Sliver Of Shadow

LET'S PARTY! (And Avoid Being Blown Up)

"I see the key to your memories took on the shape of your mother's beloved instrument." Hades's voice sounded behind him, shaking Nico out of his trance and causing him to jump.

His hands, which had been gliding gracefully over the ivory keys of the enchanted piano, froze immediately. "W-what? A key?" His father rolled his eyes.

"Yes, Nico. Why do you think I locked you in here? This room is specially designed for returning buried memories - without driving the person insane. The key to doing it, though, takes on many forms. I am surprised what yours turned out to be." He chuckled. "Huh. Piano keys. I should have guessed."

An awkward silence ensued, stretching on and strengthening the tension between them. Then, a flicker of annoyance crossed Nico's face. "You - you couldn't've just told me all this, instead of randomly dumping me here and locking the door? I thought I was being punished, for Elysium's sake!"

Hades sighed, and rolled his eyes again. "I wish. The user can't know true purpose of this chamber for the magic to work. Ask Hecate if you want a three day lecture on why."

Nico shuddered. "No thank you. But wait… Hecate created this?"

"Payment in return for your services to her on this quest. I still think it's inadequate, but," His father shrugged, "there is only so much a god can do."

Nico bit his lip and nodded absently, barely taking the explanation.

His mind was still reeling from his discovery. Tom Marvolo Riddle, legacy of Hades. Once his closest friend, and now, apparently… his (second) worst enemy. And technically his nephew.

Argh. Why was everything in his life so messed up? What had he ever done to the Fates? Seriously, this situation… this was pushing it too far.

Hades, unaware of the mental rant going on inside his son's head, scowled at Nico's lack of reaction. "Well?"

Mind snapping back to reality, Nico shook his head, clearing the thoughts. "What? Oh… Thank you, Father. I appreciate it." He decided not to tell Hades of his dilemma - he wasn't even sure his father would care.

Hades nodded. "Alright, then. Go back to your house, I expect you'll want to get ready for the party today. And remember - absolutely no alcohol for you, you hear me?"

"Yeah, yeah…" Then, Nico froze.

It was Christmas already?
~

Nico was extremely irritated.

Uh, no.

Understatement of the century.

More like… he wanted to summon a humongous army of skeletons to kidnap Zeus and chop him into tiny little pieces to throw him into the depths of Tartarus; the only reason holding him back being that Will would do the same thing to him if he almost faded…

(The amount of control that son of Apollo held over him was infuriating.)

And why, did Nico di Angelo want to murder the king of gods?

Three words.

Greek. Dress. Code.

His father hadn't been kidding when he said the party was formal. Nico had actually been forced to wear that infernal black tunic - which was complete with an oversized, billowy cloak and weird ceremonial knife made of Stygian Ice. The costume made him look like the Ancient Greek version of the Grim Reaper, for the gods' sakes! And Leo was still jealous of him for being able to go to that party? (Yes, Leo was considered one of the Heroes of Olympus invited… but he couldn't very well go to Zeus's party without being incinerated, now could he?)