Chapter Text
Nico wasn’t entirely sure how he got talked into this. For the past few capture the flag games he had sat out despite everyone – mainly Jason – trying to get him to play. Perhaps it was the rarity of having all five demigod children of the Big Three in Camp at the same time. Or maybe it was that he couldn’t deny the combined force of Jason and Hazel. Either way, Nico was going to play capture the flag.
The teams were clear cut: Percy, Jason, Thalia, Hazel, and himself vs literally everyone else.
“Everyone agree to this plan?” Thalia asked, giving Percy a stern glare.
“I’ll stick to my position”, he groaned in reply.
Everyone else nodded. Jason then flew up into a tree and hung their flag on a bare branch, while Hazel worked her mist-magic to create an illusion. Nico blinked as duplicates of the flag suddenly appeared in another dozen trees.
“You’re good”, Thalia commented.
“If they send Lou Ellen, she’ll see through this.”
“As long as it buys us time.”
“My turn”, Nico grinned as he called forth the fallen souls buried beneath snow and ground. The small army turned to him, eye sockets flickering with ghostly light. “Guard the flag, and follow Hazel’s orders.”
“We’re not outnumbered now.”
“But Annabeth will be expecting the skeleton army.”
“There’s nothing we can do that she won’t expect.”
“Stop bragging about your girlfriend, Percy. We need to get going.”
Jason smirked at them before taking to the skies. Percy and Thalia left next, both disappearing into the white-covered forest. Finally, his sister turned to him with a warm grin.
“Good luck, Nico.”
“You too, Sis.”
Then Nico sank into the familiar embrace of shadows. He reappeared across the creek in enemy territory and kept to shadows of the trees so he wouldn’t be spotted. Jason appeared just above the bare canopy a few moments later and made a swoop at the opponent team’s flag. However, a shower of arrows from what must have been from the entire Apollo cabin kept him from getting close enough to steal it.
While everyone was still focused on Jason, Thalia rushed out of the forest. Her speed was unnaturally quick like the wind was at her back (and perhaps it was, Jason had mentioned wanting to help his sister with her fear of heights). Electricity sparked off her fingertips as she knocked the two flag guards off their feet. She climbed Zeus’s fist and grabbed the grey flag. Looking down from the boulder, Thalia grimaced and took a deep breath. Then she jumped.
A current of wind cushioned her fall, allowing her to hit the ground running. However, the flag guards were back on their feet and calling for backup. A half dozen grey-eyed Athena kids and a few golden haired Apollo kids soon blocked Thalia’s path.
That is until skeletons rose from the earth and began attacking. The opposing team’s organization was quickly lost in the ensuing scuffle. Nico flashed a grin as he stepped out of the shadows.
Thalia noticed him, an almost predatory thrill dancing across her face. It was the face of a hunter enjoying the chase. Nico briefly wondered if Bianca would have worn a similar expression had she lived as a Hunter long enough but shook off such thoughts. He needed to focus on the game.
Thalia had changed course to meet him, dodging through the bony brawl. She jumped over an Athena boy – Malcom – just as he cut down a skeleton. Nico readied for shadow-travel the moment the flag was passed off to him.
A weight suddenly slammed into his side. Nico was knocked over into the brushes, a flash of pain shooting through his ankle.
“Oh no you don’t!” Annabeth’s voice rang in his ear.
Nico struggled to push her off but it was hard to escape someone invisible. His knuckles flew against what must have been her nose. The hit knocked off her cap, letting him see her steely grey eyes and blood trickling down her face. Before Nico could take advantage of the opening, two of Annabeth’s siblings came to her aid and helped pin him down.
From the corner of his vision, Nico saw Thalia dart off into the woods. He stopped struggling and rested against the frosted ground.
Team Big Three won in the end. His undead warriors and Jason had kept the other team off Thalia’s tail, allowing her to cross the creek. Percy had managed to hold off the entire Ares cabin in his watery domain, while the rest of his skeleton guards kept a group of Hephaestus kids occupied. Hazel had done her part in keeping their flag out of the hands of some Hermes and Hecate kids that snuck through their lines.
Now Nico stood at the outskirts of the campfire, where the flickering light faded into night. He watched as the campers roasted marshmallows. Annabeth, currently snuggled up to her boyfriend, sported a broken nose courtesy of him. Nico didn’t feel the least bit guilty; after all, he hadn’t come out of their scuffle unscratched either. Clovis was slumped across a bench asleep, while Butch was stuffing marshmallows in his mouth at the encouragement of the Stoll brothers. Cecil and Lou Ellen were reenacting their attempt to steal the flag from Hazel. One of the Apollo kids started singing, a few of her siblings soon joining in. There weren’t many Ares kids since half their cabin was confined to the infirmary. Maybe one day they’d realize fighting the son of Poseidon near water was a terrible idea. Maybe.
“S’more?”
Hazel held out the treat to him with a soft smile and eyes flickering gold in the firelight. Unlike earlier today, his sister was bundled in a jacket much too big for her. Realizing it was Frank’s jacket, Nico snorted.
“Thanks.”
Shifting his weight as he reached for the s’more turned out to be a mistake. His ankle protested; and, he lost his balance. However, before he could fall Hazel’s arm looped around his waist and steadied him.
“Nico, are you okay?”
“Sprained ankle”, he shrugged.
“And you haven’t gone to the infirmary.”
“Wi-”, he replied, “They’re busy.”
Her glare reminded him of how Bianca used to sternly stare at him when he refused to listen to her. Sisters were like that he supposed.
“Well, you’re going now.”
Nico didn’t have much of a choice. Hazel was strong and had no problem practically dragging him there. Someone inside must have seen them coming because the door opened as they reached the porch, letting more light pour out into the night. That someone turned out to be Will Solace: the annoying son of Apollo that for some strange reason had made it his personal mission to doctor Nico after the battle with Gaea. His sky blue eyes glanced down Nico as if diagnosing him on sight. Nico tried to hide his limp.
“You hurt your foot”, Will frowned, “You should have come right after the game.”
“He thought you would be too busy”, Hazel answered before Nico had a chance to stop her.
“I’m never too busy”, Will replied, looking mildly offended, “And your brother needs to learn self-preservation.”
Nico rolled his eyes, “I’m standing right here.”
Will ushered them inside and then ran off to get supplies. The injured campers and their visiting friends paid little attention to the new arrivals as Hazel helped settle him on the edge of a cot. Nico kissed her cheek in thanks.
“You two are the most adorable siblings in camp”, Will said as he walked up with bandages and medicine in hand. His grin was annoyingly bright and sunny. “Just don’t tell my siblings I said that.”
“Whatever.”
Will had him prop his foot up on a stool and take off his shoe. Nico tried not to fidget but it was hard not to with warm fingers brushing across his skin. At one point, Will’s sun-kissed hair fell in his very blue eyes and freckled face. Nico pointedly looked at the wall.
“Since you’re here, do you need any more-”
“I’m fine. I still have enough for another few nights, if I need it.”
Will muttered under his breath, “I don’t know if I should be glad or worried that you’re not using it as much as I thought you would…”
Nico saw no reason to reply so kept quiet. Hazel caught his eye with a sympathetic yet strained smile. Sharing the Hades Cabin whenever she visited meant that she knew better than anyone how Tartarus haunted his dreams. The nightmares were persistent enough that he’d been in a constant state of sleep deprivation until Will had given him medicine to force sleep.
“And done!” Will declared, flashing him another sunny smile, “Keep your weight off that foot and sleep with it propped up for the next two days. Doctor’s orders.”
Nico cracked a thin smile, “Thanks, Solace.”
“Try not to get hurt again, di Angelo.”
Hazel then offered her hand and pulled him up once he took it, “Want to go back to the campfire or our cabin?”
“I want that s’more I never got the chance to eat”, he felt his smile widening. It was a nice feeling. “And then our cabin.”
Fire burned down his throat, through his veins. The dark, slimy ground beneath his feet pulsed with the heartbeat of this living thing-place. The sharp threats of monsters circled around like vultures waiting for him to fall. Nico took another wary step into hell, while the river of misery echoed in his ears. The wail of a banshee he could not escape.
Give up. No one cares about you. You scare other demigods. You don’t belong in New Rome. Even your sister left you. For the Hunters and then for a new life.
Nico wanted to give up. To lay down. To curl in on himself. But he couldn’t. He had to find the Doors of Death. For Perc-
Percy will never love you. Percy doesn’t trust you. Percy hates you.
Nico stumbled to the ground, shards of obsidian digging through his pants and scratching against his knees. It hurt to move. It hurt breathe. He needed a light to cling to, some reason to survive this god forsaken place. The image of curly cinnamon brown hair and warm golden eyes came to mind.
You’ll fail. You’ll lose her like you lost Bianc-
“Shut up!”
The scene suddenly shifted. The sky was clear, stars filling the dark in the way only seen far from modern civilization. Red flowers – poppies, Nico recognized – bloomed as far as he could see. A cold presence, comforting in its familiarity, appeared next to him. Nico turned to see the Lord of the Underworld.
“Father?”
While this was much preferable to dreaming about Tartarus, Nico doubted his father had appeared just to interrupt a nightmare.
“Nico, I have a task for you and your sister”, Hades replied as if reading his thoughts, “While I was in Olympus on the Solstice, someone stole water from the River Lethe.”
“Why would someone want Lethe water?”
If Hades heard the tinge of bitterness in Nico’s voice, he didn’t show any response to it.
“I have my suspicions…”, Hades murmured before replying in a louder tone, “It’s dangerous for that water to be in the mortal world. I do not trust anyone but my children to retrieve it.”
Nico nodded before sitting down, “Right.”
Dream it may be, it was relaxing to be with his father like this. Sure, Nico thought as a yawn escaped him, the field of poppy flowers was a bit strange but it was pleasant.
“Rest. I know you haven’t been getting enough.”
His father’s voice was warmer than usual, lulling Nico with a sense of peacefulness. For this one night at least, he knew that he wouldn’t have to worry about any more nightmares.
Nico woke with a sudden alertness, the memory of his father’s visit still vivid in his mind. He sat up in bed and fumbled to turn the torch-lamps on. Soft green lit the room just enough for him to see. At the same time, the curtain separating Hazel’s claimed space from the rest of the cabin slid open. His sister peaked out. From her expression, Nico could tell that she’d had a very similar dream-visit from their father.
Nico wasn’t exactly thrilled. After going through literal hell, being captured, and then nearly dying (again) to get the Athena Parthenos halfway across the world, he thought he deserved a nice long break from quests. However, his father was right. It was too dangerous for some unknown to have water from that river.
“Looks like we’re going on a quest.”