Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN PJO, HOO OR HP (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Heroes of Olympus, Harry Potter)
Chapter 1 – Hecate gives a history lesson
It was a fairly normal day for Nico di Angelo. He'd had a before-breakfast sparring session with Clarisse la Rue from the Ares cabin, ate with his friends/cousins, gone for a walk with his boyfriend of 4 months, Will Solace, and had just finished running a few errands for his father.
Now, sitting next to a dozing Peleus, gently stroking the still-young dragon's smooth copper scales, he gazed out at Camp Half-blood from the safety of the shadows of Thalia's Pine, re-living his favorite memories of his time in Camp.
He remembered when he first came here, how amazed he'd been at the sights and the sounds, being particularly excited by the Pegasi. He had always wondered why they would shy away from him, snorting and stamping whenever he got too close, leaving him feeling sad, but now he understood.
He was a son of Hades, quite literally 'Devil Spawn', he radiated death and darkness, and any animal who didn't come from the Underworld would most likely rather stand in the middle of a bonfire than go near him.
Well, most animals anyway.
"Hey 'Lil bro, what's up?" Came the voice of Leo Valdez, one of his several 'brothers' who weren't properly related to him, but acted like they were.
He glanced up, seeing not only Leo, but his other 'brothers' Jason Grace and Percy Jackson.
He had long gotten over his crush on the handsome son of Poseidon, but he still felt kind of awkward when he was around. Which basically meant he felt permanently awkward, seeing as he, along with Leo and Jason, insisted on always being around for their 'little brother' as much as they could.
"Technically I'm older than all three of you guys combined, so you can shut up Repair Boy."
He had been spending a lot of time with Piper, Reyna, and Thalia (When Reyna came to visit from Camp Jupiter, and when the Hunters were staying at camp), and had begun to pick up some of their habits, such as being able to convince people to do things more easily than normal, calling Leo 'Repair Boy', spending a lot of time doing archery, and training with all weapons instead of exclusively swords.
"Someone's snippy today," Jason commented, sitting down next to him along with Percy and Leo. The son of Jupiter gave Peleus a brief scratch under his chin to calm him, as he had woken up, apparently sensing the movement of the other demigods.
"Yeah well, had to do a few errands for my father, and..." He hesitated before saying anything, unsure of how much to tell them. His father had specifically told him not to tell anyone, but they were going to find out sometime anyways... "I might be getting a quest soon."
Percy looked up at this with a brief look of surprise, before his trademark grin slipped on to his face, "Congrats man! 'Bout time you get some questing action! I'll be coming though, right?"
"Well, actually-," Nico began, before being cut off by Leo.
"Woah woah woah. Woah. There is no way in Hades I am letting my favorite brother go on his first quest without Mr. McShizzle there to help kick some monster butt," he stated firmly, one arm around Nico's shoulders.
Shrugging of the arm, he once again began to try and speak, but was immediately cut off again, this time by Jason.
"What kind of brother would I be if I let little Neeks here go on a quest without his favorite brother?" He asked, putting his arm around Nico, once again the arm being shrugged off.
"You wouldn't be a very good brother. Which is why I'm going on the quest with him," Percy said smugly, Leo and Jason both immediately protesting.
"Are you kidding, I was talking about me!"
"Come on, I am clearly his favorite brother, I brought back Calypso who, as we all know, adores Nico and vice-versa, so I should go on the quest with him!"
"Nico creeps Calypso out, Leo, don't even try and say otherwise. It's obvious he prefers me, I've known him longest, I go on the quest!"
Not liking all the noise, Peleus let out a roar, shooting a small jet of fire into the air, which the three arguing boys ignored.
"I'm his favorite brother! There is no way I'm letting him go on a quest without me!"
"There's no way you're his favorite brother, I've known and been with him for years, I'm going on the quest!"
"I'm going whether you guys like it or not so deal with it!"
"I think I have to do this quest alone guys."
The three stopped their bickering, finally turning to look at Nico. He was staring out at the forest, his face as emotionless as ever, but somehow slightly paler.
Percy eventually piped up, "Seriously? But it's tradition! There are always three demigods on a quest."
"I know you don't like us arguing Death Breath, but come on, we just want to look after you," Jason said, Leo nodding in agreement.
"It's not that, it's just... my father said that if I am to go on this quest, I must go on it alone," Nico sighed, leaning back against Peleus and absent-mindedly stroking him.
"Your dad said you might be going on a quest? Hades normally doesn't get involved in quests does he?" Leo asked, putting together a small metal bird before quickly un-assembling it
Nico shook his head, a small smile on his face. "He normally try's to stop quests rather than start one. Percy can tell you that from experience."
Said Seaweed-brain pouted, but chose not to comment.
Leo seemed to be trying to hold something back, but suddenly blurted out, "Have you told Will you're going on this quest-thingy yet?"
One of the very first things people will teach you about you first come to camp, is Nico and Will's relationship. This is not so that they can recruit you for the Solangelo Fan Club, but it is honestly for your own safety. For example, an Ares kid, David something-or-other, who had once said that it was weird that Nico, the son of the God of Death, someone who seemed to radiate darkness, was with the son of the God of Sun, who seemed to glow permanently, and ended up in the infirmary for almost a month, courtesy of said Son of Hades, half the Apollo cabin, and the majority of the Aphrodite cabin (who started attacking him with their stilettos for making fun of 'the second best ship in camp history'.)
Ever since what people had dubbed, 'the Ares incident', everyone was especially careful about the couple.
Which is why it was a bit of a surprise to Jason and Percy when Nico did not immediately kill him for so much as mentioning Will. Instead, he merely looked at him and said calmly, "It was not guaranteed that I would get the quest, so I see no need for Will to know," he added as an afterthought, "Besides, I still have to speak with Rachel."
"You called?" The four boys jumped, heads turning as the one and only Rachel Elizabeth Dare waltzed towards them.
She was in her school uniform, a knee-length dress with a white blouse underneath, tights, and black shoes. There were little doodles all over the skirt of the dress, a few doodles on the blouse, all in red marker, all signed R.E.D. Her hair had grown longer, and now fell to her mid-back, still as curly and wild as ever. Her pale skin had turned slightly golden, and she had a small smattering of freckles across her nose.
Percy and Nico scrambled to their feet, calling, "Red! Haven't seen you in forever!" While Leo and Jason stayed seated, not knowing her as well as the other two, though Leo still waved enthusiastically.
"Where have you been hiding?" Percy asked, giving Rachel a quick hug.
"Uhh, school?" She replied, her usual cheeky smile on her face as she returned the hug, before turning to hug Nico.
"How long are you staying?" Nico asked curiously, returning the hug after a brief moment of hesitation.
"A week, I got suspended for not paying attention in class, and doodling on my uniform," she said nonchalantly, as though getting suspended for scribbling was the most normal thing ever, "And as much as I'd like to stay and catch up with you guys, can we do that later? I need to speak to Nico."
Percy seemed to visibly deflate at the fact one of his best friends couldn't immediately be dragged over to the lake so he could ramble on at them, before something seemed to click in his brain.
"Does this mean that Nico is getting the quest?" He asked, a smile creeping onto his face.
Her green eyes were unreadable, but they flickered back and forth between Nico and Percy for a minute, before she coolly answered, "That has yet to be decided. It depends whether or not he gets a prophecy. Nico, can you Shadow-travel us to my cave? We have a lot to discuss."
A slight expression of relief on his face, Nico nodded, taking her by the arm and disappearing into the shadows that had gathered around him.
"What was that all about?" Jason asked as Percy walked back to where he and Leo were now have a thumb war.
"Rachel and Nico have gone off to see whether or not Nico can get the quest. Red needs to make a prophecy before he can go, so pray to Apollo tonight!"
Leo suddenly looked up, a mischievous twinkle in his brown eyes.
"So, shall I get packing for the quest?"
"Shut up Leo, we had this discussion already! I'm going on the dam quest!"
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After the usual experience of suffocating darkness and feeling like someone tipped a bucket of ice down the back of their shirts, Nico and Rachel appeared in her cave.
It was an unusual place. The outside was littered with bones and pieces of armor which scared a lot of younger campers away, but inside it was really quite cozy. The walls were draped with colorful silk sheets and tapestries, with lamps in all corners of the room, all with a little dragon head symbol, showing that they were made by Leo. In one corner was Rachel's bed, with a purple quilt at the end, a Christmas present from Annabeth. Opposite from the bed was a sofa, a recent addition which Piper seemed to find necessary, along with a coffee table, a wardrobe, and several house plants.
Gods only knows how Piper got the things, but everyone knew better than the question her.
Though Rachel gestured for him to sit down on the sofa, Nico remained standing, waiting patiently while the Oracle settled down on her bed, her legs crossed, her eyes no longer carefully emotionless, but irritated instead.
"You can't hide the truth from them forever Neeks. They're gonna find out sooner or later you've already been assigned the quest," the red-head reprimanded, glaring at her slightly sinister friend, something not many other people would do.
"You know what they'll be like Rache, they'll laugh when they first hear about it, then get all concerned about me, then they'll all insist on coming, then whine when they can't come. I cannot be bothered to deal with that," Nico replied, crossing his arms and giving her one of his famous 'I-won't-change-my-mind-for-a-thousand-Happy-Meals' looks.
They stayed like that for a few minutes, glaring at each other in silence, before Rachel relented. She let out a long sigh, before finally saying, "If you won't tell the others, you should at least tell Will. He deserves to know his boyfriend's going to be gone for a year on a quest, and before you kill me," here she briefly paused to raise her hands to stop him from angrily objecting, which he clearly had been about to do, before continuing, "just hear me out. I know Will can sometimes be a bit of an over-protective ass, but he means well, and just wants to make sure you never start to fade again. I don't think you realize how much he and the rest of us care about yo-"
"You don't think I know how much you guys have done for me? How many times you've put yourselves in danger for me?? I act like I don't notice because I hope and I pray that if I pretend not to notice, you guys will stop almost killing yourselves for me! I can protect myself! I want to be able to rely on my own skills for once, instead of other peoples. I know that if I tell will about the quest, he will persuade Chiron to send people after me, and I'll just be the stupid son of Hades who everyone believes needs seven other people to be safe and good. I can take care of myself!" Nico's angry voice soon turned into a yell, which, thank Tyche, no one outside the cave seemed to hear, though several birds did take flight in alarm.
Rachel merely looked at him expressionlessly, seemingly unperturbed by his outburst, though her eyes betrayed the surprise she must be feeling.
Nico let out a sigh, sitting down heavily on the sofa, head bowed, fingers digging into his dark locks. Eventually he said, "I'm sorry, I just... I want a chance to have a proper quest by myself, without anyone else. I want a chance... to maybe be the hero for once."
Rachel's face softened into a smile, as she walked over to the sofa, sitting next to Nico, putting one arm around him. It was a good sign that he didn't try to immediately shrug it off, though he tensed slightly at the contact.
"You are a hero Nico," she said soothingly, "I've lost track of how many times you've saved our asses. What would have happened if you and your father had not turned up at The Battle of Manhattan, hmm? And we all know Reyna and the Coach would be the first to shower you with praise, and we both know how hard they are to impress."
She let out a soft sigh. "If you really don't want to tell them, you don't have to, but they're gonna get suspicious. I'll get supplies ready for you on the day you have to go, and I won't tell them where you've gone. But it's gonna come out sometime, and better sooner than later I say."
She got off up the sofa, ruffling his hair affectionately, and when he looked up a minute or two later, she had left the cave.
He let out a sigh, leaning into the sofa, his eyes closing, mind travelling back to a few days ago, when he had first received the quest...
*Flashback*
"You summoned me father?" Nico di Angelo said, bowing in front of Hades throne. Hades was normally lounging in it, relaxed and at ease with how terrified any person who entered the chamber was. But this time he was sitting stiffly upright, and looking irritated, and almost... concerned. Nico very quickly shook that thought off. His father never got concerned unless there was something that could affect his entire kingdom or something very important to him. And if there was, he would have snapped something like, 'Stop wasting time with the formalities and do this, blah blah blah'.
"Rise," the god of death said stiffly, waving his hand, and Nico stood up, glancing around the recently refurbished Throne-room.
The Throne-room was hardly on the cover of Warm and Welcoming Rooms magazine, and Hades had allowed Persephone only the slightest of changes, so it couldn't really be called 'refurbished' but it had been.. Updated, almost.
The room was large and black, with floors made of copper. There were great tapestries on the walls of people dying in different ways. Torches of acid-green Greek fire lined the walls, casting strange and eerie shadows across the room. In several places, instead of torches, were bunches of precious metals and gemstones, like strange bouquets of flowers. The jewels did nothing to help the evil aura of the room.
In the center of the room was probably the most intimidating thing. On a raised platform of around 1 foot high, were two thrones, one slightly smaller than the other. The smaller one was possibly the only nice thing in the room, except for the bunches of gem-flowers. It was made of gold, with intricately carved flowers on the back and sides. There were flowers made of emeralds and rubies at the top, with embedded jewels continuing the pattern all the way down to the bottom. It seemed to be newer than the old one, as the date it was made was written in tiny writing at the back, saying August the 7th, 2010.
The larger one appeared to be made of Onyx, with a dozen skulls decorating the top and sides, with two skulls at the end of the armrests, their empty sockets staring creepily at the poor soul who would be in front of the throne.
Skeleton soldiers stood guard at the thrones, doors and sides of the room, all from different time periods, different wars.
Cozy.
Nico was suddenly brought back to earth, or, well, the underworld, by a female voice chuckling and saying with a hint of amusement, "Relax Hades. I told you, all I want is for us three to have a little... chat."
He spun around, staring at a beautiful woman who had definitely not been there before.
(1)Her ebony hair was tied up in a bun, her skin was as pale as the moon, and her eyes were pitch black. She wore a sleeveless Greek-style dark gray dress, embroidered with strange runes and symbols in gold thread. She wore a gold rope around her waist to serve as a belt, and in her hands were two flaming torches. On her shoulder perched a Polecat, and by her feet sat a black Labrador.
He remembered what Hazel had told him on their quest to close the Doors of Death, and knew at once who stood before him.
"Lady Hecate," he said, bowing.
An amused smile was plastered on her regal face as she turned to Nico's father.
"Nice to know at least one of your children have manners, Hades. You're daughter just gaped at me when I appeared in front of her, rather rude don't you think?"
Nico would have liked to burst out that she didn't know the goddess of magic was going to appear in front of her, but knew better than to. Hecate was a goddess you did not want against you.
Little did he know, Hades was thinking the same thing.
"I don't mean to be rude Lady Hecate but, umm... what in Zeus's name are you doing here?" Nico asked, looking confused.
The goddess raised her eyebrows, but at Hades, and said to Nico, "Has your father not told you yet? It is time Nico. It is time for a camper to go on a solo quest, a quest without a prophecy. And the gods have chosen you to go."
Silence. The throne-room was filled with a deafening silence, so silent you could almost hear another persons heartbeat. But all Nico could hear was the ringing in his ears.
After a second or two more he let out a nervous laugh.
"You must be mistaken Lady Hecate," he said, "Why choose me when there are plenty of other heroes who have more experience. Percy, Jason, Annabeth, heck even Leo. Why choose me?"
"It's because you are inexperienced that we have chosen you," Hades said, giving Nico a 'don't-make-me-regret-my-choice' look, "You have not had a chance to prove yourself, at least not fully. You did well on the quest with the Athena Parthenos, but it is time you had a chance to shine without relying on others."
Nico slowly nodded, before asking, "What is my quest?"
His father and Hecate glanced at eachother, before she took a deep breath and went on to explain, "Many many hundreds of years ago, several children of mine thought it sad that mortals could not enjoy magic in the way that they could. They begged me to bless several mortals, and, after much pleading on their part, I agreed. But for a price. The price was, that I would bless 4 demigods children, and 4 mortal children. My children would also be able to pass on magic to their children, provided they had children with mortals. It may not seem like such a bad price to pay for something they had always dreamed of, but it lead to bloodshed and pain. The demigod children had purer magic in their blood, and named themselves 'Pure-bloods'. My children had children with mortals, so they're blood had less pure magic in it, and they decided to call themselves 'Half-bloods'. The mortal children who could do magic, had no magic in their blood, and called themselves 'Mortal-borns'. For many years they lived in harmony, until one of my children did something that would cause a war. He introduced the Pure-bloods, Half-bloods and Mortal-borns. The Pure-bloods believed that the Mortal-borns did not deserve to exist, and that they had stollen (2) the magic, and they fought a long, bloody war. It lasted at least a hundred years, until eventually I could not bear the sight of so much magical blood being spilt any longer. I erased the memories of gods and demigods, as the Pure-bloods had been using their godly powers unfairly in the war, and implanted false memories instead. I made them believe they had been living together for many centuries, made them believe that they were the only powerful, magical human race. Mortal-borns had become Muggleborns, Muggles being their term for non-magical people. And, of course, I made them dissapear from the sights of the gods, demigods, and the mortals. Made them believe all of the 'Wizards' and 'Witches' as they were called, had been destroyed."
After this brief history lesson, Nico piped up, "What does this have to do with anything?"
Hecate let out an irritated sigh. "They were not actually destroyed. They are still alive, with no knowledge of demigods or our world. But now it has come to my attention they are in danger. I believe your father can explain."
Hades began to speak, having been ignoring Hecate and Nico since Hecate started speaking.
"There is one Wizard in particular, by the name of Tom Riddle, who has been causing a lot of trouble, not just in the Wizarding World, but in the Underworld as well. He has been using Horcruxes. Seven of them."
He did not need to explain anymore to Nico. When you're the son of the god of death, you start to learn the different loopholes that Thanatos had made for people to cheat death. One of the first he had learnt being Horcruxes. Nico felt a burning anger that anyone would try to cheat death at all. Gods dam Thanatos, he thought, his hands curled into fists.
"As well as the fact I wish for you to rid the world of his Horcruxes, Hecate also wishes for you to protect three wizards in particular who are apparently always getting into trouble or saving the world. Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger," Hades continued, feeling a slight sense of pride about how his son seemed to know how serious and infuriating a business Horcruxes were.
"So... where can I find these 'Wizards' then?" Nico inquired.
Hades and Hecate shared a glance. "Scotland."
"WHAT???" Nico completely forgot that he was talking to gods. "You want me to pack my bags, and leave my friends, the minute I'm accepted and actually liked, you want me to leave??"
"Seems about right," Hecate said cheerfully.
Seeing that Nico seemed ready to explode, Hades hurriedly added, "You'll be going back in time, and by the time you get back to this time, the other demigods will be able to go with you. Everything will be explained to you when you go to Scotland, and Hecate will bless you so that you can do magic and blend in. They must not know you're a demigod until the others join you."
Hecate smiled, and asked him, "Are you ready to accept your first solo quest?"
Nico felt overwhelmed, and ready to just Shadow-travel away, and curl up in the Hades cabin, and forget this meeting every happened. But he could not turn down the opportunity to do something that no one else in Camp Half-Blood or Camp Jupiter had probably done before. A solo quest.
Most importantly, he could not throw away this kind of opportunity, the opportunity to make his father proud of him...
"When do I start?"
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Hi guys! Hope you enjoyed the first chapter of Death's child at Hogwarts! I'll try to update once or twice a month, but for now, this'll have to suffice, (sorry!)
(1) I'm just assuming that Hecate can change the way she looks like other gods/goddesses, so I'm kinda making up how I imagine her to look. Also, decided to write her when she's in a good mood. She won't be so happy next time you see her!
(2) I am, from now on, doing 'Stollen' instead of 'Stolen' because puns.