CHAPTER SUMMARY
Nico, Annabeth, and Thalia speak to their divine guest. Hermione enjoys vacation with her family.
BEGINNING NOTES
Chapter Rating: General Audiences
Content Warning: Cursing
Word Count: 3677
SPOILERS FOR "THE SWORD OF HADES" FROM "THE DEMIGOD FILES". Use the link below to read it, pages 35-44. Thalia will make no sense here if you don't know the story.
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B33MEtG4tzm_VDRJWlB3N0lGalU/preview
Thanks for understanding about last night, guys. I got to work early today, recovered my comupter, and here we are!
And all the characters are owned by JK Rowling, or Rick Riordan.
Credits at the end.
____________________HERMIONE____________________
"No fair!" Jeremy cried. "You cheated!"
"No, I took a shortcut down the mountain," Hermione corrected him. "I went on the same mountain as you, and you could've taken that shortcut too."
It wasn't often Hermione got to hang out with her aunt, uncle, and cousins. Uncle Tyler moved to New Jersey when she was a toddler because Aunt Sadie's entire family lived there. She relished in these visits as the best of both worlds: she got to travel and ski, see her distant family, and, since Hogwarts, spend time with her parents too. As much as she loved being a witch, she needed time in the muggle world every now and again. Modern amenities were nice.
"Hermione!" Mum called. She was standing a little further from the mountain with the rest of the adults, waiting for her to come down. Hermione pushed herself forward with her ski poles and slid to where her family was waiting.
"Where's April and Tanisha?" Aunt Sadie asked.
"Further up," Hermione said, "But they should be down pretty soon. Are we done for the day?"
Dad nodded. "The sun's setting, and we saw some clouds while we were waiting. I don't want to get caught on the mountain during a blizzard."
"The weather's been crazy all year," Uncle Tyler said. "It's been snowing and hailing like crazy, and I don't think summer made it past seventy-five degrees."
"Global warming," Aunt Sadie replied. "Hurricanes were up too. We had to buy a generator after the number of times the power shut off. You'd think after the millionth tree fell on the power lines and caught on fire the county would vote to put them underground."
"That's insane," Dad said. "It was the same in Manchester. Flash floods and storms constantly. I worried about this one in Scotland." He bumped Hermione's shoulder with the typical embarrassing Dad grin.
"Dad!" she protested, shrinking away.
April and Tanisha arrived at that very moment. Hermione was grateful for the interruption. Weather usually wasn't a scary topic, but with the Greco-Roman gods revelation one year ago, Hermione had been brushing up on her mythology. Bad weather usually meant that something divine was brewing, and godly intervention didn't end well for the mortals involved. She hoped to the gods it was climate change or some rare meteorological event. Dad always sent her muggle newspapers so she could keep up with what was going on at home. She remembered a few articles attempting to explain the weather, but none were conclusive, and none gave her much relief.
She took a long, hot shower after they made it back to the ski lodge. Sure enough, a blizzard rolled in by the time she was out, and one glance at her phone announced there would be six more feet of snow once morning came.
She put her worries away when she joined her family for dinner. Skiing took a lot out of her, and she was starving. She joked and laughed with her cousins, ate up Uncle Tyler and Dad's famous chicken parmesan, and, once dinner ended, Jeremy challenged her to a rematch race to the mailbox. He won, of course. He was only fourteen, but already taller than Hermione.
"You got a letter from your boyfriend!" Jeremy shouted when they got inside. Hermione reached for it, but Jeremey held it up too high for her to reach.
"Oooo," April said. "Hermione has a boyfriend!" She sang like she was on the playground. She was nine, and not exactly mature for her age.
"Give me that," Tanisha, twelve, said. She was taller than Hermione, tall enough to snatch the letter from Jeremy and spare her the indignity of jumping like some dog. "Here you go." She handed the letter to her.
"Thank you," Hermione said. "I'm going to my room."
Once there, she wrapped herself in a blanket and opened the letter.
***
Hermione,
Hope things are good in New Hampshire. Still can't get over the image of you sliding down a mountain with straps of wood on your feet. Muggle sports are odd, but as long as you're having fun, I guess I can't judge.
Things are crazy here like always. Percy came back. He said he was an idiot to put work before family, but I don't believe him. Mum and Dad forgave him on the spot, but the rest of us aren't keen on him being around. We agreed to keep it civil for Mum's sake, but the whole thing's ruining Christmas, honestly. I can't wait until you're back.
Another thing: you remember Fleur Delacour, the Beauxbatons champion during the Triwizard Tournament? Bill started dating her, so she's over for the holidays too. She got a part-time job at Gringotts and that's that. She's nice enough but she and Bill are all soppy and it puts me off my supper. I like her on her own, but I give them space.
I only got home yesterday, so there's not much else to report from my end. I don't know how long muggle post takes and I didn't want Pig to deliver it in case your family saw him. Turns out Fleur's a half-blood, so she sent this for me. Hope you're not grossed out, but she had to lick the envelope to seal it. I wanted to use a normal seal, but Fleur said it would look odd to the muggles. I would've told her to get lost, but if I broke the Statue of Secrecy again Mum would let me have it. Almost wanted to for Percy's sake, but I don't want Dad to get another inquiry.
Even with all the crazy, things are lousy without Harry. I'm glad we'll be together then. It's hard to be merry without my two best friends.
Thinking of you,
- Ron
***
Hermione took the Marauder's Map and Harry's wand from her dresser drawer. She sat on the bed, pressed them and Ron's letter to her chest, and cried. That's where she stayed until Tanisha came in to get ready for bed. From the look on her face, Mum and Dad told her about Harry. Tanisha sat next to her on the bed and put a hand on her back. If she saw Harry's wand or the parchment map pressed between her stomach and knees, she didn't stare or say anything.
"I'm sorry about your friend," she whispered.
____________________ANNABETH____________________
When Annabeth ran into the Hades cabin with Nico and Thalia, she didn't expect a goddess to greet her. She should've guessed that last night was a warning. A half-blood with a bad night's sleep usually meant that a god would come asking for a favor that would almost certainly ruin her day.
When Thalia saw that teenage girl standing in the Hades cabin tending to some flowers, she tensed so much that Annabeth could feel her hatred burning white-hot. "I know you..." she said. Her fists clenched. "Oh." There was too much attitude in her voice; enough to provoke the goddess.
"Hello daughter of Zeus," the teenager said, "I am Persephone."
Annabeth didn't like the way Thalia glared at the goddess. "Thalia," she whispered, "Calm down."
"Calm down?!" Thalia snarled. "She betrayed Olympus! She tried to make Hades more powerful than Zeus! She almost gave Kronos a superweapon that would've helped him take over Olympus!"
"You make it sound like I was working for Kronos," Persephone complained.
"As good as!" Thalia shot back. "You created that sword and lost it! You dragged me, Nico, and Percy to the Underworld! I had to push Sisyphus's boulder up a mountain! We had to cross the Lethe and fight Melinoe and Iapetus! Percy almost died from those Keres! You--"
"Hold on, Thalia," Annabeth interrupted her, partially to shut her up. Insulting gods never went so well. "What sword? That one?" She pointed to the sword hanging from Persephone's sundress. How it stayed up there without a sword belt wasn't clear, but it was probably the same breeze that kept her dress and hair floating around.
"My new symbol of power." There was pride in Persephone's voice. "After Hecate's attack, Lord Hades saw it fit to give me a better weapon than vines."
"But that sword has one of the keys to the Underworld in it!" Thalia protested. "You're the goddess of springtime, not the Underworld!"
"And?" Persephone challenged. "Hera presides over the council. Amphitrite has great power over the sea. Why should I be the only queen without power over my husband's domain? I am the Queen of the Underworld."
"That sword challenges the balance of power! It betrays the ancient laws!"
For a second, everything went black. When the darkness cleared, she felt groggy and drowsy. Had she blacked out? She turned to ask Thalia, and realized what happened. Annabeth wasn't having the best morning, but she didn't think that the sick feeling in her stomach would translate to the goddess of springtime turning her into a chrysanthemum.
"I turned that one back, Nico. Now, will you please talk to me?" Persephone sounded more annoyed than angry. He kept his eyes on the floor and his back to her. If she wasn't blocking his bed, he'd probably have his earbuds in and be blasting music. She didn't know what had transpired between the two of them while she was a flower, but she suspected Nico was pretty angry. All the trouble he'd gone through to keep the gods out of his life, and there his former stepmother was. Whether she came to ask a favor or not, it would definitely rub Nico the wrong way. He was usually uptight whenever anyone referenced his former life as a half-blood. It made sense with all that the immortal world put him through, but if the gods understood that was another question.
"I could turn you into a flower in her place?" Persephone offered, teasing him in a familiar, good-natured way. It was weird hearing a demigod stepmom being friendly to their stepchild. "A real flower, not a weed or ivy. Let me see, what would your flower be..." She pretended to think it over. "A venus flytrap!"
Annabeth didn't see Nico smile, but Persephone must've. Smile or no, she got through Nico's outer defenses, which took skill. "I don't eat bugs," Nico mumbled, just barely audible.
"My mistake."
There was a long silence while Persephone waited for Nico to speak. "Turn Thalia back, too," Nico said.
Persephone's former anger reared its head. "She dares speak to me like that; she gets what she deserves. Zeus and his children, they think they're above reproach! Well! All mortals end in the Underworld, and they soon learn otherwise. That one insulted me one time too many."
"Hey!" Annabeth cried, despite her better judgment. What could she say? Her pride was hurt and no one talked to her friends like that. Besides, what could the goddess of springtime do to her anyway?
Persephone's eyes flashed. "Careful, girl. Your mother will not shield you from my wrath."
"Look, it's clear you want something, so say it already," Annabeth snapped.
Persephone's anger flared even more. "You will treat me with respect!"
"Fine, Queen Persephone!" Annabeth shouted, "What do you want?!"
Her hair and dress blew back and forth like the clouds and winds of a hurricane swirled right in front of her. The colors of her dress were that of a storm, spirals of black and grey and navy rotating like a tornado. Annabeth, on impulse, drew her drakon bone sword. A millisecond later, a thorny vine knocked it out of her hand. The vines curled around her arm, then split in two. Half snaked down her legs, wrapping them tighter and tighter. She tried to move her arms or legs, but the vines were too strong, and her weapon was too far away from her on the floor. Her eyes stayed on a smaller vine, creeping up from her stomach and towards her chest. "Nico!" Annabeth yelled. The vine got faster and faster; it was at her shoulder now; she could feel it start to wrap around her neck. "Nico, do something!"
"I saved your life!" Nico shouted at Persephone. "You owe me! Stop it, let my friends go, and tell me why you're here!" The vines got faster now, thicker, tighter. "The Underworld runs on fair judgment! If you want to call it your domain you have to respect its values!"
The vines receded. Annabeth fell to the floor, coughing and gasping for breath. The chrysanthemum next to him was once again Thalia, on her feet but drugged and out of it. Without so much as a word, she stumbled to the nearest empty bunk and collapsed onto the mattress. She wouldn't be much help if Persephone went hurricane season again. Once Annabeth caught her breath, she followed Thalia, sat next to her, and put her hand on her back to let her know she was there. She was beyond angry at that goddess, but, liked she'd said, she wanted Nico alone. After that show of her power, Annabeth thought it was best to sit here and act invisible. It would be stupid to underestimate her again.
Persephone returned to her usual appearance. She smoothed her dress and hair like it had been messed up by some summer breeze. She didn't need to; like all gods, it was perfect already. They were all too vain to ever let themselves look anything other than perfect.
Persephone eyed Thalia sitting on the bed. "This is more than Zeus deserves, but an exchange of favors is, unfortunately, an established practice of Hades." She walked back to her table of flowers, completely calm. Spring can go nuclear in a moment, then hide it the next day with a ray of sunshine.
The flowers were gone from the table, and now two chairs sat on either side of it. Persephone sat in one and motioned for Nico to take the other. He didn't. She sighed. "Humor me, Nico. This would already be over if you all paid me reverence." With a glance to Annabeth--with eyes that read "save me"--he took a deep breath and walked into the fold. It felt like a surrender.
He doesn't want anything to do with the supernatural. Why won't the gods give him that?
Nico took his chair. Persephone handed him a plate of fruit and said, "Eat." Nico looked at it warily. She laughed. "It's not Underworld food, I promise. You must be able to sense that."
Nico inspected a blueberry. "I'm fully mortal now. I don't have the skills I used to."
"You have all the same powers that you had as a demigod," Persephone chided. "Don't lie to me. You can see through the Mist. You can shadow travel. You can wield that sword."
"A sword that passes through me," Nico protested, "But I can't feel the spirits of the Underworld anymore, or raise the dead."
"Have you tried?" Persephone asked. "You may not be a son of Hades anymore, but you will always be a child of the Underworld. Lord Hades could take the golden ichor from your DNA, but not the magic of our domain. Doing such would destroy you entirely. It's not enough that monsters can catch your scent, but you will always be somewhere between mortal and immortal. And be careful to only display your abilities in private. Monsters know how to pick out a half-blood, even if you don't smell like one. And, obviously, your mortality makes it easier to be pulled to the Underworld should you go too far."
"How are you out of the Underworld?" Nico asked. "It's January."
"Official Underworld business," Persephone said. "I do love that loophole--not that I'm ever able to use it. Always someone there to take the message... such a drag. Now eat, Nico."
Nico tried to find some trick in her face or words but seemed not to be able to. Tentatively, he brought the blueberry to his mouth. Persephone smiled. "Thank you. As you can see, no strings, no imprisonment, no poison. All I want is your help. So, eat, and quiet yourself."
For the first time that day, Nico did what he was told. "Good. Now, enough with the preamble. Hecate has officially brought Lord Hades up on charges from your quest last year. She claims that he lured her to his domain to recklessly goad her into action in an attempt to push blame for the Wizard Genocide on her. He wanted to attack her lands and overinflated a mundane issue--your disappearance--to achieve these ends. He stands accused of conspiracy to commit treason against Olympus, and of my murder by tricking or forcing me into helping him achieve those ends. These are all lies, an attempt by Hecate to take his place in Erebos and become a major goddess."
"She waited a year?" Nico asked. "Why?"
"Because, like the Titan she is, she uses a puppet for her own doing. She's taken advantage of my mother's... above average protectiveness over me. She appeals to Ceres, the militant Roman of scorched earth tactics, rather than the peaceful, farming Demeter of the Greeks. Hecate stands as chief witness to my murder, but it is Ceres who accuses my husband. Everyone on the Olympic Council knows what this is, but none have the bravery nor will to call her out on this scheme. Hades swore before the council that I was too weak to leave the Underworld last spring--I'm sure you noticed how frigid it was--and Ceres wanted to make sure I was well before she--how did she put it?--put me 'under the stress of reliving that horrible incident of abuse from that insult of a husband' and 'going against my nature by revealing his horrible ways.' In other words, she expected a traumatized flower to run into her arms with tears in her eyes, begging for a divorce, but I am too lady-like to do it myself. She successfully wore down Zeus and got me released from the Underworld in August, where I spent six weeks in the sun before descending again in October. Hecate had two months to whisper in Ceres' ear, and she's proven as successful as my mother was to Zeus.
"Ever the snake, Hecate convinced Ceres to officially accuse Lord Hades this morning, December 20th, with the excuse that it's the anniversary of his declaration of war. We have only twenty-four hours to prepare for the trial. Impossible in the best of circumstances, but these are far from the best of circumstances. The trial is a sham. The Council has been stacked against my husband since the moment Zeus and Poseidon divided the world. Ceres will win the trial with so little time to prepare. Hecate will win everything."
Persephone's eyes flashed with a deeper and more bitter anger than they had at Annabeth's insults. "I will not let that happen. Hecate cannot take everything from me, from us."
"You want me to convince Hecate to stand down?" Nico questioned her. "I'm sorry Queen Persephone, I lost her trust when she heard my plan outside your coffin. Maybe I could get Al or Lou Ellen to talk to her--"
"No, Nico," Persephone cut him off, "Hecate is a lost cause. No, I want to hit her where she's weakest, to beat her at her own game. I want you to travel to New Arcadia--Ceres' Palace--and convince her to delay the trial. Let it happen. I dare her. If Hecate wants to play, she shall. But this is a gamble she cannot win. If there's one thing the Underworld knows, it's trials. We will prevail as long as we have time to prepare."
Persephone smiled at Nico's now empty bowl of fruit. She snapped her fingers, and her invisible handmaidens took it off the table and replaced it with a map. Persephone handed it to Nico. "New Arcadia sits in southern Montana, just north of Yellowstone National Park. The trial starts at sunset tomorrow."
Nico stared at the map, conflicted. Annabeth understood of the situation. He may not care about Hades anymore, but, like all children of the Underworld, Nico had an instinct to fairness. Not morality, but justice. No matter what the situation was, even if Hades did contribute a lot to escalating the situation, that wasn't important. He wasn't on trial for what he stood accused of, and that was all that mattered to Nico. But, if he said yes, even if it was a small quest, he was back in the arms of Olympus.
"There's one problem," Nico told the goddess. "My powers are a lot weaker than they used to be. Maybe I just got used to Teddy's blessing--or Alabaster's, whoever--but I don't think so. It's harder and more tiring than it ever used to be. I went to la Valle d'Aosta last night and barely managed the return trip. I don't think I have it in me to shadow-travel again without being dragged to the Underworld."
Persephone thought for a moment. Then, her eyes landed on Thalia. "The rest of the Hunters of Artemis arrive tonight to attend your little meeting tomorrow. Tell Chiron I order him to have the meeting as soon as the Hunters arrive. After the meeting ends, they all travel back to Nunavut. With a blessing from Artemis--I'll supply, she has no love for Hecate--they will be able to cover the distance before the trial begins."
"Travel with..." Nico was trembling. There was a long, uncomfortable silence. Even Annabeth could see the war raging in Nico's mind, grief and longing swirling around, his wants and needs conflicting with his basic instincts. It was all Annabeth could do not to lose it again. Persephone had no right to ask him to do anything for the gods anymore.
"I'll... I'll do it," Nico forced out. Persephone smiled and nodded, then disappeared with a warm spring breeze. Annabeth helped Thalia up. She didn't need to see Nico's face to know what he was thinking.
____________________NICO____________________
Will I follow you to the grave, Bianca?
END NOTES
His thoughts are supposed to be in 1930's Italian, which is why they look weird. I didn't put it in Italian because they're his thoughts, and as someone who speaks a second language, you don't really notice what language you're thinking in after a certain point. At least that's how it is for me.
Also, see? It's explained why he can still do a handful of demigod things. It's not a plot hole. HA! XD
This week's beta commentary:
STORY: I took a shortcut down the mountain," Hermione corrected him.
SARA: Mountain has shortcuts? Surprising. What's not surprising is that Geico could save you 15% or more on car insurance.
MELODY: **Hermione turns to the camera**
MELODY: Yeah I ski and sometimes they have alternate routes.
MELODY: Do you know what else has an alternate route?
MELODY: Roads. Car insurance.
MELODY: #spon
Credits:
Melody Rose - Author (melody0rose.tumblr.com)
Sara - Beta Reader (http://icomparemyselftoyou.tumblr.com)
Please comment so I know what you think! See you next time!