December 16th
Nico had decided long ago, that he was going to procrastinate as much as he could on the next two presents for Jackson. What he did not decide, was to get a visit from Jackson's dad.
He was just walking along the snow covered beach, humming Snow On The Beach in his head, his least hated uncle appeared in front of him.
"Nico di Angelo!" Poseidon said with a big smile spreading across his face.
"What do you want?" Nico asked, waiting for the mission he was about to be summoned on.
"Well, I heard you and your friends are doing a Secret Santa!" he smiled. "I also heard that you are looking for a gift for my son!"
"So. . ." Nico waiting for the punch line.
"So, I thought I'd help you out."
Nico was skeptic. When a god says they want to help you, you start running in the other direction with your hands over your ears. But, Nico wasn't allowed to do that anymore with his job thing with his dad.
"What do you need me to do?" he asked exasperatedly.
"Well, to show no hard feelings and that you are doing this out of your own free will," Poseidon reached into the air behind him and brought out a box with sea shell wrapping paper on it. "Here is a gift for Perseus."
The god tossed the box over to Nico and the son of Hades caught it in his arms. He surveyed the gift, Nico wasn't sure what the down side of this was going to be, but he was about to find out.
"Now what do I do?" he asked the Sea god.
"Pick up that shell and give it to me," Poseidon said simply, pointing to a shell right next to Nico's foot.
The demigod looked from the shell and up to the god suspiciously. He carefully bent down and grabbed the shell, then walked over to where the god's palm was outstretched. He placed the simple shell into the god's hand and Poseidon clutched it in his fist.
"I told you!" the god shouted.
That's when a few things happened at once.
Poseidon jumped up and down triumphantly like he just won and marathon. A blinding light made Nico look away before he saw the form of Zeus appear, yelling at his brother. Nico had taken a step back and tripped on the shifting sand and landed on his butt.
"That doesn't count!" Zeus cried. "It was too easy!"
"You never said it had to be hard!" Poseidon countered.
"You cheated!"
Poseidon put his hands up, dropping the shell Nico had given him. "It's not me, he's the one who did it."
The Sea god pointed to Nico and Zeus turned his stormy eyes to him. Nico made a mental note to take Poseidon down a placement in his 'favorite gods' chart.
"Why did you help him?" Zeus questioned Nico, who was still in the sand.
"It's literally my job," Nico shot back. "You made that rule."
"Watch your tongue! I can smite your little-"
"Are you threatening my son?"
Hades had suddenly appeared Nico and he looked annoyed at his two younger brothers.
"Your son made me lose a bet!" Zeus cried.
"And your daughter made you break an oath so here we are," Hades shrugged.
Lightning cracked in the sky and the sea rumbled. Shadows and darkness started to creep in and Nico wondered if they would really start a battle, right there, on the edge of Camp Half-Blood, because Zeus lost a bet.
Yes, yes he would.
"Wait!" Nico told the gods. He stumbled to his feet and held out his arms just like Will did whenever there was an argument at camp.
"Zeus," he turned to look at his least favorite god. "What was this bet?"
Zeus straightened up and suddenly the world was a lot lighter than it had been a second ago.
"Poseidon and I betted on who you would help between us two," Zeus explained.
"Thunder Pants here, thought I should come and ask you to do something for me and if you didn't and just took the present, then he would win," Poseidon interjected.
"And Slimy Snail cheated!" Zeus erupted.
Poseidon gasped, "You promised you would never call me that again!"
"And you promised to shut Jackson up!"
"Stop!" Nico shouted, frustrated with these two children. Had he and Bianca been like that?
"What is I did a mission for both of you?" He offered, looking between the two gods.
Zeus and Poseidon looked at each other then nodded.
"Poseidon already got his mission. . ." Nico pointed out.
"What!" Poseidon complained.
"You'll put me on a mission," Nico looked to Zeus.
"Sounds good to me," Zeus agreed with a almost evil smile.
"But," the demigod held up a finger. "I must get a gift for Percy in return."
Zeus frowned. "But-"
"Do you really want to lose this bet?" Nico asked.
Zeus glared at his brother. "Fine."
"Hold on," Hades interrupted. "You sure you want to do this, Nico?"
Nico looked up at his father. He didn't really want to do anything except go back to his cabin and take a nap, but he also didn't need another war.
"Yeah," he sighed, trying for a small smile.
"Alright," Hades agreed, backing away from the scene.
"Can you take this?" Nico asked, tossing the gift from Poseidon to his father.
Hades caught it and gave him a small smile and a nod. The god of the Dead then disappeared into darkness.
"Okay," Nico said, clapping his hands together. "What can I do for you."
Zeus stood up straighter and looked down a Nico. The son of Hades could tell he was trying to be intimidating but he was use to having people tower over him.
"I want you," Zeus started dramatically. "To bring me a tree that has been struck by lightning."
Nico almost struck the god in the face.
"What the fuck?" Nico asked.
"No wonder he likes me better," Poseidon mumbled.
"Why are you still here?!" Zeus yelled.
Poseidon rolled his eyes and snapped away.
"I expect the tree here in an hour," Zeus told Nico. "Now get going."
Before Nico decide he didn't give a fuck about being struck by lightning, he shadow traveled himself away from the beach and the worst god that ever existed.
Nico had himself appear in a clearing in the woods of Camp Half-Blood. He had thought about going to the infirmary but having Will yell at him about shadow traveling was not going to make him feel less like punching a god in the dick.
He took a breath and thought about the situation at hand. Zeus needed a tree that had been struck by lightning brought to the beach in less than an hour. There was no real consequence but Nico didn't want to take chances. For all he knew, World War 3 could start.
He needed a tree hit with lightning. Where was he going to get one of those?
A tree hit with lightning.
A tree. Hit by lightning.
Tree. Lightning.
Nico knew exactly what to do. He jumped back into the shadows, forming one image in his head and letting the shadows guide him. He had never to shadow travel to a place he didn't decide and he finally realized why Percy hated his mode of travel so much.
Rock suddenly hit his feet and the sound of a battle reached his ears. He looked up to see the Hunters of Artemis battle the Sphynx.
"Where is Hoover Dam located!" the Sphynx cried as she swiped a paw at a bunch of Hunters.
"Nico?!" Thalia's voice made Nico turn around.
She was walking towards him with marks covering her arms and a scratch on her cheek.
"Come with me," was all Nico said before grabbing her friends arm and taking her into the shadows with him.
They appeared in a forest Nico didn't know and Thalia stumbled forward as their feet touched the ground.
"What the-"
"I need you to strike that tree," Nico said urgently.
Thalia gave him a questioning look. "What?"
"Strike the tree, Grace!"
Thalia scowled at the use of her last name and used the spear in her hand and threw it at the tree Nico had pointed to.
"With your lightning, dumbass," Nico sighed.
"Shut up, Death Breath," Thalia glowered.
She closed her eyes and lighting came form the sky and struck the tree the spear was in. The tree fell over and Nico turned back to his cousin.
"Thank you!" He said quickly with a wave.
Nico snapped his fingers and Thalia and her spear in the now dead tree, disappeared, being sent back to the battle before. With that taken care of, the son of Hades walked over to the tree and got prepared to shadow travel it back to Zeus.
Now, you may be thinking, 'Nico can't shadow travel a whole tree.' If you thought that, you were wrong because Nico di Angelo shadow traveled seven other people from the Doors of Death to the surface and then right after that, shadow traveled a 40 foot statue with two other people (well, one was an adult satyr). So, yes, he could shadow travel a tree.
He touched the tree with his hand and Nico and the tree sunk into the shadows and reappeared on the beach of Camp Half-Blood, next to a shocked god of the Sky.
"Did someone order an extra burnt Christmas tree?" Nico asked woozily. He had been practicing making multiple shadow travels in a short amount of time but it still made him a bit queasy if he did too many.
Zeus looked at the tree in astonishment.
"Expected me to fail?" Nico asked.
"No," the god lied. "Very good di Angelo. Here is your prize."
Nico held out his hands to catch a small and light wrapped present. He examined it but stopped when Zeus cleared his throat.
Nico looked up at him with what he would like to say was an attempt at a smile. "Thank you."
Zeus smiled, "Your welcome."
The god started to light up and Nico averted his eyes as the god disappeared.
Nico looked down and saw that the god had left the tree on the beach. Wow. Just wow.
The demigod sighed and pressed his back against the trunk, closing his eyes for a second.
"Having a rough day?" came the voice of his father.
Nico opened an eye to see his father standing before him.
"You could say that," Nico replied, sitting up.
"Tell me about it," Hades grumbled. The god of the Dead held out a hand that held Nico's other gift for Percy.
Nico took it and tried to guess what was inside.
"What one should I give first?" Nico asked, mostly to himself.
"Give him the big one," Hades replied with humor lacing his voice. "The second one should be saved for last."
Nico nodded and looked at the tree he was resting on.
"We should do something about this tree."
Hades walked over to him and placed a hand on the trunk. Nico stood up and saw dark tendrils extend from his father's hand and snake around the tree. The tree, Nico realized was a pine (how ironic) became wrapped in dark shadows and the burns became a part of the design.
"We'll set it up in the palace," Hades decided. "Persephone will like it."
Nico smiled up at his father and he looked down and smiled back.