Master of Death

Act 2 - Chapter 2

Nico nervously kicked his legs as he was asked to stay back with Harry and Death. Their argument hadn't gotten out of hand, which Nico was immensely grateful for, but dinner had been awkward afterwards.

"Nico, where are you staying?" Harry asked, looking at the young demigod in concern. "Who is training you?"

Nico shrugged. "Father gave me an open invitation to his palace and I've been teaching myself."

Both men frowned. "Hades won't be able to care for him," Death said quietly to Harry. "He's already pushing the laws by allowing him to come and go as he pleases."

Harry's frown deepened. "Why don't you stay with us for a bit, Nico? I can teach you how to use your abilities."

"I already know how to use my shadow travel," Nico said.

"What about your other abilities? Can you fight? Do you even have weapons to fight with?"

Nico's eyes widened. "I have more powers?"

"You are powerful, Child," Death said. "You have many abilities that you will be able to master with the proper guidance."

Nico made his decision. "Alright. I'll stay."

∆_______________∆

It had been six months since he arrived and he had gotten better control over his shadow travel, as well as learning how to reanimate and summon the dead, summon and control precious metals, and control hellfire. He had been taught the rituals to speak with the dead and much more. He could fight well with a sword, daggers, and a bow.

Harry and Draco had become parent figures to him, Remus and Sirius like uncles, and Scorpius like his older brother. It was odd for him, because his relationship with Scorpius was much different than his relationship with Bianca. Bianca was always acting like an exasperated parent with him and wished he would change to be more bearable, but Scorpius accepted him exactly how he was.

∆_______________∆

"Happy birthday!"

Nico groaned as the shout woke him up. He opened his eyes slowly, his mind too tired to process what had been said to wake him up. Through his sleep-filled haze, he saw Scorpius sitting at the end of his bed with a large grin spread across his face. This was confusing because Scorpius should have been at his healing school. "What do you want? What are you doing here?" he asked, his words slurred from sleep.

"It's your birthday, Little Brother! We have to celebrate! It's a weekend so I got Niccolo to sneak me out of school."

That woke Nico up fast. He couldn't remember when he last celebrated his birthday. Bianca always forgot about it. "Celebrate?"

Scorpius nodded, his grin growing. "Come on! The servants made your favorite for breakfast!"

Nico smiled at the thought of his mother's apple pie and climbed out of bed. "Give me a minute to get dressed, Scorp."

"Dress in muggle clothes," Scorpius advised. "I convinced Harry to let us go to the surface today."

Nico dressed in black, ripped, skinny jeans and a black T-shirt, the aviator's jacket he got from Harry over top. He finished this morning routine before following Scorpius to the dining room, where his family sat, already enjoying the warm apple pie.

After being greeted with a happy birthday from everyone, he grabbed himself a slice and began to eat, savoring every bite.

While he ate, Harry informed him of the schedule for the day. "After breakfast, you have some presents to open. Then, we have a surprise on the surface. Once the surprise is over, we'll come back here for dinner."

Nico smiled happily and finished his breakfast. After everything was cleared away, they moved on to presents.

The first one he opened from the pile was from Draco. He got him a new sketchpad and charcoals. Nico had learned that he could draw really well a few weeks into living with them and they had deduced that he must have had lessons before his memory was wiped in the Lethe.

After thanking Draco, he opened his present from Scorpius. He got him a pair of silver daggers that he said he enchanted to always return to him.

From Death, he got a stygian iron xiphos that he named Θεριστής, or Reaper in Greek. The sword turned into a skull ring that suited his style perfectly.

Remus gave him an enchanted map. It would show his surroundings and the people around him. He said it was an improved version of the Marauder's Map.

Sirius gave him a high-quality guitar. It was another talent they learned he had; he could play the guitar, piano, and violin. Nico strummed a few chords before putting it aside.

Harry gave him a necklace that officially declared him a member of the family. The gift caused him to tear up and launch himself at Harry, hugging him tightly.

Nico thought he was done, but there was one more gift. He looked up at his family in confusion as he picked up the gift. There was a card attached and he read through it.

I hope this reaches you. I paid Hermes to deliver it, but he's not too happy with me, so yeah. Anyways, happy birthday, Nico. I got Tyson to make this and Lou Ellen enchanted it to fit in the bracelet. Press the skull to activate it.
—Percy Jackson, Son of Poseidon

When he had finished reading, he stared at the small, wrapped box in surprise. Percy had sent him a gift? He carefully unwrapped the box. When he opened it, it revealed a simple torque made of stygian iron. He slipped it on and hit the decorative skull. He was covered in darkness for a moment. When it receded, he was dressed in wicked-looking stygian iron armor.

"Whoa," he said, looking down at himself with wide eyes.

"You look wicked scary, Little Brother! Who gave that to you?"

"My cousin," Nico said, still in shock. "My cousin sent this."

"Wait, Death's boyfriend?"

Death blushed and mumbled something about Percy not being his boyfriend.

"Not yet," Scorpius sang.

After Nico deactivated the armor, Harry opened a portal to their next destination. The surprise ended up being tickets to an amusement park where they spent the day, riding rides and eating carnival food. When they got back to Hell, they had Nico's favorite pasta for dinner.

"Thank you," he said, giving Harry a huge hug before he went to bed. "This has been the best day ever."

Harry smiled and kissed his forehead before sending him off to bed. "Anything for you."