Ghost King Meets Batman

They Grow Up So Fast

 [Edited July 25, 2022]

[This chapter contains text from the source materials which belong to Rick Riordan and DC Comic Universe]

[June 19]

Nico had to admit that he wasn't paying too much attention to what the Centurions were saying at the head table. Seeing as he wasn't participating in the war games, he figured that it was safe to say that didn't apply to him. Besides, he was too busy trying to reign in Dakota and Don and considering what Percy's sudden appearance meant.

It obviously meant that something big had started. There had to be a reason that he had been delivered here now. Why it was so close to the Feast of Fortuna? What did it all mean?

There was more riding on figuring this out than just satisfying his curiosity. It might be a sign that it was time for him to make his trip into the pit. He had little doubt that some invisible countdown had started somewhere the moment Percy stepped foot in this camp. Nico had hoped that he could put off his mission for a while yet but he would bet that he would need to leave sooner rather than later. The sooner he could get those doors closed to keep monsters from making their way back into the mortal world, the better.

His mind wandered as he thought about what the pit might be like. He was picturing a claustrophobic cave system-- riddled with huge monster-filled pockets that he'd have to navigate. He pictured lava seams and holes that seemed to go on forever. He pictured all the ways he could be torn apart or eaten. He pictured collapsed tunnels and submerged portions like that one cave documentary he had watched with Damian. It had been truly horrifying. And he was picturing those doors, guarded by hordes of beasts who had been killing his kind for as long as the gods had existed.

Nico was eventually stirred from his deliberations by someone loudly clearing their throat. He wasn't sure that it was directed at him, but he turned away from watching Dakota use the shields as a musical instrument nonetheless. When he finally looked at the table to see most of the other centurions looking back at him.

"What?" He asked, knowing he had missed something. Normally, he would have felt embarrassed but he was too overwhelmed to process anything.

"You seem... preoccupied," Reyna noted. The tone of her voice was pinched and Nico hoped his face hadn't betrayed the nature of his thoughts.

"I was thinking about possible explanations for why the gorgons weren't dying." He lied easily. Reyna seemed skeptical but she also didn't question him. He figured that she would question him in front of her officers. He wasn't competition, like Octavian, who she would gladly rip to shreds for such a blatant lie. No, she probably knew that she didn't want her officers knowing what he had been thinking about so she would let it be.

"Really? And what have you deduced?"

"Nothing good." He replied simply. He didn't want to start a panic, especially among her senators-- they were officers, maybe, but they were still just teenagers. Reyna eyed him for a moment.

"I was asking you if you would rather participate in the games or observe. You don't have legion training, but I doubt that you are untrained either." She allowed for the subject change though the son of Hades was very sure that the other topic was not closed. Nico considered the offer. He was, in fact, very well trained, though he doubted that vigilante training would have prepared him for a fight alongside a Roman legion. The largest formation he'd ever practiced consisted of six people and wasn't what he would consider formal.

"I would be better off observing. I don't know any of the legion drills or formations. I'd only get in the way. Plus," He glanced at the group of Percy, Frank, and Hazel, "this promises to be an interesting show."