Chapter Text
It was a standard day in New Rome as Nico slowly came aware of warmth against his back as drifted awake. As he grimaced at the light coming through the window, trying to sift away, the warmth behind him grumbled and flipped over, deciding that the movement was too much to keep cuddling. As he yawned and stretched a note sitting on the bedside table caught his eye.
“Sunshine, wake up, we’ve got a letter.” Nico yawned out as he nudged the blonde-haired blob next to him. Another grumble came from the pile of blankets, but a hand emerged to pull the sheets low enough to reveal the tired eyes of Will.
Nico let out a chuckle at the dramatic display and set out to read the letter.
“ My son ,”
“Oh goody, a godly note, that means we get to do absolutely nothing dangerous at all,” Will interjected, as he slowly sat up and stretched.
“Hush, who knows, he may just want to have breakfast, or invite us to dinner with him and Lady Persephone.” The response was a look that very clearly implied questioning of Nico’s level of sanity.
“ My son,
I hope you and the sunny one are doing well, as are the rest of your friends, but I, unfortunately, cannot say this letter is only for checking on you.
There is much to tell you, but it would be better to do face to face, so please meet me at the corner of 7th and 16th at 12pm, and bring your friends, including the sea spawn, this may include them as well.
Your father.”
“Well, that’s not ominous at all,” Will said as he rummaged through his luggage for a shirt, Nico set down the letter and also began to dress for the day.
“Well, at least he sent a letter and included you. He’s getting much better at being an active father. “
“That is true, and he’s better than old Seaweed is at it, I swear Percy will send himself into a death trance the next time he spends a ‘father-son’ day with him.” They both shared a chuckle at that.
“Speaking of Aquaman, give him and Annie a text to make with a 5-minute warning, dad said we can bring them to the meeting.” Will nodded and grabbed the monster-proof phone sending a text off to the older couple while Nico finished getting ready. The phone immediately chimed with an affirmative answer, and the couple soon found themselves ready to shadow travel.
“Bring the letter to show Perce and Annabeth, and they said we are good to come in our usual spot,” Will suggested before taking Nico’s hand. Nico gave it a squeeze and grabbed the letter of the nightstand, and the two melted into the shadows.
After forever and no time at all, the two emerged into a dark empty closet, and Will knocked on the door before opening it. They were greeted by a smiling Percy at the table and the voice of Annabeth from the kitchen.
“Hey, you two! Glad you came over. Do you need something to eat? I’m making toaster waffles.”
“Thanks, Annie, we’ll both take two, we left the hotel before we had breakfast,” Will called back as he made his way to the table, leaving Nico to close the door to the closet and notice the sign.
“Water Boy?” Nico asked, somehow halfway between a laugh and a growl, “What in the Hades is this?”
Percy laughed as he looked up and noticed the sign, as did Will.
“What? The joke was way too good to pass up, besides, Jason made the joke first.” The sign in question just read “The Closet” in puffy glitter letters. Nico was interrupted from getting too upset by Annabeth coming in with plates of toaster waffles, which he helped take to the table before sitting with his family. They made small talk before Percy got to the heart of the issue.
“So what's up, bro? Not that we don’t love the company, we just usually plan things ahead of time, you don’t normally pop around.”
“We woke up from a letter from my dad, he said he wants to meet up, and that you are all invited as well,” Nico explained while pulling the letter out of his pocket as he explained. He let the older couple read the letter, and watched as Percy sighed in defeat and Annabeth became curious.
“I’m so done being a pawn of the gods, it gets so exhausting. But your dad put effort into being a dad, that’s cool.”
“I wonder what he wants, he said “may involve” not “will involve” so we may not have to go.” After Annabeth’s statement, Percy looked a little happier, though Nico wilted a little. Will squeezed his shoulder and smiled to say “I’m with you to the end” which encouraged him a little. Just then the bell rang, and Annabeth got up to get it while Percy gathered the dishes and used his powers to wash and dry them.
“Dude, what?” Will laughed while Percy shrugged.
“What? Who needs a dishwasher when you are the Son of Poseidon, besides, it actually saves on the water bill, so Annabeth is cool with it.”
“Ugh, bills, you should really just be the Ambassador of Pluto and not pay for anything ever while you and your boy toy live in a hotel penthouse.” Nico jokes, ignoring Will’s offended gasp and elbow for being called a boy toy.
“Or you should be the only child of a famous movie star and live off his hush money to pretend you don’t exist.” Piper chimed in while following Annabeth back to the kitchen, Jason also in tow.
“You guys know what, that sounds like a great plan. I’ll try that next, right after I get done being the Saviour of Olympus and the world twice.” Percy replied while getting up to bro-hug Jason and give Piper a hug.
“Hey Neeks, Will, what brings you here?” Jason asked as he sat at the table.
“Lord Hades has asked Death Breath and me to meet with him at noon, and he said we can bring friends, so we were inviting Percy and Annabeth, but y’all can come too,” Will responded, slinging an arm around Nico.
“We’ve got nothing else planned, so why not, it’s not like Lord Hades isn’t extremely intimidating and will possibly smite me for no reason.” Jason snarked back, but they all knew they were going to go anyway, so when 12pm came close, they left for the meetup spot, not wanting to be late.
Once arriving at the designated spot, they were met with a Rottweiler, which gestured for them to follow it. They all looked at each other and shrugged, following the dog into an ally, where they were then greeted by Hades.
Will, Jason, and Piper bowed slightly, while Annabeth just nodded in greeting, and Percy and Nico gave a little wave.
“Hello father, it’s nice to see you.”
“Sup Lord Hades, glad to see you are a better dad than most, I wish my dad sent letters instead of just showing up,” Percy said before he was elbowed in the ribs, hard, by Annabeth who didn't feel like watching her fiance die today.
Hades just sighed “Don’t we all. But yes, hello son, it is very nice to see you. I am here for business, unfortunately. You may not know, but we have had a soul that has been incomplete for over 13 years, only to be joined by a tiny sliver 2 years ago. The majority of the soul is still missing, but one of the parts has regained a body yesterday. This takes a very dark art to do so, and we need to soul to become whole before it can be judged.”
“Why have you not been able to call the soul pieces back?” Nico asked concern marking his voice.
“They have been tied to objects, and the object must be destroyed before the pieces can be free to join back together. Up until now, Lady Hecate has not allowed me to do anything about retrieving the soul, but now that a soul has remade a body, I can finally interfere.”
As Hades goes on to describe a hidden wizarding world, the young adults grew more resigned by the fate they knew was in store.
“Now, I know I don’t have the right to ask this for you, but you are the only one I can rely on to get this done properly, but you can say no if you like. You other demigods do not have to go either, your acceptance or refusal will not change the outcome of this mission.”
“Then why ask this of us Lord Hades?” Annabeth inquired, though she felt she knew the answer.
“So Nico would not be alone. He would be entering the society at the age that most have established their friends, as well as his underworld aura giving off the feeling of darkness, he would have a hard time finding people to spend time with. While he can do this alone, I do not want to ask that of him.” Nico blushed, but smiled, he was not looking forward to doing this alone and would miss his family like a lost limb.
“Well, when you put it that way, I guess we are going to play with wizards for a little while,” Jason responds, throwing an arm around Nico and Will’s shoulders. Percy just looked at Annabeth and shrugged, as Piper put a hand on Will's shoulder.
“Okay, dad, we will go take care of the split soul, what do we need to know?”
“Lady Hecate will visit your dreams tonight to instill you with the knowledge of what you need to know, and the cover you are going to use. You have all summer to fully educate yourself before the start of their term in September, and we will get you to the castle the day of. We will also take care of any paperwork issues that may come up. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to visit my wife while I’m up here. I’ll see you soon, my son.”
Hades nodded to them all and left through shadow. Percy looked at them and burst out laughing, soon they all joined in.
“Dude, your dad is way better than all of them. I don’t think my dad would even take my mental well-being into account, and he’s mortal.” Piper said, “Now who wants lunch? I’m starving.”