Explanations and Goodbyes
Nico hated summer.
The heat made his senses sluggish and nights far too short. The shadows were thin and uncomfortably warm, almost unusable for travel. It was hard to get back to his feet in weather that seemed to be the complete opposite of what he needed.
(At some embarrassingly low points, Nico even contemplated running away to his father’s palace in the Underworld, just to seek some solace from the sweltering torture).
He hated summer.
It was a relief when the end of August finally rolled around. Hades, Nico still absolutely loathed the idea of having to go play wizard in a school for magic mortals, but at least he didn’t have to suffer in the Manhattan heat any more.
The camp was absolutely deserted. Most campers, including Hazel and Percy, had left during the weekend, after smothering him in goodbyes and promises to Iris-Message them.
Nico was glad they’d left. He didn’t want to deal with the crowds and all the gods-damned staring during his departure. It was far too stressful.
For a few days, everything was calm.
The ruckus that erupted across the pavilion for breakfast so early in the morning had quieted. Nico was even able to get some sleep, for once, and it was one of the best he’d ever had since the beginning of this entire ordeal. No one poked and prodded at him as he made his way about camp, or gasped and whispered about his scars whenever he went to train in the arena. Will was out of camp to say his goodbyes to his family and friends — hah, imagine having those — so as far as Nico was aware, it was just him and a few unintrusive stragglers that were left.
It was bliss.
Nico had been hoping, as the month ended, that Hades had worked something out with his minions about the resurrection thing, and he wouldn’t have to do anything. Maybe he could go to London for a holiday instead - gods knew he needed one. There had been no contact between the two of them after the initial incident, after all so it was possible -
- Yeah, no.
The Fates apparently hated Nico too much for that.
On one of the last few days of August, he was greeted by a large pack of school materials lying neatly beside his bed. Rubbing sleep out of his bleary eyes, the first thing Nico uttered that day was an eloquent,
“Shit. ”
There was a note that lay next to the materials. After struggling to get out of bed for a solid minute, Nico finally managed to open it, and groaned out loud.
Thanatos will be by soon to transport you to the UK. Good luck.
It wasn’t signed, but Nico knew who it was from. He rolled his eyes and slouched out of his cabin, good mood ruined. He spotted Will poking morosely at a few bits of pancake, and inwardly let out a sigh of relief that the son of Apollo was finally back at camp — dealing with Thanatos by himself would’ve been a nightmare.
“Hey,” he muttered as he slid in next to him, leaving as much space between them as possible. “You ready to leave?”
Will blinked, starting. “Oh, yeah. The quest.” He shook his head, seemingly distracted. “Sure. Of course.”
Nico raised an eyebrow skeptically. “You sure?”
Will munched on a piece of pancake and shot him a look. “You don’t believe me?”
“No, I don’t,” Nico replied, deadpan. “Might I remind you, this quest will take the better half of the year — and you don’t even have a suitcase packed.”
Will conceded the point. He put his fork away and pulled a backpack from under the table. He smiled in satisfaction, patting the backpack. “Found this next to me in the morning. Apparently, it’s bigger on the inside. I even fit my entire wardrobe into it, so I’m good to go.” He raised an eyebrow in question, grinning knowingly. “I don’t suppose you’re ready?”
Nico got up, scowling. He snatched an apple from the basket beside Will and stalked away back to his cabin, because no, he wasn’t ready. He’d genuinely hoped the problem would’ve solved itself over the past three months, but he should’ve known that train of thought was never viable.
At least he didn’t have much to pack in the first place.
A few shirts and a pair of pants, a toothbrush, a couple of emergency vials of unicorn draught and nectar. He was sure Will would’ve packed the healing essentials, because he was too much of a worrywart not to. Nico focused on making sure his sword was in good shape and that his powers were working correctly.
Nico had improved incredibly over the rest period, but he knew the dangers of pushing himself too hard. He flexed his fingers, and the shadows rippled in response. He nodded and put his hand down. Basic shadow travel was good enough for a defense.
Will had been right — the backpack that had shown up overnight was bigger on the inside. It was a simple black colour, something that wouldn’t draw too much attention. Nico appreciated the thought.
Within minutes, he was ready. He sighed and swung the backpack onto his shoulder — surprisingly, it was only slightly heavier, despite having at least a few extra pounds in there.
Magic, Nico supposed. He wasn’t complaining.
He jogged out to the border of camp, next to the pine tree. Will was already there, fiddling with a charm on his camp necklace. Nico hadn’t seen that one before — a golden bow and arrow, presumably a gift from one of his siblings. Will looked up quickly when he realized another presence, and the charm vanished.
Nico knew not to prod. Will only used the Mist on personal items that he felt uncomfortable sharing with others.
Instead, he pretended not to have noticed. “Thanatos will arrive any minute,” he informed the other boy, folding his legs and falling to the ground. He sighed.
“I guess…we just wait for now.”
Will nodded, a little too eagerly. “Yeah, sure.” He turned away for a second, removing something from his neck — probably the charm, Nico supposed — before his shoulders relaxed, and he became much more open.
Will cleared his throat, the back of his neck slowly turning red as he turned back around. “So, this quest…what exactly are we doing?”
Nico, although he instantly recognized the attempt to divert the conversation, was hit with the realization he hadn’t even explained the whole thing to Will apart from, ‘magic mortal resurrected himself; we gotta go recollect his soul’.
“There’s a whole community of magic mortals in the UK, who call themselves ‘witches and wizards’,” he started, fiddling with his ring. “ They’re basically Hecate’s favored mortals, if I remember correctly. Of course, Ol’ Thunderpants here,” Nico cast his eyes to the sky pointedly, “would have an issue with their existence, so it’s important to keep them a secret. That’s why Lou reacted like that to me talking about it so openly.”
Will frowned. “Okay, but what’s that got to do — ”
“I’m getting to that,” Nico interrupted.
Will shot him an annoyed look, but quieted.
Nico began to pace, getting a little agitated. “So one of these magic mortals, they somehow managed to get access to a ritual that would allow them to tear their soul apart and store it in special containers, basically granting them immortality unless said containers were destroyed.” He raised his eyes, sardonic. “You can see how the Underworld would have a problem with that.”
Will couldn’t help but snort. “Yeah.”
“But the real problem isn’t just that,” Nico continued, scowling. “That bastard's actually supposed to be dead, killed by someone fifteen years ago. But thanks to those soul containers, he was just weakened; the main part of his soul was destroyed and sent to the Underworld. Now, get this: three months ago, the idiot decided to resurrect his main soul piece, giving a bunch of people, including me and Hazel, giant migraines in the process.”
“So that’s what that was about,” Will realized. “Oh, that makes sense now.”
“Yeah, it wasn’t very pleasant,” Nico grimaced at the memory. “Now we gotta hunt those soul containers down, while attending a school for magic mortals ‘cause that’s where most of them are located. Oh, and if I remember correctly, one of those soul containers is a freaking kid. ” He cocked a sarcastic eyebrow. “Fun, right?”
“Fun,” Will echoed disbelievingly.
“It’s stupid, ” Nico kicked a rock, glaring. “I don’t even know how to locate those things.”
“We’ll figure it out.”
Nico rolled his eyes. “Yeah, like hell we will.”
“Nico. ”
“What?! I’m just saying — oh.” Nico turned, and found Thanatos waiting patiently behind them. To his credit, the god gave no indication that he’d heard him, but the expression on his face was far too amused to have not to.
“Are you ready?” The god addressed Nico directly. Nico nodded. “Yes.”
Thanatos smirked. “Wonderful. Try to hold onto your stomachs when we arrive."
And with no further warning, the ground split underneath their feet, and Nico fell.