𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐋𝐃 𝐌𝐔𝐒𝐓 𝐅𝐀𝐋𝐋

꧁𝐍𝐈𝐂𝐎 𝐜𝐡𝟒𝟕꧂

Nico

I sat bolt upright, hands reaching for the sides of my bed, trying to grip onto some kind of reality.
"No, no, no, no, no." I muttered, shaking my head.

Bianca. Bianca was in Tartarus.

And in order to get her to freedom, I had to take orders from... him.

Kronos.

How? How? I had so many questions. How was he fully formed? How could my father not notice, that my sister was snatched, on her way to the normal life she deserved? How were all those monsters fully formed? How... how?

"Dude!! You okay!?" I blinked. I was in my cabin. It was exactly how I left it. My clothes were strewn all over the floor, the black vase I broke still in shards in the corner of the room, all the books left crumpled at the end of my bed. I noticed a pile of food on one of the CHB plates on my bedside table. It had all the food I liked, plus some vitamins.

"Uh, Will?" I said, awkwardly. He was sitting on a chair beside my bed, holding out a glass of water. I took the glass and began to drink.
"You, uh, missed dinner," he said. "You okay? You were, um, screaming in your sleep." I choked on my water. Great going, di Angelo, I told myself sarcastically.

"It's fine. I'm totally fine. Great! Thanks!" I smiled. Okay, the smile was way too much. Will furrowed his brow. I suddenly remembered something. Something had happened before I passed out, I couldn't place it though-

"Apologies, but I, shockingly do not believe you. Was it a demigod dream? Tartarus? Shoot, sorry I shouldn't ask about that-" he apologised instantly.

"Funny. It was both actually."

I didn't actually say that though. Duh.

"No, no. Nothing."
"You sure?" he pressed.
I opened my mouth. This must be our little secret, yes? No telling your little friends. I closed it. Bianca's soul was at risk here.
"Nah, I don't really remember my dream. If I- If I even dreamed at all!" I added. I began to climb out of bed.

"Don't ever be an actor," I heard Will mutter.
"Huh?"
"Don't worry. Hey, uh, I wanted to talk to you about-"
"Sorry. Have to go." I interrupted.
"Where?" he frowned.
"On a walk, I'll go help clean up at dinner, since I wasn't there."
Will laughed. "At 11pm?"
I blinked. "That's the time?"
"Yeah. Chiron said I could check on you, make sure you were okay, once I told him you passed out."
"Oh. Thanks. I think- I think I just need some air though."

"Nico-" he said, but I was already closing the cabin door behind me.

_____________

It was cold. I was still wearing the outfit that I had on from after capture the flag, hours ago. I retied the laces on my sneakers, and pulled up the hood of my hoodie, shoving my hands in the pocket.

The walk to the dining pavilion was a short blur. Normally, if you were out this late, the harpies could get you. Harpies were the least of my concerns.

When I arrived, I relit the fire in silence. Before I left the cabin, I'd snatched a cereal bar and shoved it into my pocket, which I'd left on the side table. After lighting the fire, I peeled off the wrapper. I hoped my dad isn't allergic to nuts. Or dairy. It was also chocolate flavoured.

Never mind, Gods can't get allergic. Stupid thought.

I dropped it into the fire. "Hades, please accept my offering. I'm - uh- sorry it's late. Sorry it's not much. I'm not sure if you like cereal bars anyway. But I need to talk to you, it's urgent." Nothing happened.
I barked out a croaky laugh. "What did I expect. Of course you're not listening," I said, more bitterly than intended.

"I'm always listening, son." a voice said. I turned, and gasped. There he was, my father, in the flesh, for once. I had the irrational urge to throw a party.
"Dad?" I breathed.
"Nature Valley bars. Good choice, they taste good," he said, and I blinked.
"Oh-kay. I'm surprised you came."
"The only thing that stops us from aiding our children - those of us that care about our children - is the ancient laws. The only ones that actually enforce that is Zeus and the Fates. Zeus is preoccupied with a meeting on Olympus, and the fates have not acted upon this in decades, where the only reason to act was too much guidance. I'm sure they can allow a short conversation."
"Oh, good. Cool. Thanks. Uh Dad, I need to talk to you  about Bianca-" But my father just sighed.
"I'm sorry Nico. I know it may be difficult some times, but for years she has-"
"Yeah, yeah. I know. But, did you ever double check she left for rebirth?"
"What do you mean?" he frowned. "I spoke to her before she left Elysium, wished her luck in her next life, congratulated and thanked her. This was years ago, son."
"But, after she left Elysium. In order for one to be reborn, they must go to the river lethe, to lose their memories. Then, they can travel to the world above, as someone else."
"I am familiar with the process. I am the God of the underworld," Hades said, raising an eyebrow.
"Yes. Sorry. But, did anyone see her after she left Elysium? As in, on her way to the Lethe?"

"You sound worried, son. I can place a few calls, I will get back to you soon."
"Thank you father."
And then the God of the Underworld melted into the night, before I could even open my mouth to say goodbye.

_____________

It was freezing cold when I put the fire out. The orange flames flickered and died, as my reassurance that Bianca had made it to rebirth died too. When Kronos showed her to me, I knew deep down it was really my sister. But I wanted that confirmation, I didn't want her to be leverage for Kronos, when she was never really there at all.

I began to slowly walk back to my cabin. Shadow travel had made me lazy recently, so the walk felt nice. I wanted to change out of these clothes from capture the flag. Oh Gods, they probably stink don't they? I thought. That's embarrassing. Oh well, can't do anything about it now, I thought as I kicked a stone.

I was approaching the circle of cabins when I saw someone walking up ahead. I frowned. That was weird. No one should be out this late. I briefly wondered if it was Will walking back to his cabin, but dismissed it when I realised this person was taller than the son of Apollo.

I stepped on a twig, and it snapped. The person whirled, and I was surprised to see the red head oracle. "Who's there?" she demanded, raising her arms up, in a sort of awkward self defence position.
"Rachel?" I said, waving, walking closer.
"Nico?" she said uncertainly.
"Uh, yeah, hi."
"Gods, you scared me. You look real shady walking round with your hood up late at night."
"I know," I said shrugging, "Just wanted to go for a walk. What are you doing?"
"I had a vision. Chiron is normally awake at this time, so I was gonna go see him."
"What was in the vision?" I asked.
"It was similar to what you described in your dream, and what we saw in the labyrinth. It was about New Rome, but more specifically Reyna."
"What about Reyna?"
"How she was... stabbed in the back. But it changed again. It wasn't a sword, or a spear, it was some kind of scimitar."
"Huh. Do you think we could prevent it either way? Does it make a difference? Shouldn't we tell Reyna to watch her back?"
"We should tell Reyna about this asap, of course. In terms of the type of weapon making a difference... I'm not sure. Wait, I sketched a picture of it-" she said. I realised she was wearing a small drawstring bag. She took it off her back and began to rummage, before pulling out a crumpled piece of paper.
"Here," she said, handing it to me.

I took it, and took a split second to admire how good and realistic her drawing was, before focusing.
"I recognise that."
"Huh?"
"That blade. I've seen it before."