Chaos Rising |BOOK 2| Harry Potter x PJO |Alexandra Marine|

NICO DI ANGELO

"This could be too much to handle, Father."

I turned around. 

The court of Hades is an incredibly large and dark place, but everything was laced with gold. 

At the very epicenter sat my father. To his sides were Melinoe and Macaria, my half-sisters who also happened to be goddesses.

Dad massaged his temples. He didn't look normal. 

I mean, he never looked normal, per se, but he had his own fashion sense with posh tuxedos and a whole thing going on.

"Dad," I called, walking to him.

Hades looked up. "Nico, my son," he said. 

His dark eyes were clouded grey, and his chiseled jaw was covered white by his long beard. The souls that howled in his long cloaks seemed to be stronger, and they moved from corner to corner, almost escaping.

"What- what happened?" I asked, thunderstruck. 

Melinoe threw me a nasty look. "How would you know? Having fun in the mortal world-"

"Say one more thing, sister," I said coolly, "and I won't even try to offer help. Remember, it's always the gods who need heroes."

She shut up at once.

"So, tell me, Dad," I said again, looking him in the eye fiercely, "what happened?"

"I'll show you," Macaria said, fuming. She took my hand in her pale arms and took me along with her, the black cloak that draped she'd draped on her shoulders dragging behind her. "Ever since you left," she said, "things have become incredibly strange."

"Damn, I'm that important?" I asked, feeling a little proud of myself. "Did the count limit exceed? Did the number- what the heck?"

I was superbly dumbfounded by what I saw next. 

"The Fields of Asphodel aren't empty any time of the year," Macaria nodded. "I know."

"Bu-wha-bu-" I blabbered a little more in honor of my awesome astonishment. "But why?"

"We didn't realize they were going missing for quite a while," Melinoe said, catching up with us. "But then the numbers began to decrease drastically- and well- I think it's best to-"

I took a step back. "Did you hear that?"

"Of course we did," Melinoe said. "That's the problem."

She pointed to the pit of Tartarus, which had started to hum loudly.

I swallowed. "Macaria, what is that?"

Macaria's pale face paled even more. "He's growing stronger."

The wind rushed through my hair. 

Macaria held me back with all the brute force she had as I flew towards the pit uncontrollably. 

 I watched with squinted eyes as spirits soared into the air at the speed of light and joined the whirlwind that led deep into the deadly place.

"Help them!" I yelled at Melinoe.

"You think I haven't tried? You think Dad hasn't tried?" Melinoe yelled back at me, but her voice was barely a whisper compared to Tartarus' hum. "We can't touch the spirits, and they get attracted to it like iron nails to a magnet."

The humming came to a stop, and Macaria let go of me so suddenly that I almost fell. 

"Did you tell Hazel?" I asked, patting the dust off my clothes.