Ghost King Meets Batman

The Ball Starts Rolling

[Edited July 26, 2022]

[This chapter contains text from the source materials, I own nothing except my add-ons and interpretations of the text]

Hazel's POV

Hazel imagined that this might be similar to how it felt to introduce two nuclear bombs. Now she just had to wait and see which one exploded first. Until that morning, Nico had been the most powerful demigod she knew. Now it looked like that spot was threatened by this Son of Neptune, whoever he was.

The others at Camp Jupiter saw Nico as a traveling oddball, about as harmless as the fauns but she knew better. He may not look like much, but Nico had his foot in both the land of the living and the Underworld, which made him a force of nature. While she hadn't grown up with Nico and hadn't known him for very long, she could tell that Nico was more dangerous than Reyna, or Octavian, or maybe even Jason. He was powerful, without a doubt, but even he seemed to be daunted by Percy.

At first, when she had seen Percy stumbling up the highway with the old lady in his arms, the daughter of Pluto had thought he might be a god in disguise. Even though he was beaten up, dirty, and stooped with exhaustion, he'd had an aura of power. He had the good looks of a Roman god, with sea-green eyes and wind-blown black hair. It hadn't seemed so far-fetched that he may be a God sent to test their loyalty. She'd heard myths like this: a kid with an old lady begs for shelter, and when the rude mortals refuse-- boom, they get turned into banana slugs.

She had no desire to become a banana slug, so against her better judgment, she ordered Frank not to fire on him. Then Percy had controlled the river and destroyed the gorgons. He'd turned a pen into a bronze sword. He'd stirred up the whole camp with talk about the graecus-- The Greek. A son of the sea god... just as it had been foretold.

Long ago, Hazel had been told that a descendant of Neptune would save her from her curse. Seeing this boy now, completely lost and alone, she wondered if he could really be the one the gods had meant. How could he save me when it looked like he could barely take care of himself? He was so shrouded in mystery and she vowed that she would stay near him in order to try and figure him out. There was something strange going on here if even Nico was wary of him.

Percy and Nico stiffly shook hands. They studied each other warily while Hazel fought the urge to run. If these two busted out the magic swords, things would get ugly. Though Nico didn't appear scary-- at least not as scary as Percy-- Hazel knew he could hold his own. When he had first shown up, he had looked sloppy in his rumpled black clothes that basically hung off his frame. Now, though he looked much more formidable. His clothes were still rumpled, though the material at least looked to be high-quality. His hair, as always, looked like he'd just rolled out of bed, but there was an olive glow back in his skin and he had built up muscle mass. The legionnaire knew that he was staying with some mortals, and they seemed to be good to him. This was the healthiest she had ever seen him.

At least, she thought he was living with mortals, though the amount of time he spent traveling was starting to make her wonder. She knew that he didn't stay in the Underworld as he claimed since the time he brought her back was the first time she had ever seen him in that part of the Underworld. Hazel also knew that he didn't stay with Ivy, since he hadn't stayed there during the time that she had been with him. Nico didn't stay at camp, either. He refused to, actually. He never stayed longer than he needed to and he always seemed to be in a hurry to leave. He had taken that phone call that he claimed was from the mortal family, so maybe he was telling the truth. There was so much about Nico that she didn't know, yet she felt like he knew everything about her.

She remembered when she first met him. The first time Hazel saw him draw that black sword of his, she almost laughed. The way he called it "Stygian iron," all serious-like. He'd looked ridiculous. This scrawny white boy was no fighter. She certainly hadn't believed we were related. Though he had changed her mind about that quick enough. Percy scowled.