Ghost King Meets Batman

Nothing is Ever Simple With You

[Editing July 13, 2022]

True to his word, Bruce called Chiron later that night and arranged for Percy to come over for the weekend. Nico didn't know how Chiron made that seem like a normal affair but he wasn't about to question it. When you've been a mentor for demigods for three thousand years, you probably picked up a trick or two. Chiron said that he would be there sometime around noon the next day. 

Nico prepped his room for visitors, setting out a mattress he'd taken from one of the spare rooms and rearranging his furniture accordingly. Hopefully, it would be easy to put it all back afterward but Nico wasn't worried. Right then his biggest worry was the possibility of a monster attack. He hadn't been attacked yet, but putting two demigod children of the big three under one roof might be pushing his luck. Hopefully, this wouldn't come to bite him later, but if he did, at least he'd have Percy there as backup. There's no one else he'd rather have watching his back.

The Waynes and Nico sat together in the living room and watched a horror movie marathon after dinner, and ate junk food. Well, the other boys were watching the movie. Nico kept zoning out thinking about what would happen if monsters attacked the manor. He was imaging scenarios, picturing the Manor's layout, and making notes of places he Wouldnt want to get cornered. Ideally, he'd get the monster out into the orchard so it wouldn't destroy the house but if they did get stuck inside, he wanted to have some sort of plan.

While he wasn't really paying attention to the movies, he was partaking in the snacks. Soda was new to him and he really enjoyed it. The more sugar-- the better. Bruce had warned him that caffeine tended to make people with ADHD tired, since 'stimulants work as depressants and vice versa' (whatever that meant) so he had one that didn't have caffeine in it to be safe. He thought it was called Sprite but the label on the bottle was murder for his dyslexia.

 He had to be alert for when Percy got there to make up excuses if necessary and get a rundown on what had been happening at camp while he was gone. He wasn't the only one whose sodas were restricted. For some reason, all sodas and sugary drinks were strictly prohibited if your name was Richard Grayson. No one would let him have any sugar whatsoever, and no one would tell Nico why.

By the middle of the third movie, Dick and Damian had left to refill snacks, Tim was finishing off the last bit of the popcorn, and Jason had perched him on a recliner, cleaning one of his knives. Now that he officially knew the secret, they had lost all secrecy about their abilities and training. It was amazing to see what these mortals were capable of.

 Nico had gotten restless and was sitting upside down on the couch with his feet hanging over the back of the sofa. He wished they had chosen a different genre. Horror movies weren't really all that thrilling when you knew how unrealistic they truly were. In fact, it made the whole experience annoying for him and he was having trouble keeping himself occupied. It wasn't even scary.

Mrs. O' Leary was scarier than any of the jump-scares. Luke had been scarier than any of these possessions. Minos had been worse than any of these ghosts. The zombies that protected Hades palace were scarier than the ones in the movies. The grim reaper was a friend of his and was fair in his dealings. Someone being disemboweled was nothing he hadn't seen either in the war or in the fields of punishment. Cheap scares on a screen just didn't do it for him. He couldn't really see the appeal either. Maybe because for him, it had never been make-believe.

Nico watched, unconcerned, as the protagonist stepped into the room without turning on the lights. The malignant spirit's theme song started playing in the background. Nico sighed inwardly-- why did no one in these stories grab a knife or a weapon of some kind or at least turn on the lights first, though he guessed it wouldn't really help against a poltergeist or ghost. These idiots deserved to die. If he or Percy made these kinds of mistakes, they would undoubtedly have been dead years ago.