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Chapter 5: Nico and Hades

Sam had begun to glow and a bright laurel wreath had begun to shine over his head. Everyone around us fell dead silent.
Uh, Sammy? You okay?"
"Yea, Dean, why?"
"Dude, you're glowing. And there's some garden thing over your head."
Sam looked up and stumbled backward.
Percy just looked at the grey-eyed girl standing next to him and muttered "I told you he belonged somewhere else."
She just stared at Sam in shock.

Somewhere in the midst of everything, Chiron had appeared behind me.
"All hail Samuel Winchester, son of Apollo, God of prophesy, music, healing, disease, archery, poetry, wisdom, reason and the sun."
The kids around me burst into applause and ran up to shake his hand, muttering about a new brother. "Hey Sam we have an extra bunk in the cabin! I'll move your stuff in."
"But dude. Seriously. You need to help me with archery. I need the help."
"No he needs to teach me how to bandage things properly cuz I suck ass."
All the Apollo kids argued over who got Sam first. I just stood there in confusion. Sam seemed pretty happy, though, so I just stood up and left, no one noticing my absence.
Blending with the shadows, I walked back to the quiet place of secluded darkness I had found earlier and sat in the middle. So... Sam was the son of Apollo? That's... no. I don't like it. He's my brother. Mine. I don't want to share him. Besides, they didn't know him. I picked up a rock and threw it, a low growl escaping my throat. The rock soared through the darkness and I lost view of it about half a second after I threw it.
"Well someone's mad." A voice as cool as ice came from behind me. Despite the coolness, I could hear the laughter in the statement.
"Leave me alone." I growled, picking up another rock and chucking it.
"Eh. Not really feeling like it. Besides, this is my space, remember?"
I sighed, rolling my eyes. I turned around to face the same black-haired boy as earlier.
"Why are you even here right now? And why won't you tell me who you are?" I glared at him, my anger seething.
"I'm here because I figured you would be here. Actually because I could feel you were here. You're from the underworld, aren't you? That's the only reasonable explanation unless... nevermind. That's not reasonable. So. When are you from? How did you get back? Did my father let you come back?"
"Uh kid? I'm just a hunter. I've died over 100 times. So just deal with it. I was even a demon for a while. Black eyes and everything. Been to hell for forty years, done some shit I'm not proud of... started and ended the apocalypse... just a ton of shit."
"You've died over 100 times? And spent 40 years in Tartarus? Well fucking hell."
"Tartarus? What's that? Dude I spent time in hell, not tar. And, while I've died that many times, angels keep bringing me back so apparently I'm much better alive."
"Well now I know why I can feel your presence... I'll have to ask Hades..."And with that he disappeared into the shadows again just like before.
I was pissed. Who was this kid? What did he mean "he could feel my presence"? WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON. I wanted to scream. Instead, I punched a tree. Bad move. My hand began swelling and pain shot through it within seconds after it connected. Shit. I think I broke my hand. I trudged off to the infirmary to ask for some tape or something.

When I arrived, there were a ton of kids all around. No one even took notice of me until I cleared my throats and one of the boys J recognized from the archery range earlier looked my way.
"Yea, what can I do for you?"
"Just some tape. Fix my hand." I muttered, embarrassed to have to ask this kid for help.
"Sure thing. You're Sam's mortal brother, right? So you're my half brother then. Cool. Well welcome. So since you're not a demigod--or at least I'm assuming you're not because you're definitely not one of us Apollo kids like your brother is--that would be weird--so I can't give you any nectar or ambrosia. Yea I guess tape will have to work. Here." He said all of that while rummaging around through some boxes of medical stuff and then chucked my a roll of medical tape.
"Thanks man."
"No problem. Just keep it. We have tons." He smiled up at me. "Cya."
"Yea, cya." He replied as I turned and left the infirmary, wandering back to the woods. As I made my way back I noticed that there was a note on my rock.
Hey Dean. Hades kid here.
Meet me here at midnight. We need to talk.
I read the note and grimaced. So now the kid wanted to talk? What the hell! Ya know what? I'm going to my car. I need a few beers. I turned around and stalked out of the woods.

~Nicos POV~
That new guy Dean is weird. I just can't figure him out. He... he actually reminds me a bit of me actually. As soon as he said he had been dead before I thought I had figured out why I was so attracted to him and could sense his presence. I had to leave as soon as I could to have a discussion with my annoying father about letting one guy leave over 100 times. There's something still missing here. He said something about angels. And about being in hell for 40 years. I needed some clarity. Man did I not expect what I got.

When I arrived at Hades palace I walked into his living space and sat on the couch. Then I promptly yelled for him to get over here.
"Nico, my son, what do I owe the pleasure."
"Who is Dean Winchester?" I asked, cold and straight to the point.
"Ahh that's a bit of a long story. Care for some refreshments? A snack or drink perhaps?" I glared at him.
"I just want an answer."
"Okay, okay. Dean Winchester... well I've followed him quite closely. I mean I tend to do that with most of my kids so no surprise there. He has had an interesting past thou--"
"Wait. Did you just say he was your kid?"
"Ah, yes. I believe I did. Come on, Nico. Keep up. Now, he is probably one of my favorites. Great history. His mother... when she showed up here... that was awful. Terrible. Tragic. To die so horribly. So young. With a newborn nonetheless. Granted, the newborn was Apollos child so it wasn't that much of a pity. Apollo. Sheesh. Way to...exotic for my taste. Anyway. Dean is... special. He's not a normal demigod, Nico. He's a hunter as well. He knows all folklore and every type of creature and monster from every background knows him. He has angels and demons on his side as well as mortals and monsters and prophets and a few gods. He has carried the mark of Cain and started and stopped the apocalypse. He has time-traveled and been to Heaven and hell, not Tartarus, hell. And I must admit that where he was in hell was worse than where he would have been in Tartarus. He has sold his soul and fought with Lucifer himself. Dean is no ordinary demigod Nico, even for one of the Big Three."
"Wait. So he's my brother? That's why I can sense him?" Hades rolled his eyes at me.
"Yes, Nico. And he has abilities like yours. And Hazels. He just doesn't know it. He has talked to the dead before, but he always thought it was because of him being a hunter. He can send demons back to hell and he can kill ghosts, sending them back to Tartarus or the fields of Asphodel or wherever they came from. He can find any riches under the Earth and maneuver his way underground seamlessly if he ever bothered to try. And if he ever actually bothered to just tell the spirits to go back they would have to obey him. He just has never tried because that's not how he was raised. He's so drawn to what he does and so good at it because he's my son. Just like you. But... a bit different than you."
"I'm gonna... go. And by the way. He's feeling really abandoned right now. Especially because Apollo claimed his brother. Now his brother has a place and he doesn't. Fix it."
"Nico... if I claim him then he will be treated like you. You didn't like it. You expect him to?"
"It would be better to know you belong in at least some way rather than no way."
"Fine. Whatever. Just talk to him first. Don't tell him. I want him to be surprised. But get to know him. Let him know that he has someone he can trust, okay? So that when everyone starts avoiding him he can have you to turn to. And you had better help his learn to use his abilities so he can defend himself against all those rude ass Ares children. Although he could probably do it himself already. Just talk to him, okay? Good. Now leave. This conversation is over." He shooed me away and suddenly I was back in the shadowed clearing with a piece of paper and a pen in my hand. I wrote a note to Dean and left it there for him to find. Then I went back to my cabin to digest this news. Man I was gonna have a migraine by the end of the night.