Death and Madness 2

I need to get a HephaestusTV subscription

Nico took my hand in his. 

"The Olympians need you, Father. They don't like admitting it but they do"

I finished my cereal and gave Demeter a thumbs up as the bowl vanished from my hands. If I ever got the offer to be turned into a god, I'd take it without a second thought. All this magic in the snap of your fingers? Count me the fuck in.

"And what have they done for me?" Hades sounded less like a god now and more like a toddler throwing a temper tantrum. 

"Families are messy" I sighed, squeezing Nico's hand tighter. "I get it. We, demigods, of all the people, get it. But this is so much bigger than you or Zeus or your stupid pact that the two of them didn't hold up. The Olympians are too busy fighting Typhon, by the time they realize it's Manhattan actually in danger, it'll be too late. You three are the only ones who can do something about this."

Hades shook his head. "What do you expect me to do?"

"Fight with us, father" Nico pleaded. As emo as he pretended to be, he was first and foremost an optimist. Nico believed in people. He believed in Percy, he believed in his sister, he believed in Minos who let him down, he believed in me. And Fuck it if Hades thought I'd let someone else let Nico down again. "You need to prioritize your list of enemies. Deal with Kronos first... Olympians later."

"He's right, you know" Demeter spoke up again, "And his little situationship or whatever they have going on..."

I flushed a deep violet and let go of Nico's hand while he stared at the walls, desperate not to look at me either.

"The Olympians... our brothers and sisters, they have their fair share of problems. But they're our brothers and sisters." Demeter waved her hand. Though she looked bored, she went on, "And think about it, you'd never get to argue with Zeus or Poseidon again, Hermes would never get to help you film a prank on either of them, Hephaestus won't be able to upload a video of Poseidon getting jumpscared. Aphrodite won't gush about your marriage. You won't get to tease Hera about Zeus ever again. Dionysus won't help you choose a bottle of wine for date night and you won't be able to rewatch that match between Poseidon's boy and Ares, and don't even argue with me because I know you have that video saved from when it was uploaded on HephaestusTV"

Damn, who knew goddesses of agriculture were so good at pep talks, because it seemed to be working. 

But the only thing I could think of was-

"You have Poseidon getting jumpscared on camera?" I blurted. 

"He turned into a merman" Hades recalled, fondness softening his features. "He caused a storm so bad the humans declared it as a red alert. It was hilarious"

"Ah, you guys have the no-one-is-allowed-to-annoy-my-siblings-except-me thing too?" I snorted. The gods were actually hilarious. I wish I had subscription to HephaestusTV now. "And for date nights..." I wiggled my eyebrows at Hades and Persephone, "Might I suggest, rose wine?"

The Queen of the Underworld perked up. She clapped her hands, "Nico, if you don't end up with them, I'm disowning you"

Nico turned redder than Apollo's sacred cattle. I tried my best not to blush even more. 

I cleared my throat, "Uh-"

"The point is, father" Nico picked up. "Family. The point has always been family. Whether it's one you find or the one you are born with" He looked at me.

Shit, did I just get family-zoned??

I pushed down my embarrassment, this was really not the time to focus on my love-life or lack thereof. "Also, you could be named the savior of Olympus and you can hold it over their heads forever"