Chapter Text
It was at this moment where they all knew, they fucked up.
Now, you would probably think: It couldn’t be that bad! As long as Poseidon wouldn’t find out, and find him immediately then we’re good, right?
Well, Nico would like to beg to differ.
In his case, perhaps, he would like to beg for mercy instead.
Poseidon looms above them with a blank expression, though, his eyes are clearly sending signals of Run! Get out! Hide! The storm is coming! Which is exactly what it was reflecting; rage above grief-stricken.
Everyone knew how Poseidon was overprotective over his favorite demigod son. That, and Triton’s affronted look like he was about to smite them where they were standing. Had Amphitrite been here, it'd be a complete set of getting-smited-by-each-of-the-seafam.
Which is why Nico and Will are standing behind Hades, equally terrified of both of the sea gods in front of them, as the god try to calm them down. Annabeth was also behind them, as well as Connor, who was informed by her with a panic-miserable aspect plastered on her face. So naturally, he came with them, kinda not expecting the heat that he would also receive though.
“Brother, please. It wasn’t the children’s fault. They already explained their point that Percy—”
“—who vanished without a trace with a similar rationale as Apollo’s by ‘falling through the ground’ as you would say,” Poseidon’s voice was calm, yet with an underlying tone of known fury. There was also a hint of incredulousness like he couldn’t believe what he was saying or hearing.
“Percy also stated this about Apollo’s disappearance. So it must be true considering how passionate and determined he looked while searching for the Sun god,” Hades argued. To be fair, it does sound ridiculous if he says so himself but one look from his nephew, he knew he would do anything to find Apollo despite what the others would say and how surreal it was.
Triton snarled, flicking one of his tails to the side, “So you’re saying he fell in the Labyrinth?”
“No, it was different from the Labyrinth. Even Percy said so himself,” Annabeth shook her head, her voice oddly quiet this time. Usually when it comes to arguments, she wouldn’t back down nor her voice would waver. Nico couldn’t blame her, not when she’s in front of two gods who were equally enraged on behalf of Percy, and equally overprotective towards him.
And now he was missing.
“How can you possibly be sure?” Triton said, “You said you tried searching for it and nothing came out, because that place doesn’t exist—”
“If it doesn’t then why would Percy bother mentioning it to us in the first place?” Nico snapped, looking towards the sea gods as if daring to argue with him, gates of emotions finally flooding out, “Why would he make such an effort to do this so-called investigation if it doesn’t exist? How could he say he was so sure about this one thing he hoped— still hopes— that this was the answer if it wasn’t? Do you think he was making all of this effort to find that one god he desperately wanted to find, on the behalf of Apollo cabin and for him just to be not real? That one god that he could see only kindness within despite the cruelty he did in the past because he saw that out of all gods, he’s the only one attempting to connect with humanity— with his children— thus believing in him? Do you think it was easy for him to accept that Apollo was gone just like that without him stumbling or crying, or even trying to blame himself because he thought he was the reason the sun was gone?!”
Nico was practically vibrating with rage as he stood in between his father and the sea gods, and his voice thrummed with an unsung power he dared to raise to be heard across Olympus was frightening. The entire walls shift and groan as he speaks like a rhythm in beat, small rocks begin to fall from the ceiling, cracks can be heard below, and the shadows engulf him in a cold yet welcoming embrace.
It was terrifying.
It was when he felt a hand on his that he rounded on whoever was stopping him from throwing hands, only to find those blue eyes similar to his father looking at him. There was no trace of fear or disgust, but rather the worry lines on his face were the only beacon. Will knew Nico wouldn’t hurt him, nor his friends, but in his current state he was beginning to doubt he wouldn’t do it by accident. The marble ground stopped shaking as Will caressed his wrist in a soothing manner.
The gods were all reeled back in shock. Well, Poseidon was more stunned while Hades was looking proud and concerned for his son’s well-being. They all weren’t expecting the son of Hades would snap let alone on a god— or rather gods at the current situation.
Triton glowered at the demigod, looking ready to smite him, “You dare—”
“Oh, yeah. I do dare,” Nico shot back furiously.
“Nico,” Hades said sternly, “I know you’re doing this on the behalf of Percy but we can do this without you getting smited by my brother or any other gods.” Nico scowled but didn’t argue furthermore knowing his father was right. There’s no reason to dwell here if all they could do is to find Percy—
Or rather both Percy and Apollo.
“Nico,” Will hissed, “I would like to not get smited today. Let’s just go and find Percy and Dad, alright, darlin’?”
An intelligible sigh came from Nico and looked at Will, “Alright. Better start early than later, hm?”
They all hurriedly went outside of Olympus, leaving the equally baffled gods behind. Will was in a middle of protesting using shadow-travelling when Nico already transported them all back in the field with a complaining Will, a nonchalant Annabeth, and a bewildered Connor on his side.
“A little warning would be nice,” the blond grunted and glared at Nico. The son of Hades only shrugged in response while grinning.
He was getting better at handling his underworld-ly abilities to be able to transport 5 or 6 people without passing out in the midst of danger, or almost fading to the point he was one of the shadows. He had been training while he was in his father’s realm— sometimes Will would come to visit to patch him up then scold him after, then make out next— with his sister, Hazel, and instantly improved when Hades was taken to coach them himself.
Still, Will chided him not to exhaust himself over something like this again or else. Although he quickly shut his mouth when Nico decided to snog him in the middle of the field and went his way. Connor snickered behind them.
“Damn, and here I thought Will was the top between the two,” he grinned. Will glared at him but the blush was not enough to make him look intimidating.
Annabeth elbowed him, “Shush. We both know the darkness would always overtake the light because of the vastness, and the light would welcome the cold embrace.”
“But that could also apply vice versa. The light could outshine and would blind the dark as if it finds beauty in the nought—”
“Can you guys stop with the bad poetry, oh my gods,” Nico groaned exasperatedly, cutting them off before it gets out of hand, “You’re like, taking a leaf out of Apollo’s book and I’m pretty sure even he wouldn’t be too happy about it,” he disgruntled before grimacing when he mentioned the missing-in-action god they were supposed to find. Thankfully it seemed like Will wasn’t too upset about it and just narrowed his eyes at Annabeth and Connor.
“Since when can you two spout poetry?” he asked suspiciously.
The son of Hernes shrugged, “Hey, it’s not because we’re not children of Apollo doesn’t mean we don’t appreciate art!”
“And besides, of all the prophecies we’ve had I think it got a hold on us,” the daughter of Athena nodded in agreement.
“It would be also cool to also spit some green smoke—”
“Absolutely not.” The three glowered at Connor, who raised both of his hands in defense but his smirk was evident.
“Come on, let’s not dilly-dally here. We’ve got a sun and, apparently, a son of the sea to find,” Will nodded towards the other direction of the field.
They all agreed— Connor was a little bit enthusiastic for Nico’s liking— and stride on their way to their own mission possible.
As usual, nothing is easy for them, not in life. There’s good news and bad news. The bad news is; the possible is turning impossible each and every second they take a step, but the good news is that one of their companions knows where the missing people are. Except, the said companion was a cat.
They informed the others about Percy’s disappearance and ordered to find him immediately. The Romans; Hazel, Reyna, and Frank, who still has the cat draped on his shoulder, have changed their routines and schedule to find the son of Poseidon and the Sun god everyday to find them pronto.
At first, they started to look at the fields where Nico, Will and Annabeth last found Percy yesterday. They tried to do what they usually do: Stop, wait for five seconds, then leave if nothing happens. This time, however, they have ropes and straps tied around their waists just in case they do fall through the ground thanks to the paranoia that was planted in their brains after what happened to Percy.
They, then, decided to split up, Greek and Roman, to their own respective camps. New Rome was too big for only the three Romans so after the other team finished their investigation on Camp Half-Blood— which, unfortunately, they found nothing— they went to the other team to help them out.
Walking around New Rome with different climbing equipment like rappels, harnesses and carabiners hooked on their shoulders make them look like they were about to hike on the tallest cliff they could find and have a picnic later on. Nico wished that was the case but instead of climbing up, they needed to climb down to fetch the two of their friends (yes, he had long considered Apollo his friend and, reluctantly, his father-in-law, not that he would admit it out loud).
Oh wait, let me rephrase that: fall down without a warning.
“No signs or anything?” Reyna was the first one to ask after taking a sip of her coffee. They’re all in a small café at New Rome, taking a break after searching for hours now.
Will shook his head, “No. We already informed Chiron about this and so far no news has come out.” He downed his coffee in one go and sighed. The others exchanged worried glances as they saw Will’s strained face and stiff shoulders, dark bags under his eyes. It even made Nico look more vibrant than him due to not being able to glow and it made him feel in vain more than anything.
Nico snaked his arm around Will’s waist to pull him closer and looked at the others, “Mr. D is also helping out with the other gods, which is surprising but we need all the help we could get. But he came back from Olympus with a rigid expression which says a lot, apparently.”
“Did dad find something about the situation?” Hazel asked.
He shook his head, shooting an apologetic look at Hazel, “No, he didn’t. At least he didn’t find him in the Underworld as a spirit.” He didn’t add that he wished they did for the sake of Will’s dying sanity. He might get the wrong impression and he didn’t want to add more stress to his boyfriend’s current state.
By the time they finished their food and left, the café was getting crowded. The cat was outside, waiting for them. It made a home at Frank’s shoulder for some reason and now it’s been with them every investigation since. Grover’s not here though— as much as he wanted to find his best friend and Lord Apollo, he needed to do his Lord of the Wild duties, which is understandable, really— to translate what the cat was saying whenever it meows like it was trying to say something.
It was then it hissed as it landed at Frank’s shoulder, startling Frank and everyone else who was near.
“Geez, your cat was sure mad it couldn’t go in with us at the café, huh,” Connor mused.
Frank only gave him a sheepish look, “It wasn’t really my cat, it just sorta went with us when we were in the middle of investigation.”
“It just sucks that Grover's not here to translate whatever the cat was saying. She had been a great help for the past two years,” Annabeth added, sighing.
It’s true. She had been a great help. Apparently, they learned that Lucy was her name and she had been helping them to find Apollo by sniffing and searching. Grover commented how ‘Lucy was far more clever than any of you’ and it made them chuckle as he pouted. Now, they were beginning to believe it as she led them from one place to another but no patterns were made. Every area is completely randomized. It was as though she knew where they were but couldn’t find the source, or there was more to it than they comprehend but never really dwelled on it.
“Maybe she’s trying to say something? Like, maybe she actually knew where they were?” As Hazel made that comment, Lucy perked up and yipped with glee. They all froze and stared at the black cat.
“Do you really know? Are you sure?” Will asked skeptically, but his eyes flashed with hopefulness and desperation like whenever he saw Percy came back to camp regarding the search for his father.
Lucy bared her fangs, seemingly trying to smile like a Cheshire cat— Grover also commented how creepy it looked before— and jumped from the broad man’s shoulder to lead the way. They all looked at each other, confused but followed the cat on their way. As they were following her, Nico was taking a mental note to remember the paths they’re taking, as well as Annabeth and Reyna. They kept walking until they were running after her as she bolted across the road but not enough for them to lose her trail. She kept looking back if she took a sharp corner, then ran again if she spotted them, making sure they all followed her in the right direction.
“Lucy! Slow down! You might get hurt if you run too fast,” Nico called out, panting as they all ran after the agile feline.
As if she heard him, she moved at a normal pace but towards something.
Or rather someone.
She halted in front of a person and they all fell behind after. The person was back facing them, fiddling with something, so it was an opportunity to get attacked by a black cat for no reason.
Which is exactly what Lucy did. She arched her back, ready to pounce the person in front, and jumped swiftly at the anonymous’ shoulder.
Everyone was staring with wide eyes and gaping jaws as the poor guy dropped something from his hands and lurched forward at the surprise ambush. Luckily, they manage to balance themself or it would’ve been a hell of a disaster. The guy frantically looked at their shoulders to see who attacked them when Lucy decided to whirl around their shoulder in a rapid way. Lucy just purred and meowed at them, tail vibrating.
“We’re so sorry! Uhm, we didn’t mean no harm!” Hazel yelped vehemently as they approached the person with all similar apologetic looks.
Nico stood in front of them, “We apologize, uh, Lucy wasn’t like this, really. We didn’t know what had gotten into her.”
The person bent down and took what they dropped from their hands and turned to them. All of the demigods’ breath hitched when they saw what the person looked like. Pale golden eyes stared back at them, the shaggy burnished shoulder-length hair unstyled, with a few strands in front of his freckled-face, and a bandaid on his nose. He was wearing a multi-colored hoodie; the hood painted as navy blue, the base was yellow, and the arms were red, with a small white symbol of a geometrical pattern of hexagons connected to each other like twisted chains on the center and what looks like tech-wings that fits just right on the side. Dark sweatpants paired with old black converse. He was…he looked like a kid, no more than 14 or 15 years old, yet his eyes said otherwise. Like he has seen too much. It was…overwhelming, to say the least.
A demigod? Nico’s first thought. It must’ve been minutes of staring in silence that the kid cocked his head on the side, clearly confused as they were. Nico cleared his throat to regain his composure, “We’re sorry about— about Lucy. She’s normally not like this. We’ll be taking our cat now—”
He was cut off when he spotted the object he was holding as it glistened under the dim sunlight. A collar. The boy gave them a soft smile as he fastened the purple colored collar on the cat’s neck and Lucy, who sat on his shoulder, happily obliged to bare her neck for him. A similar small symbol from the boy’s jacket was dangling on the center of the collar, glistened in misty-brass color. The collar itself had a pattern of ∞ was enough to be seen by Nico, who flickered his eyes between the two beings in front of him and wondered why would the kid put a collar—
A soft and quiet “Oh,” escaped from his lips as he realized this boy is the original owner of Lucy.
A small gasp of disbelief and a yelp from Frank and Annabeth was heard and Nico whirled around reaching his Stygian Iron when he saw a pale Will being steadied by Frank, with scrunched brows and moist eyes, with an unfocused gaze. Will, once again, had his hope crushed within his very own eyes and the son of Hades doesn’t think Will’s heart could break anymore. He doesn’t think Nico, himself, could take it anymore either. Will must have thought Lucy was leading them towards his father and his friend but she only went to find her owner instead.
Nico turned back to the cat with an icy stare, “You said you knew where they were.”
Lucy only mewled in response while the boy frowned at Lucy. Nico realized they were having a silent communication, if the noises coming from Lucy and the boy’s ever-changing expression like he was responding to the cat’s chirps and trills were any obvious indicator. They kept doing that back and forth until the boy’s eyes widened in a somewhat mixture of surprise and, if Nico had imagined it, regret.
“No…I—” the boy said, barely above a whisper that Nico would’ve missed it if he wasn’t near them. Somehow, his voice sounded mellow, it would’ve captivated Nico if he wasn’t looking confused and still furious at the same time. The boy looked at them, the surprise look was replaced with a face Nico couldn’t read.
“Lucy told me you’re looking for a Sun god named Apollo that’s been missing for two years and a guy named Perseus who went missing just recently.” It wasn’t a question, but a hint of uncertainty was there. There wasn't a tone of skepticism when he mentioned the Sun god which was a question itself they would later think about.
Nico’s eyes went wide, “You understand animal language?”
“No, but Lucy isn’t technically an animal,” he smiled, as if he was trying not to scare them by this fact.
“I’m Nico, a son of Hades. Are you a demigod?” He probably should’ve asked his name first but he couldn’t shake this weird feeling and it wouldn’t hurt to ask anyway. Important questions now and later.
“No, but I can tell you I’m not mortal, if that’s what you’re implying.”
“I see,” he nodded, confirming that his guts were correct. “What’s your name?”
Lucy’s eyes narrowed into slits and her long fluffy tail stopped swaying, and Nico wasn’t sure if that was a good sign.
“I am Adam Synclair,” his smile widened as if his name was an inside joke, “I reside in the levels within you called The Backrooms, which happens to be my expertise, and my home. Well, let’s not dwell here any longer, shall we start going?”