Nico's Dark Task

And he'd liked it.

The demigod pushed the wooden door outward, stepping out into the clear night air. The house had felt too warm, the metallic scent of ichor hanging in the air.

Anubis stood beside him, the scratching of his boots on the ground reaching Nico's ears. "It seems you got a bit angrier than you thought," he said.

The demigod glanced down and spotted the cracked ground. The grass had died in a wide circle around the house of the now dead god, Saltus. It wasn't just the plants. All the insects within the circle were now littering the ground, beetles and beautiful butterflies strewn among the withered grass.

This was absolutely not unusual for the son of Hades, he still had some trouble controlling his powers when he was angered. He'd once managed to kill every living creature in a kilometers radius in an encounter with a mind-reading monster. The foolish creature had made the mistake of taking a peek into Nico's memories, and then brought up Bianca. The demigod had not only gotten angry, but incredibly sad as well. In his rage, he'd unleashed his powers on the living creatures and vegetation in a kilometer wide circle. The monster had dropped dead, along with every other organism in the area. The earth had raised around him, cracks and fissures stretching across the ground.

"Yeah, that often happens when I lose control," Nico said nonchalantly, shrugging as he did so.

"...You're even more powerful than I thought. Perfect," Anubis muttered. Nico whipped around to stare at the god. What had the god said?

Anubis stepped closer, his hand coming up to cup Nico's left cheek. The demigod's breath hitched.

"You're perfect, Nico. You're more than I could've hoped for," Anubis said. "I want to teach you magic. Death magic, that is."

Nico raised and eyebrow, "You mean that grey stuff that encased your fingers earlier?"

Anubis now raised his eyebrows, obviously surprised. "You could see that?" Then he laughed. Actually laughed. The sound was loud and unexpectedly pleasant. Nico decided he liked the god's laugh, a lot.

"What?"

The Lord of Funerals stopped laughing and smiled at the demigod. He leaned forward and pecked Nico's nose, his lips leaving behind a pleasant warmth.

"Nothing. You're just amazing. Normally, people can't see that unless they look beyond what can be seen. You truly are amazing." Anubis chuckled. "But, yes, that is death magic."

Nico felt slightly baffled by the god's words and actions. "Okay. We can do that after I've tested the power of the scepter."

He stepped away from Anubis and focused on the scepter in his hand. He had no idea what the scepter was supposed to do. He figured the godly soul inside him made the scepter active.

Nico tried to push his own energy into the scepter. He waited, but nothing happened. It felt like there was a dam preventing the energy from flowing freely. He pushed harder and felt the dam start to give way. He then forced his powers to exceed the energy in the scepter, breaking the dam in the process.

Purple light flooded the area in front of Nico. He jolted at the sudden brightness but held on nonetheless. The light gathered in the air before them, darkening as it grew denser.

An image appeared inside the swirling light, a dark landscape with a shimmer of deep red.

"What is that?" Anubis asked, walking closer to the image.

"It's Tartarus," Nico replied. He'd recognized it immediately, having spent an unpleasant amount of time there.

The god of Death turned around, an astonished look on his face, "Tartarus? How can you be so sure?"