Chapter Text
The goddess of magic remained quiet for a long time, circling around Nico. Her long black robes seemed to get longer with each step, until it appeared as if the cell floor had turned into the night sky itself.
‘She’s manipulating my perception using the Mist,’ he realized. He tried to concentrate, try to break free of the illusion, but the floor didn’t change back. Instead, it now had miniature stars twinkling at him.
“Well, that’s slightly disappointing,” Hecate said, sighing. “You can sense magic working around you, but you can’t manipulate it yourself. You would need too much training.”
Nico blinked. From her tone, it didn’t seem like the goddess was trying to trick him, but rather teach him something.
“What’s your point?” He asked. “One of your ‘paths’?”
Hecate nodded.
“Right now, Phantasos is wholly under my control. If I asked him, he would free you, no questions asked,” she said. Nico’s eyes widened as he looked down. Indeed, the chain seemed to be swaying hypnotically with the stars’ twinkling. “If only you had a fraction of your sister’s control, leaving this place could be within your reach.”
“What is your plan? Do you want to help me, or Zagreus?”
“The Twice-Born has asked me to try and convince you of his path, but I don’t work that way.” She laughed, like what she had said was a rather funny joke. “I just present the paths, I light them, but it is you who decides to take them.”
Ah, so the whole show was just to give him options. To show him that, if he wanted out, there was a way.
“Do you… not care who wins this conflict?”
Hecate looked at him with sympathy.
“I am… at a crossroads myself,” she admitted. “I see good in Zagreus taking over Olympus, but the path is paved with blood.”
“Demigod blood,” Nico couldn’t help but snarl. “I’ve met Lou Ellen, you know. Is her sacrifice one you’re willing to make? Are your children really that worthless to you gods?”
A storm cloud appeared at his feet and thunder rumbled through the room. Phantasos rattled in fear, but otherwise stayed swaying to the illusion.
“You know nothing of gods or their feelings, son of Hades,” Hecate’s face was filled with rage, and Nico was sure he would be turned to dust soon enough. However, just as quickly as it started, the storm stilled, and Hecate sighed. “But I guess that’s not your fault, you’re only mortal, after all.”
“What do you mean?” He asked, trying to make time. If he could figure out how to control Hecate’s illusion, then…
“Have you ever thought about parenthood? About bringing a new life to the world, vast and untamed?” Hecate made a chair appear out of nowhere and sat down. She looked… tired. “Imagine that you do, and you see your child for the first time. Small, defenseless, and unlike you at all.”
Nico tried to look interested while mentally trying to manipulate the Mist around him. Hecate didn’t seem to notice, completely immersed in her speech.
“You wonder if you did something wrong, because the child is fragile… too fragile for this world,” she continued. “You ask the Fates, and they tell you that the child can have a full life, it will just be very short compared to yours.”
Something in the floor changed. It wasn’t anything Nico did, however. The stars moved to form a cradle with a woman near it.
“So, you love the child. It becomes a part of you, and you feel stronger due to their existence,” she said. The woman looked away from the cradle, when she turned back, the stars had rearranged in the form of a child. “But you have duties, you can't stay all the time. You tell yourself it will be quick, you’ll be back soon, but…”
“Soon for you is years later for the demigod,” Nico says, letting go of the Mist. Hecate’s control was too strong for him anyways. “They are already grown.”
“Not only that, but they also resent you for being absent. What felt like a few days for you is most of their life.” Hecate didn’t look like a goddess at that very moment. If anything, she reminded Nico of his own mother. “Still, you don’t care, as long as they live and are happy.”
The sky turned stormy again. The child made of stars grabbed a bow and started shooting at the storm, only to be eaten by it. When the sky cleared, it was as if the child had never existed.
“But they die violently. You are angry. You confront the Fates. They promised a full life for your child.” Hecate’s voice acquired a desperate tone, and Nico didn’t doubt this was a real story of her first demigod child. “The Fates are unmoved. They said the child was able to live a full life, not that they would live it.”
“What was their name?” He asks. Hecate looks at him in surprise. “A person is only truly gone when there’s no one to remember them. In that aspect, mortals are like the gods.”
Hecate gave him a smile.
“Adelphe,” she whispered, mournfully. “She preferred the bow and arrow to my magic, though she still enchanted her shots.”
Nico gave what he hoped was a reassuring smile. Hecate closed her eyes, and suddenly became a goddess again in both demeanor and the power she exuded.
“After the pain dulls, you have another one,” she said, voice detached. “You promise it will be different this time, you will be there for them… yet they die before their time, too.”
Nico stays quiet, not knowing what to say.
“It happens again and again, and each time a part of you dies.” She opened her eyes and Nico felt her gaze pierce his soul body. “It’s not their death that affects you. It’s that they are all so young. They deserve more than what you, and the world, can give them. You can’t even stop having them, because it would mean fully killing the part of you that loves mortals.”
“And Zagreus offers you different?” Nico had to ask. “He wants to kill them too, you know? Both Lou Ellen and Alabaster!”
“And it pains me it has to be this way!” Hecate exclaimed. The sky disappeared, and Phantasos rattled in confusion. “But my children will die either way! It can be for glory to the Olympians, or it can be so that their siblings can live without fear of dying early.”
And suddenly it made sense why the goddess of Magic was chosen to appeal to Nico. A mother’s plight for a brighter future to her demigod children.
However, knowing it was manipulation didn’t make it any less true.
Zagreus’s world would be fairer, if he managed to achieve all his goals and instate all his changes. Demigods wouldn’t have to be confined to a protected city after years of forced conscription. They wouldn’t have to die meaninglessly in wars that didn’t benefit anyone or take quests just to bring glory to their parents.
Was the price too high if it meant changing things for the better?
His eyes widened at the thought, and he looked at Hecate again. He smiled.
“You’re good,” he said conversationally. Hecate raised an eyebrow and smiled. “Getting rid of the sky on the floor almost made me think you had stopped manipulating the Mist. You almost made me believe in something unthinkable.”
“Is it really unthinkable?” She asked, laughing lightly. “Magic can’t make you see what you don’t want to see, after all.”
“Was any of that drivel true?” He asked.
“All of it, I swear it on the Styx,” Hecate said. “But there’s more to it, of course. As I said before, I’m not fully on Zagreus’s side, I'm just watching him walk his path because I’m interested on the change he proposes.”
“Then that whole thing was what? A test?”
“If you must call it something,” Hecate said. “I wanted to see the depths of your determination. Zagreus planned to sway you during the conflict between Romans and Greeks. Your being here threw a wrench in his scheme.”
Show him the pointlessness of the conflict, then promise him a better way, all while the demigods killed each other.
It may have worked, if he hadn’t known that the whole thing was orchestrated by him. Nico would have accepted and tried to topple Olympus to save the demigods, with only a few surviving after everything was said and done.
“I will find a better way,” Nico promised her. “A way to make gods see us for us.”
“Not all gods are like me, Nico di Angelo,” she warned. “Some might see that ideal and take it as an act of rebellion.”
“You said it yourself, we all must die,” Nico said. “If I perish making things better, then my life was well spent.”
“Then you’re no different from Zagreus.” Hecate stood up, though she looked satisfied with the talk. “He’s always saying that change comes only to those willing to die.”
“There’s a difference, though,” Nico said before she could leave. “I’m only risking my life. I won’t waste the lives of others like he’s willing to do.”
Hecate gave him a more genuine smile.
“Oh, Nico, if only you were more talented in magic.”
If only he could escape by his own means, she meant.
Nico sighed and Hecate left, leaving him on his cell, with only the silent Phantasos as company.
There were no more visits for a long time. Nico felt himself get more and more anxious as time passed by with only four solid walls around him and a talking chain that refused to live up to the ‘talking’ part.
“Does Zagreus want to drive me crazy? Is that it?” Nico exploded, tugging as hard on the chain as he could. “Is he waiting for me to call out to him?”
Phantasos remained quiet.
“Fine, then!” Nico tugged again, feeling the Mist around him. If he could just convince the Oneiroi that he was able to get away… “But Hades is my father, and Zagreus my brother, you think I can’t pull you out and escape?”
He tried to make the energy around him swirl, just like Hecate had, and Phantasos groaned and rattled in surprise. For a single second, the base attaching the chain to the floor came a little loose, but it snapped back into place immediately after.
“That was closer than before!” He exclaimed, more for Phantasos than himself. “If I keep at it, I’m sure I’ll be free of you soon.”
“You’ll never get anywhere with such a childish control,” A new voice said.
The door opened and Nico’s eyes widened. Before him was an older version of Bianca. She was dressed in all white with her long black hair done in a braid. He gulped and tried feeling around to see if he was being tricked by the Mist, but found nothing out of the ordinary.
“What’s wrong, brother? You were so loud and boisterous a few seconds ago.” Her face betrayed no emotion, and her tone was so even she sounded genuinely curious.
“You are…”
“Oh, right, you may call me Makaria,” she said. “Goddess of Peaceful Death.”
Nico felt himself relax. Now that he looked closer, he could see the slight differences. Makaria’s face was a lot paler than Bianca’s, and her eyes, while mellow and half-lidded, were a solid black with no white or iris.
“You look a lot like our father,” he commented, because Bianca also got her looks from Hades. “Are you with Zagreus too?”
“I am,” she confirmed. She touched Phantasos, making the chain extend and coil on itself. “I am also your last chance at joining him of your own free will.”
“What?”
Makaria sighed and took his hand, helping him up.
“Zagreus grows ever more anxious. The Romans will reach the Greeks in a few days, and he needs you by his side by then,” she said. Nico shivered. “If I can’t convince you, he’ll bathe you in the Lethe, and have Dolos make you believe you have always followed him.”
“The god of Fraud?” Nico asks, eyes wide. “Just how many gods has he swayed?”
“Come with me,” Makaria said instead of answering. “Maybe once you see how things are, you’ll change your mind.”
Nico said nothing, just followed along, eager to get out of the cell. The chain around his ankle seemed to extend endlessly while still feeling like it was stretched taut.
Makaria guided him through a seemingly infinite number of corridors and stairs, until they reached an almost empty hall guarded by skeletons. Nico curiously peeked inside, watching a throne with a statue of his father in there.
“Look at that,” Makaria said. “He’s not an Olympian, but he’s still a slave to the divide. Lost in his own mind, unable to help or guide the world.”
Nico’s eyes widened at the words. The ‘statue’ changed it’s face slightly, looking slightly more severe, his outfit changing to. It happened for a few seconds before going back.
“When we take over, demigods will be united under the same banner,” she said. “We also plan on having gods be more involved in their demigod children’s lives, though the how is still in progress.”
“What will happen to them?” He asked, almost shyly. “To Father and the Olympians.”
“Zeus and some others will be thrown to Tartarus… poetic, in a way.” Makaria blinked slowly, Nico wasn’t sure if she was relishing on the punishment or trying to recall more. “The rest will be a case-by-case basis, but most of them will be turned into minor gods… Let them taste what they put their divine children through themselves.”
There was an edge to her voice that told Nico how personal it really was for her.
“Then what’s the difference? You’ll topple a tyranny to install a new one.”
“Things will be better,” she insisted walking along. Nico had half a mind to try and go another way, but the chain on his ankle reminded him any attempt would be short-lived. “Once we assume control, we can start making better conditions for gods, demigods, and mortals. The reason the Olympians treat demigods so poorly is their pact to stop being known to mortals stop them for better sources of praise.”
“Is that one of your changes? Doing away with the Mist and revealing the gods to mortals?” Nico couldn’t help but ask. There was so much that could go wrong with that path.
“Unfortunately, that would require too much diplomacy with other… gods,” Makaria said, though she looked like she wanted to say something else. “No, we plan on using the Oneiroi.”
She opened a big door that led to what looked like the inside an 80’s corporate office building, filled with cubicles holding all sorts of abstract shapes.
“The Oneiroi will bring us dreams relating to our domains, and they will work as praise for us,” she explained. One of the figures approached her and whispered something. “Tell Triton to be patient, we need to strike once we thin out the demigod ranks.” The shape became smaller, probably bowing, before going back to its cubicle. Makaria turned back to Nico. “Right now, we use them to give messages through dreams, but once Zagreus rises, they will offer demigods the freedom to not fight for their parents. Their only mission will be monster population control.”
Nico bit his lip, refraining from arguing. Something had just occurred to him from all this talk.
“But what does Zagreus offer you?” He asked.
“The gods that fight by his side—”
“I know from him what he offers them, but what did he offer you, Makaria?” Nico had his suspicions, but the idea in his mind required some confirmation. “I doubt someone like you would betray father unless the reward was worth it.”
Makaria looked at him strangely.
“I am very simple in my desires, brother,” she stated simply. “Like Triton or the Apollonides, I want to succeed my father. Zagreus has offered me to be Queen of the Underworld.”
Makaria's name-dropping made him bite his lip. More gods who were joining this grassroots movement, and that couldn't be good. Nico sighed and looked at her.
“I want to go back to my cell,” he said. Makaria looked disappointed.
“Didn’t manage to convince you, did I?” She asked.
“It’s not that,” he said reassuringly. Despite knowing who she was. Nico still got a feeling similar to being with Bianca. “After I’m back at my cell, can you call for Zagreus?”
“Does that mean you will help?”
“It means I want to see what kind of man he is,” he said carefully. “If he’s to become the king of all creation, I think the people under him should know what he’s like.”
Makaria nodded and clasped his hands.
“It’s a first step,” she said. “Follow Phantasos chain back, I’ll go call Zagreus!”
She left in a hurry. A few seconds later the chain started to tug at him, shortening and guiding him to the cell.
Nico walked calmly back.
Zagreus, just like Octavian before him, had given him an opening.
The metaphorical ball was now in the god’s court, and his answer would determine how things will go.
He barely had time to sit on the floor when Zagreus appeared, followed by a gaunt man with black hair and a smirk.
“Hello, Zagreus,” he greeted calmly, trying to not let his nerves show. “Who is with you today?”
Zagreus smiled pleasantly.
“I know enough about you to be wary of your parley, brother,” he said lightly as he made his throne appear. “Dolos here will tell me if you’re scheming something.”
Nico tried to keep his face emotionless while his mind raced a million miles per minute. Zagreus was far more intelligent than Octavian, and like him, he wouldn’t underestimate Nico just because he was weaker.
“Oh, and what does he gain from following you?” He asked conversationally to try and make time. “I’m sure he doesn’t wish to take over Erebus or Nyx.”
“Making time?” Dolos asked. His voice was a bit more nasal than he imagined, and he never stopped smirking. “This demigod is scheming, your majesty, your grace is wasted on one such as him.”
“Dolos here was born a daimon,” Zagreus answered, ignoring him. “A servant of his parents. He ascended as a god, but without his due tribute. He and his son will get that once I ascend the throne.”
Nico nodded.
“You need me,” he said simply. “Nike is out of commission, so I’ll be the only one able to tip the scales once you march on Olympus. You’re offering gods left and right blessings and power. You even offered godhood to Octavian.”
“Get to the point, Nico,” Zagreus said impatiently. “There’s something you want in exchange, isn’t it?”
Nico bit his lip to keep himself from smiling. Dolos narrowed his eyes.
“Percy Jackson and Jason Grace,” he said. “I want them alive.”
“That can be arranged,” Zagreus responded easily. “If you want multiple consorts, you can have them.”
Nico pursed his lips.
“I have one other request,” he continued. Zagreus nodded, only for Dolos to touch his arm.
“He’s taking you for a fool, my lord,” he said, smirking at Nico. “You shouldn’t trust what he says next.”
“He’s right, I am scheming something,” Nico said shamelessly. “And your answer to my request will tell us how this will go.”
Zagreus looked pensive for a few moments, probably trying to decide whether hearing him out would mean his victory. Nico looked at his nails, trying to appear as uninterested as possible.
“Give your condition,” he said at last. “If I agree, you’ll have to swear on the Styx to aid me. If not, there are other ways to get your cooperation.”
A threat, then. Play nice or be mind wiped. Nico nodded.
“It’s about the other demigods…”
So, here’s the thing about travelling as a group of about thirty minors (or girls that have been ‘minors’ for decades if not centuries), it’s not easy to get transportation.
Percy groaned as Thalia tried the now usual ‘we’re a scout organization and our troop is travelling the U.S.’ shtick for the third time that day. The main problem was that Thalia was also playing the responsible chaperone, since it would look suspicious for Percy (the actual person closest to eighteen) to lead a bunch of girls and just two guys (one of which was unconscious), and to be blunt she was terrible at it.
Her short hair and punk rock style simply did not convey an image of a reliable scoutmaster over eighteen, and many bus drivers had to be tricked with the Mist to let them go without informing the authorities.
The man nodded and pointed inside the building. To her credit, Thalia smiled and gave the man a firm handshake. The transaction finished, she returned to the group.
“He agreed to take us to Philly… tomorrow morning,” she said. The girls that had come with them cheered half-heartedly for their leader and went to their designated camping site.
“Well, at least Pittsburgh is nicer than I expected,” Jason commented. “We better get Percy to a secluded place before Annabeth does her daily call.”
Percy rolled his eyes.
“Try not to look like an excited golden retriever next time,” he said without heat. Jason’s cheek turned a deep red. Honestly, the idea that Jason had a crush on his ex-girlfriend provided endless opportunities for teasing. “You know, maybe I should teach you about a little thing called the bro code.”
“You aren’t teaching him shit,” Thalia said, glaring at him. “My little brother is pure and innocent, and he will stay that way unless you want Aegis embedded in your skull.”
“So violent,” he said, earning a chuckle from Jason. “You guys go on ahead, I’ll go buy some snacks for everyone.”
“And a keychain for Nico,” Jason finished, getting some revenge by embarrassing Percy back.
For the past three days he had been getting some souvenir or another from every city they rested at so the son of Hades would know where he had been. The truth was that, with each passing day, he got more and more anxious. What if Nico never awoke? What if Bianca ran out pomegranate seeds and Nico died before he could come back?
It was so nerve-wracking that he needed a distraction, any distraction, to keep his mind busy.
He had even tried to search for Nico in his own dreams. Kronos had once said that his parentage made it easy for him to slip into other people’s dreams even when they blocked him, but he hadn’t found Nico yet.
“That’ll be $83.49,” the cashier said. Percy gave her Nico’s black credit card and took the paper bags quickly.
He reached the camping grounds to see everyone running around.
“What’s going on?” He asked the nearest girl that was agitated, Agatha. She was so busy, she didn’t even glare at him like usual.
“It’s Bianca’s brother,” she said, annoyed. “She’s making us do a million tasks for him.”
“What do you mean?” He tried, but the girl was already gone.
Worried, Percy entered Bianca’s tent.
Jason and Thalia were already there, while Bianca was holding Nico’s head, who was tossing and turning, groaning in his sleep.
“What happened?” He asked, not even bothering to say hello.
“I was just giving him the seed for the day, but he threw it up and started squirming!” Bianca shouted. “Either he’s waking up, or something is seriously wrong wherever his consciousness is.”
Percy took Nico from Bianca’s arms and started rocking him, trying to calm him down.
“Come on, Nico, don’t do this to me!” He pleaded. “I’m going to be seriously pissed if you don’t come back before we can talk about what happened!”
Nico gasped and his eyes opened. He started heaving and looking around, confused until his eyes landed on Bianca.
“Mak… Bianca?” He asked, unsure. His sister just nodded, unable to talk. She hugged him, but Nico still looked around, lost. Percy noticed him glancing repeatedly at his ankle. “Where are we?”
“Pittsburgh,” Percy said, making the son of Hades notice him at last. “We’ll reach Eirene tomorrow.”
“Then we’re very short on time,” he said, distressed.
Before Percy could ask why, Annabeth’s voice directed his attention to the Iris message that appeared behind Bianca.
“Our scouts just sighted the Roman army! They just left New York City and are headed to Long Island!”
“Yes,” Nico said. Annabeth’s eyes widened as she noticed he was awake. “I met Octavian’s patron. The Romans will attack at sundown tomorrow.”