Death Breath, the Debt Collector. (PJO/HP XC)

Chapter One: Mission Accepted

Harry Potter/Percy Jackson crossover.

Set after HoO [will be updated as more HoO come out]. Nico is bisexual in this AU. 

Chapter One: Mission Accepted

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Nico decided his preferred method of transportation was shadow travel. He hated flying, besides the fact that he could be blasted out of the sky at any minute, he couldn't get comfortable with those thoughts looming over him. Going by boat was alright, but still made him shaky. He could never be sure with Poseidon.

Nico had been traveling Europe, looking for his mother's family. He was too, well, apprehensive to go into Italy and Greece. He wasn't sure how the monsters would react to a Big Three kid. Probably not very well. 

His father had summoned him. That was the first thing that set off his alarms. Normally, his father would transport him without his content into his personal throne room in the Underworld. But this time, it was a set date. Next Thursday, August 26th, his father wanted him to be at Camp Half-Blood, in his cabin. Hades would send a messenger. 

Needless to say, Nico was very, very ... hesitant. His hands grew a little shaky. He dreaded that it would be bad news. Nico was nearing his fifteenth birthday, and he figured it would come with some terms and conditions he hadn't been notified of. 

He glanced around his hotel room in Hungary. It was almost bare, all his belongings tucked into his suitcase. Not like he had much. A few black or gray t-shirts, a spare leather jacket. A ton of socks, boxers, a few pairs of skinny jeans and a pair of sweatpants. His few cosmetic pieces-a comb, some gel, deodorant. Not much. He lived off the free samples from hotels. 

He had been resting for two days for this trip. Shadow-traveling over countries was tiring, but over an ocean was downright exhausting. He would probably crash for another day when he got back, that's why he was leaving on Tuesday. 

He checked around the room once more for any of his belonging he had forgotten. Reassured, he zipped up his case and anxiously twisted his skull ring around his finger. 

He pulled his curtains over the windows, stealing one last look at the skyline. It was twilight. 

Nico made sure his door was shut, but not locked. The room key lay on the bed. Tomorrow, the hostess would find the room empty, and Nico would be long-gone. 

He picked up his case and slung his emergency backpack over his shoulder. He patted his side, where his sword hung. He stared at the darkest corner of the room, and ran straight towards it-focusing all the while on his dark cabin at camp. 

Shadow traveling was always interesting. You never got used to the feeling of uneasiness creeping up your back, the trickle of fear and the chilling cold. Then all of a sudden, it would disappear, and you would blink the spots from your vision. 

Nico did this, and saw his cabin cold and empty, as usual. 

His bed was coffin-shaped, with Greek fire casting an erie glow around the room. Ivory, obsidian, onyx and of course, Stygian iron made up the only furniture in the room-three coffin-shaped beds, along with three trunks at the base of each, bed-side tables separating each. A small alter stood under the only window, with a small patch of earth right under it. The cabin door was a heavy slab of rock, but it was only an illusion. You could walk right past it. However, if you tried to move it, you could never walk in without being invited. Nico loved it since it kept his cabin quiet. 

He huffed a deep sigh and rolled his shoulders. Nico was whipped out. Slinging his backpack off and setting his case on the floor, he settled for his be-the middle one. He could never decide between the altar or the door. Both made him uneasy. So he settles for the middle. 


When Nico woke, it was midnight on Wednesday. The next day his dad would send a messenger to collect him, and Nico might not make it out of Hades alive. 

He smirked at that thought.

'Well,' Nico thought. 'I've had a nice nap.' Knowing he wouldn't be able to sleep again, Nico headed to the showers-the only time they would be empty. 

He grabbed a dark purple towel hung up beside his bed, and grabbed a bottle from his dwindling supplies of soap. Shuffling out the door, Nico took his time walking through camp. He could hear snores and soft, sleepy grunts and occasionally, whispers, but Nico shrugged them off. It was nighttime, and he blended in with the shadows. 

When he reached the bathrooms, he could only hear silence. Hopefully no one would wander in on him in the middle of the night. He went inside, ignoring the rank stench of the guys bathroom, and walked past the back of the building-the showers. Thankfully, there were private stalls separated from Each other. Otherwise, Nico would have never stepped foot in here. Well.. Maybe. 

He shuffled into a stall and began to strip. Years of training and being on his own had made him a skinny little prick-but had also given him lithe muscles. Recently he had gotten an undercut, especially since traveling in Europe. Most dudes had them, and to be honest Nico thought they were so cool. 
He placed his clothes as far away from the shower as possible, in the little separate room from the shower curtain. 

The water was a cold shock at first, but quickly warmed up. Nico stood under the water for a few seconds before washing up. 

Once he was finished, he shut off the water and dried himself. He shrugged on a white tank top and his sweatpants. 

Now fully awake, he decided to walk down to the lake. Sometimes the water lapping against the shore could be calming. Other times it just made him tense. 

When he got there, he was glad to see that he was still alone. He knew that ever since Tatarus, Percy spent most of his nights out here. But he was thankfully in his own cabin. 

Nico decided not to risk a midnight boat ride, especially if he was all alone. Poseidon was polite, but Nico wasn't sure if he would take it as an insult. 

It was times like these that Nico hated everything. He admitted it, he was bitter. But he wasn't going to pull a Luke. That would be catastrophic. 

Nico also hated his future. He didn't like Oracles or prophecies because he felt that they were just delivering his premature death-sentence. And he hated not knowing the future, sort of. He was a control freak, alright. He needed to be in control of his future, but he felt that the gods would just keep messing with him until he died. Or his dad would keep sending him on pointless errands until he died of exhaustion. 

Nico felt that the universe hated him. He also knew that the sad part was that it was basically true. The titans and gods, they all mostly hated him. 

With that happy thought, he got off the sandy beach, dusted his ass off, and went to bed. 


When he woke up, however, he wasn't met with the comforting and gloomy look of cabin 13, rather, the face of Alecto. 

Nico nearly jumped into the air he was so startled, but didn't want to give Alecto the satisfaction. So he settled for yelling. 

"Alecto! What are you—" she place a dry hand over his mouth.

"Hush! Your father wants to see you." With that, Nico felt himself melt into the ground. 

Nico felt the familiar chills of shadow travel, and when he opened his eyes he was in his father's throne room. 

"Nicolas. Quite the attire to be meeting with your lord father." As usual, his father greeted him with cynicism. 

"Forgive me, father. Alecto did not give me a chance to straighten up." Nico smirked at the hidden joke. 

"You are lucky I am in a forgiving mood, once again Nicolas. Come." Hades motioned for his son to follow him behind his throne, where Half of the room remained. A well was stationed in the center of the other half of the room, a black fog hanging over it. Hades waved his hand in the air, and the fog started to turn a different color. 

"Nico, there is an important mission I need for you to complete. It is not unlike the Roman camp task, in that these individuals may reveal themselves to be enemies. Today you will meet the goddess—" 

"Hectate." A figure shrouded in mist appeared near his father. Her smile materialized first, reminding Nico of the Cheshire Cat in Alice in Wonderland.

As always, Nico's mortal ways almost got the better of him as he almost held out a hand for Hectate to shake. Instead, he bowed slightly. 

"Nico," Hectate began, "I cannot help but require your assistance in this task. Let me show you, first." 

The fog over the well materialized to from a moving picture, almost like a video but more blurry. The shapes began to form human-like figures, and a pale figure came into view. He was almost as horrifying as Nico's bed head. He had veins crawling along his bald scalp, slits for nostrils, and red reptilian eyes. He was the most gruesome mortal Nico had ever seen, that he wasn't sure if he even was mortal. 
Hectate turned to him, "This is a mortal known to his followers as Lord Voldemort. To those he terrorizes, they call him "he-who-shall-not-be-named," or simply "you-know-who.". He is a mortal, yet hardly. He possesses magic, you see. Those like him, some follow him and some do not." 

Nico nodded, then opened his mouth to ask how they have come to have magic, when Hectate spoke again; "I have blessed their kind, witches and wizards, a millennial ago. However, some are not worthy of the blessing and are born as squibs."

Now Nico turned to his father. "Why is this of your concern?" 

His father frowned, and grumbled, "Nicolas, this man has evaded death with the powers given to him by Hectate." He glared at the goddess, "Voldemort, or as his birth certificate reads 'Tom Riddle', has split his soul into seven parts. They call them 'horcruxes'. This is very important to your mission."

"Can I have the details now, please?" Nico was anxious to get this over with. 

Hectate smiled at him, making Nico internally shiver. "This information is for your ears only, Nico. It is unnatural for our two worlds to mix. No demigods have ever interfered in the world of my blessed. You must tread very lightly, so not to alert them of our presence. Come." She held out a hand to him, and must starts to flow from her dress out to him in tendrils. He looked to his father for permission, and was given a tight nod. "I will see you again on New Years Day, Nicolas."

Nico logged that bit of information into his memory for later, so it wouldn't come as a surprise. He grasped Hectate's hand, and was enveloped in smoke. 

When it cleared, Nico saw he was standing in a very tight room. Well, not so much tight as very packed. With coins. 

"Nico, this will be your vault. It is the wizard bank, here in London." 

So Nico has traveled to London. Hopefully she would transport him back to America, were he could pack. 

She handed him an envelope. "You will be posing as a fifth year student at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. You will take a train from Kings Cross station, London, into Hogsmead on September first. Then, you will meet the headmaster, and you will be sorted into your house. There are four of them, which I'm sure someone will explain. There is a boy in your year, Harry Potter. It is critical that you befriend him to extract information necessary to complete the mission." 

Nico nodded. "Won't they be suspicious of I just randomly transfer? And my American accent?"

"You alone are responsible for fooling these people. The objective of this mission is to destroy these horcruxes, or lay a path for Harry Potter to do so. The Fates have decreed that Lord Voldemort can only be destroyed by Harry. Make sure you do not fail, Nico." 

Mist filled the room, and Nico had to close his eyes to keep them from watering. When he reopened them, he was back in his cabin at Camp Half-Blood. He gripped the envelope, and ripped it open. Inside was a gold key, he assumed to his Gringotts vault, a ticket for platform 9 3/4 at Kings Cross Station, and a supply list. 

Nico left the contents on his bed, and grabbed his suitcase. He threw in his black jacket, a few tshirts and jeans, underwear and socks, an extra pair of sneakers, and his meager supplies of hygiene products. He was a little upset that this would interrupt his search for his mother's family, but he figured it was better than upsetting his father. 

Nico then exchanged his white tank-top for a gray sweater, and grabbed his slide-on sandals. He was feeling the sweatpants, though. 

He zipped up his suitcase with the envelope thrown in on top. He grabbed a handful of drachmas from his nightstand and shoved them in his pockets. 

He was about to shadow travel to London, when he decided he had best tell someone he was leaving. He didn't know how long he would be gone, maybe a year. 

He walked through the cabin door, and almost ran into Percy who was staring at his cabin stupidly. 

"What are you doing?," Nico asked, suspicious. 

"Well, I was trying to figure out how to get in. Some naiads saw you last night at the lake and I was just checking in. I haven't seen you in like, five months, Nico." Percy's eyebrows scrunched together. 

"Yeah, I got back last night, but I'm leaving again right now. Maybe for a year." Nico would never admit it, but he added the last sentence to see how Percy would react. 

"Oh. Well where are you headed to this time?" He now added a frown to his scrunched eyebrows. 

"The United Kingdom." 

"Well if you're gonna be gone for a year in the UK, at least grab some lunch with me."

Nico shrugged and they headed to the dining pavilion. You could get lunch here, but it was very informal. Campers came and went, mingling among the tables. Nico and Percy sat across from each other, and a nymph set a plate of cheeseburgers on the table. Percy raised a goblet of blue coke to the ceiling and moved his lips, and took a sip. Percy was always very respectful to the gods. Well, when they were nice. 

Nico was always a little ticked off at them, so he dug right in. That wouldn't have gotten him electrocuted at lunch, but at dinner it was a big no-no. 

During their meal, they exchanged the usual pleasantries and Percy played the part of the big-brother, even though Nico was a great deal older than him. Nico gave Percy what little details he could about his past year, and what was to come. 

"What have you been up to?" Percy inquired. 

"Little of this, little of that," Nico tried to avoid direct answers. It wasn't even a conscience move, now. It was instinct not to trust anybody. But if it was the past, what would it hurt?

"C'mon Nico, tell me." Percy nudged him. 

"Well, I've been sort of roaming Europe looking for my mom's family." 

Percy's gaze grew interested, and he lowered his burger. When his interest left food, you knew it was genuine. "Yeah, except now my dad wants me to go to Scotland and patch some things up with his ... associates." 

Percy sort of shrugged. "How is your dad?" Ever since the war the gods have been trying to keep in touch with their kids more, as being distant in the past didn't really work out. 

"He's the same." Nico shrugged. His dad wasn't exactly a paternal figure. But their relationship was bordering friendly, so he guessed that was an improvement. 

Percy had finished his burger by now, and his fries, and his coke. Nico was about half-way through his burger, and had only taken a few sips of his cranberry juice. 

"You haven't eaten like... anything, dude!" Percy exclaimed. 

In truth, ever since his trip into Tatarus, and his self-induced coma, he can't eat that much. It helps of course, if he just eats ambrosia and drinks nectar, but it scares Nico. He gets hungry, and eats some, but wants more. He's terrified that he'll forget how dangerous it can be to eat too much and die. Of course, mortal food is also edible to Nico, but it makes him sick easier.

Nico wasn't skin and bones, not by far. Years of training and months of fending for himself as a child of the Big Three have left his body in tip-top condition. It's just fuel he needs. 

"Not that hungry," he shrugged Percy's worried look off. He stood up from the benches and his plate disapeared. "Look, Perce, I should get going." 

Percy stood up now, too, and they walked back to cabin thirteen in silence. They stopped out front, and shook hands. "Make sure to IM me, Nico. Don't be a stranger." 

"Yeah, okay." Nico waved him off. "Bye, Percy." 

He trudged inside his cabin, slung his duffle bag over his shoulder, and walked into the shadows. 

Comments appreciated, as I just posted this. I need feedback regarding if u guys want more or not. Will be updated [hopefully] weekly.