Brothers from another mother - A Hades and Percy Jackson crossover

Chapter 2 - It's complicated

'His godly parent is me. Nico is your half-brother.'

'Wait, what?!'

Zagreus exclaimed, stepping backwards a little in shock. Looking more closely at Nico's general death-y appearance, he supposed it made sense, but...

'I have a brother?'

'Why so surprised, boy? Did you think that you are my only child? You have many siblings.'

'I- I guess not. It's just, umm, surprising?'

Hades huffed, a puff of smoke escaping from his nostrils.

'Anyways, boy, I have a task for you.'

'OK? What is it?'

'Let me finish! You are to escort these two back to the surface world. It shouldn't be that difficult.'

'I... wait, but wouldn't that be dangerous? They're mortals, aren't they? I'm fine with dying, I just get stronger every time, but those two...'

Hades glared at him.

'Which is exactly why you will make sure that does not happen. Now, you are to leave at the earliest convenience. Am I clear?'

'Uh- I guess.'

He started to lead the pair to his room, but as they were walking away, Hades beckoned him back.

'And you are not, under any circumstances, to tell them anything that could give away your mission. Under any circumstances. We cannot afford to have those on Olympus finding anything out.'

'Yup.'

Hades nodded, and Zagreus jogged over to where the two boys where standing, next to his room.

'Hmm... Nyx isn't here today. That's alright.'

Nico visibly flinched at the mention of her name, and Will stiffened too, but the prince didn't think too much of it. They made it to Zagreus's room, and Will seemed to be absolutely blown away. He spent a full two minutes gazing at the Mirror of Night, and then ran (well. speedwalked with a slight limp) over to the weights and tried to lift them, very unsuccessfully. He plopped down onto the floor with an oomph, making Nico laugh. Then he looked at Zagreus.

'So, how are you supposed to escort us out of here?'

'Well... Father probably wants me to escort you because I already escape on a regular basis. It's my job, really. The underworld is supposed to be pretty much impossible to leave from down here, but we all know that's not the case. So I fight my way out on the regular, and it helps uncover faulty security measures as well as combatting boredom. This place is always changing, but I know it like the back of my hand.'

'Ohhh. Ok. That makes sense.'

'Yup. Come on.'

They left Zagreus's room, entering the armory. Will was, once again, blown away. Skelly tilted his head at them.

'Hey, boyo, I see you've brought friends with you this time! Pretty neat, it's a shame they'll probably die!'

Zagreus shook his head and turned to Will and Nico, who were both gawking at the Infernal Arms. Even to demigods, the huge weapons that glowed with ghostly purplish-red light were an impressive sight to behold.

'Yeah... so, do you guys have weapons, or...? I don't know if you can use those, cause... well, they're literally weapons with godly power... so it might be a problem for you mortals.'

In response, Nico pulled out a blade from the sheath on his waist, glowing with a soft purple light. Will produced a bow off of his back, and turned around, revealing a full quiver of arrows.

How did I not notice those before? Oh well.

'Ok, so that's one problem solved... now here are my keepsakes. Chances are, they'll help you survive a bit longer. Pick any one you like, and I'll tell you what it does.'

Will held up the Lambent Plume, and Nico selected the Pierced Butterfly.

'Will, yours makes you go faster.. And Nico, yours makes you stronger over time.'

They seemed satisfied with these choices, so Zagreus took the Old Spiked Collar and fixed it to his wrist. Then he took out his codex and sat down. 

'If we want you two to survive, you're gonna have to know about all the monsters. I know you probably think you know about most things down here, but trust me, there's things you don't. So study up, and then we can go.'

Timeskip sponsored by Nico hitting Will over the head with a book

Once they were done with that, they walked over to the gate. He ignored the Pact of Punishment - the terms were fine for him to deal with, but he was immortal. The boys would most certainly not fare so well.

'Here is the easiest part. You just jump off of the edge. It's a pretty long drop, but as long as you stick the landing you should be fine. Ready?'

Nico nodded, and so did Will. Zagreus noticed that Nico grabbed Will's hand and squeezed it reassuringly.

And then they jumped.

Landing with a thud in the first chamber of the Underworld, the boys stumbled a bit but were otherwise fine. They were immediately on alert, and pointed their weapons at the glowing green orb in the center of the path.

'Woah, woah, woah, don't worry! That's just Artemis.'

They slowly lowered their weapons. Nico eyed the orb skeptically, raising an eyebrow. He didn't sheath his blade. 

'That's Artemis? As in Artemis, god of the hunt? Or are we talking about different people.'

'Nope, same Artemis. Well, yes and no, actually. See, the gods give me their blessings whenever I go on one of my escape attempts, and these little orbs are how they communicate with me. They can't actually hear or see me... most of the time... but they can track my progress.'

'That... okay.'

'Just watch.'

Zagreus stepped forward, touching the orb gently.

'Olympus, I accept this message!'

It glowed brighter, then disappeared, replaced by a ghostly version of Artemis. She blinked at him.

'You must have a friend or two, don't you? It's hard being alone all of the time. At least I have Callisto and the other nymphs, and... I have you! A distant friend is still a friend, isn't that right?'

He was then presented with a choice of three boons, and selected Support Fire. Artemis nodded, then disappeared, and two Wretched Louts took her place. Zagreus slashed at one, and a bright green arrow appeared, firing and hitting the second in the stomach. Both monsters were reduced to a pile of ash, a few obol glinting on the ground where they had just been.

'Oh. So that's how that works. That's pretty neat, I guess.'

Then, both the Lambent Plume and Pierced Butterfly glowed and made chiming noises, and the boys jumped. 

'What was that?!'

Zagreus laughed.

'That's just them, um, leveling up!'

'Leveling up?'

'I told you, they get stronger over time. Every chamber we get through without getting hit, they'll get a little bit better, and once we reach the end they'll be really good.'

'Ohh. Cool'

Will stared at the plume for a couple of seconds, before closing his eyes and opening them again with a determined light that wasn't there before.

'Then let's get going!'

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