Death's Son (And All Its Jobs)

Chapter 9

Hazel took the toddler into her arms, wrapping the yellow blanket more around him. "Nico...explain again."

Nico sighed, the dark circles under his eyes having deepened. At Hazel's feet, he had dropped off multiple bags. "The bags are full of equipment for the kid. We found him-"

"Equipment? Really, Nico?"

Nico rubbed under one of his eyes. "He was fed and watered today. Likes the color yellow. I'll pick him up after the quest is complete."

Hazel giggled to herself as Frank mumbled the word "watered". "Okay, Nico. Where did you find him?"

"Metamora," Nico admitted. "Somewhere in Indiana. I have to go back there with Will and see what's going on. Something's not normal. We didn't want Peyton to get hurt if there's a fight."

"Where are his parents?" Frank asked. "Aren't they missing him?"

Nico shrugged. "He was abandoned."

"So you and Will are his new parents?" Hazel giggled again. "That's great."

Nico's face turned red. "N...No, no, never, nope. We're just...looking out for him. Not his parents. Nope, never. Okay, bye, Hazel. Bye, now."

Hazel readjusted Peyton in her arms. "Bye, Nico. Good luck."

"Contact Camp Jupiter if you need any help," Frank added. "But you should be fine."

Nico nodded. He gave Hazel one last hug before shadow traveling away, knowing that Will would have started to worry. As he expected, when he appeared in the hotel room Will was pacing, his hands in his hair as he mumbled to himself.

"Will." Nico grabbed the boy's arm to stop him in his tracks. "You ready to get going?"

Will sighed in relief when he saw Nico. "Peyton's with Hazel?"

Nico nodded. "She's taking care of him for now. He seemed to like her."

"Good, good." Will shouldered his bookbag. "Back to Metamora?"

Nico nodded. "Back to Metamora."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Metamora hadn't seemed to change. People that all looked the same, murky waters of unknown depths, a castle that looked like a church, sitting on a lone hill. The castle on the hill, the woman had called it.

"What if the guy is just a mortal?" Nico asked. "What if we're wasting our time?"

Will didn't answer, his eyes on the sky. Finally, Nico had to elbow him in the ribs to get his attention.

"Ow, what?"

"You were ignoring me," Nico explained. "What were you thinking about?"

Will put his hands in his pockets. "Peyton was allowed in Camp Jupiter. Does that mean he's a demigod or does that rule not apply there?"

Nico shrugged. "Even if it did, we kinda invited him in. Either way, it doesn't tell us anything."

Will looked at the hill they were quickly approaching. "What if he is a demigod? What then? Then we really didn't just find him by coincidence."

"First of all, coincidences aren't real." Nico started. "Second of all, who knows? Maybe we found him because the Fates hate me."

"They don't hate you." Will replied. "They just...enjoy messing with you."

"I'd call that hate..." Nico stopped halfway up the hill. "Shouldn't we shadow travel in? What if that guy is in there?"

Will stopped walking. "How are we just now thinking about this?"

"We're idiots." Nico grabbed his hand. "Ready?"

"Ready."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Time seemed to slow down. In the darkness, Nico could hear Anubis' voice as clear as day. He could feel Will's hand in his own, but the son of Apollo wasn't in his sight.

"Nico, we were wrong," Anubis spoke urgently, his voice moving through the darkness as if it was moving through syrup. "This isn't as innocent as you think."

Nico frowned. What was even happening?

"You're going to shadow travel into the basement," Anubis explained. "Immediately you'll be thrown into a fight. He's down there. That toddler was his bait. He knew you'd come back, and he's ready."

He's down there...Nico couldn't think straight. Who? Before Anubis could say anything, time sped up and he was spit out of the shadows, stumbling forward to find a knife against his throat.