Chapter Text
“I’ll see about calling them,” Chiron said at Percy’s image on the rainbow. “They might be a little rowdier than usual, seeing the late hour.”
“Oh, goody…” Percy said, grimacing. “As if the Party Ponies aren’t rowdy enough normally.”
“Just be careful with Nico,” Annabeth butted in. “Tie him up to you if you must, but protect his body at all costs.”
“I know that, Wise Girl.” Percy rolled his eyes at her.
“It’s too important. There are children of Hypnos who suffered a scrape or a cut while dream walking, didn’t recognize their own body and couldn’t wake up,” Annabeth said. “Nico is too vulnerable in that state.”
“We’ll protect him,” Jason said, smushing Percy’s face so he could appear on the image. “Also, we kind of need information on where the Horae are.”
“The Horae are goddesses of the seasons,” Chiron said. “They prefer places where their respective season is strongest.”
“That won’t work, Homonoia said we need to bring all three together to make Eirene stable.” Percy pushed Jason aside to give himself breathing space. “Maybe we could call them in a place where all seasons are present?”
“It sounds like you need help from wilderness experts,” Annabeth said, smirking. Jason seemed to get it, as he paled and began fidgeting nervously.
“Grover?” Percy asked. “You know he’s way south of the continent looking for untouched wild areas. IMs don’t reach there. I guess if I tried with our bond…”
“Actually, I was thinking of the Hunters of Artemis,” she said. “If anyone knows of sacred nature reserves, it’s them.”
“Um, Annabeth I don’t know if you noticed, but we’re three dudes,” he pointed at Jason, below the image where she supposed Nico was, and at himself. “We’re not going to be well received.”
“You will when two of you happen to be their lieutenants’ brothers,” she pointed out. “The Party Ponies will know where to find them, right?”
“Unfortunately. They enjoy riling them up.” Chiron gave a deep sigh. “Let’s just hope the hunters are in a good mood.”
Annabeth bit her lip.
“Just be careful, and protect Nico.”
“We will.”
She saw Percy’s hand for half a second before the image dissolved. Chiron sighed again.
“I have a few calls to make.”
Annabeth wished she could be of more help to them. Her preparations were almost complete, but she was still needed for logistics and organization beyond that.
If only there was something she could do to help them on the quest.
“Maybe there is,” she said to herself, before going to the Athena cabin.
She had a few goddesses to read about.
Percy and Jason sat awkwardly on a bench near the parking lot of Harmont Carnival (which, now that he looked at the sign closely, the ‘T’ looked suspiciously like a ‘Y’ that had been worn down by age), waiting for the Party Ponies. Nico was sprawled across their laps, sleeping soundly.
“So,” Jason said, looking away from him. “How long have you and Nico… you know…”
Percy stared at him confused for about three seconds before he understood what Jason meant.
“Oh no, we… we’re not together.” Jason gave him an unimpressed stare. “I mean it! I like him and, I guess he likes me back but… it’s complicated.”
“Sounds very straight-forward to me,” he said, shrugging. “He kissed you, you kissed him back…”
“A couple of weeks ago, I thought I would be together forever with my girlfriend,” Percy explained, turning to look at Nico. “We broke up during our quest to save Nico and… it seems like it would be too soon.”
Jason hummed to show he listened. Percy sighed and started playing with Nico’s hair.
“I don’t want to lead him on, but I’m not even sure if that’s what I’m doing,” Percy muttered. “Because I do like him, I just don’t know if I’m ready for another relationship.”
“If you really want to clear things up, you need to talk to him,” Jason said. “Be honest with him. Tell him what you want and feel. Nico’s a smart guy, he’ll understand.”
“If I was 100% honest, it would be awful.” Percy chuckled to himself. “Because I want to be selfish, I want him to wait for me so I can be with him once I get over this.”
“Do it anyway,” he insisted. “The worst he can say is no.”
“No, the worst he can say is ‘you’re really self-centered, I don’t even want to be your friend anymore’.”
“Wow, I didn’t know you were so dramatic,” Jason said. He rolled his eyes. “Nico likes you, you think he’s the kind of person who abandons someone else when they’re not ready?”
Percy said nothing. Maybe, just maybe, he could hope. Nico was kind, smart, and cunning. He hadn’t said anything about his own attraction because he didn’t want to ruin their friendship. Percy had to believe he might be okay with him being honest.
A galloping sound, faint at first, began approaching them.
“They are here,” Percy said. “They are literal party animals, don’t accept food or drink, agree with anything they cheer for and hold on for dear life.”
Jason gulped.
“Anything else?”
Percy thought it over.
“They don’t use saddles. Your butt and thighs will get sore.”
Jason just grimaced. Percy couldn’t help but share the sentiment.
When Nico came to, he realized he still was dreaming, even if his consciousness felt sluggish and tired as if it was a body, there was a certain… otherness to being asleep that no mortal body could replicate.
He took note of his surroundings. The easiest way to describe them was being inside a cube. Four walls, all the same length and height, made of a black, smooth, marble-like material. On the floor was just a chain, bolted down and tied to his ankle.
He also noticed that all these thoughts stayed in his head now, rather than escaping through his mouth. Had something changed when he had been dragged to this cell?
“What is this place?”
“It surprises me you don’t recognize it,” A voice said. Nico looked around, but no one seemed to be around. “On your leg, young master.”
Nico looked down, realizing the sound came from the chain. If Morpheus and Phobetor were working under Octavian’s patron, then it made sense other Oneiroi would as well.
“Phantasos?” He asked dubiously. Another son of Hypnos, it was the Oneiros that presented itself as inanimate objects in dreams. “What do you mean I should recognize it?”
“For being cunning enough to know my name, the young master often misses the obvious,” the chain said, it rattled in a way that Nico supposed was meant to emulate laughing. “You should recognize this place because it’s your father’s realm.”
“I’m in the Underworld? Did…did I die?”
“Hah! If only it were so simple.” The chain rattled again. “Death and Sleep are siblings, and their domains are connected. It’s so easy for a dreamer to enter the underworld that it’s Father’s job to guide them back to their bodies… Too bad for you, he’s a bit occupied with himself.”
“The divide,” he said, more to himself than to Phantasos. “Why are you doing this? What is your goal?”
“That is for his majesty to explain,” Phantasos said. “My job is to bring you up to speed and keep your spirit tied down in this cell.”
“Am I up to speed now, then, or is there anything else I should know?” Nico asked, not meaning for his words to come out as sarcastically as they did. He needed the Oneiros’s information, after all.
“Oh, there’s a couple more things you should know,” Phantasos’s chain body moved around a bit. Nico couldn’t tell what kind of gesture he (it?) was trying to make. “That you are here, that there’s a war on both the god and demigod side, it’s all part of his majesty’s plan. I only ask that you hear him out, and understand our way of seeing things.”
“What kind of god would want all of this? A Primordial? A Titan? What do you win from this?”
“Purpose,” A new voice said. “What every living creature, mortal or divine, seeks.”
A square in the cell opened, letting in a teenager, about seventeen or so. He had black hair with ashen tips, and eyes so black no Iris could be seen. The purple chiton he was wearing showed a nasty scar where the shoulder met the arm, with a hint of an even bigger scar on his chest. The man gave him a small smirk as a chair appeared behind him. He sat like he owned the place.
Phantasos rattled again, this time it was a more subdued, almost reverent sound.
“Every god has a domain, a purpose,” he said. “And dividing the Olympians and other gods will do nothing towards that goal.”
“Ah, demigods, I always forget how ignorant you are of the real ways of the world.” The god chuckled. Nico was surprised, it actually sounded sincere. “Tell me, why do gods have children with mortals?”
“To keep their legends alive. To have champions, mortals who will fight for them,” Nico said. He wasn’t naïve enough to not know that.
“Yes! It’s your sharp mind that made me interested in you in the first place!” The god seemed delighted with his answer. “A lesser mind would have answered that the gods simply fall in love, or that they want to experience parenthood, but that couldn’t be further from the truth!”
Nico thought back to when his father connected with him back at the Altar of Victoria and at Camp Half-Blood. The gentle but firm voice that wanted to save him and gave him the means to have a weapon didn’t seem as utilitarian as this god suggested.
“Are you saying they don’t love their children, or their lovers?” He asked, curious.
“Oh, I’m sure most of them are fond of the mortals they lay with and grow fond of their half-breed spawn,” he said dismissively. “Gods have hearts and emotions, after all, despite pretending to be above it all. No, what I’m saying is that their birthing demigods is not done out of love for them, their human lovers, or even to protect humanity from monsters. They serve a purpose, and that’s why they can continue existing, even today.”
“And you believe you have none,” Nico surmised. The god smiled and nodded.
“Question number two, Nico,” he continued, her cheeriness now held a slight edge. “Why do gods have children with other gods?”
“…Huh?”
“Why do the Oneiroi exist, when Hypnos already controls every aspect of sleep?” On his ankle, Phantasos rattled sadly. “Why was Triton born? Just to be his father’s glorified gofer? Why are there so many Love gods, when Aphrodite should be enough, and having multiple gods of the same domain only divides the praise they need to thrive?”
“I… I don’t know,” Nico admitted.
“We are given titles like ‘Heir’ or ‘Herald’ to our parents, and given the scraps of their realms. Why? What’s the point of being an heir to someone who is immortal? We won’t ever succeed them! Unlike demigods we have no real purpose, yet we exist! How is that fair?!”
Phantasos was trembling on his ankle. Nico couldn’t tell if it was from fear or excitement at seeing his leader speaking so impassioned. He tried to think of which chthonic god would have this kind of bitterness but couldn’t think of any.
“You’re right, it doesn’t sound fair,” he said carefully. “But it sounds like you feel it’s especially unfair to you.”
The god gave a long breath and gave Nico a fragile smile.
“It is, brother,” he said sadly. Nico’s eyebrows shot up. “Imagine being born as the heir to the king of the gods himself. Being praised and beloved, only to be betrayed by the people you trust, being ripped apart, and left to rot, alone and forgotten.”
“You are…”
“Our Father is too kind, offering to revive me, but only my heart would still be Zeus’s son,” he said miserably. “I still don’t know why he and mother decided they wanted me. Maybe Father wanted to emulate the Olympians. He already has his throne room and palace that mirrors them, after all, so he wanted me to fill the role of heir.”
Nico looked closely, now that he was leaning away from the chair, he could see his chest wound more clearly. Like a pearly white cobweb that turned too dense where the heart was.
“Dionysus, they called the being that inherited my heart, while my mind and body were reborn as Hades and Persephone’s son. I was meant to rule, and ended up here, as the god of rebirth… as if that happened often enough to give me a purpose.”
“Zagreus,” Nico said, his voice breathless. Phantasos rattled quickly.
“You dare call his majesty by his name?! How dare you!”
“At ease,” Zagreus said. The chain stilled. “He’s my brother, after all, he has the right.”
“What is it you’re planning? What do you want from me?”
Zagreus taking him would have been only to keep him from the quest and prevent the gods uniting again. But he had explained himself to Nico, let him know his plight, which meant he wanted something from him.
“You figured it out, didn’t you?” Zagreus said, reading his expression. “I want to depose Zeus, and let a new, fairer generation of gods take over, and I want you by my side when it happens.”
Jason struggled to keep the carnival sweets down as he dismounted Kurt the centaur. From now on, he would never freak out at Nico’s Shadow Travel ever again.
He resisted the urge to hug the ground and kiss it, mainly because it would be rude, but also to keep the funnel cake Concordia gave them intact.
Thankfully, The South Florida chapter of the Party Ponies were familiar with Percy, and more than okay with getting them to the Hunters of Artemis (who apparently, were somewhere around Arizona), but when told not to get close enough to be in shooting range, Owen, Kurt, and at least six other centaurs were quite displeased.
“It’s so fun evading their arrows, though!” One of them had said when Percy asked them. “What happened, man? When did you stop being cool?”
“Trust me, I’d be right with you making sure no arrows hit me,” Percy had lied through his teeth. “But Nico can’t come to harm.”
The centaurs had accepted his explanation, but had made Percy promise they would ‘party like tomorrow would never come’ whenever he was on their territory again.
Jason understood Percy’s pleading look as a ‘remind me to never show my face in South Florida again’. Jason had nodded as subtly as he could.
“Thanks again Earl,” Percy said as he carefully untied Nico from the centaur’s back.
“Anytime, Dude!” The brunet centaur moved its horse body and turned around. “We better head back home. Birthday party tomorrow.”
“Sure, party extra hard for me.” How Percy could say that without cringing was a mystery for Jason, but the centaurs all whooped and cheered before galloping into the horizon. “They aren’t bad guys, but they are… a lot.”
Jason nodded carefully. He looked at the ground and noticed some sneaker prints on the dusty soil.
He idly wondered if they belonged to his sister.
“The hunters must be this way,” he said, pointing in the direction the prints led. He started walking, not waiting for Percy.
Should he just go and tell Thalia right away who he was? Annabeth seemed to think that was the best idea, but… maybe it would be best if he acted like he didn’t know her until she realized who he was. It would be scummy, but he didn’t know if he could bear his sister not remembering him.
“Halt!” A voice said. A girl about 10 or 11 had appeared in front of them, her bow drawn. “No men are allowed here.”
“Couldn’t you make an exception for us?” Percy said, waving awkwardly while holding Nico’s sleeping form on his back. “We’re demigods and—”
“No men allowed, no exceptions.” The girl said, eyes narrowing. “Just because our Lady is not here that doesn’t mean you can come here and break her rules.”
“You broke the rules a couple of weeks ago when you let us stay the night, though,” Percy muttered. The girl’s eyes widened and looked at him closely.
“Oh, it’s you,” she said, looking annoyed. “Wait here, I’ll go get Thalia.”
Jason felt a surge of panic at the name. Was he presentable? What should he say? Would she recognize him? What if—
“Tell Bianca too!” He called as she walked away. “Her brother needs help.”
The girl made a none-too-kind gesture with her hand as she walked away.
“Ready for a double sibling reunion?” Percy asked, grinning smugly.
“No,” Jason answered. He felt his knees trembling. “I’m really not.”
Percy was tapping his foot impatiently, waiting for Thalia and Bianca. Nico remained still, with only slow breaths to show he was still alive.
He wondered what Nico was dreaming about, where his consciousness was. He hoped it wasn’t anywhere bad, but he knew how dark and confusing demigod dreams could get.
Beside him, Jason was pacing, having turned into a nervous wreck not even a minute after the huntress had left. He kept muttering nonsense to himself, and Percy had given up on trying to calm him down after touching him made him jump against him and almost made him drop Nico.
“What happened to my brother?” Bianca’s voice reached him first, only to be followed by a running girl appearing from behind a rock and almost tackling him to the ground. “What did you do to him, Percy?”
“Nothing!” He said quickly, allowing Bianca to take Nico from him. Unfortunately, as he was a fifteen-year-old boy while she remained thirteen, the sleeping boy’s weight almost toppled her over. “He’s just sleeping, but it will be some time before he wakes up. Where’s Thalia?”
Jason emitted a very high and undignified ‘meep’ at the mention of his sister’s name. Percy just shrugged when Bianca looked at him for an explanation.
“She’s on her way. When Raven said my bother needed me, I just ran here as fast as I could.”
“Oh, I meant that in a more general way,” he said, giving a nervous laugh. “You see, we found out how to prevent the war, and when we went to South Florida—”
“We go from not seeing each other for like a year to twice in a month,” Thalia said, appearing from the same way Bianca had come. “I’m not complaining, but you have to admit it’s unusual, Kelp Head.”
“We’re living in unusual times?” Percy tried. Thalia looked at him unimpressed. “Yeah, but it’s not like your ‘boys have cooties’ club makes it easy to meet up.”
“Uh… Hi!” Jason finally said. Thalia turned to look at him, Jason waved his hand for a second before awkwardly putting it down.
“What’s up with blondie?” Thalia asked Percy. He just smiled, wondering how to break it to your cousin that your long-lost brother turned up.
“Well, you see— Ow!” Before he could talk further, he was elbowed by Jason
“We… um, that is to say I’m… kind of your brother?”
Thalia took a brief look at his eyes before sighing.
“Of course you are, the old man couldn’t keep it in his pants… again,” Thalia said. “Honestly what even was the point of the pact? So, what’s your name, O brother of mine?”
Jason looked crushed at Thalia’s words, but he just pressed his lips and looked at her directly.
“My name is Jason,” he said. Thalia’s eyes widened. “I don’t expect you to remember me, but—”
Thalia hugged him suddenly. Quite tightly, too, judging by Jason’s grunt.
“Let me look at you,” she said once they separated. She took his face in her hands and observed him closely. “How did I not recognize you? Your hair, your eyes… even that scar from when you tried to eat a stapler!”
“Bro, really?” Percy said, interrupting their moment. Jason and Thalia’s combined glare make him look away. He noticed Bianca had dropped to the ground and was caressing Nico’s hair softly, lost to the world.
“I was like two, I barely remember it,” Jason said, annoyed before turning back to his sister. “So you didn’t forget me?”
“I thought you were dead! When I came back, she said you—”
“As much as I’m happy for you guys,” Bianca interrupted. “The desert gets quite cold at night, and Nico is freezing. Maybe we can continue this at the campsite?”
At the mention of a resting place, Percy felt the fatigue from all he had done that day. The harpies, the carnival, the Party Ponies… even the movie had drained some energy from him. He knelt to pick up Nico again, much to Bianca’s displeasure. He just made a general motion as if to say ‘I can hold him easier.’
“That sounds like a great idea,” he said, showing a tired grin.
“Toppling the Olympians is… not doable,” Nico said. The words ‘insane’ and ‘a stupid idea’ crossed his mind, but his years with Octavian had taught him to never directly insult a captor to his face if he could help it. “The Giants tried and were defeated, more recently, Kronos tried and had his consciousness spread to the winds until it was nothing. Overthrowing Olympus is not possible.”
“It wasn’t possible for them,” Zagreus corrected. “You see, the Fates have some patterns that humans barely notice, but a studious god just might. Uranus was defeated by his son Kronos, and he himself was defeated and imprisoned by his son Zeus. If anyone is to defeat Zeus, it should be the son he chose as heir.”
“But you’re not his son anymore,” Nico said back, trying to conceal his annoyance at his childish logic. “Why would he fall to you?”
“Kronos had his brothers to help him, and Zeus needed his siblings to imprison their father. I, too, shall have my family by my side.” Zagreus leaned back on the chair, pleased. “New gods to emerge and replace the old guard. Triton, the Oneiroi, Phobos and Deimos, and many more have already pledged their loyalty to me.”
“They aren’t your siblings,” Nico said through gritted teeth. “Most of them are cousins, distant ones at that.”
“I have some siblings on my side, too,” he said. “Besides, the conflict between Romans and Greeks works for me on multiple levels. Gods are so confused they become sitting ducks, all while their main source of praise, demigods, rear up to kill each other. They are weak, more than ever.”
“Then why didn’t you try before?” Nico asked, tired of pretending to be respectful. He couldn’t believe he was talking to a god and not a bratty rebellious teenager. “There have been many civil wars and demigod conflicts before, why now?”
“A few of my supporters took a while to convince,” he admitted. “I didn’t have the numbers to stage an attack on Olympus, what with some gods not losing themselves, and I had to make sure that a certain group of gods don’t interfere.”
“Who?”
“They aren’t important in the grand scheme of things.” Zagreus waved his hand in dismissal. “But most of all, because I didn’t have you.”
“Me?” Nico asked, surprised. “What could you possibly need me for?”
“You, brother, are my victory,” Zagreus said, smiling brightly. “The power to tip the scales, to change the tides in our favor, that’s what I’ve been looking for for so long.”
“So, you need me to bless your troops,” Nico said, unimpressed. “How… mundane.”
“Yet it is a purpose all the same.” Zagreus’s voice had a hint of envy in it. “I told that half-baked Augur to rescue you, all so that you would eventually spark the conflict, and help me with my victory.”
“And why would I agree to join you?”
Zagreus’s smile turned a bit sad. Nico didn’t understand how Octavian could be under the thumb of someone who was so easy to read, god or not.
“Maria di Angelo.” The name made Nico freeze. He looked at Zagreus with wide eyes. “Zeus killed her, all because he’s a paranoid fool obsessed with power. And your story is not unique. Zeus and the Olympians have killed, raped, and manipulated mortals and gods alike for millennia for their benefit. Why would you want them to stay in power?”
Nico remained quiet. His first thoughts were of his kind, wonderful mamma, of how even with his memories back he has forgotten many details about her, how he only had her for ten years of his life because of a selfish megalomaniac. It wasn’t fair, so why did Zeus get to act like nothing happened? Nico and Bianca had lost their mother and Zeus got to walk away unscathed.
“My rule will benefit everyone.” Zagreus continued “Better ways of dealing with monsters, expediting reincarnation and punishment in the afterlife, with the possibility of redemption once they have atoned… future demigods living beyond their teen years in a way that doesn’t require them to hide away in a city with barriers.”
His next thought was that Zagreus was better than he gave him credit for.
“I don’t like Zeus remaining in power, but I’m a demigod. You know, the collateral damage to your plan.” Nico raised an eyebrow. “Your plan is to kill all the demigods and legacies to weaken the gods. Your promise of a future only applies to the children of the new gods.”
Zagreus looked genuinely regretful.
“You’re right. They are a necessary sacrifice in this war,” he said. “You, however, will ascend. You’ll become the new god of Victory, and my advisor. I have watched over your conversations with Octavian. That imbecile couldn’t keep up with you. I’ll honor my promise to him, too, but he’ll be a minor god at best, kept away from you.”
Nico’s expression turned incredulous.
“You think this is about me?” Nico exclaimed. “What you’re suggesting is akin to genocide!”
“All the casualties will be granted Elysium, or rebirth as one of the new demigods if they wish,” Zagreus said. “It’s the only way.”
“Then that's a way I want nothing to do with. I won’t ever join you.”
“You will.” Zagreus stood up. “You just need time to think about it.”
“I won’t change my mind!” Nico shouted, frustrated.
“You will if you want to save your little boyfriend.” He turned to look at him. “I’ll save him for you, turn him into a god, but only if you agree.”
“And if I don’t?”
Zagreus opened the cell and walked out.
“You’ll remain here, unwaking. Without you, their attempts to stop the war will fail, and the demigods will die anyway, including Percy Jackson. It won’t be the victory I wish for, but you will have nothing to return to.”
Zagreus’s words made Nico see red. Was this whole persona a façade? Was he as cold and calculating as Octavian or himself?
It didn’t matter. Right now, he only had two words for his godly brother.
“You bastard!”
“It’s me or oblivion, Nico. Your choice.”
The wall closed, leaving Nico trapped.