Castellan. Don´t you think that it should be you, Kronos, Slayer of Ouranos, Lord of Time and King of Mount Othrys, the one who rules the World?”

Kronos glares at Nico, but the demigod can sense that he is analyzing what he just said. “You speak pretty words, Grandchild .” Yep, another violation of a term referring to family. “However, how do you want me to defeat Gaea? If you couldn't even stand against her with two Camps of Demigods and Legacies united, how do you want me to defeat her? Plus, what do I get if I help the stupid Fates with their plan?”

“You get your throne back when Gaea is asleep again.” Nico says. “With Zeus and the rest dead, only you are left to rule.”

Kronos smiles. “How am I sure that if I help you, you will give me back my throne?”

“I will swear, in the name of the Fates and the Alliance of Gods, Demigods and Mortals, that you will.”

“Swear it by the Styx then, little Hellhound.”

“You´ve got to help us first.”

Kronos laughs. “You are smart. At least Death Breath didn’t waste our blood in dumb children like the rest of our family. But, again, how do I know you will keep your word?”

“How do I know you will keep yours?”

The Titan sighed. “Fine. I'll go first: I swear on the River Styx that I will help you with whatever is that you need, as long as you keep your word to me.”

Nico was relieved. Now, it was the time to say the correct words. Hazel and Hestia had analyzed the words he was meant to say if he wanted for the plan to actually work, as it should if Kronos and he did everything right. This was the moment. No mistakes, Di Angelo, if you say something wrong it can all go badly. He has made too many promises that have failed  to keep over the years, but this one and Jason’s, can't join them.

“I swear on the River Styx we will give you back your throne when Gaea is asleep and the Olympians stand death with their mighty thrones destroyed, as long as you, Kronos, help us and keep your word.”

Kronos seems pleased. Nico has a knot in his throat.

Relax, Nico tells himself, if everything goes according to plan, you won´t need to keep that promise.

“There, hero.” Kronos says. “What do you need me to do?”

“I need you to send someone back in time.” Nico explains yet again, because yeah let´s ask Kronos to send someone back in time to fix this clusterfuck has been the stupid plan all along.

Kronos has this you´ve-got-to-be-kidding face, like everyone when Nico told them his brilliant idea.

“That's it?”

“Yeah.”

“I think I will take back what I said about your father not wasting our blood.”

“Hey!” Nico hisses. “If you got a better idea, Kronos, I´m open to suggestions!” Kronos considers this, and then lets out an exasperated sigh. Nico smirks. Told you so. “Now, We will have to discuss who you will have to send back, and how we can cut your chains. Hestia and the Fates have been considering using-”

“I will send you back.” Kronos stated.

 “-What?!” Nico shouts.

“I will just send you back, Nico Di Angelo.” Kronos repeats. “You were the only one that was brave enough to come here and ask me. Plus, you were the one that swore. My deal is with you and you only.”

“But- I mean, I don't think I am not really the best option!” Nico starts to complain. His plan was to send someone back like Hazel, or one of the Gods. Someone powerful, and smart. Not him! Not that Nico isn´t smart or powerful, but… (He thinks of seeing his friends again and how much he would cry if he did, he thinks of how broken he is because he is the definition of the word, he thinks of how useless he was when the Seven died, when Chiron was taken prisoner, when his Father was killed) No. Just no. No way in Hell.

“And I will send you now.”

“Now?!” Nico´s voice reaches an impossible high. “That wasn't the deal, Kronos!”

“You never specified, just as you didn´t in that swear of yours.” Kronos smirks. Oh shit. “Do you think I was born yesterday? You wouldn't have me in the throne, you would have chained me just as Gaea did.”

“I wouldn´t!”

“You are quite courageous though, little Hellhound. So I will send you back. Congratulations, you will be an official time traveler.”

And Nico couldn't talk, he couldn´t protest. His hand loosens on his swords, and he is lifted up in the ground. Gods, he should have known this was a bad idea, he should have known it would have backfired. Now he will die, he will never see Hazel again, he will never get to tell her goodbye, he will never keep that promise to Jason, and he will never watch Gaea fall and avenge Percy, and Annabeth, and Piper and Reyna, and everyone who fell.

Because this is how Nico Di Angelo ends, with the Fates’ Blessing or without it.

A weird fuzzy feeling starts to go around him, making him dizzy.

“I will send you to the moment that changed your life. This will be the only gift I shall ever give to a Demigod, just because you've impressed me with your valor.”

His eyelids are heavy, and he starts to close his eyes.

“Use this well, little Hellhound.”

The last thing Nico Di Angelo sees of that Timeline is Kronos’s wicked grin. Then he is enveloped into the purest pain he has, and will, ever known.

Chapter Text

Nico is absorbed by a vortex, full of colors and shades so bright that they're almost burning. Is he floating, or is he standing? He doesn't know, he just closes his eyes but all he sees are memories.

He sees his mother in Venice, he sees his father holding him up while Bianca laughs, he sees a timeless hotel, and he sees a bus full of monsters. He sees himself as a child, watching his older sister for the last time, as sea green eyes promised him that he would protect her. He sees Minos and the Second Titan War, he sees himself commanding an army of the undead for the first time.

Then he sees Hazel, holding his hand as he takes her to Camp Jupiter. He sees Percy, hanging from the edge. He sees Jason, touching his shoulder after Croatia. He sees his friends, he sees their deaths, and he sees the moment Pasiphaë tells them the Golden Couple is dead, that Leo had decided to stay in Ogygia.

Nico sees the End of the World replay on his eyelids, he sees the Battle of the Underworld, and his father holding him close one last time, before sending him and Persephone back to the surface. He sees Jason’s smiles disappear after Piper was captured, and he sees his last one, directed at him seconds before his last breath. Nico sees Tartarus, and he sees Kronos. He sees all that over and over again, and it’s a worst torture than the Phlegethon´s fire water burning his throat.

He doesn't know how long it takes him to get back to his senses. It feels like an eternity, but it feels like a few seconds too.

The vortex stops spinning as suddenly as it appeared, and Nico is taken into a deep sleep.

When he opens his eyes again, his body feels lighter, smaller, and horribly wrong.  He is standing in a hall that is tall and vaguely familiar. A man is behind him, dressed all in black, and someone is holding his arm tightly.

Nico loops up, and the face he sees makes his eyes widen. A girl with silky black hair and olive skin, a splash of freckles on her nose. Her eyes are black as Obsidian, and she is taller than him.

“Bianca?” He asks, his voice too high pitched.  He knows his sister, he will know her on life and death, and she is right there, someway somehow, she´s there.

"Nico, shut up!” Bianca orders, her eyes fixated on the door. Her grip tightens on his arm. Nico can feel her shaking. He looks around. Where is the man in black?

Then the door is opened, and a boy stands there, with a bronze sword, messy hair, and sea green eyes. Both, Bianca and Nico stare right at him, for different reasons. Nico feels his eyes water.

It can´t be. It can´t be him, because Percy Jackson has been dead for 6 years.

But somehow he is there, and Bianca is there, and Gods, Nico wants to cry. He wants to cry and hug them both because he loves both so much and he has missed them even more. He wants to cry, and he wants to watch TV and eat a burger for some reason- What is happening to him?! He has better control on his emotions than this; he is an adult, goddammit!

Percy advances slowly, lowering Riptide. “It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you. My name´s Percy” He says. Nico sees a flash of black pass at the corner of the hall. Reality comes crashing back at Nico. "I'm going to take you out of here, get you somewhe-"

“LOOK OUT!” Nico yells at top of his lungs. Bianca jumps, but Percy turns around just in time to dodge the man´s spike. Percy yelped as another spike shot toward him, just barely managing to block it with Riptide.

A dark silhouette moves toward them. Nico finally sees the man´s face as Dr. Thorn steps into light. "Thank you for coming out of the gym, I hate middle school dances." Percy swings the sword at the manticore, and Nico remembers what´s supposed to happen next. His own battle instincts kick in, and he pushes Bianca way, just as a thorn impales on the wall.

"All three of you will come with me," Dr. Thorn said. "Quietly. Obediently. If you make a single noise, if you call out for help or try to fight, I will show you just how accurately I can throw."

Well, shit.

He weighs down his options. He's got no weapon, and his body is too small for having a real fight. He isn't sure he can even shadow travel, or open a crack on the ground. Also he is scared, even though he shouldn't be, but he is scared and panicking and logic is promptly flying out of the window.

Percy has his arms crossed, with a frown on his face. He is shaking. Nico furrows his brows. He wants to offer him his jacket, but it would be too small for the Son of Poseidon. Bianca isn't any better. She is also shaking, and keeps looking at Nico, preoccupied.

Nico looks around the woods, trying to remember. What's supposed to happen next? Dr. Thorn takes them to that cliff, and then the others come to help them, just before the Hunters arrive, and Annabeth falls into the cliff.

A solution appears in his mind. Thalia and Grover are coming, and also the Hunters, so he doesn’t have to worry. He just needs to make some time!

Dr. Thorn says. “Halt!” The woods open up, as they reach a cliff overlooking the sea. Nico could feel the ground below his feet, seriously unstable. Dr. Thorn pushes Percy and Bianca toward the edge, and Nico feels his heart racing. Dr. Thorn takes out a cellphone, and starts talking on it.

“How do we fight that thing?” Bianca asks.

“I´m thinking.” Percy furrows his brows. “We could jump off the cliff, into the sea.”

“Super idea. You're completely nuts.”  Bianca glares at him.

 “I've got an idea.” Nico says. The other two stare at him. “I'll distract him and then…” Then we wait for Percy´s invisible girlfriend and friends to appear. “…Then one of you gets him from behind!”

 “That… That could actually work.” Percy replies. Bianca tries to protest, but it's too late.

 “Hey, s-sir.” Nico speaks up, his voice wavering. He takes a deep breath, and speaks again. “Hey, sir, what kind of monster are you?” Both Percy and Bianca stare at him like if he’s just digging his own grave. Nico gives them both his best confident smile, which looks weird because he is ten and shitlessly scared. “‘C-cause like, I´ve got lots of monster cards in Mythomagic, but I don't know what you are. Surely a powerful one!”

“I'm a Manticore.” Dr. Thorn replies proudly, putting his phone in his pocket.

“Woah, really!” Nico does his best to fake wonder. “That's so cool! Manticores are similar to a sphinx. They´ve got three thousand attack power and plus five to saving throws!” He asks himself how he remembers that. “They also come from Persia! Do you really have the tail of a scorpion?” Bianca continues to look at him weirdly, but Percy is already taking out the pen from his pocket. Nico can feel Annabeth´s presence already there too.

“Yes I do.” Dr. Thorn puffs out his chest. “But I'm much better than a sphinx.”

“Do you think you can show me?” Nico asks. Bianca shakes her head furiously. “Or could you tell me more about Manticores, they’re one of my favorite cards!”

“You’ve got excellent taste in monsters, but sadly I can't right now.” Dr. Thorn says. “Your transportation has already arrived.”

Just as Nico hears the helicopter getting louder, an invisible force knocks them into the ground, just as Thalia and Grover attack Dr. Thorn from behind. Thalia charges at him with her spear. "For Zeus!"

The fight goes quickly. Dr. Thorn transforms completely into his monster form, as he fights Thalia. He throws more thorns at her, but she blocks them with her shield. He pounces at Thalia. Magical weeds start to grow, wrapping the monster´s legs, as Grove plays his flute. Dr. Thorn roars, thorns flying in all directions.

“Get down!” Annabeth cries out, as Percy´s own shield appears. Nico pushes Bianca into the snow, as Percy covers them from the projectiles. Grover is launched into Percy, making both fall on top of Annabeth.

“Yield!” Dr. Thorn orders.

“Never!” Thalia stands up, her spear still on her hand. She runs toward him, when a thunderous noise and a blaze appear behind them, the helicopter coming into view. While Thalia is distracted, the monster knocks her with his tail, sending her shield and spear flying.

“No!” Percy calls. He runs to cover Thalia with his shield. It won't be enough. They are trapped between a monster and a helicopter.

Dr. Thorn laughs. “Yield, little heroes, it's hopeless!”

Then Nico looks at Thalia's spear. It's close enough. Then he looks back at Bianca, who is shaking.

Nico´s fists clench and he feels furious all of sudden.  He won´t let them take everything away this time. He will protect his sister and protect his friends.

He stands up, and runs toward the spear. “NICO!” Bianca yells. Thorns follow him as he runs, but the adrenaline caused by his streak of courage and anger don't let him stop. He grabs the spear, and then turns around toward the manticore. A few spikes fly toward him. Nico rolls, dodging them. He comes to his feet and starts to run again, holding the spear with both hands. The manticore groans, and Nico jumps. He stabs the spear into the monster. Dr. Thorn roars in pain.

For one second Nico´s eyes meet Percy´s, who can´t believe that he just did that. They’re the same eyes he saw just before Percy let go of a rock, falling into Tartarus. They’re the same eyes which he disappointed, the eyes he couldn't save- Gods, Nico wants to cry again.

Then a furry leg throws Nico away. He hits the hard ground, and pain invades him. His head feels fuzzy again, and his eyelids heavy. He sees Percy one last time, just before a hunting horn blows in the woods, and Nico is swallowed by darkness again.

Chapter Text

Nico is standing next to a column. He feels young, but not young enough. He is holding his Stygian Iron sword in one side of his belt, while a scepter hangs in the other. His aviator jacket is missing. He is cold, even though the sun should be warming him up.

When Nico opens his eyes, they feel tired, and Jason Grace is next to him. “You sense something?”

“Percy is close to the Door of Death.” Nico replies and it feels like if he’s had this conversation many times before. “But something feels… odd. He needs us there if he's going to make it out alive, and quick. We must depart soon.” He doesn't mention Annabeth, but Jason doesn´t say anything about that.

“We can´t.” Jason says. “We have to wait for Leo. Lord Auster said -”

“I don´t care what Lord Auster said! I promised I will lead you to the House of Hades.” He interrupts, because no matter what he will keep that promise. He won't break it, especially not for the Son of Hephaestus. “One way or another, I will. With or without Leo.”

“You can’t shadow-travel with all of us.” Jason continues, though he looks annoyed with Nico. “And it will take all of us to reach the Doors of Death.” We need Leo, is what he tries to say, but Leo isn't any closer to arriving there than he was a day or a month ago.

And Nico feels angry. He feels angry and frustrated, and just a tiny bit desperate. There is something horribly wrong going on with Percy, they need to get to the House of Hades quickly, but he can't explain why. Nico just knows that they need to hurry, that Leo is only keeping them waiting. The scepter glows purple, like if it could feel what Nico feels. “Then you better find a way to get Leo here!” He yells. “I didn’t come all this way, suffer this many humiliations for nothing! We need to get to the House of Hades, before it's too late!”

Jason furrows his brow, like he is scared for a second. Nico immediately regrets raising his voice. He wants to apologize, tell Jason that it's okay, that he doesn´t need to feel threatened by Nico. That Nico will never hurt Jason, that he could never do that.

But Jason's face softens at him, and then he smiles. Because Jason also feels something is wrong, that there is something in the air that shouldn't be there, he is pretty sure everyone is feeling it, but that doesn't mean he should let it bring him down.

“It won't be too late.” Jason says. “You just have to wait. He'll show up. We’ll rescue Annabeth and Percy from Tartarus, and send Gaea back to her sleep. It will all be alright.”

Nico looks at him. He wants to say it won´t be alright, that it will be the farthest from alright that they can get.

But Jason looks hopeful, because Jason always did. Jason kept being optimistic; he kept thinking that things could get better. He believed that Gaea could be taken down, that the war could end, and that the world could be back at peace again.

And that's what Nico honestly missed the most after he died. Nico missed that stubborn hope Jason had that kept him and everyone going on, even after the Seven failed and after Olympus fell. Because that's what made Jason a natural born leader, what made people look up at him in the darkest of times. Hazel had the same spark of rebellious hopefulness, just as Percy did.

It’s a thing of being Children of the Big Three that comes along with the powers and problems. Below all his broken pieces and layers of defensiveness, Nico knows he has it too, that spark. After everything, he still believes. He still believes he can fix things and save everyone, that he still can do it for Jason, and Hazel, and Percy. After all, he keeps fighting for his friends, and will continue to do so until his last breath.

Nico returns Jason the smile, and instead of telling him that Leo is never showing up, and that Percy and Annabeth are already dead in Tartarus, he simply says this:

 “You know what? Maybe it will be.”

Nico wakes up with someone nagging his shoulder. He's told Hazel and the Stolls countless times to stop waking him up before midday! He had just made it through Tartarus, Gods. Can’t the world just give him a nice sleep?

“ Hmmph…” He says, curling up closer to his pillow. The person keeps nagging him. He groans. “Leave me alone…”

Then something splashes into his face. He squeals, and jumps away from the bed. “WHAT IN THE NAME OF HADES-” Then Nico looks around. He is inside of a silver tent, and a girl with golden locks and a baseball cap stands next to his bed with a half empty glass of water. She looks like Annabeth, but she can't be Annabeth because she is too small to be Annabeth. Plus, Annabeth is dead. Unless… Nico looks at his hands. “Fuck! I'm still ten!”

“You are ten?” She asks, smiling. “Going by your size, I would say you were younger. Thalia couldn´t believe it when you grabbed her spear and killed the manticore with it.”

“Hey!” Nico glares at her. He might be small, but his pride is still the same size. “I´ve killed monsters four times my size, for your information.” Or well, he will kill them, he guesses.

“Really?” Annabeth sounds more skeptical than anything. “Then you and your sister should know are half-bloods by now.”

“Yes, she does…”  Of course Hazel knows! She's known for a long while- Then reality catches up with Nico. “Bianca!” He jumps again, trying to get out of the tent. His whole body is aching and dizzy. There are some bandages wrapped around his head that feel weird while wet. “Where is Bianca? Where am I?”

“Relax, Nico.” She says, her voice softer than before. Nico raises his eyebrows at her. “You are still in the woods; the Hunters of Artemis have placed a camp here for a few hours. Your sister and Percy are speaking to Artemis, you are safe.” The Hunters , Nico feels relieved for a second.

The Hunters, along with the Amazons, were part of the Alliance. They fought fiercely in the Fall of Olympus, after Artemis´s demise. The silver girls would roam through the Headquarters of the Alliance, new members joining them every week. They were a special unit all by themselves, with Thalia Grace leading them into every mission or battle. The last time Nico saw Thalia was months ago, before Nico started his fifth trip through Tartarus. She had kissed his forehead, and gave him a hug. “If you don´t come back, Corpse Breath, it better be because your dumb plan worked!”

The Hunters were Nico's friends, his allies. He had fought by their side. He had even stopped blaming them for Bianca´s death- Oh no.

No, not again.

Nico gets on his feet, and tries to reach the outside of the tent. He tumbles down, and Annabeth has just enough time to catch him. “Whoa, calm down! What's wrong?”

“She can't join them!” He cries, trashing on Annabeth's arms. “Bianca can't join the Hunters, I´ve got to tell her!” Annabeth frowns. “Let me go, I need to stop her before she makes that stupid oath!”

“Nico, it's okay, she isn't going to join-” Nico pushes her away before she finishes. Annabeth lets him go, and he dashes out of the tent. It's cold outside, he's wearing only a shirt, and the bandages make his head feel even colder, but that doesn't stop him.

“BIANCA!” He yells. He loses his balance again, falling on the snow this time. Some Hunters look at him weirdly, but he keeps calling for his sister. “Bianca!” He is screaming at the top of his lungs.  He looks around, but all the tents look the same. Gods, Bianca can't join the Hunters this time, she will die, Nico has just gotten her back, she can´t-

“Bianca!” He is in tears right now. He has only cried a few times in the last years, when someone close to him died or a meaningful battle was lost. That didn't stop him from weeping like a baby, though. “Bianca, where are you?!” All the fuss causes the rest of the set-up camp to stop what they are doing to watch him. Annabeth comes out of the tent, embarrassed, and tries to pick him up. Nico resists. “L-let me go! I need to find my sister-”

Annabeth is glaring at him this time, the way you usually do at petty children. “Nico, you are throwing a tantrum-”

“I don´t care!” Nico couldn't care less if he is throwing a tantrum. If someone deserves the privilege to throw one, it's him. “I want my sister, where is she?!”

One of the tents opens up, with Percy, Bianca and Zoe Nightshade coming out. The Huntress looks particularly disgusted by Nico´s behavior, while Percy just seems annoyed. Bianca furrows her brows, and walks toward her brother. She takes him from Annabeth´s arms, who gladly gives him up.

“Nico, what's wrong?” She says. Nico buries his head into her sister´s shoulder, sobbing. “Nico, it's okay, I´m here-”

“ Don't join them .” He clings at her desperately. “Please, Bianca, don´t do it, you´ll die, and you´ll leave me alone. Please, don´t do it, I will do whatever you want, I swear I will, but please, please, don´t leave me again …”

Bianca narrows her eyes. “How do you know that?”

“I-I…” Nico pauses, letting Bianca go. He gulps. Nico looks right at his sister´s eyes, and blurts the first excuse that comes into his mouth. “B-Bianca, the Hotel! B-Before the Hotel, Father told us things… H-He…” He is the God of the Underworld, and erased our memories in the River Lethe, and you won't believe half the shit we can do with our powers. “H-He s-said the Gods were real, that he was one, Bianca, I remember now! He said t-that the Hunter´s w-were gonna get you killed if y-you joined them…”

“He said that about my Hunters?” An auburn haired girl walks toward them. There is a kind of aura around her, cold but bright, like the Moon. Bianca looks up at her with the same wonder Nico had when he saw a McDonald's for the first time, like it’s proof that Heaven exists. Nico himself just feels his face swallow back all his tears. “I might just turn your father into a jackalope for that kind of insult.” The Goddess of the Hunt tells Nico with amusement. “And you must be the boy that killed the manticore before my Hunters arrived.”

“Artemis-” Nico stands up, his bare feet touching the snow, and he wipes his tears quickly. Bianca stands next to him, as he holds her hand firmly. Nico blushes slightly, embarrassed by how awful he must look while shaking with puffy and red eyes. “I mean, m-my lady!”

“Do not fear boy.” She says. Her voice is just as her aura, beautiful but gelid. “I will not hurt you, nor will any of my Hunters. Take this as a thank you for helping us in our task. The manticore was not what we were looking for, but you have given us a great advantage to track down our actual prey.” This takes about two tons of pressure off Nico´s shoulders. He sighs in relief. The last thing he needs to do is anger a Goddess, especially such a powerful one like Artemis. “Now, would you mind telling us why your sister must not join the Hunters?"

Chapter Text

Not for the first time in his life, Nico was convinced that he was an idiot.

“Our father n-needs her, my lady.  She can't m-make an oath to you.” He had said.

“And who, if I may ask,” Artemis replied, and that was the moment Nico realized a slip of tongue could get him turned into worse things than a jackalope. “Is your father?”

“I don't know who.” He had lied again. “But… but I know this… He is a Son of Kronos.”

Gods, he was such an idiot. He could have died, for the second time in less than 8 hours! What was happening to Nico, he wasn't usually this reckless! Stupid and selfless heroes get killed, he had learned this the hard way. The only way to survive is to keep a logical stand, without throwing your life out of the window every five minutes.

Nico turns at Bianca, who is sitting in the middle of the Sun-Chariot Bus, away from the Hunters but far from him too.

“The choice is your sister’s, and only hers.” Artemis had said. “If it's her wish to join the Hunt, your father can not do anything about it.”

“I… I will think about it.” Bianca had said, before letting go of Nico's hand, disappearing into one of the tents.

Nico had the sudden urge to slam his face into the window. Gods, he was so stupid. All this was new to Bianca, she probably didn´t know how to deal with her smaller brother knowing more about the Demigod World than she did. Well, at least she hadn't made the oath yet. No, no, no matter how dumb it was Nico doesn´t regret intervening. If he had to watch Bianca die again when this time he does have a chance and the power to save her-

Then the bus crashes down and lurches upward so fast that Nico falls from his seat, his face smashing into something soft but cold.

“Aw- what the-” Nico mutters. His head has taken enough beatings today too. He looks at what he crashed. His eyes widen, and he jumps away, getting into his feet as quickly as he can, freaking out. “OH MY GODS, I´m so sorry, for real, it wasn't my fault I swear-”

Percy Jackson rubs his back as he gets away from Grover. Annabeth managed to stay on her seat, grasping firmly the front one, while Apollo was behind Thalia. Percy looks at Nico weirdly. “Hey, it's okay.”

“Slower!” Apollo tells Thalia.

“Don´t worry, I have it under control-” Thalia is interrupted by the bus slowing down too fast, throwing everyone backwards, and Percy lands on top of Nico, shortly followed by Grover.

“Uff-” The air is knocked out of Nico. Percy pushes himself and Grover off the smaller boy. Nico rolls away, curling in pain. At this rate I won't even make it to the end of the Second Titan War , he thinks.

“Sorry!” Now it's Percy's turn to apologize. “… Nico?”

It's okay , Nico wants to say, but his body hurts too much to properly speak at the moment. Percy´s eyes turn worried for a second. He helps the younger boy up, putting him into one of the seats like he weighs nothing. Nico doesn´t even freak out about it. Grover takes the seat in front of Nico, staring at him worryingly.

“Nico, are you okay?” Annabeth comes closer, walking toward his seat. Nico´s eyes feel watery but he nods. He hears footsteps behind them.

“What happened to him?” His sister asks, concerned. Bianca turns to glare at Percy. “If you did something to my brother-”

“It wasn't my fault, I swear!” Percy raises his hands defensively, repeating the words Nico said just moments before. “It was an accident because Pinecone Head can't drive!” Percy turns around to glare at Thalia for a moment. She is too busy trying not to crash the bus to care. “I think we knocked the air out of him, though. Don´t worry, he'll be fine-”

“You Seaweed Brain!” Annabeth calls at him. “You´ve got to be careful, he just suffered a minor contusion saving you from the manticore.”

“I said it wasn't my fault!” Percy replies.

“Move.” Bianca says, her eyes turning fierce for a second. Percy swallows whatever he has to say and moves obediently. Bianca taps Nico on the shoulder. Nico scoots over a little bit, and she slides into the corner of the seat. Nico curls up next to her. Annabeth sneers at Percy too, and then she takes the front seat with Grover. Percy huffs and sits on the opposite row of seats, right behind Apollo and Thalia.

Nico allows tears to stream down his face, and he lets his head fall into Bianca’s chest. She wraps her arms around him. It's soothing, and the warmth helps. Nico sniffs.

He is tired. His head hurts, his feet hurt, and so does his ribs.  He is cold and it's hard to breathe, and he is just exhausted.

“Please don´t leave me, Bi…” He mutters. Bianca sighs.

“Don´t worry, Nico.” She says, her voice almost as tired as Nico feels. “I don't think I can.” Nico suddenly wants to cry harder, but he doesn't. He simply puts his arms around his sister, and stays like that for the rest of the ride.

Annabeth was speechless. She had thought that she would never find a boy who charged as stupidly into danger as Percy Jackson, but she was mistaken apparently. Annabeth was impressed, and just a tiny bit curious of what kind of problems Nico Di Angelo would get into when he was older.

Truth to be told, she had been impressed by the boy a few hours before, when he charged at a manticore with only a spear. Annabeth had also been grateful then. Thalia and Percy, two of the most important people in Annabeth's world, had been between a rock and a hard place. Nico hadn’t only killed a manticore, he had saved both of Annabeth's friends. That's why when Bianca asked someone to watch over her brother while she was away, Annabeth had volunteered. It was a tiny thank you for killing the manticore, she guessed, taking care of him while he recovered from a minor contusion. This, she had to admit, hadn´t been a great idea later, when Nico escaped from her grip and screamed until his sister arrived.

Annabeth had been embarrassed at that point. If a Daughter of Athena couldn't keep control over a ten year old boy, then what good was she? (To be honest again, something told Annabeth that not even Zeus would have kept that kid from getting to Bianca, but that doesn't mean she shouldn't have tried harder.)

It wasn´t until Nico stood up, holding his sister´s hand, and talked back to Artemis that Annabeth was sure that this boy would take Percy's place as ‘Selfless Idiot of the Year’.

“She can't m-make an oath to you.” This boy, who was 65 pounds of shaking and scared, told an Olympian, maybe not in the exact words, that she couldn't take his sister. That he wouldn't let her take his sister.

Well, At least Nico had the decency to be cordial and respectful to the Goddess . (Percy could learn a little bit of him, especially when talking to Olympians).

And there he was, the same tiny boy who had just recently killed monster that even 3 experienced demigods couldn´t, curled up next to his sister because the stupid Son of Poseidon had to go and knock the air out of his small body.

Annabeth rests her head in her arms, as she looks over the seat at the two siblings. Nico has red and puffy eyes, and he is sniffing silently. Bianca´s hand in on his hair, and she looks like she wants to cry too.

She sighs, and wonders what god could possibly father these two, and just what it meant to have more Children of the Big Three for the war.

As Nico gets down off the bus, the only thing he can think is woah, this place is beautiful. It was snowing softly, frost covered the ground and the fields. The Cabins had Christmas lights, just as some trees around the area. Even the Big House was into the Yule spirit, with decorations on the doors and windows. A sudden wave of melancholy invades Nico, shortly followed by one of regret.

He clenches his fists.

It has been years since he has stood at Camp Half-Blood, never truly staying on it. Nico used to avoid it as if it were the plague, only coming when he had absolutely no place to stay or was injured and couldn't explain to the hospital that he didn't have papers because he was born during the 20’s. During the War with Gaea it had been destroyed in the battles between the Greeks and the Romans, shortly before Gaea was awakened. One of the things Jason regretted the most was not being able to save it.

“It was amazing, Nico.” Jason had told him once. “And it wasn’t only that, it was fun, relaxing.. It felt like home, like you could just stay there forever, going up in the Climbing Wall and chilling at the Cabins.”

Truly, now Nico understands what Jason saw in it. As he breathed the air, he could feel the essence of welcome and safeness.

He should have spent less time running away because of his feelings and more time enjoying the things that he had, especially Camp.

Guess I can do it now , he thought.

“Woah.” Bianca says next to him. Nico turns at her. She is climbing out of the bus, followed by Annabeth, Grover, and Percy. The Hunters are already out- Zoe and Thalia are talking to Apollo. Bianca furrows her brows for a second. “Is… Is that lava pouring out of that climbing wall?”

“Yes.” Annabeth replies.

“Little extra challenge.” Percy adds, surely trying to smooth things over after knocking the air out of Nico. Not like Nico is mad about it, but Annabeth and Bianca seem to be. “Now we have to introduce you to Chiron.” He looks at Zoe and Apollo, who are walking toward them. “Zoe, have you met-”

“I know Chiron.” Zoe cuts him, glaring. “Tell him we will be at Cabin Eight. Hunters.” The Hunters turn at her, ready to follow her orders. “Let’s go.” They leave, Grover quickly following behind them. Nico feels Bianca stiffen next to him. He turns at her. She looks at the Hunters dreamily, but she stays in place.

“Take care, sweethearts!” Apollo waves at the Hunters, a smirk on his face. The god turns back at Nico and his sister, his smirk directed at them now. Nico blushes slightly.

Truth to be told, Nico had always found Apollo handsome, in the way most teenage boys with a leather jacket are. Cocky and proud, yet gentle and charming at times. Nico remembers him, how he aided them in the War of Gaea. He and Artemis were the first Gods to join the remaining Seven, once the news of Percy's and Annabeth's deaths were known. Nico had had a hard time trying not to blush like a school girl and make a fool out of himself when the Sun God winked at him or flirted on the Argos II. Everyone else on the ship had found it pretty funny though, even Artemis would snort at the flustered Son of Death.

Nico had missed a lot the company of the twins when Olympus fell.

Now, however, Apollo doesn´t have any reason or wishes to flirt with a ten year old, so he just grins at him. “Good luck finding who's your dad and all that. And Bianca, don´t join the Hunters, I hate it when pretty girls do that.” Now it was Bianca´s turn to blush. “And look out for those prophecies!” This time, that was directed more to all the present demigods in general.

“What do you mean?” Percy asks. Apollo winks at him.

The god hops back into the bus. “Later, kids!” He closed the door and revved the engines, the vehicle turning back into a sports car. It blasts, followed by a bright light of heat, and it disappears into the sunlight. Everyone just stares at it with wonder.

“Now, we go to Chiron.” Annabeth says, as the sun starts to come up.

“Who´s Chiron?” Bianca asks. Nico wants so badly to tell her that he is a centaur that has trained the greatest heroes of Mythology, and now babysits demigods and plays cards with Dionysius. Sadly, Thalia beats him to the pleasure.

“He is a centaur, and our activities director.” The Daughter of Zeus says.

Bianca´s eyes widen. “W-what?”

“He is really nice, don´t worry.” Percy reassures her. “Then we will probably give you the tour around Camp.”

Bianca doesn't look reassured at all, but she follows the others. Nico stays another moment looking at the dawn over the snowy camp. He smiles softly at the sky, because he swears he sees a small red Maserati going through the sky.

Chapter Text

When they entered the Big House, Nico was thankful for the warmth. He smiled, breathing in the smell of hot chocolate and fire. After weeks of the odor of Tartarus, and hours spent in the snow without proper clothing, the Big House stood almost as an Elysium.

Chiron and Dionysius sat on the parlor, playing cards. Nico's small relief passes quickly, replaced with grief for a second. Chiron.

Gods, Nico had missed him so much. After the fall of the Underworld, Chiron had taken Nico and Hazel under his wing, as well as Jason. He had led multiple battles, fighting alongside the Demigods he commanded, and he later sat with them, patching them up with Hestia. Chiron had been the tie maintaining the Alliance together. His capture had been a great hit for everybody, only beaten by Hecate´s.

And there he was , sitting in his wheelchair, smiling, wearing a fuzzy sweater and holding a cup of coffee in his hands. Nico wanted so badly to hug him and cry again, let his teacher tell him it was okay.

Hades, there was no way Nico could do this. There was no way he could watch the faces of his fallen friends without breaking down.

“Nico, are you okay?” Bianca asks him softly, as Chiron greets Annabeth, Percy and Thalia. Nico nods. He notices Dionysius staring at him weirdly, like he could feel something the others could not. Nico shivers. “If you are cold, I can give you my jacket.”

 “No it's not that, it's just that…” It's just that everyone I've ever loved and is dead is here and well, and I'm trying hard not to sob like a baby. “I… I will tell you later, Bi.” Now, Bianca is the one looking at him like if there was something suspicious about him.

Right in that moment, Grover decides to come in. Nico sighs in relief. The satyr has a black eye and a slap mark on his cheek, but by his smile it is Christmas already. “Hunters all moved in!”

“The Hunter, eh?” Chiron glances at Percy and the others. “Just what kind of trouble did you get into trying to get the Di Angelos to Camp?”

“Not much.” Thalia replies. “We just got attacked by a manticore.”

Chiron furrows his brows worryingly. “A manticore?”

“Yeah, but don´t worry.” Percy adds. “Nico killed it.” The centaur´s eyes widen, and Dionysius´s glare turns from suspicious to impressed.

“Perhaps you should all sit down,” Chiron says. “And tell us the whole story.”

“Well, at least you didn't have to watch the Orientation Film.” Grover tells Bianca. Nico is grateful for a second, because that had been awful last time.

They stay at the Big House for half an hour. Nico tries to be interested in the discussion about whether or not the manticore has to do with Luke Castellan´s plans. He already knows all this, but he can't tell them that he does, so what's the point?  Still, he thinks he won the respect of Chiron and Dionysius as Annabeth tells them how Nico killed the manticore. He blushes, because even Bianca looks a little bit proud of him for that. At the end, Chiron tells Thalia and Percy to inform the Campers that there will be a capture the Flag tomorrow evening. Nico feels sort of excited about that, because this time he will know how to use a sword. Maybe he will continue impress the others.

Then Annabeth gives him and Bianca a tour around the Camp. Nico is yawning at the end of it. Annabeth smiles at him, and tries to make the trip as brief as she can.

Annabeth had always been nice to him, and Nico had respected her even when he had been jealous of her. She was a great strategist, and a skilled fighter. Her plan during the Battle of Manhattan had been flawless, and her wit had been missed during the war with Gaea. After her death, Nico had to admit his guilt for her had turned into admiration and longing. The Golden Couple had stopped being just people and had turned into a kind of ideal, an example of what the Alliance was fighting for in later years. To see her and Percy in the moment just as kids, and to see Annabeth explaining the Camp and trying to make the siblings smile, was… nice.

Maybe they would get along in this timeline, maybe they could even be friends. Nico wouldn´t mind. He was even starting to look forward to it, even.

Nico yawns again. Annabeth and Bianca both look at him like if he were the most adorable thing in the world. Which he is not, by the way.

“What?” He asks, frowning.

“Nothing.” Annabeth says, with a grin on her face. “And here we are, finally, at the Cabins.

There are 12 cabins, on a semi circle, not the 24 on an Omega shape that Nico remembers. He frowns. The Hades Cabin isn't there, yet.  The plans and expectations of showing Bianca their Cabin are blown away with the wind. He had seen them both so clearly, sitting on the dark beds with Hazel with them, as a family. Nico´s insides twist. Hazel isn't there yet either.

Gods, Bianca and she would have loved each other so much. Hazel would have been so happy to meet her sister.

“You two will be staying at Cabin #11, while your god parent claims you.” Annabeth says.

Cabin #11, Cabin of Hermes. That means… Oh no.

Annabeth doesn't even need to knock on the door before a pair of nearly identical faces are on the porch, greeting her with twin smirks.

“So you've bought new campers for us, Annabeth?” Connors asks, smiling and putting an arm around her as Travis walks around Bianca. Nico curses in his mind. There is no goddamn way he is spending another winter with only the Stolls for company again. The two Sons of Hermes are the single most annoying people he has ever had to deal with in his life. The only reason they had stopped bothering him each time he came to Camp was because he had turned 15 and was suddenly more intimidating than Clarisse La Rue. There is no way he is taking these two again now that he is ten and barely 4 feet tall. “We´re Travis and Connor Stoll, we are the Counselors of Hermes Cabin.”

“They are Bianca and Nico Di Angelo.” Annabeth introduces them. “They are unclaimed.”

“Daaw, look at this little guy.” Travis moves towards him and pinches Nico´s cheeks, as Bianca and Connor try not to laugh. “Why are you frowning, little guy? Aren't you excited to be a half-blood?” Kronos didn´t sent Nico back in time for this shit.

“I would be careful if I were you.” Annabeth grins. “This little guy killed a manticore all by himself.”

“He?” Connor says incredibly. “Nah!”

“Actually, he did.” Bianca replies. “With a spear.”

“Yeah.” Annabeth says. Both brothers stare at Nico, who nods. “Ask Percy or Thalia. Or the Hunters. They saw him.” Travis lets go of his cheeks and back away from him slowly. “Well, see you at breakfast in a few hours!” Annabeth waves at them and then leaves.

Connor and Travis invite Bianca and Nico inside. They show them their respective beds, since there is no one else in the Cabin but them. Nico yawns again. Connor and Travis try to get more information about the manticore from Bianca, who gives it to them. Nico leaves the bag with his clothes next to his bed, and gets under the covers to sleep while those two keep Bianca busy. It's been a long day, and Nico has gained his right to sleep.

The bed feels nice, and the sheets are warm. Nico closes his eyes slowly, as he hears Bianca’s laughter.

Luke Castellan enters into a dark room, surrounded by the faint sound of the sea around him. In the center, there stands a golden sarcophagus, with black pictures of the atrocities of mankind embedded into it.

 “You called for me, master?” Luke asks. He has blonde hair, and a scar on his face, a reminder of why he is fighting his father and the Gods he serves.

 Luke Castellan stares at the sarcophagus with a mixed expression of fear and admiration.

“Yes. There has been a change in plans.” A raspy and familiar voice says. Kronos. Luke walks closer towards the sarcophagus.

“We won't capture Artemis then?” Luke replies.

“No, we will.” Kronos tells him. “But something happened, two more Children of the Big Three have come, and they represent a bigger threat than Perseus Jackson himself.”

“But how?” Luke says. “Unless… The Di Angelos.”

“Yes. The children your manticore failed to bring to us.” The room quivers with the wrath of the Titan. Luke´s breathe hitches in worry and shame. He looks down at his feet. It's his own fault, this. Two Children of the Big Three would be useful for the cause. He should have sent a more capable monster than Dr. Thorn, or he should have gone himself.

“The girl, Bianca.” Luke says. “Will she be the one of the Prophecy?”

“Sadly, no.” Visions appear next to the Sarcophagus. Luke sees Percy riding a black Pegasus, then Percy standing on Olympus, then Percy in full armor, with a golden dagger on one hand, fighting Luke. “Jackson is the Demigod of the Prophecy, it's been meant that way since it was given. I know that now, the timeline and its course extend before me as a trail. Your stupid plan of tricking the Daughter of Zeus into killing the Ophiotaurus won´t work.” Luke clenches his fists at the mention of Thalia.

“Then what do we do?”

“Time and its course have been changed, altered by a Son of Hades and a thing he asked for and was given, in exchange for an oath.” Kronos says. “It's Nico Di Angelo right now, not Jackson, the one that represents the biggest threat for not only our cause, but to the world itself.”

“I…” Luke furrows his brows. “I don´t understand, master. What do you mean?”

“You´ve heard of time travelers, surely?” Kronos asks. Luke nods. “Let’s say we've found one in our own timeline.”

More visions appear in the sarcophagus. First, of a boy with olive skin, dark hair, and obsidian eyes, holding a black sword commanding an army of the Undeath. Then, it's the boy turned into a man, as he stands in Tartarus, his eyes wild, as he conquers all odds. At the end, it's the man turned into a boy again, as he holds a spear and kills a manticore.

“Fear him.” Kronos says. “For he might be the most powerful mortal, for the Fates have blessed him like they haven't for millennia.”

Luke looks up at the sarcophagus, puzzled. “Master, what do we do now?”

“We use him, of course.” The Titan replies and Luke can hear him grin. “He has an oath to fulfill, and not even the Fates can keep him from it. Olympus will fall by the hands of the one that has come to save it. Tell Atlas. Capture the Goddess of the Hunt, let the demigods search for her, and when the time comes, let the Bane of Olympus do what it was meant to do.”

And now it's Luke´s turn to grin.

Chapter Text

The first thing Nico realizes about Camp Half-Blood is that the food is delicious. The meat of the hamburgers is amazing, and the french fries are salty and greasy, but just the right amount. And don't let him begin in the drinks! The nymphs are the best cooks ever.

Jason was right. He thinks as he loudly enjoys his breakfast. Jason was so very right.

“Gross, Nico.” Bianca gags as her younger brother shoves into his throat everything he can get his hands into. “Eat slower or you'll choke.”

“Gods.” Travis eyes go wide as he watches Nico go on his third hamburger. “It's like he hasn't eaten a hamburger before.” Nico just glares at him, but keeps eating.

Well, if you had spent weeks down in Tartarus you would be eating like this too.

“Who cares…” Connor replies, just as astonished as his brother. “How can someone so small eat so much?” He then turns at Bianca. “Is he usually like this?”

“More or less.” Bianca sighs. “The eating like there is no tomorrow is new, though.”

“Hey!” Nico protests. “I killed a manticore, I deserve as many hamburgers as I want!” The Stolls still can't believe he did that, and they just have this look every time Nico mentions it. Which he has done a lot in the last hours, since he is ten and no matter how much Nico reminds himself he is too old to act like a ten year old, he can't always help it. Even Bianca is starting to get annoyed by it.

“You still have to have manners while eating, Manticore Slayer.” Bianca grabs a napkin from the table and scoots closer to Nico, trying to clean his mouth.

“Bianca!” He tries to push her away, but she is bigger than him and force-wipes his face. “I'm not a toddler anymore.”

“Then stop acting like one!”

Nico glares at his sister, but his glare softens after a moment. His heart softens. It's been a long time since someone acted this way with him, and a longer time since a bigger sister did. He suddenly has the urge to do anything Bianca says just to see if she smiles or maybe gives him a hug or a pat on the back like she usually would- or does, he guesses- when he did as she said. Nico groans but starts eating slower.

Bianca couldn't look more triumphant, and the Stolls couldn’t be laughing harder. Nico blushes slightly. Then he notices Annabeth and Thalia on the other side of the Dining Pavilion looking like they also find him hilarious. Nico blushes harder and sinks into his seat.

Well, what a mighty Manticore Slayer, aren´t I?

After breakfast, Nico returns to the Hermes Cabin, and starts to think about what he is going to do exactly. He knows almost everything that will happen in the next decade, and no idea what to do with it. Nico has two possibilities: he can either tell someone about it and get help, or he can keep it all to himself and try to fix things alone.  Nico decides the first option is probably the best one, but who would he tell?

Olympus? No, Zeus would probably kill him on the spot. Annabeth and Percy? They’ll think he is insane. Chiron? There might be a chance he believes him, but Nico has nothing to prove he is a time traveler.

Nico groans loudly, because for the first time since Jason put his hand in his shoulder in Croatia, he is truely alone. It feels too much like Bianca´s death again, the despair of not knowing what to do, of having no one to help him. Nico will fail, after everything he will fail, he will never keep his promise to Jason, he will never-

Stop, there is no time to feel sorry for yourself, he thinks. You need to get your shit together, Di Angelo.

Nico takes a deep breath. And how am I even going to get it together? It isn't like I can put all my shit in a nice orderly list and then it will be together- That's it!

He grabs a piece of paper and a pen from there, and sits into his bed to write. A list isn't getting all his problems somewhere, but it's a start, he guesses. He puts a nice title in the upper part, and then he starts writing everything he needs to fix, going from not let Annabeth and Percy die to not run away from my feelings. Its a long list that takes the whole page. Nico feels proud of it. He then circles everything that important in the next three years, and he rewrites it into another paper.

The Stoll siblings and Bianca come later and grab him to go to Camp activities. Nico folds the paper and puts it under his pillow. He will come back for it later.

Things I need to Fix #3: 

Not let Bianca die in the Quest for Artemis

At the end, his first day (second-first day?) at Camp Half blood goes calmly, or at least better than it did the last time, he guesses.  There is the nagging sense of the Quest for Artemis in the back of his mind. He needs to find a way to get Bianca out of the Quest, or maybe she already is out because she isn't a Hunter? Nico has no idea, and no time to think with all the activities the Stolls push at him.

This time he does have the knowledge of how to throw a javelin, though not the strength. He misses the target for a few feet, but the Ares guy says that with a bit of practice they might make a good thrower out of him. Grover waves at him as he goes to get his javelins. The satyr is behind a bush, spying on some Hunters talking to, or rather fighting with, a few Aphrodite Kids. Nico waves back awkwardly, after a while of feeling weird about having him wave at him, meaning they probably are friends. 

Then, he gets dragged by the Stolls into cleaning stables duty, much like they did last time, but this time instead of testing the prank on Nico after cleaning, they actually ask him to help him set it into the Hunters cabin. Nico feels happy for a second, but guilty at the next one. He remembers the poor girl had nearly died last time from the prank. So instead, he convinces them to lower the grade of the prank, and just put some itching powder on the shirt. The Stolls call him a softie, but they end up doing what Nico suggested.

“Let´s say we will have an advantage over them in tonight’s Capture the Flag.” Connor told Annabeth during lunch. Annabeth looked at them suspiciously. Then she just rolled her eyes and asked them not to get Nico in trouble. She smiled at him, and Nico felt weird again. He just smiled back nervously and told her that he didn't need the Stolls to get into trouble.

He goes back again to Hermes’s Cabin. He takes a notebook out of his bag; it has a pirate on the cover but it's small enough for him to take everywhere, and continues drawing plans for what he is going to do with the Quest. Maybe he can get himself in instead of Bianca? He has skills that can be useful for the quest, he guesses. Plus, Thalia told him most of what happened, so he had a vague idea of how he could make things easier or better.

He writes and draws diagrams on the table, while the Stolls call him a nerd and Bianca keeps looking at him weirdly.

After lunch, he gets convinced by his sister to go with her to sword fighting. Nico knows the moves and the tricks, but the sword weights too much for him. Plus, the celestial bronze sword feels wrong in his fingers. He misses his Stygian Iron swords, but there's nothing he can do about them.  The instructor tells Nico to try a smaller sword, as he corrects Bianca´s grip.

“Who taught you to fight like that?” The Instructor, another Son of Athena, asks.

Ghosts and Experience, of course. “I watched some movies.” He lies. The Instructor shrugs.

“Well you are really good.” He compliments Nico. Nico blushes and looks away. He isn't used to being complimented. “You know, I think I will tell Annabeth to place you as the main defense, what do you say?” Nico nods, a tiny bit of him feeling excited. Bianca pouts behind the instructor. The boy turns at her and corrects her grip again. “Like this. Gods, maybe your brother can teach you a couple of things.” He notices Bianca looks slightly jealous of him for some reason. He doesn't know if he should worry about that or not.

After dinner, and eating another 3 hamburgers, Nico was getting really excited about Capture the Flag. The Son of Athena, his name was Isaac apparently but Nico can´t remember him from the War, had kept his promise. Nico was given a blue helmet and set into the main defense line.

Thalia and Annabeth were commanding one of the offense squads, while Silena Beauregard, it was also weird seeing her alive, was commanding the scouts. Bianca had ended up on the back defense, right with the Stolls and Charlie Beckendorf.

They were doing a team back, with Annabeth and Thalia instructing everyone what their tasks were, making sketches on the dirt with a stick, and marking everyone's places.  Percy protested about staying in the defensive, much like last time, and he and Thalia started an argument until Annabeth kicked in to calm them down. Percy glared at Annabeth for some reason. Annabeth looked away.

“We will place the flag on Zeus´s fists.” Thalia said. Chiron blows the Horn, and everything goes almost exactly like the first one. This time, however, Nico is standing right next to Percy as they watch Silena being chased by the Hunters while the rest head to the right, spotting Thalia.

This time, Nico knows what Percy is thinking, and what he was about to do.

“Can you guys hold the fort?” Percy looks at Beckendorf.

Charlie, it's good also seeing him alive, snorted. “Of course we can.”

“I'm going in.” Then Percy races toward the boundary line. Nico jumps away, grabbing his sword too, following him.

“Nico, what are you doing?” Bianca calls for him.

“Isn't it obvious? He won't be able to do it by himself!” Nico screams as he runs. “And, by the way, The Hunters might be coming from behind, look out for the arrows!”

He is heaving by the time he reaches Percy. Gods, I need to add ‘get back my great physical condition’ to the list.

“Nico?” Percy´s eyes widen as he runs by his side. “What are you doing here?”

“ I´m not letting you get all the credit, Jackson.” Nico gives him his best smirk, because even if he is ten, it doesn't mean that he won't try to leave a better impression with the Son of Poseidon this time. Percy smiles back at him and Nico feels butterflies.

Keep your shit together, Di Angelo, he reminds himself. Keep your shit together.

He hears fighting by his left side, and Nico’s instincts kick in. He has been in battles before, fighting and commanding them, the Hunters have nothing to make him afraid. This time, Nico smiles for himself. He feels confident, he can do this.

They continue running until they see a silver flag. There are only two guards there. Percy slams into one, and while Nico raises his sword and slashes at the other. Percy pushes his Hunter into the snow, while Nico's sword hits against the other´s bow, cutting it in half. Percy rushes toward the tree, and yanks the flag away from it. Both Hunters scream.

“Let's go!” Percy screams, and Nico follows. They reach about five yards when an arrow passes next to Nico. He squeals, as more arrows come. A silvery cord comes at Percy. Nico has just enough time to push him away, as the cord fastens against a tree. Nico sees Thalia, her light blue eyes blazing with anger.

They continue running, with arrows passing next to them, just as Thalia reaches them. “What are you two doing!?” She yells, with her shield raised up. Nico almost feels intimidated by her sheer anger.

“We have the flag, no time to explain.” Percy replies. Thalia groans, and the three run. They are near the creek, just a few more yards. They can hear the screams of both Hunters and other campers, as more arrows pass. “AH!” Percy yells as one hits him in the shoulder. He falls.

Then another arrow hits the ground, and a yellow gas comes out. Sulfur. Nico and Thalia start coughing, as they meet the ground too.

“No fair!” Thalia gasps for air. Nico’s eyes feel watery and his throat closes, but he sees a group of girls coming closer.  He looks at Percy, who has a bleeding shoulder, and is still holding the flag, now stained red. The Hunters are coming closer, and in the front, Zoe Nightshade holds an orange flag. Nico turns away. He can see the creek; he can see Chiron standing next to it.

Gods, if he could just… Maybe he could, maybe if he tried…

Nico coughs again. He crawls toward the Son of Poseidon, takes the Flag out of Percy's bloody hands. He stands up, using a tree as support, as he continues coughing, and lets himself be swallowed by the shadows.

Somewhere in Hell, its ruler's clenches his heart as he feels someone cross over the shadow realm. My son.

When Nico sees the light again, everybody is staring at him. No one is celebrating, even though that for the first time in 55 Capture the Flags, Camp Half-Blood finally defeated the Hunters. No one is cheering, no one is smiling, not even the Stolls. Thalia Grace doesn't scream at Percy, even though she could murder him at the moment, and even Zoe Nightshade stays quiet, even though she knows the demigods cheated.

No one dares to mutter a word, as twin black symbols appear on top of Nico and Bianca Di Angelo's heads.

Chiron raises himself, and is the first one to break the silence as he kneels.

“The Silent One, God of the Underworld and Wealth, Son of Kronos.” The centaur says. “Hail, Nico and Bianca Di Angelo, Children of Hades.”

Somewhere inside the Big House, the Oracle of Delphi opens her big and pupiless green eyes, a prophecy forming in her lips. She smiles.

Chapter Text

Six shall go west to the goddess in chains,

Two shall take her curse and its pain,

The loyal brother leads the path,

One shall face a father's wrath,

Temptation must one withstand,

The Bane of Olympus must not die by their hand.

Nico sits next to his sister. He looks around nervously. Everyone is muttering between themselves, angry and afraid. He turns at Bianca. She looks like she wants to cry, as she covers most of her face with her hat. Nico clenches his fists, and stares right ahead. There, on the other side of the ping pong table both Thalia and Percy stare at Nico. Thalia like she would murder him in that instant if that didn’t cause a war between their parents, and Percy like he doesn´t know if he should help Thalia kill Nico, or hide below his chair.

Cheers for having your shit together. Nico thinks. Well done, Di Angelo, you just fucked up the entire goddamn timeline.

Because they weren't supposed to be claimed, Bianca wasn't supposed to be the one to be given the quest.

“This is unfair!” Zoe Nightshade slams her fist into the table. “This… This Hellhound isn't even a Hunter!” She looks at Bianca like she couldn't stand to have her in her presence. Bianca looks down at the ground, pushing her hat lower. Nico sits straight and gives his best Thalia-glare at Zoe. “Why should she be the one to go save our goddess?!”

“She was given the quest fair and square by the Oracle.” Before Nico has time to stand up and throw himself at Zoe for disrespecting his sister, Annabeth intervenes. She looks at the Hunter with wide and fierce gray eyes, daring her to disagree with her. “It's Bianca Di Angelo, and only her, the one who has to take the quest with whoever she decides to take with her.” Nico smiles thankfully at her, but Annabeth just directs her glare at him. Nico sighs.

Well, it was nice having friends while it lasted.

“I think we’ve got little more urgent topics to discuss right now.” Thalia adds, as she continues to sneer at Nico. “For example that now Hades has two children!”

“Thalia.” Chiron says calmly. “This is not the moment for that topic,  we will deal with Bianca and Nico’s parentage after we have settled the issues for the quest.”

“Artemis is being held hostage!” Zoe exclaims. “The Hunters have no time to lose!”

“And who says the Hunters are going on the quest?” Thalia’s sneer turns toward Zoe. Nico almost wants to laugh because this feels exactly like the war councils of the Alliance. “I didn't hear anything about Hunters in that prophecy!”

“If we go by things we hear, Tannia,” Dionysius says as he flips the page of the magazine. “The only one going in the quest would be tiny Rico over there then. The loyal brother leads the path. ”

 “Of course I´m going!” Nico tells everyone, because not even Gaea herself is keeping him from this quest. The rest of the council doesn't pay attention to him, of course, and instead continues to watch the fight starting between Zoe and Thalia.

“The Hunters don’t need thou or thy stupid prophecy!” Zoe hisses. “We shall rescue our goddess by ourselves!”

“It's you or your. ” Thalia groans. “Nobody uses thou or thy , Zoe, get on with your times!”

 “Thalia.” Annabeth kicks in, with a way of forcing everyone to stay civil with each other only Children of Athena have. “Zoe, can you two stop? We have no time to lose.”

“I'm with Annabeth on this one.” Percy says, putting a hand on Thalia´s shoulder. She glares at Percy, pushing him away. Percy rolls his eyes and crosses his arms.

“Because she is right.” Chiron agrees. “We have no time to lose. We have until Friday, December 21 st , to rescue Artemis.”

“Oh joy.” Dionysius says with a tone that expresses nothing but the contrary. “Another dull annual meeting.”

Zoe’s eyes widen. “Artemis must be present at the solstice. She has been one of the most vocal on the council arguing for action against Kronos's minions. If she is absent, the gods will decide nothing. We will lose another year of war preparations."

"Are you suggesting that the gods have trouble acting together, young lady?" Dionysus asks.

"Yes, Lord Dionysus." Zoe says.

Mr. D nods and returns to his magazine. "Just checking. You're right, of course. Carry on."

“Artemis´s presence in the meeting is vital.” Chiron continues. “We have one week to find her, and possibly also the prey she was hunting. Now, we must decide who goes on the quest.” Chiron turns at Bianca, just as everyone in the room. Nico furrows his brows in worry. “Miss Di Angelo, who do you want to go with you?”

Bianca doesn´t look up from her hat, but she speaks, surer that Nico´s ever heard her. “The demigods that went for me to Westover Hall, one of the Hunters and Nico. That's who I want.” Then she stands up and leaves.

Things I need to Fix #19:

Tell people about the Things I Need to Fix at some point probably.

It takes two hours for Nico to find his sister- 20 minutes of the council trying to set at least a plan for the quest without Thalia or Zoe murdering each other or him, and the rest of the time for Nico trying to actually find Bianca. She wasn't in Hermes's Cabin, or the Pavilion,or the armory, or the stables, and also not in the woods. Nico is getting desperate because it's almost midnight and his sister could be anywhere. At least Chiron asked the harpies not to eat them if they find them.

“Bianca!” Nico calls for the hundredth time. He is walking near the Climbing Wall now. The lava is turned off at night, and it just looks like a really high tower. “Bianca, are you there?!”  He circles the wall, but sees nothing. Nico sighs and continues walking. Some snow falls over his shoulder and hair. He dusts it off, and screams again. “Bianca!” Nico walks and gets closer to the Amphitheater. There, he sees a silhouette sitting. “Bianca?”

“Leave me alone!” His sister replies, and Nico hurries toward her.

There isn't much light aside from a few torches and the moon, but Nico can see Bianca well enough. She still has her hat on, with her knees pressed next to her chest. She is also shaking. Nico’s brows furrow. He sits next to her. “Bi, what's wrong?”

“I said leave me alone!” She raises her voice. “Go away!” Bianca moves away from him, wrapping her hands around herself. Nico leans toward her, but Bianca scoots away. Nico´s heart hurts just a little. “Don´t touch me, you aren't Nico!”

“Bi, calm down, of course I´m Nico.” Nico tells her. He puts his hands on her shoulders. “I´m your brother, I´m Nico-”

And then she pushes him away with all her force. Nico falls down into the snow, his shoulder hitting the ground. Bianca stands up, and grabs him by the hem of his shirt, picking him. It's only then that Nico can finally see her eyes. They are red, puffy, but with the same deathliness of Stygian Iron.

For the first time in his life, Nico feels afraid of someone he calls family.

“You are not Nico, and don't you dare say you are him.” Bianca says, sharp but clear. “Nico doesn't know how to use a sword, or to teleport or do whatever you did in the Capture the Flag, and Nico would never have killed a monster like that. I have no idea who or what you are or what you did to him, but you are not my brother.”

It takes a moment for Nico to react, because for a few seconds he is absolutely terrified. He has heard Bianca utter those words at him so many times, listened to her and Hazel and Jason tell him that in nightmares, in the darkest corners of his fears. For a few seconds, Nico just feels his heart beating faster and his soul breaking piece by piece. It´s Tartarus again, it's Misery making his demons come to life before him, it's all his mistakes and his flaws that have placed him into this moment, and Nico just feels like he is dying, like he is already dead, because Nico fears nothing like he does rejection, that’s why he ran away, why he keeps running away, because-

It takes a moment for Nico to take all his feelings and bury them in the back of his mind, and react.

“B-Bianca, I swear it's me!” He says. He is shaking and scared. but he needs to put himself together, like he has in the past decade, because Bianca looks like she could choke him to death right then and there. “It's me, I am N-Nico Di Angelo. It's me but different, but it's me! I-I can prove it!”

“Do it then.” Bianca says. “Tell me something only my actual brother could know!”

“We are siblings, for the Gods’ sake!” Nico cries out, as her grip tightens. “Our mother was Maria Di Angelo, we grew up in Italy together!”

“Anyone could know that stuff.” She hisses. “Tell me something only Nico knows, something you would know if you were my actual brother. Do it!”

And for a second, Nico can see through his sister. For a second, he sees a girl scared and angry of a strange world, at the person before her. For a second, Nico sees just a girl desperate for her brother, desperate to know he is still there.

So Nico thinks. He sorts through all his memories, until he finds one only Bianca knows, one that no one else did, not even Hazel, not even Jason. A memory he buried deep, so deep.

And he speaks, even if his throat closes, and his whole being begs him to keep that memory where he buried it.

“Bi…” He says, and it's hard to talk. Really hard to talk. Talking suddenly seems harder than crossing Tartarus. “B-Bi, remember w-when we went to see t-that movie?” Nico feels small, but Bianca´s grip loosens on his shirt. He swallows and keeps talking, because he loves his sister more than he hates himself. “T-the one with all t-those explosions a-about some spies? Do you r-remember, Bi? It was the same day we s-saw those monsters on the bus?”

Bianca’s frown softens. “Yes. Yes, I do.”

Nico wants to curse, he wants to curl up and pretend it never happened, because even after all these years, even after so many reassurances from Jason and Hazel, there is still something pulling him back. Probably will always be, especially in moments like this. Moments when he is this vulnerable. “D-Do you remember w-what I-I… W-what I….” Nico clenches his fists, because he is seeing Eros again, he sees him with his arrows. He shoves the image away. Do it, Di Angelo, you are better than this, this doesn’t hold you back anymore. He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, accommodating the words in his mind “Do you remember what I said about the a-actor? I s-said that he was handsome. I s-said he was.”

“Aw Nico…” Bianca´s hands move from Nico´s shirt, to his shoulders. And Nico opens his eyes, and he sees his sister crying. He cries too. “Nico, it's you, it's you .” Bianca wraps her arms around him, as they both sit in the snow. “Sorry… it's just, you haven't been yourself lately.” Nico buries his head in her shoulder. “It's like I-I don't know you, and with everything happening so fast…”

“It's been a rough day.” Nico says, between sniffs. “I know. I know better than you think.”

“My brother kills monsters; my father is the God of the Underworld.” She wipes her tears with her sleeve. “I am a demigod, and now I’ve got to save Artemis…” Bianca laughs, but it sounds sort of off , like when you laugh at your own misery or at the impossible. “When did you even learn to use a sword like that?” Nico leans into her embrace. She is warm. It feels nice. “Or all those things you did today? I want an explanation…”

Nico laughs too. “You wouldn't believe me if I told you.”

“I saw you teleport and kill a monster.” Bianca deadpans. “We traveled in the sun chariot, and a centaur offered us a cup of hot chocolate. I would believe whatever you told me.”

For a second, in his emotional and fuzzy mind, he actually considers telling her.

“I shadow traveled. That's what the ‘teleporting’ is called.” Nico corrects her instead. “And it's a long story. Really long.”

“I'll listen.” Bianca says, resting her head on top of her brother´s.

“You sure?” Nico looks down at the snow. He grabs some with his hand, but it melts.

“I want to hear it.”

And the thing is Nico is tired, both emotionally and physically. Nico is really tired, and more than a little sleep deprived. So he makes a bad decision, and by that he means that he does what any ten year old would do, instead of what a mature adult would, and tells her.

“Okay.” Nico takes a deep breath. He looks up at the stars, because it's easier to look at them than it is to look at his sister's face. “Bianca, I… I come from the future.”

And then Bianca chuckles. “Right. Nico, tell me the real thing.” Nico stares blankly at her for a second. Bianca starts laughing. “Nico, you don´t come from the future! C´mon, tell me the actual thing, I want to know.”

“No, I´m telling you. I come from the future.” Nico tells her. Bianca grins again. “Bianca, really, I´m a time traveler. I come from the future where you died and the Apocalypses sort of happened...”

“Nico.” Bianca´s amusement turns into skepticism. “You know how I feel about lies and secrets. Just tell me the truth, I´ll understand.”

“But I am not lying!” He says, starting to get angry. Or Petty, depending on your point of view. “I´m a time traveler and I come from the future. That’s the truth!”

And the thing is that Bianca is also tired, and even more sleep deprived, so she considers actually believing him. Which is good, or bad, again depending on who's judging it.

“Okay, Nico.” Bianca replies, with the patience you show small children. “If you are a time traveler, tell me how the Apocalypse happens.”

And Nico does. He starts to talk about how things so far went around the first time, about how Bianca joined the Hunters. He tells her how she dies.

Bianca… She takes it surprisingly well. She jumps away, and looks horrified for a second, but she doesn't tell Nico to stop or screams at him for being a lair. She just stays quiet, and lets Nico continue.

So he gives her the abridged version, the short one. He tells her how he runs away and how he finds Minos. He even mentions his crush on Percy. What happens after Minos, during the Titan War, the Battle of Manhattan.

“So, our father isn’t so bad?” Bianca asks shyly. She doesn't mention Nico's crush, and he appreciates that. At least he is sure she accepts him just the same, even if she is looking at him like if he is crazy.

“He is nice, just gets really defensive.”

And the story goes on. Nico continues telling her about his life and how the War with Gaea starts, how the Gods´ personalities went nuts, about his internal struggle. He tells her about Hazel.

“Wait.” Bianca interrupts. “We've got a sister?!”

“Yeah! She is younger than me.” Nico explains. “She’s got curly hair, although she cut it short during the War.” Bianca looks at the stars dreamily, as Nico continues talking about Hazel. He tells her about her powers, about her personality. Some stories about her, how awesome she is.

“Do you think she will love me too?” Bianca asks after a while.

Nico smiles. “She will adore you.”

They go back to the story. Nico tells Bianca about Tartarus, about New Rome and Camp Jupiter. And Bianca… she starts to get interested. Nico can tell her isn't believing a thing he says yet, but she is curious. She listens to Nico talk. It's well past midnight, about one or two am, and Nico continues talking. Bianca asks things once in a while, especially if people got out alright (was Jason fine after the brick? Did they get hurt?) , or asking Nico to describe things (Can you tell me about Italy? How was it holding the Diocletian specter?) . She holds him closer as he explains how Percy and Annabeth died, how Leo never came back.

“But… what did you guys do?” Bianca frowned. “What happened?”

“We had to improvise.” Nico smiles the best he could. “The Gods that were mostly functional followed us, and we fought.”

He didn't tell her everything though. He didn't tell her how he couldn't sleep at night because of nightmares, of what he saw on Tartarus the first time. He didn't tell her how many friends he lost, how many fell, how it felt to watch Olympus crash on Earth, or how it was like to hear his father say his last goodbye, and how true despair feels like. He didn´t told her that Gaea couldn´t be taken down, because only Leo´s fire could burn her to ashes, that the Fates told them it was all doomed.

But he tells her about the good moments between the Cataclysm, about the campfires where demigods, gods and mortals sat down as equals laughing and eating, about the victories in battle where they actually stood a chance against the Giants, about Nico finally finding a family between the survivors and the rebels, about having somewhere he belonged, a place next to a someone.

“You miss him, don´t you?” Bianca says, referring to Jason.

Nico wipes off his tears, because somewhere along the way they started falling again. “Every day since he’s been gone.”

Bianca pulls him just a little bit closer.

And then he tells her how Jason died, how his last breath turned into a smile because he knew Nico would keep that promise. Nico tells her about Tartarus again, about searching for Kronos. About the vortex of memories, how he got there.

It's 4 am then, the sun would rise again in a couple hours.

“So, now I´m here.” He finishes off the story. “Now I´m here, and we are going on a quest to save Artemis.”

Bianca gulps. “Wow…”

“So.” Nico looks up at her. “Do you believe me?”

“I…” Bianca bites her lip for a moment. She sighs. “I guess I do? Or I don´t, it's complicated... Sorry, it's just…It's a lot to take in… I don't really know what to think.” Her frown returns to her face, but it's more melancholic than angry this time. “This means my brother is gone… That my Nico is…”

Nico sees as realization catches on with her and Bianca realizes everything around her has changed. For a second, she is on the verge of crying again.

“Are you okay?” He asks.

“Yeah. Yeah, I am. Sort of.” Bianca takes another deep breath. “Can we… Can we go back to the Cabin? We should really sleep at least a few hours before tomorrow.”

Nico stands up, and offers her his hand. Bianca looks at it, hesitating for a second, and that second makes Nico wish Kronos had just killed him, before taking it.

Chapter Text

When Nico wakes up, he couldn´t regret staying up late last night more. He also never wanted to punch Travis Stoll more in his life.

“Wake up, Ghost boy!” The Son of Hermes says, shaking him awake.

“Hpmhm…” Nico puts the pillow around his face, and rolls away from Travis. He doesn´t take it well, because the Stoll brother decides to grab his covers, and throw it away, with half of Nico´s body with it. “WHAT- Hey!” Nico is on his feet in a second, tugging his blanket away from Travis´s hand. “You give me back that!”

“Sorry, Neeks.” He smiles, tugging the blanket with force and sending Nico back into the ground. He yelps as his butt meets it for the second time in less than five minutes. “But Chiron told us to wake you two up early.”

“Apparently there is someone you should meet in the Big House before going to the quest.” Connor adds, dragging an equally sleep deprived Bianca with him. “Plus, we´ve got some gifts for the two of you.”

“Can they be going back to the bed?” Bianca yawns. She tries to return to hers, but Connor pushes her next to Nico to the floor. “Hey…” Then the Stolls go into their own beds, and start taking out things from the trunks next to them. Bianca furrows her brows and turns at Nico. “What are they doing?” Nico shrugs.

The Stolls come back holding two badly wrapped packages. They present them to Bianca and Nico like if they were their first-borns. Bianca looks at it, then a Connor. She takes hers smiling. Nico looks at Travis, who is smiling at him widely. Nico sighs and takes it.

“We give one of these to all the kids who get claimed but don´t have Cabins, which means they will continue to stay with us!” Connor explains, as the Di Angelos open their packages. “Kind of a Hermes Cabin tradition to welcome new kids, if you ask.”

“This usually includes cake, but since you two are going into a quest today, we will have to postpone that until you come back.” Travis adds, while Connor cleans a fake tear from his eye. “We hope you like them!”

Nico unwraps his gift, and what he sees make his heart warm and fuzzy. It is a Camp shirt, but instead of being an orange one with black letters, it is a black one with orange letters. Below it, there is the silver flag from yesterday, neatly folded. He takes both into his hands and looks up at the Stolls.

“We were saving those shirts for someone especial.” Travis tells them. He then turns at Nico and points at the silver flag. “And we thought it would be nice if you kept that, since you know, you won it.”

“Kinda sad no one cared to celebrate the victory, though.” Connor groans. “That would have made a great cake.”

Nico looks at the Brothers, with what feels a big smile on his face. He isn´t used to be given gifts, with the War and even before that, the only things he usually got where a pack on the back from his father and Jules-Albert, the zombie chauffer.  To think that someone cared enough to give a gift to make him feel welcome is…

Nico jumps to give Travis a hug. The older boy is surprised at first, but he then laughs and hugs Nico too. “Thanks.”

“No problem, buddy.” Travis says, just as Connor grabs Bianca and soon all them are in a hug.

It´s nice. Really nice.

 “Also, what is this?” Bianca asks after the hug, holding up a really old map in her hands.

“Oh, that´s a map with all the entrances to the Underworld in the country.” Connor grins. “We thought it would fit in since, you know, Hades is you dad and all.” Bianca´s eyes widen, but she slides the map into her bag.

After two quick showers, and one quick breakfast with the Stolls, the Di Angelos shadow-travel to the Big House. Zoe Nightshade, Annabeth and Thalia are already there. The three girls stare as the two siblings reappear in the porch out of the shadow of the door.

“Nico, Bianca.” Chiron says. He doesn´t look as surprised as everyone. “I´m glad you finally arrived.”

 “Sorry.” Nico replies. He is wearing the Camp shirt that the Stolls gave him, plus a borrowed coat from Hermes´s Lost and Found Objects. It´s too big on him, but he didn´t had anything else he could use for the cold.  “We had to pack again.”

“And pick some weapons.” Bianca adds. She is wearing the same camp shirt, but with her jacket and green hat. Her hair is loose over her shoulders, and she shows everybody the spear she picked from the armory.  Nico is glad she looks better than yesterday.

“I don´t think those will be necessary.” Chiron says. He looks at the door of his office, then back at them. “There is someone important waiting for-”

He is interrupted by Percy Jackson coming in running. He is panting, and has his coat and bags on his hands. His shirt is short sleeved, but Nico can see bandages on the arm that took the arrow yesterday. Everyone stares at him for a moment.

“Sorry!” He says, leaving the bag on the floor and putting on the coat. Annabeth sighs loudly, while Thalia and Bianca snort. Nico and Zoe turn away from him. “There just… There was a problem in the lake, and Blackjack- I mean one of the Pegasus- asked for my help…”

Chiron sighs too, but continues speaking. “It´s okay, Percy. Now, as I was saying before you came in, someone important wishes to meet the Di Angelos before the quest-”

As if the universe just didn´t wanted the old centaur to finish his sentence, the door of the office opens, and Nico´s eyes blown wide open as a women walks out of it. She has brunette hair in a high bun, glowing eyes, and an elegant gray jumpsuit with a matching jacket.

“Mrs. Dodds?” Percy asks as he sees her. The fury sneers at Percy. He gulps, and takes a step back.

Alecto´s glare softens as she turns towards Nico and Bianca. “Miss and Mr. Di Angelo, long time not seen.”

If someone told Percy Jackson that going to Maine to get a couple of half-bloods to Camp would bring him all these problems, he would have probably let Annabeth and Thalia go by themselves.

That would have been great, because Percy would be watching cartoons and drinking hot chocolate with his mom right now, and not about to go to yet another quest, next to four girls that are mad at him (two of which might actually kill him, or three, depends on how much Bianca shares her brother´s skills, Annabeth doesn´t worries him that much because she always forgives him), to save Artemis.

Gods, he went to one quest this year already, can the Fates or whatever just take the Di Angelos and Zoe and just let him have some nice Holidays?

And the thing is he is pretty sure the Di Angelos, or more specifically Nico Di Angelo, could pretty much save Artemis in their own, so it´s not like they need Percy.

I mean, Percy thinks, I killed a Minotaur when I was twelve, but Nico killed a manticore when he was ten.

To be honest, Percy is kind of jealous, no matter how stupid it seems to be jealous of a boy three years younger than him. Don´t get him wrong, he is thankful that the boy saved him and Thalia from the Manticore, but like, Nico is the reason why Annabeth and Bianca got mad at Percy in the first place. And then there is the whole Capture the Flag. Percy was grateful for the help, but maybe if Nico had such awesome skills and powers, couldn´t he had stayed with his sister and protect their own flag better than follow Percy to take the Hunter´s?

“I´m not letting you get all the credit, Jackson.” Nico had said, with that dump confident smile, but it was more him getting all the credit for it, not Percy.  Nico didn´t got an arrow in his arm, but he still got to grab the flag and defeat the Hunters with his dump powers, while Percy and Thalia stayed there coughing their lungs out!

And that´s not counting how Annabeth has been looking at Di Angelo since he was claimed, and even before that. She volunteered immediately to take care of him after the Manticore, even after Percy, Annabeth´s friend for the last year and a half, also needed help. Percy thinks of what could happen in the quest, since after all he and Annabeth became friends in their first one. What if Annabeth and Nico just suddenly become better friends too? What if Annabeth forgets about Percy?

So yeah, Percy is jealous. But it´s not his fault, any one would be if Son of Hades who is both younger and stronger than you, comes and steals your best friend. Percy turns at Thalia, who is also glaring at Nico, and is pretty sure that is what is happening.

At least Percy knows he isn´t the only one feeling so… weird, with the arrival of another son of the Big Three.

Alecto was his father´s right hand for a long time, and after the fall of the underworld, the fury ended up being Nico´s. She was hardworking, knew a lot about commanding armies, and loyal on the verge of being protective towards Hades and his family. Alecto had been the one helping Children of Hades for centuries. She was the one keeping an eye on Bianca and Nico when they were young, and she was the one that guided Nico into the Underworld when he was homeless and sleeping on the street. She was family, in a strange sort of way, and Nico was really glad to see her.

“Nico, Bianca.” Chiron says. The rest of the room is quiet. Annabeth has her arms crossed over her, but Thalia and Percy look ready to take their weapons if needed. Zoe just stares at the Fury with disdain. “Alecto came into Camp this morning, as a messenger from your father.”

“Wait…” Bianca narrows her eyes at the women. She takes a step forward, putting Nico behind her. “You are the lawyer! The one that picked us from the Hotel!”

Alecto nods. “And I was also the one that placed you into Westover Hall, at your father´s orders.” The fury turns at Percy, Annabeth and Thalia. She frowns for at Percy, but keeps her calm posture. “Lord Hades thanks you three for helping his children arrive to Camp safely.” She then turns at Nico, with a sort of pride that makes Nico blush. “He also wishes to congratulate Mr. Di Angelo in the Capture the Flag.” Her face turns at Bianca, her prideful expression unchanged. “And Miss Di Angelo for getting her first quest.”

Bianca blushes too, a soft smile forming on her lips. “Thanks.”

“That´s it?” Percy asks, frowning. Nico acts like if his tone doesn´t hurt a little. “Hades sent a messenger just to tell his kids ‘well done’?”

“That´s not all, Percy.” Chiron replies. “Alecto also brings two gifts.”

Nico´s eyes widen again. He has never gotten so many gifts in his life in the same day! Bianca looks at him, her smile bright. Nico smiles back. To be honest, he is just happier that Bianca feels better than he would be for any gift. Still, his heart feels warm and fuzzy.

 Alecto takes a step back, extending her hands out. The demigods and Zoe stare as black spark come out of the fury´s hands, later followed by black smoke, a silhouette of a shape turning into a real thing. Percy jaw drops, while Annabeth and Bianca stare with wonder at Alecto. Nico´s smile gets wider, because oh my gods, I know what those are.

“Stygian Iron is an indestructible metal forged in the Underworld and cooled in the River Styx.” Alecto says, as she holds two swords of the same material, one in each hand. “Only deities of the Underworld and their children can use it. Bianca and Nico Di Angelo, these swords have belonged to previous Sons and Daughters of Hades, and now belong to you. They will help you channel your powers, too.” She walks toward the siblings, kneeling before them and handing each their own sword. “Use them well.”

Nico looks at it. It´s three foot long, a little bit too long for he to use now, and black. The handle is dark, with a skull on the top. It shines like polished metal, with a faint purple glow surrounding it. Nico takes it in one of his hands. He closes his fingers on the handle.

It´s his sword. The sword that he used in the Battle of Manhattan, the one that followed him into Tartarus so many times. It´s his sword.

He raises it and wields it for a few practice movements. The Stygian Iron feels lighter than the Celestial Bronze in his hand. It feels like coming home.

“Thanks. Thanks a lot.” Nico says. He then turns at Bianca. She is also looking at hers. Her own sword is just as long, but slightly thinner. The handle looks like a couple of wings, more stylized than Nico´s. There are even some jewels encrusted into it. Bianca stares at it with wonder. She takes her into her hands, like if it were a treasure.

“I…I don´t know what to say…” Bianca grabs her with both of her hands. She looks up at Alecto. “Is it really mine?”

“Yours and only.” Alecto says. “And that´s not all I brought for you”

The fury puts her hand on her jacket´s pocket. She then takes a small object, and puts in Bianca´s hand. Nico and Bianca stare at it, and Nico can believe his eyes.

It´s his ring. The silver one with a skull on it.

Well, it seems it is Bianca´s this time, Nico thinks.

Bianca hand tightens on the ring before she slides her into her ring finger. She looks at it with a sense of wonder that makes Nico smile on itself.

She can keep it. Needs it more than me.

Alecto turns at Nico. He jumps slightly from the attention. She takes out another item from her pocket, and hands it to Nico. “Lord Hades was pleased when he heard the news that you killed a manticore by yourself. He hopes this will serve as a prize for it.”

Nico looks at his hand. There is a silver chain there, with one large fang on it. A grin forms on Nico´s face. “Woah I… Thanks!” He slides it into his neck. The chain is long, and the fang hang more over his chest than anything, so he puts them under his shirt.

Alecto then stands up. “Lord Hades also invites the two of you to visit the Underworld once the winter is over, if you wish to, of course. Should you need anything in your quest, money for example, you might Iris Message me. We will speak again, after you return of course, since isn´t appropriate for you two to stay at Westover Hall for the rest of the scholar year, about enrolling you two into another school closer to Camp Half-Blood.” Alecto says, and Nico has a bit of trouble putting attention to the whole speech for some reason. He feels more interested in watching his sword, or the expressions of the others. Percy seems to be having a small aneurysm, while Thalia is inspecting her nails and Annabeth watches Alecto closely. Zoe is just impatient.

 Bianca seems to have all details down, so he doesn´t worry.

“And Lady Persephone sends her regards.” Alecto adds and Nico feels his heart stop.

Oh my gods, I totally forgot about her. Nico screams in his mind. Persephone is going to take Hades having two kids worse than she did him having just me.

“Good luck.” Alecto says. Then she does something Nico doesn´t expect her to do. She kneels before them and gives them a hug. Bianca has no trouble wrapping her arms around her and squeezing, but it takes Nico a moment to catch up with it. He leaves his sword in the ground, and laughs as he is in the middle of the embrace, between Alecto and Bianca.

Alecto smiles fondly at the two of them, before she stands up and shadow-travels away. Bianca eyes sparkle as she watches her leave.

“You´ve got to teach me how to do that.” She whispers at her brother´s ear. Nico snorts.

“Yeah.” He replies, because he feels really happy, because Bianca is really happy too.

“Now.” Chiron says. “You can all get into the Camp Van. Argus will be taking you to your first stop.”

“There is no need for him to take us.” Zoe interrupts, talking for the first time in the day. “I shall be the one driving.” She grabs her bag and then storms out of the Big House. Thalia and Percy follow her. Annabeth stops to say something to Chiron and  give him a hug too.

Nico looks at Bianca. She takes out the Celestial Bronze sword from her belt, putting her new one instead.

For the first time in a long time, Nico feels like if things can actually go well for once.

Artemis kneels in a barren cave, in top of her, the world lies on her shoulders. She is weak, the weight of the curse exhausting her. Yet, she doesn´t allows it to touch the ground. She can´t. She won´t.

She is the Goddess of the Hunt. If Kronos thinks this can break her, he is mistaken.

“You are as predictable as you were easy to beat, Artemis.” A male voice says, deep and low. It makes the ground vibrate.

“You will never find the monster you seek.” Artemis refuses to be intimidated. “Your plan will fail.”

“How little you know, my young goddess.” The male walks toward her. He kneels before her, and Artemis can see his face. A wicked grin, and a pair of eyes that are familiar. “Even now, as those stupid half bloods begin their quest to find you, they will play directly into my hands.”

“Olympus has defeated the Titans once.” The goddess answers. “And it will defeat you again, Atlas.”

He laughs, loud and insulting to Artemis´s ears. “But it´s not the Titans you should worry about, my dear.” It´s then when another man enters the cave. He is blonde, with a large scar on one side of his face. Artemis feels the anger burning in her chest. “It´s the half bloods that come to save you and your precious Olympus, the ones that will lead you to your demise.”

“General.” Luke Castellan says. “We must leave soon.”

Atlas stands up, giving Artemis one last grin. “Now, if you´ll excuse us, we have a long journey to make. We must greet those demigods and make sure their quest is… challenging.”

They leave, and for the first time since a prophecy was given to Olympus, Artemis fears for its safety.

Chapter Text

Nico is about to grab his recently reacquired Stygian Iron sword, cut a hole through the Van´s doors and jump out of it because of the boredom.

One would say that going in a quest would be fun and full of fighting monsters and running for your life, but no, apparently going on a quest involves sitting in a van with 4 other half-bloods for six hours while Zoe Nightshade drives them all to the Smithsonian Museum. And Zoe put the radio on the news of all things, for the Gods´ sake!

The voice of the guy talking on the news is far away and distant, but Nico can catch him talking about the winter and how people should probably stay inside for the Holidays. His attention shifts, and he listens to Annabeth unfolding a map.

“You should have gone left in the last turn.” She tells Zoe. “Do you really need to go so fast?”

“I told thou not to question me, and yes, we need to go this fast if we want to find Lady Artemis soon!” Zoe replies, at the same time that she beeps at another car. “Why can´t mortals drive properly?!”

Nico looks at the seats in front of him. Bianca is sleeping peacefully, while Thalia is looking at the window. Nico groans. He turns toward Percy, who sits at his side in the van´s third row of seats. He flips another page in the magazine. Nico starts tapping his fingers in the seat. Percy flips another page, ignoring everything. 

Nico pokes Percy.

Percy looks up from his magazine, one he probably found in the van written in Ancient Greek and thus actually useful for a half-blood. “What?”

“I´m bored.”

The Son of Poseidon raises an eyebrow. “And what do you want me to do about it?”

“Do you have another magazine?” Nico asks. Percy shakes his head. “Can I read over your shoulder then?” Percy considers it for a moment. He then shrugs, and puts the magazine closer to Nico. Nico smiles at him brightly, and scoots over toward Percy.

The two boys read silently. The magazine isn´t that boring, compared to spending the rest of the ride doing nothing. It´s about monsters and the latest rumors in the world of the Gods, about how Aphrodite tried a new haircut, or how some minor goddess got into trouble with Apollo. Percy looks at Nico before flipping the page and Nico nods when he finishes reading it. They both laugh at the comments of the reporters over Dementer´s choice of dress for this season.

The radio station turns from the morning News to music by the time the two have finished the magazine, and by the same time Zoe decides to imitate Thalia with the sun chariot. Percy and Nico are discussing about important topics one minute (“Riptide is better than your sword.” “No way! Mine is black and looks cooler!” “Yeah, but does it turn into a pen?) when a pickup truck dashes in front of the van, and Zoe kicks the brakes. Everyone screams as they are launched forward. Percy and Nico have enough time to grab onto the car and eachother, but Thalia and Bianca hit the front. Annabeth jumps from her seat, and stirs the wheel, just in time for them to avoid crashing with the other car.

Everyone stays still for a second: Percy and Nico hugging while clawing into their seats, Thalia´s face touching the window, Bianca on the floor between her seat and Zoe´s, and Annabeth with her hands on the wheel with Zoe gripping it too.

The truck passes in front of them, the driver flipping them off.

Nico is pretty sure that one of the girls is going to go down from the van and stab that guy or at least his tires, when Percy lets go of him.

“Okay, we should have used the Pegasi.” Percy says. “At least the airplane pilots don´t show you the finger after almost crashing.”

Nico and Thalia burst out laughing, and even Annabeth is snorting. Bianca, who was just woken up from her nap, asks what happened. Percy looks pleased with himself for the joke, and Zoe just sighs.

“Is everyone fine?” The Hunter asks. Everyone nods. She starts the car again, and the small road trip continues.

“So...” Percy says. They are stuck in the traffic of New York, as they have been for about half an hour. Zoe´s road rage is getting bigger, but she hasn´t beeped or shouted at anyone, so it´s okay. “What kind of games you like?”

“Uh…” Nico thinks of an answer. “Well, there is Mythomagic.”

Percy gives him a weird look. “Wasn´t that the game you talked about with Dr. Thorn?” Nico nods. “So, what is it about?”

“Well. It´s a card table-top game.” Nico explains. Percy leans into the seat, listening. Nico hasn´t been into Mythomagic for years, but the knowledge of the game is fresh in his mind, like when you learn things by memory the night before. “It has lots of rules, but basically most monsters and gods have a card or a figurine. There are world championships, and you can trade the cards-”

“And it´s also for nerds.” Bianca interrupts him, her head popping from behind her seat.

Percy snorts, and Nico glares at his sister. “It´s not! It´s a complicated game with a word-wide audience of players!”

“And it´s also for nerds.” Bianca adds. Nico groans loudly. “What? It is, Neeks. Only nerds like you play it.”

“I´m not a nerd, you are!” Nico says, and it sounds too immature for his usual self. Percy is laughing now, and Nico blushes slightly.

“So, what´s Zeus card?” Thalia asks from her own seat. The three turn at her. “What? You said that every god had a card, I just want to know which one is my dad´s.”

“I said most of the gods got a card or a figurine.” Nico replies. He is still mad that they didn´t add some of the Aztec or other Native American gods to the cards. Those would have made such awesome cards!

“Does Zeus has one?” Thalia repeats.

“Yeah.” Nico says. “Lightning bolts that do 600 damage. I have the figurine too, but I left it at Camp.” Nico´s worries start to shift at all the Mythomagic things he left at Camp. He didn´t realized how much money some of the stuff he had was worth to some mortals until after he burned it last time. Plus, his Mythomagic figurines and cards have suddenly shot themselves to top of his priorities right now, for some strange reason. He hopes the Stolls don´t mess them up. “He is really powerful when combined with certain cards.”

“Cool.” Thalia looks pleased with the information. “Does your dad also have one?”

“All Olympians do.” Nico continues, everyone’s attention shifting to him for a lack of something better to do. “Hades has 4000 attack power, 5000 if opponent attacks first, as well as control over Underworld-kind monsters. I´m missing the figurine, though-”

Nico feels a tug at his heart for a second. His mind flashes to images of Bianca dressed up as a Hunter, and Percy handing him a golden thing. Nico remembers opening a hole in the ground and running away.  Nico clenches his hands.

“Nico?” Percy pulls him into reality. “What´s the Poseidon one?”

“Uh…” Nico looks at him. “Oh, he has control over all Aquatic monsters or creatures, as well as Earthquakes and Storms that can make 800 damage to any card of your opponent being played in the turn.”

“And you have the figurine?” Percy tells him.

“Yeah.” Nico says, rubbing his neck nerviously and smiling. “I can show it to you if you want, when we return from the quest.”

“Nico.” Annabeth asks from the front of the van. “Do you know all the cards to the game?”

Nico sorts his memories, fresher than anything he has, of the cards. “I think I do. I guess it will be useful if we have to fight more monsters?”

“Woah, Bianca was right.” Percy smiles at Nico. “You really are a nerd.”

Nico wants to protest, but the smile Percy is giving him is making his heart melt.

“Does anyone have food?” He says instead.

“I do.” Someone replies, and suddenly everyone is eating the sandwiches and Capri Suns the nymphs from Camp packed for them.

By the time the Van finally makes a stop, Nico has caught up with the sleep he was missing, the magazine is read by everyone in the van, and Percy is begging Zoe to stop the van.

“I really need to use the bathroom.” He says.

“Can´t thou hold it until we get to the Smithsonian?” Zoe glares at him. “We are just an hour away!”

“I have been holding it for almost two hours!” Percy hisses at her.

“Well, I´m sure thou can hold it one more.”

“Just- Stop the stupid van, Zoe!” Percy raises his voice, and Nico wants to stop the van himself because of the sheer desperation in Percy´s voice.

Zoe parks the van at a Rest Stop. Thalia pulls the door open, and Percy dashes away toward the bathrooms. Everyone comes out, Zoe forcing them to go to the bathroom too since she isn´t stopping again until they arrive to the Smithsonian. Zoe and Thalia stay putting some gas into the van, while Annabeth and Nico go to the store to buy someone things to eat. Bianca and Percy are still on the bathrooms.

Nico and Annabeth enter side by side. They take some cookies and candy, Nico grabs a bag of potato chips and a muffin for Bianca, as well as bottles of water for everyone and an iced coffee for Zoe. They settle everything in the counter, and the guy, wearing a huge parka and a name tag that reads ´Greg´ starts charging them.

“It will be $17 with 33 cents.” Greg says.

Annabeth looks down at the money Zoe handed her, frowning. She only has $15. “I forgot my spare change in the van…” The same van that beeps for them in the parking lot. Both demigods turn at it. Percy waves from one of the windows. “Uh, maybe we can leave the candy?" Annabeth suggest to Nico. "I´m not sure how mad Zoe would be if we don´t bring her the coffee…”

A sudden idea pops up in Nico´s head. He looks at the door.

“Wait here.” Nico says.

Annabeth gives him a weird look. “Nico, what are you doing?”

Nico walks out to the entrance of the store. He looks around. There are some plants on the wall. Nico moves toward them, and sticks his hand into the plants. He searches around for anything, when he touches something. He curls his fingers to the paper thing, and pulls his hand out. Nico smiles. He just found $5.

One of the powers kids of the Underworld have is the ability to find money. It just sorts of follows them. Once, when he was about fourteen, Nico was really hungry, when a $20 dollar bill just flew through the wind and hit him in the face. He is also incredibly good for Monopoly.

The Son of Hades enters the store again, putting the five dollars in the counter. Annabeth stares at it.

“How did you…?” She asks.

“I just found them. Hades is the god of wealth, I guess.” Nico shrugs. “Guess we can buy more things.” Annabeth gives him another weird look, but she is smiling.

They end up taking another bag of chips and a giant bottle of Mountain Dew for the heck of it. Greg cashes the money, and they still have 25 spare cents. Annabeth carries most of the bags, while Nico balances the bottle and the chips on his hands. Bianca opens the door for them, and Nico dumps all the things between his seat and Percy´s. Thalia takes the cookies, Bianca enjoys her muffin, Annabeth sips from one of the water bottles, and Zoe drinks the iced coffee in one gulp. Percy and Nico share the chips.

“Now, we are not stopping until we arrive to the Smithsonian!” Zoe starts the car, while Thalia demands Percy to pass the chips.

A soldier enters a round room and walks to a balcony. There are 12 mortal guards there, using both, mortal weapons and magical ones, plus two monsters. Luke Castellan stands there, his face looking older than he is and his scar flaming red, like if it has just been reopened. Next to him, sitting down on the shadows, lays Atlas.

“They are here, General!” The soldier yells. “Six of them. Five half-bloods and one of the Hunters.”

“Are the Hellhound siblings with them?” Atlas asks.

“Yes.” The soldier replies. He is shaking, but makes an attempt to keep his back straight. “They are on the gift shop, and are carrying Stygian Iron swords.”

“Let me take them.” Luke says. “General, we are more than enough to-”

“No!” Atlas cuts him with disdain. Luke feels small for a second, the Titan´s voice roaring the balcony. “You and your troops have already failed me once, not bringing the Di Angelos. You will not fail me twice.”

Luke nods, not willing to discuss with the General.  “Then, how will we attack the half-bloods?”

Atlas´s frown turns into a wicked grin. “You will see.” He turns at the mortals. “Bring me the teeth.”

Chapter Text

One would assume that after watching Tartarus and the Apocalypses, the Air and Space Museum would be pretty dull. One would assume wrong. Nico actually feels excited to enter.

He runs in as soon as the van stops in the museum´s parking lot. He has a lot of time to kill before the monster Thalia mentioned appears, so he guesses he can enjoy the museum. There are airplanes and rockets hanging in the ceiling from different heights, as well as some exhibitions in the floor. Maybe it is Nico´s childlike-wonder speaking, but holly Hades, the mortals sure know how to build things. To think that they were able built all these planes and shuttles all by themselves, without the use of magic like Hephaestus or the rest of the gods, it´s breathtaking. To see all those things right there though, is a whole new level of amazement by itself.

Nico obviously had had time to appreciate the genius of mortals during the War, when their mass production of weapons was sometimes the sole thing allowing the Alliance to stand a chance during battles against the Giants´ army, but admiring all they could actually build, when they weren´t in time of war, sometimes just for the hell of science was, it was… it was woah.

“Bianca, can thou keep thy brother under control?” Zoe orders Bianca as they walk around the museum, while Nico bounces from exhibition of exhibition. Thalia and Percy stroll next to them, sharing the other bag of chips, the later in conversation with Annabeth. “We are here looking for clues, not as a school trip!”

Bianca, however, is in the same state of awe as Nico, so she only says: “Woah, look at that thing!”

Most of them have their weapons on them, which will be useful when they find the monster, Annabeth and Bianca have their blades in their belts (Nico tried to do the same but his was too long for that, so the sword is hanging from his back), while Thalia and Percy carry their own weapons in their pockets. Zoe´s bow is nowhere to be seen, but she told everyone not to worry about that. Thanks to the mist, they all just seem like another group of weird kids hanging out in the museum to mortals.

“What kind of clues are we exactly looking for?” Thalia asks the Hunter, passing the chips to Percy. “We don´t even know why we are in here.” Percy takes a bunch of chips and puts them in his mouth. He offers some to Annabeth. The Daughter of Athena declines. Percy passes the chips back at Thalia, who eats the remaining ones, then throws the bag into the closest trashcan.

“This is where Lady Artemis was heading to, after she sent the Hunters to Camp.”  Zoe explains, making a disgusted sound as both Percy and Thalia lick the remaining cheese off their fingers. “Keep thy eyes open, traces to find her or the beast she was looking for might be anywhere.”

“The only traces I see are the trash left by the visitors and a bunch of planes, Zoe.” Percy replies. Annabeth snorts. “I mean, if that´s what we are looking for…”

“Shut up!” Zoe glares at him. “This is the only clue we have to find Lady Artemis, and thou better take this seriously, boy!”

That´s about the time Nico separates from the group. He is looking around, his eyes trying to take in everything he sees all at once, all the things in the floor and those hanging, the people passing next to him, and the three dark figures standing on one of the balconies of the museum. Nico furrows his brows, walking toward them on the balcony. He mkaes his way through the crowd, which is easy with his small size. The figures change into three people in silver cloaks as Nico gets closer to them, their wrinkled faces staring right back at him. Nico keeps walking; he is already in the balcony.

Images flash through his eyes. Dust, Blood, Fire. Nico sees swords clashing and a girl with dark hair holding a knife. He hears a thunder, followed by screams. Nico clenches his fists. His breathe hitches, small exhales coming out quick and fast, memories passing by like lightning. He feels souls coming out of their bodies, corpses surrounding him, as debris of buildings crash down with the ground. He hears his friends screaming beside him, as his sister holds a lifeless body in her hands. He has to get out of here, he has to take his friends out of here, but he can´t see anything. He can´t see Hazel or Jason or Piper thanks to the mountain of dust, and he can´t feel Frank´s warm soul, why can´t he feel him- He has to escape, he has to find his friends and save them, he-

“Nico?” Someone shakes him. “Nico, what´s wrong? Nico!-”

He returns to the present. Annabeth Chase stands before him, her hand in his shoulder. His fingers are touching something cold. They both are in the Air and Space Museum, in a quest to save Artemis. No one is dead, he is alright-

Nico is in the ground, Annabeth is next to him. It´s difficult to breathe. People are surrounding them, muttering things around him. He can´t make out what they are saying. Nico looks around, but the others aren´t there, where is-

“Bianca is with the others looking for you around the museum.” Annabeth says. “Nico, we couldn´t find you for almost twenty minutes… Are you okay? You were heaving and shaking when I found you and I-”

Nico zooms out, looking at Annabeth. His breathing feels more normal now, but she looks like it´s her turn to start panicking. Her grip in Nico is strong, her eyes wide, and they seem- and she seem… Annabeth looks concerned. Really concerned.

“Annabeth-” Nico interrupts. His voice cracks. He puts his hand in top of hers. Annabeth´s gray eyes meet his, she stops talking. Nico clears his throat and starts talking again. “Annabeth, I´m alright. Don´t worry- I-I´m fine…”

“You don´t sound fine.” Annabeth replies. “Nico, you aren´t fine, you just had a-”

Then one of the mortals approaches, and taps Annabeth on the back. He has a blue jacket on and a lantern in his belt. Most be a guard. “Miss, are you and your friend okay?”

Just what we needed.

Nico takes a deep breath.  “N-No, we are fine…” Annabeth glares at him, but it softens when Nico touches her hand again. “I just…uh” The mortal crowd are starting to look at them.

“He uh-” Annabeth starts. “My… my cousin just had a panic attack! Yeah, he just had one…”

“Y-Yeah!” Nico replies, though now he is the one glaring at Annabeth, because he totally didn´t had a panic attack whatsoever. “Sorry, I uh… I get like this in when…” Whenever I think of the fall of Olympus, or the Fall of the Underworld, or must of the shit I´ve lived through.“When I´m i-in crowds?..” Annabeth is glaring at him now, because woah, Nico, that´s a great excuse!

The guard believes it, though. Nico thanks the Gods for his incredible bullshitting abilities. “What are ya´ll looking at?” He raises his voice at the crowd. “Can´t ya´ll see that you make the poor kiddo nervous? Go back to your own business!” The crowd disperses. Annabeth and Nico sigh in relief. “Do you need help to find your family?”

“Oh no, don´t worry, my uncles are looking for us right now!” Annabeth stands up, helping Nico up too. She puts a possessive arm around him. “Poor Neeks, has been keeping them worried too long already!”

“Yeah, sorry…” Nico gives the man his best smile. It´s hard to give one, but he tries. At least he can lean on Annabeth. His legs feel weak for some reason. “We better return to them!”

“Exactly!” Annabeth smiles at the guard too. “Thanks for the help though!” And then walk away a few steps, before Nico´s fear senses finally take over. They have to leave right now, he has to leave right now- He grabs Annabeth´s hand and shadow-travels away.

Well, there are worse ways to make an exit, Nico thinks

List of Things I Need to Fix #24:

The control over my emotions.

He wasn´t really aiming at a specific place when he shadow travelled them, but they appear inside the gift shop of the museum- which is lucky, if Nico guesses. He just really wanted to escape. His breathing is still a little bit forced, and he feels slightly dizzy and out of place- damn, he haven´t felt like this in years- Keep it together man, the Fall of Olympus happened long time ago! Calm down!

Annabeth looks around, surprised. She has that look in her face the first time Nico shadow travels with them. She starts glaring at him, after a while. Why are people so keen on glaring at Nico now-a-days? “Can you please warn me before you do that?”

“Sorry!” Nico apologizes, his voice sounding more nervous than usual. Seriously, he just needs to- to breathe and relax. Like Jason used to said, breathe and relax.“But w-ee needed a quick way to get out of there, a-and it was quicker than walking-”

“Is that what you did when we couldn´t find you?” She asks. “Can you even control it? I mean, Nico, you just had a panic attack-”

“Of course I can control it!” Nico tells her. He still feels fidgety and anxious, but he can keep it together. “And I didn´t have a panic attack! I told you, I´m fine, you don´t have to worry about it...”

Annabeth gives him a skeptic look. She looks really like Bianca. “Nico Di Angelo, I think you have a lot of explaining to do.”

“About what?” He breathes in and out a couple of times.

“About the things you can do, about what happened in the balcony-”

“Nothing happened in the balcony!”

“-And about who you are.” Annabeth pauses for a moment. Nico frowns.

He clenches his fist. “Look, if you are about to start screaming at me and my sister because Hades is our father like the rest of the Camp, this quest is going to harder-”

“I don´t care that your father is Hades!” Annabeth raises her voice. There are people in the store, and they surely are looking at them weirdly. “I´m best friends with a Son of Poseidon, and a Daughter of Zeus, I don´t care you are a child of a Big Three! But Nico, I´ve seen you do things that I´ve never seen any 10 year old do, not even things that I´ve ever seen Percy nor Thalia do, and you had a panic attack no less than five minutes ago- Don´t look at me that way, Di Angelo, you did!- and I´m worried about-”

“You are not my sister, Annabeth!” He screams, anger flooding him, replacing the sheer terror he felt minutes ago. “I told you I´m fine, why can´t you just leave it like that?! I don´t need you to-”

“Because I´m trying to be your friend!” Annabeth shouts right back. And Nico swallows whatever is that he had to say, the anger flooding out as quickly as it came in. Annabeth is standing right before him, and her hair is slightly more messy than it was an hour ago, and her gray eyes are worried, but they are also determined, and she looks slightly hurt by what Nico said (Nico feels guilty, he never wants to hurt anyone, never again), but she isn´t backing down. “I´m trying to be a friend, because I´m worried, you idiot! I saw you have a panic attack, and Gods, Nico, you are ten! Luke had them, but he was almost twenty and came back from a really bad experience, why is a ten year old even having panic attacks, what kind of things had to happen for you to-”

“Nico Di Angelo!” Their fight or whatever it is that Annabeth and he are having, is interrupted by Bianca coming into the store. She runs toward her brother, her hands clenched and frowning. She looks furious. “What were you thinking going alone off like that?!” Bianca grabs him by the shirt, shaking him. “I was so worried, you nerd! What even happened?!”

“Sorry, Bi.” Nico says. Bianca gives her a concerned look. “I-I´ll tell you later…”

Bianca then wraps her arms around him with all her force. Nico yelps. “Don´t you ever do something like that, okay?” Nico sighs, hugging her too. It´s calming, like when Jason used to hug him. He squezes at the memory. Bianca looks at Annabeth, thankful. Annabeth is about to say something, but Nico gives her a pleading look. Annabeth rolls her eyes. “Thanks a lot, but we have to hurry. Zoe is in near the parking lot with the others.”

“We better go then.” Annabeth says. Her voice sounds calmer. Nico looks at her. She is glaring at him in a we will finish this later kind of way. He sighs. “Nico, can you use your teleport thing?”

“It´s called shadow travel.” Nico corrects and then-

Then a crowd of screaming people passes at the entrance of the shop, running away. A great roar follows the screams-

Nico had gotten so sidetracked, that he had totally forgotten about the monster. Fuck!

“Nico, you should really do your-”Annabeth starts.

“I know!” Nico takes the hands of both of the girls, and the three are swallowed by the shadows.

They reappear on the center of the museum. Nico´s eyes widen. He yanks Bianca and Annabeth to the ground, as a falling exhibition hits them. The three roll away, as the rocket crashes to the model of an airplane behind them. Nico doesn´t have enough time to react, as an enormous cat pounces toward them.

Thalia never mentioned a Nemean Lion! Nico freaks out as he stands up again, We are fighting a Nemean Lion, I don´t know how to kill one of those- Then his battle instincts kick in, pushing away the panic and whatever emotion mess he is having at the moment. Nico grabs the girls again, shadow travelling away, and just in time before the Lion claws them.

They reappear behind the rest of their quest members. Nico´s eyes feel heavy, his head even more dizzy. He shouldn´t shadow travel so many times when his body is not used to the strain- “WHERE WERE YOU GUYS!?” Percy screams. He has Riptide uncapped, and is standing about a yard away from them. Zoe is firing arrows toward the Lion in front one of the hanging models, while Thalia is holding her spear and her shield, running toward the Lion.

Annabeth takes out her knife. Nico looks at Bianca. She is terrified. Nico frowns. He pulls out his Stygian sword, and extends his hand to his sister. “Bi, are you okay?” Bianca looks at his hand. She nods, and takes it, Nico helping her up. She takes out her own sword, and the two join the fight.

 “How does it dies in the myth?!” Thalia asks.

“Hercules choked him to death.” Annabeth replies. She looks calmer. Nico is glad she left the fight behind. Hell, he is glad he did.

“And how can we choke him?” Thalia´s shield makes the Lion retreat, but the lion crouches, about to leap at her. “Annabeth, what do we do?!”

“I´m thinking!” She replies.

“Then think faster, Wise Girl!” Thalia groans.

“Hey, over here!” Percy calls for the Lion, raising his sword and waving the hands at the monster. The Lion jumps toward Percy. The Son of Poseidon hits him with Riptide, but only sparks come out. The monster leans into Percy, and Nico lets out a scream.

“No!” He says as both, the Lion and Percy fall of the railing. Nico groans. He grabs Bianca´s hand, shadow travelling for the third time of the day.

They reappear on a hanging model of the Earth. Nico´s head feels wrong, and everything is blurry for a second, before sight comes back, as he feels a hand going around his chest. He looks around. Percy and the Lion have fallen on the models above, quickly coming down jumping from model into model, about twenty feet in top of them. More arrows come out, doing nothing.  Annabeth and Thalia are coming down too, by the stairs. Percy is still fighting the Lion in the plane model, with Zoe above him throwing arrows. Bianca has her sword sank into the model for support, her other hand holding Nico in place. She is staring at the lion intensely.

“What do we do?!” Nico asks, mainly to himself.

“Nico.” Bianca calls out. “Nico, I think I have an idea.” Nico looks at her, surprised. Bianca looks around. She bites her lip. The Lion is going closer to Percy, the airplane model going to the side. “If we tied one of the cords of the models to the Lion´s neck- Nico, I think we could choke him if we did that.”

Realization catches up with Nico. “That- That´s it! That´s it, Bianca, you´re a genius!” Bianca looks pleased with herself. Nico turns at the others. “Guys!” He yells in top of his lungs. “Guys, we can choke it by tying one of the model´s cords into his neck!”

Thalia and Annabeth are on the stairs between Percy and them. Annabeth comes closer, she leans to the rail. “Of course, the cords!” Her gray eyes are wide, bouncing around from part to part, putting up a plan. Annabeth looks up, from where Zoe is throwing arrows. Percy is walking to the edge of the model, the Lion roaring. Nico´s grip tightens on his sword. “Zoe!” Annabeth screams. “Zoe, cut one of the cords and pass it here! Nico, Bianca, you guys do the same!”

Nico can see the Hunter frown from where he is standing. “What is thy plan?”

“If you three tried the two cords into one, and then we tied the Lion´s neck to it and pushed him, we could hang him!” Annabeth explains. Bianca looks proud of her plan. Nico, however, isn´t putting too much attention. Percy is almost in the edge of the plane, the Lion coming closer.

“Can you guys hurry the heck up?!” Percy´s voice sounds more desperate than when he asked Zoe to stop the van so he could go to the bathroom. The Lion´s legs lower, about to pounce again. Nico is shaking. “Because I´m not sure how much I can hold it!”

“But will the cords support the weight?” Thalia asks. Her grip in her spear is hard. She is also looking worryingly at Percy.

“Yes they would!” Annabeth says, smiling. “They can support the weight of the models; they can take a Nemean Lion!”

There is a moment when the eyes of all them meet, agreement being understood silently. It´s beautiful.

 Zoe nods, and she jumps to a lower model, and starts to cut the cords. Annabeth runs to the lower levels, to evacuate the rest of the mortals, while Thalia takes a big jump and is coming to the Earth Model. Percy is touching the edge of the plane he is standing in. Nico looks at Bianca.

“I have to-” He begins to say. I have to help him, he was about to tell his sister, but Bianca´s eyes are all the confirmation he needs. Thalia is coming to help Bianca, Nico can perfectly go and do the same for Percy.

“Go.” She replies, smiling. For a second, Nico can see that she isn´t only confident about this, but excited. “I can handle it, I´m also a Child of Hades.”

Nico´s breathe hitches, for what feels like the hundredth time in the day.

Gods, for a second he feels nothing but pure pride for his sister.

His battle instincts take over as he shadow travels, making forget how dizzy he feels. Nico reapers in front of Percy, his Stygian-iron Sword pushing the Lion in the face just in time as it pounces. The sword doesn´t really cut him, but the movement pushes the Lion back to the other side of the plane, the weight making the plane flip to the side slightly. Nico catches Zoe grabbing one of the cords in the corner of his eye, jumping toward Bianca and Thalia, who are also cutting one of the cords of the Earth model.

Nico turns around. Percy has taken Riptide out, sinking in into the plane´s wing for equilibrium like Bianca did. His eyes seem just as intense as his sister´s too, this time focusing in him. Nico feels the butterflies in his chest again and- Goddammit- Focus, Di Angelo, there is a Nemean Lion right next to you, it´s not time to act like a silly school girl!

He turns around again, this time met by a roar. Nico yelps, raising his sword in defense. Percy, thankfully, reacts sooner than him, and does the same Nico did to the Lion a few moments before.

The Lion flips the model completely, spilling Nico and Percy with him this time. Both boys scream, as their bodies hit the Earth model Nico was before. The Lion´s crash makes the whole model tremble, some of the cords holding it snapping. Nico raises himself slightly. Gods, his right arm hurts a lot. Percy is doing the same in his side, just as the Lion. Nico uses his sword for support, and helps Percy up. He can see Zoe, Bianca and Thalia in front of them, behind the Lion, holding the cords. The previous wordless understanding is still there. Nico looks at them, then back at Percy.

Percy has his arm around him, the other holding Riptide. He nods at him. “You ready, Di Angelo?”

“If you are, Jackson.” Nico replies. He stands up completely, taking his sword out of the model as it shakes, more cords snapping. Half of his weight is on Percy, while half of Percy´s is on him. They are both kind of sloppily using each other for support, because yes the fall was that hard, and they raise their swords, and charge at the Lion.

The beast roars at them, but they roar right back. More cords start to snap, the model tumbling from one side to the other. Nico really hopes Annabeth made sure there´s no one down there because this thing is going down. The girls are coming closer, slowly. The Lion pounces at them, but their two swords together works as a kind of shield, and the two together can take the Lion pushing them a little. Percy´s hand on Nico´s shoulder tightens. The whole model is shaking, and the two demigods are being pushed by the Lion to the edge of the round thing, but this is exactly what the other two demigods and the hunter needed.

As the final cords of the Model snap, just as Nico and Percy are about to get thrown off it, the three girls manage to tie the joined cords into the Lion´s neck.

Nico doesn´t remember a lot of the things that happened after that, since the model finally snapped, and he had just enough time to grab Percy´s and Thalia´s hand to shadow travel one last time before he passed out.

All he remembers is two pairs of desperate blue eyes on him, a silver brand hanging on brunette hair, and his sister riding on top of a giant cat´s neck, before the model finally falls and all them get surrounded by darkness. 

Chapter Text

 “Hey, he is awake!” A female voice says. Nico feels a little disoriented for a second. The last thing he remembers is the model and Percy by his side and then the lion- The Nemean Lion!

“Whoa, easy there, Neeks.” Thalia Grace says, as she puts her hands on his shoulders. Nico looks at her confused.

“What- What happened?” Nico asks. He looks around. He is in a seat, Thalia is next to him, with a weird blanket on him. There are many seats around, and they are in a … train? “Why are we on the subway? What happened with the Lion- did we-”

“Yeah, we killed it.” Percy replies, his head popping from the seat behind them. Nico can also see Annabeth´s curls beside him too. She is looking at him… just like she looked at him on the gift shop. Nico sighs. “Or well, your sister did. She kind of saved us a lot today.”

“What?” Nico asks again, still confused. He looks around again, putting the blanket to the side. Zoe and Bianca are on the seats in front of them. Their heads are looking up at them too, all six of them now in conversation.

“When Zoe, Bianca and I were tying up the cords to the Lion´s neck something went wrong.” Thalia explains. “The Lion moved too abruptly, we thought we wouldn´t be able to put the cords on him, and the whole model was falling apart and then-”

“-Then thy sister did an incredible jump, and holding the cords, climbed to the Lion, placing them around the beast´s neck herself.” Zoe finishes the story. Nico notices she is looking at his sister again, but it isn´t like she did during the council. It´s softer, maybe even fond. “It was an impressive thing.”

“C´mon, guys, it wasn´t that great...” Bianca says, blushing and looking away. Nico smiles proudly at her too, the way he did in the museum. “Plus, Annabeth helped a lot too, with the Skeleton Warriors.”

“Skeleton Warriors?!” Nico´s pride turns into worry. Dammit, his powers would have been useful with those warriors! Why does he keeps passing out after fighting monsters?

“The Lion wasn´t the only thing that attacked us.” Annabeth tells him grinning. Unlike Bianca, she is pleased for the acknowledgement. “There were these Skeleton Warriors too. I was able to trick most of them, while you were with the Lion, and lure them into the place where the models fell. Though a lot of them were still chasing me when I found you guys near the parking lot.”

“You passed out after shadow travelling- that´s how it´s called?” Percy says, looking at Annabeth. She nods. “Okay, so you shadow travelled all us into the parking lot, before we could hit the ground after the model fell. But you passed out, and I had to carry you while the girls fought the skeletons.”

Now it´s Nico´s turn to blush. To think Percy carried him in his arms- “Oh Gods, I´m so sorry, you didn´t had to-”

“Hey, it´s cool, dude. You weren't even that heavy.” Percy answers. Nico blushes harder. Bianca gives him a concerned look. “Plus, you saved me with the Lion, and later again when you grabbed my hand and Thalia´s right before we hit the ground. I swear, it was so awesome-”

Oh shit, did Nico really held Percy´s hand? Okay, Nico now kind of wants to shadow travel again, or at least grab the blanket and put it over his head- the blanket feels kind of weird in his hands, actually, like pelt but not really-

“Be careful with that coat.” Zoe says. Nico raises the weird blanket that is actually a golden fur women´s coat, and stares at it. “It´s thy sister´s spoil of war. The skin of the Lion”

“Woah.” Nico´s embarrassment is replaced by wonder. The coat is actually nice, he guesses, a little bit too girly for him to wear, but probably looks great in Bianca, though maybe a bit too big. “…still, why are we in the Subway?”

“That was Bi´s idea too.” Thalia replies. “After Annabeth found us, she was also the one that recovered that coat by the way, the skeletons chased us. We were able to lose them in the parking lot for a while, but there was a helicopter following us.”

“So we figured out they knew about the van.” Percy continues. “We had to ditch it, but the Skeletons were coming closer, and then Bianca had this brilliant idea of the subway.”

“Seriously, it´s nothing.” Bianca crosses her arms, using her hat to cover her face. Nico can see she is smiling, though. “I just remembered that there was a Subway entrance near, from last summer when we came to-” Bianca´s eyes widen and she stops. Nico knows exactly why. She looks worryingly at him. Her face has turned sad. “When Nico and I came here last summer… I was surprised because…”

“Because it wasn´t there when we used to live in D.C…” Nico finishes for her. He remembers. The memory seems so far away and so recent at the same time. Bianca smiles at him apologetically. He smiles back. He had told her about the Lotus Hotel, and about the struggle of not living in his time the night he told her he was a time traveler. He had hoped she wouldn´t have the same problems, but by her face right now she probably does. Nico sighs again.

The other four look at them weirdly. Nico hopes they don´t put together the pieces right now. Annabeth is staring intensely at him. His sister slumps into her seat. Nico´s brows furrow.

Thalia sits forward. “Wait a minute. No subway at all? But the station looks old…”

“Uh…” Nico has no idea what to say. It is indeed old, we just were stuck about 80 years in a stupid casino, so yeah. “…It was long time ago?”

"Nico," Zoe asks. "How long ago…" Her voice falters.

Then they all hear it. The sound of a helicopter, coming closer. Nico´s fists tighten.

"We need to change trains." Percy whispers.

They stop at the next station. Nico steps next to his sister, putting the coat around her, and hugs her as they walk. She doesn´t hug back.

On the next half an hour, they end up changing trains twice more, until they reach the end of the line.  When they finally get off the last train, they find themselves in an industrial area with nothing but warehouses and railway tracks. Snow is heavier there, and everything is much colder. Most of the girls packed accordingly for the winter, but Nico had to leave the coat he took from Camp in the van, and is now shaking like a leaf in a tornado.

They all wander through the railway yard for a while, looking for another passenger train, but there are just rows and rows of freight cars, all covered in snow too.

“Hey.” A homeless guy standing at a trash-can fire tells them. Nico guesses they must look pretty pathetic, because he gives them a toothless grin. “Y´all need to get warmed up? Come on over!”

They all huddle around the fire. Nico takes the seat next to his sister´s, with Percy at his side and Zoe on Bianca´s. His sister stays quiet for the entire time, hiding herself in the coat. Nico wishes he knew what to say to make her feel better. He looks around the fire. Everybody looks just as beaten up as Bianca. Nico sighs. He probably looks pretty beaten up too, but hey, at least he feels warmer.

"Well this is g-g-great." Thalia says, her teeth chattering.

“We could contact camp?” Percy suggests, glancing at Zoe and Bianca. “Chiron might-”

“No.”  Zoe cuts him. Her braid is messier than it was hours before and she looks paler. Nico can see Bianca furrow her brows at her. “They can´t help us anymore. We must finish this quest by ourselves…”

“But where do we go next?” Thalia asks Zoe.

“I…” Zoe takes a deep breath, and stares into the fire. “I don´t know. We couldn´t find any clues of Lady Artemis´s whereabouts on the musueum…”

“I uh…” Nico thinks of what he could say. All them look sad and angry, it makes his heart ache. He wished he could fix it so bad. “I could shadow travel us maybe?”

“Nico, you passed out after doing it just a few times.” Annabeth tells him, seriously. Nico can feel her gray eyes burning on him again. “I don´t think you could do it with all us with farther distances than just a few yards, especially since we don´t know where you would have to take us.”

“I could try.” Nico says, determined. For Hades´s sake, he could shadow travel countries carrying a whole squad of Intel spies with him, he can do it! “Maybe not cities, but maybe to - I don´t know- the closest bus station or something!” Everybody is looking at him melancholically, hopeless. Nico frowns. He didn´t came back a decade in time for all these teenagers to feel sorry of themselves! “C´mon, guys, don´t be like that! I could take us to a McDonalds so we could eat first. It would be great! And then we could check out the bus routes, and we can choose one and we can-”

“With what money, Nico?” It´s Bianca the one who interrupts him. She is glaring at him. Nico feels like it he had just been punched, because his own sister shouldn´t be looking at him like that- “We don´t have money for anything, and you don´t even know where the closest McDonalds is! Can´t you just accept it, we have nowhere to go…”

Nico clenches his fists, and raises his voice. “There is always somewhere to go!” He had seen Olympus fall, had been there, and even then, with all the Olympians dead and only 3 of the original Seven alive, there was somewhere to go, something to do. Hell, even years later, when Jason had died and Hecate had been captured, Nico´s stupid plan had still worked. He was sent back in time, with a new opportunity to fix everything! It that doesn´t prove that there is always another way, Nico has no idea what would. “There is always something to do, something else to try. There always is, so don´t you dare to tell me all hope is lost because it isn´t, Bianca!”

And then Nico hears a laugh. Nico is angry, and about to punch whoever is laughing at this beautiful speech he just made, and then notices it´s the homeless man doing it.

The man has an old coat on him, ripped pants, and sandals, and he laughs. But it sounds bright, not teasing. It sounds bright and funny, and Nico is pretty sure a homeless man shouldn´t be making him feel the way he feels now.

“You´re right, you know kiddo?” He says, giving Nico a big smile. “Hope is never lost, and one is never completely without friends.” Nico is glad at least someone agrees with him. He returns the man the smile. “Where are ´ya kids heading?”

“That´s the problem, sir.” Annabeth replies sadly. “We don´t know where.”

The homeless man laughs again. “Have ´ya tried taking a train going west?” Everybody shakes their head at him. The man lifts one greasy hand, and points somewhere behind them. “Well, seems today is your day to try one…”

Everybody turns around. Nico´s eyes widen. There is a freight train there, gleaming and free of snow. It was one of those automobile-carrier trains, with steel mesh curtains and a triple-deck of cars inside. The side of the freight train said SUN WEST LINE. Nico has never feelt more thankful in his life.

"That's… convenient." Thalia says. “Too convenient…”

“Hey, Thanks a lot-” Nico turns to the homeless guy to express his gratitude, but he was gone. Like the wind, he just disappeared. Nico looks at the trash can in front of them. It was cold and empty too, like if the man had taken the flames and warmth with him.

Things I need to Fix #14:

Having more friends around would be nice this time.

While Nico sits on the behind the wheel of a Lamborghini, he thinks of is that he will need to grow at least another feet until he can properly drive one. Not that he ever learned how to drive an actual car, since he could shadow travel everywhere he needed to go, but learning to drive would be nice this time. Especially if he drives a car such as this one.

They were rumbling west in the automobile-carrier train, and everyone got their own luxury car. Zoe was crashed in a Lexus on the top deck, Nico had his Lamborghini, and Thalia and Percy were sharing a Mercedes SLK. He had no idea where Bianca or Annabeth were.

Nico touches the wheel of the Lamborghini. He can listen to the music coming from Thalia and Percy´s car from where he is sitting. It´s not a song he knows, but it´s nice enough for him to enjoy while he keeps thinking about everything, especially what he would do now.

First of all, he needs to train, and train hard. Nico can probably survive the quest with the bare powers he has at the moment and his sword fighting, but he will need to get stronger if he wants to actually do something in the Titan War. Nico decides it. The first thing he will do when he returns to Camp will be train. Maybe Bianca can join him? She also needs to learn to use her powers. Nico can teach her.

He sighs, thinking of his sister. She´s been too sad lately, it reminds Nico of how he was when he was that age. This worries him, he doesn´t want Bianca to become what he was. No, he wants Bianca to be strong and happy. She deserves it, and Nico owns it to her.

Someone knocks the passenger´s door of the Lamborghini. Nico turns around, hopeful that it´s Bianca. It´s Annabeth, though. His good mood goes down.

“Nico?” The Daughter of Athena asks. Nico sighs. “Can I come in?”

“I guess.” He replies, his hands touching the wheel. The song on Thalia´s radio changes to something softer. It´s a song Nico´s heard before, but he doesn´t know neither its name nor the band that plays it. Annabeth opens the door and slides in the passenger seat calmly. She is wearing a camp shirt and a dark hoodie. Nico can see her knife on her jean´s pocket. Nico looks at the back seat, where he left his own weapon and bag.  The minutes pass, and they sit in silence with only the faraway sound of the radio. Nico sighs.

“I am not telling you my whole life story.”  Nico finally says, because he knows why Annabeth came to the car. He has been expecting the conversation to happen since he woke up in the train, is nervous by it, but won´t drag the issue longer than necessary. “Just so you know.”

“I am not expecting you to.” Annabeth replies, looking at the window.

Nico frowns. He really doesn´t want to play these games with her. “Then what do you want?”

Annabeth looks at him weirdly. “Can´t I just sit next to you?”

“You can.” Nico answers. “And you also have the opportunity to sit next to your two best friends, but you are here sitting next to me. You either want something from me, or you want to continue with the fight we had on the gift shop.”

Annabeth smiles at him. “You are smart for being ten, you know?”

Nico sighs. “I am too many things for being ten.”

“I ran away from my house when I was seven.” Annabeth says out of nowhere. Nico turns at her, his eyes wide. Okay, he wasn´t expecting Annabeth to be the one to tell him her whole life story either!  “I´m okay with my family now, don´t worry, but when I was younger it was pretty bad. We fought a lot, and I ran away. That´s actually how I meet Thalia. She and one boy who was also our friend, were also runaway demigods like me.”

“Are you-” Nico is about to ask, but Annabeth raises her hand at him, making him stop.

“It´s fine. I came to terms with it long time ago.” Annabeth replies calmly. “Now it´s your turn.”

“My turn?” Nico raises an eyebrow at her.

“Yes.” Annabeth smiles. Nico has a bad feeling about this. “I gave one private detail about myself. Now you go.”

Nico wants to hit his head with the wheel. What was her plan; to guilt trip him into confessing? Nico groans, he never asked her to tell him she ran away when she was seven, Gods, what happened to her family even- Great, now he feels bad! Her stupid plan worked. Cheers for you, Annabeth.

Nico takes a deep breath. Whatever. She asked for one detail, not for him to tell her everything. It´s okay.

“I used to be really into pirates.” Nico says. He still feels bad, but Annabeth didn´t say what kind of detail. “Before I liked Mythomagic, I was obsessed with pirates and the sea. Ask Bianca, I wouldn´t shut up about them.”

Annabeth doesn´t look surprised though. She looks pretty amused. “You shouldn´t tell Percy about that.”

“Wasn´t planning too.” Nico replies. He doesn´t want to make a fool out of himself in front of the Son of Poseidon this time. “You want to go again, or the detail-sharing was only one round?”

“It will be long actually.” Annabeth warns him. Nico can take it, though. Might be a nice way of killing time. “So my turn now: while you are obsessed with pirates and card games, I am with architecture.” Nico snorts, because yeah, he remembers that clearly about Annabeth. “What? It isn´t worse than knowing about monsters because of their attack points.”

“It is useful!”Nico tells her, because it was. Annabeth punches him in the shoulder playfully.

“Your turn, dead boy.” Annabeth reminds him. And Nico thinks.

“I am fluent in Italian.” He says. “So counting English and the Greek, I can speak three languages.”

So it starts.  They start sharing a detail after another, and somewhere along the line it stop s being details and start to be stories. Annabeth tells him about how she met Percy, about the other two quests she had been in, and about things that happened to her at Camp. (“You see this bead here?” “The one with the centaur in a dress?” “Well, it´s there because in this one weird summer…”), and Nico tells her about his childhood and Bianca´s, and sometimes about his life during the war, but nothing that would be to obvious or that would make her start to suspect him more (“This one time some friends of mine wanted to know play a prank on this really scary girl with some fireworks, and they ended up setting the pants of one of them in fire instead.”). And Annabeth laughs and Nico laughs too. It´s fun and relaxing and Nico feels calmer. It helps him take his head out of all the problems he has, of all what ifs that fly around his head, and about his worry about other things.

Nico thinks it´s like talking to Jason and Hazel, all those weird conversations around the fire, or on the calm days when the battles and the war seemed so far away. It´s amazing.

He had never known this side of Annabeth, had never met this interesting blonde girl that makes jokes that need some thinking to get, and that is so eager to listen more about him too. It´s too different from the Annabeth he remembers, with her cold eyes and her armor made out of strategies and intellect. Suddenly, Nico wants not only to know this girl more, he wants to be her friend.

And the thing is that Nico misses having friends. He misses those camp fires with Jason, misses those laughs between them, that feeling of belonging somewhere.

Nico doesn´t want to miss it anymore.

So when Annabeth tells another sad story instead of a funny one, Nico shares one too.

“It´s like I didn´t know him anymore.” Annabeth says, looking at the Lamborghini´s. “Because Luke would never have done that; the one that gave me the knife would never have betrayed us like that…” She takes a deep breath, returning to the now. She looks at Nico, her smile back on her face, though it seems forced now. “Well, that´s enough of me, I guess… Your turn, Neeks…”

Nico looks at the wheel again. His hands are back on it too. He clenches it. Nico is afraid, but he is also sure about this. He has to trust others to become their friend. Like he did with Jason. He needs to put his barriers down for a second and trust that the other person won´t judge him or make him feel bad. And Nico knows he can trust Annabeth.

“Do you remember when I woke up and you were there, but Bianca was talking to Artemis?” Nico asks.

She nods “When you made that big scene? Yes, I remember.”

It was a few days ago, but it seems so far. Nico laughs. “The actual reason I couldn´t let Bianca join the Hunters was because I didn´t want her to leave me again, not because my father told us she couldn´t…”

Annabeth watches him surprised, like she wasn´t actually expecting Nico to say something like that. Nico can see her gray eyes working on what he just said, like if she was analyzing him and what it means. Her glance softens, however. Nico sighs in relief.

“Has she…” The Daughter of Athena begins, but she pauses for a second. “Has she ever left you before?”

“Once.” Nico replies. His eyes are on the wheel. It´s always been easier to talk to people about things like this when he isn´t looking at their eyes. “But it´s okay now.” Because it is. It was long time ago. That wound has healed. Nico doesn´t hold it against her. But that doesn´t mean that he won´t try the same thing from happening again. “I had to take tough decisions, so did she…” When you are in the middle of a war, you always do, he wants to say. So he does. In other words.

“Annabeth.” He turns at look at her. She has her brows furrowed. She wants to say something, but she is letting Nico speak. He is grateful for this. “Remember when you asked what even would give ten year old kid panic attacks?”

“Does that have to do with Bianca leaving you?” She asks.

“Kind of.” It´s complicated. In a way it does, he guesses, it has to do with that, but so does well, everything Nico has lived through so far. It´s just another reason that adds up to the list of why he is so fucked up. Nico feels a knot forming in his throat. His voice is suddenly smaller, afraid. “I-I just… I don´t want to be alone like that ever again.”

I don´t want to take so many tough decisions anymore.

And maybe Annabeth can see it in his face, how screwed up Nico is at the moment. How many nightmares and demons surround his head and soul most of the time, how hard he has to fight sometimes to keep them at bay, the same way Jason once did in Croatia. Maybe she sees that he needs the reassurance at the moment, that he needs to be told he doesn´t have to carry all the weight in his shoulders by himself this time, that he can lean on others sometimes and that´s okay.

Sincerely, Nico has no idea why Annabeth did it, but she did and that´s what matters.

The Daughter of Athena carefully slides his hand to Nico´s, touching it the same way Nico did to hers in the Museum. It´s warm and Nico never noticed that Annabeth paints her nails the same color of her eyes, but it´s a nice color anyway.

“You are not alone now, Nico. You don´t have to be scared. Bianca won´t leave, and neither will the rest of us.” Annabeth says, giving him a smile that feels almost as warm as the hand touching his. “It will be alright.”

(“It will all be alright.” Nico remembers Jason say in a dream of a memory. “It will be alright, you just have to wait.”)

Nico squeezes the hand and replies with the same thing he did on that dream. “You know, maybe it will be.”

Somewhere, inside a train filled with luxurious cars, a girl with black hair and a green hat hears the voice of a ghost for the first time. The girl wears a golden coat that she won´t take off in years to come. She cried herself to sleep, because she is in a strange world with people she´s never met before, and without a brother she had adored. The voice sings for her, in her dreams.  It calls for her; it speaks of powers she doesn´t know how to control yet, and of riches like she´s never imagined.

The girl doesn´t follow the voice, but she listens to it.

Chapter Text

A man sits infront of a fire, but he can´t feel the heat. It´s the middle of the summer, yet he feels so cold.

He sniffs. He is sitting on a blanket next to the fire, away from everyone else, as he has done for days. He passes a hand through his eyes. They feel dry, at the moment. He did nothing but cry for days straight, and sometimes he still does. At least not as usually as before.

Someone taps him in the shoulder. He turns around.

A dark skinned woman is standing there. Her curls are up in a ponytail, with a long scar at the edge of face that goes down to her neck. Her eyes shine as melted gold, bags under them capable of rivaling the man´s.

She is holding a plate of soup. The man turns away. “You need to eat.”

He shakes his head. He is not hungry. He hasn´t been hungry for a long time. “Give it to someone who needs it more…”

“Nico.” The woman says. Her voice is loud and sharp, the kind of voice that forces people to follow orders, that one of a leader. The man stares more intensely at the fire. “It´s been almost two weeks.”

“I know.” Nico presses his knees to his chest. He rests his head in them.

“You can´t stay like this forever.” The woman tells him. “You don´t eat, you barely sleep-”

“I don´t sleep.” He corrects. How could he sleep, when the only thing he sees when he closes his eyes is his dead friends' faces?

“I´m worried.” She continues. Her tone has changed. It´s soft, terse, the one people use for family and close friends. “Thalia is worried, the Stolls are worried- Hell- Hestia is starting to worry too!” Nico´s cheek scraps to the hardness of his pants. Gods don´t worry about mortals or demigods and their grief. They´ve got their own to worry about to give a second thought about other people´s. “We know losing Jason was hard-”

Nico lets out a laugh. It´s bitter and hurts the woman´s ear. “You weren´t there. You didn´t hold him while he died because of your fault. You know nothing, Hazel.”

Hazel clenches her first, hurt. She sighs. “Nico, the Alliance needs you. We need you. I need you.”  She is looking at him now. It´s half fierce, half broken. “I need you...” Now it´s more broken than fierce. Kind of like how Nico looks right now. Hazel leaves the plate of soup on the floor and sits next to Nico. “I miss him too, you know? I miss him too…”

Nico cries that night again, with Hazel at his side crying too. They will cry together, then they will talk for hours, and later Hazel will fall asleep in the blanket. Nico won´t be able to do the same right away, but he will eat the soup. Nico will eat the soup, and Hazel will wake up the next day to find out he did, and that he also got a little bit of sleep too. She will smile, like she hasn´t in days.

Because this is how demigods are. They are fierce and broken, and they will be more broken that fierce for a while, but it´s okay. Because at the end, they might stay that broken, but they will also grow fiercer.

Bianca opens her eyes and jerks awake. Her breath is coming out hard. She looks around. It´s dark, but she can see things well enough. She is the back seat of a car, she has no idea what car it is, and her hand is touching her coat that she was using as a pillow. She looks at her hand. Bianca sighs, and leans into the seat. She feels tired. She probably looks like the man in her dream.

Nico.

Bianca takes a deep breath. She has been having a lot of weird dreams lately. She feels sad all over again. And more tired. Her eye lids feel heavy. She doesn´t want to sleep, though, she doesn´t want more strange dreams.

"Oh, don't be afraid of dreams." a voice says. Bianca´s eyes shot wide open again, in surprise. She jumps away. She looks around quickly for her sword, where did she put it even, oh right on the car´s floor- “Hey, calm down girl, it´s just me.”

Bianca looks at the voice´s owner, as he shows his face behind the shotgun seat. It´s the homeless man from the rail yard, the one that told them where to go. Bianca isn´t surprised to find him there, but she still grabs her sword. A young lady should be worried if a strange and older man comes without permission to the car she is sleeping, after all.

“What are you doing here?” Bianca asks; her hand in the sword´s handle. (She still can´t believe she has her very own sword. She always wanted one, and this one is really pretty with all the jewels and designs.)

"If it weren't for dreams," The man completely ignores the question. "I wouldn't know half the things I know about the future. They're better than Olympus tabloids."

Bianca raises and eyebrow at him. Great, he is crazy too. The man clears up his throat.

"Dreams like a podcast,

Downloading truth in my ears.

They tell me cool stuff”

It´s a haiku and it´s terrible. It reminds Bianca of someone, though…

The Daughter of Hades gasps, lowering her sword. “Apollo, I mean uh… Lord Apollo?” Nico and Zoe always referred to gods as Lord and Lady. Bianca is really respectful, and she doesn´t want to be killed for offending a god.

“There is no need to call me lord, sweetheart.” The Sun God smiles. Bianca blushes at the nickname. “Or Apollo either. You see, I´m incognito. Please call me Fred.”

“Uh.” Bianca tilts her head at him. It sounds stupid, but she is still doesn´t want to offend him. “Okay… But why Fred?”

"Because Zeus insists on certain rules.” Apollo replies. It sounds more petty than angry for a second. “Hands off, when there's a human quest. Even when something really major is wrong. But nobody messes with my baby sister. Nobody." Bianca can see Apollos´s bright eyes turn into flames. It makes her shiver for the person that was dump enough to capture Lady Artemis.

Bianca melts a little at the memory of the goddess. She was just so… so flawless…

“Is that why you helped us?” She asks instead.

Apollo nods. “Of course! Also maybe because I like to help pretty people, but mainly because of my sis.” Bianca wonders who of the quest members does Apollo qualifies as ‘pretty people’. “Unfortunately, we're running out of time. It's almost sunset. But I imagine we'll get you across a good chunk of America, at least. You´ll get closer to San Francisco."  

“San Francisco? That´s where we´ve got to go?” Apollo nods. Bianca furrows her brows, looking around. They were in D.C, there is no way they are already on the opposite coast. Unless… “How fast is the train going?”

“Fast enough, babe.” Apollo replies with a wink. Bianca blushes just a little bit more.

And then… then she remembers her dream and Nico. About the voices on her head, that she has been listening for a while now, and the dreams that come with them.

“Apo- Fred.” Bianca corrects herself. “Fred, there is something about my brother … About him and about everything and this things I´ve been seeing and-” Bianca feels that nagging in the back of her neck again, those whispers. She sees images forming in her head again, as they tell her their questions. “Fred… do you know about the beast Lady Artemis was hunting?”

Do you know about the Bane of the Gods? 

Apollo looks surprised that she asks about it. His smile evaporates, and his face darkens. “No. I know a lot, and I see a lot. But even I don't know that. Everything seems so… clouded from me lately. I don't like it."

“Do you uh…” Knowing about the beast important, the voices whisper that it is. Bianca must foind out. “Do you know someone who does, maybe?”

"There is one who might." Apollo answers. "If you haven't yet found the monster when you reach San Francisco, seek out Nereus, the Old Man of the Sea. He has a long memory and a sharp eye. He has the gift of knowledge sometimes kept obscure from my Oracles. He might know.”

“Thanks.” Bianca tells him. “For helping us.”

Apollo chuckles, his good mood coming back. “I doubt that I can risk helping you again, Bianca. But remember what I said.” Bianca nods. She will. Apollo checks his watch. “Well, look at the time!” He raises his head at Bianca again. “Saddly, I must leave, as much as I hate leavig a cute girl hanging. You should probably sleep some more, though. And when you return, I expect a good haiku about your journey!”

Bianca wants to tell him that she´s never made a haiku in her life, but the god snaps his fingers, and Bianca´s eyes start to close.

Before she falls asleep again, Bianca hears the prophecy the Oracle of Delphi told her in her head. ‘The loyal brother leads the path.’ It wasn´t referring to Nico, she realizes.

It was referring to Apollo.

As Bianca tells them about her encounter with the Sun God, Nico can´t help but stare at the windows of the town´s restaurant. His stomach groans. Nico sneezes.

“So, we need to find Nereus?” Thalia asks Bianca. Annabeth taps Nico´s shoulders. They are all walking around Cloudcroft, New Mexico. It´s snowing, though the weather is at least warmer than D.C. Plus, Bianca lent Nico a sweater, too big on him again and kind of ugly, but at least he isn´t freezing his ass off. It´s still cold, but he is okay. “And get to San Francisco from this town in the middle of nowhere?”

“Yes.” Bianca replies. She is wearing her long fur coat, and it hides her sword. (Nico has his own in his back. He wonders what mortals see) Nico turns at Annabeth. She mouths ‘bless you’ at him. Nico nods, and sniffs. He has been sneezing a lot lately for some reason. Annabeth is eating a packet of cookies, and offers him one. Nico couldn´t be more thankful in his life. Percy pokes Annabeth to give him a cookie too. “That´s what he told me.”

“It was nice of Lord Apollo to aid us in the quest.” Zoe replies. “San Francisco is close enough that we could arrive in a short time.”

“How are we even supposed to go to San Francisco?” Percy says. “We´ve got no money.”

“And there is nothing in town.” Thalia adds, glaring around. There are just a few restaurants and shops, and almost no cars in the streets.

“I could shadow travel us?” Nico suggest, as he has been doing for the past hour. San Francisco is warm, and Nico seriously wants to be in a place where at least the Sun heats him a little.

“No!” Everybody cuts him. Nico raises his hands in his defense.

“You are not shadow travelling until you learn not to pass out when you do it!” Bianca orders. Nico sticks his tongue out at her. He feels 8 years old doing it and incredibly immature, but Bianca´s face is priceless.

“I would totally not pass out.” Nico assures them. Bianca has her arms crossed and looks unimpressed. Thalia and Percy look like they want to laugh, while Zoe isn´t putting too much attention. Nico rolls his eyes. He totally wouldn´t pass out. “Plus, we would arrive to San Francisco in a shorter time…"

“Nico.” Annabeth tells him seriously. “We don´t want you to get hurt just so we can arrive to San Francisco faster.”

“I wouldn´t get hurt-” Nico protests, and then Annabeth and Bianca glare at him harder. He swallows his complaints. “Okay, okay, no shadow travelling.”

“Good.” Annabeth replies. Nico is about to protest more, but she gives him another cookie, and is suddenly forgiven. Nico eats it enthusiastically. His eyes meet Percy, who is giving him a weird look. Nico shrugs, he is probably just hungry too.

“Can we stop to eat something, though?” Nico says, because they haven´t eaten anything since the museum and he is so hungry he is seriously considering eating his ugly sweater.

“We don´t have money for food.” Percy reminds, as he has been doing for the past hour. Zoe sighs and so does everyone. Nico rolls his eyes. If they are going to start being pessimistic and hopeless again-

“Wait!” Thalia yells. The demigods, plus Hunter, stop and stare at her. “Guys, I know how we can get cash!” She turns at Bianca and Nico. “Hey, didn´t the woman that gave you your sword said we could Iris Message her if we needed money?”

“Alecto is a fury not an actual woman-” Annabeth corrects Thalia, but then the idea catches up with her. “Wait- That could work! Hades could help.” Annabeth looks at Nico. “Your father is the god of Wealth, you said so yourself.”

“And what about it?” Nico tells them. “You expect him to give us money or a ride just because of that?”

By the look of everyone´s faces they do. Even Zoe looks like she thinks it would be worth trying. Nico takes a deep breath. Well, at least it is better than having everyone be sorry of themselves.

“Augh, fine!” Nico groans. “Does anyone have a drachma?”

Asking his godly parent for money… actually goes pretty well. Alecto doesn´t mind answering the call, and she seems glad to hear from the siblings.

“I can´t really take you to San Francisco, Mr. Di Angelo.” The Fury explains over the call. “But I may be able to provide you with a ride that will take you close to the city. It would take a while to arrive, of course, but meanwhile maybe you and your friends could have something to eat?”

And that´s how Nico ends up holding a credit card in his hands while they all wait for their food in a restaurant in Cloudcroft, New Mexico. It has the heat on, and Nico feels in heaven after being in the cold for so long. The credit card is black, with a gray skull on the designs. Big silver letters read ‘STYGIAN’, with his name under it. Bianca had also been given one, (they kind of had dropped out of thin air into their hands when he finished the call with Alecto) but hers was dark purple instead. Alecto told them it used their family´s bank trust, which means they had plenty of money and will continue to do so as long as they don´t go around spending it in whatever they want. Hades wouldn´t mind giving his children money, but he didn´t wanted them to waste it away.

“Seems you won´t be running out of money anymore.” Percy says, observing the credit card over Nico´s shoulder.

Nico tenses slightly at the surprise but relaxes. He puts the card away, and tries his best to be self confident. “Well, my dad is the God of Wealth, after all.” It´s supposed to be a joke, but Percy doesn´t look really amused. Nico feels nervousness forming in his mind, but he pushes it down. At least he stopped sneezing each ten minutes. “So, have you decided what to order yet?”

Bianca, Annabeth and Zoe went to the coffee shop across the block to get everyone drinks, but would be back soon. Thalia was in the bathroom, leaving the two boys alone at the table. Nico has never felt so awkward in his life.

“Not really.” Percy says, grabbing his menu again. He is tapping the fingers in the table. He probably feels just as awkward. “Uh…What about you?”

“I´ll have a hamburger and fries.” He remembers the hamburgers at camp and feels his mouth water. Then he remembers telling Annabeth how good they were, last night on the Lamborghini. She had laughed and agreed, the food at camp was the best. “I think Annabeth might have a hamburger too…”

“So, you are really good friends with Annabeth now, huh?” The Son of Poseidon´s grip on the menu tightens. Nico isn´t sure what to feel, but Percy´s eyes feel threatening. Why is Thalia taking so long in the bathroom? “I mean … You two are always talking and you were laughing a lot in the car yesterday…”

“Yeah, we are friends.” Nico replies, because Annabeth had said they were. Maybe Percy and he can be friends too. His heart flutters at the thought.

Percy and he stays in silence for a while, the awkwardness growing. It feels nothing like the backseat of the Van, on the ride to the museum. It´s like if that boy that made jokes about Dementer´s dress is completely different from the one that is sitting next to Nico right now.  

Nico doesn´t want that.

“So uh.” Nico thinks what he can ask to make things less awkward. “So… You live in New York with your Mom?”

“I do. She is there right now.” Percy says. Now he seems sad. “I won´t be with her during Christmas, though…”

Okay, now this feels more awkward, whoa, well done Di Angelo.

“Is she nice?” Nico asks eventhough he knows Sally Jackson is nice. Sally Jackson is an angel who had offered a skinny boy with an aviator jacket a Tupperware with extra food he could take back to the Underworld, whenever he visited, never once questioning why he lived there instead of somewhere more normal. Sally Jackson is one of those people between a million that is a proof that mortals deserve to exist.

“She is really nice.” Percy doesn´t seem so sad anymore. He is probably thinking about his amazing mom too. “She is probably watching cartoons right now, or reading. Usually we bake cookies and decorate them for the Holidays too.” Percy is beaming, but it´s one of those smiles that is more to himself than for other. “She sometimes puts blue dye on the food, because that´s my favorite color. She is the best mom ever.”

Nico remembers a blue cake, plus the smile of the kind women. “I bet she is.”

“So, what about you?” Percy asks. It feels like Annabeth´s detail sharing game again. “How is your mom?”

“Well…” Nico thinks what he can answer. When he was 14, memories of his mother were a silver lining since they were so few. Now, however, he has various memories of Maria Di Angelo, since more and more of his childhood in Italy came to him as he grew up. “She was born in Italy. She liked to sing to me and Bianca a lot, especially in Italian.” If Nico closes his eyes, he can sometimes hear the melody, or see his mother smiling as she spins around with a tiny Nico in her arms. “She also had a weird fascination with the death.” Hades had told him that about her. Maria Di Angelo´s mother, Nico´s Grandma, had died when Maria was a four. She had been at peace with this, since she didn´t remember her a lot, but since a young age Maria had been thrilled about her deceased mother and the things that happened after you died. She had loved ghost stories, as well with Mythology and all the things she could see through the mist. “She used to say my father was really kind. Sometimes, he visited her and us, too.”

Nico remembers how it was when Hades visited them, when he was just a young child, but before the mortal war against America and the other countries started. They would go out and walk around the streets of Venice, Bianca and Nico would run and play, while Maria took Hades´s arm and leaned into him.

“Wait- Hades visited you?!” Percy´s eyes widen.

“Sometimes.” Nico says. He then adds: “We didn´t know he was a god, though.” for the sake of keeping up his charade.

“Woah.” Percy whispers. “Your mom must be really pretty. Have you told her you are half-bloods, yet?”

“We can´t-” Nico feels a knot for in his throat. There is an ache in his heart at the moment, as there always is when he thinks of his mother too long. He always remembers how she died, and can´t help but feel a burning hate towards Zeus. “…We can´t tell her… She is uh… She is dead.”

“Oh.” Percy looks guilty now. “Sorry.”

“It´s okay.” Nico smiles at him sadly. He doesn´t crave for the mother he never had, as he once did, or for the family that was taken away from him too. He is at peace with the death, even if he is bound to them, the same way his own mother once was. “It was long time ago.”

“Is that why Bianca and you were staying at Westover Hall?” Percy asks. Nico nods. “How you arrived there even?”

“After our mother´s death we stayed in a Hotel for a while.” Nico explains. “Then a lawyer came to take us out, and we entered Westover Hall.”

“You were there long?”

“Just for a semester.” Nico says. Hades took them out of the Casino around the same time Zeus´s own kid was brought back to life. “Though I don´t think we can return after all the havoc we broke while you guys were trying to get us out.”

Percy snorts. “Yeah, schools tend not to let you return when you destroy them fighting monsters. So what are you and Bianca going to do after we save Artemis?”

Nico frowns slightly. He isn´t quite sure yet. His plan was to stay at Camp as an all-year resident, but it probably won´t be so comfortable to sleep at the Hermes Cabin with all the others non Olympian demigods there. Alecto mentioned something of finding them a new school, but Nico isn´t completely sure if it will be good for him to be in one after all he has been through. Getting an education would be nice, but there is no way he would get along with other kids his age after how traumatized he is. “I don´t know… Maybe live somewhere close to Camp?”

Percy smiles. “Hey, maybe if you lived close to New York you could visit and we could play videogames?”

“Would I get dyed food in my favorite color too?” Nico says, smiling back. He remembers how often he dropped at Percy´s house out of nowhere on the year before the Titan´s War, of the movies they watched during midnight and all the weird discussions they had on the table while Sally cooked them blue food. If Nico had to guess, he would say that was the best year of his life after Bianca´s death, when Percy and he were friends, before the War with Gaea started, and years got progressively worse and worse. That he could have something like that again sets the butterflies in his stomach on fire. “Sure, but I´m not that great at videogames.”

“I could teach you, as long as you buy me more blue food dye with your magic credit card.” Percy replies and the two laugh.

“It´s a deal then.” Nico says, grinning like what probably looks like an idiot at the Son of Poseidon.

Then Thalia returns from the bathroom, and demands Nico to pay for all the cheeseburgers she is going to eat, since he got the money. The rest of the girls arrive with coffee for everyone, and a milkshake for Nico since Bianca said he got even more ADHD with cafeine. Nico knows it´s truth, but he protests anyway, though the milkshake is nice. They order the food, and eat while talking and joking about this store Annabeth saw that sold rubber rats for a dollar. Nico sneezes some more, but the hamburgers are good enough and his friends´ amusement for stores that sell weird shit makes it all better.

They laugh and order more food. Nico couldn´t feel happier.

Alecto had told them that the ride would arrive to take them somewhere close to San Francisco, but she had never said when.

So there they were, sitting on the sidewalk of Cloudcroft, stupid New Mexico, waiting for their ride to arrive, and frowning like if Gaea herself had risen just to laugh at a bunch of kids on a quest.

Well, at least we´ve eaten something already, Nico thinks in his attempt to be optimistic, which is hard while the temperature drops and he shakes like a leaf in a tornado. He had thought his ugly sweater would be enough in the winter, but apparently it isn´t.

Nico´s teeth are chattering, his knees pressed into his body because of the cold. Gods, how he wishes they had stayed at the restaurant until their ride arrived.

“Nico?” Thalia pokes him in the back. She has her brows furrowed. She is sitting next to him, with Annabeth across them. Zoe was walking from side, while Bianca and Percy lean into the wall of one of the stores.

“Y-y-yeah?” Nico turns at her. He feels a little bit of tickles forming in his nose.

“Are you okay?” Thalia asks.

“Yeah, I-I-I am, don´t-” Nico lets out a big sneeze. It echoes through the street, and makes all of them stare at him. He feels something in his nose. It´s watery and gross. “-worry… Uh… Augh, d-d-does anyone has a t-tissue?”

“Aw, Neeks.” Bianca walks toward him, leaning next to him. The girl sets her bag on the floor, and takes out some toilet paper from her bag. Nico takes it gladly, and cleans his nose with it. Bianca puts his hand on Nico´s forehead. He tries to push her away, but she still manages to touch him. “You are really cold! Is the sweater warm enough?”

“It´s good.” Nico says. Bianca puts the bag away, both of her hands moving toward her smaller brother. Nico groans, scooting away. “Bi, it´s fine, I´m a-alright. It´s just a bit c-cold, that´s all.”

“Nico-” Bianca starts to say, but Nico moves away.

“Seriously, I´m o-okay!” He protests. Bianca takes a deep breath, and starts to look around her bag again. “W-what are you doing?”

“I´m looking for something more you can wear!” Bianca takes out various things, and groans. Zoe and Percy move closer to them. Nico sneezes again. Thalia is the one to pass him paper this time. “Augh! How could I be dump enough not to bring more clothes or a jacket, does anyone have one? If Nico gets sick while we are on a quest-”

“Wait.” Percy says. “Nico, where is your bag?”

“I-I left it on van.” Nico replies. He shudders again. Gods, it´s getting really cold. “But it´s okay guys, I-I´m can handle it w-while whatever Alecto sent a-arrives...”

Thalia frowns, and she looks angry, though it isn´t at Nico. “You are ten, you shouldn´t be on the snow with just a sweater, you could catch a cold or something worse like hypothermia!” 

“Bianca.” Annabeth calls out. “I´ve got some mittens, Nico can have them. Zoe, don´t you have anything else Nico can use to get in heat-”

And that´s how Nico ends up with a silver scarf, pink mittens in his hands, and Bianca´s green hat in his head. Percy and Annabeth are sitting next to him while the other girls go buy a cup of hot chocolate and a jacket for Nico (since no one had another sweater or a hoodie and Bianca insisted her little brother wasn´t travelling in the winter without one).  Zoe had tagged along with them, something about getting more provisions for the quest too. Nico sneezes again.

Gods, if I become the first demigod to catch a cold in a quest, I will go tell Kronos himself to take me back.

“Bless you.” Annabeth says. She has the toilet paper in her hand, and passes Nico some.

His nose isn´t really that wet, so he turns it down. “No thanks.” His teeth aren´t clattering as before, but his throat hurts a bit. He feels warmer and it´s nice. The Daughter of Athena is staring at him. It´s sort of the way she did back in the museum. Nico frowns. He thought they left that stage behind after an awesome night of talking inside a luxury car. “What?”

“For how long you had been feeling cold?” Annabeth asks. She has her arms crossed, and that look in her eyes that says that she is about to deeply analyze whatever he says.

Nico shrugs. He has felt really cold since the museum, if he is being honest. But he can´t tell her that. Annabeth will worry, and she´ll tell Bianca, and then the two will baby him and make a huge fuss out of a few sneezes and a watery nose. “I don´t know, since we arrived to the town?”

Annabeth still worries, though. “Nico.” She says frowning. “If you were feeling sick before, you should´ve told us.”

“I´m not sick!” He repeats, but it loses its effect as he sneezes again.

“Here, dude.” It´s Percy´s turn to pass him paper. Nico grabs it and wipes his nose. “And Annabeth is right, if you are feeling bad or cold you have to tell us.” Annabeth looks pleased that Percy agrees with her. Nico swears he can see her gray eyes soften at the sheer sight of Percy. It makes his heart squeeze and hurt, but he pushes the thought away. “I could have lent you a hoodie or something…”

The image of Percy handing him his hoodie with a smile and open arms makes Nico´s head turn to jelly for a second. He pushes that away too.

“I would be drowning in your clothes, Jackson.” Nico says instead. “Plus, you don´t have any other hoodies apart from what you´re wearing...”

Percy frowns at Nico. “Yeah, but if you needed it more than me I would have given it to you.”

The image of Percy handing him the hoodie changes to that one of Percy sneezing and having a red nose. Nico shakes his head. “No. I wouldn´t want you to get sick because of me...”

He hears Annabeth sigh at his right. Both boys turn at her. Annabeth is about to say something, maybe a long lecture or a sharp comment for Nico, but then-

Then Nico feels a presence of all of the sudden that makes his body shake, and not because of the cold.

“Guys.” Percy whispers. He has his hand in his pocket and he is standing up. “I think we aren´t alone anymore.” Annabeth and Nico stand up too, but only Annabeth takes her knife out.

In the corner of the street, six skeletons stand. They are holding weapons, and they are looking around. Nico´s seen undead soldiers before, but something about these ones feels different...

“Weren´t the Skeletons from another color?” Annabeth asks Percy. The two of them have moved to stand in front of Nico.

“Yeah, they were.” Percy replies “These ones also have guns…”. Nico´s heart starts to beat faster, because yes, those things have guns and they are big. The skeletons are coming closer.

“You them from the front, and I turn invisible and attack them from the back?” Annabeth is saying, but Nico steps to the front. The monsters have finally seen them, and they are raising their weapons. His eyes widen as the situation dawns on him. “Or what do we do-“

“We escape!” Nico grabs Annabeth and Percy´s hands with his mittens. The two teens look confused at Nico, but he doesn´t have time to think in another thing that isn´t get Percy and Annabeth out of here.

They are swallowed by the shadows as the firsts bullets are fired at them.

Three demigods drop out of nowhere at the inside of a store. They hit the ground hard.

Nico rolls around. He groans loudly. His head is going around and around, nothing seeming straight.

And then he sees blood. His eyes widen. “Annabeth-”

“It´s okay- Augh-” The daughter of Athena clenches her leg. She is bleeding through her jeans. “It´s just one of the bullets- Nico, you shouldn´t have shadow travelled us-”

“We had to get out of there!” Nico yells, because he is ten and one of his friends is bleeding and he is panicking- Gods, he needs to breathe, he needs to calm down-

“Guys?” Thalia Grace asks. She and Bianca are standing in a counter, with a mortal women staring at Nico and the others. They are carrying a plastic bag with a weird black thing inside. “Annabeth, why are you-”

“No time to explain.” Percy stands up. “The Skeletons found us.”

“But Didn´t we kill them?” Bianca protests. Percy shakes his head. Nico is looking at Annabeth. She is groaning in pain. Nico takes a deep breath.  Bianca sighs. She hands the mortal the credit card. The women passes it by the register. Thalia then stands before her and snaps her fingers. The women gives them a lazy smile. “Okay, what do we do now?”

“Where is Zoe?” Percy asks, helping Nico stand up. Nico is shaking. Percy squeezes his shoulder.

“She went alone somewhere, she said that she thought she saw the ride Alecto sent for us-”

And then the bullets start to come again. They hit the front window, breaking it.  Thalia pushes the women behind the counter with her. Percy wraps his hands around Nico, dragging him into the counters. Annabeth wheezes, the bullets bouncing against the store and she-

She isn´t moving. “I can´t stand up-” Annabeth cries out. Nico tries to move away, and he feels Percy´s hands loosening up in him and suddenly he is screaming too, because oh my gods, Annabeth-

Bianca is the first one to react. She jumps toward Annabeth, putting herself in front of the Daughter of Athena, and Nico feels his whole world crash down as the bullets start to direct and one point in her sister´s back and no, no, Bianca can´t die, she can´t again, why-

But the bullets stop. Bianca stops hugging Annabeth and stands up, as surprised and confused as everyone else. She isn´t bleeding, or hurt, and she is fine, the bullets have done nothing on her, but how-

The Nemean Lion´s fur coat. It´s bulletproof

Both, his sister and the Skeleton Warriors, seem to realize that too. Bianca smiles, and for a second as the Skeletons lower their guns and shake in terror, Nico thinks she looks like a real hero.

Bianca raises her sword and charges.

Chapter Text

In the first months of the Alliance, they had just enough people to be an army, but not enough organization to really be one. It wasn´t even six months after the fall of Olympus, and less than a year from the death of Percy and Annabeth. No one had high spirits, and they were short on generals and leaders since most had died during the Roman-Greek battles and the war with the Giants. Most demigods who had some kind of experience were given a soldier unit to command.

Nico had fought in wars before. He had commanded legions of the Undead; he had survived both, August the First and the Day of the Fall, as well as been a main part of Kronos´s defeat a few years before.

But Nico was also young and a wreck. Everything ( the War, Tartarus, the death ) had happened too fast. He was a scared kid whose dreams were plagued by demons and guilt. Sometimes the only things holding him in reality and away from everything else were Hazel and Jason.

Still, he was given a group of 20 people he had to lead into battle, just because there was no one else that could do it.

Back during the war, Nico had been sixteen, commanding a team of actual living people for the first time (some of them being even younger than him), when he lost one of his soldiers.

“It wasn´t your fault Nico.” Jason had said as he hugged a panicking and bloody Son of Hades in his arms.  Nico remembers that he had just returned from the battle, and walked straight into Jason´s tent, before bursting into tears. “These things happen when you are at War. People get hurt, some die, but no, it´s not your fault.”

But Nico had still felt guilty. He felt guilty because, even if he hadn't killed the soldier, she still died because of his mistakes, like Percy and, at the end, even Jason. Because he wasn´t strong enough, fast enough, wasn't smart enough.

Because Nico just wasn´t enough.

As Nico watches Thalia get the bullet out of Annabeth´s leg, as Percy holds her hand in comfort, and Nico clenches his jaw. No one will be getting hurt because of him, this time.

He will be enough this time.

He has to be.

The ride Alecto sends for them is a chariot. Like an actual dark purple old-timey chariot, pushed by skeleton horses, with a zombie driving it. It arrives about half an hour after the Skeletons attacked. Bianca had taken out most of them. It had been an amazing thing to watch, not only because the Nemean Lion´s fur coat was better than any shield or armor, but because of the sheer amount of power she had radiated at that moment. .

It had also been terrifying in a way, not only because Nico´s sister could be killed in the fight, but but because of the sheer amount of power she had radiated at that moment.

Children of the Big Three were powerful. Jason summoned storms, Hazel caused earthquakes, and Nico hadn´t managed to cross Tartarus five times just by sheer luck. Children of the Big Three were forces of nature. Bianca was just being one while she fought.

But if they didn´t learn how to control that power…

Nico gulps at the thought.

His worries aren´t fixed on Bianca at the moment, though. Not with Annabeth leaning into Percy in the chariot´s front seat, the Son of Poseidon offering her another piece of Ambrosia. Nico sighs into the window.

“Nico?” Thalia calls out. She is next to him, since Zoe and Bianca decided to ride on the outside with the zombie (Nico swears he can hear the two of them laughing and talking outside). Nico turns at Thalia. She looks pretty much the way she did when they were sitting on the sidewalk a few hours ago. “You okay?”

“Y-yeah...” Nico replies, over the knot in his throat. He still has on all the things everyone lent him on Cloudcroft, even Bianca´s hat. He looks at his pink mittens, the ones Annabeth gave him to make him feel warm. She had cared about him, like she had on the museum and on the Lamborghini- and Nico had to go ahead and make her get shot- what sort of awful friend kind of bad and ungrateful person is he-

Nico sniffs, because- oh my god, I feel like shit, I should feel like shit, why do you always have to fuck everything up and hurt everyone, Nico, why-

“You don´t seem okay.” Thalia says, turning toward him. Her brows are furrowing. “Nico…are you crying?”

“I´m not crying!” Nico groans. He isn´t, his eyes are just a little bit wet on the corners. It took deaths and serious stuff to make him cry, there is no reason why it should take less to make him do so now… and yet he feels so small, and stupid, and frustrated - “It´s just the cold!”

“It doesn´t seem to be just the cold.” Thalia crosses her arms. Nico glances at her. The plastic bag with whatever she bought at New Mexico is there, next to her.

“It is…” He passes a hand through his eyes, wiping them away with his sleeve. The ugly sweater feels rough against his face. His attention goes back to the couple in the front seat. Annabeth leans a little bit closer into Percy. Nico dies a little bit more. “It´s just-”

And then Thalia settles the plastic bag on his lap.

Nico looks up at her confused.

“What is this?” He asks, his brows furrowed. Thalia shrugs, and then glances away. She seems… embarrassed? Nico takes the bag, opening, and takes out whatever is inside. His eyes widen and his heart stops.

There is a black leather jacket there.

He turns at Thalia again.

“We couldn´t find any sweaters or hoodies, so we decided to get you this one.” Thalia says. She is leaning into the door. Nico passes his hand through the leather. It´s black and shiny. “Bianca thought it would make a nice Christmas present, but I think you need it more now. You know, because of the ‘cold’…Plus uh… It matches with the shirts the Stolls gave you…” Nico remembers the camp shirt, the black one with orange letters instead of the opposite that he is wearing underneath his ugly sweater. Connor and Travis had given it to him just a few days ago. It feels like months. “You will look pretty punk rock. I might even be jealous.”

Images suddenly flash over Nico´s eyes, the memory of an old aviator jacket he used to have years ago, one he wore during his first trip through Tartarus and that he lost during his second. One Jason used to say was too dirty at times when he pulled Nico from it, one he used to put on Hazel when she fell asleep, one Reyna often made fun of because it was too old.

He had missed that jacket.

Nico clenches his fingers on his new one. Gods, he does feel like actually crying right now. He stares at Thalia.

“Thanks.” Nico says. It carries so much feeling that it makes her eyes widen.

She looks away, embarrassed again. “No problem…”

Nico puts it on, over his ugly sweater and his special camp shirt. The jacket is too big on him, of course, but it also feels comforting. He sniffs again. It´s not like coming home, but it does feel like those hot cocoa cups Chiron gave them. Nico wraps his hands around him, and rests back into the window.

He still feels bad, but it does help for the cold.

Things I need to Fix #5:

Don´t let my past or my feelings push me away from anyone .

The chariot leaves them in another town in the middle of nowhere, this time in Arizona. The zombie stops the chariot one second, and kicks everyone out the next. On one hand, it hurts to get your butt dumped back into the snow, but Nico wasn´t expecting Alecto to get them up into San Francisco. When they ask Bianca and Zoe, the ones that stayed the whole time with the charioteer about it, they just say that he had strict orders to leave them there, in front of that junkyard. Something about them having to cross it.

They travel for most of the day, and it was starting to go dark yet again. Everybody is tired, so Zoe decides to camp out there, in front of the junkyard. They could cross it tomorrow. Nico didn´t protest, even if he had a weird feeling about it. The last sleep he got had been in the Lamborghini, and that had been a while ago. Plus, even if he wasn´t sneezing so much anymore, his throat still felt rough. He was happy to oblige with Zoe´s orders.

Percy and Thalia make a campfire, while Zoe and Bianca take out the food they had bought in New Mexico. Soon, they are all eating in a circle around the fire.

As Nico stuffs the chocolate chips cookies into his mouth (since the food they have consists only of snacks), he looks at the sky. The stars in it are even brighter than the ones at Camp Half-blood.

“I have never seen the Milky Way…” Bianca mentions, across from Nico. Her eyes are also wide with wonder. Nico nods in agreement. “It´s so beautiful.”

“This is nothing.” Zoe replies sadly. She and Bianca are sitting next to each other, the same way they did on the train, in the restaurant, and on the chariot.

“How come?” Bianca asks, with a smile towards the other girl.

Nico´s mind gets pulled away from Bianca and Zoe for a second, as he stares into the sky again. There are so many stars, like white dots on an already colorful canvas.

“In the old days, there were more stars.” Zoe whispers for the Daughter of Hades, though everyone else can hear her. “Whole constellations have disappeared because of human light pollution.”

Nico suddenly wishes he could have been sent to those days. Just to see to those stars.

“Isn´t that jacket too big for you, Nico?” Percy asks, absolutely ruining the moment. Nico turns to him. Percy points his bag of Oreos at him, smiling. It makes Nico´s heart beat just a little bit faster. “Wanna trade?”

“Sure.” Nico gives him his own packet of cookies, and grabs Percy´s. “And the jacket won´t be big on me forever.”

“What do you mean?” Percy raises an eyebrow. The girls are all in conversation around them.

“I will grow.” He says. Nico had hit a growth spurt between the age of seventeen and eighteen. He hadn´t been as tall as Jason, but he was tall enough.

“But what if you don’t grow that much?” The other boy asks again.

“Trust me, I will.” Nico replies. “Maybe I will even be taller than you.”

Percy takes one of the chocolate chip cookies and smiles. “Not a chance, Di Angelo.”  He eats the cookie, and they both return to the girls´ conversations.

“How will we get to San Francisco after the junkyard?” Annabeth is saying. The ambrosia had fixed most of her wound, but her leg is still bandaged. Nico is so glad she is okay. “The Hoover Dam is close; maybe we could pay it a visit.”

“She just wants to go so she can explain to us all about it better than the tour guide.” Percy tells Nico over the cookies.  Nico snorts. “One time during our first quest, we were over the Gateway Arch and Grover and me couldn´t stop her talking about it.”

“That sounds like something Annabeth would do.” Nico replies as Percy stuffs more cookies into his mouth.

“If we find a road after we get through the junkyard, we will hitchhike to the nearest city.” Zoe replies to Annabeth, glaring at Percy and Nico. There is a bottle of juice in her hand, and she is sharing a bag of Skittles with Bianca. “I do not know if that path will lead us to the Dam, but we might have to cross Las Vegas.” Nico almost chokes on his cookies.

Both of the Di Angelos pale at the mention of that city. It´s like the wind had swept their good mood away.

“No.” Bianca says quietly. “Not there.”

“I think we should avoid that city!” Nico adds, his grip on the bag tightening. “Like, completely.” The rest of the quest members give them weird looks, and the chattering dies out.

Zoe frowns. “Why?”

Bianca looks at Nico and Nico looks back at her. Nico feels his heart beating faster, as everyone´s eyes are on him. He feels the need to shadow travel away and to avoid the question.   

Gods, why couldn´t we just keep talking about the Dam? Can we go back to that, can we forget all about Las Vegas-

“Is there something wrong, Bianca?” Zoe says. She has her hands crossed, her brows furrowed. Nico keeps his mouth shut, his eyes in the floor. His hands are shaking.

I´m not ready for them to know just yet-

By the look on Bianca´s face she isn´t either.

“Nico?” Annabeth asks over the fire. Nico looks up at her. Annabeth looks concerned. Nico glances at her bloody jeans and feels a twinge in his body. He furrows his brows. “Something happened?”

But I´m keeping too many secrets.

Nico glances at Bianca. She is staring wide eyed at him. Bianca stays still for a second, and bites her lip. Nico takes a deep breath.

“We… We stayed there for a while in a hotel, when we travelling after our… After our mom died.” Nico explains softly, just as Bianca shakes his head at him. Nico gives her an apologetic look. “We stayed there for about a month, but uh… but…”

“But…” Bianca tries to finish, but her voice breaks slightly. “… I can´t remember.”

They stay quiet for a while, just as everybody tries to take in what they just said. Nico looks at the ground, ashamed of himself. Now would be a really good time to actually shadow travel.

“Bianca, Nico…” Percy says next to him. Nico is too scared to look at him. “That hotel you stayed at. Was it possibly called the Lotus Hotel and Casino?”  

“Yeah…” Bianca replies grimly. “Yeah, it was.”

“Oh…” Annabeth whispers.

The silence is killing Nico. Even the sound of the night seems muffled. It´s a relief when Thalia finally breaks it.

"Wait," Thalia asks. "What is the Lotus Casino?"

"A couple of years ago," Percy answers. "Grover, Annabeth, and I got trapped there. It's designed so you never want to leave. We stayed for about an hour. When we came out, five days had passed. It makes time speed up."

Thalia stares at Nico, her eyes widened and confused. Nico keeps his eyes on the floor. “But you said you guys stayed there for a month- and then Alecto took you out or something, what does it-”

“Can you stop!?” Nico raises his voice, making Thalia shut up and everyone else jump. Nico doesn´t care though, all he can do is watch Bianca. Her hands are wrapped around her, her eyes like if she was about to cry. Nico feels like if someone had just kicked him in the stomach. “We really don´t want to talk about it!”

Zoe sits forward, her eyebrows knit, closer to Nico´s sister. Bianca looks up at her. "You said that Washington, D.C. had changed when you went back last summer. You didn't remember the subway being there…”

“Yes, but-” Bianca tries to talk, but she cuts herself. “Guys, please-”

Before she could finish, they are hit with a blazing light from down the road. The headlights of a car appear out of nowhere. Nico feels relieved for the distraction. Maybe it´s just Apollo, but it would be impossible since it´s nighttime- Nico´s eyes widen.

He shadow travels, as the rest of the demigods and the Hunter grab their things and get out of the way, as a deathly white limousine slides right in front of their fire.

Nico really has zero control over his life, and he can totally prove it. Exhibit A: He somehow ended up dragged by the God of War into a magical limousine with Percy Jackson.

It was kind of a blur after he shadow traveled, right before getting run over by said magical limousine. One second he had one hand on his sword, the other on his heart while he hyperventilates because oh my gods, why is everything trying to kill me; and the next one Ares was grabbing him by his jacket and pushing him inside the car, Percy following after him.

So yeah, Nico´s control and decisions over his life are null. Especially with the Goddess of Love sitting right in front of him.

Percy has his mouth opened, his eyes shining like jewels at the sight of Aphrodite, but Nico isn´t feeling it. Nico has his jaw clenched and his hand still in his sword.

Nico remembers Croatia, he remembers taking an arrow in his arm as the grass dies below his feet, he remembers a pair of wings and a wicked smile as Nico relieves his worst fears playing in his eyes and Jason screams for him-

He glares harder.

“There is no need to have such a frown, Nico.” Aphrodite tells him. She is wearing a red satin dress and her hair is curled in a cascade of ringlets.

Percy has his eyes fixated solely on her, like his whole world had just minimized to the goddess and the limousine.

Well , Nico thinks,   at least he isn´t thinking about the fact that Bianca and I are from the 1940´s.

The Son of Hades takes a look at Aphrodite, still glaring. Though it´s hard to glare while directly staring at her…

And, okay- while Nico isn´t drooling like Percy, he has to admit she is kind of beautiful. There is a certain appeal on the way her jaw meets her neck, the angle of her face, and the way her eyes shine like if they were the sea itself-

Nico blushes furiously, and scoots away from the Son of Poseidon. Aphrodite raises a single eyebrow at him, as she passes a golden mirror to Percy, grinning like she knew something Nico didn´t.

Augh, why are all love gods so annoying…

“Why can´t you be as sweet as your friend over here?” Aphrodite turns at Percy, puckering up her lips at him as he grabs the mirror for her. The Olympian dabs at her lipstick, leaning closer to Percy. It makes Nico a bit uncomfortable to see how alike the two of them look. “Do you know why I brought the two of you here on this quest?”

Because your bastard son probably told you how fun it was to mess with me and my feelings . “I don´t know, Lady Aphrodite.” Nico replies, sounding more passive aggressive than anyone should towards a god, especially one as powerful as Aphrodite. “Why are we on this quest?”

"Oh, dear," Aphrodite says, though she does ignore Nico´s tone. She looks disappointed now, as she glances back and forth between the two boys, but Nico isn´t looking at Percy for as long as they are in this car. "Aren´t you too young to be in denial?"

“What denial?!” Nico´s voice has never sounded as pitched. Outside the car, Ares seems to be laughing. Nico feels anger flaring up on him , he isn´t some stupid joke for gods to laugh about-

“Nico?” Percy asks beside him, shaken out of Aphrodite´s spell-beauty-whatever. Nico doesn´t turn around but he can feel him coming closer. He probably has his eyebrows furrowed the same way he did a few minutes ago in the campfire. “Are you alright?”

“Don´t worry.” Nico mutters back. He will be fine as soon as he gets down from this car.

“Aw, poor boy …” Aphrodite moves closer toward Nico. She has that look in her face that most people had when Nico was a kid and people saw him sleeping on a bench of the street. Nico wants to back away, because he doesn´t want her pity. He is an adult, he doesn´t need their pity. “You carry such grief and love in your heart for one so little … So much passion and devotion-” Then Aphrodite breathes in, and okay, Nico feels more stressed out than angry now, what if she can- “Ah! I haven´t felt such a soul with so many feelings for over a century-” And then her brows are furrowed closer. She is staring at Nico. Percy is staring at him too. Nico gulps. “- especially for someone they just met…”

“And for those they are yet to…” Aphrodite moves away. She takes her seat back at the other side of the limousine. She gives Nico a sad smile. “You are quite a lover, Nico, for a Son of Hades.” She then turns to Percy. Nico feels a knot forming in his throat. “Whoever you adore so much is lucky to have you…”  

Percy, thanks the Gods, is just as clueless as ever. Nico sighs in relief.

But he does stare at Nico like if he had just been given a puzzle and isn´t sure what to do with it. Nico gulps again.

Aphrodite giggles. “Aw, how adorable.” Percy jumps back into his seat, and continues to drool a bit more at her. Nico rolls his eyes. “Anyway. Percy, I bet you know why you are here.”

“Well, uh….” Percy mutters. He glances at Nico a couple more times. Nico fixates on his shoes. They are worn out but kind of awesome. Percy returns his attention to the goddess. “To save Artemis?”

Aphrodite rolls her eyes. "Oh, Artemis. Please. Talk about a hopeless case.” She then looks straight at Percy, and Nico swears he can see the Son of Poseidon blush just a little bit. “You are here to save someone, but not Artemis, no. This is a quest to save someone you love!”

Percy is as oblivious and confused as ever, but Nico´s is starting to get what the goddess is trying to tell them. He raises and eyebrow, just as confused himself. “We are here to save Annabeth?” Nico says while Percy stares at him shocked. “But- she isn´t in danger!” Well, not that Nico knows of at the moment. “She is outside with Ares and the rest of the girls. No one would be stupid enough to attack them if the God of War is there unless-” Unless Ares was the danger. Unless the gods are planning to sell them. For all Nico knows, the limousine could be floating or flying, the girls and the junkyard miles away. If something happened to them because he wasn´t there to protect them… Nico´s grip tightens on his sword. “If this was a plan to get us away so you or a monster or someone else could get to her, Aphrodite, I swear I will-”

“Daw…” Aphrodite just coos at him. Meanwhile, Percy continues to stare at Nico like he doesn’t know what to say. “Don´t worry, Nico, this danger I´m talking about isn´t about monsters. It´s the Hunters you should worry about.” And-

-And Nico is now the clueless one.

But Percy is also now the one who knows what´s going on. He clenches his fists and raises his chin. “Annabeth wouldn´t join the Hunters! She wouldn´t do something like that, she would never leave us-”

“Or would she?” Aphrodite interrupts.

It truly hurts to see the confidence die out in Percy´s eyes, replaced by doubt. It´s like getting stabbed, and hurts even more than the feeling of Annabeth trading them for a bunch of immortal girls.

Nico furrows his brows because Annabeth can´t join the Hunters. She needs to save everyone in the Battle of Manhattan and lead the demigods through both wars. She needs to follow the Mark of Athena and bring back the Parthenos.   (She needs to stay to be Nico´s friend; she needs to stay to make Percy happy)

“We can´t let her join them.” Nico says.

“That´s why you are here.” Aphrodite smiles. “She is about to throw her life away! But you, my dears, you can save her from that.” She then leaves out a dreamy sigh, at the same time that Nico and Percy look at each other. “It´s just- so romantic! It´s been ages since we've had a good tragic love story!”

“Who said anything about tragic !?” Percy whines at the same time that Nico whines too: “Who said anything about love?!”  They both stare at each other again. Nico isn´t sure of what he is feeling right now, but Percy is radiating a lot of negative and menacing energy.

"Love conquers all." Aphrodite promises. "Look at Helen and Paris. Did they let anything come between them?"

“No, but they caused the Trojan War.” Nico replies seriously.

“And that killed thousands of people.” Percy adds.

"Pfft. That's not the point.” Aphrodite shakes her hand, laughing. Nico is half surprised how enthusiastic she is about love, and half weirded out. “Follow your heart."

"But… uh...” Percy´s voice feels really small at the moment. Nico glances at him, worried. Percy looks at him, then back at Aphrodite quickly. Nico notices Percy´s fingertips tapping on the seat. “What if… what if we don´t know where it´s going? Our heart, I mean...”

Then Percy glances at Nico once again, with those sea green eyes, and Nico swears he can feel his own heart fluttering in his chest with the purest hope he has felt in years.

Then Aphrodite smiles at both of them, and it´s such a beautiful smile, and it has nothing to do that with how alike it looks to a certain someone. “Not knowing is half the fun," Aphrodite said. "Exquisitely painful, isn't it? Not being sure who you love and who loves you?” Percy looks at Nico just one last time, and then returns his attention to the goddess as she tells them something about the junkyard. Nico takes a deep breath.

For the first time in his life, Nico finds himself agreeing with a love god.

When they come out of the limousine a few minutes later, they have an unspoken agreement of not mentioning what happened inside the limousine. Nico doesn´t ask about what Ares said about Percy feeling his wrath, and Percy doesn´t ask about what Aphrodite said about Nico loving people he just met.

They stay quiet, and when the others ask about it, they just say that the junkyard belongs to Hephaestus and that they shouldn´t steal anything from it.

Zoe decides they will get sleep and cross it in the morning. Everyone gets a silver sleeping bag for the night, and they leave the fire on.

Percy scoots his bag away from Nico´s, and Nico tries not to feel hurt for it.

Bianca sits on the snow. The moon is high, shining at its fullest, and everyone else is sleeping around the fire. Bianca rubs her eyes with her sleeve. She isn´t crying, no sir.

It´s just- Everything had been going so alright, everything was so fine. People were even starting to like her! ( She thinks of Thalia laughing at her jokes, of Percy telling her she had fought amazingly, she thinks of Zoe smiling at her, and sitting next to her like if they could, maybe, probably, be friends) And then- then Nico had to go around and ruin everything. He had to go and tell everyone the truth. (Bianca thinks of the way they all stayed quiet, the way they looked at her, how Zoe got away from her- no please, don´t go)

Bianca clenches her fists. She feels angry, so very angry.

There is a buzzing in the back of her brain, the voices there whispering again.

It was all Nico´s fault!

It wasn´t fair at all!

You hadn’t even decided if he got to tell everyone!

Bianca frowns and groans, glaring at the ground. The anger feels like a fire inside of her, burning and begging her to do something. She is so furious she just wants to grab Nico and-

She whines a little bit louder. She puts a hand in her face, the tears falling more and more.

Gods, why did that idiot had to ruin her life-

“Bianca?” A familiar voice asks, making Bianca jump away, falling from the log she was sitting on into the sand, looking up at the other girl.

The only thing Bianca can do as Zoe Nightshade stands before her is stare.

Zoe looks as breathtaking as the rest of the Hunters did. It is the kind of beauty that is deadly and sharp, the same way Lady Artemis was, the first time Bianca had seen her. It had been her and the Hunters: the ones that had saved Bianca and everyone else after Nico jumped into the manticore. Bianca had been scared and shaking in the snow, when a group of beautiful girls with silver auras had come out of nowhere to help her. It was a kind of miracle.

When Bianca was told she could join this group of amazing girls, she had felt like at the top of the world for a second.

And then Nico had to go around and ruin that too, of course.

The anger burns again in Bianca´s stomach, though it quickly turns into sadness too.

Bianca wishes she had her hat. At least that way Zoe wouldn´t have to see her puffy and wet face. The Daughter of Hades leans into the piece of wood she is sitting near, pulling her knees into her body.

“What is it?” She asks grimly. Zoe takes a deep breath. Bianca doesn´t have the courage to look up at her face.

She is probably just disgusted by you. The voices whisper in her head. Bianca pushes her knees closer to her. She hates you. You don´t belong here.

“You shouldn´t be this far away from the group.” Zoe tells her. Her tone is remote; the same way it was back before the quest started . (Back before she actually liked you, not like she ever would, though.) “It is dangerous, especially since we do not know if those skeletons are still following our tracks or not. Even more so since you are not carrying any weapons.”

“I´ve got the coat, don´t I?” Bianca replies. Her cheek can feel the pelt of her so-called spoil of war.

“You don´t have enough experience in battle.” Zoe tells her. “And that coat can´t protect you from everything.”

Bianca puts her face on her knee. She grabs a bit of sand with her hands, letting it fall down from them slowly.

“Bianca.” The Hunters says again. “What is wrong? Are you feeling well?” Bianca stays quiet. “Is this because of the quest?”

More quiet. “Is this… is this about you being from another time?”

The way she lets all the sand fall back into the desert should be answer enough.

Zoe sighs softly. She walks closer to Bianca, and to the Daughter of Hades´ surprise, sits next to her. The sound of Zoe´s back hitting the sand, just a few inches away from her, makes Bianca´s heart skip a beat.

When Bianca had first seen a Hunter, she had been surprised by the… aura that surrounded her. Bianca had always felt other people around her like if they had their own small cloud of energy surrounding them. It´s not like she can see it or anything else, she just knows it´s there, around other people. But with the Hunters it´s different- She can feel the energy, and if she pays enough attention, she can make out a silver glow around them. It´s warm, mostly, but with Zoe, sometimes it feels too much . (It had been awkward at first, but after being next to her these past days, Bianca has learned to ignore it).

Now, however, with everything that´s happened, Bianca feels like Zoe’s aura is suffocating her. All Bianca wishes she could do is escape.

“I am not from this time either.” Zoe says, softly at her side. Bianca can do nothing but stare at her. She really can´t breathe at the moment. “Though I think you already knew that.”

Bianca manages to smile even with the knot in her throat. “Yeah, I think the ‘thou’ and ‘thy’ gave it away.”

The side of Zoe´s lips curl up slightly. “A lot of people and gods in our world are not from this time too. There is nothing to be ashamed of, Bianca.”

“But I don´t-” Bianca mutters. “I don´t belong here…”

Zoe sighs again. “Neither did I, but then Lady Artemis gave me a place where I could be. She has given that to a lot of Hunters.”

“Zoe…” Bianca says, because she remembers the conversation they had on top of the carriage Alecto sent for them. She remembers the one they had in the woods of Maine, inside of a tent with Lady Artemis herself. She´s heard about the Hunters, about all the powers they get by a simple oath. She knows about the adventures they have, the few ones Zoe has told her about in the quest. And yet… yet she doesn´t feel like she can join them now.  Bianca´s seen enough of this mythological world she´s now part of now, has heard all the things those voices whisper at her, of all her dreams and nightmares. She knows of all the things Heroes have to give up, of all the dangers they face. She has tasted what power and being a Child of the Eldest Gods feels like.

‘Zoe, I don´t think I can be a Hunter.’ Bianca wants to say.  ‘I don´t think I can even be a demigod.’

“Zoe…How did you become a Hunter?” She says instead, because it seems a better thing to do.

Zoe smile doesn't disappear, but it turns sad. She extends Bianca her hand, and Bianca can help but stare at it with wonder. She looks at Zoe's eyes, and the Hunter nods. Bianca´s heart stops completely, but for the first time in the whole evening she feels like if there is actual air in her lungs.  “It happened long time ago, when the most of the stars still shone in the sky, and the mortals still believed in Olympus…”

A Daughter of Hades and Daughter of Atlas hold hands, as four demigods sleep soundly. They talk and they laugh, unaware of the future that would have been. The sun will rise, and the demigods will do so too, and with the two girls, they will cross the Junkyard on the Gods. They will cross it, and they will all make it to the end.

They will all make it safe and sound through this part of their journey to save an Olympian, because in another timeline a Son of Poseidon just told a Son of Hades that his sister had sacrificed herself on their quest. The Son of Poseidon never told him how she had died, or where she had died. They pass through the junkyard of the gods, with the Son of Hades thinking that because she is mortal, he has saved his sister.

In this timeline, she doesn't pick up a golden figurine of her father.

Chapter Text

A lot of things dislike Nico (Persephone, most people and animals, Gaea back in the War, and sometimes Nico himself) but he wonders what he did to make these naiads mad at him, because they won´t stop trying to get him wet.

Nico is this close to shadow traveling ( or jump out of the canoe and swim) to the Dam himself if these crazy water spirits don´t stop giggling each time they squirt water at him.

Thalia laughs at him. “Gods, Nico. How can a 10-year-old look so ready to murder someone?”

“If naiads were making fun of you, you would be angry too-” Then another cold splash of water hits him at his back, followed by squeals, and Nico decides he has had enough. He turns around, and with all the darkness he can gather into his aura, intimidates the naiads with his eyes. It´s a good death glare because they stop giggling.

It´s been a couple of hours since they came out of the junkyard. Nico isn´t sure how long they took crossing it, but it´s about noon already, and they entered the magical dumpster when the sun came up. They had traveled for a short period of time in a truck they found at the edge of the junkyard. Thalia had taken dibs on driving this time, with Annabeth in shotgun because of her leg. It was healing quickly because of the ambrosia, but it still hurt when she was walking. The rest of them were stuck together in the pickup bed at the back of the truck.. It had been the most awkward ride in Nico´s life since neither Bianca nor Percy were particularly keen on talking to him, and Zoe wasn´t much better. Nico had simply hidden his head with the neck of his jacket and stared at the floor.

But now they were travelling in a canoe through the river, with naiads propelling them through the water.

At least I´m with Thalia, Nico thought.  He sighed, staring at Percy sharing a canoe with Zoe, about four yards in front of him. The two of them were talking, and by Zoe’s face it wasn’t a happy topic.

Back at his own canoe, the Daughter of Zeus is only laughing harder as the naiads try to hide behind the boat. Her laughter feels like a kick to Nico. Jason laughed just the same.

He is not thinking about him right now; he is not thinking about him for the whole quest. They will get to the Hoover Dam, and to San Francisco after that. They will save Artemis and defeat Kronos in Mount Othrys, and until then, Nico will allow himself to sit down and sulk for him.

Thalia notices the change in Nico and stops laughing. “Something wrong, buddy?”

“Nothing.” Nico rubs the edges of his eyes. Gods, can he just keep his shit together without crying for five minutes, he is a warrior not some stupid, scared little boy - “It´s just been a couple hard days, that’s all.” He took a deep breath and adjusted his jacket. “How long until we arrive?”

“I give it twenty minutes.” Thalia replies, and to Nico´s relief, doesn´t mention anything else about him. “Though you should probably ask Kelp-Head if you want more accuracy.”

“Percy isn’t uh…” Nico puts his hands in the pockets on his jacket. “We aren´t on really good terms at the moment…”

Thalia frowns. “Is he being a jerk to you or something? Because if he is, Annabeth and I can always punch him-”

“No, it´s not like that!” He corrects nervously. As much as he appreciates the sentiment, he doesn’t want to cause troubles between Thalia and Percy too. “Things are just a bit..” Nico tries to think of a word. Strained? Weird? “… awkward between us right now. We haven’t talked since last night.” Since Aphrodite’s limousine.

Her face softens, and she turns around completely to face him. “Nico, if this is about what happened the campfire, you don’t have to worry about it. It´s part of being a demigod.” The Son of Hades looks up at her. “I was a tree for years, Annabeth was brought back to life by the Golden Fleece, and Percy´s best friend has goat legs.” Nico snorts slightly, and Thalia smiles back. She puts her hand on Nico´s shoulder. Nico´s eyes meet hers, and once again, he is sees Jason in them. “It´s part of this mystic world we live in. If Bianca and you are from 70 years ago and are here now, or if your father is Hades and that makes you some kind of filthy rich ghost whisperer, it´s fine.”

He suddenly wants to cry again. “But I-”

“We are friends.” She says, and it sounds stubborn and firm and warm in the way Thalia is. “We don’t care. And if there are people that do, or that dislike you just for that, then you shouldn’t care too. Just kick their butts and carry on, like the punk you are, okay?”

Thalia´s grip tightens in his shoulder before letting go, and Nico kind of wants to hug her and sob, but he puffs his chest out and replies. “Okay.”

“Good.” Thalia smiles at him again and Nico smiles back at her. “And Nico.”

“Yeah?”

“If Percy isn’t talking to you, don’t worry.” She tells him. “He can do stupid things at times, but he is your friend too. I’m sure he’ll come around.”

Nico is about to answer when the naiads stop the canoe and a dam the size of a stadium stands in their path.

It takes them an hour to find out how to get to the actual top of the dam. Annabeth doesn’t shut up the whole time.

“It was built from the year 1931 to 1936, as the largest construction project in the United States!” Annabeth says for the 20 th time today. One of her hands is holding her backpack's strap, while the other is pointing at parts of the dam. She is smiling. The Daughter of Athena literally hasn’t stopped smiling since the naiads kicked them out of the canoes. Nico wasn’t sure someone could keep a cheerful state for so long, but Annabeth Chase has proven him wrong.

“It’s so tall…” Bianca says as she looks down to the river after all this concrete.

His sister took back her hat, now that Nico’s jacket is enough to warm him for the rest of his life, with her hair free and flowing thanks to this wind. Zoe is next to her too. The two girls are smiling too, though not nearly as much as Annabeth. Percy and Thalia seem to be in a good mood too, and Nico also would be if it wasn’t for two simple facts: one, he is so hungry he is considering eating his own arm; and two, Annabeth hasn’t shut up in nearly an hour.

There is only so much a person can take of another one talking about the Hoover Dam, and Nico found that limit about fifteen minutes ago. Sure, listening to Annabeth ramble about the dam was adorable the first few times, in the way a little girl is when talking about her favorite things. But then she started repeating a ramble over and over again and- no, Bianca, why did you say that, Annabeth will just give us her speech about the dam’s height all over again, Nico should start by eating his heart instead and put himself out of this misery-

“Well, of course it’s pretty tall.” Annabeth starts yet again. “It’s height is exactly-”

“Exactly 726.4 feet tall.” Nico finishes for her. He expects Annabeth or Bianca to glare at him for being mean and interrupting someone, but the Daughter of Athena simply smiles back at him widely. Plus, Bianca is too distracted in whatever she is talking with Zoe to pay attention to me anyway, and-

…And Nico can’t be that mad with Annabeth when she seems so happy that he knew the exact height of the Hoover Dam. She is probably thinking something along the lines of oh my gods, he was paying attention to what I was saying. Nico really can’t be that mad at the moment with her. Especially as she walks and hurries all of them to move faster. (And especially since one wouldn't believe she had gotten shot in the leg, not even a day ago, and it was all his fault. So... yeah, Nico pretty much can’t be mad at her for the rest of the quest)

He is tired and hungry, but Annabeth is walking normally, and Bianca doesn’t even seem to care about what happened yesterday. Percy and Thalia are laughing about some big statue’s toes, and Zoe looks less murderous- okay, Nico can’t be mad with these people for enjoying themselves for a while. He is an adult, for Hades’ sake. He can stop being a petty kid for a few hours.

Maturity doesn’t stop him from asking for food, though. He walks towards his sister and Zoe, who are pretty much the quest’s leaders at this point. “Can I just shadow travel us all to somewhere we can eat?”

“You know the rules about shadow travelling, Nico.” Bianca crosses her arms, and gives a look to Zoe that read something along the lines of augh, little brothers are so annoying.

“But Bi .” Nico whines. “The last thing I ate were those cookies last night, and I have no idea when we will eat again. I’m starving.”

“Your brother is right. We should eat while we can.” Zoe says to Bianca. “If only we could find the damn snack bar.”

Bianca cracks a smile. “The dam snack bar?” The joke is horrible, but somehow, Nico snorts.

“Yes.” Zoe furrows her brows. “Why is it funny?”

“Oh, nothing.” Bianca tries her best to keep a straight face. The others start walking closer to them. “I just could use some dam food too.” The joke finally shuts Annabeth up about the dam facts, making her laugh.

Thalia joins in. “And I need to use the dam bathroom.”

“We all could use a dam shower.” Bianca agrees. Percy starts cracking up. Nico doesn’t want to, but he can’t help it. Zoe’s face is priceless. Mortals are passing by, staring at the weird teenagers plus Nico chuckling like mad men.

“And-” Thalia tries to catch her breath. “- I want a dam T-shirt!”

They all bust up, and Nico’s belly is starting to hurt when-

When a chill went down his spine. It’s familiar, pretty much like…like it was in New Mexico. Oh fuck.

Nico stops laughing and freezing. He looks at the others. Apparently he isn’t the only one without a smile on his face.

“Did you hear that?” Percy asks. Nico suddenly feels cold, even if he is wearing his jacket.“It sounded like a cow-”

“A dam cow?” Thalia says. Nico isn’t listening anymore. His breathing is becoming faster as he searches around the crowd for some boney hands, for someone who looks suspicious, for anything, oh Gods-

Percy shakes his head. “No, I’m being serious--”

Oh Gods, oh Gods, he can’t do this, what if any one else gets hurt-

“Nico.” Annabeth is suddenly next to him, with a hand on his shoulder. She is shaking him slightly, and he is-- Nico is breathing a bit too quick. His surroundings aren’t what he remembers. Instead of being outside of the dam he is inside the- the tourist center? “Are you alright?” He looks around again. The rest of the girls are walking in the front, heading to the snack bar. Annabeth shakes him again. “Nico?”

For some reason, Nico has horrible Déjà vu.

His breath hitches, and he puts a hand on his head. Why does this keep happening to me? “No- I’m- I’m fine.”  Nico glances up at Annabeth. “W-where’s Percy?”

“He is outside- are you sure you are fine?” She tilts her head slightly. “You were acting weird for a few minutes when we got in and-”

“I’m fine!” Nico says more firmly. “I just- I need to find Percy, okay? You have to warn the others-”

“Nico.” Annabeth’s grip tightens into his shoulders. “What happened?”

“I-I…” Nico can feel that thing again. It´s like his throat is closing, like he has torun away and run fast . “I think the skeletons found us.”

The girl frowns slightly. “Are you sure? But Bianca dusted them back in Cloudcroft, there is no way they could have-”

“Annabeth.” Nico puts his hand on her arm, the one that is holding him. He wants to shake and hyperventilate, but he grabs all that and pushes it to the darkest part of his mind. “ Trust me on this. I’ll find Percy, you make the others get ready to leave the dam.”

Then, because Bianca isn’t the boss of him, he shadow travels.

When Nico comes out of the shadows, his back hits the floor of an elevator. About seven mortals, a unimpressed tourist guide, and Percy Jackson are there. Nico yelps loudly and rubs his shoulder. Seems like he will need to practice his aiming with the shadows too.

The mortals stare at him shocked. Percy is just as speechless, but he looks a little bit angry too. He crosses his arms and gives Nico and unimpressed look. The world around Nico isn’t exactly still at the moment. He wonders just how long he shadow traveled this time.

“Uh…” Nico sits up, as Percy (and the mortals) wait for an explanation. His head is spinning. “…This elevator is haunted! I am a ghost from the 30’s!”  He then adds, “Boooo!”

For some miracle, it works. The mortals sigh in relief and one even laughs. The doors of the elevator open, and they go out, leaving Percy, Nico and the tourist guide inside of the elevator. Nico exhales, lying back on the ground again.

Percy rolls his eyes, but he does help the dizzy Nico up. “Nice save, Di Angelo.” Percy pretty much drags him out of the elevator. “Now we got to find a way out of here. Do you think you can shadow travel us?”

“I don’t think I can without passing out…” Nico replies in all honesty because he feels like puking already, and his empty stomach isn’t helping my powers. Percy pats his shoulder apologetically. “And that’s not even the worst excuse I’ve told.”

“I’m sure it isn’t, young man.” The tourist guide inside the elevator replies. Percy and Nico turn to look at her. The women has taken off her glasses, revealing eyes that were startling gray, like storm clouds. It reminds Nico of Annabeth-

Holy shit.

Nico almost falls from Percy’s grip in his attempt to kneel or show respect to the Olympian. “Lady Athe-”

And then the Goddess raises her hand, stopping him. “A hero should be more careful with their abilities.” She says with an annoyed look that makes Nico close his mouth and Percy press the smaller boy closer to him. “Especially with ones such as yours.”

Percy eyes the other elevator. He looks at Nico, then back at Athena. “I’m sorry, but we really should run right now.” Percy finally lowers Nico back into the ground. As soon as his feet touch the ground, Nico starts to tilt towards it, so he leans into Percy rather than fall.

“"There is always a way out for those clever enough to find it, half-blood.” Athena simply replies. Percy looks like he wants to protest, but then the doors to the elevator close again, the goddess disappearing with them.

“Did that really happen?” Nico asks, not sure if he imagined the whole thing. The world is no longer spinning but he still kind of wants to puke.

Percy is about to answer when the doors to the second elevator ring. Before Nico has time to react, Percy grabs him by the hand, and they are back on the run.

Nico isn’t sure what happened after that. He was putting every ounce of his willpower in maintaining his brain in solid state because Sweet mother of the Gods, Percy Jackson is holding my hand, he is holding my HAND, my hand and his are touching- They make their way through the crowd, Percy trying to come up with a plan. And Nico is blissfully ignoring the fact that they are being chased by skeleton warriors with guns, because Percy’s warm and kind-of-hard-but-still-soft hand is in his, with a death grip like he is afraid that Nico could get lost somewhere and-

Yeah, Nico knows he is pretty fucked, and that now’s not the time for his whole stomach to turn into butterflies, but hey, let him enjoy this while he can!

They work their way around the people, crossing what seems a balcony. Percy has one hand on Riptide while the other one is firmly on Nico, and Nico should probably also take out his own sword when- When Nico notices the other boy’s hand is shaking. It feels like a kick.

They are reaching a hallway at the other side of the balcony by the time Nico returns to his sane mind and asks. “Percy, are you okay? If you want, I could shadow travel us, it’s okay if I pass out-”

“The girls could have already been captured-” Percy’s breath hitches, like that simple thought caused him pain. Nico shudders too. “-or completely unaware that we are being surrounded, and you ask me if I’m okay.” He then adds. “And you are not shadow travelling, Nico. I don’t care if we need a way out, we will find it without me having to drag your unconscious body out of the dam.”

“You are starting to sound like the girls.” Nico takes his own sword out, finally. “And they know we are surrounded, actually.” They have left the mass of people behind, now walking by the hallway. The walls are moist and the turbines hum with electricity below them. Percy tightens his hand. “I told Annabeth, before I shadow traveled to get you-”

“When you crashed into the elevator, you mean.”

Nico rolls his eyes. “Yes, when I crashed into the elevator. The girls know, don’t worry.” Nico squeezes Percy’s hand. The Son of Poseidon relaxes, just a little, and Nico feels like he is floating. “And since you don’t want me to shadow travel, our problem is figuring out how to get ourselves out of here.”

“That’s kind of what I’m trying to do-” And then a loud chhh is heard, and Percy finally loses his cool. He yells, pushes Nico from whoever made the sound, and slashes with Riptide the poor mortal girl who was just blowing her nose.

The girl drops her Kleenex and shouts, when the sword harmlessly passes through her body. “Oh my god!” Percy is taken aback, and so is Nico for a second, because this girl is familiar- “Do you always kill people when they blow their nose?!” Nico’s eyes widen. Holy fuck. “How did you two even get those swords past security-”

“You’re mortal.” Percy furrows his brows. He lets go the other boy’s hand (much to Nico’s dismay and disappointment), but at least Nico can focus on much more important things . “You can see our swords.” Percy then looks at Nico as if to confirm something. Nico can’t answer, though. He is dumbfounded at the moment, because oh my gods, how is she here? “She is mortal, and she can our swords-”

“Well, they’re either swords or the biggest toothpicks in the world!” Rachel Elizabeth Dare, Virgin Oracle of Delphi (or soon to be Oracle, Nico guesses) says. She rolls her green eyes (only the irises are green, not the entire eye as Nico remembers), and the two demigods can only stare at her.

The Rachel Elizabeth Dare that Nico had known at the war is nothing like the one he has in front at the moment, small and made nervous by two simple swords held by two simple boys. The Oracle of Delphi was a fearless warrior, who had put together the new Sibylline Books out of the snippets Ella remembered and the visions she had, and marched alongside the soldiers to their battles. Rachel Elizabeth Dare had been a fiery woman. After Apollo’s fall, the Spirit of Delphi moved to live in Rachel full time, making her eyes permanently pupiless and haunting her by images of the future that had been a great advantage to the Alliance. She was also one of the main ambassadors between mortals and demigods, forcing everyone into a peaceful agreement during councils.  Nico had been impressed by her on a good day, and utterly terrified on a bad one.

So yeah, the girl with the frizzly red hair and the oversized sweatshirt wasn’t what Nico remembered. Though by the way she is talking to Percy, Nico can see a resemblance.

“Why didn’t you hurt me?” She asks, as Percy is still processing what is happening. “I mean, not that I'm complaining. Who are you two? Why are you even holding swords? Should your friend even have one, he looks like what, eight-” Woah, Nico is offended by that!

“He is ten, and for your information, he can handle that sword perfectly fine.” Percy defends him. Nico’s stomach turns to butterflies for a second, until-

Until another chill travels through Nico’s spine. The skeletons are close, too close. “Percy-”

“Who are you?” Percy demands, ignoring him. Nico turns around.

He can’t see anything, since most of the people are taller than him, but he can feel them. He can feel them there. Nico tugs Percy’s shirt. “Percy, seriously, I think they are around the corner-”

Percy turns at Nico, then back at the balcony and his eyes almost pop out of his sockets. This is, of course, when the mortal girl decides to huff indignantly. “I’m Rachel Elizabeth Dare. Now, are you going to answer my questions or should I scream for security?"

“No!” Percy says. He is shaking again, and oh Hades, Nico was right, the skeletons are right there. “Look, we are in a real hurry right now-”

“We are in really big trouble!” Nico finishes for him. He raises his Stygian Iron sword, because he can see the skeletons hovering around the people walking. They still haven’t noticed to their relief, but Percy and Nico need to do something fast-

“In a hurry or in trouble?" Rachel Elizabeth Dare asks, and Nico wants to scream.

“Um, sort of both.” Percy, the beautiful idiot, replies instead of running because the skeletons have just noticed them and are now running towards them, raising their guns-

“Aw, screw it!” Nico yells. Everyone doesn’t want him to shadow travel? Fine, he will find a way to get them out without doing that, but still using his spectacular son-of-the-big-three abilities! He should use them without fainting, Nico is an experienced and strong demigod, the fact that he is so stupidly small shouldn’t stop him! Plus, who gives a fuck if he actually passes out for using his powers; getting their sorry asses out of here is more important.

Nico turns around, and Percy and Rachel finally stop talking. Nico waits for those goddamn skeletons to come at him, and raises his sword. He waits for them to be near enough, as Percy prepares his own weapon and Rachel Elizabeth Dare watches in horror. He waits, and he channels most of the energy he has from his hand into the outside. He makes a silent prayer to Olympus and the Fates for it to work.

And- it works. It works!

The Skeletons go down like lifeless puppets.

As soon as they do, so does Nico. A sleepy feeling comes over him. Nico drops his sword, his body falling to Percy’s side. The Son of Poseidon groans. He turns Riptide back into a pen, and wraps his arms around Nico, holding him up.

“Woah.” Is all Rachel can say. Percy, however, is preparing an angry speech.

“Why did you do that, Nico, don’t-” Percy starts, but Nico doesn’t really care at the moment. He is cold, and Percy is so warm, so he just nuzzles into his shirt.

“I’m fine…” Nico yawns. “I’m just… tired… and hungry, very hungry…”

“If you pass out on me, I’m throwing away all your Mythomagic cards.” Percy says in all seriousness. “I’m being serious, I will play baseball with your figurines, Di Angelo.”

“Do it, and I’ll send you to the Underworld…” Nico smiles lazily. “I want some food …” Percy sighs, but he is smiling slightly. It’s a perfect smile, really, and it’s all directed at Nico. It’s like he is all butterflies at the moment, all the discomfort he is feeling at the moment forgotten-

“What were those things?” Rachel Elizabeth Dare interrupts the perfect moment Nico was having, and he groans. “They looked like-”

“Skeletons?” Percy finishes. The girl nods. Nico wants to whine like No, Percy, no, put your attention back on me- The other boy just pats his head. “It’s okay, Neeks, we’ll get you something to eat in the snack bar.” He looks at back at Rachel. “We’ve got to go now; we are sort of-”

“In a hurry?”

“Yep.” Percy grabs Nico with one hand, and with the other, leans to pick up the Stygian Iron sword from the floor. Nico takes it, sliding it on his back slowly. He then continues to lean into Percy’s shirt. He sniffs slightly, and Nico swears that Percy smells like the sea.

“Daw.” Rachel Elizabeth Dare coos.

“Shut up.” Nico orders. His eyes are closing and opening, and he yawns again. He really should get some food right now, unless he wants Percy to actually destroy all his stuff. “Jackson…”

“Okay.” Percy says. He then says to Rachel. “Do yourself a favor, and forget you even saw us.”

“But, who are you?” She replies.

“I’m Nico.” He says, as Percy starts to lift him up yet again. “And this is Percy… That’s all you need to know.”

Percy puts him on his back, and as Nico wraps his arms around the other boy’s neck, they walk towards the elevator. Nico knows he will probably hate himself for this later, but right now, he lets himself enjoy the closeness.

What follows, is what Nico considers as the weirdest piggy back ride of his life. Percy carries him like he weighs nothing, and Nico is coming to his senses just enough for him to feel a little bit mortified.

They run across the dam until they find the café, to find the girls already doing battle inside of it. Bullets are being fired from all directions, making it nearly impossible to enter to the building.

“Do you think you can put more bones to sleep?” Percy asks, with one hand uncapping Riptide, while the other holds Nico firm in place.

“I think I can.” Nico says, feeling a strange déjà vu for the second time today. “But you grab me some of those bags with burritos for later.”

“Got it.”

And that’s how Percy and Nico barge into the fight, skeleton warriors falling around them as they run, the bullets stopping just for a few seconds. The girls have an improvised barricade of tables and chairs in front of them, covering them from the attack. Zoe throws arrows behind it while Bianca fights in the front, her bulletproof coat protecting her. Percy yells, as he tries to dodge the bullets, while Nico directs his hands at their enemy.

“Percy, Nico!” Bianca screams back, groaning as she hits another warrior with her sword. “Where were you?!”

Percy doesn’t have time to reply as a couple of warriors launch themselves at him. Nico raises a hand, and two skeletons fall. Each time they go down, Nico can feel a small part of himself being drained too. .. Bianca stares in wonder as her brother makes the skeletons drop just with a single glance. Nico slumps over Percy, exhaling very slowly. Percy glances worriedly at him.

The three demigods run behind the barricade, finding the rest of their quest members there. Thalia has a bloody arm, which Annabeth is bandaging using someone’s spare shirt. Zoe continues to cover them with her bow.

“Took you long enough!” Thalia. She then yelps. “Hey, be careful…”

“Sorry.” Annabeth quickly apologizes, adjusting the bandage more softly. She looks up at the boys and Bianca. “Percy, why are you carrying Nico around?”

Nico can only hum at the moment, so Percy answers for him. “Long story, but we need to leave right now.” Percy takes advantage of the moment of peace, and he sets Nico on the floor, and then sits next to him.

“We can’t.” Zoe says, as she hits another warrior with her arrows. “They have surrounded us in all directions, with cars waiting for us in the main roads.”

Annabeth sighs. “We are basically trapped.”

Bianca then glances at Percy and Nico, then back at the girls. Nico doesn’t consider himself completely conscious at the moment, but he swears he can see a scheme forming in his sister’s mind.

“I think I’ve got an idea.” Bianca says. “Thalia, are you good enough to use your shield?”

The Daughter of Zeus nods. “Though I’m not sure I can hold it with a spear.”

Bianca nods, and she then turns at the boys. “Nico, if you do what you did with those skeletons with the rest-”

Nico is about to reply yeah, I could do this all day , but Percy does it for him again. “Bianca, he has done it all our way here. He is a kid, there is no way we are letting him take down the whole dam army-”

“I’m not saying he’s got to do that!” Bianca interrupts. Percy shuts up, but he does glare back. “Just a few more, enough to escape this building.”

Everybody turns to Nico for a second, expecting him to answer. There is Annabeth and Percy’s concerned glance, and Bianca’s eyes pleading him to consider it.

Nico takes a deep breath. He can’t even hold his own weight, much less fight at the moment. He is five minutes from passing out, but-

But Thalia’s arm is bleeding, and Zoe’s quiver is almost empty, and-

“Yeah.” Nico says quietly. He coughs, suddenly feeling really cold again. “I can do it.”

And he does it, he puts asleep some more skeletons. Percy carries him, with Thalia covering them from the bullets, and the girls behind them. They make it out of the café, but Nico isn’t sure what is going on around him anymore, everything seems like a confusing blur. Even so, he can still listen clearly.

He is cold, really cold, and tired, really tired. But he can still hear as Percy shouts to Thalia. “Pray to your dad!”

Nico has felt sleepy in his life, but right now it’s like if his eyes are beggin g him to shut them. Still, he needs to keep the open. Thalia yells back. “But he never listens!”

“Just this once.” Percy pleads. “Ask for help. Let the statues give us some luck.”

Nico’s mind plays tricks on him, the voices of his friends muffling, the colors of his surrounding mixing. His fatigue must be finally winning, because the shadow over him and two winged figures he is seeing can’t be real.

The Son of Hades finally gives in to the exhaustion, as two bronze angels come to life, and with demigods on their backs, soar through the sky.

Chapter Text

When Hank and Chuck land in the Embarcadero Building, they all feel ready to drop. It’s night time already, the flight from the Dam up to San Francisco took nearly four hours, and none of them have had the time to properly patch themselves up yet. Also, Nico hasn’t woken up.

Percy has no idea who he wants to scream at, the Gods for sending them to this hell of a quest, or Bianca and Zoe for wanting to carry on said quest even at this moment.

“We don’t have time to waste!” Zoe insists. She looks the least beaten up  due to being a Hunter, but her hair is all over the place. “We must get to Nereus immediately!”

“We have to rest and regroup!” Thalia replies. She’s holding her hurt arm with the other one. The bandages on it are full of dirt and dried up blood. “If those skeletons find us while we’re looking for Nereus, we won’t make it through the fight.”

They're inside the parking lot of the building, because it’s still early enough for people to call the police if they see a bunch of teenagers with injuries on the street. Not that they have anything to fix those injuries with, though. They ate all their ambrosia and nectar already, and aside from their weapons, they don’t have much.

Percy would laugh, because Zoe wants them to go to a homeless shelter or something to find Nereus. They’ll probably fit right in. He would laugh but- oh right, Nico hasn’t woken up yet.

Annabeth looks at him for a moment. Percy looks right back. Nico is sort of lying between them, as they sit next to the wall. The Daughter of Athena has a long cut on her shoulder and a bruise on her cheek. She looks tired and anxious. She hasn’t said much either. Percy kinda wants to hit Bianca and Zoe.

“The solstice is the day after tomorrow!” Bianca yells. “We won’t make it through the war if we don’t get Artemis!”

Nico moves slightly next to Percy. He decides he wants to hit Bianca more than he wants to hit Zoe.

“Look at us, Bianca!” Percy yells right back, because he’s tired and anxious, and also really worried because Nico hasn’t woken up in four hours, Thalia looks like she won’t be able to use her arm for a good while, and Annabeth was shot on the leg less than two days ago. Quests are hard, but this one has been a little bit harder than the others, with giant lions attacking them and goddesses talking to them out of nowhere. “Who cares about the war- we don’t even know if Nico will wake up again!”

Percy didn’t want to say it because it makes Annabeth’s grip on the boy tighten, Thalia’s breath hitch as she looks down, and his own heart stop for just a moment. But it also makes Zoe’s determination fall away and their point get into Bianca’s thick skull.

(Gods, Nico is only ten! He’s ten, and he likes to play Mythomagic and eat hamburgers, and yeah he’s somehow really good with a sword and just as stubborn as his sister, but they have all grown kinda attached to him and it’s just unfair for this boy who’s made everything he can to keep them all safe, to just not wake up, okay? Percy and he were supposed to get back to New York and play videogames, and Annabeth probably has plans for future Capture the Flags involving his spooky powers already! Nico Di Angelo has to wake up for that to happen! And Percy swears on the Styx that he’s actually going to destroy those figurines and cards if he dies, so Nico better don’t because Percy doesn’t want to be haunted for the rest of his own short-lived demigod life)

Thalia is still staring at the floor. Bianca’s shoulders are slumped. Zoe looks like she wants to say something but can’t.

The Son of Poseidon sighs. “Just, look, let’s find a place to rest for a while. Anyone who isn’t that bad can go look for Nereus if they want, but we’ve got to bandage ourselves up first…”

They all stay silent for a moment. Annabeth rests her head on the wall.

“Where would we even stay?” Bianca asks. “I mean, even if we show up to a hotel with my magic credit card, they’ll probably think it’s stolen.”

They really look like crap, okay?

Another moment of silence.

“There is someone in San Francisco that might let us stay.” Annabeth says softly. It’s the first thing she’s said in a long while, and it doesn’t sound happy at all.

Thalia turns her head at her abruptly. It takes a moment for Percy to realize why.

Oh.

“Are you sure?” He tells her.

“Yeah.” Annabeth answers, even while looking everything but convinced. “It’s time I paid a visit to my dad anyway.”

It takes them a while to get there, because navigating San Francisco at night is complicated (even more so while dragging the body of your unconscious friend around the city). It’s way past 10, but still far from midnight when they finally arrive to the house. Percy just hopes they don’t catch Dr. Chase on his pjs already.

Bianca is the one that rings the doorbell, because one of Thalia’s arms is down, Percy got a handful of Nico on his, and Annabeth looks like she would rather try her luck with the skeletons that get near that door. Percy glances over at her as the bell rings. She’s glaring firmly at the door, not even blinking, with her arms crossed and her mouth in a thin line.

As stupid as it sounds he kinda wants to hold her hand. Or hug her. (Because that’s the kind of stuff friends do to comfort each other, you know? And Annabeth needs comforting right now, he thinks)

(But someone’s gotta carry Nico. Plus, he’s not entirely sure how Annabeth would react if he tried to hold her hand. Or hug her)

Dr. Chase opens the door, not wearing his pjs and-

“Hello!” He says in a friendly voice. “Thanks for bringing my planes-”

Percy isn’t sure what he expected. Probably fangs or horns because of how badly he’s heard Annabeth talk about her dad for the past two years. Instead, it’s just an older man the same shade of blonde as his daughter, with intense brown eyes. He’s got some stubble on his jaw and a few wrinkles on his forehead, but he looks alright. His dress shirt is bottomed wrong, one side of collar coming up higher than the other, with the sleeves of both arms rolled up to the elbow.

From Dr. Chase’s expression, Percy guesses they weren’t what he was expecting either: five teenagers standing on his front porch, covered in bruises and cuts, holding weapons and a passed out kid who’s just as beaten up.

Dr. Chase’s friendly smile slides off. He’s staring wide-eyed at them, scanning them one by one. It’s like a lightning bolt strikes him when he gets at Annabeth.

“Annie?” He asks breathlessly, gripping the edge of the door as if to keep himself from falling. Like he absolutely can’t  believe what he’s seeing.

Annabeth looks away.

Percy can see the lump on Dr. Chase’s throat.

Bianca and Zoe look at each other warily, while Thalia takes a step back to stand right next to Annabeth. Percy readjusts his grip on Nico, his arms are getting really tired of holding him up.

“C-come in.” Dr. Chase stutters for a second before opening the door for all of them to pass. Zoe’s the one that enters first, Bianca following her. Both Thalia and Percy are glancing at Annabeth.

(Percy feels that strange sensation he got back at Westover Hall when the Di Angelos and him found the manticore. It’s dread, the kind that comes with not being sure what to do but knowing the situation has gotten from ‘mildly inconvenient’ to ‘downright nasty’)

Her gray eyes aren’t meeting theirs but she nods. Thalia and Percy share a look. The Daughter of Zeus walks in, with Annabeth next, and Percy at the end. Dr. Chase closes the door behind them.

Entering to the house feels too much like crashing the calm evening of a nice family.  It’s much warmer inside, the whole place smells like chocolate chip cookies right out of the oven. There are robot toys on the stairs and kids’ winter coats spread all over the floor like they just came in from playing on the snow. The coffee table on the living room has magazines and a half drank cup of coffee on top. There’s even two cats just sleeping on the couch next to that. Everything’s sort of messy, but in the happy way places are when they’re lived in. (Heck, there’s even jazz music coming from the radio!)

And of course all that’s ruined because six wounded demigods just showed up uninvited.

“Dad! Matthew is taking apart my robots-” A little boy is on the middle of saying when he sees those six wounded demigods. His eyes widen. “Annabeth?!”

The Daughter of Athena reacts the same way his father did when he saw her. She lowers her shoulders, a sad expression on her face, but she still doesn’t say a thing. Percy furrows his brows. Thalia steps closer to her. The boy looks like he wants to move, walks towards them, but Dr. Chase raises his hand to stop him before he does so. Percy thinks it’s a good call.

And then a woman and a second boy walk out of the kitchen. The temperature of the rooms drops by a few degrees.

“Honey? Matthew heard someone coming in-” Annabeth’s stepmoms calls, as she wipes her hands on a cleaning towel. She has almond shaped eyes and dark hair with red highlights up in a bun. She has a black shirt under a messy apron. There’s a smile on her face that drops the moment she catches her stepdaughter.

Annabeth inhales sharply next to Percy.

Percy expects Mrs. Chase to start screaming like a madwoman and demanding his husband to kick them out, but what happens instead is equally intense.

Mrs. Chase drops the towel she’s holding, and all but rams herself into Annabeth, wrapping her arms around her tightly. It takes Percy and Thalia by surprise, making them step away from their friend (and Percy nearly drop Nico).

It’s like a dam breaking. The two boys do as their mom, just going to wrap their half-sister in a hug, not caring that she’s covered in dirt and blood. Dr. Chase soon follows, after a few seconds of being paralyzed, making the hug even tighter. Annabeth just breathes in again and starts crying right on the spot, not really returning the hug, but instead letting the others pull her in, sobbing the whole time. Percy can see her shaking slightly, and it feels like a jab on his own heart, because he’s never seen Annabeth cry like this. (Not when they were on that truck back on their first quest, or when Thalia was still dying as a tree, or even when they saw Luke again on the ship)

The small family cries with Annabeth, and Percy lets out a relieved sigh because he knows they’ll at least have a place to stay the night.

“Okay so let me guess this straight- you’re on a quest to save a goddess, you’ve travelled from Rhode Island up to California in just five days, and now have to meet some strange water man so he can tell you where to find said goddess?” Dr. Chase asks after Zoe finishes the recount of their quest.

Percy nods. “Yeah, pretty much.”

They’re are inside Dr. Chase’s study. The room is filled with shelves and piles of books, with all kinds of war toys just laying around. There’s a table with miniature tanks and soldiers on a battlefield, complete with hills, trees and trenches.  There are biplanes models hanging from the ceiling that remind Percy of that stunt they pulled back at the Smithsonian with the lion.

It’s been about an hour since they crashed the evening. After safely tucking Nico into the guest room, they all had a good dinner consisting of hot cocoa and cookies, before letting Mrs. Chase patch them up. Bobby and Matthew have already gone to sleep, since it was way past their bedtime. Thalia is still downstairs, getting her arm fixed up, leaving Percy, Zoe and Bianca to explain the situation to Dr. Chase.

Annabeth is inside the guest room with Nico.

“I don’t want him to wake up without one of us there.” She had said when Percy asked her if she wanted to come along to the study, like if Nico was 1 and not 10.

It was the first thing she had said since they arrived. After the heartfelt reunion, she just stayed quiet with a cup of cocoa on her hands and refused to look anyone in the eyes.

(It’s okay, Percy thinks. She needs time to process this, and if she does it while hiding away next to Nico’s unconscious body, well, Percy doesn’t mind. She’ll talk to him when she’s ready to do so)

(And he would have stayed inside the room with the kid if she hadn’t, either way)

Dr. Chase scratches his chin, analyzing everything they just said. He takes a while, leaving them to awkwardly sit there as he does it. Percy stares at Bianca for a while, since she decided to lean into one of the shelves like a movie character or something, instead of taking a seat like a normal person. She doesn’t meets his eyes, though, she’s busy staring at Zoe. If Percy didn’t know any better, he would say that Bianca’s been staring at Zoe a lot lately.

“Are you kids sure you want to go looking for Nereus right now?” Dr. Chase speaks up after a while. “It’s nearly-” He looks at his wristwatch and frowns “God, way past midnight!”

“We’re sure.” Bianca deadpans, somehow still being stubborn about this.

Percy sort of agrees with Dr. Chase: it’s way too late for go looking for strange water men. But, now that Nico is somewhere safe and they’re all not ready to pass out, Percy can see the importance of Nereus for the quest without wanting to punch a certain someone about it.

“We only have tomorrow to find Artemis.” Percy says. “If we don’t get a lead to where she is right now, we won’t have enough time to bring her back to Olympus.”

Dr. Chase looks at them the way must normal adults do when they hear kids about to do something very stupid and dangerous.

“We’ll come back, though!” If Percy has learned something from living with his mom since he’s discovered he’s a demigod, is that sometimes adults need the reassurance that if you’ll do something very stupid and dangerous at least you’ll return home afterwards. “Sleep would be good when we fight whatever we’re supposed to fight.”

“We will still have to leave tomorrow morning, however.” Zoe adds. “And we will need a car, too. If thou are nice enough to lend us one, that is?”

“Of course!” Dr. Chase answers. “Do you kids want me to drive you around right now or-”

“That will not be necessary.” Zoe answers back, surely not happy at the prospect of not being at the wheel herself. “Finding Nereus will be short and easy. We won’t even need all of us: Percy and Bianca should be enough to take him on.”

Dr. Chase seems relieved that Annabeth would stay home, at least for a few hours. “I suppose you know where to find this Nereus.”

“Unfortunately.” Zoe sighs. “He’s never very hard to find.”

It’s Percy’s turn to frown. “What do you mean?”

Zoe’s tired face turns into one of disgust. “Just follow the smell.”

Percy wished he hadn’t asked.

When they first arrived to the house, Percy thought he was tired. Now, that they return to it after their… meeting with Nereus, Percy is genuinely surprised he’s still walking. He’s not only exhausted, he’s the next thing from it. He’s been ready to drop since the Hoover Dam, but right now the fact he hasn’t done it is a miracle of the gods right there.

Judging by the way Zoe and Bianca look, they’re just as bad.

The thing with Nereus went bad. It took them a solid hour to find the dock where he was, fifteen minutes of that spent on talking Zoe out of dressing Percy as a homeless person. (‘Thou need to blend in-’ ‘Zoe, even the homeless are sleeping right now, there’s no one who will notice if we sneak in and throttle someone!’) When they found the smelly Santa Claus wannabe, Bianca nearly throws away the plan because she was getting impatient. (‘Couldn’t you just hurry up?!’ ‘You try holding a seal on the water!’) And after who knows how long it took Percy to wrestle him down because Nereus just kept shape-shifting to more and more sea animals- (‘Maybe telling me he can turn into an eel would’ve been useful?’! ‘I told thee to hold on to him!’)- they didn’t even managed to get a straight answer from the guy.

(‘Zoe… What did he mean with you know where to go?’ Zoe didn’t bother answering that one)

As Bianca uses the key that Dr. Chase was nice enough to lend them, and opens the door so they can all enter, all Percy can think of is sleep.

When he gets back home he’ll pull off a Nico and just pass out for a whole week. He’s sorry for all the activities his mom has planned for Christmas.

They enter to find Thalia sprawled on the sofa, turned into a human blanket burrito. While they were gone, Mrs. Chase has turned the living room into a sort of campout for demigods. The coffee table has been moved to the side to leave space for makeshift beds, including warm blankets and pillows. Percy has never felt more thankful with someone.

The Daughter of Zeus opens her eyes softly, raising her head to look at them. “Guys?”

Despite everything, Percy thinks it’s kind of funny. He walks into one of the beds, and starts taking his shoes off. “Hey, Pinecone-head.”

Thalia yawns. “How did it go?” Bianca is still closing the door, Zoe is taking one of the beds for herself too.

“Well I think.” Bianca says, walking up to them. What a liar, but Percy’s too tired to argue. “How’s your arm?”

“Better.” Thalia replies, curling back into the sofa. Percy takes off his dirty hoodie so that he can sleep in his less dirty undershirt. It’s too late to care what the girls think. “Mrs. Chase patched it up pretty good, but I’m not sure I’ll be able to use if in a fight for a while.”

“Where’s Annabeth?” Percy asks as he gets under the covers. There’s only three beds, aside from Thalia’s sofa.

Thalia sighs. “Still with Nico.” Bianca stops mid taking her hat on to stare at Thalia. “No, he hasn’t woken up yet.”  Percy groans. “I think he will, though. Just getting back all the energy he used back at the Dam.”

Tired or not, Percy still manages a half glare at Bianca. (He warned her, warned Nico, but they still didn’t listen-)

“What are we going to do, tomorrow?” Percy asks instead, because the solstice is in less than 24 hours and all they’ve got is a vague idea of where Artemis is located. Not to mention finding out what the Bane of the Gods is. (He’ll have the time to scream at Bianca for pushing Nico too hard and  Nico for pushing himself too hard later)

“We can only enter the Hesperides’ garden during sunset, which gives us until then to get the monster.” Zoe says grimly. The three demigods turn at her. “Nereus only gave us a clue to where the beast could be, and if we don’t find it before it’s time for Artemis’ rescue…”

She doesn’t need to finish the sentence.

“We’ll figure it out.” Percy tells the girls, because sometimes the kids need the reassurances more than the adults. “We’ll figure it out, and we’ll rescue Artemis, and be there in time for the Solstice.”

Zoe looks at him funny, like if he has no idea what he’s talking about. Which is true, because Percy’s not sure how they’re going to make it, but hey. He’s been through two equally impossible quests before and made it through both of them.

Sometimes you just need to wait for things to fall into place to see how well they’ll work out.

“We’ll do all that.” Percy repeats. “But right now, we need the rest.”

They stay quiet for a moment. And then Zoe sighs. “You are right, sadly. We all do need the rest. Tomorrow’s battle will need us all at our best.”

Even in the dark, Bianca looks like she wants to argue, or say something else, but Percy doesn’t hold it against her this time.

Percy just curls up on his blanket and closes his eyes.

They don’t stay like that for long.

He hears the door to the street being opened and not quite closed, after what felt like a couple of hours. Percy raises his head slightly, to find a bit of moonlight lightning the living room.

Normally, any half-blood who heard a door being opened out of nowhere would have grabbed their weapon and prepared for trouble, but Percy had heard the stairs creak before that. And he doubted that the Chase were the kind of people to go out for a 4 am stroll. Percy could see Bianca and Zoe sleeping from here, and Thalia was still wrapped around her blankets on the couch.

There could only be two people that could have gotten out of the house. Percy grabbed his dirty hoodie to put it on again.

The Son of Poseidon walks up to the door too, careful not to wake the girls up. He opens the door more to slide outside, and finds a messy blonde ponytail sitting on the front porch.

“Annabeth?” Percy asks, rubbing his head slightly. It’s early in the morning, but not quite dawn yet. “Something happened?”

She doesn’t answer. Percy furrows his brows.

It’s early in the morning, but not quite dawn yet, and early morning has a certain feeling to it. Percy would have called it an aura, but he didn’t knew very well what it would mean.

Percy sits next to Annabeth. She has both of her arms crossed.

She still doesn’t say anything.

Percy suddenly feels frustrated. He opens his mouth to say something, but Annabeth beats him to it.

“What did Nereus told you?” When Annabeth asks him this sorts of things, about information he got for a quest or whatever, she usually has this sort of tone. It’s like she’s nicely demanding the information, but not that nicely. Most of the times, Percy thinks it’s annoying, and other times he thinks it’s sorta cute. But Annabeth sounds nothing like that right now.

Percy’s frustration increased. (But more with himself this time) “Nothing useful. He just muttered something about there being ‘power on killing innocence’, and then disappeared.” Not before turning into a seal again and splashing water all over the three of them. Percy was distracted enough that he forgot to make himself permeable. (Stupid jerk, what the heck killing innocence has to do with this?)

Normal Annabeth would have already began to form a plan with a phrase as little as that, though. She would have looked through the encyclopedia of Greek Mythology she carried around in her head for a description like that, and if she couldn’t find anything, well, she would have figured it out.

Percy really likes that about Annabeth. She always knows what to do, even when no one else does. She always comes up with something. Percy really appreciates Thalia and the Di Angelos, and even Zoe, but he has no idea what he would have done without Annabeth on this quest. (Sometimes he has no idea what he would do without Annabeth on everything)

(He remembers the summer, and that cave, and not feeling Annabeth breathing, even if it was just for a minute. Percy had felt like if he had stopped breathing himself. Like he was being suffocated)

Percy feels a knot in his throat.

“Nereus also said that Zoe knew where Artemis was.” He added. “Bianca was so worried about the monster, she nearly forgot to ask Nereus what we were there to ask him.”  It was sort of funny. Bianca had gone on in a rant about the Bane of Olympus and not knowing what it was, but Percy didn’t put a lot of attention. Blame it on his ADHD and the fact someone had to hold the Smelly Santa and make sure he didn’t orca-out away from them. “Zoe stayed quiet after that, but she said something about Mount Tamales.”

“Mount Tamalpais.” Annabeth corrects, still not sounding quite like herself when she did it.

“Yeah.” Percy said. “We’re leaving first thing tomorrow to look for the monster. We have some sort of a plan, but maybe you’d like to talk about it with Zoe instead.”

Annabeth looked like she couldn’t be less interested on the idea.

Percy feels his frustration reaching his forehead. (Look, he cares for his friends okay? He cares enough about them to go rescue them even if they’re in the middle of the Bermuda Triangle, to bring them back to life using the Golden Fleece, and even piggy ride them all around the Hoover Dam if necessary. Percy cares for his friends, will do anything for them, but this? Emotional stuff? He has no idea how to deal with this. All he knows is that he wants to do something, anything- just to see if it’ll help, he’ll do it- but what if he can’t fix this? Well, he obviously can’t fix it if Annabeth doesn’t tell him what’s going on in the first place-)

“Can you just tell me what’s wrong? Please?” He tries to sound less desperate than how he actually feels, because he’s been thinking about this since the parking lot. And maybe that’s why things with Nereus went so bad- because he spent the whole time being anxious about how Annabeth was doing back at the house. “Is there something I can do? Because I don’t know what’s happening and I’m worried-”

“Do you remember what I told you back at Maine?” Annabeth interrupts him before Percy can go on a rant of his own. “Before we Nico and Bianca got captured by the manticore?”

Percy tries to remember. He mostly forgot about that night due to said manticore capturing said two kids. “About  wanting to move back in with your dad?” Annabeth doesn’t answer. “Do… do you want to move back with them?”

Annabeth stays quiet again. (Hasn’t she figured out that letting him do the talking usually ends up badly?)

Percy tries to think about what he’s seen of Annabeth’s dad and step family so far. They seem nice, mostly. Not everyone would willingly let a bunch of teenagers into their home and offer them cookies.

(But they’re still the reason Annabeth ran away from home when she was 7 years old. 7!)

He sighs. “Look, I know about what’s like to have an awful step parent, okay?” He still has nightmares about Smelly Gabe, and sure, knowing his mom sold his stone butt for a high price is satisfying, but it doesn’t erase all the childhood Percy spent hating the man with all his guts. “It’s your choice if you want to come back. I’ll be honest, they don’t seem so awful, but you know them better than me. I’m sure you’ll know what to choose.”

Annabeth lowers her shoulders slightly. Percy hopes he said the right thing.

And then Annabeth does something that throws Percy completely off guard.

“Do you think we’ll see Luke again tomorrow?” Annabeth asks.

It hits Percy like a punch, the same way thinking about Luke always does.

(And when he always remembers with who else Annabeth ran away with when she was 7)

“I don’t know.” He answers, sounding almost as tired as he feels right now. “But I don’t really want to.” Annabeth’s crossed arms tighten around herself.

(Sometimes he still asks himself why Luke did it. Sometimes he asks himself why does the betrayal still feels so raw)

“Percy, I should really tell you something.” She whispers.

“You can tell me anything.” He whispers back.

“I know.” Annabeth lowers her head. “But I don’t know how to say it.”

And that’s when Percy’s mind goes back to the Junkyard of the Gods, and what Aphrodite said when they were inside that limousine.

(‘It’s the Hunters you should worry about.’)

It was like a bucket of ice fell into his shoulders.

(Percy clenches his fists and raises his chin. “Annabeth wouldn't join the Hunters! She wouldn't do something like that, she would never leave us-”

“Or would she?” Aphrodite interrupts.)

He sort of wants to crawl back into the blankets of his makeshift bed.

But he knows what to do.

Percy scoots closer to Annabeth, not placing an arm around her because he’s still not sure how she’ll take it, but he knows what to say. “I’ll be here, you know? Whatever you choose or do, I promise I’ll be here.” (Even if you leave me)

(Please don’t)

He supposed he said something right, because Annabeth did the second thing that surprised him that night.

She kissed Percy. Right on the lips.

(It was barely a peck. Was it even real? Did it even happened? It only lasted a second)

Percy stays there, frozen. Annabeth simply sighs and pulls away, as quickly as she had come closer. Percy only watches her as she stands up, dusting her pants.

“I’m going back to Nico’s room.” She sounds more like herself this time, but there’s still a weight on her voice. “Do… do you want to come?”

Percy thinks of how late it is, how close dawn is getting, and that Zoe will wake them all up to start the last day of their quest.

But he also thinks about the Son of Hades still unconscious upstairs, and the reaction he had when he thought Annabeth was in danger, and how hopeless he looked when Aphrodite mentioned the Hunters.

“Sure.” He answers. “Just let me grab my blankets.”

(He doesn’t think about the kiss or what it meant though)

(Or the disappointed look Annabeth had afterwards)

When Nico opens his eyes, he immediately knows it’s a dream. Why? Easy, his body is tall and strong, different from the short and weak one he has been living in for the past week. His arms have muscles and scars on them Nico hadn’t had before (or that he doesn’t have yet). His hair gets in his eyes in a way it didn’t when he was running through the Hoover Dam, but that it did when he was running through Tartarus.

When Nico opens his eyes, he immediately knows it’s a dream because three old women are standing before him. The women are wearing old togas, with their silver hair tied up with a bandana. They are small, but at the same time there is an intimidating aura to them. Nico gasps and hurries to stand up too. The goddesses don’t move though.

Nico Di Angelo isn’t one to be afraid of things. He’s been through Hell and back multiple times, had seen the Apocalypse itself happening. He has faced down monsters and gods alike, had survived whatever Gaea threw at him.

But look, if the Fates appeared in your dreams, you would be shitting your pants too. (He remembers Themis and her myth. Even Zeus fears them)

He remembers the Fates well; their image isn’t something you forget easily. Unlike most of the gods that had joined the Alliance, the Fates never stayed long with it. They only showed up when it was extremely necessary, and only talked to the Oracle of Delphi when they did. When the rest of the Alliance saw them, it was for a major tragedy. They have only done it four times: after the falls of Olympus and the Underworld, after Jason Grace’s death, and after Hecate’s capture.

But Nico had seen them one more time. When Rachel Elizabeth Dare had been asked to summon them after Nico Di Angelo had given an impossible suggestion, and the Alliance had been desperate enough to comply.

(He remembers that day to well. He remembers the ceremony, the mist floating around him, the old Greek chant in his ears and the knife cutting his hand as he made a pact with the Moirai themselves)

As the Fates stand before him, in this room he’s dreaming, Nico feels both, terrified and calm. Like he should be running away but like he belongs right there too.

“Son of Hades.” Lachesis says, as Clotho and Atropos move on her sides. Nico has no idea how he knows who is who, since the three look exactly the same. (But at the same time he feels like he could never forget) “There is no need to feel scared. We will not hurt you.”

Nico clenches his fists, to stop them from trembling. There is a lump on his throat, and even when he is in this grown body he feels as fragile as a child. “H-How do I know that?”

“Because we are not able to, you idiot!” Atropos replies harshly. She is the only one of the three glaring at Nico. He gulps. There is a certain weight in her eyes that isn’t in her sisters’. “We thought you would have figured that out by now after all this messing around you’ve been doing-”

“Atropos, there is no time for that.” Lachesis raises her bony arm, cutting off the other Fate calmly. “We do not know for how long we will be able to keep him here, you can yell at him later.”

Atropos crosses her arms and Nico wonders what exactly did he do to have the Fate of Death scold him.

“W-why-” Nico clears his throat. (You keep yourself together, Di Angelo). “Why am I here?”

“We just wanted to see if you were alright.” Clotho is the one to answer this time. Her voice is gentle, her gaze much softer than the other two.  “Time travelling is really hard, after all.”

Nico feels his heart drop. Well, now he knows what he did to make the Fates mad at him.

“For the Olympus, I just uh- Kronos was the one to send me back, I didn’t mean to screw with the uh… time-space-thingy?”  It wasn’t Nico’s intention, but it kind of was? He just didn’t mean to do it this early into history, though… “I am sorry if I messed things up with your plan and all, just- please don’t -” Please don’t kill me, Nico wants to say, pathetic and useless as he has been feeling since Jason died. Nico feels like he is dying himself at the moment, like he will die right now. Like all he wants to do is run, or hide, make sure he stays alive. Please don’t chain me into Tartarus because I accidentally fucked up with the timeline. Nico wants to kneel down and beg the Fates for his life, because it feels like that is what he should be doing. (That’s when you do when you mess with something of a major God, I´ve got to escape, I need to shadow travel away, I need to-)

The Fates are staring at him. Lachesis and Clotho have gotten closer to him, their brows furrowed with concerned. Even annoyed Atropos looks slightly worried. Nico’s breathe hitches. He remembers what the Fates told him.

“We will not hurt you.” “We just wanted to see if you are alright.”

(-I need to calm down)

So Nico doesn’t beg. He takes a deep breath, trying to get it back to normal, and passes a hand through his hair. He raises his head, and looks at the Fates straight to the eyes.

“Why am I here?” Nico repeats his question. His voice still sounds shaky, but there is a certain force to it he feels proud of having at the moment.

“We just wanted to talk to you.” Lachesis says. “You must understand. Time Travelers are not a common thing.”

“So, uh-” He stutters. “You are not mad with me? You are not gonna murder me because of it?”

“Of course we are mad!” Atropos groans, passing a hand on her forehead. “But that doesn’t mean we are going to kill you on the spot, you twat!”

“What my sister wants to say is,” Lachesis glares at Atropos this time. “That while we are bothered by someone messing things up in the timeline, we are not going to harm you because of it.”

“It wasn’t your fault, after all.” Clotho returns with her soft and comforting voice.

“How come?” Nico asks, confused. He then adds. “I mean, not that I don’t like that you won’t kill me, I’m really thankful for that! I am just saying that time traveling was kind of my idea, I don’t see how this isn’t my fault-”

“Because it was that blasted Kronos the one that sent you here!” Atropos interrupts. Lachesis glares at her again, and Atropos just rolls her eyes.

Lachesis turns at him. “Look, Nico. There are things we do not expect you to understand right now. Things that are beyond any mortal’s comprehension. The… plan you had is not what got you here. It will not even be a problem with us since we did give you our Blessing so you could carry it out-”

“And what a bloody bad idea that was.” Atropos adds. “I don’t even know why we would ever bless a mortal like this one!” She points at Nico, who can’t help but feel terribly offended for a second. “Seriously, the Us from that timeline were fools to do something like this-”

“The situation called for it, Atropos!” Clotho cuts in, putting her boney hands on her equally boney hips. “And this mortal proved to be a good enough to be blessed, you have no right to treat him like that! Nico did everything he said he would do, just look how far he’s come-”

“The only thing he’s done so far is ruin the timeline, Clotho!” Atropos yells right back. “You would have condoned anyone else who did this sort of thing millennia ago, so don’t you dare tell me I have no right to complain about the idiot we now have as our Champion!” Nico’s eyes widen.

“That was millennia ago, you said so yourself!” Clotho frowns. Nico is having a mini aneurysm at the moment because when the fuck did he became their Champion- “And yes, you have no right to complain! Nico is our Champion already, you want it or not, so you will have to deal with it-”

“You don’t understand! He intervened with someone’s thread of life! Do you know how it feels when you are about to cut the thread when it suddenly becomes hard as rocks? I lost a good pair of scissors because of him!”

“Atropos, you know well I wouldn’t know how it feels to cut the thread, I’m the spinner for our sake! And you have a bazillion pairs of scissors, I don’t see why you are complaining.”

“That was the pair I used to cut the thread of so many important mortals! It was the one I used to cut Odysseus and Amelia Earhart’s threads, and many more! Great heroes went to Elysium because of those scissors, but oh, no more will because they’re broken now!”

“Ladies!” Lachesis screams. The other two Fates shut up to stare at the third one. She has her fists clenched, the wrinkles in her face wrinkling even more. “We do not have time for your discussions! You both know how hard it was to contact Nico before, and I am sure we won’t be able to do it again until he and his friends get to Olympus!”

“Wait.” Nico says. There are too many things happening at the moment. “You have been trying to contact me?”

“Oh, many times.” Clotho answers, with a smile on her face as she looks at Nico. “Always when you are sleeping, but I’m afraid the shields you have on your dreams are particularly strong when it comes to letting other people enter to them.”

Nico knows he’s got good shields. When you are at war with mythological beings that might invade your head, having strong barriers around your mind is important.

“We also tried to contact you in our physical forms, but that came out so well, right, Lachesis?” It’s now Atropos turn to glare at her sister. Lachesis anger gets replaced to embarrassment for a moment.

And Nico’s eyes widen again. “What- When did you even do that?!”

“While you were at that big museum.” Clotho replies. She then turns at her sisters. “The Smithsonian, I think?” The Fates nod. The Smithsonian.

A memory flashes through Nico’s eyes.

(He is looking around, his eyes trying to take in everything he sees all at once, all the things in the floor and those hanging, the people passing next to him, and the three dark figures standing on one of the balconies of the museum. Nico furrows his brows, walking toward them on the balcony. He makes his way through the crowd, which is easy with his small size. The figures change into three people in silver cloaks as Nico gets closer to them, their wrinkled faces staring right back at him. Nico keeps walking; he is already in the balcony when-)

“It was you!” Nico says. “When I had the-” Nope, he is not admitting he had a panic attack at the Smithsonian. Not in a million years. “When Annabeth found me at the balcony. It was you.”

Clotho furrows her brows. “We are so sorry that we caused what happened to you- it was never our intention to scare you!”

“But it was urgent that we found a way to contact you.” Lachesis says.

“I am here now.” Nico replies. “I am here; you can talk to me now.”

“We- we can’t.” Lachesis adds, with frustration.

“Why?”

“Because it’s too late now, Son of Hades.” Atropos deadpans. “Your dump actions have changed the whole timeline!” Nico takes a step back, because even if they swore they wouldn’t kill him (not that they could since Nico is apparently their Champion now) Atropos looks ready to put her scissors through his chest. “Your destiny and the destiny of everyone else around you have already been rewritten just because you couldn’t let go of your attachments!”

The room shakes with the goddess’s wrath. Like, actually shakes. Nico’s feet try to stay still as the floor jumps and things hit the ground. The other two Fates also look furious, but at least not at him. Nico frowns, too hurt by what Atropos said to be scared.

“What attachments?!” Nico asks, suddenly feeling pretty angry himself. The room stops shaking slightly, but Nico can see the cracks forming the ground and walls, spreading like if it were made out of glass. “Because if you are telling me that I caused all this just because I couldn’t let go of my friends, then you are the one that is wrong!”

He doesn’t care what the Fates think. He doesn’t care if Kronos sent him back too early. He was the opportunity to save Jason, and Percy, and Annabeth and Piper and Frank and his father, for the gods’ sake!

“Nico, please-” Lachesis tries to say, but Nico isn’t letting her speak. No, he is the one that needs to get shit straight right now.

“I watched them all die!” He yells in top of his lungs, because he spent so much time feeling sad about it that he had no time to feel mad. “I felt all of their souls leaving their bodies, while I could do nothing to save them, but now I can! Now I can, and I will, and I don’t give two damns about you and your stupid timeline.” Nico looks Atropos on her dark and mystic eyes, and he hopes he can see the hell that’s inside his own. “I will cross Tartarus another five times, I will murder Gaea myself, I will throw the whole world away if it means I could keep them all alive.”

The room’s cracks deepen, parts of the floor falling to the gods know where leaving only darkness behind. Atropos glare doesn’t move away, but Nico thinks he made himself pretty clear. Lachesis has her fists clenched while Clotho is staring at him with a sort of soft and pitiful look. (He doesn’t want their pity. He doesn’t need it. He wants their cooperation, and if he can’t get that, they better get out of his way)

“You are a moron.” Atropos says, and it takes Nico aback. “I wasn’t talking about those attachments.”

“Stop.” Lachesis orders her sister, as the room starts to shake again. “We can’t hold the connection much longer, you are making him raise his shields again!”

“We need to help him!” Clotho protests. Nico is about to fall to the ground and so are they. “Before he wakes up and the quest ends-”

“Then let the quest end.” Atropos says. “I refuse to help this ungrateful child.”

“He’s our Champion, Atropos!” Clotho groans loudly. “We can’t just leave him alone during the war, not that Kronos knows about the path now-”

There is a loud crash, as a piece of ceiling falls between Nico and the Fates.

“Not during the whole war, you old hag!” Atropos turns at her like if she was crazy. “There is no way this idiot is surviving it without our help. I’m just meaning this quest!” She turns back to glare at Nico. He glares back, “After all, he’s made it clear he doesn’t want anyone else on this bit of his new destiny, and I don’t think he’s lowering his shields again anytime soon…”

Lachesis looks at Atropos, then back at Nico. The Son of Hades rage lowers when he sees her, but it doesn’t evaporate.

Lachesis sighs. The room continues to fall apart around them. “We’re sorry, Nico.”

“Don’t be.” He replies coldly. He pretends he doesn’t catch the hurt look in Clotho’s face.

“I just want you to be aware of what you’ve just done.” Atropos hisses, as the final edges of the room start to disappear. “By sparing your sister’s life, you’ve just unleashed a monster larger than anything you were.”

With a snap of her fingers, the dream ends and Nico lets himself be brought back into consciousness.

Chapter Text

Nico tries to open his eyes, but he’s really disoriented. There is a weight behind his temples that’s threatening to kill him, and his stomach feels emptier than it did back on Tartarus. Nico groans softly. His mind is playing tricks on him, replaying his dream. (The Fates, and the room breaking like glass- he sees pictures and images of them, but nothing’s making much sense right now, his head hurts too much-)

Despite the need to bury himself in the land of sleep again, Atropos’s words sober him up like a bucket of ice water. 

His eyes open as his mind finally settles into his body. Nico groans loader. Everything aches so much he half-expects to wake up in the snow next to a road, with most of his bones broken but-

But there is a fluffy pillow under his head. And a soft blanket around him. He feels warm and fuzzy, despite the pain.

Nico doesn’t want to move at all. He doesn’t know if it’s because of the bed underneath him is so comfy, or because his entire body is hurting. Still, he raises his head slightly, trying to take in where he is.

And then two pairs of arms wrap themselves furiously around him.

Nico whimpers.

The people pull him up from the bed and blankets, up against their chests.

“What -” He asks, his voice hoarse.

He can’t really move or see anything, because the people hugging him are way taller than him. They cover his view completely, and they’re even warmer than the blankets. His head is hurting enough as it is, so he tries to break free.

 They don’t seem to let go, though. So Nico just gives in and enjoys the hug while it lasts.

(The arms around him feel  so familiar he wants to cry, but he’s too drowsy to do so now)

The hug lasts a few minutes. It’s enough time to try to get his thoughts straight. Nico’s head feels like someone just dumped his brain into a bowl and gave it a few stirs. He doesn’t really feel in the moment, with how much everything hurts right now. He’s doing his best to make something out of what’s happening, but before he can get his head together, he’s being shaken back into reality.

Literally.

“What the hell were you thinking?!” Annabeth Chase yells at him. She has both of her hands on Nico’s shoulders, moving him back and forth violently.  “I swear to the gods- what the hell were you thinking! Over exhausting your powers like that-” He would form some sort of answer for her, he really would. But the Daughter of Athena just keeps shaking him. “Just so you could take down half the skeleton army by yourself! You could have died, Nico, or worse!”

Only then, does she let him go. Nico uses the opportunity to turn off the blender on his brain and finally figure out where he is.

He’s inside a bedroom, the walls painted a soft lime. There’s a wide window and a door. The room’s bed and nightstand seems cozy, but there’s also some dusty pile of boxes in the corner. The curtains are drawn, making the warm light of early morning give the space an orange tint. Next to the nightstand there’s a plate of cookies and a glass of milk that makes a waterfall on Nico’s mouth and-

And next to him and Annabeth on the bed, there’s also one Percy Jackson with a worried expression on his face.

Nico feels a knot in his throat.

Before he has time to process that the other pair of hands hugging him were Percy’s, Annabeth is back at glaring daggers at him. (And Olympus, he does mean daggers. She’s actually trying to stab him with her eyes, and it would make him tremble in fear if he wasn’t feeling so nostalgic- Jason used to glare at him just like that)

“You were passed out for nearly 20 hours.” Annabeth says, with a graveness that makes Nico’s throat knot tighten. “Nothing we did woke you up, we didn’t even know if you would at all.” Nico’s eyes travel to Percy, and the boy just looks away. Nico flinches, just slightly. “Why would you even do that?”

She asks that not like she’s angry or ready to murder him if he ever does something like that again. She asks that like she’s trying to understand his logic, like she truly doesn’t get him or his modus operandi by now.

(He wants to laugh, because really, isn’t that the reason he’s even here in the first place? The one thing that has been his only motivation since pretty much always? The Fates wouldn’t get it either, he thinks, that this is the only reason he’s made this whole trip- the world be dammed)

Any other time Nico would have invented some bullshit excuse to get her off his shoulders. Any other time Nico would have. But this isn’t any other time.

His head hurts, but not nearly as much as his chest, and Nico spits out the truth like it’s been ripped out of him. 

“I have to save you.” Nico says, way sadder than a normal ten year-old would, but hey, when has he ever been normal? “I can’t lose everyone. I wouldn’t be able to take it- not again…”

Maybe it’s the sorrow in his words that makes Annabeth’s glare of steel fall away, or the hint of desperation that makes Percy finally look at him. Maybe it is that he generally looks pitiful, but that right now, he looks particularly beaten.

Either way, the other two set aside the anger they have against Nico in the moment, to simply hug him again. Even tighter and stronger this time.

Nico doesn’t only enjoy the ride this time, but also wraps his arms around them. Just as tight and strong.

Things I need to Fix #20:

How to use my powers without passing out.

There’s been a lot of great food that Nico’s had the pleasure of eating. But he thinks that Mrs. Chase’s chocolate chip cookies might have made it on top of his list.

“Woah- slow down, Di Angelo!” Thalia laughs next to him, as he proceeds to his twelfth cookie. “Leave some for the rest of us.”

“Trust me.” Nico tells her, with as much dignity as someone on their twelfth cookies can. “If you had spent as much powers as me, you would be eating like this too.”

“So is that the price for your awesome abilities?” Thalia says, with a fond grin on her face. “You just gotta eat everyone’s meal the next day?”

“Yeah, Pretty much.” It’s not that big of a price.

It’s a nice morning, if one considers this is their last day to finish the quest and the fact that both, Bianca and Annabeth, are acting weird.

Nico turns to his sister, who’s in a deep conversation with Zoe and Percy. She’s wearing both, her usual hat and her new lion coat. Bianca has both fists on the table, clenched, and she talks in a way Nico would expect more from Annabeth.

“We know we can only enter Mount Tamalpais as the sun sets- which gives us about 12 hours to figure out what and where the Bane of the God is.” Bianca has a look in her face Nico had only seen when they were at the cinema, and she couldn’t decide which movie to watch. “Nereus didn’t give us a lot of clues, but we know for a fact that the monster is in the city, or at least in the areas surrounding it. If we were all to split up, each taking a section to look for it-”

“Do you know how big San Francisco is?” Percy asks. “Even if we had brought the entire camp with us, I don’t think we could cover the entire place.”

Bianca glares at Percy. And- okay, Nico knows that Bianca does have a tendency to glare at people, especially Nico, but-

There’s something off about it.

(Even when Bianca gave him a hug after he woke up, and told him she was happy he was alright)

(Like there’s something that has her on edge)

“Didn’t Nereus-” Nico begins to say, but gets cut off when Bianca directs that glare at him.

And look, normal ten year-old Nico would have cowered at that glare. It’s even scarier than Annabeth’s. But this Nico is as much of a member of this quest as his sister is, and he’s got a decade of experience over her.

So this Nico returns the glare right back, and finishes what he was gonna say. “Didn’t Nereus say something else about the monster? Like a particular line that’s useful, maybe?”

(It’s so frustrating watching them all talk themselves into circles when he knows the answer already. He doesn’t care if the Lachesis thinks it’s messing with the timeline or whatever- they really need some sort of hint)

Zoe’s eyes widen. “A power in killing innocence.”

If Annabeth wasn’t acting as weird as Bianca, right now would be the moment where she solved the quest’s round of ‘Who’s that Monster?’, and they all could just proceed to go find it.

But Annabeth hasn’t uttered a word since she got downstairs.

(Nico sets the worry that maybe it’s his fault, to the farthest part of his mind)

“Maybe the Bane’s powers come from killing mortal children? Because they’re innocent?” Thalia suggests. “Does anyone know about a monster that eats kids but is also strong enough to take down Olympus?”

“No, that does not sound right.” Zoe intervenes. “It’s different, but I have heard that line before. The Bane of Olympus isn’t that because of its own power, but-”

“But because whoever kills him gets power.” Bianca finishes for her.

There’s a moment, right there, when Zoe’s and Bianca’s eyes meet. There’s a moment, when Nico believes that he sees her sister’s uneasiness just melt away, to be exchanged by something he feels to embarrassed to describe.

It feels too private. Like the hug Percy and Annabeth shared with him back when he woke up. Too personal.

Nico just looks away.

“That sounds familiar.” He says instead. “There’s a Mythomagic card that has a description like that! I think it’s the Ophiotaurus, but I can’t remember correctly-”

“The Ophiotaurus!” Zoe exclaims, breaking whatever moment she had with Bianca, who looks a little bit taken aback. “I know that story! We’ve been anticipating a huge dangerous monster, but the Ophiotaurus does not bring down the gods that way.”

Percy looks confused. “How would that even happen?”

“Eons ago, the day the creature was born, the Fates ordained a prophecy.” Zoe explains. “They said that whoever sacrificed its entrails to the fire, would have the power to defeat the gods.”

“Ophiotaurus.” Thalia says slowly. “That means ‘serpent bull’… We’re looking for a sea animal!”

Percy pales at that.

Everyone looks at him.

“I think I know where it is…”

After the initial shock passes, and the girls finish screaming at Percy for not telling them earlier, Nico just sits at the porch of the Chase’s house. Everyone is packing whatever they think will be useful into the yellow VW they’ll be burrowing and probably wrecking for the trip.

They have some sort of plan, which is nice:

First they’ll go to the beach and hope that Percy can summon Bessie. They’ll improvise what to do with her. After they pull off whatever they pulled off, they’ll march right into Mount Tamalpais, and give that nasty dragon and Castellan the surprise of their lives.

(Zoe and Annabeth are buried in the garage, building up whatever is they’re building. Nico heard the words ‘make shift fish tank’ and ‘those bombs you guys threw at us during the Capture the Flag’. He does know a few… Items they could probably make and use, but there’s no way no one’s questioning that knowledge after the Ophiotaurus business)

So right now, all Nico has to do is wait for everyone to get ready for the final fight of their quest.

(Not like he doesn’t have to get ready- but he’s been in worse situations with less than he has right now, and gotten out as unscathed as a demigod can)

Everyone thinks Nico is still recovering from all the energy he lost, which he kinda is actually. That stunt at the Dam was harsher on him that he lets on, and since he still looks like he recently met a gang of harpies, well- he gets a pass for taking it easy while everyone works their asses off.

Nico has to be at his fullest for Mount Tamalpais. He knows the others managed to take down Atlas on their own, but as the quest has showed him, things can always take a turn for the worst.

It’s really frustrating. Back on the other timeline, Nico was strong enough to take down gods mightier than Atlas, without any help whatsoever. Now he gets winded up just from shadow travelling a few times!

(Frustrating is not even the word. Infuriating, exasperating even- he had been so powerful once- now he’s not even a shadow of that! He’s back at square one and knowing he’ll have to get back all that he’s lost- it’s going to drive him completly crazy!)

“Something’s wrong?” Percy asks, from behind him. Nico turns around, and the Son of Poseidon has that smile on his face, the one he’s been giving him lately.

(His powers aren’t the only thing driving him crazy.)

Nico just sighs, and looks up. Hopefully he really doesn’t look as bad as he feels. “A lot of things, actually…”

It’s then when they all hear what sounds like a saw, coming from the garage. Nico face turns even sourer, and Percy decides to sit down on that porch to talk about feelings for the second time today.

“Do you think Annabeth is mad at me?” Nico asks, out of nowhere. “Like, really, really mad at me?”

Percy considers it, and his smiles disappear. “A little bit.” It totally doesn’t makes Nico flinch. “But trust me, we’re both glad that you’re alive. We really thought you were going to join your dad, buddy.”

That makes Nico snort. “Trust me, it would take more than that to kill me.”

“Sure hope so.” Percy replies, a little bit sad. “I mean, considering we’re about to face whatever managed to capture Artemis in the first place.”

It gets him a little bit, the way he says it. Like Percy’s actually afraid of whatever is at Mount Tamalpais.

It really gets Nico, because well. For all what he remembers his Percy for, this one is still a kid.

A kid who hasn’t even dreamed of half the hells that Nico’s been through.

(There’s a new weight in his shoulders, Nico thinks, that he hadn’t realized was there before)

“I’m sorry for what happened at the Dam, and scaring you.” Nico says softly. “But I really need to keep all of you alive. Annabeth and everyone is going to have to understand that.”

“I know.” Percy replies.

Nico looks at him.

“She died once.” Percy says, and it’s so small how he says it. “Back on our second quest.”

Nico continues to look at him.

“We got her back, of course.” Percy still isn’t meeting his eyes. “But that’s not the point, like- even if you didn’t die, that’s not the point either, Nico.”

Finally, finally, those sea green irises turn to meet his.

“I know you think you have to keep us safe like you said back at the room, and I know you have powers that even I don’t have.” Percy tells him, clear and serious like he wants those words to stick. “And I know that when you have friends and you care for them- you just have this impulse to do whatever you can to make sure they stay alive, even if it means that you don’t get to be so.”

Nico doesn’t know how to answer, but Percy isn’t really done. Not quite yet.

“I know all that, Nico. But please remember, that as much as you care for your friends- we care about you too. And we’ll also do whatever we can to keep you alive, okay?”

Percy still has his eyes piercing into Nico’s. The Son of Hades isn’t sure of what to do. But the other boy does expect an answer.

“Okay.”

Percy nods, like he’s satisfied with that. He turns away, to look at the sky. So does Nico.

(After all, it’s your friends the ones that stay behind and mourn you once you’re gone)

The two boys stay there for a while, sitting on the porch. At least until Annabeth calls for them, and it’s time to really start the last day of their quest.

 (He knows that better than anyone)

"Okay so-” Percy tells them. “I’m not entirely sure how to summon her?”

Bianca’s looking at him like she wants to strangle him. She’s been looking at him like that a lot lately. Which is fair enough, Percy supposes, but in his defense, he had no idea Bessie was so important, okay? He would tell that to Thalia and Zoe, but they also look ready to murder him.

They’re all standing on the dock, the car and the fish tank parked a few yards away from them.

Even Annabeth’s looking frustrated. She’s talking now that they’re out from her family’s house, but the stress of the quest is finally catching up to her. Percy can forgive her, though, she did had to put together a giant fish tank in a couple of hours.

Nico’s the only one who doesn’t look absolutely exasperated, which is nice. Percy didn’t lie back on the porch- he’s really glad Nico’s actually alive. He’s looking very pale and sickly, but he’s got his determined face on and at this point everyone knows better than to argue with probably the strongest member of the team.

(And Annabeth did most of the screaming Percy wanted to do when Nico woke up, so they’re good on his book)

“You have to call her from the bottom of your soul.” Nico tells him in all seriousness. He’s sounding like a kung fu masters in an old movie, and it’s kind of hilarious since he’s ten and like- an entire foot and a half shorter than Percy. “Close your eyes and focus on her presence. You’re gonna have to reach deep, until you find it. Then dig into that feeling and pull it towards you. Really pull it towards you. Like she’s a fish and you’re holding the hook.”

And Percy does exactly that. He closes his eyes, and just focuses.

He can feel Bessie there, he thinks. Out there. She’s far, and she’s scared- but she’s also glad Percy has found her.

Percy pulls then, maybe not like a hook. He does it less forcefully, not wanting to hurt the creature. It feels more like he’s drawing her to him by some invisible rope.

He doesn’t open his eyes until he hears a faint ‘moo!’ from below the dock.

The girls are staring at him and the Ophiotaurus, like they can’t believe it. Nico, on the other hand, doesn’t look surprised at all. Percy smiles at him. The kid smiles back, softly.

(Who would have thought it? Nico’s good as a spiritual mentor or guide or whatever!)

“Okay, so now we start with the plan!” Annabeth takes over. She turns at Percy. “Do you think you can lift her and some water to the tank?”

Percy nods. “Yeah, but it’s gonna tire me out for a while.”

“It’s okay.” Thalia replies. “We can take care of it, if any of those skeletons get here.”

They found a couple of them, when they were driving to the dock. Zoe told them she thinks the entire city is infested with them by now- so they gotta find a way to get Bessie out of here and fast.

Percy raises his hands in front of him, and closes his eyes again. His powers work best when they’re in an emergency, like back when Clarisse was about to put his head on a toilet and he made all of them explode. They don’t usually respond so well otherwise- but he lets the sea know that if there’s an emergency, it’s right now.

It’s sorta like telling the water hey, can you please help me- I’m sort of in a hurry!

Except the water is not responding. Percy furrows his brows and extends his arms more.

“Guys.” Bianca calls. “I think the skeletons found us!”

Nico raises his head. “I can take down a few of them-” A choruses of NO’s follow. “Okay, jeez!”

Thalia, who despite telling them they could take ‘em a few minutes ago, still says “Percy, can you please hurry up?”

“I’m trying!” Percy insists, because he really is. But the water is just- not moving!

 That’s when he feels a hand on his arm.

“Percy.” Nico says. “Focus.”

Reach deep, he had said.

So Percy reaches deep, really deep.

He opens his eyes again, to see a moving bubble of water with the Ophiotaurus floating above them, around 10 feet in the air. The mortals around them are staring, and there’s no way that the skeletons haven’t noticed them by now. Bianca pulls out her sword, and Zoe starts putting an arrow into her bow.

Percy feels really exhausted. Annabeth’s behind him because he starts wobbling, Nico too. Percy dumps the bubble and Bessie into the tank, leaning into Annabeth and Nico to hold him up.

“Let’s go!” Annabeth yells. Percy’s a little dizzy, as he gets dragged into the back of the car, crowded next to Annabeth and the Di Angelos. Thalia takes the wheel because Zoe’s too busy throwing arrows and the skeletons that are now actively chasing them.

At least Bessie’s settled into the fish tank nicely. She moohs a little confused, though.

Thalia turns on the engine, and puts the pedal to the metal. Percy and his friends get pushed back, and even Zoe takes a hit. The tires of the car skid as Thalia turns the car around in a perfect u, and the demigods get shot out of the dock, the fish tank rattling behind them.

Zoe’s still throwing arrows like crazy from the copilot’s window, and both Bianca and Annabeth looks like they’re panicking- and Percy’s still a little bit dizzy and can’t understand why Thalia’s driving so fast. So he pushes Nico away slightly, to raise his head and take a look at the rearview mirror-

And he sees like 30 freaking skeletons just running behind them. Like this is the Olympics, they’re the sprinters competing this year, and their car with the Ophiotaurus is the dam price.

Percy wants to laugh, because as many skeletons may be behind them, they really look ridiculous running like that, okay?

“Percy!” Annabeth says exasperated. “This is really not the moment to be laughing!”

“Just look at them go, man! It’s like Halloween decorations on steroids!” Nico snorts loudly.

Percy stops laughing after a while, though. Thalia’s going as fast as she can, and the skeletons have to be running at like 150 miles per hour, because they’re actually catching up. And the more and more they get into the city, the more skeletons join. Zoe was underestimating, San Francisco isn’t infested with them, it’s swarming!

How the heck did Luke Castellan even get this many skeletons?

If they actually got down of the car and tried to fight them, Percy’s not sure they’re gonna be able to take them all.

At least by some miracle, or probably actual divine intervention, Bessie and the fish tank remain intact.

“Annabeth!” Thalia calls from the pilot seat. “Do you wanna use one of those bombs you made back on the garage?”

“No.” Annabeth replies seriously. “We have a limited supply of those, and Mount Tamalpais is gonna be worse than this.”

“How can it get worst that this!” Bianca screams. Zoe’s running out of arrows- she’s got more on the back truck, but it’s not like they can pull up and take them out.

“At least they’re not shooting us this time?” Percy provides helpfully.

-And that’s when the bullets start to fly.

Annabeth pushes everyone to the car’s floor, to cover their heads from the sudden shots, and Zoe also hides behind her seat. Thalia doesn’t get shot, but one of the bullet hits the board. Bessie lets out a terrified ‘mooh!’ because some of the bullets are hitting her tank.

“Why did you have to open your mouth?!” Percy’s not sure who says that, but he actually feels guilty this time.

Percy can feel the water start to leak out of Bessie’s tank. Nico looks as concerned as he is, but he also has a somber look on his face.

(And Percy says somber he means like- actually scary, okay?)

“Thalia, pull the car over.” Nico says.

She looks at him over the rearview mirror. “Are you nuts?!”

“Pull the car over!” He yells.

Thalia and everyone else looks at Nico. Even Percy does.

But if they’ve learned anything during this quest- it’s that Nico can be trusted with their lives.

Thalia hits the breaks. Everyone jumps forward as the car suddenly stops.

Nico looks at his sister and Percy. “Come with me.” Neither of them feel like questioning him. The three of them step out of the car, two Children of Hades and one Son of Poseidon.

The Horde of Skeletons it’s not stopping. Percy’s getting nervous. Bianca turns her head from the car, back to Nico. Nico doesn’t look any but pissed off.

He grabs both of their hands. Percy’s a little surprised, Bianca furrows her brows.

And then Nico pulls. He pulls really hard- Percy’s not sure at what- but he knows that somehow, he’s dragging both Bianca and him with it. Or maybe they’re pulling it together? He doesn’t know.

But Percy meant what he said earlier- he thrusts Nico. Maybe not as much as thrusts Annabeth, but just enough to follow him into this crazy thing he’s doing.

So he doesn’t fight it. His grip tightens on Nico’s hand and Percy pulls with him.  Bianca takes a few moments more to come through, but when she does, she pulls even harder- and soon enough Percy feels something snap.

The ground around them, where the skeletons were surrounding them, has cracked open. The street and the pavement have broken, there’s pipelines coming out of the place that have started to flood their surroundings. Most of the skeletons got caught up in it- if not all of them.

If Percy thought he was dizzy before, he feels ready to vomit now. He’s ready to collapse, and he nearly does, but Annabeth moves out of the car to catch him just in time. Zoe does the same for Bianca. Nico doesn’t have the same luck, he falls to the ground, clenching his stomach.

“What in the Olympus did you guys do?!” Thalia calls, slamming the door closed. She’s terrified, and amazed, but mostly terrified. Percy’s like that too.

Gods, he knew Children of the Big Three could be destructive, but this is something else.

“I just-” Nico says softly. Annabeth kneels with Percy next to her, to help the kid up slightly. “Sorry, should’ve warned you guys- but we needed to get rid of ‘em quickly, and I knew I couldn’t do it by myself…”

Annabeth looks at him softly. Being right next to her, Percy can see just how soft her gray eyes go over Nico. It makes his stomach squirm, but he’s not really sure why.

“We need to get going.” Zoe says, helping Bianca stand. She has her head leaning into the hunter’s neck, nearly nuzzling into it. “The mortals are starting to notice.”

They indeed are noticing at all the damage they did to public property. The mist is making the incident seem better than it is, but it’s still bad enough for people to come out and look at all the fuss. Which is to be expected, Nico just used Bianca and Percy to screw up at least a quarter of the block.

Bessie’s moohs catch Percy’s attention. He turns to look at her. The water in her fish tank is nearly half-empty.

“Guys, what do we do with the Ophiotaurus?” Percy asks.

Annabeth turns to look at Bianca, who’s starting to come into her senses. “Do you think Alecto would mind if we called her again?”

They take a moment to rest in another parking lot of the city. They moved far away from the hole that Nico caused, since the authorities arrived to the site. The mortals got really scared, unsure of what happened.  

Zoe was at awe.

Never in her two thousand years of life, had she seen a demigod do something like that.

(The youngest Son of Hades didn’t do it by himself, he called upon the strength of his friend and his sister. Zoe had only heard of things like that in the myths of old)

Demigods, even children of the Big Three, are not as powerful as they seem. Zoe knows, she’s seen generations of them come and go, becoming legends mostly because of their own will and determination rather than by the raw strength of their power.

(Hercules comes to mind, but even that filthy pig achieved what he achieved not only with his god-like force. The dishonorable bastard turned to trickery, to lies- to seduction)

Zoe stops that track of mind. It won’t do her and her friends any good in the quest.

(It won’t be any good where they’re heading)

Zoe looks at Bianca, who’s resting her head into the hunter’s shoulder. There’s a relaxed smile over her face, a calm look that Zoe has not seen since the desert. Even their hands are touching now, like back then.

It softens Zoe’s worry.

Bianca Di Angelo is a very powerful demigod. Zoe would be wary of that, if Bianca hadn’t proven to be an admirable companion and a noble heroine. She would make a wonderful Hunter.

In another life maybe, Zoe thinks. In another life, Zoe would have been content to ride across the fields with her, to show her all the parts of the world that Artemis had shown her first. Maybe if the Fates haven’t intervened, maybe if her destiny didn’t lay so much with her father.

(In another life, Zoe would have been content only with this, with the palms of their hands touching and that calm smile. Maybe if all the stars still shone, maybe if her destiny hadn’t driven her away from her father so much)

But this is not another life.

Zoe squeezes Bianca’s hand.

The Hunter knows why the Di Angelo siblings are so powerful, why Percy Jackson has that sword. Why her beloved goddess was kidnapped, and why the gods will demand so much of their heroes.

This generation will have to deal with horrors that haven’t been seen or felt for millennia. Even she, the simple daughter of a fallen Titan, can tell as much.

(Kronos is not the worst out there. She remembers her father’s stories, when she was a child. There are monsters far crueler than Zeus’s predecessor)

Bianca notices her worry. She erases that beautiful smile and looks up at Zoe, concerned. Zoe is flattered that the other girl can read her so well, despite how short their time together has been.

“What’s wrong?” She asks so softly.

There’s things Zoe can’t tell her, despite everything they’ve told each other in the past few days. Things that even Zoe doesn’t fully understand, but that she’s aware she won’t be able to escape.

(She feels her own death coming, she can sense it right around the corner. She’s dreamt of it for centuries. The closer they are to Mount Tamalpais, the closer they get to the one foe Zoe would never be able to kill)

As much as Zoe hates lies, she would never be able to tell Bianca the truth.

So the hunter simply squeezes her hand and says: “Nothing at all. I’m just thinking we should get going already, if you and the boys feel well-rested.”

The Ophiotaurus may be safe and sound, but sundown will happen in just a couple of hours. Zoe can see her friends talking among each other, a few feet away from Bianca and her. Thalia is smiling while she helps Annabeth put the last details to their ammo, Percy and Nico laugh as they talk about who will kick more skeleton-butt for the battle.

(In another life, she might not have called them friends. In this one, she’s grateful for the honor)

Zoe fakes a smile, makes it as believable as she can, and gives it as a last gift to Bianca. “We’ll win at Mount Tamalpais. I just know it.”

The Daughter of Hades gives her one back, and it’s all Zoe wants at the moment.

(In another life, she would feel guilty. In another life where she’s not bound to die, she might not have done it)

(But this is not another life, and all Zoe asks in this one, is for her to be remembered as a happy memory in Bianca’s eyes)

Chapter Text

They walk right into the Garden of the Hesperides like they own the damn place. And Nico means it, they just stroll in looking kind of bored, or well, half of their quest does.

(It’s all part of the plan, of course. But that doesn’t mean Nico can’t still find it a little bit funny)

The garden is a beautiful thing, really. There are stepping stones made out of polished marble, and statues decorating the whole thing. Hera’s wedding gift to Zeus sits right on the center, the Tree of Immortality and its golden apples that look shinier than the sun. Its flowers are so brilliant and colorful that Persephone would have gone mad with envy. Even the weeds of the grass are bathed in moonlight.

If it wasn't for the giant dragon just taking a nap on it, Nico would have said the place was great.

If Percy is either scared by the dragon or disgusted by its horrible breath, he's trying his best not to show it.

(All part of the plan)

The Hesperides are looking at them like they just tasted something sour. They have caramel skin and silky black hair, with their Greek Chitons and golden jewelry adorning them like goddesses. They look so much like Zoe- it’s sort of disturbing.

“Sisters.” The Hunter says. She has her head raised high.

“We do not see any sister here.” The tallest of them replies. “We only see two half-bloods and a traitor, all of whom shall die.”

Nico raises an eyebrow at them like, you sure about that, pal? It makes Percy snort, and Zoe glares at him. Nico just crosses his arms and looks at Zoe’s evil clones, grinning defiantly.

The Hesperides study them. Their eyes are black, like the night sky without any stars. They look among themselves after that, until one of them speaks up. “We know Perseus Jackson, but we do not know the small one.”

“I’m Nico Di Angelo.” He says, a little bit annoyed at being called the small one. “And trust me, if we were going to die, I would know.”

“Son of Hades.” One of the girls says. “We do not see a child as a threat.”

That one stung. Nico’s about to go for his sword when Percy grabs his jacket from behind. Zoe glares again.

And that’s when he sees shadows moving around the garden, behind where the Hesperides stand, heading for the dragon. Nico takes a deep breath and looks at Percy, who lets go of his jacket.

Nico simply takes a step forward, regaining his cool. He looks up at the Hesperides, with eyes darker than theirs, and tells them with the voice of a hardened warrior and not that of a ten year old: “Either you let us pass, or you find out just how deadly we are.”

The Hespherides smile, turning to Zoe. The tallest one speaks again. “Is this the sort of pest you hang out with after you were disowned?”

“They are my friends.” Zoe answers without even flinching, and, if Nico didn’t know her, he would say that her lips are curled up just slightly. “Now, let us pass.”

The girl glares. “You have no rights here anymore, Hunter. We only have to raise our voices, and Landon will wake.”

Shadows move again around the garden, closer this time. Zoe raises her head, in all her silver glory. “He will not hurt me.”

“What about your so-called friends?”  The girl asks menacingly.

And that’s when Annabeth, Bianca and Thalia jump out of the shadows with their weapons. The Hesperides’ eyes widen, but before they can raise their voices, the girls have their blades on each of their necks. The tallest one, the only one who wasn’t ambushed from behind, has her chest meeting Nico and Percy’s swords.

Their eyes are wide in shock, but they don’t utter a word. The weapons touching them are made of celestial bronze or Stygian iron that, even if it won’t kill them, it will draw ichor from them and it will take a while for them to regain their strength.

Although, even if they dared to speak, it’s not like the dragon’s actually gonna do something.

The tallest Hesperide turns to look at Landon, who lies knocked out as a dragon can with the same gas that Zoe had used to knock down the half-bloods back during Capture the Flag. The dragon and its thousand heads were bombarded with about a metric fuck ton of moose anesthetics. All Annabeth’s idea, of course. 

 Zoe’s sister looks back at her and hisses. “Are you mad?!”

The hunter walks past Nico and Percy to look at her. “You never had any courage, sister. That is thy problem.”

 They arrived to Mount Tamalpais just as the sun began to set. Storm clouds surround the sky, dark and gray, forming a vortex in the very summit. Lightning crowns the whole thing, illuminating the darkness that begins to settle. Even where they are now, they can hear the thunder, calling for them.

For simple mortals, Mount Tamalpais is just another part of California. Demigods know better. There’s a reason for why the mist is so thick and heavy on the West Coast- and it’s the ruins of Mount Othrys hiding behind it. This land is cursed by the broken columns and statues that still cry out for a battle fought ages ago.

(Or maybe they cry out for those yet to come, Nico thinks)

With Landon knocked out and the Hesperides safely gagged and tied to the Tree of Immortality, all that’s left to do is put together the weapon that Annabeth and Zoe built for them back at the garage. Percy is looking at the pieces and squinting, while Bianca has another shouting round with Annabeth as the Daughter of Athena has to repeat her instructions for the fourth time. Thalia is helping Nico put the nets into their makeshift canon, while Zoe stands there, looking at the trail that will lead them to the army that’s waiting for them on the top of the mountain.

There’s something on the Hunter’s face, a look Nico knows well. It’s that look that says that you’re about to meet your doom and making your peace with it, and well… Nico can certainly guess why. The boy nearly drops the net he’s holding, a sense of nausea filling his body.

“Dude.” Thalia says, with her eyebrows furrowed. “You okay?”

No, Nico thinks, unsure of how to tell her. He’s a Child of Hades, he’s always been able to feel death. And right now? Right now, he feels it just around the corner, lurking behind them, just waiting.

(There’s a reason why Bianca’s so on edge right now, and Nico knows that she’s feeling it too, even if she doesn’t know what it is yet)

“Yeah, just... anxious.” He settles for saying.

Thalia smiles at him, in that way that reminds him of Jason so much that it makes him feel nauseous again. “Hey, we’ll be fine! With this baby-” She raises the canon that Annabeth made. “-Artemis will be free before you know it.” Nico squeezes the net in his hands. Thalia’s smile turns into something softer, more comforting. “I was scared on my first battle, too. It’s okay, just trust your powers and your demigod instincts and you’ll survive.”

Nico tears up a little.

Once upon a time, he had listened to Jason as he narrated the battle of Camp Jupiter against Krios in this very place. It was back when they learned Leo wasn’t coming back but before they knew Percy and Annabeth were dead. They were friends already, but not quite best friends yet. Back when their bond was first starting to form, when they were starting to know each part of each other.

Nico would sit down next to him, as Jason talked, both boys just looking up at the sky from the Argos.

“I was so scared back then, can you believe it?” Jason had told him, like he was laughing at himself about it. “It was my first time leading the legion into battle, and I just wasn’t sure if I was even going to survive it. And look at us now- about to face Gaea. It makes me feel stupid for being scared of that back then…”

If Nico closes his eyes, he can still listen to his friend’s voice, can still feel the sea gently rocking the ship back and forth.

(Sometimes he wonders if losing a limb would feel like this, if he’d miss it this much. Sometimes he wonders if he could give an arm up in exchange for having Jason by his side again)

The things Nico’s scared about don’t take the form of a mountain or a battle anymore. They take the form of corpses of the people he loves. They take the form of this feeling that’s coursing through his veins right now, and the possibility that, despite his best efforts, he still might not be able to save everyone.

But Thalia’s looking at him like he’s her friend now, like even if it all goes south, she’ll still will make everything in her power to save him. Nico remembers Annabeth and Percy and how tightly they hugged him, he remembers the way Bianca smiles at Zoe, and only at Zoe.

Screw whatever the Fates think, screw their plans too. As long as Nico’s still breathing, he’s going to try to keep everyone alive. No matter what it costs him, no matter what he has to do.

(He’ll stick close to Zoe for the battle. Let Thanatos know he won’t be taking any of them so easily)

Nico smiles at Thalia with confidence he doesn’t have. “Yeah, Luke won’t stand a chance!”

When Percy takes a look at the dozens of dracaenae surrounding the General and his stupid, golden sarcophagus, he’s happy that Annabeth took the time to make them the cannon. And then he sees the way Annabeth’s looking at Luke, as if an arrow had pierced her chest and she can’t breathe, and all feelings of joy disappear from his body.

And then Atlas drops the ‘I am Zoe’s Father!’ bomb on all of them, and all Percy feels is shock for a good couple of minutes.

Atlas stands there, with a brown silk suit and silver armor, a long dark cape flowing behind him. He holds two polished javelins unlike any sort of weapon Percy’s ever seen before- there’s an aura around the Titan that differs from any other god that Percy’s felt before. It’s not like Ares, that was like pure raw power, or Aphrodite or Athena, something so concentrated that he’ll never be able to understand it.

It feels more like a weight crashing down on his shoulders, like a sort of strength and age that makes Percy feel like Artemis, as she holds Ouranos away from the Earth’s embrace he yearns.

 “So these are the best heroes of the age, eh? I don’t see why Kronos was so worried about them!” The Titan laughs, and it’s a very disgusting sound. Everything about him disgusts Percy, - from the arrogant look on his face to his shiny dark eyes and hair. It’s everything he detested from Zoe before getting to know her, but multiplied by eight.

“Fight us and you’ll see why!” Percy shouts, before Annabeth grabs his arm and makes him stop.

What disgusts Percy more, though, is Luke, as he stands in full armor and holding Backbiter. He’s there, with his blonde hair and that scar across his face, looking down at them and it just makes Annabeth hold his arm tighter. Percy’s glad she’s doing it, because otherwise he’d throw the entire plan away by going up to Castellan and punching him in the face.

“It’s good to see you again, Annabeth.” He has the audacity to say.

Annabeth has that blank look on her face again, the one she had back when they met her dad. Percy clenches his fists on Riptide, and he feels as if an arrow pierced his chest too.

(With how much Annabeth hurts because of Luke, everyone forgets that Percy was betrayed too)

Nico grabs Percy’s shirt like when Percy grabbed his jacket, as if to hold him back. The Son of Poseidon shakes him off, but not without a quick glance telling him he got it.  No need to mess everything up when everything’s going so well.

There’s no need to draw attention to the fact that neither Bianca nor Thalia are with them right now.

“Have your pathetic gods taught you nothing, you useless mortal ?” Atlas says, with an arrogance that infuriates Percy even more. His demigod instincts are acting up, and he feels like he’s back at school, taking a very boring pre-Algebra class, and every part of his body is begging him to get out and run.

Meanwhile, Atlas continues with his monologue. “Fighting you directly is beneath my dignity, I will have Luke crush your little quest instead.”

Now’s Annabeth the one that answers, if only because they need to distract them for a few moments more. “All your attempts to crush our quest have failed so far. Who’s the useless one, General?”

That makes Atlas groan. It’s an inhuman sound, loud and guttural. “Now, Luke, why don’t we hurry up with the crushing-”

Luke raises a hand, interrupting the general. His gaze is as cold as the snow back on Maine, and it scares Percy a little. “Now’s still not the time. The Child of Hades is still missing.”

Nico swings his too-big-for-him sword, with that anger that’s been building up since the Hesperides called him little. Percy has to appreciate that he’s keeping himself together, because the gods know he and Annabeth aren’t.

“I’m right here, if you haven’t noticed, and very ready to do some crushing!” He yells at Castellan, and despite everything, Percy smiles at him. 

(Percy will never admit it, mainly because he can’t go back to his mom’s house if he gets his soul ripped out, but he thinks Nico’s adorable when he’s this angry)  

“Not you, your sister!” Luke replies. “The girl that killed the Nemean Lion!”

Zoe glances at Annabeth, who shakes her head. They have to stall for a bit more. Percy nudges Nico, who gets the memo right away.

“I killed your manticore! That has to count for something, right?” Nico says, just as two shadow figures move behind the dracaenae. Percy’s starting to feel anxious, and Nico has to keep talking.  “And Atlas is such a lame Mythomagic card, like, any of the Olympians have much more attack points and power. Even the Titan’s Curse card is lame, like, sentencing another card to hold up the world for all eternity, such a lame move-”

“Silence!” Atlas roars, bringing up his javelins, and yeah, maybe Nico took it too far, but oh my gods, did he really use Mythomagic to insult a Titan? Percy sends a prayer to the gods that the little guy never loses his obsession with that card game because it’s the best thing ever.

And right before Atlas turns Nico into a freaking kebab with those javelins, Bianca and Thalia jump from the shadows and unto their enemies from behind. Bianca is armed with her impenetrable Lion coat and her bejeweled sword as she meets Luke’s Backbiter with a ferocious strike. Meanwhile, Thalia who still has an injured arm, wields the canon that Annabeth put together, throwing nets at the monsters right before they can charge towards the rest of the team.

Their appearance is all the others need- Annabeth slips her baseball hat on, disappearing, while Percy runs towards Artemis to set her free. Zoe takes an arrow from her quiver and aims it at Atlas while Nico raises his sword and heads towards the Titan with a battle cry worthy of his own Mythomagic card. All according to plan.

(But not for long)

Luke raises his guard as Bianca pounces at him, their swords clashing like the thunders surrounding Mount Othrys. The Son of Hermes smiles at Bianca, his grin a pale and sickly thing. 

“So you’re the Daughter of Hades!” He says, as the two move away from Atlas, dancing with their swords. Bianca doesn’t respond, she just keeps attacking him with what Percy’s gonna start calling the Di Angelo Wrath. “You know, I find it strange that you’re siding with them!”

Percy turns his head away, because he’s got a bunch of dracaenae headed for him. He kicks one in the head, swings Riptide around and slices the head right off a couple of them. He needs to get to Artemis.

“Two Children of the Underworld fighting besides a Daughter of Zeus!” Luke defends himself masterfully, avoiding each hit from Bianca and giving some of his own. “Who would have believed it?”

Nico and Zoe throw themselves at Atlas. Zoe puts arrow after arrow on her bow, barely taking her time to aim. The Titan deflects most of them with his divine speed, grabbing a javelin and throwing it at his daughter. Zoe barely has time to dodge, but Nico’s right there to help her. The kid jumps at Atlas like he’s got no fear of his dad, and has the Titan fight him directly.

“They’re my friends!” Bianca says firmly, as she continues to duel with Luke.

Percy kicks another monster and continues to carve his way towards Artemis. Annabeth appears again besides the Goddess, with her hat off. She immediately leans down to try and work on the chains, trying to find a lock to pick. A monster slashes at Percy, and he rolls to the ground, barely avoiding the claws.

“Or so you think!” Luke’s grin disappears, and he raises Backbiter, the clash with Bianca’s sword echoing through the entire place. “Your father tried to kill Thalia!”

And yeah, everyone knows that. Hades tried to kill Thalia and he also kidnapped Percy’s mom. It’s all old news by now. Thalia, who’s never held it against Bianca, continues to wield the cannon, throwing net after net at the swarm, defending herself with her shield and doing her best despite her injured arm.

Nico isn’t doing so well, despite his fearlessness and skill with the sword. Atlas grabs him by the shoulder and tosses him away like he’s a sack of potatoes. Percy doesn’t have time to scream his name, because he has to pierce Riptide into  monster’s stomach, turning it into golden dust. 

Bianca groans, her attacks becoming clumsier with her anger. Luke uses it to his advantage, but her coat protects her from any potential slicing. “They don’t care about that!”

“Oh, but you will care!” Luke says. 

Nico’s trying to stand up again, but it’s hard. The Titan is walking towards Zoe, who holds her bow and arrow, aiming right at him. Thalia notices and tries to make her way towards Atlas. The dracaenae continue to pour in at them, and where in Olympus did Luke managed to get so many dam monsters?! 

Percy’s starting to get tired from fighting so many of them, but he’s gotta get to Annabeth. They gotta free Artemis, and he’s close, he’s so close. 

“Tell me, Bianca,” Luke hisses, as she starts getting clumsier because of her anger. He’s got her cornered and he knows, but Bianca won’t be beaten, she won’t. “Do you ever wonder why the Lord of the Underworld did that? What reasons did he have? What were his motivations?”

Percy slashes another couple of monsters and finally, finally, he’s there. He kneels beside Annabeth, beside Artemis. She’s just like Percy saw her in his dreams- drenched in sweat and holding the weight of the world. The goddess looks up, wet strands of auburn hair framing her face, her silvery dress in tatters, as she tugs her celestial bronze chains. There was a gag on her mouth, that’s the first thing Annabeth took off her, and it’s now dangling on her neck.

Artemis coughs, facing them. “Stop Castellan, don’t let him keep talking to the girl- it is all part of his wretched plan-”

And before Percy can ask what Artemis means, Luke goes for the punch.

“It’s because Zeus killed your mother, Bianca!”

It’s as if the entire battle stops for a second, with Annabeth and Percy kneeling beside Artemis, with the remaining dracaenae pinning Thalia and Nico to the ground, with Zoe nearly out of arrows and Atlas cornering her against a rock. The entire battle stops, and all that matters is the dark eyes of the Daughter of Hades as she takes in what Luke just said.

Percy does too, kind of. He was aware that Hades had a grudge against Thalia and Zeus, but he can’t quite believe it either- Hades kidnapped his mom, yes, but she was never in any danger, was she? Hades would have never killed her, Hades is not like that. He’s not-

(Zeus, who’s ready to blow Percy off a plane if he as much as steps in one, who would threaten anyone and anything that he considered a threat to himself, who probably wouldn’t hesitate to strike down with his lightning and kill his brother’s lover )

Bianca’s sword falls to the floor. The sound hits Percy harder than the monsters did.

Nico raises his head, as the monsters push him back on the ground. He just got thrown by Atlas and he’s got at least five dracaenae pinning him down, but he’s still giving it all he’s got to free himself. He always does.

“Don’t listen to him!” He yells at his sister, and it devastates Percy. “Don’t listen, Bianca, he’s trying to manipulate you!” 

Nico’s not the only one putting up a fight. While Bianca stands there, paralized, Thalia’s holding up her shield, Zoe’s still throwing arrows, Percy and Annabeth are still trying to unchain Artemis. But it all won’t matter, if Bianca doesn’t pick up her sword right now, why won’t she pick up her sword-

“Oh, but I’m right, aren’t I, Nico?” Luke’s voice is a dreadful thing, and for a second, Percy stops breathing. Annabeth glances at him, then back at the monsters surrounding them and no, it can’t be. It can’t.  

“You would know, wouldn’t you?” Luke continues and Percy’s never wanted someone to shut up more. “With all the things you know about the Gods and wars and everything else. With all you seem to know about time. ”

If Percy wasn’t distracted trying to fend off the monsters as Annabeth works on those celestial iron chains, he is now. He looks at Nico, as the boy stops squirming for a second. He stares with those sad and black eyes up at everyone else, and look, Percy’s gotten to know him pretty well during the quest, and never before has this happened. Not when they were standing together on that plain model in the Smithsonian, not when Percy was giving him a piggy side throw the Hoover Dam, not even when they were being held prisoners by that manticore and they barely knew each other's names.

Never before has Percy seen Nico look scared.

“I’m telling the truth.” Luke continues. “The King of your precious Olympians murdered your mother. As a matter of fact, he was trying to murder you too.”

“Nico.” Bianca begs, and she’s not crying, not yet, but Percy can see how she’s starting to tear up a little. How she’s trying as hard as she can not to break down right then and there. “Nico, tell me he’s lying, tell me he’s not telling the truth.”

And Nico, small Nico, poor Nico who’s so strong and brave but still so sad, that carries this weight around him that Percy can’t begin to comprehend, just looks down to the floor and says. “He’s telling the truth.”

It’s as if a glass breaks inside Bianca. Percy doesn’t recognize it right away, it’ll take a couple of years or so for him to realize the importance of this moment right here. He’ll see it later, when he looks back at this quest, and he’ll know that this is when the pieces inside Bianca started to go from small cracks to fully blown faults. 

Now, however, Percy doesn’t have time to notice as one of his friends starts to slip away from them. How she’s slowly starting to hate all of them. How they did nothing to stop her from falling deep into her own darkness.

For now, Percy focuses on Annabeth and the chains, and trying to free Artemis.

“We were at war!” Nico cries out. “Zeus was terrified of what another Child of Hades would do, Father- Father managed to save us and that’s why he put us in the Hotel, to keep us safe-”

He’s cut off by the way the ground shakes below them. Bianca’s just as powerful as her brother, and she’s beyond pissed right now. She’s furious, but more than that she’s hurt. 

“Why didn’t you tell me?!” Bianca screams, and Nico flinches. Even Luke looks surprised by the strength of her powers. “You told me everything else, you told me about Jason and your stupid- your stupid plan or whatever, but you couldn’t tell me how our mother got killed?!”

The ground moves from shaking to breaking apart below them. It takes a bunch of monsters, which is good, but it’s getting near Thalia, which is bad. Annabeth has to hurry, because Percy’s not sure how much longer he can keep himself up. 

“Bi!” Nico yells, starting to move again, trying to break free from the monsters to grab his sword.  “Bi, I’m sorry-”

“He lied to you, Bianca.” Luke says. “And he’ll just keep lying to you, they all will! You’ll never fit in with the Hunters, you’ll never fit in at Camp Half-Blood. They’ll be scared of you, they’ll hate you!”

Bianca turns at the Son of Hermes, the corners of her eyes wet.

“You’re here, out of your time and alone, with a brother you no longer recognize and surrounded by people and gods that will turn your back on you at the first sign of trouble.” Luke’s face turns into something dark. “I would know, they did the same to me.”

The Daughter of Hades stands there, with her golden fur coat and her dark green hat, looking at Luke Castellan, like he’s looking at him for the first time. She’s angry, aching, she’s afraid. She’s at her most vulnerable and willing to listen to him. She’s listening to him, and gods, she’ll listen.

“Bianca.” Luke calls her name, like he’s casting a spell on her. “Bianca, call for the Ophiotaurus. You guys took it to the Underworld, I know, but if you call for it, it’ll come.”

“The prophecy, Bianca!” Thalia screams from where she is, with a bandaged arm and a golden shield, the only thing keeping her from becoming drac-food. Percy blinks, remembering the oracle’s words. “He’s trying to manipulate you! Remember the prophecy!”

But Luke continues. He waves his hand again, and green fire appears behind. A bronze brazier just like the one at Camp is there too, enticing and shimmering and calling for blood. Percy thinks of Bessie and shudders. 

“Join me and call for it! We’ll have enough power to go against your mother’s murderer !” Luke’s grin is something twisted, something so vile and evil that it can’t be his, no it can’t.

“ ‘Temptation must one withstand’ , Bianca!” Percy screams too, because Annabeth just finished unchaining the goddess, but she’s still holding the sky. “ ‘The Bane of Olympus must not die by their hand’ - Don’t listen to him!”

Bianca takes a step forward, as if entranced. Her fists are clenched, her sword long forgotten on the ground. Behind Luke, the golden sarcophagus begins to glow. As it does, Percy sees images in the thick mist around them- horrible, horrible visions. Ruins all around them, Olympus falling and crashing into New York City- fear and shadows and deaths and nightmares.

“Bianca!” It’s Nico the one that screams this time, and it’s a heartbreaking sound. “Please, Bianca, don’t do it!”

“We will raise Mount Othrys right here!” Luke promises, his voice turning into deep, dark and strained. “Well rip Zeus right out of his golden throne and take revenge!”

Below them, the monsters are marching up the side of the mountain, from the beach up to the summit of Mount Tamalpais. There’s more dracanae and laestrygonians, hellhounds and harpies, monsters and half-bloods.

(We can’t fight all of them, Percy thinks, We can’t fight all of them-)

“Bianca!” It’s Zoe this time, and she’s finally out of arrows. She tries to defend herself with her bow, but Atlas grabs at it and tosses it away like he did with Nico. He grabs a javelin, a wicked smile on his face, and stabs . Percy closes his eyes because he doesn’t want to know what just happened. 

It’s as if the spell breaks. Bianca stops looking at Luke so that she can turn at the Hunter, anguish written on her face. “Zoe!”

But it’s too late now. Bianca’s without her sword, all Luke needs to do is hit her with enough force to make her fall down, and another couple of monsters hold her there. She’s sobbing Zoe’s name, trying to stand up, but the claws push her back to the ground. Percy feels like he’s going to cry too. 

Nico’s still fighting, somehow. A monster grabs him. He punches the dracaenae with his bare fists, and grinds his teeth at another one, getting his left arm free. He extends it, trying to reach his sword, and-

The monsters have surrounded Percy and Annabeth, who’s taken her knife out to fight as well. Artemis remains holding the sky, chains or not. Percy slices through, monster after monster. He can’t see Thalia anymore. He can’t see Nico.

And somehow, Percy knows what he has to do. Nico’s saved their butts on the quest many times, but he won’t be able to do so now. So it falls on Percy to do so.

Percy turns to Artemis as he stabs another monster. “The sky, give it to me!”

“No!” Annabeth shouts, somehow still having the time to sound indignated despite how many monsters they have over them. “Percy, no way in Olympus am I letting you do that!”

“Look around us, Annabeth!” Percy yells, hitting the gods know what with the pommel of Riptide.  Zoe just got stabbed, there’s a horde of monsters surrounding them, and if Artemis doesn’t go out there and fight for them right now , all of them are going to die, not just- Percy can’t even bring himself to say it. Gods, Zoe. “There’s no other option, just- just hand me the sky!” 

The goddess looks up, her forehead beaded with metallic sweat, like quicksilver running down her cheek. “You don’t know what you’re asking, boy, it will crush you-”

“Then let it crush me!” Percy says, stubbornly. “I’ll bear it. We need you out there!” Thalia’s shield falls to the ground, Nico is dragged back into the monster pile, and Zoe just got stabbed by one of Atlas’s javelins. “Artemis, just give me the sky!”

And because, goddess or not, he doesn’t have the time to wait for an answer, Percy slashes through another monster, pushing Annabeth away from him, and bracing himself on one knee, holding out his hands. He touches the cold and heavy clouds, touches the blue and the black and the stars that make up the firmament. He feels Artemis’s shoulder as he slips beside her and for a moment, the two of them bear the weight of the sky together.

Percy doesn’t know how to describe it- it’s the heaviest thing he’s ever felt, will ever feel. It’s like being crushed under a thousand trucks, having to give a million Nicos a piggy ride, having gravity pushing down on you like if you’re a waffle inside a cast iron. It’s painful, gods, it’s so painful, but Percy breathes deeply and waits for Artemis to slip out, preparing himself to bear this thing alone.

But he doesn’t.

Right before Artemis steps out of it, another person slips in. Percy’s nearly blacking out of the pressure, but he manages to see two gray eyes and a blonde ponytail behind a baseball cap. Percy looks up, mystified and touched, so very touched- and for a second the weight of the sky doesn’t seem so heavy.

He smiles up at Annabeth and knows that, despite every muscle in his body burning, his bones will hold up the weight no matter what.

Chapter Text

The ground shakes badly , and Nico watches his two friends take the sky with angry tears in his eyes. He trembles beneath the dracaenaes' claws holding him down, his hands tightening into fists. He punches the ground, feeling like he’s falling apart at the seams. 

(Kronos knows. Kronos knows, that means that Gaea probably knows too, and that means everything is so so fucked-)

Artemis fights Atlas in a blur of silver and brown. Artemis moves with the grace and the speed of the beasts she hunts, leaping through the air and slashing at the Titan with her hunting knives. Atlas meets her attacks with just as much strength, his cape twirling as the two fight. They almost move too quickly for the mortal eye to see, almost.

A pang of nostalgia travels through Nico. This is not the first time he’s had the honor of fighting alongside the goddess. But it’s been too long since the last time. 

(Focus, Di Angelo! Now’s not the time to be wallowing in your feelings! It may be too late to save Zoe but there’s still enough time to save everyone else-)

Nico stretches his arm as far as he can, trying to grab his sword. His cheeks feel wet and his throat dry, but he has to keep trying, he has to.

(As long as he’s still alive he’ll never stop trying-)

The Son of Hades has heard the story of this quest thousands of times. He’d ask Thalia to retell him how they defeated Atlas again and again, and he knows what he has to wait for. But it’s hard, because he can hear his sister’s broken screams as she calls for Zoe.

(Luke will pay for this, Kronos will pay for this, all of them will PAY-)

Dr. Chase’s plane comes from the sky like a miracle, raining down bronze bullets into the horde of monsters surrounding them. In shock, the dracaenaes lessen their grip on Nico a little. It’s all he needs.

Nico elbows the monster, breaking himself free. He grabs his sword with one hand and uses the other to touch the plane’s shadow on the ground. Because Annabeth and Percy can’t yell at him when they’re too busy holding up the sky, and because any fear Nico had has now been turned into righteous anger , the shadows envelop him.

He reappears besides Bianca, who’s on the floor sobbing. Nico punches one of the monsters holding her right on its stupid face, and stabbed the other with his sword. The rest decide to let go of his sister and step away. Whatever combined aura the two siblings are emanating is too intimidating.

“Bianca-” He tries to say as he helps her up.

“Don’t touch me!” She hisses. She lifts herself up, passing a hand over her runny nose. 

And look, Nico loves his sister, he loves her to pieces. But whatever damage Luke caused by revealing the one thing Nico wasn’t going to until much, much later, can wait until the end of the quest. 

In one second, Nico Di Angelo goes from the scrawny kid who loves Mythomagic to the demigod commander of the Alliance’s army. He stares at Bianca, lifting his head and throwing his shoulders back, his hand tightening on his blade. Nico’s face grows serious, and he extends his dark aura as much as he can, letting it be felt by everyone. 

“Find your sword.” Nico commands. “And help Thalia. Afterwards, you can go to Zoe but right now, I need you to keep yourself together and fight.”

Bianca glares at him, her fists clenched. There’s resentment there, Nico can tell and it pains him, it really does. But now is not the moment, and she has to understand that. They’re not kids anymore, they’re soldiers, and, if she can’t accept that, then… Then Nico doesn’t want to think what will happen to her once the actual war starts. 

“Okay.” She says, adjusting her green hat with determination. “What will you do?”

Nico grimaces. “I’m going to murder Luke with my bare hands.”

And with that said, he disappears into the shadows again.

Things I need to Fix #7:

Everyone needs to be prepared for what’s about to come.

“CASTELLAN!” Nico yells as he pounces at him, coming from the shadows with his sword held high and enough force to match the attacks Artemis and Atlas are throwing at each other.

Luke barely has time to raise Backbiter, the impact sending him back a few steps. Di Angelo doesn’t waste a second, he throws another swing of his blade before Luke can regain his footing. 

Behind them, Artemis and Atlas continue to strife. The Titan’s javelins meet the Olympian’s hunting knives like thunder splitting down the ground. Both of them are starting to get tired, Luke can tell, and he curses under his breath because Di Angelo is hitting him with all he’s got.

Kronos was right- the time traveler is a force to be reckoned with. Despite their height difference, Luke has never had someone who can match him so well in sword fighting.  Luke can’t help but grin. Finally, someone who’s actually a challenge . 

“I take it your sister is the only one you’ve told?” He says, as he twirls his sword around, aiming for Nico’s arm. “I’m surprised you would do something so foolish!” The Spawn of Hades evades it, although just by a hair. “Do you think she’ll continue to stick with you, now that she knows the truth?”

Nico doesn’t reply. Instead, he uses those cursed Child of the Big Three powers of his to attack Luke from behind. Shadows try to wrap around his legs, like vines growing from the dark. Luke slashes at them with his sword, just in time to defend himself from another strike.

“I’m sure Percy and Annabeth will be quite happy with you once they find out!” Luke continues. “After all, from what Kronos said, they couldn’t even stand you that much in your other life!”

Still no response. If anything, Nico’s attacks have become more focused, more vicious. Luke’s having a hard time keeping up. He hasn’t been getting much sleep lately, with Kronos demanding more and more of him with every day that passes. There’s bags under his eyes, his face is a gaunt thing, with his skin turning into an almost sickly shade of pale. 

His little dance with Bianca tired Luke. Normally, he would have wiped the floor with Di Angelo, but he’s not at his best right now. 

(Who is he trying to fool? Luke’s not even near mediocre right now)

But Luke’s not the best sword-fighter of their generation for nothing. 

The two continue to slash at each other, their swords meeting in ferocious strikes. With each move, they move closer and closer to the edge of the mountain. Luke keeps trying to infuriate Nico with words and taunts and terrible insults. It keeps failing to work. 

So Nico’s not as easy to distract as his sister, huh. It’s okay, Luke just has to keep poking. Everyone has a button.

And unluckily for Di Angelo, Kronos knows all of his.

Nico pulls the same trick twice, but Luke expects the shadows this time. Children of Hermes may not have as many magical powers, but Luke has always been quick on his feet. And Backbiter does help a lot. 

With the sword’s powers, Luke summons some of the bullets that stupid plane is aiming as his troops towards them. Di Angelo barely has time to dodge, and with his demigod speed, Luke places himself behind the kid, kicking him on the back with all his force.

(As strong as Nico may be, he’s still has the body of a 10 year old. The scouts said that he tires easily, which means Luke is bound to win their duel, at least this once)

Atlas roars in pain behind them, as one of Artemis’s knives pierces through his armor, drops of ichor falling from the wound and into the ground.

The Titan will fail today, Kronos has foretold, but Luke still considers it a victory. The seed of doubt has been planted into Di Angelo’s sister, one that’s not so easy to kill. She’ll start to question her brother and her friends, and soon enough her gods. She’ll start seeing things from Luke’s point of view, she’ll know he’s right. She’ll regret not taking her chance to sacrifice the Ophiotaurus when she could. 

She’ll become one of them before any of them can see her betrayal coming. 

(The heroes have fallen right into their trap, and they don’t even know it)

Nico hits the ground with a huff, letting go of his sword. Luke puts one feet on the kid’s stomach, making him cry in pain. Luke presses the tip of Backbiter at Di Angelo’s face, a triumphant grin on his face as the two stand just beside the cliff’s edge. 

“I want to see how you try and explain your existence to the rest of the gods.” 

Nico’s dark eyes glare at him. How adorable. 

Luke wants to laugh. “I mean it, little Hellhound .” Di Angelo opens his eyes at the nickname. Oh, this is wonderful. “My master is not the only one who knows about your little quest to stop us. Any immortal being can feel just how unnatural your aura is, and just how much it resembles the Fates .”

He can see Di Angelo taking in what Luke just said. His biggest secret has been discovered by his greatest enemy, and soon enough everyone else will know too. 

Di Angelo should be shaking with fear right now, anyone else would be.

But once again he proves to be just as dangerous as Kronos warned.

“You will suffer a terrible, painful death.” Nico says, heavy and somber. “Kronos will take possession of your body and suck all the life out of you, only to throw you away like a useless tool when he realizes he’ll never beat both camps combined.”

Luke breathes in, tasting bile at the back of his throat. Di Angelo’s obsidian eyes bear holes into him, seeing the depths of despair of his soul, and Luke has never felt more vulnerable before. He’s been cut open by this child who knows of his fate, with all his fears and nightmares laid bare.

(What if everything he’s doing is not enough to change things? What if he made Annabeth and Thalia hate him for no good reason? What if Nico is right and Kronos just takes and takes until there’s nothing left of him?   What if this little war of his never even matters to the gods, what if he’s just another Greek tragedy on this game that those bastards play and it’s not even WORTH IT-)

Di Angelo looks at him with pity. Luke grits his teeth, his grip tightening on his sword.

(If there’s one thing that Luke will never take from anyone is PITY )

Luke doesn’t let any emotions betray his face. He digs his foot down harder, making Di Angelo squirm under him. Luke then moves the tip of his sword to the edge of Nico’s neck. 

He looks down at the kid with can only be described as madness on his eyes. 

“Funny you should mention both camps!” He snarls.  “I’m sure Thalia’s brother will be static to see you since, you know, you pretty much killed him last time! I wonder if he’ll die sooner this time, after all, that has become a main priority for Kronos.” Di Angelo’s eyes widen in shock, his nails digging into the dirt. “We have a lot of half-demigods on our ranks, I’m sure they’ll have no trouble getting into the other camp and capturing a single legionnaire.”

Di Angelo gulps, with the blade digging closer to his neck. Luke’s pressed hard enough to break the skin- there’s now a thin river of red trailing down Nico’s throat. The kid struggles below him, and Luke leans in to whisper.

“When I stab Backbiter through Jason’s chest I want you to know it’s entirely your fault .”

And that’s what finally gets Nico to look up at him in true fear, the Hellhound’s eyes turning into those of a scary puppy. Luke takes perverse pleasure on it.

(Oh, the amounts of pain he’s going to inflict into the little bastard once he becomes one with Kronos)

It only lasts for a second, though. That infernal plane comes down for another swoop of bullets, and the earth shakes again with the power of Bianca’s grief. Artemis has finally taken hold of Atlas, dragging him back into his place, holding up the sky. Luke manages to keep his balance, until he sees her.

There she is, the little gray-eyed girl he remembers, all grown-up now, with a newly formed white lock of hair among her golden curls. 

Annabeth drags Jackson away, as Artemis forces Atlas back into his curse. The Daughter of Athena looks at Luke, their eyes meeting for one suffocating second. Luke’s heart aches.

It’s one fatal mistake, letting his own sentiment distract him. Luke gives Di Angelo enough time to create more shadow vines that grab Luke’s torso and push him away with tremendous force. While he gets the air knocked out of him, Nico rolls away to grab his Stygian Iron sword again. With the blood still trailing down his throat and just about ready to drop, Nico stands up raising his sword, to stab it on the ground with all his might.

The cliff’s edge can’t take it. Luke feels the earth crack and crumble around them. He screams, as the cliff gives up below his feet, and the air hits his back as he falls.

The Son of Hermes hits the rocks with an inhuman sound, and all his broken body can see before everything turns black, is the Son of Hades being swallowed by the shadows, right before he lands next to him.

Percy’s still dazed by the pain and mostly leaning on Annabeth to walk, but he still yells “NICO!” with her, as they both see him and Luke fall off the cliff.

And for a second Percy can’t breathe. 

The battlefield’s mostly empty now- most of the horde died when Dr. Chase came to save the day on his Sopwith Camel, or fled, when they saw Artemis beating Atlas and finally putting him back into his chains. Bianca has also cracked the mountain beyond recognition, but hey, watching your friend get stabbed does that to you.

Percy certainly feels the ground shaking below him right now. And if Nico doesn’t come back-

(Then there’s no way Mount Tamalpais will be left standing)

Percy chokes on a sob, and Annabeth presses him closer to her. They’re both shaking. Percy’s throat is dry, and he feels the tears starting to build up in his eyes. There’s this dark, unnamed feeling in the pit of his stomach that's threatening to overtake him completely. 

And then Nico appears just a few feet from them, still holding his sword and looking up wide-eyed, like he’s surprised he managed to get there.

Percy all but pushes Annabeth away to be the first one to hug the little guy. They’re both gonna yell at him for shadow traveling, but right now, Percy’s stupidly glad he did. 

The black sword falls to the ground as the trio hug each other, and Percy’s too tired to care that they’re smothering Nico right now. He flails his arms around, because they’re not letting him breathe, but he’s got no right to complain. 

“If you scare me like that again, I’m going to murder you!” Percy tells him, definitely not crying. “It’s the second time on the quest, Nico, the second one!”

Nico huffs. “If I remember correctly, the plan was for you two to unchain Artemis, not to take the weight of the world!” And then he starts shoving at them to let him go.

They do, but only to check him for injuries of any sort. He’ll probably deny it, but Percy notices Nico inspecting Annabeth, and him too. He gives a little sigh of relief when he notices that, aside from the matching white streaks on their head, they’re okay, if extremely exhausted.

The same can’t be said about Nico. Percy sees the trail of blood on his neck, and breathes in, mortified.

“What happened to you?” Annabeth asks, extremely concerned. 

Nico wipes off the blood with his hand, not even fazed. Percy swears he’s the most hardcore guy he’ll ever meet.

“Luke did it.” The Son of Hades groans. And hen softly he adds: “I’m sorry.”

Annabeth’s face becomes stiff with grief. Percy feels the sudden urge to punch a rock.

“Did he-” She tries to say. 

“No.” Nico says, with enough confidence to send a pang through Percy’s chest. “No, he’s still alive.”

“But how?” Annabeth asks in disbelief. “That fall was at least 50 feet, no one would be able to survive that!”

Nico’s face turns grim. “Trust me, you don’t want to know.”

Annabeth’s about to question him more when they hear an engine and turbines coming towards them. Everyone’s eyes widen. The Sopwith Camel lands, just a few yards away from them. Dr. Chase takes off his helmet and aviator goggles as quickly as he can, clumsily trying to step off the plane. 

“Annabeth!” He yells.

“Dad!” Annabeth says, as she runs towards him. Dr. Chase opens his arms, and she tackles him on a big hug that has Percy smiling. 

Nico looks at him and Percy just chuckles. The Son of Poseidon finally gives in into the urge he’s had for the past few days, and ruffles Nico’s hair as hard as he can. Nico’s cheek turn a little pink and shoves him away, but Percy just laughs.

“You flew an antique airplane! And shot celestial bronze bullets!” Annabeth buries her hat and blonde curls on her dad’s embrace. “That was the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen!”

Dr. Chase blushes. “Not bad for a middle-age mortal, huh?” Nico nods, pleasantly impressed. “As  for the bullets, I melted down some of your half-blood weapons to make the casings. Just a little experiment- I’m glad it worked.”

He has a gleam in his eyes, that remind Percy of Annabeth explaining everything about the Hoover Dam. Nico must recognize it too, because, despite everything, he the corners of his mouth also curl up. 

And then a very desperate Thalia yells. “Guys! Come quick!”

The demigods share a look and Nico extends his hands. Percy picks  Nico’s sword up , handing it to him before grabbing his hand without hesitation. Annabeth lets go of her dad as Nico slides his sword into his back. 

Annabeth takes Nico’s other hand, before extending her own to her dad. 

Dr. Chase looks confused.

“It’s okay.” Annabeth insists. Nico nods too. Dr. Chase sighs, and takes the hand.

Nico shadow travels them.

 When they appear next to their friends, Bianca is covered in blood and holding Zoe in her arms, sobbing. Thalia’s cheeks are also wet with tears, and she’s holding her shield close to her. Artemis is kneeling beside them, holding one of Zoe’s hands with hers. Percy feels as if someone had just dumped a bucket of ice water over him, the cold shiver causing him nausea.

Zoe is there, with a gaping and red hole in her torso. Annabeth puts a hand on her mouth when she sees it and Dr. Chase gasps, horrorized.  Atlas’s javelin pierced her completely. She’s still breathing, but barely. Her eyes look up in a blank stare, a peaceful look on her face.

Nico stumbles beside Percy, who quickly tightens his grip on the boy’s hand. Percy gives him a quick glance, trying to assess whether he’s ready to pass out because of his powers or just from the shock of seeing Zoe like that. The kid remains quiet, but he squeezes Percy’s hand back.

(All either of them can think is I’m sorry, Zoe, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m so, so sorry-)

“Zoe, please.” Bianca begs again and again, holding the hunter even closer to her.  She does it with a tenderness that's breaking Percy’s entire being. “Please, Zoe, please don’t leave me.”

“My lady.” Bianca turns to Artemis. “My lady, there must be something we can do, you’re a goddess and she’s one of your hunters, surely you can heal her!”

Artemis seems troubled. “Life is a fragile thing, Bianca. I can try, but if the Fates will the strings to be cut, there’s nothing I can do.”

For a second, Percy swears he sees a sour look pass through Nico’s face. He steps closer to him, since Annabeth’s moved closer to her dad.

“Please try, then!” Bianca cries in desperation. “We can still save her-”

“Artemis.” Zoe says

Percy stops drowning on his own guilt when he hears that. Thalia looks up, Annabeth cleans her eyes and stares. Nico has a hopeful look on his face.

“Have I served thee well?” The Hunter asks.

“Yes, my brave one.” Artemis replies. “You did well.”

Zoe smiles. Bianca pulls her closer for a second, before lifting her up a little.

“Thalia, Annabeth.” Zoe says this time. Her voice is raspy, and both girls look up. “I’m proud to call you sisters.”

Annabeth swallows a sob, her dad putting his arm on her shoulder. “As am I.”

Thalia squeezes her shield, looking at Zoe with furrowed brows and more tears streaming down her face. “I’m sorry we argued so much at the start- I was wrong about the Hunters! I-It was an honor fighting beside you!”

“It is alright.” Zoe says, turning her head again. “Thou were not the only one who was wrong. Percy, Nico. Come, please. ”

The two boys look at eachother. They’re still holding hands, and Percy really doesn’t want to let go. Nico sighs at him, dragging him towards Zoe. Her eyes are still looking at the sky.

“Percy.” She says, weakly. “Do you still have the sword?”

Zoe raises her other hand slowly, with the last of her will. Percy hurries to her, kneeling besides Artemis. Nico follows him, still holding his hand. Zoe reaches out, and Percy brings Riptide out of his pocket, gently placing it on Zoe’s hand. 

The huntress grasps the pen, a smile forming on her lips. “I am honored you carry this sword, Percy Jackson.” A shudder travels through Percy again.  

(I’m sorry, I’m sorry, Zoe, I’m so sorry, please forgive me for not being able to save you-)

She gives him Riptide back and Percy’s crying for real now. Full, ugly crying. Nico gives him a look, but squeezes his hand. Percy appreciates it.

“Nico.” Zoe mutters, her voice getting meeker and meeker. “T-take good care of thy sister.”

Nico squeezes Percy’s hand again. He looks up, the corners of his eyes are slightly wet. Percy admires him for holding it together.

“You don’t have to ask.” He says.

Zoe is shaking now, but she’s still holding on to life, at least for a few more moments. Her head turns to Bianca now, her hand traveling to the girl’s face. She caresses it, and Bianca bites her lip not to cry.

“It will be alright, my dear.” Zoe whispers. “Thou has to let me go.” 

Bianca puts her hand on top of hers,the grief overtaking her face. “What if I can’t?”

“Thou must.” Zoe insists, a sad smile forming in her now pale lips. “Don’t worry, Bianca, we will meet again. In the Fields of thy father. I will wait for thee there.”

Bianca squeezes her hand. “Zoe, please-”

“Stars,” Zoe exhales. “I can see the stars again, my dear.”

Thalia lowers her head, Artemis squeezes Zoe’s hand,  Annabeth buries her face in her father’s embrace, and Percy moves from holding Nico’s hand to placing his entire arm around him, crying.  

Tears travel down Bianca’s cheeks. Zoe’s hand grows limp on her face, but Bianca holds it there, breathing in heavily. 

“They’re beautiful tonight.” She says. 

Zoe Nightshade dies with her eyes fixated on the sky and her hand on Bianca Di Angelo’s face. Artemis turns her Huntress into a constellation. The scream Bianca gives as Zoe’s body disappears right between her arms is a sound that will forever haunt Percy Jackson. 

Chapter Text

The pegasi make a huge fuss about not wanting to carry Nico or Bianca. Nico doesn’t speak Horse, but from what he’s getting from Percy’s side of the conversation, he’s bribing Blackjack with what appears to be an entire bakery.

“They’re very rich, Guido!” Percy insists to another pegasus. “I’m sure they’ll buy you as many frosted doughnuts as you want.” 

Guido neighs.

Percy sighs. “Okay, we’ll fill them with raspberry jam too.”

Nico looks at the girls. Annabeth is fussing over Thalia’s injured arm, and Bianca has this vacant stare in her face that’s really starting to scare him.

The collective mood is still very heavy from Zoe’s death. It probably won’t go away for their entire flight. Hell, from Nico’s experience, Bianca will carry that weight for the rest of her life. The gods know he did.

(Nico remembers being a kid, an actual kid, and hearing the news that his sister died. He remembers how much he hated Percy, or well, at least how much he wanted to hate him)

Nico glances at the Son of Poseidon petting his black pegasus and exhales. He glances at the rest of his friends. Nico clenches his fists. 

He’ll keep an eye on for Bianca from now on. A close one. No matter what the Fates said, he won’t let her go down the same path he did.

(He had no one to help him, while he was going through his own grief. He will not leave his sister alone in hers)

But for now, Bianca and the pegasi are the least of his problems. Luke’s words are still ringing in his mind. ‘Any immortal being can feel just how unnatural your aura is.’

(He thinks of Athena’s words back at the Dam, of Aphrodite’s back at the limo, of the weird look Dionysus gave him when he arrived at Camp Half-Blood)

Nico needs to think of an explanation for the Olympians, and it has to be an amazing one. Champion of the Fates or not, Nico’s not sure whether they’ll be able to save him from the combined wrath of all the gods.

In the end, Nico ends up flying with Annabeth on Guido. Percy offers to let him ride on Blackjack, but spending the entire way from LA to NY  holding onto the boy you have feelings for dear life is a terrible idea. 

(Also, Nico’s still not sure that the simple sight of Olympus won’t cause him another panic attack. And Annabeth dealt relatively well with the last one)

So, Nico rides behind Annabeth with his arms wrapped around her back, and his face buried in her hoodie. He doesn’t think about how much he hates being taken off the ground. He doesn’t think about all the gods that might be ready to kill him. He doesn’t think about how they’re the very same gods that fell last time. He doesn’t think about Olympus crumbling down into the city below, and all the deaths he felt, just how many people died-

“Breathe.” Annabeth says in front of him. The wind is making the blonde hair of her ponytail ondulate behind her. Nico’s fingers tighten on her hoodie. “Nico, just breathe and focus on my voice.”

(-He hears Hazel screaming as she looks for Frank’s corpse through the debris, he hears Jason trying to stop her and being thrown back by her force, he hears Piper’s soft words trying to comfort him as he has his hands on his hair, going mad from all the souls crying at him-)

Nico breathes. He feels like he’s choking, and there’s tears in his eyes, but he breaths. 

“I’m here.” Annabeth repeats, again and again, trying to ground him despite them being up in the air. “Whatever happens, I’m here. And so are the others. We’re all here with you.”

Nico trembles. He can’t raise his voice to tell her that they all won’t be here for long, that Bianca wasn’t even supposed to be there, that for all he knows, Zeus will vaporize him before he has time to explain that he’s only here because he made a promise to his son.

(-Jason, he need Jason right now, where’s Jason? What if Luke was telling the truth, what if Jason’s already dead and it’s all Nico’s fucking fault AGAIN-)

“Nico.” Annabeth says firmly this time. “Focus.” The Son of Hades sniffs. “Tell me, what can you see right now?”

Despite the pain in his chest, he tries his best to answer. “T-Thalia and Percy are on our r-right. S-she’s asleep.”

“To our left?”

“B-Bianca.”

“Do you remember the names of the pegasi?”

He nods. “Blackjack, Guido and Porcupine.”

“Can you smell anything right now?”

And that’s how the rest of the  flight goes, with Annabeth asking him things to keep him distracted. She asks  him to describe the night sky above them, the mountains and fields they fly over, the towns and cities they pass.  Halfway through the country, Annabeth asks Nico to explain how the Mythomagic card game system works. It brings a smile to his face, which makes her smile too, and Nico launches into an enthusiastic explanation that soon enough has both of them bursting into laughter.

Percy gives them looks, from time to time. So does Bianca. Nico can’t help if he scoots closer into Annabeth, trying to make her laugh again, with an ache in his chest.

(She reminds her of Jason, a little, sometimes, in the way their hair reflects the light and in how easily they make Nico forget all his worries, if only for a second)

(He misses Jason so much. And Hazel. And Thalia. His Thalia, the one who had commanded armies beside him, not the one that’s hugging Percy right now, still terrified of heights in her sleep-)

If Nico starts crying again, when the dark sky paints itself with reds and lilacs as the dawn starts catching up with them, Annabeth doesn’t say anything. She lets him unravel the past days of holding himself together without judgement, and Nico’s  extremely grateful. The back of her hoodie is gonna be soaking wet by the time they get to New York.

(He misses the life he left behind for this new chance to fix everything. He misses everyone he knew and that no longer exists for him anymore. He misses everything he had, that despite being broken and not so much, was still his-)

“I know you probably don’t want to hear this, Nico.” Annabeth says, her gray eyes focused on the huge white-and-yellow glow spread out before them, as they get closer to New York. “But it gets better. Wounds heal, even if you think they’ll never do.”

(And the absolute worst part, Nico’s starting to miss Zoe too)

Nico sniffs, because despite everything, Annabeth’s right. He survived Bianca’s death the first time around,  and he’s survived all the death’s that came after. Even Jason’s.

He survived the end of the world and five trips through Tartarus. He can survive this too. He owns it to everyone to keep on going.

(He owes it to Zoe)

And so Nico stops crying and puts the pieces of himself back together. Manhattan is slowly zooming into view and the Son of Hades will have to face all his demons.

Olympus floats ablaze over the Empire State, and the Council of the Gods has begun.

Percy’s even more amazed than the first time he was here. Olympus is a sight to behold for anyone, but especially so during the winter solstice. 

The mountainside palace glows with torches and fires of all colors, igniting the sky above it and all the surroundings. The twisting streets are filled with Greek decorations in gold and silver, with gardens in full bloom, filled with the sweetest flowers Percy’s ever smelled. Demigods and nature spirits parade the place, with godlings laughing among each other, riding chariots as radiant as them. Music drips from the entire place, lyres and reed pipes and flutes enchanting you with their melodies.

And on the peak of the mountain, the Hall of the Gods towers like the greatest palace of existence. No mortal-built castle or structure could compete with the place and the exquisite architecture that probably has Annabeth giddy with excitement.

The pegasi land them in front of huge silver gates, and Thalia whistles at the height of them.  And then of course Nico ruins everything with his ‘ooh look at me, I’m too dark and awesome to have nice things!’ vibes.

“Kneel before Zeus and pledge your allegiance to him before you do anything else.” Nico says.

Percy looks at him like the kid just grew a Gorgon head. “And just WHY should we do that?”

Nico grimaces. “Because it’s the best way to ensure he doesn’t kill us immediately? We just showed him and the rest of the Olympians just how tremendously powerful we all are, Percy. I’m sure they’re inside there just trying to agree on a way to murder us.”

And that does make Percy gulp. Annabeth winces, and even Thalia looks a little scared. 

Bianca doesn’t look concerned. In all, Percy would say she looks angry. “Oh well, since you appear to be Zeus’s biggest fan why don’t we go in there and let you do all the talking?”

Nico looks unimpressed. “That would be a good idea, actually, since you are bound to just get us struck by lightning.”

“That stupid jerk killed our mother, pardon me for not wanting to, what did you say?” Bianca crosses her arms. “Plead my allegiance to him?”

Her younger brother glares. “I’m being serious, Bianca! We’re going to be standing in front beings powerful enough to disintegrate us with just a flick of their finger if they see us a threat! And guess what? We’ve done nothing on this quest but give them reasons to!” The reminder has all of them shivering.

Bianca glared right back at her brother. “We went on that quest to save one of them at the expense of our lives!” There’s venom in her voice, that has Nico furrowing her brows and Annabeth looking worried. “I’m sure they’ll be grateful enough not to disintegrate us right away.”

Nico’s growing exasperated. “Not if you don’t provoke them just like you’re going to! You’ve been too reckless-”

“Oh, look who's talking about recklessness- Do I have to remind you how you nearly died using your powers?”

“Well, at least I have enough common sense not to go and start bad mouthing  the King of the Gods when we’re standing right on his domain!”

“Well, then perhaps you should have enough common sense not to trust the god who killed our mother! Or enough sense to tell me about it so I didn’t have to hear it from Luke Castellan of all people!” Bianca yells. “But nooo, the powerful and mighty Nico Di Angelo doesn't need to tell anyone anything, does he? He’s happy to keep all his secrets, no matter if they could have helped his friends not get killed!”

And Nico looks like he’d been slapped. It makes Percy’s insides squirm. He half expects Nico to start crying again, like he cried on the pegasus, but Nico only stands there, staring at his angry sister, unsure of what to do. Sometimes Percy forgets that no matter how cool his friend is, he’s still just 10 years old.

Okay it’s time to intervene. “Hey, guys!” Percy says, taking a step towards them. “I don’t think you should be fighting when we’re right about to-”

And that’s when Bianca Di Angelo turns to him, and yells on top of her lungs “ STAY OUT FROM THIS, PERCY !”

The Son of Poseidon simply stops right there, staring at Bianca with his eyes wide open. Thalia and Annabeth look shocked too, not even Nico was expecting the outburst. 

Nico raises his hand, reaching for his sister, but he lowers it when Bianca glares at it.

She points her finger at him, her eyes burning with fury. “You’ve been hiding information since we stepped out of Westover Hall! Don’t try to deny it!” 

Nico groans, then raises his voice  too. “What did you want me to do, Bianca? Tell you everything despite just how stupidly traumatic it was? You think I like knowing all the things I do?” 

And for a second, Nico looks defeated, he looks exhausted. His shoulders slump down, and he looks up at his sister with a gaze so sad, it makes Percy want to pick him up and carry him somewhere safe, where Bianca and everyone else can’t hurt him anymore.

It’s a weird feeling.

“I already told you everything that matters, Bi. The rest is stuff that you don’t need to know, and that I don’t want to remember.” He mutters. “Be mad at me if you want, but please, please don’t ask me to tell you more.” 

Bianca’s face softens at that. Her anger burns out as quickly as it came, and she lowered her hands to her sides, clenching them while she looks at the ground. 

Annabeh, Percy and Thalia stand there, awkwardly. There’s a lot to unpack from that conversation, a lot. What Luke said in the middle of their fight floats around them unsaid, as does everything they’ve learned about the siblings during the quest. 

Percy and Annabeth share a look, and agreement passing between them. Whatever the Di Angelo’s lives were before they entered into the Lotus Hotel, neither of them is going to ask about it until they’re ready to bring it up themselves.

(A month in the hotel, Zeus feared what more of Hades’s children would do, the war. Even Percy can connect the dots)

(Although Percy’s gonna have to research ‘how to be supportive of your World War II veteran friend’)

The Daughter of Hades exhales, crossing her arms again and looking up at her brother. Her green hat hangs on her head, over the black locks of her face. There’s this strange aura around her now, that Percy doesn’t think was there a week  ago. It terrifies him, not because she’s a Daughter of Hades, but because Percy doesn’t know how to help her. 

“Just… Just answer this.” Bianca deadpans to Nico. “Could you have used something you knew from then to save Zoe or did you just stand there and did nothing?”

Percy feels a spike go through his chest. Okay, now he’s angry too, he’s indignated for Nico. They’re all hurt by Zoe’s death, they’re all mourning her too, but Bianca’s got no right to-

Annabeth grabs Percy’s arm so he doesn’t do anything he’d regret. She’s glaring at Bianca too. Thalia’s eyes are wide, and she’s looking at her friends, unsure of what to say.

Nico looks as if he’d just been stabbed. But Bianca’s gaze doesn’t relent.

Nico looks down, hurt and sad, and for a moment, Percy hates his sister.

“No.” Nico says. “No, I tried but t-there was nothing I could do. Artemis was right.” And then more quietly he adds. “I’m sorry.”

What is he apologizing for? Percy doesn’t understand. It’s not his fault, it’s not like-

(-not like he was the one that let the plan go to crap, who let Luke Castellan, of all people, manipulate her, who’s now blaming her younger brother for something that was beyond everyone’s hands-)

Annabeth’s grip tightens on his arm.

Bianca’s furrowed brows relax and her hands unclench. “I believe you.” She has the audacity to say.

And Nico looks so relieved , that for a second, Percy’s unsure of what to say too.

But then the silver gates are opening, and Nico looks at all of them as if to say ‘ remember-what-I-said’. Percy’s scared enough for his life that he doesn’t protest when the kid leads them into the throne room. Bianca still doesn’t look pleased but she follows him. Thalia gives Annabeth a desperate look. Annabeth just shrugs. ‘Play along’, she means, and, despite everything, Nico’s never done anything but try to keep all of them alive during the quest. So Percy sighs and says nothing.

Nico Di Angelo kneels before Zeus and the twelve thrones like he’s a knight in a movie. He even speaks the part. “Hail Zeus, Lord of the Sky, God of Thunder and Lightning  and King of Olympus!” 

Annabeth is the first to kneel after him. Thalia and Percy kneel too, albeit after a second of hesitation. Bianca glares at her brother, but she kneels in the end. Nico continues with his ridiculous speech.

“We, the demigods, entrusted with the Quest to Free Lady Artemis have returned, victorious, to pledge our allegiance to you, Father of Gods and Men. Please accept this oath of eternal loyalty, oh God of Honor and Justice and- FATHER?!”  

It’s like the entirety of Olympus stops for a second, as Nico Di Angelo stands up when he sees Hades, Lord of the Underworld. The god looks just like Percy remembers, standing at 15 feet tall with his pale skin and shoulder-length raven hair. His black robes flow behind him like souls trying to get out, and his dark aura stands apart from all the other gods in their thrones.

As the rest of them stand up too, Percy has to admit Hades’s eyes look just like the ones of his kids. They’re as cold as Bianca’s when she’s beyond pissed, and as soft and hurt as Nico’s as the god looks at his children.

“Son.” Hades breathes in for a second, like he’s scared. Nico looks back at him, just as filled with emotion. Bianca does too, even if she’s trying to hide it, just a different kind.

While Nico looks like he’s about to burst into tears from seeing his father for the first time in actual decades , Bianca looks like she’s ready to start yelling at him for abandoning them in West Over Hall and letting their mother get killed.

Percy gives a glance to his own dad, dressed in a funky Hawaiian shirt and sandals. Poseidon smiles at him, a little awkward. Annabeth and Thalia seem to be in the same predicament with their respective godly parents.

(Demigod family reunions are the best, aren’t they?)

“Don’t distract him, Brother.” Zeus says, stupidly smug with his electric blue eyes and neatly trimmed beard. “I think your son was about to pledge his eternal allegiance to me.”

Hades gave him an exasperated look that’s saved only for your annoying younger brother.

Percy uses the brief break in the meeting to look around. Twelve enormous thrones make a semi circle around a central hearth, much like the cabins back at camp. The ceiling glitters above them, with every star and every constellation in the sky. Even Zoe is there, making her way across the sky with her bow drawn, and it makes Percy clench his hands. 

Besides Hades, Alecto stands in beside Bessie. Percy’s eyes widen when she sees both of them. The fury’s in the same attire that they saw her back at camp, and Bessie’s no longer on the tank they had built for her. She’s now in the fanciest and biggest fish tank that Percy’s ever seen, decorated with black and violet bones and foliage.

Bessie moos at Percy, happy to see him, and happy to be swimming around something so nice. Despite everything, Percy smiles at her too. 

And then Percy feels the gods’ pressing gaze on them, and the smile disappears.

All of them occupied their thrones, just as tall as Hades. There’s Aphrodite throwing Percy a flirty look and Ares, throwing him a dirty one. Hera sits besides her husband, with Demeter besides her looking curiously at the heroes. Athena only had eyes for her daughter, and Hepheastus looks like he’d rather be doing anything else. Hermes winks at Percy. Mr. D looks just as bored as he usually does, but Apollo gives them all a smile, so surely they're not going to die, right?

But the true reason Percy finally feels safe to even take a breath is Artemis. The goddess slid off her throne to become the auburn haired girl they know, only with bright and elegant silver robes on. She walks towards them carried by moonlight, and Percy knows she won’t let the rest of the gods hurt them. 

“The Council has been informed of your deeds, heroes.” Artemis tells them. “They know that Mount Othrys is rising in the west, and about the armies Kronos has gathered. We have voted to act.”

There’s some mumbling and shuffling among the gods, but mostly everyone looks happy with the plan. Only Hades continues to appear worried, casting a glance to his children.

Artemis narrates the Olympians’ plan to them. Percy only half-listens, more focused on Nico and Bianca. Bianca has become very hard to read, but Percy thinks he knows Nico enough to guess when his friend looks sad. And he looks sad right now. He keeps looking at Hades like he’s barely holding himself together.

(Just what the HECK happened to the siblings before they got placed into that blasted hotel?)

“And as for you, my heroes.” Artemis continues, and Percy’s attention is on her again. “You’ve done Olympus a great service. Would anyone here deny that?”

Not even Zeus does. Maybe Nico was right on them pledging their allegiance.

“I gotta say, these kids did okay.” Apollo butts in. He clears his throat to begin reciting what’s, without a doubt, another terrible haiku, but Hermes interrupts him.

“First class.” Hermes says. “All in favor of not disintegrating them?”

Or maybe Nico was wrong.

A lot of hands go up, but as always, Ares is a party-pooper.

“Wait just a minute!” The God of War growls. “They’re all incredibly dangerous, the lotta them!” He then points at Nico. “Especially this one!”

Everyone holds their breath, even Bianca. But Nico, proving once again to be the coolest person Percy knows, doesn’t even flinch. 

It infuriates Ares, but there’s a proud look on Hades’s face. Percy snorts.

And that’s the wrong thing to do, because Ares ends up raining his fury down on him, yet again. Annabeth smacks Percy on the back of the head, and he winces.

“Allegiance pledge or not, they’re all a bunch of time bombs.” Ares hisses. “We saw what they did by themselves and what they did together . Lettin’ such raw power run amok in a bunch of teens is a terrible idea. It’d be much safer to just get rid of them right here right now, while we’ve still got them-”

“Ares!” Poseidon interrupts firmly. “We will not blast my son to bits!”

For a second, Percy looks up, hopeful and warm inside.

“Nor my daughter.” Zeus grumbles. “She has done well, all of them have.”

Thalia blushes, they all do to a certain degree. Percy smiles.

And then Hades says: “The question stands at whether you’ll extend the same sympathy to my children.”

Biana and Nico look at each other, very concerned. Percy’s heart is on his throat, and he can feel Annabeth’s nails digging into his skin.

“There’s a security risk with the youngest one, Uncle.” Athena replies. Annabeth’s eyes widen. “As thick-headed as Ares is, he has a point about how dangerous that child is.”

Annabeth’s about to protest and defend Nico, but that’s when Ares smacks his fists on his throne.

“Who are you callin’ thick-headed?!” Ares yells.

Dionysus sighed, unimpressed. “Oh, please, Ares, save the fighting for later.”

Ares glared. “You seriously want to protect these brats?”

The God of Wine gazed down to them. “I have no love for them. But I do think that there’s more important problems than the kid.”

It may not be truth, but Percy thinks he sees Hades sigh in relief. 

Athena nods. “I agree. We can discuss the… implications that  the existence of Hades’s son has later. First, the Council must make a decision in regards to the Ophiotaurus.”

Percy breathes out. Then he breathes in heavily. Bessie? What about her? They’re discussing whether or not to disintegrate Nico, what does Bessie have to do with any of it?

Zeus hums, leaning to the front. “The Ophiotaurus was what started everything in the first place. Are we all in agreement to destroy it?”

Wait- what?

Percy speaks up. “Why would you want to destroy Bessie? I mean, look at her, she’s harmless!”

And then Bessie moos from her tank, swimming around as if to say ‘look how adorable and innocent I am!’.

Poseidon frowns for a second. “You named the Ophiotaurus ‘ Bessie’ ?”

The attention has been taken off Nico so Percy can have it. Everyone’s staring at him, even his friends. Percy breathes in, and raises his head. If Nico can be brave while facing the possibility of his disintegration, so can he.

“She looks like a ‘Bessie ’!” Percy shakes his head. “But that’s besides the point. She’s just a really nice sea creature, you can’t destroy her!”

His dad shifts, uncomfortable. “Percy, the monster’s power is immeasurable. If the Titans steal it, or if they get a demigod to kill it, Olympus will fall.”

Percy looks at Zeus, hoping that the god’s in a good mood. “Controlling prophecies never works, does it? Bessie- I mean, the Ophiotaurus is innocent. Killing her would be wrong like-” He looks at Annabeth’s gray eyes, and he gets an idea. “Like Kronos eating his children just because of something they might do.”

Annabeth blinks at him, and Percy can’t smile at her because he’s still too nervous, but he nods, as if to say ‘I have this under control, don’t worry’-

The Son of Poseidon looks up at the King of the Gods. “Killing the Ophiotaurus is wrong. And, as a matter of fact, so would be killing Nico.”

His friend looks at him like he’s touched, but Percy just nods at him too. Nico, apparently, is brave enough to smile at him. It makes Percy feel better.

(He’ll stand up to the gods, Percy thinks, he’ll stand up to the gods for him if he has to)

Zeus’s eyes drift to Thalia. “And what about the risks? Kronos knows full well that anyone who sacrifices the beast’s entrails will have the power to destroy us. Perhaps you heroes already do.” He straightens his back on his throne, staring down at the demigods. “The great prophecy speaks of a Child of the Eldest Gods,  and there’s four of them right before us. My own daughter will turn sixteen tomorrow- should we let the possibility of the Ophiotaurus being used remain?”

And that’s when Annabeth too, takes a step forward to speak up. Nico and him gave her courage, Percy thinks, and a warm feeling spreads through him

“You have to trust them, sir.” The Daughter of Athena says. “If Kronos is to be defeated, you must.”

Zeus’s face grows grim. “Trust a hero?”

“Yes.” Annabeth replies. And then she smiles just the tiniest  bit and adds. “Afterall, Nico was indeed in the middle of pledging our allegiance to you.” 

Zeus stares at her, and everyone holds their breath for a second. Even Hades. Percy puts his hand in his pocket, Riptide at the ready for anything. 

And then the King of the Gods starts laughing. It’s a hearty laugh- it reminds Percy of how Thalia laughed, back at the Hoover Dam when they were all searching for the dam snack bar. 

 “You have me there, child.” Zeus says. “But sadly, I’m not the only member of the Council. Whatever decision they all take, in regards to both the Ophiotaurus and Nico Di Angelo, I will have to respect it and enforce it. But, since you’ve given me reason to trust you, as you say, I will let Artemis proceed with her reward before subjecting you to how tedious these reunions are.”

Percy exhales. Annabeth glances at him, sighing in relief. They both glance at Nico, still concerned, but the Son of Hades looks calm, despite everything. He was right, in the end. He might still get killed, but at least he’s got Zeus’s favor, which is always a good thing to have.

And they all seem to have Artemis’s too.

(A reward, huh? Percy wasn’t expecting that)

The goddess nods at her father, turning towards them, a proud look on her eyes. “My faithful companion, Zoe Nightshade, has passed into the stars. I must have a new lieutenant. Zoe held them in high regard, so I have decided to choose from the demigods who fought against Atlas to free me.”

Before Percy can process the words, there’s already a wave of panic overwhelming him. It feels like a kick in the stomach, one second he’s hopeful that everything will be okay, and the next his mind is replaying Aphrodite’s words on that limo.

He shares a look with Nico, who quickly glances at his sister and then at Annabeth. Percy sees him gulp.

Annabeth turns towards him. “Percy, is everything okay?”

“Yeah.” Percy lies. “Yeah, just-” (He doesn’t want her to leave, she has to stay. He needs her to stay) “-Do you remember what I told back at your family’s house?”

(But despite all that, he’ll respect her decision)

Annabeth blinks. “W-What about it?”

Percy breathes in. “It still holds truth.”

(-But still, please don’t leave me)

“Percy.” She says. “You’re starting to look sick-”

“What I’m trying to say is.” He continues because he has to say it now, not when Artemis reveals Annabeth’s her new lieutenant. “If you want to join the Hunters-”

And then something entirely different happens.

“Thalia Grace.” Artemis says. “Daughter of Zeus, will you join the hunt?” 

Stunned silence fills the room. Percy stares flabbergasted at Thalia and then at Annabeth. Nico looks- well, relieved. Extremely so. Bianca’s surprised too, and a sad smile grows on her. Annabeth takes Thalia’s hand, squeezing it and then lets it go, and Percy-

Percy’s stupidly glad that it wasn’t Annabeth, but he’s still not pleased. Thalia and him argue a lot, their temperaments tend to clash, but she’s still his friend. He doesn’t want her to leave either.

But Thalia looks like she’d just seen the night sky for the first time.

“I will.” She says firmly. 

Zeus rose, his eyes filled with concern. “My daughter, please consider this thoroughly, it isn’t a decision to take lightly.” 

“I’m not taking it lightly.” She replies, looking at him. “I will not turn sixteen tomorrow, Father. The prophecy is not about me. But I’ll be happy to stand with Artemis, and honor a sister’ s memory.”

Zoe’s ghost floats around them heavily, and Percy closes his eyes, remembering her last words to each of them. She’d be proud of Thalia, he thinks.

Thalia turns to Annabeth and Percy, throwing her arms around both of them. Annabeth hugs her back right away, but Percy stays limp for a second.

“Oh, Pine-cone head.” He says, and embraces her tightly.

Annabeth is tearing up, but she’s happy for her best friend. “Are you sure you’ll be alright?” She asks.

Thalia nods. “I must join the Hunt. I don’t know why, but I feel like I need to.” She buries her head into both of her friends, and Percy holds her. “I haven’t known peace since… since Half-Blood Hill.”

Percy nods.  “You’ll be a fine hunter, but I’ll miss you. We, I mean! We will miss you at camp!”

Thalia laughs. “So will I, Seaweed brain, so will I.”

They hold each other for a while. When Thalia lets them go, she goes to Bianca and Nico. She says something to Bianca, Percy can tell what, but she starts crying. Bianca pulls the Daughter of Zeus into her arms, and Thalia squeezes her too. Nico stands there, looking like he’s not going to cry too, so Thalia also pulls him into their hug. Percy and Annabeth stand beside each other, with Percy’s arm around her as she cleans her eyes with the sleeve of her hoodie.

It’s bittersweet to watch Thalia kneel before the gods and say the Oath. She holds her shield and looks at Artemis as she speaks. Percy can feel the air around them change, as Thalia says the words. Her aura starts glowing silver like Zoe’s did, and as soon as she’s done, a silver circlet surrounds her head, crowning her black hair and making her electric blue eyes shine brighter.

She stands up, with her head held high, and Percy feels some tears of his own built up at the corner of his eyes. Thalia smiles at him, and he smiles back, as she walks to take her place besides Artemis, the goddess looking at her with a content smile of her own.

With another member of their quest gone, Percy and Annabeth move closer to Bianca and Nico. The Son of Hades looks up at him, and Percy gives him a determined nod. 

“Now on the matter of the Ophiotaurus.” Artemis says. “And Nico Di Angelo.”

Percy’s hand searches Nico’s for a second, remembering how it felt like to hold it during Zoe’s death, but Percy clenches it. Now is not the time.

“The beast is too much temptation.” Dionysus warned. “Even if we spare the boy, the Ophiotaurus should be destroyed.”

“I stand by what I said about the child. He’s too dangerous to be ignored.” Athena replies.  Annabeth has never looked more betrayed.

“Mother!” She says. “How can you-” But Athena cuts her off with a firm, cold look.

“The Great Prophecy draws near.” The Goddess of Wisdom says somberly. “Even with Zeus’s daughter turned into a Hunter of Artemis, there are enough things that can go wrong without the need to take… whatever Nico Di Angelo is into consideration.”

Hades raises his head in voice  in fury. “I was the only one who did not break the oath!”

“And I respect that, Uncle.” She says. “But it has been millenia since we last saw demigod like him. We must proceed with caution, whether we spare him or not. As for the Ophiotaurus, I agree with Dionysus. ”

Percy gives Annabeth a desperate look. Annabeth is staring at her mother, for the first time, looking like she has no plan.

“Well, I say we should destroy both of them!” Ares roars. “In fact, I think that just havin’ Di Angelo in the same vicinity as the Bane is a terrible idea! For all we know, he has been trying to kill the Ophiotaurus from the start-I propose that we smite him right were he stands!”

Right now, the only thing keeping Percy from grabbing Nico and spiriting him away on Blackjack on a place the gods can’t find them, is Annabeth.

(Maybe, Percy thinks, he’s doing the same for her)

“We will not do such a thing!” Artemis answers. “I will not have one of the heroes punished for a mere speculation!”

“Miss. Smarter-than-Everyone-Else said so herself! That monstrosity should have been destroyed as soon as we felt him enter this place!”

Nico flinches at the word ‘monstrosity’ and Percy wants to grab his sword, demanding another duel from Ares. Thalia’s gives him a warning look, from her place besides Artemis.

Still, Hades’s wrath is no match for Ares’s or Percy’s. The god clenches his fists, casting a glare at Ares, who has the souls in his robes screaming. 

“If you as much as dare touch my son, I’ll make sure each and every single one of your offspring meet Charon by the end of the day!”

He makes the entire mountain shake with his fury. Bessie mooes, terrified, and the gods stare at Hades in shock.

(So that’s where Bianca gets it from)

Ares stands up from his throne. “Is that a threat, Death Breath?”

“You’ve always been slow to understand them, nephew.”

In just one second, Ares rises from his throne, conjuring a spear into his hands and heading towards Hades, who’s conjured his own weapon and Helm of Darkness, ready to face the other god in combat. But before they can get to each other, Demeter and Dionysus stand from their seats, making vines of leaves and flowers sprout out from their fingertips, wrapping around the two gods.

“See what I mean, dad?!” Ares yells. “That child is going to start another world war!”

Zeus looks at him, taken aback. 

Hades groans. “Do not blame me for something you made happen!” He struggles against his plant restraints, looking at Zeus with purple fire in his eyes. “The very day we swore that oath, you told me it was my fault and that of my children for letting things escalate so much! So I upheld it, even when the both of you broke it, I upheld it!”

“Brother, please, calm down!” Poseidon begs, growing more and more tense. 

It only makes Hades grow angrier. “Do not tell me to calm down! Do not act as though you would not be doing the same if it were your son they were trying to execute!”

Poseidon looks down at Percy. Percy gulps.

Demeter and Dionysus hold their breaths, already growing exhausted from the amount of power it’s taking to keep both gods trapped.

Zeus sighs. “Ares is right, Hades. You’re just giving this Council more reasons to disintegrate your son.”

Hades screams, enraged, and the entire Throne Room descends into chaos.

It’s as if Eris herself had thrown another stupid golden fruit in the middle. As Hades and Ares struggle under the vines, and Demeter and Dionysus struggle to keep them tied up, Aphrodite has risen from her seat, begging her lover to spare Nico and stop fighting with Hades. This, in turn, makes Hephaestus start screaming at Aphrodite for calling Ares her ‘lover’ in front of the entire council, and Hera yell at him for bringing up personal matters into the meeting. 

Mount Olympus starts to shake, with the wrath of the Gods. Alecto holds Bessie’s tank, trying to get it away from the fight and into the corner of the room.  Bessie moos, terrified.

The vines give up around Hades, and Poseidon hurries from is seat toward him, to hold him back before he does anything stupid. This enrages Ares even more, making him break free of his green restrains. It takes both Athena and Hermes to keep him away from Hades, who’s conjured the Helm of Darkness away while he tries to shake Poseidon away from him.

As for the demigods, Percy has taken Riptide out, holding it in one hand and placing the other one in front of Nico. Annabeth and Bianca also take their weapons out, each of them standing at each of Nico’s side, ready for anything. The Son of Hades starts protesting, but a quick glare from everyone shuts him up.

Apollo is on his throne, roaring with laughter as everyone else is yelling, their individual voices lost in the ruckus. Artemis, who’s still in her mortal size simply puts her head and on her hands, muttering something about this happening every year. 

Thalia just sort of stands there, holding her shield, and looking back and forth between Artemis to her friends, unsure of what to do now that she’s technically a Hunter. Sadly, Percy can’t wait for her to decide.

“Can you shadow travel us out of here?” Annabeth mutters to Nico as the four heroes make their way to the silver gates of the only exit in the room.

Nico shakes his head. “Only if you want me to actually die this time. I’m still exhausted from Mount Othrys.”

“Guys!” Bianca hisses, sounding very panicked. “The gates won’t open.”

“Dam!” Percy groans. “Okay, any plans?”

The fighting between the gods has only gotten worse. Even Apollo has stopped laughing. Percy grows concerned.

(Another World War, they said. So they were right about the Di Angelo’s past. What if this was all part of Kronos’s plans? What if their fathers start fighting for real and he has to fight against Nico like enemies ? What if-)

And just as Hades elbows Poseidon to get him to let go, as Ares breaks free from Athena and Hermes, and as Percy tries his best not to close his eyes in fear so he can hold Riptide firmly, a thunderous flash of light hits the center of the room. Three figures stand before the twelve thrones now, and a very thick mist surrounds them. It fills the entire room, and the gods stop fighting and yelling.

The demigods stare wide-eyed at the trio of old women wearing silver togas, their gray hair tied up with a bandana. They stand at about half the height of the gods, but Zeus breathes in when he sees them, pale as a ghost.

“You will not harm Nico Di Angelo.” Lachesis says, with Clotho and Atropos standing on either of her sides, looking severe and undaunted. “Now take a seat, Olympians- the three of us have matters to discuss with you.”

Chapter Text

The gods begrudgingly return to their places, even Artemis. Thalia awkwardly stands next to her goddess’s throne while the other demigods remain near the exit of the silver gates, just in case. 

 The Fates stand in the middle of Olympus, and Nico Di Angelo has never felt more tense in his life. And he’s met both Kronos and Gaea face to face.

“First of all.” Atropos tells the Throne Room. “We wish to call forth the Agreement made by this Council in the mortal year of 976. And we wish to apply it to Nico Di Angelo.”

Almost immediately, whispers and protests erupt from the Olympians. Athena looks surprised, and Ares looks like he’s about to shit a brick. Artemis just stares at Nico with something akin to respect. Hades stands beside Bessie’s tank again, his eyes widening slightly. Nico gulps.

Annabeth speaks up, her brows furrowed. “Excuse me for interrupting, but what does that mean?”

Zeus, who’s remained paralyzed since the Fates showed up, answers her with a tired sigh. “The agreement states that, at any point, any of the Olympians and the 27 other deities and entities that signed the agreement, can call forth a hero, be it demigod or mortal, and name them their knight .” 

Knight? Nico blinks. Percy looks at Nico, then at the Fates. Bianca stares at her brother, while Annabeth’s gray eyes remain focused on the gods. 

“The knight is a warrior that follows a code or an oath given to them by the deity who knighted them. It’s different from being named a champion.” Athena explains further. “While the champion just enjoys the blessing of the deity,  the knight has to actively follow the deity’s command.”

He has to follow what?

“It all started with that Roland guy, right?” Apollo asks Hermes beside him. The other god shrugs. Apollo pouts. “What a shame he got killed. He was cute.”

“It got very bad after King Arthur’s era.” Zeus sighs. “Knighthood means a hero can go on quests without a prophecy. Every god was sending out their knights back and forth on foolish errands and it caused too many problems. That’s why the agreement hasn’t been called forth in almost five centuries.”

Athena’s gray eyes bore right into Nico. The Son of Hades shivers.

“My question is.” The Goddess of Wisdom tells the Fates. “Why do you want to knight him of all people and now of all times?”

Clotho, as soft-spoken as she seemed in Nico’s dream, crosses her arms and scolds Athena like she’s being childish. “Well, because it’s not everyday that Kronos rises again to conquer Olympus! Or do I have to remind you how hard it was for your father and his siblings to defeat him last time?”

Athena looks taken aback for a second, but she sighs and leans back into her throne. Clotho looks pleased.

“What she means.” Lachesis says. “Is that we wouldn’t have called forth the agreement if we didn’t believe it to be necessary.”

Atropos groans. “We wouldn’t be here if it weren’t necessary.”

Lachesis nods, and turns to look at the gods. “You all have been putting off dealing with the Great Prophecy for too long.” Zeus raises his hand, about to speak up, but a glare from the three Fates silences him. “Either you’re foolish enough to believe that it isn’t much of a threat, or irresponsible enough to ignore it.”

"So we have decided to step in and take matters into our own hands.” Atropos continues. “By knighting one of your demigods, we’ll have someone to act in our names without us having to actually interfere with the Threads of Destiny. We won’t break any of the Primordial Rules, Kronos will never learn about our involvement, and we’ll still help you losers kick his butt.”

Only the Fates could get away with calling all the Olympians ‘losers’ to their faces. Nico doesn’t know whether to start laughing or screaming.

By the look on Percy and Bianca’s faces, they’re having the same dilemma.

“Wait, wait!” Ares says from his throne. “You say that we’ve been putting off dealin’ with the Prophecy, but I just think we’ve just been putting off disintegrating the children the prophecy’s all about. The Oath didn’t work, and let’s face it, it never would've.” Poseidon, Hades and Zeus glare at him. Ares smirks. “Gods can’t keep it in their pants.”

Artemis looks positively disgusted. “Speak for yourself.”

“Whatever, ‘ Virgin Goddess ’.” Ares says mockingly. “What I’m trying to say is that by getting rid of the kids we get rid of the problem.”

“Or you’d only be getting rid of your greatest weapon against Kronos.” Antropos replies. “And he’ll crush you all before you’ve even noticed it.” 

It shuts Ares up, but none of the heroes are happy about being called a weapon. Nico would protest, and loudly, but his small body is shaking and telling him to shadow travel away.

And then he feels a hand holding his. Nico looks at Percy, eyes wide. Percy mouths ‘it’s okay’ at him and oh. This is Percy trying to comfort him because Nico’s scared. That’s what friends do.

(That’s what totally platonic friends do, anyway, because that’s what they are, platonic friends, and Nico’s a dumbass to think otherwise)

Nico should really let go of Percy’s hand.

(But since they’re doing this platonically, and since he does need someone to comfort him right now, he supposes he can do this. Just this once)

Hades clears his throat. “While I agree with the three of you on how badly my brothers have been dealing with the Prophecy.” He shoots a glare at Zeus, who looks offended, and Poseidon, who looks a little hurt. “I don’t think naming my ten year-old son your knight will solve the problem. There’s other demigods who are older and would do a better job. Like my daughter, for example.”

For the first time since she saw their father, Bianca’s eyes look up to him with something other than anger. She blinks, her features softening, and her mouth agape. Hades turns at her, and gives her a sad smile.

Nico looks at his family, his heart aching. 

The Lord of the Underworld turns back to the rest of the gods, his face hardening once again. “Bianca was the demigod given the quest to find the Bane. She has shown herself to be a courageous and powerful hero.” He continues. “She will be a fine Knight of the Fates.” 

Most of the gods look at each other, nodding in agreement. Ares leans back in his chair huffing, while Apollo gives Bianca a bright smile. Poseidon and Zeus look at their niece, and Bianca raises her head, breathing in.

And for a second, everyone believes the Fates will make her their knight instead, even Nico. For a second, the Daughter of Hades thinks the title will be hers. She feels the glory bathing her as her destiny calling for her.

(And for a second, Nico fears for her)

But Lachesis shakes her head. Her gaze turns serious, and the thick mist surrounding the Throne Room grows even heavier.

“We did not come here to take suggestions on who we should take as our knight.” She tells the Olympians. “We came here to inform you we will take Nico Di Angelo.”

“And we would never pick his sister anyway.” Antropos crosses her arms. “We need a backup demigod for the Great Prophecy, in case Percy Jackson dies.”

Nico feels Percy’s hand tense on his. He glances at his friend, and Percy’s sea-green eyes are staring at the Fates, as he takes in what they just said. 

The Olympians would sink back into shouts and bickering, if they weren’t all collectively scared of the Fates.

“You have to be kidding.” Dionyseus says, massaging his temples. “You can’t really mean that our collective fate will be in Peter Johnson ’s hands?”

“Oh, we’re being serious.” Clotho replies, a small smile on her lips. “If everything goes well, Percy will be the one who defeats Kronos.”

“If everything goes well. ” Antropos repeats, making the gods squirm in their seats. “If, however, Luke Castellan manages to kill him or turn him against you, we’re all pretty much screwed.”

Annabeth beats Nico to the punch. “Luke wouldn’t kill him!” She protests loudly. “And Percy would never betray us!”

“Yeah!” Nico joins in, because not letting Percy die is on his List of Things He Needs to Fix. “Let Kronos come and try to get him, we’ll show him!”

Percy looks at his friends, really touched but still terrified. Bianca stares at her brother like she just tasted something sour.

Zeus, however, is not as convinced. He turns at the Fates, his voice grim. “Are you sure that Percy Jackson will be the demigod of the Prophecy? Bianca and him are the same age, and even with my daughter turned into a Hunter, things can’t be set in stone.”

To reply, Lachesis simply turns back to Hades and asks. “When is your daughter’s birthday?”

Hades blinks, but answers immediately. “She was born on the first day of November.”

Bianca, who perhaps wasn’t expecting her dad to know her birthday, looks surprised again.

Clotho turns to Zeus. “And if we remember correctly, Perseus’s birthday falls in August. So there’s your answer.”

Silence falls on the Olympians. Most of them look displeased at this outcome, but no one protests. The Fates have spoken- Percy Jackson will be the demigod of the Great Prophecy. And there’s nothing anyone can do about it.

And by the look in the Fates’ faces, there’s nothing Nico can do to get out of being their Knight, either. 

The Son of Hades and the Son of Poseidon look at each other, their hands clasped, and the weight of their destinies pressing down on their shoulders. The Daughter of Athena stands there, unsure of what to do as the thousand possibilities of things that could happen to her friends flash through her eyes. 

(Bianca for her part, clenches her fists and fights angry tears. Her destiny is not grand, as her brother and Percy’s, or as bright, as Thalia and Annabeth’s. Hers is a quieter one, a more painful one. She’s fated to live under the shadows, it seems, just like her father)

“Seeing as we have no choice.” Athena speaks, defeated. “Can the Council of the Gods at least know what are the plans for your Knight?”

Atropos smirks, “Oh, we’ll tell you. But first he must take the oath.” 

Hades, who’s still not happy, intervenes. “Surely he has a right to know what that implies before he commits to anything.” 

“He already knows what we will ask of him.” Lachesis says, looking straight at Nico. He shudders, under her gaze, at how coldly familiar it seems. “And that it is nothing he wouldn’t already do willingly.”

There’s a layer on her words, Nico can feel, unsaid implications that no one else will get but him.

For the first time in the night, Nico feels relaxed.

(He’s taken this oath before. He took it as he held a dying body in his arms, and he took it again as his hand clasped the Fate’s and their blood mixed with the promise)

Beside him, his friends and sister look at him, worried. Percy squeezes his hand. He’ll stand with him  without the shadow of a doubt, and so will Annabeth. And despite everything that’s happened recently, and how fractured their bond seems at the moment, Nico knows Bianca will also have his back. 

Nico turns at his father, who has his worry and sorrow written on his face. He fears for his youngest son, Nico can tell, but he’ll also be proud of him, if he chooses to take the oath. And the god will hide him and protect him, if he chooses not to.

Nico wants to laugh.

(As if he has a choice. As if he would ever say no)

(Lachesis is right. This is nothing he wouldn’t already do willingly)

And because Nico has taken this oath before, will take this oath again, will take it as many times as they ask of him and will see it through to the end, no matter what happens, no matter what it takes, he lets go of Percy’s hands, and takes a step forward.

Nico Di Angelo kneels before the Fates as he takes his sword off his back so he can present it to them. The words that come out of his mouth sound more sure and confident that anything he’s spoken since he arrived to this timeline.

“I will be your knight.”

Things I need to Fix #11:

The demigod camps need to come together as soon as possible

For all the half an hour she’s been a Hunter, Thalia can really feel how much everything’s changed. She holds her shield in her healed arm, and it feels lighter somehow. The way she stands beside Lady Artemis’s throne is different now, like she carries herself with more confidence. Like she’s aware and proud of the aura surrounding her.

(Even the air she’s breathing feels different)

Despite how much she’ll miss her friends, Thalia is completely sure that she made the right choice. When Lady Artemis called her name, Thalia felt she had to say yes, deep within herself. She just knew she belonged with the Hunters. It just felt right. 

There haven't been many things that felt like that in her life.

(Running away from home had felt right, sacrificing herself for her friends had felt right. Waking up again in her tree, years after she accepted her death? That hadn’t felt right at all)

Ever since she came back everything has just felt off . Everyone she knew had changed so much. Annabeth went from the adorable little girl that Thalia loved with all her heart, to this girl her age that’s still her friend but who’s still a stranger to her. Luke went from her most trusted friend to a traitor.

Thalia’s no longer the only Child of the Big Three. She’s not even the most powerful. She’s befriended Percy and the Di Angelos, yeah, but their fight at the end of that Capture the Flag comes to mind. As do all the other fights they’ve had on the quest.

(Their egos will always crash with each other. They’re too much like their fathers)

But she’s free of all that, now. For the first time since she was young, Thalia feels like she’s not choking. 

She still feels a pang in her hard when she sees Nico, though. The kid is kneeling in the middle of the room like she was. One of the Fates has taken his sword and raised it in front of him. Nico has his head lowered as he looks bravely ahead, unshaken. 

“Nico Di Angelo, Son of Hades.” Lachesis’s voice echoes in the hall, as the Olympians and the rest of the demigods watch the ceremony, entranced by the mist surrounding them. “Do you accept the powers and knowledge that will be granted to you, and only you, by us, and do you swear to use it to, and only to protect Olympus and its allies? Do swear to wield it against, and only against their enemies?”

Antropos walks around the boy, with a stern and somber look in her face, spinning the dark, black mist around him like armor. “Do you swear that while you have breath in your lungs and strength in your body, you will defend Olympus and its allies against those who seek to harm and conquer them?”

Clotho circles him too, with a proud smile on her face, her hands working over him as she weaves a lighter, brighter mist around him like a cape. “Do you swear to uphold the honors granted to you, and only you, by us, and follow along on our orders and quests for you, to mend what has been broken, and help us defeat the enemies of Olympus and its allies?”

“And above all.” Lachesis says as Nico raises his head and their eyes meet. “Do you swear to uphold your oath and bring an end to this war?” Thalia can see Nico’s hands clenching from here, can see the worried and concerned looks of his family and friends. “No matter the trials you face or losses you may have?” 

And for the briefest of moments, Nico’s eyes travel from Lachesis over to Bianca and his father, to Percy and Annabeth, to Thalia and the Olympians. For the briefest of moments, everyone holds their breaths, waiting.

(For the briefest of moments, Thalia feels as though her heart beats in unison with everyone’s in the room, as they witness such ancient and powerful magic)

But Nico, proving to be perhaps the bravest person that Thalia’s ever known right behind Zoe Nightshade, just returns to look at Lachesis with a calm expression. He exhales, and the air in his lungs leaves with all the tension in his body.

“I swear.” The Son of Hades says. 

Lachesis smiles as she lowers the sword on his right shoulder, then lifts it again, to lower it in his left. “Then rise, Nico Di Angelo, Son of Hades, Prince of the Underworld, and Knight of the Fates.”

Unlike in the fantasy movies Thalia’s seen, there’s no applause after this knight stands up. The occasion is too somber. The oath Nico just swore weighs on everyone’s minds.

(This feels less like seeing Nico get a honor and more like seeing him get cursed)

Before giving Nico his sword back, Lachesis grabs the blade with one hand, weaving gray, misty threads around it. She stitches her own magic with her sister’s and it falls over Nico, who closes his eyes. With one final movement of her hand, Nico’s Stygian Iron sword is raised for all to see, as the dark metal bathes in the spells and magic and the aura around it grows even more tenebrous. 

Even Percy with his seaweed brain could see that Nico just got one of the most powerful blessings a being could have bestowed upon him.

Lachesis hands Nico his sword back. He takes it, spinning it around himself. He does it so flawless and effortlessly that it reminds Thalia of the tricks Luke would do, back when it was just the two of them against the world, and she has to look away for a second.

Artemis casts her Lieutenant a look from her throne, and Thalia just nods at her.

(Perhaps being a Hunter will mean that Thalia will stop missing him so painfully)

The Son of Hades puts his sword on the scabbard he carries on his back,  and kneels before the Fates again, before going back to stand beside his friends and sister. The three immediately pull him into one tight and teary hug, as the kid protests. A bittersweet smile grows on Thalia’s lips.

(She’ll miss them too, perhaps just as much)

“Okay.” Zeus says, a little awkwardly. “Now that the Knight of the Fates has been appointed we can proceed to other matters.”

“Like how we’re going to be killing the Ophiotaurus!” Ares exclaims.

“Or what will be the first task the Fates will give their knight.” Athena intervenes, glaring at her brother.

Atropos snorts, more amused with their petty bickering than annoyed now. “Oh, the first task will perhaps be the hardest. Nico.” The boy raises his head from the hug, because no one has let him go yet. “Your first task is just to straight up keep Percy Jackson alive. Now that Zeus’s kid is out of the picture, Kronos is bound to at least triple his attempts to kill the idiot.”

“I don’t need a bodyguard- Wait, what?! ” The Son of Poseidon jumps away at hearing the news. “Triple his attempts to kill me?!”

The four heroes look at each other, trying to wrap their minds around the idea that every monster in existence will try to get a piece of Percy, and because he’s meant to be watching his back, Nico too. 

“Sadly it is true, child.” Lachesis sighs. “Not only will Nico help protect you, he’ll also be helping you prepare for the role you’ll have during the Great Prophecy.”

“He’ll be helping you train to use your powers!” Clotho tells them with a smile, like that’s supposed to be exciting.

Thalia almost wants to laugh out of despair and also because the looks on her friends’ faces are priceless. Nico looks like he just swallowed a lemon, gods.  

Before Olympus can erupt into another fight, Lachesis raises her hand.

“I know that it may not look that way.” Lachesis says softly. “But Nico has proven to have better control over his powers than most demigods we’ve ever seen. Control he figured out all by himself.”

The way she said that sentence sounded a bit weird, if Thalia’s being honest, but who is she to question the actual Fates?

Atropos nods. “Yeah, not so bad for a ten year-old.”

Poseidon raises his hand to speak, looking like a kid in a classroom waiting for the teachers to grant him the word. Lachesis gestures at him with her hand, and the God of the Sea leans forward to speak.

“Percy will be better trained by my own personal guard in Atlantis.” Poseidon tells the room. “Even if my nephew’s proven to be skilled with his powers, I’m not sure what a shadow-traveler can teach Percy about water.”

Athena shakes her head. “No, I can see where the Fates are coming from. Kronos and Castellan are sure to have placed agents and monsters to spy on Percy. Part of the reason for taking a knight was to keep your involvement in helping Olympus a secret, correct?” She turns to look at the Fates, who nod. “If we were to send Percy Jackson to Atlantis to train, it would mean that we were not only aware that he was the Demigod of the Prophecy, but sure about it. Bringing someone to train him individually outside Camp Half-Blood may draw suspicions too.”

Percy and Nico look equally distressed,  Annabeth groans in frustration and Bianca’s face remains carefully neutral. Thalia winces. 

Poseidon hums. “Then I’m sure I can find someone who can instruct my son during the summer at Camp.”

Annabeth speaks up. “Chiron won’t be replaced again, right?”

Mr. D looks serious for once. “Not if I can help it. Dealing with Tantalus was a nightmare.”

Zeus nods. “Yes, a new instructor will be found for Camp Half-Blood, preferably one that can train the rest of the demigods too. I’m sure giving everyone better training won’t hurt.” He glances at the Fates for a second, and they nod their approval. “As for Hades’s son training Jackson…”

Hades clears his throat. He looks less on the edge and ready to fight everyone, now that his children seem relatively safe. Everyone turns to look at him, still standing close to Alecto and Bessie’s tank.

“Seeing as Westover Hall turned out to be a less than ideal school, seeing as Kronos was somehow able to sneak a manticore in to try and kidnap my children.” Hades glares briefly at Alecto, who looks embarrassed. The fury, Thalia thinks, functions more as Hades’s secretary than anything else. “I was considering acquiring a place here in New York for them. There are good schools in the area, and Poseidon’s son lives here too. They would all  be closer to Olympus and to an entrance to the Underworld, where they’re always welcome.” He glances at his kids. “That is, of course, if they want to live here.”

Bianca and Nico look at each other, wide-eyed, and Thalia smiles, because she hasn’t seen Bianca look anything close to excited for a long time. Percy is smiling too. Annabeth looks a bit bummed out, probably thinking about how all her friends will now either be traveling the world with immortal beings or in the East coast. 

Lachesis nods. “Yes, that would be adequate. Now, to explain the rest of our plans and what we’ll do with the Ophiotaurus, we need all demigods other than Nico leave.”

“Wait!” Percy says quickly. “I’m the Demigod of the Prophecy, aren’t I? Surely I can be here while you guys discuss your very important plans!”

“Yeah!” Annabeth says too. “We stand with Nico, we have a right to know what you’ll be making him do!” 

Bianca glares firmly at the gods. “I’m not leaving my brother here alone!”

Atropos just rolls her eyes. “Just get outta here, kids.”

Magic winds start to carry Percy, Bianca and Annabeth away from the room, as they protest and argue loudly. Nico just sort of stands there, too surprised to do anything. 

“Don’t let them kill Bessie, Nico, don’t let them hurt her!” Percy yells as the silver gates close. 

Thalia bows at Lady Artemis, ready to leave by her own accord in a way more befitting of a Hunter, when one of the Fates raises her hand.

“Wait, Daughter of Zeus.” Clotho says. “We need you here.”

Thalia blinks. “Uh- what for, Lady Clotho?” She turns to look at Lady Artemis, confused. The goddess looks just as surprised as everyone else.

“It’s about Jason.” Lachesis says carefully.

Thalia drops her shield.

The sound of the metal hitting the marble floor echoes through the room like a thunder. Hera and Zeus particularly flinch when they hear it. 

(Surely she died in Mount Othrys. Surely she got stabbed instead of Zoe, and all she’s lived so far was some kind of complex and weird hallucinating. Surely she didn’t become a Hunter of Artemis just as she didn’t just hear her little brother’s name-)

Thalia isn’t breathing, as she looks up at the Fates with her blue eyes, feeling naked and bare. She can’t read the goddesses and their faces, and Thalia starts shaking. 

(Jason. It’s been years)

Poor Nico, who probably doesn’t know anything about what the Fates are about to tell them all, is paralyzed in the middle of the room.

“The Roman side is still unaware of the war.” Is the first thing Zeus says. “Camp Jupiter and New Rome are safer than anywhere else in the world right now, surely Kronos hasn’t-”

(Camp Jupiter? Roman side? What does that have to do with Jason-)

Before he can continue, Clotho silences the King of the Gods with just a glance. “He is safe, for now. But we don’t know how long it’ll stay like that.”

(Jason is safe. Jason is alive)

Thalia nearly stumbles to the ground.

(Jason is still alive, her baby brother is still alive. All this time-)

“Thalia?” Lady Artemis asks. 

Thalia can’t answer. 

(Jason)

Thankfully, Nico speaks up and draws attention away from the breakdown the Hunter is having.

“Excuse me.” Nico asks, carefully. “But uh… what do you mean with Camp Jupiter?”

Atropos looks stupidly amused, but she launches herself into an explanation about how Rome was created, and about how the Olympians have two sides to them. The other gods join in, painting them a picture about the bad blood that has been going between both Camps since the start, about the American civil war. 

Normally, learning this much about demigod history would be fascinating, if a little infuriating because how come the gods hid a wholeass other camp? But for now, Thalia is motionless, staring ahead while her insides have all tangled into knots.

(Jason is alive)

“This knowledge, of course, is extremely confidential.” Athena says, severely. “I don’t know why the Fates have brought it up, but seeing as you two are both a Knight and a Hunter, I trust that you’ll keep the secret.”

Nico nods, looking at the gods with a solemnity that still surprises Thalia. He’s always been so serious, outside of when he’s talking about Mythomagic, but right now he looks nothing like a kid his age.

(He looks like he was the best choice the Fates could make)

“I will not tell anyone.” Nico says very easily, and it sits wrong with Thalia.

She thinks back at the fight he had with Bianca before they entered the Throne Room. About how he had been withholding information since the quest started. Thalia can guess what kind of knowledge a kid like Nico must be hiding, and it’s the kind of knowledge that makes kids act like adults, when they’re still anything but. She would know.

(Right choice indeed)

She hopes Annabeth and Percy can help Nico with his baggage. Thalia knows she wouldn’t be able to, with the size of her own. 

And the gods look at her, expecting her own answer, and Thalia just nods too, still unable to form words.

“The Camps must be reunited as soon as possible.” Lachesis starts. And as usual, every single Olympian is ready to give everyone their own opinion as soon as she closes her mouth. Lachesis just groans and carries on. “I’m not saying immediately, but the process must be started now so that we’ll have less problems later.”

“And how do you propose we do that?” Hera asks, looking a little tense.

“This is why we asked Thalia to stay.” Clotho continues. “Now that she’s a Hunter, she’ll be in more neutral ground with none of Kronos’s agents watching over her. Also, I’m sure she’ll be happy to meet again with her brother, after so many years.”

Thalia feels as if the twin gods themselves had grabbed their bows and pierced her chest with their arrows. 

“While Jason Grace is still just a simple legionnaire now.” Atropos adds. “He’s a Son of Jupiter and is bound to become important. From what we’ve heard, he and his friend Reyna have decided to start training so that they both can make it to the position of Preator when they’re older.” 

(What will Jason be like? What did he grow up to be? Does he still have that scar in his lip and those bright blue eyes that would always look at her from his crib? Does he remember his sister? Will he be happy to see her?)

“The plan is that by helping one of their own reconnect with their family.” Lachesis explains. “The Romans will warm to the Greeks, at least a little. We propose to have a series of missives started between the Camps, with Nico and Jason in the front of it, that might later help to establish more formal relations. I’m sure Hermes will have no problem making sure the letters aren’t intercepted.”

Hermes looks excited at the idea of delivering such important messages, and the gods look at each other, seeming pleased with the idea. Even Nico looks more happy that Thalia’s seen him maybe ever . The little guy is probably just excited to help a friend find her long-lost brother. 

There’s some tears on the corners of her eyes, and Thalia looks at Artemis, as if asking permission to do this.

Lady Artemis proves to be a kind goddess, and simply smiles at her. “You may take time to visit and reconnect with your brother, Thalia. As annoying as siblings are, there really isn’t anyone like them.” Artemis gives a look to Apollo, who looks smug but a bit touched by her words too.

The morning sun over New York can’t be compared to the brightness of Thalia’s smile.

It takes a long time to convince the Olympians not to kill Bessie. They keep arguing themselves into circles, and with the Fates having decided that they’ll keep their interventions to a minimum now that they’ve proclaimed Nico their Knight, no one is listening to Nico.

After about the fifth time that Ares and Artemis butt heads, Nico starts asking himself why he’s still here and not on the closest McDonalds, as he feels his powers start to get less weak over time. 

(He’s here because Percy asked him to make sure they wouldn’t harm Bessie, and Nico’s self-aware enough that he won’t leave here until he’s sure she’s safe. Stupid fussy feelings and stupid seacows and demigods of the sea looking at him with big, adorable eyes)

In the end, it’s not until Dionysus insults Hades by accidentally implying that he doesn’t believe that the god can take care of the beast, that Zeus just groans and tells everyone it’s time to vote. 

Nico holds his breath as he sees the hands go up, and sighs in relief when he sees it’s the majority. Hades crosses his arms and looks smug, and Bessie moos in happiness. 

“The cow stays alive in the Underworld.” Zeus says. “And now that we’re finally done with this hellish meeting, let the celebrations begin!”

The gods stand up and start leaving the throne room. Ares leaves first, fuming, followed by Hera and Zeus. Apollo is telling Artemis all about the haikus he wrote when she was captured, Dionysus just starts drinking as soon as he steps out of his throne, and Athena looks frustrated enough to start doing the same. Demeter and Hermes give Nico weird looks, and trying his best to stay in Olympus's good side, Nico bows with his head at them as a sign of respect.

To his eternal surprise, Aphrodite comes to speak to him. The Goddess of Love looks just as he remembers her from the limousine. If anything, she looks more radiant. It’s making Nico a little uncomfortable, especially with how sea green her eyes look. 

“I apologize if any of the gods judged you too harshly, darling.” She says dramatically. “You are dangerous, but that’s part of the charm!”

“Thank you, Lady Aphrodite.” Nico deadpans. The goddess laughs, and it sounds like bells.

“Don’t be like that, Nico!” She laughs. “Everything turned out alright, didn’t it? You help a beautiful maiden, avoid joining those terrible hunters, and now are an actual knight in shining armor- how romantic!”

“I don’t see it.” Nico replies, clenching his fists on his sides. His aura has felt weird since he took the oath. He’s always been able to feel the energy around other people, but the one surrounding him right now is making him dizzy.

Aphrodite laughs again, as carefree as always. “Oh, if you keep frowning so much you’ll get wrinkles, dear.” There’s a sparkle in her eyes that reminds Nico that despite everything, the goddess in front of him is still someone not to be messed with. She’s ancient and powerful, born from Ouranos himself. “The other Olympians may think that your fatal flaw makes you unpredictable, but I think that in your case, it’ll actually help you a lot.”

“My fatal flaw-” Nico is about to ask, when a series of memories from the previous life time come crashing into him. His entire relationship with Percy, how he held people at arm’s length until Jason came and made him confront his own fears and faults.

(He’ll see Jason again, and soon. They’ll be friends again, he’ll finally get his brother back-)

The thought fills him with such soul-crushing happiness that for a second, he thinks he’s about to start crying again.

Aphrodite gives him a soft look. “You love deeply, Son of Hades, and you hold things close to your heart. You never forgive or forget, and that makes your loyalty a difficult one to earn, and one even more difficult to lose.” Nico looks away, unable to keep looking at Percy’s eyes on her. “I trust you’ll be smart enough not to let your grudges nearly kill you this time .”

Nico blinks. “Wait, how do you-”

But before he can ask Aphrodite how in Tartarus she knows, the goddess has left the Throne Room, leaving Nico alone there. Alone with the Fates.

Atropos whistles. “Well, I can’t say that I was expecting you to get her favor out of all the Olympians.” Nico turns around to look at her, furious. “Aw come on, kid, relax. If anything you should be thanking us for showing up just in time to save your sorry existence. The gods were really going to disintegrate you, you know?”

Nico shudders at the thought. “What was all that knight business about, anyway? I thought I had swore the oath already, when I became your champion.”

Clotho sighs. “The way we saw it, it was easier to just call forth that silly ancient agreement than explain to Zeus just how we made you our champion.”

Lachesis nods. “While we haven’t had a champion for nearly two thousand years, we’ve taken a couple of Knights before.”

“I hope you last more than they did.” Atropos grins. “And now we can order you around more easily.”

Before Nico can protest, Clotho smacks Atropos on the back of the head. “Atropos, don’t be rude.”

“Hey!” The goddess protested. “Lachesis, tell her something!”

Lachesis just raises an eyebrow. “You had it coming.”

And despite everything, Nico finds himself smiling.

(Augh, please don’t tell him he’s starting to warm up to them of all deities )

“About Jason.” Nico asks, changing the topic to a more urgent one. “Why did you do that? Because forgive me, but I don’t think it was to make me less miserable.”

“You’re right, of course, we don’t actually care about your feelings.” Atropos replies, now in a sour mood as she rubs the back of her head glaring at her sisters. “We heard what Castellan said during your fight, and we didn’t like his tone one bit. The only ones who decide who lives and who dies are us, not him.”

The two other Fates nod in agreement. Nico lets out a breath he didn’t know he was holding.

And then Lachesis turns to look at him with a serious look on her face, and Nico reminds himself that these three are actually the most powerful beings in existence, not only three grandmas who’ve decided to adopt him as a pet so they can play with him.

“That goes for you too, Son of Hades.” She says. “We gave you that title and our blessing because we need your help to fix the mess Kronos created, but we can take it away just as easily. Do not give us reasons to show you our true wrath.”

“Make me lose another pair of scissors and I’ll send you to an even more cursed timeline.” Atropos hisses at him.

Nico pales a little, nodding. There’s a lump in his throat, but somehow, he still asks. “Will Bianca-”

“Oh, just leave her to us-” Clotho says ominously before he can finish. “She’ll be okay, in the end.”

For his sister’s sake, Nico hopes she’s telling the truth. 

After they get kicked, they try a lot of things to get back into the Throne Room. Annabeth tries to pick the lock, Bianca and Percy hit the silver gates with their swords to not avail. They try to listen in to what they’re saying, but then another gust of magic wind comes and knocks their butts a good five yards away from the gates. They’re not able to get any closer after that.

Bianca throws her green hat to the floor, and sits down with her knees to her chest, snuggling on her lion fur coat. Annabeth is too exhausted and just lies down on the floor, looking up at the clouds and sky. Percy has too much pent-up energy to sit down so he keeps trying to get close to the gates, only for the wind to keep putting him back where he started.

“Dam!” Percy says after a particularly painful time the wind grabs him and smacks him down on the floor. Dam is slowly becoming his favorite word. His mom won’t be pleased.

(The word makes him think of the Hoover Dam, and Thalia and Zoe laughing, and carrying Nico around as they run from Skeletons. Dam. He misses Zoe so much, if Zoe was here she’d know how to get in-)

“Can you please just stop?” Bianca asks, exasperated. “It’s been an hour, we’ll just have to wait until they’re done.”

“If it helps, I really don’t think they’ll kill Bessie.” Annabeth replies from the ground. She’s fidgeting with her knife and has one leg crossed over the other.

“What makes you so sure?” Percy snaps at her.

“Nico won’t let them.” Annabeth says, so sure about it, that Percy can do nothing but sigh, and take a seat besides the girls. 

Bianca scoots away. Percy tries to act like that doesn’t hurt him.

(She’s mourning Zoe. They’re all mourning her, he just needs to give it time. Yeah, they all just need some time and rest)

(Zoe would know how to cheer Bianca up if she was here)

Percy looks at the ground, tears in the corner of his eyes.

Annabeth immediately sits up. “Seaweed Brain? What’s wrong?”

“I just-” Percy says, shaking a little. “I just want to go home, Annabeth. They just told me I’m the Demigod of the Prophecy! I’m tired and I miss my Mom, and they’re doing gods know what to Nico inside there, and Zoe-”

(And Zoe is dead. Zoe is dead and this is the first time Percy lost a friend. Not even Luke’s betrayal had felt so final)

Annabeth, who always knows what to say, somehow doesn’t know what to tell him when she hears that. So the Daughter of Athena just pulls Percy into a hug and holds him there, against her gray hoodie. It’s soft and Percy closes his eyes, and wills himself to not start crying for real. 

(So this is why Nico spent the whole pegasi ride snuggling up to Annabeth, huh)

Bianca gives them a look, and Percy is pretty sure she hates his guts, but she does put a hand on Percy’s shoulder and despite everything, Percy feels a little bit better.

It takes about another hour for the meeting to end, and when it does, the three heroes are back on their feet immediately. Percy’s walking up to the gates, trying to see if Nico’s there, when he’s stopped by Poseidon.

Percy forgets everything about his friend when his father appears.

“Hello, son...” Poseidon says, like he’s a little unsure of how to talk to Percy now that he knows he’s the Demigod of the Prophecy. “You… you did well, in the quest.”

“Thank you.” Percy replies, feeling weird about the compliment. 

(If he’s being honest, Percy doesn’t know what to say either)

“Your friend, Nico.” Poseidon continues. “He may be the Knight of the Fates, but watch out for him.”

Percy furrows his brows. “Why? Nico is the bravest person I know-”

“Even the bravest can fall.” Poseidon tells him. “If he’s meant to be watching your back, who’ll be watching his?”

“I will!” Percy says, determined. “We’ll be watching each other’s backs, that’s what we’ve been doing. And it’s worked so far. Just ask Atlas.”

For a second, Percy thinks his father will get mad at him for the outburst, but Poseidon just laughs. 

“Yes, I think I could.” Poseidon replies. “I meant what I said, you did well in the quest. But bear what I said in mind, son. He now bears an incredible amount of power, and power always brings consequences, even if they’re accidental. ” Percy nods, because he supposes that parents expect you to shut up and listen when they tell you important things, even if they’re your godly parents. 

(If Nico is a Knight of the Fates, Percy is the Demigod of the Prophecy, and Thalia is a Hunter of Artemis, where does that leave Bianca? Percy wonders)

“Bessie.” Percy asks, remembering his main worry. “Is she okay? They didn’t kill her, right?”

Poseidon looks at his son fondly. “She’ll be fine- she’ll be staying in Hades’s palace. Apparently his wife seems to be quite taken with the Ophiotaurus.”

Of course Persephone would be, Bessie is the most adorable and wholesome animal ever. And she’ll be safe, Nico made sure of that. Percy smiles.

All the heroes spend a while talking to their parents. Athena takes Annabeth to the side to have a stern talk with her about who knows what, but judging by Annabeth’s face, it can’t be good. Bianca and Nico pull their father into one big hug- The God of the Underworld looks surprised at first, but returns the embrace fiercely. Percy keeps looking at them, even while Poseidon keeps talking to him.

His father confirms what Nico told them- Luke Castellan isn’t dead. Poseidon explains Percy more about the Bane of the Gods and the Titan’s Curse, and remarks on the streak of white hair that now decorates Percy’s forehead. Percy blushes a little, remembering that Annabeth has a matching strand after they both held up the sky.

Poseidon leaves, and then Athena comes to tell Percy something about loyalty is his fatal flaw or whatever, and that she disapproves of the friendship he and Nico have with their daughter. Percy is too distracted to pay attention, because Hades has now leaned down to talk with his kids. Percy only makes out the words ‘ zombie butler ’. What does that mean?

As soon as the gods walk away, Percy and Annabeth rush to the Di Angelos. Annabeth just straight up grabs Nico’s face between her hands, examining him. Percy gives Bianca a once-over too, albeit at a distance. Meeting your godly parent for the first time is never easy, and she’s still their friend. The Daughter of Hades just shrugs and looks away, pushing her green hat down.

Percy sighs, and returns his attention to Nico. 

“Are you feeling normal?” Annabeth asks. “No injuries or side-effects from getting blessed by the Fates?”

“I’m fine!” Nico replies, a little annoyed, trying to push her hands away, but Annabeth keeps looking at him, with her brows furrowed.

“I saw Aphrodite stop and talk to you.” She says, and just like that, Percy freezes up, remembering the limousine. “She didn’t try anything weird, did she?” 

Annabeth has a concerned tone in her voice, probably remembering how the Olympians were ready to just kill him a few hours ago. Nico for his part, just gives Percy a look and then turns away, cheeks a little warm.

“She just thanked me for saving a ‘beautiful maiden’ from joining the Hunters and said that me being a Knight now was so romantic .” He gags a little at the last word. “Love gods need to get their priorities straight- I’m pretty sure the Fates weren’t going for ‘romantic’” 

And Annabeth, who's been so tense and worried about him since they arrived at Olympus, who spent the entire ride here talking to him, just laughs . It’s a beautiful sound, Percy thinks, and a sad one too. There’s relief and desperation mixed in Annabeth’s laughter, and it makes Percy’s chest ache. The Quest to Save Artemis was the hardest one they’ve had to do so far. They lost someone. 

(Or multiple someones, depending on how to look at it.)

But somehow, Nico still managed to make Annabeth laugh like that, like he just said another joke to rival the Hoover Dam. Like it was some kind of miracle of comedy bested on them by the gods themselves. Like it’s special.

(Percy’s heart is starting to ache again, but he doesn’t know why this time)

Annabeth finishes laughing, leaning into the Son of Hades, and Nico just smiles at her. It’s a soft and warm smile, and it lightens the kid’s entire face in a way Percy hasn’t seen in anything that’s not Mythomagic. His cheeks are still a little bit tinted, and it gives him this look that Percy can’t describe. 

(Yeah, the ache is getting worse)

Percy’s eyes widen and he inhales sharply. 

(Oh)

He takes a step back and it makes the other heroes stare at him. Even Bianca.

(Oh. Oh my gods)

“Percy?” Annabeth asks, and her hand is still touching Nico.

(How in Olympus he didn’t put it all together until now?)

The Son of Poseidon gives them a smile. He really hopes it doesn’t look as strained as he feels. “Oh, I was just wondering what you guys wanted to do now that the Quest is officially over. They’re playing music or maybe we could go get some food. I’m starving.”

(The pegasi ride, the Lamborghini, the museum. Aphrodite)

Annabeth grins at Percy. “I think you owe me a dance, Seaweed Brain.” 

Nico glances at his sister before answering. Bianca looks at them somberly. “I don’t feel like dancing.”

(Annabeth staying beside Nico until he woke up, Annabeth fussing over him catching a cold in Cloudcroft, Annabeth yelling at Percy for falling on top of him on Apollo’s bus)

“We can just find a good place to sit and relax.” Nico tells her. 

Bianca shakes her head. “No. You guys should go have fun.”

(When Nico got a concussion from fighting the manticore, it was Annabeth who stayed inside the tent with him)

“No, it’s okay, Bi.” He insists. “I can stay with you.”

“Nico.” Bianca says firmly, looking at him. Nico looks pained.

(Of course the Son of Hades started to like her right since then)

“We’ll meet by the stables with the pegasi in a couple of hours.” Annabeth proposes. And then more softly she adds. “Is that okay?”

Bianca just stares at her with an unreadable expression, but she nods. “Couple of hours sounds good.” And then, she just turns around and starts walking away from them. Just like that.

(Percy kind of feels like he’s choking)

Nico looks so hurt that it takes Percy out of his own miserable state and refocuses on the present. He glances at Annabeth and they both look down at Nico.

The Son of Hades just watches his sister go, his shoulders lowered and his hands clenched. There’s some tears on the corner of his eyes, and Percy kind of wants to start shouting at Bianca. 

“Hey, it’ll be okay. We just need to give her some space and time.” Percy reassures him, not quite believing the words as he says them. “You can hang out with us.”

Nico quickly cleans his eyes with the sleeve of his leather jacket. It still looks so big on him, and by the way Annabeth looks at him, she wants to pull him into another hug. It doesn’t hurt this time, but just because Percy kind of wants to do the same.

“I don’t want to be a burden.” Is what Nico says. And it makes Percy want to scream at his sister even more.

“You’re not one.” Annabeth replies, with that confident and tempered tone of hers that never fails to make Percy feel better.

He’s always liked how sure Annabeth can be of things. By the grateful look Nico gives her, so does he.

(Watching them side by side is a little too much right now)

And so, because going to yell at Bianca isn’t such a good idea, Percy just takes Nico and Annabeth’s hands on his. The two look at him, surprised. Percy doesn’t know why, they’ve all held hands before, when Nico shadow traveled them in Mount Othrys. 

(It hadn’t felt like this, though. This time it feels as if Percy doesn’t hold on to them as hard as he can, they’ll drift away from him in an instant)

“Wise Girl was right, I do owe her a dance. And I promised you that when we got back home, you could come to my house and play videogames.” Percy tells Nico, who stares at him with those deep, dark eyes that are so much like his father’s. “So how about we do get some food, and then go dancing, and you tell us everything about how you’ll be moving to New York and have a zombie butler.”

Nico’s eyes look so hopeful , that Percy can’t find it in himself to feel weird about how Annabeth lets go of Percy’s hand so she can take Nico’s instead, leading the two boys into the streets of Olympus.

The Nine Muses played music for everyone, turning up the volume as the gods danced among the spirits and themselves. Percy told his friends he was hearing 90’s grunge, but Annabeth insists it was 80’s pop. Nico just laughed and told them that they were wrong, he was listening to jazz . 

The sun shone high in the sky and nectar and ambrosia flowed through the golden fountains of Olympis. There was a banquet of the best mortal food, golden goblets filled with whatever drink you wanted. It was heaven.

The three heroes talked and danced with each other, and for a few hours, Percy forgot everything about Kronos or the Great Prophecy. About Zoe.

(For a few hours, everything stops hurting so much)

Bianca Di Angelo watched them, launching in the balcony on one of the buildings. She’s sipping on one of the magical goblets, but there’s a dark expression on her face.

There’s a ghost besides her, whom only she can see. 

“I’ve been thinking about what you told me.” Bianca says. “About that deal you wanted to make.”

The ghost looks like the faint, shimmering image of a man. He’s almost completely transparent, and his eyes are white and cold. He has a beard as pointy as a blade, and a glimmering circlet surrounding his head. His robes are pale and flowy, and they float over besides Bianca like mist.

“And what have you decided?” The ghost asks.

Bianca takes another sip. She can’t place the taste of the drink, but it’s sweet. Intoxicating, even.

She looks at her brother that’s not really her brother, dancing besides Annabeth Chase and Percy Jackson.

Percy Jackson, the same boy who now wields the sword that used to be Zoe’s .

Bianca lowers her goblet, to turn back at the ghost. “I accept. With a few changes to the terms, of course.”

Minos smiles . “I’m sure we can come to an agreement.”