Chapter Text
The idea that someone or something is born good or evil is one of the biggest myths ever told. The truth is that the choices that we make in our life, who we choose to be, is what we become. Our choices decide our destiny. However Fate cannot be avoided. Throughout history, anyone who meddled with the dark arts or anything related to the underworld was fated to die a miserable and painful death. But not all of them were bad people. However any trace of their good deeds was overshadowed by the fact that they practiced things that were told to be evil and destructive. Their stories were burned from the history books and replaced with stories told by those who were in power.
With that, history began to repeat itself. With no trace of any good coming from those who wielded powers of the underworld, people who practiced the arts were thought of as monsters and demons. And so they would die over, and over, over again.
The cycle will never end.
“This place is amazing!” Hazel gasped in awe. Her half brother silently chuckled at her enthusiasm.
“It’s not that great.” Nico replied as he took a random book from one of the shelf’s and dusted it off. “It’s just a library.”
Honestly on the inside Nico was just as in awe as Hazel. This wasn’t any ordinary library. This was a secret vault stored in the depths of the underworld, created by the death gods of different Pantheon’s. It was a library of different stories, records, and weapons used throughout history, each with a connection to the underworld. The vault was endless, each room filled with a maze of bookshelves and weapons.
Nico shook his head, trying to stay on task. “Alright let’s get this over with. The artifact we’re looking for is Fathers Bident.”
Hazel nodded but she looked slightly confused. “But why does he need it? Why now instead of during the war?” Nico froze for a moment before resuming his search.
“I’m not sure. But after two wars where the world almost ended, I’m guessing that he’s not taking any chances.”
It was a lie, Hazel could easily tell. But she let it be. If Nico thought that she didn’t need to know then there was no point pushing the subject. She instead went to help, surveying the walls and looking in the chest for any sign of the weapon.
They found helmets, swords, enchanted armor, and old potions. But after hours of searching, they still couldn’t find the Bident.
Nico tisked, the Bident nowhere in sight. “Alright we need to split up. You go left and all go right, we’ll meet up back in this room if we find anything.” Hazel nodded. And with that the search began.
Nico traveled down the twisting halls, searching every room. Digging through chests and weapons stands, only to come up empty handed.
First room, nothing.
Second room, weird hybrid monster. Still no Bident.
Seventeenth room, nothing but books.
After the 27th room he felt himself become exhausted. The amount of dark energy and death this place was admitting was starting to wear him out. He was about to go find Hazel when an idea hit him. As a son of Hades he could search souls and detect aura. Though it took up a lot of energy, usually making Nico pass out. But with an endless amount of rooms to search, he didn’t have any other ideas. “Couldn’t hurt to try” he mumbled to himself.
The son of Hades closed his eyes and began to concentrate. The shadows coiled around him, aiding him more power. For a few minutes there was nothing but a muddle of black aura. But then he saw a speck of red, rippling through the air like smoke from an incense stick. His eyes snapped open. Finally some progress.
He ran toward the source, focusing on the red aura and using the trail of the red smoke like a GPS. The red smoke led into three rooms, shielded from view by three large jade doors. Nico stopped in his tracks, frozen.
The first door on the left was green jade with blood red vines outlining the hinges. At the center was a maroon simbol. The lines that made it were jagged, almost angry looking. The symbol looked like it could be either a small flame or a raging monster.
The second door on the right was made of white jade with golden hinges. The very bottom was crimson red and faded up to make a Lilly pattern, and then fading completely at the top half, making it pure white.
And the last door in the middle was made of a swirl of white, blue, and red jade, creating a cloud light pattern across the entire door. The hinges were black with red lotus’s at the ends, a replica of the lotuses found at the center of the door. It was placed over a cloud design only made of white and blue jade.
While each door was beautiful, Nico didn’t move. He could feel immense power radiating from behind the doors. The raw power he felt….It was intoxicating. The mortal part of him screamed for him to run. But the demigod in him, the hades in him, was drawlin to it. A fire ignited within him, burning with the desire for power. In that moment he felt himself drawn to become the things he feared to become. Power hungry. Overwhelmed by darkness. Monstrous.
It scared him.
But he couldn’t move. He froze in fear and excitement before the doors, unable to run away. Even though there was a wide hallway behind him, he felt like a cornered animal.
Time seemed to stop and the world went silent. All Nico could see was the red aura, the doors fading out of existence. The aura called to him, gently grabbing one of his hands and guided him forward to the middle door. He didn’t resist. He let it pull him along closer to the red aura. The mission to find the Bident became nothing but a memory.
He didn’t notice the door opening on its own.
He didn’t hear the echoes of Hazel's voice calling out his name.
He didn’t notice the doors closing behind him.
Curiosity, earning, and hunger for power was all he knew. All he felt. The red aura became bigger and bigger until he was in the center of it. It surrounded him, drowning him in red. It talked to him, a warm voice echoing throughout his entire being.
"Who are you?"
Nico Di Angelo.
'Who hurt you?"
Too many people.
"What do you want?"
I don’t know.
"Are You Lost?"
Yes.
The voice seemed to hum in consideration, confliction clear in their voice. Suddenly, they let out a breathless chuckle. “It would be quite cruel of me to send you away, back to that miserable life of yours. Fine then. I will allow you into this room. The content’s this room holds may help you find what it is you want. If you find out what it is, I might help you mortal. Good luck.”
The red began to fade, a blinding white taking its place. His eyes widened. Where was it going? Make it come back. Come back. Come back! COME BAC-
His eyes snapped open, eyes wide in fear and confusion. Instead of the blinding white, he now laid on a concrete ground, the glow of candles lighting a dark sky. He blinked, baffled.
“Where in the Hades am I?”