Beating Hearts

Dead Friends: Part 2

A dark metal door with gold accents and rubies and amethysts buried in the surface, and a menacing skull hanging from above it. Eerie green light emanated from the eye sockets and the other cavities, giving the impression of the head glowering and judging those entering Cabin 13. 'How fitting that it has that number...' Natasha thought, subconsciously rubbing her arms to calm the goosebumps forming on them. 

When she stepped in, solid obsidian walls were illuminated by dozens of old-fashioned torches lit with Greek Fire. There were no windows, which only enhanced the feeling of dread and of being confined to her own personalized execution. Rather than having bunk beds like all the other cabins, coffins with polished mahogany frames and blood red velvet pillows and sheets lined the wall, decorated with brass railings. An ominous looking shrine with bones and jewels alike were embedded in the ornate stone sat in the middle of the room. 

Natasha heard a squeak from behind her, and whirled around to see a horrified Tony, frozen in place in front of a petrified Steve and a slightly green and immensely pale Bruce. Loki leaned against the open entranceway, and Thor was walking up from just out of Natasha's view. Clint stiffly walked up behind Bruce, who jumped and the archer frowned. His eyes widened when he examined the cabin, but soon the only thing out of place in them was a mischievous glint. He snuck up to Tony and leaned in towards his ear. 

"BOO!" he yelled. Tony let loose a very unmanly shriek and fell backwards, bumping into the side of a casket and landing on his haunches painfully. Before he had a chance to whine, one of the coffins farthest from the door creaked open. 

"You know," said the shadow, "I'd really appreciate if you didn't ruin my stuff. It's already going to take a while to fix the shadows now that living, non-Hades spawn are here." Nico elegantly stepped out of his coffin, his movements more fluid than Natasha had ever seen him move, transitioning as smoothly  as a monkey jumping through the trees. He looked completely natural in the darkness. Some of the boy's peaceful air dispersed as he cast the group an annoyed look. "You can sit down, you know. It's not like anyone else would be bothered if you sat in any of these coffins." He gestured around him. 

As disinclined as she was to do so, Natasha inched over to a box, turning it over onto the back and tensely sat down on the wooden overcoat. Clint followed her and sat on the other side of the container. Steve stumbled over to another 'bed' and Bruce shakily joined him. Thor plopped himself down near them, and Loki just wrinkled his nose in distaste and continued to toss and sharpen his silver daggers. 

The Hephaestus cabin had found them when they were heading back from the woods the previous night. They had been so excited when they'd found the weapons, and had happily fixed them up and added a mixture of Imperial Gold and the same silver as another coating. The ancient carvings and engravings had been redone by the older campers, and traveled the entire length of the nearly 16 inch blade. 

Clint and Tony were grumbling and pouting the entire time("Why are we arming the guy we just got thrown in prison?"), and every few seconds Thor glanced over at the daggers anxiously. 

Now, the god(or rather, demigod, as they had learned the Asgardians were considered by the Greeks and Romans) wouldn't put them down for even a moment. A loud coughing knocked Natasha back into her usual attentiveness. Everyone looked at Tony. "Is no one going to ask why he sleeps in a coffin?" He pointed at Nico, who just stared back at him unimpressed. 

"I wasn't here when this cabin was made, only helped with some construction, and that was mostly my zombie/skeleton servants. Whoever designed it apparently thought that all children of Hades were vampires...though they do have a point with how little I enjoy the sun..." 

Before he could get too sucked up in his thoughts, Natasha jumped in, ignoring Tony's murmurings of "He has corpses for servants?"

"You said you would tell us about Bianca...your sister?" She was still unsure on the matter, and wasn't completely convinced from Loki's argument. Nico cleared his throat. "Yeah...she was my sister, and well, you remember how I said they reached the mountain yesterday? That's not entirely true. The prophecy...I might be able to recite it, er...